TREES

Yesterday, I posted some pictures of the cherry blossom next to the church. I was really struck by the blossom on the trees in many of the gardens within Hilton on my way to church this morning. It's funny how you can suddenly notice things that have been there all the time over the years. Here's a few pictures I took on the way to the service this evening. What a difference trees make to the landscape.

CHRIST IS RISEN

This morning we were reflecting on Jesus' post resurrection experiences. I concluded that we are called to make the resurrection credible through the ordinary lives that we lead seeking to follow Jesus. I wish I had found these words by AN Wilson beforehand:

"The Resurrection, which proclaims that matter and spirit are mysteriously conjoined, is the ultimate key to who we are. It confronts us with an extraordinarily haunting story.
J. S. Bach believed the story, and set it to music. Most of the greatest writers and thinkers of the past 1,500 years have believed it.
But an even stronger argument is the way that Christian faith transforms individual lives - the lives of the men and women with whom you mingle on a daily basis, the man, woman or child next to you in church tomorrow morning. "

AN Wilson is a well known historian and ( and until recently!) athiest who even wrote books challenging Christian faith. He has now come to believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus.His journey towards faith has been largely linked to the faith of family and friends.

"My belief has come about in large measure because of the lives and examples of people I have known - not the famous, not saints, but friends and relations who have lived, and faced death, in the light of the Resurrection story, or in the quiet acceptance that they have a future after they die."

What an encouraging story. You can read the entire article here

THANK YOU!

I want to express gratitude today to and for the person who had the foresight to plant these wonderful trees next to the church. Every year, we have this glorious display of cherry blossom. It would be interesting to know how long these trees have been there for, and who planted them? I must ask around!

READY FOR GRASS SEED

bored with contemporary worship

We are blessed at Hilton to have so many outstanding musicians. The most regular compliment I receive in relation to the services is linked to the worship bands. I was struck by the following post by Jonny Baker which highlights the fact that there appears to be a growing restlessness about contemporary worship within many of the communities which pioneered the movement in the first place. One of the links is an article called bored with contemporary worship. I think a great strength of our approach to worship is that there is a breadth in terms of the various traditions that we tap into. We could quite easily have a service which reflected Hillsong, psalms, taize and Iona community. We aim to provide a worship service which has something very everybody. We don't always suceed, but I'm very concious of the need for breadth and diversity which reflects the kind of congregation we are. The links on Jonny's blog have some very good suggestions which are worth reflecting on.

SUSAN BOYLE

I have just read Jim Gordon's post on Susan Boyle, and the link to the Glasgow Herald article. I commend both of them to you.

LECTIONARY READINGS

Lectionary Readings for 26th April
Acts 3:12-19; Psalm 4 (UMH 741)1 John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36b-48

Lectionary Readings for 3rd May

Acts 4:5-12; Psalm 23
1 John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18

Day in the life of a hospital chaplain

The National Secular Society has called for public funding of hospital chaplains to be phased out, saying it costs the NHS at least £40m pounds a year. This article provides a welcome balance.

sophia network

A new website called The Sophia Network has been launched. It is aimed at all female youth and children's workers, volunteer and employed, full time, part time or spare time.

UNREST IN MASERU

"Awoke this morning to find that someone has attacked the army and the Prime Minister’s house. The government is saying nothing so no-one knows what is going on." More about it here

There appears to be some civil unrest taking place in Maseru today. I spoke with Robyn on skype and she seems to be pretty cheerful about life notwithstanding the sounds of gun shots etc!

THE WORK GOES ON....

I forgot to take my camera tonight, so no photos! I'm glad to report that we had around 10 volunteers tonight raking and picking up stones. The garden looked fantastic by the time all the work was done. Thank you to all the volunteers. I'll try and get some photos for tomorrow.

6 month update on the Light House

Last Sunday morning a team of us from the Light House had the privilege of being able to give a six month update on progress at the Light House to the congregation. The following video tells the story in pictures...
Blessings!
Gwen

VOLUNTEERS PLEASE!

Duncan, Iain, Murray, Steve and Mairi made great progress this morning! The vast majority of the ground has now been turned over and many stones have been removed. If we can get the help of some willing volunteers next week to rake out more stones, we should be in a position to the sow the grass seed by the latter part of next week. Tuesday night has been earmarked as a key opportunity for rakers, but if you can help at any other time, contact Iain or Steve.

