So much has changed for everyone and so quickly. The scale of what we are facing is beyond our comprehension and it seems to have come upon us – to use the comparison made by the Mayor of New York – like a ‘bullet train’. I am sure that all of us are struggling to come to terms with the situation we all find ourselves in... The impact is beyond words, whether we consider the global nature of this crisis and the numbers of people falling ill, or likely to become ill; or the massive demand being placed on health and social services – and let’s not forget that the word ‘services’ means ‘people providing those services’; the immense pressure on government, local authorities and businesses; or the speed with which economies have come under unprecedented strain with all the concerns that brings for our livelihoods and even meeting basic needs; whole ‘sectors of the economy’ and industries have had to more or less stop overnight and now face a very uncertain future. Governments are making financial interventions on an eye-watering scale. Then there are the changes to lifestyles and working practices; or the very real effects on our sense of well-being and the increasing pressures we feel personally and in our relationships with other people, whether family, friends, neighbours, colleagues or strangers trying to socially-distance in the queue at the supermarket or as we go for a walk. There is so much more that could be added to the list, so many other ways that life is affected, so many causes for concern and even fear, so many conversations about what ‘people’ are doing that we don’t like. Yet, already we see and hear of acts of selflessness or of how people and society are adapting to the changes, and we find glimmers of light and hope.

I am a Christian and I am the pastor of this church. As I reflect – to the degree I am able – on all this I will share some of my thoughts on our church blog. There is one thing that has struck me above all else. God is speaking to us all and we need to listen. It's not that He wasn't speaking before, He was and we haven't been listening. But now we must pay attention to what God is saying. There is a choice set before us, which the Lord Jesus Christ puts like this, ‘Seek first the kingdom of God’ (Matthew 6:33).

Christian people, you who trust in Jesus as your Saviour, this is a time to make the choice to seek God afresh and with renewed energy, to make the choice to seek Him in prayer and in reading the Bible diligently, hearing and studying God’s Word, so that you will repent of sin, grow in your faith and thus deepen your relationship with God and sense of dependence upon Him.

This is a time for churches to come ask serious questions of themselves regarding their spiritual condition and to make the choice to seek the Lord above all else and in full accord with the bible.

If you are not a Christian, then you also are faced with a choice: now is the time for you too to seek the Lord Jesus Christ so that you may find salvation from sin, peace from God and more than just a glimmer of light, but the true light, and with it life and hope, of Jesus Christ.