17th September 2017 Number – 933

Riverside Weekly

11:00 All Age Harvest Thanksgiving — Deacon Lisa Rathbone.

Music provided by Peter BrookfieldSheila Spedding welcomed you at the door.The books were given out by Eileen LomaxRefreshments by Markus & EllenReadings by Yvonne Davies (Ruth 1:16 & John 15:1-8 pages 245 in

the OT & 104 in the NT)Today’s Stewards are Peter & Amanda Brookfield

A warm welcome to everyone joining us for our Harvest Thanksgiving this Sunday

Today’s flower arrangement has been donated by Rachel for family celebrations.

The church has been decorated for the Harvest by Church Members

Happy Birthday to:Tommie Du Preez (Friday)

Congratulations on Wedding Anniversary to:Phil & Jeanette Robinson

Do join us for tea & coffee after the service this morning

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Tinned Tomatoes Tinned Rice Pudding Biscuits Coffee (100g) UHT Milk (500ml) UHT Milk (1L) Fruit juice (200ml) Fruit juice (1L) Tinned Meat Tinned Veg. & Fruit

Wrexham Foodbank wrexham.foodbank.org.uk Registered Charity in England & Wales 1162262

Minister:- Rev Philip Poole (01978) 860877 Email:- philpoole@btinternet.com

Monday 18th September9:30 ‘Open the Book’ rehearsal at the Memorial Hall11:00 Stewards Meeting at the Buttered Crust6:00 Harvest Supper & Entertainments at the Memorial Hall

Tuesday 19th September10:00–12:00 Coffee Morning by FLIME at the Memorial Hall

Wednesday 20th September10:00 Prayer Group meet in the vestry — you are welcome to join us7:30 Circuit Meeting at Overton Methodist Church

Saturday 23rd September

3:00–5:00 Messy Church at the Memorial Hall.Sunday 24th September

11:00 Morning Worship — arranged by church members

Monday 25th September1:30 Mission Weekend Planning meeting at City Church2:00 Monday House Group at 5, Gerddi y Bache.

Tuesday 26th September10:00–12:00 Coffee Morning by Llantysilio Church at the Memorial Hall

Wednesday 27th September10:00 Prayer Group meet in the vestry — you are welcome to join us7:30 Bible Studies at Penllwyn, Dinbren Road — the next study in Mark Greene’s “Fruitfulness on the Front-line”

Please let Norman know as soon as possible if you have a hymn, a song, a reading or a testimony you would like

included in this service

Mission WeekendA team from Revive Church Hull will be joining with Llangollen Cytûn on the last weekend of September for a weekend of mission in and around Llangollen.Saturday 30th September – Party in the Park - 12:00 until 4:00 in Riverside Park (We’ll be setting up from 11.00). A repeat of the successful event we ran at the end of July. Please come along to help with stalls, catering, crafts or meeting and greeting.Saturday Evening at City Church – Worship with the team beginning at 6.00.Sunday 1st October – our preacher at the morning service will be internationally renowned evangelist Andrew Murray and the service will be followed at 1.00 by a bring and share meal in the Memorial Hall.If anyone is able to offer accommodation to a team member for the nights of Friday 29th and Saturday 30th please contact Phil Poole.There will be a planning meeting at 1.30 on Monday 25th September at City Church. All are welcome.

The editor’s jottings!“Coffee Morning Tuesday 12th September” — apologies to all who came expecting a coffee morning, but a miss-communication resulted in no coffee morning!“Party in the Park” — Saturday 30th September 12:00–4:00; helpers will be needed once more, do come and join us in the blessing.

Norman

Thank YouRachel thanks everyone very much for all the Kind Greetings and Cards for her birthday

Minister:- Rev Philip Poole (01978) 860877 Email:- philpoole@btinternet.com

The Methodist Church in Britain is raising money to support the humanitarian aid and relief work following the heavy rains and winds causing disaster across the Caribbean. Thousands of homes and livelihoods are being lost.The Methodist Church in Britain is working with its humanitarian aid and relief partner in the Caribbean, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), who is ready to support affected communities as soon as their needs are assessed. Please give generously to provide relief to the many people affected. They will need ongoing support in the coming weeks and years.How to give:Please make any cheques out to The Methodist Church World Mission Fund, marked for Caribbean Hurricane Appeal and post them to:The Fundraising ManagerMethodist Church House25 Marylebone RoadLondon NW1 5JR

Do take a shoe box to fill – or do it together with a friend.If a whole shoe box seems too daunting, you could always contribute a few items to someone who is filling one, or even bring any extra items along to church to send to the Teams4u warehouse in Wrex-ham who will be very grateful for them, sending them off to needy orphans in Eastern Europe”We will be collecting the boxes to take them to the warehouse in No-vember possible on the 19th.Items that con go in the box include –Toothbrush & toothpaste, Hair accessories/brush, soap& face cloth,gloves, hat & scarf, new socks & underwear; please include – a soft toy, game , puzzle, toy, ball, sweets (used by date from June), a photo of yourself.We will get some leaflets with full details for next Sunday.

