God’s Church

Aug 3, 2025

Rend Collective’s song ‘Build Your Kingdom Here’ makes the astonishing claim, ‘We are Your church. We are the hope on earth.’ How can this possibly be true?

Today we looked at our identity as the church. The church is not a building or a denomination; it is not an institution or a club. Nor is the church perfect in any way yet! It’s full of sinners who have been called from darkness into light, but we are all still totally dependent on the grace of God. The church is God’s idea and Jesus spoke confidently about this, saying, ‘I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.’ (Matt 16:18) The church is the hope on earth because we proclaim the message of the God of hope and have been entrusted with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The church consists of people who have been called out (the ‘ekklesia’ of God). We must live differently now we have experienced God’s love, grace, mercy and forgiveness (see Eph 4:17-32). We have been given a task (to make disciples of all nations, as Matt 28:18-20 makes plain) and are called to be salt and light in the world. (Matt 5:13-14) The main way we can fufil this task is through love (see John 13:34-35). When we love even our enemies and love unconditionally as God loves us, we show the world what God is like.

The church is not the source of hope to the earth; only God can do that. Our job is to point people to the God of hope and to model His love, acceptance and forgiveness to all. We can have hope even in the midst of difficulties, because God’s plans will never be thwarted and His plan is for the church to be His body, led by His Spirit and strong because of God’s strength.

August Events

Aug 1, 2025

Today is Yorkshire Day and as we move into August, there are some important dates and changes to report.

From Sunday 3 August, we will be moving to one service each Sunday, starting at 3 p.m. Please don’t turn up at 10.30 a.m. or 6 p.m. anymore, as no one will be there! This change of time accommodates all who have attended services and we hope that it will be an encouragement also for new people to join us. We will still be celebrating God’s presence and work through worship, learning from His word (either through sermons or Bible studies), praying and having fellowship. Sunday School will still be available for children to grow in their understanding of God and faith through vidoes and activities and crafts. We’ll still have refreshments after the service. The only thing that’s changing is the time!

Please note that because of holidays there is no service on 10 August and we will not be at the building on 31 August as we are taking part in a joint churches’ celebration at Manvers Lake on that date. Join us outdoors with a picnic from 1 p.m .and enjoy worship, fun and games and public baptisms in the lake, including church member Philip being baptised there.

We’re also involved with 2 Churches Together events in August. Our Summer Fun picnics will be on Wednesday 6 August (12-2 p.m.) at Carrfield Park in Bolton upon Dearne and on Wednesday 20 August (12-2 p.m.) at Thurnscoe Plaza in Thurnscoe. Bring a picnic and join us for crafts and games/ sports with Dearne Family Hub and BPL. These events have been funded by Great Childhoods Ambition. Free drinks, fruit and ice-creams will be provided for children at the picnics. Bring a blanket, suntan cream and anything else you need to have a fab time together!

There is no Parent & Toddler group in August, but we’ll be at the building today cleaning toys if anyone wants to pop in to help or have a chat and a cuppa.

Our coffee morning is on Saturday 2 August between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. and ‘Mindful Moments’ is on Monday 18 August between 6 and 8 p.m. We’re also singing at Parkside on Tuesday 26 August at 2 p.m.

Preparations…

Aug 1, 2025

At our Bible study last night, we looked at 1 Chronicles 22 which deals with David’s preparations for the construction of the temple, something he was not allowed to build but for which he prepared extensively so that his son, Solomon, could complete this task with the help of other leaders and the support of the people.
The chapter reminds us of the importance of legacy (what we pass on to the next generation) and commission (since God HImself was the one who commissioned Solomon to this task), but as someone who spends the majority of her life preparing for events, there was a deep resonance for me in the idea of ‘extensive preparations’ and the need for perseverance in our work.
Preparation is a vital key to success in any sphere, but often it looks (and is) boring and unglamorous. Getting all the materials together to build a temple (including the iron for all the nails for the gateways!) and recruiting all the skilled craftsmen who were going to work on the temple was not something done in a day! I’m in the middle of costing a funding application, and there’s no substitute for the painstaking work of seeking costings and quotes, checking availability and dates. The projects I long to see happen need me to do these vital but very humdrum tasks.
We all know the importance of preparation and practice, but so often we balk at what this entails. Today a group of volunteers will be at church cleaning, fixing and sorting toys for the new academic year. There’s nothing exciting about cleaning carpets or washing toys down… but we need to do this. We seek shortcuts so often in life, but there is no substitute for our hard work and perseverance.
When my son started piano lessons at the age of five, I thought I was going to discover the key to flawless performance. He has perfect pitch; surely that was the key? I did indeed find the key.. but it wasn’t what I expected. Despite his God-given natural talent, he had to learn through patient practice – training through playing scales and finger exercises which allowed his fingers to learn to work independently and flexibly, training through the dissection of musical pieces, little by little, until they could be speeded up and put back together. This is a parable of life. There are no shortcuts to success. Every time we watch or listen to a performance, every time we attend a successful event, we see the tip of the iceberg, but what goes on underneath the visible sea level is the foundation of the success. Nikki buying potatoes, making coleslaw, grating cheese, opening tins of beans, sorting bowls and cutlery… so we could enjoy a family fun day lunch this week. Julie sourcing funding so we could have crafts to do and ice-creams to eat. Actors learning lines and rehearsing together; costumes made and props prepared so we can enjoy a show. Preparation is essential. When 4FrontTheatre are with us, we see a one-hour performance that sparkles and glistens. It’s prefaced by an hour of setting up the set and an hour taking it down, and by hours and hours of rehearsal and manufacture of props beforehand. Most of us never see that behind-the-scenes work.
To persevere in our everyday tasks requires endurance and encouragement. Without endurance, we will simply stop before we achieve our dream. Without encouragement, we’ll give up, because it’s jolly hard work to achieve anything worthwhile at all (not just a grand temple fit for God’s glory!) The good news is that God gives both endurance and encouragement. Read Romans 15 to have your endurance, encouragement, strength and hope renewed… and then, as David told Solomon, begin the work ‘and may the Lord be with you.’ (1 Chron 22:16)

