DARE TO DREAM

Dare to dream.

Don’t let the ordinary quash your imagination.

Become as a little child.

Revel in the splash of colours.

Roll in the mud.

Jump till your ankles ache.

Giggle till your belly hurts.

Become that unicorn, rescuing princesses.

Become that sword-wielding prince,

Slashing through the tumbleweed and thistles to get to the love of your life.

Sleeping Beauty can awake after a century of slumber,

If only your tenacity will hold and your vision will see beyond the ruins of failure.

Embrace the child’s impossible reality,

For with God, all things are possible.

Dare to dream

Of a world where there’s no injustice,

Where peace reigns,

Where togetherness works in practical, comfortable unity.

Get dressed in your overalls

And perspire through everyday toil,

Embracing the ordinary and the mundane

To build a kingdom that’s everlasting.

Sing loudly.

Laugh at misfortune,

Weep with those who weep

With the tender compassion of the child who does not fix the problem –

How can it? It’s beyond its capabilities! –

But who sits alongside,

Offering silent support in the suffering.

Dare to dream.

Run through the park barefoot,

Clamber up the climbing wall,

Swing from the monkey bars,

Dangle upside-down.

Get the play-doh out and relish the mess.

God turns our mess into a message.

He takes our broken lives and builds beautiful mosaics from the shards of our sin.

Keep on believing.

Kick off your shoes.

Feel the ground beneath your feet

And dance.

Get those hands clapping,

Those feet tapping,

Those hips wiggling,

Those shoulders sashaying.

Our God is an awesome God.

Live like you believe it

And dare to dream.

Today is Independence Day in the USA, one of the most significant days in that country’s history as they remember their independence from England in 1776. As we prepare for our anniversary coffee morning today (setting up the tables, crafts, photos, bunting and balloons which will form part of our celebrations), I’m reminded that independence is not something which applies to Christian churches.

We believe that independence is highly desirable and encourage our children to become independent from an early age. But when it comes to our relationship with God, we are not encouraged ever to become independent of Him. Instead, each day teaches us to rely on Him fully, to depend on Him for our every need. Just as the Israelites had to collect manna daily while they were in the wilderness (except for on the Sabbath), so too we must learn to live by faith and not by sight. (2 Cor 5:7) We are called to a relationship of trust and dependence – something that often irks us! We don’t have all the answers; we don’t know what the future will hold. But we do know that we walk with God, hand in hand, so to speak, and therefore we have both hope and confidence, for He who promised is faithful. (Heb 10:21)

We are also called to live in community, in an interdependence with other people, which is what church is all about. We are not Christians in isolation. We belong to each other; we need each other. GPCC needs you! We need fellowship with other Christians, which is why our involvement in Dearne Churches Together is so important to us.

Don’t seek to be independent and live without thought of God. Don’t seek to be isolated and go through life on your own. Trust in God; find your community of believers, and stick with them through thick and thin.

Almost every Sunday for the past 15 years we have held two services in the building, a Holy Communion service at 10.30 a.m. and a family service at 6 p.m. We have always wanted to welcome people of all ages into the building, and have regularly held services aimed at involving children and young people. Some of the themes have included ‘You’re Toast!’ (looking at the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace and how God rescued them from certain death), ‘Jonah the Moaner’ (when we made a whale!) and ‘Goliath The Giant’ (when we made a cardboard version of the giant Goliath and had great fun toppling him through games!)

From August 2025 we will be changing the times of our Sunday service and only holding one service, starting at 3 p.m. This change reflects the current needs of the congregation, but we are praying that this becomes a new start in God and a new opportunity for others to join us and be part of what God is doing in Goldthorpe through His church.

We have also been involved in midweek prayer meetings and Bible studies, and these will continue on Thursdays at 7.30 p.m. Our work as a church is rooted in our relationship with God and we need to seek Him together for all that we do. Studying the Bible is essential as it’s God’s road-map to life! Why not make God’s word a priority and join us at these services?

2 Samuel 24 tells the story of David’s sin in ordering a census and the consequences of this action, which resulted in death and the purchase of a site on which an altar was to be built (which subsequently became the site on which the temple was built.) It’s a difficult chapter to understand (numbering people is not necessarily wrong, as other examples in the Bible make plain, and it’s hard to understand the different roles of God and Satan in this decision – see 1 Chronicles 21:1), but important principles do stand out as we wrestle with fathoming what is going on in this chapter!

