Picture the scene: white, sandy beaches stretching for miles… blue seas glittering in the bright sunshine like lapis lazuli jewels. Feeling heartsick? Many of us have this tendency to long for idyllic scenes like this, and our inability to travel on holidays abroad to such destinations in recent months has only increased our wistfulness for such places.

Many of us have had holidays to places like this postponed or cancelled in recent months and whilst this is by no means the hardest thing we have faced, there has still been a sense of sadness at all the ‘could haves’ and ‘should haves’ over recent weeks. As things slowly begin to return to some kind of normality, we are beginning to anticipate meeting together in person again and the psalmist’s confident assertion that it’s better to spend one day in God’s house than a thousand elsewhere (Ps 84:10) may seem a little over-optimistic to us as we look at government guidance which will inevitably mean our gathering together doesn’t look quite like it used to.

Protestant Christians have always had ambivalent feelings about ‘places of worship‘, not wanting church buildings themselves to have a higher place in our worship than God Himself. We have not wanted to ‘limit’ God to an actual building and so have often played down the role of gathered meetings, stressing God’s presence with us everywhere we are, which is undoubtedly true. But there is no doubt that gathering together to worship God is a vital aspect of our Christian faith, and so we do understand the psalmist’s longing, expressed in the Message version in this way: ‘one day spent in Your house, this beautiful place of worship, beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.’ Even allowing for poetic licence, we too yearn to be able to gather again together in our building on Market Street!

And yet… we may have ambivalent feelings about gathering together again (which we hope to do from 2nd August) when we think about the uncertainties of this present time, about the spaced-out seating which looks so odd, about the restrictions on congregational singing placed on us by government restrictions. It would be easy to look at the notion of not being able to hug one another or share refreshments after services as making our gathered worship pointless. But there is always meaning to obeying God, and by choosing to gather together in obedience to Him and by fixing our attention on worshipping Him as our primary reason for gathering together, we too can understand the psalmist’s longing.

Ps 84 acts us a window into the heart of a person who longs for God’s presence and who understands the importance of joining with others to praise God. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a fortnight on a sun-kissed beach, but ultimately nothing satisfies us like the times we spend worshipping and serving God, and as we join together again, our prayer is that we forget the oddities and restrictions and rejoice in being together again to glorify Him for all His goodness, kindness, faithfulness, grace, mercy and forgiveness.

This morning, Stephen talked to us about church… Church life has obviously been hugely affected by the pandemic, since we were not able to meet together in person for so long (we are looking to re-start face-to-face meetings on 2nd August), but even though we have been affected by the pandemic, we are not infected! The only infection we truly long for is to have Christ in our lives.

‘Virtual church’, where we have livestreamed services, has involved looking at a screen and listening via speakers (on phones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers). We’re grateful for such technology, but once we are gathering together again in person, we will have to adapt what our services are like because of government restrictions. No matter what restrictions are in place (social distancing, extra cleaning, using hand sanitisers or masks and not having congregational singing), however, what is inside us – the hope, joy and life of God – needs to be expressed. Luke 19:37-40 reminds us that if we do not praise, the rocks will cry out – and Stephen had a rock to remind us that even inanimate objects can be used as expressions of praise by God if He so desires!

Praising God is not an optional extra; it’s an essential part of our lives as we are called to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Each one of us needs to express our love, adoration and praise to God, even if we have to find new ways to do this. 1 Pet 2:4-5 reminds us that Jesus is the living stone and we too are like living stones, being built into a spiritual house by God. Unlike the inanimate stone held by Stephen, we are living (or animate) stones – a collection of God’s people known as the church. God gives life to us so that these living stones, animated by Christ’s Spirit in us, can become a reflection of who God is and what He is doing. It may well be a challenge to gather together in the near future, something very different to what we have been used to in the past, but to exalt God is at the heart of church life and this is what we are called to do – whether we’re physically together or apart, whether we face restrictions or not. God is always worthy of our praise – so let’s be creative and inventive in how we praise Him!

Because of government legislation, services will be different to what we are used to, but we are sure that God’s presence with us will enable us to adapt and both honour and glorify Him when we gather together. Please note the following changes which we are required to make.

1. We request that you do not attend services if you are ill or showing symptoms of Covid-19 (including a high temperature, persistent dry cough and loss of taste or smell.) We will have to keep a record of those attending each service for 21 days and you should notify us if, after attending a service, you become ill with symptoms of Covid-19 so that others can be notified. Anyone showing symptoms of Covid-19 is advised to contact the NHS Test & Trace service. If we have confirmed cases of Covid-19, it is recommended that contacts self-isolate for 14 days and it is possible services will have to stop at that point to minimise the spread of the virus.

2. Social distancing measures will be in place and we ask you to observe these both inside and outside the building. This will mean only 1 person in the corridor or in each toilet and we have arranged chairs individually and in family groups in the Worship Room at distances of 2 metres to facilitate social distancing.

