ISSUE 29
MARCH 2021
K I N G F I S H E R FA M I LY Moving forward Incredibly it is almost a year since the start of the rst lockdown in the UK, as shops, cafes, schools and churches were shut. We are now in our third lockdown and have grown used to online services and group meetings via Zoom. Many of us have not seen each other physically for many months. However, the good news is that, in the wake of the successful development and roll-out of a number of vaccines, the Government has just published its plan for cautiously and gradually returning the nation to something approaching ‘normality’. Although Boris has said that it is about ‘data not dates’, the plan to get us out of lockdown does come with some tentative, provisional dates.
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If all goes to plan and all of the tests and conditions are met, a lifting of lockdown restrictions should be complete by June 21st. We believe that this would be the appropriate time to return to having physical services at King sher. This will mean that we will be able to do what makes for real church worshipping out loud, having fellowship with one another before and after the services, inviting others to church and welcoming people each Sunday without them having to book in advance.
This is great news - there is an end in sight! Of course, many would want us to go faster than this and come back together again at an earlier date, but it is worth not rushing this, so that when we start back together it can be with real joy and celebration.
want us to reset and restart with fresh focus, fresh clarity, fresh vision? Over the coming three months this will be a great focus of prayer and discussion. What is He saying to you individually on this? What does He want to ‘reset’ in you in terms of how you can become freshly involved in the life of the church? What What will the ‘new normal’ look new adventures might He have like for you? This is such a creative This pandemic has shaped us and time - one where we need to be really open, honest and willing we need to learn from our before Him, to hear His still, experiences of it. As the Bible small, voice. says “You have experienced many things. It has not been an easy year, but Were all those experiences wasted? now we have the opportunity for a fresh, new start and we need I hope not!” (Galatians 3:4, ICB) to pray
What does God want to ‘reset’ in you in terms of how you can become freshly involved in the life of the church? This is a great opportunity to not just go back to ‘business as normal’, but rather, in the words of a pastor from Spain who wrote to me recently, to see this as a time of ‘Biblical reset’. We have the opportunity of really hearing from God regarding His priorities, free from all the things that we normally do to keep the church running. How does He
“God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.” (Psalm 51:10., MSG) I am so excited for the possibilities of the second half of this year. So excited that I am going to be extra mindful of Proverbs 17:2 “An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions.” (Good News Bible). We have the opportunity for a fresh, new start - we are set to end this year in the light of Ephesians 3:20 “"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish in nitely more than we might ask or think."