There are lots of voluntary groups in the Dearne area doing good things. If you can spare any time on Thursday 4th February between 10 a.m. and 12 noon, you could join the Dearne Area Clean and Tidy team in their clean-up of the footpaths from Nicholas Lane to Goldthorpe (part of the ‘Love Where You Live’ campaign):

Don’t forget the ‘Churches Together’ meeting on Saturday 20th February at 6 p.m. at the Salvation Army. This is an opportunity to meet with Christians from other local churches to pray, share testimonies, worship and learn from God’s word. It’s good to see that God is working in all our local churches and great to have the opportunity to learn from others.

On Friday 4th March at 2 p.m. the Women’s World Day of Prayer will take place at the Roman Catholic church in Goldthorpe (situated at the bottom of Lockwood Road, just beyond the parish church.) This year, the service of prayer has been written by women from Cuba on the theme ‘Receive Children, Receive Me’. Women’s World Day of Prayer is an inter-denominational organisation supporting the work of prayer for God’s world, and donations received at this service are given to many different charities around the world, including Bible Society, Torch Trust for the Blind (which provides resources in Braille and audio recordings for the blind), The Leprosy Mission, Open Doors and Toybox, a charity which works with children who have largely been abandoned and often abused at the hands of adults they trusted.  They plan to use their money to carry out kitchen improvements at two of their partner children’s homes in Guatemala.

In 1 Cor 10:1-13, Paul reports on the facts of what God did during the wilderness wanderings, citing His miraculous deliverance, His miraculous provision and His miraculous presence. Nonetheless (a strong word!), this did not result in ongoing faithfulness on the part of the Israelites.

The faithfulness of God is one of the common threads throughout all Scripture. At the end of this section, Paul reminds us that no temptation can ever come against us that is insurmountable; God always provides a way out for His people (1 Cor 10:13). Temptation will always be present in this life (as Warren Wiersbe says, ‘We never come to the place in our Christian walk where we are free from temptation and potential failure.’ ‘Be Wise’, P 102) However, temptation or testing can be used by God to strengthen our dependence on Him and to develop perseverance and character (see James 1:3-5, 13-15). There is no temptation which is unique; all of us have to go through these trials, but God controls the context of our temptation and ‘personally and providentially provides a specific way of escape.’ (Keith Krell)

Despite the trials and temptations we face, we have the confirmation that God is faithful to uphold us and sustain us at all times. Let’s meditate on His faithfulness and hold fast to these promises:

• Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. (Deut 7:9)
• He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. (Deut 32:4)
• All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant. (Ps 25:4)

• For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. (Ps 33:4)
• Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. (Ps 36:5)

• For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. (Ps 57:10)
• Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. (Ps 86:11)
• But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithful (Ps 86:15/ Ps 108:4)
• Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures. (Ps 119:90)
• Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does. (Ps 145:13)

• Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. (Is 11:5)

• Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago. (Is 25:1)
• God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Cor 1:9)
• But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” (2 Cor 1:18)
• The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. (1 Thess 5:24)
• But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. (2 Thess 3:3)
• But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. (Heb 3:3)
• Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. (Heb 10:23)
• These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. (Rev 3:14)

‘Now unto the king who reigns over all, and never changes or turns
Unfailing justice, unfading grace,
Whose promises remain,
Yes, Your promises remain.

The heavens ring, the saints all sing,
Great is your faithfulness
From age to age we will proclaim
Great is your faithfulness,
How great is your faithfulness.

Everything changes, but You stay the same;
Your word and kingdom endure
We lean on the promise of all that you are, and trust forevermore.
We will trust forevermore

From generation to generation
You never fail us, oh God.
Yesterday and today and tomorrow
Until the day You return.

How great is your faithfulness.’ (‘How Great Is Your Faithfulness’, Matt Redman)

The Bible has a lot to say about grumbling, complaining or ‘murmuring’. In 1 Cor 10:1-13, Paul looks at some examples from the Old Testament, most of which revolved around the Israelites complaining about Moses’ leadership, believing he had only led them out of Egypt to allow them to die in the desert (see Num 21:5, Num 16:1-4, Ps 78:17-64). The New Testament is equally explicit in warning of the dangers of this sin and urging us to be careful what we say (see Phil 2:14, Eph 4:29, 1 Pet 4:9, 1 Cor 10:10).

