One of the many sad effects of the lockdown is that many people have used it as an excuse not to come back to church. I know of many friends who’ve been going to church all their lives, and now with this lockdown and the restrictions put on the churches, they have chosen not to come back to church. Many think they can carry on living a Christian life without going to church. The reality is though that they’ve fallen out of fellowship. Absolutely tragic. Most of them will probably go nowhere in their faith. Have you ever met a flourishing Christian who doesn’t go to church? No, neither have I. When you abandon church, you abandon Christ himself.

In our text this evening, Jesus’ disciples all abandon him at his time of need. Though they all promise to die with him, they all desert him. Right as Jesus is about to face the cross, during his agony and betrayal at Gethsemane, they abandon him. The truth that we will see here is that because Jesus was abandoned, God won’t abandon us.

Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola