Dave spoke from Proverbs 11:30 this morning: ‘The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and those who win souls is wise.’ Those who are saved are made righteous through the sacrifice of Christ; we are not righteous in ourselves, but are given His perfect, spotless righteousness in an exchange that is amazing for us to receive! The potential in each one of us is then great, though, to participate in sharing this news with others.

Gardening involves vision: not only seeing the garden as it currently is but as it can become through care and nurture. Similarly, God sees us not simply as we are but sees also what we can become. The righteous are expected to bear fruit, but this is only possible as we abide in Christ. (John 15:4) Righteousness is the working of God’s nature in us; it is not something we put on or take off like clothes. True righteousness is outworked in us by God’s Spirit and will be seen in every situation: in the home, at work, in the supermarket and so on. God’s righteousness shines through us so that we are aglow with God’s fire, like the burning bush Moses encountered.

This fruit is described as a tree of life, because we can become the means to life for others. We can impart life to those who are dying spiritually around us. The world stinks of death and destruction, the legacy of the devil’s works, but we can bring the clean, fresh air of God to people. We don’t have to have any special qualifications or personality type to win souls; we simply offer to the thirsty the water of life we ourselves have received.

The enemy tells us we cannot do this job, listing a whole host of reasons which disqualify us from sharing our faith. These are all lies. Whilst some may have the special gift for evangelism, all can testify to what God has done. We obtain wisdom to do this by asking God, and by His Spirit He guides us and leads us to those in whom He is already working. We were all doomed to destruction at one point, but people prayed for us and witnessed to us. Our responsibility now is to go and do likewise!

That doesn’t mean being insensitive and ‘blasting’ people with the gospel. It does mean committing ourselves to prayer and to being willing to be used by God. Dave challenged us to pray every day for a year for one particular person to be saved, asking God to lead us and direct us in this. We are wise, after all, when we rely on the Holy Spirit to help us and understand that He is the One who will call, convict and bring people to salvation. We are simply messengers.

A celebration wouldn’t be a celebration at Goldthorpe without food! At the end of the meeting, we all enjoyed sharing fellowship over food:

It had been a long and tiring day, but one suffused with gratitude and laughter:

Eileen (affectionately known as ‘The Queen’ in our church) went home with a specially painted rock to celebrate her status:

The picture is of a crown:

Beryl – one of the few original members of the church still alive and in Goldthorpe – treated us to her beautifully radiant smile. We are blessed by her faithfulness to God, to her family and to the church over the past fifty years.

So, a great day overall. Come along at 10.30 this morning and let the celebrations continue as we worship God, take communion, and learn more from His Word.

Garry spoke last night about the role of music in worship. Worship is, of course, about far more than music: it is the giving of our whole lives to God, as Rom 12:1 makes clear. Nonetheless, singing and music have always played an important part in the worship of God, for the things God does for His people cause us to rejoice in this way. When God delivered Israel from Egypt, the people sang! (Ex 15:1) 1 Chron 16:9 tells us to ‘sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts’ The book of Psalms was clearly a song book as well as prayer book, for many psalms have the heading ‘to the tune of’ or ‘for the director of music.’ David and others appointed singers and musicians to lead people in musical worship (see 1 Chronicles 15:16, 19 – 22, 2 Chron 31:2).

This musical tradition has been carried on throughout the history of the New Testament and the history of the church, and Goldthorpe is no exception. Ellen Burgin (known as ‘Grandma Burgin‘ to many) played the piano in the early days, with Ron and Gerald Burgin singing. Tom Shepherd helped out with music on many occasions, even though he attended another church as well. Joan and Ian Bland were instrumental (!) in helping with music and influential in helping Gillian to learn the piano. Mark Burgin began to play the guitar in Sunday School and graduated to leading worship in church meetings, something he still does today. Gary Burgin started playing in drums in church when he was 14 and we are thrilled that Caleb has started to do this at a young age as well.

Students from Mattersey Bible College contributed to the musical life of the church, including one known locally as ‘Button Eye’ (because his real name was too difficult to pronounce!) and more recently Ant and Sarah Lee. In 2007, Stephen started playing bass guitar at the church and is now also involved in playing the piano and leading worship. God has greatly blessed the church with people who are able to be involved in the musical side of worship and as we prayed last year for the development of ministries in the church, we are encouraged by how He is doing this.

Music is not the same as worship, but it is a tool to help us reflect on the many good things God has done and on His character. During the service, we experienced a whole variety of music styles! We started the service with some of today’s worship songs and listened to a song called ‘Mercy.‘

Garry, Caleb and two visiting friends gave us three songs in a variety of styles which spoke of God’s power and grace, including the world premiere of Garry’s song ‘Do You Some Good’ (which definitely got Diane dancing!):

Mark closed the meeting with some ‘golden oldies’, songs that used to be sung in the church over the years, including ‘Majesty’, ‘We’re Together Again’, ‘Bind Us Together, Lord’ and ‘I Stand Amazed.’ The volume might have been loud at times, but the joy in our hearts was heard in the singing and playing!

Last night was the Big Birthday Bash celebration, bringing together Christians from local churches and former members of the church in a night of thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness.

Before the meeting, a reminder of why we were there – 50 years!

Getting ready beforehand:

At the start of the meeting:

A number of people testified about how they had come to be part of Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church and how God has moved over the years.

Members from other churches also talked of the close relationship with our church:

Dave then spoke about the work of the Parent & Toddler Group.

Started in 1990, this group has met faithfully every Friday morning in term-time since then, with Diane and Joan providing faithful leadership of the group. The original aim was to help mothers with babies and toddlers who might feel isolated and to help their children to learn social skills. Over the years, numbers have fluctuated, but it has been a privilege to see how God has worked to the extent that some of the original group members are now bringing their grandchildren to the group! When the group was started, toys were donated and a few bought; now there is a good selection of toys as the church has invested into this community outreach. The original entrance fee was 50p, and this remains the charge today, for one of the key points was affordability in an area where money might be tight. The group is not about making profits but about providing a meeting place for mums and toddlers and helping local people to experience the love of God in a tangible way.

Children’s work and youth work have always been a key feature of the church. Children’s songs remain a part of church services, encouraging children to participate in singing truth:

Mark then spoke about the youth work which runs on a Monday evening.

Since moving into Market Street, we have had up to 70 children and young people in the building on a Monday evening – no wonder we’ve had the community room sound-proofed! The group again aims to offer children and young people a safe environment for play. Games and crafts are run every week and Mark thanked all the volunteers who faithfully give up their time. Over the years, at least 100 different children each year have passed through the group and now many children who used to come have grown up and are bringing their own children to the group. In twenty years of ministry, there have been no serious accidents and although the work is challenging, God’s faithfulness and helpers’ faithfulness have blessed the work.

It’s good to reflect on why we are called ‘Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church’ and one of the reasons is this emphasis on serving the local community, something which is now also continued through our support of the Salvation Army food bank. May we always have an outward focus, for Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost.

What else was going on during our Open Day? Well, as usual, we had stalwart help in the kitchen, serving refreshments:

People enjoyed the usual coffee morning, with cake and fruit as additional treats!

The Sunday School children had prepared favour boxes to give to people:

The day’s celebrations are not over, however. There is an evening meeting starting at 7 p.m. Come along for that!

Other craft activities included colouring in names of God to make place mats:

We also had face-painting:

Interestingly, not all the craft-building led to towers! We also had butterflies:

… and spaceships:

… and a nod to the World Cup:

In everything, however, there were evident signs of fun and creativity. God is a creative God who created all things for His pleasure. People today enjoyed a taste of that pleasure and had a lot of fun.