Today’s Bible Study (from the Methodist Church Website)

ReadingsMatthew 18:21-35 “And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt.” (v. 27)Psalm 103BackgroundForgiveness is all very well in principle, when you don’t have anyone in particular to forgive. It sounds generous, sensible and definitely the way to go. But when you actually need to forgive someone, a neighbour, a friend, a parent or even your enemy; then forgiveness seems as hard as anything can be. You are filled with a moral outrage! It is so unfair to forgive. Surely it will set a bad example; there is moral peril here! Where would we be if there were no proper consequences for our actions, no justice or balancing of the scales? Forgiveness will certainly lead to habitual wrongdoing.

The humour of this story, and it is meant to be humorous, is in the exaggeration. The servant owes an unimaginable amount of money. How could he have possibly got into that much debt! If this was the banking world there would (or should) be internal inquiries about the checks and balances for the traders. The fellow slave owes little in comparison and Matthew’s Gospel is putting the two together in this exaggerated way to raise a smile. Jesus wanted people to smile as the challenge pierces them to their heart. Clever stuff. A good story does this for us. It puts a complex moral question into a simpler framework, a cartoon world, so that the principle is revealed. We are surely in debt to God for an unimaginable amount, and there is no way any one can be that much in debt to us, so our only way of dealing with others is by forgiving them.

A phrase may stand out in all this - “out of pity”. The forgiveness is not based in a balance of justice; in the fairness that we longed for as children. It is simply out of pity. Compassion for the other that overwhelms us, forces us to action. A pity fuelled by the recognition and thus the gratitude that we owe so much.

Information for ‘Riverside Weekly’ should be sent to the editor,Norman Pybus (01978) 861390 Email:-editor@llangollenmethodist.org.ukPage 7

Some of the religious programmes on TV & Radio each week

BBC1 16:00 Sunday 17th September — Songs of Praise Aled Jones is in the seaside town of Eastbourne during its famous Inter-national Air Show. He takes to the skies with the Blades aerobatic display team and meets a 95-year-old World War II pilot who is supported by their charity work.Aled also meets one of the RAF’s first female pilots, who swapped the cockpit for the pulpit, and Pam Rhodes visits a charity making aviation accessible to people with disabilities.Hymns come from the Eastbourne Bandstand with worship leader Lou Fellingham leading the 1,000-strong congregation.Radio Wales — 7:30 & 18:30 Sundays — Celebration Radio 2 — 6:00 Sunday Morning —The Sunday HourRadio 2 — 7:00 Sunday Morning — Good Morning Sunday with Clare Balding Radio 4 — 8:10 Sundays — Sunday Worship Radio 4 (LW) — 9:45 Monday to Thursday Mornings — Daily WorshipRadio 4 (LW) — 9:45 Friday Mornings — Act of Worship

To PonderIt is hard, but who do you need to forgive at the moment? Try not to run

away from the feeling of how difficult it is. Stay with the discomfort!It is also hard, but how are you in debt to God and to others? Stay with

that to and let the sense of humble gratitude shine on the hardness of forgiveness.

Bible notes author: The Revd Dr Mark Wakelin

Wordfor

Today

Are you being stretched?‘All athletes are disciplined in

their training. They do it to win a prize.’

1 Corinthians 9:25

When you’re being stretched spiritually, your faith in God

grows. When you’re being stretched mentally, your old ideas are challenged and replaced with new ones. When you’re being stretched relationally, selfishness dies and love grows. So, are you being stretched right now? God allows us to have stretching experiences that prepare us for the race He has called us to run in life - and every so often your soul will ‘hit the wall’. No amount of strength and no amount of pressing will move the problem. This is soul stretch! Often, these moments aren’t the real test; they are just warm-ups that prepare us for future challenges. They are points of reference designed to keep us from panicking when we’re in the midst of the real race. Remember that God never allows a person to run for Him, or with Him, who hasn’t been stretched in their thinking, their faith, and their ability to live and love. So, when you

face a problem that just won’t move, remember to take a deep breath and remind yourself that God is stretching you. It’s the stretching of the soul that enables us to face situations we think will kill us, but don’t; to endure times when we think we won’t make it, but do. Sooner or later we will all face difficult times and relationships, but they are just the deep knee bends of life. So, when it feels like you’re being stretched to breaking point, don’t quit. See it for what it is - preparation for running and winning your God-assigned race in life.

Published by UCB, Stoke on Trent

For free daily readings see Elisabeth or Norman