What the Church is Called to Do in These Times

A Virginia pastor has died from coronavirus after insisting on continuing with regular worship services at the congregation he served.

Here's the deal.

When Jesus began His earthly ministry, following His baptism by John the Baptist when His deity and messiahship were affirmed by both God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, He went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Jesus faced three major temptations then. One of them involved the devil taking Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem. The devil told Jesus: "If you are the Son of God...throw yourself down..." (Matthew 4:6) Then, he tried to push Jesus into jumping by citing a passage of Old Testament Scripture, Psalm 91:11-12: "He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." That is a beautiful and reliable promise from the God first revealed to Israel and now to all the world in Jesus. Generations of believers have found God to be a fortress through the adversities of life. I know that I have.

But Jesus wasn't having any of the devil's mangling of the Bible. God's promises are not insurance against our willful foolishness.

So, Jesus told the devil, also citing God's Word: "It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Matthew 4:7, with Jesus quoting Deuteronomy 6:16).

This pastor's death is tragic.

But it is also the result of a seemingly intelligent man's decision to engage in foolishness, to ignore the wisdom of those who know what they're talking about when it comes to this unique virus for which there is presently no cure.

This is a time that requires social distancing and for group meetings, including meetings of the Church, to not happen.

To forge ahead with public worship or church activities for the foreseeable future is pure foolishness, like texting while driving, not fastening one's seatbelt, or failing to wear a helmet while on a motorcycle. People can do these things. But if they're counting on God to protect them from their foolishness, they're putting God to the test.

I would argue that it's not just foolish, it's downright sinful to expose people to a lethal disease that we can prevent on the pretext of being faithful.

God the Father didn't count it a sin when His sinless Son refused to jump off the temple. And as much as I miss being together in worship with God's people, it's no sin for us to forgo doing so out of simple love for God and neighbor.

The magazine First Things presented an article by Thomas Joseph White this past week. Among other things, it searches through the history of the Roman Catholic Church for circumstances like the Plague we currently face. One paragraph particularly struck me:

The first thing to be said about the suspension of public masses is that it is not innovative nor is there any evidence that it stems from undue influence of a secular mentality. In fact, there is clear evidence that in medieval and modern Europe, as well as in the U.S., this form of response on the part of the Church is a very traditional and time-tested one. St. Charles Borromeo has been mentioned much in these discussions. He closed the churches of Milan due to a plague in 1576–77. During this time, he arranged for masses to be elebrated outside and at street intersections so that people could watch from their windows. There wasn’t any question of distributing communion since it would have been rather unusual in this period for most people to receive regularly at mass. This lasted about two years...

Mass was suspended in Milan because of a plague for TWO YEARS. Clearly, St. Charles Borromeo believed that if the Church truly loves God and loves others, gatherings of the faithful could not happen in diocesan churches until the danger had passed.

White goes on:

There are many other medieval and early modern examples that could be cited, but much more recently, in 1918, the churches in many parts of the United States closed for public worship during the Spanish Flu. In New Orleans (hardly a Protestant city) the city ordered that churches had to close, which did prompt some outcry from Catholic pastors who said that this had not been done during earlier epidemics. They were in error.

Fortunately, unlike past generations of Christians, we have two blessings that can help the Church to (1) not become the means by which coronavirus is spread; (2) continue our mission of proclaiming the Word and being and making disciples (and, I believe, in sharing the Sacraments).

We have modern medicine, infectious disease specialists, epidemiologists, and a track record by which medical professionals have produced vaccines that have destroyed diseases that, initially, were lethal.

We have the Internet. Via the Internet this week, my congregation will be able to worship and hear the Word of God (and share it with others), hold Catechism class for our middle schoolers, have our church council meeting, conduct Bible studies on John and 2 Peter, have gatherings of our small groups for prayer, the consideration of God's Word, and, in a phrase from one of our Lutheran tradition's confessional documents, "the mutual conversation and consolation of the saints," and host a channel composed entirely of bedtime stories read by members of the congregation for our children.

In a few weeks, lay representatives and pastors of the 60+ congregations of our Ohio Mission Region will gather in convocation, hear our bishop, and conduct business online.

Wouldn't I rather that we were able to worship and meet together in person? Of course, I would.

But if we are serious about following Jesus and living in His love, then the Church must be willing not to meet until we no longer will be testing God by doing so, until Jesus' great commandment to love God and love neighbor gives us leave to resume more normal activities.

