March 18, 2020
The Session has just decided to move to Phase III, that is, to cancel all public and group activities at First Presbyterian Church indefinitely, including public worship on the Lord’s Day. We believe the government’s advice justly applies to religious gatherings. We also see suspending activities as an extension of our love for each other and our desire not to spread the virus. We will have our morning and evening services with just a few officers and musicians. It will be live streamed as well as taped as usual for the website. We will send instructions out for livestreaming by the end of the week. For some of you this will be a hectic time of necessary work and possible exposure to sickness. For others there will be more time at home. If at home, use the opportunity to spend extra time in prayer for the church, your family, and others who are manning those institutions we cannot do without, like hospitals, utilities, grocery and drug stores, to name a few. Reestablish that long neglected habit of family worship and serious discussion in the home. Pick up that Christian book you’ve been neglecting. Brainstorm with the family ways to minister to those in and out of the church that are in need or at high risk. Call someone who needs encouragement. Be ready to share the hope that is in you. This Sunday morning I will be preaching on a precious section of Scripture, Isaiah 41. Verse 10 says, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” May God protect us and pour out the Spirit upon our church, our nation, and the world.
For the Session
Randy Thompson
