19 th February 2017 Number 905 Riverside Weekly A warm welcome to everyone joining us for our worship this morning Today s flowers provided by Mavis in memory of her Father. 11:00 All Age Worship Deacon Lisa Rathbone 12:30 Bring & Share Lunch followed by Church Council Music provided by Ted Blackman Norman Pybus welcomed you at the door, and the books were given out by Sue Smith Refreshments by Eileen Lomax & Amanda Brookfield Reading by Thomas Brookfield (Matthew 5:38-48 page 5 in the NT) Today s Stewards are Peter & Amanda Brookfield Happy Birthday to: Elias Storm (Wednesday) and Kath Morris (Thursday). Do join us for tea & coffee after the service this morning
TheComingWeeks Sunday 19 th February 11:00 All Age Worship Deacon Lisa Rathbone 12:30 Bring & Share Lunch Church Council All church members are members of the church council and eligible attend the meetings Monday 20 th February 2:00 Home Group at 5 Gerddi-y-Bache 6:00 Games and Activity evening all are welcome Tuesday 21 tst February 10:00 12:00 Coffee Morning by Tenovus at the Memorial Hall Wednesday 22 nd February There will be no Prayer Group this week. Sunday 26 th February 11:00 Holy Communion Rev Patrick Rudden Tuesday 28 th February 10:00 12:00 Coffee at the Memorial Hall join us for refreshments and a small bric-a-brac stall 3:30 Pancake Party at St Collen s Hall Wednesday 1 st March 10:00 Prayer Group meet in the vestry you are welcome to join us. Friday 3 rd March 11:00 Women s World Day of Prayer at St Collens. 12:30 1:30 Souper Friday at the Memorial Hall
The editor s jottings! Pancake Party there will be a pancake party for the start of Lent at St Collen s Hall on Tuesday 28 th February. Projector we thank Elias for setting up the projector and projecting the hymns each week. We are looking for helpers who are willing to be trained to use the system, and who would be willing to take a turn in projecting some weeks. Please see Elias if you are willing to help. Raffle Prizes Mavis is looking for raffle prizes for our coffee mornings, please let her know if you can supply some prizes. Norman Spring Church Party Our Spring Church Party will be on Monday 6 th March at 6:00pm. We will be serving lasagne with salad and bread and butter followed by a dessert and a cup of tea. The cost will again be 6. We will then be having our usual and popular home grown entertainment. If you would like to be part of this entertainment be it singing, reading poetry, playing an instrument or whatever, please let me know and then I can put a programme together. Please let me have your names as soon as possible so that we know how many to cater for. Many thanks Sheila Page 3
Thank You, Lord, for this fine day, Thank You, Lord, for this fine day, Thank You, Lord, for this fine day, (Chorus) Alleluia, praise the Lord! Alleluia, praise the Lord! Alleluia, praise the Lord, Thank You, Lord, for loving us, Thank You, Lord, for loving us, Thank You, Lord, for loving us, (Chorus) Thank You, Lord, for giving us peace, Thank You, Lord, for giving us peace, Thank You, Lord, for giving us peace, (Chorus) Thank You, Lord, for setting us free, Thank You, Lord, for setting us free, Thank You, Lord, for setting us free, (Chorus x 2) Copyright 1971, 1975 Celebration/Kingsway s Thankyou Music. A Songs of Fellowship Worship Resource CCLL 426621 Minister:- Rev Philip Poole (01978) 860877 Email:- philpoole@btinternet.com
We have the Vice President of Conference coming to Llandudno in March. Below are details of her visit. We hope that plenty of people from across the circuit will want to come along to these events, all on the theme of social justice. Interested in Social Justice Issues? Don t miss this opportunity to meet Rachel Lampard, Methodist Vice-President, who also leads the Churches Joint Public Issues Team (Methodist, Baptist, The Church of Scotland, URC) on issues of justice and peace. (1) Wednesday 22nd March 2017, 2.30 pm St John s Methodist Church, Llandudno, LL30 2NN The importance of joint action on social justice. (2) Wednesday 22nd March 2017, 7.30pm at St David s Methodist Church. Craig-y-Don, Llandudno, LL30 1YY A Methodist perspective on responses to social justice. (3) Thursday 23rd March 2017, 11.30am St David s Methodist Church, Reflection and Meditative Prayer on social justice themes. Refreshments Served from 11am. (4) Thursday 23rd March 2017, 12.15pm St David s Methodist Church, Poverty Lunch (Donations to Poverty Action Charities) Developing Dementia Friendly Churches March 14 th 9.30am 3.30pm Llangollen Pavilion This day of learning will explore issues facing people with dementia and their carers. It will offer practical advice, ideas and resources on how churches can help people with dementia to live well in their communities, by understanding, welcoming, respecting and supporting them. The day will include seminars and opportunities to ask questions of experts in their field. The aim of this day is to empower: People with dementia, their carers, Churches By providing understanding: Knowledge about the disease, resources and help for people with dementia, resources and help for their carers, ways churches can be Dementia Friendly. For more information or to book your place please contact sianconnelly@ churchinwales.org.uk Page 5
