We have been working closely together with other churches in our area, and here are some more dates for the diary for ‘Churches Together’ events.

‘Churches Together’ Prayer Meetings

‘Churches Together’ prayer meetings will be held on Wednesday 20th September at 10:30 a.m. (at the Salvation Army), on Tuesday 17th October at 7:15 p.m. (at GPCC) and on Wednesday 15th November at 10:30 a.m. (at Houghton Road Centre, Thurnscoe.) We would encourage all who can from our churches to attend these meetings. Prayer is so crucial to everything we do and it’s so good to pray with other Christians. We are hoping to have a special prayer day in December; arrangements are still being made for this.

Crazy Golf Fun!

Following the success of the crazy golf family fun days in August, we are hosting more sessions of crazy golf throughout the autumn. The first session is on Saturday 30th September at Houghton Road Centre, Thurnscoe from 11 a.m. until 12 noon, and other sessions will be on the last Saturday in the month at the same time: on Saturday 28th October and Saturday 25th November.

In addition to this, a family fun day will be held at Houghton Road Centre on Wednesday 1st November from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. (during the half-term holidays). Lunch will be provided on this occasion.

Community Events

‘Churches Together’ will be having a stall at the Winter Wonderland event in Thurnscoe flower park on Saturday 18th November (times to be confirmed). We hope to give out Christmas goody bags at this event and be available to talk with local residents. If you can help with this event or just want to visit, please make a note of the date in your diary! Prior to the event on Wednesday 8th November from 10.30 a.m., we will be preparing the goody bags, so please come along to help with that if you can.

The Goldthorpe Christmas Market is on Friday 24th November from 4-8 p.m. As we have done in the past, we will be open for refreshments during this time and will also be hosting a range of activities from Christmas presents being wrapped (get organised, buy your presents and we will wrap them for you  – 50p per present) to craft items to games and activites, with proceeds going to the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal. This is usually a great event and although it is earlier than usual this year, we hope you will all get preparing and helping for this event!

Please pray for all these events which we see as opportunities to connect with our local community and serve people in practical (and fun!) ways.

Pray also for:

• the Macmillan Coffee Morning (at GPCC on Saturday 30th September from 10 a.m. until 12 noon)
• the local ‘Prom Project’, hosted by the Salvation Army and Dearne Area Team, which aims to help Barnsley Y11 pupils to go to the ball through the donation of prom dresses and formal menswear
• the Christmas Appeal at the Salvation Army (helpers are needed to pack food parcels on Tuesday 19th December from 10 a.m. till 3 p.m.) Prior to this, we will need donations of tinned food, Christmas chocolates and biscuits, mince pies, Christmas cakes and puddings and other Christmas-themed food (e.g. turkey gravy, cranberry sauce etc.)

We also had a birthday to celebrate!

Mark’s activity had two parts. We had to make words out of the names Elijah and Elisha (the men’s team won with 56 words) and also had to make a model representing key events in these men’s lives.

One team focussed on the jug of oil which never ran out:

The children made their own models.

The men’s model was the winner:

A great activity which helped to reinforce what we had learned about Elijah and Elisha!

Gillian gave the epilogue at tonight’s family service, looking at how Elisha was motivated by a passion for his master which led him to pursue him and long for a double portion of his spirit to help him. He refused to leave Elijah, even when urged to do so, having a burning desire to do the things he saw Elijah doing. Because of his passion and persistence, he was present when Elijah was taken into heaven and his cloak fell on him, allowing him to do miracles which confirmed God’s presence and power in him so that others saw and took notice.

Jesus came with a burning desire to do the Father’s will, and promised that those who long for Him will do even greater things than He did (Jn 14:12). While Elisha had to pursue Elijah to receive his blessing, Jesus came to seek and save, taking the initiative in reaching out to us. He has not left us on our own, but has poured out His Holy Spirit on us. Just as those who saw Elisha recognised Elijah’s spirit on him, we need to be so full of the Holy Spirit that others recognise we are like Jesus. Our desire and passion for God tend to decrease with age, as familiarity and independence creep in, but we need to hunger and thirst for a closer walk with God if we are to see the miracles He wants to do through us.

Tonight’s family service looked at the Old Testament prophets, Elijah and Elisha, who were indeed men of miracles. Stephen spoke about how Elijah saw many different kinds of miracles – miracles of provision (1 Kings 17:16), when the jar of oil did not run out, thus keeping Elijah alive during a time of famine; miracles of life (when God listened to Elijah’s cry and raised a dead boy back to life, 1 Ki 17:22); miracles reminiscent of Moses when the water parted as he struck it with his cloak (2 Ki 2:8) and the ultimate miracle of not having to taste death (2 Ki 2:11).

Elisha, present when God took Elijah, received a double portion of God’s power, performing twice as many miracles as Elijah. These included parting the water as Elijah had (2 Ki 2:14), thus demonstrating he had inherited Elijah’s mantle (the literal origin of this metaphor!); miracles of provision (2 Kings 4); miracles of healing (2 Ki 5:10); miracles of bringing the dead to life (2 Ki 4).

What is important for us to realise, however, is that miracle are not just impressive stories from the Bible. They happen too in our day, because God does not change. James reminds us that Elijah was a man just like us; he listened to God and obeyed Him – this was the key to his success and is the key to seeing miracles happen nowadays. Jesus performed many miracles of provision, healing and resurrection and we too can see miracles happen today if we put our trust in Him.

Dave spoke this morning from John 21:1-14. Here, Jesus appears to His disciples for the third time after His resurrection, helping them in the ordinary things of life as He directs them to a great catch of fish (153) after a night of fishing in vain. The disciples at this time were in a period of waiting, and were probably still confused and uncertain as to what they should be doing. They did not recognise Jesus at first – something that is common to many post-resurrection encounters (think of Mary Magdalene and the disciples on the road to Emmaus). We have to ask why the disciples were so slow in recognising Jesus – and why we too are often so slow in recognising Him.

Part of the reason lies in our tendency to expect to meet with God in certain sacred places (perhaps in a church building or in magnificent natural surroundings.) Whilst it is good to meet with God in these places, we need to be expectant that we can meet with Him anywhere. When on earth, Jesus turned up at a wedding, on a fishing boat, in the market place, at a well and in many other places, not just in the synagogue. He appeared to people in ordinary, everyday surroundings – and even after His resurrection, we find Him in a cemetery garden, in a locked room and now cooking breakfast on the beach. The truth is that the ordinary becomes sacred when we find God there and that God is to be found everywhere.

Christ is with us everywhere – when we serve the needy, hungry and poor, He is there; when we are involved in ‘mundane’ community outreaches, He is there; He is in everyone we see. We need to learn to recognise Jesus in the ordinary, but He is with us all the time.