“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” – Psalm 133:1
Well, that was different, wasn’t it? I am speaking of our worship service yesterday. It was our first Sunday under the mandatory Shelter in Place order that those of us throughout the State of California find ourselves living under as we try to contain the spread of the COVID 19 Coronavirus.
But it was also the Fourth Sunday in Lent! And by God’s grace, we heard the Word, sang God’s praises, prayed our prayers, gave our offerings to the Lord, and received His blessing on our lives of faith. It was different, but it was still a beautiful blessing from our gracious God. “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”
At the end of each worship service, we were invited to grab a cup of coffee and reach out and call someone in our regular spirit of loving Christian fellowship. After the second service I both made a phone call and received a phone call, God’s people connecting with one another. And, if the time had not passed well into the lunch hour, I would have made more phone calls. I have been making phone calls every day, as well as sending e-mails and text messages of encouragement, and I know many of God’s people at Zion have been doing the same. “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”
I encourage you to use this time of physical isolation to reach out to one another in loving connection and encouragement of one another. Use the means of communication that are most familiar to you, whether phone or Facebook or other social media platforms. We are God’s family in Christ and we were created to live together in unity. “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”
I also encourage you to use this time of solitude to draw comfort and strength from God’s Word. The Bible is filled with historical accounts of God’s help given to His people in times of desperate need and it is packed with promises of God’s grace sufficient for every time of need. As each of us spends time daily in God’s Word, we grow together in Christ. “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”
God grant you His peace in these difficult days. Though the way ahead be uncertain, we live in the certainty of faith in our God who holds our days and all eternity securely in His all-powerful hands.
Here for you, Pastor Paul