28 April 2020

PRESS RELEASE

Following new Welsh Government advice, all Neath Port Talbot owned cemeteries plus Margam Crematorium will be re-opened to the public from Thursday (April 30th, 2020) for visits to graves or memorials.

In common with other Welsh local authorities earlier this month, Neath Port Talbot Council announced the temporary closure of its crematorium and cemeteries to members of the public (unless attending a funeral) to help stop the spread of Coronavirus.

But following dialogue between Council Leaders and Welsh Government Ministers due to the sensitivity of family visits to graves, the Welsh Government issued further guidance.

Margam Crematorium and the Council owned cemeteries will now re-open from Thursday though people making visits are reminded social distancing and other measures designed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 must be adhered to.

Neath Port Talbot Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Streetscene and Engineering, Cllr Ted Latham said: “This has been a hugely challenging time for everyone and we understand the closure of cemeteries and the grounds of Margam Crematorium for family visits has not been welcome.

“This is why we are now re-opening them as soon as we can with measures put in place to ensure public visits are as safe as possible for everyone involved.

“Please ensure you are mindful of social distancing rules and please remember to observe them when visiting loved ones who have passed.

“This is a balance between stopping the spread of Coronavirus and meeting the basic human need for people to visit the resting place of their loved ones. Working together I am sure we can get this balance right.”

Along with Margam Crematorium, the Council operates cemeteries in the following areas:
•     Cymmer
•     Goytre
•     Margam
•     Ynysmaerdy
•     Cwmbedd (Giants Grave)
•     Onllwyn
•     Llantwit
•     Carmel
•     Godre’r Graig

 

 

 

Hello everyone. 

I trust you are well and enjoying fellowship with God.

Last night I was teaching via the internet a Theological College in Brazil. It is such a blessing to be able to share what God is doing.

We certainly serve an amazing and all compassionate God.

God bless

“Let’s do our best to reach the whole world as soon as possible for Christ

 

With God we can do great things – Daniel 11:32 – 26/04/20

Every year as a fellowship of believers we have a theme for the year. This year’s theme is “Attempt Great Things for God and Expect Great Things from God” the biblical foundation for it is Daniel 11:32 .  We are concentrating on the 2^nd part of the verse “but the people that know their God shall be strong and do exploits”.

The man who coined our theme for the year is called William Carey. Mr Carey was a cobbler and in his workshop he had a map of the world and as he repaired shoes he prayed for the world to be saved. He was the first Baptist missionary, and he went to India and he never returned to Britain again. He gave himself completely to serve the Lord and through his vision and efforts the  ‘Baptist Mission Society’ was founded. He accomplished a lot for God and deservedly received the title ‘The Father of Modern Missions’.

The name Daniel means – God is my judge. Daniel was a young Jewish man who belonged to the nobility in Jerusalem and together with thousands of other Jewish people he was taken into captivity in Babylon. When in Babylon, he and some of his friends remained faithful to God and because of this they faced some very challenging times. The verse in Daniel 11 is written later on in his life time. However, Daniel had seen the results of the furnace of fire and how God spared his friends’ lives.

Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den and his life was spared. Daniel had dreams and visions from God and he could truly say ‘but the people that know their God shall be strong and do exploits”. Daniel did not have it easy but he remained faithful to God. Daniel was young, handsome, and intelligent; he had dreams of being married, becoming a father and enjoying a family life. All of these things were taken away from him when he became a captive in Babylon. To make life more complicated he became an eunuch and that was a humiliating situation to find himself in. In all the troubles and humiliation he faced Daniel remained faithful and true to the Lord. He could have asked himself ‘what have I done to deserve this?’. He could have become a very bitter person, but instead of embracing bitterness Daniel embraced the grace of God which enabled him not just to survive but to be a real blessing and encouragement. We know that Daniel became very high up in a governmental position within the Babylonian empire. Daniel never went back to Jerusalem even though his heart was set on it. We can sit down and cry at what life throws at us and or learn to stand and make a difference and be blessing.

