It's extremely hard to be told we cannot gather for worship on Sunday morning. For many of us, corporate worship has been part of our weekly rhythm for many years, a rhythm that sustains us and strengthens us to live as the people of God in the week ahead. In these testing times, we need this more than normal, yet it's now that we're told we cannot gather.

However modern technology is wonderful, and can be a great servant. I believe I have overcome the various technical hurdles, and we will be able to gather virtually on Sunday morning to worship the Lord together. Please join us.

Simply visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnTatDKDQkE&feature=youtu.be, and at 10.30 on Sunday morning (22nd March) this will start to live stream our weekly worship.

We will have music, both to listen to and familiar hymns to join in with. We will have a reading from the Bible and a short talk to unpack and apply that reading into today's situation. We will spend time in prayer, both in the usual shape of our service (where we confess our sins, hear God's pardon, and proclaim our historic Christian faith in response) and in a time of praying for the needs of the world. This is not just a service for adults; it is a chance for the family of God across the generations to gather together. (There will even be a song with actions for our younger members who enjoy this part of the service!)

As well as feeding our need for prayer, sung worship, Bible reading and Bible teaching, I believe this will also bless us because we join in together, at the same time. Across the Kemsing and Woodlands area (and maybe further afield as well) we will be singing the same hymns, praying the same prayers, and reading the same Scriptures. This then gives us something we can talk about on the phone with our Christian brothers and sisters who were "there" with us.

Once the service has finished, it will remain on the YouTube site for you and others to watch at a later date.

Please pray for this time, and please be patient if there are a few teething problems. I've worked hard to try to get all this to work for us all, but I'd be surprised if everything goes perfectly smoothly the first week we try it. It's worth persevering, because it means we can continue to know the blessing of being the worshipping people of God in this part of the world - together.

Do let me know afterwards how you think it went. And, because YouTube allows this, there's space for comments and questions to encourage one another.

Every blessing - and see you on Sunday morning,

James