Well, hello again, church family. And I just wanted to connect with you guys, bring you into a conversation. This is really just a part and a start to a conversation that's been going on among a number of us and questions relating to the role of church and state in a health crisis. People wondering about what our government has told us and what the word of God tells us to do and how those things intersect. And so these, Some of these notes that I'll be sharing with you, I've shared with other brothers. We had this conversation shared with our elders a week ago, and I recorded some of this on another media platform, but I want to make this more available to others of us by way of video through our church site. But behind me, you see Pray Without Ceasing. In everything, give thanks. That's from 1 Thessalonians, and I think we need to start off there by being thankful. In fact, 1 Timothy chapter 2, just to read scriptures to you, 1 Timothy chapter 2 says, First of all then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. And so this is talking about how we're to be regularly praying for and thanking God for all of those who are in high positions, in government positions over us, interceding for them, but also thanking God for them. And it goes on to talk about salvation. We need to be praying for those who are not yet saved in our nation, even in our government, that the Lord would be moving in their hearts. And then in verse 8 of 1 Timothy 2, Paul says, And so this is another important thing. We need to be praying fervently, lifting up our hands to the Lord, not in anger, not in quarreling, but in prayer, in thanksgiving, in supplication, asking the Lord to give wisdom and guidance and favor as we seek to live peaceably and quietly and godly lives in a way that would show us to be dignified and a witness of the salvation that is offered in Christ. So that's where I wanted to start, 1 Timothy 2, and then the passage I shared on A previous video that I want to add to this video here is Titus chapter 3. Titus 3 says, Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. And he goes on to talk about avoiding foolish controversies, dissensions and quarrels about the law and to be on the lookout for people who are stirring up division. And so these are all important principles. God's word calls us and reminds us and calls us to remind others to be submissive to rulers and authorities. to be ready for every good work. I think we're ready, we're eager to be able to resume some of the good works that have been curtailed. But we are, there's a lot of good works going forth that we need to be ready and eager and doing. But at the same time, we need to speak evil of no one. Different people are going to have different convictions and concerns. I share some of the concerns that you have, the questions that you have. but this is non-negotiable truth from God's Word, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy towards all people. And so, in that spirit, I want to kind of bring you into this conversation, as I mentioned. This isn't a professional video. This is just some personal and pastoral thoughts. I will tell you, as our elders met together In March, the principles from Romans chapter 13 that we're called to do for our government and that they're called to be God's agent for good and that we're to submit to them, but also Romans 13 goes on to talk about loving our neighbor and making sure we're not doing any harm to our neighbors. So submission, but also the safety of our 120 some elderly in our church. Those were all very important. considerations, and as we shared with you that weekend, our plan is to continue to abide by those principles of God's Word. But as this goes on, questions rightly arise in terms of how we should be thinking biblically and critically. So I want to just talk a little bit with you guys, share some things, and these are some notes that will also be made available that you can look at in more depth. I want to just kind of look at the first part of this study that I kind of compiled. And the first part of it was really giving a little historical perspective, kind of thinking back. I think it's good for us to recognize this isn't completely unprecedented, although it is in our lifetimes. But in Bible times, there were a lot of times where God's people for plagues and pestilences, persecution, even various things were going on where they were not able to regularly gather in the Old Testament numerous times. My Sunday night message last night talked about one of the worst times ever in Israel's history and the worst government oppression that they experienced and how God was faithful in that and what gave them hope in those times which was a lot longer than what we're going through and a lot worse than what we're going through. So I think it's good to keep those things in mind also in New Testament times as they were not allowed to all gather together in big gatherings in the Book of Acts. We see the movement and even the language of from house to house and gathering in other ways. I'm wearing my Compassion for Congo shirt here and just remind us there's also a video we have on our website just talking about what's going on in their government and their nation and how severe it is. We've taken a lot for granted here in America. We have a lot to be thankful for, even though we have, our government is not perfect and it has flaws, but we need to, there's a lot for us to be thankful and prayerful about. And then as we go through history in the early church, there were a lot of plagues. And so we have a record of what the church fathers and others said about this into the middle ages. On the handout that I put together, Martin Luther, who, by the way, when he was told not to preach the gospel, not to translate the Bible, those sort of things, he practiced civil disobedience. He is one of a number who understood there is a place for obeying God rather than men. And so he would not stop preaching Christ. And we're not going to stop preaching Christ. We're not going to stop seeking to fulfill the one another's. But here's, it's interesting as you, study Luther when the Black Plague came through that really decimated and devastated and separated people who had to flee. And he continued interpersonal ministry to people there in his part of Germany. This is in the 1500s, 1527. And he wrote an article published in his works that I was reading recently. And he saw the health restrictions and concerns that came up in a plague differently than his government telling him he couldn't preach the gospel or translate the Bible. And so here's his own words, how he wrote and encouraged Christians to think. He says, I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others. If everyone would help ward off contagion as best he can, then the death toll would indeed be moderate. If some are so foolish as to not take precautions but aggravate the contagion, then the devil has a heyday and many will die. That was what Martin Luther said. And also we could go past this time in the Reformation, the Puritan times, there were times where they went through plagues that interfered with their regular weekly patterns. Also, there were a number of Puritan ministers who were ejected from and were not allowed to preach in their church buildings. And in those times, they had to find creative ways, and one of those ways was finding ways where they could still preach and meet outdoors. And really, as you look back on the early church in Rome, in the catacombs and different things, they had to come up with creative ways where they could still gather in smaller numbers and outdoors and different things. Those are some of the things Oh, we would