|
DATE |
CHURCH |
SUBJECT |
PREACHER |
BIBLE
REF. |
|
JUNE TO SEPTEMBER 2009 |
|
25.10.09 |
Llanfair Church |
Bible Sunday
The Word of God is, after all, a
metaphor for that intuitive comprehension of the incomprehensible.
Like other biblical metaphors for God, such as wind, spirit, fire
and water, bread and wine, the Word (or the voice) is something
fundamental to human life – elemental. That which is closest to us,
that which is most basic turns out to be the perfect “vehicle” for
God. |
Rev.Richard
Carter |
Mark 8.27-29 |
|
18.10.09 |
Llanbedr
Church |
Ministry of Healing
The Healing ministry of the church
is an integral part of what we are and do as Christians and as such
it should be used and not hidden away because we are a bit unsure
about it, a bit fearful about it and not quite sure if we understand
it. It is only through using it that we can grow in confidence and
understanding. |
Rev.H.Butler |
Luke 10 |
|
27.09.09 |
Llanbedr
Church |
Back to Church
Sunday Jesus’
reputation as a friend to all had obviously reached Zacchaeus and on
hearing that Jesus was in the neighbourhood he wanted to see and
hear him. He was short in stature, the crowd was large and he could
not see Jesus. So, he disregards his reputation and finds a
sycamore-fig tree, rather like our oak tree, and climbs for a better
view. |
Rev.H.Butler |
Luke 19.1-10 |
|
20.09.09 |
Llanfair Church |
Publicity When
you apply for a job you are asked to provide a statement as to why
you deserve the job more than any other applicant does. In other
words, why you are the greatest. You have to beef up your CV and
then present yourself at the interview bursting with confidence and
showing a killer instinct that will see off all your competitors.
|
Rev.Canon Dr.R.Bayley |
Mark 9.30 |
|
13.09.09 |
Llanfair Church |
Who is Jesus?
Thinking about Jesus the
suffering messiah. Maybe he is trying to show us something, to teach
us something. And just maybe, he is trying to show us and teach us
what God is actually like? May this really is how God works? Not
like someone who would use power to remove us from our situations.
Not a salvation which removes us from our difficulties, not a power
which removes our pains. |
Rev.Richard
Carter |
Mark 8.27-29 |
|
06.09.09 |
Rhewl Church |
Listening Skills
Does the
Church of our own day see itself as the “in crowd” ? It can be
very easy to do so. Sadly we are often preoccupied with our own
survival. This is understandable when we need constantly to keep
an eye on our bank balance, But survival for what? For
ourselves? For others? The story in today’s gospel apprears to
suggest that we are here for the sake of others as well as
ourselves. |
Rev.Richard Carter |
Mark 7.24-38 |
|
30.08.09 |
St.Peter's, Ruthin |
Life's Values
First of all James is anxious for us to appreciate where these
values come from. They may have a variety of secondary sources. They
may come from our parents, our teachers, what we have read, people
we have known. But their primary source is from God. He writes,
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from
above, coming down from the father of lights, with whom there is no
variation or shadow due to change |
Rev.Canon Dr.R.Bayley |
James 1.25 |
|
23.08.09 |
Llangynhafal
Church |
Taking Offence
Simon Peter says. “You have the words of eternal life. We now
believe. We now understand that you are the Holy One of God." Of
course, they still didn't really, fully understand, as became
obvious in later events, but they did believe. They were prepared to
do the work necessary to begin to understand, and meanwhile they
trusted in Jesus. This is not a bad lesson for any of us when we
are in any kind of doubt, whether in our everyday lives, our
relationships with others, or indeed in our lives of faith. |
Alyson Gouldstein |
John 6.60-69 |
|
12.07.09 |
Llanbedr
Church |
The
Prophecy of Amos: Sometimes
there are no easy answers to the problems we make for ourselves
which means that we live uncomfortably and we have to struggle to
love one another and prayerfully discern where the Spirit is leading
us. But isn’t this what the Church is all about?
|
Rev.H.Butler |
Amos 7:8 |
|
14.06.09 |
Llanbedr Church |
Kingdom of God:
Do you have any
secrets? If you find out there is a secret the first thing you want
to do is get in on it. If you sense someone is not telling you
something you automatically want to know what it is, don’t you? |
Rev. R.
Carter |
Mark 4:30 |
|
07.06.09 |
St.Peter's.
Ruthin |
Born from Above:
We
always think about Nicodemus on Trinity Sunday, partly because he is
like us. He wants to understand his faith better. He wants to be
closer to God. He is conscious of the limitations of his
understanding. That is why he asks Jesus a whole series of
questions. |
Rev. Canon Dr. R. Bayley |
John 3.3 |
|
MAY
2009 |
|
31.05.09 |
Cyffylliog
Church |
Spirit of Unity:
The Church has no barriers of race, culture and language. The good
news of Jesus is told to people of all races, languages and
cultures, and it is told in languages they understand. |
Rev.J.B.Davies |
Acts 2. 1-21 |
|
24.05.09 |
Llanbedr
Church |
The Ascension
As we celebrate the
Eucharist and share in the communion meal we remember that we do so
in the presence of our Great High Priest who sends us out from this
place to be his eyes and his hands to look with compassion upon the
world and to work according to the values of God’s Kingdom. |
Rev.H.Butler |
Luke 24. 50-53 |
|
17.05.09 |
Llanfair Church |
Economic Crisis The
Church’s wisdom seems more attractive to people today than ever
before…The world is changing, and the Church is fast emerging as the
most credible source of alternative political and economic ideas.
