Christmas events at Welshpool Community Church

 

As many of you will know, we've been unable to return to our pre-lockdown meeting place, the Ann Holloway Centre, so we're grateful that we've been able to hire the United Chapel building on New Street for our gatherings; and it appears that we'll be there for the foreseeable future.  

All of our Christmas services and events will be taking place there, and this will include:

"Coffee and Carols" every Monday morning, 10-12, until Christmas

All-age service on Sunday 5th December at 10:30am, followed by a hot lunch

Carol Service on Sunday 12th December at 5:30pm, followed by mince pies

Christmas Day Service at 10am, followed by a Community Meal at 1pm

There will be no charge for the lunches, but if you're planning to come to the community meal on Christmas Day, it would help if you could book beforehand: contact us on 07908362335 or email us at welshpoolcommunitychurch@gmail.com.

Monday Morning "Coffee and Carols"

We had our first Monday morning "Coffee and Carols" yesterday (the next one is 6th December), and it was a great encouragement to see both familiar and unfamiliar faces among those joining us.  

As well as chatting over hot drinks, people were invited to join in with the carol singing at 11am; and the Advent readings (from 2 Samuel 7:8-17 and Luke 1:26-38) reminded us that the birth of Jesus Christ was the fulfilment of a 1,000 year-old promise to David about a king who would rule forever:

And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:30-33)

This also links the birth of Jesus with his resurrection, for a king that rules forever must be able to overcome death.  The authority of Jesus over death was something highlighted in last Sunday's service, looking at chapter 4 of John's gospel (verses 43-54), in which Jesus, simply by commanding it, miraculously heals a man's son who is close to death.  Here's a brief excerpt from the sermon:

"In chapter one of his gospel, John describes the Word who existed “in the beginning” and “was with God and was God”.  All things were created through this Word, and this Word contains the life that brings light to humanity.  

"John tells us (1:14) that this Word “became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  He's clearly telling us that Jesus Christ is this Word that was at the creation of the world and today gives to people Life and Light (with capital “L”s!)

"So, when Jesus Christ is born, he is not simply a heaven-sent messenger – he is the heaven-sent message.  In him, God’s promises become a person.  It is no surprise, then, that this life-giving and life-changing Word, having become a person, then speaks life-giving and life-changing words.  As Jesus declares that the son will live, even Death begins to feel intimidated..."

Catching up on our sermon series in the book of Daniel

As well as livestreaming our Sunday Morning Worship Service via the YouTube channel "Artful Stampin", we also continue to record the sermons for uploading to our Welshpool Community Church profile on Soundcloud.  

Below is the recording from last Sunday (11th):

Welshpool Community Church · A Heart-Led, Word-Fed Prayer (Daniel 9)

Sunday Morning In-Person Worship Service, livestreamed on 4th July

We've continuing to hold regular, in-person worship services on Sunday mornings at 10:30am in the United Church building on New Street.  It's great that regulations now allow us to sing together (although we still keep masks on) and that we can have fellowship in the church garden after the service.

Last Sunday, I taught from the Old Testament book of Daniel, chapter 8, in which we're given more specific details about some of the kingdoms that were dreamt about earlier in the book.  Just like a jigsaw, we can put the pieces together to get an overall picture of what God was making known, and we learn that, within the vision of Daniel, there is also a message to us.

Sunday Morning IN-PERSON Worship Service, livestreamed 13th June 2021

Last Sunday 13th June, we held our first in-person Sunday Morning Worship Service since lockdown began over a year ago!  We've hired the United Church building in town, as they are currently not holding any meetings on a regular basis.

Below is a video of the service, which we livestreamed on YouTube.  We thank God for an uplifting time together.  As the weather was dry, we ended the service by going into the church garden to sing before having a more informal time of socially-distanced fellowship and mutual encouragement.

We're planning to continue meeting in the United Church building on Sunday mornings at 10:30am on a regular basis until the Lord provides something more long-term.

Sunday Morning Worship Service, 6th June 2021

During our worship service on Sunday, we spent time looking at the book of Daniel chapter 5 and found an example of what Jesus once described:

Matthew 13:12: "For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away."

Below is the full service that was livestreamed on YouTube, in which we also have communion in remembrance of the death of Jesus Christ for us.

Sunday Morning Worship Service, livestreamed on 23rd May 2021

We livestream our Morning Worship Services every Sunday at 10:30am via our church Facebook page. We also livestream via YouTube, as this gives a lot of people the option to watch on a bigger screen, such as a Smart TV.

However, we don't have enough subscribers on our church's YouTube channel to livestream using a mobile phone, so we use another channel called "Artful Stampin", a paper crafting channel run by Ruth Magness (the pastor's wife).

Below is a link to watch last Sunday's livestreamed worship service on YouTube.  You'll also find a playlist of all of our previous Sunday services on the Artful Stampin YouTube channel.

Just Another Melodic Monday - Sovereign over us

"Sovereign over us" is written by Aaron Keyes, Bryan Brown and Jack Mooring, and the song is an expression of faith in a God who is "faithful forever" and "perfect in love".  The words of the bridge are particularly striking:

Even what the enemy means for evil, you turn it for our good

You turn it for our good and for your glory

Even in the valley, you are faithful; you're working for our good

You're working for our good and for your glory

These words remind us of the wonderful promise found in Romans 8:28: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

Sermon: Warnings to avoid woe (Matthew 23)

In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 23, Jesus warns about the dangers of religious hypocrisy and teaches that we can respect someone's role or title, without condoning or copying their bad practices.  In this sermon, we consider what religious hypocrisy might look like and how we are to avoid it.

Welshpool Community Church · Warnings To Avoid Woe (Matthew 23)

Sermon: The Glory of Unspectacular Obedience (Luke 3)

The last three years of Jesus' ministry, full of incredible teaching and miracles, were spectacular and memorable, and hence we find lots of details about those years recorded in the Bible.  

But there's hardly anything written down about the first 30 years of his life.  However, at the baptism of Jesus, we learn about the glory of unspectacular obedience, and in this sermon we consider how that can encourage us now to be holy.

Welshpool Community Church · The Glory Of Unspectacular Obedience (Luke 3)