Weekly e-news April 3, 2020

Hey, everyone!

I sooooo hope and pray each of you is well, healthy and hopeful today!

(As Andy Dufresne said, “Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things…”)

Someone asked me, “What did Christians do when things like this happened in ages past?”

Not this!

Offer a hug? No way! 6 feet!

Go to the hospital and volunteer? You can’t get in!

Preach to the crowds desperate for the Words of Life? You can’t (and shouldn’t!) find one to preach to!

This is like no other time! You can’t put an arm around a shoulder… You can’t take someone by the hand to comfort them… You can’t hug someone while they cry… Because all of those things might be making things worse and not better! It’s NEVER been this way!

“So what can I do?”

I always live by the rule: ”When you don’t know what to do, do what you KNOW to do!”

And I KNOW you can pray!! What if so many of us determined that we were going to join an army of the people of God around the world and REALLY ask our Dad in Heaven to intervene in a million different ways??

Paul tells us in Colossians 4 that this is hard work! It’s like wrestling! Struggling! What if you decided you were going to walk everyday and during that time, you would pray! For peace for the troubled… For all the health workers you know who are really “out there”… For places that are straining and overwhelmed… For hearts everywhere to turn to Him… For opportunities to share the Message of His love… For hearts (including our own!) to be more open and sensitive than ever before to what God is doing in us… For our missionaries who are locked down, closed in, shut down around the world in ways they never dreamed… For creative thoughts of how we can help, care and love in new ways… For Italy and the decreasing in numbers and hope of going outside again… For mercy and miracles and hope for better days… For… For… For…

In the Book of Revelation, there is a place where angels take the prayers of the saints and collect them into a golden ball with incense, together with coals from the fire of the altar of God in Heaven and with a lot of smoke, hurled them to the earth! (Revelation 8) Wow!! Your prayers having a meteoric impact of the world!! BOOOM!!

I remember when Bill Bright was dying. Bill was the founder of Cru (formerly Campus Crusade For Christ) with it’s 26,000 staff members and 225000 volunteers, reaching people for Jesus in 191 countries(!)… and the author of a booklet that explains how to accept Jesus (“The Four Spiritual Laws”) with it’s 2.5 billion copies, translated into 200 languages(!!)… and the genius behind the “Jesus” movie from the Gospel of Luke, seen by 5.1 BILLION people in 225 languages(!!!)… He suffered from pulmonary fibrosis and in his last days… on oxygen 24 hours a day… he wrote to his staff and friends around the world… “…I am reminded of Psalm 150:6, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord" (NIV). As long as I am here, as long as I have breath, I will praise and serve the Lord! …As long as you have breath… He has something for you to do! There are many possibilities. Perhaps you can be a prayer intercessor. There is not a more important job in the body of Christ than that of an intercessor. You can be a prayer intercessor while confined to a bed or a wheelchair. You pray literally anywhere. If you do not have the strength to pray aloud, you can whisper. If you cannot whisper, you can move your lips. If you cannot move your lips, then pray silently, in your mind. God knows and reads your heart. Your humble prayers can actually help change your world! Are you still breathing? Then be encouraged, and get busy! Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns, Bill Bright”

Wow.

Here are a few announcements for you… Can you sew? UT hospital is in very serious need for masks for doctors and nurses!! The pattern they suggest is found at: madeeveryday.com —DOWNLOAD THE FACE MASK PATTERN, WITH FILTER POCKET, HERE— Print it, share it with friends, pass it around. I think these links will take you there! Let us know if you can help, so we can know better where the needs are!!

From Lee… Hey folks, our hope is to continue providing a way for you us all to worship Jesus together (at home) during this difficult season. So, we are thoughtfully and safely creating videos for you to queue up on Sunday morning with your family, as well as other songs and encouraging thoughts throughout the week. You can find every bit of that right here: youtube.com/christcommunitychurchoakridge Subscribe to the channel so you don't miss a thing!  “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit!” Romans 15:13