Let's see, are we live? I think we're live. Well, hello. How are you? Is it on? Make sure we're on. I'm gonna assume we're on I'm gonna jump right into reading an email that I sent because that's what we've been doing in recent weeks is I've been catching people up on some of the things that have been communicated to the congregation via email but not everybody reads those emails or is able to read those emails and and we have people who join us on this video stream who aren't receiving those emails at all so I want to get us all on the same page and keep us all on the same page so let me jump right in with one and then we'll have a a prayer that Angela's gonna open us with, and then we'll go from there, okay? So this is from a couple weeks back. Thank you for your participation in last night's virtual family meeting, brothers and sisters. In the email I sent yesterday, which I read last week, I wrote about the divide in the church right now that is caused by some churches canceling congregational gatherings and others continuing congregational gatherings. This is a major issue affecting the unity of the body of Christ at this moment in history. And so I'm feeling compelled to dive a bit deeper into the debate for everyone's mutual edification. And given that most of the negative energy appears to be directed at churches who have decided to continue meeting, this email will self-consciously work to help us see things from their perspective. Any church making the decision to cancel worship services, so long as it's a decision rooted in godly fear and not worldly fear, can properly make that decision, having prayerfully sought wisdom provided to their biblically informed conscience. However, the church making the decision to meet together, so long as it's a decision that's rooted in godly obedience and not worldly self-righteousness, can also properly make that decision, having prayerfully sought wisdom provided to their biblically informed conscience. A church group that does not meet will, as many currently like to argue, perhaps keep someone's mom from contracting a contagious illness that leads to her death. However, consider if the church group that did meet had that mom as a visitor to their church on the day in question, and she hears the gospel that day, and God uses that moment to bring her to saving repentance. Seen this way, isn't it fair to say that both churches sought the loving path forward? And the way the illustration is constructed, wouldn't it be fair to say that the mom in the second scenario is in much better shape than the mom in the first scenario? As an intramural church question, is it possible for the body of Christ to have a more generous attitude for one another and toward pastors who are tasked with making this difficult decision? As an exercise in logic question, how far do we want to extend our risk tolerance? In addition to avoiding church gatherings, should Christians also avoid going to the grocery store? Even without having attended a worship service, the Christian could contaminate the cashier, who might be someone's mom, if the answer is getting bread from the grocery store is a necessity. Well, that's fair enough. but isn't getting the bread of life an even greater necessity of eternal consequence? Hundreds of thousands die each year after being infected by the seasonal flu. So should local churches cancel their services during this time of the year? It'll be tempting in the current climate to dismiss this as a ridiculous question, and maybe it is. Regardless of its ridiculousness, what is our answer, and why? Isn't the mom's earthly life and that of the cashier just as valuable during flu season as it is right now? If mothers around the world, and grocery store clerks too, live to be even 117 years old, what use is that ultimately if they don't spend all of eternity in the loving presence of God? We can't expect individuals to quickly and easily alter their view of how things should best be handled in their local and personal contexts. But we can be hopeful that perhaps, maybe, there can be a little more patience, kindness, and gentleness with regards to this issue so that we can experience more love, joy, and peace among the brothers and sisters of Christ. This is an opportunity for iron to sharpen iron. The answers to this question, particularly at this moment in time, are not as clear cut and easy as some might tend to pretend, despite what the majority thinks or says. Whatever our own position, let's be humble and generous enough to consider the possibility that someone else might be more correct than we are. I know that this is your heart, many of you, and so I have great confidence in the attitudes of those whom I know and call friends and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Standing as one with our brothers and sisters, Pastor Troy. And then I included a link saying here's a brief link that outlines some of the basic considerations that pastors contemplate when making decisions about whether to meet or whether to cancel. And I will include that link in the comments section of this Facebook post later on this evening. Before we continue, Angela's gonna actually, I'm kind of open, but she's going to open us in prayer. Our gracious Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for this gathering. Lord, we thank you for this day. This is the day that you have made, Lord. We will rejoice and be glad in this day that you have given us. Lord, we thank you for the people who are joining us online. Abba Father, And we ask, Lord, that by your spirit, Lord, that you would give Pastor Troy the mind of Christ and his message, Lord, that you would cause him to combine spiritual thoughts with spiritual words, Lord God, and speak what it is that you have put in him to say. And Lord, we pray that those who are listening, that you would speak a word specifically to them, Lord, specifically to their situation, Lord, It gives them answers, gives them clarity, gives them direction, gives them hope. Lord God, gives them correction. And we trust you to do that, Lord, because you are a good father, you are a giving God, and you want us to walk in truth, and you delight in us. So we ask, Lord, that you bring everybody to this gathering who should be here, who needs to hear this word. and that he will speak through Pastor Troy as he shares the word of God with them. We thank you, Father, and we ask for your gracious presence and for a joyful time together, in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, thank you. Your sister's checking in real quick, saying your mother wants to know where the camera is now, as opposed to where it was set up before. I think what it is is I've got the camera in the exact same spot, but it's