I also think that while our church buildings are closed, we are seeing Christians reaching out to others in loving ways. Every day, I hear of people in our congregation checking on each other, checking on neighbors, and praying together on the phone and by other means. The blessing in this cursed time is a Church--laity and clergy alike--growing in their faith and sharing Christ with others as I haven't seen in thirty-five-plus years as a pastor and over forty years as a Christian!

The family of this Virginia pastor is in my prayers. I pray that God will comfort them.

And I pray that all churches will refrain from worship and all group activities until, by the grace of God and in answer to the prayers of the faithful, this scourge is forever destroyed!

'Easter, 2020,' An Extraordinary New Poem from Malcolm Guite

A Powerful Fortress in a Time of Evil!

As we face this great evil, coronavirus, sent from hell itself, we need not be alone. And we needn’t despair.

As Martin Luther, inspired by Psalm 46, reminds us in his finest hymn, God is our fortress.

And God has sent us a Champion, Jesus Christ, Who has defeated sin, death, and the devil through His death and resurrection. Even today, Jesus fights for us and stands with us today, sending His Word and the Holy Spirit to empower us to trust, to believe, in Him in all circumstances, enabled to stand against evil by loving God and loving neighbor.

All who have been saved by God’s reckless love through faith in Jesus know that nothing can separate them from God.

I pray that all my Facebook friends will take heart from knowing that through faith in Jesus Christ, God is your mighty fortress!



Here is the entire psalm which inspired Luther's hymn (it's copied from biblegateway.com and presents the rendering of the psalm in the New International Version).

Psalm 46[a]

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth.[b] A song.

1 God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
    God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields[d] with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 46:1 In Hebrew texts 46:1-11 is numbered 46:2-12.
2. Psalm 46:1 Title: Probably a musical term
3. Psalm 46:3 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verses 7 and 11.
4. Psalm 46:9 Or chariots

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Herbstreit is Right: Normal Won't Likely Be Here for A While

Centerville, Ohio product Kirk Herbstreit is obviously listening to the medical experts. Herbstreit, one-time Ohio State quarterback and a long-time college football analyst for ESPN, says he doesn't think that either college or pro football will be played this year.

I agree.

Barring a miracle, it will be many months before we can resume anything like a "normal" life. A vaccine likely won't be perfected until June of next year and vaccinations won't probably be widespread until late 2021.

The experts say that different regions of the country may be able to come out from under shelter-in-place and social distancing orders and advisories as 2020 unfolds.

But national policy will have to stipulate that if new outbreaks arise in those opened-up areas, new shutdowns will happen.

Again, barring a miracle for which I daily (hourly) pray, the shutdown is likely our way of life for a while.

The 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, which infected 500-million people (about a quarter of the earth's population then) and killed millions, is instructive for us, I think. In the early part of the year, the illnesses and fatalities began. When the summer arrived, the numbers of new cases went down and people more confidently interacted with others. But in the fall, the illnesses and deaths came roaring back with terrible ferocity.

Absent a vaccine, this could be our experience as well. But, as we're already seeing here in Ohio, we can "flatten the curve," that is, diminish the rapidity with which the flu is being passed from person to person and save many lives, with shutdowns, hand-washing, and social distancing.

I salute all on the front-lines of battling our common enemy, the coronavirus: doctors, nurses, other health care workers, first responders, epidemiologists, public health officials, and elected leaders.

Thanks also go to those who work in hospitals, drug stores, and grocery stores, truckers and others in the transportation industry, and everyone else who keep the essential goods and services in our country going right now.

Pray for a miracle. Prepare for the worst.

[See 'This is How We Can Beat the Coronavirus Epidemic' from The Atlantic and here.]

Coronavirus Krogering

On Monday, I ordered groceries for pick-up from the Kroger on Main Street in Centerville. I'd never done this before. But a pandemic seemed like a good time to try it.

This afternoon between 1 and 2 PM was the designated time, but I received a notification on the Kroger app that I could arrive as early as noon. I showed up at 12:20, pulled into the designated parking spot, and called a number posted on a pole there.

A young man verified my information and said, "Please open your trunk and stay in your car, Mr. Daniels." I popped my trunk and the young man and a young woman, both gloved, came out with a shopping cart containing my items. The young woman approached my door, six feet distant, to explain that some items couldn't be included in my order and asked if that was OK. Of course, it was.

Shortly thereafter, the young man said, "Mr. Daniels, we're not allowed to close your trunk door. But everything is loaded. Have a good day!"

It was slick and I was impressed!

Kudos to the Centerville Kroger.

Coronavirus PSA: Please Watch!

