\nDear Brothers and Sisters,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When\nthis Covid-19 was first mentioned I like many others believed it was\njust another flu virus such as avian flu and the other ones we have\nseen come out of China, but I have sought the Lord God with all my\nheart and I believe the Lord\nGod Almighty has allowed this devastating disease to grow and\nflourish as a warning to the people of this earth. I remind you if\nyou have not read it for a long time to take a look at this\nscripture:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Psalm\n2 King James Version<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,
3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7 I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter\u2019s vessel.
10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So,\nmy brothers and sisters\nand fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I believe this is\nthe time when many of us will be able to reflect. I hope it is a time\nwhen many will spend time in prayer and study of the holy scriptures\nas it is not a time to be busy, it is a time to be still. On this\nday, 19 March 2020, all the churches across the land are closed. The\nArchbishop of\nCanterbury, Mr Welby,\nand the Catholic Cardinals have closed down all their buildings. I\nbelieve the Baptists, the Methodists, the Assemblies of God and the\nElim Pentecostal and the independent pentecostal churches will all\nfollow suit. I believe this is also a judgment on the body of Christ\nas it is time to put away our banjos, our clever music, our\nprogrammes and seek God as we have never done before. We still have\nthe access to the Internet. Many of us can contact each other\nthrough Duo, WhatsApp, Skype. We can also pick up our telephones and\ndo something we have not done for a long time: talk to each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\nfor the prosperity gospel, this cannot function in this environment.\nI am not saying this is how things will end up, but I believe the\nLord God Almighty is\nshowing us what would happen if something worse came down the line.\nThis is not a time to see how much money you have in the bank or how\nmuch you gain through ill-gotten gains. If you are mega-rich, it is\ntime to sow. Remember the parable that Jesus spoke about of the man\nwho built bigger barns and the Lord God Almighty said, \u201cThou fool,\nthis night your soul will be required of you.\u201d What\nwill your money do if, God forbid, the Lord calls you tonight? What\ngood would it have been? I am talking as a man who once had money who\nnow has nothing but in my spirit I am very rich as I have learned\nwhat the apostle Paul learned, to be content in all situations,\nwhether I have plenty or whether I have nothing at all. Jesus also\nsaid, \u201cWhat would it\nprofit a man if he gained\nthe whole world yet lose his soul?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My\nbrothers and sisters, fellow ministers, we are going\nto experience for the next few months\ntimes that we never experienced. I believe this is the greatest\nopportunity that the Lord\nGod has given us to\nreach the lost and the lonely. If you are able-bodied this is your\nopportunity to help\nthose less fortunate than yourself. If you are rich, it is an\nopportunity to help the poor, as in the next three months the body of\nChrist is going to need each other more than\nwe ever have in all the days of my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I hope this message challenges you to not sit on your bottom but to see there are those in your community that you can give practical help to. Ask the Holy Spirit, \u201cWhat should I do?\u201d Even if it just means picking up a telephone or knocking on the door to help someone. I do believe that the blood of Jesus Christ is more powerful than Covid-19 and this could be a time when the church of Jesus Christ can really shine. We have sung it enough \u2013 Shine Jesus Shine<\/a> \u2013 and Jesus can only shine through those He loves. I suggest you spend time and look at John 15<\/a> and make sure you are connected to the real vine and not just a sub-branch. As God is the gardener, he will cut off every branch that is not bearing fruit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God\nbless you and keep you all and your families safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rev\nRoss Rennie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I do believe that the blood of Jesus Christ is more powerful than Covid-19 and this could be a time when the church of Jesus Christ can really shine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[140,88],"class_list":["post-1311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinions","tag-covid-19","tag-prosperity-gospel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1311"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1314,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1311\/revisions\/1314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}