I have been privileged this week to be involved in the creation of a work of art at the Railway Embankment in Goldthorpe. It’s an experience that has enriched my life in ways that are difficult to articulate.

When I was at school, art was one of my least favourite lessons. I lacked the skill, talent and imagination either to recreate what I saw or to create something original. I still don’t consider myself skilled at drawing, colouring or painting, so my ‘art’ has been very functional. My four-year-old granddaughter can do better works of art than I can!

Since starting the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival in 2017, I have, however, had the privilege of watching many artists at work and being invited into their world, and I have seen something of their skill and vision. The thing that most impresses me is their humility (they don’t think their talent is really beyond that of mere mortals as I do!), and also the way they work.

Lydia Caprani, the Hull-based artist who has designed and overseen the art mural at the Railway Embankment, has been a joy to watch. We started with a very large rectangular white canvas (aka a brick wall), and with chalk she would each day draw squiggly lines on this canvas and let us loose painting by letters (DG for dark green, LG for light green and so on.) These small, manageable sections did not seem beyond the capabilities of any one of us.

Then she drew more chalk lines, more random shapes, more letters, and we would paint those. Slowly but surely, shapes began to emerge – sky, grass, bushes. The contours of hills were emerging.

This process somehow did not seem as intimidating as being asked to ‘paint a landscape’ on a blank canvas. It’s gradual, manageable. It’s do-able. Suddenly, the picture was recognisable: there was a train hurtling through countryside. Suddenly, this is art.

Every time we view a finished work of art, listen to a completed piece of music, see a finished craft, we are awed – and possibly daunted. “I could never do that,” we say, and then shrug and don’t ever even try. But every created thing like this involves a process of little steps and these, with time and patience, can be learned. I’m working with my granddaughter on handwriting at the moment. Hers is large and rather messy now, letters not always correctly formed, sizing uneven. But as she practises each day, it’s becoming more recognisable and neat.

Life is not so much about arriving at a finished product instantaneously (it took 14 people well over 30 hours to paint this mural), but about the process of little steps that take us to our destination. We are ongoing works of art. Each one of us is being designed by God. We are His masterpiece, and each little step of faith and obedience takes us further on the journey towards that finished masterpiece. We may not see the masterpiece yet, but we can trust Him as the ultimate artist to complete His work of art in us.

This week sees the painting of the art mural at the Railway Embankment site in Goldthorpe, part of the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival community art project. The vision behind this project is to leave a legacy of colour and beauty in our area, inspired by Isaiah 61:3 which talks of God bestowing a crown of beauty instead of ashes. Two to three years ago during a ‘Churches Together’ prayer meeting, God reminded us of this verse and spoke about how creativity would replace the literal and spiritual blackness associated with the town’s mining heritage with colour and vibrancy and beauty. It seems appropriate that this art project aims to do this at the site of the former pit railway.

The project has been a long time in fulfilment, postponed from last year because of the pandemic. Today, artist Lydia Caprani joined local volunteers to begin the work of sketching out the mural, which will feature a train in countryside. As with all projects, we started with a blank canvas (itself the result of a lot of behind-the-scenes work from the Dearne Area Team to get the wall rendered by Network Rail).

A lot of work has gone on today to create the backdrop for the train. Please continue to pray for fine weather and the completion of this project this week.

In our ‘Little Big Church’ service tonight, Stephen looked at Jonah, the prophet who did not want to listen to God’s command to go to Nineveh and who ran away in the opposite direction. So often, we don’t listen well and fail to respond to instructions, but it’s always important to listen to God and to obey Him. We might find it hard to know how to hear God’s voice, but the more we read God’s word, the more we can understand what God wants from us and how He wants us to live.

The writer of Proverbs has good advice for all of us, especially the young: ‘My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity.’ (Prov 3:1-2) It’s important not to forget what we are taught. The idea of a child learning from a parent’s instruction is continued in Prov 4:1 – ‘Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.‘ We are all prone to forgetfulness, and so Stephen gave out forget-me-not seeds so that when the flowers grow, we are reminded of the need not to forget God or ignore Him as Jonah initially did. If we pay attention first time around, we’re less likely to get into trouble – and hopefully avoid being thrown overboard in a storm at sea!

Dave spoke this morning from 1 Thess 4:13-18, a passage written by Paul to encourage the Thessalonians when facing the grief death brings. We may have many questions about heaven, such as will we know our loved ones there and is it unspiritual to want to? Paul does not tell them not to feel grief, for death brings a separation on earth that is painful for us, but he distinguishes between two types of grief. Even Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus; when we are parted from our loved ones, there are tears and pain. However, we do not grieve as those without hope, for we have a hope that goes beyond the grave.