Summer Fun 1

Jul 30, 2025

The first of our Summer Fun days, funded by Great Childhoods Ambition, took place today at Goldthorpe Parish Church and was attended by 144 people! We are so grateful to the funders, to Sue’s Ices for providing ice-creams and lollipops to the children, to Nikki Hickling of JJ’s Chippy for providing us with jacket potatoes and a variety of fillings for lunch and to the Dearne Family Hub for supporting the event with outdoor games. We had crafts indoors and a place to reflect on what we are grateful for.

Here are some photos:

We Are The Branches

Jul 27, 2025

This morning we looked at another aspect of our identity as the people of God: Jesus described Himself as the Vine, His disciples as branches, and God as the gardener. (John 15:1-17) The metaphor describes connection and relationship, intrinsic elements of our identity with God.
Pruning is the first thing mentioned by Jesus and seems counter-intuitive to us in the natural realm, but has a positive purpose (increaesd fruitfulness.) In the same way, the trials and testing which we find so difficult in life are ways that God refines and purifies us (see James 1:2-3, Romans 5:1-5). He is able to use all circumstances for good (Rom 8:28) and wants us to bear much fruit.
In order to be fruitful, we must learn to abide or remain in Christ. This means to dwell in Him, to make our home in Him (rather than in the world.) Great things are promised to us in prayer if we learn to abide in Christ.
Love and obedience are highlights of our relationship with Christ. As Jesus said in Matt 22:37-40, love for God and for others are the cornerstone of all the commandments, and the reflection of our identity in God.
Dependence on God is a sign of maturity, which again seems odd to us, as we spend so much time teaching our children independence and craving independence! The story of Mary and Martha illustrates the need for relationship over distracted busyness (Luke 10:38-42) Our identity as branches of the vine means we must learn to live in close relationship with Jesus, depending on Him and living out our faith through love and obedience. We accept the difficult times because we know we have moved from being servants to being friends of God, and we know that God is working for good in all circumstances, even when we may feel pruned back and exposed to the elements! To live with God as our permanent home means we cultivate time with Him and seek to sit at His feet, listening to what He says. That is the way to fruitfulness, joy and a life worth living.

Agents of Transformation (2)

Jul 20, 2025

Transformation sounds very posh! What does it mean to be an agent of transformation?

  • We seek to live out the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount, living according to values that make little sense to the rest of society. (Matt 5:1-14)
  • We seek to do to others what we would like them to do to us. (Matt 7:12)
  • We seek to love our enemies and pray for them, instead of cursing them and seeking revenge. (Matt 5:43-48)
  • We seek to forgive instead of holding onto bitterness and resentment. (Eph 4:32)
  • We seek to do good to all, not just to those people we feel deserve kindness. (Gal 6:9-10
  • We seek to live honourable, pure, holy lives, turning our backs on sexual promiscuity and lust (Matt 5:27-30, 1 Thess 4:3).
  • We seek to work hard and give up ways that dishonour God, such as stealing. (Eph 4:28)
  • We seek to give up bad language and profanity, speaking only the truth in love which has the power to build people up. (Eph 4:25, 29) Words are important; there’s no way we should talk as the world does, using swearing and cursing in our speech. God wants us to honour Him in how we talk.
  • We seek to put off falsehood and lies and live truthfully. (Eph 4:25)
  • We seek to get rid of bitterness, rage and anger, knowing that human anger does not bring about the righteous life God requires. (Eph 4:26, James 1:20)
  • We seek to give up anything that would master us (addictions, alcohol, drugs, smoking, greed, gluttony and so on) because we want only to be mastered by God. (Rom 6:11-14)
  • We seek God so that fear, anxiety and despair do not master us and so that we can point others to hope and life. (Matt 6:25-34)
  • We understand that who we are is the wellspring of life and that no amount of doing will ever replace the importance of being. We understand also that transformation comes as we spend time with God and allow His Spirit to reign in our lives.