Link Community Church

26/11/2022

Just 3 weeks until our Community Carols!
Thats plenty of time to get your craft on and make a Christmas crown, we’d love to see them, and you, at the Edward Dunn on the 17th
🎄 👑 🎶

20/12/2020

Here is Maltby Churches Together’s Carol Service! We hope it blesses and encourages you

The Churches together in Maltby are pleased to share this carol service for people to join in online this year. We pray that you have a blessed Christmas.

01/08/2020

After almost 20 weeks, here is our 118th and final devotional! We hope you have enjoyed reading them and that they have been a blessing during these times of isolation, uncertainty and upheaval!

Thank you to all the team who have put them together and thank you to Sue for finishing them off with this fantastic truth:

Yesterday ,Today, Forever Jesus is the same.
All may change but Jesus never
Glory to His name....
Was the start of a song we used to sing.
Recently Pete and I have been watching a series which was about a policeman who found himself in a coma and traveled back in time 33 years. He found himself struggling dreadfully with the differences in how people thought. What was acceptable then is so different to what is acceptable now. Prejudices from just 30 years ago are so different from prejudice today.
If I read books I loved when I was younger I cringe and feel that they just don't relate to today's society...but I never feel that when I read the bible.
How is it that God's word has been relevant to each and every generation for thousands of years?
It never ceases to amaze me that we can change how we think and act so much in one lifetime but that God never changes. His truth will always stand.
A book which used to be in my parents house called ''Enquire within about everything,'' is now largely irrelevant to us today. ..but the gospel still stands.
I know that it is helpful to understand the historical context of biblical accounts, but God's laws are as relevant to us today as they were when they were first written.
When Jesus came to earth he pointed out ways in which people were misinterpreting those laws. People have continued to do this but nothing of what Jesus said will ever need to be updated.
How amazing to know that whatever the future holds, we can hold on to the unshakeable truth of God!

31/07/2020

Thank you Pippa for today’s devotional:

Covered or Uncovered?

A week ago it became compulsory to wear a face covering in shops. That won’t have escaped your notice! Some people have functional and disposable masks, some have chosen a more attractive design and yet others have personalised them to make a statement about their identity even under cover ! They are still all face coverings.

Our history with God is one of covering and uncovering.

From the Genesis garden onwards mankind has tried to cover itself. Why? There’s a simple answer - guilt. Adam and Eve were the first to disobey God and their answer to this new experience was woefully inadequate. They tried to hide among some trees and for extra measure sewed a few leaves together.

It didn’t work. Yet that response has been repeated again and again in the life of every person who has ever lived as we try to cover our guilt and shame. It still doesn’t work.

As Adam and Eve left the garden, banished by God, however they did not leave naked. “The LORD God made garments .....and clothed them.” (Genesis 3:21).

And the LORD God has been covering us ever since.

David, an adulterer and murderer, wrote, “Blessed is the one whose sins are covered.” (Psalm 32:1).

Is it that simple? No! And Yes!

It is not automatic. David expresses powerfully the corrosive, disturbing experience of guilt that is hidden. “When I kept silent my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. Day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.”

But he found the answer : “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover it up. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’ - and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”

When we give up our futile efforts to cover ourselves by, for example, justifying or excusing our sin, making light of it or blaming someone else, or working hard to make ourselves feel better, then and only then can we come to the only One who can cover our sin.

We have to be willing to give up our efforts to cover it, and to uncover it before Him. He knows it better than we do but he waits for our acknowledgement and confession.

In John’s first letter he writes, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves... if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins.”

How can this be? “Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the world.”

Face coverings will probably continue for a while yet, but the covering of our sin through Jesus’ sacrificial death will last for ever!

Let’s worship him afresh this morning, confessing anything our conscience is nagging us about, and receiving the joy of his forgiveness. Praise you LORD!

“What joy for those whose sins are covered!”

30/07/2020

Helen brings us today’s devotional:

Psalms 103:8
Lord, you’re so kind and tenderhearted to those who don’t deserve it and so patient with people who fail you! Your love is like a flooding river overflowing its banks with kindness.

Cast your minds back to about 4 months BC (Before Corona) and you may remember some serious floods over the UK.

