There are lots of fun activities for the family to do this half-term.

Today (Tuesday 19th February) it’s the family fun day at St Helen’s Church Hall on High Street in Thurnscoe, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. You can ‘meet a creature’ there (rumour has it there will be spiders and snakes…), get involved in craft activities and enjoy table tennis… plus there is a pie and pea lunch provided, and it’s all free!

Tomorrow (Wednesday 20th February) it’sthe family fun day at GPCC on Market Street in Goldthorpe, between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. We’re exploring the theme of new life and transformation with the help of Claudia the Caterpillar! There are various craft activities to do (making a collage caterpillar and tissue paper butterfly, clay modelling, painting and other crafts) as well as table tennis, air hockey and table football. One of the highlights will be having Simon the miller from Worsbrough Mill there to help us make dough for bread and pizzas, and we’ll be making butter too (so get those shaking arms to the ready!) Free entry and free lunch provided.

Then on Thursday (Thursday 21st February) it’s the family fun day at Furlong Road Methodist Church in Bolton-on-Dearne between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. It’s a ‘Toy Story’ theme there and you can meet Woody and Jessie as well as get involved with craft activities. Buffet lunch provided, again all free.

Parables were one of Jesus’s favourite means of teaching. Often defined as ‘an earthly story with a heavenly meaning’, parables dealt with familiar scenarios (a farmer sowing seed, a merchant buying a valuable jewel, a businessman with two sons), yet their very simplicity should not blind us to the pertinent and powerful messages they contain.

I believe everyday parables still abound – God catching our attention through ordinary scenarios which speak to our hearts in profound ways. Here’s an everyday parable involving a little girl and two horses.

Every Thursday when I take my granddaughter for her swimming lesson, we pass a field in which two horses live. Esther loves animals, so she often points to the horses and, with her limited vocabulary, tells me about the ‘horsey‘ and makes the ‘neigh’ sound associated with the horses. She was frequently disappointed when the horses were too far away to be stroked, so one day I suggested that we feed the horses an apple.

Since the horses are sometimes far away from the fence, we had to devise a way of getting the horses to come to us. I told Esther that if we called them and beckoned them with our hands, they would come and then we could give them the apple. She liked this idea so much that when we arrived, she cried ‘Horsey! Come!‘ in her loudest voice and beckoned them closer. To her utter delight, the horses set off at a gallop towards her, whinnying with pleasure. She squealed with glee, holding out the apple and giggling as their rough tongues consumed her offering in one mouthful. It was a win-win situation. The horses were happy to be fed; Esther was happy to feed them and stroke them.

This scenario continues every week (though now we take carrots as well as apples, since she longs for even more contact.) It is a very ordinary scenario. But in the eagerness of the horses and the squealing glee of a toddler, I see something of that relationship between God and His people, where He beckons us closer, where He calls us to come into His presence, where He invites us nearer, and we – once estranged but now accepted in the Beloved – run to meet Him. Esther delights to feed the horses (we now feed pretend carrots to plastic horses at home as well!); God delights to be with us. The horses are more than happy to stop their munching to come running towards the source of interesting food; we too are more than happy to have access to the King of Kings and to know we are welcomed into His open arms of love. There is mutual joy in both the Giver and Receiver.

Dave spoke tonight from Isaiah 62:6-7 on the importance of prayer. Prayer is not an optional extra for the Christian; it is an essential part of our life with God. In fact, all people pray (even if it’s only in times of distress), but for the Christian, prayer is as natural as breathing. Prayer changes situations and changes us; the devil works hard to keep us from prayer, for he knows the power it contains. In this passage, we are reminded that prayer needs to be persistent and fervent; we need to be the watchmen whom God appoints.

The Objective of Prayer

Our true goal in prayer must be to see the will of God accomplished (‘not my will, but Yours be done.’) In Isaiah, the objective was to see Jerusalem established and God’s glory made visible. We too need to pray to see God’s glory established (Eph 1:12), and seek to be fruitful and do good works which will honour God. God desires to see people saved and we need to seek God to know how He wants to use us in this aim.

The Provision for Prayer

God tells us He has posted watchmen on the walls whose job it was to cry out to God. We are called to remind God of His promises as we pray – not because God is forgetful and in that sense needs reminding, but because we forget those promises so often and need to remind ourselves of them. God is looking for intercessors, for people who will stand in the gap and pray for others.

The Responsibility for Prayer

God wants each one of us to become people of prayer. He has linked His will being accomplished to our prayers; why this is so or how it happens are beyond our understanding, but the truth is that God longs for us to pray. He is looking for those who will stand in the gap (Ezek 22:30) and who will learn to pray persistently (Luke 11:9-10). We have to plan to pray and must then pray so that God’s house becomes a house of prayer. This can be done individually, but there is also the need for corporate prayer. Join us on Thursday evenings to pray together and to seek God’s face.

Garry spoke this morning on the subject of encouragement, looking at how we respond to others, especially when they fall. The famous scene from ‘Only Fools And Horses’ where Del Boy falls through the open bar door makes us laugh because of the comic timing it involves (and Trigger’s astonished response), but so often, we do laugh at other people’s misfortunes – a response known in German as ‘Schadenfreude.’ Such a response has no place in the Christian life.

In Gen 9:20-23 we see the response of Noah’s sons when he sins through drunkenness. Ham saw his naked father and effectively laughed at him, telling his brothers about this. The response of Shem and Japheth was to show respect and cover their father’s nakedness. In this response, we see how we can either help others or hinder them when they fall.

