The Plan for Sunday, March 22

Dear EBC Flock,

What about Sunday?

First, remember this. Whatever we do, it cannot replace or duplicate the special, covenanted gathering of the church. What we are faced with now is a peculiar providence, a unique situation. We want to reflect well and deeply on this unique providence and embrace the isolation—at least a little—before we try to solve everything. In some measure, God means for us to slow down and reflect—even in some sense—apart from one-another. This is His doing. Don’t waste the time apart.  

Second, remember this is an extraordinary time. We are in an “ox-in-the ditch” kind of moment (Luke 14:5), or a Mark 2:23–28 kind of moment, in which the norm gives way to something else, due to the dire situation. Think of David eating the shewbread or picking grain on the Sabbath. Thus, even though we cannot meet as the church and nothing we do can replace that, what can we do to stay connected as the church during such times? 

Maybe we can think of a wartime analogy. Think of how England and her deployed troops stayed connected through Winston Churchill’s updates and brief broadcasts on BBC radio during World War II. Think of a deployed soldier sending an update or even finding a place for a live video call. They won’t replace the face-to-face meetings, but they can help us stay connected and make us long for the time when we will meet again.

(Actual image of Brad preparing for Sunday; David is working on administration in the background)

What We Will Do This Sunday … and Sundays to Come

We may provide a few different things each Sunday, depending on some logistics and how long the Lord’s providence extends our time apart. (I already can’t wait to see you all again.)

This Sunday (March 22) we will provide two things to help us honor the Lord’s Day and try to stay connected from our “bunkers.”

First, we will provide an order of worship as we always do. Gather together around 10:30 am (as you are able and allowed) to read and sing through the order of worship.

Second, we will provide a message that I pre-record this week (hopefully about twenty-minutes) from Psalm 42. Mirroring our current context, the songwriter of Psalm 42 reflects on the painful providence of being isolated from the gathering of God’s people. (Note: Other congregations may handle things differently. That’s great. Let’s show each other charity and grace while we all try to apply care to our own contexts.)  

How Can I Access the Order of Worship and Talk?

Both the talk and the order of worship will be posted on our church blog Sunday morning. (We hope to regularly post encouragement on our EBC blog, so consider regularly checking in with the blog). 

You can navigate to www.ebcupstate.com and click on “blog,” or follow the links above and below. 

Most of all, pull up the blog on Sunday morning around 10:30 am. 

Fear not ... the hairs of your head are all numbered,

—Pastor Brad