Last year, as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, over 3000 beacons were lit in various parts of the world. Thousands of beacons were lit by communities, charities and different groups throughout the regions of the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories. Some of the beacons were gas-lit beacons; some were beacon braziers with a metal shield and some were bonfire beacons, all lit on the evening of 2^nd June 2022. The light of the beacons can be seen from one place and then another beacon is lit, so the light is spread, bringing hope and spreading the message through light. This is a powerful symbol of what God wants to do through His Holy Spirit, spreading the light of the gospel throughout the whole world one person at a time, one church at a time.

There is a scene from the film The Return of the King, based on the final part of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy when, at the moment when darkness seems to be at its greatest, a hobbit, Pippin, climbs a mountain peak and lights a beacon. As a chain of lights spreads across the hills summoning help from Aragorn, Gandalf the wizard breathes a sigh of relief and declares: “Hope is kindled.”

God’s Holy Spirit was poured out on believers on the Day of Pentecost (see Acts 2); we need His Holy Spirit now just as much. Paul tells us to be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18). This is not a one-off filling, but an ongoing filling. Similarly, he tells Timothy to ‘fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.’ (2 Tim 1:6) The flame is there in every person who has given their lives to Jesus, for the Holy Spirit comes to live in us at the moment we become a Christian. But fire can go out, and so we need to learn to fan into flame the gift of God.

Barriers to this include complacency, a reliance on the past (God wants us to be filled daily, just as the Israelites had to collect manna daily and we are urged to pray for our daily bread) and fear (fear of losing control, of losing our reputation, of being laughed at.) God wants us to fear Him above all others and to seek Him for the good gift of the Holy Spirit (see Luke 11:11-13) When we do this, He lights beacons of hope in each of our lives, light which will spread throughout the country as God works through us.

Dave spoke this morning on the birthday of the church, celebrating the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13). On this special day, the disciples had witnessed the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus, but it was now ten days after his ascension. They had been told to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit, and 120 of them were doing just that. The effect on these followers of the Holy Spirit’s arrival was amazing. They were transformed into bold witnesses; they were filled with power, joy and worship. The gospel was proclaimed in the streets of Jerusalem as they spilled out onto the streets. 3000 people were saved in one day; these fearful disciples were transformed into fearless preachers of the truth through the Holy Spirit.

The proclamation of truth included speaking in other languages of the glory of God, with Peter declaring the arrival of the new covenant based on the sacrifice of Christ. A new community (now known as the ‘church’) was birthed on that day, a community which has survived opposition and persecution to this present day.

The Holy Spirit continues His work among people today, opening hearts to respond to empowered preaching. People need a place to belong; they need God. God’s church is to be a family to those who receive Christ by faith; birthed by the Spirit, we celebrate this day as the church’s birthday!

Normally, we think of spillage in negative terms. When we spill something, we have to clean up afterwards! Spillage is usually messy. I have young grandchildren who manage to spill something every time they eat or drink, knocking glasses of drink over as they gesture excitedly with their hands, heedless of anything in proximity to them, spilling food on the mysteriously long journey between the plate and their mouths. Each meal time is a time of spillage and I grumble under my breath as I wipe the plastic tablecloth and mats after each meal.

In grander terms, oil spillage from tankers can be another problem that can affect the environment for years; it’s not so easy to deal with that kind of spillage. Contamination can easily come and clear-ups on this scale are major operations.

But the spillage that comes to mind today is a very positive one, more of an overflow than an obstacle. Jesus said, ‘Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured (or spill) into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.’ (Luke 6:38)

God’s blessing is meant to overflow. It’s meant to spill over into other people’s lives. God blesses us to bless others.We’re not meant to hoard blessing; it’s meant to spill over. (Gen 12:3, Psalm 67) Just as I can easily spill a drink into a saucer if I overfill the cup, so God’s blessings are liberal. He is not stingy, but is a generous God. And because of that, we are told to be generous too (see 2 Cor 8-9). God loves a cheerful, generous giver, because then we mirror His heart and reflect His nature.

This kind of spillage may be messy, but it doesn’t need cleaning up afterwards! God’s blessings overflow and needs are met.

A legacy is not only an amount of money or property left to someone in a will. It’s that long-lasting impact of particular events or actions which influence people and places long after these things have happened.

I want to leave a legacy of love and beauty. I want my actions to testify to the goodness of God and His love for the world. It’s this desire to leave ‘beauty for ashes‘ which is at the heart of the community art projects which I lead through Dearne Community Arts’ Festival.

Many will say that art is ephemeral and community art doesn’t last. They cite vandalism and natural decay as reasons not to bother with something so expensive and personal. But the cultural history of England shows us that art and architecture have had, and continue to have, an enormous influence on our country to this very day.

So I press on, making mosaics and quilts and murals – and now selfie boards! – because I want to leave a legacy of beauty for the Dearne Valley. I want colour and vibrancy and positivity and individuality to be beacons of light and hope and faith in a community that’s often seen – by its own residents as well as outsiders – as hopeless, a lost cause, good for nothing.

I refuse to believe the negativity of hopelessness and despair, because I serve a God of all hope, who turned even the disaster of crucifixion into glorious resurrection victory. God had the first word in regeneration, and I believe He is able to regenerate Goldthorpe, Thurnscoe and Bolton-on-Dearne and beyond in every sense of the word. He is a God who makes all things new, and I believe community art is one way that this can be seen, in our generation and in the generations to come.

Come and be a legacy-maker today at our community art workshop between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. at GPCC.