‘I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel’, writes the apostle Paul in Philippians 1:12. In the wonderful and strange providence of God, Paul is writing to encourage the Philippians that what might have appeared to be personally harmful to him, and disastrous for gospel growth and proclamation, has in fact been used to advance the gospel.
So too, in this extraordinary and unprecedented time of lockdown, in the providence of God, there are numerous ways in which the gospel is advancing. To paraphrase Paul: ‘Though we are in lockdown, God’s word is not in lockdown’ (2 Tim. 2:9).
One of our local churches in the North West Gospel Partnership, St John’s Hartford in Cheshire, is experiencing the joys, sorrows and opportunities of gospel life and ministry under lockdown.
