What Do You Want?

Jun 24, 2022

Cast your minds back to 2009… incredibly, that is 13 years ago! That is also when our church first started a funding application to Coalfields Regeneration Trust which resulted eventually in a grant that helped us to buy the building we currently use (formerly St Mark’s Methodist Church.) It took us until February 2010 to move into the building – you can follow the journey on our website under the blog heading ‘How We Got Here’ if you’re interested in the story (and believe me, it’s interesting!) See www.gpcchurch.co.uk for more details.
I had a meeting today with Lynn Utting from Coalfields Regeneration Trust, which is still working to improve our local area. There is still funding available locally, and so we want to see how we can improve what we do locally to serve our community.
If you have suggestions for things you would like to see us do (e.g. different activities) or have (e.g. additional equipment), please let us know (message Julie on 07729 421405 or email julie@gpcchurch.co.uk). Community consultation is an integral part of getting funding, so we really do need your input.
Everything starts with a dream… a wish list… a vision for change. We can’t guarantee everything on a wish list, but we certainly want to hear how we can be with God in the community and with God for the community in the future. It’s time to dream!

A Vision of Jesus

Jun 24, 2022

Last night we continued looking at Revelation 1, pondering John’s vision of the risen Christ.
A vision of Christ, seeing who He is really is, is often the launch point to ministry or fresh service to the Lord. Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel were all inspired by an encounter with God Almighty; John, Peter and James were privileged to glimpse something of the glory of God in Jesus at the Transfiguration. (Matthew 17:1-8) John may have been exiled in Patmos, but here he is given a new task, to write a letter to the seven churches of Asia about what he has seen, what is and what is yet to come. We owe this whole book to his encounter with the First and the Last, the One who was dead and is now alive forever and ever.
The vision of Jesus is one of a magnificent, glorious,, risen Lord who is yet recognisable as ‘one like a son of man.’ The vision echoes Daniel’s (see Daniel 7 and 10), focussing on the purity and authority of Jesus as represented by His clothing, on His brilliance (light being a common theme in the Bible to symbolise God) and the magnificence of His being. Col 1:15-22 reminds us of the supremacy of Christ, and this is one of the key aspects of this vision.
Yet we also see Christ’s condescension to humanity in that He is willing to walk among the lampstands (which represent the churches). Jesus is with us always (see Matt 28:18-20, Matt 18:20) We have hope in this life and beyond because the One who is with us is the Lamb who was slain and now holds the keys to death and Hades!

Love Where You Live… Beauty From Ashes

Jun 21, 2022

Barnsley M.B.C. has the slogan ‘Love Where You Live’, which seems to us here at GPCC to be an accurate reflection of God’s command to us too!

As part of this campaign, hanging baskets have just been put up in local villages and we have sponsored two of these (one for our church and one for Dearne Churches Together). For us, this is a visible sign of our presence in the local community (reflecting our commitment to be ‘with God in the community, with God for the community‘) and also reflects our belief that God wants to bring beauty from ashes in our area. (Is 61:3) There are few things more beautiful than colourful flowers and so we are grateful for this opportunity to bring beauty to our high street!

Speaking The Truth In Love

Jun 19, 2022

Garry spoke tonight from Eph 4:14-16, focussing especially on verse 15 which urges us to speak the truth in love. The two aspects emphasised in this verse are truth (we need to know how to deal with truth, apply it to ourselves and live the truth in our own lives) and love (we have to understand what is and is not God’s love, experience that love, live in it and share it.) If we do this, then we will grow.

Truth

Truth is something of great value (see Prov 23:23). Ultimately, truth is brought to us by Jesus (‘grace and truth came through Jesus Christ’ John 1:17) who is full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) He himself is the truth (John 14:6) and therefore everything He says and does is true. Truth is what lines up with reality, as opposed to the lies of the enemy (see John 8:43-44). He has many ways to mislead us and lead us in wrong directions, but God wants to lead us into all truth (John 15:26).The Holy Spirit is our gude into truth. He teaches us about God and salvation (there may be many Christians denominations, but ultimately we need to be sure these are teaching truth and accept there will be differences of opinion, but this does not mean we are not following God.) Other religions may have elements of truth in them, but they lead us away from God’s truth as revealed to us in the Bible.

God also gives us truth about how to live and we should stick to this, seeking to follow Christ in all we do.

Love

Truth on its own without love can be hard and hurtful. James 5:19-20 reminds us that we need love to help those who wander from the truth. We should love people not just with words but with actions and in truth (1 John 3:18).Oor motivation needs to be to build people up, to heal and not to hurt. Then we can speak the truth in love and from that position of integrity can grow.

 

A Tale Of Two Women

Jun 19, 2022

Dave spoke this morning from Genesis 29 about the two wives of Jacob, Leah and Rachel. Jacob never intended to marry Leah (the older sister), but her father (Laban) connived to marry her to Jacob rather than Rachel. Jacob loved Rachel, who was beautiful and strong, but did not love Leah (who had weak eyes and was presumably not as beautiful). It’s easy to understand Jacob’s frustration at being manipulated in this way, but we can also imagine Leah’s hurt. She was fundamentally not respected by her father and was unloved by Jacob; she must have been envious of her younger sister. Yet despite this, God saw her pain and therefore granted her the ability to bear children (Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah) whilst Rachel was barren.

Leah, we see, eventually came to realise that she was loved by God, and it is significant that two of these sons became extremely significant in God’s plans (it was from Levi that the priesthood came and Jesus was from the line of Judah). Judah means ‘may God be praised’; by this time, she had perhaps come to understand that envy is not a profitable emotion. Rachel, who may be said to have had everything, ultimately had the love of her husband, but she did not have children; she may have known love and good looks but Leah had life and legacy.

Ultimately, the story of Leah and Rachel minds us of the futility of envy and jealousy and shows us that God does not love us because we are valuable. We are valuable because God loves us.

The Gifts Of The Spirit

Jun 12, 2022

Dave spoke tonight on the gifts of the Spirit (since we did not celebrate Pentecost fully last week!) The purpose of Pentecost is to build the kingdom of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. God knows we do not have what it takes to do His work in our own strength and so He gives us gifts to help us.
These spiritual gifts can be viewed with suspicion, however, with some saying there are no gifts nowadays or that they are no longer necessary. 1 Cor 14 reminds us that we need and should eagerly desire these gifts, but must also follow the way of love. The working of miracles is not of itself evidence of spirituality (as Matt 7:21-23 makes plain), but we should not dismiss the need for spiritual gifts. Instead, we must acknowledge that God gives these gifts to further His work; they are given for specific purposes (e.g. the gift of wisdom is given to remove confusion; the word of knowledge is given when specific knowledge is needed.)
Each spiritual gift has a purpose, therefore: faith is given when we need to believe something beyond our usual ability; healings are given by Jesus the physician; prophecy gives direction or reproof. At times we need the discernment of spirits to know if it is God, a person or Satan who is at work; tongues and the interpretation of tongues can help us in worship and also be prophetic.
We can be sure that God wants to give these gifts to us, Do we want to receive them?