Thanks to all who attended and helped at the Light Party today. As always, we had a lot of fun looking at how Jesus is the light of the world and calls us light too!

There were a variety of craft activities to enjoy, including making concertina candles and light lanterns.

People also had the opportunity to play different games:

We included traditional games like apple-bobbing and ‘Pass The Pumpkin’!

Next weekend is our ‘Do Something’ weekend, when we think about the practical ways we can serve God in our local community.

On Saturday 3rd November we will be distributing 2000 leaflets advertising the church’s activities to houses in Goldthorpe. If you can join us for this, please meet at church at 11 a.m. and we will be taking leaflets out. This is something nearly everyone can be involved in and the more people who come, the quicker it will be!

On Sunday 4th November at both services, we will be collecting food and other items for the Salvation Army Christmas hamper appeal and winter warmer project. Instead of bringing fresh produce as for a harvest festival, we will be collecting the following food items:

• Stuffing & Yorkshire pudding mixes
• Gravy Granules
• Tinned ham/ corned beef
• Selection boxes
• Tins of sweets/ chocolates
• Chocolate log
• Christmas pudding
• Tea
• Coffee
• Sugar
• Long life milk/ long life fruit juices

Please ensure the ‘best before’ dates on all items is after Christmas.

We will also be collecting:

• hot water bottles
• thermos flasks
• foil blankets
• hats
• scarves & gloves
• winter coats

Thank you in anticipation of the help and provisions you will bring which will make a real difference to local families.

As we reach the end of October, we had two young birthdays to celebrate – one for October, one for the beginnig of November…

Doug Horley’s song ‘Faith as Small as a Mustard Seed’ reminds us of Jesus’s words: ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’ (Matt 17:20)

Mustard seeds really are small; it’s almost impossible to hold just one and keep it safe!

Faith is an essential ingredient for every believer, for without faith it is impossible to please God. (Heb 11:6) We need faith every day of our lives, not just when we first accept Christ as Lord and Saviour. God is constantly stretching our faith, calling us on. As Tim Hughes sings, ‘take this pocketful of faith/ It is all I have today/ I’m giving it all.’ (‘Pocketful of Faith’, Tim Hughes & Nick Herbert)

What is God calling you to believe today?

Isaiah tells us to draw water from the wells of salvation with joy. (Is 12:3) Having a determination to praise God and rejoice no matter what (see Hab 3:17-18) acts as the energy needed to draw the water from the well. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit and a gift of God, but the decision to praise and rejoice is ours. As Darlene Zschech says, ‘worship requires obedience… it requires an act of your will.’ There is great power in praise – power to change hearts and power to move mountains.

If we empty our buckets (our very lives) of all that is not of God (see Heb 12:1-3) and come to Him with simple faith and sacrificial praise (Heb 13:15), we can draw from the wells of salvation and find satisfaction and thirst-quenching life in God. We can then also offer this water of life to other people who are desperately thirsty. It’s not rocket science, but it does require our whole-hearted commitment and our honest faith.

We may only be jars of clay holding the all-surpassing power and treasure of God (2 Cor 4:7), but we need to understand the things that prevent us from receiving God’s living water.

Fear and worry can easily dominate our lives, causing us to fret rather than to trust God. Jesus reminded us not to worry (Matt 6:25), assuring us of God’s providence and provision. (Matt 6:25-34, John 14:1) We have to choose where we allow our thoughts to rest (see Phil 4:6-8). When we allow God’s peace to reign in our hearts, it’s like taking the lid off the bucket and having much more room for the water!

Doubt and indecision can stop us using the rope and bucket God has given us. It’s easier at times to believe the lies of the enemy than God and to allow inertia and fear of failure to have the last word. God wants us to press on – just do it! (see Col 3:17)

Wrong attitudes and sinful thoughts and actions corrode our buckets, allowing the water to leak out. Unforgiveness, anger, hatred, resentment, jealousy and pride can easily fill our lives, leaving no room for God’s living water. We have to take off the old self before we can put on the new. (Eph 4:22-24) We need to confess our sins and allow God’s cleansing power to purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 Jn 1:9)

Only as we come to God with an empty bucket and the rope of faith can we begin to draw water from the wells of salvation with joy. (Is 12:3)