flipped around and so you're actually I think seeing the reverse of because when the camera's staring at you, you see it in reverse. I think that's what she's saying. It's the opposite. Okay, gotcha. Angela's normally on one side of the screen, and now she's on the other side of the screen. Right, right, right, gotcha. So that's what it is. So the camera is in the exact same spot, but I've got it facing this way. I realize it was easier to hit start and stop facing it this way, even though it's giving you everything as basically the mirror image. Everything's reverse. And hi, Julie, Lori, Lauren, Cindy, Danny, and Anna. So I say hi. Very good, hello. All right, so the next day, I sent this email. Good morning, brothers and sisters. I've determined that it might be helpful to treat a number of this week's emails as a kind of in-depth study of the questions surrounding decisions churches are making to either remain open or to close their doors. Please know that my attempts to be incisive and clear might make some of what I write a bit more academic in tone than normal. Let us begin by considering the recent news story of the choir members in Washington State who were working together in preparation to share the gospel through songs sung during a gathering that would be dedicated to the worship of our creator who has sovereignly appointed the day that each of us will breathe our last. As Christians, these choir members, I dare say, were prepared to die. and how much more readily would they be willing to die than as a result of being busy doing the work that God had called them to do and using the gifts that God gave them to use for his glory. It's been a few weeks, so real quickly, this was a story in Washington State where 40 some odd members in a choir held practice. They didn't practice a lot of the social distancing stuff and a number of them were older and got sick and quite a few of them ended up dying. That was the story I'm talking about. So whether they die this month, next month, or in 20 years, these choir members, they know they will die. And knowing the risks of getting sick and possibly dying from the illness, they chose to do what their biblically informed conscience informed them to do. When looking at their story this way, do we see a cautionary tale or rather an inspirational one? Because several of the women ended up dying from the coronavirus, many commentators have proclaimed rash judgments against these women and their church. What were they thinking? They behaved so foolishly. Well, perhaps so. Yet consider further that this was not a suicide pact that they all made together. The women likely planned to share the gospel through Psalm with many others many months from now. But in addition to those far-off plans, they were also preparing to share the gospel through song with many who might not be around many months from now. Indeed, they themselves might not be around many months from now to share the gospel, and as it ended up, this turned out to be the case. It can be healthy for us to be reminded that tomorrow is guaranteed to no one, when thusly reminded we get busy doing the Lord's work today. To say there's a risk of physical death when people go out is true in one sense. But in another sense, there's no risk of death at all. There's not merely a chance we will die, it's an absolute certainty. No one gets out of this life alive. Christians should not advocate recklessness. To do so would be to test God. However, there are ways to serve the kingdom of God by serving others without being reckless. The situation is sad, it's devastating anytime anyone dies, and yet it can be important to keep in mind that those choir singers, they knew the risks. If they want to risk their lives bungee jumping or diving out of airplanes or driving in the rain during rush hour traffic or singing in the choir, shouldn't they have the right to take the risk without hearing a chorus of condemnations? Is there ever a season when going out does not risk our own lives and or the lives of others. There are a number of brothers and sisters still gathering corporately out of conviction to be obedient to loving others as they see the Bible telling them to do so. Some are very loudly calling this selfish behavior. It seems that the word selfish doesn't fit their situation. If it is a fair word to use, it could also be used in the reverse by those who think differently, couldn't it? All the extra things the church can do to connect, social media, that sort of thing, they're great, and they should have already been done, and they should continue to be done. As good as they are, they are lesser than in-person interaction. Those who advocate for lesser right now as the path of wisdom have good reasons for choosing this path. However, those who advocate for more than lesser as the path of wisdom also have good reasons for choosing this path. Some, not all, who push forward with corporate gatherings could be guilty of testing God. On the other hand, some, not all, who have canceled corporate gatherings could be guilty of not trusting God. Both are bad and sinful. So each group likely has a mix of those who are honoring God and those who are not. We'll have a bit more to say about this tomorrow. Until then, may you experience God's blessing upon you, Pastor Troy. And so here's a link to the website of a church who has publicly shared some of their thinking leading to their decision of how to best proceed in their particular context. And I will provide that link in the comments section later on this evening. We're gonna pause here to hear a word from God. It's on point with the subject matter we're talking about. It's Hebrews chapter 10, verses 19 through 39. And Angela's gonna have that for us. Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he inaugurated for us through the veil, that is his flesh. And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more, as you see the day drawing near. For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve? who has trampled underfoot the son of God and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has insulted the spirit of grace. For we know him who said, vengeance is mine, I will repay. And again, the Lord will judge his people. