Apart from our usual Sunday and Thursday meetings, there are a few other services being held throughout October.

Take Back The Streets prayer walk (4th October)

Our ‘Take Back the Streets’ prayer meeting/ prayer walk will be on Saturday 4th October, leaving the building at 10 a.m. Those who can’t walk are invited to stay and pray in the building as we ask God to bring revival to Goldthorpe and pray for our local community.

‘Churches Together’ Prayer Meeting (7th October)

On Wednesday 7th October at 10.45 a.m. we will be meeting at Sacred Heart RC Church on Lockwood Road in Goldthorpe for our ‘Churches Together’ prayer meeting, looking at the theme ‘Light & Life.‘ We will also be livestreaming this on the Dearne Churches Together Facebook page.

Half-Term Fun (28th October)

We will be doing our family fun day a little bit differently this half-term because of the restrictions on larger gatherings. We’re inviting families to book a collection slot between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Wednesday 28th October (at GPCC and Furlong Road Methodist Church) and will be giving out goody bags with crafts, snacks and other surprises. If you can help with preparing goody bags on Tuesday 27th October or with giving them out on the Wednesday, please let Julie know.

In Phil 4:1-9, Paul gives us further insights into how to rejoice always and what to do when we feel anxious and perhaps unable to rejoice. He says, ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil 4:6-7) These famous verses show us how to deal with the ‘unconscious blasphemy’ (to quote Ralph Martin) of anxiety, worry and fear which often blight our lives, despite Jesus’s command not to worry (Matt 6:25, 34)

Thanksgiving is again part of the way we actually move in prayer from anxiety to peace. When we come to God in prayer, we may well feel overwhelmed and swamped, because our focus is on the issue, the problem. But as we give thanks to the Lord, we recall His goodness and mercy to us; we remember all the ways He has helped us in the past; we get our gaze back in the right place. God then gives us His peace, a peace which may well transcend our understanding but which is His gift to us.

Paul’s final piece of advice in these verses is to ensure we win the battle of the mind by focussing our thoughts on things that are true, good and wholesome (Phil 4:8). The mind controls so much. What we think about determines so much in our lives. If we think wrong things, we end up believing lies. If we believe lies, we will end up in chains, slaves to sin. Jesus made it very plain that the devil is the ‘father of lies.’ Lies are his native language. (John 8:44) He likes nothing more than people thinking about wrong things and believing lies, because then it’s a very short step to people doing wrong things and living in slavery rather than in the freedom God wants us to know and experience. Jesus said that knowing the truth has the power to set us free (John 8:32), and so it’s crucially important that we think about whatever is true.

Again, we have the choice as to what we think about, and we must choose wisely. As the saying goes, ‘If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.’ Paul talks about taking every thought captive to Christ (2 Cor 10:5), and so we must learn to identify the lies (which we can do by allowing God’s word to shape our understanding of truth and lies), refuse to believe them any more and focus on truth instead. As we put up the wallpaper of God’s truth in our minds, letting His word shape our thinking and our outlook, we are transformed into His image and the peace of God is with us. (Phil 4:9)

Phil 4:1-9 is rather like a crammed suitcase that overflows when unpacked; it’s full of truths which seem to expand into our lives, leading us to a spacious place (see also Ps 18:19, Ps 31:8, Ps 118:5), a place of freedom and joy.

Paul starts the chapter by urging the Philippians (his ‘dear friends’, his ‘crown and joy‘) to ‘stand firm in the Lord’. This command is found elsewhere in his letters (see 2 Cor 1:21, 24; Eph 6:14, Gal 5:1) and echoes Jesus’s own words (Luke 21:19, Mark 13:13) as well as those of the Old Testament prophets (e.g. Isaiah 7:9, Ex 14:13). In order to stand firm, we need a solid footing and good balance. Jesus told us to build our lives on solid rock rather than on shifting sands. (Matt 7:24-27) We need a solid foundation, a firm place to stand (Ps 40:2), but we also need to learn balance as we navigate the stormy circumstances of life. We need to be like the children’s toy, the Weeble, which wobbles but doesn’t fall down!

