The craft activities involved a number of different ways of building strong (or not so strong…) towers:

With dominoes:

With straws:

With tubes and card:

The creativity of helpers, children and adults is to be wondered at! Looks like they had a great time.

The Big Birthday Bash is now officially underway!

From 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. we have been celebrating God’s faithfulness through a range of activities. First of all, we enjoyed a trip down memory lane, looking at old photos of Goldthorpe, from the time when the church was in Beever Street to the present day:

We are grateful to all who donated or loaned photos of old Goldthorpe. Did you know that there used to be trams in Goldthorpe? Or that the market has been trading since 1910?

We remembered the first wedding at Beever Street (Ralph and Letty Fletcher in 1993):

We also enjoyed seeing how hairstyles and fashions have changed over the years!

Some photos celebrated all that has happened since the church’s move to Market Street: family services, Christmas celebrations, coffee mornings, prayer walks, working with different churches and refurbishing the building:

To remember is to acknowledge all that God has done in the past and to look forward to all He has still to do.

One of the main themes of the Big Birthday Bash craft activities is to look at the different names of God. He is so amazing that each name gives us a glimpse into His character: thus, He is our Rock, our Fortress, our Saviour, the Beginning and the End, the Good Shepherd and the Resurrection and the Life, to name just a few!

Ali Thomas, the art teacher at Hope House School, kindly made us a tower to remind us of the fact that God is a strong tower (see Prov 18:10, Ps 61:3), decorated with lyrics from Rend Collective’s song ‘Strength of My Heart’ which looks at some of the names of God:

‘Jesus, my soul is fearless
For You are with us
Fighting for us.
In the valley of shadows
You are still with us
Fighting for us.

My Defender,
You are invincible.
My Strong Tower,
You are unshakeable.
Mighty Saviour,
Your love’s unbreakable.

You’re the strength of my heart
You’re the strength of my heart
You’re the strength of my heart
You’re the strength of my heart

Stronger than any weakness
You are my fortress
You are for us.
Yes, You’re reigning forever
Ruling in power
You are for us,
You are for us.

Your love is holding on;
Your love is holding on.
Through every valley
When life has failed me
You hold on.’ (‘Strength of My Heart’, Rend Collective)

Tonight a group of volunteers from church came to clean, tidy and set up for the Big Birthday Bash tomorrow.

Preparing craft activities:

The Sunday School children have prepared favour boxes to give out to people:

The worship room was cleaned and the photo displays set up:

Tomorrow will be an ideal opportunity to give suggestions for future improvements:

So we are all set to celebrate and to focus on all that God has done! Thanks to all who helped with all the preparations both during the week and tonight. We are so grateful for your help and your ongoing love and support. Come along tomorrow and enjoy!

The Bible study on Thursday looked at 1 John 3:1-3, and how we are different because of what God has done. Differences can be startling, bemusing… or annoying. God is seeking to develop His family likeness in us (affecting our hearts and minds – see Jer 17:9, Ezek 11:19 and Rom 12:2, Eph 4:23) and this inevitably leads to a culture clash. Just as the world reacted to Jesus with bewilderment and hostility (see John 1:9-11, 1 Pet 2:4-8), so at times we will offend others simply because we are dancing to a  different tune. Jesus was so contrary to the expectations of the Jews concerning the Messiah that they rejected Him and their obstinacy made a shipwreck of their salvation. We do not go out of our way to offend others, but as we seek to love and befriend people and live according to God’s laws, at times we will face hostility and rejection (see Luke 6:26, Luke 10:37).

John reassures us of our identity as children of God, but also reminds us that ‘what we will be has not yet been made known.’  There are so many things from the Bible that we do know (eg there is only one God and no one comes to the Father except through Jesus), but at the same time, other truths can only be expressed through metaphor or simile (God is a rock, He is our Shepherd, a mighty fortress is our God, for example, using pictures from our known world to explain aspects of God), whilst other things have to be worked out and pieced together from the facts we do have. (The word ‘Trinity’, for example, is not used in the Bible, but the doctrine of the Trinity – God as Father, Son and Spirit – is clearly taught in various places in Scripture.) Other things remain mysteries which we cannot fully understand. John, writing at the end of his life, admits there are things that have not yet been made known. There are many truths about the future which we do not know or understand, but we do know that God promises we shall be transformed (1 Cor 15:44-53), that we will be with God forever (John 14:1-3) and that we shall be like Jesus. This gives us a hope that motivates us to purify ourselves, to live holy lives that are pleasing to Him.

Time flies when you’re having fun, the saying goes. Time certainly does seem to be flying. It only seems a few weeks since Mark casually asked if we realised that 2014 was the 50th anniversary of the church moving into its own premises on Beever Street, and here we are, just hours away from our Big Birthday Bash celebration weekend.

50 years of marriage is celebrated as a ‘Golden Anniversary’ and in the Bible that span of time is known as the ‘Year of Jubilee’ (Lev 25). Moses commanded the people: ‘Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.‘ (Lev 25:10) I’m not sure we could cope with a whole year of celebrations (it’s time-consuming getting craft activities prepared and photo exhibitions ready!), but certainly, we want to set apart this weekend as something holy to God, a time when we celebrate His faithfulness and reflect on all He has done in and through this church over the past fifty years as well as opening wide the doors of our building and inviting in people to ‘come and see what God has done, His awesome deeds for mankind!’ (Ps 66:5) It is a tremendous privilege to have been part of a community for that length of time and to reflect on the number of lives touched by God through the witness and outreach of this church. We are glad to look back and remember the wonders He has done (1 Chron 16:12) and testify to the fact that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Heb 13:8)

So, if you are free on Saturday 21st June, come along to our building on Market Street from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. to join in craft activities, enjoy refreshments and look at our photo exhibition as well as offer suggestions for the refurbishment of the community rooms which we hope will be the next step in our journey together. Or come along for the evening celebration, starting at 7 p.m. to hear more of what God has been and still is doing. Meetings on Sunday will be at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Everyone is welcome!