We had a lovely evening painting and colouring at the ‘Churches Together’ ‘Mindful Moments’ evening in April.The next session is on Monday 15 May between 6 and 8 p.m. at GPCC.

We continued to make covers for the wooden story books which will be used at the Phoenix Park Fun Day on 31st May, and thank Sharon Seaborne, Karen Dunn, Julie Unwin, Claire Croot, Julie Beaver, Kathy Tasker, Stan Bryan and Julie Turner for their help in creating these.

We also painted ceramic coasters and did Easter colouring.

Here’s an overview of special meetings in May.

Saturday 6 May @ 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Apart from our usual monthly prayer walk, we will be holding a Coronation Coffee Morning between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m.

Sunday 7 May @ 4 p.m.

Instead of our usual evening service, we will be holding a Coronation Afternoon Tea and Celebration Service, starting at 4 p.m. It’s free to attend, but please book in by contacting Julie Turner on 07729 421405 or by emailing julie@gpcchurch.co.uk We’ll be having a yummy afternoon tea and then holding a messy church service suitable for children with crafts based on the Coronation and the theme of Jesus as King of Kings.

Monday 15 May between 6 and 8 p.m.

Our ‘Mindful Moments’ evening of creativity for adults will be on 15 May between 6 and 8 p.m. Come and make cards, colour, learn about creative writing and much more.

Wednesday 17 May @ 1.45 p.m.

The monthly ‘Churches Together’ prayer meeting will be at Furlong Road Methodist Church in Bolton-on-Dearne

Tuesday 23 May between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. @ GPCC

Join us for a community consultation and design day as part of the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival community art project to make selfie boards to celebrate our local community. Bring your photos of Goldthorpe throughout the ages and help us design a selfie board for the new Town Square, for Dearne Churches Together and for the arts’ festival itself. Storyteller Rebecca Dye will be present to record our reminiscences and to find out what local groups mean to us and we will also be packing story bags to raise funds for the arts’ festival at the Phoenix Park Fun Day later in May.

Wednesday 31 May between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. @ Phoenix Park, Thurnscoe

Come along to this family fun day at Phoenix Park, where a range of organisations will be doing different activities for families including sports, cycling, crafts, trails and looking at different stories and storytelling. A great free fun day for all the family, with portable toilets and refreshments available. Or you can bring your own picnic. Children are encouraged to come dressed as book characters and to bring a Teddy Bear!

If you can help at any of these events, please contact Julie on 07729 421405 or email julie@gpcchurch.co.uk

In 1959 Dinah Washington had a hit with the song ‘What A Difference A Day Makes’, reminding us that a lot can happen in twenty-four little hours. We looked at two miracles Jesus did in one twenty-four hour period tonight (see Luke 8:40-56 & Mark 5:21-43).and saw how He was able to meet all the needs, even though these were desperate – a woman who had been suffering for twelve years and a girl who actually died during the course of the day but who was raised to life by the power of Jesus.

Both Jairus (the girl’s father and a synagogue ruler) and the unnamed woman were in desperate situations, but they still had faith that Jesus could heal and make a difference. They put aside their pride to reach out to Jesus and this is an example to us. It’s easy when things don’t go our way and God seems indifferent to us to give up hope, but these two people show us that Jesus will never turn anyone away who comes in humble, desperate need. Asking for help goes against the grain in Western society, but it’s only when we come to God honestly, confessing our sin where applicable and throwing ourselves on His mercy that we find the help we need.

Both people ultimately received help from Jesus, but the delay Jairus faced when Jesus healed the woman and commended her faith meant his situation initially got worse, not better, for his daughter died. At that point, it would have been natural for confusion and even anger to have arisen; everyone assumed that there was nothing Jesus could do now. But Jesus urged him not to be afraid and to keep on believing, and ultimately went to his house and raised the girl from the dead. Delay is hard for us to understand, but often we have to wait for the Lord’s timing before He steps into our situations with miraculous solutions. ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe’ is good advice to us in those waiting times when God doesn’t seem to be doing anything.