It would seem that David’s sin was not simply the act of numbering but the problem of pride, his reliance on his own military strength through numbers instead of a reliance on God. Sometimes, our strengths can be as much of a stumbling-block as our weakness! (1 Cor 10:12) David, it seems, wanted to know how many military men were in his service so he could boast of his greatness instead of giving glory to God. When even Joab reckoned this job was repulsive, we know that there’s a problem!

David’s conscience was pricked and he came to see that his actions were sinful. God’s discipline of judgment came through Gad and in the form of three choices (3 years of famine, 3 months of fleeing from enemies or 3 days of plague.) He chose the last one, preferring God’s hand of judgment to man’s. He remembered God’s mercy, even in times of discipline. In fact, God’s mercy is an essential part of His unchanging nature (Mal 3:6), and though 70,000 died as a result of the plague, David’s cry for mercy was heard.

The plague stopped at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, and God commanded David to buy this land to sacrifice there. Araunah, although a foreigner, would have willingly given the land to David (a reminder that believers have no monopoly on kind deeds!), but David understood that sin must be paid for, and was prepared to buy the land. We too understand that sin must be paid for, but rejoice in the fact that the price has been paid for us by Christ’s death on the cross.

If you come along to our anniversary coffee morning on Saturday 5^th July (10 a.m. – 1 p.m.), you will be able to see over a thousand photos of what we have been doing over the past fifteen years. Some of the things we do happen regularly (our New Year’s Day party, for example, and our Christmas carol services and other Christmas events). Some are ‘one-offs’ (such as our tea party to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 or our party to celebrate the King’s coronation in 2023.)

We’ve always tried to go with God’s heart and serve our local community in a variety of ways. That has included Easter marches throughout the town centre (and in 2018 we did a ‘church crawl’ from Furlong Road Methodist Church in Bolton upon Dearne through to the Salvation Army, GPCC, parish church and Sacred Heart RC Church in Goldthorpe and then onto the Pentecostal church in Thurnscoe and St Helen’s.) We have been present at fun days in Phoenix Park (the swelteringly hot dinosaur day in 20?? Comes to mind, plus the fun days we organised there from 2021-2023), at fayres at Goldthorpe Railway Embankment (spring, autumn and Christmas), attended the Bounce Into Summer event on occasions and for many years were involved in the Christmas market organised by Goldthorpe Development Group, which resulted in raising money for the Salvation Army’s Christmas appeals. We believe that Christians are called to be salt and light wherever they are, and our involvement in the community is a reflection of this belief.

The photo wall and displays on Saturday reflect not only the diversity of activities done in fifteen years but the diversity of people who have attended such events. Come along and find out if you’re on our ‘walls of fame’!

One of the conditions of the CRT grant which saw us move into Market Street was that we were involved in community, and so we changed the church’s name to reflect our heart for the local community, becoming Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church. We had always been involved with the community, running a Parent & Toddler group and youth club for many years. Moving to Market Street when the market was still open and running meant we had a new audience there, and for many years we ran a coffee morning every Saturday, inviting people in to see what we were doing and serving the market stall holders hot drinks to keep them going!

Our community outreach continues to this day. Whilst the youth club closed during the pandemic, our Parent & Toddler group now meets twice a week in term-time (on Wednesday and Friday mornings between 9 and 11 a.m.) We hold a coffee morning once a month now on the first Saturday in each month (10 a.m. until 12 p.m.) and are involved with other local churches in family fun days during school holidays and with other organisations helping at community events (such as events at Goldthorpe Railway Embankment and Phoenix Park.) We host an evening of creativity for adults on the 3^rd Monday of the month (‘Mindful Moments’, 6- 8 p.m.) and are involved with the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival, held on the last Saturday of September at Astrea Academy Dearne, and with community art projects (including our car park wall of hope and the coasters’ project with local churches.) We are involved in local schools, most recently through our sponsorship of Christian theatre productions by 4FrontTheatre.

Community involvement for many years included a Sunday service at Cherry Tree Court where two church members lived, and although this ended with the pandemic, we are thrilled to have recently started singing at Parkside Care Home in Wombwell once a month.

The BMBC logo ‘Love Where You Live’ sums up our attitude to our community. We love where we live and are convinced that God has placed us in Goldthorpe for such a time as this. We want to be ‘with God in the community, with God for the community’, knowing that His love for people is our motivation to serve Him in our local area.