Most of these news items first appeared in PRAXIS, the magazine of Horeb United Reformed Church
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Christmas at Horeb |
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Tuesday, 02 December 2008 11:06 |
Details of our Christmas Services are as follows:
Sunday 21st December, 9.30am, Family Festival Service with Nativity
Christmas Eve, 4.30pm - Readings and Carols by Candlelight
Christmas Day, 10.00am - Worship for Christmas Morning
Sunday 28th December, 9.30am - Morning Worship, Revd Colin Richards
A warm welcome is extended to all!
Merry Christmas!
Nadolig Llawen!
Christmas arrangements for the Food Co-op are:
Instead of the usual Wednesday (which is Christmas Eve) the Food Co-op will operate on Monday 22nd December.
As well as the usual bags, £6 bags will be available which will contain some more exciting things like pineapple, melon etc. Nuts and dates will also be available, we expect.
There will be no Co-op on 31st December. It will re-open on 7th January.
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Don't Cancel Christmas |
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Tuesday, 02 December 2008 13:52 |
Last week BBC Radio 2 provided a series of helpful hints and tips to hard pressed consumers about how to make ends meet over the festive season. These included expert's advice on cheap travel, on entertaining, on buying presents on a budget and on frugal food and drink from the blessed Delia. With the impending recession in mind this public service broadcaster was anxious that people of Britain shouldn't cancel Christmas and indeed the tagline for the week was ‘Don't Cancel Christmas'.
I accept that for most of us Christmas will be more difficult this year and that the usual indulgences may well have to be tempered. Any advice on how to limit spending or make a little go a long way is to be received with gladness. However it was the suggestion that Christmas might actually be cancelled because it cannot be afforded that raised an eyebrow or two. What do people think Christmas is all about that it might be cancelled like a wedding, a package holiday or a sporting occasion? Has the fact that Christmas actually celebrates an event that has already happened been completely forgotten?
Hopefully we need not be reminded that at the heart of Christmas lies none other than God incarnate, the Christ-Child. First and foremost we celebrate this fact - the most significant birth in the history of humankind. Jesus' birth took place at a time of great political and religious turmoil. The superpower of the day was the Roman Empire and the promise of a saviour from the violence and tyranny that surrounded them was just what the religious people of Jesus' day had been waiting for. The Gospel writers who tell the story of his birth emphasise a new age of peace, justice and righteousness. The time had come for all earthly kingdoms to pass away and for God's kingdom to rule - the world would never again be the same.
Today the global superpowers may well be different but many of the world's problems remain the same. People are still in need of salvation from many different things - quite often simply from themselves. With this in mind how can we afford for the truth of Christmas to be lost amid the bright lights and tinsel? How can the one person that is able to give any true hope to a world in need be forgotten?
So what is Christmas? A festive time; a time for families - for the children in particular; a mid-winter holiday; a time for giving and receiving. Yes, of course it is all these things - but it is much much more than them too - and certainly not something that is ours to cancel! Whatever else we do, or decide not to do this Christmas-time let us keep Christ at the centre, celebrating his birth and always giving thanks to God for the gift of his Son.
"She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21
May I wish you all a joyful Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
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A 'Merry Evening' |
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Tuesday, 02 December 2008 10:24 |
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That's the literal translation of 'Noson Lawen', and that was what we had on Friday 28 November. The forty-five or so people who enjoyed it came from Horeb, from Bethel and from the village, a very mixed bunch!
To get everyone in a suitably merry mood there was an excellent buffet to start with in the Paterson Hall. Then we adjourned to the comfort of the church which was arranged in café style. There we were treated to some home-grown entertainment.
There was instrumental music, provided by James on the cornet and Elen on the harp, both excellently done. Maddy delighted us by singing a solo of 'Summertime' and Pam Pollitt read some Christmas pieces - a bit of nostalgia there! A quick-fire quiz with the winning table supplied with jelly babies followed, and the Welsh group entertained with songs, and words from Dylan Thomas. Graeme's basso profundo delighted us with Old Man River and Old Father Thames and Colin recalled Flanders and Swan with The Gas Man Cometh. The Food Co-op 'Choir' sang a crazy song! Jenifer provided accompaniment to almost everything, and we finished by singing together.
Thanks go to all who took part, provided food, washed up, or just came! It lived up to its name: it was certainly a really merry evening - even raising £75 for church funds! |
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Credit Crisis |
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Wednesday, 15 October 2008 13:50 |
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'Turbulent' is a word that has been used many times over the past few weeks. That the financial stability that we seem to have enjoyed for so long might be under threat first came to our consciences over a year ago when the Northern Rock bank saw a 'run' on its accounts and an estimated £1 billion pounds was withdrawn by savers in just a few days. Since then the crisis has only deepened, and now it seems we live in an uncertain world as far as the economy is concerned with the only winners being those ready to give quick advice to worried investors.
This uncertainty has prompted people to ask questions about the things that they thought they could rely upon - like banks for example whose power and influence over all our lives has far exceeded anyone's expectations. It has also brought home the fragility of our comfortable existence - how when one domino falls, others quickly follow. No-one is immune and commentators suggest that we will increasingly have to get used to this instability and adjust our behaviour accordingly.
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Read more...
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Rhyl Night Shelter Appeal |
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Tuesday, 02 December 2008 10:30 |
We have learnt that the Rhyl Night Shelter often needs food, sometimes quite urgently. The Church Meeting agreed that we should have a collection of suitable items on a regular basis, and should involve the whole village on some occasions. One of the Craft Fairs in 2009 will be dedicated to the Night Shelter. There will also be a shopping basket available for donated goods on Sunday and Wednesday mornings throughout the year.
The items which the Night Shelter particularly needs are as follows:
Tins of rice pudding
Tins of fruit
Custard (tins or powder)
Gravy granules
Stock cubes
Pasta
Rice
Flour (plain and self raising)
Tinned vegetables
Tuna
Herbs and spices
Tinned tomatoes
Tea bags
Also always needed are (old) blankets. |
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Crafts at the Chapel |
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Tuesday, 02 December 2008 10:35 |
In 2009 we shall be hosting five Craft Fairs which will take place on the first Saturdays in February, April, June, September and November. Opening times will be 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. Tables will be offered to craft groups at £7, and there seem to be plenty of takers. All the table money will be donated to a local charity, which the church will decide. That charity will be invited to have a stall as well. The money from the sale of refreshments will be retained by the church. If you are interested in booking a stall then please ring 01745 889002.
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