Have you ever been robbed? I have had several things stolen at different seasons of life and in the end, it is not the loss of the possession that bothered me the most, it was my lack of control. I hated the feeling of being powerless. The Corona virus entered our world and like a thief took what we felt was rightfully ours. Conveniences were taken. Many of our "go to" joys were removed. "S ocial distancing" has effectively kept us from those we love.

 

It is times like this that we get clear glimpses of our heart's desire to control. Maybe we draw our identity from those around us. Maybe we find our joy in planning or productivity. Maybe we feel overwhelmed by helplessness. It is frustrating to surrender and slow down to another's will. Yet, to be like Jesus is to live a life of surrender...surrender to our heavenly Father's will.

 

At the end of Matthew 6 Jesus talks about worry, but behind His call not to worry Jesus points to our lack of control in this life. It is our heavenly Father that orders our worlds. Ours is to live in peace as we submit to His will. As followers of Christ, we are called to patiently endure the current season. The question is not why is this happening but how will we surrender and, if need be, slow down to be obedient to Him? Perhaps there are idols of the heart that need to die. Perhaps there are areas of sin that need to be sanctified. Perhaps, we are being asked to spend more time with the Lord in His Word and in prayer.

 

Church family, you are deeply loved by the Father. Remember, nothing can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39)! May His peace and His will reign in your life. 

If you have not joined a D-group yet, we encourage you to pray about asking two others to join you and walk through the book of Philippians together. This last week, we have had 10 D-groups form in our youth department as well as I received an e-mail yesterday from a grandma who is going to be joining her daughter and granddaughters in a D-group. What a great investment!

 

We have a resource available for the Book of Philippians that reminds us to choose joy in the midst of our circumstances.  Those that participate are encouraged to consistently spend time reading their chosen book of the Bible, as well as memorizing a verse each week from the chapter being studied. You may download the  Philippians study here or pick one up in the church office. 

Our Sunday School classes are now online. Each week your Pastors are teaching four classes: 2 adult, 1 youth and 1 Family Connect class. Please feel free to join any of these meeting times by clicking on the designated links (below). You will need to download Zoom to your device and then join the class by clicking on the link.

 

In addition to the Pastors' classes, the following are also meeting: the Younger Married Class (Pastor Michael), the Young Married Class (Baker/Blades) the Family Walk class (Sink/Blackman), the Son-shine class (Sharon Clements) and the Hope class (Maureen Rice). If you are part of these classes and would like more information please reach out to your teacher. If you are a teacher and would like to get set up on Zoom, please contact Pastor Michael.

 

Each Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Pastor Sammy will be hosting an adult Sunday School on line at https://zoom.us/j/182718601. 

Each Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Pastor Casey will be hosting a youth Sunday School class on line at https://zoom.us/j/9466766746.

   

Each Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Pastor Michael will be hosting an adult Sunday School on line at  https://zoom.us/j/9713184834.

Each Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Pastor Ryan will be hosting a Family Connect class on line at  https://zoom.us/j/821904394. 

If you are prompted for a password, all classes have the password: LiveLove

Youth Sunday School Class

Although we are unable to meet together in person, we are blessed to still be able to gather together virtually! We still meet on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am to study God's Word as a youth group. 

Youth D-Groups

During this season we have focused to intentionally connect our students in D-Groups as another way to connect them with each other and God's Word. We are scheduling D-Groups for our students with different leaders through ZOOM. Groups are a great way for your student to be involved in Bible study through a small group! If your student is interested in joining a virtual D-Group during this time please contact Pastor Casey. 

ZOOM Bible Study

We meet on Tuesday evenings via ZOOM from 6-7pm to study God's Word together and to encourage one another! I hope you can make plans to join us and study God's Word in this unusual time! Use the Meeting ID 946-676-6746 to join the study on Tuesday evenings. We are praying for you as you continue in school and in work.