The Test of Faith

May 21, 2023

Tonight Garry spoke about the ‘test of faith.’ It’s often said that God will never give us more than we can handle, but the acid test is whether we intend to handle life on our own or not. In Numbers 13:1-14:9, we see the spies sent out by Moses to find out about the promised land. They had seen that God had done mighty things for them through the plagues and then God’s deliverance from Egypt. They had seen God’s miraculous provision of manna in the wilderness. But they still saw the opposition as more powerful than God and did not trust Him to deliver the land into their hands.
God’s response was fierce, effectively accusing the Israelites of spiritual adultery. He was faithful, but they were faithless; they refused to believe. Because of this, they were not allowed to go into the Promised Land. Their refusal to trust God led them to believe they were not able to tackle the giants of Canaan, but they were never supposed to do that by themselves.
We need to understand that God does give us more than we can handle on our own, but the whole point of a life of faith is that we are not expected or supposed to tackle it on our own. God told Moses to go in the strength he had and reminded him that He would be with him. When God speaks to us, we may well feel unequal to the task, but He has promised to be with us (see Is 43:1-3, Rom 8:31) God never gives us more than we can handle with Him. Life is meant to be an adventure with God; we are not meant to go it alone.

Standing Up To God

May 21, 2023

This morning we looked at how testing and trials are sometimes necessary to prove our faith and saw how the persistence and audacious faith of one foreign woman led to a great miracle, the deliverance of her demon-possessed daughter. This miracle (told to us in Matt 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30) often seems one of the most puzzlling passages in the New Testament, for instead of Jesus being compassionate and kind, He seems almost cruel to a woman in need, first of all not answering her at all, then declaring His ministry was only to the lost sheep of Israel and even saying, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
It would be easy to condemn Jesus as racist or misogynistic, but since we have seen Him talking with a Samaritan woman, healing a woman with a bleeding problem and healing the servant of a Roman centurion, these charges do not hold much weight. There would be no point saying God is racist since He is the maker of all peoples and the Bible is explicit in showing us He chose Abram so that he could be a blessing to all nations (Gen 12:3) as well as showing us that He will save people from every tribe and nation (Rev 5:10, Rev 7:9). We have to dig deeper to answer why Jesus seems so hostile to this woman.
It seems that Jesus sees the faith within and does all that He can to provoke that faith. The woman is bold in contradicting Him, giving reasons why He should still help her. (‘“Yes, it is, Lord,” she said.
“Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”’ (Matt 15:27) Far from being shocked or put off by her response, Jesus commends her faith and heals her daughter. It seems that testing and trials actually are necessary to prove our faith (see James 1:3-5). Times of testing are designed not to break us but to re-make us, as both Abraham and Job found. Jesus is thrilled when we respond to Him in faith; faith is the key that opens the door to the miraculous.

Community Art Workshops

May 19, 2023

Part of our church’s desire is to see our local community transformed into a place of beauty (since God promised to bestow on His people a crown of beauty instead of ashes, Is 61:3), and as such, we are involved in the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival’s community art project this year, which is to create 16 selfie board celebrating local places and groups which serve our community. On Thursday, Julie was involved with storyteller Rebecca Dye and artist Lydia Caprani in leaidng 4 workshops in Thurnscoe, looking to design the selfie boards for Thurnscoe Flower Park, Thurnscoe Library, Thurnscoe Plaza and Station House.

It was great to work with school children, volunteers, residents and staff on designs for the selfie boards and to hear about the centrality of these locations and the purpose of each group to serve the local community.

At Thurnscoe Flower Park

At Thurnscoe Library & meeting with Big Local Thurnscoe about Thurnscoe Plaza

At Station House

Further consultations and design workshops will be held at GPCC on Tuesday 23 May between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. when we will be looking at the selfie boards for Goldthorpe Town Square, Dearne Churches Together, Dearne Community Arts’ Festival and the Dearne Area Team.

 

 

 

Anticipating Ascension

May 15, 2023

This Thursday (18 May) sees one of the key dates in the Christian calendar: Ascension Day. Partly because of its movable date (coming forty days after Easter, itself a movable festival) and partly because it celebrates absence rather than presence, it does not seem to have the same popularity in our national consciousness as Christmas or Easter.

