Stressed

If you are feeling stressed here are a few helpful tips, with thanks to Anne droid.
for the link.

WORSHIP 2009

I have spent some time this week beginning to plan towards 2009. At the 10am services beginning next Sunday(1st Sunday in advent), we are going to follow the readings from the Lectionary. We will do this for one year. For some months we have been following the Lectionary for our team meetings on Tuesday morning. It is a helpful discipline in that over a period of time it leads you to all parts of the Scriptures and forces you to engage with parts of the bible you may otherwise not cover. A bit like the Minor Prophets!

RAGAMUFFIN GOSPEL

Philip Noble, who will be with us tomorrow for LIFE WITH GOD recommended this book to me some time ago. I read it this week as a preparation for the weekend. On Friday night the theme will be GRACE. The Ragamuffin Christian by Brennan Manning is a grace filled book. It is a easy book to read and one which will bring you much encouragement. The reviews on amazon will give you a flavour of the books content and impact. Brennan Manning is a very interesting figure and you can read a fascinating article about his life here.

The Light house

Work is steadily going on in and around the Light house. Today, a long time friend of Hilton Church, Peter MacKenzie arrived to put up some fencing at the side and bottom of the garden. We are grateful to so many people like Peter, who have given so freely of their time for the project. We plan to create an enclosed garden which will provide a safe space for children.Last night the new Management Team who will be responsible for running the centre along with Gwen met for the first time. Tonight, the Building Project Team meets for the last time. It will be a short meeting followed by an Indian meal. An opportunity to celebrate an exciting journey over the past year. I'll try and post some pictures of the team tomorrow. I was re-reading the following post by Stuart MacQuarrie nearly one year ago after a time of prayer for the Project. God is good. "What an exciting time to be at Hilton...."

Adapt & Prosper

No question about it, the arrival of children changes the balance and the dynamic of your relationship with your spouse. It brings both blessing and strain at times. It can be the catalyst for moving your relationship on to a new and higher level. But if we are not careful it can also cause us to drift a little in our care for one another as a couple because we are so focused on the needs of the child / children. ADAPT is a short session on how to look after your relationship when there is a new baby or small children in the home. Learn about:

How to love in the language of your partner.
Good habits to foster. Bad habits to avoid.
The Importance of Dad.

Hilton Church Small Hall.
Wed Nov 26th 10 – 11.15am or 7.30 – 8.45pm.
(Play space available for small children in the morning)
Come on your own or come as couple.

BIBLE WORLD

Bibleworld mobile classroom trailer to be sited at two Inverness schools during the month of November.

Inverness Royal Academy - Monday 17 to Friday 21 November, 2008

Inverness High School - Monday 24 to Friday 28 November, 2008

LIFE WITH GOD

4 days to our conference and we now have over 70 people signed up. This is a really encouraging number.

LETTER FROM LESOTHO

Well, here we are having been in Lesotho now for two weeks. All is well – my friend Ruth who came with me to help me settle in (and make sure that I stayed!) has just left on the plane for Johannesburg and I find a moment to write a bit on what has been going on.

Thanks to some good friends here, I arrived to find all the essentials in place and have spent the last week or so adding one or two luxuries like

I am meeting tomorrow with Pastor David (the leader of the church we go to here) to go over our plan of action and review timescales and such like so after that I will have a better idea of where I will start with the Care Centre.

I am spending time building simple relationships with the boys on the streets – taking them fruit and bread whenever I can and chatting to them in broken Sesotho – I really must learn more of the language!
I am also finding out about other people who may have some involvement in helping these boys so that we are not doubling up in the service we are providing. I plan to visit the Prince’s Trust offices this week, as well as the Girl Guides Centre to see what is going on there.

Palesa started school a week ago, and so far it has been fairly eventful. She came wandering home on Thursday at around 10.30am to see her mum – unfortunately I was not in! I am not even convinced that the teacher noticed she was gone until my friend took her back!

I am pushing to get going and get things started, but keep being reminded that This Is Africa, and to take things more slowly. I really need to get back into that way again I think! I certainly am not there yet!

