Advent Love

Dec 21, 2025

On this fourth Sunday in Advent, we meditate on love. Psalm 145:17 in the Message version says that ‘the trademark of all (God’s) works is love.’
A trademark is a unique sign (a word, logo, symbol or name) that identifies a company’s products or services from competitors, protecting brand identity. One of my family’s favourite board games is the Logo Game, when our knowledge of companies’ logos or trademarks is tested.
The defining attribute of God is love (1 John 4:4). All He does is motivated by love, a love explained in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. God’s love is described in the Bible in different ways:
– as unconditional (Rom 5:8)
– as unfailing (Ex 15:13, Ps 6:4, Ps 13:5, Ps 26:3)
– as unchanging (James 1:17)
– as vast and immeasurable (Eph 3:19-20)
– as faithful (Lam 3:22-23)
– as compassionate (Ps 86:15)
– as ever-present (Is 43:2-3)
– as eternal or everlasting (Is 54:10, Eph 1:4-5, Jer 31:3)
– as limitless (Eph 3:19, Rom 8:38-39)
– as inclusive (for the whole world, John 3:16)
– as personal (Gal 2:20)
– as gracious (Neh 9:17)
At Christmas, we celebrate God’s love in sending HIs Son, Jesus to save us from sin and separation from God. We see His love embodied in human form and dimly begin to realise that God’s love is not only real but is present for us. A gift to unwrap.
Most of us will have the joy of unwrapping gifts at Christmas, tokens of other people’s love for us. Don’t spend another Christmas without unwrapping God’s gift to you., the wonderful gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. (2 Cor 9:15)

Stations To The Cradle

Dec 14, 2025

We had a great time at the Stations to the Cradle event on Saturday 13 December, re-telling the Christmas story and combining this with crafts and activities.

We had people at the Railway Embankment, with Joseph and his wood slices, the innkeeper and real donkeys, shepherds toasting marshmallows and decorating wooden sheep and wise men making star wands, crowns and doing puzzles.

 

At the Salvation Army, Mary was busy decorating biscuits and we also had angels and a star on site. We did crafts and carol singing and were well fed by the Salvation Army.

The event was funded by the Dearne South Ward Alliance and we are grateful for their support. Thanks to Real Donkeys, Wild Forest School, local churches and Event Bales for their help with the event.

 

You are the light of the world

Dec 7, 2025

Tonight we looked at Jesus’s words, ‘You are the light of the world.’ (Matt 5:14) Whilst we readily understand that God is light (see 1 John 1:5) and that Jesus described Himself as the Light of the world (John 8:12), it is harder for us to imagine why He should have called us the light of the world!

Light is an important theme in the Bible and God is often described in terms of brilliant light (see Ezek 1:4, Rev 1:14-15, Matt 17:2). Light is the opposite of darkness, and the BIble makes it plain that we are now children of the light and must live accordingly (1 Thess 5:5, Eph 5:8-9). It is our relatkionship with and connection to Jesus which enables us to reflect His light.

Light illuminates darkness – but Jesus understood that exposing darkness does not make people feel comfortable. (John 3:19-20) Nonetheless, as God’s light shines in us, we can then have an impact on our community through the good works we do. Light is not meant to be hidden. We may feel that we cannot have much influence, but we are like a lighthouse, shining a steady, constant light to warn others of danger and to welcome them into God’s love.

When we shine our light steadfastly in this way, we may not be like the coloured neon light or a ‘glow in the dark’ glowstick, but still we bring light into dark places. The collective light brought by God’s people gathering together shines brightly: ‘A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.’ (Matt 5:14) We are not meant to be a hidden church. We are meant to shine brightly in Goldthorpe. We are meant to radiate light all around us, not just in December, but throughout every season. Our task is to reflect God’s ways and God’s glory through how we live our ordinary lives.

