Just Another Melodic Monday - Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Jason Waller performs the classic hymn, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing", a sung prayer that expresses the Christian's desire to be in fellowship with Jesus Christ.

The Midweek Message: From Seed to Flour (Matthew 13)

We continue to learn about the kingdom of heaven as Jesus shares two more parables in Matthew 13:31-33.  Although the kingdom appears small to start with, it will grow and spread its branches across the globe.

Just Another Melodic Monday - Revelation Song

"Revelation Song" draws our attention to the day of Christ and the endless praise that will be given to "the Lamb that was slain".  The song is performed by Mark Rasmussen with David Quimba, Joelle Pererz, and Alyssa Carino.

Another Midweek Message: A Statement of Faith - The Bible

Continuing our series looking topically at the FIEC Statement of Faith, we reach the subject of the Bible.  This is another big topic!  We begin the message in Hebrews 1:1-2.

The Midweek Message: Jesus is the Good Farmer (Matthew 13)

In our series about "Stories Jesus Told", we reach the parable of the wheat and the weeds in Matthew 13. Jesus warns us about what to anticipate while we live now as citizens of the kingdom of God, and what will happen at "the end of the age".

Just Another Melodic Monday - There is a day

The song "There is a day" celebrates the longed-for return of Jesus Christ, and is sung here by Lou Fellingham.

"Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."  (1 John 3:2)

Another Midweek Message: The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13)

In Matthew 13, Jesus shares a few parables about the kingdom of God. A parable is a story that has another story hidden within it. In the parable of the sower, we learn about the different reactions people have to the message of the kingdom and how the gospel transforms the way we respond to God's Word.

A Midweek Message: No Sting, Just Sweetness (An Easter Message)

On Easter Sunday, we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ during our family service.  The children stayed in for the whole service rather than going out to Sunday school, so I split the message in three and involved and interacted with the children during the first two parts, hence only recording the third part of the message.

In the first part, we considered how to test Jesus' claim (Matthew 17) that he would die and rise from the dead.  We recognised that we could do this by comparing the "before-and-after" pictures.  We examined the evidence in the Bible, and concluded that Jesus' death had been witnessed and confirmed, and his life after his death had also been witnessed and confirmed.  His claim had been verified.

In the second part, we examined the lives of the people around him.  If Jesus had risen from the dead, then this would have changed the lives of his followers - in other words, they would have their own "before-and-after" pictures that we could examine.  We noticed how Peter had changed - before the resurrection, he lied about knowing Jesus (Luke 22), but after the resurrection he openly proclaimed his faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 4).  We also noticed the dramatic change in the lives of people who were convinced of the resurrection even though they hadn't seen the risen Christ (Acts 2) and how lives continue to be changed today by the message of Christ.

In the third part, we considered two reasons why we still celebrate the resurrection: it teaches me something about the death of Christ, and it teaches me something about my own death.

Just Another Melodic Monday - Great is thy faithfulness

The hymn "Great is thy faithfulness" was written by Thomas Chisholm, and here is performed by Jimmy Needham.  The hymn recognises that, even though the world around us changes, we always have "strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow" because of the unchanging faithfulness of our God.

Update: Step by Step by Faith

That's the phrase I've used to describe our journey as a relatively new church community: "Step by step by faith".  It's wonderful - and important - to look back and see how the Lord has helped us as we've tried to be obedient to His Word.  We believe that a gospel-centred church should have "the Word and warmth"; that, as God's Word is delivered and received, we should see a loving community develop.  

I'm grateful to God for the way He has directed us and for the spiritual family that is growing at Welshpool Community Church.  I'm also grateful for all those who continue to prayerfully support the work here in Welshpool.  I'm often uploading sermons and songs, but not often uploading pictures, so here are a couple from a fellowship meal we had recently (and which we will now be having once a month).

Just Another Melodic Monday - All Creatures of our God and King

I had planned to meet with Nathan Smith last week, Lead Pastor of Grace Church Bristol, but we had to postpone.  I first met Nathan at a Sovereign Grace Conference several years ago, and we've continued to meet up a couple of times a year to share news and encourage each other - while having a nice meal, of course!  You can visit their church website at gracechurchbristol.org.

Here is a song from Sovereign Grace Music that we sing regularly, combining words from the sixteenth and twenty first centuries!