One thing which can help us to stand firm is being of one mind in the Lord. Paul has already spoken about the strength of unity when he urged us to be one in spirit and in mind. (Phil 2:2) Now, he speaks specifically to two women, Euodia and Syntyche, ‘to be of the same mind in the Lord.’ (Phil 4:2) Presumably, there were problems between these two women which were spilling over into church life and Paul urges them, and others around them, to work towards reconciliation and mutual love. We always need to bear in mind that our faith has to be lived out in everyday relationships and that we have to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Eph 4:3)

Paul urges us yet again to rejoice in the Lord always, reiterating that command immediately. (Phil 4:4) This is possible (however impossible we may feel it is at times!) because we know that God is in control and is working for good in every circumstance of life. (Rom 8:28) We can rejoice because, no matter how we may feel, ‘the Lord is near.’ (Phil 4:5) As we realise God’s closeness to us and focus on who He is, never-changing, always there for us, we can rejoice always in Him. The ability to do this is there; it’s up to us to choose to rejoice.

This morning, Stephen spoke from Eph 1:3-14. At the moment, we can perhaps feel frustrated by our experience of church life, faced with restrictions, face coverings and a lack of sung worship. Even now, however, Christ is the same and therefore each one of us has access to God’s blessings and can know something of heaven on earth.

We often think of heaven as an extension to the things we enjoy on earth (for example, when extremely happy, we may say, ‘I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven!’) Heaven is not just for the future, however. Eph 2:6 reminds us that we are now seated in heavenly realms; we are not waiting for the future but are already transported from where we were (dead in transgressions and sins) to a place of heavenly blessing. The ‘unseen world of spiritual reality’, which should be our guide (since we are called to live by faith and not by sight), is our present experience. We may feel masked, silenced and distanced, but the truth is that we can enjoy the security of God’s love and the peace that He brings, for access to His glory is still available to us all.

We know that God’s original creation was good and that God Himself walked with Adam and Eve in the garden, a foretaste of what God always intended our relationship to be. Jesus Christ came to restore that blissful relationship which was marred by sin and to give us access to all that God intended for mankind. All we have to do is to step out of the earthly reality (that which is governed by our five senses, the material, visible world) and into the heavenly reality of the presence and blessing of God.

Earlier this month we sent a gift of money to Fredrick and Reeba in Bangalore. They replied this week, letting us know that this was used to buy groceries for the families of the women attending the tailoring programme and their neighbours for September and will be used to supply groceries in October again. They write, “Thank you for your prayers and support and for the timely giving. Many women were in tears and thanking God and us for the supplies. God is being good to the tailoring families and us, as we have been helping them since April with their monthly living supplies. All praises to Him alone who does wonders and miracles for His children.”

Please continue to pray for Fredrick, Reeba and their children and church. The pandemic is serious in India, with 85,000 infections recorded in India in one day and 1,000 deaths each day. In spite of the current crisis, God is working throughout the country, and Fredrick and Reeba give thanks for all God is doing. Please join with us in praying that God will work in this situation throughout the world and bring many people to faith in Him.

I love it when God underlines messages and confirms what we have been hearing! On Sunday, Dave spoke from Ezekiel 37 about the Valley of Dry Bones. As most of you know, I am in the middle of preparing for this year’s Dearne Community Arts’ Festival which will be held online (on the DCAF Facebook page) this Saturday (26th September) between 9.30 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. and have been receiving contributions from many people for that. On Monday, one of these was entitled ‘God of Might’, from a former colleague of mine, Pat Moore. The poem is below.

God of Might

Healing in your hand

Lord, we pray have mercy on this land.

Hope revive – Harmony restore

Heal our lives

We lift our eyes once more.

River wide, let your water flow

Blessing where you go.

Open up the heavens,

Rain upon this shore,

God of might

We lift our eyes once more

God of Light

Darkness cannot stand

Lord. we pray your glory on this land,

Touching lives wounded on the shore

Bringing life – strength will rise once more.

Jesus Christ, highest of all names

Christ, our Saviour reigns.

Open up the heavens,

Let the lion roar,

God of light

We wait upon you,  Lord.

God on High

Unified we stand

Lord, we pray revival on this land.

Humbled souls bow in reverent awe,

Humbled lives gather at Your throne.

Lord of Life, let these dry bones sing,

Praises to our king.

Open up the heavens,

Grace abundant pour,

God on high

We lift our eyes once more.

Lord of Life, let these dry bones sing

Praises to our king.

Open up the heavens,

Rain upon this shore,

God on high

We lift our eyes once more.

God of Might – Lord of Life – God on high – God revive