We know the Queen loves corgis and has apparently owned 30 over her lifetime. We had a Dog Show at the Jubilee Fun Day and saw some amazing dogs. Our thanks to the Mayor of Barnsley and to local councillors who judged the competition and gave out prizes and to Lloyd’s Stores Ltd for donating the doggy prizes.

We were privileged to have Matthew Tiffany from Greentop Circus with us, thanks to funding from the Ward Alliance.

We also had princesses to host our Fancy Dress Parade:

The Jubilee Fun Day at Phoenix Park started early, ensuring everyone could find me once I got to Phoenix Park and that I remained aware of who’s really in charge!

I even had crowns on my nails to fit in with the Dearne Churches Together activity of making crowns:

Setting up gazebos is always fun!

It was a busy day, with 1379 people being counted in!

Our thanks to all the volunteers who helpd us today.

We have recently introduced Phil Wickham’s song ‘Great Things’ into our services at church. This song has been a favourite of ours since its release in 2018 and my older granddaughter particularly loves it. From the first time she heard it, she has sung along happily to the song, and we discovered that perhaps one reason she liked it so much was that she took it very personally. One of the lines in the song says, ‘You’ll be faithful forevermore,’ but Esther at two used to sing ‘You’ll be faithful for Ezzie more‘ (her nickname being Ezzie.) I rather liked this personalisation – and it’s true; God is faithful to us all individually!

Today, as we go to Phoenix Park in Thurnscoe for the first of our Jubilee celebrations and hopefully have a great day of fun activities celebrating not only the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee but the fact that our God is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and will reign forevermore, the lyrics of the song remain on our lips:

The final question in Luke 6 leads to Jesus telling the parable of the Wise and Foolish builders. (Luke 6:46-49) This question possibly sums up all the questions God ever asks us. “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?’ (Luke 6:46) At the heart of this question is the connection between what we say and what we do. It’s easy enough for us to pledge allegiance to Jesus with our words, to call Him ‘Lord’ with our mouths. But what really counts is doing what He says. Jesus once told a parable about two sons. The first son was asked to go and work in his father’s vineyard, and initially he refused. Later, he changed his mind and went. The second son was also asked to go and work and promised he would. But he too changed his mind and did not go. (Matt 21:28-32) Jesus asked the question, ‘Which of the two did what his father wanted?’ (Matt 21:31) The answer is obvious: the first son. In the same way, Jesus said, those who seem to be religious might not be the ones actually doing what God wants, whereas all those sinners and tax collectors were entering the kingdom of God, for they repented and actually listened to what God was saying.

We can only really truly say we are Jesus’s disciples if we are not only listening to Him but doing what He says. It’s not enough to be a theoretical disciple. It’s not enough to talk the talk if we are not walking the walk. We must practise what we preach. We must live out our faith in our everyday lives. As James put it, faith without works is dead (see James 1:22, James 2:26).