Good Friday

Today in churches and communities across the globe Christians remember the Cross, and our Saviour’s death. This year as never before the world is faced with death, and the sense of loss that is painful and ever present. We hope that as we all have more time to spend at home, and perhaps a break from busy lives that we will reflect on the things of eternity. This Good Friday we remember the death of our Lord and how he felt that seperation from his Father, and that resonates with us as we feel for those families who are seperated at this time. Many in Intensive Care Units are forced to face death seperated from family and friends, however we as Christains look forward to Easter Monday, the day of Resurrection and we rest in that knowledge that we will never be seperated from our Heavenly Father.   However bad the news of Good Friday we know it was a good day because he died for our sins and death could not hold him. When he said “It is Finished

We now know that it was death and that fallen condition of man that was finished. A new day was dawning and Jesus was soon to rise.

As we meet in our ones or twos to remember and to worship we remember those Christians who do not enjoy such freedoms. Living in countries under Islamic rule they dare not worship as we do. In Communist regimes which dictate the way churches can worship we stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters. This Easter as we are forced to meet in our homes, away from church fellowships and friends we realise for the first time the suffering of fellow Christians in such counties. This is there experience all the time, and they like us yearn to be free, free to meet to preach in the open air and to share in that face to face way their faith.

Our time of government enforced lock down, this period of forced church closure and these months of banning of public worship and preaching will end BUT for them it will continue. Perhaps there is a lesson in this for us all, that as we look forward to changing times we should be united in our efforts to ensure all Christians are afforded the same freedoms.

Even in our own country secularism, cynicism or social pressures confine religious freedom and we realise that we too must fight for our faith as never before.