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Spiritual Family Check In 3-18-20



Hello Christ the Servant Community,
This is Pastor Chris Steubing bringing a message on Tuesday, March 18th. I want to share with you about how your church is working to respond to the circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic that we are all dealing with. 
First, I want to say that we believe in a God who holds the whole world in loving care, that means every single human being and all of creation. We believe in a God who protects us and heals us, who promises to never leave or forsake us, so we have hope and trust that God will also lead us through this uncertain time.
Right now, the world is hurting, we are hurting. The world is afraid and we may be afraid too. It is a time to turn to the one who can help us, the one whose perfect love casts out all fear, the one who promises to guard our lives and give us a future with hope.

Psalm 121 says, “I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from GOD, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains…God’s your Guardian, right at your side to protect you--…God guards you from every evil. He guards your very life. He guards you when you leave and when you return, he guards you now, he guards you always.”

We like to say here at Christ the Servant that God is good, all the time, because it is God’s nature, it’s just who God is. And that doesn’t change because our circumstances change, it doesn’t change because we are all stirred up on the inside and everything around us seems to be crumbling.

Psalm 46 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea…God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved…The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge…Be still and know that I AM God.”

We also believe that in our baptism we have a new identity as God’s children, so, we’ve become spiritual siblings of one another and we have been given the Holy Spirit who renews and equips us to love and serve one another and the world God made. So we are not overcome by fear because God is with us and protects us and who is greater than any danger in this world, we are not powerless because our power comes from God, and we are called in the midst of a hurting world to be salt and light of the kingdom, the hands and feet of Jesus to a world in need.

Here’s a few ways we can do that with and for each other and for our surrounding community during these days:
  • First, we can all do our part to help flatten the curve of the infection rate and the impact of the coronavirus in order to give the critical systems in our country the opportunity to better respond to this crisis by practicing what’s been called social distancing, but I’ve heard corrected as physical distancing. We’re keeping our distance from one another physically, and there’s many other recommendations we’ll share links to on our website and facebook page. You can go to cdc.gov to read more specifics.
  • I will be working to develop ways that we can facilitate social connection within our faith community even while we keep our distance from one another physically for the time being. We’ll keep you updated on opportunities to participate in this, but for now, please do reach out to one another through phone, email, text, facetime and let me know if there are ways we can better communicate with each another and share our needs for prayer and support. I just set up a new facebook group for those one facebook to share prayer concerns and things related to the life of our community called CSLC Community Life. It’s a private group so you can request to join the group or be invited.
  • One of these ways is that we will continue to worship together, we will just take it online for now. So, Wednesday evenings 6:30 p.m. that includes tonight, we will have a livestream of our worship along with Sunday mornings at 9:00 a.m. Visit our website www.cslcvh.org or our facebook page to join us for that. Or use this direct link: http://cslcvhorg.yourstreamlive.com/
  • We’ll be doing a Youth check in call via Zoom at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow. We will be continuing our 10:00 a.m. Wednesday morning bible study via Zoom which is an online video conference service which also offers an option to call on by telephone if you prefer. 
  • Join Zoom Meeting
  • We ask that you continue giving financially to the ministries of the church in this time. Many of us are so used to giving when the offering plate is passed around, but we do have a number of options to give electronically and you could also use the good old fashioned United States Postal Service.
  • If you know of people who are in need either of essential supplies or food or who need some type of critical assistance at this time, we would like to help facilitate support. We are considering possibilities but welcome your ideas. Please email me at pastorchris@cslcvh.org
  • Finally, the church council will be meeting again tomorrow evening to discuss our further response and will share an update as soon as possible. That’s it for now. Let's pray...
  • Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.


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