The Mums and Toddlers made fruit smoothies on Friday:

At the service at Cherry Tree Court this morning, Garry spoke from Ps 18:25-31 about the perfection of God’s ways. In the Message version, Ps 18:30-31 says ‘What a God! His road stretches straight and smooth. Every God-direction is road-tested. Everyone who runs toward him makes it.’ We can be sure that God’s way is perfect, without flaws and is straight and smooth.

When Garry first got a SatNav, he used it on what should have been a perfectly straightforward journey up the A1 to Amble in Northumberland.

En route, the SatNav urged us to leave the A1 earlier than we had anticipated, which seemed to  make no sense. Heeding its advice, we were taken on minor roads and even through a farmer’s land… thus avoiding the accident on the A1 which meant there was no progress at all following that route. On that occasion, we had to trust the directions of the SatNav because we were on unfamiliar territory. In the same way, we have to trust God’s directions for our life, for He can see much further ahead than we can.

Adverts are biased, because they are produced by the manufacturers and have an ulterior motive behind them (urging us to buy the required product.) We are more likely to be influenced by the less biased recommendations of friends, people whose opinions we really value. The Bible urges us to ‘taste and see that the Lord is good’ (Ps 34:8) and we have the testimony of all the Biblical heroes (and also of people we know today) who assure us of God’s trustworthiness and reliability. We need to trust God to lead us even when we are unsure of the direction in which we are travelling, for He knows the way better than we do and cares for us in every detail of our lives.

Don’t forget the Christian bookstall which will be at church this Sunday evening (8th March). We have a good selection of Easter books, gifts and cards, so come prepared to buy!

We are hoping to have a spring cleaning day at church on Saturday 28th March in the afternoon (12 noon onwards). If you are able to come along for an hour or two, please see Garry or Julie as soon as possible so we can arrange this.

Other dates for the diary include:

• Easter activities on Good Friday (film based on Matthew’s Gospel, starting at 7 p.m.) and Easter Saturday (March of Hope with other local churches at 10.30 a.m., church lunch at 12 noon and ongoing film sessions at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.) and Easter Sunday (10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m.)
• Church day trip to Bridlington on Monday 4th May (see Garry or Julie if you want to go on this as soon as possible as we are booking the coach shortly.)
• ‘Churches Together’ meeting on Saturday 16th May at 7 p.m. at our church.

Aaron Shust has been busy co-writing songs over the past months (which will lead to a new album release later this year.) The first video is available from this, called ‘The Greatness of Who You Are.’ May we indeed be set on fire by the all-consuming God and proclaim God’s glory and greatness in all we do.

Matt Redman also recently recorded a new live album, so 2015 promises to have some great new songs with which to worship God!

The Women’s World Day of Prayer was held at St Peter’s church in Barnburgh, celebrating the theme of servanthood from John 13:1-17. With colourful clothing and displays and lively music, we celebrated the diversity of these islands:

As we prayed for various ministries helping immigrants, those with HIV/AIDS, teenage mothers and those suffering from cancer, we saw that all the negative factors can be replaced by positive truths from God’s word: we are blessed, included, never alone and so on.

Local ladies brought tinned food to support the food bank run by the Salvation Army in Goldthorpe:

Alison’s prayer: ‘Lord, I want to thank you for the amazing work of the churches together. Through their gifts we are able to feed and care for the people of the Dearne Valley. Lord, I want thank you for giving the food bank users the strength to open the doors and ask for help. Lord, I want to thank you that through you lives are being transformed and changed.’

Don’t forget the Women’s World Day of Prayer this Friday (6th March.) This will start at 6 p.m. at St Peter’s Church in Barnburgh, and has been written by women from the Bahamas. Banish the winter blues by wearing colourful clothes! Don’t forget to bring tinned food to this event to support the Salvation Army food bank.

On Sunday (8th March) there will be the Christian bookstall in church, featuring cards, gifts, books and CDs from the CLC bookshop in Sheffield. Come along ready to buy!

There are also a number of activities happening locally over Easter. Our church will be showing a film based on Matthew’s Gospel on Good Friday at 7 p.m. and on Easter Saturday at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.  The Salvation Army will be showing the film ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ on Saturday 21st March and 28th March at 4 p.m. and will also host a special Maundy Thursday service at 7 p.m. on Thursday 2nd April.

The Easter ‘March of Hope’ will see all local churches joining together for a march of witness around Goldthorpe on Saturday 4th April. We’ll start on Lockwood Road at 10.30 a.m. and will march around Goldthorpe, singing songs of witness, ending back at our church for a church lunch by 12 noon. This is a great opportunity to let all of Goldthorpe know that Jesus is alive!

Don’t forget also the church trip to Bridlington on Monday 4th May. If you’re interested in going on this, please let Julie know as soon as possible as she will be booking the coach soon.