Daniel had decided that from the very beginning of his captivity that he would not conform but he would make a stand for the Lord. It took great courage and he was just a young man. Age does not come into it, when a man or a woman is devoted to the Lord, He will use them regardless of their age. It is a wonderful thing to know about God, and when studying theology we learn a lot about God, but there is a great difference in knowing about God, and knowing God. It is not the people who know about God that will do great exploits, it is the people who know God that will do great exploits. We are called to be a blessing and a living witness wherever we are. If we work in a hospital we are called to be courageous in that environment, if we work as a teacher or a bus driver, or whatever place we find ourselves in, if we know God we are going to achieve great things for Him. We are not aiming to be heroes but we are aiming to be courageous men and women of God who every day depend upon Him. We are living in a very self-sufficient society but we believers are not embarrass to approach God to ask Him to bless us in ways that we can achieve great things for Him.

You need to have an active faith and believe beyond circumstances that God will see you through. At the present moment I feel like all of us are in a gym – I mean spiritual gym and God is teaching us how to exercise our spiritual muscles. We are getting stronger and at a time such as this we need to focus on Him.

Do not be afraid, trust, and keep going strong.

 

 

Cast all you cares on Him – Bible Study 28/04/20

1 Peter 5: 1-10 / 5:7

Peter says something very powerful here in verse 1 ‘a witness of Christ’s sufferings’. He was with the Master for 3 ½ years and he saw how He lived His life and also ‘His sufferings’. Pay attention Peter does not say ‘suffering’ he says ‘sufferings’. The Lord throughout His life faced sufferings – a refugee in Egypt, religious persecution, false accusations, etc. Peter never saw the Lord anxious about what life would dish Him out next.

We are living in a society when many people are suffering terribly with problems of anxiety. Many people are taking tablets  for their anxiety and please do not misunderstand me because medically speaking there is room for such treatments.  What I am saying is we need to learn to rest in the Lord. In Matthew 11:28 we read about it.  The teaching of Matthew 6 about the ‘Daily Bread’ is about us not being anxious about tomorrow. The news today is so bad and scary that I miss the times when it was all about ‘Brexit’ and ‘Brexit’ did get on my nerves.

When looking at the bible there are many verses in which messages are not complete in themselves and we need to read the whole passage to understand it. Nevertheless, verse 7 is a complete verse, it makes complete sense in itself  and reaffirms biblical truths about anxiety. Someone went to the doctor and said ‘doctor every time I turn my neck around it hurts me’ and the doctor said ‘do not turn it around then’. In other words you will have no pain but the problem will not be solved either. I could tell you ‘just do not watch television or listen to the news’, however it would not solve the problem, it would just cover it up. I know sometimes we need to be kind to ourselves but we cannot hide from reality.

All of us have plenty of reasons to be anxious about different things in life. It is something that can take over our lives and cause us to live with insecurity and fear. We can get worried or uneasy about something with an uncertain outcome. When these feelings come upon you, you need to cast them over to the Lord. To cast means to throw them over to him and say in an audible voice ‘Lord I cannot control these situations and it is taking over my life, but in accordance to the teachings of your word I cast them over to you asking you handle this situation’. To hand a situation over to the Lord is not a sign of weakness but a clear sign that we trust in Him and also in His compassionate character. The bible gives us so many examples of how caring God is  – Caring Father (Psalm 103:13), Good Shepherd (John 10:11,14 Friend (John 15:15) etc. Every day we should pray, and during our times of prayer  we should hand the day over to Him knowing that He will do a better job of it than what we would. As the day develops in front of you, you will meet new challenges and anxiety will knock at the door of your heart. Just remember, ‘cast all your cares on Him because He cares for you’. I know Maureen’s favourite verse is Proverb 3:5,6. This passage speaks about trusting in the Lord with all of our hearts. We exercise trust everyday in our lives. When we turn on the light  we trust it will work, when it does not we are quite surprised. When we sit down we trust the chair will hold our weight, when we open the fridge door we trust the food would have kept cold. If we can trust in these things that have no brain, no personality, no desire, we certainly can trust much more in God who exceeds in intelligence, kindness, love etc. Instead of listening to the news for comfort, listen to it for information because for comfort and strength we listen to the Lord. If you are frightened because of the news on TV, open your bible and read, and be encouraged in who God is and learn to rest in His love. He cares for you.

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A Message from Father Andrew

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Lockdown

God of compassion,

be close to those who are ill, afraid or in isolation.

In their loneliness, be their consolation;

in their anxiety, be their hope;

 in their darkness, be their light;

 through him who suffered alone on the cross,

but reigns with you in glory,

Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

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We are now into our fourth week in lockdown and entering the fifth week. To say that life is strange would be an understatement. We have all had to adjust how we live our lives daily.

