Responding To This Stage of the Coronavirus Crisis

This Sunday marks the 10th Sunday that we have not been able to meet on the Burnes campus for our Sunday morning worship service, and so I think this is a good Sunday for me to take some time to speak to you on behalf of our elders as to where things stand at the moment. And I actually intend to try to do that not only this Sunday but also next Sunday in the message as well. There's a lot that we have to say. To you as a congregation, as of Friday of this week, there have been almost 4.5 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide and approximately 300,000 reported deaths.

In the United States, we are approaching. 1.5 million cases of COVID-19 and around 85,000 reported deaths. On March 12th, there were no known cases of the coronavirus in Riverside County. Five weeks later, there were over 600, and today there are around 5600 cases of the coronavirus or of COVID-19.

In Riverside County and 242 deaths in Riverside County and to give you perspective on those numbers for our county, early models predicted over 60,000 cases of COVID-19 in Riverside County by this date that we find ourselves at right now, so the actual numbers. That we're looking at are considerably better and lower than the early projections had predicted, and we can rejoice in that while at the same time we grieve over those who have suffered as a result of COVID-19. To our knowledge, there has been only one case of COVID-19 in the Cornerstone congregation.

And we are thankful to report that this member of our church is doing fine.

In fact, on Wednesday morning of this past week, I asked my wife how this sister in the church was doing, and literally 10 seconds. After I asked my wife that question, an email arrived from this sister wherein she said, and I quote. Thank you so much for praying for me while I had the coronavirus. Your prayers helped and comforted me.

I am doing much better, still working to get full strength back. That was very encouraging to hear from this dear sister right at the moment that I was wondering about her well-being. It was almost as if she heard my question. Though we have had only one case of someone with the coronavirus in our congregation, there is a growing number of people in our church who know people who have had the virus, and some of us have lost loved ones.

A month ago, my uncle passed away with COVID-19 and 12 days ago, Donna's mom passed away with COVID-19. We're very grateful that Donna was able to put on protective gear and see her mom 3 days before her mom passed away. For Donna's mom's funeral, it was very unusual. We had to sit in our cars.

And watch her casket be placed into the burial spot and then the funeral home personnel walked away. From the burial site and allowed us to get out of our cars and have an unofficial gravesite service with about 13 of us gathered and we were very grateful that they allowed us to do that. God's grace has been more than sufficient for us and for our families, and we very much appreciate your prayers. But I would have never imagined back in March that the word COVID-19 would be written on the death certificates of two family members that are precious to Donna and to me.

To comprehend the impact of this crisis that we are in right now, we should not simply look at how many have fallen ill and have died. We should also realize that over 36 million Americans have lost their jobs since this pandemic began, hindering their ability to provide for themselves and for their families. The law of love would dictate that we lament the suffering that many of these individuals are experiencing and grieve the wreckage that our current crisis has caused to people's livelihood.

Beyond the personal ways that so many people have been impacted by this pandemic, this morning, we as a congregation find ourselves on the 10th Sunday.

Of no Sunday morning service at the Barnes Technology Center, the impact of this pandemic on all of us simply cannot be overstated. And here's what makes this whole thing tricky for us all at this present moment. If we think of this crisis as a baseball game, we don't even know what inning we are in. Are we now in the 8th inning of a 9 inning game, or are we in the 3rd inning of a 9 inning game?

Will some people in our government try to stretch this into extra innings and make it longer than it should be? It's hard to know the answer to these questions. But what is clear is that we are at a place in this crisis where enough of a corner has been turned that many states around the country are wrestling with decisions about opening up and to what degree normal activities and events can be resumed. Even counties and cities within these states are working through these kinds of decisions.

And now churches around the country are making decisions about opening up in various states. Mine and Donna's home church back in Indiana is reopening next Sunday with the affirmation of the state government of Indiana, but things will be different when they begin meeting together next Sunday. Family members will be able to sit together, but every other pew in the auditorium will be left empty. There will be no nursery and no Sunday school and certain safety protocols will be followed and as time goes on these other aspects of their church's ministry will open up as circumstances warrant.

