On Sunday, the introit, 'Spirit of the Living God', sung by the choir with Alan Adams as organist, was followed by the words of welcome read by Connor Bridge.
He was thanked by Mr. Tony Scullard, church secretary, who also welcomed and thanked the Rev. Sheila Pollard who was leading worship. Tony expressed condolences, on behalf of the church, to the Rev. Russell Gordon and his family on the death of his son Osian.
In her talk to the young people, Sheila got Stefan to try to count the number of hairs on Lewys's head. Impossible! but Sheila quoted Jesus saying 'God knows how many hairs there are on your head.' This speaks of how amazing God is and how much he showed his love for us, through Jesus and that we in turn should care for each other. The hymn 'Jesus' hands were kind hands' reinforced this message.
The congregational reading was of Psalm 118, 'O give thanks to the Lord for he is good'. Mrs. Gwen Nicholl read from Amos 8, 4-7, 'Israel's doom', and Luke 16, 1 -13, 'The shrewd manager'.
Each of these passages was referred to in the sermon, which explored attitudes to money in the time of Jesus, of Amos and in our own age. People see only their own profit and forget the needs of others, but God never forgets. The words of the psalmist depict God as a generous leader who treats all people with dignity, respect and love. The challenge of the sermon was for us to examine our own lives, turn to God and take whatever small steps we can towards making a fairer world.
Thank you, Sheila, for this thought-provoking challenge. Thank you also to the choir, Alan, Connor and Gwen.
This Sunday, at 11 am, worship, which will be led by Rev. Nanette Lewis Head, is to be a celebration of Harvest Thanksgiving and the 20th anniversary of the inauguration of St. Johns. There will be a faith lunch to follow. All are welcome to join on this special Sunday.
In closing, a sincere apology to those who worked or contributed to the August coffee mornings. The £850 raised was for Breast Care Wales and not, as reported, Macmillan Nurses.