|
Dear Family at Immanuel,
The Psalmist writes, “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life.” Paul writes, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” In times of uncertainty, we are not called into panic. For our eternal lives are in the hands of the Lord. We also have a responsibility for those who are most vulnerable in our midst. In such times as the pandemic of the coronavirus, we must look upon our response in accordance with our conscience, neither driven by panic nor neglect of those most susceptible to harm, neither exaggeration nor dismissal of the risks. Recently, the Ogle County Health Department, along with other county health departments, has issued guidance that groups of more than 25 persons should not gather in order to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. In addition, school classes have been suspended in all of Illinois. While still a recommendation and not a mandate for churches, we as Lutherans, recognize the Biblical call to respect the governing authorities, seeing God’s work through them, even as we hold to God’s Word above all authority. Therefore, the consensus of the Board of Elders is that Immanuel will not officially conduct the Divine Service this coming Sunday, March 15. Further notice about future services is forthcoming. Such a decision to not conduct regular service on the part of Immanuel was not an easy one and not out of panic. Rather, it has to do primarily with concerns over those most vulnerable in our congregation. In addition, concerns were expressed about the susceptibility of Pastor Rosebrock’s newborn daughter and the original plan to have Pastor Acton fill in. However, there will be other options for you to turn your focus to the Word of God on Sunday: We live in a time when technology allows us to communicate in amazing ways. In case you were not aware, Pastor’s Sermons are already regularly loaded on to the Church’s Website. The Sermon videos can be found here: http://immanuel-lindenwood.org/news/category/sermon Pastor will use this as the means for devotions and sermons in video format as a part of your Lenten devotion. Do not miss this opportunity to continue in the Word of God! If you have not done so, please use this as an opportunity “like" the Immanuel's Facebook page. You will also see links to these sermons and other information on Facebook as well: https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLindenwood/ In addition, Dave Harms and Ken Manon have volunteered to still be at Church on this Sunday available to share a service of prayer. We simply ask that those who attend be acquainted with and follow necessary health precautions outlined by the CDC. God is in control and we call upon him for mercy all through our gracious Savior, Jesus. Christ’s Peace, Pastor Rosebrock Synod Resources https://blogs.lcms.org/2020/resource-helps-congregations-plan-for-widespread-illnesses/ District Resources https://nidlcms.org/coronavirus/ Comments are closed.
|