Here in the state of California, several 100 pastors have very publicly decided to defy our governor's guidelines and open their doors on the Sunday of May 31st. To their credit, they are petitioning the governor to change his guidelines and allow them to reopen on that date, but they have made it clear that they are not asking for permission. They've already decided that even if the state does not agree to let them assemble, they're going to assemble anyway on May 31st. Other pastors.

Are choosing a different path. And we are among them, at least right now. Since the 3rd Sunday of March, the elders have chosen to Shut down our gatherings on the Bournes campus because we've been convinced that doing so is the path of love for our fellow men, especially the most vulnerable among us. And also because there was so much that we did not know and still don't know.

And we also desire to obey Romans 13 and submit to the governing authorities whom God has placed over us. Our governing officials are not perfect people by any means, and they have not been anywhere close to perfect in this crisis. Many of them are unbelievers, but. It is our belief as elders that many of them are doing their best in a very difficult situation to make decisions and to give guidelines that are in the best interest of the people that they serve.

Such individuals we believe deserve our thanksgiving and our prayers consistent with the teaching of 1 Timothy chapter 2. The decision we made to shut down our campus ministries and our Sunday morning gatherings, was not easily arrived at by us as elders, nor was it made lightly, nor does it sit easy with us even now. But I think God helped us to get there in prayerful community with each other and with the people of this church body, and with leaders of sister churches in the local area.

It's truly an awesome responsibility to be put in the spot.

Of having to wrestle through the decisions that many church leaders have been faced with in recent months. And the decisions that are facing church leaders now are even more challenging than what we were facing 2.5 months ago. I plead with you to be praying for the elders of Cornerstone, the leaders of other churches. Pray for us that God will give us the wisdom that we need to choose wisely and that he'll give us the wisdom that we need to shepherd you.

The people of this great congregation through this difficult time. There are some developments on the government front that the Cornerstone elders are cautiously encouraged by that I do wanna take some time to briefly put before you. A few weeks ago, our governor presented a four-stage plan toward reopening our state. And last week he announced that California was ready to move from stage 1 into stage 2.

And stage two, he announced would begin May 8th. So we're past that point now. As many of, stage two allows for gradual reopening of lower risk workplaces with certain modifications. We are also pleased to hear the governor announcing that California counties can move more quickly through stage 2.

If county leaders can demonstrate that their counties meet the state's readiness criteria on the county level, we're pleased to hear Riverside County's leaders saying that our county, and I quote, already meets a number of state thresholds to swiftly reopen business at a pace that is faster than some other California counties are able to do. For this reason, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors recently approved a 33 page readiness and reopening framework that spells out best practices for businesses and public facilities to reopen, and it also makes the case for Riverside County to be included in a fast track for reopening outlined in Governor Newsom's four-phase plan to reopen the state.

In this framework produced by county officials, they say, and I quote, We strongly advocate on behalf of our residents and businesses that the state work with the county to acknowledge that Riverside County is ready to accelerate through phase two of that plan, unquote. Among other things in this document, Riverside County officials are asking for permission in phase 2 for places of worship to reopen.

This is a significant request because places of worship opening up is presently a part of our governor's stage 3, yet our county officials are asking for places of worship to open up sooner than stage 3, and they think that Riverside County is ready for that to happen. And we don't know what the outcome of such request for permission will be, but there are several things that we want you to know about our mindset as elders, at least at the present moment. In the first place, we as elders appreciate our governor's decision to move our state into stage two of reopening.

And we appreciate statements that he made over a week ago giving latitude for counties and cities to diverge from state guidelines, either being more strict or more lenient depending on the local situation.

We pray that our governor will operate consistently with his word on that. Secondly, we appreciate the work that our county board of supervisors is doing on behalf of the people of Riverside County, including churches like ours. We also appreciate the members of our president's administration and what they are doing to make the process of reopening as timely as possible, and we appreciate our president and vice president's stated desire to see churches filled with people very soon.

