Remembering

Jun 30, 2025

Deuteronomy 8:18 urges God’s people to ‘remember the Lord your God.’ It’s so easy in the hustle and bustle of life, in the everyday busyness which surrounds most of us, to forget what God has done for us, and if we forget, we become impoverished spiritually.

This Saturday we are making a conscious decision to remember. It’s 15 years since our official opening as a church in Market Street. Prior to that, from 1964 until 2010, Goldthorpe Elim Church was based in Beever Street, but in 2010, after many months of praying and working with funders, we moved into the former Methodist church building (St Mark’s) and spent from February until July refurbishing the run-down building. Every Saturday and every day during school holidays except Sundays we spent time painting, plastering, rewiring, refurbishing the building so that we could move our base to the more central Market Street.

It was a journey of faith, for the church had £7,500 in the bank, and the building cost over £150,000. We saw God provide miraculously through a grant of £160,000 from Coalfields Regeneration Trust, but then the twists and turns of the journey meant the Methodist Church HQ preferred a higher offer from a builder and we had to give the grant back. Much heartache and confusion followed, but that was not the end of the journey.

The deal with the builder fell through… we were asked if we still wanted the building. Of course we did! – but we now had no money. Tentatively, we approached CRT again. They ‘didn’t know how this has happened’, but the grant had not been re-allocated and so we were given the money again (without having to change a word on our original application.) Then we were told by the Methodist Church HQ that they would like the additional £20,000 offered by the builder. We were unable to provide that… until the local Methodist circuit offered us that money, because they wanted the building to remain a place of worship. God provided the money; we got the keys in February 2010.

As we approach our anniversary, it’s hard to believe that fifteen years have passed since those action-packed days in 2010. We’re all older; some of the congregation have died; it continues to be a journey of faith. Do join us on Saturday as we remember the Lord and all He has done. We’re open between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. for light refreshments, crafts and a lot of photos!

Kindness

Jun 29, 2025

Our Bible study tonight focussed on the fruit of the Spirit kindness. Kindness is sorely needed in a world that seems intent on shouting loudly at those with differing opinions, but God’s kindness fuels actions. God has drawn us with loving kindness (Jer 31:3), the Hebrew word being ‘chesed’ which encompasses kindness, mercy, steadfast love, covenant faithfulness, grace and loyalty. It’s how God describes Himself in Ex 34;6-7, and it is His kindness which shapes our kindness.

In Psalm 136 we read that God’s kindness is ‘beyond the vanishing point’ (in other words, we cannot ever outrun God’s kindness.) Micah 6:8 tells us that we should have kindness and in the New Testament this virtue is described as being very useful. Kindness is seen primarily in our behaviour towards others; Matt 11:28-30 reminds us that the yoke God offers us is easy or kind. The yoke reminds us of two animals working together; Jesus reminds us that we are called to work alongside Him in kindness.

As God works in us, He develops kindness in us. How can we show kindness this week?

We Are The Clay

Jun 29, 2025

This morning we looked at the fact that God is the Potter and we are the clay (see Is 64:8, Jer 18:1-7, 2 Cor 4:7) God is the One who shapes and moulds us to His image, re-forming us when we fail and let Him down, never giving up on us. To be clay seems to be an identity that is far from glamorous, but when we are prepared to be moulded by the Master Potter, we can be useful to Him and prepared to do any good work. (2 Tim 2:21)

One of the chief characteristics of clay is its malleability. Soft clay can be shaped into different things by a skilful potter, which reminds us of the diversity within the church, since we are all called to different services and roles. The opposite of soft clay is hard clay that has dried out and is brittle and unable to be moulded. We need the breath of God to soften us and need to respond to God when He speaks to us, rather than hardening our hearts (see Heb 3:7-11). Jeremiah, sent to the potter’s house by God so that he could see first hand how God wanted to re-shape His people, spoke about how Israel constantly rebelled against God and would not repent. The consequences for them were great (exile for 70 years). It is not wise to rebel against God!

