Hey Church Family,
Well it’s the Saturday before another Sunday. I’ve long said Sunday is my favorite day of the week. That hasn’t really changed. But the look of a Sunday morning sure has changed. Everything is SO SO DIFFERENT.
Honestly, some of that different is “bad different.”
I really miss seeing everybody on Sundays and Wednesdays and day by day in the office throughout the week. As a once proclaimed “non-hugger” I even miss the Sunday morning hugs and handshakes. It’s different. “Bad different.”
But not everything different has been “bad different.” Some of the differences are what I’d call “good different.” The most important being the fact that the church is rediscovering a really important truth. What truth is that, you ask?
When the Bible talks about the Church it never talks about it in terms of a building. “The Church” is always in reference to a group of people! Namely, blood bought, totally committed, interdependent disciples of Jesus.
The fact that we cannot gather for worship in our building right now is reemphasizing that truth and that’s a GOOD thing. Good different. For the next few weeks we’re going to talk about how we should embrace this different season and leverage it for the good of God’s redemptive purposes in our life and through our church.
We are kicking off that series TOMORROW morning at 10am. There’s a kids worship service at 9:30. You can watch either or both livestreams on Facebook, YouTube or by using our church website or church online platform.
To make it easy – I’m going to attach the YouTube streams to this post. So all you’ll have to do is click these links and it’ll take you right there! You can also use your internet connected TV apps to stream right from You Tube. (that’s how we’re doing it in our family right now)
You can also use these other platforms.
Please notice that the Kids Service is at 9:30 this week instead of 11:30.
We think this will make it easier on parents with kiddos because they’ll be able to get the kids service out of the way first. It’s hard to make them sit through the “big people” service when there’s no cool songs or crafts. Speaking of that – be sure and get all the family discipleship resources before watching the service at 9:30.
UPDATES AND OTHER NEWS
Before I sign off I wanted to give everybody an update on some other news. Typically this information could’ve been gathered via other means but since we are no longer gatherings I’ll need to send all the update through email.
Student Ministry Updates
Pastor Jospeh is continually trying to find the best way to stay engaged with our student population at Broadview. There are daily devotionals and other updates posted to their Facebook and Instagram pages.
Jospeh will also be hosting a livestream on our YouTube page every Sunday night at 8PM for our students. Just visit our YouTube page if you want to watch along. The videos will be between 10-15 minutes.
Also, on Tuesdays from 8:30-9:00 Joseph will be hosting Instagram Live Q&A’s between leaders in the Student Ministry and students who are connected on Instagram. Be sure and check it out and encourage your 6th-12th grader to connect as well!
Recent Deaths
Shifting gears, there have been some deaths in our church family. Here are the names of each individual and links to their obituaries. Please be praying for these families!
Mary Ellen Little (April 17th, 2020)
The viewing will be this Sunday from 5pm-8pm. Only 10 people at a time are allowed in the building so be considerate of others when visiting with the family.
Ken will have a graveside service at 2pm on Monday at the Breckenridge Cemetery. Again, the gathering is limited to 10 people at a time and they request you have hand sanitizer if you decide to visit the graveside.
In addition to the passing of these individuals we have others who are in need of prayer because of sickness or other issues. COVID-19 has made any medical difficulty a greater medical difficulty.
There are those who are in the hospital who are having to take extra precautionary measures. There are those who need to go to the hospital for “non-critical” surgeries (critical to them!). Lastly, there are those who receive treatments at the hospital and are putting themselves at risk as they go. Each of these folks need our prayers.
COVID-19 Related News
I’ll close with some updates that surround the COVID-19 pandemic. There are many ways that this crisis has impacted our church. Not all of them have been negative. Here is some POSITIVE NEWS for your Saturday.
First off, we are less than $500 away from our $7,000 giving goal for helping families impacted by COVID. If you’d like to give to this fund you can do so here.
This fund was particularly aimed at internationals without US citizenship who are connected with Broadview Baptist Church. These folks are not eligible to receive the assistance from the CARES relief package. These $700 care packages have been a ministry to them during a time of great need.
Speaking of the CARES Act, Broadview was also approved for the Payroll Protection Program loan! We received our loan of just over $107,000 to cover two months of payroll expenses for our church and Blest Beginnings employees. We were able to mail out checks this week to our Blest Beginnings employees. Thank you for those who participated in making this possible.
The last piece of good news is an update on our Prayer Card Project. We had close to 100 names come in of people serving on the front lines who we wanted to bless with notes of encouragement. Every name was accounted for and we are now increasing the scope of the project.
We have now received the names of people who are serving in our area prisons. They are mental health counselors who are ministering to inmates there in the prison. There are cases of COVID-19 in both prisons and so you can imagine the mental health crisis that is growing in addition to the health crisis caused by COVID-19.
If you’d be interested in taking more names and writing more cards you can contact Bonnie. You can also sign up for the first time as well. Bonnie will email you the names of the people. You and your family can create the card(s).
Take a picture of the card and email it back to Bonnie and she will print them out and deliver them. (here’s a picture of what they look like) This approach decreases the possibility of spreading any infection. It’s been a really powerful thing for those who’ve received cards.
I know you all don’t get to see it – but notes of gratitude have been pouring in from these projects and attempts at blessing our city. YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE in our city. When people think of Broadview they’re not thinking of a church building on South 27th. They’re thinking of the PEOPLE who are making a direct impact on their day to day lives.
I’m really proud of how everyone is stepping up, staying engaged, living lives of sacrificial generosity and maintaining an outward focus on the Great Commission. As “bad different” increases over the days and weeks – you are displaying a “good different” that our city desperately needs to see.
Looking forward to the coming days! They will be full of challenges and inevitable disappointments. But our God is faithful and the victory has already been won in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s be dispensers of hope and lights in the darkness.
Until He Comes,
Pastor Wes