The hope of eternal life is foreshadowed in the Old Testament (see Is 25:6-9) and this is not simply a psychological trick to help us continue after the death of a lovely ones. Paul tells us that the resurrection of Christ is rooted in fact and this guarantees to us the future resurrection of others. Christ is the first fruit, and therefore the hope of our resurrection is based on His. We do not know when Christ will return and so it is important to be ready for this; not all will die as 1 Cor 15:51-53 also affirms. We are eagerly looking forward to this day because we shall then know the transformation of our mortal bodies (Phil 3:21-22) and so we can encourage one another, even when facing death, because we know there is more to come, there will ultimately be no separation then and we will be with the Lord forever. Without Christ, we are lost forever, but with Him, we have a glorious future!

In our Bible study last night we looked again at the role of prophets and prophecy, both in the Old Testament, New Testament and present-day life. Paul told the Thessalonians not to treat prophecies with contempt but to test them (1 Thess 5:20-21). This often causes Christians problems because they feel that this involves judging them and remember Jesus’s words not to judge (Matt 7:15-19). The truth is that we must learn to judge correctly (see John 7:21-24); we may not be able to judge the heart and motives of people (1 Cor 4:1-5), but we can clearly judge whether an action is Scriptural or not (see 1 Cor 5:12-13). What is more difficult with prophecy is the timescales involved; we may not always know when a prophecy is fulfilled and we also need much wisdom and discernment, judging prophecy in line with Scripture and what we know of the nature and character of God.

Jonah was commanded by God to go to Nineveh – far from Israel and probably the largest city in the world at the time. This reminds us that God cares about the whole world, not simply a chosen few. It reminds us also that God chooses people for specific tasks: Jonah here, but think also of Jeremiah (Jer 1:1-5) and Paul (Acts 9:10-16). We have all been chosen by God (Eph 1:11, Eph 2:10), but Jonah demonstrates that we can choose how we respond to God’s calling. Jonah ran away from the call. Even in his disobedience, however, we see that God persisted in the call. We are reassured that even our rebellion and disobedience do not thwart God’s purposes. Jonah may not be a typical prophet (most embraced His call!), but ultimately we see that anyone can be chosen and used by God.

“The message of Jesus is the most powerful message in the world. It is good news. It changes lives. It changes cities and cultures. Yet it is also a message that provokes opposition. God equips you to pass on the message by giving you the Holy Spirit.” (Nicky Gumbel)

The Rose Garden at Alnwick

Lynn Anderson wrote a song in 1970 which had the words ‘I never promised you a rose garden.’ My father had a rose garden for many years. Although I love roses – their varied colours, their delicate petals, their sweet fragrance – I hated the rose garden because it was also full of thorns and was off limits for play. In later years, when gardening became too much for my father, the rose garden became a veritable jungle, a place associated with cuts and scratches, a place that was even more off limits!

Nicky Gumbel’s words remind us of the apparent contraditction in the message of the gospel. The news Jesus brought of peace with God is the most radical and powerful message known to humanity, but it is a message which sharply divides and has prompted fierce opposition throughout history. As the song comments, there is no easy life for God’s people: ‘along with the sunshine/ there’s gotta be a little rain sometime.’ We would prefer the easy life, and often think of the book of Acts as a triumphant procession of miracles and conversions, with thousands being added to the church on a daily basis. The truth is that alongside these happenings, there were beatings, imprisonments and even deaths, simply for preaching the message of Jesus.

This opposition has continued throughout history to the present day. Open Doors, a Christian charity working on behalf of the persecuted church, identified 4,761 Christians killed between October 2019 and September 2020 for their faith. 4,488 churches or Christian buildings were attacked. 4,277 Christians were unjustly arrested, detained or imprisoned. 1,710 Christians were abducted for faith-related reasons. In countries such as North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen and China, persecution of Christians is fierce and faith must withstand great opposition.

Instead of being intimidated or disheartened by these figures, we should pray with empathy and boldness for our persecuted fellow believers and remember that they are blessed. (Matt 5:10-12) We should also ponder on the paradox of the rose, something so lovely yet so spiky! The two co-exist for reasons we cannot fathom. In the same way, God allows the refining fire of persecution for reasons we may never understand, but He also provides the help, deliverance and sustenance each believer needs. Grace is not a theoretical concept; it’s a sustaining, life-giving principle. Mojtaba Hosseini, an Iranian pastor imprisoned at the tender age of 20 for running house churches, said, “It doesn’t matter what situation I’m in. I can work in God’s kingdom wherever He places me.” He found a ministry among prisoners when he was in prison. God is able to work for good in every situation in our lives.