‘As the deer pants for streams of water so my soul pants for you, O God’. (Psalm 42:1)‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…’
So go the opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. This week I read the story of two churches. The first is a church in Staffordshire that has not been used as a place of worship for over 20 years and was found to have 400 cannabis plants growing inside. The second is a Greek Orthodox church that was destroyed by the 9/11 attack but is being rebuilt and will open on the 20th anniversary of that horrific day.
These past few months have been the worst of times, a season of darkness, a time of despair as churches have not been able to physically open. When the time comes to reopen will people physically meet up again becoming the hopeful and loving light of Christianity in the community? Or will the place of worship be a thing of the past where cannabis now grows?
Whilst churches haven’t closed during the pandemic with thriving online services, most Christians are looking forward to physically meeting again. How about you? If you haven’t attended church for a while, or maybe have never attended, why not give it a go? It might just be the best of times.
Have a good week looking forward to attending church.
Pastor Barry
