Dear CAC members

Greetings in Jesus name! I write to give you a couple of quick updates, and to communicate some things I felt during prayer.

Sunday, May 10, 2020 was our very first day back to having our building opened for services on our main campus. We had wonderful services both morning and night. The crowd was larger in the morning service than in the evening service. The crowds were lower, overall, than before the quarantine started, but that was to be expected. And then the following evening was our first weekly prayer meeting on the main campus since reopening. Again, the prayer group was made up of fewer people, overall, than before the quarantine started, but that was to be expected. We did have a good group. This past Sunday we had great services both morning and night (including a tremendous message from our guest speaker, Pastor David Johnston), and we had great midweek services in between, as well. We also had a tremendous weekly prayer meeting this past Monday from 6-7pm.

In prayer, I felt to relay these thoughts:

For those who serve on our Audio-Visual (AV) team or our Music Ministry team, and who have been faithfully attending all throughout the quarantine to help provide the live stream options for others: congratulations, because you are making it through without losing your essential good habit of faithfulness to church!

For those who have not been attending in-person all throughout the quarantine, please be aware, that your previous good habit of faithfulness, has (by no viable option) been replaced with a not-good habit of not attending. This is very important for you to be aware of. Don’t be caught off guard. Habits are powerful for either good or bad. You can and should exercise your will (submitted to His will) over your own habits. Break bad habits and form (or re-form) good habits. This may be easier for some than others, but the Bible’s command to us about not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together means we all need to accomplish faithfulness.

We probably all understand the reality that “objects in motion tend to stay in motion,” and “objects at rest tend to stay at rest.” Please let me borrow from that as an analogy to remind your spirit that “members attending faithfully tend to keep attending faithfully ” while, by contrast, “members not attending faithfully tend to keep not attending.” As we make our way fully out of the quarantine, you will need to make a concerted effort to displace the “object at rest” bad habit of not attending, with a renewed “object in motion” good habit of faithfully attending.

And… for any who had already lost some ground on a good habit of faithfulness, now is the perfect time to press your way back to faithfulness, right alongside others doing the same!

Please remember, we are now officially re-opened for services. Tomorrow we will hold our third Sunday of church services at 10:00 am and 6:00 pm. Tomorrow also happens to be our church’s 49th anniversary celebration! (See graphic below my signature.) We will have Sunday school classes again for the very first time tomorrow morning! We have a special speaker for tomorrow night, Bishop Dan Garlitz! I have purchased a special gift for each family (especially for the lady of the house) that I want to give out tomorrow. You are welcome and encouraged to attend. If you cannot attend, please let me know.

I invite you all to consider this article, titled “500 doctors tell Trump to end the coronavirus shutdown, say it will cause more deaths” — which articulates something I’ve been cautioning about since the start of the shutdown, only it does so even more clearly than I can.

I found a short web list titled “Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the Bible: 7 Verses to Fight Fear and Anxiety,” which lists the following Bible verses that exhort us to move from fear to faith:

1. “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” (Isaiah 41:10).

2. “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7).

3. “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).

4. “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

5. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

6. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

7. “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22).

As always we love and appreciate you, and if you are facing pressing needs, please let us know.

May God bless you and keep you safe!

Sincerely,
Pastor Doug Joseph