Normally if I was writing a blog on this date I would say something like, "this year U of M will beat Ohio State in football." Then I would pause and go, "April Fools!!!" But, since this year is not normal, I won't do that. All kidding aside, we are wading in deeper waters, and the waters may go deeper still. We must, by God's grace (and that is not a quaint expression), adjust. The accounts that I am hearing from so many corners of our congregation is that you are adjusting, and you are making much of Christ. While I am not surprised, I am beyond encouraged by you. The fact is, I am thrilled!

As the reality of this pandemic began to settle in, we've adjusted many aspects of our lives and our church life. Now, it seems that we need to keep adjusting our expectations. This could last longer than we initially imagined, and how we come out of it will likely be gradual and not sudden. Graduations, graduation parties, job interviews, college, funerals, weddings, anniversary celebrations, family reunions, birthday parties...we could keep adding to this, but so many of the identifying features of our lives are suddenly taken from us, and we do not know when we will get them back. This morning I was thinking of the high school senior who has older siblings. She has spent years going to graduation parties for others and has spent years imagining her own. Now? For her and those close to her, it is a disappointment.

Is having a graduation party the most important thing in life? No. But, at the same time, it is another disappointment in a season of disruption. But "season of disruption" does not adequately describe life for our nurses, doctors, and all those related to the hands-on care of coronavirus patients. I watch the statistics, perhaps too much. I am anticipating when these numbers are replaced with names and there is more adjusting--this time, virtual mourning, socially distanced grieving. However that takes place, it doesn't sound good at all. Neither does "season of disruption" do justice to those furloughed, laid off, let go, or whose jobs and businesses are hanging in the balance.

Here are two related truths: 1: Our joy is safe in Christ. I spoke to that on a recent Sunday morning. And 2: The security of our joy does not eliminate our need to lament. Jesus wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus. Jesus experienced the depth of our deepest sorrow even while he knew that he was going to blow up the funeral and turn it into a resurrection party. Hold on to both of those truths. Let your heart be stretched in one direction by the depth of lament in this season, and, at the same time, let it be stretched in the other direction, that even death itself is subservient to the One who is Life. God gave us the book of Lamentations, so that we would have a language to express the cries of our hearts without the hopelessness of agnosticism or the thick and heavy darkness of atheism. So, part of our adjustment in all of this is to pray.  And pray.  And pray.

Last week, we rolled out a plan to have a 6-day a week, 24-hour a day prayer chain. I attempted to organize this through the Adult Bible Fellowships and for the most part, it worked. Now, normally, we would set up 6 displays in the Gathering Space, with 48 sticky notes on each, and you would simply grab a sticky note indicating the time during the week that you commit to pray. But, we don't have that opportunity, so we created an online sign-up feature, that had some limitations to it. Now, the important thing (and I mean really important) is that many people have been praying. Now we are rolling out phase 2 of this prayer chain. We think the bugs have been worked out. You will receive a separate email today, explaining how we are doing this. This time, it will not be done through the ABFs, but will simply be for all members. If you want to sign up online, you can do that. If you want to call the church office and sign up, you can do that as well. If you're not a member, and want to participate, call the office. But, we need to pray and pray and keep praying.

Psalm 115:3 "Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases."

In addition to live-streaming our Sunday mornings through YouTube, we now make it available through Facebook Live as well, because this is easier for some of you to share with others. In view of the fact that many people outside of our membership have been viewing, I am adjusting the sermon this Sunday morning to attempt to give them a better context for our study in Acts. In other words, I am going to begin the sermon with much explanation of the gospel. In times past, when I knew this was going to happen, I would encourage you to invite friends who need to hear the gospel to church on that day. Now, I am telling you so that you can encourage others to watch online. Also, keep this in mind as we anticipate Resurrection Day. Who can you pray for, send an invitation (and a link) to watch who needs to hear about Christ?

The greatest disruption we can pray for and plan for is disrupting people's lives with the glorious gospel of Jesus so that their darkness is exchanged for light, their sin for Christ's righteousness, their death for His life! And yes, as soon as we can, we are going to have that Resurrection Party and it will be gloriously raucous!

For Christ, the gospel, His church,
Bob