Today s Bible Study Reading (from the Methodist Church Website) Matthew 5:38-48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (v. 48) Psalm 119:33-40 Background It s that simple just be perfect like God. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5-7) contains some of the most inspiring, and at the same time daunting, teachings of Jesus. Today s passage is probably one of the hardest as it challenges us to live by a very different code to that of the world, and finishes with a verse that implores us to be perfect like God. The Old Testament law that had been given to the people sought to cap the retribution offered out when someone was seeking justice. The call of an eye for an eye (Exodus 21:24) was set to limit the punishment to the same measure of the crime instead of seeing it escalate. Jesus here in Matthew s Gospel revisits this and other teachings not to discredit the law but to expand it. The calls to turn the other cheek, to give more than is demanded of you and to go the extra mile all subvert the way the powerful often act towards the powerless. This goes further than just loving your neighbour, to loving your enemy as well. Jesus then commands us to pray for them so that we may be children of our Father in heaven (v. 45). This is a pivotal verse as it begins to reveal to us the core message of what Jesus is teaching. To be someone s child is to be like them and so by loving our enemies we become like our Father in heaven. It is God s nature to love all people and so it should be our nature too. The image from nature of the rain or sun falling on all people highlights this point as they do not discriminate and neither should we. Information for Riverside Weekly should be sent to the editor, Page 6 Norman Pybus (01978) 861390 Email:-editor@llangollenmethodist.org.uk
This all leads up to the most difficult of verses. How can we be perfect like God? From all that has gone before us, we see that this perfection to which we are called is the way we love others. The Greek word translated as perfect can also be rendered as mature or complete. But the meaning still stands the same. We are called to love as our Father in heaven loves, for both those we would call neighbour and those we would count as our enemy. To Ponder Which enemy do you find it most difficult to love? Why? What could you do to overcome it? Bible notes author: The Revd David Wynd Some of the religious programmes on TV & Radio each week BBC1 17:00 Sunday 12 th February Songs of Praise Women Priests Marking the 25 th anniversary of the Church of England s vote in favour of women s ordination, David Grant meets the first female Anglican priest and the next generation of women preparing for the priesthood. Radio Wales 7:30 & 18:30 Sundays Celebration Radio 2 6:00 Sunday Morning The Sunday Hour Radio 2 7:00 Sunday Morning Good Morning Sunday with Clare Balding Radio 4 8:10 Sundays Sunday Worship Radio 4 (LW) 9:45 Monday to Thursday Mornings Daily Worship Radio 4 (LW) 9:45 Friday Mornings Act of Worship Page 7
Take the high road Don t repay evil for evil. Don t retaliate. 1 Peter 3:9 It s been said that the depth of your hurt determines the width of your response. So it s likely that when someone hurts you, your first impulse will be to get even. But any momentary satisfaction you experience will invariably be followed by a lingering sense of regret. Why is that? Because you know you ve failed God by retaliating. We retaliate in two ways: Word for Today 1) Tit for tat. Before you make your offender suffer, carefully consider these words: Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honourable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone never take revenge. Leave that to God. For the Scriptures say, I will take revenge; I will pay them back, says the LORD (Romans 12:17-19 NLT). 2) By involving others. Not only do you not have the right to strike back, you don t have the right to tear down your offender in front of others. Joseph not only refused to punish his brothers for their betrayal, he refused to publish the details to those who worked in his courts. Why? Because he saw God s hand at work, and realised that what he d suffered at his brothers hands had made him the man he was. Peter writes: Don t repay evil for evil. Don t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing (1 Peter 3:9 NLT). So if you want to walk in the blessing of God today, take the high road. Published by UCB, Stoke on Trent For free daily readings see Elisabeth or Norman