We managed to livestream on Zoom and Facebook simultaneously tonight, a real step forward! Our thanks to all who gathered with us; it was lovely to see your smiling faces. Our thanks to Tim for the message below:

At these difficult times, we often feel a mixture of emotions, including anxiety and fear, and need to be honest with ourselves and God about this. We have to speak out God’s word at all times so that we are living by what He says rather than simply by how we feel. Ultimately, we know God is in control and is working for our good in all circumstances (Rom 8:28); Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33) and is still able to give us abundant life, even in lockdown! (John 10:10)

God is in control but chooses to work through His people. Because we are created in the image of God, we need to understand that words are powerful and have creative power. Matt 21:21 reminds us we can speak to the mountain and see it move; we have authority to bind and loose (Matt 18:18) We need to learn to speak out the word of God; there is power in doing this (speak out Psalm 91, for example, personalising the pronouns in the psalm to realise that this is God speaking to us.) Adam and Eve were given dominion over the earth and although sin has caused a disruption to God’s original order, Jesus has defeated the enemy and Satan’s only power now lies in deception and lies. Col 2:15 tells us ‘having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.‘ Jesus is the One to whom all authority has been given in heaven and earth and therefore we need to focus not on chaos or trouble but on the God who has overcome the world. As we speak God’s word aloud, we find that there is a spiritual law at work which we may not understand but which has power to change situations.

This is a time when we can effectively hit the ‘re-set’ button on our lives. We can take time out to re-evaluate our priorities and see how the world’s culture has perhaps influenced us more than the word of God. We can re-commit ourselves to God and seek His renewal and revival. Many feel fearful, wondering if these are the ‘last days’, but we are in a win-win situation: ‘to live is Christ; to die is gain.’ (Phil 1:21) We can be immunised against fear as we speak the truth of God’s word into our lives and we can be sure that if it’s not good yet, it’s not the end! God has so much more for all of us and we can trust in His protection, provision and providence.

Despite various technological problems as we climb the steep curve of learning to livestream, it was good to meet together this morning and share in Communion. Stephen spoke to us from Mark 12:30, which tells us, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

It’s very easy to stop our reading at ‘Love the Lord your God’ – which is an important message for us all, but we need to look at the ‘how’ outlined in this verse. The soul is a critical part of our lives but is often hard to define; strength can be interpreted in different ways (physical, emotional, mental strength), but today, Stephen focussed on us uniting our heart and mind in our love for God.

Many of us find we are ‘head’ people, who rely on reason and knowledge to guide us, who are sensible and think things through logically and rationally. Others are more ‘heart’ people, focussing on emotion, kindness and compassion and being caring, adaptive and sensitive. Physically our head and our heart may be only about 50 cm apart, but often the distance between our head and our heart can seem more like a vast chasm! Sometimes we feel torn, as if reason takes us one way and emotion takes us in the opposite direction. We need to integrate both our heart and our head to love God whole-heartedly.

One of the key aspects of this verse is the repetition of the word ‘all’. God wants us to love Him with all that we are. It is sobering to remind ourselves that even in these difficult times, our love for God needs to be whole-hearted, bringing together every part of our being in love and worship before anything else. Only then will we know the completeness and integrity God wants for us all.

One of my favourite passages in the Bible is found in Isaiah 43:

‘Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.’ (Is 43:18-19)

God, that ever-creative God, is always doing a new thing. He is always making a way in the wilderness and providing streams in the wasteland, as He did for the people of God for forty years before they entered the Promised Land. In other words, God is always looking for opportunities to do good things. Even when situations are far from good in themselves, He is able to do good things.

We need to be willing to embrace new things. That might mean taking up a new hobby or being willing to change the way we do something. It means being unafraid of change (not easy for most of us) and being positive about doing something different (or something differently). We’re all being forced to learn new things at the moment, often involving technology and taking us out of our comfort zones, but maybe God is pushing us towards new things. We are having to embrace new things, whether we like it or not, but this can be a challenge which leads us into deeper connections and positive change.

I spend a lot of time pondering grace and particularly love the verse “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9) At least (if I’m honest), I love the first part of the verse. I’m not quite so keen on the second part…

In our current situation, people are finding the helplessness they feel in this situation difficult to live with. We are used to being proactive and the idea that self-isolation and staying at home can actually help seems utterly counter-intuitive to us. Most of us worry if we can live like this for three weeks and then worry it might be longer than three weeks… and so the cycle of anxiety, lack of control and panic ties us up in knots.

A long time ago I remember being in a similar situation, lost in a hypothetical world of anxiety, ‘what ifs?’ and uncontrollable scenarios. This is the only time I’ve really heard God speaking to me in a way that was almost audible: He said to me, ‘there is no such thing as hypothetical grace.‘ That pulled me up short. I believed firmly in God’s all-sufficient grace, and yet I was living in tension, anxiety and gut-churning worry and wondering why the peace of God that passes all understanding was nowhere to be found. I was wanting hypothetical grace.

Shortly after this, the ‘worst-case scenario’ happened: my mother, aged only 61, was diagnosed with bowel cancer and I had to face the prospect of losing someone so very dear and precious to me. Somewhat to my naive surprise, I found not hypothetical grace, but real grace. I found I was carried by God through those months before her death – and after her death, I was carried even more. God worked in ways I can’t begin to describe. His grace is sufficient for us.

But His power is made perfect in weakness. When we feel helpless and hopeless, that’s when God’s grace and power can be seen and felt. So maybe today, if you’re feeling a bit swamped by everything, take heart. God’s all-sufficient grace is there for you. Lay aside the hypothetical stuff and get hold of the real thing.

Kathleen O’Meara wrote this poem during the Irish famine in the 19th century. It’s very apt today (another example of the lasting value of the arts!)

‘And people stayed home

and read books and listened

and rested and exercised

and made art and played

and learned new ways of being

and stopped

and listened deeper

someone meditated

someone prayed

someone danced

someone met their shadow

and people began to think differently

and people healed

and in the absence of people who lived in ignorant ways,

dangerous, meaningless and heartless,

even the earth began to heal

and when the danger ended

and people found each other

grieved for the dead people

and they made new choices

and dreamed of new visions

and created new ways of life

and healed the earth completely

just as they were healed themselves.’

We are holding online services on Sunday 29th March at 10.30 a.m. and 6.00 p.m. Each service will last about 30 minutes and will use Zoom technology, though we are currently looking at hosting these on Facebook as well. The services should be available online afterwards if you can’t be with us live, though this will be audio only. Livestreaming means we can see each other as well!

To access the Sunday morning service at 10.30 a.m. , you will need the following link (and if accessing on a phone, will need to download the free Zoom app.)

Link: https://zoom.us/j/431651853

Meeting ID: 431 651 853 (number needed for Apple phones)

To access the Sunday evening service at 6.00 p.m., you will need the following link:

https://zoom.us/j/130670058

Meeting ID: 130 670 058 (number needed for Apple phones)

We realise this is not ideal for everyone and continue to work on different ways to reach everyone, but we are aiming to connect with you through prayer, songs and the word of God at these difficult times and would encourage everyone who has the technology to do so to join with us at these times. Please feel free to text or message prayer requests to us at any time and to let us know also what God is saying to you and how He is answering prayer as well!