Unconditional

Sep 25, 2013

One of the things that we find so hard to grasp about God is the fact of His unconditional love. As we were challenged on Sunday to add love to our faith and to understand that that love is not just brotherly affection but is actually the same kind of love that God has, I have been meditating on His unconditional love.

Most of our lives as humans is spent understanding the relationship between cause and effect. We very soon learn the principle of ‘quid pro quo‘ (even if the Latin term comes later in our understanding!) This is all about one favour in return for another. If we do something for someone else, they will do something for us. “You scratch my back; I’ll scratch yours” is the popular saying reflecting the same principle!

God’s love is not like that, however. He loves us no matter what. He doesn’t just love us if we obey Him or if we respond or if we pray or if we accept that He loves us. He just loves us. And that same kind of love is totally liberating to us and is the measure of all true love. No conditions. No strings attached.

Wow! Such a simple thought, and yet one we find so hard to grasp and so difficult to reflect back to a world which really needs to see unconditional love in us in order to see it in God.

Further Announcements

Sep 22, 2013

Dave had a number of announcements to give tonight.

Firstly, he reminded us of the Macmillan Coffee Morning on 28th September. The Methodist church on Furlong Road will be holding an Autumn fête on the same day, from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. There will be a bouncy castle and barbecue at this event, to which we were all invited.

Then he read out a letter on behalf of the leadership of the church, following the announcement made last week regarding the pastorate of the church.

“Last week Pastor Mark made a very important announcements which he gave in the form of a letter to each one of us. He announced that he was resigning as Pastor at the end of this year.

First of all, I would like to express the gratitude of everyone in the church for the sterling service that Mark and Diane have given to the church over the last eight years. Their love, commitment and dedication have led us to where we are at the moment.

They are not leaving the church and we all look forward to working with them in the new ministries which God will open up to them.

Since hearing of Mark’s decision, the elders of the church have been in prayer seeking the will of God as the church moves forward. The result is that the elders have come to the unanimous decision that we should ask Garry Turner to accept the position of Pastor of Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church.

We are delighted to confirm that Garry has accepted the position and that he will be our Pastor from 1st January 2014.

Please pray for Garry and Julie as they accept this challenging position, and pray for the special anointing of God on them as they seek to lead the church in the direction that God has for us. Please also pray for Stephen.

I am sure that we all welcome Garry as our new pastor and look forward to working with him and Julie as they lead us forward in God.

If anyone has any objections to this appointment, then please submit them to me, in writing, within the next 7 days.

Dave Wood.”

Too good to be true?

Sep 22, 2013

One of the things Stephen touched on tonight was that we sometimes find it difficult to accept the gospel because we are unused to such good news being completely free, no strings attached. We are so used to having to pay for things that we view special offers suspiciously. We don’t expect to find monies deposited in our bank accounts unless we’ve earned them!

‘Eagle Eye’ was a 2008 film starring Shia LaBoeuf and Michelle Monaghan. Their characters were coerced into carrying out a plan by a possible terrorist organisation. Jerry Shaw is a Stanford University dropout who learns that his identical twin brother Ethan, a US Air Force first lieutenant, has been killed. Following the funeral, Jerry is surprised to find $750,000 in his bank account. He later finds his apartment filled with weapons, ammonium nitrate, classified DOD documents, and forged passports. He receives a phone call from a woman who says the FBI is about to arrest him and that he needs to run.

The film captures the total sense of bewilderment the character feels on checking his bank balance and finding it much healthier than he expected (he’s used to avoiding his landlady because he can’t afford to pay rent, for example!) That’s a little bit like we feel when we accept the good news that God loves us so much that He sent His only Son to die for us so that we should not perish but have eternal life. We are stunned to discover that not only have we been given the ‘credit’ to live for ever, but we have also received multiple additional blessings – ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.’ (Eph 1:3 TNIV) We discover we were chosen in Him before the creation of the world (Eph 1:4 TNIV). We discover that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17 TNIV). We discover that we have been given gifts from the Holy Spirit.

If we can truly grasp all that God has deposited into our lives, we will live life with a new identity and purpose that are independent of our financial wealth or social status.

The Bank Of God

Sep 22, 2013

Stephen spoke on the bank of God tonight – not dealing with money, but with things of far greater value! All of us are welcomed into the bank of God: John 3:16 TNIV shows us that God has made a great investment in our lives, giving His only Son to save us. He has invested so much into our lives, but His bank is not like the world’s, for it is not status-related, credit-determined or income-controlled.

We find it hard to believe that anything can be free these days, but the only condition placed upon us is that we believe (we ‘accept that something is true’.) There are no monthly subscriptions to pay, no annual charges, no standing orders or hidden extras that will impoverish us. We just have to believe and we can move from death to eternal life.

This is the opening statement of our account, which is a current account, relevant to all, however long it is since we first accepted Christ. God’s bank is indeed the bank that keeps on giving! – an even better deal than Santander 123!

In God’s bank, we are given a ‘good deposit’ which is entrusted to us (see 2 Tim 1:13-14 TNIV). God’s investment is in us, and our bank balance is perhaps greater than we realise, for He has given us gifts and talents. Often, we don’t realise what God has given us because we neglect to check on all He is doing, but we have to understand that the Holy Spirit moves in each one of us with investments that are beyond our wildest dreams.

We were urged not to be a ‘rainy day saver’, neglecting or hoarding God’s gifts but using what God has given us now. In God’s bank, there are no credit cards, but He is truly our ‘flexible friend’ who guides us towards great things.

Macmillan Coffee Morning

Sep 22, 2013

On Saturday 28th September, we will be hosting a Macmillan Coffee Morning, with all proceeds from this going towards the cancer charity.

Do come along if you can to this event, which will be from 10 a.m. until 12 noon in the community hall. We hold a coffee morning every Saturday morning, but this Saturday will be a special event in that we are raising money for Macmillan nurses, who do such a great job of caring for those suffering from cancer. There are currently 2 million people living with cancer in the UK and the charity provides medical, emotional, practical and financial support, pushing for a better cancer care system. If you want to know more about the work of the Macmillan charity, check out their website.