. |
Rev.R.Carter |
Isaiah 55.2 |
|
10.05.09 |
St.Peter's. Ruthin |
Pruning The Church is
continually being made new, adapted to suit the changing times. A
study of the history of the Church will show that this has always
been the case. Sometimes we are alarmed at this, and we think that
the Church is going to be pruned out of existence altogether. But
God is not one of those over-enthusiastic gardeners who prune back
so severely that the plant dies. He knows just how far to prune to
stimulate the Church so that it can grow on and bear more fruit in
the world. |
Rev.Canon Dr.R.Bayley |
John 15.2 |
|
03.05.09 |
Llanfwrog
Church |
The Good Shepherd As we gather for the
Eucharist today, we come as the guests of Jesus. He has prepared
the supper. He treats us like kings, whereas he is the true great
King. As we have accepted his invitation today, let us give him
thanks that he is our shepherd, our guide through life and our host
at this party which is the Eucharist. |
Rev.J.B.Davies |
Psalm 23 |
|
APRIL
2009 |
|
26.04.09 |
Llanfwrog
Church |
Understanding the Scriptures
Luke tells us that Jesus opened
their minds to understand the scriptures. This applies not just to
the first disciples but also to us. We believe the scriptures to
have been written by people who were specially inspired by the Holy
Spirit. In the same when we read the scriptures now, we shall
discover more meaning and understanding if we read them with open
minds and hearts and allow Jesus to explain them to us. |
Rev.J.B.Davies |
Luke 24.36-48 |
|
19.04.09 |
St.Peter's. Ruthin |
The
Red Sea and Easter Our
solemn dirges of Lent and Passiontide have been transformed
into the joyful alleluias of Easter. These are not simply events in
the past. We live them again each year as we pass from the sadness
of Good Friday into the brightness and newness of the Easter season.
|
Rev.Canon Dr.R.Bayley |
Exodus 14.20 |
|
05.04.09 |
Llanfair Church |
Palm Sunday:
Why was Jesus convicted and executed as a criminal?That is a
rhetorical question. I don’t expect you to answer it now; because it
is one of the ancient questions of Christian history. Scholars have
deliberated over that question, and still do. Historians and
theologians have written books about it. |
Rev.R.Carter |
Mark 15.9 |
|
MARCH
2009 |
|
29.03.09 |
St.Peter's. Ruthin |
A New
Covenant: When Jesus sat down to supper on the night before he
died, twelve ate with him, and one of those left during supper to
betray him, leaving just 11. By the time he was crucified he had
only five followers, the apostle John, Mary the mother of Jesus,
Mary Magdalene. and two other women. Yet these remained faithful to
the end. |
Rev.Canon Dr.R.Bayley |
Jeremiah 31.31 |
|
22.03.09 |
Llanfwrog
Church |
Eternal Life: What is this “eternal life” that Jesus promises us? It is not about
something we earn. It is not some kind of a prize for being good.
It is not “pie in the sky when you die |
Rev.J.B.Davies |
John 3.16 |
|
15.03.09 |
Llanbedr
Church |
House of Prayer for All
Do
we put barriers in the way which stop people from approaching God
and experiencing his love? The fact that churches are so often
locked is a pretty definite barrier and a very clear negative
statement about Christian faith and the life of the church |
Rev.H.Butler |
John 2.13 |
|
08.03.09 |
St.Peter's. Ruthin |
Covenant with God: God cares for us,
takes an interest in us and calls us to service at any time of our
life. We are not overlooked because we are old, or because we are
young, or because we are middle aged. Abram was given a new life and
a new name when he was ninety-nine. |
Rev.Canon Dr.R.Bayley |
Genesis 17.2 |
|
FEBRUARY
2009 |
|
22.02.09 |
Llanbedr
Church |
The
Transfiguration
Today, we stand on
the mountain top but prepare to follow Jesus down to the depths of
the valley of the cross this Lent. I wonder what our experience will
be? Like the disciples we too wonder about the meaning of the
resurrection. On Easter morning having travelled through Lent in
discipline and faith (the challenge of Daily Prayer is, in a real
sense, our sustenance for the journey) how will we be changed?
|
Rev.H.Butler |
Mark 9.2 |
|
15.02.09 |
Llanfwrog Church |
Creation or
Evolution?
