Minister’s Message – January 21, 2024

Bible readings: Jonah 1:1-3; 3:1-10.

One day the Lord spoke to Jonah son of Amittai. He said, “Go to Nineveh, that great city, and speak out against it; I am aware of how wicked its people are.”

Jonah, however, set out in the opposite direction in order to get away from the Lord. He went to Joppa, where he found a ship about to go to Spain. He paid his fare and went aboard with the crew to sail to Spain, where he would be away from the Lord.

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Minister’s Message – January 14, 2024

Bible reading: 1 Samuel 3:1-10.

In those days, when the boy Samuel was serving the Lord under the direction of Eli, there were very few messages from the Lord, and visions from him were quite rare.One night Eli, who was now almost blind, was sleeping in his own room; Samuel was sleeping in the sanctuary, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. Before dawn, while the lamp was still burning, the Lord called Samuel. He answered, “Yes, sir!” and ran to Eli saying, “You called me, and here I am.”

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Minister’s Message – January 7, 2024

Bible reading: Genesis 1:1-5.

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

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New Year’s Eve – Minister’s Message

Bible reading: Luke 2:22-40.

The time came for Joseph and Mary to perform the ceremony of purification, as the Law of Moses commanded. So they took the child to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord: “Every first-born male is to be dedicated to the Lord.” They also went to offer a sacrifice of a pair of doves or two young pigeons, as required by the law of the Lord.

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Christmas Eve – Minister’s Message

Bible Reading: John 1:1-14.

In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. From the very beginning the Word was with God. Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him. The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.

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Minister’s Message at the Carol Service -December 17, 2023

Bible Reading: 1 John 1:1-4.
‘We write to you about the Word of life, which has existed from the very beginning. We have heard it, and we have seen it with our eyes; yes, we have seen it, and our hands have touched it.
When this life became visible, we saw it; so we speak of it and tell you about the eternal life which was with the Father and was made known to us.
What we have seen and heard we announce to you also, so that you will join with us in the fellowship that we have with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
We write this in order that our joy may be complete.’

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Minister’s Message – December 3, 2023

Bible reading: Isaiah 64:1-9.

As you drive along the M4 towards Newport, you will see a sign which reads: “For Forest Drive, leave at junction 28”. If this piques your curiosity, you’ll leave the motorway and follow the Ebbw River past Rogerstone, Risca and Crosskeys. The valley steadily narrows and, shortly before you reach Abercarn, you’ll see another sign pointing you up a road to your right. For the next mile or two you will pass through woodland until you finally arrive at the Cwmcarn Forest Drive. You can now pay a toll and continue along a narrow road along hillsides, above deep gorges and past picnic places where you can stop to admire the views. It’s all very peaceful, sylvan and (you might think) unspoiled. Yet this was once the site of the Prince of Wales colliery which, at its peak, employed well over 1000 people, and which in 1878 was the site of a terrible disaster which killed at least 278 men and boys. The colliery closed in 1968 and today you’d hardly know that it ever existed.

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Minister’s Message – November 26, 2023

Bible reading: Matthew 25:31-46.

According to an article in the “Nairobi Sunday Standard” (a newspaper I’d never have heard of without the Internet!), there are several things which you must never do when you’re visiting someone ill in hospital.

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Minister’s Message – November 19, 2023

Bible reading: Matthew 25:14-30.

“Double Your Money” was probably the most successful TV game show of the late 1950s and early 60s. It was famous for its presenter Hughie Green, who constantly interrupted contestants in order to put them off, for its perky young Cockney hostess Monica Rose, and for the soundproof box in which participants could follow the “money trail” to win £1000 – over a year’s wages for most people. Hughie Green wasn’t, I think, a very nice man (although he had a large model railway in his flat above Baker Street station); he was renowned for his many affairs and was a heavy smoker, drinker and drug user. Nevertheless his huckstering style added sparkle to British television at a time when it was all in black-and-white. And here’s some trivia you might not have known: one of the hostesses before Monica Rose was Margaret Smith, who went on to become the famous actress Dame Maggie Smith; and one of the £1000 prize-winners was Bobby Carlton, who answered questions on pop music – would you believe that he flouted the rules by refusing to go into the soundproof box!

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Minister’s Message – November 12, 2023

Bible reading: selected from Jeremiah 6.

The Second World War was very much a living memory when I was growing up. There were derelict air-raid shelters in the local parkand, bombsites which had yet to be developed. Films such as “The Dam Busters”, “The Wooden Horse” and (a bit later) “633 Squadron“ and “The Guns of Navarone” filled the cinemas. My comics featured stories of plucky Brits fighting dastardly Germans who called their enemies “Schweinhund”. Boys enjoyed assembling (and then destroying) Airfix kits of Spitfires and Messerschmitts. War was made to seem exciting, heroic and even rather fun; perhaps that was a way of helping grown-ups to work their way through the trauma that so many had suffered.

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