Ascension Day remembers when Jesus left this earth in bodily form and returned to heaven. It’s a miraculous event witnessed by His disciples which we read about in Luke 24:50-52 and Acts 1:9-11. It marks a definite turning point and whilst it reminds us of the power and majesty of the risen Jesus, it perhaps is a bittersweet reminder that He is no longer present with us in bodily form.

Absence is much harder to celebrate than presence. I recently attended a retirement celebration, and whilst it was wonderful to look back on years of faithful ministry and service, it was also sad to think of this couple no longer serving in their local church. They will be missed.

Jesus knew that His disciples would miss Him. He spoke about going away and leaving them long before this day, and recognised that what He told them brought them grief. (John 16:6) Nonetheless, He affirmed that this departure was actually for their good becaue this would lead to the arrival of ‘the Advocate’, the Holy Spirit. (John 16:7)

Jesus, even when resurrected, could not in bodily form be everywhere at once on earth. His return to heaven would signal the arrival of a global ministry. The arrival of God in the form of the Holy Spirit ten days later on the Day of Pentecost would usher in a new age: the birth and empowerment of the church and a new awareness of God’s presence and power with every believer.

So absence in one form does not necessarily mean abandonment. Change comes inevitably because of the loss we feel, but every celebration in the Christian calendar points to the perfection of God’s plans.

The Ascension also reminds us of a future date, yet to be marked on our calendars, when Jesus comes again in resurrection power. (Acts 1:11) This will be a defining moment in history and something which should mark how we live now and reflect the hope of all mankind. As we prepare to celebrate this Thursday, we understand that the bittersweet is an inevitable part of life and we who believe look ahead with anticipation and hope that Jesus will one day return to our earth in glory to judge the living and the dead.

The Danger of Assumptions

May 14, 2023

Dave spoke tonight on the danger of assumptions, taking as his starting point Luke 2:40-49, where Jesus is at the Temple and his parents have to go back to Jerusalem to find him. They made the assumption that he was travelling with them, but this turned out not to be the case, and Dave went on to speak of the assumption we can have that Jesus is with us when in fact we are not certain of His presence at all.
People assume that they are safe becaue ‘of course I’m a Christian’, but their reasons are often flimsy (believing that to be born in a ‘Christian country’ confers Christian status on us, when in fact no one can ‘accidentally’ become a Christian; this is a conscious choice we make to follow Jesus.) Others believe their upbringing guarantees God’s presence with them (but each child must make their own decision to accept Jesus) or that ‘I believe in God’. James 2:19 reminds us that even the demons do that, but it’s no guarantee of Christ with us. Attending church services is not of itself a guarantee, nor is leading a ‘good life.’
We need to know that we have been born again and that Jesus is always with us, not assume these things. John 14:23 reminds us that Jesus is looking for love and obedience from his followers, but then he promises the presence of God the Father and the Son with those who do these things. We do not become a Chrhistian because of our upbringing, family circumstances or church membership. We become a Christian through receiving Christ as our personal Saviour. When we do this, we have the assurance of Christ’s presence with us and can be reunited with Jesus as his parents ultimately were.

A Place Prepared

May 14, 2023

Garry spoke this morning on a ‘Place Prepared’, from Genesis 46:1-7. Jacob and his family returned to Egypt to be with Joseph. God promised to make Jacob a great nation there (Gen 46:3), but this was a promise not really fulfilled in his lifetime. Instead, it was not until 215 years later that we see just how numerous the nation of Israel had become in Egypt (see Ex 1:8-10).
Heb 11:13-16 reminds us that the Old Testament heroes, including Jacob, were still living by faith when they died. They did not see the life we now live; our spiritual vision needs to be enlarged always. Heb 12:1-3 reminds us that to run the race of faith, we need perseverance, endurance, a resolute continuance. We need to trust in the promises of God (2 Cor 1:20).
Jacob sent Judah ahead of them: praise and thanksgiving as the forerunner, as his name reminds us. God wants us to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise (Ps 100:4). In many ways, Jacob’s gesture was one of faith. Jesus Himself was descended from Judah (Rev 5:5); the promises given to Jacob may have taken a long time to fulfil, but God was faithful to His promises.
God has promised great things to us as well. We need the eyes of our hearts to be enlightened (Eph 1:17-18); we need to see God better and understand that He will deliver in abundance.