This morning, Dave spoke from Phil 3:12-14, verses which remind us that we need to keep pressing on towards God’s goal for our lives. The most important pursuit in life is our pursuit of Christ, and just as athletes train with concentration, dedication, determination and focus, so we too must work for growth. Rom 8:28-29 reminds us that we were predestined to be conformed to the likeness of Christ. God’s goal is not simply to save us, but to transform us. Moreover, He has jobs for us to do, good plans for our lives. Paul is well aware, however, that we have not arrived yet! Progress is ongoing and we must keep moving forward, measuring ourselves only by Christ (and not by other people.)

Paul urges us not to dwell in the past, telling us to forget what is behind. We don’t need to forget our heritage, but our tendency is either to fixate on the past, allowing the wounds we have suffered to cripple us or be rest on past accomplishments. Twice in these verses, he urges us to ‘press on’, to be motivated about our goal, to be straining towards God in single-minded pursuit, like the runner ‘dipping’ into the finishing line or the cyclist who leans forward to maximise speed. Growth and progress may well take time, but we are required to live with diligence. This will mean making time for God, planning for times of prayer, making worship and fellowship a priority. It will mean keeping our eyes on the prize and going beyond our comfort zones.

God wants us to look for new opportunities and be prepared to move on to new things. This may mean letting go of traditions which have become obstacles to growth and determining to honour and glorify Christ in all we do. If we will seek God’s kingdom first, then we will see God provide all we need.

Our ‘Churches Together’ prayer meeting will be on Wednesday 13th October at 10.45 a.m. at the Salvation Army and on Facebook live. Join us as we give thanks to God for the harvest He gives and seek Him for His provision in our area.

On Wednesday 20th October between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. we are hosting a Poppy Making Workshop as part of the Dearne Poppy Project. We will be making poppies out of plastic bottles which will be on display in the Dearne area for Remembrance day. The launch of this project will be at the Goldthorpe Railway Embankment on Saturday 30th October at 3 p.m.

Christian charity Open Doors, which seeks to serve and help the persecuted church, will be speaking at our morning meeting on Sunday 24th October at 10.30 a.m. Do come along to find out more about the work of this charity.

Dearne Churches Together will be holding a family fun day on Wednesday 27th October. We’ll be at GPCC in the morning (10 a.m. – 12 p.m.) and at Houghton Road Community Centre in Thurnscoe in the afternoon (1-3 p.m.), looking at the theme of ‘Breakfast On The Beach.’ Join us for fishy crafts, sand play and stories, plus free refreshments!

On Saturday 30th October at 10 a.m. we’ll be handing out our candles as part of the Dearne Churches Together Light project. Join us to distribute these candles made by local people.

In our Bible study tonight looking at the start of Amos 2, we saw that whilst God may have had judgment to pass on the nations surrounding Israel, His own people were not excused from judgment. In some ways, they were even more culpable than other nations, because they had God’s law and knew the standards expected of them, but they chose to live according to the standards of the nations around them. Amos lists the behaviour and practices which God abhorred: ‘they sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use the same girland so profane my holy name. They lie down beside every altaron garments taken in pledge.In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines.’ (Amos 2:6-8)

Israel’s rejection of God’s law (Amos 2:4) led to other things (see Hos 4:1-2) such as the abuse of power, the denial of justice and sexual immorality (all of which are sadly only too visible in our own society.) Israel had become complacent, relying on their ‘privileged’ status as God’s people, but as Jeremiah warned, complacency and spiritual arrogance would not be sufficient excuse against God’s judgment (see Jer 7:1-8). It’s all too easy to rely on our relationship with God (see Matt 3:9), without realising that this is a two-way relationship. God promises much, but He also expects much from us! Belonging to Him and a knowledge of His ways brings responsibility.

It’s clear from many Old Testament references that God cares about the foreigners, the orphans and the widows: those who can’t help themselves. Deut 14:28-29 and Deut 24:19-20 show us how God made provision for those who could not survive without help. James 1:27 reminds us that religion that God accepts is to look after orphans and widowns in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. This is not the world’s way, which favours the rich and powerful and ignores everyone else, but as Jesus demonstrated, His way was to serve and not to be served. We must care about what God cares about and act in accordance with His commands if we are to escape His judgment.

Talking to yourself is said by some to be the first sign of madness; to others, it is a ‘recognised means to learn.’ (Kilroy J. Oldster) I tend to think that all of us talk to ourselves more than we realise. We may not talk outloud, but there is a dialogue going on within our minds every day.

The Bible acknowledges this self-talk and reminds us that sometimes we need to give ourselves a good talking-to! Often, these conversations are addressed to our inner self: ‘Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?’ (Ps 42:5)

In the Message version of Ps 116, this is taken further: ‘I said to myself, “Relax and rest. God has showered you with blessings. Soul, you’ve been rescued from death. Eye, you’ve been rescued from tears. And you, Foot, were kept from stumbling.”‘ (Ps 116:7-8, The Message)

Talking to ourselves is helpful if we question our motivation and moods and speak truth into our lives. Sometimes we need to dig deeper into our reactions or remind ourselves of the truth of who God is. This kind of conversation keeps us on track, within the parallel lines of truth. It’s only when we stray outside of these tracklines that we find ourselves derailed by our conversations!

People tend to fall into one of two camps over Christmas: those who prefer not to think about it until Christmas Eve (mostly men, I find…) and those who spend the entire year planning for Christmas! I’m probably somewhere in the middle, but certainly have to think about Christmas earlier than many because of church commitments. It feels like a pastor’s life always seems to be spent three months ahead of the calendar…

Looking ahead to Christmas, then, we are pleased to be giving out Advent stars in early December and will also be involved with Dearne Churches Together’s Advent trail.

More of that nearer the time, but just to announce also that we are sponsoring 4FrontTheatre on the big screen in our area. Their Christmas show ‘The Satellite Before Christmas’ will be shown via a pre-recorded performance at Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church on Saturday 11th December with performances at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Bookings are now open for these shows, which are free at the point of entry. We are also sponsoring the show in local schools.

Our Carol service will be on Sunday 19th December at 6 p.m. and will feature the Nativity play ‘God Is With Us – Everywhere!’, performed by members of the church. If you want to be involved in this, please see Julie as soon as possible.

At our ‘Little Big Church’ service tonight, we looked at the importance of listening (something not even adults do perfectly – we often have headphones on!)

Jesus spoke about the importance of listening to God’s word (and James reminds us we have to go even further and not only listen, but do what God says!) In Matt 7:24-27, Jesus told a story about two builders, one of whom built on sandy land and one of whom built on rock. It mattered enormously which foundation was used, as when the storms of life came, the house on the sandy land did not stand, but collapsed.

Jesus said that we are wise if we hear His words and put them into practice. We need to understand that our thoughts are like foundations for our lives. If our thoughts are not built on God but are full of worry, anxiety and doubt, our lives will collapse. We need to fix our thoughts on God’s word and allow this to be our solid foundation.