The order in the creation implies there is some
great power behind it. What
John's Gospel
is saying is that this is not some impersonal power or force but a
living God |
Rev.J.B.Davies |
John 1.1-3 |
|
08.02.09 |
Llanbedr Church |
Christianity and Political
Correctness. Actually,
that needs some qualification – secular society seems to comprehend
and even champion it for other faiths apart from Christianity. As
someone commented, “Christians are now becoming the most
discriminated-against group of people in our society. It’s getting
quite frightening and out of hand”. So much for equality and
diversity! |
Rev.H.Butler |
Mark 1.29-39 |
|
01.02.09 |
Llanfwrog Church |
Candlemas It was no coincidence that they
came into the Temple at the same time as Jesus was brought there.
We are told by Luke three times in a few verses that this is the
work of the Holy Spirit. |
Rev.J.B.Davies |
Luke 2.
22-40 |
|
JANUARY
2009 |
|
25.01.09 |
St.Peter's. Ruthin |
Conversion of S.Paul As Saul was marching along the road to
Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell
to the ground. But was this really his first encounter with Jesus ?
Was it the first time he had been seriously challenged by the
Christian faith ? |
Rev.Canon Dr.R.Bayley |
Acts 9.3 |
|
18.01.09 |
Llanbedr Church |
The Calling of Nathanael
New challenges, new
beginnings, new avenues, new approaches and new directions are the
motifs of the current environment; and also the theme of our
festival today which is the Baptism of Christ. |
Rev.R.Carter |
John 1. 43-51 |
|
11.01.09 |
Llanfair Church |
The Baptism of Jesus
New challenges, new
beginnings, new avenues, new approaches and new directions are the
motifs of the current environment; and also the theme of our
festival today which is the Baptism of Christ. |
Rev.R.Carter |
Mark.1.1-11 |
|
DECEMBER
2008 |
|
28.12.08 |
Llanbedr Church |
Bringing Christmas to Life
St. Francis famously said: Preach the Good News of Jesus Christ –
use words if you must. Perhaps this explains why he was so moved to
“preach” the message of Christmas in a new way without words. He
recognized that the only word required was the “little Word” laid in
the manger, because the language of the incarnate Word is the wonder
and mystery of love.
Simply and profoundly this is the message of Christmas! |
Rev.H,Butler |
Luke 2.16 |
|
25.12.08 |
St.Peter's. Ruthin |
The Light of Christ
No one knows at which time of year the birth of Jesus
Christ occurred. It may have been in the spring, summer, autumn or
winter. But from very early in the Christian era it has been
customary to welcome the birth of Jesus at the darkest part of the
year, near the shortest day, when the nights are longest and just
before the days begin to lengthen out to give us the first hint of a
summer to come. This is because the birth of Christ has been seen as
a coming of light into the world. |
Rev.Canon Dr.R.Bayley |
Isaiah 9.2 |
|
14.12.08 |
Llanbedr Church |
Who was John the Baptist?
I have tried to think of a modern day John the Baptist and I
cannot. If you can think of someone who speaks from outside and with
an authority which attracts people but someone who then, rather than
becoming a celebrity, is able to deflect the attention towards
something larger. If you can think of someone, man or woman, then
email me via this link. |
Rev.
Richard Carter |
John 1. 19-28 |
|
07.12,08 |
St.Peter's Church, Ruthin |
Call to Repentance
What John offered was baptism in the Holy Spirit. Unlike baptism
in water, the Holy Spirit will come upon us every day to heal and to
cleanse us. We all make mistakes, all the time, most of them more
serious than the scribe who missed out Son of God or Mark saying
Isaiah instead of Malachi. When Geoffrey Fisher was asked at the end
of his 16 year term as Archbishop of Canterbury whether he thought
he had made any mistakes, he replied, I've dropped enough bricks to
build a cathedral. But we can pick up our mistakes, confess our
sins, and receive the healing and restoring baptism of the Holy
Spirit at the hands of Jesus, again and again and again. |
Rev.Canon Dr.R.Bayley |
Mark 1,2 |
|
NOVEMBER
2008 |
|
30.11.08 |
Clocaenog
Church |
Watch :
This is what the season of Advent is all about. It is not so much
about counting the days to Christmas, but rather doing something
about the Christ who is present now. Christ will come to us and to
the world in a new way when the powers of heaven are shaken from
their course. His authority will take precedence over all other
authorities. Advent is a wake up call. The words which Jesus
repeats time after time in this chapter are “Watch out, keep
watch, be on your guard ! “
|
Rev.J.B.Davies |
Mark
13. 24-37 |
|
23.11.08 |
St.Peter's Church, Ruthin |
Sheep and Shepherd: Not
just in Israel but in many parts of the Ancient Near East, a nation
is referred to as a flock of sheep and their king as the shepherd of
his people. This would surely not have been the case if sheep had
been proverbially stupid, though it was acknowledged that they were
prone to go astray from time to time and needed to be recovered.
Reasonably enough people would say, "They are just like us. We go
astray from time to time, and we need to be brought back too." So
they called their kings shepherds, and they thought of their God as
the supreme Shepherd. |
Rev.Canon Dr.R.Bayley |
Ezekiel 34.15 |
|
16.11.08 |
Efenechtyd Church |
There
are many kinds of fear:
This kind of fear (the kind which caused the servant to bury his
talent) is the kind which debilitates people, the kind which freezes
them like a rabbit in the headlights. It is this sort of fear which
is outlawed in the kingdom of God. It is this sort of fear which is
abhorred by God. For this kind of fear (which causes people to hide
away their talents) makes people wither away into nothingness. |
Rev.
