A brand is an important part of fashion these days, with many clothing companies having distinctive brands; Stephen showed off the Barbour brand today:

This kind of branding is certainly less painful than that which used to be used to mark slaves; a branding iron was heated up on coals and then placed on a slave’s skin, so that if they strayed, they could be traced back to the owner. Animals are branded (often with dye) so that they can be clearly identified as belonging to a particular farmer. Whilst we may deplore slavery, the Bible uses this language to describe our relationship to sin and to Christ (see Rom 6:16-18), and we are urged to show the marks of Christ in our lives, even as His death by crucifixion gave Him wounds or marks which He showed to His followers after His resurrection.

We may choose to cover our branding, but God has chosen us in Him to be holy and blameless in His sight; we are called to be His holy people (1 Cor 1:2, Eph 1:4) We are sons and daughters of the living God and need to live in such a way that we are marked out as belonging to Christ. Our lives should reflect how Jesus lived, bearing the marks of love, sacrifice, service, forgiveness and trust. Are we willing to show our allegiance to God, or do we prefer to ‘cover up’ these marks, choosing to identify more with the world’s ways than with Christ’s? Col 1:22 reminds us that we are reconciled through the physical sacrifice of Jesus and now we are called to shine forth His light so that the world may know who He is. (2 Cor 4:4-8) We need to be unashamed of being slaves to righteousness and must live in ways that reflect Christ’s brand to the world.

We’re very pleased that our Parent & Toddler group will be re-opening on Friday 11th June (9.30-11.00 a.m.) We will have a maximum capacity of 20 adults to enable social distancing between adults; each adult can bring children under 5. We will be operating a pre-booking system to monitor numbers and to ensure all Government guidance is followed, so please contact Julie on 07729 421405 to book your place(s).

Don’t forget also our ‘Churches Together’ prayer meeting at our building (and on Facebook live) on Wednesday 19th May at 10.45 a.m. and our Pentecost dove distribution on Saturday 22nd May at 10 a.m.

We’re also pleased to be taking part in the ‘Churches Together’ Pentecost Trail on Wednesday 2nd June at the Railway Embankment site (opposite the Texaco garage). This is an opportunity to book in for a 45 minutes’ session of crafts and activities on the theme of Pentecost at a lovely outdoor site developed by local residents on what used to be the railway site for the mine. For years a fly-tipping eyesore, this site is now a beautiful, serene outdoor community space and we are looking forward to our first in-person fun day for over a year. You’ll need to book your time slot to join us, and every family will get a lovely goody bag of craft activities and fruit snacks to take home.

Finally, we’ll also be involved in the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival (taking place in Goldthorpe on Saturday 25th September) and are pleased that this will involve a community art project on the same Railway Embankment site which will take place in early July. Working with artist Lydia Caprani, local residents and school-children will be painting the brick wall down to the site and we are grateful to Lloyd’s Stores in Thurnscoe for their donation of paint and equipment for this project.

Jesus taught His disciples not only about His own death and resurrection and not only about the need for personal sacrifice and taking up the cross to follow Him but also about His return to earth. In Luke 13 and in Matthew 24, He gave many warnings about the ‘end times’, the times leading up to the kingdom of heaven finally being fully established on earth, and predicted difficult times for all who followed Him (Luke 13:9-11, 19; Matt 24:9-14). He warned us that we cannot know when He will return (see Luke 13:32-37) and therefore there is need for constant readiness (Matt 25:1-13).

Jesus taught that after His death and resurrection, He would leave the disciples and send His Holy Spirit to be with them (this is most clearly taught in John 16 and was fulfilled in Acts 1 and 2 when we read of His ascension to heaven 40 days after His resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.) These things have all been fulfilled, but the things He spoke about concerning His return to earth, the return of the Son of Man, have yet to be fulfilled. We are still waiting for His return more than 2000 years later, but as 1 Thess 5:1-8 and 2 Pet 3:1-18 make plain, this day is still to come.

In essence, Jesus says, ‘Wake up! Be ready! Don’t live as though you’ve got forever, because no one knows that. Look for the signs of the times; study God’s word; live each day in anticipation of the Lord’s return, because when the Son of Man comes, will be find faith on the earth, or will we have fallen away because we were not prepared and were not ready?’

We must learn to pray now with the persistence and tenacity of the widow in Luke 18:1-8 and not give up, not lose heart, not doubt that God has forgotten us, no matter how bad the situation may look. We must be prepared to take a stand for Jesus, to live without compromise, to live by His truth and not by lies, to live each day waiting for Him and being alert and ready. We must live with faith and hope and love, not with fear, doubt, despair or indifference.

