The Women’s World Day of Prayer was held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Goldthorpe this afternoon, a cold and snowy afternoon making the sunny climate and Caribbean music of Cuba seem a real attraction!

The church was beautifully decorated with Cuban flags and paper jasmine flowers:

The theme of the service was ‘Receive Children, Receive Me’ and Karen Beecham from the Methodist Church spoke about how children were welcomed by Jesus for their openness, faith and trust and how we should not expect children to be mini-adults but should be prepared to learn from their faith, whilst recognising that in other areas (such as bickering and telling tales), we need to move on from childhood! Children from the Sacred Heart Primary School sang beautifully during the service, reminding us of the presence, glory and power of the Lord and the need to respond willingly to God’s call.

After the service, refreshments were enjoyed, including Cuban-style cookies prepared by ladies from different local churches:

An offering of £73.90 was given which will be forwarded to the headquarters of WWDP and distributed among a variety of Christian charities.

Every day, I must place myself under constraint at some point. I get in a car and must, by law, submit to the constraint of a seat belt.

When travelling, I must submit to the speed constraint imposed or risk losing the privilege of independent travel. These constraints – limitations, restrictions – often seem to chafe at my freedom, but I choose to place my freedom under the authority of the constraint, since actually these constraints are for my benefit. I don’t mind the constraint of a seat belt because I know it is protecting me in the event of an accident. I don’t mind the speed limits because I’ve seen the effects of car collisions at speed. I cheerfully accept the lesser constraint in order to avoid a greater one! (hospitalisation, immobilisation, even death…)

Many view submission as a chafing constraint imposed on us by a killjoy God. In reality, however, submission is a liberating constraint allowing us the freedom to enjoy life as God intended it to be. As we submit to those in authority over us, we are not limited or chained, but given the freedom to be fully ourselves, creatures made in the image of God.

The hymnist says, ‘O! to grace how great a debtor/ Daily I’m constrained to be.’ (‘Come, Thou Fount Of Every Blessing’) Paul said, ‘Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another.’ (Rom 13:8) The ‘constraints’ of love and thankfulness are not seen as onerous duties, but transforming delights. The constraints upon us are not straitjackets to limit us, but protection and blessing intended to free us to live life as God intended. When Paul spoke of being contrained or compelled to preach the gospel and having to discharge this God-given responsibility (1 Cor 9:16), he did not see this as a limitation but as a measure of God’s grace to him, a sinner. We are free people, challenged to use our freedom constructively to bless others and thus fulfil the whole law, understanding that freedom is not the absence of constraint, but a channelling into the right use of that freedom.

Steve and Katuska (missionaries in Mozambique) are preparing to return to the UK this month after their first term of service in the Bible seminary in Maputo. For anyone who has ever moved house, you can imagine the chaos they are currently facing as they pack up their home and prepare to return to Glasgow.

Please pray for the family at this time of transition and for all who will stay behind in Mozambique. Steve has handed over responsibilities at the seminary to Alberto Guambe (who has taken on the role of Academic Director) and Andre Malombe and Sandro Silva, a Brazilian missionary. Steve still needs to sort out about the financial management and maintenance of the building in their absence and asks for prayer for their Mozambican colleagues and friends, especially as they face sharp increases in the price of almost everything, and for the other OMS missionaries who will continue to work there. The good news is that new missionaries are in the pipeline and preparing to go out to Mozambique.

Please pray for the whole family as they return to the UK, especially for the education of the three boys, Sam, Ben and Joe.

Big Local Thurnscoe, organisers of the ‘Spring Show’, have just released a poster for this event on Palm Sunday:

We’ll be leaving church at 10 a.m. on Sunday 20th March and then going through to Houghton Road Centre in Thurnscoe (home to Emmanuel Pentecostal Church, opposite the Asda car park on the main road through Thurnscoe) for a time of prayer before we move up to Phoenix Park. Local churches will gather at the car park at 10:50 a.m. and the donkey procession/ singing will start at 11 a.m. Kevin Watts, pastor of the Pentecostal church at Thurnscoe, will give a brief explanation of Palm Sunday and then we’ll be involved in chatting with people and handing out goody bags containing Easter leaflets and Easter eggs.

It’s hoped this will be a great community event. Other things which will be going on include a dog show (£1 entry) and craft and sporting activities. There will be stalls from local groups and the chance to ‘meet a creature’ (not sure what creatures will be there, other than the donkeys!) and refreshments and toilets will be available.

Phoenix Park used to be the slagheap for Hickleton main colliery many years ago, but was transformed into a lovely community park in the 1990s with the help of the charity Groundwork Dearne Valley and local residents. (Poems by local resident Desiree Chipp are carved into 3 of the entrances to the site, for example, and Stephen’s footprints as a young child are cast into one of the paths!) Now maintained by the Forestry Commission, the park links Goldthorpe and Thurnscoe. Pray for fine, dry weather, as it can get very muddy otherwise!