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But remember the former days when, after being enlightened, You endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one shall live by faith. And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. The very word of God, inspired, infallible, inerrant. Let those who have ears to hear, let them hear. So, on Wednesday of the week that we're reading through the emails, I wrote, good day again, brothers and sisters. As we mentioned on Sunday evening, this week in the calendar represents a pretty significant eight days in the earthly life of Jesus. This was Holy Week. Here are some resources for you to feed your soul today. First, an excellent sermon on the crucifixion of Christ. Second, a short video with interesting facts about Holy Week. And third, a thoughtful article to aid your personal devotions this week. Rescued by the blood of Christ, Pastor Troy. All three of those links will be, again, included in the comments section of this Facebook post later on this evening. And then I said, P.S. just as a heads up, next week I'm planning to carve out time to connect with people in the church over the phone. This will leave me with little time to write a daily email. So this week I'm attempting to tie a bow on the intramural church debates related to the coronavirus with attached files, and of course lead you to some super helpful links about Holy Week as well. If you haven't been in the habit of clicking on the links within these emails over the past couple of weeks, I believe you're seriously missing out, and that's particularly true this week. God bless you, and may we see each other again very soon. And I read that PS because I've been mentioning for weeks now, I'm gonna include all these links in the comments section of the Facebook post, and maybe you haven't been taking advantage of that. There's some really good resources there, so go back if you want and sample some of them. I think you'll find them greatly edifying. And then I added an attachment. to the email, and the attachment is continuing our study that I touched on in the first two emails. Now picking up our in-depth look at what has turned out to be an issue that is historically huge for the institutional church. There are Christians all around the world who are possibly more motivated in this moment of their lives than they have ever been before because of the pandemic. The reality of everyone's mortality has struck these Christians with a strength and profundity, and so they want to get the gospel message out now. Months from now, too, but also right now. And they wanna do this over the phone, via video meetings, and in person. There's a mission field surrounding us all. When a group of believers goes off to a far-off land, exposing themselves and those to whom they minister to countless deadly diseases, we celebrate their boldness. In recent weeks, there's been a tendency by some to shame this same boldness. While comparing a virus to auto crashes isn't a perfect comparison, there are many ways in which traffic accidents are a fair comparison to infectious disease. Millions have died due to infectious disease. Millions have died due to automobile accidents. A person infected with a virus has a very real chance of dying. A person behind the wheel of a car has a very real chance of dying. Even if a person carrying a virus does not die, they still can cause the death of another person. Even if a person traveling in a vehicle does not die, they can still cause the death of another person. Simply by going to church, someone could die or kill someone else due to a virus. Simply by going to church, someone could die or kill someone else due to a crash. Death is a real thing, and it is a grievous thing. As I've mentioned before, approximately 120 million people will die this year, half of them due to abortion. During the first quarter of this year, 30,000 people, using very round numbers, died a death attributed to coronavirus. During the same quarter of the year, 30 million people, using very round numbers, died a death attributed to something other than coronavirus. Death is an ever-present danger. In fact, everyone alive right now will die unless Christ returns first. No one escapes the first death. It's what makes the proclamation of the gospel so urgent and of utmost importance to all followers of the way. This week in particular reminds us of the victory our Lord won over death. We need not be afraid. Praise God. A very nervous watching world is ripe for hearing why believers maintain so much hope. We're gonna pause here for a song. We're not gonna attempt to do the singing acapella by ourselves without somebody here to lead us, but I think somebody who's got some gift for singing and has done solos before can pull this off. We'll find out, right? This is called The Face of Love by Jewel. It's one of my favorites. Not necessarily a Christian song, but it is definitely, I'm singing it to my Lord, Savior Jesus Christ, so I suppose she might have been singing it to someone else, but. I would say it's not an overtly Christian song, but if you listen to the lyrics, I mean, as a Christian, it feels like a Christian song. Yeah. Until tonight, my heart was just half full, I'd never known. The fruit which fed the soul. But now I see what may put to rest my longing. For I have seen the face of love, the grace of God. The face of love. In silence I feared my heart would remain Words unheard Inside a separateness of skin But now I know that the skin just veils the soul The face of love The grace of God The face of love So take my hand, knowing With it I'll also give my heart a wanting Never to be separate again let eternity begin because if you were a flame i'd allow myself to be consumed completely with the wind I'd wish you to pass through me, cause now I know that the skin just veils the soul. For I have seen the face of love, the grace of God, the face of It brings a tear to my eye every time I All right, so on Thursday of that week, I wrote God's blessings upon you today, brothers and sisters. This is a big week in what's called the church calendar. Here on Maundy Thursday are some resources for you to feed your soul. First, a classic message from Billy Graham. Second, a podcast about Jesus on the night he was betrayed. And third, an article to aid your understanding of Resurrection Sunday. There's also an attachment to this email for our ongoing education on hot topics currently facing Christ's church in Christ, Pastor Troy. And here's another link I commend to you. So there's a total of four links that went out that day, and all four of those will be in the comments section. And we're gonna transition now from whether or not churches should meet, shouldn't meet, and how we should understand each other, into something else that's gotten a lot of attention, and I've had several people who have asked me specifically about this question, which is why I ended up writing about it, and now I'm sharing with you now. It's the Romans 13 question. What does it mean to be under the authority of a government, to be subject to governing authorities? And I think we're all gonna learn a little something here. I think, we'll see. So now continuing our in-depth look at an issue Church