I was praying, thinking, reading over the past couple days and was hit with this thought: "What we are seeing is to be expected. Jesus told us that there would be trouble in this world." But isn't wonderful to know that it doesn't end there. He adds "But take heart, I have overcome the world." I realize the unknown seems scary. But remember that Jesus has already overcome the world and we belong to Him.
These days have brought about changes that I never even anticipated. We have plans for all kinds of events, but not for something as widespread as this. All decisions we are making are taken with much care and consideration.
However, this morning the President once again asked for everyone's help at slowing and stopping the spread of the virus by limiting gatherings to no more than 10 people. Will it prove to be an overreaction? I hope so. But still we are a part of a community and we need to honor those in leadership over us. We want to make sure that we love our community the best we can. Not meeting as a large group seems to be the best way to do that right now.
Therefore, we are going to change how we hold our public worship service for the next two weeks. I will be posting an online worship experience on both our Facebook page and our Youtube channel (which will be linked on our website and in the mobile app under sermons). This will be available early on Sunday morning in hopes that we can participate in that together at the usual time, or close to it. 10 a.m. Some people aren't tech savvy. If you know that, perhaps you can assist them with it. I will send out a link in an e-mail also so you can get right to it, if you don't know where to go. More on that later.
Please know that the church is not closed. Instead the church is alive and well. This is just causing us to think differently about how we go about sharing the hope of Jesus with the world. Please pray with us as we figure out the details of that together.
All other meetings, studies etc, are also suspended until at least the first week of April. We will reevaluate at that time.
The church office is open if you have any needs or questions. Please reach out.
What are we doing? What can we do?
1) Please don't forget about financial support for the church. We do have bills to pay still, as we all do. Online giving is available at battlelake.org at the bottom of the page. Also you can use the mobile app. It is secure and easy. Or drop a check in the mail or drop it off at the church. Thank you for your continued support!
2) We have offered to open our building up for students who are in need of internet access for distance learning. This is one way we can help our community.
3) There are people who are willing to shop for people who are vulnerable or nervous about being out. Let us know if that is you, or if you have someone you know who needs help.
4) Pray for certain sectors of our economy especially impacted -- namely the service industries. May this pass quickly so they can return to work again.
5) Download the mobile app https://tithely.app.link/battle-lake-alliance-church
6) Please let us know through Facebook, or e-mail, text message how you worship this week. Pictures of your worship gathering would be wonderful. Also, if you have prayer requests, pass them on. I will share a few other videos leading up to Sunday morning with some information. You might consider inviting someone to watch with you in their home. I think people are very curious about the hope we have right now. Let's share it widely.
Let's keep our eyes and ears open to needs around us. While so many are running on fear, may we be people who are running on faith. God is still in control of it all.
Pastor Derek