Risca-based
Pastor Tim Moody has been inducted as the new president of the Gwent Baptist
Association.
Part of the Baptist Union of Wales, the Association serves 34 churches and chapels in its area providing spiritual and practical help and advice in addition to financial support, where appropriate, for spreading the gospel in local communities and further afield.
Tim, originally from Weston- super-Mare, became assistant pastor at Moriah Baptist Church, Risca in September 2016 and recently successfully completed a ministerial accreditation course at the South Wales Baptist College, Cardiff. He and his wife Laura have a young daughter, Evie. Tim takes up his new voluntary role in succession to the Revd. Dr Suzanne Roberts who has served the Association excellently in the last two years.
Geoffrey Champion, secretary of the Gwent Baptist Association, said: “We are blessed to have quality individuals of the calibre of Suzanne and now Tim serving the Association and its churches. These are challenging times for everyone but it is great to see younger people like Tim working for the Lord and stepping up to take an important ‘lead’ helping the Baptist family and others in Gwent.”
https://www.gwentbaptists.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/83/2022/10/GBAlogo-scaled-e1666698996203.jpg00Geoffhttps://www.gwentbaptists.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/83/2022/10/GBAlogo-scaled-e1666698996203.jpgGeoff2020-10-19 14:32:542020-10-19 14:32:55TIM AT THE HELM
AN EASTER MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE
GWENT BAPTIST ASSOCIATION, THE REVD. DR SUZANNE ROBERTS.
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Normally, so much happens in Holy Week, perhaps
beginning on Palm Sunday with the children’s’ excitement as they follow a real
donkey along the road. Whether or not there are other meetings during the week,
there will be communion on Maundy Thursday and perhaps a walk of witness behind
a cross or a service on Good Friday, before we come to all the joyful
celebrations on Easter Sunday. Either at sunrise or later in the day we hear
again those wonderful words of joyful hope and assurance: “He is not here,
He has risen.”
But there is an important day we may miss out.
For the disciples it involved self-isolation – not from fear of disease but
from the terror of anticipation that the authorities might do to them what they
had done to Jesus. Fear compounded by the depths of their grief and by the
seeming destruction of all their hopes for themselves and their nation. The
life they had been used to for the previous three years had been turned
upside-down, and the settled normality of being with Jesus had become anxious
and fearful uncertainty. We cheat, in a way, by knowing the end of the story,
but for them this new normality had no end in sight and the future seemed
totally out of their control.
This present Coronavirus crisis may feel to us
like a prolonged version of Easter Saturday; concern and anxiety, even fear,
for ourselves, our families and friends – especially if they are in a frontline
occupation – and for the future, national or in personal health and finance. We
cannot at present see an end to this new normality nor how it will affect our
lives in the weeks, maybe months ahead. It is a challenge to our faith – but is
that a bad thing?
CONFIDENCE
Faith unchallenged can lull us into a comfort
zone which stagnates our spiritual growth. James calls us to “Consider
it pure joy, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the
testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work
so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” It’s an
old book, but in ‘God of Surprises’ Gerard Hughes writes: “Faith
is entrusting ourselves to the mystery in which we are living, trusting that
love is at the heart of it.” We are able to trust that love as we see
it poured out for us as Jesus hangs on the cross: “This is how we know
what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. (1 John 3:16) – “And
so we know AND RELY on the love God has for us.” (4:16) It is in that
confidence in God’s love for all that we can pray; for ourselves and those we
know who are grieving, ill or in any difficulty, for all those in health care
and care homes, emergency services, shops and any other front-line setting.
Let us pray too for those unknown to us – those
in the poorest parts of cities and countryside across the world who have no
space to self-isolate, often no running water or soap to keep hands clean, and
neither good health services nor financial fall-back. One hospital in
Bangladesh has no ventilators and “two empty A4 plastic sleeves put
through a laminator give a mask with the right thickness for protection”.
If it feels like Easter Saturday to us, remember
it is into that despairing darkness that the words are spoken: “He has risen
from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.”
The disciples had no idea what the future would hold for them, but Jesus did
and He would – and did – meet them there. We don’t know what lies ahead in our
Galilee or what it will mean for us, but we can know for certain that Jesus
knows and will meet us in that future, just as He is with us here and now and
to the end of this age. In these difficulties we can find even greater joy in
the promise of Easter Sunday, in the certain hope we have in the risen Jesus.
