Wow!

We had a truly fantastic day yesterday with 4FrontTheatre. Their show ‘Back In Time For Christmas’ was seen by 260 pupils at Goldthorpe Primary School, 140 pupils from Sacred Heart Primary School and 137 people at the evening show at GPCC… and safe to say, they had a great time!

The show’s main character, Justin Time, had invented a time machine so we could travel back in time to witness the first Nativity (and find out if the wise men really did arrive at the same time as the shepherds and if the shepherds really did wear tea towels…)

Inevitably, the time machine didn’t work perfectly, and even with the help of the faithful ‘Clockie’, Justin encountered some historical events he hadn’t anticipated… meeting Charles Dickens and a caveman and finding a helper in George (aka Tim)…

Eventually, however, they arrived in Bethlehem, in time to meet an insurance salesman and an over-zealous innkeeper…

They found some not very smart shepherds:

… and eventually, after many chases and fights, managed to give some gifts to baby Jesus.

Maybe these ‘three wise men from the East’ learnt a lot about Jesus… and the real wise men were still travelling at the end as our intrepid time travellers made it back in time for Christmas to celebrate all our wonderful Saviour has done!

The well in this story (Gen 29:1-14) sets the scene for us; it shows us a place of watering, a place where the shepherds gathered to water the flock. It’s significant because Jacob and his family were shepherds and so it’s perhaps inevitable that the watering wells were important places to them. The well was the place where water, essential for life, could be found.

God not only provides for our physical needs but describes Hmself as the bread of life and the water of life. Just as we cannot exist without food and water in the natural realm, we cannot exist without the sustenance God provides for us through His word and through His Spirit. We need to learn the daily disciplines of prayer and reading God’s word so that we can grow spiritually (see Heb 5:11-14). If we only connect with God’s word in a church context, we will become spiritually famished because we need to receive from God on a daily basis.

Hebrews provides warnings to us to pay attention to what we have heard (see Heb 2:1) and reminds us that the word did not do all the people good because they failed to add faith to the mix. (Heb 4:2) Just as a cake needs all the ingredients to make it taste good, so we need to add faith to God’s word so that we can see His promises come true. Jacob reminds us that God is able to direct and guide our lives without us having to plot or scheme; we too can therefore enter God’s rest (Heb 4:10) and know that He is able to provide us, no matter what our circumstances.

In our series ‘The Wells of Salvation’, we’ve reached the story of Jacob, son of Isaac and Rebekah and grandson of Abraham and Sarah. Jacob is a reminder to us that God’s promises are for all generations and that these promises are not dependent on our goodness. Jacob was a schemer, one who plotted to get his father’s blessing and the birthright despite being the younger son; yet we see that God’s promises remain steadfast throughout (see Gen 28:13-15). This encourages us to hold on to God’s promises as we not only reap the benefit of all that has gone before but can be active in sowing for future generations through our lives and prayers now (see Ps 102:18); we can be ‘agents of blessing’!

Providence is defined as ‘the governance of God by which He, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe.’ In Gen 29:1-14, we see God’s providence at work as Jacob, fleeing his brother’s anger, is led by God to Harran, where he meets servants of Laban, his uncle, at a well. There, he meets Rachel, who will later become his wife. He is overwhelmed by the awareness that God is in every situation of his life, working for his good, and we too can be confident that God ‘works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will’ (Eph 1:11) and is working for our good in every circumstance of life. (Rom 8:28) As Michael W. Smith sings,

‘Oh, the Hand of Providence
Is guiding us through choices that we make.
Oh, the Hand of Providence
Is reaching out to help us on our way.’ (‘The Hand of Providence’, Michael W. Smith & Wayne Kirkpatrick)

God’s providence is closely connected to His provision, for He works in the everyday details of our lives to care for us and provide for us. He provided for Jacob (without Jacob having to plot and scheme) and He will provide for us too.

Discipleship is one of the key aspects of the Christian life. It is part of a progressive and productive relationship with God which is not dependent on our intellect, looks, strength, energy or stature; it is dependent on God’s love and grace and our response to His call. Matt 28:19 (part of the ‘Great Commission’) looks at how, as disciples of Jesus, we are all called to make disciples of others. Disciples are people chosen by Christ from everyday backgrounds and ordinary jobs to follow Him.

So often, we have wrong ideas about what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Mark 9:33-37 reminds us that greatness is not about money or power or strength; Jesus reminds us that the first must be last and that the little child is welcomed by Him. Discipleship is not about being a ‘backseat driver’, nor is it about pushing ourselves to the forefront, as clearly some of His early disciples wanted to. We have to accept that God’s way of doing things is not the same as ours and that if we want to succeed in God’s kingdom, we must be prepared to serve humbly.

Servanthood is the mark of a disciple (see John 13:1-17). Spiritual power comes with servanthood and humility. Jesus Himself came not to be served but to serve, and our discipleship has to be based on servanthood and submission.