Anyway, tried to put this onto a blog of our own but it did not work so will keep trying with that and in the meantime, post this on Hilton Church’s Blog!
Robyn

The Prisoner's Week Prayer

Lord,

you offer freedom to all people.

We pray for those who are captives in prison

and those who are affected by or involved in their imprisonment.

Break the bonds of fear and isolation that exist.

Support with your love:

prisoners, their families and friends,prison staff and all who care.

Heal those who have been wounded by the activities of others,

expecially the victims of crime.

Help us to forgive one another,

to act justly, to love mercy,and walk humbly together

with Christ in his strength and in his spirit now and every day.

Amen.

REMEMBRANCE

Last night I watched "The Fallen" a epic 3 hour programme in which every soldier killed in Afghanistan and Iraq was named. It told the stories of many of the fallen soldiers and their families. So much pain, so many tears shed. I spoke to a several people after our own Remembrance service last Sunday who expressed the view that the war in Afghanistan is not one we should be involved in. This viewpoint echoes a BBC poll in which two thirds of those who were interviewed thought that British troops should be withdrawn within 1 year.This view also came across from quite a number of the people interviewed last night. I hope that many politicians watched "The Fallen" and were perhaps challenged to ask whether there is a better way forward in Afghanistan. For how much longer are British soldiers going to give their lives in this violent conflict which looks like it can go on for decades? The programme gave me a new appreciation for the armed forces and their families.

NEW DISABLED TOILETS

The new disabled toilet was also finished this week. We are grateful to Eddie Morrison and his team for the great work they have done. Laura and Mike Robertson also did an outstanding job preparing the plans for approval by the Council. I like the choice of colours for the toilet and hallway.

A FULL SUNDAY!

It's been a long but very memorable Sunday. It began before 9am. An hour before the service, the band were already in the church going through the songs for the morning. Chris and Iain were busy getting the sound and the AV sorted and Norma was through in the kitchen preparing all the flasks for hospitality after the services. We have so many people at Hilton who work hard behind the scenes to ensure that everything runs smoothly. This is Guild Week, so members of the Guild played a significant part in the morning together with presenting a cheque for £1000 to Gwen Barlow for the Lighthouse. (picture below)This was the first day that the Lighthouse was open for the various groups in the church to use, so it was fitting that our preacher was Gwen who spoke from Psalm 101 and Matthew 25 v30-41. She highlighted the values which would be expected of anyone who was involved in the Lighthouse and the priority and significance of social action and concern. The Lighthouse is to be a Centre for others, a place which we pray will be a beacon of light and hope for the community of Hilton and beyond.

I left the church tonight at 8.35pm after an outstanding service. David Whillis was preaching on that not so well known minor prophet Zephaniah. Our series - Stoning the Prophets - has taken us to pretty new territory and we have all learnt a great deal about a part of Scripture which is seldom preached from.

We seem to be going through a very busy time at Hilton Church these days. We had so many people there this morning that we had to take in extra chairs. It's a bit of a squeeze until the childrens group leave. This is a problem we are glad to have!

Guild presents cheque to the Light House

Representing Hilton Guild, Rebecca Wilson presented the Light House manager, Gwen Barlow, this morning with a cheque for £1000 towards the work of the Light House. This gift was very gratefully received and will be put to good use.

BBC CHILDREN IN NEED

The TV is on and we're enjoying another BBC Children in Need evening. At Hilton Church, we have much reason to be grateful to Children in Need as they funded a project worker in the Hilton community for 3 years (2003-2006), specialising with the 0-5 age range. Some great work was done, initially by Moira MacKenzie (who is now back in the Highlands working in Fort William) and then by Iwona Grant. Hopefully, the credit crunch will not stop the Appeal raising lots of money tonight.

HOT WATER

I have found this wonderfully quirky blog by a prison chaplain called AnneDroid. It's called GET OUT OF JAIL FREE and well worth a read.

