Mansfield Pentecostal Church

30/07/2026

Heartwood is the central supporting pillar of certain trees. Although dead, it won’t decay or lose strength while the outer, living layers are intact. Composed ...

28/07/2026

27/07/2026

Discovering God in Life’s Mysteries

“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.” —Proverbs 25:2

God does not always reveal Himself in the ways we expect. Sometimes He uses something mysterious, unusual or unexplained to capture our attention and draw us closer to Him.

Moses encountered God through a bush that burned without being consumed. The mystery caused him to turn aside, investigate and listen. In that place, God revealed Himself and showed Moses the purpose for which he had been prepared.

God’s glory can often be discovered as we search three areas.

First, we can unravel His mind through creation. The heavens, the natural world and the order of the universe reveal something of God’s power, wisdom and beauty. The more we learn, the more reason we have to worship.

Second, we can seek His “why” behind our “what.” The circumstances of our lives may cause us to ask questions. Although we will not always understand every answer, our experiences can move us to seek God. Acts 17 teaches that God placed people within particular times and places so that they might reach out for Him and find Him.

Third, we can delve into Holy Scripture. Creation may reveal that God exists, but Scripture shows us more clearly who He is, how He wants us to live and how we can be saved.

On the road to Emmaus, two disappointed disciples could not understand what had happened to Jesus. Then Jesus walked beside them and explained how Moses and the prophets pointed towards Him. Later, their eyes were opened and they recognised Him.

The greatest mystery God has revealed is Jesus Christ. In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Perhaps you are facing something today that you do not understand. Rather than allowing the mystery to drive you away from God, allow it to draw you towards Him.

Keep asking. Keep searching. Keep opening the Scriptures.

You may discover that God has been walking beside you all along.

20/07/2026

How To Gain What You Can’t Lose?

In 2016, Dawn Elrick and her partner were trying to buy a £272,000 home in Glasgow. They had saved £172,000 towards it, but as they arranged to transfer the money to their solicitor, fraudsters intercepted the correspondence and gave them false bank details. In a moment, almost everything they had saved was gone. Only around £13,000 was recovered.

It is a painful reminder that even the things we work hard to secure can still be lost. Money can be stolen or eroded by inflation. Possessions can be damaged. Health can change overnight. Careers can be lost. Relationships can be strained. Even a house, one of the most secure earthly investments, can be taken through repossession, fire, flood, or disaster.

But Peter speaks of something far greater: “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4).

When we place our trust in Christ, we receive what can never be stolen, devalued, repossessed, or destroyed: salvation, forgiveness, adoption into God’s family, eternal life, resurrection hope, and a share in the kingdom of God.

So how do we gain what we cannot lose?

We start in Christ, because our hope begins not with our effort, but with His finished work.

We remain in Christ, because like a branch in the vine, our fruitfulness depends on staying connected to Him.

We finish in Christ, keeping the end in mind, knowing that the salvation of our souls is the final goal of our faith.

Jim Elliot, who died seeking to reach the Huaorani people of Ecuador with the gospel, once wrote:

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
Jesus said, “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25).

When you give what you cannot keep, you gain what you cannot lose.

13/07/2026

Thought for the Day: Joy Like No Other

When Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison for obeying God, their circumstances could not have looked worse. Their bodies were bruised, their freedom was gone, and they had every natural reason to complain. Yet, at midnight, they were praying and singing hymns to God.

Why?

Because they had a joy like no other — a joy that did not depend on their circumstances, but on the presence of God within them.

Peter speaks of this same joy when he says that believers are “filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy” (1 Peter 1:8). This is not shallow happiness. It is not based on money, comfort, success, or everything going well. It is a deep, Spirit-given joy rooted in Jesus Christ.

We experience this joy as we look to what Jesus has accomplished for us. Through His resurrection, we have a living hope, an eternal inheritance, and the promise of God’s keeping power.

We experience this joy as we walk in obedience to His commands. Obedience is not always easy. It often creates pressure because it goes against the mindset of the world. But Jesus said, “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love… that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:10–11).

We experience this joy as we view life from eternity’s perspective. Our trials are real, but they are not final. Our suffering may be painful, but it is not wasted. Heaven changes how we see hardship.

Unmatched joy is joy unshaken by circumstance.

So today, don’t look for lasting joy in possessions, comfort, or favourable conditions. Look to Jesus. Walk in His ways. Keep eternity in view.

In Him, you can know a joy the world cannot give — and a joy the world cannot take away.

