Half-term Happenings
It’s a busy October half-term.
Monday 26 October
We’re hosting an afternoon tea and games event to raise funds for the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival between 2 and 4 p.m. A full afternoon tea, games, competitions, quizzes and much more.
Tuesday 27 October
A much delayed community art project is finally happening between 12 and 4 p.m. at the Phoenix Park underpass (Goldthorpe end) with Eye Violet leading a community effort at spray painting a mural onto the damaged underpass. We can’t wait to see the finished artwork.
Wednesday 28 October
The last of our lantern-making workshops and our family fun day is between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., where we will be learning about God’s wonderful world, looking at the solar system and making a variety of lanterns for Glowthorpe.
A Song of Praise
“Now these altars in the wilderness
Tell the story of His faithfulness.”
(“This Is Our God”, Phil Wickham)
Piles of stones heaped up to form an altar where sacrifices could be burned. A legacy of God’s involvement in an individual’s life that is meaningless without context. A lasting tribute to a moment when God stepped into a situation and transformed it.
The Bible is full of these stories, carefully recorded so that we can see examples of God’s faithfulness, provision and help.
Abram building an altar after God spoke to him, promising him offspring when he and his wife could not have children. (Gen 12:7)
Abraham building an altar on which his promised son would be sacrificed and then seeing God’s provision of a ram instead. (Gen 22:9 ff)
Isaac building an altar after encountering God. (Gen 35:1)
Moses building altars in the wilderness to remember God’s commands. (Deut 27:1-5)
Joshua commanding his men to take twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan to mark the miracle of this river parting to allow the Israelites to cross over into the Promised Land. (Josh 4:5-7)
Altars are everywhere as we read, visible reminders of what God has done.
I write to create an altar, a testimony of God’s faithfulness to us in modern times.
The photographs, Bible verses and signs in our church building act as altars. They don’t look like a traditional altar, but they are there to remind us. We record events and share photographs not simply to act as evidence of what we do, but to remind ourselves and tell others of what God has done for us.
You may look at these photos and see a newly painted community hall and pretty new blinds, and move on to the next post in your feed without much thought.
But the words here say, “Stop a moment! Look! Listen!”
“The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” (Psalm 126:3)
Because we didn’t do this.
God did this by providing money from the Coalfields Regeneration Trust so that our building could be refreshed so we can continue serving the community, so that we can continue to be with God in the community and with God for the community.
Stop and think about that! Don’t take it for granted. We could not continue without God’s provision, help and support. We’re so grateful for the people who help us. We’re so grateful for the professionals from Three Diamonds and Martin’s Blinds who came and did the work for us. We are so grateful for every church member who has worked hard in putting up scaffolding, taking it down, preparing the room for painting, cleaning up after painting… the list is endless. But most of all we know God is the ultimate giver of all good things (James 1:17) and we want to acknowledge that.
You may see a clean room. We see a miracle and build an altar. We know the room will get dirty again and we’ll need other miracles of provision in other areas. But we know God is faithful. Our altars remind us of this fact
What God Has Done (1)
Today we looked at Psalm 126, especially verse 3 which says, “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” When God intervenes in our lives and rescues us from danger, rejoicing is the natural response to what God has done.
Throughout the Bible we see this: Abraham and Sarah waiting for the impossible to happen, and finally holding their miracle son in their arms (appropriately named “laughter”), Joseph reunited with his brothers after years of suffering, the Red Sea parting for the Israelites to allow freedom from slavery, the walls of Jericho falling. Though the waiting can be difficult, when God acts decisively for us, we rejoice.
Psalm 126 was written after a difficult period for Israel, 70 years of exile. Then, through the foreign king Cyrus, God’s people were allowed to return to their home and rebuild the temple. The response was great joy and witness. We too can rejoice and testify when God steps in to our lives and provides for us and helps us. We can see what our God has done and can speak of this freely. Praise be to God!
Rotten Religion?
Today we continued looking at the book of Isaiah, and Garry called today’s study ‘Rotten Religion!‘ Isaiah spoke as God’s prophet to Israel, God’s chosen people, but at this stage in their history, God described them as having rebelled, not knowing or understanding God and behaving faithlessly, as a prostitute.
It matters that our faith has historical roots, but we need an up-to-date experience of God that grows as we do. A faithful Christian life is not only about what we say we believe. It is also about how we live, how we suffer, how we love others and how we entrust ourselves to God when our earthly life draws to a close. We need to pass on the truth and our experience of it – we do this by living it in the now, because it is a living faith.
When we have a personal experience of the Lord and relationship with Him, our life is a journey (and one that is not just to be endured, but enjoyed.) We share life together as God’s people, and as we do this, our life is more than empty religion, but a dynamic and vibrant life that reproduces faith and encourages faith in others
The People of God
Tonight we concluded our series on ‘The People of God’, which has looked at our identity as God’s people, seeing ourselves through God’s eyes rather than through our own eyes or other people’s. It’s important that we grasp our identity in Christ because this helps to root us in truth rather than in feelings which change so easily.