Prisoners Week

As the Church of Scotland chaplain in Porterfield, I would like to encourage you most strongly to bring into prayers both on Sunday and through the week such concerns as are set out in the Prisoners Week flyer. Click here to view flyer. Those who have committed crime, especially once they have been put away, as the saying goes, are not to be forgotten - pragmatically because of the far too high risk of reoffending, theologically because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

PETER DONALD, PRISON CHAPLAIN, INVERNESS

Gadget vicar has a very challenging piece on his blog which you can read here

STREET PASTORS

It is great to see the regard in which Street Pastors are held in Inverness. The following piece is on the BBC website today. I'm assuming that the Street Pastors aren't the ones cracking down on the anti social behaviour.

Pastor patrols to be stepped up
Increased patrols by Street Pastors and a crackdown on anti-social behaviour are part of a drive to make Inverness more family-friendly this Christmas.
Operation Respect - a multi-agency initiative - will run during the city's Winter Festival.
Highland Council, Inverness BID Company, Northern Constabulary, Crime Prevention Panel and Crimestoppers are involved. The festival runs from 20 November until 3 January.

11TH DAY OF 11TH MONTH

It's the 90th anniversary of the end of the Great War. I've just watched My Family at War on BBC1. It told the stories of Kirsty Wark's great uncle and Rolf Harris' father and uncle. Compelling viewing and well worth watching on BBCi Player.

LIFE WITH GOD

10 days to our LIFE WITH GOD weekend, and we now have over 60 signed up, and a significant number of people who I know are coming, but haven't signed up. I am really delighted with that level of response. Please pray for Roy Searle together with Philip and Rosalind Noble as they prepare for leading this weekend.

NEW OFFICE

I have spent the last few days trying to make sense of my new office next door to The Lighthouse. It is a great space. It's a relief to have somewhere to put my stuff. For the last 4 months most of my books and files have been stored in the boot of my car. My new office is the garage for the fomer manse. I'm not sure if I should just call it The Garage! I am doing everything possible to avoid the scenario above.

PLATFORM 2

Sounds like a wonderful opportunity.......
Platform 2 is an amazing opportunity for 18-25 year olds, who wouldn’t normally be able to afford a programme like this, to spend 10 weeks volunteering in Africa, India or South America as part of a fully funded programme. Volunteers will be given the opportunity to live and work with people living in poor communities, to learn about local life, experience living/working conditions very different from the UK, and be part of a development project that will benefit local communities. Trips will be going out to different locations regularly over the next 2½ years – the next application deadline is 10th November ‘08 with a departure date of 6th January, 2009. Sign up now and you could be on the other side of the world after Christmas and New Year! Check out the website http://www.myplatform2.com/ for further information and an application form. For an informal chat about the programme, contact Craig McCreadie (t: 0141 241 6132 or 07891 860064; e: cmccreadie@christian-aid.org).

COMMUNITIES OF GRACE

Last week I posted Dot Walker's fabulous picture which was recently exhibited at Stations of Grace in Glasgow. On a similar theme there have been two outstanding posts by Tim Chester on creating communities of grace which you can read here and here.

Churches that eat together....

"We don’t know much about what the churches did when they gathered. But it seems the thing they always did was eat together. " Robert Banks.

I found the quote on this blog. Last night I was at a potluck supper for Audrey Whyte's homegroup and band. Thank you David,Jo, Ruth, Thomas and Hannah for great hospitality. I have an invite to another homegroup social this coming week. I must get my running shoes on soon! Seriously, food makes all the difference to the temperature of the fellowship. The sharing of meals is an important dimension of our lives at Hilton, and we're grateful for the many people who share and offer hospitality in this way.

REMEMBRANCE

At our Remembrance service today, we reflected on Jesus' call to be peacemakers. Jesus calls us to take the initiative in being peacemakers. (Matthew 5 v23-24) The lack of peace and the outright conflict which often exemplifies the Christian Church is a major hindrance to the credibity of our faith. The BBC report which you can read here illustates the point well. We also watched the clip below . It is a powerful reminder of the pain and suffering which war and conflict brings.

Robyn in P&J

Robyn's departure for Lesotho has been covered this week by the P&J. You can read the article here.

