Dave spoke this morning from John 21:1-14. Here, Jesus appears to His disciples for the third time after His resurrection, helping them in the ordinary things of life as He directs them to a great catch of fish (153) after a night of fishing in vain. The disciples at this time were in a period of waiting, and were probably still confused and uncertain as to what they should be doing. They did not recognise Jesus at first – something that is common to many post-resurrection encounters (think of Mary Magdalene and the disciples on the road to Emmaus). We have to ask why the disciples were so slow in recognising Jesus – and why we too are often so slow in recognising Him.

Part of the reason lies in our tendency to expect to meet with God in certain sacred places (perhaps in a church building or in magnificent natural surroundings.) Whilst it is good to meet with God in these places, we need to be expectant that we can meet with Him anywhere. When on earth, Jesus turned up at a wedding, on a fishing boat, in the market place, at a well and in many other places, not just in the synagogue. He appeared to people in ordinary, everyday surroundings – and even after His resurrection, we find Him in a cemetery garden, in a locked room and now cooking breakfast on the beach. The truth is that the ordinary becomes sacred when we find God there and that God is to be found everywhere.

Christ is with us everywhere – when we serve the needy, hungry and poor, He is there; when we are involved in ‘mundane’ community outreaches, He is there; He is in everyone we see. We need to learn to recognise Jesus in the ordinary, but He is with us all the time.

Here are some more photos from the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival, showcasing the different talents on show over the past two days.

Pat’s beautiful cross-stitch paintings and hardanger:

Jackie from the Salvation Army practising cake decorating and some examples prepared earlier by another volunteers:

Paintings and poems:

Aerial view of Stuart White’s wood-turned items:

Local history and art combined in this display about the Bolton-on-Dearne war memorial:

An example of JuliaArts’ skilled painting:

Craft items galore (cushions and story cushions by Aw Sew Lovely):

A knitted memory blanke by Carol Gratton:

It’s wonderful to see the diversity of creativity in our local community. Paul reminds us that we are a body with different parts and each person has a role to play (see Rom 12:3-7). I was very struck by a quote I read reccently, which said, ‘What if we were created to be creative?‘ I firmly believe that we are made in God’s image and that He is a creative God… and that as a result of this, we are made to be creative too. There is so much scope for how that creativity can take shape, but it has been a privilege to see so many people’s creative works over the past two days.

The second day of the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival was just as exciting and action-packed as the first. We had music performances on stage from Pat & Andy Moore, The Grumpy Old Men and Thurnscoe Harmonic Male Voice Choir, whose spiritual songs were really powerful. (‘Glory, glory, hallelujah, the truth is marching on‘!)

We also had a fashion show from the local Pins & Needles sewing class (which meets at the Renaissance Centre in Bolton-on-Dearne on Fridays from 5-7 p.m.) and a dance demonstration from RotherHop:

Outside, we had Creative Recovery running karaoke in costumes!

We also had a display of model aircraft from the Barnsley Model Flying Club:

Inside, we had demonstrations of spinning yarn from Ruth Pettitt, with some even being brave enough to have a go!

The 3D printer kept hatching new dinosaurs!

And if you were feeling stressed, you could always have a relaxing hand massage from WEA’s Juliana Gilmartin:

It was a fabulous event which showed us all how creative people can be in such a wide range of different areas and was a wonderful way to celebrate our amazing community.

Today was the first day of the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival at the Dearne Playhouse, and there was a dazzling array of local creativity on display.

There was lots of different artwork to admire:

We had crafts galore:

We had face painting and body art:

Ian McMillan came along to run a creative writing workshop:

Gill Richmond gave a floristry demonstration:

We watched the 3D printer make dinosaurs!

There were performances on stage from local dance schools and RotherHop:

All in all, it was a great day, and tomorrow the fun continues! Come along to the Dearne Playhouse from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. for…

• art & craft exhibitions
• photography displays
• performances on stage from local musicians (including Garry’s ‘Grumpy Old Men’) and Thurnscoe Harmonic Male Voice Choir, as well as another astonishing dance demonstration from RotherHop
• model aircraft display
• creative karaoke in costume, led by Creative Recovery
• hand massages
• spinning yarn & 3D printing (crafts old and new!)
• a fashion show from our local sewing class
• prize-giving for competition winners (including Gemma, Grace & Stacey!)

The Greedy Pig Snack Bar will be serving burgers and there will be drinks on sale at the Playhouse. All in all, a great Saturday’s entertainment, all on the doorstop and all free of charge! Come along and discover more about the many varied ways to be creative.

We are getting ready for the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival (1 & 2 September, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.) down at the Dearne Playhouse! It’s sure to be a great time of creativity, enjoying the wide range of talent on view from our local community.

Art, photography, sewing, craft, cross-stitch, tapestry, face painting, spinning, 3D printing, live performances on stage, model aircraft & karaoke outdoors… free entry, burgers for lunch… what’s not to like?! Come along to find out more!

We had another great day at Houghton Road Centre, despite a dull start because of drizzle. The sun came out and we had great fun with crafts and crazy golf. Twiggs came to clear the planters of weeds with help from their friends, and Solar Frames also came along to recruit workers!