Waiting and Hoping

Dec 4, 2025

The first week of Advent is all about waiting and hope. Both are themes that have featured heavily in my life. I’m still convinced that waiting is a hard lesson to learn (‘it’s certain that waiting’s the most bitter lesson a believing heart has to learn’, as Michael Card so eloquently puts it in his song, ‘Maranatha‘). We are impatient people, eager to move on to the next thing, eager to see God move. Why He makes us wait is often a source of confusion, bewilderment and pain. Christmas reminds us that there is a right time, however. (Gal 4:4) Waiting for God’s timing is essential.
Hope fuels us through the waiting, convincing us that what God has promised, He will fulfil. I’ve always been encouraged by the Message verison of Lamentations 3:28-32. There, the author knows all about desperation and pain. He is living in exile, far from home. Life is ‘heavy and hard to take’, he says. Yet his advice is to ‘enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions. Wait for hope to appear.’
As we seek God’s face in the waiting (instead of substituting our activity for His apparent inactivity), our perspective shifts. We realise ‘the “worst” is never the worst.’ That is because ‘the Master won”t ever walk out and fail to return.’ We realise God never leaves us or forsakes us, even in exile, even in barren times. We understand afresh that God’s ‘stockpiles of loyal love are immense.’ Right now, I’m stockpiling festive food for my family at Christmas, and there are times when I feel like I’m running out of storage space! God’s love is there for us in abundance, even in the waiting. He never runs out of love, mercy, grace and kindness. As Matt Redman puts it, ‘it’s not even halfway empty.’ (‘Halfway Empty’)
So as we wait, we hope. As we enter the silence and plead with God to fulfil His purpose for our lives, we look ahead to the stable. Who could have ever predicted salvation would come that way? Who could have imagined the revolutionary way God would work salvation into our history? It was all God’s work: ‘the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes.’ (Ps 118:23) It’s wonderful to see. Wait and hope. Wait with hope. Hope as you wait. And repeat…

The Fall

Nov 30, 2025

Tonight in our Bible study discussion, we looked at the Fall (Genesis 2:15-17 and Genesis 3:1-13). The snake approached Eve with the question, ‘Did God really say…?’, sowing doubt in her mind. Questions are not necessarily bad, but can often railroad us, especially when they are overstated, as this was (the serpent implying they were not allowed to eat from any tree, when actually, only one was forbidden.)
The consequence of sin was death, which from the Biblical point of view means separation from God firstly, and only secondly separation from earthly life. The serpent lied about this consequence, and as Jesus reminds us, lies are his native language. He caused Eve to doubt God’s love and care for them, something we too can easily do. The implications were that God did not love them or really want the best for them, and so the temptation was over whom to believe. This is still the case today.
The chapter also shows us the consequences of their subsequent confrontation with God. Adam blames the woman and God (after all, God gave him Eve!); Eve blames the serpent. Blame-shifting is often our default response when confronted by sin, but the truth is that sin is a choice we make. Adam’s sin was greater in that he made a straightforward choice to eat what Eve offered; Eve was deceived (i.e. she did not misunderstand; she was caused to believe something false.)
Next time, we will look further at the consequences of sin and the Fall.

Advent Hope

Nov 30, 2025

Today is the first Sunday in Advent, the day we especially think about hope. Advent is the time when we look back at the first coming of Jesus and give thanks for God’s love, mercy, grace and kindness, shown especially in the first arrival of His Son, which we celebrate at Christmas: God in human form, born in humility and vulnerability, in difficult times of Roman oppression, when His arrival signalled both great hope and a massive flurry of opposition, as Herod tried to maintain his grip on power, not understanding the heavenly nature of this new King.
As we prepare our hearts for Christmas, taking time out from the busyness of the season with its parties, shopping frenzy, decorations, cooking and events (I’m involved in at least nine Christmas services or concerts in December), we are rekindled by hope: hope as we reflect on the fact that the Light has shone in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it, hope that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all, hope that Jesus is the Light of the world, and that light makes all the difference to a dark and troubled world.
But hope tells us also to look ahead, and not simply to look back. Hope urges us to look ahead to the second arrival of Jesus, which is still to come, ‘the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.’ (Titus 2:13) This is the hope that sustains believers in Christ. We know that His first arrival led to His death and resurrection and that He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own. (Titus 2:14) Christmas reassures us that we can be saved. Easter reminds us that sin, death and the grave do not have the last word. But at Advent, we also look ahead to what is to come: the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, in glory, in judgment, in power.
As Advent hope fuels our lives on earth, we become people ‘eager to do what is good.’ (Titus 2:14) We become people who live to please God and to serve Him. May Advent hope lift your head today and in the weeks to come. Look up! Jesus is coming again.