“One of the tasks of Christian discipleship is to learn how to ‘do the works you did at first’ (Rev 2:5) and absolutely refuse to ‘work like the devil.’ “
(Eugene Peterson, ‘The Journey’, on Psalm 127)

After the hectic activity from February through to the official opening in July, things have been a little quieter at church. The summer months are traditionally a time when the busyness of normal schedules is slowed down, when people take holidays, when the usual activities stop. It’s necessary to recharge batteries at times!

But the summer holidays are drawing to a close, and September will be on us before we know it. With that, various ‘old’ ministries will be re-starting and some new ones will be starting for the first time.

The ‘old’ ministries?
Well, Bible studies on Ephesians will be restarting on Thursdays (from 16th September) at 7.30 p.m.

Prayer meetings will be held on alternate Fridays.

Youth clubs and Mums ‘n’ Toddlers will re-start on Monday evenings and Friday mornings respectively from 6th September and 10th September.

The ‘new’ ministries?
A Saturday coffee morning will start on Saturday 4th September and will run from 10 a.m. until 12 noon every Saturday. We need volunteers to help run this and we hope we have many local people calling in for a drink and a chat. The former Methodist church used to run these coffee mornings very successfully for a number of years and we have already been asked by lots of people if we will be holding them, so we hope people will be pleased to know they’ll be running from September!

We are also hosting a badminton/ fellowship evening for adults on alternate Friday evenings.

And there are more new things being planned.

So let’s look ahead with enthusiasm and see what we can learn in the weeks and months ahead. Our aims are to grow closer to God and to each other and to be able to serve our community.

One of the things that is very encouraging about Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church is the willingness of church members to get involved in whatever ways they have talent.

Jeannette spoke for the first time on Sunday evening; her topic was ‘the armour of God’. We were reminded that we are in a real battle with a real enemy, but our God is mighty and has given us weapons and armour to protect us. Because Jesus is triumphant, we can stand.

As we considered each item of armour, we looked at:
1) the need for truth in our lives (the ‘belt of truth’) and how we need to be honest with ourselves, with others and with God
2) the need to have integrity running right through us, with righteousness being a part of us so that we bear the stamp of Jesus
3) how we need faith even to clothe ourselves with the armour and how the shields of old were soaked in water to put out the flaming arrows of the enemy. Similarly, we need faith if we are to withstand the enemy’s insidious attacks, which often come through fear, bitterness, division and persecution.
4) the need for our salvation to be as visible as a helmet – how easy do we find it to share the gospel with others?
5) using the Word of God as our sword (as Jesus did in the wilderness)
6) the importance of prayer and how prayer changes things, especially when we learn to pray for our enemies and for all the saints

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. ” (Eph 6:18) And so we concluded the meeting by doing just that!

It’s always scary to hear God’s voice and it takes a lot of courage to speak out what we feel He is saying to us – especially because there is always that sense of anxiety and doubt: “Is this really God or just my imagination?”

But it is good to simply meditate on what God has said, and these verses from this morning’s meeting deserve our full attention:

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” (Is 43:18-19)

“Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” (Hab 1:5)

“God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfil?” (Numbers 23:19)

“The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.” (Prov 19:23)

Mark preached on the topic of teaching and learning today, which is always interesting for me as a teacher. I seem to have spent a lot of time during the summer holidays pondering this subject, not always reaching satisfactory conclusions. How can I make my teaching more interesting and memorable? What are the different methods of learning? How do I motivate pupils who are not interested in my subject? What is the point of learning?

Mark commented that two things were needful for successful learning to take place: a desire to learn and a good teacher. We were challenged to ask God to teach us things, including a heightened awareness of what pleases and displeases Him: “Teach me what I cannot see;if I have done wrong, I will not do so again.'” (Job 34:32) Sin is so embedded in our lives and the heart is so desperately deceitful and wicked that without illumination from God, we will not be able to learn how to please Him.

Then, looking at various verses from Psalms, he talked about the things we need to learn:
(1) how to walk with God (“Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths” Ps 25:4 and “Teach me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors” Ps 27:11)

(2) we need to learn from the Word (“guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long” Ps 25:5) since “what we know determines how we serve God.”

(3) the wonders of God (“In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds” Ps 45:4)

(4) that we are in a spiritual war (“Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me” Ps 144:1-2)

Learning from God isn’t always easy, but it will always lead us into truth and the truth shall set us free.

On holiday in Bristol last week, we went to see Brunel’s ship, ss Great Britain.

SS Great Britain was an advanced passenger steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Steamship Company’s transatlantic service between Bristol and New York. While other ships had previously been built of iron or equipped with a screw propeller, Great Britain was the first to combine these features in a large ocean-going ship. 98 metres long (322 feet) with a beam measuring 15.39 metres, the ship had an average speed of 10 to 11 knots and could carry over 300 passengers (later increasing this number to over 700) and 1,200 tons of cargo. The ship is now permanently in dry dock in Bristol, having been brought back from the Falkland Islands in 1970, and it was amazing to be able to tour it, looking at where all the cargo was stored and seeing how the first class passengers lived in style!

This triumph of engineering cannot compare, however, with the boat Stephen talked about on Sunday morning: Noah’s ark. God commanded Noah to build an ark 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high (Genesis 6:15), with lower, middle and upper decks. There would have been plenty of cargo on the ark, and certainly even more animals than were carried on ss Great Britain! Perhaps even more amazing than the actual construction of the ark, though, was the character of the man building it. Noah was courageous, God-fearing, righteous, faithful and obedient, doing what God said even though the idea must have seemed crazy at the time! “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.” (Hebrews 11:7)

Noah shows us how we should live to please God. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him, so may we all have the faith, courage, perseverance and steadfastness of Noah.