Thirdly, we as elders believe that enough is being done by our federal, state, and county authorities to merit patience from us.

We do not believe, at least for us here at Cornerstone, that it is the path of wisdom for us as a church to be declaring that we are opening up May 31st regardless of what our government decides. Fourthly, just as our county is developing a readiness plan for reopening, we as a church are presently developing a readiness plan for reopening so that we stand ready to gather on a Sunday morning on the earliest date that we can do so. And do it in a way that protects the safety of our people and accommodates those with more vulnerable health conditions who are unable to gather with us.

One of the ways we will accomplish this is by live streaming our services, which is something that we will be doing starting our first Sunday service that we reconvene and hopefully that day will come very soon.

Fifthly, we urge. That entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of our government leaders on the federal and state and county and local level whom God has placed in authority over us. pray for them that. Things may work out that we would be able to gather again soon, and we urge upon all of us to have humble hearts that are open to learning.

All that God wants to teach us through this time period that we find ourselves in right now. There are some other things that we as elders would like to invite you to be doing right now. And that's what I want to walk you through with the time that we have this morning, and then I want to continue to walk you through. Those, things in our service next week as, as well.

What I wanna do with the time that we have left is I just wanna give you 3 invitations, 3 invitations for the Cornerstone congregation at this present stage of the coronavirus crisis, 3 invitations from the elders to you as the people of Cornerstone. And the first invitation is number one, to join us in guarding your heart and feasting on God's word. Join us in guarding your heart and feasting on God's word. In Proverbs chapter 4 verse 23, Solomon says, watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.

Solomon's counsel means a handful of things. It means that we should be careful about what we allow to enter. Our heart, it means that we should be careful about what we allow to go on inside of our hearts, and it also means that we should be careful about what we allow to come flowing out of our hearts, and that's good counsel for us during this time. You may be frustrated right now about certain things that you cannot do and cannot control, but I know one thing that you can control, and that is your heart.

And what you do with your heart. One thing you can do, according to scripture is guard your heart. And trust me, there's a lot of people right now who would love to have your heart, and they would love to tune your heart so that it beats in rhythm with their own agenda. So our prayer here at Cornerstone as Christians should be the same as that of the songwriter who prays to God and says, come thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy praise.

The songwriter is looking to God and he's giving God permission to be the tuner of his heart, and we should do the same because only God is worthy of that role of being the tuner of our hearts. And I asked you this morning what our pastors have been asking you this week in their video devotionals. What is tuning your heart? Is it God's word or is it the liberal or conservative news media outlets that are tuning your heart?

Is it Jesus Christ that is tuning your heart, or is it people who have much to gain from working you and I up into a frenzy of fear or a frenzy of anger? I'm here to tell you that if all you do is spend hours a day on the Drudge Report and CNN and Fox News and MSNBC and listening to Rachel Maddow or Rush Limbaugh, Or reading every opinion piece that you see showing up on your Facebook feed. Such things, if that's all you do, will tune your heart to be angry, suspicious, frustrated, or fearful, or all of the above.

And please don't get me wrong, we need to stay up on the news, but during a time like this, we as Christians need to be even more careful about consuming God's word than we are to consuming the news.

In Colossians chapter 3 verse 16, God speaks to each of us and says, let the word of Christ dwell richly within you, with all wisdom, teaching, and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to the Lord. Are you letting the word of Christ dwell richly within you in this way? I hope you are, and you'll be able to tell if you are based on what comes pouring out of you. This is the time of all times when we as Christians need to be guarding our heart, feasting on God's word, letting the word of Christ dwell richly within us, so that the right things are issuing forth from us to others.

Things like the wisdom of God. Truths about Jesus Christ. Thanksgivings. And psalms and hymns and spiritual songs coming from our hearts that are making melody in the Lord.

It's what we need and it's what the people in our lives need issuing forth from our hearts during this time, and that will happen only if we're letting the word of Christ dwell richly within us and guarding our hearts. There's another invitation I want to deliver to you this morning from the elders at this present stage of the coronavirus crisis, and that is #2, join us in submitting to our government until doing so brings us into violation of scripture. Join us in submitting to our government until doing so brings us into violation of scripture.