People of Peace

I'm working on tomorrow mornings remembrance service. We can't solve all the problems of the world, but we can make a great difference by being people of peace. We are called to be a people who embody Christ's peace and share it with others.Nelson Mandela can teach us a great deal on this matter.

BANA COFFEE MORNING

A very successful coffee morning in the church today. £580 was raised for Robyn's work in Lesotho. The church was full of people from shortly after 10am until it closed at 12.30pm. There was loads of baking and plenty of people helping to serve. Various cards, books and produce were also being sold to raise funds for the Bana Trust. It is great to be able to work to raise funds at the same time as encouraging people from across the church and the community to come together socially. The team hope to run a similar event every 3 months.

HILTON WORKS

This week,Eddie Morrison and his colleagues have been redesigning our link corridor toilets to comply with the Disabled Access legislation. I took this picture on Saturday morning. Most of the work is now complete. If you would like to help with the repainting of this area, please contact Mike Robertson.

HOMEGROUPS

Homegroups are an important dimension of life within Hilton Church. Last night I dropped in on the group hosted by Alan and Gillian Brown. They have around 15 people linked to their group. Last night there were 9 present. We met at 8pm and after some coffee/tea and cakes, there was a very relaxed bible study centred around John chapter 1. The group then had a discussion aimed at choosing a book they could read together on Prayer. They agreed to focus on a book called Prayer - Does it make any difference? by Philip Yancey. The evening closed with a time of prayer and folk were on their way home by 10pm. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. It was great to share in such a warm fellowship. The folk there have clearly forged good friendships during the 2 years the group has been in existence. If you are reading this and would like to be part of a group, there are 10 groups meeting at various times and places across the city. You can find out more by contacting Barry Dennis . Thank you Alan and Gillian for your kind hospitality.

Second-Hand items available from the Light House

Hello everyone, Gwen Barlow here. The following second-hand items are left over from clearing out the old manse before it was transformed into the Light House. If anyone is interested they will be available for viewing and/or taking away at the Light House after the morning service this coming Sunday. A donation to the Light House for each item would be gratefully received. All items are of good quality.
Dishwasher
Tall Bosch fridge
2 internal pine doors pine with glass panelling
2 tall filing cabinets

Blessings! Gwen

GRACE

Hope and Optimism

There is a great deal of hope and optimism about following the election of Barak Obama as 44th President. Let's pray for the President elect that God will give him the wisdom to lead well.

LIFE WITH GOD

To date, we have 38 people signed up to share in the weekend above. I suspect that a significant number of folk just haven't got round to filling up the sign up sheet in the church. 38 is a very encouraging number but I'm hoping that there will be considerably more people signing up over the next 2 weeks.

Souled Out Thank you

We would like to extend a huge thank you to you all for helping support the Souled Out event that took place at the Iron Works on Saturday. We had around 450 people there which was a great encouragement to all the team who worked so hard to make it happen. We would be grateful if you could communicate our thanks to the people in your church & organisations & also let them know we have this week confirmed another 2 dates for next year, Saturday the 14th of March & Saturday the 13th of June. We are in the process of confirming our speak for March & look forward to announcing them soon!
In June we will have Pete Gilbert, an evangelist based in Farr who travels in the UK and abroad working with churches on leadership strategy/, team dynamics, discipleship & evangelism. Pete is responsible for the vision, direction and strategy of DNA, along with training and development issues - both in the UK and internationally. Pete is a well-known evangelist, who has been involved for many years in missions and training. An author and speaker at many events both in the Uk and intentiaonally, he works with church leadership teams on areas of evangelism, discipleship, church structure & leadership development. Pete and his family are based in the King's Fellowship, Inverness. DNA serves churches, develops leaders and makes 21st century disciples - http://www.dna-uk.org/.
The next events will not be called Souled Out as by then we will have our own name & branding in place. If you would like someone from the team to come & speak to you your Church or Organisation about what we are doing then please let us know & we would be delighted to come along.
Chris
On behalf of the organising team, help us spread the word!