I work in a school and I remember the day it got really bad. All of a sudden a normal school day went crazy! The floods changed everything!

As a school we could not continue normally, our whole focus changed, the flood took over!

It’s odd likening God’s love to a flood as floods are often devastating and destructive. God’s love is life-giving and healing. But it does share the overwhelming nature of a flood, the way it makes everything stand still.

When God’s love enters our life, we can’t help but take notice. Our whole focus shifts!

Our focus shifts from self to others,
From the immediate to the eternal,
From the natural to the supernatural.

And in some ways, Gods love is destructive. It destroys the lies that the enemy whispers...

‘Unworthy’ ‘condemned’ and ‘hopeless’ get washed away and replaced with ‘loved’.

Let the flood of God’s love grind your world to a halt today. Let it change your perspective and your life.

And think... we are called to share this love with the world around us. Is the love we are sharing as life altering and ‘flood-like’ as God would have it be?

29/07/2020

Thank you Pete S for today’s devotional:

Sue will tell you that of my many faults one of the most annoying is that I hate to ask someone for help. Before the advent of sat-nav, I would drive aimlessly around trying to find my destination, with Sue sat next to me saying “Just ask someone!” I don’t think I’m the only member of the male population to have the same aversion to seeking assistance, we can all be capable of struggling alone, perhaps to prove a point.
Someone once said to me that Christianity was a ‘crutch’ for weak people. They needed to lean on it just to get through life. Others say just believe in Jesus and all your problems will go away. Neither is right. We are not promised an easy ride as some would have you believe. But also, Christianity isn’t just propping me up until I die. I have a God who is my strength when I need to be strong. He is my shelter when I need protection. He is a very present help in times of trouble. (Psalm 46)
Three of my heroes from the Bible are Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Daniel 3 tells their story. They had angered the king by not bowing to his idol. They said… “If you throw us into the hot furnace, the God we serve can save us. But even if God does not save us, we want you to know, King, that we refuse to serve your gods. We will not worship the gold idol you have set up.”
The king threw them into the furnace, and when he looked he saw not 3, but 4 men in amongst the flames. God was with them.
I serve a God who is not a crutch to lean on. In the tough times, and there have been many, He has been a stretcher carrying me. Sometimes though, my biggest problem is being too proud to ask Him for help.

28/07/2020

Today’s devotional is from Helen:

One of the things that struck me when first looking at our house before we bought it, was the large privet hedge around the front garden. I love it! It makes our front garden this private little bit of nature! When I’m washing the dishes, looking out of my kitchen window I don’t see cars and tarmac, bricks and grey. I see green, birds and even the odd dragonfly!

My grandma did not like this hedge. She often told me to ‘cut it down to a reasonable/respectable hight’. I’m not quite sure what she meant by that but her next point was a good one... she was concerned that it would limit the natural light coming into my kitchen. My grandma loved natural light and I share that with her.

I assured her that, at the height it was, it let in plenty of light and we agreed to disagree about the respectableness of it. We moved in and I enjoy my little garden view. With the addition of a bird feeder it is just lovely!

Hassan and I wouldn’t call ourselves green-fingered... far from it! And so our little garden often looks fairly ‘jungle-esque’ and our already large hedge often gets out of hand.

Such has been the case for a while and so, on Saturday, with help from my dad and a certain scallywag, Hassan attempted to tame it!

As he was letting loose with the hedge trimmer, I was washing the dishes. And I suddenly realised that the kitchen was getting lighter and lighter!

The hedge had started out at a size that truly did let in plenty of natural light however slowly, unnoticeably, the hedge grew, the light was getting blocked and the kitchen was getting darker.

I was reminded of this verse:

“Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:22-23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

How often do we think we are full of light when in actual fact, we are not?

There are certain things in our life that need to be kept in check. Some things are not bad in themselves but need to be managed well else they will slowly start to darken our lives, ‘blocking’ the light of God from entering our hearts.

These things will be different for each one of us. Ask God today what is blocking His light from entering your heart and then get serious with the hedge trimmers!

27/07/2020

Apologies that it’s late but we hope today’s devotional blesses you:

Suffering is not a subject that we like to think about as it is always painful to us in some way, physically, mentally, emotionally, or even all three together. However, as Christians, we need to prepare ourselves to expect suffering. 1 Peter 4:1 says "Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God." ESV. Peter exhorts us to arm ourselves with that same resolve, so we too might live victoriously, knowing peace and joy from living righteously before God even if as painfully as Paul did as we mentioned yesterday at church.
Peter, in verses 12 -14 NLT goes on to say "Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad - for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you."
Evil and sinful people targeted Jesus, when He was alive, and so it is to be expected that we will receive the same here in time, as we see what is happening already to our brothers and sisters across the world. We have been fortunate not to have had much persecution in our nation but we must be prepared for it if we want to powerfully share the Gospel in the coming days. God is sovereign over all our suffering and He will help us bear it, see us through it, and bring relief in His good time. His grace is ALWAYS sufficient.
Jesus gave ample warning in Matthew 5:10-12 "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you,persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you."
As we seek to go forth into the world after lockdown, let us be prepared to face suffering of varying sorts as we follow our Master in sharing the Gospel message and the love of God. As Moses said to Joshua " Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. "

25/07/2020

Thank you Sue for today’s devotional:

On Monday we went to Birmingham to scatter my mum's ashes with my dad and my brother. Dad had chosen a very specific place. He said that as a family we never visit graves so he had decided to have mum's body cremated and and to scatter her ashes by the bench they liked to sit on to eat their sandwiches in the middle of their favourite walk. We then did the rest of the very beautiful walk. Afterwards as we thought about the day we realised that we would be able to do the walk in the future maybe many times...as we have done in the past...with children and grandchildren and have fun happy days remembering mum.
Remembering is an important theme in the bible. We so quickly forget so much of our lives and so much of what we learn. In the bible there are example after example of ways God gave people to remember significant events and truths...piles of stones as monuments, annual feasts, things they had to wear, easy to remember stories Jesus told and, of course, the bible itself.
My dad has a book he keeps on the stairs where he has written bible references on many many subjects. He refers to it lots. He reads the bible daily but knows he will forget so much of what he reads. So he notes down what God teaches under headings so he can look back at what he's learned before and get to know God's truths. Even at 93 and even with a physical memory that was never great he learns more of God each day.
We are never too old to learn. Let us all find ways to remember what God has shown us in the past and continue to learn more of Him each day.

““So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭11:18-21

24/07/2020

Pippa brings us today’s devotional:

Cancelled!
Part 2
Last week I wrote about the cancellation of our great debt of sin. Paid in full by our Lord Jesus on the cross.

This same Lord told a story to Peter as he pondered how generous he could be to someone who had sinned against him. I can see Peter thinking of the greatest number of times he could possibly imagine having to forgive someone. “Seven times? ” he ventures.

A servant, says Jesus, owed his master millions of pounds. The master ordered that he and his family and all he had be sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees and begged for mercy and he was given mercy. The master cancelled the debt!

Wow! What amazing generosity! There was zero possibility of the servant being able to pay off that debt- but in one act of the Master his debt was wiped out.

I’m imagining the servant walking down the road with a huge grin on his face, even dancing and then .... he spots a fellow servant . The smile disappears from his face, an ugly scowl takes its place, and anger starts to burn inside as he remembers that he is owed twenty quid.

Before you know it his hands are round the other’s throat. “Pay me what you owe me”

Now it’s this servant’s turn on his knees to beg for time, “Be patient with me and I will pay you back.”
The forgiven servant is having none of it - and servant number two is thrown into prison till he can pay back the debt.

There are some other servants in this story- they see what’s happening. They are greatly distressed. Wouldn’t you be?

And they tell the master. And he calls servant number one back in. “You are wicked” he says. “Shouldn’t you have had mercy as I had on you?”
And he is delivered to the jail and its jailers with their tortures until the debt is repaid.

That’s enough to stop you in your tracks isn’t it? But the punch line is still to come,
“This” says Jesus “is how my Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

What’s your reaction ?
I want to protest- how can Nigerian Christians forgive the murderers of their loved ones? Or a mother the drunk driver who left her child brain injured?

