At the Mums & Toddlers group on Friday, members from PSS came to help us learn how to make healthy cheesecakes!

The toddlers seemed to enjoy eating the food as well as making it!

Dave preached a sermon in January on a six-letter word that few people actively like: CHANGE. Change is often feared by people who are comfortable with what is familiar and ‘safe’. Others relish change, flitting from one project to another like a butterfly. The challenge for the church is to be flexible enough to change and adapt where necessary while remaining true to foundational principles which do not change.

As we look ahead to the future, we also had the opportunity last night to talk about how things can change… and if people have ideas and suggestions, we want to know about them. The following questions need to be considered by all:

• How does what we do when we are together inform and inspire what happens when we’re not together?
• What do you want to see happen in church?
• What do you want the church to be involved in which we are currently not doing at the moment?

There will be an opportunity today to give answers to those questions and you can always comment online also as we seek to discover new things the church can be involved in!

Some of the new plans already in the pipeline include:

• special events over the Easter weekend (3-5 April) to help us to focus on the death and resurrection of Christ
• a church day trip to Bridlington on Bank Holiday Monday (4 May)
• running sessions to explore basic Christian teaching and doctrine (suitable for those interested in knowing more about Christianity or who have just become Christians as well as those who want to know how to share their faith more effectively)
• ways to make the Bible studies more accessible to all, even if you are not able to attend the actual meeting
• how to be more involved with missions, including the possibility of a missions trip to India to work with Fredrick and Reeba

Barack Obama once said ‘Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.’ We are instrumental in the changes that God wants to bring, because He graciously invites us to be involved in His work. Let’s embrace the changes that He brings: ‘See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.’ (Is 43:19)

Last night’s Information & Envisioning evening looked at what the church has been involved in over the past year. For many people, this is not new information, but it is sometimes good to pause and reflect on what is happening locally as we seek to be ‘with God in the community, with God for the community.’

Outreach ministries include the coffee mornings held on Saturdays, the Mums & Toddlers group on Fridays, the youth club on Mondays, and badminton on Fridays. These may not seem overtly ‘Christian’ in that no songs are sung, no preaching is given and there is no official time for prayer. But because of the presence of God’s people at each one of these meetings, God is with us as we talk and engage with people from our local community. The number of different people who help at these groups is amazing and there are opportunities galore to get to know people, share God’s love and pray when asked.

We also meet at Cherry Tree Court once a month, seeking to share God’s love with the older residents there. Please continue to pray for this ministry, especially that the residents who are not in favour of this meeting will not be able to spoil things for those who are and who enjoy the fellowship and teaching!

The support of the Salvation Army food bank reflects God’s heart for the poor and needy. People’s generosity in providing food and other items such as clothing is much appreciated. Those who help with the distribution of the food parcels see how much difference this can make to those in crisis. The Salvation Army works closely with other organisations to try to provide support in other areas (job clubs, help with those suffering from alcohol or drug addictions, help in learning how to budget and cook healthy food and so on.) It’s been good to see some local people get on training courses or find work and so find purpose and hope after difficult times. It’s a privilege to be part of that helping process.

Over the past year, we have seen new people join the church and others decide to get involved in different things that the church is doing, including helping with Sunday School and music as well as youth, coffee morning and Mums and Toddlers. Prayer, worship and preaching remain key aspects of what the church does: aspects which may well seem ridiculous or insignificant to the outsider (see 1 Cor 1:18-31), but which are fundamental to our spiritual life. We are also thrilled to be able to support missionaries in Mozambique and India (watch this space for plans for a missions trip to India!) and to sponsor Bedline, a little girl in Haiti. We are well aware that our neighbour extends far beyond the Dearne Valley and that God’s heart is for the whole world.

The church is far more than the building on Market Street, though we are immensely grateful to God for His provision of this building and for providing the ongoing finances – often through the sacrificial giving of members – to run all that we do. Last year, significant improvement to the building included cavity wall and ceiling insulation, new boilers and heating, sound reduction panels, new chairs and tables and the refurbishment of the children’s room as well as new carpets to some areas and a stage partition to replace the ageing curtains. We are constantly amazed at how God provides income (including income from hiring the building to the community and from the coffee mornings) and grateful for those who Gift Aid their donations, allowing us to receive income from HMRC!

