In the Bible study tonight, looking at 1 Cor 15:35-44, we looked at the different kinds of new life mentioned in the Bible. What do we really mean by resurrection? What will resurrection ‘look’ like? These were some of the questions the Corinthians had, and people nowadays are just as interested in ‘life after death’ as ever.

In the Bible, we see several cases of people being brought back to life after having died. 1 Kings 17:17-23 tells us how Elijah raised the widow’s son from the dead, something Jesus later did with another widow’s son (see Luke 7:11-15). Both Peter and Paul were also involved in this ministry of ‘healing +’ (Peter with Tabitha in Acts 9:36-41, Paul with Eutychus who fell from a 3rd storey meeting during a long teaching sessions before being raised to life to continue listening for another six hours in Acts 20:7-12). Technically, these instances (along with the raising of Lazarus and others) are known as resuscitation (not in the sense we use this word today, but meaning to bring back to life in the same body.) With all these examples, however, the person ‘inhabited’ the same body and ultimately would die at a later date.

Translation occurs when death is not tasted. Enoch (Gen 5:18-24) walked with God and then ‘was no more’; he disappeared; his body could not be found. Elijah (2 Ki 2:9-18) was taken directly to heaven in chariots of fire with horsemen, and though the band of prophets searched high and low for his body, they did not find it.

Resurrection, however, involves being brought back to life after having died, never to die again. Jesus is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, our ‘foretaste’ of what resurrection will look like. Here, we see that the physical body is transformed. Just as a seed doesn’t look like the plant it grows into, it’s hard for us to imagine what our resurrection bodies will look like. There will probably be similarities to our present bodies, but there will also be huge changes: ‘sown perishable, raised imperishable.’ We can’t quite grasp the mysteries of resurrection (will we look ‘young’ or ‘old’, depending on our age on death?), but it is clear that this new spiritual body, received at the Second Coming of Christ (see 1 Thess 4:13-18), will never again taste suffering, pain or death. Our ‘lowly bodies’ will be transformed like Jesus’ body (Phil 3:20-21). What a day that will be!

There are times in life when walking and running are impossible, and it can be discouraging to think of these things when they are not physically possible for us. Does the Bible have anything to say to those who are unable to walk or run? How do we identify with the Christian journey if we are immobile, housebound through age or infirmity, limited in movement through disability or illness, paralysed or without limbs? If we can’t walk or run to God, can we still reach Him?

The answer is a resounding YES! When we are unable to walk or run, God carries us. This is how we enter the world: a helpless baby who has to be carried everywhere. This is often how we leave the world: too weak or ill to walk, wholly dependent on others and equipment to move us. And in between, on those days when we feel we just can’t carry on, God carries us.

‘When every step is so hard to take
And all of my hope is fading away
When life is a mountain that I can not climb
You carry me, Jesus carry me

You are strength in my weakness
You are the refuge I seek
You are everything in my time of need
You are everything, You are everything I need.’ (‘Everything I Need’, Kutless)

‘When the path is daunting
And every step exhausting
I’m not alone
I’m not alone, no, no
I feel you draw me closer
All these burdens on my shoulder
I’m not alone, I’m not alone
You pull me me from this place

Hallelujah
You carry me every day
You carry me all all the way
Hallelujah
You carry me to the
You carry me to the cross.’ (‘Carry Me To The Cross’, Kutless)

The famous poem ‘Footprints’ makes the point that when we only see one set of footprints, that is when God carried us:

Moses reminds us ‘the eternal God is your refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms.’ (Deut 33:27) He knew that in the wilderness ‘the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.’ (Deut 1:31) Isaiah tells us ‘He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.’ (Is 40:11)  Jude reminds us that God is able to keep us from falling and to present us before His glorious presence withut fault and with great joy. (Jude v24). The good news is that we are safe in God’s arms (‘Safe’, Phil Wickham; ‘Arms’, Tim Hughes; ‘Rest In The Arms’, Aaron Shust) and when we are unable to walk or run, there is One whose arm is mighty to save (Is 59:1) and whose arms can carry us.

From our first tottering steps as a toddler, walking is an integral part of most people’s lives. Even those who don’t like running and would never enter a gym or a marathon will walk most days, and walking is a great form of exercise, as well as a practical necessity for most of us!

