From our first tottering steps as a toddler, walking is an integral part of most people’s lives. Even those who don’t like running and would never enter a gym or a marathon will walk most days, and walking is a great form of exercise, as well as a practical necessity for most of us!

Walking is another metaphor used to describe our journey of faith. Paul tells us to walk (or live) by the Spirit (Gal 5:16). Isaiah says ‘walking in the way of Your laws, we wait for You; Your name and renown are the desires of our heart’ (Is 26:8) and reminds us ‘whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will ear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”‘ (Is 30:21) The writer to the Hebrews urges us to strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees (more evident as we age!), saying ‘make level paths for your feet.’ (Heb 12:12-13) There are frequent references to keeping in step with God’s Spirit and on the right path (e.g. Prov 4:25-26), and it’s clear we need not only to walk by faith and not by sight, but must ensure we are on the right path (following Jesus who is the Way, Jn 14:6).

Walking with someone is very different to walking alone. Our local walking group will be leaving Cherry Tree Court on Friday morning at 10 a.m. and this kind of group provides a chance for conversation as well as exercise and the discovery of the local area.

Jesus often walked with His disciples (think of that conversation on the road to Emmaus, for example!) and it’s worth remembering on this journey of life that we do not walk alone. It’s not just football fans who can sing ‘You’ll never walk alone!’ This is the testimony of every believer:

‘Never once did we ever walk alone.
Never once did You leave us on our own.
You are faithful, God, You are faithful.’ (‘Never Once’, Matt Redman)

For each of us, the idea of running evokes different emotions. Those of us who never shone at P.E. at school probably have grim memories of cross-country running in sleet and cold, faces stinging, legs aching, hearts pounding. Others love the sensation of speed and talk of the exhilaration of running, competing in marathons and putting themselves through all kinds of physical pain in order to experience the endorphin-rush of running.

Our views on running may also be influenced by whether we are running away from something in adrenaline-fuelled terror or running towards something in eager anticipation. Or we may view running differently depending on whether we’re prepared for it (a scheduled session in comfortable clothing and suitable footwear) or caught unawares (running for a bus in a pencil skirt and high heels, for example!)

Others may view running with wistfulness as age and infirmity make even walking difficult or with envy as disability prevents that for ever. It’s clears our views on running can be very different.

The Bible uses the idea of running metaphorically to describe our journey of faith. Heb 12:1 urges us to ‘run with perseverance the race marked out for us.’ Paul talks of not running aimlessly (see 1 Cor 9:24-27) and near the end of his life says, ‘I have finished the race.’ (2 Tim 4:7) Even if we struggle to run physically, we are all involved in this kind of running.

Rend Collective’s song ‘Joy’ contains the intriguing lyric ‘Though I’m broken, I am running into Your arms of love.’ We can’t imagine brokenness and running together, but this is the wonder of God. Our race is not running away from God, but running towards a God whose arms are open to receive us: ‘blameless now, I’m running home.’ (‘Boldly I Approach’, Rend Collective) We run to the secret place where God abides and find a welcome that makes every step worth the effort!

The Dearne Community Choir starts rehearsing this Thursday (6th October) at 7 p.m. at the Salvation Army:

The Dearne Cinema at the Dearne ALC school is also showing films this weekend:

I’m sure most of you are familiar with the poem by Clement Clarke known as ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas. There is always a special magic about Christmas Eve (especially for me, as it’s also my father’s birthday!) Well, we are not quite there yet, but rather frighteningly, it is now 66 days to the Goldthorpe Christmas Market, which will be on Friday 9th December from 4-8 p.m.

We, along with the other local churches, are hugely excited about this event. All the market stalls have been booked (one by Turner New Leaf, selling homemade chutneys and apple sauce, and well worth a visit!) and inside the GPCC building, we’ll be serving refreshments, selling Christmas decorations and crafts, sampling home baking and offering a Christmas present wrapping service (just bring your presents and we’ll wrap them for 50p per present!) All proceeds raised by ‘Churches Together’ will go towards the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal, helping local families. Last year we raised almost £500, which is an amazing amount, all thanks to people’s generosity and kindness.

A huge amount of behind-the-scenes work has to go on before then, however, to make this event happen! We are aiming to give out goody bags to every family who come into the building (based on last year’s numbers, that’s about 300 goody bags!) These will contain a glow stick (to provide light during the community carol service at 6 p.m. in the church car park), sweets and Christmas literature, along with news about carol services and church events throughout the Christmas period. As you can imagine, getting those bags ready will take some time – so if you have an hour or two to spare on Wednesday 23rd November (9-11 a.m.), please do come along and help with that!

We also need an army of willing volunteers on the day to help with the event. If you would like to make decorations/ craft things to sell, please let us know. Home baking is always popular and we also will need lots of people ready to serve refreshments (deluxe hot chocolates were especially popular last year!) Please see your church leader if you’d like to be involved in this in any way or contact me by email (contact@gpcchurch.co.uk).

Inside the building, we hope to have:

• refreshments
• home baking
• craft items
• craft activities
• activities & competitions for children
• Christmas present wrapping service

But to make all that happen, we need YOU!

Last week, Dave challenged us to pray for revival. Let’s make that the focus of our prayers throughout October (and beyond!) Revival means a renewal of life, a return to halth and strength. Only God can revive us and bring repentance and salvation, but every revival throughout history has begun in the prayer room. We need to take seriously God’s call to pray for revival, both individually and corporately.

Pray for:

• God to revive His church in Goldthorpe and the surrounding area, bringing new life, zeal, authority and power to His people
• God’s people to hunger and thirst for God, seeking Him in prayer both individually and corporately
• a spirit of repentance and obedience to be evident in our lives
• revival to touch those who do not yet believe, that we may see many people brought into the kingdom of God.

Charles Finney once said, ‘Revival is a renewed conviction of sin and repentance, followed by an intense desire to live in obedience to God. It is giving up one’s will to God in deep humility.’  Nothing other than the presence and power of God can satisfy us. We need God to move in reviving power, changing us from the inside out.

Mark challenged us to make paper doves tonight!

This resulted in some very different doves!

Jeannette reminded us at the end of the service that the Holy Spirit is also gentle and does not come into our lives unless invited. We are privileged people, invited to know the fulness of the Godhead (Father, Son and Spirit), invited to have access to God Himself. All we have to do is accept His invitation and receive His Spirit by faith.