Money, Debt & Family Life

Many families see the effect of financial difficulty and debt. In fact relationship experts reckon arguments about money are one of the major areas of disagreement amongst couples. Yet families can find themselves in debt for all sorts of reasons – poor lifestyle choices, separation, bereavement, unemployment.
If you are concerned about money here are some very helpful sites to visit or contact the office.

www.careforthefamily.org.uk/supportnet including 8 ways to help your child when you are in debt as a parent. (Printed version available in the foyer)
www.lookingatlife.org.uk good practical advice on money matters for those in their 20s and 30s.
www.quidzin.org.uk aimed at giving parents the knowledge to raise financially confident children.

Coming in the New Year – “The Money Secret”
A 6 week short course on understanding money, including dealing with debt.
Based on “The Money Secret” by Rob Parsons
Available in the Church library in book and CD Audio form.

To Lesotho

I'm writing this at 11pm, concious of the fact that Robyn and Palesa are now well on their way to Lesotho. Sunday morning was very special for us as a congregation as we celebrated together the remarkable way in which God has called them to go to Lesotho and the way He has provided for them. It has been wonderful to see the way that God has given vision and then provided as Robyn has taken steps of faith. Resources always follow vision!

The church was absolutely packed on Sunday morning, so I wondered whether it would be possible to introduce a number of interactive dimensions to the service towards the end. I needn't have been worried! In one part of the church we set up a table with bush tea and fat cakes (tesco dough nuts!), two basics of life in Lesotho. A sacramental act to identify with Robyn's new ministry.In another part of the church we had tables with post its for people to write prayers, and tables with candles for them to light as a symbol of their prayers being offered. It was heartening to watch the crowds of people gathering in different parts of the sanctuary, as the worship group continued to lead with various songs of worship. We have come a long way as a congregation over the years. It was great to see people sharing in such a relaxed way. I gathered up all the prayers on Sunday night and I will post them to Robyn to remind her of the love and the prayers which accompany her as she begins this adventure for God along with Palesa.

SOULED OUT

Souled Out got off to a very promising start on Saturday evening. Some 500 people of all ages and stages packed into The Iron Works. The band was excellent and the choice of songs was sympathetic to the breadth of the gathering.

I saw the advert above for a GRACE service and it made me think of the challenging talk given by Jean F Larroux. How do we present ourselves to others? The encouragement of the talk was to be real and to realise that our wounds and our failures are an important part of the story of God's grace in our lives. The next event takes place in March. I'm looking forward to it already.

Stations of Grace

Dot Walker has been exhibiting at an artistic event in Glasgow called Stations of Grace.23 artists created pictures illustrating biblical or historical events which show God's grace in action. It would be wonderful to have an artistic event like that at Hilton Church at some point in the future. Hopefully, we will be able to see Dot's picture at some point soon.

Doodle

Do you find it difficult to arrange meetings because of all the challenges of different peoples diaries? Iain Ross may have just the answer for you! We have really struggled to get a suitable date for a meeting of The Lighthouse Management Team. Today Iain has sent out a doddle for us to fill in. What a great idea.

Stoning the prophets

Over the past 2 months we have been looking at the minor prophets at our evening services. On Sunday evening, Hector Morrison was preaching on Nahum. He told us that he had never preached on Nahum and on being asked, only one person from the congregation could ever remember hearing a sermon on this very marginalised minor prophet! We were therefore in very new territory on Sunday evening. I wonder what other obscure passages or books we can find to preach from! On Sunday evening we discovered that Nahum has a very relevant message for us today despite its origins in the 7th century BC. Thanks to Hector for opening up this challenging prophet for us.

BLOGGING FAST!

I have intentionally fasted on the blogging front for a few weeks! But there is just so much going on around Hilton Church these days that it would be a shame not to blog a little over the next few days. A number of folk asked about the blessing at the end of the service for Robyn and Palesa. I found it as a link on Jonny Baker's outstanding blog which you can read here.

Keri and Angie's latest newsletter

Click here to download Keri and Angie's latest newsletter.

