Although our Parent & Toddler group doesn’t meet in the school holidays, we are involved in lots of things this summer.

Join us at the Picnics in the Park on Wednesday 31 July, 7 August and 28 August – no need to book, just bring a picnic and blanket and come along! There will be activities, games, face painting and free water, fruit and ice-creams for children, thanks to funding from the Dearne Ward Alliances and the Snap Tin Community Hub.

Come along to DCAF’s ‘Goldthorpe By The Sea’ family fun event on Monday 19 August between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. when there will be water and sand play, a bouncy castle, seaside crafts and games and a puppet theatre to keep us entertained. Tickets cost £3 per person (£10 for a family of up to 5 people) and all monies go towards keeping the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival free to attend. Booking essential; lunch provided..

Dearne Churches Together is hosting a ‘Think Resilient!’ session for 7-15 year olds led by Peer Educator Eva Roberts to help young people develop strategies for thinking positively and coping with emotional and mental stress on Wednesday 21 August between 11.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. Booking required; limited numbers available. Lunch provided.

On Friday 26 July we took 80 people (29 families) to Wheelgate Theme Park. Our annual Parent & Toddler outing is always great fun and we are grateful to all who came and to Oakleaf coaches for taking us there and back safely.

The theme park had lots of rides and parks to explore

We also enjoyed seeing animals and holding birds of prey.

The Splash Park proved very popular.

There was a sandpit.

There was also soft play fun.

Even the adults had a great time!

Garry spoke tonight on living a Spirit-filled life from Ephesians 5:15-33. Paul, in this letter, is writing to Christians in whom the Holy Spirit dwells (Eph 1:13-14), but urges them to be continually filled with the Spirit. This phrase is frequently used in the book of Acts to describe what happens when people come to faith (see Acts 2:1-3, Acts 13:49-52). Paul frequently uses the word ‘fill’ when talking about the Holy Spirit (see Col 1:9) and there is the implication that there is no lack when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. When we are filled with joy, there is nothing lacking in our joy; when we are filled with spiritual knowledge, there are no omissions. To be filled with the Holy Spirit means He gives us what we don’t have and need.

Paul contrasts this experience with that of being drunk. When we are drunk, we lose control, for alcohol is a disabler. The Holy Spirit, in contrast, is an enabler. Speaking in other languages (see Acts 2:4) enables us to connect with God and is one way of encouraging and strengthening faith. At times, this ability from God acts as a message to others; then the gift of interpretation is also needed. Prophecy too is a gift from the Holy Spirit, as is a message of wisdom (see Luke 21:12-15) or knowledge which could not be naturally discerned. (John 4:16-18).The Holy Spirit also enables us through gifts of healing and miraculous powers (see Mark 4:35-41). At times, the Holy Spirit can give us the gift of faith and also enables us to distinguish between spirits.

We all need God’s power to be witnesses. Acts 1:8 tells us that this power comes as the Holy Spirit fills us. We need to pray for a constant filling of the Spirit, for we need His gifts to be effective witnesses and disciples of Jesus.

This morning we looked at the subject of God’s judgment. When we read verses about God repaying people ‘according to what they have done’ (see Prov 24:12, also Rom 2:6-11, Ps 62:12, Rev 20:13), it can lead us to feel very fearful about judgment, which we largely associate with ideas of punishment more than reward. Passages such as Deuteronomy 28 make it clear that there were blessings and curses promised for obedience and disobedience, and we can easily end up thinking that it’s all down to us – how well we live, how good we are. The problem with that kind of thinking is that we are never good enough! Rom 3:23 makes it plain that we have all sinned and missed God’s mark, following the law perfectly has only ever been achieved by Jesus (see Rom 3:10-25, Isaiah 64:6-7). God’s plan of salvation relied on God’s own righteousness (see Isaiah 59:16-17) and we are saved only through God’s grace and faith (see Eph 2:8-9).

If we wish to avoid condemnation in God’s final judgment at the great white throne, we must respond to His free gift of eternal life through the death and resurrection of Jesus (see John 3:17, 36). What God is looking for is a faith response to Jesus which is then outworked in our daily lives.

Eph 2:10 makes it plain that good works will follow on from salvation, and that there is a judgment to come for believers which is more like an ‘awards’ ceremony than a place of punishment (see 1 Cor 3:10-14, 2 Cor 5:10). John assures us that God is love and therefore we do not need to fear punishment (see 1 John 4:16-18). Paul spoke confidently about the crown of righteousness awaiting him from the righteous Judge. (2 Tim 4:8) God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. (Heb 11:6) He has promised us a rich inheritance as a reward for faithfulness and obedience. (Col 3:24) Paul gives us a simple rule of thumb for how to live: ‘Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.’ (Eph 6:7-8) May we all serve the Lord wholeheartedly and wait patiently for His abundant rewards.

To lament means to express deep sorrow, grief, or regret (often through tears). We much prefer celebration to lament, but the truth is that sorrow, grief and regret will inevitably come our way at some point in life, and we do well to be prepared for these and to know how to respond biblically to them. The Bible has plenty to say about lament, with over a third of the book of Psalms being psalms of lament, and with a whole book devoted to the subject (Lamentations). It is not surprising that David the poet reacted to the deaths of Saul and his sons with a lament. (2 Samuel 1:17-27) Moreover, he wanted this lament to be taught to all Israel, for if we do not learn how to lament properly, we will never fully engage with God and suffering and will only know how to follow the ways of the world, which involve denial and distraction.

David grieves deeply for Saul and Jonathan (2 Samuel 1:11-12). He urges all to weep for the ‘gazelle’, the one anointed by God, and three times in the lament cries out ‘How the mighty have fallen!’ (2 Sam 1:19, 25, 27) He does not focus on Saul’s sins or the personal injury he has himself suffered at Saul’s hand. Instead, he remembers all Saul and Jonathan achieved and articulates the deep loss and sorrow he feels.

We need to learn to express emotions within the framework of Biblical lament, so that we are not left without hope at times of great anguish and despair. Biblical lament starts with a direct address to God (e.g. Ps 12:1-2) and involves complaint (see Ps 86:14). But there is also a direct appeal to God for help (e.g. Ps 44:23) and affirmations of trust in God (e.g. Ps 13:5). Psalms of lament generally follow a pattern that begins with suffering and ends with glory. Usually, these songs start on a negative, complaining note, but they end on a positive, faith-filled note.

The book of Lamentations, written during Israel’s exile, is written as an acrostic poem, the form itself reminding us that whilst suffering and grief seem endless, there is, in fact, an end to them. Lament enables us to ask hard questions and tackle painful subjects. It does not necessarily provide neat answers, but reminds us that God is with us at all times. Our Saviour, after all, is ‘a man of suffering, and familiar with pain’, ‘a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.’ (Is 53:3)

As we enter the new book (2 Samuel) and a new era (David is finally about to become king!), we pause at the enormity of death and weep at the loss of so many with David. David is such a human character in the Bible. We identify with his strengths and weaknesses; we see here no relief or joy at the death of Saul and his family, even though this had long been predicted, but instead, see the humility and compassion which set him apart as a man after God’s own heart. For all of us, being human will mean dealing with sorrow, grief, regret and guilt. It will mean coming to terms with a wide range of emotions and learning to walk through these within the Biblical framework which does not deny pain or the reality of suffering. As Rend Collective put it, sorrow is real, but God will not let it break us (‘True In The Light’). Lament is the Biblical way of dealing with sorrow, and before we move on to rejoice at the fulfilment of God’s word in seeing David crowned king, we do well to pause and learn from how he reacted to grief.