March 18, 2020
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.”—Psalm 27:1-5
Dear Church Family,
The board members met last evening, together with their wives and a few other members, to discuss how we are going to proceed in view of the situation with the Covid-19 virus and the restrictions that are being called for. Our desire is that the Body life of SCC continue to function; that we go on ministering to one another, being encouraged by one another and helping one another, and, together, being available to help those around us. Obviously, the restrictions that we are working under will require us to be creative and unconventional in the ways that we do that. Last night we discussed some of those ways.
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First of all, I encourage you to stay in communication, reaching out to one another in whatever ways are available to you. We can call one another. We can text or email. We can pray together. We can read the Word together and we can share with one another specific ways to pray.
I will be endeavoring to communicate by getting out a Pastor’s Pen article every couple of days; something to encourage you, something to think about, something to nourish your mind and heart from God’s Word. Pray for me, that the Lord will direct my own thinking so that the things I write will minister to the minds and hearts of our church family.
In connection with that, we are looking to complete our email address list so that we can get that material, and any other communications, to our church family as easily as possible. So, if your email address list is not in the church directory and/or you have not already given it to me or to Julie Urback, please get that to us. That will be the easiest way to get our communications out. In view of the obvious fact that those who have not submitted their email address will not be receiving this via email, please mention it to one another as you talk over the next few days. If you are in communication with someone who does not use email, please continue to pass these updates along.
As for Sunday: at the present, the plan is to record the morning worship service and have that available on the church website on Sunday morning. Brent Stapleton is working to get us set up to do that and, Lord willing, everything will be in place for that to happen this week. We will let you know when that is available. The church website is: www.sunnysidecommunitychurch.com
As to other ministries: as of this morning, the Thursday evening ladies Bible Study will be meeting 3/19, but this will be their final gathering for the foreseeable future. All other Bible Studies are on hold for now. Youth Group is meeting tonight, but after that, it will be week-to-week per the restrictions that are put in place. The men’s prayer breakfast for this Saturday has been canceled.
Although there will be no meetings planned at the church, we do want to keep things in shape. So, if you are scheduled to clean, we ask that you just make a pass through, especially checking the trash and the condition of the bathrooms. If you are concerned about being out just let Julie know and we will see that things are looked after.
Also, although we will not be holding service, we still have financial obligations to meet and we are asking that you continue your contributions. The church has a locked mailbox that will be checked regularly, so you can send your contributions in by mail (16444 SE Highway 212, Damascus, OR 97089). You can also drop them by the church office. The building will be open daily from 8-12 noon. You can also drop them off at the church parsonage if it is outside of those hours. If you are not able to get out, please let us know and we can pick them up. We appreciate your faithfulness in this regard. We will keep you informed with respect to the offerings received and our budgeted monthly need.
We want to minister, not only to our church family, but also, to the surrounding community. We will be notifying the community around us that if anyone does not have a support group, family, friends, neighbors etc., that they can call on us for help, we want to make ourselves available to them for trips to the grocery store, doctor’s office and such things. If you are available to help with any requests for assistance that may come in, we are looking to put together a list of volunteers. Please respond to this email and let us know.
Thank you for your faithfulness to pray and to support our efforts to continue the functioning of our church family. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and give you peace.
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”—Philippians 4:4-8
In the love of Christ,Pastor Guy