 

For many if not most of us the difficulty lies in our lack of social contact. Whilst some can go to the shops where we will see others, there are many who may see no-one during any given day.

 

However, like me I expect many in Resolven if not within the parish boundaries are watching on BBC 1 on Monday evenings the programme called Lockdown; a programme which has our very own Ross (autographs will be given after the crisis is over for those forming an orderly queue) my words not his.

 

As we watch those people who are participating in this programme, it has I hope helped us all to realise the seriousness of what is happening in the world at this time; at a more human level, whilst also keeping us amused (the Davies family from Swansea in particular).

 

In a way this programme shows our helplessness but, in another way, it shows our capacity for goodness, our compassion for others. This week I watched a colleague from Llantwit Major lock the doors of his church and walk away, however, I know that although he has had to walk away from a building like all of us who minister we have not walked away from church.

 

Our role may have changed, we no longer see many of those who live alongside us in the parish face to face, but we have found new ways mixed with old ways of staying in touch. I speak with so many of the congregation from all 3 churches during the week by phone. I also know that they in turn keep in contact with each other.

 

I am learning how to use aspects of social media I had not used before. Each Sunday I place a pre-recorded message on the parish Facebook page, I through the help of a colleague to join with their parish to form a zoom ministry area where some of our regular worshippers zoom in so to speak. We also hold a zoom coffee morning on a Friday at 10.30.

 

The church is alive in this place even though its buildings are closed. The community needs each other more than ever and I believe it is once again finding itself. From the stories that I hear from those telephone conversations I have daily people are reaching out for each, looking out for each other, caring for each other. What I see in the communities that I serve here in this parish is a God who alive and well and showing his face of love through each one of you.

 

If you feel the need to just have a chat about anything or nothing, then please feel free to give us a call 01639 711657.

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Lord Jesus Christ,

you taught us to love our neighbour,

 and to care for those in need

as if we were caring for you.

In this time of anxiety, give us strength

to comfort the fearful, to tend the sick,

and to assure the isolated

of our love, and your love,

for your name’s sake.

Amen.

___

 Father Andrew.

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The following information supplied by The Vale of Neath Practice

 

 

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I am sending the sermon for Sunday and Bible Study for Tuesday.

God bless

Then the Lord reinvented the church – 19/04/2020

 Acts 11:1-15

When we read the book of Acts we are always very impressed with the power of the Spirit of God and how He moved upon the church. It is truly an impressive account. However, the church closed itself in a Jewish community and it stayed there. The apostles were not fulfilling the Great Commission as we find it in Matthew 28:16-20. It was the Lord’s desire for the gospel to be preached to the very ends of the earth. The church still being very Jewish, we look for instance in Acts 3 at the story of Peter and John going to temple at 3pm where a paralytic man is healed and he started walking and praising God. It is important to notice that Peter and John by now had seen Jesus ascended to heaven, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they were still practicing Judaism as their religion, at 3pm they went with all the other Jews to Temple to pray because this was the Jewish tradition of those days. They were doing what they knew and they did not see any need of changing anything. Then we read in Acts 8 the church being persecuted and then its evangelistic enterprise beyond Jerusalem started.  We read in chapter 10 Peter having a wonderful vision from God and how God worked in that vision. In the Jewish culture the gentiles would be considered impure people – God used an analogy to speak to Peter and show to him that they were not impure. Also in chapter 10 we see the vision God gave to Peter becoming true. Peter went with the soldiers to Cornellius’s house and they were God fearing people who did not know the way. When Peter arrived in Caesarea he found a group of people in whose life God had been working and they were ready to receive the truth of the gospel. Peter was called In front of the ‘synod’ to give an account of his actions to them. How could he dare to eat with non-Jews? It was against their culture. Between Acts 1 to Acts 10 spans around 7 years. For around 7 years the church was short sighted and God thought I need to do something new in order to change what is happening.