In our series on ‘Questions’, looking now at the questions God asks us, we looked tonight at Luke 18:1-8, a parable Jesus told His disciples to urge them to continue in prayer, but which ends with the challenging question, ‘when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?’ (Luke 18:8) Parables have a habit of challenging us: they are earthly stories with a heavenly meaning, and often their very simplicity draws us in to realise that we don’t have all the answers and must dig deeper into our hearts to discover these.

This parable is the story of a judge who doesn’t really care about justice or about God or about people. (Luke 18:2) He’s indifferent to everything and everyone, it seems, but the other character in this story is a widow, a woman who needs justice against an adversary and who, therefore, keeps on coming to the judge because she has a need. (Luke 18:3) She won’t take no for an answer; one commentator calls her a ‘won’t quit widow’. (Bob Deffinbaugh) In those times, a widow was a vulnerable person; there was no real safety net of benefits or pensions for her, and so she relied on her family and on the law to survive. Now, some scoundrel has cheated her of what little she had to live on and so she comes to the judge and asks for justice. We can all relate to this kind of scenario, and probably feel a good deal of sympathy with the woman.

The judge, who cares little for justice, is nonetheless worn out by her persistence, worn down by her constant presence, and in the end, she triumphs because of her persistence. It’s a victory for the little person against the great corrupt and indifferent justice system and reminds us also that God is a just judge who will ultimately see that right is done. God will ‘see that they get justice, and quickly.’ (Luke 18:8) And then comes the sting in the tail, so to speak. The tables are turned, as He asks: ‘However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?’ (Luke 18:8) In other words: God is faithful. What about you? What about us? When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? Will we be persevering in prayer like the faithful widow, or will we have become discouraged and given up?

This is a challenge for all of us, reminding us that God is looking for faith and that faith is indispensable if we are to please God. (Heb 11:6) Jesus is coming back to earth and will be looking for people who believe Him and are ready. (Luke 13:32-37) Are we ready? Do we have faith?

Dave spoke this morning from Zechariah 4:6-10. Often, we are influenced by the idea that everything must be big, but many great inventions started with a small idea; Zechariah reminds us not to despise the day of small beginnings. (Zech 4:10)The Jews had been exiled from their home land for 70 years and had now returned; this was a time of rebuilding. Yet after so many years away, doubts were hindering this process, as they continue to do so frequently, even today. We have to learn to listen to God and not to those who sow doubts.

Zechariah reminds us that God’s power is what is important, not our ability or inability. (Zech 4:6) Satan is a powerful liar and wants us to believe that we cannot prevail, but God empowers us. 2 Cor 10:3-5 reminds us that we have divine weapons given to us by God; we have all we need to overcome the enemy and the world. The power of the Holy Spirit promised in Acts 1:8 can be ours today.

Secondly, God’s power removes obstacles. (Zech 4:7) Mighty mountains can be removed in God (see Luke 10:18, Luke 19:20).

God rejoices over our work; He can use anything for His glory, even the jawbone of a donkey or a tent peg can achieve mighty things in God! Spiritual gifts are given to us by God, not for ourselves, but for others. His power is given to us to witness and to ensure that the church grows. We may often feel that we are a minority who cannot do anything, but we must remember that Israel went into Egypt with about 70 people and left with millions! We have already seen what God can do with our little (purchasing a building costing over £160,000 with only £7,000 in our bank account!) There is no limit to what God can do in us and through us by His Spirit.

Romans 8:28 is one of the most quoted and reassuring verses in the whole Bible: ‘we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’ (Rom 8:28) We are reminded by Paul that even when things don’t work out the way we want them to, God is still able to work for our good.

A shipwreck on Malta probably wasn’t on Paul’s wish list of things he wanted to happen to him, but the experience was certainly beneficial to the islanders of Malta, and anyone who visits nowadays can still see the influence of Paul on that island. Being under house arrest in Rome probably wasn’t on Paul’s wish list either, but the fact remains that the book of Acts closes with the news that ‘for two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!’ (Acts 28:30-31) Whatever happened to him was turned to good. Much of our New Testament was written by Paul from this place of imprisonment, so there definitely was good to be seen from a personally injurious situation.

We see that the forces of nature (water, wind and snake) and the machinations of men (schemes, plots and threats) were all arrayed against Paul, but even though demonic forces lay behind these, they were not enough to thwart God’s plans. Scripture is full of examples of the devil seeking to thwart God’s saving purpose through His people and His Christ:

• Pharaoh trying to drown the baby Moses

• Haman trying to annihilate the Jews

• Herod the Great trying to destroy the infant Jesus in Bethlehem

• the Sanhedrin trying to stifle the apostolic witness and smother the church at its birth.

God is well able to obstruct the devil’s purposes. By God’s providence Paul reached Rome safe and sound, and we see fleshed out for us the truth of Romans 8:28, God working for good in the life of this great apostle. God ‘works out everything in conformity with his will’ (Eph 1:11); ‘no wisdom, no insight, no plan’ can succeed against the Lord. (Prov 21:30)