Southend-on-Sea received the status of City in 2022 when our late Queen, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II honoured the Town in memory of the Sir David Amess, MP for Southend West, who was tragically murdered whilst serving his local community in October 2021. Sir David fought passionately for City status to be awarded.

Southend has many notable facts relating to its history such as:

Covering an area of exactly 1.42 square miles, Southend, formerly the largest town in the County of Essex is now the Largest City in Essex.

It has longest pleasure pier in the world. The pier was originally a wooden structure 600    feet long built in 1830 but was extended several times until 1848 when it reached its current length of 7,000 feet (1.3 miles.)

During WW2 the Pier was used by the Navy as a departure point for convoys.

Previously, in May 1915 during WWI Southend was one of the victims of bombs dropped by hand from giant Zeppelins.

Further back in the 1860’s steamers used to cross the Thames Estuary from Southend to Rochester, Sheerness and Gravesend.

Southend has its own International Airport.

Southend is officially the warmest and driest place in the whole of the United Kingdom.

Southend has seven miles of seafront which is a mix of friendly pebbly beaches and attractions for families.

The route to the airport, was featured in 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger.

Southend certainly has a lot going for it. But like any place in this country or any place in the world, the question is – would you want to spend forever here?
Is there any place on the planet where I would be happy to spend all eternity?
The answer is a resounding, No!
But why?

Because nowhere on this earth, is where God planned for us to remain forever.

When He created Man, God placed him in the garden of Eden, so that He could enjoy fellowship with man. God then gave him a wife, and the entire garden to enjoy, in which they could be fruitful, multiply and populate the earth with children. (Genesis 2:7-22)

But man chose to disobey God when he ate of the one tree God had warned him not to eat from. And in so doing, man sinned and forsook that fellowship with God and was cast out of the garden (Genesis 3:17-19) because sin cannot remain in a Holy God’s presence.

God still speaks with mankind, by His Holy Spirit, who remains with us. But that will not always be the case (Genesis 6:3)

But God, still desiring fellowship with His creation, sent His only begotten Son Jesus to pay the price for our sin on the cross at Calvary. (John 3:16)

And when Jesus rose from the dead (Acts 10:38-41) He returned to heaven where He now reigns eternally. And that is where He desires again to have fellowship with all those who trust in Him. (2 Timothy 2:8-12)

Well. Southend, Rio-de-Janeiro, wherever. Enjoy it whilst you are here, but don’t put your roots down on earth and instead, choose to be a citizen of heaven in the presence of the Saviour and God, the Lord Jesus Christ and remain in His glory and in His love.

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