To God's Beloved At Cloverdale Baptist Church:
Two questions that I am being asked a lot lately...
Question #1: Why are we in such a rush to get back together? The answer is simple, we love God, and are unified in Him, and He calls us to meet together. We hurt when we are apart, and long to be able to meet together again soon! We believe it is God's will for us to gather together!
Question #2: Why Are we being so careful in our desire to get back together again? Or, perhaps, why are we not in such a rush? Because we want to protect the vulnerable, love our community and obey our leaders as God has commanded us to do.
I suppose we could sum up our answer to these two questions and say, GREAT COMMAND, we love God, and love one another. Our church believes strongly that we are under the LORDSHIP of Jesus, He is our Head. As such we are choosing obey His Word in seeking to gather, love one another and our community, and obey our government.
LAST WEEK, we received a letter from the PHO approving our request to let us meet in different rooms in the church if we are careful to keep separate and obey the safety measures that we have been given (maximum 50 per gathering). SO...we are working to put together the structure for this to happen in a safe manner. We are prayerfully planning on being able to have 150ish people in the church building in three different areas (sanctuary, Gym and Fellowship Hall) by mid August.
We would like to caution those who are vulnerable, or uncomfortable to feel free not to engage physically at this time. We also will have a number of precautionary things in place that we will communicate with you as the time draws nearer, but for now, we are rejoicing as we are nearing the possibility of being able to be together physically and a little closer to having live in person family gatherings again. We know this is not yet ideal, and will feel different, but a great next step to what we are longing for.
Please continue to meet as Growth Groups and families, continue to encourage one another, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, continue to pray for us as we seek to follow the PHO guidelines and gather together again on Sunday mornings soon.
Promotions To Glory: We know that the Bible teaches that it is precious in His sight when He calls people home, but it is hard for us here, especially in a pandemic.
Art Sigurdson went to be with the LORD on July 21.
Gerda Jansen went to be with the LORD on July 21.
Please pray for these families left behind and those of us who love them! I am so thankful for our hope in eternal life!
Congratulations to JAKE AND HEATHER on your marriage! We are delighted with you, as you take this next step and praying for you! Hope to see you at Young Adults tonight (kidding)...
Prayer Meetings: Reminder that over the summer we have elder led prayer meetings on Wednesday nights at the church from 7-8.
Keep praying for CAMP IN A BOX. Last week was the kick off, but given the creativity of our team, there are many others who will be using this tool in the coming few weeks as well, so KEEP PRAYING!
Young Adults: We are so thankful that our young adults continue to meet over the summer, and are seeking to follow God with all of their might. We are praying for you as you continue to love Jesus and His bride!
Sunday Is Coming:
We are continuing our series in the Psalms, and encourage you to be spending time over the summer getting to know this precious book more intimately.
Title: The Pathway To Trust In Trials
Text: Psalm 9
"The Psalm gives to the needy child of God a sense of confidence in God's just rule, faithfulness to His promises, and hope in the acts of God on behalf of His children. Lament changes to praise, and fear becomes victorious joy" Vangemeren
Why is it important to remember that life can be difficult?
How can praising God shape your response to God?
Why is your view of God the most important thing about you?
Privileged to serve you during this time...
Pastor Rob
Jarod and Lisa Graham have been interviewed by the elders for membership. If you have anything you would like to communicate with us before we affirm them as members, please let us (elders) know. We usually put this in the bulletin, but given the lack of a bulletin we are placing here for now.