Here are some more of the craft items available at the Christmas Market on Friday 9th December (4-8 p.m.)

In addition to craft items, there will be home baking and refreshments to sample as well as a variety of games, tombola and raffle prizes to win. Don’t forget our donkey! – hanging proudly, who can be the first to beat the sweets out of him?!

Garry asked the question ‘are you under the influence?’ this morning, a phrase usually associated with driving offences committed under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Christianity has influenced the UK since its arrival on our shores in 200 A.D. and has an embedded influence in our culture, having shaped our legislation, morality and education over many years. However, despite the fact that 43% of the population claims to be Christian, church attendance is only 5% and it is clear that we are influenced by many different factors, not simply what the Bible teaches.

All of us soak up our culture like a sponge, often unconsciously. We need to be able to ‘step back’ a little and see the bigger picture (so that we can assess how our culture is influencing us) and to examine our beliefs and attitudes afresh. We need to learn from history (for example, Hitler’s rise to power was largely endorsed by the majority of Germans, including the church there, because he appealed to the nation’s pride and desire to be great again) and allow God to be the main ‘influencer’ of our lives.

Eph 4:20-24 talks of putting off our old self and being renewed in our attitudes so that we can put on the new self, created to be like God. That renewal is like the renovation of an old house, where everything has to be stripped right back before progress can be made. Our inner mechanisms have to be ‘radically altered’, because what God is looking for is people who will be perfect as He is perfect. (Matt 5:43-48) This means being completed, lacking nothing; ‘to do less than what God would do in a given situations means a shortfall, which is not what God wants.’ Matt 19:16-22 tells the story of the rich young ruler who had kept God’s law but who still lacked one thing, as Jesus pointed out when the command to sell his possessions and give to the poor was met by sorrow and reluctance. God, the most liberal of all givers, wants us to reflect His generous nature. The challenge we all face is to respond to every situation as God would respond.

God’s attitudes are laid out for us in Rom 5:6-8. He gives love to the unlovable, grace to the undeserving, mercy to those who do not deserve it. He works for His enemies and reaches out in healing even when the response is ingratitude (as the nine lepers demonstrated.) In other words, God gives freely and without expecting anything in return; the ‘quid pro quo’ mentality of so many of us (epitomised in the proverb ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’) is foreign and alien to God.

We have to step back and evaluate our attitudes and responses, our behaviour and our giving, for God wants our attitudes and thinking to be renewed, renovated, completed in Him. What influence are we under? God’s people need to be under His influence!

Cowering in fear, he hid from the presence of God.

Opened eyes meant shame and confusion, condemnation and terror.

He no longer craved that holy presence,

Walking in fellowship in the cool of the night,

But fled, hiding in the shadows of dusk.

Since that first sin, condemnation has crippled us:

The sneering voices, the mocking ridicule,

Telling us God can’t possibly care for wretches like us,

Eroding our confidence like the waves pounding on the rocks,

Doubt penetrating our DNA

Until we are left, battered, on the solitary sea shore of abandonment and alienation.

Another man came with a fire in his eyes,

Urging repentance, a change in lifestyle,

A messenger in the spirit of Elijah, pointing to a Messiah come to bring hope.

This Messiah, though, was a Lamb as well as a Lion,

And with a jolt of unexpected recognition,

We see conviction, not condemnation.

A man so pure and righteous,

We are both repelled and drawn nigh at one and the same time.

Conviction pierces, lances, exposes

The secret places of our hearts,

But it draws us in to a place, long forgotten,

Of forgiveness, healing, acceptance, restoration.

Conviction does not condemn.

As we humble ourselves before this Merciful One,

We are touched by grace and truth,

And welcomed in with love.

Come, with confidence,

Run, with boldness, into the arms of the One who won’t let go,

Approach with no trace of apprehension or fear.

For this Miracle Man brings salvation, not condemnation.

He restores and does not reject.

He welcomes and does not drive us away.

Come now with confidence before the throne of God,

For He came to the lowliness of the stable,

Understanding rejection and indifference,

But always ready to welcome you in.

We are very blessed to be part of a community which is supportive and willing to help. At the Christmas Market on Friday, we are holding a raffle with a variety of prizes on offer, many of which have been donated by church members or local shopkeepers. One of the prizes is a large food hamper, which Sue and Mavis from our local shop ‘Cards and Chocolates’ on Doncaster Road kindly came to wrap at our coffee morning today:

The finished product looks amazing and Sue has kindly donated a prize as well:

In additon, the local butcher’s Elmhusts has donated a £10 voucher for meat at the shop and Porter’s Fruit and Veg. and Lee’s meat van at the market have donated £5 vouchers for produce from their stalls and Martin has donated a mug, with Bobbiz Hairdressers also giving a voucher.

