Our craft activity tonight was to make pictures of good kings or bad kings (or queens).

We also had a birthday to celebrate in advance (escaping on holiday for your birthday is no excuse…)

Alan brought the epilogue to tonight’s family service. He commented on how many of the kings were a mixture of good and bad: Saul started well, prophesying and seeking God, but fell into sin because he wanted to please the people and he did not fully obey God’s commands. David committed adultery and conspired to murder, but he also led Israel bravely and was willing to repent when he did wrong. His influence remains to this day through the psalms he wrote.HIs son, Solomon, started well and his wisdom is seen in the book of Proverbs, for example, but his foreign wives led his heart astray. The subsequent division of the kingdom was bound to end in trouble, for as Jesus commented, ‘a house divided against itself cannot stand.’ (Mk 3:25)

In English history, we have had a number of good kings and bad kings, good queens and bad queens. Henry VIII is probably most famous for his six wives and it was his divorce from Catherine of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn which led to the break with the Catholic church and his establishment as head of the Church of England, the ‘defender of the faith’, a title Queen Elizabeth II still holds. For our present queen – the longest serving monarch in British history – her role as queen under God has been the guiding principle of her life.

For all of us who own Jesus Christ as Lord, we acknowledge Him as the ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords’ (Rev 19:16), the One who deserves our whole-hearted allegiance, devotion and submission. In the words of Chris Tomlin’s song, ‘We fall down; we lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus’. (‘We Fall Down’)

Tonight’s family service looked at the kings of Israel. 1 Sam 8:4-9 makes it plain that God always intended to be the only King that Israel had, but when Samuel (prophet and judge for many years) was getting old and it was clear his sons were not following his godly example (they accepted bribes and perverted justice, being interested in dishonest gain), the people asked for a king. Rather than consulting God about their problems, they looked to the other nations and wanted to emulate them. This attitude grieved both Samuel and God, for it is never wise to search for solutions in the world around us.

The first three kings of Israel were Saul, David and Solomon. Saul started well, but ended badly because of disobedience and a fear of people more than God. David’s reign was largely seen as positive (though some of his decisions were definitely ungodly). His son, Solomon, started well and wisely, but was ultimately led into idolatry by his many foreign wives. After Solomon’s death, the kingdom was divided (the northern part being known as Israel and the southern part known as Judah). Both had 20 kings, but Israel’s kings were largely sinful, doing ‘evil in the eyes of the Lord’ and leading them astray;  Judah’s kings were more godly, but still the tendency was for idolatry and sinfulness.

How the kings were greatly affected the whole of the country, for a king could either be a positive influence for good or one who would cause the people to sin. 2 Chron 19:4 shows us that Jehoshaphat’s godliness helped to turn the people back to God, for exqample. In the same way, Jesus, the King of Kings, affected the whole world through His example and told His followers that they too could be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. (Matt 5:14-16) A tiny amount of salt has the power to bring much flavour to food; each one of us can affect other people, bringing flavour and changing the atmosphere where we are as we allow God to live through us.

We cannot necessarily know the influence we have, but God wants each one of us to influence others. The question is will we be good role models or will we allow society to influence us and lead us away from God? God’s intention is that we hold out the word of life to others and use our influence for good.

Dave spoke this morning from John 1:43-51 on the call of God. We are all used to annoying ‘nuisance’ calls these days from people trying to sell us goods or persuade us to apply for claims, and so often, we learn to ignore such calls and fail to respond to them. The danger is that we can learn to ignore God’s call to us, perhaps because we do not recognise the ways He speaks to us or because we are unwilling to believe He actually does call to us.

The call of Samuel (1 Sam 3) shows us plainly that hearing the voice of God is something we have to learn; initially, Samuel thought that Eli was calling him and had to be taught to wait on God to hear more clearly. God often speaks to us gently and subtly, in ways we might perhaps think can be ‘explained away’, but there is power in His words. In this passage in John 1:43-51, we see Jesus finding Philip and Nathaniel, seeking followers and calling to them. Nathaniel is initially hesitant, not expecting anything good to come from Nazareth, but ultimately he is grateful for his friend’s words and for how Jesus calls him.

God can speak to us through other people and through His word. His call is personal; He is still seeking followers and worshippers, just as He sought Philip and Nathaniel. He may speak to us in different ways: through dreams, through people, through colleagues, through the Bible and through prayer, but we need to be people who listen for His still, small voice. This requires a slowing down and patient listening, judging what we hear by the Word of God. When we hear God speak, we need to be quick to do what He says and then we will experience the power in God’s words.

This week is the ‘National Volunteer Week’ in the UK, an opportunity to celebrate volunteering in all its diversity.

As a church, we simply couldn’t exist without volunteers. Church members volunteer in so many different ways: in bringing God’s word to us, in serving through music ministry, in helping run Sunday School and youth clubs, in serving coffee and tea after services and at the coffee morning, in running the Parent & Toddler group, in cleaning the church building, in providing for the local food bank and in many, many more ways. We are profoundly grateful for everything that people do and for their faithfulness and service.

Volunteering in the community is a great way to be involved locally and in that sense builds community itself. We are privileged to be able to be involved in local events (such as the recent Dinosaur Day) and are looking forward to working with the Dearne Area Team over the summer holidays in providing ‘Summer Fun’ days on Wednesdays for local families. These start on 25th July (at the Salvation Army) and we will be hosting a ‘Summer Fun’ day at GPCC on Wednesday 15th August from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Volunteers are needed at these events, so please do join us if you can help!

Thank you to everyone who serves God and the church so faithfully each week. We couldn’t do this without you!

We believe that Jesus has a heart for children; He told HIs disciples, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14) As a church, we are privileged to support Bedline (an 8 year old in Haiti, through the charity Compassion) and Amshika (a disabled toddler in India whom we met last year on our missions’ trip) and we have just pledged to support a 13-year old boy called Innocent Okot in Uganda through the charity Watoto.

Innocent was abandoned by his father at a young age, but lives with his mother in a Watoto village.These villages provide a familiar traditional dwelling for people in Africa. The houses in the villages are positioned in clusters of nine houses, and provide all the essentials of a basic home.