LIFE WITH GOD

It is 50 years in 2008, since the sanctuary was built and opened. In the same year we will be opening a new purpose built centre and cafe which we hope will be a great asset in serving the community of Hilton in Christ's name. But we don't want the 50 years simply to be marked by bricks and mortar. We also want to spend some time focussing on the core features of our Christian faith and the call that Jesus makes upon our lives to follow him. What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus in 2008? To that end, we are having a special weekend of teaching and fellowship to which are all invited. You can read more about it here

alpha

Tomorrow evening, (Wednesday at 6.30pm) we begin an alpha course in partnership with the chaplaincy team at Raigmore hospital. It is the first time I have been involved in leading a course for several years. To date, not many people have signed up to do the course, but from previous experience (10 courses!) God always seems to do some remarkable and wonderful things in peoples lives through the course. Just last Sunday, we baptised Martin and Michelle at Loch Ness. They came to faith through the last course. Please pray for us timorrow night.

Youth Discipleship Programme

We started this new programme last year and things have been going well, with around 9 of our young folk being mentored on a regular basis last term.

The main aim of this programme, is to enable the youth of our church to meet regularly with an older member of the congregation to study the Bible, pray together, and in doing so, help deepen their faith and love for the Lord.

This is a voluntary programme and folks have to sign up to it. So far, for this next term around 20 of our young people in Teenscene and Nitelife have signed up to the programme. They will meet with their mentor once a month, where they will eat together, read the Bible together and pray together.

Please pray for the young folk and mentors involved in this programme. Thanks

Chris

GOOD NEWS FROM THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

Good news from the Scottish Government today. Hospital parking charges are being abolished. Read about it here.This will save the congregation some money in terms of the parking charges we pay to go and visit at Raigmore Hospital. It will also be good for patients and their families who at the moment incur considerable costs in terms of parking if their relatives are in hospital for an extended period.

ROK ON

I took a few photos this morning on the way to the office to illustrate the amazing progress being made on the Centre. Rok were pouring concrete today for the various ramps and steps for the entrances to the building. The keys are now being handed over on 15th September. The painting begins next Monday with teams of volunteers from the church. It is all "go!"

A GOOD PROBLEM TO HAVE!

We realised tonight that the new cafe won't be big enough to host Impact Cafe, if the numbers that came tonight keep coming and/or increase! We had over 100 there tonight. There was a great atmosphere with the band from the new SOULED OUT event playing, Peter Noble sharing a few songs linked to the themes of the prophet Joel, and Chris Dowling sharing his vision for an Intergenerational, multi denominational event at the Ironworks beginning on 1st November. We also had a new team doing all the catering and serving tonight. They did a sterling job hosting such a large number of people on their first night. Rob & Gwen Barlow did such a great job of establishing the cafe service. It was a bit daunting doing it without them tonight, but so encouraging so see the event continuing to develop.

DORES & BOLESKINE CHURCH

This morning, I was preaching at a joint service at Boleskine Parish Church. Stuart Jeffrey, Laura McCheyne's father, is the interim moderator of this congregation. Peter got some tuition on bell ringing prior to the service!

IMPACT CAFE

We have our first Impact Cafe service of the new session at 6.30pm tomorrow evening. We are going to take a look at the prophet Joel, with the help of Chris Dowling from the Kings Factory. The band from the Kings Factory are also coming along, and we have our very own Peter Noble sharing some of his songs too. Next Friday, Rok are handing the real cafe over to us for painting, so it shouldn't be too long before we can hold these kind of events in a real cafe setting.

TORRIDON HILLWALK

I'm just back from a very enjoyable hillwalk near Torridon. The weather forecast wasn't very favourable, but we had a clear day with no rain.

LOCH NESS BAPTISMS

It has been an exceedingly busy week, so time to put news on the blog has been sparse. Last weekend was a social whirlwind with a 40th birthday bbq at Nairn East Beach for 3 "young" folk from the congregation. If someone else has a photo or two from that special afternoon, they might want to post them for all to see. On Sunday afternoon, there was a picnic at Dores Beach followed by the baptisms of Michelle and Martin, who came to faith through a recent alpha course. The weather wasn't quite as kind as Saturday afternoon, but the water of Loch Ness was slightly warmer than I had expected!

GOOD NEWS

I have been very hesitant over the last 2 weeks about putting news regarding Iona's condition on the blog. On several occasions, I have posted encouraging news only to hear within minutes that her health has deteriorated. BUT!!! Jonathan has phoned tonight and he wanted everyone to know that the news is very good. Iona has had a very stable day and the hope is that tomorrow the medical team can start doing a variety of procedures which will take her closer to moving on from Intensive care.

BABY IONA UPDATE

Iona was taken back to theatre last night as her blood pressure had dropped very low. This was causing the medical team concern. The surgical team were called, but by the time she was examined in theatre her heart was functioning properly again. The hospital have no straight forward explanation for this. We are all pleased to hear that Iona has come through another crisis. We can only hope and pray that today will be a good day for Iona and her parents.

Over the last few days, we have seen the emergence of a prayer text chain as news of Iona's situation from day to day has been shared for prayer. Thank you to all who are praying and supporting Jonathan and Susie at this difficult time.

BABY IONA UPDATE

Shona and I travelled down to Yorkhill Hospital yesterday (Monday) to visit Jonathan and Susie. They were looking remarkably well considering the ordeal they have been through since Iona's birth. They received very good news from the doctors just before we arrived about Iona's condition. Unfortunately Iona's condition has again taken a turn for the worse this evening (Tuesday) and she has just been taken down for further surgery which is expected to last several hours. Please pray for Iona and for Jonathan and Susie.

Minor prophets

What a brilliant introduction by Hector on Sunday evening. My appetite is certainly whetted for what is to come in this series. The whole teach/preach was inspirational, but what impacted me most was that the Major Themes of the Minor Prophets is The Day of the Lord. This Day incorporates both Judgement and Salvation. How apt is that for us all--Christians, non-Christians and the Church? Folks, don't miss out on what God through His Word is going to teach us over the next few months on Sunday evenings. Bless you, Hector, for sharing your insight with us.
Doda

BABY IONA UPDATE

Iona's operation finally took place yesterday at Yorkhill Hospital. The operation took over 7 hours. Iona is now in Intensive Care and the medical team continue to monitor her condition. These are anxious hours for Jonathan and Susie. They have been told that the next 48 hours are critical.We continue to pray with them for a positive outcome to the surgery. Please pray for them too.

church hillwalk

Given the range of ages, we have opted for a walk which will take us to one of the most dramatic places in Scotland – the magnificent Coire Mhic Fhearchair, one of the finest corries in Scotland. A popular and straightforward hillwalk reveals the classic view of the towering Triple Buttress reflected in the waters of a beautiful lochan. The walk is about 14km and in the guidebook takes 3.5 to 5 hours. We will depart from the rear church carpark at 8.30am next Saturday morning.(30th August) If you need or can offer a lift to others, can you let the church office (233310)know by Wednesday. Please take suitable clothing for such an outdoor enviroment, together with a food and drinks.

Sermon recording

The recording of Hector's opening sermon on the minor prophets is now available on the church website. Click here

Minor Prophets

Great start to the series on the minor prophets with Hector Morrison giving an outstanding introduction. You can read about it here , here and here. Hopefully we can post the download too in the near future.

Cafe project

The project has gone a bit quiet over the summer on the blog, but on the ground it has been action packed as far as Rok Construction and the Project Team are concerned. The building is due to be delivered on 5th September and we are aiming towards having the bulk of the landscaping and painting done by 20th September. Our project chairman, Iain Ross will be reporting to the congregation on Sunday, and his report will be posted on the blog afterwards.

BABY IONA UPDATE

Jonathan and Susie have been in touch to let us know that the operation has been postponed again. This is obviously a tortuous wait for them. We continue to pray for them and we''ll give you a further update once the surgery takes place.