Walking is another metaphor used to describe our journey of faith. Paul tells us to walk (or live) by the Spirit (Gal 5:16). Isaiah says ‘walking in the way of Your laws, we wait for You; Your name and renown are the desires of our heart’ (Is 26:8) and reminds us ‘whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will ear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”‘ (Is 30:21) The writer to the Hebrews urges us to strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees (more evident as we age!), saying ‘make level paths for your feet.’ (Heb 12:12-13) There are frequent references to keeping in step with God’s Spirit and on the right path (e.g. Prov 4:25-26), and it’s clear we need not only to walk by faith and not by sight, but must ensure we are on the right path (following Jesus who is the Way, Jn 14:6).

Walking with someone is very different to walking alone. Our local walking group will be leaving Cherry Tree Court on Friday morning at 10 a.m. and this kind of group provides a chance for conversation as well as exercise and the discovery of the local area.

Jesus often walked with His disciples (think of that conversation on the road to Emmaus, for example!) and it’s worth remembering on this journey of life that we do not walk alone. It’s not just football fans who can sing ‘You’ll never walk alone!’ This is the testimony of every believer:

‘Never once did we ever walk alone.
Never once did You leave us on our own.
You are faithful, God, You are faithful.’ (‘Never Once’, Matt Redman)

For each of us, the idea of running evokes different emotions. Those of us who never shone at P.E. at school probably have grim memories of cross-country running in sleet and cold, faces stinging, legs aching, hearts pounding. Others love the sensation of speed and talk of the exhilaration of running, competing in marathons and putting themselves through all kinds of physical pain in order to experience the endorphin-rush of running.

Our views on running may also be influenced by whether we are running away from something in adrenaline-fuelled terror or running towards something in eager anticipation. Or we may view running differently depending on whether we’re prepared for it (a scheduled session in comfortable clothing and suitable footwear) or caught unawares (running for a bus in a pencil skirt and high heels, for example!)

Others may view running with wistfulness as age and infirmity make even walking difficult or with envy as disability prevents that for ever. It’s clears our views on running can be very different.

The Bible uses the idea of running metaphorically to describe our journey of faith. Heb 12:1 urges us to ‘run with perseverance the race marked out for us.’ Paul talks of not running aimlessly (see 1 Cor 9:24-27) and near the end of his life says, ‘I have finished the race.’ (2 Tim 4:7) Even if we struggle to run physically, we are all involved in this kind of running.

Rend Collective’s song ‘Joy’ contains the intriguing lyric ‘Though I’m broken, I am running into Your arms of love.’ We can’t imagine brokenness and running together, but this is the wonder of God. Our race is not running away from God, but running towards a God whose arms are open to receive us: ‘blameless now, I’m running home.’ (‘Boldly I Approach’, Rend Collective) We run to the secret place where God abides and find a welcome that makes every step worth the effort!

The Dearne Community Choir starts rehearsing this Thursday (6th October) at 7 p.m. at the Salvation Army:

The Dearne Cinema at the Dearne ALC school is also showing films this weekend:

I’m sure most of you are familiar with the poem by Clement Clarke known as ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas. There is always a special magic about Christmas Eve (especially for me, as it’s also my father’s birthday!) Well, we are not quite there yet, but rather frighteningly, it is now 66 days to the Goldthorpe Christmas Market, which will be on Friday 9th December from 4-8 p.m.

We, along with the other local churches, are hugely excited about this event. All the market stalls have been booked (one by Turner New Leaf, selling homemade chutneys and apple sauce, and well worth a visit!) and inside the GPCC building, we’ll be serving refreshments, selling Christmas decorations and crafts, sampling home baking and offering a Christmas present wrapping service (just bring your presents and we’ll wrap them for 50p per present!) All proceeds raised by ‘Churches Together’ will go towards the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal, helping local families. Last year we raised almost £500, which is an amazing amount, all thanks to people’s generosity and kindness.

A huge amount of behind-the-scenes work has to go on before then, however, to make this event happen! We are aiming to give out goody bags to every family who come into the building (based on last year’s numbers, that’s about 300 goody bags!) These will contain a glow stick (to provide light during the community carol service at 6 p.m. in the church car park), sweets and Christmas literature, along with news about carol services and church events throughout the Christmas period. As you can imagine, getting those bags ready will take some time – so if you have an hour or two to spare on Wednesday 23rd November (9-11 a.m.), please do come along and help with that!

We also need an army of willing volunteers on the day to help with the event. If you would like to make decorations/ craft things to sell, please let us know. Home baking is always popular and we also will need lots of people ready to serve refreshments (deluxe hot chocolates were especially popular last year!) Please see your church leader if you’d like to be involved in this in any way or contact me by email (contact@gpcchurch.co.uk).

Inside the building, we hope to have:

• refreshments
• home baking
• craft items
• craft activities
• activities & competitions for children
• Christmas present wrapping service

But to make all that happen, we need YOU!