A testimony is simply declaring to others what God has done for us. In Revelation 12, we see that the word of our testimony is powerful. We read that the enemy can be defeated by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony.

“Now have come the salvation and the power
    and the kingdom of our God,
    and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
    who accuses them before our God day and night,
    has been hurled down.
¹¹ They triumphed over him
    by the blood of the Lamb
    and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
    as to shrink from death.
¹² Therefore rejoice, you heavens
    and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
    because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
    because he knows that his time is short.” (Rev 12:10-12)

As we share testimonies, we are effectively declaring that God is great, that God does great things, that God loves us and cares for us. As we share a word of testimony, we remind others that God is a personal God, that God knows each one of us by name, that the very hairs on our head are numbered, that we are never forsaken. The word of our testimony is powerful because its focus is not on ourselves but on God. Many of the psalms act as people’s testimonies. In Ps 118, David says, ‘I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my defence; he has become my salvation.’ (Ps 118:13-14) David was in a difficult position. David was facing enemies on all sides and felt hemmed in; he felt oppressed and as though he were surrounded by swarming bees. (Ps 118:12) But God stepped in. God helped. He goes on to say,

‘Shouts of joy and victory
    resound in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!
  The Lord’s right hand is lifted high;
    the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!”’ (Ps 118:15-16)

Testimonies remind us that God has done mighty things and continues to work on our behalf.

This morning we looked at why we have chosen to meet again in person, given that there are still Government restrictions which affect what we can do during our services. Primarily, despite the restrictions, we meet together because God has commanded us to do this: church is His idea and Heb 10:24-25 reminds us that we should not give up meeting together. Secondly, we are glad to meet together in His name, because He has promised to be with us when we do this. (Matt 18:20) The Almighty God has promised to be with us and, as Garry said recently, when we come together with hope and expectation, we can expect God to meet with us in power, to speak with us, to convict, encourage and instruct us.

The early church ‘devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.’ (Acts 2:42) These are the essential elements when we gather together. We need to spend time speaking and listening to God and to His word, because these things guide us through life. We also need to worship Him, and this involves far more than singing. “Worship is centering our mind’s attentions and our heart’s affections on the Lord.” (Bruce Leafblad) Marva J. Dawn said, “Our worship services need to immerse us in God’s splendour.” We meet together not simply to be sociable (although fellowship is key to our encouragement and growth) but to focus our attention on God. Rom 12:1-2 reminds us that we must give all our lives to God as an offering; this is our spiritual act of worship.

Our gathering together must make room to speak to God and about God and must give space for God to speak to us. He can do that through music, through silence, through preaching, through the gifts of the Spirit, through the reading of His words, through the words of His people as they share all He has been doing and saying. He can do that as we live our ordinary lives and break bread together. We may well have to adapt at times and do things differently (God is a God of the new thing, as Is 43:19 reminds us), but what is important is that we gather together to honour God. He never changes (Mal 4:2) and is still a loving, merciful, good, kind, just, generous and forgiving God who deserves all our praise!

How lovely it was to welcome people back into the building today for our first Sunday service since 15th March. We were so glad to be together, we held a wave offering with balloons and flags (for the background to wave offerings, see Ex 29:23-26, Lev 7:29-36, Lev 23:10-14 and Ex 25:20-29).

We also enjoyed time to pray and hear testimonies of how God has spoken to us through this period apart and shared Holy Communion together.

We gave thanks to Eileen for her faithful service in leading us in taking Communion for so many years as she lays down that mantle now and gave her flowers as a token of our appreciation.

She clearly enjoyed the balloons!

Our thanks to all for taking part in the service; we look forward to joining together again tonight at 6:00 p.m.

