St David's Day from Highfields Church, Cardiff

Good morning (Bore Da), a warm welcome to you live from Highfields Church Cardiff, here in the Welsh Capital. It’s lovely that you could join us on St David’s Day.

I’m Jon Reeves, associate pastor here at Highfields. Today we will be reflecting on Psalm 66, which is a song of joy about what God has done for us; and an invitation to share it with the world around us. Something so good mustn’t be kept a secret.

During our service we’re going to hear from several people from our church family, as well as sing God’s praises together, accompanied by our very own Highfields Orchestra.

We begin with a responsive reading of Psalm 66, verses 1 to 4, after which we’ll sing the magnificent Welsh hymn, Cwm Rhondda: Guide me O thou Great Jehovah.

JR

1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth!

CONGREGATION

2  Sing the glory of his name;
make his praise glorious.

JR

3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power
that your enemies cringe before you.

CONGREGATION

4 All the earth bows down to you;
they sing praise to you,
they sing the praises of your name.”

1st HYMN: Guide me O thou great Jehovah

1.Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
hold me with thy powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
feed me now and evermore;
feed me now and evermore.

2. Open now the crystal fountain,
whence the healing stream doth flow;
let the fire and cloudy pillar
lead me all my journey through.
Strong deliverer, strong deliverer,
be thou still my strength and shield;
be thou still my strength and shield.

3. When I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fears subside;
death of death and hell's destruction,
land me safe on Canaan's side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to thee;
I will ever give to thee.

Let’s pray.

Father God, we thank you for the chance this morning to be reminded that you are a great God and are worthy of our praise.

We’re sorry for the ways in which we’ve turned from you this week. Thank you that because of the good news of Jesus’s cross and resurrection, the power of sin has been defeated and that a hope-filled future awaits all who trust in him. 

Lord, we ask you to help us to hear your word today, so we may know that regardless of our circumstances and what we face in life, the good news of Jesus is relevant for us all.

By your Spirit, stir us to share this good news with a world that is in desperate need. 

And we pray all this in Jesus’ precious name. 

Amen. 

Sarah Gray, one of our Ministry Interns here at Highfields, continues our reading from Psalm 66 verses 5 to 12. 

5 Come and see what God has done,
his awesome deeds for mankind!
6 He turned the sea into dry land,
they passed through the waters on foot—
come, let us rejoice in him.
7 He rules forever by his power,
his eyes watch the nations—
let not the rebellious rise up against him.

8 Praise our God, all peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard;
9 he has preserved our lives
and kept our feet from slipping.
10 For you, God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.
11 You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.
12 You let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance.

The ninth verse in our reading said that we are to praise God for preserving our lives and keeping our feet from slipping. This year as a church we celebrate our 40th Anniversary. We are so grateful to God for preserving us and guiding us over these years. 

Highfields Church exists to spread a passion for Jesus in our city, in our country and further afield.

One of our mission partners over the decades has been Dai Hankey who is currently pastoring a recent church plant near the city centre. 

JR: Hi Dai, thanks for joining us this morning, please could you share with us, what area in Cardiff, you are now living and serving God.

DH: Sure. Over the last few years I have been blessed to lead a new church plant in the Adamsdown area of Cardiff called Mercy Church. 

JR: Can you tell us a little bit about, Adamsdown and what makes it such a unique community?

DH: Yeah. So Adamsdown is a wonderfully diverse community in Cardiff’s inner-city and is home to people from all over the world. It’s a melting pot of cultures and languages which accounts for the wide range of eateries, food stores and places of worship in the area. Sadly, it’s also a very deprived community experiencing high levels of organised crime, drug use and anti-social behaviour. 

JR: Could you tell us about Mercy Church, and share with us some of the blessings you’ve experienced and some of the challenges you’ve faced. 

DH: Our vision at Mercy is to share the love of Jesus in Adamsdown, so everything that we do seeks revolves around that goal. We meet in an old bank on Clifton Street which is the main street in Adamsdown. We have spent considerable time and energy converting it into space for our church family to meet but also for us to be able to serve and connect with the community. So as well as our usual church activities such as Sunday worship services, midweek prayer meetings, Bible studies etc., we also open our doors during the week to serve coffee (and Pot Noodles!) to whoever fancies calling in. We have also been opening on a Sunday evening over the winter months to offer soup, warmth and friendship to those who need it. We are here for everyone and anyone in the community, and it has been a huge blessing to welcome people in from all kinds of backgrounds. Those who are Christian. Those who aren’t! People struggling with addiction, loneliness, mental health struggles. We have baptised young people and the last lady we baptised was 87! 

