What a day to celebrate! Jesus is risen! We celebrated this joyful day in the best possible way. After many months of at home services, with Jonathan on piano, Madeleine on the power point and Phil leading the service and doing the sermon, today we went back to our local church.
Although our church has been open for many months we have preferred, because of the masks and no singing rules, to worship at home. Today though our church opened up the back garden and we all sang together mask free, what a joy!
As I walked through the alley way to church, I felt that familiar comfort return and a deep peace descended on me. A whole year without church and yet God has carried us. Our faith has grown, as we have pushed our roots deep, searching for the water of life. It has been an extraordinary year, a year filled for many with emotional pain, but in that pain we have met with Jesus. When so many of the treasures of this world that we once held dear, have been removed, we have discovered that nothing really matters except Christ.
We returned to church today reminded that nothing can separate from the love of God, and certainly not a pandemic or a lockdown.
We sang with all our hearts. With the social distancing I could still hear my voice quite loudly, as it wasn’t drowned out by others near by! I must confess that I don’t sing well, it’s just not my gift, but God doesn’t mind that and so I just go for it, much to the embarrassment of my teenagers!
What’s it like going back to church after a year away, having been every Sunday for nearly 30 years? It’s like a hot bath after a long and tiring walk, a feast after a famine, a hug after being alone, it felt like home. Home for us pilgrims is Heaven but for those moments when we worship here on earth, the angels join in, and we are witnessing a small glimpse of the joy of our eternal home. One day we will worship God in Heaven, and I will sing in tune and not embarrass my teenagers! Until that day God has given us our church families to be his body here on earth.
When that body is separated it hurts each part, but it has not been broken; for it is not knit together by any thread of human love, but it is bound by God, for we are his body. Today that body was once again released to praise his glorious name, with freedom we lifted our voices in thanksgiving. What a gift for Easter Sunday! Thank you Jesus for your love, for your sacrifice and for today giving us the sunshine to enable us to praise you together.
Happy Easter to you all. May our Heavenly Father fill you with his joy and peace.
Anna Collins says:
Happy Easter to you all Vicki. It must have been wonderful to return to church. I remember that feeling of returning but we had only been closed for a couple of months. Xx
Janet O'Neill says:
Happy Easter Vicky. I am so pleased to hear that you have been able to worship with your local church again. Isn’t it interesting that this happened at Easter – the church has been resurrected!
Much love to you and your family xxx
Laurie says:
Wonderful. How lovely to be able to sing in worship again and what a beautiful day for Easter Sunday. X
Rach says:
It was lovely to worship with you again Vicki!
Jonathan says:
Shalom Vicki,
It would be so nice if you could share the name of your Church with your readers, and the denominational branch of the Christian family you belong to.
May God continue to bless you, your family, and all those you come into contact with, through the risen Messiah Yeshua Jesus Christ
Vicki Goldby says:
Thank you for dropping a comment, it’s always good to hear from my readers. We went to an Evangelical Anglican Church before we moved and now we are part of an FIEC church (another Evangelical church). We don’t really feel called to a particular denomination, but we choose to worship with Bible believing evangelical Christians, because that is what we would consider ourselves to be.