Earlier in February, on a very cold, wet and windy day, we took our grandchildren to see the snowdrop trail at Darfield church. The church grounds were covered in snowdrops:

Inside, there was a trail about Dropsnow the Dragon and activities for children to do. One of the things that was mentioned was the snowdrop being a messenger of hope, since it is such a beautiful, delicate flower bursting through in winter, when life seems so barren and empty. The snowdrop acts as a reminder of the hope we have in this world of trouble and distress, a hope that exists because of the faithfulness of God to His creation.

Paul, when writing to the Thessalonians, says, ‘since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.’ (1 Thess 5:8) A helmet protects the head, protects our thoughts. Despite the many difficulties we face on a personal and international level at present, we have to hold on to faith, love and hope. Perhaps the snowdrop can be a symbol to us that all is not doom and gloom, but that there is hope in God for every situation.

In the third of our mini-series looking at the topic of ‘the day of the Lord’, we looked at references to this portentous day in the New Testament, focussing especially on Matthew 24, Mark 13:32-37, 1 Thess 5:1-11, 2 Thess 1:6-10 and 2 Peter 3:1-14.

These passages show us that Jesus frequently took the words of Old Testament prophets to describe this day at the culmination of history when God will personally intervene to right all wrongs and bring about His rule in sovereign power and that the apostles echoed the words of Jesus himself in declaring that the timing of this day is beyond our knowledge but the certainty of this day is not in doubt. Many will scoff at the idea of a day of reckoning, but Peter reminds us that God’s timings are not like ours and His faithfulness not in question. We are, therefore, urged to be ready and alert, for this day will come as a thief in the night (2 Pet 3:10) or as a bridegroom returning (see Matt 25:1-13) or as a master returning home after a long absence. (Mark 13:36-37) Theology always informs behaviour; what we believe about the day of the Lord should lend urgency to our evangelism, purity to our discipleship and peace to our understanding of the world.

The day of the Lord is not something to treat lightly (for it involves punishment and judgment and everlasting destruction for those who do not obey the gospel), but it is not something to be feared by believers who trust in the justice of God’s judgment (see Ps 11:7). Paul tells us that God will be glorified in His holy people and will be marvelled at among all who have believed (2 Thess 1:10) and John reminds us that since God is love, we do not have to fear judgment or punishment (see 1 John 4:16-18). Instead, the truth of this doctrine should motivate us to live pure, holy, godly lives and should motivate us to share the gospel with others.

We had another lovely Fun Day yesterday as these photos show!

We’ve had a great day today exploring the theme ‘Love Is…’ through a variety of crafts. In total, we had 113 people attend, with 47 adults and 66 children present. A very big THANK YOU to each church who helped today (GPCC, the Salvation Army, St Helen’s in Thurnscoe and Furlong Road Methodist Church in Bolton-on-Dearne) and to all who volunteered and helped with setting up, serving food and tidying away.

Today we held a Family Fun Day on the theme ‘Love Is…’ We had lots of things to remind us of God’s love:

We had a range of crafts for people to do:

Our thanks to the Salvation Army for providing the food for today. We had a wide range of sandwiches and pancakes to sample!

The Bible is divided into two parts, the Old Testament and New Testament. Another word for ‘testament’ is ‘covenant’, and the Bible tells of these two covenants, made by God with people. There are two main words used to describe these, the first meaning an arrangement between equals with either party able to change terms of arrangement (such as is understood by marriage, for example.) The second word is used of the covenant between God and mankind, which is a formal arrangements to administer something, set by one party and not negotiated. This kind of covenant cannot be annulled; it is a simple fact.

In the New Testament, we see that God wants to be in relationship with people. Some people don’t want anything to do with God or even believe He exists (atheists). Others believe God may well exist but are not interested in a relationship with Him; others define their relationship with God on their own terms (we usually call these people ‘religious’!) God, however, is the one who defines this covenant and we see several fundamental points in His assessment of the situation.

1. People’s relationship with God has been broken (by people’s sinfulness, not by God) and therefore needs repairing. Acts 17:29-31 reminds us of the need for acknowledgment of this brokenness and the need for us to repent.

2. God has provided the way for our relationship with Him to be restored, but it must be on His terms, through His Son. (John 14:1-6, 1 Tim 2:1-6) These terms are non-negotiable. There are many religions seeking to find God, but only way to find Him.

3. In order to take hold of this offer of a new relationship, we have to have faith. (Heb 11:1-6, Rom 10:8-13) It’s crucial we believe God exists and that we trust Him to do all He has said He has done and will do.

We then become Christ’s disciples. (Matt 28:18-20) This involves learning, obeying and living out His teachings. Matt 10:32-42 outlines the need for us to acknowledge Christ and put Him first. Our open confession of Christ will cause division and problems, but will also lead to blessing as we set our priorities in alignment with His and surrender our ways, thinking and behaviour to Him.

The new agreement God has made is a way to come into relationship with Him, on His terms. We can believe and be brought into this relationship: we can become a believer. God, however, wants us to go further, to come closer and to know Him in a deeper way. He wants us to become disciples. This is the challenge to every one of us: are we willing to explore this arrangement, this agreement, this covenant and be, not just a believer, but a disciple?