It seemed a long time coming with all of the planning and church improvements required, but the new Pontypool branch of the PWMI finally opened with a celebratory service and meeting on Friday the 17th February at the Zion Christian Fellowship in Pisgah Road, Talywain, just north of Pontypool.
Introductory welcome remarks from Chairman Neville Stephens included how the church was purchased at auction beating off bids from building property speculators who wanted to convert the former church into two houses, now that planning permission had been granted for this purpose. The Lord obviously had other ideas, and both the South Wales Argus and the Pontypool Free Press gave splendid coverage of this with a lovely article and photo.
The praise and worship was led by the admirable Jane Woodford from Newport, who climbed out of her sick bed to be present, and the Lord strengthened her to sing and play very well in difficult circumstances. She was ably assisted by Brenda, a late volunteer from the congregation.
The main prayer of dedication of the church to the Lord for His purposes was led by Pastor Arthur Wicks from Beddau, near Pontypridd, who also reminded us that the building was "the Lord's house" and was to be used for His glory.
There was also another prayer from the Rev Byron Jones from Herefordshire, the Welsh Representative on the National Council, and also the Vice-Chairman of the PWMI, who prayed for God's blessing on all of the PWMI meetings in South Wales, namely Newport, Swansea, Caldicot, Ebbw Vale, and now Pontypool.
He also advertised the large rally the PWMI will be putting on in Cardiff in April. The year of 2012 is the PWMI year of evangelism, and the council have agreed to hold four special meetings in the four regional capitals of the UK, ie London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Belfast. Our Welsh event is to be held on April 27th at the Calvary Baptist Church, Cowbridge Road East, Canton, Cardiff from 7pm to 9pm, with guest speakers Rev Glyn Taylor, the PWMI Chairman, and Tony Pearce a PWMI council member. More information will be distributed about this gathering nearer the time, but please make a note of the date in your diaries to support this event if at all possible.
After the notices, prayers and praise, we were then treated to an excellent message from Bible Prophecy expert Brian Gemmell, who travelled down from York with his wife Gilly and mother Kathleen. He gave a splendid introductory address on prophecy titled "From The Cornerstone To The Capstone", teaching how important prophecy is in the Bible, how accurate all of the predictions have been in the past, and how future prophesies will all be fulfilled to the exact minute detail, as were all of the proclamations of the first coming to earth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bearing this in mind he warned, how vital it is for us to know Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, and to live our lives by His principles laid down in the Scriptures, for the Rapture and Second Coming Of Christ are rapidly approaching events on the world calendar.
After the service most people stayed on for more fine fellowship, food, and fun to round off an excellent first service for the re-opening of the Zion Christian Fellowship and the first meeting of the Pontypool branch of the PWMI. We give all of our praise and thanks to the Lord, Who made all of this possible.
The meeting was recorded by our good friend Keith Cline from Bristol, and will be available to purchase on DVD soon, for a very reasonable price. Please let me know if you would like a copy.
Maranatha,
Neville.
No comments:
Post a Comment