The very first thing we read about in the Bible is God’s mighty acts of creation. Our God is a creative God and since we are made in His image, we too are creative people. This doesn’t make all of us artists, actors, dancers or musicians, but it does mean there is the urge to make, rather than destroy, in each one of us which can be nurtured and embraced.

In 2017 I founded the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival to ‘champion creativity and celebrate community.’ I was overwhelmed by the creativity of people in my local community who produced knitted cardigans and crocheted blankets for my new granddaughter with nonchalance. I wanted to give others the opportunity to see the dazzling array of creativity that goes on every day in my local community and to celebrate all that is good rather than focussing on the negative. We are now planning the fourth festival and I have been amazed at the creativity which pours forth: paintings, drawings, photography, pyrography, encaustic art, sand art, pottery, wood-turning, sewing, knitting, embroidery, crocheting, dancing, music, singing, circus skills, writing, mosaics, decoupage, to name just a few!

Embracing creativity means pursuing the desires of your heart (Ps 37:4), following the dreams God plants within and learning new skills. It may well seem a very selfish thing to do, but I believe in embracing creativity, we actually mirror God’s flourish of creation and become the people He has made us to be. The arts (in the widest sense of the word) provide so much benefit to our health and wellbeing; as a friend of mine says, ‘art changes hearts.’ I urge you to embrace creativity and be open to finding God through the skills and talents He has given. At this bizarre time when so many are being urged to isolate themselves, let’s use the time we have to be creative. My first project will be to create a ‘thankfulness jar’ which I’ll be painting and trying to put in a slip of paper each day naming things for which I’m thankful. What will your project be?

This has been one of the most surreal weeks I’ve ever lived through, with Government announcements and pronouncements on a daily basis. If we thought Brexit was bad, the current situation is much worse.

As a result of the announcements about social distancing and the need for social isolation, we have reluctantly and with great sadness decided to suspend meetings at our church building on Market Street from this weekend. There will be no Parent & Toddler group on Friday (20th March) and no Sunday services from 22nd March, nor will we have midweek meetings from 26th March. The last meeting in the building for the forseeable future will be tomorrow, 19th March, for the Bible study.

The fact that we can’t gather together is a difficult blow to us, since the importance of meeting together is stressed in the Bible (Heb 10:25) and forms a central part of our Christian lives. However, we don’t cease to be church because we currently can’t meet together. The previous verses tell us, ‘Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.’ (Heb 10:23-24) We need to continue to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for God is faithful. And we need to consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, even if we can’t do that face to face.

We’re investigating ways to keep in touch with you all through livestreaming services on Facebook to regular blog posts (something we do already) and if you have any suggestions for how we can all spur each other on, please let us know! All of us can be involved in messaging and phoning people to check how they are doing. If people need help with practical issues such as collecting prescriptions or getting shopping, please let us know and we will do our best to help. We can all pray for each other, even if we don’t see each other – please check out our Facebook GPCC Prayer Group as well as our Facebook page so that we can share prayer needs and continue to support each other spiritually at this time. One thing we’re hoping to set up is a church WhatsApp group so we can talk to each other easily.

Over many months we’ve been talking about the need for deep vertical and horizontal connections and for us to be deeply rooted in God, accessing His living water to keep our lives fruitful and overflowing. Even though we can’t be physically together, we can be nourished and nurtured by God and can develop our horizontal connections with each other as we live out our faith in the everyday. Social isolation is not good for the soul, but we don’t have to be people who panic, are fearful or who despair, for we serve the Maker of heaven and earth. The times may be a’changing, but God never changes.

With the world plunged into uncertainty over the coronavirus, one of the most unsettling things is not really knowing how long the present situation will last. Uncertainty is one of the hardest things we find to cope with. We like to plan, to feel in control, to be able to map out where we are going. The current advice to distance ourselves from others and the disruption to normal routines leave us adrift on a sea of uncertainty.

‘How long is this going to go on for? How long will it be like this?’ we ask. We have been told so many different things – self-isolate for seven days, for fourteen days, for twelve weeks – and now see events being cancelled as far ahead as May and June that we feel a numbing sense of disorientation.

The question ‘How long?‘ is found on the lips of the psalmists on many occasions (see Ps 6:3, Ps 13:1-2, Ps 74:10, Ps 79:5, Ps 89:45, Ps 119:84). The psalms walk us through disorientation, doubt and despair with honesty, courage and hope. I’m not sure the question ‘How long?’ is ever answered in these psalms, but each time there is a transition away from despair and helplessness as the psalmist chooses to trust God in the midst of the uncertainty and fear.

This is our choice too. We probably won’t know ‘how long’ the present situation will last – even medical experts and government ministers don’t really know. We don’t know how long until ‘normal life’ can resume. We don’t know how long before travel can be restored. But we do know God is with us, never leaving us or forsaking us and therefore we can choose to trust Him and to live one day at a time.

At a time of unprecedented uncertainty where normality seems to have disappeared and isolation is the new buzzword, we must learn to embrace resilience.

Resilience is defined as ‘the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties’ and implies toughness or strength. All of us are being challenged in new ways by an illness we’ve not experienced before. Fear, uncertainty and a sense of dread are prevalent; we’re not used to the restrictions being placed on personal liberty. Isolation over enforced periods is something many people have not experienced previously.

To embrace resilience is to understand that we need to think correctly, build our lives on solid truth which won’t change on a daily basis and trust God with every aspect of our lives. It means being flexible enough to embrace changes to routines, isolation, boredom and uncertainty without going ‘stir-crazy.’ Another definition of resilience is ‘the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.’ May we have the resilience to spring back into the shape of Christ, being conformed to His image and defined only by Him.

There are many things in life we must turn our backs on, but any renunciation we make for the gospel’s sake is so that we can embrace something positive. We must learn to see eschewing and embracing as two sides of the same coin, not things which are at odds with each other. As we turn from sin, we run towards Jesus; as we are freed from the demands of the slave-driver, we can rest in the arms of a loving heavenly Father.

Perhaps the most surprising thing I will urge us to embrace is repetition. Few of us like repetition, associating it with monotony, boredom and restriction. But I find that repetition is an inevitable part of life and one which is oddly liberating.

Each morning the sun rises and each evening the sun sets at God’s commands. Every day, the tides come in and go out. Those of us who are older than one year have got used to the regularity of the seasons and can look forward to each one with a sense of comfortable awe. This repetition in the natural world is key to understanding life. Many of us crave adventure and difference, always seeking new experiences, but there is much to be said for repetition. It reminds us of stability, faithfulness and the fact that God is unchanging. Doing the same things over and over again is not only the way to improvement (‘practice makes perfect’, as they say!) but an inevitable part of life. Instead of chafing against this, we need to embrace the patience of a God who always loves us and will always be faithful to us and to work with Him in routine and repetition, rather than against Him.

There will, indeed, be new experiences to face and adventures galore with God, but there will also be periods of repetition and monotony. Instead of grumbling and complaining about these periods, let’s learn from the natural world and embrace repetition as our opportunity to learn faithfulness and practise constancy to demonstrate something of God’s character in an ever-changing world.

We had some more birthdays to celebrate last night: