"Living Quiet Lives" During This Unique Season
Thank you for spending your Sunday morning with us online. It was different, but it was sweet nonetheless knowing that our church was singing, listening and praying together from a distant. During the service, we promised you a more comprehensive update. Here’s what you should expect for the foreseeable future:
All In-Person Church Gatherings Cancelled Through The End of March
This includes Sunday gatherings, small groups, men’s and women’s meetings, picnics in the promenades and informal times together. That also means that our services will be live-streamed for at least the next two Sundays and likely even the next three or four. This is difficult for us. We love you. We miss you. We know you feel the same and that the longing to be together again will only intensify.
Yesterday, we heard from Christopher Erkelens that Paul instructs his readers to “live quietly”. In other words, God calls us to “a rebellion of peace”. Paul was writing to a church who existed in a morally tumultuous time and place and encourages them to live the “mundane” Christian life of trusting God, loving God, working with your hands, loving one another and loving neighbors. In the midst of a different kind of tumultuous time, God nevertheless calls us to “live quietly” when a virus threatens our patterns and rhythms of life.
So … how do we as Sovereign Grace Church of Santa Ana “live quietly” together during this season? Let us suggest 5 ways:
Share Your Needs With One Another
You’ve already heard the instruction to send your prayer requests in to prayers@sovgracesantaana.org. Thank you to those who have done so. Go ahead and continue to send them. We’ll pray (anonymously) every Sunday for the specific needs of our members. Don’t limit it to just sending a weekly prayer request email, though. We have text messaging and Slack. Share your needs with your small group. Seek one another’s counsel on decisions you’re facing. Continue to live in the community in the absence of physical community.
Carry Your Neighbors’ Needs With Them
Your neighbors are scared. They might be afraid of running out of food. They might feel vulnerable to the virus. They might be anxious about the economy. They might have been laid off from work. Their kids’ school may have been cancelled and now they’re lacking childcare. This is a uniquely wonderful time to carry the burdens of our neighbors with them. Ask them how you can pray for them. Ask them if there are any tangible ways you can help them. Love them fiercely during this season.
Read At Least One “Book of the Month”
For the last 8 months, we have recommended one book every month for your spiritual growth and reading enjoyment. You may or may not be a reader, but reading an instructive book is a great way to spend some of the extra downtime you might find yourself with over the next few weeks.
Revive Your Devotional Life
One of the wonders of the Gospel is that through the blood of Christ, we’ve been reconciled to God. We have a relationship with Him that’s so close that His Spirit is living within us. In other words, though we can’t be together with one another, you cannot be separated from God’s presence. Press into your relationship with Him through prayer. Pick up your Bible and renew your discipline of daily Bible reading. Memorize Scripture. Use this time well to strengthen your fellowship with Christ in the absence of in-person fellowship with one another.
Celebrate Your Experience of God’s Grace - #peaceinsantaana
Use social media well. Take pictures of how you’re “living quietly” as a follower of Christ in these days. Catalogue your “rebellion of peace”. Send pictures to photos@sovgracesantaana.org or out them to social media and use the hashtag #peaceinsantaana.
This is going to turn out well, friends. We’ll experience God’s grace in fresh new ways. We can’t wait to be back together with you. Until then, enjoy your rebellion of peace.