Obviously there are challenges too. Some of the people we connect with are really broken and it’s especially agonising to see the grip that addiction has on some people. And some people don’t like the idea of attending Mercy because they are intimidated by our location and the kinds of people who take shelter in our doorway. But they are why we are here! We are only a small church with limited resources but we do what we can and I am SO proud of our little church family who are some of the bravest and most compassionate people that I know. 

Thanks so much Dai. For forty years, Highfields Church has sought to be a 21st century church rooted in the ancient faith. Last year marked 1700 years of the Nicene Creed, a declaration Christians have shared over the centuries.

Our next song sets this creed to music, before Lead Pastor Dave Gobbett shares from Psalm 66.

2nd hymn: The God we love

VERSE 1
We believe in one God, the Father
The Almighty, the Maker of all
The One who rules the seen and unseen
We believe, and we adore

Jesus Christ, one Lord of creation
From the Father, begotten not made
He is the Light from Light eternal
And the God of every age

CHORUS
All glory to the Father now
All honour to the Son
And praise the Spirit, now and always
This is the God we love

VERSE 2
For this world and for our salvation
He came down from the heavens above
Born of a virgin and the Spirit
Truly man and truly God

He was crucified under Pilate,
Suffered death and was laid in the grave
And in accordance with the scriptures
On the third He rose again

CHORUS
All glory to the Father now
All honour to the Son
And praise the Spirit, now and always
This is the God we love

BRIDGE
And Christ has made His ascent
Into the heavens above
Where He sits at the Father’s right hand now
But He will come back again
And He will judge in truth

The Holy Spirit has come,
Voice of the prophets of God
Sent to us, he has given us new life
Forgiven, now and baptised
One holy church, we rise, we rise

CHORUS
All glory to the Father now
All honour to the Son
And praise the Spirit, now and always
This is the God we love

VERSE 3:
Now we wait to be resurrected
And we look for the world without end
This is our creed, our faith, our anthem
This is the God we love

I love the book of Psalms, the Bible’s ancient hymn book. They give voice to the range of emotions that believers can feel as they reflect on God’s work, in his world and in their lives. Psalm 66 is no exception. It explodes out of the blocks with joyful, global praise: “Shout for joy to God, all the earth! … Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds!’”

In our first meditation, the psalmist focuses on two areas, which cause celebration all over the world.

First, he says, rejoice in the God who rescues. We’re transported back three and a half thousand years to the time of the Exodus, when God’s people were wonderfully delivered from slavery in Egypt. “He turned the sea into dry land,” we read, “they passed through the waters on foot.” A scene immortalised in the movie Prince of Egypt, with Moses and the Israelites trapped between a chasing army (behind them) and the deep blue sea (in front of them); if God is set on rescuing you, nothing and no one can get in the way.

Wonderfully, in the gospel of Jesus Christ, a better freedom is ushered in. For though the Bible teaches our world is in slavery to sin—our selfish thoughts, or words and or deeds—Jesus came to set us free. By dying for our sins, and rising from the grave, the most glorious liberation project has been set in motion. And so, rejoice in the God who rescues!

And rejoice in the God who refines. That’s the second area our psalmist draws attention to, and it comes in a surprising plot-twist. Verse 8: “Praise our God, all peoples…” Verse 10 “For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.”Sorry, what was that? You tested us? Yes, says the psalmist: v12 “we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.”

In other words, God is the master craftsman. And as well as lovingly rescuing his people, he lovingly wants to refine us—to fashion and mould us, and yes sometimes that can be a painful process, going through ‘fire and water’ so to speak, but his goal is always to take us somewhere beautiful.

Which means though life can often seem out of control for us, it’s never out of control for God. He holds the world, he holds our lives, he holds our ups and our downs, all in the palms of his hands. And as John Newton, born 300 years ago last year, famously said, ‘How unspeakably wonderful that all our concerns are held in the hands of the one who bled for us.’ If God is set on rescuing or refining you, nothing and no one can get in the way. He’s far too invested to getting us ‘to a place of (spiritual) abundance’.

So, hear the call of Psalm 66 and rejoice: rejoice in the God who rescues; and rejoice in the God who refines.

Well, we’re going to do just that with our next hymn, the beautiful Welsh favourite: Dum Ma Gariadd: Here is Love Vast as the Ocean.

3rd HYMN: Here is love 02:40

1. Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Loving-kindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout heav’n’s eternal days.

2. Let me, all Thy love accepting,
Love Thee, ever all my days;
Let me seek Thy kingdom only,
And my life be to Thy praise;
Thou alone shalt be my glory,
Nothing in the world I see;
Thou hast cleansed and sanctified me,
Thou Thyself hast set me free.

3. (MEN ONLY)

Dyma gariad fel y moroedd,

Tosturiaethau fel y lli:

Twysog Bywyd pur yn marw -

Marw i brynu'n bywyd ni.

