Today we had another Family Fun Day, organised by Dearne Churches Together, with the help of the Dearne Area Team, as part of our half-term fun. We had 163 people attend the Fun Day and our thanks go to everyone who worked so hard to make this a truly memorable day, with special thanks to the Salvation Army catering team, Ann amd Sadie from the Dearne Area Team, Simon and Charlotte from Worsbrough Mill, Karen from Furlong Road Methodist Church and Sharon, Letitia, Sue and Garry from GPCC who worked so hard before, during and after the event!

Our theme was the story ‘Claudia the Caterpillar’, which looks at Claudia’s desire to fly and how the process of becoming a butterfly didn’t seem particularly enjoyable (how could being wrapped in a chrysalis lead to new life?) In the same way, Jesus told Nicodemus that we must be born again if we are to enter the kingdom of heaven, a process of new life which we enter because He died for us and rose again.

We had a variety of crafts concerned with caterpillars and butteflies, including caterpillar and butterfly collages:

We also had colouring activities, crosswords, wordsearches and bookmarks based on the ‘Claudia’ story.

In the community room, we had painting and craft activities, includihg making caterpillars from socks!

We also had a Claudia cake (though Asda insisted she was called Bonnie…)

Often we feel overwhelmed by circumstances and problems, unable to see our way out of the maze of life, troubled, afraid and despondent. In Mark 5, we read of different situations and circumstances which were truly overwhelming: a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years and who wasn’t getting any better… a father whose daughter was perilously ill. Debilitating illness and the unfairness of a child’s dying seem to us to be completely insoluble problems, but in this chapter, we see desperation meeting Jesus… and finding that in Him, there are ways out we can’t ever imagine.

The key in both cases was faith. To the woman healed by just one touch of Jesus’s garment, Jesus said, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.‘ (Mark 5:34) To those who felt death was the end and therefore there was no further need to bother Jesus, He said, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” (Mark 5:36)

What things do you need to believe for today? What miracles do you need to see? Jesus doesn’t change. He’s still capable of doing the miraculous, the unexpected, the impossible. Let’s believe Him and touch Him today. Let’s not be like those who had no faith and hindered His work (Mark 6:5-6), but let’s be like those who reached out, touched Him and were transformed.

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.