Barring a Miracle, No Packed Churches This Easter Sunday

Apolitical statement: The notion that churches will be packed on Easter Sunday, April 12,  could be seen as dangerous wishful thinking. While I surmise that Mr. Trump was simply trying to be encouraging when he raised that possibility at a press conference, it has given rise to such dangerous wishful thinking on social media.

If the infectious disease experts think it's safe for people to congregate in crowds, then, of course, I, like every other Christian and pastor in the world, want to worship with God's people.

But medical professionals tell us that the coronavirus will not likely have reached its peak until the summer, especially since we only have significant lockdowns in some US states. (While, on successive days, the United Kingdom and India have joined the ranks of nations taking this step.)

Governors, both Republican and Democratic, have taken important steps in various states to mitigate this virus. But we have a long way to go yet.

Jesus could not be tempted by the devil to jump off the temple in Jerusalem despite God's promise in Psalm 91 that He will send His angels on behalf of believers to "lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone..."

Jesus flatly refused the devil, recalling that God's Word also tells believers, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." (Matthew 4:7; Deuteronomy 6:16)

You see, God's promise of help to His people doesn't apply to circumstances in which God's people engage in deliberately dangerous behaviors that reflect poor stewardship of their lives. That would be, as Billy Graham used to say, "sowing your wild oats [in this case, engaging in the fantasy that believers are immune from the bad things that happen in our world], then praying for crop failure."

While It's Still Day

[This was shared during online worship with the people and friends of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio, for Sunday, March 22, 2020.]

John 9:1-12
In our gospel lesson for this Sunday, Jesus tells His disciples, “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

As He speaks here, Jesus, the One described by John the apostle as “[t]he true light that gives light to everyone,” knows that one day, darkness and condemnation for our sins will envelop Him. He will go to a cross, die, rise, and then ascend into heaven only to return to this world when the Father says it’s time. 

But until all of that happens, Jesus is intent on doing the works that God gave Him to do.

We who by God’s grace through faith in Jesus, belong to God, are called to a similar intent for our lives. 

No matter how dark the world may become, we are called to be about the work of the God Who has saved us from sin, death, darkness, and eternal condemnation.

In the coronavirus, our country and our world face perhaps the gravest physical threat to the human race since the invention of the atomic bomb. Now, we all, from the moment we are born, “walk through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4, ESV).” But we are all likely more conscious of it now than we have been at most times in our lives. 

Yet, as Bishop Dan Selbo pointed out during a conference call with deans last week, for all the dangers and difficulties with which this moment confronts us, it also brings us opportunities to be about the works of our Lord, to bring His light into the darkness. 

In an essay written during a sixteenth-century plague, Martin Luther wrote about the Christian’s duty in such circumstances. Luther said that not all had the duty to do the same things: some would be called to stay where the plague was happening, others to where it hadn't reached. But he asserted that the call of every Christian was to find ways to love others as Christ has loved us.

In our lesson, Jesus and His disciples are walking along when they encounter a man that we’re told was “blind from birth.” The disciples ask Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2)

Whenever a person is afflicted with disease, adversity, or hardship, you can bank on it that someone somewhere will likely say either that it’s all the victim’s fault or someone else’s fault. The disciples believe themselves to be good people to whom a bad thing like being born blind could possibly happen. 

People say things like the disciples say to make themselves feel superior or safe. 

They do this even when they become afflicted and need a scapegoat.

But Jesus shows no interest in assigning blame for people’s afflictions. 

Jesus has different priorities. 

We see this in His reply to the disciples, found in verses 3-5. Most English translations get Jesus’ words at least partly wrong. Our translation, the New International Version, for example, says that Jesus answers: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned...but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” 

The way Jesus’ words are rendered here seems still to imply that God caused the man to be blind in order that Jesus could perform the miracle of opening the man’s eyes to sight. 

But the Greek in which John composed his gospel reads literally like this: 

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned. But in order that the works of God might be revealed in him, we must do the works of him who sent me while it is day.” 

“It doesn’t matter where this man’s blindness came from," Jesus is saying. "I’m here to bring the light of God’s love. Period!” 

The application for you and me is clear. 

Don’t worry about assigning blame, especially if it makes you feel superior (because you’re not and neither am I), just get about the business of doing God’s work in the world.

Throughout the gospels, Jesus shows us that our work as His people isn’t something we do in order to gain God’s favor. We know that we can only be saved by grace through faith in Jesus. (See here.)

Instead, Jesus says that there are two basic things that constitute the work you and I are to do while it’s still light, while we still live, before we pass from this life. 

First, we are called to believe in Jesus. “This is the work of God,” Jesus says in John 6:29, “that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 

Of course, we can’t convince ourselves to believe. Belief in--or trust in--anyone but ourselves is foreign to our natures. 