(WOMEN ONLY)

Pwy all beidio â chofio amdano?

Pwy all beidio â thraethu'i glod?

Dyma gariad nad â'n angof

Tra fo nefoedd Wen yn bod.

4. On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.

Psalm 66 verses 16 to 20

16 Come and hear, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;
19 but God has surely listened
and has heard my prayer.
20 Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!

Highfields Church is a city centre, multi-cultural congregation. We’re blessed to have over thirty different nationalities in weekly worship, including many Iranians into our church family in recent years.

1. Introduction

Hello, my name is Irandokht. I am 42 years old, a mother, and a teacher here in the UK. I moved from Iran to the UK in 2021 to continue my studies. Growing up in Iran, I lived with a constant 'gap' in my heart—I was born into a very different culture and had to pretend to believe, but inside, I felt disconnected. I was living a double life, searching for a truth that felt honest.

2. DAVE: How did you come to faith in Jesus?

My journey to faith in Christ actually started back at university in Iran. I came across Matthew 7:7 in a book: 'Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find.' Those words resonated so deeply that I wrote them on my wall. They stayed there for four years, giving me a strange sense of hope before I even knew who Jesus really was.

When I moved to the UK, I met a friend whose life reflected that same peace I had read about. Through her friendship, I started attending Highfields Church in Cardiff. After two years of listening, learning, and feeling the warmth of the community, I realized I didn't have to pretend anymore. I was baptized as a believer in Jesus here in 2024.

3. DAVE: What difference does knowing Jesus make to life today?

The biggest difference is the end of that 'gap' in my heart. I no longer have to wear a mask or pretend to be someone I’m not. Knowing Jesus has replaced my anxiety with a steady peace. It’s a feeling of being 'home' spiritually, regardless of where I am geographically.

4. DAVE: With yesterday’s news, how are you coping with all the difficulties back home?

It is incredibly difficult to watch my family face hardships back home while I am here. Before, I would have felt helpless and overwhelmed by fear. Now, my relationship with Jesus gives me a way to process that pain. The circumstance of my homeland Iran makes me feel sad and frustrated. I ask Jesus, Lord help my people, let them be free. I find strength in prayer, believing that they are in God’s hands even when they are out of my reach. It gives me the resilience to support them emotionally because I am standing on a foundation of hope rather than despair.

4th hymn: Christ our hope in life and death

1. What is our hope in life and death?
Christ alone, Christ alone
What is our only confidence?
That our souls to Him belong

Who holds our days within His hand?
What comes, apart from His command?
And what will keep us to the end?
The love of Christ, in which we stand

CHORUS

O sing hallelujah!
Our hope springs eternal
O sing hallelujah!
Now and ever we confess
Christ our hope in life and death

2. What truth can calm the troubled soul?
God is good, God is good
Where is His grace and goodness known?
In our great Redeemer's blood

Who holds our faith when fears arise?
Who stands above the stormy trial?
Who sends the waves that bring us nigh?
Unto the shore, the rock of Christ

CHORUS

O sing hallelujah!
Our hope springs eternal
O sing hallelujah!
Now and ever we confess
Christ our hope in life and death

3. Unto the grave, what will we sing?
"Christ, He lives; Christ, He lives!"
And what reward will heaven bring?
Everlasting life with Him

There we will rise to meet the Lord
Then sin and death will be destroyed
And we will feast in endless joy
When Christ is ours forevermore (forevermore)

CHORUS

O sing hallelujah!
Our hope springs eternal
O sing hallelujah!
Now and ever we confess
Christ our hope in life and death

O sing hallelujah!
Our hope springs eternal
O sing hallelujah!
Now and ever we confess
Christ our hope in life and death

That was the anthemic, Christ our Hope in Life and Death.

My family have recently pulled off a blinder—keeping secret a surprise fiftieth birthday celebration for yours truly, with loads of my family and friends. It was a monumental effort with months of discrete WhatsApp messages sent behind closed doors. I felt very spoilt and very loved when I entered the building to the explosive sound of ‘Surprise!’

We’ve been hearing the call of Psalm 66 to rejoice in God’s salvation. We’ve heard lots of explosive, celebratory language: ‘Shout for joy!’, ‘Sing!’ ‘Praise!’. In this last section, the psalmist looks out to his readers, breaks the fourth wall, and invites us all, verse 16: “Come and hear, all you who fear God, let me tell you what he has done for me.” When God’s grace touches us, we want everyone to know. Because something so good can’t be kept a secret anymore.

