At Solas we really value our great partnership with Carrubbers Christian Centre. David Nixon one of the pastors there is a Solas Associate whose work you will find all over our website and in the Have You Ever Wondered? book. He really understands the approach we take to sharing the gospel through people’s questions and contemporary questions. This makes the events that we do with them really easy to invite people to. They also know how to create a relaxed, friendly atmosphere that isn’t threatening for people to come into from outside the church.
The topic I was asked to address was: Have You Ever Wondered what happens when we die?
So I spoke about everlasting life with a strongly invitational stance, looking to emphasise the hope that we have in Christ in order to invite others to come and share in that. In Jesus we have found sure and certain hope, so it was a joy and a privilege to share that with other people.
There were about 25-30 folks there, seated around tables to make it friendly, inviting and to facilitate discussion. The church reckoned about 40% of the folks wo came were guests from outside their congregation – many of whom were there seeking answers to life’s questions and willing to consider the Christian faith. It wasn’t a big meeting by any means – but it was really worthwhile.
We didn’t do the usual format, which is a long talk followed by Q&A. Rather my talk was broken up into short ten-minute bite-sized chunks each of which was followed by discussion round the tables. There was obviously good participation, and some lively conversations went on around the room. Sometimes it was difficult to get the discussions to come to a conclusion, so that I could move the meeting on to the next talk! But that’s a good sign, as it meant there was real engagement.
At the beginning and end of the evening they had some musicians who are part of Carrubbers performing. They were really excellent, and that was a great way of setting the tone. They had copies of Have You Ever Wondered? on all the tables too, so I was able to point people to that and to our website, as places they could go for more information or to explore more of their questions. Carrubbers do these kinds of events really well, they have really thought through how to make visitors welcome and are good at welcoming them into the place and initiating gospel-conversations in a natural and helpful way.
There were a range of different perspectives around the room, including some push-back from some very committed atheist. One man, a lifelong atheist said that the evening had given him a lot to think about, but that he ‘wasn’t convinced yet!’
Carrubbers, which is based on the Royal Mile, right in the centre of Edinburgh’s Old Town; hold regular guest services like this every month. These guest events have had a “Wondering” theme this year, and along with the topic I did; they have also asked people to think about ‘Why people believe in God’ and “Who Jesus is”.
It’s great to see another way that our Have You Ever Wondered? book is being used to share the gospel!
