We had our first March birthday to celebrate tonight!

Last month, Garry talked about choices and gave us the opportunity to choose between white, milk and plain chocolate. That got Julie thinking about all the other kinds of chocolates there are (such as Celebrations, Quality Street and Heroes) and the children found out which were the most popular for us…

However, it seemed restrictive to only think about chocolates, so we also thought about Liquorice Allsorts & Haribo sweets!

The confectionery business is full of variety… and this is really a reflection of the variety we see all around us in creation (think of all the flowers, trees, animals, birds and fish God made!) God loves colour and vibrancy and vitality and makes beautiful things… including people who are infinitely varied and all unique. We can be sure that God welcomes all sorts!

Jesus got into trouble with the religious leaders of His day precisely because He welcomed sinners and ate with them (Luke 15:2). He went out of His way to befriend Zacchaeus, a tax collector hated by many. (Luke 19:1-10) Welcome and acceptance need to be part of our everyday lives (Rom 15:7). It doesn’t matter what our racial identity, gender, religious background or intelligence is. We are all welcomed by God into His family; there are no outsiders to His love.

Dave spoke this morning from Phil 1:3-6. Paul wrote many letters to specific churches such as this one, but the letters were probably also widely circulated to other churches and have relevance to us all nowadays. The letter to the Philippians, written while Paul was in jail, is a letter of joy and delight and carries with it the assurance that God who has begun a good work in us will carry it on to completion!

The author of this good work is God Himself. God uses people, but He is the one who has begun a good work in us. No church is a club run by people; it is the creation of God who gathers people together, fills them with His Spirit and moves in their midst. God was the one who began the work in Philippi; He is the one who has begun a good work in Goldthorpe too!

We needn’t be afraid that God will start a good work and then give it up. Unlike us, God has perseverance and stickability! He is in sovereign control and will carry on to completion the work He has started. This work is in us. He works within people to bring about regeneration. He’s not interested in surface improvements, but works on us from the inside out (see 2 Cor 5:17). He gives us a new nature and new interests and chips away at all that is not of Him until we are re-created in His image.

The work of salvation is ongoing, to be completed when Jesus Christ returns again to restore all that was lost through sin’s curse. We can be sure that God is still at work in our midst and therefore do not need to be downhearted and depressed. God has promised to do many wonderful things in our area and we long to see the fulfilment of His promises. Zech 4:10 reminds us not to despise the day of small things. As we celebrate 10 years of being in the building at Market Street, as we celebrate the many ways we are working together with other local churches, we can see that God is continuing to do a good work in our area. We can thank God as Paul did, praying with joy and thanksgiving as we look towards the ongoing good work of God in our lives.

Please continue to pray for our usual outreach ministries:

1. the youth club on Monday nights

2. the Parent & Toddler group on Friday mornings

3. our monthly meeting at Cherry Tree Court (on 8th March)

Pray that God will use us to show His love to many people and will give us opportunities to speak boldly and fearlessly about what He has done for us.

The ‘Churches Together’ Day of Prayer (an annual event hosted by Furlong Road Methodist Church) will be on Friday 3rd April between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. If you can come along for any period of time on that day, there will be the opportunity to explore different prayer spaces and different aspects of prayer.

We will again be praying on the streets of Goldthorpe and in church on Saturday 4th April between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. and will have Easter services on Good Friday (10th April) at 5.30 p.m. (starting with light refreshments and Holy Communion) and on Easter Sunday (12th April) at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m.

In April, we will be having our ‘Churches Together’ Family Fun Day on Wednesday 15th April between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. This year, we’ll be having the day at the Salvation Army and also exploring the newly created green space at the Goldthorpe Railway Cuttings (opposite Texaco). We’ll have craft activities and stories inside and will be looking at a prayer labyrinth and Easter egg hunt outdoors. As always, we’re offering this fun day entirely free and refreshments will be served.

It’s hard to believe we’re already in March, but there are some exciting things happening this week.

