7:00pm: Advent Talks

This year’s Advent Talks will take place in person at St Mary’s Inverurie on Thursdays 5, 12 and 19 December.

The talks will be led by David Atkinson, and there will be time for small group discussions as we take time to reflect on the world as we find it and challenges posed to us as Christians at this time.

Week 1:  Thursday 5 December
The current situation in the Middle East:

Why it has come about, what we can discern from Scripture in relation to war in general and war in this area and what we as Christians can do to help peace and reconciliation. At various points in the Old Testament the boundaries of Israel are defined as are the actions to maintain these largely non-natural boundaries. This challenges our approach to scripture and causes us to reflect on the concept of the state.

Week 2:  Thursday 12 December
Assisted Dying:

At the present time there are Bills in both the Scottish and Westminster parliaments which would change the law so as to make assisted suicide legal. Traditionally this has been unacceptable to churches but it is clear that attitudes in Society are changing What ought now to be the churches position? Do we still view the issue now in the same way as we did a decade ago. What does the move to allow this say about society?

Week 3:  Thursday 19 December
Preparing for Christmas:

The description of the first Christmas in Scripture is very different to how it is now seen by our secular society. Would we celebrate Christmas differently if we focused more on scripture and less on how society from the Victorian era onwards has envisaged it? Is it just such a wonderful event that in our current world we ought just to be glad to have something to celebrate? How, now do we regard the Incarnation?