To say that the Goldthorpe Christmas Market was a success is an understatement. Certainly, those inside the church building can’t comment on what was happening outside, because we were too busy inside to venture out! It was wonderful to be able to serve refreshments to so many people and we are thrilled that because of everyone’s unstinting support and help, we raised £492.35 for the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal, which benefactors rounded to £500. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Here are some glimpses into the hectic hours between 4 and 8 p.m…

A Christmas donkey piñata raised £45. Clearly, people enjoy hitting inanimate objects and winning sweets, way more than I anticipated! I am quite certain the donkey traditionally pictured on Christmas cards didn’t look like this one, but people clearly thought it was a winner!

There was the opportunity to paint Christmas pine cones for tree decorations:

There was also the opportunity to have refreshments:

… and to get involved in craft activities:

If you didn’t feel ‘crafty’ enough, you could buy things people had already made, including Christmas hats and decorations:

… or win prizes:

… or have your presents wrapped:

The thing that most people wanted, however, was the deluxe hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows or flakes!

We started out with three tubs of hot chocolate, 8 flakes, 2 packets of marshmallows and three tins of squirty cream. Several supermarket trips later (thanks, Mark and James!), we must have made hundreds of these drinks alone!

Yesterday saw the first Goldthorpe Christmas Market in many years, superbly organised by the Goldthorpe Development Fund. Every single one of the 64 market stalls was occupied with some excellent crafts and items for sale, along with rides in the car park.

Here are some photos of the preparation before the event:

Inside, we had lots of baking and craft things kindly donated by people:

So by 4 p.m., we were ready!

Thanks to everyone who helped at or attended the Parent & Toddler Christmas Party yesterday. As always, people’s generosity in giving to this event is outstanding and there was masses of food as usual!

As well as playing as usual, there were party games:

Each child received a present from a special visitor:

Even the adults won some prizes!

Thanks to everyone for their support. The Parent & Toddler Group will re-start after Christmas on Friday 8th January 2016.

Read Ps 119:89-96.

New roads are being built on a regular basis and as a result maps become outdated. We can’t presume to know the way to a place based on past experience.

If we’re not careful, we apply this wholly sensible reasoning to our spiritual journey also, looking for new paths to God and being led astray to false roads which may well look initially promising (see Matt 7:13-14).

Ps 119:89 says ‘Your Word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.’ However arcane or archaic the Bible seems, it is an up-to-date map charting the way we should go. There is an immutability to God (Mal 3:6) which provides solid ground for us: ‘Your faithfulness continues through all generations; You established the earth and it endures.’ (Ps 119:90)

God and His laws guide us through the maze of life; without this guidance, we would go down blind alleys and end up in trouble. (Ps 119:92) There is a solidity and reliability to God which reassure us: ‘Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve You.’ (Ps 119:91) They become the means by which we’re kept safe on the dangerous roads of life (Ps 119:93), kept safe from malicious enemies (Ps 119:95).

Everything human ultimately has its limits (Ps 119:96, The Message), but God’s commands are boundless. We’re safe on His highway!

Read Psalm 119:81-88.

Have you ever been homesick? I’ve never been away from home long enough to really feel homesick, but I once took a school trip to France and saw firsthand the desolation of homesickness in a teenage girl. Normally confident and outdoing, she became withdrawn and disconsolate, spending most of her time sobbing. We were only away two nights, but she was inconsolable. I doubt she learnt much of the history and culture during the trip as she was entirely focussed on her feelings of longing for home.

We are, Peter tells us, ‘aliens and strangers in the world.’ (1 Pet 2:11) God has set eternity in our hearts (Eccl 3:11) and there is a longing for salvation, for our ultimate home with God, which no amount of earthly joy can fully satisfy. Phil Wickham captures this perfectly in his song ‘Eden’ which yearns for the perfection and intimacy of fellowship we once knew with God and in his ‘Heaven Song’ which yearns for greener pastures, higher hills and the joy of seeing Jesus face to face.

Ps 119:81 says ‘My soul faints with longing for Your salvation’ – in the Message version, ‘I’m homesick – longing for Your salvation.’ The promise of future perfection comes from God’s Word in which we hope (Ps 119:82), but in the meantime, there is a cry of ‘How long?’ (Ps 119:82, 84; see Ps 13:1-2) This present life has pitfalls and snares, enemies who persecute without cause (Ps 119:85-6). We need revival and preservation from God (Ps 119:88), for this journey, this waiting, is not easy.

The Bible ends with a prayer: ‘Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with God’s people. Amen.’ (Rev 22:20-21). Grace is the thing which will see us through, but the waiting will always be tinged with yearning (Rom 8:24-25).

Tonight’s Bible study looked at 1 Cor 9:1-18, where Paul, in continuing his discussion about rights and responsibilities, looks at the role of apostles. His claims to be an apostle rest on his having seen Jesus and on the fruit seen in the Corinthians’ own lives (1 Cor 9:1-2), which some take to mean that there can be no such thing as a modern-day apostle (since we physically cannot have seen Jesus.) Eph 4:11-13 tells us that Christ gave the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, however, and these are required to equip God’s people for works of service, ‘so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.‘ Clearly, this maturity will not be attained until Christ returns, so these special ministries are still required today, with an apostle not only preaching the gospel but establishing churches (laying a foundation on which others can build, as Paul has earlier discussed in 1 Cor 3.)

Paul explains that apostles have many rights (including the right to receive material reward for their spiritual work), citing examples from other fields of work (1 Cor 9:7-12), but declares that, just as he would willingly give up meat so that he did not cause any brother or sister to fall into sin (1 Cor 8:13), he is willing to forego financial remuneration from the Corinthians so as not to hinder the gospel. Acts 18:1-5 gives us the backdrop to Paul’s work in Corinth, showing us his part-time work as a tentmaker and how Silas and Timothy supported him so that he could then preach on a full-time basis. Those who support others in Christian ministry (as many women supported Christ during His earthly ministry) have a vital role to play; there are many different kinds of service! Paul’s role as an apostle was to build up the church (the word ‘edification’ has its roots in the Latin words meaning ‘to build a house‘) and to preach the gospel, a commission he took so seriously that he could say ‘woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!’ (1 Cor 9:16) The overarching principle of these verses can be seen in Phil 2:1-11, how we must follow Christ’s example of laying down His rights to serve others. In the words of Graham Kendrick’s ‘Servant King’:

‘So let us learn how to serve

And in our lives enthrone Him,

Each other’s needs to prefer,

For it is Christ we’re serving.’