Daily Dose #70 (Monday, June 8, 2020)

Good morning church family.  I hope you had a good weekend.  Welcome to Daily Dose Episode #70!

Hopefully by now, either through Daily Dose episodes or via email, you have heard that the Elders have decided we would aim towards having a Sunday service again on Sunday, June 21 (Father’s Day).  Between now and then, as we follow the changing regulations and easing of restrictions here in Alberta, we will continue to communicate via email the plans we will be putting in place as we re-launch.

With that in mind, I wanted us to consider a few things as we think re-launch.  First, I want to draw our attention back to Daily Dose Episode #59 (May 20).  During that Daily Dose we focused on Romans 14 and God’s Word regarding those who hold different opinions than we do.  How do we respond to those who want to treat re-launch with more freedom than we would choose, or with more conservative actions than we would choose ourselves?

We concluded that day, and I want to remind us again (and you’ll probably hear me say this over and over in the weeks ahead), that we need to agree to let our abiding values going forward be love, grace, compassion and unity as a church family.

·      We don’t fully understand all that God is doing in the world right now, but we know He is in control.

·      We should hold our opinions as loosely as we can with an attitude of love towards our brothers and sisters who feel differently than we do.

Again, we aren’t 100% sure of what the coming weeks and months will hold, but can we please agree to let our abiding values be love, grace, compassion, and unity towards one another?

The second thing I would like us to consider as a church family is how we love our neighbour?  In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus told us that the greatest commandment is to love God with all of our being, and the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbour as we love ourselves.  As we consider re-launching our Sunday gatherings, can I ask us to keep that command of Jesus in mind – to love our neighbours?  As we begin to gather together, under certain regulations and restrictions that remain in place, along with guidance from the province of Alberta about how places of worship should function, we need to be aware that we have neighbours who will be watching us as we gather.  We have people who will be driving by on a very busy road that runs past our church building and they will be watching what we are doing as we enter and leave the building.  Are we giving each other the space that is recommended?  Are we doing our best to work with the regulations that are in place?  Will they see us doing our part – or will they see us flaunting our freedom?  What does it mean to love our neighbours who are watching as we come and go from the church building?  I think part of what loving our neighbours means is that we will act in a way that will not bring disrepute on the local church and the greater body of Christ as we exercise our freedom to gather together.  So please, as you consider coming on a Sunday in the coming weeks, reflect on what it means to love our neighbours who surround the church building and will pass by as we are gathering.

I have missed gathering together with you church family, and I look forward to connecting again soon for corporate worship and fellowship.  However, as we look forward with anticipation, let’s also look forward with prayerful wisdom about how we carry ourselves in relation to each other and to our neighbours around us.  

God bless you, and have a great week.