Richard Carter |
Matthew 25.14-30 |
|
09.11.08 |
Llanarmon Church |
Searching for meaning in loss of life:
On
the face of it the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross makes no sense –
it is a pointless waste of life. But the resurrection is proof that
within the eternal love of God meaning can be found – meaning will
be found. This is the Good News of the Gospel. This is the message
of hope against hopelessness. This is the faith we cling to. |
Rev.Huw
Butler |
Revelation 21. 1-7 |
|
02.11.08 |
Llanfwrog Church |
Stability In An Insecure World:
Where do you find as your point of stability? Your bank account?
Your church building? Your home? Your job? None of these can
be as secure as we may think. Stability is found in Jesus
Christ. When many turned away from Jesus, the apostle Simon
Peter said, when I asked if he also was leaving. “Where else can we
go? You have the words of eternal life.” |
Rev.J.B.Davies |
Matthew 24.1-14 |
|
OCTOBER 2008 |
|
26.10.08 |
Llanbedr Church |
Authority
of the Bible: This is the mission of the people of God – amidst all of the
challenges and difficulties, as the Lambeth Conference itself was at
pains to endorse – “God is a God of mission and we are called to
engage in His mission.” Through our lives, through our
prayers, through our worship, through our service may we play our
part in enabling the Holy Scriptures to be brought to bear in a life
changing way upon the lives of those around us in pointing to the
Word of life which was from the beginning – Jesus Christ ourLord.
|
Rev.
Huw Butler |
Matthew 24:35 |
|
19.10.08 |
Llanbedr Church |
The Story of a Coin:
What is the story of the
coins in our pockets, each one of them? Who knows? One might have
been, in its time, absorbed into the downward spiral of someone’s
drugs, or alcohol, addiction? One of them just might have been cast
into the social perversion of prostitution? It would be nicer to
think one has been used to buy someone a present once – that’s very
likely. |
Rev.
Richard Carter |
Matthew 22.15-22 |
|
12.10.08 |
Llanfwrog
Church |
Invitation to a Party:
Many
people expect a church service to be somewhat serious just in the
same way as people expect anything to do with God as being very
serious. Christians are seen by many as dull people who don’t
know how to enjoy themselves. |
Rev. John Davies |
Matthew 22.2 |
|
05.10.08 |
St.Peter's
Ruthin |
Harvest:
So it is with those who
store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God. A minister was fast asleep
one night when he was awakened by the sound of someone moving around in his
bedroom. As soon as he moved, a burglar said sharply to him, "Stay where you
are and keep still, or you'll be sorry. I'm looking for your money." To
which the minister replied, "Let me put the light on, and then I'll help you
look. I've never seen it either." |
Rev Canon Dr. R. Bayley |
Luke 12: 21 |
|
SEPTEMBER
2008 |
|
14.09.08 |
Llanbedr Church |
Forgiveness:
There is surely no doubt that being in debt is a bad thing. In my
article in the Link magazine this time I have drawn attention to the
Credit Crunch and the way it is affecting all of us irrespective of
whether we are in debt or not. Of course, if you are already in a
situation of debt with a high mortgage, personal loans, credit card
balances and bank overdrafts then you are in a perilous state.
|
Rev. Huw Butler |
Matthew 18: 27 |
|
07.09.08 |
Llanfwrog Church |
Peace and Harmony:
Religion is
often thought to be about keeping rules and laws. Indeed, the
first five books of the Old Testament are called the Books of the
Law. People had begun to see keeping of these laws as something
of a burden. It was as though the joy had gone out of their
religion. |
Rev. John Davies |
Matthew 18. 15-20 |
|
AUGUST
2008 |
|
31.08.08 |
Llanfwrog
Church |
Dealing with Conflict:
We cannot get
through life without facing conflict. Some people hate conflict
and will do all they can to avoid it, and can sometimes find
themselves unable to deal with it, while others seem to thrive on
conflict as though it gives them some kind of impetus to deal with
their lives and they may not always want conflict to cease. |
Rev. John Davies |
Romans 12. 9-12 |
|
24.08.08 |
St.Peter's.
Ruthin |
Saint Bartholomew
Bartholomew is a perfect example of the principle set out by Jesus
when he was faced with an unedifying dispute among the Twelve as to
which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. If you are to
be truly great, Jesus advised, aim for the opposite. The greatest
of you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who
serves. |
Rev Canon Dr. R. Bayley |
Luke 22.24
|
|
17.08.08 |
Llanbedr Church |
Jesus and the Canaanite Woman:
The
Canaanite woman is too a figure of desperation. And Jesus
says to her, “you have great faith” (Matt. 15.28). Now, this faith
is one with which she leaves all inhibitions behind. Her
faith is such that she has no pride. She is faithful in such
a persistent and utterly lowering way that she is
happy to be called an animal, so long as her daughter might be made
sane again. |
Rev. Richard Carter |
Matthew 15: 21-28 |
|
10.08.08 |
Llanbedr Church |
Jesus Walks on Water:
I have always found this to be a rather
strange, and I suppose unbelievable event in the life and ministry
of Jesus. |
Rev. Huw Butler |
Matthew 14:22-33 |
|
03.08.08 |
Llanfwrog Church |
Feeding of the 5000:This
story raises the challenge as to how we react in a situation we
consider impossible. We live at a time when many are predicting the
demise of the Christian Church.