3. We have installed hand sanitiser dispensers at entrances and hand sanitiser is available outside toilets as well. You are strongly advised by the government to use hand sanitiser or to wash your hands on arriving and on leaving the building. We have also installed paper towel dispensers and pedal bins in each toilet to allow you to wash and dry your hands thoroughly.

4. We have removed communal objects such as toys to avoid cross-contamination. Parents are asked to bring their own toys/ books for their children to use during services. The foyer area is recommended for families with children. Church Bibles can be used, but must be left on chairs after use so that these can then be isolated for 48 hours as stipulated in the regulations.

5. We have revised our cleaning protocols to include colour-coded cloths to avoid cross-contamination and will be cleaning more regularly, especially before and after services. Cleaning wipes will be on chairs so that members can wipe down chairs after each service to help with cleaning issues. We will also be wedging doors open to avoid having to touch handles.

6. We will not be serving refreshments after services at present to avoid cross-contamination.

7. We would request that members do not use other rooms in the building to avoid having to clean other areas.

8. Members are asked to bring their own bread and juice for Holy Communion to avoid cross-contamination. Holy Communion will form a part of services each Sunday morning and on the 2^nd Sunday evening of each month.

9. A number of individually packaged face coverings will be available for use by members. Please leave these after services so they can be washed. It is not mandatory to wear face coverings, which is why we have retained social distancing at 2 metres.

10. We will not be passing around the offering bag, but will have a receptacle and jar for the Compassion children on the table in the foyer for you to leave your tithes and offerings. If you are able to give using online banking, please ask us for bank details to help you do this.

11. Congregations are advised not to sing, chant or shout during services. We are investigating ways of using music in our services, including recorded music, for we recognise the vital part singing and music play in our usual services.

We know that the above measures look daunting and will certainly have an impact on our services at first. But we believe that as we gather together to worship, pray and hear from God’s word, God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. (Eph 3:20) Let’s keep asking God to move in our area, to change this situation and to help us to go forward as His people with courage, faith and love.

We are planning to reopen the building on Market Street for services again on Sunday 2^nd August 2020. This is later than originally intended, but we have taken time to review government guidance and HSE guidance and consult with other local ministers, and we feel this opening date gives all those who are presently shielding until 1^st August the opportunity to gather with us if they so wish as well as giving us time to monitor how the easing of lockdown measures is affecting the spread of the virus in our local area.

We recognise that there will be a range of opinions on meeting again in person and that not everyone will feel comfortable doing so at this present time. Nonetheless, even with the current restrictions in place from the government which do have an impact on how services will be run, we feel it is an important Biblical principle to gather together (Hebrews 10:25) and want to give people the opportunity to do this. We will continue to livestream Sunday services on Facebook Live so that all who do not feel able to attend can still participate in our meetings and as an additional means of outreach. We recognise that we are the body of Christ and will continue to seek to minister to all within our congregation and community.

Services will be held each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. and on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. At the present time, we are not able to re-start our community groups (youth club, Parent & Toddler group, family fun days run in cooperation with Dearne Churches Together) because of the restrictions, particularly regarding social distancing and children. We are praying that these vital ministries to our community will soon be able to re-start and will be reviewing this decision frequently. We ask for your continued prayers that we will be able to both resume these activities and will find new and innovative ways to be ‘with God in the community, with God for the community’, which is our heart’s desire and mission.

The book of Acts gives us stories of many people being converted: turning from one way of life to eternal life in Jesus. Conversion is a turning point, that moment when we repent of our sins and turn in trust towards God, believing that Jesus’s death and resurrection are the way we are reconciled to God. All of us must undergo conversion if we are to become children of God and become adopted into God’s family, but the way this happens will, despite many common points, be unique to us.

So far in Acts, we have seen:

• someone actively hostile to Jesus and a persecutor of Christians become converted thanks to a vision from heaven (Saul of Tarsus, now spreading the message of Jesus Christ to the wider world!)

• an Ethiopian government minister converted through utterly miraculous if bizarre circumstances with a decidedly human agent (Philip)

• a Gentile centurion (Cornelius) converted by means of a vision to both him and Peter

• many unnamed people converted through listening to the preaching of both apostles and ‘ordinary’ Christians.

In Acts 16, we see again the variety of means by which people are saved: Lydia’s heart was opened as she listened to Paul’s message; the Philippian jailer is converted when he witnesses a miraculous earthquake while guarding these awkward Christian preachers! Lydia is described as a ‘God worshipper’, someone who was presumably already seeking God (and is therefore found by Him – see Jer 29:13), whereas the Philippian jailer seems not to have been seeking God but was definitely found by Him! All this goes to show how amazing God is to know each one of us by name and to know the most meaningful and appropriate way of reaching us!