March is shaping up to be a busy month! Here are some key dates:

• Friday 4th March at 2 p.m. is the Women’s World Day of Prayer at Sacred Heart Church on Lockwood Road in Goldthorpe. Come along to pray in particular for Cuba, a land under Communist rule for many years. Join with women from other local churches and around the world in praying on the theme ‘Receive Children, Receive Me’
• Sunday 6th March at 6 p.m. will be our family service, but we’ll also be celebrating Mothers’ Day.
• Sunday 13th March will be the service at Cherry Tree Court in the morning and a dedication service in the evening at 6 p.m. at Market Street. Please bring refreshments to the evening service as we’ll have a fellowship meal after the dedication of baby Tatijana.
• Sunday 20th March (Palm Sunday) will be the procession at Phoenix Park in the morning, followed by a service at Market Street in the evening. We will leave church at 10 a.m. in the morning, go on to pray at Houghton Road Centre in Thurnscoe and then start the community spring event with the procession at 10.50 a.m.
• Friday 25th March is Good Friday and we’ll be holding a service at 6 p.m.
• Saturday 26th March is the ‘Churches Together’ March of Hope around Goldthorpe, leaving our church at 10.15 a.m. After the march, we’ll be returning to church for a light lunch.
• Sunday 27th March is Easter Sunday, with services to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m.

In the second of the alphabet series ‘The A-Z of Christian Faith’, we looked at ‘B is for Believe’. To believe, the dictionary says, is ‘to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so.’  Heb 11:1 reminds us that ‘faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see,’ ‘the fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.’

Believing is a personal response to what God says to us. Abraham, our father in faith, trusted God even when God’s promises to Him seemed incredible, even when he had no idea where God was sending him (see Rom 4:1-18). We need to grow in faith and keep on believing God, otherwise we are warned that we may end our days in futility, as those who failed to believe during the wilderness wanderings discovered (see Ps 78:32-33, Heb 3:19). Believing will always involve fear and risk, for God chooses not to give us the total assurance we often desire in order to stretch our faith, but victory comes to those who believe. It takes courage to believe. ‘Only the brave will go where You go/ Into the fire, but never alone.’ (Tim Hughes, ‘Only The Brave’)

We need to believe for many things, including:

1. salvation (see Acts 16:25-34, where God’s intervention opened the door – literally! – for Paul and Silas to witness to the Philippian jailer, giving him the message of salvation: ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.’ We need to believe that God is working in the lives of individuals to bring them to the place of response and that He will use us to witness to them. We also need to believe for those family members who are not yet saved.
2. healing (see Matt 8:5-15, where the centurion’s faith is praised by Jesus: he did not need Jesus to go to his house to believe that his servant would be healed! Healing is not only for us, but for all, a witness to God’s power, a testimony which brings people to faith. Jesus often asked people ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ (Matt 9:28) when they came for healing; faith is clearly an important ingredient in healing.)
3. deliverance (see Mark 9:14-29, where a boy’s father comes to Jesus for the deliverance of his son, saying,  ‘if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.’ (Mark 9:21) Jesus says, “‘If you can’? Everything is possible for one who believes.” (Mark 9:23) This challenge to faith causes the response: ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’ (Mark 9:24) We need to be firmly convinced that nothing is too hard for God (Jer 32:17), that ‘with God all things are possible’ (Matt 19:26) and ‘what is impossible with man is possible with God.’ (Luke 18:27) So often, we limit God because we cannot really imagine or believe that He is able to do the impossible, but here, Jesus shows us a key to the miraculous: our faith.)
4. the infilling of the Holy Spirit (see Eph 5:18, Luke 11:13, where we not only see God’s ability to give us the gift of His Spirit but His willingness. So often, we don’t have things because we don’t actually ask God for them! (see James 4:2) We need to see the gifts of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit and the power of the Spirit in our lives, for we are leaky vessels and need that spring of living water to refresh us and fill us anew. God’s Spirit gives us power to witness, power to live the life Christ wants us to live, power to be the people God wants us to be. We can’t live the Christian life in our own strength, but need God’s Holy Spirit daily.)
5. guidance (see Neh 9:19, Is 58:11, Is 35:21. God has good plans for us, but we need His guidance into right paths and all truth – see Ps 23:3, Jn 16:13. We need His guidance if we are to enter the abundant life He has for us rather than being content simply to ‘get by’!)
6. answers to prayer (see Matt 21:22, Mark 11:24. The disciples were surprised when they saw that the fig tree Jesus had cursed withered so quickly. Jesus reminded them ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matt 21:21-22) We need to understand that believing will often mean acting in faith before we see the fulfilment in order to see the fulfilment! Faith involves us believing that God exists AND that he rewards those who earnestly seek him (Heb 11:6) – in other words, that He answers prayer, that He is not a fickle, malicious, capricious God, but a loving heavenly Father who delights to give us the desires of our hearts. (Ps 37:4) Heb 11:6 also reminds us that without faith it is impossible to please God. If we want to please God, we have to believe. Believing is the number one way we please God. As we learn to bring all our petitions, supplications, requests and desires to God in prayer, we have to believe He is both willing and able to answer those prayers.)