Skip to main content

Wot no church?


In the light of the recent coronavirus outbreak, many churches are changing the way they connect together. For many this means no meetings on a Sunday for a season and even no small group gatherings. What can you do to make the most of this time as a family and grow spiritually?

Jesus often withdrew to a lonely place to pray and it seems that for many of us we are entering a season of withdrawing from others. Whilst others are fighting to keep this country going, let's make the most of this season to seek God's face, grow closer to Him and build His kingdom.

Whilst there are many new stresses and routines have been broken , let's not forget that we serve a great God and now is the time for the church to rise up and shine for Jesus.

Many families will be spending a lot more time together, whilst others will be working at full stretch to keep our country going. In times when a nation is in crisis, it is vitally important that we seek God. This is an opportunity for the whole nation to reflect on the very foundations of our lives and to seek God. God’s judgement on nations is found when they go through times of crisis but do not choose to seek him.

If you are stuck at home, with your family, I want to encourage you to see this as a time of retreat from regular life to encounter God. Don’t get sucked into endless binge watching, but set aside time to encounter God on your own and as a family.

Do connect as closely as you can with your local church. Pray for your leaders, tune in to the online services and pick up the phone to talk to your friends.

We are producing a number of resources to help you do prioritise time with God as a family. Firstly, later this week we will be working with TBN UK to record a special edition of At Home with God and a special children’s programme addressing some of the issues our children are facing and encouraging them to depend on God.

Secondly, we have begun daily family devotionals that are available as a podcast. Help us spread the word. To accompany these podcasts we also have an activity pack that has loads of ideas of how you can talk about the teaching further, pray and have fun together as a family. The podcast is available on our websites, anchor.fm and spotify. It will soon also be coming to UCB radio, Apple Podcasts, Google podcasts and others. Whether you choose to use our family devotionals or not I want to encourage you to have time together as a family devotional.

Also, now is a great time for you to watch the At Home with God series, if you have not had a chance to do so yet. Series 1 & 2 are available on demand together with an accompanying workbooks.

Let’s make the best of this time. Feed you spirit, believe God for a great awakening in our nation and pray for God’s mercy on our nation. Remember, even in the midst of the devastation we are seeing, the sickness of sin is a far greater evil and Jesus has given his life as a cure for all. The church has not stopped, the kingdom of God is still moving forward, now is our time to see real lasting change for the better in our nation as we press in for more of God.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wot No School?

With the recent announcement from the UK government of the closure of schools for all but essential workers, we know some parents are dreading the practical implications of what this will mean for their family. While I am sure some parents will be delighting in the prolonged holiday together many parents are wondering how they can help keep their children’s education moving forward and continue working from home as well. As a parent who works from home and who has also schooled our children at home over several years I hope the following will be of help. 1) Don’t panic In times of uncertainty it is easy to panic as we try to work out how things will work. Our attitude should not be one of panic, but one of trust and faith in God. He will bring us through this time stronger and more ready to bring His kingdom to the world. When you take this attitude, your children will pick up on it and find the same strength in the Lord. 2) Do structure It would be easy to let the da...
Post a Comment
Read more

Four things

So recently I have been thinking about the things we should be intentional about sharing with our children. If you were to choose four things to encourage personal hygiene it might look like this: Brush your teeth twice a day Wash your hands Shower regularly Put your clothes to the wash Parents of teenagers will appreciate how important these four are and what a difference it makes to the whole house. If we were to choose four things to do with time management it might be we say: Do what you have to do before you do what you want to do. Make a task list. There are seasons to work and seasons to play. Always make space for people. So, all this made me wonder what would be the top four things I would want my children to know about the things of God. I have to say the list surprised me and spurred me to action. So here is my current top four, with a few comments. (Subject to change of course).      1. The Gospel This seems like the most basic thing our children should kn...
Post a Comment
Read more

Make Disciples!

Make Disciples! God says: “Go and make disciples.” This is he something he expects us to  do . Discipleship should be the main focus of all of our activity and ministry. What is a disciple? A disciple is a mini-Jesus (that’s why they were called Christians in Acts 11:26). Someone who thinks, acts, speaks and lives like Jesus (Luke 6:40). What can we do to help disciple children at different ages in their walk with Christ? I want to suggest three separate stages of development that we can provide for our children to help them grow like Christ. Spiritual Exposure Moses and Samuel both had godly parents. Both were raised by other people once they had been weaned (around the age of 3 or 4). Those who raised them were not godly examples – Pharaoh’s household was against God and Eli, the priest who could not discern between a drunk woman and a desperate woman, had succeeded in raising two children who had no respect for the things of God. Even though Moses and Samuel grew up in an ungodl...
Post a Comment
Read more