Day Thirty Seven - I know who holds the future

Isaiah 43:19 - See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

That verse keeps cropping up these days and when that happens it is usually a sign God is trying to tell me something. We don’t need reminding that 2020 was a horrendous time for us and 2021 looks slightly different. It has been a discouraging situation for those of us serving as ministers as we see our churches closing because of the pandemic and raising the question of how long this will go on. I was concerned for my own fellowship for we are a small congregation and I was concerned about losing the fellowship if this was to be long term. The general feeling for us as a church as we read through rules and regulations and considering the size of the building we occupy and also the cost to purchase the extras we would require to enable us to open, that perhaps we should close and remain that way until we can get back to some normality.

Meantime, how do we keep the church together? I thought I’d try my hand at online services and although I could film, hadn’t much of an idea what to do with the material once I had it. With the basic kit and knowledge, I decided to try basic stuff and techniques to see how things would go. After all it will only be for a month or so and we’ll be open again by May 2020 - not! Filming outside in the garden was ok to begin with, but the neighbours either side were wondering what was going on, for they could here Tom talking to himself in the garden. Instead of asking what was going on, they decided to mow the lawn as I was addressing my congregation through a phone camera. Recording the service was fine but then had to carry out basic editing and send the material to YouTube (who were very helpful). For those who didn’t have internet we gave them a DVD or a cd of the services.

I could see a new ministry emerging here consisting of people hurt by church or had fallen by the wayside, they were stepping out and coming back to God, speaking of the faith they once had. The spark was still there and many were asking for prayer and as a result the prayer list has grown. Maybe it was right to go along with this new way of worship.

The verse we began with seemed to tie up with another one from Zechariah 4:6 – “’Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty”. That and the comments of Professor Jason Leitch, National Clinical Director for the Scottish Government, during an interview with the Evangelical Alliance, gave more assurance that this was for our wee church in Sanquhar. Professor Leitch is a leader in the Baptist Church in the town where he lives and what he said made sense.

We are all anxious to get back to normality but indications are that although we are on the road to recovery, we still have a few stops before we get off the bus. This hymn gives my answer to the situation.

I know who holds the future,

and He’ll guide me with His hand;

with God things don’t just happen,

everything by Him is planned.

So as I face tomorrow,

with its problems large and small,

I’ll trust the God of miracles,

give to Him my all.

Tom Bonnar