I’ve just popped down the Bognor Methodist to help sort some stuff out for running Foodbank here, and decided to pop into the church to sit and pray for a few moments…
It’s very quiet here…it’s peaceful…but it’s also lonely. It’s a reminder for me of just how much I miss you! I so miss being able to by physically with you all.
Our buildings are usually a wonderful hubbub of conversation and fellowship and worship, but of course with no-one here its quiet because church isn’t here.
That conversation and fellowship and worship is happening where the church is – in homes, spread across the community.
As I’ve been journeying through Holy Week I’ve been really struck in a different way just how lonely Jesus may have been in those final days… knowing the pain and suffering that was coming. As Jesus arrives in Gethsemane he says to his friends,
“I am deeply grieved, even to death, remain here, and stay with awake with me”
Matthew 26:38
We see here Jesus deep desire was to be with others in his moment of struggle, and to know his companions, his friends were with him.
In prayer, Jesus then cries out to his father saying:
“Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want, but what you want”.
Matthew 26:39
Even though Jesus felt alone, he knew Father God was always with him.
He knew he was not truly alone. Sat in Bognor Regis Methodist, I’ve really known the assurance that God is with me, wherever I am.
And not only that, that while the building is empty, the church, scattered in the community, you are with me too. That we are for each other and with one other in Spirit, and with each other as we pray for one another.
For me, this week, God has reminded me in new ways, that no matter where I am, no latter how alone I may feel, God is always with me. I pray you know that assurance in your life this week too.
Share your Story
So that’s one of the ways God has been in my week – what about you?
Where has God been in your week?
How are you meeting with God this Holy Week?
Comment below and share your stories of God with us, in us and among us.
Cover Image ‘Food of God ‘Christ in the Garden’ by Mark Cazalet
Methodist Modern Art Collection
Image Copyright © Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes.
The Methodist Church Registered Charity no. 1132208
Rev Dan Balsdon's Blog 
Hi Dan
Seeing your Blog and seeing you in a deserted Church certainly heightens that feeling of loneliness Jesus experienced. Miss the Church and friends there. But the Love shown to us through the death of our Lord is something we can all share in and brings us together as one whole body. Best wishes this day to you and your family.
LikeLike
I’ve never been more aware of the kindness of the people around us. Church is community but community is all around outside church as well. We fail to acknowledge this at our cost. I pray that some of our interactions this week have helped those not in church to find a way through by watching us. We have to remain hopeful not just for ourselves but for ALL those around us. God is revealing in so many different people and places that church can never be the same again. Thank you Dan for showing us how we can spread our wings and reach out further.
Lynne james
LikeLiked by 1 person
Something Dan said in his blog today brought back memories of a Maundy Thursday when Ceri and I attended a service at the St Georges Anglican Cathedral in Jerusalem . During the service, the Bishop of Jerusalem re-enacted the occasion when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples by washing the feet of several members of the congregation, including someone from our pilgrimage tour party. What made the service so special is that we all sang hymns and said the Lord’s prayer in our own language, whether it was English Arabic, French or another one. During that time, I really felt that God was with us in the fellowship of one another.
In the current situation, I know that, as Dan said in the blog that God is also with us all in our isolation, just as he is there when we are all gathered under the same roof.
LikeLike