AUGUST 2020 NEWSLETTER

Encouragement from Pastor George

Making A Home For Ourselves

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” – Jeremiah 29:4-7

For those of us in the church it can seem like we are so out of step with our society on so many issues. Not just political and moral ones, but also with what we prioritize. For me and for many others, this can become extremely discouraging as we see the world move farther and farther away from what we consider to be the truth. However, I have been challenged to rethink this as I have been rereading through Jeremiah. Jeremiah is an extremely challenging book, but it’s a good one. It has been too long since I have read through it in full and I highly recommend you to read it as well. I would recommend using a study Bible, so that you can get helpful notes on the history stuff that is in the background of the prophecies.

I am doing a Bible in a year reading program, (more on that next month) and it is because of that I am reading Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 29, God gives the Israelites commands on what they should be doing when they will be taken in exile to Babylon. One would expect a people that were defeated in war, had their cities sacked and razed, and carried off in exile would not think very kindly of the nation or the king that did that to them. But God challenges them to do something more than that. God expects them to take what was a national tragedy and turn it into something positive, and a promise that life will continue. They should not seek a quick return to what is normal, but rather they should prosper in the place where they are. Not only are they supposed to prosper, but on top of that they are expected to, “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” That to me is the craziest part of the whole thing.

So what does that mean for the church today? Well, as people living in a world that is often opposed to us, we should try and see ourselves in much the same way that God asked the Jews to see themselves during their exile in Babylon. As Christians, we can be pulled in one of two directions, both of which are bad and counter to our command to spread the gospel. There are those who believe that the outside “non-Christian,” world is so inherently sinful and destructive that we can’t even hope to have a church in that environment. Because of this, they end of up separating themselves out of the society and set up little enclaves where they hope to maintain their own culture and beliefs. Not only is this a counter to the idea that we should go to all nations, but it also makes the church a relic of the past. Viewed as some sort of window into how people used to live. On the opposite side, we have Christians who try and get us to conform to the culture as much as we possibly can. That in order for the church to be relevant we have to accept all of the morality and cultural trends that are popular. This of course leads to a compromising of our beliefs and paralyzes us from being able to change the city where we find ourselves in any positive way.

As sons and daughters of the king living in a city that does not share our take of the world, we should see it as something to inspire and encourage ourselves to be the best citizens that we can possibly be. We should, like the Jews in Babylon, be distinct from the people around us, but seek to be in community with them. To preach into their lives and strive for positive transformations of the culture so that we may be more and more like Jesus Christ. So, as we continue existing, there will be times when our society, from the town of Edison on up, will disappoint us and we will grow discouraged. But we have to remember that we have an incredibly important mission, and as exiles of the kingdom of God we are only here for a short while. We need to make the most of this time as we can.

In-Person Worship

In-person worship has resumed with restrictions. Please read the letter from our Pastor for instruction.

Hello saints of CPC,
We have resumed in-person worship in greatly reduced numbers. Worship will be different from how we have been practicing it in the past, but the elders and I believe that these restrictions are necessary out of an abundance of caution. So, one of the things we are going to be mandating is that only 10 “households” can come. We are like the IRS. If you live by yourself you count as a “household.” In order to maintain this, I am asking that IF you are interested in attending worship physically that you EMAIL ME and JUST ME at pastorgeorgeerlandson@gmail.com. I will be putting together a list, and much like my ruined after church lunch schedule, you will be assigned a week in which you can attend worship in person if you so wish to.

Below are the steps that we are going to be taking inside and outside the service:

• Firstly, we encourage those to refrain from attending in-person worship who are in the groups of people that are most susceptible to COVID. This includes, but is not limited to, anyone who is above the age of 65 or has underlying conditions.

• This goes as well for those who have been sick in the recent past.

• The sanctuary and entryway into the church will be cleaned and sanitized.

• The doors to the sanctuary entrance will be left wide open so no one has to touch any of the handles. They will remain open until worship starts, at which time they will be closed.

• Likewise the door to the sanctuary will be open and remain open.

• Temperatures will be taken upon entry.

• You will be asked questions regarding your health and states you have traveled.

• Face Masks are REQUIRED. No matter how each of us individually feels about wearing masks, we are still requiring that they be worn in church and during worship out of an abundance of caution.

• If you do not have a face mask then we will have some on hand.

• If you have a condition that keeps you from wearing a face mask, we ask that you stay home.

• We will be socially distanced in the pews.

• Bulletins will be laid out in a way where you won’t have to touch ones that were touched by anyone else. Though, like all things, this isn’t foolproof. If you are worried about physical bulletins, then please use the digital version found on app YouVersion.

• Many of the parts of our service where we would engage in physical contact have been altered. No touching of hands during greeting time for instance.

• We will not be singing in unison. Those of you who are worshipping at home have an advantage on us here!

• We will not be taking offering in the usual way. We will be having offering off to the side near the door on the way out the sanctuary for you to deposit your slips in.

• We will be exiting the sanctuary starting from the back row to the front in order to avoid any unnecessary contact.

• There will be an in-person prayer time after the service that will not be broadcast to the outside.

This list isn’t exhaustive or final. We may add/take away things as the situation changes. Just like in-person worship may be stopped or expanded as the situation permits.

Lastly, and certainly not leastly (I know that isn’t a word but it works), is that we will be moving to live streaming our services. This means that you will be with us live during worship and not watch a pre-recorded video. This technology is new to us so we ask for your grace and patience as we get it working. We have done a few test runs, some of which you all have been able to join us for, and those have been fun and worked well. However, Murphy’s law still applies, I am not too worried about it as David said in 2 Samuel 6:22, “I will become even more undignified than this.” I’m not afraid to look stupid or be embarrassed, but we may have to work out a few bugs or kinks and we ask for your patience as we do that. For those who can’t join us on our livestreams the video will be saved on our YouTube channel for later viewing. Ultimately, we want to make this a small celebratory moment that in some small way we can all begin worshipping God again together in real time even though we may be separated by 6 feet or a screen. Because praising God is ultimately what worship is all about. If we are just meeting to meet then we are a country club with a Jesus skin. But we are a church, so we come together to worship. So I look forward to worshipping God with you as we move forward.

In Christ,
Pastor George