How to keep on in strange times

At the start of Lockdown 1.0, Hugh, the President of CiC, wrote a pastoral letter to all in CiC. By now you will know that all four home nations, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are in national lockdown 3.0.

The dates might be slightly different, the restrictions slightly varied across our land, but the basics are the same, we must try to stay at home. It may feel unjust, it may be frustrating, but God is with you, and despite the chains restricting us, God can use us for good.

The practical links you need to know about what you are and are not legally allowed to do, especially in relation to public worship in buildings, are all available on this page.

There are all sorts of pages to read, from the government sites through to the Free Churches Group, Churches Together in England, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and Evangelical Alliance pages where sound advice can be found.

Whilst you look at all those with your teams and work out how you and your independent church, ministry, network and chaplaincy are going to continue to be Christ in the community He has called you to, three words came to mind: keep the faith, bear the heat and love the people.

However long you have been a Christian or in the ministry, however much you know you have been forgiven and however deeply you know God's love, we still need to keep on being active about our faith. That is why Paul, in his letter to Timothy, testified that he had kept the faith. Do pray, do worship, do read the Bible, do listen to the Word being preached, build yourself up in your most holy faith. You can do this.

When circumstances are not ideal, and that is usually when things change and we're faced with having to adapt to ways of doing things we would prefer to avoid, we find Jesus has a story with a lesson in it. In this case, it was a thinly veiled parable about Him hiring labourers to work for Him. In effect, the call to ministry. Those who had been working at it through the heat of the day grumbled at the Johnny-come-latelies who got the same wage at the end of the working day. For those who arrived later, the work was still hard.

We are encouraged to count it all joy when we suffer testing times. I don't want to imply that this is some kind of false joy, a grin through gritted teeth, but again, an urging to press into God for more of His Spirit to enliven our motivations and perspective, that we might really know the privilege of serving God even if it's a bit hot out there. (I know it's mid-winter and cold, but if you've been in a hospital recently, you'll know it's hard, hot work out there!)

Finally, whilst faith, hope and love remain, love is the greatest. And if we are Christ's, with His Spirit truly at work in us, then we will love people just as God loves us. No-one deserves love, except that they are made like God and because He loves people, so there is a command to love others, even as we love ourselves.

Yet, this love, this care for people, can seem to take so much out of us. People can be very draining, whether they are members of our churches, politicians making tough decisions, or seemingly out of control people who appear to not care for the common good. We truly love people when we have His love, and when we let the power of His Spirit go to work in our hearts, making us more like Him, able to flow in compassion, empathy and actions that make the difference and reveal His glory at work in us.

We can't do this kind of tough stuff without His Spirit, we end up exhausted, drained, worn out. We need to take Sabbath rests, just as He did, we need to enter His rest 'in our labours', as well as helping those in our communities mourn their friends and family who have entered an eternal rest 'from their labours'.

I urge you, in the midst of serving in these strange times, to let Jesus serve you His grace, His Spirit, His energy and above all to replenish His love in your hearts and His wisdom to your minds.

If you are struggling to keep things together, please reach out. Let us know, let the Council member who did your annual review know, let me know and we will find some way of supporting you, of bringing Jesus and His Spirit closer to you that you might be able to survive the times of testing, reveal His glory in you and know His love and His oneness with you more deeply.

With my warmest greetings and in the privilege of co-labouring in the Gospel,

Yours in the Lord Jesus

Trevor