.png)
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. “Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the hip. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come. Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord. All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you; they will be accepted as offerings on my altar, and I will adorn my glorious temple. “Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your children from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendour.
As many people across the world are facing darkness at this time, faith can bring so much light into their lives. Although we as a church are unable to worship in our churches, we are finding great new ways to shine Jesus’ light into each other’s lives. One way we, as a church in Llangyfelach, are holding each other in prayer is by joining each evening via a video conferencing platform. This has given everyone who participates the chance to unite in prayer and scripture as well as fellowship and a sharing of a smile. Other ways we have found useful to link up for fellowship, prayer and study is to pick up the phone, join up in a communication app, share positive images and sayings with each other on social network sites. All of these actions bring us together, keep us strong and equip us to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others.
Our reading this evening, tells us that although there is darkness overshadowing many, God will raise above that and shine over us. God continues to be with us throughout this journey, he knows what all His children are experiencing and need at this time. We need to put our trust in him to strengthen us through this time. His light will shine into our hearts if we place our trust in Him. He will see us through this time as He has done again and again in the history of mankind.
We all will be richly blessed after this storm, but for now we must all take heed of the guidelines and precautions that are being put into place by our Governments to protect us all, to protect the vulnerable, to provide the NHS and continue praying for Gods strength, compassion, and love at this time.
Jesus, Our Saviour, experienced more than we can ever imagine during His ministry on Earth. He knows how to support us during the days, weeks, months ahead. Let us, each of us, pray earnestly to him, pray regularly, and pray lovingly for all those who have been affected by COVID-19.