Other prizes include the choice of Pompom blanket from Pompom Heaven for a baby’s pram or car seat, worth £15:

… plus a beauty set and a hand-knitted scarf, among other things. We are very grateful to all who give so generously of their time and efforts and for our local businesses for supporting the Christmas Market so enthusiastically.

On top of all that, there will be craft stalls selling a variety of Christmas gifts, including wreaths, knitted toys and Christmas decorations. Here’s a sample from one lady who has been busy knitting away for us! The dangling items are octopuses (or octopi or octopodes, if you prefer!), and as well as the knitted teddy bear, we have been promised an owl as well!

Do come along on Friday between 4 and 8 p.m. All proceeds inside the church hall will go to the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal, helping local families in need. Last year, we raised a fantastic £500 to help make Christmas a truly blessed time for people who were struggling; we hope this year will be even better!

As always, December looks set to be a busy month, so check out what’s happening at church below!

Midweek meetings

Please note that the Parent & Toddler group will close for Christmas after the party on 9th December and the Monday night youth club will have its last meeting on 12th December. Both groups will re-start in January. There will be no Friday night badminton until after Christmas.

Midweek meetings on Thursdays will be on Thursday 8th & 22nd December (prayer meeting) and Thursday 15th December (Bible study), but there will be no midweek meeting on 29th December. Slimming World classes will run every Thursday throughout December as usual.

Sunday 4th December

Services at 10.30 a.m. and family service at 6 p.m., looking at shepherds and sheep!

Friday 9th December

The Parent & Toddler Christmas party will be in the morning (9-11 a.m.) and the Christmas Market will run from 4-8 p.m. Come along to enjoy the ambience and do your Christmas shopping, then bring your presents over to GPCC to have them wrapped! Refreshments will be available along with home baking, craft stalls, raffles, tombola stall and a variety of activities. All proceeds will go to the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal. At 6 p.m. we’ll be having the ‘Churches Together’ community carol service, so come along to sing carols in the car park.

christmas-market-churches-together-poster

Saturday 10th December

The coffee morning will be on as usual from 10 a.m. until 12 noon.

Sunday 11th December

Carol service at Cherry Tree Court at 10.30 a.m. and evening service at Market Street at 6 p.m.

Saturday 17th December

The coffee morning will be on as usual from 10 a.m. until 12 noon. After this, we will be distributing carol service leaflets around Goldthorpe, so come along to help with that if you can. Then we will be going to the pantomime at Dearne Playhouse, leaving church at 1.30 p.m.

Sunday 18th December

Our morning service is at 10.30 a.m. and our carol service (‘Bright Morning Star’) will be at 6 p.m., with festive refreshments after the service.

Saturday 24th December

There will be no coffee morning on Christmas Eve.

Sunday 25th December

Come along to celebrate the birth of our Saviour for a short service starting at 10.30 a.m. There will be no evening service that day.

Coming in January…

Don’t forget the morning service on New Year’s Day at 10.30 a.m. and the New Year’s Day party at 4 p.m. Bring your friends and family for a fun-filled time of food and games!

December has arrived, and with it the prospect of new birth! As we prepare to celebrate a new arrival in our immediate family and to remember the arrival of our Saviour as a tiny, vulnerable baby, our thoughts are turned to all that is involved in new birth: the travail of labour, the hopes and fears of anticipation mingled with uncertainty, the joy that babies bring to their families. We’ve been cooing over a new baby at the Parent & Toddler group; there is a collective joy that comes with new birth.

In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables that capture something of the rejoicing in heaven when something lost is found: ‘there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’ (Luke 15:10, see also Luke 15:7, 31-32) Throughout December and beyond, we need to be praying for new birth to come in the spiritual realm, for people to be called out of darkness into God’s wonderful light (see 1 Pet 2:9) and for them to be born again (John 3:3).

Spiritual birth comes when the Holy Spirit convinces us of the truth of the gospel message, and Christmas is an ideal time to talk about spiritual things with our families, friends, colleagues and neighbours. Pray that we will be able to witness boldly and effectively to all, showing joy and hope because of Jesus. Christmas is about so much more than decorations, presents and cooking, and we have an incredible opportunity to let others know of the reason for the hope we have.

Pray for our outreaches during December (especially the Christmas Market and community carol service next Friday, 9th December, and our carol services at Cherry Tree Court on 11th December and at Market Street on 18th December). Pray for the invitations which will be posted through doors in Goldthorpe over the next few weeks and for the courage to invite people to services. We long for God to touch people’s hearts as they receive invitations and for the Holy Spirit to bring many people into contact with us.

Pray especially that people will hear the truth of the most amazing story in the world and that eyes will be opened and hearts softened to believe and receive Jesus Christ as Saviour. We long to see not only new birth in the natural realm, but new birth in the spiritual realm.