A Message From Our Pastor

Dear Church,

Philippians 1:3-6  fills my thoughts of you today and this week: “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart.”

SONG FOR THE WEEK – We Gather Here
We gather here, In Jesus name,
His love is burning in our hearts like living flame,
For through the loving Son, the Father makes us one,
Come take the bread, Come drink the wine, Come share the Lord.

No one is a stranger here, Everyone belongs,
Finding our forgiveness here, We in turn forgive all wrongs,
He joins us here,
He breaks the bread,
The Lord who pours the cup Is risen from the dead,
The One we love the most,
Is now our gracious host,
Come take the bread, Come drink the cup, Come share the Lord.

We are now a family
Of which the Lord is Head, Though unseen he meets us here,
In the breaking of the bread.
We’ll gather soon
Where angels sing
We’ll see the glory of our Lord and coming King.
Now we anticipate, the Feast for which we wait,
Come take the bread, Come drink the wine, Come share the Lord. — Bryan Leech

It’s been days and weeks of separation for us now, as we are sheltering in place in emergency action. But we continue to give and receive support and guidance for our spiritual health and fitness through our communications here and with continual calls to check on each other, and even beyond our own circle of love.

One of the biggest challenges many people face is the lack of routine and the mental and emotional stress, fear, and isolation. This is a challenge and we must call on our God for help and comfort in a time like this. I heard last week someone say about the power of God to help us through this: Don’t tell God how big your mountain is, Tell your mountain how big is your God! 

A strong inner spirit  is important now more than ever, and we are together to help you maintain that. When the world outside of you is difficult to cope with, how do you cope with the world inside your own mind? In other words, how do we act in relation to what is happening rather than being overwhelmed in helpless outrage or fear? These reactions are not in service to God or to our mental and physical health.

  • Resist fear and stay positive.
  • Take whatever good actions you can take.
  • Stay calm and center yourself in God, in prayer.
  • Recognize Anger and send it away from you.
  • Tend to your body, it is the temple of God.
  • Notice God’s gifts of life around you, the sights and sounds of nature.
  • Remember your neighbor, keep watch with God over them.
  • Look for others who care for you.
  • Be caring with all others.

I also want to remind you that this isn’t forever. There will be an end date and at some point it will all be in the past. For now, “We remain steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
— I Corinthians 15:58.

Keep up the good fight and see you soon!

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Great and Gracious Lord God,
Just as we have received Christ Jesus as our Lord, help us to continue to live in Him,
rooted and built up in him,
strengthened in the faith, as we are taught,
and overflowing with thankfulness. — Colossians 2:6-7

In Christian Love,
Jerome

Book Club

The Book club is open to anyone, some members don’t even attend our church.  They meet the last Tuesday of the month at noon for lunch in the back room of the Main St. Café in Claysville.  They are a very relaxed group.  They don’t necessarily read a certain book and discuss, but rather each can read whatever they are into and kind of give a review at the meeting.  They recommend books to each other and sometimes they will pass the books around so that everyone doesn’t have to buy the book to enjoy it.

Book club