To understand the dangers of grumbling (which often seems to us relatively innocuous), we have to understand the heart behind it. So often, what lies behind grumbling is ingratitude, discontent and a failure to trust. It is because of these bitter roots that we must beware of grumbling, for the mouth simply speaks what is in the heart, and ingratitude, discontent and a lack of trust are roots which destroy faith.

How, then, do we avoid grumbling? We must tackle the roots ruthlessly:

Cultivate contentment

Instead of focussing on all that is wrong with our lives and the things we lack, we need to focus on the many blessings God pours out on us daily (Eph 1:3) and allow godliness with contentment to be our greatest gain (1 Tim 6:6). If we’re struggling to do this, we need to meditate on both the warning and promise of Heb 13:5: ‘Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”’

Be thankful

As with so many aspects of the Christian life, we’re urged to do something long before we feel like doing it! 1 Thess 5:18 urges us to give thanks in all circumstances; Phil 4:4 urges us to ‘rejoice always.’ Thankfulness and gratitude soon dispel discontent and ingratitude. Gratitude is from the same root word as ‘grace’. People who’ve received grace know they don’t deserve God’s favour or blessings; they don’t, therefore, need to grumble because they know they have been blessed beyond belief!

Be unselfish

The Israelites are a prime example of selfishness and shortsightedness. Phil 2:3-4 urges us to consider other people before ourselves and to live lives of unselfishness that are modelled on Christ.

Speak positive words or shut up!

If we can’t find anything good to say, don’t say anything. Negative words are poison that go deep into our souls; they also taint other people. James 3:1-12 warns of the dangers of an untamed tongue; 1 Pet 2:1 says ‘rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.’ Bear in mind that we don’t know everything about other people’s situations and hearts and hold off the judgment that seems to come to us so easily. Look for the plank in your own eye before reaching for the speck in someone else’s. (Matt 7:4-5)

Allow faith to grow in your heart

The Israelites constantly doubted God’s goodness and purposes. They lived by sight, rather than by faith. Despite the miracles they saw, they still found it easier to live in the flesh than they did to walk by faith. We need to meditate on all we know of God’s character so that when the heartache hits like a hurricane, we can still trust in who God is (‘Even If’, Kutless), rather than believing Him to be a killjoy who aims to hurt us. The Israelites’ constant tendency to doubt and put God to the test reflected their lack of trust in His goodness and love; we need to feed on the word of God so that faith grows in our heart.

In our eyes, we tend to ‘grade’ sin. Some sins (murder, adultery, incest) we classify as ‘deadly’ sins, whereas others (gossip, losing your temper occasionally, having a moan, telling a white lie to get us out of trouble) barely register on our ‘sin scale.’

In the film ‘Nativity’, a careworn teacher (Paul Maddens) tells a ‘little white lie’ to his arch-rival Gordon Shakespeare about their former friend, now working in Hollywood, coming to film the school nativity play Maddens is directing. That lie, overheard by the sackless teaching assistant Mr Poppy, becomes a noose around Maddens’ neck, for Mr Poppy (in all innocence) tells everyone Hollywood is coming and the whole school (and, later, community) is alive with hope, excitement and anticipation. How can Mr Maddens ruin everyone’s dreams by telling the truth?

St Bernadette’s is a Catholic school and one scene features Mr Maddens asking the parish priest about the difference between ‘white lies’ and other kinds of lies in an attempt to salve his conscience. The priest gazes at him blankly as he attempts to justify white lies on the grounds of tact: it would be rude to tell your hostess that the meal she has prepared for you is horrible, he argues, so that kind of lie isn’t really a lie. Surely it’s better, the priest replies, to tell her the truth and maybe help her to become a better cook as a result!

Though the film’s scenario is preposterous at times and undeniably saccharine, the idea that deception is a tangled web which easily enslaves us is a very deep truth. Paul’s choice of examples and warnings from the Old Testament in 1 Cor 10:1-13 may seem to us initially as bemusing as Mr Maddens’ ‘little white lie.’ We readily identify with the Israelites’ complaints in the wilderness: tired, hungry, frustrated by the endless journeying, they are fractious and ungrateful. Surely that can’t be sin on the same scale as murder?

