The news that a church service in Islington was stopped yesterday by police[1] raises interesting questions about the legality of lockdown and the moral issues it raises during these difficult times. The Angel Church’s pastor, Regan King, spoke about his need to prioritise his responsibility to God, his congregation and community and the church’s need to serve its community as part of its Christian mission. He went on to say, “The spiritual needs of people are as essential as the physical. The supermarkets are open for the body, but what about that food for the soul that’s found in Christ alone?”[2]

These are valid questions, and this present lockdown has seen much disquiet over the Government’s definition of “essential” and “non-essential.” With so many outlets allowed to remain open, it is hard to fathom a coherent rationale based on science behind the regulations, particularly when businesses and places of worship have taken regulations regarding social distancing and hygiene extremely seriously. Although churches can continue to meet online, it is profoundly disturbing to have governments decide when and how we can worship, and the need for “meaningful human interaction” remains an essential feature of corporate worship.

Not everyone will agree with Regan King’s decision, but I believe it is vital that we protect our legal right to gather together and are willing to put our responsibility to God above our desire for social acceptance and comfort. The apostles were clear that obedience to God could mean disobedience to civil authority at times (Acts 5:29), and without wishing for one moment to be reckless with regard to people’s health, a “greater good” may indeed exist which is not in line with the Government’s policies on handling this present crisis. I personally believe that the restrictions on normal family contact and on meeting together to worship are extremely harmful and set a very dangerous precedent, and believe that we should pray not only for an end to the pandemic but for an end to restrictions which criminalise that which is not wrong, let alone criminal.

[1] https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/angel-church-baptism-lockdown-north-london-b70911.html

[2] https://premierchristian.news/en/news/article/why-i-ve-decided-to-break-the-law-and-open-my-church-during-lockdown

Stephen spoke tonight on the theme ‘Signed, Sealed and Delivered.’ This idiom refers to a legal deed, which to be valid had to be signed by the seller, sealed with a wax seal, and delivered to the new owner. It’s often used in contracts (e.g. to buy a house or a car), but could also be said to refer to what God has done for each believer.

John 6:35 reminds us that Jesus is the Bread of Life. Faith in Jesus is the starting point for our spiritual journey. The centurion’s encounter with Jesus demonstrated a faith Jesus had rarely seen in Israel (Matt 8:8-10), and faith is the starting point for us, akin to signing a contract and promising to follow Jesus all our lives.

For us to grow, we need to be contented in Christ, and this comes as we digest God’s word, taking it in and allowing it to direct our lives, giving meaning and focus to all that we do. God’s word shines light into every situation and is our total guarantee for life. It seals us and guarantees that all God’s promises can be fulfilled in our lives. We find in this book all the answers to our burdens and woes and receive the guidance we need as we learn to absorb God’s word into every area of our lives.

Christ is our Deliverer and our Redeemer; He starts His good work in us and will complete that work. (Phil 1:6) 2 Cor 1:10 reminds us that God has delivered us from peril in the past and will continue to deliver us. 1 Cor 1:30 reminds us that Christ has become for us wisdom, holiness and righteousness. We know that we are sealed with God’s Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13-14) and 2 Cor 5:1-10 reminds us that God has not left us on our own. He has given us His Spirit and His word to lead us through life. Life may seem to beat us down at times, but we do not have to fear, for the deal has been finalised and we can trust God to deliver all He has promised us.

This morning, we looked at the big question ‘Who Is God?’ It matters enormously who God is and what He is like, so we spent time exploring this issue, looking at:

1. God as Creator

God is the Creator, the Maker of heaven and earth. (Ps 121:2, Ps 134:3, Ps 146:6) The very first words of the Bible affirm this: ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’ (Gen 1:1) We see God speaking and things happening: light being separated from darkness, sky and land appearing, vegetation coming, sun and moon and stars being created, living creatures coming into being and finally man being created. (Gen 1:1-28) Elsewhere in the Bible, we see the Holy Spirit involved in creation (Gen 2:1) and Jesus (John 1:3, Col 1:16), and we also see that God is not only the creator but the sustainer of the universe. (Heb 1:3) The fact that God is Creator means He is powerful and also that He is personally involved with His creation.

2. God as Almighty (‘El-Shaddai’)

God revealed Himself to Abraham and to Jacob as ‘El-Shaddai’, the Almighty One (see Gen 17:1, Gen 35:11). Jeremiah reminds us that nothing is too hard for Him (Jer 32:17), and this power – so great that it raised Jesus from the dead (Eph 1:19-21) – is available to us too. We serve a mighty God, and, like the psalmists, we need to proclaim this regularly. He is our mighty rock (Ps 62:2) ‘Who is like you, Lord God Almighty? You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.’ (Ps 89:8) Who is God? He is the all-powerful One.

3. God our Father

Jesus taught His disciples to pray using the words ‘our Father in heaven’ (Matt 6:9) and one of the most powerful stories He told looked at a father with two sons and how he dealt with each of them. (Luke 15:11-32) In that, we see how much God loves us and longs for us to return to Him. Even if we have not experienced the love and stability of an earthly father, God is able to be a ‘father to the fatherless’ (Ps 68:5), demonstrating a love and care for us that shows His kindness and grace. (Matt 7:9-11) Even God’s discipline of us is for our own good (Heb 12:10) and is a sign we are His children and heirs.

4. God is relational

One of the most amazing truths in the Bible is that we serve one God in Three Persons. The very essence of God is relational and He wants to be in a relationship with us. We see the Trinity perhaps most clearly at certain moments in Jesus’s life on earth, such as His baptism (Mark 1:10-11) Relationship is therefore at the heart of the Godhead, as is unity – which is why Jesus placed such emphasis on relationship and unity in the church, for we are meant to reflect who God is.

