We are coming to the end of September and it has been a joy to have had four Sundays with all three sites up and running across our wonderful city. Being able to sing together, pray for one another, share communion, catch up with friends and welcome new people into our church family has been long overdue and there has been significant work behind the scenes to get our teams back up and running in order for these things to happen. It has taken a whole host of volunteers and teams to make it all happen and once again I have been reminded of how important the body of Christ is in serving one another. If you are one of those people who has stepped into a new team or volunteered your help in any way then a huge thankyou!

Amongst the excitement of getting back together, I'm also aware that a time like this brings with it a whole host of emotions and feelings. Some people in our church have experienced real hardship and pain over the last 18 months and so returning to church comes with some level of trepidation as you catch up with people and share your experiences with others. There are others who have health concerns and so not knowing exactly what it will be like when they return and how safe it will be can lead to anxiety and obvious concern. It has been encouraging to see people returning to church as well as some who have continued to engage with the Livestream due to some of the above reasons. Our hope is that we have made our services as accessible as possible for everyone to engage with and I am confident that as we go through this term, our sense of being a church family will only strengthen.

Sometimes it’s worth reflecting on your own life for a moment and how you feel about church at this point in the term. For instance:

If you have been able to be part of a physical gathering on a Sunday, how was it for you?
Was it an easy decision to come along or has it been more challenging and why is that?
Has your relationship with church got anything to do with your relationship with God?
How has it been for your children if you have them?
Is there something that you can do to feel more connected or involved in the life of the church?

Whatever your situation is, it's important we regularly take the opportunity to have an honest assessment of how we are doing. We often talk about being vulnerable with another but in order for that to happen, we have to start by being honest with ourselves. A certain fact of which I am 100% confident is that at some point we will have all felt distant and disconnected from God, from church, from friends and family etc., and so it's important we acknowledge those things and consider why that has happened and what might be done to help.

One way that I have found incredibly helpful and rewarding is to look to help someone else who might be struggling. Andy Cottingham in his message to us a couple of Sundays ago shared from 1 Peter 1 which encouraged us to "Love one another deeply from the heart." It's right for us to consider our own wellbeing and reflect on our own experiences, but God commands us to love one another as well. In fact, the most qualified people to help others are often those who are struggling and suffering themselves rather than those who appear squeaky clean and have it all together. In everyday life, it would be strange for someone who is sick to try and help someone else, but the reality is that we all struggle, we all have weaknesses, and yet God has built us together so that we might help and serve one another.

I want to encourage you to think about who you could encourage this week. Who could you help so that they feel more connected with God and with their church family? If we were all to do that then our church would be very well cared for!

Verse 23 of 1 Peter 1 says this:

"For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God."

Ultimately, it's incredibly reassuring to know that our faith or standing in front of God is not dependant on our feelings and emotions, but on the enduring word of God who has planted in us the seed of salvation that will grow and flourish by the help of the Holy Spirit. Let's be a church that is honest about how we are doing and at the same time be on the look out for those who need our love and support.