Gal 6:1-6 gives us further advice about what to do if our brothers and sisters are caught in sin. The word means ‘overtaken’ or ‘blindsided’, and so often sin can be like this. Those who are spiritual are urged to warn people gently, doing our best to guide them away from the edge. We should not be like the Pharisee who boasted to God of his superiority (Luke 18:9-14); we should not gossip and gloat when others fail. Instead, we need to watch each other’s backs, helping each other and watching out for each other where possible, showing love and compassion.

Peter made many mistakes and was adamant that he would not deny Jesus, but did so three times (John 18:15-17, 25-27). Jesus had reassured him of His prayers before this and gave him the opportunity to be restored to service (John 21:15-19). We need to pray for people and seek their restoration, being careful to watch ourselves, for whilst we may not be tempted in the same way as another, we have to be sure we are keeping watch over our own spiritual progress. We should follow Christ’s example and look to the interests of others (Phil 2:1-4), for when we look down on others, all this does is reveal our own insecurities and frailty. God sees our hearts and is not deceived by our blustering or posturing. We are fully accepted by God as we are, no matter how insecure we may feel, and because of God’s acceptance and love, we are secure in Him. This gives us the grace to carry each other’s burdens (which are overweighted like the fishermen’s nets in Luke 5:6-7) and to aid, support, value and love those in God’s family. Jesus gave His people a new command: the command to love one another. (John 13:34-35) Love is the standard and measure of our response in all situations.

During our Bible studies on the Psalms, we discussed the power of song and how music and song are powerful ways of communicating and retaining God’s message in our hearts. No wonder Nebuchadnezzar connected worship with music, ordering the people to bow down as soon as they heard ‘the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music.’ (Daniel 3:5) Throughout history, music has been instrumental in focussing our attention – either on God or on false gods. What we sing so often reflects the truths (or lies) we are allowing to find residence in our heart.

Nowhere is the power of music more evident than in the world of films. Even in dramatic films, the musical score is used to heighten our understanding of what is happening. From the ominous refrain which heralds the arrival of the shark in ‘Jaws’ to the daredevil theme in ‘Indiana Jones’ to the ethereal notes of the ‘Harry Potter’ theme tune, the soundtracks in film prepare us to be excited, afraid, worried or happy, often without us even realising it.

‘The Lego Movie’ gave us an upbeat, catchy song called ‘Everything Is Awesome’, a cheerful, happy, beat-driven tune which radiated enthusiasm and positive joy. In the sequel, when everything is not quite so awesome, they slowed this tune down and made it seem bleak and depressing (‘Everything’s Not Awesome’). If you click on the links, you can listen to these tunes which show us something of the powerful effects of music. In ‘The Lego Movie 2’, there is another ‘catchy song’ whose lyrics proclaim proudly ‘this song’s gonna get stuck inside your head’, which is seen by Lucy and Emmet as a form of brainwashing. That is exactly the kind of power music can have in us.

Interestingly, however, at the end of the film, when the lyrics of this song are incorporated into the original theme tune as Lucy explores a more mature vision of the world when everything is not awesome but when there can still be hope and faith, there is a subtle change. Instead of ‘this song’s gonna get stuck inside your head’, Lucy sings ‘this song’s gonna get stuck inside your heart.’

The truth is that whatever song gets stuck inside our heads ultimately will get stuck inside our hearts. It’s why we need to be so careful what we listen to (and allow our children to listen to.) It’s why we need to take Paul’s words so seriously: ‘Instead, be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.‘ (Eph 5:18-20)

What we sing reflects who we worship. What we sing has the power to change us too.

In 2014, ‘The Lego Movie’ introduced us to Emmet, a construction worker whose positive outlook can be summed up in the song ‘everything is awesome… when you’re living out a dream.’ Emmet, with the help of Lucy and a group of friends, defeat an evil tyrant and restore harmony to their world of bricks.

Unfortunately for Emmet, everything is not awesome, and the sequel (just released in cinemas) explores this theme. Children’s films are good at exploring the real world through imagination and fantasy. The catchy theme song is now re-written with bleak lyrics and slower beat:

‘Everything’s not awesome.

Everything’s not cool.

I am so depressed.

What’s the point? There’s no hope.

Awesomeness was a pipedream.’

Our God created a perfect world which was indeed awesome, a world in which everything was good. But sin’s entrance into the world means everything’s no longer awesome. Disobedience, rebellion, injustice, sickness and death are now part of our world and awesomeness so often does feel like a pipedream.

This bleak, dystopian view of the world is not the end of the story, however. Lucy, as the Lego pieces are shut away in darkness, sings,

‘Everything’s not awesome,

But that doesn’t mean that it’s hopeless and bleak.

Everything’s not awesome,

But in my heart, I believe.’

Lucy faces the truth that ‘everything’s not awesome’, but still believes there is hope. She faces the unrealistic expectation of constant awesomeness all the time in a difficult world but also believes individuals can make a difference if they stick together. She becomes the embodiment of hope.

We may feel disappointed and disillusioned with the state of the world today. But the gospel message is good news that God cared enough to send His Son into our far-from-awesome world and that Jesus, through His life, death and resurrection, did everything that is necessary to restore things to how God originally meant them to be. ‘Everything’s not awesome’ – yet. But we have an awesome God and He’s given us a new song to sing. ‘The Lego Movie 2’ has a new song that’s going to stick inside your head! God has a new song too for us to sing, a song of praise to our God.