As 2011 passes, a new year dawns..Taking a couple of seconds to look back over the past year, we can thank God for many, many blessings. It is often as we look to the past, we can see how much we have developed as people.. Yes, we may have failed in some things, we may have accomplished much; but it is important to thank God for being with us every moment.
It may not have felt like it at the time, but you only have to remember that famous poem, "Footprints" to realise that God is indeed our "Emmanuel" (God with us).As we look forward to 2012, (no, not the movie, the year!) we can expect the Lord to bless us as we seek to serve Him in our community in Pontypridd.
* We can celebrate the start of our Building Project in the next few weeks ahead. It is a superb opportunity for us to meet more of the needs of our community.
* We are celebrating the arrival of our new Vicar (new to us you understand..). Rev Peter Lewis is coming to us in mid-February with his wife, Martine, and children, Tyler, Josh & Dan.
* We are looking forward to hosting many Weddings, Baptisms & Blessings
* We are going to have fun with many of our usual activities, Craft Mornings, Lunches, Keep Fit Sessions, Holiday Clubs, Bible studies, Prayer & Pudding events, Alpha Courses, Youth & Children's Clubs.
WOW!.. 2012 is going to be a grrreat year! (spot the Ad!)
To quote Rev Peter Lewis, "A quick message to say hello and introduce us a bit.
Martine and I (and the boys) are looking forward to coming down to St Catherine's.
By way of introduction, I'll just mention a few things about us (apart from the children! - Ed)..
Smithy is a one year old greyhound, who is a complete scavenger and has just succeeded in turning on the gas cooker whilst sneaking for food.
Bryn is a 10 year old ex-racer greyhound who is gently growling at the TV whilst stretching on a sofa that he has claimed as dog property.
Martine went down to a Christian bookshop today and came back feeling very positive about the move, full of confidence that God is leading us. We were taken aback by the sad emotions from people when we announced the news at the end of our carol service. Particularly the youth have been texting us much since. But we are confident that only God could have put together the way that the interview all came about.
That leaves me. I am usually very busy but I seemed to have managed time brilliantly at present and I don't have much to do other than Christmas home communion visiting. So today I've finished sending Christmas cards (as Area Dean, I've tried to make contacts with lots of folk so its good to send a Christmas message) and fitted in going a gym class. It's a very odd feeling visiting folk and bumping into parishoners. And it is lovely just to reflect on how much faith has grown amongst the parishoners, connections to the community have flourished and people have been drawn into the church fellowship. As you can tell I am in a postive mode!"
We thank the Lord for Peter, Martine & their family's arrival very soon as we work together to spread the message of Jesus in Pontypridd. (Worship, Evangelism & Compassion are our key-words).
And finally.. just to inspire you..
