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My initial thought for this article was to write about the Old Testament hero Daniel who escaped the savage jaws of the lions when he was thrown into the Den – spoiler alert! He survives – An angel of the Lord is sent in to shut the hungry jaws of the lions and he is pulled out of the pit without a scratch because of his faithfulness to God. But then, reflecting on my last piece when I touched on the declining church, I felt led to share my thoughts on this in a bit more detail.

The Terminus, which has been going for 22 years, had a resurrection of new life (like Jesus) three years ago, prompted by the holy spirit to go out and share the good news of the gospel on Lowedges. With financial support from an amazing foundation, we are in the process of expanding our outreach with a move to a new building on the centre of Lowedges Road. Our aim is for this place to be the beacon where the community can encounter the love of Christ.

You might be reading this and thinking, if the church is in decline, why do we need another? The church is God’s people, not the building. It goes back to the days when the early church was born. Before being crucified, Jesus commanded his disciples to go and tell everyone in the world about him so that they might come to know the love of the heavenly Father. They didn’t immediately go with bricks and cement and erect a meeting place; they met in small groups, in houses, and no doubt in the local pub, where they shared food and drink, pooled resources so that no-one would go without, and promised to live a life as Jesus had lived – then importantly, went and encouraged other people to do the same.

Jesus promised to send a helper to us in the form of the holy spirit to give us conviction of heart to love others (even those we find difficult to like!), and to be ambassadors for Jesus – looking after the least and the lost, feeding the hungry, giving shelter to the homeless, and clothing the naked.

So why are we moving into a big new building? Well this will be our new ‘community house’, where all people of Lowedges (big, small, old, young) can come and find love and friendship, share food, and learn why a relationship with God is so important in these times of spiritual and emotional drought. And one thing is certain, with God at our side we can be sure of a strong and steady anchor to hold onto in times of trouble – and one day he might even send an angel to close the savage jaws of the lions who prey on us today. Have a blessed week.

Pause for Thought: A beacon where the community can encounter the love of Christ