I’m grateful to a friend (Antony Mark Brown) for the title of and ideas for this post. Identity theft is the deliberate use of someone else’s identity, usually as a method to gain a financial advantage or obtain credit and other benefits in the other person’s name, and perhaps to the other person’s disadvantage or loss. It occurs when someone uses another’s personally identifying information (such as their name and bank details) without their permission to commit fraud or other crimes. It can be difficult to prove that you have not made the purchases, for example, since the things which identify you have been stolen from you and this can leave you in a vulnerable position.

In John 10, Jesus said that ‘the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy‘ (John 10:10). We have an enemy, the devil, who seeks to steal our identity in Christ. He seeks to accuse us (Rev 12:10 calls him ‘the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night‘) and to condemn us, to sow doubt and fear into our lives. If he can do this succesfully, then our lives are negatively impacted and our witness is impaired.

We need to ensure that we know who we are in Christ. Matthew West’s powerful song ‘Hello, my name is…’ reminds us that we don’t have to be defined by regret, shame, guilt or condemnation if we know our true identity in Him:

‘Hello, my name is child of the one true king.
I’ve been saved, I’ve been changed, and I have been set free.
Amazing grace is the song I sing,
Hello, my name is child of the one true king.’ (‘Hello, My Name is…’, Matthew West)

In John 13, when Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, we read, ‘Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.’ (John 13:3-4) Secure in His identity as God’s Son, sure of who He was, Jesus could humble Himself to wash feet, the lowliest of tasks. Paul echoes those thoughts in Philippians 2:1-11, how Jesus, being in very nature God, could freely humble Himself to take on human flesh and even face the indignity and humiliation of the cross. When we are sure of our identity, we have nothing to prove and can live lives of service to God.

So don’t allow the enemy to steal your identity as a child of God, but know that Jesus has done everything necessary to give us this new identity!

When you attend Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church from 2nd August, what can you expect?! We hope you will find the usual warm welcome and feel the presence of God and His love in our building as usual, but by law we have to inform you of the changes that will be in place because of Government guidelines during the coronvirus pandemic. Please do not attend services if you are ill.

1. Hand sanitisers are available at key entry points and in the toilets.

2. You are advised to wash your hands regularly and there are hand-washing facilities in the toilets, with paper towels to be used.

3. Social distancing measures are in place throughout the building. Because of this, only 1 person per toilet area is allowed at a time.

4. We will not be serving refreshments after the evening service.

5. Members are asked to bring their own bread/ juice for Holy Communion to avoid cross-contamination.

6. Congregational singing is not allowed at present, though we hope the recent changes regarding face coverings (which will be mandatory from 8th August) may mean changes to this rule are soon allowed.

7. We must keep a record of attendance for 21 days and you are advised to contact NHS Track and Trace if you develop symptoms of coronavirus at any point.

Our risk assessment is given below:

We have spent this afternoon cleaning and getting the building ready for our first services since 19th March with people present! Online services have been held each week from the building, but we can’t wait to see people there tomorrow worshipping God together.

We have been getting balloons and flags ready for our wave offering tomorrow:

You will see many differences in the building, chiefly that we have moved a lot of the chairs so that social distancing can be observed. Everyone has a designated seat (in family groups or individually, depending on circumstances.)

Hand sanitisers have been installed at the entrances and we have paper towel dispensers in the toilets now. We ask people not to attend if they have any signs of illness and remind everyone of the need to wash hands regularly and use hand sanitiser. We have placed anti-bacterial wipes under chairs so that chairs can be wiped down after the service and would remind people to bring their own bread/ juice for Holy Communion when attending the morning service.

The Government announced yesterday that face coverings will be mandatory inside places of worship from 8th August, and we do have face coverings for use if people want these. We also have a box to put tithes and offerings in so that there is no cross-contamination and will still be collecting change for the children we support in Haiti, India and Uganda. Please put your offerings in these (on the table in the foyer) when you enter or leave the building.

We are very thankful that despite all the many changes, God does not change! Ps 122:1 says, ‘I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”’ After so many weeks apart, it will be good to be together again – and if you can’t be there, we will still be livestreaming the services on GPCC Facebook Live at 10:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.