Rambling for Kirwan Uniting Church Keep in Touch pewsheet 22 March 2020

Well, what has been on the cards for a couple of weeks has come to pass, and our “In church” services are cancelled for an indefinite time.

You might have heard cheerful folk looking on the bright side, and pointing out that:

When Shakespeare was quarantined at home because of a plague outbreak, he wrote King Lear. And,

When Cambridge University was closed in the 1700s because of another plague outbreak, Isaac Newton had to work from home and that was why he was in his garden when an apple fell on him and he propounded the Law of Gravity. And,

When the Pevensie children were stuck in their evacuation home during WWII, they found a secret, magical wardrobe, which led them to talking animals who joined them in the fight against an evil witch, and they reigned for many years with a divine Lion in His kingdom. All in the space of a morning.

Paul ministered primarily in the synagogue when he first came to Ephesus in Acts 19. However, he soon faced opposition which forced him to adapt. He moved to a different place and shifted his focus to teaching daily. What happened? Verse 10 says:“This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.”

Sometimes, the unexpected trials we face, open opportunities for ministry we never thought of before. Broadcasting “church” into people’s homes who never come into a physical church. Caring not only for our own more frail members, but offering a caring service of errands and phone contact to our non-member neighbours. May this be such a time, and may God equip us to be ready.