historians will likely study until the return of Christ. There has been a lot of Romans 13 talk batted around in Christian circles lately. Maybe you've noticed. What's the biblical way to understand respect for government authority? Today, we'll examine that question. Romans 13 has been a recurring theme in lots of social media posts, that's for sure. There's growing concern that Romans 13 is too readily used by many as bumper sticker theology. There are important nuances that can get lost when simply relying on standalone proof texts. It seems apparent in much of what's posted on social media that the passage isn't always understood in the context of the full Bible. Having said that, people should understand the Romans 13 argument that many are making and people should take it seriously. There can be no biblical argument against the fact that all people are to be in subjection to governing authorities. This is 100% biblically true. However, in Daniel 3, the reader finds a story of three men who refused to bow down before an image of gold. This was in violation of the governmental authority. But they were bound by conscience to disobey. Is there a contradiction here? No, their lack of obedience came with an attitude of submission. They demonstrated this submission by saying that they would willingly accept the government's punishment for their actions. Christians can do the same thing today. If they feel that their biblically informed conscience informs them to disobey an order, from the governmental authorities. Again in Daniel, this time in chapter six, readers find the story about Daniel refusing to give up his practice of regular prayer, even though the government told him that he must not do so for a period of 30 days. Yet the submissive spirit that rules his attitude demonstrates a subjection on his part to governing authorities. Daniel is willing to accept the government's punishment for his actions. So like his three friends, Daniel disobeys the government while still being in subjection to the government. And something to note about Daniel, he prayed in a public way and was told to stop. He was not told to start doing something sinful. And still, he rightly disobeyed the government. This principle continues to stand for believers today. It's a principle that allows the Christian to disobey the government while still being subject to governing authorities. These guiding principles allowed Martin Luther to do what he did during the Reformation, Christian patriots to do what they did during the American Revolution, faithful Christians to do what they did in Nazi Germany, and Martin Luther King Jr. to do what he did during the Civil Rights Movement, and so forth. Now moving on to Acts chapter five, it's more of the same. The governing authorities demanded that the apostles Peter and John stop preaching in the name of Jesus. Their Holy Spirit-led conscience required them to disobey. They didn't challenge the authority of those in charge, however. In their answer, they gave evidence of their submissive spirit. They said, whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge. For we cannot stop speaking what we've seen and heard. These apostles were willing to pay the price the authorities deemed appropriate, and thus they were subject to the authority even as they disobeyed the authority. Submission to the authority of a legitimate government and its agents is required by God. This is true at all times and in all cases. And normatively, this means simple obedience. However, there are circumstances when an individual or a group of individuals might be compelled by the spirit to disobey. And yet when this is the case, they must do so in a submissive spirit and manner. submission always gives honor to whom honor is due, and honor is given when someone says, respectfully, sir, I must disobey. I am prepared to face the consequences that you deem fit. It is hoped this has been helpful to you. And by the way, there's gonna be a little bit more on this in just a moment, but we're gonna pause here for what we call the prayers of the people. Angela, you want to start maybe? Or do you want to go in the middle? Or do you want to start? Who wants to start? Oh, I don't care. I can start if that's easy. Dina will start, and if you feel allowed to pray, you can, and then I will close. Dear Heavenly Father, it's a dreary day here in Maryland. It's been raining all day, but it's never dreary in the sense that we get to worship you. Today is the day that you have made and let us be glad in it. And we are. We're thankful that we can come together, that we can sing praises to you, that we can have a word of encouragement, that we can have your word. So many places around the world don't have your word. So we are thankful that we get to read your word, study your word, live out your word. But we don't do that all so well. So we ask that you would Please empower us, embolden us, encourage us, strengthen us, that we might do your will, that we might be ambassadors for your son, Jesus Christ, who gave his life for us so that we can be free, that we can indeed be free to worship you. May we do this with everything that we have, with our thoughts, our words, our deeds, our coming in, our going out, May we never ever be able to shake you, so to speak. We know that you hunt us down and we're thankful for that. We're thankful that you pursue us, that you not let one go, that you don't lose any of us that are in Christ. Thank you for that confidence. When times feel so unsure, when we've been asked to be alone, when we've been tested and tried, when we have thoughts swirling around in our head, that are not godly, that are attacks from the enemy. We know that you defeated the enemy on the cross. Hallelujah, we have victory right now. All of those condemning thoughts are washed away and they have no power over us and we are thankful for that. We know that your word is true and that you know the end from the beginning and the end says we win. amidst COVID-19 where everything seems so dreadful, we win. Hallelujah, we win. May you be glorified in Jesus' name. Gracious Heavenly Father, Lord, I echo my sister's prayer that we are grateful to be able to meet together in freedom and to worship you openly. And we do not take it for granted It is a great privilege. Lord, we pray for those who do not have this freedom, because they do have a kind of government, Lord, that is so very oppressive, Lord, that they have to meet underground. We just pray for their protection. Lord, we pray for their strengthening. Lord, and we pray for the day, Lord, when they will be able to worship you openly. Call forth the revival that so many people have prophesied in this country, Lord, for this country and for this world. Lord, we