We’re very excited about the Christmas activities that are being planned at the moment. On Wednesday, a group of volunteers prepared all the goody bags, ready to give out to schoolchildren and those attending our pantomime performances on Monday.

On Monday (25th November), 4FrontTheatre will be back in Goldthorpe, performing their Christmas show ‘Back In Time For Christmas’. There will be familiar faces and new ones in the team as Justin Time travels in his amazing time machine to take his own gift to baby Jesus…

Please pray for the 3 shows in Goldthorpe on Monday (to pupils of Goldthorpe Primary School, Sacred Heart Primary School and the general public in the evening), but also pray for the two teams as they tour the whole country with this show and with ‘Job and Jingle’ (our show’s going north, in green!)

Then on Friday 6th December we have our Parent & Toddler Christmas party in the morning (always great fun!) and in the afternoon between 4 and 8 p.m., Market Street will be heaving as Goldthorpe Development Group host the Goldthorpe Christmas Market again. We’ll be open for refreshments (our luxury hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows or flakes are highly popular), craft activities and you can also have your Christmas presents wrapped! Later on, at 6 p.m., we’ll have a community carol singalong in the church car park.

Don’t forget the ‘Churches Together’ Advent Nativity (Knitivity?) Trail, which will be happening from this coming week. Knitted Nativity figures will be finding their place in shops in Thurnscoe, Goldthorpe and Bolton-on-Dearne, and children from all local primary schools will be given leaflets to fill in, telling us which figure is in which shop. Those who bring their completed sheets to the ‘Christmas Celebration’ on Saturday 14th December will have the chance to win a luxury hamper (there’s a hamper per village!) Our thanks to the army of knitters who have worked so hard to create these figures.

So there’s lots to celebrate and get involved in!

Providence is defined as ‘divine guidance or care’ and is a thread which runs through the whole Bible. It was God’s providence which led to Joseph being in the right place (Egypt) at the right time (famine) to provide for the nation of Israel. It was God’s providence which kept Moses from being killed as a baby so that in later years he could lead the nation of Israel out of Egyptian slavery in preparation for the fulfilment of His promise to give them a land flowing with milk and honey. It was God’s providence which led a foreign king (Cyrus) to look favourably on God’s exiled people and let them return to that promised land. God is always working on our behalf, even though much of this work may be behind the scenes and invisible to our natural eyes.

However, there is absolutely no doubt that Scripture teaches us that God’s providence moves in very mysterious ways! We need the benefit of hindsight usually to see what God has been doing in secret for much of our lives. Joseph could not possibly have imagined how being sold in slavery and then wrongfully imprisoned could be the path God was leading him on to become the deliverer of His people. Moses could not have imagined how forty years as a shepherd in Midian could prepare him for leading God’s nation out of slavery. The people of God who faced seventy years of exile for their rebellion and disobedience to God must have wondered about God’s love and compassion as they knew anguish and heartache.

The death of Stephen so soon after the death of Jesus must have seemed a massive blow to the early church. God had miraculously intervened to allow Peter and John to continue preaching the gospel and the church was seeing many supernatural signs and wonders, leading to explosive growth. The early chapters of Acts show us God doing marvellous things through His Holy Spirit, and then abruptly, suddenly, catastrophically, Stephen is killed. No wonder ‘godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.’ (Acts 8:2) Such great persecution followed Stephen’s death that ‘all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.’ (Acts 8:1) I can imagine believers reeling, not understanding, wondering what on earth God was doing. The persecution was so great that both men and women were being imprisoned. (Acts 8:3) How could divine providence be seen in this twisting path?

And yet, with the benefit of hindsight, we see that Stephen’s death was ultimately instrumental in the conversion of the chief persecutor, Saul, who was to become the ‘apostle to the Gentiles’, responsible for church growth which made that seen hitherto in Jerusalem look like a minor church plant. Saul did not forget what he saw in Stephen’s death (he refers to it later in Acts 22:20, demonstrating the influence Stephen had on him even in dying). Moreover, the scattering of disciples away from Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria was to lead to the spread of the gospel into the whole world, just as Jesus had originally said (see Acts 1:8). With the benefit of hindsight, we can see how God’s providence used Stephen’s testimony, in word and deed, through life and death, to promote the church’s mission and how this apparently catastrophic happening (martyrdom) led to new life and a flourishing church.

In our own lives, therefore, we need to hold on to the fact that a twisting path which does not seem to be directly leading to the destination we assumed God had for us is not necessarily a sign of our sin or God’s displeasure. God is working out His purposes in our lives all the time, even at those times we would label as catastrophic or disastrous. Casting Crowns sing,

“So when you’re on your knees and answers seem so far away,

You’re not alone; stop holding on and just be held.

Your world’s not falling apart, it’s falling into place;
I’m on the throne, stop holding on and just be held.

If your eyes are on the storm,
You’ll wonder if I love you still,
But if your eyes are on the cross,
You’ll know I always have and I always will.’ (‘Just Be Held’, Casting Crowns)