4FrontTheatre will again be in Goldthorpe on Tuesday 3rd March. They’ll be performing their show ‘Fisherman’s Tail’ at both Goldthorpe primary schools and we’re so pleased to be able to offer the schools this chance to reflect on the life of Jesus and how friendship with Him revolutionised ordinary men and women (as it still does today!) Please pray for the team as they travel around the country, especially for safety in some of the nasty weather we’ve been experiencing.

On Friday 6th March there will be the World Day of Prayer at 11.15 a.m. at Goldthorpe Parish Church on Lockwood Road. Join with Christians from local churches to pray for peace, love and reconciliation in a service written by Christians from Zimbabwe. After the service, there will be the opportunity to join with members of the parish church in a Lent lunch (soup & a roll) if desired.

On Saturday 7th March we will be launching our ‘Take Back The Streets‘ initiative as we gather together to pray for revival. You can either pray in the church building or be part of the groups going out on the streets to pray. The session will run from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. and is an opportunity for us to pray for our local community and to ask God to revive us and bring salvation to many people. Join us to pray, knowing that God hears and answers prayer.

Yesterday, five of us went to Maltby Full Life Church to attend the ‘Christian Life & Witness Course’ organised by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association as part of the preparations for the Franklin Graham tour later this year. This was another opportunity to think about what it means to live as a Christian and how best to share the good news of Jesus Christ with other people.

Jesus gave His disciples the command to make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Matt 28:19) The course was divided into three parts: the effective Christian life, our Christian witness and follow-up.

The Effective Christian Life

Our lives as Christian rely on God’s presence with us always (Matt 28:20), God’s Spirit working in us  (to fill us, to cleanse us, to bring us into step with God), God’s Word (which we need to hear, read, study, memorise and meditate upon) and God’s power. There are many stumbling-blocks along the way (for we are in a spiritual battle), often connected with our misunderstanding adversities and the battle with our sinful, selfish nature, but our lives need to be the ‘living letters’ which others can read. (2 Cor 3:1-3)

Our Christian Witness

We were encouraged to think of witness as being about 3 stories: the story of the person we are talking to, which deserves careful listening; our story (giving testimony to what God has done in our lives) and God’s story (what He has done through Jesus Christ to save us and bring peace and life to all people.) Witness cannot be something that is forced on people, but is the natural outworking of our relationships and conversations.

The tract ‘Steps To Peace With God’ is also a useful tool in sharing the gospel, for it focuses on God’s purpose, our problem (sin), God’s remedy (the cross) and our response. We all need to realise that a response is required, though we must also understand it can take a long time for people to fully understand the gospel and decide to follow Jesus.

One of the things we can all do at all times is to pray for people who are not yet Christians. We can pray for open doors (so that we have opportunities to speak with them about spiritual truths), for open hearts (that will be responsive to God’s word) and for open mouths (so that we speak God’s word! (Ps 51:15)

Follow Up

One of the objections to evangelistic meeetings is ‘what happens to people who make a commitment to Christ after the evangelist has gone?’ Franklin Graham is working closely with local churches and local Christians will be involved in counselling those who do make commitments to Christ and trying to connect them with local churches. The best follow-up, of course, comes when people are personally invited to the meetings by Christians who will be willing to continue their everyday relationship with these people. 1 Thessalonians shows us Paul’s commitment not simply to founding a church but to caring for the people who had become Christians. He describes himself as a mother (1 Thess 2:6-8) and prayed constantly for these people (1 Thess 1:2-3). He sent Timothy to check on their well-being (1 Thess 3:2) and wrote letters (most of our New Testament is a result of those letters!) and visited them. We need to be prepared to spend time with new Christians, helping them to read and understand the Bible and welcoming them into God’s family. In effect, this means sharing our whole lives with them, which is a challenge!

We would encourage everyone to think about these things and to ask God for opportunities to share the good news of Jesus with those around us – our family, friends, neighbours, work colleagues and everyone with whom we come into contact! We need to realise the urgency of our task and be whole-heartedly committed to fulfilling the Great Commission!