just agree with that, Lord, with your plans, Lord, to usher in this time of great awakening. We thank you, Lord, for what you're doing through this COVID-19 quarantine. Lord, you are redeeming the time. Lord, you are touching people, you are changing hearts. shaking loose that which is not of you, and what remains that is of you will be stronger than ever, and we are grateful for that, Lord. So very grateful for that. Lord, we ask that during this time of shut-in, Lord, that people would come to know you in a deeper and a richer way than they otherwise would have been able to, because the whole world is in a time-out. And even though, Lord, Most people believe that this COVID-19 did not come from you. You are still sovereign over it, and we agree with that, Lord. You are sovereign over all things. So we thank you that because you are good, good is coming out of this, Lord. And we just ask, Lord, that you give the authority that you have allowed to be in place, because it is you who raises up kings. And so, Lord, the authority that you have, the government authority that you have put in place, we just pray, Lord, that you get a hold of their hearts, Lord, that you save them, Lord, that you give them the mind of Christ, Lord, that you help them to make wise decisions, decisions that do not infringe upon freedoms, but that are wise and discerning. And we pray, Lord, that You help us to obey them in a way that is honoring to you, Lord God, without compromising righteousness, Lord God. Lord, give us that discernment, Lord God, and help us to be gracious with others who don't think exactly the way that we do on these issues. And so, Lord, we thank you. that we have a victory in you, that you have a final say in our lives, Lord God, and we thank you for the good, the tremendous good you will bring out of this. We will look back upon it, and we will see how you have worked, and we will be very grateful, but we thank you in advance, right now, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Father, we praise you that you have given us your word, that we can study it, we can apply it to our lives, and your Holy Spirit illumines our minds so that we can understand it in our situations that we find ourselves. We thank you for the confidence that can give us, and we ask you forgive us. Please forgive us for giving in too readily, too often, to fear and anxiety. Please, Lord, through your spirit, would you check our attitudes, help us to be counting it all joy to demonstrate a hopefulness that the world around us will make note. Forgive us individually, but also forgive us collectively. We live in a country that in less than 50 years has killed more than 63,000 unborn babies. What a blight that is on the soul of our nation. We implore you for forgiveness, but also that you would supernaturally work in the hearts of millions, that this atrocity would end. We ask that you would not just be with our government leaders, but also those in the media. Honest intellectual curiosity to ask the questions that need to be asked and to honestly report the truth and the facts of things. To provide all perspectives and to honestly acknowledge their own biases. We all have presuppositions and bias, Lord. Help us all to acknowledge those and take those into account before we go about the business of trying to analyze what's going on around us and share our thoughts and feelings and beliefs with others around us. Help us be honest with ourselves, be honest with you, and be honest with one another. I ask your blessing on Maria who reached out to me this week to let me know that she is facing renewed financial struggles. She had recently gotten a new job and now she is without that job because of the government mandated lockdowns. There are so many like her, and we echo the things that we've been praying about this past week, things that were brought up during last week's time together, people that are concerned about friends and neighbors who have cancer, or financial struggles, or employment struggles, or those who have, we praise you for, some people that we know that have, in spite of everything, have found new job opportunities in the midst of all of this. We thank you that we could come together even in this way to praise and worship you and to have some sense of togetherness as the body of Christ. Help us as your bride to be more obedient and more beautiful to you and the world around us. In Christ's name we pray, amen. All right, so we're up to Friday. Welcome to one of the most momentous days of each year, brothers and sisters, on this Good Friday. We have some resources for the feeding of our soul. First, a very short video about the importance of what this weekend commemorates and celebrates. Second, a very short podcast about Good Friday. and third, a very short article to aid your understanding of the next three days. It also attaches a document that continues the study of the momentous circumstances that we have been facing in recent weeks. God bless you all, Pastor Troy. And again, I'll include all those links in the comments section later on this evening. And actually there's a fourth one. If you've been looking for something compelling to watch this weekend or anytime really, here's a link to an excellent short documentary. It's about a half hour in duration. And it talks about the value of slowing down and moving at the pace of God. And it's interesting, it talked about Jesus, he walked everywhere. And so when we tell people to Godspeed, we usually mean go fast. But this video is making the point that perhaps God's speed is a walking pace, a relational pace, where you can take it all in and really appreciate God's creation and God's work in your life. It's a really interesting video. I'll include the link. So now on to the attachment. Now more of our in-depth look at an issue that church historians will surely be studying until the return of Christ. Picking up on the theme of the week, we will start with a pretty strong statement meant to engender a spirit of generosity among believers. If a person attending a worship service, or prayer meeting, or choir practice, or Bible study, or leadership meeting, or whatever other church-related activity should activity, should end up dying while en route or ends up being exposed to the coronavirus, the H1N1 virus of tuberculosis or any other contagion, that person and the church is not guilty of any sin in this. If someone feels that his or her attendance at a worship service would be to test God, then he or she is rightly prudent to avoid the danger. If someone else feels that it is not a test of God, then he or she can, in good conscience, attend the worship service. Christ promised danger for his followers during the time prior to the second