Your Word is a light unto my path, and a lamp unto my feet (Psalm 119:105)
In the past six or so months our lives have taken on all sorts of obstacles to deal with a new kind of hidden foe, a microscopic virus. We have endured turmoil on a historic global scale, as the combinations of this pandemic, climate events, and the injustices and suffering of a sinful world have turned our lives upside down as we cope with disrupted routines of comfort, including loss of loved ones, jobs, income, homes, and security amidst fire, flood, hurricane, economic collapse and social upheaval. Indeed, the headlines are dizzying, and we can easily get caught up in it all. We barely have time to attend to essential daily routines, now that they include remote schooling, extra care as we do our shopping, etc. We suffer from social isolation, craving the return of easy care-free visits with family and friends. And, there seems to be no near-term answer. Pandemics do end of course, but none of us has any experience to guide us through a multi-year change in what we have known as normal. We can respond by focusing, knowing that God calls us to be faithful, trusting, and seeking of His will in prayer, as He leads us along this challenging path of our lives. Despite all of life’s turmoil, we can place all of our burdens on Jesus, and give thanks to God for the eternal security we have in the promise of the Gospel. In adapting our ministry, the Elders, too, have been in prayer, seeking the Lord on all this, as we clearly have no accumulated wisdom on which to draw. What worked in ministry in the past is behind us; we seek new ways to experience community, to worship, and to serve as He matures us in our faith. A great big thank you to all of the hard, tireless efforts of Pastor Greg, Lisa, Ken, Nicole, Ruth, Roberta, our ministry team leaders, volunteers and fellow Elders. And a special thanks to Kayleen and Pastor Blake, stepping into a new role right on the cusp of the pandemic! Not an easy task for our teams, but a great thanks is due for their work to minister to all of us—our families, kids, youth, and growth group members as well. As you are all aware, we are carefully planning efforts to meet once again indoors to worship on Sundays, and slowly adapt ministry efforts in a reasoned way to best assure everyone’s health and safety against the invisible attacks of Satan, and, the virus. We prayerfully ask that everyone do their part to allow us all to comfortably gather together, to worship the Lord, and to be an encouragement to one another by our mutual presence. If we can all humble ourselves, and act respectfully and responsibly, with the tools noted above, we can, and will pull this off, despite our community’s rather widespread and asymptomatic presence of this virus. It will enter our building, as it does businesses, schools and other gathering places. We pray to the Lord for protection and wisdom. Together, we can safely gather, and burnish our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing is new under the sun; our sovereign God has a plan and purpose for us, especially during this time, and may we glorify Him by our faithful lives, loving him and loving and caring for one another.
Rob Fox