|
Rev. John Davies |
Matthew 14. 13-21 |
|
JULY
2008 |
|
27.07.08 |
Ruthin
Church |
Despair and Hope:
Despair comes easily. It is the
assumption of many theatre plays, of much modern philosophy, and of
everyday conversation in the street and in the pub. |
Rev. Canon Dr. R. Bayley |
Romans 8:37 |
|
20.07.08 |
Llanbedr Church |
Parable of the Weeds:
I
haven’t brought with me this morning an answer. I have brought with
me a question, and that is: “How do we know which is the wheat and
which is the weeds?” |
Rev. Richard Carter |
Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43 |
|
13.07.08 |
Llanbedr Church |
Working to Spread the Light of
God's Love:
During May I was privileged to spend a week on Caldey
Island (a small island just off the coast of Tenby, Pembrokeshire)
with a group of about 20 people as part of a course run by Lampeter
University. |
Rev. Huw Butler |
Romans 8:6 |
|
06.07.08 |
Llanfwrog Church |
Life Does Not Have to be a Burden:
When we were children, we all took part in the usual playground
games. We can probably still remember those games now. It seems
that these games were taking place at the time when Jesus was
speaking to the people. |
Rev. John Davies |
Matthew 11. 16-19, 25-30 |
|
JUNE
2008 |
|
29.06.08 |
Llanbedr Church |
Unite in Prayer:
Have you ever felt so alone that is seems as if everyone - the whole
world in fact - is against you? Probably not many of us have
experienced extreme situations such as being a hostage or being a
political prisoner of conscience.
|
Rev. Huw Butler |
- |
|
22.06.08 |
Llanbedr Church |
May You Know the Grace of God:
St
Paul's influence upon how the early church came to understand the
significance of Jesus and the monumental part which he himself
played in taking the gospel to the nations, make it very difficult
to see how we could even have the Christian faith, as we know
it, without his witness. |
Rev. Richard Carter |
Romans 5:1-8 |
|
01.06.08 |
Llanbedr Church |
Building Faith on
Strong Foundations:
Last week, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali hit the headlines when he said
that “the collapse of Christianity has wrecked British society – it
has destroyed family life and left the country defenceless against
the rise of radical Islam in a moral and spiritual vacuum. |
Rev. Huw Butler |
Matthew 7. 26-27 |
|
MAY
2008 |
|
25.05.08 |
Llanfwrog, Llanelidan and Efenechtyd Church |
Giving the Way of
Jesus a Chance:
The words “an eye for and eye” and “a tooth for a tooth” are
sometimes quoted by people, even today, as though they are intended
to be a blueprint for justice. We do well to recall the comment
made by Mahatma Gandhi, one of the greatest and most respected of
all world leaders who said “That way, the whole world would be
blind and toothless.” |
Rev. John Davies |
Matthew 5 38-48 |
|
18.05.08 |
Ruthin Church |
The Most Holy Trinity:
People
think that the teaching of the Trinity is very complicated
but it’s not. Not at all: it is very simple really. So I thought I’d
teach you four things about the Trinity this morning. |
Rev. Canon Dr. R. Bayley |
- |
|
11.05.08 |
Llanfwrog, Clocaenog, Llanynys and Cyffylliog Churches |
Pentecost:
The Power of the Holy Spirit:
Think of a time in
your life when you have felt very close to God, and experience his
powerful presence. How would you describe that to someone else? It
is not easy is it? |
Rev. John Davies |
Acts 2. 1-21 |
|
APRIL
2008 |
|
27.04.08 |
Llanarmon and Llangynhafal Churches |
Noah's Sweet Smelling Sacrifice:
He doesn’t have a speaking part like Adam and Eve. He is just told
to build an ark and he builds it, he is told all the specifications
and he gets on with it without a word. He doesn’t attempt to
negotiate with God like Abraham does when he pleads for Sodom. |
Rev. Huw Butler |
Gen. 8. 20f. |
|
MARCH
2008 |
|
16.03.08 |
Clocaenog Church |
Palm
Sunday:
On Palm Sunday,
the Church recalls the day when Jesus entered Jerusalem on what was
to be the last week of his life. He was accompanied by a
large crowd of people who greeted him as their king. By the
end of the week people were shouting for his death, so what
happened to change their minds? |
Rev. John Davies |
Matthew 21. 1-11 |
|
FEBRUARY
2008 |
|
17.02.08 |
Llanbedr Church |
To be a Person of
Faith is Such Privilege!
