After lunch, we watched part of a film based on John’s Gospel at Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church:

We then went to the Parish Church on Lockwood Road to learn about the Stations of the Cross, ably explained by Fr Carl Schaefer:

From there, we walked to Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, where we took part in a service of quiet contemplation and worship from Taize:

‘Everybody’s welcome at the table,’ 4FrontTheatre told us in one of their excellent (eggsellent) sketches at St Helen’s Church Hall, and that sums up the whole Good Friday Church Crawl. Everyone was welcome, no matter how we celebrated Good Friday. The death of Jesus unites Christians from all denominations (and there was a very funny song in the production ‘So On & So 4th’ about denominations!) because it is only through that sacrificial death that we are reconciled to God and to each other. Paul tells us that ‘God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation’ (2 Cor 5:19) and it was great to be able to pass on that message as we explored different Christian traditions.

The Church Crawl started with a service at Furlong Road Methodist Church after we had prepared the chocolate eggs, daffodils and leaflets for distribution.

We then moved on to lunch and crafts at the Salvation Army, where volunteers prepared turkey sandwiches and other snacks for us.

Don’t forget the Good Friday Church Crawl tomorrow (Friday 30th March), from 10.30 a.m. onwards.

This is an opportunity to explore different Christian traditions (from crafts to liturgical worship, from film interpretations of the Crucifixion to live theatre productions, from music to icons representing the journey of Jesus to the cross) and also to witness to our communities of the hope we have in Jesus Christ and to communicate the joy and generosity of our Lord through the giving of gifts. As we walk from church to church – itself a march of witness as we wear our yellow sashes and give out chocolate eggs (symbolising new life), and daffodils (a sign of God’s wonderful spring life) along with literature about Easter, we are testifying to the fact that there is one church, however many buildings we represent! Please do join with us in this wonderful expression of unity, exploration and faith.

Below is the approximate timings for the day:

1. 10.30 a.m. Service at Furlong Road Methodist Church (Bolton-on-Dearne)
2. 11.45 a.m. Lunch & crafts at the Salvation Army (Straight Lane, Goldthorpe)
3. 12.45 p.m. FIlm & worship at Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church (Market Street, Goldthorpe)
4. 1.20 p.m. Stations of the Cross at the Parish Church (Lockwood Road, Goldthorpe)
5. 1.40 p.m. Sung worship at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church (Lockwood Road, Goldthorpe)
6. 2.30 p.m. Messy Church (crafts suitable for children) at Thurnscoe Pentecostal Church (Houghton Road Centre, opposite Asda, Thurnscoe)
7. 4,00 p.m. ‘So On & So 4th’ theatre production at St Helen’s Church Hall (High Street, Thurnscoe)

Craft sessions at the Salvation Army & Thurnscoe Pentecostal Church are particularly suitable for children.

Please do join with us for some or all of these activities and feel free to drive between venues if you are not able to walk.

Today is Maundy Thursday, the day when we commemorate that last meal Jesus shared with His disciples when He issued a new commandment as He washed their feet, a commandment to love one another and serve Him through serving others (see John 13:1-17, John 13:34). The word ‘Maundy’ comes from that last verse in Latin, and many church services on this day commemorate the ritual of foot washing in their services. Today is also the day when traditionally the Queen offers alms to the poor, distributed in red and white purses, a practice dating back to Edward 1 and symbolic of the fact that the monarch is also a servant of God.

There is an inexorability about Holy Week, when we remember the final week of Jesus before the Crucifixion. From the plaudits of Palm Sunday, when hopes must have been so high, to the drama of betrayal and denial, to the loneliness of Gethsemane, the confusion of trials and the dawning realisation that Jesus was not going to escape that most excruciating form of death, the whole gamut of human emotions is captured in this one week. Life is full of joy and sorrow, hope and anguish, dreams and dashed hopes. Yet as we walk through Maundy Thursday and Good Friday and are left in the wilderness of Holy Saturday, we need to keep firmly in view that resurrection is on the horizon. We have the benefit of hindsight. We know how this story ends. We know that Jesus is alive.

Today, let’s find ways to serve each other and our hurting world, for in so serving, we serve the Lord. (Matt 25:31-46)

Tonight we had a birthday to celebrate:

Dave spoke this evening from Luke 18:31-33 where Jesus spoke to His disciples about His immediate future and the fulfilment of prophecy about the Son of Man. We all want to know what the future holds for us and want to know our destiny; many of us have many questions about the future (including questions about relationships, jobs, health and so on) and make lots of plans to be in control of our futures. This is not wrong; to make plans is common sense and wise. However, for some people, a fascination with the future leads to investigating this through unhealthy means (horoscopes, ouija boards, tarot cards, crystal balls etc.), all of which are prohibited by God.

Jesus talked about His future to His disciples, being fully aware of what lay ahead for Him in Jerusalem. He knew that a time of suffering lay ahead, when He would be initially acclaimed and then mocked, scorned, betrayed, denied and ultimately crucified. His was not the kind of future we long for, but He did not shy away from this (even though Luke 22:39-46 makes it plain He longed for another way to be possible.) Jesus suffered not simply because of Roman imperialism or to be a great moral example for us; He suffered ultimately to be the sin-bearer, the One who would pay the penalty for sin, death itself.

In the Garden of Eden, an animal was slaughtered to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness; the Old Testament sacrificial system showed that the penalty for sin was death. Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, suffering physical pain and emotional, mental and spiritual pain too. His future, therefore, was to go to Jerusalem and suffer and die, but His destiny was glory. Now He is seated at the right hand of the Father, having been raised to life; He lives to intercede for us and is the Lamb who is worthy to open the seals and to whom all glory, honour and praise are due.

Our futures may well be uncertain, but our destiny does not have to be. 1 John 5:13 reminds us that we can know we have eternal life. Our destiny is ultimately determiend by our relationship with Jesus. It has been said that choices are the hinges of destiny, and our decisions in this life ultimately determine our destiny. The questions we must ask ourselves are:

1. What is our response to Jesus? (see 1 John 5:12)
2. What will we do to follow Jesus?
3. What will we do to overcome the obstacles that get in the way of following Jesus?

Our futures may be uncertain; there is no guarantee that in our country, we will continue to experience freedom of religion, and there may well be suffering ahead for us, just as there was for Jesus. However, just as suffering preceded glory and Jesus’s destiny was ultimately glorious, so too we can know the certain destiny of eternal life if we choose to follow our suffering Saviour.