It is, of course, a matter of great interest and concern to me that we should be told when and under what conditions we may be able to re-open our building again for meetings and services to take place. Recent comments by Government ministers and the reporting in the media raise some interesting and important points about this. The question is sometimes put like this - when can we go to church again? However, at the Government's daily briefing on Sunday, the Government minister was asked not 'when can churches open again', or 'when can we go to church', but 'when will restrictions be eased and congregations allowed to assemble again?'. I expect the Government minister thought he was giving good news when he said that 'the first logical step is probably to open places of worship for individual or private prayer'.

Underneath this there is a crucial point - a church is not a place or worship! Nor is it a sacred building, or a sacred space. According to the Bible, a church is not a place where God is worshiped but a people who worship God. Jesus said that "God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24). Worship is not about being in a particular building and performing particular rites or uttering certain words. It is a response of the heart, mind and soul to the truth of who God is and what He is like, it is a response to Him personally. But because of our sinful nature we do not, cannot and will not worship God in a way acceptable to him, no matter how we define worship. The only way to truly worship God is in the way He defines and has kindly given. Jesus also said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6) - believing in Jesus as Saviour and Lord, the only one who may bring us into a real, personal and spiritual relationship with God. This is the only way for us to come to God, to find forgiveness of our sin and salvation, and so to become His true worshippers. So, personal prayer and worship does not depend upon or need a special building, but it does depend upon a true relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

What about the church? A church is an assembly or congregation of individual men, women and children who have come to God through Jesus, whose lives have been transformed and whose desire is to worship God. True, it can be convenient to have a particular building for a church to use for meetings and services, but a building does not make a church or enable worship. Right from the beginning, churches have met in the open air, or in homes or other properties. It is the presence of true worshippers of God that makes a place to be a place of worship. So, the question asked of the Government minister was right, when will congregations be allowed to assemble again? The question posed by the Bible to everyone is not, do you go to church, but, are you a worshipper of God through Jesus Christ and so part of the church?