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Easter / Resurrection Service


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With all the CDC guidelines and government restrictions this year due to Covid-19, what is your church planning to do for their Easter Service?

Pastors, what outsize of the box ideas are you thinking about doing?

 

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I do not pastor a church, but I would sincerely hope that most, if not all, IFB churches, would continue on with business as usual. Hebrews 10:25 (KJV) Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Acts 5:29 (KJV) Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

The governments, both Federal and local are themselves breaking the supreme law of the land, The Constitution of The United States of America, which states:

Constitution of United States of America 1789 (rev. 1992)

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

 

I remind the reader, as well as government of the response of Daniel, when the King made a law stating that no one would be allowed to pray to their God:

Daniel 6:10 (KJV) Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

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I don't think they should be forcing churches not to meet, but I also believe that ew ought to be considering our areas and what the possible dangers might be. The rain falls on the just and the unjust, and so does illness.  We are small and meet in a small place: if we met in a place large enough that we could be separate, physically, spread out, as it were, then we would meet as normal.

We also need to consider the lost of our communities, to whom we are called: If they see us as being reckless and acting in a way that might cause a greater spread of sickness in our community, (not understanding that we act in faith, because they cannot understand that), this could greatly hurt our ability to reach them once this is all over. 

We are in a time of great technological capabilities, that we CAN gather, virtually, for a time, if need be, if the church would take it as seriously as they do the regular assembly. Get up at your normal time, put on CLOTHES, preferably church clothes, have your Bible, look up verses, pay attention, sing along with the songs you know, BE there, in spirit.

This last week, and for the time being, I am preaching via Live stream on Facebook, from a camper at my farm, which I have set up for the purpose. Sunday I stood, (I usually sit as it is a small trailer), and showed that I was wearing my full suit, not a shirt, jacket, and sweat pants. And my wife wore a nice church dress and did the music there with me, rather than watching me from home. And interestingly, I am having people listen to my services that do not come to our church-I have twice the attendance virtually, than I do physically! Sunday night I preached a pure gospel/salvation message since I am getting people who I believe are not saved watching. 

But yes, I pray this will be temporary, but I will use it to God's glory while we can.

As for Resurrection Day, I may resort to our usual building and do a presentation of Christ In the Passover.  I need more room than I have at the camper.

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Congress has actually made no law... (and states are subjec to their individual constitutions first and foremost anyway). The shutdowns have all been of local origin, falling under the purview of individual state constitutions, and then under state codified law. As our (WA state) law code states, the people (and I say that because they elected the legislators who passed the law code, and they must be the ones to change it by demanding of their elected servants to do so) have given the governor emergency powers to do exactly what he has done. He is in his legal authority to TEMPORARILY shut things down...for 30 days. Easter is nestled within his legal 30 days. He has extended the shut down by 12 days beyond his legal abilities, and I have seen no evidence of the legislature having met and given him permission to do so. Still, Easter, as I said, is within the window of his people-given authority.

I realize that some will say, well, it's not the people, it's God...but God ordained government, and in the US, that means the LAW. He is not permanently shutting down churches, nor is he targeting churches alone. If he were, it would be a different story. As it is, my husband - after prayer and much thought - will keep our services suspended even on Easter.

We are going to attempt a livestream video of the morning message. We videotaped his message last week, and it seemed to go over well.  I am going to attempt a livestream Sunday School lesson for my 2 girls.

Please don't get me wrong - I do believe this is an overstep by governing bodies all over this country. I believe that they have overblown this virus situation, and are using it to flex their muscles. But I also think that maybe, just maybe - as in the days of the Diaspora - God will use this, if we let Him, to stretch our abilities and our outreach efforts.

Oh, and we're going to have a day-long celebration at church when this is all over...

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4 hours ago, HappyChristian said:

Congress has actually made no law... (and states are subjec to their individual constitutions first and foremost anyway). The shutdowns have all been of local origin, falling under the purview of individual state constitutions, and then under state codified law.