May God help us to share that hope and joy that those living in anxious uncertainty
may come to know the comfort and peace of the presence of the risen Jesus in
their lives.
May God bless you with His comfort, strength,
light and peace – a blessed and joyful Easter to you all.
In Jesus.
Suzanne.
https://www.gwentbaptists.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/83/2022/10/GBAlogo-scaled-e1666698996203.jpg00Geoffhttps://www.gwentbaptists.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/83/2022/10/GBAlogo-scaled-e1666698996203.jpgGeoff2020-06-06 10:49:192020-06-06 10:49:21WHEN THE DISCIPLES SELF-ISOLATED
Whilst the
Easter message is the same every year, our context this year means that our
celebrations will be somewhat different as the COVID-19 casts its shadow over
us.
When Mary
Magdalene went to the tomb on the morning of the third day two thousand years
ago, it was still dark. She was not rejoicing but wept tears of great sadness.
Those very same feelings are currently being experienced by thousands of people
today yearning for a new dawn when the threat of the Coronavirus has completely
disappeared. This is a time that we have never experienced before.
However, in
spite of the trauma and sadness that has been witnessed, we have, over the past
few weeks, seen humanity at its very best: the staff of the National Health
Service work tirelessly caring for and treating patients, key workers ensure
that we can buy food, medication and shop for essentials along with the army of
volunteers who help the frail and vulnerable members in our communities. Each
and every one deserves a very special round of applause. But at the same time,
some have exhibited the very worst tendencies of human nature. Examples of
selfishness and greed have been seen as people attempted to travel to their
second homes; others have insisted on socialising in large gatherings whilst
others have stockpiled food and other supplies leaving our supermarket shelves
empty. Thankfully, we can testify that we have seen far more goodness at work
rather than the negative tendencies of our human nature. As we look forward to
the coming weeks and months let us pray that we will continue to see more of
the ‘positive’ rather than the ‘negative’ at work in society.
In the midst of this we have been truly horrified as the virus has increasingly claimed thousands of lives throughout the world. Urgent preparations have been made to ensure that there are sufficient beds available for those needing medical care. It is a source of enormous sadness to know that those who fall victim to COVD-19 will not have the company and comfort of their nearest and dearest at their bedsides. To compound this, we are not able to hold funerals in our usual way and friends and family are unable to visit the bereaved to offer support and comfort. In order to avoid contracting the virus we have no choice but to follow the Government’s instruction and stay at home.
NEW LIFE
What
therefore does Easter have to say to us in the middle of this emergency?
As Christians, we know that life’s journey is not easy. The shadow of the Cross is always a reality. But we know that the Cross is not the end. Jesus succeeded in transforming everything through His incredible love for us: He defeated death; He transformed the darkness and crushed all hopelessness. He gave us new life and a light that can never be extinguished and an eternal hope through His victory on the Cross. That is the message of Easter. He defeated death and gave new life to his disciples. Therefore, in the middle of this emergency we can but turn to our Lord Jesus Christ and receive of the peace that he gives to us.
As we look to
the future, many people are already asking questions about our current way of
living. Will we have learnt anything from this difficult period? Will this
emergency have led us to live differently for the sake of our brothers and
sisters and the whole creation? Will we appreciate and cherish our freedom to
meet together for worship and social activity? Will we as Christians have
engaged in a deeper and possibly more reflective relationship with God?
Time alone
will tell whether we will be able to respond with wisdom and maturity to some
of the questions currently being asked. In the meantime, let us cling dearly to
the Easter message and may each and every one of us remember the timeless
truths of the Gospel and know the power and strength of the presence of the
risen Christ, the One who sustains and comforts us at all times.
“Christ has risen! He has risen indeed!”
Judith Morris
General Secretary
April 9, 2020
https://www.gwentbaptists.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/83/2022/10/GBAlogo-scaled-e1666698996203.jpg00Geoffhttps://www.gwentbaptists.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/83/2022/10/GBAlogo-scaled-e1666698996203.jpgGeoff2020-04-11 11:38:472020-06-06 10:44:20THE LOVE OF JESUS GIVES US HOPE IN THE DARKNESS
AN EASTER MESSAGE FROM OUR ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT , THE REVD. DR SUZANNE ROBERTS.