As we can see, God needed to reinvent the church. It was important for the church to have its own identity and take up her responsibility of breaking away from man’s traditions by sharing the good news with the world. It was a completely new concept to these Jewish boys ‘we are one’. ‘We are one not as Jews, but we are one as Jews and Gentiles’. Paul worked on this subject when he said in (Galatians 3:28) for in Christ there is no Jew, no Greek as we are one in Him. God just did not save the Gentiles, He poured out His Spirit upon them as well. It is wonderful to see people coming through the doors to worship God with other believers and it is a healthy position to take. However, it is wrong to think that we as church, have a monopoly over God. It wrong for us to think that we own God. There are lots of people out there who are truly God fearing people and who have a lot to teach us and encourage us in the ways of the Lord. The Spirit of God is working in people’s hearts much more that what we can think. We have the tendency to think of the church as being a cocoon. If it does not happen in the church it is not good and we are doubtful of it. We do  need to analyse things and check them against the scriptures. God isn’t in enclosure within the church and even less within our own spiritual culture. God is much bigger than what we can think and imagine and praise God for that.

It was necessary for God to give Peter a very drastic vision  in order to wake up the church for infinite possibilities ahead of her. To bring the church out of her own ghetto and be exposed to the reality of a world to be saved and ready to receive the truth. Of course I do not like what is happening around us at this very present moment. However God is giving us a wake up call as the body of Christ and shaking us from our conformism in doing church and showing to us new ways. For sure we are going to carry on doing lots of the things as we have been doing before but nevertheless we are going to do new things too. Our moment in history is teaching us to be innovative and creative. I have been greatly encouraged to see how people are developing their own spirituality and walk with God. I have been great encouraged in seeing people looking after people, caring for people, phoning, shopping etc. We are rediscovering us and reinventing our ways of doing church and promoting the gospel. There are so many lessons we can learn and God expects us to learn them. God shook the early church to its core and God is shaking us up today in order for us to shape up.

There is a great need for us to reach out to those who never heard, or are not listening, or responding to our conventional ways of doing church. We must come out of the situation we are living in much better than when we first entered it. We need to have a new vision and be reinvigorated in doing church in new and efficient ways. If Peter had not responded in a positive way to the vision he was given by God he would have covered himself with the blanket of prejudices within Judaism. If the church would have carried on with the mentality ‘for Jews’ only, most of us would not be part of the salvation in Christ because the majority of us are not Jews. We are gentiles and God had a plan and desire to save us too. The saving plan of God is inclusive and not exclusive. To achieve that, He  shook up the conventional ways the apostles were doing church.

BIBLE STUDY

The Power of Secret Prayer 21/04/2020

Matthew 6: 5 -8

A friend sent me today a poster that says ‘Prayer is the best gift you can give a friend’.

These verses are an introduction to the teaching of what we call ‘The Lord’s Prayer’.  We concentrate on the Lord’s prayer and we forget the wonderful principle of what He is teaching us, ‘Secret Prayer’

Prayer is when we talk to God and prayer is something you can do for someone even when they do not want it. Some times people tell you ‘please do not pray for me’; you still can pray for them and they do not need to know about it. Prayer can be kept as a secret between you and God. This is what we call ‘Secret Prayer’. Some people have had some disappointments in life and they turn against God and this is one of the reasons why they do not want prayers – still, in the secret of your room you are able to pray for them even though they do not know about it. Prayer is a wonderful tool the Lord has given us, there is no distance in prayer, no language barrier, no class barrier etc. You can pray for an astronaut who is in the moon, or for a naval man who is in a nuclear submarine in the deepest of the oceans on earth. You can pray for someone who speaks Chinese, Welsh or any other language and you can pray for them in a different language altogether. You can pray for your closest friend or for someone you have never met but you saw their photo in a magazine and the Lord puts in your heart the desire to pray for that person. You can pray for the richest man in the world or for a homeless person you have seen in Swansea. All of these examples and more you can do in the secret of your own room. The Lord Jesus was not impressed with people who liked praying to show off how beautifully they could pray and eloquent they could say prayers in public.  There is nothing wrong with long prayers, but it is wrong when we pray to show off.

The Lord Jesus prayed. The bible gives us example of Jesus praying alone and other times He prayed publicly (Hebrews 5:7; Luke 6:12; John 11:41). It is very important we develop our own prayer life with the Lord. Just to remind you ‘ prayer is a very powerful tool the Lord has given us, His people’.

There are some prayers that we need to keep as a secret because they are just between you and the Lord. In my own personal life I have lots of prayers which no one knows about. It does not mean I do not trust  people, but these prayers I am referring to, they are just between me and the Lord. They are like precious secrets between us. You just tell the deepest secrets of your heart to someone you fully trust. I can reassure you that there are no secrets between the Lord and I. I am referring to His omniscience -He knows everything. I know He knows everything, but I love spending time with Him and sharing with Him things which are in my heart. This is part of praying in secret.

