Good Friday (30th March) is one of the most important dates in the Christian calendar, as Christians take time out to focus on the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. This year, we will be exploring different Christian traditions by visiting different local churches and we hope many local people will join us to discover the variety of ways we can remember and celebrate the death of our Lord and Saviour. We are also hugely excited to walk between the different churches as a witness and sign of unity, giving out daffodils, chocolates and leaflets about Easter as we go, wearing our yellow sashes made by local people as we go as a sign that we carry with us a message of hope and life.

Feel free to join us at any of the venues below. There is something for everyone and even if you are busy, please try to take some time out of the usual busyness to stop and focus on our Lord during that day.

1. 10.30 a.m. Furlong Road Methodist Church service (Furlong Road, Boltong-on-Dearne, S63 8JA)
2. 11.45 a.m. Salvation Army (lunch & crafts- suitable for all ages) (Straight Lane, Goldthorpe, S63 9DW)
3. 12.45 p.m. Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church (film excerpt from John’s Gospel & worship) (Market Street, Goldthorpe, S63 9HA)
4. 1.20 p.m. Goldthorpe Parish Church (Stations of the Cross) (Lockwood Road, Goldthorpe, S63 9JY)
5. 1.40 p.m. Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church (Worship from Taize) (Lockwood Road, Goldthorpe, S63 9JY)
6. 2.30 p.m. Thurnscoe Pentecostal Church (Messy Church craft, suitable for children) (Houghton Road Centre, Thurnscoe, S63 0JY)
7. 4.00 p.m. St Helen’s Church Hall (theatre production ‘So On & So 4th’ – suitable for ages 8+) (High Street, Thurnscoe, S63 0RJ)

We do hope you will be able to join us for some or all of these events. Please feel free to travel by car if you’re not able to walk the distances involved. Refreshments will be served at the Salvation Army (a buffet lunch will be provided) and at Thurnscoe Pentecostal Church (drinks only). Admission to all events is free, but donations at St Helen’s would be appreciated to help cover the cost of putting on this theatre production by the company 4FrontTheatre.

Psalm 37 mentions the command ‘do not fret’ three times in the space of a few verses (Ps 37:1, 7, 8) Fretting often seems to us less serious than worrying or being anxious, but it can be just as destructive to our mental and physical health. The word in English is from the Germanic root meaning ‘to eat completely’ and could also be translated as ‘devour, feed upon or consume’ Fretting has this effect on us: it eats us up as we gnaw away at a problem, ‘worrying’ it as my grandfather used to describe his dog’s enjoyment of a bone.

Fretting also has the idea in English of wearing away by rubbing or scraping, and this idea of consuming by rubbing away is also present in our understanding of this verb, ‘rubbing us sore’, as it were.

The Hebrew word used in Psalm 37 has the idea of burning or consuming by fire. Fretting eats away at our peace, causing discontent to rise within us, and so it is vital that we choose to focus our attention on God rather than on evil. (Ps 37:1-2, 7) The antidote to being worn out through the friction of the world is to be still before the Lord and to wait patiently for Him. (Ps 37:7) The antidote to burning out is to refrain from anger and turn from wrath, a conscious decision not to let other people or circumstances rob us of God’s peace. (Ps 37:7-8) In all things, we have to keep the long view (Ps 37:2, 9) and learn to trust in God and do good (Ps 37:3), delight in Him (Ps 37:4) and commit our ways to Him. (Ps 37:5)

In the Bible study last night, Garry started looking at Psalm 119, the longest psalm in the Bible. In it, the psalmist extols the delights of God’s word. In Hebrew, this is an acrostic poem, with each stanza of 8 verses beginning with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet –  a very useful memory tool in an age when the word was memorised and spoken aloud rather than being read. The tone of the psalm is set in the opening two verses, when those who walk according to the law of the Lord and keep His statutes are termed ‘blessed’ – happy, fortunate, people whose lives are secure.

There are different words translated ‘word’, ‘law’, ‘statutes’, ‘commands’ and ‘precepts’ in this psalm which look at different aspects of God’s word. First of all, there is reverence for the written word (the ‘Torah’, Ps 119:9, which is effectively the Old Testament books), but also a knowledge that God’s spoken word to us matters and must be hidden in our hearts (Ps 119:11). Obedience to God’s commands is the key to blessing. and far from viewing these commands as burdensome and heavy, the psalmist delights and rejoices in them, finding freedom and understanding. (Ps 119: 20,24, 47)

All through the psalm, the way of the righteous is contrasted with those who have no regard for God’s word (Ps 119:53, 61, 69-70) and the psalmist finds that God’s word has the power to strengthen in suffering and adversity (Ps 119:50, 76), bringing comfort because it reveals God’s goodness and love (Ps 119:68, 76). No one enjoys affliction, but the psalmist is able to see God’s good purposes even in this (Ps 119:75)

All around us, we may see limits and restrictions, but God’s commands are boundless (Ps 119:96) and in His ways are freedom.

We had two birthdays to celebrate tonight.

So often, we feel evangelism (defined as ‘the spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness’) is something difficult and best left to the ‘professionals’ like Billy Graham or Luis Palau. God has undoubtedly given some people the gift of evangelism (see Eph 4:11), but at the same time, Jesus gave the ‘Great Commission’ to all His followers (see Matt 28:18-20). Witnessing is not something to be feared, but is simply a sharing of our personal stories: what God has done for us and what He continues to do for us, how He helps us through life’s challenges and difficulties and blesses us in so many ways.

Rend Collective’s latest album is entitled ‘Good News’ (which is what the word ‘gospel’ or ‘evangel’ actually means.) Their video ‘The Good News Story’ summarises the gospel in 4 minutes; their song ‘Rescuer’ does the same job in about the same amount of time!

The gameshow ‘Catchphrase’ used to have the slogan ‘Say what you see!’ as you had to guess which saying was represented in pictorial form. Tonight’s sermon on the ‘A-Z of Christian Faith‘ looked at witness, which ultimately is all about saying what you have seen and testifying to what God has done for you (see Ps 107:1-2, Ps 66:16).

Witnessing is a topic which often intimidates us or makes us feel inadequate. We feel we don’t know enough or can’t answer every question; we may find it difficult to talk to strangers or feel that it’s pointless because we have not seen others come to faith through our witness. However, when we realise that witnessing is simply testifying to what God has done (only He can save and we are not responsible for people’s response to our testimony), we see that this is a crucial part of our faith. In the words of the Ishmael song,

‘I’m gonna say my prayers,

Read my Bible every morning,

Gonna get some fellowship,

Witness every day.’ (‘Glorie Song’)

The siege story in 2 Kings 7 reminds us that good news needs to be shared. In this story, four lepers facing certain death because of the famine caused by war discover God has gone ahead of them, scattered the enemy and left them the recipients of more food, gold, silver and clothing than they could have possibly imagined. At first, they are simply glad to be in this enviable position, but soon they realise ‘What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves.’ )2 Kings 7:9) At first, we might simply be overwhelmed by God’s grace and mercy to us, but salvation is about more than our own personal safety and security. As we begin to grasp the height and depth and length and width of God’s love, we see that this love is for the whole world (Jn 3:16, 2 Pet 3:19) and we, like the lepers, are called to share this good news with others.

Witness is simply testifying to what God has done, sharing our personal stories with a world that needs to hear the message of good news. God has given us the Holy Spirit to enable us to be effective witnesses (Acts 1:8) and we need to pass the good news on!