Good morning and welcome to summer. That’s right, today is the official day when summer begins in 2020. That is so important that someone felt that it needed to be included on most of our calendars. For those that love going to the lake or even the pool, we recognize the unofficial summer season from Memorial weekend to Labor Day weekend. Therefore, summer has already started for us. Although the calendar, and everything else for that matter, has been messed up due to the covid pandemic. The kids have already been on the longest summer break in the history of education. It has gone on long enough that there are some that wish school was starting soon. The same is true for church. More and more of the children and youth that we interact with are asking about church. Wow, things really are crazy. People begging to come to church. Who would have ever predicted that?
I am excited that we are finally beginning to open up. It has been a long time. I hope that many of you will join us on the 28th as we celebrate together. We will begin with the morning service, and then add the bi-lingual evening service. Lastly, we will add the youth and children’s outreach on Wednesday evenings. Please join us in praying for wisdom in the planning for all of that.
Can you imagine what it would be like if we couldn’t meet together? I mean, ever. It was bad enough, especially early in the lock-down, where no one was leaving their homes. However, throughout it all, several of us got to see each other on Wednesdays and Sundays as we prepared and delivered food. A few of us saw each other when we recorded the message and the music. There was a little interaction as we conducted the business of the church as well. Of course, it helped that we could freely use Zoom and other means to have meetings, talk with each other, etc. Even though this period of time has been far different than what we had imagined for this year, it has not been that bad. In fact, in some ways the church is stronger for it. But isn’t that how God often works? In the midst of chaos, uncertainty and change, God uses it to refine us. He helps us to see what is most important. First and foremost, it is our relationship with Him. We have His Word, we have the Holy Spirt, we have instant access to Him through prayer. However, we often overlook how incredible all of that is since we are busy going to a church building for activities. It is good to be reminded of our reliance upon God. It is also good to be reminded of our relationship with each other. We become part of the body when we get saved and we are led to unite with a local body, which we call the church. Even though most of us have not been gathering in large groups, there should still be a desire to interact with one another and pray for one another. If we reflect upon all of this, it may help us discover whether we are going to a church or if we are truly part of the church. There is a huge difference.
Lastly, let me encourage you to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world. There are many places where the believers will never meet in large groups. There are places where there are only a handful of Christians in an entire people group. Their own family members may not even know their identity in Christ. They live in a world where it is far too dangerous to be a Christian. Their reality is that some of them will die as martyrs for their faith. And yet, they have truly come to understand their reliance upon God. Let’s keep them in our prayers.
Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Larry
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