Sunday Plan: March 29, 2020
Good morning brothers and sisters,
Jesus said to her, 'Woman believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:21, 23, 24
Around the world and throughout history, God's people have worshiped in perhaps every imaginable setting. In a garden; on a mountain; in Egypt; in the wilderness; in a designated city; in Babylon; in prisons and dungeons; on ships; in small gatherings of dispersed people; in homes; in Westminster Abbey; in St. Sophia's; on the battlefield. We've worshiped when were the appreciated by governments and society. We've worshiped when hated by those around us. We've worshiped in firehouses and school gymnasiums. I've worshiped under a baobab tree in Africa and taught people worship who lead house churches in areas where gathering of God's people is forbidden by law.
God's people are scattered worshipers of the one true God. We are not restricted to one mountain as opposed to another but are to worship as possible where possible in spirit and truth.
It is good to be together. It is good to have our place of worship. It is good and required of us to participate in the regular worship of God's people. But there are times when creativity is needed because of circumstances. This is one of those times. For the time being, we believe it is prudent not to gather together physically at the beautiful church building on Fayette.
So what will we do? We will do our best to gather and worship as the people of God with the resources we have available.
Sunday Plans
Morning Worship: We will gather for worship using Zoom as our platform.
- Time: Worship will begin at 10:00 am. (11:00 is a bit late when there isn't as much to get ready in the morning and no travel needed) The entire service will be reduced to 1/2 hour so that we can do our best to stay focused in what will obviously be an unusual setting.
- Bulletin: A bulletin will be provided on line that you can view and print so that you have it available for the service.
- Music: The worship will not include music. Bonnie and I have selected hymns that fit the service. She will record herself playing those hymns and you will be able to link to that from the website and sing as families or individuals before or after the service.
- I will be leading the service from home. I saw many services streamed from churches on Sunday and it felt a bit awkward to me. I'll be home as we all are at home.
Evening Prayer: During this unusual season we have decided to change our evening service to a prayer meeting along the lines of our First Wednesday Prayer meetings.
- Time: We will gather at 6:00 pm using the Zoom platform again for a 1/2 hour of corporate prayer.
- We'll read a Psalm responsively followed by praise and thanksgiving and then take prayer requests and pray.
Things to keep in mind:
- We'll send out more technical details in the next few days.
- Expect this to feel awkward. Hopefully we won't have time to get used to it! But this is unusual for all of us; be ready for that.
- Prepare your children. While your "Sunday best" might not be called for, dressing up and marking the time might be helpful for all.
- This is our first effort. I suspect there will be things to adjust along the way. There will be glitches and things we learn. We wanted to start simple and then go from there.
- Guard your heart. Grumbling is dangerous - I know - I'm feeling it with this approach as well. Guard the time and the call to worship. This isn't the awful television 'worship' we come across when channel surfing. I am not a TV preacher (and have no aspirations to become one)!! This is your church calling you to worship in an admittedly strange and jury-rigged setting. It may not be pretty, but if in spirit and truth, it will be glorifying to our King.
Look for more information to come and let us continue to pray and serve with love.
Yours in Our Lord,
Eric
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