Never Always – 23 February 2020

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

2 days ago

Dear Church Family,

I’ve been frustrated recently by how confined I feel due to the coronavirus and all of the health precautions and restrictions that are being called for right now.

It’s really hard to do effective church ministry in these conditions!

I mean, we can meet, but asking everybody to sit at 6' spacing?
To wear masks or face shields?
To make reservations before coming to church?
And then not seeing everyone because we are spread out over so many different worship times?

I get it, and we’re doing it, but sometimes it feels really confining. I feel like we’re in a tight spot with not a lot of room for maneuvering.

And it takes 3 times the work right now for 1/3 of the results. We make the best of it, but it’s kind of frustrating and sometimes exhausting.
We’re kind of in a “tight spot.”

And I don’t know about you, but my tendency when I get in a tight spot is to grumble and complain.

This morning, I was texting with Joel Michaels, and I was complaining about how these conditions make it hard to do effective church ministry. There are all of these roadblocks to getting folks connected to each other, to corporate worship, to good teaching, to effective service.

Roadblocks everywhere, and Joel and I agreed that we need to get our eyes off of ourselves and even those roadblocks and onto the Lord.

Because what does God like to do when we are in a tight spot?

Tonight at Prayer Meeting, we’re going to look together at Exodus 14 when the nation of Israel was in a tight spot. They had just been freed from bondage to Pharoah, but they had not yet made it fully out of Egypt. And the Lord led them to a spot between the approaching Egyptian army in the desert on one side and the deep Red Sea on the other side.

Talk about a tight spot! Not a lot of room for maneuvering.

You know what happened, right?

There was some grumbling and some complaining. That’s what happened!

And then there was some rebuking. Moses said (Exodus 14:13), “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.'” (vv.13-14)

And you probably know what happened next, right?

Moses raised his staff, and then...a miracle happened.

If you don’t know what happened, maybe read Exodus 14 today or come tonight to prayer meeting.

If the weather holds, we’ll have it under the tent and masks will be optional.

If it’s bad weather, we’ll be inside, and masks will be required.

By the way, tomorrow is the deadline to sign your kids up for Kids Bible Story Hour that’s happening at the Ark Park this Saturday. Parents, if you haven’t already, get online and tell us that your kids are coming to that safe, fun, and spiritually nourishing event this Saturday at 10am.

Beginning this Sunday, we are going to have 3 worship times on campus. 8:00am, 9:30am, and 11:00am, and we need to know who is coming to each one. Are you an 8:00 o’clock person? Are you a 9:30? Are you an 11:00?

I’m excited to see the reservations pour in and who all is coming to each service. There’s a bunch of folks who are coming back for the first time this month, and I can hardly wait to see you all!

I’m excited and relieved that we will have a place for everybody. So now it’s time to get everybody in their place! Make your reservation by phone or online by 3:30 on Saturday. Bring your mask or face shield on Sunday. And come join us for worship!

And because I won’t have to run off to the Zoom meeting, I’ll be able to visit with folks under the tent after and between all of the worship times on Sundays. I’m looking forward to having more fellowship time with many of you!

We are still going to have a Family Fellowship Meeting on Zoom (because that’s still the best place for some of us), but the time is moving to 6:30pm on Sunday evenings. This Sunday, July 12th, will be the first Sunday at the new time, 6:30pm. Our first special guest for that will be Greg Shuenke of Vision of Hope Ministries in Haiti. Greg was one of Henoc Lucien’s best friends and helps to lead the stateside part of the ministry. Greg is going to tell us a little bit of how the Lucien family and the churches, orphanage, and school that Henoc helped to start are faring now that he is with the Lord. We will find out more about how we can pray and stay involved in the ongoing work of VOHM. Connection details are in your church email. I hope you can join us.

Are you feeling like you’re in a tight spot right now?

That might be right where the Lord wants you to be.

And He’s asking you and me to get our eyes off of ourselves and our confinements and onto Him.

I’m starting to pray that God does amazing wonders among us during these difficult days.

Wouldn’t that be awesome?!

Let’s get our eyes on the Lord and watch Him work.

See you Sunday!

-Pastor Matt ... See MoreSee Less

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