THE WORK CONTINUES

GARDEN UPGRADE

Steve has been working hard on the Lighthouse garden. A path from the Lighthouse to the large hall has been dug out for slabs and the area behind the kitchen/conservatory has been prepared for concreting. Tomorrow the main area will be rotivated. This year we will get the basics in place, with a view to the garden being in use by the Spring of 2010.

LECTIONARY READINGS

SUNDAY 19TH APRIL
The readings are as follows:

Acts 4:32-35; Psalm 133
1 John 1:1-2:2; John 20:19-31



Readings for SUNDAY 26TH APRIL

Acts 3:12-19; Psalm 4
1 John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36b-48

FOUND!

Balloon sent by Helen aged 4 found at Lachlanwells Farm Alves Forres on Sunday at 2.30pm

ROTIVATOR

We are hoping to do a bit of landscaping at the back of the Lighthouse in the near future. Does anyone have or know of someone who has a rotivator we could borrow for a day or two?

EASTER SUNDAY 2009

Thank you to Chris Watt for taking such good photos of our services at Dores Beach (8am) and Hilton Church (10am). The weather was wonderful this morning. What a difference a bit of sunshine and the absence of hail stones makes! During our 10 am service, we spent some time putting Easter messages on cards. At the close of the Service, we all gathered on the front lawn and launched the balloons avec easter messages. Last seen heading in the direction of Nairn.....

Easter morning in pictures

Easter Morning in pictures

Easter Breakfast at the Light House

Feeling hungry...? Fancy one of these...?

There's a special breakfast on the menu

at the Light House today up until 2pm.

Wishing you a Blessed Easter!

SIMON VARWELL

Simon has some great news which he is sharing here. Congratulations!

Highland Theological College UHI appoints new Principal

Congratulations to Hector Morrison on his appointment as the new Principal of HTC. You can read the full college report here.

now that is what i call a baptism...

Hilton Church has a congregation with many different backgrounds and traditions. This is a very enriching aspect of our fellowship, but it can present us with some challenges in certain areas such as baptism. Jonny Baker's photo above particularly appeals to me, as it combines the baptism of a child with a real drenching with water.

EASTER MORNING at DORES BEACH

Over the past 8 years, a short early morning act of worship (8am) together with bacon rolls and hot drinks at Dores Beach, has become a very popular way to begin Easter Sunday for Hilton Church.

Catering arrangements are now in place, and a group of musicians are beginning to emerge. It would be wonderful to have a warmer Sunday this year. Over the past couple of years, the temperature has been pretty cold. A baptism on the beach in gale force winds and sleet especially stands out in my memory. Hopefully see you there.

LIGHT HOUSE VOLUNTEERING

Great to hear from Susie today that there has been a positive response to our appeal for more volunteers to help with serving in the cafe and/or cleaning. We are looking for 6 people willing to gift 45 minutes per week to cleaning in the Light house. If you're reading this today and feel you can help, please call into the Light house and speak to Susie. The picture is of Peter MacKenzie, who kindly volunteered to erect the additional fencing at the side of the Light house.

Sisters 'make people happy'

Sisters spread happiness while brothers breed distress, experts believe. You can read the whole article here. This article on the BBC website caught my eye yesterday.

It will be interesting to see whether another group of experts pop up with a different view point on this issue.

LECTIONARY READINGS

Bible Passages for Holy Week

April 6, 2009 Monday of Holy Week
Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 36:5-11
Hebrews 9:11-15; John 12:1-11



April 7, 2009 Tuesday of Holy Week
Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 71:1-14
1 Corinthians 1:18-31; John 12:20-36



April 8, 2009 Wednesday of Holy Week
Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 70
Hebrews 12:1-3 John 13:21-32



April 9, 2009 Holy Thursday
Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10), 11-14; Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19
1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-17, 31b-35


April 10, 2009 Good Friday
Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22
Hebrews 10:16-25; John 18:1-19:42



April 12, 2009 Easter Day
Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
1 Corinthians 15:1-11; John 20:1-18 or Mark 16:1-8

SIGNS

Robyn has been doing a series on signs in her blog. Here's one I found last night when I was looking over photos of my trip to visit Laurence and Mairi in Kabale last year.

World Autism Awareness Day 2009

Thursday 2nd April is World Autism Awareness Day. Autism is something we have all become increasingly aware of over the past 10 to 15 years.Two posts by Maggie Dawn here and here and two by Jim Gordon here and here give important insights, if you would like to read further.

SISTERS OF SINAI.

Are you looking for an interesting book to read? This book has received two major recommendations over the past couple of days,here and here. It sounds fascinating. I think I will get a copy. I read quite a number of books during my recent visit to Africa. I would especially recommend The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Reluctant Fundamentalist.