advent, didn't he? So it is unfair, biblically speaking, to condemn an individual or local church that does not automatically advocate safety at the expense of boldness. If the bride of Christ takes the avoidance of risk too far, then no Christian would seek to disciple anyone in certain parts of the world where being discovered to be a Christ follower results in death. The conundrum begs the question of where to draw the line. Scripture indicates the line is best drawn in a place where there's a higher priority placed on things eternal than is placed on things that will pass away. When this happens, the Christian is not afraid to die. And these wisdom questions, they're tough. So again, believers, they need to be sure to be generous with empathy toward one another. Without a doubt, the church exists, whether it prays as often as it ought, or studies God's word as it ought, or witnesses as it ought. However, this study is not tackling questions about the church's existence, but of the church's behavior. All of life is worship. And yet the body is called to meet together for particular moments of corporate worship, which include congregational singing, deeply personal fellowship, administering the sacraments, and so forth, in addition to the things that many say can now more easily be done with virtual church. These are important considerations always and even now. It has become clear that no matter what, even if the worst case scenario estimates for COVID-19 are assumed, there will still be brothers and sisters who believe that they should meet together to worship their Maker and the Great Physician. When questioning the wisdom of this approach by appealing to Bible verses, it is absolutely crucial that the context of Scripture is rightly understood. What is the historical setting? Who is the original audience? What is the writer's primary purpose? What was said immediately prior and immediately after the selected passage? How does this fit within the whole of the biblical book and the whole of the canon? What type of literature is in play? And so forth. And using scripture to interpret scripture is also foundational to a healthy hermeneutical approach, an interpretive approach. With this in mind, how is Romans 13 best understood? The now often debated Romans 13 passage falls within the context of a long epistle written by the Apostle Paul. In the first 11 chapters, Paul hits hard on doctrine. And in the final five chapters, he dives into application of the doctrine. And generally speaking, that application is to love others, including government authorities. This early part of chapter 13 is immediately preceded by the tail end of chapter 12. which tells believers to love one another with affection and honor, to be fervent in spirit while serving the Lord, to be patient and prayerful in tribulation, and to live in harmony with other Christians by never being wise in our own sight, among other things. And then it says individuals are never to avenge themselves, because God says basically, I got this. This is the lead-in context to the text of chapter 13, which says the governing authorities are placed there by God. In other words, it's part of how he's got this. So Christians must trust God in this arrangement by showing love to the governing authorities. This is done by being subject to the authorities, by not resisting the authorities, by being in subjection to the authorities by giving the respect and honor that is due to the authorities. Those are the words Paul uses. And that's it. That's all Paul says. The Apostle Paul says nothing at all about exceptions to this rule when it comes to bowing down before idols or continuing to pray publicly when commanded to stop or ceasing the practice of preaching the gospel or anything else. And yet, as was pointed out earlier in this string of lessons, Those exceptions surely must exist because there is Daniel 3 and Daniel 6 and Acts 5 with which to contend. Not to mention the midwives who disobeyed the Pharaoh and even lied about it, where the reader is told that they feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them. That's Exodus 1.17. Or the Israelites, who later in the book of Exodus openly rebelled against the government of Egypt. Or Rahab in Joshua chapter two, who directly disobeyed a command from the King of Jericho when she lied for the Israelite spies. Or the people resisting the command of King Saul when he ordered the killing of Jonathan for having broken the law. That's first Samuel 14. Or the story found in first Kings chapter 18, when Obadiah feared the Lord greatly and preserved 100 prophets from Queen Jezebel. Or the story in 2 Kings where Joash is not only hidden from the authorities, but the authority itself, Athaliah, is put to death. And the list goes on. Now today's lesson pauses here, and this email Bible study will pick up again tomorrow, Lord willing. And so we've got one more. email that I'm going to read tonight. But before we do that, we're going to do our announcements. We're doing them late. We've done them a bit early, we've done them in the middle, now we're doing them late. Do you have your announcement sheet? No. Oh. Do you have your joke? No. No? Alright. Sorry. You can look up a joke and I'll study it for you. I'm in time out now. Alright, you want to try and find a joke? I will try. See if you can find a joke. Okay. It wouldn't be complete without a joke. Oh goodness. All right, so I mentioned if you were paying attention during our prayer time, Maria is asking for prayer due to her financial situation. Since the lockdown has led to her being unemployed now. She had been recently unemployed, found a job, and now she's, through no fault of her own or anybody else, the business is no longer able to function, at least for the moment. Ironically, you'll find out the irony in a moment, there's a new church YouTube channel that will post a new video each day of the week, beginning tomorrow. So tomorrow and then every day for all of the week, there's going to be a new video posted on the YouTube channel. They're basically gonna be the videos you've been seeing on Facebook. It's just gonna be an easier way in case you missed one, or you wanna watch them in sequence for some reason. You can find them more readily, so all you'll have to do is go to YouTube and Google Living Faith Ministries. I would say put Living Faith Ministries in parentheses, or in quotes, in quotation marks, and it should take you straight to the YouTube page, and you'll be able to, every day, see a new video get posted. But that's only gonna last one week, and I'll explain why in just a second. What, did we have a joke? No. We might not have a joke. I'm trying. We might need a joke after this next part. There are a few