The
Bible speaks to us of faith: Faith as a journey into uncertainty
(in the case of Abraham); and faith as a birth in the case of
Jesus talking to Nicodemus – and what John Wesley called the “fundamental
doctrine of new birth.” |
Rev. Huw Butler |
Gen. 12.1 |
|
10.02.08 |
Llanbedr Church |
The Temptation to
Despair:
Today
we meet Christ in the desert. Strange as it may seem there is
something about entering the desert that enables personal spiritual
growth. Jesus obviously recognised this to be true which is why he
went out into the wilderness for those 40 days and nights. |
Rev. Huw Butler |
Matthew 4:1 |
|
03.02.08 |
St
Peter's, Ruthin |
Candlemas: Looking
Forward:
Today we meet
Christ in the desert. Strange as it may seem there is something
about entering the desert that enables personal spiritual growth.
Jesus obviously recognised this to be true which is why he went out
into the wilderness for those 40 days and nights. |
Rev. Canon Dr. R. Bayley |
Luke 2:25 |
|
JANUARY
2008 |
|
27.01.08 |
Llanbedr Church |
Know the Living God:
It
was on hearing that John had been arrested that Jesus
withdrew: and this close link which Jesus had with John is thought
to be historically verified. The fact that three gospels record that
Jesus was baptised by John is considered to be evidence that this is
historically true. |
Rev. Richard Carter |
Matthew 4. 12 |
|
20.01.08 |
Tabernacl Chapel, Ruthin |
Church Means People:
Statistics show that the majority of people in the United Kingdom
claim to believe in God, and also that most people pray in some form
or another. Similar statistics show that a substantial number of
people in the UK claim to be Christians. This may indeed surprise
us in what many call a secular age. |
Rev. John Davies |
1 Thess. 5. 12-22 |
|
13.01.08 |
Llanbedr Church |
The Baptism of Christ:
I am
sure that all of us will have photographs which have been taken at a
baptism – very likely it will be a posed shot with the Vicar holding
the baby and the parents and godparents standing around the font.
There are some churches which routinely take a photograph of every
baptism and make a kind of collage of the church family which they
put on display. |
Rev. Huw Butler |
Matthew 3. 13-17 |
|
06.01.08 |
Llanfwrog Church |
Epiphany
- The Journey of Faith:
Imagine yourself to be directing a film on one of the books of the
Bible. How would you cast the characters? You would probably give
the principal parts to the best actors, assuming you consider the
principal characters as those who appear most frequently and have
the most to say. |
Rev. John Davies |
Matthew 2 1-11 |
|
DECEMBER
2007 |
|
30.12.07 |
Eglwys Llangwyfan |
Pwysigrwydd Amser, Pergylon Amser,
a Phwrpas Amser:
Hyfryd cael eich presenoldeb yma yn eglwys hanesyddol Llangwyfan ar
achlysur ein gwasanaeth arferol i’r ddwy ddeoniaeth, Dinbych a
Dyffryn Clwyd, ar y pumed Sul. |
Yr.Hybarch Bernard
Thomas, Archddiacon Llanelwy |
Salm 90:12
|
|
24.12.07 |
Llanfair DC and Llanfwrog
churches |
Christmas Sermon:
Buying Christmas gifts or even Christmas cards needs a little
imagination. Sometimes receiving gifts and cards does also. The
best Christmas gifts are often what we call the useful gifts.
|
Rev John Davies |
Luke 2. 1-16 |
|
23.12.07 |
Llanbedr Church |
Are You Ready?:
This
was the overarching sentiment of an elderly gentleman I visited last
week - he reflected how so often along his journey of life things
had a habit of working out for the best even at times when things
seemed to be hopeless and desperate. |
Rev. Huw Butler |
Matthew 24: 36-44 |
|
16.12.07 |
Llanbedr Church |
Faith and
Doubt:
During the Season of Advent we keep hearing about “waiting and
watching,” “expectancy,” and “anticipation,” being prepared. And we
read the expectant prophecies of Isaiah which, in general,
are poetries of hope (poetries of wild and visionary hope) which
originate from desperate situations (of exile) and, of course, we
prepare for what has become the most popular Christian festival
of the year (Christmas). |
Rev. Richard Carter |
Matthew 11.3 |
|
09.12.07 |
St Peter's Church, Ruthin |
The God of Steadfastness and Encouragement:
What
is the stream in which the elephant may swim and the lamb may
wade ? It is the description Pope Gregory I gave to the Bible.
