Regathering
Church Family,
I could not be more excited to see you all again face to face this coming Sunday, June 14. Below is a list of the changes we will have in place for June. Also, check out Facebook for a video to walk you through the various things that will be different when you arrive on Sunday. If you feel more comfortable for a couple of weeks to view the gathering by Livestream, there are a couple of options for you. You can either view it from Facebook or our website. All you have to do is click the links in the previous sentence for your preferred format.
Let’s start by stating the obvious; it will be weird, awkward, and make us feel uncomfortable! Though true, we as the body of Christ can sacrifice our opinions and do what is best for the whole. Here are the changes we will hold in place for June:
- We will have the doors open to limit the touching of any door handles.
- Seats in the foyer have been removed to encourage us all to head into the auditorium.
- Seats in the auditorium will be taped off to help create enough space between us.
- Once you get seated, feel free to chat with those close to you or even across the auditorium.
- Remember to keep a safe distance and respect other people’s space.
- Let’s hold off on handshakes and hugs for a while and work hard to keep our family unit together.
- Bathrooms will be open if needed.
- You will notice tape just past the bathroom doors to limit the number of places we travel in the building.
- We will collect the offering by having the plates available outside the double doors of the auditorium.
- On that table will be hand sanitizer as well and masks.
- Speaking of masks, many of you indicated on the survey that you will be wearing a mask, so don’t hesitate to do that because many others will be wearing them.
- There will be no refreshments in the foyer to avoid cross-contamination and to help us all move into the auditorium once we get here.
- The gathering time will be kept under an hour to help limit exposure.
- There will be no 9 am Sunday Studies for June.
- There will be no Desert Kids for June to help keep workers and our kiddos safe.
- We will only have our 10 am gathering for now.
- For those who fall into the most vulnerable categories and don’t feel comfortable gathering, we completely understand and will continue to Livestream, which can be view on Facebook or our website.
- All of these things will be reevaluated for July.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
Sunday (6/7/2020)
Church Family,
Thank you so much for your love, support, and prayers for my mom. If you have not heard we are in Tennessee because last Sunday, she had a severe stroke. Many of you have encouraged us deeply with your text, emails, and phone calls. We have experienced God’s kindness beyond what we deserve, and this has created tremendous gratefulness in us. I can’t tell you the many ways God’s sovereign care has and is evident in this emotional event.
I also wanted to thank you for your patience and understanding regarding the move we had to make in regathering. The decision was difficult, but the wisdom I received from several was helpful to ease the burden of us all. With that said, the plan for this Sunday is to be on Facebook at 10 am to gather, Lord willing, one last time online. See you all then!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
Change of Plans
Church Family,
I write with a heavy and hopeful heart. Heavy because Lauren, the kiddos, and I had to quickly make a trip to Tennesse due to my mom having a severe stroke. Heavy because our time in Tennesse will take us away for this coming Sunday, which will delay our regathering until June 14th. I often don’t know how to process and make sense of certain events in life, but what I do find is a hopeful comfort as I look to our sovereign God, who is our refuge. The last 12 hours have been emotionally draining but full of hope as I consider Proverbs 16:9, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” There is hope when plans you have made, considered and prayed over get suddenly changed. The hope is not found in the circumstance, but a God who establishes our steps. I trust the Lord will take this sudden change of plans and establish in me, us, a deep sense of peace in His sovereign care over us. Thank you for your patience and prayers. If you should need anything, please reach out to our Leadership Team.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
Trust or Bust!
Church Family,
This past Sunday, we were reminded that following God requires tremendous trust on our part. Whatever the decision, issue, circumstance, or tragedy trust in the Lord when we don’t fully understand is best. This certainly is not easy, but Proverbs reminded us that when we keep God’s commands close to us and follow his teachings, in general, peace will follow. In the Sea of uncertainty, it is God’s truth that anchors us.
Sunday Gathering
We announced this past Sunday that we plan to gather again on June 7th. We could not be more excited and long to see one another again, face-to-face. We will give very detailed instructions next Sunday about the precautions we will put in place. In the meantime, be in prayer as we prepare and head over to our Facebook page on Wednesday at 6 pm to watch an announcement video about gathering again.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
Beyond The Sermon Podcast
Church Family,
I am happy to announce the first episode of our first-ever podcast titled Beyond The Sermon. One of our deep convictions around here is to let God’s preached Word, reverberate, to echo, to work its way into our daily lives beyond Sunday morning. This podcast is an effort to do just that. It will be geared around taking what God does on Sunday, as we come under His word, and move it into our daily lives. Now, of course, the sermon should already make strong applications through the clear implications of the text, but Beyond The Sermon will seek to further your thinking from Sunday’s text. Be prepared; I just might ask some of you to be a part of it!
You can subscribe to this podcast through iTunes or Spotify. You can simply click the links in the previous sentence, or search for “Light in the Desert Church Sermons and Podcast” on those apps, then click subscribe. Or, if you prefer not to use those apps, you can click here and then click on the graphic to listen to any episode from our website.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
Valuable Wisdom
Church Family,
What another great Sunday it was gleaning insight from Proverbs. The loving instructions the father gives to his son in Proverbs reminds us, as God’s children, how He has and continues to instruct us with love. Often those instructions come through conditional statements: if this, then this. These are extremely valuable in moving us towards wisdom and greater maturity. As we said on Sunday, once we become believers, we do not instantly become wise, so seek and search for it in God himself because he willingly gives it, and it’s worth it.