people that know, but most probably do not know. I was informed this past week that Living Faith Ministries is shuttering its doors. We've been informed that our building lease, which is up for renewal shortly, is not going to be renewed. So we're not gonna have a building to go to, and a decision has been made that basically the church is done. Technically, today would be the last Sunday functioning as Living Faith Ministries, but that feels rather sudden to me for you who might just be hearing about this for the very first time. So next Sunday will be our final Facebook live broadcast as Living Faith Ministries. If you are a member of Living Faith Ministries, there are about a dozen and a half of us who are part of Living Faith Ministries, you're gonna need to find a new church. So if you need help doing so, please give me a call and I'll do everything I can to help you find a new church. And if you would rather worship with us, we're not exactly sure what we're doing yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if we do something along the lines of a house church at least to start with. And so you're more than welcome to come and be a part of worshiping with us. And we'll have more to say about it perhaps next week, which will be our final official time together, or maybe it'll be our first unofficial time together since technically the last day of this month is the last day of our church officially being a thing. So, but Christ's church never ceases to be a thing, right? Christ's church continues on regardless of what we might be doing. So, any luck with a joke? Okay. This isn't very funny, but... Those are the best kind! Nonetheless, it's supposedly a family-friendly joke. I had to scan it to make sure it really was. A boy asks his father, Dad, are bugs good to eat? That's disgusting, don't talk about things like that over dinner, the dad replies. After dinner, the father asks, now son, what did you wanna ask me? Oh, nothing, the boy says, there was a bug in your soup, but you said not to talk about it, so he's gone. Okay, I'll work on that for next week. I forgot. Alright, so here we go, finishing out our teachings on Romans 13. Before we do that though, I'll give the body of the short email. One day away from the next Lord's Day, brothers and sisters. And what a Lord's Day tomorrow is, Resurrection Day. Here are some resources for you on the very special weekend for Christians everywhere. First, a rather substantial teaching series on the Resurrection, if you can find time to listen. Second, a powerful sermon by one of the great men of God from the past century. Third, an article by a theological scholar on the events of this weekend almost 2,000 years ago. Also, the attachment to this email contains the final installment of our study in recent days with love and grace provided by God, Pastor Troy. And I'll include all of those links for you. And it's going to seem awkward as I read the P.S., but I'll explain why I'm reading it anyway, as soon as I'm done reading the P.S. Tomorrow, there will be a special broadcast from Central Park in New York featuring a message from Franklin Graham. It'll be carried on the Fox News Channel from 10 to 10.30 in the morning. Franklin Graham will be speaking from the East Meadow, where the Samaritan's Purse Emergency Field Hospital is set up. just a few blocks away from where Billy Graham preached to more than 250,000 people a few decades ago. Michael W. Smith will lead the worship music as Christians everywhere celebrate the triumph of our risen Savior over sin, death, and the devil. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3.16. As the angel told the women at the empty tomb, he is not here, for he is risen, as he said. That's Matthew 28.6. He is risen indeed. So why did I read that announcement about something that happened weeks ago on TV? In the context that we find ourselves now, the situation that the world's been placed in, new habits might be forming. There's that old, I don't know if it's a cliche or if it's a proven study, I have no idea, but it's been often said that if you want to create a new habit, give it 28 days. Stick with something for 28 days. At the end of the 28 days, you will have a new habit. Well, we've been living in this new kind of world for more than 28 days. And so it's my concern that one of those habits that could have been formed, if we're not careful, it'll become an ongoing habit, is to settle for watching Franklin Graham on TV, listening to Michael W. Smith sing beautiful Christian music, for coming together, quote unquote, as the body of Christ to watch something together on social media or on television or listen to it on the radio. All of those resources are good, they're wonderful. Our personal devotional lives that we're hopefully even more in tune with now, those are good things. I hope those habits do remain. I hope that you're reading your Bible more regularly with the right kind of heart attitude behind it and you're praying more consistently and fervently and specifically and not out of a sense of obligation but out of a sense of communion with the Lord as you do so. I hope that all of those things are true and I hope that those things continue. But sooner rather than later, Christ's church needs to gather together in proximity with one another. We need to have physical fellowship. We need to participate in the sacraments. Those sorts of things need to happen. So as you heard in the announcements with Living Faith Ministries fading into the sunset, it might be tempting for those who call Living Faith Ministries home to just find somebody online to pay attention to. That's not good enough. God has more for you than that. Don't accept lesser when God has so much greater in store for you. So again, if you need help finding a church you can belong to, or if you wanna figure things out with me and we can maybe start something new together, you let me know and we'll figure that out. But we need to do things in proximity with one another, please. So now, our last part of the lesson on Romans 13. Continuing our in-depth look this week at a huge issue of the moment for the universal church. The last few days, these emails of learning have been examining the way to best approach the biblical teaching that people are to be subject to government authorities. It's become a wedge issue within the church in recent weeks, and this need not be the case. Using scripture to interpret scripture Romans 13 is seen in the context of numerous exceptions to the rule throughout God's written revelation that include worship, prayer, preaching, refraining from murder, rebellion against an authoritarian government, covering for God's agents, rejecting unreasonable orders, giving sanctuary to God's righteous