He saw the Bible as being a means of unity among people, a way of
coming together to know God |
Rev. Canon Dr. R. Bayley |
Romans 15:5 |
|
02.12.07 |
Llanfwrog and Clocaenog
Church |
Are You
Ready?:
The people we read about in the Bible seem to be waiting for some
great event. The prophets of Old Testament times speak of the
coming of the Messiah, who will save the people. Christian
tradition points to Jesus as that Messiah. |
Rev. John
Davies |
Matthew 24: 36-44 |
|
NOVEMBER
2007 |
|
25.11.07 |
Llanbedr Church |
Do You Fear God?:
Do we fear God? Do I fear God? In years gone by
fearing God was thought of as being a real virtue. But we are now
living in a thoroughly secular age. |
Rev. Huw Butler |
Luke 23:25-43 |
|
18.11.07 |
St Peter's Church, Ruthin |
Anyone Unwilling to Work Should Not Eat:
The Government has announced that a large number of training places
is to be offered to young people to give them skills and trades so
that they can begin to earn a useful living. |
Rev. Canon Dr. R. Bayley |
2 Thess 3.10 |
|
11.11.07 |
Clocaenog Church |
Remembrance Sunday:
I heard on the television news last week that there are in the UK
just five known people still alive who served in the armed forces
in World War 1, and of those five, just one now survives who was in
the trenches. Also, this year, anyone who served in World War 2
would be at least aged eighty. |
Rev. John
Davies |
John 13:34 |
|
04.11.07 |
Llanbedr Church |
Kingdom 1:
I am sure that we could come up with many words to describe
Zacchaeus – I am equally sure that a saint would not be one of them!
Having said that, of course, it would depend upon your definition of
a saint and what sainthood is all about. |
Rev. Huw Butler |
Luke 19. 1-10 |
|
OCTOBER
2007 |
|
28.10.07 |
Llanfwrog, Cyffylliog and
Llanynys Churches |
Bible
Sunday:
Different people have different views of the Bible. At one level
there are people who take a very fundamentalist and literal view.
At the opposite level there are people who see the Bible as a
collection of parables to teach us about God. |
Rev. John
Davies |
Luke 18.
16-24 |
|
21.10.07 |
Llanbedr Church |
Wrestling with God:
Do
you remember World of Sport on with Dickie Davies ITV on a Saturday
afternoon? Back in the early 70s at our home, for some reason, we
didn’t have an aerial which would pick up ITV – but I always
remember watching World of Sport when I went round to see my friend
Nick. The only sport that ever seemed to be on was wrestling! Two of
the best known characters of the day were Mick McManus and Big
Daddy. |
Rev. Huw Butler |
|
|
18.10.07 |
St Peter's Church, Ruthin |
Physician, Heal Yourself - St Luke's Day:
The
saying, Physician, heal yourself, can be found in other
places besides the dialogue between Jesus and the people of
Nazareth. There was the Jewish proverb used by the Rabbis,
Physician, heal your own limp. And an Arabic proverb, A
doctor who cures other people and is himself ill. The Greek
dramatist Euripides has the line, He is a healer of others, but
himself swells with sores. A slightly different line appears in
the Gospel of Thomas, A healer
does not treat his own parents. |
Rev. Canon Dr. R. Bayley |
Luke 4. 23 |
|
07.10.07 |
Llanbedr Church |
The Mustard Seed:
After
that first naive foray I left it for about a week and then went back
at it. And when the same thing happened again I phoned a friend
with a chain saw. It was about two months later that we finally had
it down to the stump and then it took three of us, a lot of heaving,
and a lot of, "you stand there like that, and I'll stand here and
pull this while you push with all your weight from there."
|
Rev. Richard Carter |
Matthew |
|
SEPTEMBER
2007 |
|
30.09.07 |
Llanfwrog Church |
The Rich-Poor Divide:
Wealth
and poverty live side by side. Go to any large city, anywhere in
world, London, Paris, New York, Sydney and you will see areas of
great wealth, hotels and restaurants where it costs a fortune to
stay or to eat, but not far from these places, people living in
cardboard boxes on the street and begging. Wealth and poverty are
never far away. |
Rev John Davies |
Luke 16. 19-31 |
|
23.09.07 |
Llanbedr Church |
Christians and Money:
Who
would want to be the Chief Executive of Northern Rock Bank? He has
found himself to be in a very precarious and uncomfortable situation
over the last few weeks – needing to borrow money from other banks
to remain solvent but due to world economics finding that this is
not possible. |
Rev. Huw Butler |
Luke 16. 1-3 |
|
16.09.07 |
St Peter's Church, Ruthin |
God Values Everyone:
The
rearing of sheep today is a big business. They roam the hills in
their thousands. Tractors and land rangers are used to supervise
them and round them up when there is a need. We have come a long way
from the small time shepherd Jesus was referring to in his parable
of the Lost Sheep. T |
Rev. Canon Dr. R. Bayley |
Luke 15.5 |
|
09.09.07 |
Llanfwrog Church |
The Demands of Jesus on Our Lives:
With some celebrities it is simply their presence which draws the
crowds and the autograph hunters will flock to them. They don’t
have to say anything. People just want to see them. |
Rev John Davies |
Luke 14. 25-23 |
|
02.09.07 |
Llanbedr Church |
The Prayer of Humility:
Within society now we have many homeless people - a situation which
has escalated over the past 20 years or so. But we don’t seem to
have the “gentleman of the road” professional kind of tramp so much.
|
Rev. Huw Butler |
Hebrews 13:2 |
|
AUGUST
2007 |
|
26.08.07 |
Llanfwrog & Llanynys Church |
Freed from the shackles by Jesus:
In today’s gospel we hear of an interesting encounter that Jesus has
with a synagogue leader about how the Sabbath should be kept. The
synagogue leaders made sure that people kept the Sabbath laws to the
letter. |
Rev.
