Presiding bishop of Grace Bible Church Mosa Sono on Sunday morning delivered his first face-to-face sermon which he used to urge the nation to stay focused as it is going through a diffuclt time he labeled the "storm".

Grace Bible Church opened its doors for the first time during the lockdown with just 50 leaders attending the service in Pimville, Soweto.

The service was conducted in unique fashion without any singing, collection of offering and people were sitting 1.5m from each other, all wearing face masks.

Sono told the leaders that the world is experiencing a story which required everyone to do things differently in order to reach the other side.

“We’ve gone over 60-plus days of a storm. The whole world is experiencing the storm called Covid-19. This storm does not care where you live in the world.  It does not care about your status in society, it has come and it is blowing society around,” he said.

Referencing from the journey that Apostle Paul took while being a prisoner in a ship in the book of Acts, Sono said people should think they are having hard times because they have done something wrong.

 “The people we read about  experienced a storm even while they were obeying the instructions of the master…It is important  for us to understand that that we are in a storm does not imply that we are out of the will of God, nor does it mean that God is against us,” Sono said.

He then listed four anchors that can help society cope with the current problems that are facing the world.

The first was to avoid unnecessary storms by making wise decisions.

“There are storms that come to us because we don’t make wise decisions. When we fail to listen to wise counsel and make the right decisions in life we will end-up in an unnecessary storm. We should avoid making decisions that are foolish,” he said.

The second anchor, Sono said was to be active and not passive while facing the storm.

“You should not give-up just because when you prayed it did not work out…Do something even if things are not going your way,” he said.

The third anchor is to focus on the horizon.

“Even if the ship is being tossed this way and that way, the horizon does not move. Keep your eyes on what does not move. Even if you are being moved from one direction to another,” Sono said.

Sono, in conclusion, said the nation needed to learn to "rest in God".

“Resting in God does not suggest inactivity. Resting in God suggests God’s activity – doing all that God says must be done and letting him do the rest,” he concluded.

Government allowed churches to open their doors from today in level 3 of the national lockdown but under very strict regulations.

Some churches such as the Catholics and Anglican have delayed opening their buildings of worship while others felt they are ready and they opened doors to their members.