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“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Romans 3:23

Ever since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3) every human being has come into this world as a sinful being.  Our sin separates us from God.  Left to ourselves we would perish for eternity in hell (John 3:36 & Hebrews 10:26-27).

“For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16

God loves you so much that He came into this world as a human being (Luke 2:1-20).   Jesus, the Son of God, lived a perfect life for you (Hebrews 4:14-16), suffered and died upon a cross for you (John 19), and rose from the dead for you (Luke 24).   Now our risen Lord will forgive your sin (1 John 1:8-9) and grant eternal salvation to you if you believe in Him.  

“Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved…”  Acts 16:31

When God blesses you with a living faith in Jesus you will have a place in heaven.  Such salvation comes not by our works but by grace through faith in Jesus (Romans 3:28; Ephesians 2:8-10).  

“And He died for all, that those who live, should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.”  2 Corinthians 5:15

Now as those who have been given the gift of heaven we live no longer just for ourselves but to serve God and our fellow human beings.  (Ephesians 2:10)

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It has been a long time since Christian congregations in our country were asked to refrain from meeting together due to the current pandemic.   We now rejoice that we will be beginning to open up our in-person services in limited ways.   Our sound Biblical theology and teaching will remain the same but many practices will be changed in order to provide for everyone’s safety and comply with guidelines from the state and the CDC. Many safety measures are being put in place and a Covid-19 Preparedness Plan has been established and emailed to members. We ask that all volunteers would read and become familiar with the Covid-19 Preparedness Plan.  

 Our Worship Schedule will be as follows:  

We will resume our regular schedule of Saturday services at 4:00 pm and Sunday Services at 9:00 am.  We believe that with the current guidelines of being able to have groups up to 50% of occupancy, as well as the Summer season and concerns people have, that there is no need to pre-register. The elders will be monitoring attendance numbers. If you are concerned about numbers consider coming on Saturday as that has traditionally been a smaller group.

Prior to attending public services:

Please screen yourself to see if you may be becoming ill with Covid-19.   The screening questions provided by the Minnesota Department of health are as follows:       Do you have:  A Fever (100.4 degrees F or higher), or are you feeling feverish? Chills?  A new cough? Shortness of breath? A new sore throat? New muscle aches? New headache? New loss of smell or taste?

If you have answered yes to any of the above or have been exposed to a known case of Covid-19 in the past 2 weeks please stay at home and worship with us online using our You Tube videos.   The link is as follows: YouTube channel Also, please keep in mind that other less common symptoms of Covid-19 include nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.

Things to be aware of as you attend worship:

1.       Please pay careful attention to where you sit so that you are at least 6 feet in each direction from another person or family. Of course, households may sit together. Also, please be careful about social distancing before and after service as you may visit with one another and as you enter or exit the building. 

Everyone is encouraged to wear a mask, but it is not required. Please bring your own, but if you do forget or do not have one there will be some on the welcome center.  You can ask an elder or myself and we can provide one for you (as long as supplies last). Wearing a face mask is a way we can love our neighbor by helping prevent them from being exposed to anything we may be carrying, even though we are unaware of it. I intend on wearing a mask before and after services while visiting and when serving communion.   I will not be preaching or conducting the rest of the service in a mask.

 3.       If communion is being served there will be changes in our practice (The theology will remain the same). For example, we will not be kneeling at the communion rail but will come forward in small groups. Please maintain 6 feet from anyone not in your household. We also have prepacked cups which include the wafer. Be assured that the distribution practice of communion is changed so that contact with you is either very limited or non-existent. Further details will be given in the service.

4.       At this time, we will refrain from the following: having the children come forward for a children’s message, wiggling worship, congregational singing, and our coffee time following the service. We will also refrain from shaking hands or hugging.

5.       Please also note that the offering plate will not be passed but there is a plate in each isle on a podium in which you may place your offering as you arrive or leave from the service. You may also send your offering in the mail or use our giving page on the website and give electronically.

6.       Be further assured that we have established enhanced cleaning and disinfecting procedures to take place in between each worship service.

Other things to consider:

1.       Please also note that if you are at a high-risk category or are uncomfortable attending services at this time, you are welcome to remain at home and worship with us online.  For now, we will continue with our online worship. Just check out our You Tube channel at the following link: YouTube channel

2.       We also encourage each person to respect the Christian liberty of others: Please refrain from forming opinions about others in terms of whether or not they attend in-person services at this time or whether or not they wear a face mask. As always this is a time to love, respect, and understand one another. The precautions that we are taking have been provided as best practices at this time.

3.       If you have any questions or further needs please feel free to reach out and contact me.

In the Lord’s Prayer we ask our Heavenly Father to “deliver us from evil.”  Sometimes God delivers us not by removing the affliction right away, but rather by giving us the grace and strength to face it (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). To put it another way, in this fallen world there is no safe place or safe practice that guarantees we will be free from exposure to viruses, sickness, or death, even if we take all the precautions we can.  

Our confidence is not in the safety of our man-made plans and practices. Our trust is in our God who is bold enough to make promises like these to us in Holy Scripture: “Through He (the Lord) brings grief, He will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love” (Lamentations 3:32), and “There is no God besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver from my hand” (Deuteronomy 32:39), and “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

 We praise God that we again have the opportunity to meet in public worship, receive the blessing and forgiveness of God, encourage one another with the Gospel of Christ, and receive His body and blood to support our faith and grant it divine strength. “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’” (Psalm 122:1). 

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Schoenfeld

 

We Have  Saturday Worship at 4:00 PM

When life gets busy and you are unable  to make it to our regular Sunday worship service, join us Saturday at 4:00 PM.

This service will be more informal than Sunday morning while including the essential aspects of Christian worship.  Everyone is welcome to attend.