What a blessing it is to be able to worship together again as a Church, after months of lockdowns and restrictions! Praise the Lord!
When we celebrated the start of a new decade on the 1st of January this year, none of us would have envisaged that the next six months starting that same week, would be filled with unprecedented events that would profoundly impact not only our local communities but the entire world. Suddenly our Church services were restricted to merely a live online broadcast.
To say that I was deeply disappointed after the tremendous momentum we had built up from the previous year into the new one is understated. Our services seemed to go from strength to strength but all of that was gone and for how long, we could only speculate. Our Konnect groups, Youth, Sunday School and all other ministries could no longer meet face to face and though we are thankful for online meetings, it simply wasn’t the same. Guests were no longer coming and what’s more, those who may have been struggling spiritually may have drifted even further.
This was a great blow to all of us but I am reminded that whatever happened this year, and what will happen in the future, our God already knew and He is leading the Church through turbulent times to a position where His Kingdom will be extended. I’m also buoyed by the many examples in scripture where God’s people experienced a set back only to be set up for a come back!
Esther is one such story that exemplifies this. She and the Jewish people were in jeopardy of annihilation but they began to pray and fast, and with boldness they took the step of faith. Ultimately, they were vindicated and flourished in the Kingdom of God. The story of Job, David, Paul and Ruth all speak of God’s ability to redeem our ‘set backs’ for a greater good and bright future. Of course, the ultimate example for us is the Gospel message itself; Jesus was crucified, died and was buried. Three days later however, He rose from the dead and reigns forever more as our Lord and Saviour.
With what we are facing still today, we can take the utmost confidence that God is setting up his Church for a world shaking revival that will bring glory to his name and victory for his Kingdom.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28