And I am conscious that I sometimes struggle to forgive even the tiny offences, the daily hurts that can come from living in a world of people like me - selfish, thoughtless, impatient .....

How do I forgive? And cancel the debt?
Jesus gives us a huge clue in this story:

Remember how much you have been forgiven.

Do you sometimes ask God to show you how much ? It is a humbling experience as he shows you even a little bit of the corruption within. But it is also gloriously liberating - as you fall to your knees in worship of such a God of mercy.

Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch Christian, was sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp in the Second World War. Her sister Betsie died there. After the war she spoke at a meeting about the forgiveness Jesus offers.

As the meeting came to an end she found herself face to face with a sadistic guard from Ravensbruck. He had found forgiveness and wanted to shake Corrie’s hand. All the horrors of the camp passed before her eyes. Her arm seemed to be stuck at her side .

Silently she prayed, “Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness.”
She raised her arm to shake his hand.

This is what she wrote later, “As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while in my heart sprang a love that almost overwhelmed me.”

We have the power and grace of the Holy Spirit to enable us to release others from the debt they owe us. Lord help us to live in this life transforming way each day.

23/07/2020

Thank you Pete S for today’s devotional:

Once again this week I found myself shouting at the radio. This time at a comedy show called ‘It’s a fair cop’. The show is written and hosted by Alfie, a Scunthorpe police officer who recounts true stories of cases he had to deal with. This one called ‘collision decision’ was all about a road traffic accident.
Spoiler-Alert! If you intend to listen to this episode then stop reading now and have a listen.
The problem was that a ‘boy racer’ swerved across the road and hit another car with a mum and toddler in, causing damage to her car. He got off, although he was thought to be on his phone, but the episode ended with the mum getting a fine and 6 points on her licence!
The woman was found to have broken the law and the policeman had no option but enforce it. Having got cross with the radio, I then reflected that I once came very close to being a police officer and would have faced with similar dilemmas, and had to enforce the law. I realised I wouldn’t have made a very good cop!
As foster parents (and parents) we know that it is important to be consistent. When we say something then it should happen. Have you ever heard someone say to a kid ‘I will kill you when we get home.’ Hopefully they don’t carry that through, but it gives confusing messages to a child – should they believe those in charge, or not.
When it comes to our heavenly father, what He says is the law, and He sticks to it. There are parts of the bible that make for uncomfortable reading because of that. But there are many more that bring joy because of His unchangeable nature.
Some live their lives feeling condemned by the word of God. Yet in John 3 v 17 it says: ‘God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.’ Later on in chapter 8 it says ‘If the Son sets you free, you are truly free.’ There are no if’s or but’s or get-out clauses. And not just free, but truly free. So live a truly free life today, because that’s God’s word!

22/07/2020

Helen brings us today’s devotional, a follow on from yesterday’s:

Yesterday I shared about my love for my son, Nahum and how God speaks of His love for us being like that of a parent.

One of the struggles of motherhood, I’ve found, is seeing my child in pain.

We’re fortunate that most of the time, Nahum is a happy and content baby but this week he’s cut his first tooth and he had a horrible couple of days of teething leading up to it!

Seeing him in pain was really hard. I wanted to swoop in like a superhero, take it away and make everything better. But I couldn’t.

I know that pain and struggles in life teaches us things but as Nahum’s mum, if I had a way of making sure he never had to experience pain and suffering I would take it!

God uses the analogy of a father to describe his love for us but also, the bible tells us that he had a one and only son - Jesus.

God really did have the ability to keep Jesus from all harm, he could have kept him in Heaven at his right hand. But he didn’t.

God chose to send his son, Jesus, to earth. Even during his life on Earth Jesus suffered pain, just like the rest of us.

God had to look down on Jesus teething as a baby and just let it be but more than that, he looked down upon Jesus being whipped and tortured, nails hammered through his arms and feet. He looked down and chose to leave him there.

That couldn’t have been easy. My stomach is churning and heart pumping just thinking about it.

And yet he did it for us. His love for us is so great that he sent his son to earth and let him die on the cross.

How incredible. What a precious gift of salvation we have. Let us not take it for granted.

John 3:16

‘For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but shall have eternal life’

Thank you Lord.