Weekend Ramblings for March 16, 2020
One week ago, there was word of this Coronavirus and how it was affecting other countries. Now, there are cases all across the United States. Wow, how things change in just 7 days.
1. God is in control. Nothing more needs to be said in that regard.
2. Our staff went above and beyond as we conversed and prayed through what we'd do as a church to still be able "to worship" on Sunday.
3. Cancelling was a hard decision but I'm thankful for our elders and leadership in this process.
4. I was extremely sad to have to cancel on-campus services because we had a very encouraging service planned to conclude our When God Doesn't Make Sense series.
5. God had other plans. Nothing more needs to be said in that regard.
6. We attempted to do our very best in communicating to the church family of what our plans for Sunday were.
7. I feel as if people who are members, in small groups, and/or serving heard from us. I am not sure about the fringe people. Hopefully, they checked our Facebook page.
8. We'd be lost without social media. How'd we do things years ago? :-)
9. Our volunteers continue to do amazing things for the cause of Christ!
10. On Saturday, our volunteers hosted two funeral lunches on our campus. Thank you, team!
11. We also hosted a private birthday party on our campus on Saturday.
12. During all the events, a team of volunteers showed up to record my video for Sunday.
13. A volunteer stayed up very late Saturday evening to edit our Sunday video.
14. A late-night decision was made to Facebook Live my sermon and not just post it at 11:00am.
15. At 9:45am Sunday, a staff member and a volunteer were at my house to set up a remote studio to Facebook Live the sermon. (Davis loved having 5 screens set up in our family room to make the magic happen.)
16. How awesome is this? 40+ people still showed up on our campus to give blood at our blood drive on Sunday! Main Street, y'all rocked it!
17. We were thrilled with the interaction online during Facebook Live. Our church responded incredibly.
18. Another way our church is responding well -- online giving. Thank you just doesn't say enough! Ministry and mission still continues so your generosity is greatly appreciated!
19. Want to remain obedient in giving? You can give online at http://discovermainstreetchurch.com/give or you can text a dollar amount to 84321 and it'll take 30 seconds to make it happen.
20. Our staff is meeting tomorrow morning to discuss: how we will tighten spending, how we will look to do ministry (worship) for weeks to come, and how we will reach our community during this hard time. Pray for wisdom and guidance, please.
21. God's timing is always perfect! Nothing more needs to be said in that regard.
22. Missed the Sunday online experience? You can watch it now at http://discovermainstreetchurch.com/live.
23. It was great to have my parents in town even if it had to be cut short due to all that's happening. They drove 30 hours roundtrip to be at Davis' birthday party (complete!) and hear me at Main Street for the first time (didn't happen).
24. Make wise decisions in this time of uncertainty. Pace yourself one day at a time.
25. I will be coming to you live on Facebook with some ministry updates on Wednesday evening.