What Is The Church?

Apr 12, 2026

Today in our Bible discussion we looked at the question ‘What is the church?’ It’s certainly not a building (useful though these are). The church is made up of God’s people meeting together; we are the church! We are the ‘called-out ones’ and on the confession of Peter about who Jesus is (the Messiah and Saviour of the world), Jesus will build HIs church. (Matt 16:13-20)
Some say God chooses who will be in the church; others say people choose themselves, but it appears that both views are true to some extent. As in a marriage, there is a mutual choice which works together for good. The church is made of holy people (Eph 1:1). ‘saints’. In John 10:14-15, Jesus makes clear that there will be both Israelites and non-Israelites in the church.
The church has two arms, so to speak, ‘the church militant’ and ‘the church triumphant.’ The church militant involves all who are on active service for the Lord (2 Tim 2:3); the church triumphant are those who have ‘gone before’ (Heb 12:1).
It’s possible to be a Christian and not be part of a church, but this is like a sole trader instead of part of a larger company. It’s not advisable or what God wants, for the church is meant to help, encourage, strengthen and build each other (Eccl 4:9-12, Prov 27:17, Rom 1:11-12, Eph 4:11-12, 1 Thess 5:11). The church is God’s idea, even though we may find it annoying, difficult, frustrating and trying! The church is for us, and we are for the church!

Jesus Speaks To Nicodemus

Apr 9, 2026

Tonight at our Bible study we looked at the words of Jesus to Nicodemus, reminding ourselves that whilst Jesus preached to thousands on occasions, He also made time to speak to individuals. Nicodemus, a religious leader, approached Jesus at night, recognising him as a rabbi (teacher) with important things to say, but wary also because to be seen with Jesus was not a sensible move for a religious Pharisee! Jesus was prepared to talk to Nicodemus even at night and spoke of the kingdom of God and being born again. Nicodemus interpreted this literally, but Jesus often used common metaphors (here, birth and wind) to explain spiritual truths. Metaphors do not make literal sense to us, but often open the door to understanding at a later date.
The conversation recorded in John 3:1-21 may seem unsatisfactory to us in many ways, as we are not told how Nicodemus responded to the things Jesus told him (including references to the bronze snake in Numbers 21 and his own identity as the ‘Son of Man.’) Sometimes, we don’t know how people respond to our conversations and we can feel discouraged, but our responsibility is simply to sow the seed of God’s word; it is God who makes it grow. (1 Cor 3:6-7) As it turns out, the words of Jesus clearly had an impact on Nicodemus, who argues for a fair hearing for Jesus in John 7:45-52, even though his fellow Pharisees openly mock hm for this. Ultimately, we see that actions speak louder than words, for Nicodemus accompanies Joseph of Arimathea to the Romans to ask permission to bury Jesus’s body after his crucifixion and buys expensive anointing spices to give this man a proper burial. (John 19:38-42). To do so when Jesus was still dead shows us that Nicodemus had firmly nailed his colours to the Jesus mast!
Jesus always spoke to individuals as individuals who were known, loved and valued by God. He did not push Nicodemus into making a confession of faith; He trusted God to water HIs words through the Holy Spirit, for to see and enter the kingdom of God requires God’s Spirit to convict and bring people to faith. We can be encouraged by all we learn of Nicodemus and can be grateful for the spiritual truths this conversation leaves us.

Easter Fun Day

Apr 9, 2026

We had a fabulous Easter Fun Day at Goldthorpe Railway Embankment and the Salvation Army, under gloriously blue skies and temperatures that felt more like summer than April! Our Easter Trail got people looking for different coloured objects and doing a variety of activities including,

  1. planting seeds as a reminder of hope
  2. writing messages of love on hearts to hang in the Embankment
  3. making daffodil mosaics to remind us that God takes our broken lives and makes something beautiful from them
  4. making willow crowns to remind us we are loved and valued by God
  5. decorating wooden birds and joining paper chains to remind us that Jesus died to bring us together and gives us peace

We also made an Easter garden and did a variety of crafts inside the Salvation Army building.

Here are some photos from the day.

A big THANK YOU to all who helped, including Lesley and Sadie from Gone Wild Forest School, Becky from the Salvation Army Divisional HQ and Nikki Hickling from JJ’s Chippy who fed us all!

