Through the letter box, Worship Service, Sunday 19 April

Worship

If you are familiar with the melody of this wonderful old hymn, please sing this song of worship to God. If not, then perhaps take time to reflect upon the words & their significance.

It is well with my Soul
When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll,
Whatever my lot
You have taught me to say,
‘It is well, it is well with my soul.’
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

For me, be it Christ,
Be it Christ hence to live!
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine,
For in death as in life
You will whisper your peace
To my soul.
‘It is well…………’

Bible Reading: John 20:19-23

Sermon on the Mat: In Lockdown but thanks to Jesus, never in Meltdown.
‘Jesus came & stood among them & said, ‘Peace be with you!’ v 20.

What an incredible night it was? The night of the very same day that Jesus came back from the dead. The night that He paid His friends a surprise visit. The night He found them in a place of self-imposed lockdown. Absolutely terrified that what the Jewish leaders had done to Him, they were also planning to do to them. Once they’d discovered their whereabouts. Their place of hiding. Which of course, as biblical history attests, they never did. Proving the point that the vast majority of our fears are not rooted in reality & those that are, God always gives the grace & power to overcome. Especially when faith, itself a gift from God, comes into play! That said, take note –

‘The presence of fear does not mean you have no faith.
Fear visits everyone.
But make fear your visitor & not a resident.’
Pastor Max Lucado.

If this sudden, abrupt, unannounced, ‘out of the blue,’ encounter with the resurrected Christ teaches us anything at all about the character & nature of the One true living God, it teaches us this. That He sees our struggle. That He loves us far too much to leave us in the grip of that struggle. That at the appointed hour, never a day too late or a day too soon, He will enter, without judgement, the arena of that struggle & with a peace that defies all human logic & all human understanding, set us free! The very basis upon which He came to us in the first place! As John 8:36 serves to remind us – ‘So if the Son makes you free, then you are unquestionably free!’

Or as Eugene Peterson’s the Message puts it – ‘You are free, through & through.’

Free, despite the limitations everyday life imposes on us.
Free regardless of the storms that, to varying degrees of strength & power, test & surround us.
Free, irrespective of what others might or might not think about us.
Free because when we allow Jesus to take up residence in our hearts, to occupy our hearts fully with His love, joy & peace, the future, come what may, is positively assured.
The best, in Him, is always yet to come!

Here’s how Christian writer & theologian C.S.Lewis puts it in the final tale of the Chronicles of Narnia, ‘The Last Battle,’ – ‘Now at last they were beginning chapter one of the great story no one on earth has ever read, which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the last one!’

Prayer of blessing
The Lord bless you & keep you
Protect you, sustain you & guard you.
The Lord make His face shine upon you
With favour & be gracious to you
Surrounding you with loving kindness.
The Lord lift up the light of His face
Upon you with Divine approval &
Give you peace – a tranquil heart & life.  Amen

Prayer pointers

• That the Church would act out of faith, not fear, in its response to the virus.
• That God’s mighty hand would be shown through the slowing down & eventual eradication of the virus.
• That as a result of this pandemic, many would come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord & Saviour.