God calls us His chosen, treasured possession (see 1 Pet 2:9-10), and over the past two years we have explored different metaphors used in the Bible to describe God’s people. We are loved (1 John 3:1), born again into God’s family (John 1:12) and now can call God our Father and Jesus our brother (see Romans 8 ). God has redeemed and forgiven us (Eph 1:7) and as a God of blessing, has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. (Eph 1:3) Through Christ, we are more than conquerors (Rom 8:37) and have been raised to heavenly realms, having dual citizenship on earth and in heaven. (Eph 2:6, Phil 3:20).
We are followers of Christ who have been called to holiness, obedience and to be fishers of men (see Romans 1:5, Matt 4:18-20). We have purpose since we are God’s handiwork, created to do good works and given the Great Commission of making disciples of all nations (Eph 2:10, Matt 28:18-20). God knows us by name (Is 43:1) and wants us to live in freedom (Gal 5:1) and in confidence (Phil 1:6).
The Bible uses many metaphors to describe the church, including soldiers of Christ (2 Tim 2:3), the bride of Christ (Rev 21), the body of Christ (Rom 12/ 1 Cor 12) and the house or temple of God (Heb 3:6, 1 Cor 6:19-20). We are jars of clay containing the treasure of God (2 Cor 4:7, Is 64:8) and are also called God’s sheep! (see Ps 100:3) We are pilgrims on a journey to God (Ps 84:5) and have the privileged role of being ambassadors for Christ. (2 Cor 5:20) We are agents of transformation (who are being transformed ourselves and who are agents for change in society as we are salt and light, reflecting God’s glory.) (2 Cor 3:18, Matt 5:13-16) God calls us to be filled with His Spirit so we can soar like hot air balloons. (Is 40;31)
As we meditate on these verses, we must:
Hear God’s word.
Believe God’s word.
Apply God’s word.
Do God’s word.
Live God’s word.
Become who God made us to be.
Live as the people of God.
Knowing God
Yesterday’s Bible study looked at John 17;1-5, where Jesus defines eternal life as knowing the true God and Jesus Christ, whom He sent.
We can have many strange ideas about God, so it’s important that we know the true God as revealed in the Bible. The true God is…
• omniscient (Ps 139)
• omnipotent (Jer 32:17, 27)
• omnipresent (Ps 139)
• eternal/ everlasting (Deut 31:27, Ps 90:2)
• immutable (‘I, the Lord, do not change’ Mal 3:6)
• incomparable (2 Sam 7:22)
• righteous (Ps 9:8, Gen 18:25)
• self-existent, with no beginning or end (Rev 22:13, ‘For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.’ John 5:26)
• holy (Isaiah 6:3)
• loving/ love (1 John 4:8)
• just (Deut 32:4)
• merciful (Dan 9:9)
• forgiving (Num 14:18)
• faithful (Heb 3:6, Heb 10:23)
• good (Ps 119:68)
• compassionate (Ps 103:8)
• gracious (Neh 9:17)
• slow to anger (Ps 86:15)
• light (meaning that He is self-revealing in information of Himself (Isaiah 60:19; James 1:17))
• the creator and maker of everything (Gen 1-3, John 1:1-3, Ps 24:1)
• sovereign, in control, ruler (Ps 93:1)
We also discussed the Father-Son relationship which Jesus used to describe His relationship with God and spoke about the importance of unity, submission and relationship and how this must be reflected in our own lives. We also looked at the ‘I am’ statements in John’s Gospel which help us to see who Jesus is and what He is like:
1. I am the bread of life (John 6:35): Jesus states that He is the true spiritual nourishment for humanity. We have to feed on Him if we are to grow and be strong.
2. I am the light of the world (John 8:12): Jesus offers guidance and truth to a world lost in spiritual darkness. The theme of light and darkness is predominant in John’s gospel and letters. Light is an attribute of God, so it is no surprise that Jesus uses this metaphor too.
3. I am the door of the sheep (John 10:7): Jesus acts as the exclusive protective gateway to salvation. He is the only way we can be saved. Salvation comes through no other name. We cannot save ourselves.
4. I am the good shepherd (John 10:11): Jesus demonstrates sacrificial love and care for His followers. God is frequently described as a shepherd in the Old Testament (e.g. Psalm 23), and Jesus reinforces this truth here.
5. I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25): Jesus provides the absolute assurance of eternal life. He shows us that God is in control of life and death and that death cannot be the end if we will trust in Him.
6. I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6): Jesus declares Himself as the only path to God the Father.
7. I am the true vine (John 15:1): Jesus shows that believers must stay connected to Him for spiritual fruit and growth
May we grow in the grace and knowledge of God and our Saviour.