Some time ago I wrote about God’s mathematics (God’s Mathematics) and my views on how He works things out numerically haven’t really changed! Every week Dave and I count the weekly offering and we are amazed at how God multiplies the congregation’s giving: when we look at the number of people present and then count the monies given, we’re not quite sure what goes on between the giving and the counting, because there seems an awful lot more than there ‘ought’ to be! God is able to multiply our giving and can do so much more with what we give than you would expect would be possible.

This same principle of divine multiplication seems to be in operation with regards to the food boxes we are collecting to donate to needy families in Goldthorpe. The original vision God gave to one of our members was to have one box of tinned food per month to give for at least a year. We started with a cardboard box and quickly filled that, so we progressed to a larger box. That soon was filled to overflowing.

Now, just three months into the scheme (officially two since we started, but we’ve definitely collected more than enough for two months!), we have two large boxes and that doesn’t seem to be enough!

I cannot possibly explain this and feel rather like David did when he viewed all the gifts given so generously for the building of the temple: “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.” (1 Chron 29:14) We can only acknowledge God’s provision and blessing on our own lives and thankfully return all we can to help others out of the abundance He has given to us.

I am about to take a school trip to Normandy on a residential trip and as you can imagine, the paperwork that has to be completed with such a trip makes the idea of a ‘paperless office’ quite laughable.

One of the things I have had to do is organise a ‘collective passport’ for the pupils so that they do not all have to take individual passports. That involves pupils and parents giving identity details to the Passport Office so that identity cards can be issued. Date and place of birth must be given, along with any passport details they already possess; there are additional questions to be answered if the child was born outside the U.K.

The question of identity always interests me, especially since, as Christians, we are citizens of two kingdoms: the kingdom of earth and the kingdom of heaven. I have a note at work which reminds me “We are children of God. Our identity must always be rooted in who we are, not in what we do.” It’s so easy to find our sense of identity in our jobs, in our functions, in what we do rather than in who we are. Value and worth are so often tied up with activity, not being.

The pupils on my trip have their U.K. identity stamped on these identity cards which allow them to travel freely in the European Union. It’s much harder at times to find and accept our God-given identity, but we need to do so if we are to live as God wants us to.

“I’ve been looking from the outside, outside
I’ve been walking on a straight line, straight line
Scared to let the world see my failures, who I am, or who I’ve been.

I want to see the world change, see the system cave in
You pull our hearts from the ashes
The cry of the captive is rising.” (Kutless, ‘Identity’)
Kutless, ‘Identity’

Whilst we were away this weekend, the message was on Daniel’s response to Nebuchadnezzar’s demand for an interpretation of his dream (told in Daniel 2). There were two aspects to this child-friendly sermon (children dressed up as Nebuchadnezzar, naming characteristics of his personality which were then stuck on him, and as God, also given ‘character labels’, suggested by the children) which particularly struck me.

One was the point that Daniel’s response to the threat he and his friends faced if they could not come up with an interpretation (a very unpleasant death!) was to pray. Prayer is one of the greatest resources we possess and yet is often neglected. Lynn, giving the sermon, mentioned a quote from John Piper on the subject of prayer which really resonated with me:

“Life is war. That’s not all it is. But it is always that. Our weakness in prayer is owing largely to our neglect of this truth. Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given us prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world. Prayer gives us the significance of front-line forces, and gives God the glory of a limitless Provider. The one who gives the power gets the glory. Thus prayer safeguards the supremacy of God in missions while linking us with endless grace for every need.” (John Piper)

The second image which has stuck with me was a Venn diagram, ably illustrated with hoops, to show us how we live in the world but also belong to God’s Kingdom and how we, essentially, live in the overlap part:

Jesus prayed about His disciples “They are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” (John 17:15-19)

For many of us, we feel the struggle of being ‘in the world’ but ‘not of it’ very much. Let’s take heart, though, for Jesus also said: ‘In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” ‘ (John 16:33)

The anniversary weekend to celebrate two years of being on Market Street is fast coming up!

As the banner says, the weekend to Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th July. We are hosting events from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on the Saturday with children’s craft activities, competitions and quizzes (not to mention the usual coffee morning!) In the evening at 6 p.m., we will be holding a family film night again, with free supper after the film.

On the Sunday, meetings will be at the usual time of 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m., with lots of interactive fun.

We’ll be looking at the theme ‘He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands’, so if you’re interested in seeing what God is doing in Goldthorpe and beyond, put the dates in your diary and be determined to get along!

Last weekend we were away visiting friends who are involved in a variety of parish churches in Newbury. It was interesting for us to visit one of these (St Peter’s) on the Sunday morning and to see that they too are involved in very similar ministries to our church:

Helping the poor and needy in nearby Reading:


Praying for the needs of each other and the community:

It is heartening to know that God is building His church in all kinds of different places and that there is a commonality to the service that the church is offering, even when the style of worship may be different. We listened to an interactive sermon on Daniel, learning about his willingness to seek God in the difficulties of being asked to interpret the king’s dream and how he and his friends sought to put God first in their lives and serve him faithfully where they were. We celebrated with the congregation as they congratulated a member on being awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. We sang children’s songs and prayed for a recently bereaved family. All these things reminded us of the larger picture, that God is building His church in different places in different ways, but that the message of the Gospel remains the same.

John spoke last night from Matt 5:1-16, looking particularly at verse 16: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

We have to permit and allow God’s light to shine through us. Jesus, the Light of the World, wants us to reflect His glory through our own lives. It is both personal and a privilege to do that and there is a duty on us to reflect God’s character effectively. God’s light will not be extinguished, even in darkness.

At this time when the Olympic torch is about to travel through South Yorkshire (reaching Barnsley on 25th June), we need to reflect on the fact that the purpose of God’s light shining through us is that others may glorify our Father in heaven. How we live before others is of vital importance to our witness and to the impact we have on those around us.