Church family; following is an update from Bro. Rick on our churches response to the COVID-19 pandemic and how it relates to our gatherings.
“Dear Church Family,
The last two Sundays have been very special in the life of our church. We
praise God for the baptism on March 8 and for the powerful “Family Meeting”
on that afternoon. And yesterday we sensed the amazing presence of God as we worshiped and prayed so earnestly together. Sunday afternoon the Deacon body meet and decided after some deliberation and personal pain that it is best to cancel the worship service this coming Sunday morning. In the forty years I have pastored, I have never felt it necessary to cancel a worship service! But this is a very difficult and serious threat that we face, and our actions could affect not only the families of CFBC but all those around us.Although we will not have a worship service on March 22, we will broadcast a service live over the church website and Facebook. Wesley has posted an explanation of how to be a part of that service from your home. Chris and a music team will lead us in a time of praise before I bring the message. I want to encourage you all to make every effort to be a part of the service from your homes.
Following next Sunday, we will have to see how things develop. We will
certainly stay in contact with our state health officers who will be giving
us guidance as to the advisability of coming together during the weeks to
follow. On Friday, March 27, we will inform the church as to the future
plans.Let me ask you to do a few things:
1) Pray for your church family. Our union is not dependent upon physical
presence but rather, we are bound by the Holy Spirit.
2) Be wise and informed about what is going on. Protect yourselves from
infection and protect others by doing so. If you have any respiratory
illness, please stay at home, as we have been advised.
3) Call out to God asking for his mercy toward us.
4) Be compassionate to all who need your help and use every opportunity to share the Good News of Christ with those who are sick, frightened, or distressed by the events of the day.
5) If you need help, don’t hesitate to ask. Call me or call your deacon
for anything we can do to help you.In Germany we lived in what was called the “Land of Luther”. Martin
Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation, lived, himself, through a terrible plague in the early 1500s. Sunday night we received this quote of Luther’s from missionary friends in Italy—the heart of the Corona Virus infestation in Europe. Luther gave his congregation wise and practical advice that is still good for us today. I thought you might enjoy seeing it.Martin Luther (1483 – 1546)
“I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help
purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and
persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, He will surely find me, and I have done what He has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person I shall go freely as stated above. See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.”
Amen.You are a wonderful church family. Together we will ask God to mercifully protect us. We will try to be wise and discerning as we make necessary and sometimes unwanted decisions. But we will not shy away from sacrificially helping those who need us.
Thank you for being the people of God you are! We love serving you!
Bro. Rick”
To reiterate, there will be NO in person children and student services the next three Wednesday’s (or Sunday evenings for students) while school is out.
We will not be meeting together this Sunday the 22nd in our traditional gathering. We will however broadcast a service via Facebook live from this page at the normal service time. Please make plans to be a part of this!
We will keep everyone posted on Friday March 27th as to our plans for Sunday the 29th and beyond. Regardless, service Sunday and the lunch that was to follow on March 29th will be postponed even if we do meet again.
If you can not access Facebook to view the livestream on Sunday, the audio will be posted on the church website Sunday afternoon as well as all podcast platforms.