5. God is our Saviour

Because God wants to be in a relationship with us, He gave His only Son to die for us so that we can be rescued from sin and brought close to Him. (John 3:16, Col 1:13, Eph 2:1-6) We can be restored to fellowship with God and can be born again into His family. Knowing God is the key to eternal life (John 17:3) and so it matters enormously that we have a rescuer or Saviour in Jesus Christ.

6. God is love

Perhaps the most astounding truth in the Bible is that God is love. (1 John 4:8, 16) As A. W. Tozer put it, “Nothing God ever does, or ever did, or ever will do, is separate from the love of God.” God’s love is unfailing, unchanging and ever-constant.His display of love is the purest and truest there is. He loves perfectly, completely, with a love that never fails. (1 Cor 13:8) And because we are made in God’s image, we can love. Love isn’t something that is derived from within us. It is radical. It is supernatural. The kind of love that God calls us to–the love that loves our neighbour as much as we love ourselves– must come from Him. We love, John tells us, because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Even though we are not able to be involved directly in community outreach with our youth club and Parent & Toddler group, we are still keen to connect with our local community as much as possible. This is why, alongside Dearne Churches Together, we are involved with the Advent gift bag scheme, giving out goodies to local families on Saturday 28th November. Please contact Julie if you wish to book a time slot to collect a gift bag.

In addition, with Dearne Churches Together, we are sponsoring 4FrontTheatre’s Christmas pantomime ‘A Very Merry Covid-Cancelled Christmas’, which will be shown at Goldthorpe Primary School, Sacred Heart Primary School, Lacewood Primary School and Carrfield Primary Academy on 30th November and 1st December. This will be a pre-recorded performance, but we’re sure it will be exciting to watch and will help children to understand that whatever is going on around us, Christmas really can’t be cancelled!

Please continue to pray for our community outreach, and for God to give us inspiration in how to reach out more and more to those who do not yet know Him.

Whilst we are in lockdown, there are lots of good things still happening. Dearne Churches Together will be giving out Advent gift bags (containing Nativity crafts, Christmas stories, snacks and surprises) on Saturday 28th November between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at three local venues (St Helen’s Church Hall in Thurnscoe, the Salvation Army in Goldthorpe and Furlong Road Methodist Church in Bolton-on-Dearne). As before, families will be invited to book an allocated time slot for collection so as to avoid any mixing of households and to maintain social distancing. This can still go ahead, even in lockdown, because it is a charitable event, and we very much hope we can bless many local families in this way.

If you can help with giving out these bags at one of the three venues for a short time or can help with packing the gift bags at GPCC on Tuesday 23rd November at 1 p.m., please let Julie know. Volunteering for such events is still allowed, even in lockdown.

In preparing for Christmas, we are also encouraging people to make their own angels – either knitted or crocheted angels, craft angels or angels painted onto rocks and left in Phoenix Park. Please send any photos of your crafts to us and we will make an angel gallery of photos, reminding us of the messages of hope they brought at Christmas time.

We will be holding an Advent prayer meeting with other local churches on Facebook live on Wednesday 2nd December at 10.45 a.m. and will also be walking outdoors and praying in our ‘Take Back the Streets’ prayer initiative on Saturday 5th December at 10 a.m.

Finally, we have been pondering hard about how we can celebrate Christmas together as a church and have a carol service when we are not at all sure if we’ll be able to meet in person or will still be holding online services! We have decided, therefore, to prepare a pre-recorded Nativity show which can be recorded by church members in their own homes and then edited together so that we can share this at our carol service on Sunday 20th December at 6 p.m. whether that’s live in our building or online or both! If any church members would like to be involved in this, please contact Julie as soon as possible so we can work on recording scenes for our ‘Good News Nativity’ as soon as possible!

Céline Dion’s song ‘Goodbye’s The Saddest Word’ speaks of the love between a daughter and her mother and looks ahead to the pain of separation which death brings:

‘Goodbye’s the saddest word I’ll ever hear.
Goodbye’s the last time I will hold you near.
Someday you’ll say that word and I will cry.
It’ll break my heart to hear you say goodbye.’

Those of us who have lost loved ones can identify with these lyrics and there is no doubt that separation of any kind can cause us deep anguish and grief. The leaders of the church at Ephesus experienced these feelings when Paul gave his farewell speech to them before moving on to other places (see Acts 20:37-38). Paul, on his way to Rome via Jerusalem, arrived at Miletus and asked them to come to him so that he could say goodbye. (Acts 20:13-38) In this speech, where we see Paul ‘vulnerable, meditative, steady in his faithful perseverance but with no hint of triumphalism’ (Tom Wright, ‘Acts For Everyone Pt 2, P 131), we get a glimpse not only into how Paul has lived as a leader among them for the past three years but into his heart for the church of God. He is at pains to remind them of his service and giving and to urge them to ‘keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.’ (Acts 20:28) He knows the opposition will come (even from within the church) and longs for their ongoing spiritual growth. (Acts 20:32) No wonder the Ephesian elders were sad at the thought of never seeing him again. Paul was their spiritual father and they had learned so much not only from his words but from his whole lifestyle among them over the past three years.

The word ‘goodbye’ is actually a contraction of the phrase ‘God be with you’, which used to be the more formal way of blessing someone as you left them. The French word ‘adieu’ still has that connotation (literally, ‘to God’) and other ways of saying goodbye (au revoir in French, auf wiedersehen in German) still contain elements of hope that the parting will be temporary (‘see you again’). For the Christian, even death is not the ultimate end, painful though that separation is, and we can be sure that we look ahead to a future without sorrow: ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ (Rev 21:4) Paul committed the Ephesians to God and to the word of His grace (Acts 20:32); when we do this in life, perhaps goodbye is no longer the saddest word but can also be a reminder that there is more to come.