Yet when we read the Old Testament passages afresh, we see how God classed those sins as idolatry and putting God to the test, and the punishments He sent were terrifying. Snakes killing people, earthquakes swallowing up those who rebelled against Moses’ leadership, death by the sword… there is no doubt that God will not tolerate sin in any shape or form.

One of the key lessons from this passage is that good beginnings do not guarantee good endings; spiritual privileges bring with them responsibilities. We have no room for complacency in this spiritual life we lead. God is holy; ‘our God is a consuming fire.’ (Heb 12:29) We have to learn to see sin through His eyes and then must do all we can to leave those ways behind.

1 Cor 10:1-13 acts as a history lesson to us, reminding us of the importance of learning from the past. Many people fail to see the importance or relevance of history: Stephen Fry says ‘The biggest challenge facing the great teachers and communicators of history is not to teach history itself, nor even the lessons of history, but why history matters.’ If we don’t see that history matters or why history matters, we will live very much in the present and will be doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past; as Edmund Burke commented, ‘Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.’

A failure to appreciate history leaves us remaining as a child (Cicero), leaves us ignorant of the fact that the leaf is actually part of a tree (Michael Crichton). There is a direct correlation between the past, the present and the future: Sir Winston Churchill said ‘The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see’ or, as Toni Morrison puts it, ‘I’m interested in the way in which the past affects the present and I think that if we understand a good deal more about history, we automatically understand a great deal more about contemporary life.’ Certainly, Paul writes to the Corinthians about events in the Old Testament to give us ‘examples’ and ‘warnings’ which will help us to live properly. Chief amongst these examples is how not to live, for he cites examples of Israel’s lack of faith, grumbling, complaining and tendency to test God while they were in the wilderness (quoting from Exodus 14-16, Exodus 32 and Numbers 16, 21, 25).

The Corinthians apparently had a tendency towards arrogance and over-confidence, and Paul’s salutary warning to them needs to be lodged in our hearts: ‘So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!’ (1 Cor 10:12) Thanks to the children’s songwriter Ishmael, this was one of the very first Scriptures I ever learned off by heart, and it’s a valuable lesson to us all. The Israelites were all led out of Egypt, were all guided by the cloud of God, were all fed by manna and given water to drink from the rock. Nonetheless, God was not pleased with the majority of them because of their lack of faith and disobedience and only Caleb and Joshua from that original group entered the Promised Land. We who have received the promises of God need to learn lessons from the past and continue towards that end goal, running with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus (Heb 12:1-3).

One of the lessons we taught our son and his fiancée during their wedding preparations was the need to spend more time preparing for their marriage than they did preparing for their wedding day.

A wedding lasts a day; a marriage lasts a lifetime. It’s very easy, in any stage of preparation for any event, to get lost in the detail; you can’t see the wood for the trees at times. Attention to detail matters enormously when you’re planning anything, but must never become the end in itself. We had debates over which font to use in the order of service booklet, which songs to sing during the ceremony, which shade of pink the bridesmaids’ dresses had to be. All of those things are important, but at the end of the day, they’re probably not the things which will be remembered in years to come! What matters more than a ‘perfect day’ is a marriage grounded in God and ruled by love.

It’s easy also in church life to be distracted by the details. Often, these details are important matters that do have to be sorted, but we must never become bogged down in the detail. Nothing matters more than God; nothing must come before God. Nothing must take the place of the love we first had for God (see Rev 2:4). If we speak in tongues and have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and have all knowledge, if we have enormous faith and endless generosity but lack love, we gain nothing. (1 Cor 13:1-3)

God calls us to wholehearted devotion and a lifetime of surrender. We have to keep the bigger picture always in view; we have to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, not allowing ourselves to become too settled in this world, for we are only pilgrims travelling through (see Matt 6:33, 1 Pet 2:10-12, Heb 11:9). Our preparations for that wonderful wedding must never be so focussed on a tiny detail that we fail to keep our end goal in sight.