When we stop to look at all the church is doing, we are immensely grateful not only to God but to all the people whose enthusiasm, commitment and sacrifice show us that their faith is outworked in totally practical ways. The Salvation Army shop in Goldthorpe has a new sign on it that says ‘Belief In Action.’ We believe and therefore act! Thank you to all who help in any way and to God for His immense grace and generosity to us.

1 Cor 5:9 strongly implies that Paul had already written a letter to the Corinthians before the one we know as 1 Corinthians, but of this letter, we have no trace. It is interesting to consider just how many letters Paul must have written during his lifetime and look at those we have in our New Testament. Why don’t we have all of them? Surely they were all of historical interest?

Christians believe that the Bible is inspired by God and that He has ensured everything we need for life and for salvation is contained within that word. We do not know why we do not have other letters written by the apostles, but the fact remains that we have all that we need. This letter shows us some of the concerns facing that church, but it also has advice and help applicable to all Christians, as the opening verses make clear.

The church in Corinth may have had problems with arrogance, richness and promiscuity, but Paul’s confidence for them is rooted in God’s character: in His grace and faithfulness (1 Cor 1:1-9). We are all sanctified by the Lord and are in the process of being made holy. Our lives may often look muddled and far from perfect, but we are secure not in our own efforts to keep and save but in God’s ability to complete the work He has started (see also Phil 1:6). We have a powerful, faithful, miracle-working God who is able to keep us strong in the faith.

During a short break in Derbyshire recently, we set out on a walk during which we came across some ruins known as ‘Bateman’s House’, a pump house used as one of the last attempts to keep the mines drained and workable. Garry was keen to explore:

As always, he was keen to explore the countryside, looking at things from what were (to me) rather strange angles:

What these photographs teach me is that there are always more than one way of looking at things and that the angle of observation will inevitably vary from person to person. This reminds me also that our perspective matters a lot. Life is full of strange sights and how we choose to look at things will affect what we see. If we look down, we will see much less than if we look up! Let’s fix our eyes, hearts and minds on things above (Col 3:1-2) and see things from God’s angle!

This Saturday (28th February) we have the church’s Information & Envisioning Evening at 6 p.m. in the community room. This is an opportunity to look back on all God has been doing over the past year (with the opportunity to find out more about the different ministries of the church) and also to look ahead to some of the ways we feel God is leading us on in the future. Do come along if you are able and are interested in the work of God in our area and want to know how we can continue to be with God in the community, allowing Him to shine through us and use us to spread the knowledge of God’s glory to all around us. Paul reminded the Corinthians ‘For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.’ (2 Cor 4:6)

If you can help with home baking for this, please do bring along a cake or buns as we’ll enjoy time together discussing ideas and vision for the future and such things usually go down better with a drink and something to eat! The meeting probably won’t be suitable for very young children, but please do try and attend if at all possible.

The family service is this Sunday (1st March) and we will be looking at ‘Lessons in Obedience’ in a quacking way… The family service starts at 6 p.m.

Friday 6th March sees the Women’s World Day of Prayer meeting at St Peter’s church in Barnburgh, starting at 6 p.m. The service has been written by Christian ladies from the Bahamas, so we are all encouraged to wear bright colours at this meeting (a contrast to the winter drabness and a reminder that spring is on its way!) There will be a collection of tinned food for the Goldthorpe Salvation Army at this meeting, so if you are able to attend, please do bring along some tinned food if possible. Let us know if you need transport to this event.

In March, we are also hosting a Christian bookstall again, so if you would like to buy any Easter cards or books or CDs, there will be a selection from the CLC bookshop in Sheffield available to buy on Sunday 8th March. This is a great opportunity to buy high-quality Christian literature and gifts, so don’t forget to bring your money on that day if you want to buy!

Easter is coming soon in the first weekend in April, so watch this space for further details about Easter services and activities to help us focus on the great work of salvation accomplished by Jesus through His death and resurrection.