Sunday 2nd August

The New Normal

There is a phrase that I never heard for almost 64 years, yet now seems inescapable on a daily basis. I read it and hear it in news articles, on Facebook, in conversations. This week the Bishop hosted a Zoom meeting of church leaders and the phrase must have cropped up at least half a dozen times.

The New Normal.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines The New Normal as “a previously unfamiliar or atypical situation that has become standard, usual or expected.”

For a while it became normal for us not to leave the house unless it was absolutely necessary. It became normal to queue for 30 minutes before entering a supermarket. It became normal not to see our families from one week to the next. It became normal to work from home. It became normal for our children to be at home instead of at school.

As we go forward we are unsure of what The New Normal will be in 3 months…6 months….a years time.

The Bible is full of situations becoming The New Normal. Right at the start in Genesis 1 it says, “The earth was barren, with no form of life; it was under a roaring ocean covered with darkness.” Then the spirit of God moved and light, mountains, rivers, plants, animals, day & night and humans became ‘The New Normal‘.

For the Israelites freedom, slavery, a nomadic wilderness existence followed by life in the Promised Land all became The New Normal for generations.

For the disciples life as fishermen, doctors and tax collectors were left behind as living as a disciple of Jesus became their New Normal. 

Then on that first Easter, as Jesus rose from the the grave, death was conquered and life beyond our earthly life became The New Normal promised to all who believe in him.

And in Acts the Jewish nation had their normal turned upside down when Jesus was revealed as the Saviour of the Gentiles as well as the Jews.

As Christians, we spend a lot of our time looking back at all the things God has done for the world and in our lives. Of course that is a good thing to do. But if we look forward, we have a promise of a New Normal that is so much better than anything we could ever experience on this earth.
Revelation 21:3 tells us:

“God’s home is now with His people. He will live with them, and they will be His own. Yes, God will make His home among his people. ⁴ He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever.”

As we worship this morning, let us thank God that things of this earth are but temporary and that we have a promise not of a passing New Normal but of a joyous, eternal New Normal at home with Him. Hallelujah!
Steve S

Today we are going to listen to a short message by Rico Tice from All Souls Church. When our health is at stake, medics will check our vital statistics. But medics at Rico’s church in London long for their patients to take a spiritual health check too. Rico prepared this video to ask some vital questions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
How is your spiritual health?