leaders, and even taking the life of a government authority if necessary. There are enough individual examples to suggest that what the Bible student has before them is a biblical principle. If the government interferes or threatens or seeks to thwart God's people by attempting to take from them their life or liberty or freedom to worship or pray or preach or even their economic freedom, if the government interferes or threatens God's people in these ways from advancing his righteous causes, then God sanctions disobeying human governments, so long as Christians are willing to humbly face the consequences of the disobedience. Certainly, it's not always easy and simple to determine when such disobedience is God-sanctioned. Nevertheless, this principle is what allowed Martin Luther to lead the charge during the Reformation. This principle allowed God-fearing men to fight for independence from the rule of King George III, This principle is what allowed Rosa Parks to spark a revolution in civil rights. If this is not a biblical principle, then all of these well-honored heroes were actually behaving as depraved sinners. That their behavior was sinful is a conclusion that could fairly be considered, but it is not how the church has traditionally viewed these historic examples. Many have offered the suggestion that God's people can only disobey the government when there are directives that would force people to sin, such as the example of worship this idol or die, and eat this unclean food or die. However, this does not explain the Exodus narrative or what happens in Joshua chapter two, nor does it excuse the Boston Tea Party or Martin Luther King Jr. If Rahab was not committing sin in Joshua chapter two, nor Luther, nor Rosa Parks, how would someone prove it? They could prove it by appealing to the biblical principle outlined above. The government's role is to punish evil and promote good. And there are people who are loudly saying that they believe it is evil, selfish, and therefore not good for congregations to gather during the pandemic. In response, some would respectfully ask if this view is consistent with God's opinion on the matter. Some might even ask if this view is consistent with how these critics are living their own lives. These critics generally assume that it's okay to go grocery shopping, or to the bank, or to the gas pump, or to work as a quote-unquote essential personnel member. If so, why do they assume it's not okay to go to church? Is it because people need food, money, gas, and to perform important services for the community? If so, couldn't a local church make the argument that people need what they offer when they gather to perform important services for the community? There are individuals who might reject this argument out of hand, but they should be asked if they can at least empathize with other points of view well enough to soften the edges around their position that other Christians are being selfish. Think about a scenario for a moment. What if the church wanting to meet together has extensive hand-washing stations and protocols set up? What if they have fewer than 50 people meeting in a sanctuary that holds 300? And this is a common reality for many churches in Western civilization's post-Christian culture. What if everyone stays at least six feet away from one another and all of the greeters and ushers and so forth are wearing protective gear? And what if it's safer than the grocery store and the gas station and the ATM machine? Are they still being selfish? I'm sure I've written more than enough already, so with regard to this topic, I will wrap up here. I'm glad that we can at least now see that everyone in church leadership throughout the world is seriously wrestling with what is going on. It's unfortunate that many believers might have to agree to disagree over some parts of the body being considered selfish because they view the worldly wisdom of humanity's expert class through a different prism than do some others. Christ's bride is called to do better than this. By the power of the Holy Spirit, she will. Are there any comments, questions, shout-outs that we need to do? Well, we can certainly thank a bunch of people for watching. Tom Minor, and he loves our couch. He loves that we do this. I love our couch, too. I'll be calling you later. Thanks, friend, for checking in. Darlene Serper, and Jim Chung, and Bob Dacey, and Darlena Hartman, and Carrie Harvey, and Charlie Seymour, and Scott Taylor. and Ted Meaves and Brett Hess and Sharon Jaffe and Susan Clark and Kip and Maitland and Kip and Rose, Fred and Linda from work, Linda Proffiter and Fred, George Kilpatrick, Charlene Campbell from church, Lee Holtzclaw, Anna Williams, Danny Taylor, our daughter, Cindy, our neighbor, and Julie Gaver, my friend, Lauren Fury, And I believe that's it. So thank you all for joining us and watching. Appreciate that. All right, and I hope we didn't throw you off too much by flipping the room around on you. Yeah, we'll keep it this way for next time. I didn't realize it would do that. I may not realize it now, but I didn't think about it. So anyway. And so we are having dinner at our home next week at around 4.30. There's just the three of us, so we can fit seven more. And we have a ginormous table, and we could spread it in two. So we'll be like lots of feet apart. Angela works with Tyvok, so she's part of our family anyway, so we've been exposed to each other every day anyway. So she is our family. So our door is always open for you. I know a lot of us are going through some hard times being isolated, so just know that we're here for you. That's it. That's all I have to say. I've had a lot to say, so I'm done saying. I've asked Angela. She's our designated prayer warrior. So I've asked her if she wouldn't mind closing us in prayer for the evening, and then we'll say our goodnights. Thank you, Father. Thank you for this gathering and for all the people who joined us in it, Lord God. Although it was physically, we were apart, we thank you, Lord, that spiritually we were together, one faith, one spirit, one baptism. And so we thank you for that, Lord. And we ask, Lord, that you help us to internalize and understand what you spoke through Pastor Troy. Help us to apply it in meaningful ways to our lives. Always to your glory and to your honor. We ask, Lord, that you keep us safe. Lord, you have been keeping us safe. Lord, from things that are statistically much more dangerous than COVID-19. And so, Lord, we just ask for that continued protection, Lord God, and we are grateful for it. We ask that you give us a pleasant rest of the evening and sweet sleep tonight. Until we meet again, in Jesus' precious name we ask, amen. Amen. Bye. Thank you, good night, goodbye.