Isaiah tells us, ‘in perfect faithfulness You have done wonderful things’ (Is 25:1), and this is what we see Jesus doing in the gospels. Nothing is too difficult for Him – not long-term illness, not even death. Even when things are not going according to our plans, even when things apparently go from bad to worse, He is still able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. (Eph 3:20) Our part is to ask for help, to believe He is able and willing to help us and to keep on believing, even when the evidence of our eyes says there is no longer any reason to hope. God is the One who does the miracles. We are simply the blessed recipients of His grace and favour; our response is simply to praise Him and come to Him with thanksgiving in our hearts.

Dave spoke this morning from Luke 24:13-35, the story of two disciples disillusioned, depressed and downcast. They had entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday with high hopes of Jesus being crowned king, but life had not worked out how they had expected: Jesus had been arrested, tried and executed in the space of a few days. Their hopes had been dashed and they were not at all sure what to make of the women’s bizarre stories that they had seen the risen Lord. Having our dreams dashed and facing disappointment is one of the many things we have in common with these two disciples, who were joined on their long walk to Emmaus by Jesus HImself. He explained what Jesus had taught about being raised from the dead and answered their disasppointment by reminding them of what God had said.

We need, as Paul reminded Timothy, to continue in what we have learned and to remember that we serve a risen Saviour, no matter what our personal circumstances look like. As these two reflected on what Jesus said, God’s word burned in their hearts and they realilsed who their companion was, that they had a friend in need, a friend in God. They discovered new hope and realised the bigger picture as they listened and learned from Jesus. The same will happen to us if we walk with Him through our darkest days.

Someone once said that the problem with the Bible isn’t really about understanding it all; it’s about doing what we know it says. It’s true that there is much in the Bible we don’t really understand or can’t fathom properly. Our studies in Revelation leave us with more questions than answers, it often seems. But I know that I myself have more problems with doing the things I do understand than with understanding everything.

I may not have clear answers on the identity of the beasts, the mark of the beast or what 666 really stands for (questions which can be found in Revelation 13), but I know what the Bible teaches about love and forgiveness, and I find it hard to love my enemy and forgive those who wrong me. There is much in Revelation 13 that leaves me baffled, but the call to patient endurance, faithfulness, wisdom and spiritual insight which are found there is something I can readily identify with. So perhaps I need to leave the things I don’t understand at the feet of Jesus (I’m sure He will enlighten me to the measure I need to live for Him) and work on the things I do understand.

Rev 13:16-18 describes a terrible time to come when the beast will force all people (great and small, rich and poor, free or slave) to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark associated with the name or number of the beast (666).

Much ink has been spilled debating what this mark will look like or what the number 666 represents. Some have considered the number to represent one of the Roman Emperors like Nero or Caligula or Titus. Thus, antichrist would be Nero brought back to life. Others have claimed the Antichrist as some current historical figure of their day like Hitler, Mussolini or even Napoleon. Some have thought it stood for the word “Latin” telling us he would be a Roman. All of these simply show the endless speculations which have occupied the minds of students but have not really answered this impossible question.

It is probably wisest to understand the number in symbolic terms, seven being the number of perfection and six, therefore, being a number associated with imperfection. Though the beast claims to be God, he is not. He is only a man, an evil and demonically controlled man, or a state system representing evil (Rev 13:4, 2 Thess 2:4). The three sixes may allude to a Satanic trinity (Satan or the dragon, seeking to replace the Father, the beast seeking to replace the Lord Jesus Christ, and the false prophet, seeking to replace the Holy Spirit). What is clear is that all that comes from Satan can never reach perfection (symbolised by the number seven.) Man promises peace but brings war; life, but brings death; liberty, but brings slavery. There is nothing the world offers which can match the goodness and grace of God, and we need much wisdom to avoid deception in all ages.