Blessings to you, family and friends.  My prayer for you during this time is that you take courage from the knowledge that our God is still in control.  We have nothing to fear.  Our meeting this Sunday will be online only.  Read on for details.

I was so excited to have Priscilla and Kimi back in church last week!  We’ve missed them.  She’s not cleared to drive the bus just yet, but soon we’ll have everyone back!  She was able to bring Anita.  we also got to see Sandra.  It was heartening to see us back on the way up.

Many churches had already stopped meeting, but I wasn’t ready to give in.  You all apparently weren’t either and for that I am glad.  Fear will not take control of our lives.  Nevertheless, things have changed this week.  Cases of the virus continue to rise, though part of that is from the fact that we have more testing available and thus more positive diagnoses.  Our governor has issued an executive order limiting groups of people to no more than 10.  I learned after having already spoken to most of you that he may not have intended it to apply to churches out of concern that it would be beyond his authority.  I am not at all sure we know the whole truth about what is going on right now, but until we know more, we will comply.  At this point in time, I think that is in line with Biblical teaching.  We do have quite a few people who are already facing health challenges and certainly do not want to expose them to something that could be fatal for them.

We will have an abbreviated online service beginning at our usual time of 2:30.  We will have a time of prayer, and I will deliver a message.  I will live-stream from our Facebook page.  Linda will be available to help with taking your online comments if you would like to interact with us during the prayer.  You may also submit praise reports and prayer requests directly here on the web site or even from the Facebook page.  This will be our first try at live interaction, so please forgive us if things don’t go as planned.  If you know someone who might not be comfortable accessing us online, maybe you could call them and let them hear over the phone.  If this situation continues, we’ll look into a conference line option that might work better in light of our particular challenges.

As we look around us right now, we see a lot of fear.  People are cleaning out store shelves as if preparing for the apocalypse.  Restaurants are closed, events are canceled, and the media breathlessly covers each new revelation with no sense of proportion.  How much of this is warranted?  The answer depends on who you ask, but I wonder if we are not seeing an illustration of the disabling power of unchecked fear writ large across the whole world.

Is there reason for concern?  Absolutely!  The virus is real and it can be fatal, especially for those who are elderly and/or already facing health challenges.  Apparently people can carry and spread it without showing any symptoms themselves.  To ignore these facts is to be irresponsible and perhaps to “put the Lord our God to the test.”  But what is a reasonable response?

I’m not sure shutting down the society and ruining the economy was really necessary.  I suspect that our fear has caused us to overreact.  I could be wrong about that, but one thing I do know.  We who trust in our creator have no reason to fear.  Remember the story of the disciples crossing the lake when a storm came up?  This is the one where Jesus was asleep in the boat.  They were afraid they were going to die.  That fear would not seem unreasonable under the circumstances, except for that one little detail.  God Himself was with them in that boat!  That changed everything!  (Luke 8:22-25)

We may be headed for some hard times.  I hope that this is no more than it seems, the danger will pass, and we will recover, but I have not been given any insight into the future.  But whatever storm we face, Jesus is in our boat and we have nothing to fear.  Let the wisdom of His Holy Spirit guide you.  Be a source of strength and love to those around you.

I hope you will join us on Sunday at 2:30 and be encouraged.  If you need to talk, call me.

Love y’all!

Larry