West Side Baptist Church

Dear Church,

My father has chosen, I believe wisely, to cancel our congregating for another week. We have not cancelled church, for the church is a people that the gates of hell cannot cancel, much less a virus that our God has providentially allowed for our good. Remember that the judgments of God are always kindness for mankind, calling his children to shuffle off all that is not eternal, and unbelievers to search for a sure and steady anchor, of which there is only Christ! Continue to pray during this time that Christ and his kingdom would come closer to the hearts of men, and be more fully realized in our nation during this time of seeming turmoil and confusion. Be assured of this – God is not confused, nor is he out of control – he is in perfect and complete control, reconciling men to himself and bringing about the culmination of all things to the praise and glory of Jesus. The success of our nation is what we desire, but we only desire that the success come in a way that exalts the supremacy of Christ. We do not strive for material wealth, bodily comfort, or perfect health, we strive to present God as beautiful as he truly is in the community he has called us to serve within.

I want to take this opportunity to remind you of our confession, and help you realize both why we have affirmed it, and how we can move forward in doing what is pleasing to the Lord scripturally. Last Sunday I was convicted that we as a church have affirmed the importance of the Sabbath, but there may be cases in which some families have not upheld the spirit of the Sabbath command in their homes during this time of “neighbor-loving distancing.” This is not an accusation of sin(that’s the devil’s job), this is a loving encouragement for your well-being and joy, and I pray you receive it as such.

The London Baptist Confession states:

--As it is the law of nature, that in general a proportion of time, by God's appointment, be set apart for the worship of God, so by his Word, in a positive moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a sabbath to be kept holy unto him, which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's day: and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished.

(Exodus 20:8; 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2; Acts 20:7; Revelation 1:10)

--The sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all day, from their own works, words and thoughts, about their worldly employment and recreations, but are also taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.

(Isaiah 58:13; Nehemiah 13:15-22; Matthew 12:1-13)

So the question is, “How do we keep this good, affirmed, scriptural, satisfying, and freeing rule during this pandemic? I believe the answer is found very simply in family worship. Since the beginning of the church, fathers have been called to be the spiritual leaders in their households, and therefore the leaders of worship. In our broken world we realize that the grace of God has chosen spiritually mighty mothers for the role when the husband is absent, making his grace more than sufficient to meet their need. Mothers, if the father is absent and your sons are old enough, you may want to ask them to lead. Throughout history and up until today our brothers and sisters around the world have been forced to meet in their homes for fear of persecution or death. What we are experiencing in 2020 is no different. In China just this week, churches are not being allowed to meet unless they make public affirmation of Chairman Xi’s leadership, so many are choosing to forgo congregating in their usual buildings, and meeting in homes. This is wise in my estimation.

The bottom line is that while we will not congregate in our building this week, we urge you to hold fast to those things that please the Lord. Take intentional time on Sunday morning to worship in your home. My kids like to sleep in, so we worship a little earlier or later depending on when everyone gets up. We sing familiar hymns out of our Hymns of Grace books – it does not sound pretty, but what we are aiming for is the exaltation of God, not pretty music. We pray, sing, pray, and read a few portions of scripture aloud. Since I am a preacher I do almost always end up giving at least a short sermon, but what we need to focus on across the board is offering to the Lord the worship he rightly deserves though we are spread out a bit. We urge you to do this whether you are alone or with family. The most important issue is the heart. Some of you men may feel uncomfortable leading this in your home, but please, resist the voice of the accuser and trust that it can only be good for you and your family. Not one man alive is morally pure enough for this task, that is why God only works through imperfect men. This is in no way a schedule you must follow, but as an example, in my house we will worship the Lord as follow this Sunday:

Pray Cody

Sing Christ Our Sure and Steady Anchor p. 406

Read Psalm 139 aloud - Hollan

Sing The Secret Place p. 51

Read Psalm 46 aloud - Jill

Sing Be Still My Soul p. 60

Read Philippians 2 & 3 aloud - Cody

Pray All of us in turn.

Benediction Cody pronounces a blessing over family from Psalm 13:

May the Lord deal bountifully with you

All the days of your life,

And may you always trust in the loving-kindness

Of the Lord.

In days of sorrow and darkness,

May you rejoice in the Lord’s salvation

And sing to him forever and ever. Amen.

We pray that worship will resound from your home this Sunday morning! Please pray for one another and find your rest in Jesus while the tempest rages on.

I love you church, and look forward to meeting together again soon,

Cody

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