Church Family Update - March 31, 2020

The Handshake:

Have you ever done something and then immediately wished you hadn’t done it? And the thing you did but wished you hadn’t done was being live-streamed as you did it to hundreds of people in two countries? I have. 

The handshaking on Sunday was a spontaneous expression of my love and affection for the Worship Team and my joy in being able to serve the church with them. It wasn’t planned but it was unwise nonetheless. 

For the record, I promise not to touch another human hand (except members of my own family) for the duration of this epidemic. Thanks to everyone for your expressions of care and concern (at least now I know people are watching!) 

A Devotional Thought for Today:

I don’t know if you’ve noticed this but the Old Testament has some strange stories in it. This week I’m thinking of one of them. 

2 Kings 6 tells of a time when there was such a severe famine in the land that a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver. I don’t know this from personal experience but I can’t imagine that there’s a lot of meat on a donkey head. So everyone was starving.

But then we’re told that four lepers went and checked out the camp of the Syrian army and discovered that the Syrians had abandoned their camp and left all their food and money behind. So the lepers went in and had a feast and carried off a lot of gold and silver. And they went back to get more for themselves. But then they stopped and said, “What we are doing is not right. This is a day of good news.” (2 Kings 7:9) So they went and told all of Israel. Then everyone went into the camp and plundered it and they all had enough to eat and no one had to eat donkey-head sandwiches anymore. 

At its heart this is a biblical story about sharing instead of hoarding when times are tight. The reason this story has been on my mind is because I’ve been seeing pictures of those little library boxes that some people have in front of their homes. But instead of being filled with free books, some people are stocking them with toiletries and canned goods that are free for anyone who needs them. It's nice to see people being kind and generous during difficult and anxious times. Let’s all keep our eyes open for little (and maybe big) ways that we can be generous with the things God has entrusted to us during this time. 

May you be blessed today.

And may you be a blessing today.

Pastor Jason