At my fiftieth birthday party, once I’d got my breath back, I was only too delighted to share the celebration with anyone I could speak to. ‘Let me tell you what my wonderful family have done for me! How much I’ve been loved!’ The time for secrecy was over—the time for sharing the love had begun!

Psalm 66 is urging us to share the love. If we’ve received the love of God, then share the love. If we’ve known first hand his rescuing and refining love—then share the love. If we’ve been on the receiving end of what Saint Paul says in Romans 5 verse 6 that “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”—then share the love. If we’ve got it, share it. Something so good can’t be kept a secret.

But maybe though we’ve not got it. And we can’t share what we’ve not got.

But this is where Psalm 66 is so helpful—because it concludes by explaining how we can feel the love of God too. Verses 17-20 speak of coming to God in prayer. They speak of turning from sin and trusting in him. Which fundamentally means approaching God with open hands and an open heart and saying ‘Lord, I can’t earn your love, I don’t deserve love, but because of Jesus’s death in my place, please give it to me anyway.’

And wonderfully, he will. Because God’s got an awful lot of love to give. And if we’ve got it, we share it. Something so good can’t be kept a secret. It was this conviction (a hundred years ago) that led renowned Welsh doctor, Martyn Lloyd-Jones—who was born a stone’s throw from Highfields Church & died on St David’s Day, forty-five years ago today—to leave his successful medical career for a lifetime of powerful Christian ministry, sharing the love of God in Christ.

And so, this morning, we too are invited to declare with the psalmist: “Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!”

We’re going to come to that God in prayer now, and my colleague and pastoral worker Elspeth Pitt will lead us.

Our loving heavenly Father, we praise you this morning for who you are and celebrate your goodness and glory. Thank you that you are the rescuing God who saves all sorts of people through the death of your Son, the Lord Jesus.

On this St David’s Day morning, we thank you for enabling that good news to come to our own country of Wales, and for the example of David, Dewi Sant, so many years ago, of teaching your truth to others so that they might grow to know Jesus more too. As we look back over the centuries we are so grateful that you have enabled the message he embraced and taught to flourish and spread even further than he could have imagined.

We pray that many more might come to be among those who fear you and praise you and rejoice in you as the good news of Jesus continues to spread. We pray especially for parts of the world being shaken by war and unrest, asking that you might graciously bring peace with justice, and that many will look to you for hope in dark times.

And we pray for our own governments too, heavenly Father, both in Westminster and in the Senedd. Please grant wisdom to those who lead us, that they might do so in the best interests of those they serve rather than any short-term political gain.

We bring all these prayers to you, knowing that you delight to answer them, and therefore we pray confidently for the extension of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus in the words that he taught us. 

Our Father in heaven, 

hallowed be your name, 

your kingdom come, 

your will be done, 

on earth as in heaven. 

Give us today our daily bread. 

Forgive us our sins 

as we forgive those who sin against us. 

Lead us not into temptation 

but deliver us from evil. 

For the kingdom, the power, 

and the glory are yours 

now and for ever. 

Amen. 

Our service is almost over. We’re going to conclude our time by celebrating the death and resurrection of King Jesus, Christ the Victor.

5th hymn: Christus Victor 04:15

SONG: Christus Victor

1. O most High, King of the ages,

Great I am, God of wonders

By the blood You have redeemed us,

led us through mighty waters

Our strength, our song, our sure salvation

CHORUS 1

Now to the Lamb upon the throne

Be blessing, honour, glory, power

for the battle You have won

Hallelujah, amen

2. O most High, dwelling among us,

Son of man, sent for sinners

By Your blood You have redeemed us,

spotless Lamb, mighty Savior

Who lived, who died, who rose victorious

CHORUS 1 & 2

Now to the Lamb upon the throne

Be blessing, honour, glory, power

for the battle You have won

Hallelujah

With ev'ry tribe and ev'ry tongue

We join the anthem of the angels

in the triumph of the Son

Hallelujah, amen

3. O most High, King of the nations,

robed in praise, crowned in splendour

On that day who will not tremble

when You stand, Christ the victor

Who was and is and is forever

CHORUS 1 & 2

Now to the Lamb upon the throne

Be blessing, honour, glory, power

for the battle You have won

Hallelujah

With ev'ry tribe and ev'ry tongue

We join the anthem of the angels

in the triumph of the Son

Hallelujah, amen

AMENS

Amen, amen, a-men

Amen, amen, a-men

Amen, amen, a-men

CHORUS 1 & 2

Now to the Lamb upon the throne

Be blessing, honour, glory, power

for the battle You have won

Hallelujah

With ev'ry tribe and ev'ry tongue

We join the anthem of the angels

in the triumph of the Son

Hallelujah, amen

The Lord bless you and keep, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to, the Lord lift up his face towards you, and give you peace. Through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. Amen