John Davies |
Luke 13:10-17 |
|
19.08.07 |
St Peters Collegiate
Church, Ruthin. |
Faith is being sure of what we hope for:
In a month's time the clergy of the
St. Asaph Diocese will all be required to go to Lancaster University
for four days of in service training. The subject - Conflict
Resolution. This is a very fashionable subject these days. |
Rev. Canon Dr. R. Bayley |
Luke 12:49 |
|
12.08.07 |
Llanbedr Church |
Faith is being sure of what we hope
for:
in
actual fact, hope always comes before faith because without a sense
of hope then there is nothing to have faith in! |
Rev.
Huw Butler |
Heb. 11:1 |
|
05.08.07 |
St Peter’s, Ruthin |
Parable of the Rich Fool:
That "life does not consist in the abundance of possessions" is
little comfort for those who lost their homes and businesses in the
recent floods. |
Rev. Richard Carter |
Luke 12:13-21 |
|
JULY
2007 |
|
29.07.07 |
St
Meugan’s and St Peter’s, Ruthin |
The Lord's Prayer:
We’ve
read in our gospel reading this morning how Jesus taught the
disciples what we now call the Lord’s Prayer. Presumably they then
learned it and repeated it frequently, and that’s how we now say it
so often. |
Alyson Goldstein |
Luke 11.1-13 |
|
22.07.07 |
St Garmon, Llanarmon & St
Cynhafal, Llangynhafal |
Mary Magdalene is an Apostle:
We
don’t often think of her like this - as an apostle. We don’t often
think of women as apostles because the official "twelve apostles"
were all men. But all four gospels single Mary Magdalene out as the
very first person who saw the risen Lord. |
Rev. Richard Carter |
John 20.17 |
|
15.07.07 |
St Peters Collegiate
Church, Ruthin. |
The Good Samaritan:
The
Good Samaritan is probably the best known and loved parable of
Jesus. It is interesting to notice that some of the parables, such
as the parable of the sower for example, are explained by Jesus in
order for the disciples to understand the “heavenly meaning” of the
earthly story. |
Rev. Huw Butler |
Luke 10:33-35 |
|
08.07.07 |
St Peters Collegiate
Church, Ruthin. |
Let us love one another:
If we respect others, even though they may be of a different
generation, another faith, another race and language, a way of life
we are not used to, an opposed political position, we are fulfilling
that last commandment Jesus gave on the night before he died |
Rev. Canon Dr. R. Bayley |
1 John 4.19 |
|
01.07.07 |
Llanfwrog & Llanynys Church |
The Urgency of Following Jesus:
When a Samaritan village
turns Jesus away and he moves on, he tells people that if they want
to follow him then it's a commitment to be taken seriously. |
Rev. John Davies |
Luke 9: 51-62 |
|
APRIL
2007 |
|
15.04.07 |
Llanbedr Church |
Christ Has Risen:
The cross is, in
this sense, easier to preach about because suffering and death are
things that we can relate to - they are literally all around us -
they are part and parcel of our existence - we know them to be true
- we experience them ourselves. |
Rev.
Huw Butler |
John 20:25b |
|
08.04.07 |
St Peters Collegiate
Church, Ruthin. |
Easter Sunday:
On Good Friday
Jesus died on the Cross. His body was taken down and laid in a tomb.
On the first Easter Day the stone was rolled aside and the grave
clothes left empty. Jesus had risen from the dead. |
Rev. Canon Dr. Raymond Bayley |
Luke 24.11 |
|
MARCH
2007 |
|
25.03.07 |
Llanfwrog Parish Church |
Journey to the Cross:
On this Passion
Sunday as we begin to think more intently of Jesus’ journey to
Jerusalem and to the Cross, we too think about our faith and how we
make our journey of life with Jesus. |
Rev.
John Davies |
Phil. 3:4b-11 |
|
18.03.07 |
Llanbedr Parish Magazine |
Family Values:
Mothering Sunday is an excellent opportunity for affirming “family
values” in terms of our own personal families and also in terms of
the wider Church family |
Rev.
Huw Butler |
Phil. 3. 12-21 |
|
11.03.07 |
Clocaenog & Llanfwrog
Church |
God Gives up on No One:
Being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
|
Rev. John Davies |
Luke 13. 1-19 |
|
04.03.07 |
St. Peter's Collegiate Church, Ruthin. |
Lent:
The baptism of Jesus was followed by a journey into the wilderness,
and this must have been something like a maze for him. Physically it
was a maze. |
Rev. Canon Dr. Raymond Bayley |
Luke 4 |
|
FEBRUARY 2007 |
|
25.02.07 |
Llanfwrog
&
Rhewl Church |
The Temptations of Jesus:
The season of Lent is in Christian tradition associated with the
forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness. |
Rev. John Davies |
Luke 4. 1-13 |
|
04.02.07 |
Llanfwrog &
Llanynys Church |
Candlemas: is a half way point between Christmas and Easter,
a time to look back on Christmas and a time to look forward to Holy
Week and Easter. |
Rev. John Davies |
Luke 2. 22-40 |