Being clay means that we are not in charge: God is. Paul spoke about carrying the treasure of God in jars of clay. (2 Cor 4:7) This means that our boasting can only be in the Lord and in our own weakness, for that way, any goodness or glory proves God’s worth! (see 2 Cor 10:17, 2 Cor 11:29-30, 2 Cor 12:8-10) God is able to help us, even when we run away (as Jonah did) or deny Him (as Peter did.) When we are clay in God’s hands, we surrender to His will (see Luke 22:42) and trust Him even in our trials and tests (see Gen 22.) Then we can know that we are being changed into the image of His Son, transformed into HIs likeness by His Spirit. (Rom 8:29, 2 Cor 3:17-18)

Truth

Jun 27, 2025

We live in a world where people believe in ‘relative’ truth. ‘If that’s what you feel, it’s true for you,’ people say. This is often a cover for nonsense, for truth is not some flimsy feeling which can be bent to our will.
Yesterday my granddaughter wanted to take a large soft toy with her on her journey to school. That would mean me having the toy afterwards (since she is not allowed soft toys in school). I refused to take the toy since I was out for much of the day and had other responsibilities which meant lugging a large unicorn around was neither practical nor advisable.
Rebekah was devastated and accused me of hating her toy. In her mind, the only reason I would not accommodate what was to her a simple and uncomplicated request was because I hated the toy. (She did not actually get as far as saying as I hated her, but this is often how we feel about God when He refuses a request of ours!) I pointed out that she could not say what I loved or hated and explained my reasons for refusing her request, but she was adamant that it was because I hated the toy. She ascribed feelings and motives to my actions which were simply not true, and she refused to listen to anything I said.
This relatively trivial example illustrates for me society’s attitude to truth. We believe what we feel over and above any objective evidence set before us. We are emotional and irrational at times, which is dangerous enough as it is, but when we apply this to other people, being determined that our interpretation of their actions is accurate, we risk misunderstanding and this can lead to division and enmity. I was irritated to be told I hated a toy when the truth was I liked the toy well enough (what’s not to like about a soft, cuddly, rainbow unicorn?!) but could not carry it around all day on top of everything else I had to carry (including having a smart trike and a 2 year old to manage…)
So often we believe our version of ‘truth’ above God. Elijah, after three years in hiding from Ahab, came to face the king and the prophets of Baal on God’s command. (1 Kings 18) He felt that he was the only prophet of God left. Even when God vindicated him and sent fire to demonstrate His power over the false god Baal, he felt alone and vulnerable (1 Kings 19).
But he was mistaken in this belief. God told him that there were 7000 people in Israel whose knees had not bowed to other gods and gave him another helper, Elisha, a reminder that he was not actually on his own at all. God sees the whole picture and knows everything. We do not. Our blinkered view may suggest one truth. Our feelings may scream at us that this interpretation of what we see is true. But the actual, objective truth may be something completely different, and we need God and His word to direct us to truth, so that we do not, in fact, end up believing a lie.

Anniversary celebrations

Jun 26, 2025

As we put the finishing touches to the photo display for our anniversary celebration on Saturday 5 July between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., we are blown away by all that has happened in the fifteen years since we moved to Market Street.
GPCC (formerly Goldthorpe Elim Church) opened in Beever Street in 1964 and moved to Market Street in early 2010, with our first service in the new building happening on 6 June 2010 and our official open day happening on 3 July 2010. Since then, we’ve held a lot of church services, coffee mornings, Bible studies, prayer meetings, family fun days, Parent & Toddler group sessions, parties and have been involved in community events at Phoenix Park, Goldthorpe Railway Embankment, Goldthorpe cricket grounds, other churches and various other places! We’d love for you to come along on Saturday 5 July and have a look at all these photos – and maybe find yourselves on a photo that is guaranteed to bring back memories!
It’s free to attend and you can pop in for as long or as short a time as you have available. Light refreshments with home baking will be served and we will have crafts to do – based on the 15 anniversary ‘crystal’ theme, you can make necklaces or bracelets or do crystal art.
After the celebrations, we’re also thrilled to be the first place in the Dearne area to screen Sam Batley’s film ‘The Town I Love So Well’, an hour-long documentary commissioned by BMBC which looks at the culture and community in Barnsley and which features Goldthorpe in a positive light! Sam is from Goldthorpe himself, so it’s wonderful to be able to show the film here.
Come along for a fabulous day!

Patience

Jun 22, 2025

Tonight our Bible discussion was about patience (forbearance/ long-suffering), another fruit of the Spirit. Patience is not something most of us find easy; it obviously requires a change of attitude and trust in God to believe that His will will be done in our lives, even when it doesn’t look that way! We have to put off the old self and put on the new self if our attitudes are to change.
We looked at examples of God’s patience (Rom 2:4) and at the patience many Old Testament heroes demonstrated in waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled. God is prepared to wait a lifetime (as the thief on the cross shows us!) and we often have to wait far longer than we want. Patience should never be an excuse for inaction, but equally we must not take action simply to ‘hurry’ God along (as Abraham did after waiting for ten years by sleeping with Hagar… in actual fact, he had to wait 25 years before Isaac, the promised son, was born.) If we give up waiting, we risk missing out on God’s blessings (think of the disciples waiting for the Holy Spirit after the resurrection), so we do well to let God develop patience in us.