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Normally, so much happens in Holy Week, perhaps
beginning on Palm Sunday with the children’s’ excitement as they follow a real
donkey along the road. Whether or not there are other meetings during the week,
there will be communion on Maundy Thursday and perhaps a walk of witness behind
a cross or a service on Good Friday, before we come to all the joyful
celebrations on Easter Sunday. Either at sunrise or later in the day we hear
again those wonderful words of joyful hope and assurance: “He is not here,
He has risen.”
But there is an important day we may miss out.
For the disciples it involved self-isolation – not from fear of disease but
from the terror of anticipation that the authorities might do to them what they
had done to Jesus. Fear compounded by the depths of their grief and by the
seeming destruction of all their hopes for themselves and their nation. The
life they had been used to for the previous three years had been turned
upside-down, and the settled normality of being with Jesus had become anxious
and fearful uncertainty. We cheat, in a way, by knowing the end of the story,
but for them this new normality had no end in sight and the future seemed
totally out of their control.
This present Coronavirus crisis may feel to us
like a prolonged version of Easter Saturday; concern and anxiety, even fear,
for ourselves, our families and friends – especially if they are in a frontline
occupation – and for the future, national or in personal health and finance. We
cannot at present see an end to this new normality nor how it will affect our
lives in the weeks, maybe months ahead. It is a challenge to our faith – but is
that a bad thing?
CONFIDENCE
Faith unchallenged can lull us into a comfort
zone which stagnates our spiritual growth. James calls us to “Consider
it pure joy, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the
testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work
so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” It’s an
old book, but in ‘God of Surprises’ Gerard Hughes writes: “Faith
is entrusting ourselves to the mystery in which we are living, trusting that
love is at the heart of it.” We are able to trust that love as we see
it poured out for us as Jesus hangs on the cross: “This is how we know
what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. (1 John 3:16) – “And
so we know AND RELY on the love God has for us.” (4:16) It is in that
confidence in God’s love for all that we can pray; for ourselves and those we
know who are grieving, ill or in any difficulty, for all those in health care
and care homes, emergency services, shops and any other front-line setting.
Let us pray too for those unknown to us – those
in the poorest parts of cities and countryside across the world who have no
space to self-isolate, often no running water or soap to keep hands clean, and
neither good health services nor financial fall-back. One hospital in
Bangladesh has no ventilators and “two empty A4 plastic sleeves put
through a laminator give a mask with the right thickness for protection”.
If it feels like Easter Saturday to us, remember
it is into that despairing darkness that the words are spoken: “He has risen
from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.”
The disciples had no idea what the future would hold for them, but Jesus did
and He would – and did – meet them there. We don’t know what lies ahead in our
Galilee or what it will mean for us, but we can know for certain that Jesus
knows and will meet us in that future, just as He is with us here and now and
to the end of this age. In these difficulties we can find even greater joy in
the promise of Easter Sunday, in the certain hope we have in the risen Jesus.
May God help us to share that hope and joy that those living in anxious uncertainty
may come to know the comfort and peace of the presence of the risen Jesus in
their lives.
May God bless you with His comfort, strength,
light and peace – a blessed and joyful Easter to you all.
In Jesus.
Suzanne.
https://www.gwentbaptists.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/83/2022/10/GBAlogo-scaled-e1666698996203.jpg00Geoffhttps://www.gwentbaptists.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/83/2022/10/GBAlogo-scaled-e1666698996203.jpgGeoff2020-04-06 12:42:262020-05-23 16:32:54WHEN THE DISCIPLES SELF-ISOLATED
If you truly believe in the power of prayer then please pray and keep on praying! That was the challenge given to Baptist churches in Gwent as they concluded a special 24-hour prayer event with a service of prayer and praise at Tabernacle, Newbridge on 25th January.
The 139 internship @ Moriah is a new 10-month opportunity for young people to come and explore who God created them to be, based on Psalm 139 as a template.
Speaking on the general theme of Protecting the Christian Future, Simeon said Christians still could feel confident about the coming years even if our society, in general, seemed to be drifting even further away from God.
https://www.gwentbaptists.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/83/2022/10/GBAlogo-scaled-e1666698996203.jpg00Ralph Stevenshttps://www.gwentbaptists.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/83/2022/10/GBAlogo-scaled-e1666698996203.jpgRalph Stevens2020-02-03 14:33:242020-02-03 14:41:16Feed and Clothe the Needy