Raised To Life

Apr 5, 2026

Death-and-resurrection is the package God gave us as the pathway to life; it’s impossible to talk about Easter without mentioning both Good Friday and the empty tomb on Easter Sunday. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the foundation stone of Christianity (see 1 Cor 15), and yet the resurrection is more than a historical fact on which to base our lives; it is the pathway to living a new life, for we too now are guaranteed resurrection because of Christ’s resurrection (see Rom 6:4, Rom 8:11).

Christ’s resurrection has profound implications for our own lives right now:

‘Because You’re risen, I can rise.
Because You’re living, I’m alive,
Because Your cross is powerful,
Because You rose invincible,
I can get up off the floor.’ (‘Resurrection Day’, Rend Collective)

Since Jesus is alive and death has been defeated, we can know forgiveness of sins and redemption; we can know eternal life which begins now thanks to our reconciliation with God. We know that with God all things are possible (Matt 19:27) and so we can live with hope and the security of a future with Him.

Paul talks about God’s Spirit living in us, giving life to our mortal bodies, bringing us alive to Him (Rom 8:11) and about us reigning in life. (Rom 5:17) This happens as we focus on Jesus Christ (Heb 12:2, Col 3:1-2) and put on the armour of God (Eph 6:10-18), not forsaking fellowship with other believers. (Heb 10:24-25) We don’t simply have a great future after death (see 1 Thess 4), wonderful though this news is, but we know the resurrection life starts now. We too have a resurrection story because of Christ’s resurrection story:

‘One word, one touch, one encounter with the King
And my life has never been the same.
You alone get the glory in my resurrection story.
One cross, three days, then You rolled the stone away,
Called my name, now I’m running out the grave.

You alone get the glory in my resurrection story.’ (‘Resurrection Story’, Phil Wickham)

 

 

Resurrection!

Apr 5, 2026

The resurrection of Jesus has profound implications for all of us – it shows us that His sacrificial death was accepted by God, that our sins can be forgiven and that we can have eternal life.

Phil Wickham captures these truths in his song ‘Resurrection Story’ (listen here)

‘One word, one touch, one encounter with the King
And my life has never been the same.
You alone get the glory in my resurrection story.
One cross, three days, then You rolled the stone away,
Called my name, now I’m running out the grave.
You alone get the glory in my resurrection story.’ (Phil Wickham, ‘Resurrection Story’)

 

Saturated In Scripture

Apr 5, 2026

One of the things I find so encouraging in the Easter story is how God fulfilled His word through it. Just as with the Christmas story, we see Scripture fulfilled in the events at Easter time: Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday (Zech 9:9), Judas’s betrayal of Jesus for money (Zech 11:12-13), the scattering of the disciples (Zech 13:7), the fact that not a single bone of Jesus’s body was broken (Ps 34:20). Two of the seven ‘words of Jesus’ uttered on the cross refer directly to Scripture (Matt 27:46, quoting Ps 22:1 and Luke 23:46, quoting Ps 31:5). Even as He hung on the cross in agony, Jesus’s mind was so saturated in Scripture that His last words reflected His life’s focus.

I find the quotation from Ps 22;1 especially poignant. It is often called the cry of dereliction (‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?’) Yet as with so many psalms, the prophetic element means it does not remain in despair. This psalm, which also describes the crucifixion in vivid terms (Ps 22:12-18), ends with the powerful declaration, ‘Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim HIs righteousness, declaring “He has done it!”‘ (Ps 22:30-31)

We are part of that future generation foretold by David who can declare with confidence on this Easter Sunday ‘He has done it!’ Jesus has died for our sins and been raised to life; the shame and pain of the cross replaced by the exultant joy of the resurrection. God has done all He promised to do, and therefore we have hope because Jesus is alive forever more.

Easter is a vivid reminder that despair and defeat do not have the last word. Jesus’s cry of dereliction on the cross ends with the continuing declaration that the work of salvation is finished. He has done it! Because He lives, we can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because we know He holds the future, we can live with confidence and hope.

May we live with Scripture firmly embedded into our lives so we can be equipped to keep on proclaiming that there’s nothing left for us to do to be saved except to believe in our resurrected Saviour. He has risen; He is alive!