"The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution of the United States (Article VI, Clause 2), establishes that the Constitution, federal laws made pursuant to it, and treaties made under its authority, constitute the "supreme Law of the Land", and thus take priority over any conflicting state laws."

"The "supremacy clause" is the most important guarantor of national union. It assures that the Constitution and federal laws and treaties take precedence over state law and binds all judges to adhere to that principle in their courts"

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2 hours ago, Jim_Alaska said:

"The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution of the United States (Article VI, Clause 2), establishes that the Constitution, federal laws made pursuant to it, and treaties made under its authority, constitute the "supreme Law of the Land", and thus take priority over any conflicting state laws."

"The "supremacy clause" is the most important guarantor of national union. It assures that the Constitution and federal laws and treaties take precedence over state law and binds all judges to adhere to that principle in their courts"

Under this second sentence, the 10th amendment is null and void. I'm sorry, I'll stand with Thomas Jefferson on this subject. 

 

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We'll have a Facebook service...the best use of Facebook ever! Unfortunately we have to pre-record the message, our internet service at the church is extremely poor. We thought about having the service from a deacon's house but then the Pastor is away from his family. 

 

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FWIW, I ended up doing our Christ in the Passover presentation from my little preaching camper, and it actually worked out very well. Many watched, and many said they were blessed by it. I wasn't used to doing it in such tight quarters, but it turned out very good, I thought, all things considered. I would share it here, but I do Facebook streaming, so I can't save it to share in other places. If interested it can be seen on my church Facebook page, here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/414776588896397

edit: There is a lot of movement in the video, mostly because I'm a big guy in a little trailer, and having my camera on the other side meant I had to move back and forth. 

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Ukulelemike,

I tried to watch your sermon in the camper on Facebook; but, as I do not have a Facebook account I could not log in.

In any case, I am sure it was a good message and am sure that folks were blessed by it.

Alan

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On 4/16/2020 at 12:18 PM, Alan said:

Ukulelemike,

I tried to watch your sermon in the camper on Facebook; but, as I do not have a Facebook account I could not log in.

In any case, I am sure it was a good message and am sure that folks were blessed by it.

Alan

Well...get an account! Lol! Seriously though, EVERYONE is preaching online on Facebook now, and we get to watch so many sermons from preachers around the world on Facebook right now-this time might actually turn out to be a blessing if Christians would pay attention and attend to the preaching. Yesterday I watched my old church, Lighthouse Baptist in San Diego, though I was disappointed that they are now using adapted CCM music in their services, something I could tell right away when I heard the song, though I had never heard it before. But the preaching is still solid.

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On 4/21/2020 at 10:08 AM, PastorMatt said:

Is that Pastor Fishers church?

Affirmative. I was a member while in the Navy from 90-93, went back in 96 for a semester of Institute, but couldn't afford to stay. Have gone back a few times for their conferences.

 

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18 hours ago, Ukulelemike said:

Affirmative. I was a member while in the Navy from 90-93, went back in 96 for a semester of Institute, but couldn't afford to stay. Have gone back a few times for their conferences.

 

Cool. He really helped me out a couple of years ago at a Pastors Conference in NJ. I was really down and discouraged over a church split, God used him in my life.

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3 hours ago, PastorMatt said:

Cool. He really helped me out a couple of years ago at a Pastors Conference in NJ. I was really down and discouraged over a church split, God used him in my life.

He started as pastor there after a big, messy issue left from his former pastor, as I recall, so yes, he is very sensitive with such things. I believe he was advised by many pastors to close that church and start something new, but he chose to trust God and keep moving, and well, we see how that has worked out: very well! He's a good preacher, with a great heart. 

I will admit though, that their musical choices are beginning to get a bit questionable, slowly sliding to using re-purposed CCM. I pray they bring it to a halt before it affects the church.

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