Returning to Sunday Gathering
Thank you all for your continued prayers for wisdom as we plan when and how we will return to Sunday Gathering. We will be announcing this coming Sunday the tentative date we plan to return to gathering face to face. As we have been doing each Sunday, be at our Facebook page at 10 am to hear a few details. We will be giving many more details in the coming weeks as we get closer to returning to our Sunday Gathering.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
Two Paths
Church Family,
This past Sunday, we explored the two paths Proverbs puts before us. It uniquely does this by personifying the choices; Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly. Lady Wisdom’s speech consumes a large number of verses, while Lady Folly’s speech is short, indicating just how much more Lady Wisdom has to offer. Proverbs will call us consistently to choose because that is what wisdom does; it makes decisions. We cannot fill our heads with insight, knowledge, and understanding and not use them in our daily living. Proverbs seek to help us gain a better skill at life, which requires action. Two paths will continually emerge before us, and sorry, we cannot take both, so let us stand and ponder each paths’ outcome.
Sunday Gathering
The Leadership Team and I are diligently and prayerfully discussing a reopening strategy that will serve us all well and, most importantly, honor the Lord. As we consider everything, would you help us by filling out the anonymous questionnaire below? It should only take a few minutes of your time and will be extremely helpful to us. This questionnaire is designed to gain insight to help us better make wise decisions. None of the suggestions below are guarantees, but a starting point in gauging comfort levels. Thanks in advance!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
Vain Is The Net
Church Family,
I do hope you all are well. We are hopeful that we will be able to gather again soon. The Leadership Team and I are considering everything to make decisions that will best serve us all and ultimately honor the Lord. We are, like Proverbs, beginning with what it calls “Fear of the Lord,” which calls for greater trust in Him, surrender to His ways, and humility of understanding our need of Him. We will keep you posted.
This past Sunday, we looked at Proverbs 1:8-19. Within that section of scripture, we explored verse 17, For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird. The meaning is rather straight forward if a net is spread out in plain view of the bird, well any sensible bird will see it and avoid the trap. Easy to understand, but often not practiced. The sinners of Proverbs 1:8-19, did not avoid the net, though it was plain to see that their actions, desires, and motives were outside of God’s instructions and wisdom. The son in this text had the advantage of a father giving instructions, and a mother giving him teaching—which in the end is God’s instruction and teaching. They are giving their child God’s words, God’s wisdom, and it will make him/us wise to the nets that so easily entrap us. Take time this week and read some Proverbs to gain insight into the ways of sin and your heart tendencies towards easily being enticed.
This Week:
- Disciple-Makers: We have two more weeks of Disciple-Makers. This Wednesday at 6:30 pm, we will discuss scripture and let God’s word encourage, convict, and mature us (link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/501936397).
- Sunday Gathering: At this point, you are very familiar with how Sunday works, so just let this be a reminder to be on Facebook at 10 am to participate in our virtual gathering. You can also view it from our webpage here.
- Needs: Please don’t hesitate to let us know about any needs that arise as a result of these uncertain times. God, in His sovereignty, has put us in a position to be able to help. If you experience a significant drop in income, you don’t have to bear that burden alone. Or, if you have a neighbor you’ve been reaching out to that you think we could help with, let us know.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
Wisdom
Church Family,
I do hope you all are well. This past Sunday, we began our series in the book of Proverbs. We discovered the impressive work Proverbs could do in our lives. It can make us wise, give instructions on life, direct our interactions with each other, and continue to mature us. All these glorious things–knowledge, wisdom, instructions, justice, fairness, wise dealings, continued development–hinge on one thing; fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7, 9:10). Fear of the Lord requires us to remove ourselves from the center of life. It is an acknowledgment that He, the Lord, knows best. It is surrendering to Him as the higher authority. Come to find out; wisdom is a heart issue more than just filling our heads with knowledge. I look forward to the coming weeks and anticipate the Lord revealing our hearts along the way to bring us towards greater maturity.
This Week:
- Disciple-Makers: We will continue looking at scripture and working together to unpack its truths for our life (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/501936397).
- Prayer Gathering: This Friday, we will have a prayer gathering using Zoom at 6:30 pm. This will be a guided prayer time so come prepared to hear how the Lord is directing our attention and to saturate those concerns and praises with prayer (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83004580171).
- Sunday Gathering: By this time, we all have down our Sunday rhythm, but as a reminder, go to Facebook at 10 am to watch our Livestream. You don’t have to use Facebook. You can view it from our website here. I would encourage everyone who can to use Facebook. That is the best place for interaction within the comment section.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
Friendly Reminder
Church Family,
This is just a friendly reminder of our Sunday Virtual Gathering tomorrow at 10 am. There are several ways to participate:
- Facebook – this is the simplest and probably the best way. All you have to do is go to our Facebook page at 10 am and watch the live video.
- Website – if you don’t have a Facebook account, you can view the Livestream from our webpage. Click here.
- Zoom – we will be using Zoom this week again to add a few other people to the Livestream. If you want, you can use this link (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/93829106917) and view the Livestream that way.
- Read – lastly, grab your bible this evening and read Proverbs 1:1-7 to prepare your heart for tomorrow.
See you all tomorrow!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan