There is a lot of chat right now about how to define hate. 1 April brought Scotland’s new Hate Crime Bill into law. The police have been flooded with messages of people reporting hate crimes. Billboards are in place urging people to do just that.
There’s also been a lot of word said about misinformation, misrepresentation, and misunderstanding about the new bill. We live in an age where people want everything compressed into sound bites. We want things abbreviated, shortened, and simplified, but that necessarily leads to more misunderstanding.
On Sunday (14th April) we’ll be starting a new evening gathering which takes place on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month. As so much of the discourse in the media and politics is centred on trying to understand hate, we hope to be a people who speak clearly and rightly about love. The goal for these gatherings is to help us grow in love for God, his word, and one another.
To help us with this, we’ll be kicking things off by looking to the Bible to see what it has to say about love. Everyone has an idea of what love is, but might struggle to explain it. Some days we have trouble putting that love into action.
What will the gathering look like?
While the gathering will start off at 6pm, we’ll have refreshments available in the Back Hall from 5:30pm. This is a good opportunity to spend time together before things begin and also provides a bit of relief for young children because when you’re a kid (of any age), snacks make everything better.
From 6pm, we’ll be breaking up our time into 3 sections, singing, thinking, and responding.
Singing
We’ll meet in the main hall and will spend time singing together. We’re going to be learning some new songs together with a different feel to what we would sing during our morning service. This is a much more casual environment. If you would rather not sing, just listen and think about the words as they’re projected on the screens.
Thinking
Rather than a sermon, we’ll be learning together. There will be time for discussion, question & response, looking at the Bible together and trying to understand what it means for everyone of all ages. During the teaching time, there will be a space set up in the room for young children to move around and do some colouring in.
Responding
After the teaching time, we’ll spending time singing again, but this time in response to what we’ve learned. This is a good time to continue meditating on what the Bible says and how to carry that message with you into the week ahead.
At the end, one of the leaders will pray and then it will be time to head home for the evening.