Dear Friends,
We are having a foretaste of critical times during this present COVID-19 pandemic. It is crucial that our wants and desires do not outweigh our prudence and responsibility. We must be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem. Faith is reasonable! We don’t drink poison willfully and then say the Lord will protect. That’s presumption!
Therefore, we do not expose ourselves and each other to potential contamination of this dangerous virus. Some Christian churches in New York are now contaminated because they kept their buildings open for services.
As a church, all programs and guest speaker invitations to the building, have been postponed as we continue to maintain a closed building. And we have moved to a limited worship format with a small number of people, limited to those who produce and/or participate in the program. Thus far we have no known cases of the Coronavirus infection among our members. And, if there should be, we will continue to trust in God, pray and maintain our heal thy practices.
Dear friends and members, adult and young people alike, I encourage you to call up each other, offer encouragement, set up times for prayer and exchange verified health tips. When you connect, take the opportunity to study the Sabbath School lessons together and share insights on prophecy for these times.
Remember, this pandemic will pass. The gospel must be preached with great power and glory; Sunday Law is to be enforced and the world will eventually choose to worship God or Satan. All this must happen before the end of probation. So let us not be shaken by this wave of distress. Remember, we are the church, not the building.
Young people, adults, and friends, during this time of social distancing, use the devices you have in your homes and in your hands to keep engaged with your church community. Please do not wait to be fed with the Word. Actively seek the Word, and feed yourselves with the Word. Any online worship service or teleconference provided by the Church leadership is only a small portion of what should be your persona daily spiritual intake and communion with God.
As we continue our online services, we will do our best to improve our reach to you and make progress as we navigate the technology, our health, safety and the Gospel mission.
I entreat you to take courage, stay focused and trust in the Word of God.
God bless,
Sean Dowding
WHAT IS CORONAVIRUS?
Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large FAMILY OF VIRUSES that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.