06/07/2026

How to Value Your Faith Above All Else?

Of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, only one remains relatively intact: the Great Pyramid of Giza. Built over 4,600 years ago, it still stands as a remarkable testament to human engineering and earthly power.

Yet, as impressive as the Great Pyramid is, it does not compare with the New Jerusalem described in Revelation — a city of gold, jasper, precious stones, pearl gates, and glory. The pyramid may last for a few thousand years, but what God is preparing will last forever.

The difference is this: you do not need faith to see the Great Pyramid, but you do need faith to see the New Jerusalem.

Paul reminds us: “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”�— 2 Corinthians 4:18

Peter says our faith is “of greater worth than gold” because gold perishes, but genuine faith endures.

Today, one of the most precious metals is rhodium. It can cost nearly £200 per gram — more than gold or platinum. It is rare, useful, and durable. Yet even rhodium can be scratched, worn away, stolen, or lost.

But faith in Christ carries eternal value.

That is why we must value our faith above all else. We do this by appreciating its endurance, making Jesus the object of our faith, and testing its authenticity.

Elijah’s contest with the prophets of Baal reminds us that faith is only as valuable as its object. Sincerity, passion, and sacrifice mean nothing if our faith is placed in something false. But faith in Jesus has immeasurable worth, because He lived, died, rose again, and is alive today.

And just as Captain “Sully” Sullenberger’s skill was revealed in the trial of landing Flight 1549 on the Hudson River, so trials reveal the genuineness of our faith. Peter says trials come so that the proven genuineness of our faith may result in praise, glory, and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.

So ask yourself today: is my faith merely something I claim, or is it living, active, and rooted in Jesus?

Faith is treasure beyond measure, because its value lasts forever.

29/06/2026

Growing Through Trials

Trials have a way of revealing us.

It is easy to be patient, kind, faithful, and hopeful when life is comfortable. But when pressure comes, what is really inside us often rises to the surface. Just as squeezing a toothpaste tube reveals what is inside, and just as heat brings impurities to the surface of molten metal, so trials and testings reveal the true condition of our hearts.

But God does not allow trials merely to reveal us. He also uses them to refine us.
Peter writes that believers may have to “suffer grief in all kinds of trials” so that the proven genuineness of their faith — of greater worth than gold — may result in praise, glory, and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Gold is rarely found in a pure state. It is mixed with rock, minerals, and impurities. In the refining process, the heat causes the dross to rise to the surface. But the dross must then be removed. In the same way, when trials expose pride, bitterness, fear, resentment, unbelief, or impatience in us, God invites us not to excuse it, but to repent of it and allow Him to remove it.

Trials do not automatically make us better. But when we respond to them with faith, humility, and surrender, God uses them to deepen our character and prove the genuineness of our faith.

And one day, there will be a day of revealing.

Like graduation day after years of hidden study, there is coming a day when Christ will be revealed. On that day, what was hidden will be brought into the light.

Faithfulness no one noticed, tears no one saw, obedience no one applauded, and perseverance no one understood will be honoured by the Lord.

The reward is not only what God gives us, but what He makes us.

So let your trials reveal you.�Let them refine you.�And let them reward you.

God is more concerned with our character than our comfort — because He is making us more like Christ.

22/06/2026

God’s Power That Shields

We live in a world full of distractions, pressures and dangers — not only around us, but within us. Scripture reminds us that our struggle is not merely “against flesh and blood,” but against spiritual forces of darkness.

That is why we need more than natural strength. We need the shielding power of God.
Peter writes that believers are “through faith… shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5). What an incredible promise: God’s power is not occasional, weak or unreliable. His power continually shields those who trust in Christ.

But this is not a protection we should presume upon while living independently from Him. Israel learned that lesson painfully in Numbers 14. When they refused to trust God, then later tried to move forward without His presence, they were defeated. Presumption is not faith. Faith listens, trusts and obeys.

If we want to remain under God’s shielding power, we must learn to trust Him in the little things — in our choices, relationships, honesty, obedience and daily walk with Him.

We must also keep heaven in mind. We have been saved, we are being saved, and one day we will be fully saved. When we remember where we are heading, we are less likely to drift from the path.

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

Like sheep, we are vulnerable when we wander. But in Christ, we have a Shepherd who protects, guides and keeps us.

So today, draw on His power. Trust Him in the little things. Keep heaven in mind.
God’s power is able to shield you from straying.