Accomodation Needed

Carlo Colloredo works as a chef in Ballifeary House for the elderly. He is a Christian, is very personable and his English is excellent. He has started coming to Hilton Church and hopes in due course to do a Theology course. He is looking for accommodation. If anybody has a room, or knows of a room that he could rent let me know and I'll pass on Carlo's details.

Barry

Lesotho Calling

On Tuesday, 4th November 2008, Robyn & Palesa are travelling to Lesotho to begin setting up a crisis centre for street children - THAT’S RIGHT - tommorrow!
To celebrate this amazing step in their lives (as well as all of ours - we HAVE to support them) the church had a special commissioning service yseterday.
PS - Please remember to collect, complete and return your standing order and gift aid form

Light House Update

Hello, Gwen Barlow here, back after the half term holidays with an update of how the Light House is progressing. First of all here’s a few photos…


Click here to start

The café kitchen is now almost complete, just the espresso coffee machine left to be commissioned which is due to happen next week and cooking utensils to be sourced and purchased. The café itself still requires a few finishing touches, blinds for the windows for example, but the plan with the café is to make a start in December by opening weekdays from 10am till 2pm – actual dates, times and menu yet to be confirmed… watch this space!

As for the meeting rooms, they will be available for Kingdom Kids, Teenscene and Nitelife to move in Sunday 16 November as officially the first groups to regularly use the Light House! The plan is to also start letting out the rooms to groups outside of the existing church groups as soon as possible, but this is unlikely to happen until the New Year.

I continue to give thanks and praise to God for His abundant blessing in the Light House. I continue to be amazed and thankful for the generosity of folk, for the gifting of their time and/or material provision. So much has been done already in the building of this new centre and yet there is still so much to do to get it up and running that I have to keep reminding myself how we need to keep taking things day by day, step by step.. and that at the centre of it all is Jesus. It reminds me of a song…”One more step along the world I go... keep me travelling along with you”…

Blessings!

Gwen

Money Matters

In the midst of the continuing global financial meltdown how can I as an individual cope with my own finances? There are many reasons, sometimes outwith our control, which can see us in financial difficulty. So what can I do? For good practical advice here is a new web resource. www.red2black.org.uk

Children's and Youth outreach

I was speaking to someone after the service a few Sundays ago who said that they didn't really think we had a lot of children at Hilton until they all left to go to their various groups - creche, Kingdom Kids, Sunday Club and Teenscene - then suddenly the church was half full.

We have a huge amount of children around the church on a Sunday morning and a great team of folks involved in all areas of that work. We give thanks for this and pray that it would continue to grow and that these children will know the love that God has for them.

What about the outreach work to the children and young people of our community I hear you ask, how is that going? Well here is the answer: Hyphop (for P1 to P5) started back a few weeks ago and we had 37 children and it was great. MYC (Monday Youth Club for P6/7) also started back recently and we had 26 kids and it was great. The only problem is though we have a very small team of people helping with these two groups - we had five leaders at Hyphop and only two of us helping with MYC.

So, at the moment we just don't have enough people to be able to keep running these groups. At Hyphop we need at least 10 people (2 per group) and MYC needs at least three people if we are going to be getting the numbers of children we had on the first night, and I think we will, if not more.

Is this something you could help with? Please. Hyphop runs every 1st and 3rd Friday from 6pm till 7.15pm and MYC every 1st and 3rd Monday from 6pm till 7.15pm.

Please contact me if you would like more information or to say that you would love to help.

Thanks
Chris Watt
Youth and Children's Worker.
Click here for contact details.

Milton Homegroup

Here is the Milton Homegroup enjoying a visit from Robyn and delightful Palesa this evening at our meeting. Robyn was able to give us a very interesting insight to her hopes and dreams and few concerns for her new life in Lesotho. One thing we were very sure about was that God was certainly working in her life and she was willing to answer that call.
We were pleased to be able to give her a donation and to assure her that she would have our prayers in the coming months and years. Thank you Robyn
Margaret Johnston

PRAYER TWEETS

Albert Bogle is a good example of a church leader who is continually innovating and pushing the boundaries. I note on St Andrew's website, which you can read here that they now have a prayer site on line called PRAYER TWEETS. There are often very good ideas on Albert's personal blog called italker which you can read here. Albert is also the Chairman of The Vine Trust. The picture is of Albert tucking into one of Peru's speciality dishes - guinea pig! I'm afraid I just couldn't eat it!