That’s why the Holy Spirit gives us God’s Word about Jesus--the Gospel--so that as we hear it, receive it at the baptismal font, and taste and see it at the Communion table, God will create saving belief, faith, within us.

Second, we’re to bring the light and love of Jesus to others. Think for a moment of the light of Jesus has brought to our dark world through Living Water in just the past few months. 

We’ve fed homeless men at St. Vincent’s; helped the victims of the Dayton tornadoes to rebuild their lives; joined together in small groups to meet God around His Word, pray for one another, and be empowered to live out our faith with others; provided rice and beans for and helped spread the Gospel among people in Haiti, and done similar work among families in South Africa; joined in the work of the Miami Valley Women’s Center, Love Monkey, and the Life Enrichment Center. We’ve helped our children know and grow in the faith in Jesus. 

And now, we’ve extended our outreach for Christ and the Gospel onto YouTube, whole new works of light for a dark world to which God has called us in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

We do none of these things in our own power. Jesus says: “...apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) We are helpless in the face of darkness to do anything useful or helpful for our neighbor, anything that honors God or points others to Jesus. 

But we have a promise from Jesus: “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12) 

Jesus, Who sits at this moment at the right hand of God the Father and has sent the Holy Spirit to His believing Church, empowers us to bring more light in more places than He ever was for thirty years in Galilee, and Samaria. As we trust in Him, Jesus empowers us to bring His light to others!

So, this week and for as long as you still have breath, do Your Father’s work. 

Believe that Jesus died and rose to bring you into the eternal light of His loving kingdom. 

And while, out of love for neighbor, you’ll need to keep your distance from others, because, without testing, you may be an unwitting carrier of a terrible disease, do those works of love that Jesus gives you to do as His child: 

• steep yourself in God’s Word, 
• pray for our world and for leaders that God will give them wisdom on which they act, 
• telephone your neighbors within and outside the church to see how they’re doing, 
• pick up groceries or prescriptions for someone who can’t get out, 
• reach out to others through email and social media, 
• share the Gospel whenever and by whatever means you can

Jesus says, “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me.” This week, be about the work given you by the One Who has sent you: Trust in Jesus and, as you spend time with Him in His Word and in prayer, do whatever loving, light-casting thing He calls you to do. 

This is how the God revealed in Jesus will call our world out of darkness into His light! Amen

[I am the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

While It's Still Day (Online Worship for March 22, 2020)

Here's today's online worship from Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio. Below that, you'll find this evening's live-streamed presentation of Holy Communion. Our church YouTube address is here. (There are a few skips in the second video because of limitations in the WiFi at my home. Apologies for that.)

God and Your Neighbor in These Times

Admittedly, Old Testament books like Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Leviticus, filled with various arcane laws, the Biblical books I've been reading in recent weeks for my quiet time with God, can be slow-going.

It's important when reading these books to remember that there are three different kinds of laws in the Old Testament, only one type of which remains valid, the moral law.

The civil laws you find there have no standing because the nation to which the laws were given, ancient Israel, no longer exists, no longer is a theocracy under Yahweh.

The need for ritual/sacrificial law, including things purification rites and dietary rules also has ended. That occurred when Jesus became the final, definitive sacrifice for human sin.

The moral law cannot save us from sin, death, and separation from God because none of us is capable of perfectly keeping it. This is why our salvation depends on Jesus, Who offered His sinless life in sacrifice for our sins, taking the condemnation of death we deserve and Who gives us a share in His resurrection victory over all that separates us from God as a gracious gift we receive by faith in Him. Even our capacity to believe, to trust, in Him is a gift. (Trust doesn't come naturally to self-centered, skeptical sinners.)

But even the archaic civil and ritual laws can show us some things about who and what God values in humanity.

For example, during my quiet time with God today, I read and highlighted this passage:

If you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put any in your basket. If you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to their standing grain. Deuteronomy 23:24-25

In other words, God was telling ancient Israelites, if you're walking somewhere through this country, are hungry, and come across grapes or grain, you're allowed to pick some of the food off the vines and eat. The owner will have no right to get mad at you or prosecute you for things like theft or trespassing.

At the bottom of this provision is the notion that God is the maker of everything and that He gives us "our daily bread" not for ourselves alone, but for others as well. 

But notice too, that God prohibited the ancient Israelites walking through someone's field to undertake an agricultural harvesting operation: They couldn't put a provision of grapes in their baskets or put a sickle to the grain. Only what they needed at that moment. There likely would be other fields through which they passed along the way and by this method, they would be fed and their benefactors wouldn't be cheated. God likes things like justice and mercy.

