Community Events
This coming week is half-term and there’s lots to do locally that is free for all the family.
On Tuesday 25th October, the More Money In Your Pocket event is at Goldthorpe Parish Hall between 12 and 3 p.m., with lots of free activities:
Angels
We very much believe in being a part of our local community and joining in with local events where possible. The Snap Tin Community Hub is running a Scarecrow Trail between 29 and 31 October in Goldthorpe and Bolton-on-Dearne, and so we decided to make an angel scarecrow to represent light and God’s messengers bringing messages of hope wherever they go.
Never having made a scarecrow before, we were grateful for the volunteers and Stacey Turner who provided hay and materials for our parents and toddlers to join in this craft. Janet rose to the challenge as always and has produced a costume for our scarecrow. Our angel has a pumpkin head, a conker halo, googly eyes, wings from our Nativity box and fairy lights, as well as ribbons bringing the word of God to Goldthorpe. The angel will hang outside for the trail itself, but in the meantime, let’s be grateful for real angels who are ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. (Heb 1:14)
Sewing our sparkly fabric from Walton’s
The body is taking shape.
Ribbons to proclaim the word of God:
Wings added, now working on the pumpkin head:
We’re getting there!
Fairy lights and tinsel attached
Heavenly Worship
Heaven is a mystery to us on earth. We get glimpses of it throughout the Bible, but we can only ever have imperfect knowledge of this place where God dwells whilst we are limited by earthly thinking and understanding.
Often, we cannot understand how worship will be so central to eternity, and imagine cherubic-looking angels with harps on fluffy clouds which seem to bear little resemblance to life as we know it and which, frankly, put us off. Some of these images may have arisen from Revelation 5, where the four living creatures and twenty-four elders are said to have a harp and golden bowls of incense representing the prayers of God’s people. (Rev 5:8) Again, however, just because something may not be literally true (as in the case of metaphors) does not mean it is not real or true. We live in a world of cause-and-effect where people think they are the most important part of the world; the reality God describes is not this kind of world at all. Just as we cannot really imagine a world without time, so we cannot imagine how we will spend our time (eternity) in worship. We fear repetition on earth, finding that it leads to monotony and boredom, but this will surely not be the case in heaven!
I don’t have any easy answers to the question ‘What is heaven like?’ or ‘What will we do in heaven?’ I simply know that the Bible speaks of us being in God’s presence and worshipping Him out of hearts that are full of gratitude for who He is and what He has done. As the book of Revelation makes very plain, heaven is wonderful; the alternative, hell, is not. To be apart from God, to be judged by Him and inevitably found wanting, is not the cheerful alternative many would have us believe. Paul said, ‘now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation.’ (2 Cor 6:2) Heaven is for those who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ: ‘with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.’ (Rev 5:9) It’s not the automatic ‘destination’ for ‘good’ people; it is God’s free gift to those who believe on Jesus Christ.
Made To Worship
Chris Tomlin’s song ‘Made To Worship’ says,
‘You and I were made to worship, you and I are called to love.
You and I are forgiven and free.
When you and I embrace surrender, you and I choose to believe,
Then you and I will see who we were meant to be.’ (‘Made To Worship’, Chris Tomlin)
Worship – ascribing to God the worth to which He is due – is the focus of Revelation 5. We see people worshipping God, praising Christ because He is worthy to take the scroll and open its seals ‘because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.’ (Rev 5:9) We see innumerable angels declaring, ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise!’ (Rev 5:11) We see all of creation proclaiming, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power, for ever and ever!’ (Rev 5:13) There may be much even in this chapter we do not understand (especially the significance of the scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals, for example), but there can be little doubt as to the centrality of worship in these scenes.
Many have commented that these words paint a picture of concentric circles, all radiating out from Christ on the throne. Michael Wilcock says that from every point on every circle ‘a radius of praise is drawn inwards to the centre; and at the centre, by His Father’s throne, is Christ.’ (Michael Wilcock, ‘The Message of Revelation’, P 69) If we can grasp that Christ is at the centre of our universe and that He alone is worthy of all praise, we will find our lives anchored in truth and our attitudes transformed.
The Lion And The Lamb
A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. The Bible is full of metaphors. It tells us that the Lord is a rock (Ps 18:2, 31), which clearly is not literally true (especially since making idols from rocks is strongly denounced!) Jesus used metaphors all the time, saying He was both a shepherd (John 10:11) and the gate for the sheep (John 10:7), the true vine (John 15:1) and the bread of life (John 6:35). In each metaphor, we see a new aspect of God; metaphors link our experience in the natural world with eternal, spiritual truths.
In Revelation 5, we see metaphors used to describe Jesus. He is described as ‘the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David’ (Rev 5:5), with clear allusions to Genesis 49:9-10, where it is predicted that the future ruler of the earth shall come from the tribe of Judah, the lion tribe, and Isaiah 11:1, 10, where the Messiah is portrayed as being from Jesse and David’s lineage. He is also described as ‘a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the centre of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders.’ (Rev 5:6) The two metaphors of lion and lamb are combined to help us see something of the whole nature of Jesus.
The lion – the majestic animal known as the king of the jungle – reminds us of the majesty and authority of Christ. The lamb – the animal offered in sacrifices in the Old Testament – reminds us of the humility and humiliation of Christ and how our salvation was purchased through His sacrificial death. Both aspects of Christ are true. As lion He is sovereign; as lion He is Judge. The lion speaks of the government of God. The lamb character refers to His first coming, for the lamb speaks of His meekness. As lamb He is Saviour; as lamb He is judged. Both these aspects of Christ’s character are woven together in this chapter, and we see how the Lamb is represented as one sovereign in His own authority, omnipotent in power, and worthy as the Redeemer who died. There’s no wonder He is the centre of worship!
The Supreme Significance Of Every Soul