The Year of Home Coming

Could there be a better comment on home coming than Luke 15:11 - 32? Rob Parsons has written a very readable and signifcant book on the subject called "Bringing Home the Prodigals." He says, "I have concentrated in this book on those who have children - of whatever age - who are prodigal. But of course there are many kinds of prodigal - brothers, sisters,husbands, wives and friends."

Hilton Primary goes green.

I attended Hilton Primary School Board last night and heard all about how the school is becoming environmentally friendly. One of the learning support auxiliaries, Marie Sims (may have spelt that wrong) has put in a tremendous amount of work over the past year and a half and has already created a vegetable garden and sensory garden in the school playground.

The school is involved in a few environmental projects and we can help with one of them. They plan to build a greenhouse out of 2 litre plastic bottles, no you are not seeing things....a large greenhouse made from used plastic 2L bottles. They need another 3000 before they can start, so get collecting folks. If you have any around the house then please empty them first and bring them into the church and leave them in a box in the foyer and I can take them round to the school.

Another of their projects took place today and I tagged along and snapped some photos. 25 children from the school went out into the community this afternoon and picked up litter. What an example these children and the school are setting in doing something like this. It was brilliant. Look out for the courier on Friday as there maybe an article and a few photos. For the meantime though here are a couple of my photos. Chris

Rescue package for HBOS & RBS - but what about you and me?

"People will have to think about money in a different way. You can't spend your future before you earn it." says Alvin Hall. In the maelstrom of the current crisis what can you and I do? How shoild we think and act at a personal level? You could do no better than read the words of Jesus in Matthew Chapter 6 verses 19 to 34 about money, possessions and priorities. And Care for the Family provide some very accessible advice at www.themoneysecret.info including inviting us to read "The Money Secret" by Rob Parsons.

Listening

Learning to Listen
"In my view, one of the gretest skills that we are losing in this country is the ability to listen; there much noise and chatter but not much concentrated listening."
Sandi Toksvig BACP President. BBC Presenter.
"Learning to Listen" - is a 2 day course (1st & 8th November 10am-4pm) which can help you to understand the dynamics of good listening, its healing effects and it will hone your skills for listening in eveyday life.
Being held at Hilton Church Inverness. Pick up a brochure, call the office for more details.

The Greed Creed

I saw this cartoon critique by Jon Birch on the current global financial crisis. It was revealed today that the head of the failed Investment Bank Lehman Bros, was paid $300 milion dollars over the past 8 years. How much is the work of any one person really worth? On the day on which the Stock Exchange had its biggest fall for over 20 years, there is clearly a lot of hard questions being asked about the way the world of finance works. There are clearly going to be very hard times ahead.

Year of homecoming

Did you know that 2009 is year of homecoming. You can read all about it here. I received an interesting invitation from the Mission and Discipleship Council today. In 2009, there is a plan to hold a Film Festival called "Home movies." Films will be shown in community centres, churches and cinemas. (Perhaps we could host films in the Lighthouse?) All the films will focus on the idea of "home". Categories include, children, families, young people, adults and older people. What films would you like to nominate for such a festival that have a link with "home"? You can leave your nominations on the comments section.

Micah Challenge

Our series on the Minor Prophets - Stoning the Prophets - continued on Sunday night with a look at Micah. There is an interesting campaign linked to this minor prophet which you can read all about it here.

30 seconds or less

A meeting took place this morning to look at some plans for Christmas services. Here is an interesting challenge. A competition to tell the Christmas story in 30 seconds or less has been launched.

