‘Blind Date’ was a UK TV series hosted by Cilla Black which aimed to match up couples without them actually seeing each other. It’s much harder to do anything without the benefit of sight, and the story of the healing of a blind man (Mark 8:22-26) raises some interesting questions.

This healing took place in Bethsaida, which was near to Jesus’s home town of Nazarath. He was essentially in home territory – was that a help or a hindrance?! This incident took place just after the feeding of the four thousand, when Jesus was clearly moving in the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet He took this man by the hand and led him out of the town before spitting on him and rubbnig his eyes! His methods were certainly not those recommended by any optician and this miracle is unusual in that the man could not see clearly straightaway, saying initially he could only see men walking like trees. (Mk 8:24) Full sight was restored only when Jesus laid hands on him again. (Mk 8:25)

We may have many questions about why this healing did not take place immediately. Was it due to a lack of faith? Was Jesus simply having an ‘off day’? The more plausible explanation is that Jesus was reminding us that even when there is faith, the power of God is present and we are in the right place, sometimes there are delays. Miracles occur through God’s power and in God’s time. We may well need to persevere in prayer before we see the miracles we long to see.

Sometimes, blindness is spiritual and not physical. We may well be seeking God for guidance and direction and feel that He is strangely silent. At such times, we need to learn the lessons of perseverance. (Luke 18:1) Restoration comes, but in God’s timing and in God’s way.

Today’s Summer Fun day at GPCC was another great success, with fine weather and lots of activities to do.

Setting up at the start:

Great food again!

Thanks to Karen Dunn, who did a great job teaching us how to make clay pots and animals:

We had fun decorating maps of Yorkshire with buttons, ready to display at the arts’ festival:

There were other activities, such as glass painting and colouring:

Thanks to all who helped with the event and who attended. Next week is at St Helen’s Church Hall on Tuesday 21st August, with a Superheroes theme.

A desert is a huge place filled with sand. Unlike the variety of a normal landscape, with hills, valleys, fields and rivers, a desert can seem monotonous, tedious and life-threatening (since water is a luxury in such landscapes, but a necessity for life.)

Trudging through the desert is a hazardous task, but part of the hazard lies in our tendency to see only with natural eyes, and to become discouraged by what we can see. We need to see beyond the sand.

Our present circumstances may well feel like we are trudging through a desert. We may feel we’re in a dry and barren land, where day after day there is no respite from the hot, blistering sand and no prospect of a thirst-quenching oasis.

But no desert lasts forever. No drought goes on without end.

God is faithful and will not test us beyond what we can bear. (1 Cor 10:13) He gives us more grace. (James 4:6)

See beyond the sand. Times of refreshing will come from the Lord.

Preparations for the Summer Fun day which will be held at GPCC tomorrow (Wednesday 15th August) were not really that onerous, as the pictures below show!

We’ll be decorating maps of Yorkshire, which will then be displayed at the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival later this month:

We’ll be glass painting too – the practice session looked fun!

In addition, there’ll be colouring, table tennis, air hockey and pool.

And in true GPCC style, Ann from the Dearne Area Team had to celebrate her birthday with us:

Stephen, back from a caravanning holiday in Cornwall, was keen to tell us all about the spiritual blessings of the ‘caravan of life’. He spoke about the tabernacle (‘a fixed or movable dwelling of light construction’), which God commanded Moses to build during the wilderness years (see Ex 25 & 26) This portable sanctuary housed the ark of the covenant, and God gave very specific instructions about who could serve in the tabernacle and how they could approach God. The tabernacle was effectively the ‘home’ of God’s presence and certainly the holiness of God meant that the only way to approach Him was with reverence and with sacrifices (barbecues have always been popular, it seems!)

The rules and regulations governing the tabernacle (cleansing rituals, sacrifices, boundaries determining who could go where, with the High Priest only allowed into the Holy of Holies once a year, on the Day of Atonement) show us how sin spoiled the intimate relationship God and man shared in the Garden of Eden, and how God wanted a restoration of that intimate relatioship. Jn 1:14 tells us that the Word became flesh and made His dwelling (literally ‘tabernacled’) among us. Jesus shows us how much God wants to dwell with His people and HIs sacrifice (see Hebrews 9) reflects the revolutionary truth that God actually wants to live in us. Eph 2:22 reminds us that in Christ we are being built together to become a dwelling-place in which God lives by His Spirit. Effectively, we are now God’s tent, God’s movable dwelling place!

We may ask ourselves why God has done this. God wants an intimate relationship with us and effectively wanted to ‘move in’ with His people – He is among us, in us and lives through us. Now, we no longer have to face segregation or make sacrifices. We can know Christ personally, accept His Spirit in us and can be happy campers indeed!

We had three birthdays to celebrate – one in retrospect, one for the coming week and one for the week after (when the lady is on holiday!)