Passing On Our Faith
Tonight we had a special service where we dedicated baby Freddie to the Lord and prayed for him and his family to know God’s blessings and guidance. Ps 78:4 reminds us of the need to tell future generations the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord and it is our responsibility to teach our children about God’s miraculous works.
Children learn by watching and doing. They start off as wholly dependent babies, needing parents to feed, clothe, bathe and look after them in every way. Gradually – and messily – they learn to do things themselves – feeding, clothing, crawling, walking and so on. They make many mistakes, but we teach them to persevere and they learn. We looked at teaching our children to cook, and how they need help choosing ingredients, mixing, cutting, and preparing food but then how they learn to cook their own food as a result.
We teach children about God through our own example: through prayer and reading God’s word, through our words and lifestyle and through our involvement in a local church. We tell God’s stories to them and so they can learn to trust God for themselves. Baptism is for those who have made the conscious decision to follow Jesus, and our prayer is that our children will want to do this as they grow older.
A real recipe for life is not about material success, sporting success or financial success. The ingredients for a successful life lie in virtues such as love, kindness, forgiveness, patience, compassion, integrity, faithfulness and gentleness. When we mix these values well, we can live as God wants us to.
Let Your Kingdom Come
Garry continued looking at the prayers of Paul this morning, focussing on Colossians 1:9-13 again. Jesus spoke much about the kingdom of heaven (see Matt 4:17, Mark 12:32-34), and the kingdom really is simply where God rules. When we pray, ‘Your kingdom come’ (as in the Lord’s prayer) we are asking God to establish His rule (something which will ultimately be universal, as Phil 2:9-11 makes clear). God’s rule is not that of a despot or villain; He is our loving, heavenly Father who wants the best for us.
God is pleased to give us the kingdom (Luke 12:32), and as children of the kingdom, we are promised an inheritance (Rom 8:16-17, Gal 4:7). If we endure, we will reign with Christ (2 Tim 2:12). Being an heir means we anticipate a promise that is not yet fulfilled. An inheritance is dependent on someone’s death (and is therefore bitter sweet), but the good news here is that Christ has already died for us and His death means we are now brought into His kingdom (Col 1:13).
We can have a foretaste of our inheritance now as we experience God’s love, mercy, liberation and deliverance. We no longer have to live in the kingdom of darkness, we can surrender to Christ and know so many blessings right now, even as we wait for the fulfilment of all He has promised us!
The Leaking Rock
Tonight at our Little Big Church service we looked at Exodus 17:1-7, the story of a leaking rock. We have been learning about Moses (and how God protected him as a baby when Pharaoh wanted to kill all Hebrew baby boys) and how God used him to lead the people of God out of Egypt, parting the Red Sea in a wonderful display of God’s miraculous power.
The Israelites did not find it easy to trust God in the wilderness, however, feeling that they would die of thirst. We tasted some unfamiliar drinks to find out if we liked them (strawberry and lemon were quite popular, coconut water much less so!) and found out that God provided water for the Israelites to drink through a most unusual source: by Moses hitting a rock with his staff!
God provides for us in frankly unimaginable ways. He provided manna from heaven and quail for the people to eat and gave Israel the water they needed to survive for forty years in the wilderness. We can’t always ‘work out’ how God will protect, guide and rescue us, but He has promised ot do so. With God, all things are possible, and so we must learn to trust rather than testing God, arguing, quarrelling and doubting Him. Jesus is the living water (John 7:38) and when we drink from Him, we can be satisfied spiritually. We need to be filled with His Spirit (Eph 5:18) so that we can endure the desert times and thrive with Him.
Giving Thanks
Garry spoke this morning from Colossians 1:9-12 about joyfully giving thanks. Thanksgiving is a vital part of the Christian life. When David had the ark brought back to Jerusalem, he appointed Asaph to lead worship and gave instructions as to how this should be done (see 1 Chron 16:8-36). One aspect of this is conveyed in the Hebrew word ‘yadah’, which is often associated with lifting hands in worship. There is so much more to thanksgiving than simply verbal thanks.
Paul gives thanks to God in many ways: in public prayers, in blessing food, in expressing gratitude. We give thanks because God’s love endures forever (see Ps 136) and because He meets our daily needs. We thank God because He works on our behalf (Ps 9:1) and delivers us (Rom 7:25). We thank God for His grace and favour, for His presence, for His mercies.
Giving thanks must be done in all circumstances (1 Thess 5:18) and for everything (Eph 5:20). Not everything which happens in life is good, nor are we thanking God for evil. But we can give thanks no matter what because we know God works for our good in all situations (Rom 8:28) and even when our lives seem shattered, He can build something beautiful from our broken pieces. Suffering can produce growth (James 1:2-4) and we can give thanks always because we know who God is and what He has done.
Understanding God’s purposes may well take time, but joy comes as we see who God is and appreciate the way He works for good in everything.
Anniversary Celebrations
Today has made it crystal clear to me (pun intended after all that crystal art, ably managed by the superb Kathy Multi Tasker for whose skills I simply could never muster enough praise) that even when you hold an anniversary celebration to thank God for giving us the building we currently use, church is really all about people.
We’re so grateful to have this building as a base; we’re so grateful for all the organisations who support us. But it’s always the people who make life worth living and church worth doing! (After God, of course!! I really can’t thank HIM enough!!)
Thank you to the people who came today. Thank you to Lynn Utting from Coalfields Regeneration Trust who works tirelessly in our community, offering real, practical help to community organisations like ours.
Thank you to Grimethorpe Pastor Joy who has supported Garry and me over very many years and who turns up smiling at so many community events. Her persistence, love, faithfulness and encouragement are precious beyond words.
Thank you to former church members who came along. We appreciate your support.
Thank you to current church members who worked so hard (baking, preparing, serving drinks, washing up, tidying away, mopping floors, taking photos… the list is endless!) We really couldn’t do this without you and never want to. Your partnership matters so much to us.
Thank you to the children who came. Seeing their fascination with the photos was really amazing.
Thank you to local residents who attend groups we run who turned up (armed with buns – thank you, Beverley Wassell), smiles, and the willoingness to give up precious Saturday time to be with us. Your support means more to us than we can ever say and we want you to know how important you are to us!
Thank you to all who couldn’t come but who sent messages of encouragement and support. That matters a lot.
Thank you to Sam Batley for allowing us to screen ‘The Town I Love So Well’. We had 26 people watch this stunning documentary about Barnsley creativity, culture and community and it was so wonderful to see Goldthorpe locations feature in the film!
We showed over 1100 photos of the past 15 years, and whilst food featured in a fair number of them (we like to eat!), people featured in even more. That’s because people matter. They matter to us and they matter to God. Words like ‘family’, ‘love’, ‘community’. ‘friendship’, ‘acceptance’ were used today to describe the past fifteen years. Our thanks to you all for reminding us what church looks like. People working together. People who love God loving their community. We belong here; we belong together, and we’re very, very grateful.
Anniversary Coffee Morning
Do join us today for our anniversary coffee morning between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., celebrating 15 years since we moved into the Market Street building. There will be light refreshments, crafts, and LOTS of photos to peruse!
After the coffee morning we will be showing the film ‘The Town I Love So Well by Goldthorpe man Sam Batley. This hour long documentary has been commissioned by BMBC to celebrate Barnsley’s creativity, culture and community and many local places and people feature, including GPCC, Dearne Community Arts’ Festival, Thurnscoe Harmonic Male Voice Choir and Grimethorpe Colliery Band. Sam has described this film as a ‘love letter to Barnsley’ and we are so pleased to be able to celebrate our community by showing the film.