Songs of hope

Our worship today was marked by a deep sadness and questioning, prompted by Iona's death. Our 2 worship leaders,Stephen Hutchison and Elaine Watt helped us all so much through their choices of songs to sing. I found the following words especially helpful.

When I'm faced with anguished choice, I will listen for Your voice,
And I'll stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.
Through this dark and troubled land
You will guide me with Your hand
As I stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.
And You've promised to complete
Ev'ry work begun in me—
So I'll stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.

Hope that lifts me from despair, love that casts out ev'ry fear,
As I stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.
Not forsaken, not alone, for the Comforter has come,
And I stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.
Grace sufficient, grace for me,
Grace for all who will believe—
We will stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.

"Every Promise of Your Word"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

DISCIPLESHIP

I was present last night at one of the most encouraging meetings I have been at for years. It was a meeting to learn more about how we can effectively encourage/mentor/disciple the teenagers of our congregation. 20 teenagers in Hilton Church have signed up for our mentoring programme which has now been running for 1 year.Jamie Grant gave an outstanding presentation on the essence of Discipleship and we had a very valuable contribution from Drew Kuzma from Youth Inclusive. One of the key points which came across during the evening was the fact that the majority of us feel that we have never been discipled intentionally as followers of Jesus, and we don't have the kind of relationship with more mature Christians that we are seeking to establish with the teenagers. It is a fact that Discipleship has not really been on the agenda of the Church in Scotland in recent generations.

The reality, however, is that we are where we are, and it is wonderful to see such a large group (16 last night) who are committed to intentional discipleship. I believe they can be the means of completely changing the landscape in terms of discipleship at Hilton Church. Let's pray for God to bless this movement towards intentional discipleship across the generations.

The LIGHT House

Hello, Gwen Barlow here to let you know that after weeks of suggestions, consideration and prayer, the new centre has been named... The LIGHT House. This is so appropriate in terms of our Christian witness being LIGHT in the community. The design and colours of the building accentuate this LIGHTness so well.
My second week in the role of manager has again seen tremendous encouragement and support for the centre. Various folk came over to the centre from Time Out on Wednesday and were impressed and buzzing with ideas for its use, 2 young mothers from the Hilton area came in and offered to volunteer to help, an elderly lady from just around the corner even dropped in for a cup of tea in the cafe (pity it's not ready yet)! Thank you to everyone who have put their names forward as volunteers.
The kitchen installation was finally completed today with the installation of the water heater and the espresso coffee machine and the chairs and tables arrived at the beginning of the week, ten sets - flat packed! Thanks to everyone to helped to assemble them!
Another few steps forward to getting the building used...
I'll continue to blog regular updates on progress and in fact, very soon The LIGHT House will have a blog all of its own.

Blessings!
Gwen

WELCOME HOME SIMON!

Simon has been busy mullet hunting in the US of A! He has just returned and has posted some wonderful pictures of Salvation Mountain which you can find here

LIFE WITH GOD

A few weeks ago we launched the publicity for our Life with God Weekend in November. I had some contact with Philip Noble today regarding some of the arrangements for the gathering. It is now only 7 weeks away.You can read fuller information about the weekend here I am really hoping and praying that many people from within the congregation and beyond are putting the weekend aside in their diaries.

Bana Trust

There is a great deal of activity going on in the background as Robyn and Palesa prepare to leave for Lesotho at the beginning of November. The website is currently under construction. Hopefully the Trust members will make some posts on the blog in the coming weeks.

Souled out!

Get involved! Souled Out in Inverness is looking for volunteers to help at the event taking place at the Ironworks on Saturday 1st November. This is a fantastic opportunity to get involved in this exciting new event in Inverness. Volunteers must be 17+. Interested? Contact Marion Taylor.Tel: 07841718711 Email: marionctaylor@hotmail.co.uk

IONA FRASER

Iona died peacefully in her parents arms yesterday. There are no words really to adequately express how sad we all feel. We hold Jonathan and Susie in our prayers as they go through this time of terrible loss.

O Christ, you wept when grief is raw,

And felt for those who mourned their friend;

Come close to where we would not be

And hold us, numbed by this life's end.