be praying, praying about thinking about in these days ahead. Um, but here's what Charles Spurgeon in the 1800s when there was a cholera epidemic, this is what he wrote. I think it's important for us to again, have this historical perspective as we think about what, um, authorities, I'm not the authority on, on pandemics and disease. You can hear different authorities saying different things, but here's what, Here's what he said in the 1800s. It seems to me that this disease, this is the cholera outbreak, is to a great extent in our own hands and that if all men would take scrupulous care as to cleanliness and if overcrowding were effectually prevented and other sanitary improvements could be carried out, the disease most probably would be in a very mitigated form. He says, I am thankful that there are many men of intelligence and scientific information who can speak well upon this point. And I hope they will never cease to speak until all men learn that the laws of cleanliness and health are as binding upon us as those of morality. So far from a Christian man being angry with those who instruct the people in useful secular knowledge, he ought rather to be thankful for them and hope that their teaching may be powerful with the masses. The gospel has no quarrel with ventilation, he said. And much as we advocate holiness, we always have a good word for cleanliness and sobriety. We would promote with all our hearts that which may honor God, but we cannot neglect that which may bless our neighbors whom we desire to love even as ourselves. And the last thing I want to share just for this first part is, as many of you know, this is what we're going through, not unprecedented in our nation. Just a hundred years ago, this was before any of us were alive, but in 1918, The Spanish flu closed churches for a number of weeks across the nation in San Francisco and different areas from D.C., really from West Coast to East Coast. And there's a Nine Marks article that I'm posting on this study guide that I encourage you to take a look at. And it traces the history of how churches abided by the government call to cancel indoor gatherings. They all met and and unanimously agreed that for a time they were going to abide by these things. And it's interesting, one of the things that they also began to do was apply for permits to begin to meet outdoors. And here's what one of the, part of the article says, as death numbers began to decline, churches started to argue for a lifting of the ban. On October 25, an opinion piece on the Friday edition of the Star argued that churches should be transferred from the prohibited to the regulated class of gatherings, such as war workers in factories. The very next day, October 26, another article reports that strong pleas were made to the health officer and surgeon general by the Pastors Federation in DC. The same group that had voted weeks earlier to abide by the city's restrictions on church gatherings now were seeking, in this case, unsuccessfully, to obtain permission to gather. It would go, again, into the start of the next month. In a letter to the editor in that evening's edition of their paper, one reverend protested the continued ban. There were letters and appeals from pastors to the commissioners to lift the ban that continued as the deaths and the new cases continued to decline. I give you the sources in there. And one of the things they argued is that the life of the church is a necessity. And thinking of other classes of what the community does, what the church does to us is essential and necessary to the life and perpetuity of any nation. And we would argue that as well. And then finally, there was a release of the ban so that the next month churches were able to resume. And one of the reverends who preached a sermon that was published and distributed, and I've actually read this sermon, I'm going to give you a link to it also, some reflections growing out of the recent epidemic that afflicted our city. And he acknowledges in the sermon there was, quote, considerable grumbling on the part of many about the closing of churches. But these were his words. The fact that the churches were places of religious gathering and the others not that were closed would not affect him in the least the health question involved. If avoiding crowds lessens the danger of being infected, it was wise to take the precaution and not needlessly run in danger and expect God to protect us. Close quote. And at the same time as they abided by that, they also were respectfully appealing to their government and those appeals were successful over And so what the Nine Marks article mentions is, in conclusion, the influenza of 1918 provides an example of how churches in Washington, D.C. responded to a public health crisis and government orders to close churches. During one of the worst epidemics to ever hit our country, churches respected the directives of the government for a limited time out of neighborly love and in order to protect public health. Even when churches began to disagree with the commissioner's perspective, they continued to abide by their orders. This demonstrates a place for freedom of speech and advocacy while respecting and submitting, and I would add, with appeal to governing authorities. And I want you to know that we very much are concerned about the things you're concerned about, we're praying about and wanting to follow God's law, God's principles in the way we go about this. We need to abide by those scriptures that I read at the beginning. We have also been involved listening to resources and gathering resources from Pacific Justice Institute. This is a group that is working towards reopening churches safely and legally, defending Christian freedoms. They've had a number of Q&As and calls gathering resources and we have to our own County here I've submitted a letter to our leaders here I'm working on on a letter that I'm gonna send to our governor asking for clarity in terms of gatherings before they're able to open larger gatherings what we might be able to do in home gatherings or smaller gatherings or or outdoor gatherings I think we really need clarity on those things and I understand hundreds and thousands of of people. We understand their concerns, but we're wanting to get some clarity in these times. We also participated in, there was a call last week from our own county officials submitting a letter to our governor asking if our county can begin to release some of these restrictions sooner than others. They've asked for a reply by this Friday. This Thursday is a national day of prayer. And so what I would encourage you guys to do is the energy and the whatever level of discouragement you have to let's channel in a biblical and productive way. Let's pour our hearts out to the Lord and let's pray that this week there might be some encouragements for us. We know this is going to be a path. This isn't going to be a quick turnaround, but we want to pray that the Lord would be Gracious to us as a church. I'm particularly for myself praying that that we can get some clarity on at least how to begin Smaller gatherings before we can do larger gatherings. We understand biblically Scripture calls us to the to the one another's and so that's part of what I'm Praying for it and just encourage you to pray with me, but let's be thankful. Let's be prayerful. Let's be hopeful and And again, I want to encourage you, we have a faithful God, we have a merciful God, and He has been using these times, from Old Testament times, New Testament times, through the centuries, He's been using times like this to grow His church, and that cannot be stopped. And so let's keep praying, and let's keep loving one another. Amen.