Sheryl and I drove by a little church just a couple of miles away from our house and we saw this sign “Worship Service Canceled.”  What a sad statement!! How can you cancel worship?  You can cancel the Red’s opening day parade, and baseball games.  I still can’t believe they canceled “March Madness” and you know it’s serious when they cancel  “The Masters”.  But you can’t cancel worship!   The scriptures tell us in Luke 4:8   It is written, Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only. I read in the Enquirer that a Jewish Center was not going to re-open their doors for worship.  The reason being because they never closed their doors!  The worship service is a very essential part of our Christian Faith, one of the reasons to get together is to spur one another to do good works.  Nancy Carnes wrote in her article last week, that she has really missed worshipping with her Church family.  She said like all of us, we take so much for granted. 

Through 11 weeks, Summit never missed a beat! Thanks to the foresight of great leaders at Summit who 5 years ago said we need to update our Audio/Visual part of worship.  They dreamed of putting our worship service on Facebook and Youtube, and to be available to anyone sick at home or on vacation, to be able to worship with the saints at Summit.  They dreamed of posting our songs on a screen so we would not have to look at our song books; to be able to learn new songs.  We have just witnessed the last 11 weeks, that our dreams became a reality!  Psalms 95:6 Come let us bow down in Worship, let us kneel before the lord our Maker.

Brothers and Sisters, through those 11 weeks we worshipped the Lord our God! We sang together, we prayed together, we took the Lord’s Supper together, we gave of our means together and we heard a lesson from God’s Word every Sunday!  We zoomed our Sunday night evening Worship every Sunday, and thanks to two of our Sisters we even have a class for the young kids.  Every Wednesday at 7pm we zoomed another lesson from God’s word, we have classes for the Ladies, Teens and pre-Teens.  50 of us gathered at the Church Building on Sunday to worship and I know the other 100 were worshipping with us in the comfort of their homes.  Summit NEVER canceled Worship!

Therefore I URGE you, Brothers and Sisters, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, THIS IS YOUR TRUE WORSHIP! God Bless!                          

Six years ago I saw Travis Maxey do his part to change the world we live in. What did it take for him to complete 24 hours of free-throws?

First, it started with a relationship. Travis’s sister-in-law works for Judi’s place. Second, it took “buying-in” to the vision. Travis agreed that children deserve a place to feel safe, 24 hours a day, away from injustice and abuse. Third, it took wisdom. Travis needed to figure out what it would take to get prepared for the event and how to accomplish the fundraising. Fourth, it took faith and hard work.

How about the rest of us? What is our vision for the future – what do we feel passionate about?  Do we want to see the precious body of Christ grow in the Northern Kentucky Cincinnati area? Do we want to see our attendance and mission efforts increasing? Do we want to see a friend baptized?

My passion is to see the Summit Church of Christ grow. For this to happen each of us needs to, through faith, envision how Summit will be different one year from today. For instance: See your friend, who is currently not saved, faithfully worshiping next to you.

Hebrews 11:1 (ESV) — 1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Travis wanted to make a difference, and he did. Friend, how can you make a difference?

2 John 1:5 Not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning that we love one another.  And this is love that we walk according to His commandments.

Together again! Many of us will come together this Lord’s day to worship in one place for the first time in eleven weeks.  Many will continue to worship from home, together in Spirit.  Our worship service will look a little different. Our time together may be a little different.  We wonder, what will life be like as we move forward?  The answer is, no one knows for sure.  We do know a couple of things, though.

One, we need to maintain our connections.  The thing many of us missed the most was being able to be with God’s people, worshipping, fellowshipping and working together.  Social isolation has the same physical effect on us as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.  We need each other and we need to be together.  That’s why God gave us the Church and why Jesus referred to “those that do the will of my Father” as His family.

Two, there will continue to be a great need to serve others around us.  Unemployment is at an all-time high with over 40M people unemployed.  Overdoses have surged in many places. Mental health issues are soaring.  The suicide rate typically increases significantly (.78 points) for each 1% increase in the unemployment rate, according to Psychology Today.  We are surrounded by a world that desperately needs love and hope.

Henry Ford said, “Coming together is a beginning.  Keeping together is progress.  Working together is success.” What a great opportunity for us to come together again and work together to love and serve those around us.

So many people do not like where they are in life. They thought they would have been further by now. They do not like the house they are living in. They do not like the job they have. They do not like their family or spouse. They feel stuck – maybe even sliding backwards. When I ask such souls what they want they always say something to the effect of – I just want to be happy.

Friend, does this seem to describe you? If you want to experience the blessings God has prepared for you before time (Mt.25:34) then you need to start doing the good works He has prepared for you before time began (Eph.2:10).

This begins by you letting go of the past so that you can see and perceive the “new things” springing up before you.

Isaiah 43:18–19 (ESV) — 18 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. ¹⁹ Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

So, here is your “to do” list to a blessed life:
• 1st decide to stop wasting time – instead, start redeeming it (Psalm 90:12).
• 2nd instead of dreaming about the good things you are going to do, start doing them (James 2:14-17).
• 3rd press forward – do not stay stuck one more moment (Phil.3:12-14). And, after you have taken the first step, praise God, then take the next, and the next, and the next, etc.

Father God, thank you for setting me on a new path today. Help me to keep pressing on, ever upward, towards Your light.

It was over three months ago that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the first confirmed coronavirus case in the United States. In the weeks since then, schools, churches and places of work have been closed, sporting events and tournaments have been cancelled, and unfortunately thousands have lost their lives. It’s easy to lose heart and become discouraged, but our troubles should not diminish our faith.

Romans 15:13 (ESV) “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

Don’t let the fatigue of staying “healthy at home”, or the pain of “social distancing” from friends and family, or the fact we cannot worship together in-person allow you to conveniently drift away from the church. Instead, renew your commitment to your faith.

Philippians 3:13, 14 “¹³Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. ¹⁴I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

When we are experiencing this terrible illness all around us and the personal hardships and distress it has caused, realize that this life is not all there is! As we face these daily troubles, it’s easy to focus on the pain and suffering rather than our ultimate goal. Know that one day all these troubles will be over, but also know that no matter what happens to us in this life, we have the assurance of eternal life through Christ.

Don’t forsake your eternal reward because of the intensity of today’s pain, we must focus on the reward for our faith and the joy that lasts forever. As Christians, our ultimate hope is knowing that we will live in eternity with God in a place without sin and suffering and knowing that can help us live above the pain that we face in this life.

Holy words long preserved
for our walk in this world,
They resound with God’s own heart
Oh, let the Ancient words impart.

Words of Life, words of Hope
Give us strength, help us cope
In this world, where e’er we roam
Ancient words will guide us Home.

~Ancient Words by Michael W. Smith

Where do you go to get news and commentary on the events of the day?  Who do you trust enough to let them advise you on things that really matter?  When even the crucial guidance from the Center for Disease Control changes from day to day for how to stay safe, what can you trust?  It is very unsettling not to have a trusted foundation for making decisions.  As we all face this reality, it is comforting to know that we have guidance for the truly important issues of life that has stood true for thousands of years.

It is true that the ancient words don’t definitively answer the medical question of wearing a face mask in public.  But it does guide us to submit to one another in love and to consider others more important than ourselves.  The Bible doesn’t tell me if I should go back to work in the office or continue to work from home.  But it does tell me that I should work for my employer as I would for the Lord.

I don’t need to have all the answers, as long as I have the important answers.  What does the Lord require or me?  To act justly, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with my God (Tom’s paraphrase of Micah 6:8) 

In these times of uncertainty, let’s spend some extra time listening to the ancient words.

When it comes to the world we build with bricks of humanity. When it comes to our country, we build on a foundation called the Constitution and we use bricks called amendments. But when it comes to the Word of God, we already have a foundation, with the Chief Cornerstone, already having been laid.

Yet, in these extraordinary times I observe many Christians choosing to rather build our world and our country instead of God’s Kingdom. They do this by the words coming out of their mouths. Some passionately vocalize that they are 100% sure that the COVID-19 virus is not a real threat. Others shout the opposite point of view, being completely petrified to appear in public. However, the moment we get caught up in voicing our opinion we make enemies of 50% of the population that we should be reaching out to with the Gospel.

1 Corinthians 3:9–15 (ESV) — 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Now, church, is it not true that the biggest fear in the minds of humanity is death? But is it also not true that Jesus has triumphed over death? And therefore, as born-again Christians we too have triumphed over death (John 11:26 ESV And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this)? If this is in fact true, then COVID-19 is a non-issue to Christians (Romans 14:8 ESV For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s).

What is making the headlines is that we are living in perilous times. It might be decades again before the world would be so ready and willing to hear of the saving grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But, friend, is that what you are choosing to, so very passionately, speak about?

As we consider reopening churches a lot of questions start to arise. Most of them surround safety. Yesterday my wife, Douwene Steyn Buchanan, overheard two customers at Kroger discussing this. The lady, who had a mask on, was shouting at an elderly man who did not have one on. She accused him of standing too close and berated him for not wearing a mask.

Would it not be wonderful if we all had this attitude? But, not towards COVID-19, but rather towards the much more contagious spiritual virus – sin.

In Psalm 125 we find out that nothing can harm us if we would do this by placing our “trust in the Lord”. In fact, we note that Yahweh (the Lord) will always “surround his people” “as the mountains surround Jerusalem”. Yahweh will not permit us to be tested beyond what we can endure so that He can keep us from doing wrong.

Friend, fear sin. Keep at least six feet away from it. Do not touch it at all – no elbow touch, fist bump, handshake or hug should even be considered. Then the Lord will do good to us. However, those who do not keep their distance will find themselves led away with evildoers.