The secret prayer has its prices to pay too. I personally l love to hear testimonies of people sharing how the Lord has answered their prayers. Some of the secret prayers, when the Lord answers them, it is to keep just between you two. The joy of it is shared just between you, it is not that you are afraid but it is a private matter between you and Him. You are not being selfish but wise.

Secret prayers are not a substitute for public prayers. Actually we should see both as part of the same parcel.  We should have private prayers and secret prayers too. Some people resource to secret prayers only ,not because it is a private matter between them and the Lord, but because they are embarrassed of praying openly in public. When you are among Christians we are all part of the same family. We have the same Father and we as children we pray to the same Father. One of the prayers that we believers should pray is ‘Lord help me to pray out publicly’. It is such an encouragement for others when we see people talking with God.

Very often we say like this to people ‘I will pray for you’. We say it in some way of being apologetic about it. This is the wrong attitude, because the best thing we can do for anyone it is ‘to pray for them’. When we say to someone I will pray for you, what we are really saying is ‘I know someone who is able to help you and I am going to ask Him to help you’. In times of great need a helping hand can make a great difference in someone’s life.

Going back to ‘secret prayer’. There is so much need for it. If you know of a situation which is not right but you do not have the opportunity to talk about or do something about it exercise what the Lord has taught you, ‘secret prayer’. If you see someone suffering injustice in your place of work and you cannot do anything about it, it is time for ‘secret prayer’. Someone is struggling emotionally and you know there aren’t any words to comfort that person, it is time for ‘secret prayer’. You can take ‘secret prayer’ with you wherever you go.

Be a believer who prays publicly but also a believer who understand and exercises ‘secret prayer’.

Prayer requests

Claire James and her daughter Elise. Both of them working in local hospitals and they need the Lord’s protection.

Pray for people within our own fellowship.

Pray for your family

Pray for your neighbours

Pray for our country

The High Sheriff of West Glamorgan Awards are given to members of the public whose voluntary contributions to the community make a difference and open up opportunities for those who might not otherwise have them. There are 3 separate categories – adult, young person and group.

This year Resolven once again gained honours in this award, not just one but three Resolven residents were recognised.

Due to the coronavirus limiting social gatherings, we don’t have the full information we might have gained through interviewing people as in previous years, so if anything is missing from this article we apologise.

Saturday March the 28^th was to be the day of the official presentation at Mumbles Cricket Club and a celebration party was planned for them at the Resolven Miners Welfare Hall that night. Sadly this was not to be the case after the necessary government rulings on distancing and isolation were put into place before it could happen. That doesn’t mean we can’t congratulate the Resolven winners here and celebrate with them some time in the future though.

 

GLORIA FELTON

Gloria was born in Resolven and attended Ynysfach Primary School before going on to study at Windsor Business Training College in Neath . She had two daughters who both attended Ynysfach Primary and it was when her grandchildren arrived more than 30 years ago that she became a volunteer there, to offer extra help with reading skills to the pupils. For 20 of those years she has also been a governor – always ready to help with events and never failing in her efforts to take the school forward.

Gloria is without doubt a highly respected and appreciated member of our community and deserves her recognition for this award.

 

DEBBIE CLARKE

Debbie lives in Resolven with her husband and 4 daughters. She is probably best known for her voluntary work as a leader with the 12^th Neath scouts group in Resolven, but she is also involved with other groups locally such as the Resolven community events group who organise the village carnival. Her energy and spirit never falter and can often be both seen and heard in many local social events encouraging and supporting the young people of our village.

 

 

JACK ROBERTS

Jack was nominated as a young person for his contribution to the scouts’ movement in the village. He became a volunteer 2 years ago after their leader Debbie Evans put out a request for help to run the group. After making a good impression and gaining confidence, he responded to the Akela’s (Debbie’s) suggestion and began to train as a leader and is now known to the beavers he supervises as Shere Khan. Jack is an enthusiastic and encouraging role model to those in his care and will undoubtedly continue to be an asset to our community

Resolven District News recognises the achievements of the 3 worthy winners of this year’s award and both congratulate and thank them for their contribution to Resolven.

Original Report by Diane Sims

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