This probably has implications for us in these trying times. 

The other day, I read about an incident that took place just last week in a grocer's in England. An elderly woman and a teenager were shopping on the same aisle, for the same item. The teen was quicker and grabbed all the remaining items. But looking up, he noticed the elderly woman for the first time and realized she wanted the same item. The young man then handed the items to the woman. "Here, luv," he told her. "You probably need this more than I do." I imagine God smiled when He saw that, as I did when I read about it.

A similar concern for the neighbor is seen in another place in my reading for today, Deuteronomy 24:19-22:

When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.

Here, God speaks to the owners of the farms and the vineyards through which people like "the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow," people bereft of power or possessions, might pass through. Don't be so efficient in your harvesting, God tells His ancient people, that you don't leave something for those with less. For poor "gleaners," the "leavings" in the fields of the prosperous, could spell the difference between life and death between the harvests. 

The provisions in these verses are predicated on the Israelites remembering that, like the foreigners, fatherless, and widows in their midst, their people had once been among the bereft and hurting of the world, slaves in Egypt. 

Here, God calls us to empathy, to do unto others as you would have them do unto you, to remember that while you may be flush with the world's goods today, it wasn't always so, and to remember that everything, including your capacity to acquire the world's goods, comes to you as a gift from God. 

This same God also made your neighbor today. 

Your neighbor, just like you, irrespective of their current state, is made in God's image. 

And that neighbor, just like you, is one for whom Jesus Christ, God the Son, gave His life on the cross.

With the Coronavirus, we face a global catastrophe like the 1918 flu pandemic that killed between twenty to fifty million people, including 675,000 Americans. Our sinful human impulse is to be selfish, to look out for ourselves. I know that it's my impulse.

I ask that God will remind me again today that I can only be saved from sin, death, and darkness through Jesus. 

Deep down, I know that being just and loving to my neighbor is the right thing to do. But I won't be just or loving if I don't, once again today, surrender my whole life to the God I know in Jesus, trusting in Him no matter what, trusting that His perfect obedience has won salvation that I do not deserve but that He gives to me as a matter of grace and love. Jesus must live in me if I am going to love others the way He has loved and still loves me. (See here and here.)

And then, I pray, remembering that, like the ancient Israelites, I have been freed from slavery--chained to sin and death and condemnation--I ask God to teach me, once more today, how to love.

[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

[Ruth, one of my heroes, was a foreign widow forced to glean in ancient Israel at one point. She became the great-grandmother of the nation's greatest king, David.]

A Prayer

I shared this prayer request with the prayer team of our congregation, Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio, a short while ago. Would you join us in praying?

Please offer up prayers of thanks for all doctors, nurses, hospital personal assistants, physicians’ assistants, lab workers, scientists, medical researchers, public health officials, and first responders and all that they are doing to mitigate and conquer the Coronavirus.  

Pray in Jesus' name that all those seeking to speed up the production and distribution of tests, respirators, and a vaccine will be successful.  

Pray that God will give wisdom to leaders of governments and that God will open their hearts, minds, and wills to that wisdom so that they will act on it.  

Pray that the Church, in this time of necessary social distancing, will exploit other means--such as email, phone calls, cards, letters, and social media--to be about the mission that Christ has given to us: to be and to make disciples.  

Pray that God will open up the way for our congregation's small groups to continue meeting using online technology. 

Pray that the Lord of the Church will guide the bishop of The North American Lutheran Church, Dan Selbo, and our entire denomination in lifting Christ up to the world.  

Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide each of us into behaviors that display good stewardship of the lives God has given to us and a love for neighbor that keeps us mindful that even if we ourselves aren't ill, we can be carriers of a virus that is especially hard on the old, those with medical conditions, and the very young. 

Pray that God will keep the members of our congregation healthy and above all, focused on Jesus Christ. We know that there is one virus that afflicts the entire human race, the virus of sin. It will have its way with each of us. But all who put their trust in Jesus Christ as their only hope for life with God now and in eternity have a Great Physician Who has conquered sin, death, and the grave.  

Pray that in all times and circumstances, we will share Christ and His Gospel of new and everlasting life for all who repent and believe in Christ, faithfully, persistently, reverently, considerately, lovingly.  

Pray that God will use our online worship to bring new believers to faith in Christ and to strengthen the faith of our members and of other Christians. 

For Christ's Church, this is a moment of opportunity as well as of danger. May Christ find us faithful. Thank you for praying.