In Romans chapter 13, the apostle Paul speaks to us as Christians, and he says, listen to what he says beginning in verse 1, every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God, and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. From Paul's statement we see that there is usually under normal circumstances no dichotomy between submitting to God and the government. The government, according to this passage, was established by God and serves as an expression of His authority on earth, which means that to disobey the government is to disobey God Himself. And keep in mind that the government in Paul's day when he's writing these words was often a wicked government ruled over by the Emperor Nero, who himself was a wicked man.

In 1 Peter chapter 2, the apostle Peter speaks to his readers and says, beginning in verse 13, submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right, for such is the will of God. That by doing right, you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God. Honor the King, Peter says in verse 17.

Now notice even in this passage how submission to the king and the governors is not presented as something separate from doing the will of God. He's not saying submit to your governing authorities and then also on other occasions do the will of God. No, it's all one and the same. We submit to human institutions.

For the Lord's sake, as this passage says, because such is the will of God, and God tells us in this text that our submitting to our government can actually make an impact on the people around us like silencing the ignorance of foolish men. Clearly, Jesus Christ, according to the teaching of the New Testament, is the head of Cornerstone, not our government officials and not our governor here in this state, but it is Jesus Christ who commands us in the Bible to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to submit to our governing authorities as much as we reasonably can.

Now having said that, there are places in scripture where disobedience to government officials is appropriate, like when they command us to do something that violates the clear teaching of scripture. For example, in Exodus chapter one, Pharaoh commanded that all the sons born to Israelite women be killed.

Yet the midwives of Israel did not give heed to that command. They saved the sons that were. The king had commanded them to kill. That's appropriate civil disobedience.

Daniel refused to abstain from prayer in response to Darius's decree, and Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow before the king's image in obedience to the king's command. All of these were appropriate acts of civil disobedience. The Cornerstone elders presently believe that what we have in our present situation is not what these men and women faced in the Old Testament. What we have happening today is a government that has told us to avoid large gatherings for the protection of others and ourselves, and churches have not been singled out in this directive sporting events.

Have been canceled, schools have been shut down because of concern for people's health, and church gatherings have also been halted. My wife and I flew through Las Vegas this past Monday and noticed that even the slot machines at the airport were roped off and shut down. Beyond that, we have precedent in church history of churches that have complied with the government's directives out of consideration for their fellow men. And being governed, we believe by the golden rule that Jesus gave us to do unto others as we would have them do for us, and the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves.

We believe that we should look for every way we can. Abide by the government's guidelines during a crisis such as this, not because we want to obey men over God, but because God Himself has told us to submit to the government and because He's called us to walk in love and honor toward all. Now, fortunately our government here in the United States is different than the Roman government of Paul and Peter's day. We have a government that invites our participation in the process of governing through voting and through exercising our free speech rights and even through protest.

So if you have opinions about the wrongness of the choices that our government is making right now, you're actually doing the loving thing by using the forums available to you to let your voice be heard in order to bring about meaningful change that benefits your fellow men. I stand with all of you who are making your voices heard in this way so long as you are doing so in a way that honors the ethic of 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 17, which says, honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor the king.

Now there are some who are saying right now that we should disobey our government's guidelines for us not to meet because the government is right now calling upon us to disobey Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25. Which tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

And honestly, I get the reasoning here, but I think we would serve ourselves well to look at this command in its context. In fact, let me read to you. Beginning in verse 23 of Hebrews chapter 10, the writer of Hebrews is concerned about some of his readers who were wanting to forsake Christ altogether and return to Judaism. That's the burning concern of the writer of Hebrews.

Throughout this letter. And in this passage, he speaks to his readers, and he says beginning in verse 23, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful, and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit or the custom of some. But encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near, for if we go on sinning wilfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.

Wow.

When the writer of Hebrews tells us in this passage not to forsake our own assembling together, what forsaking is he referring to? Given the language he uses in the context, is he prohibiting us from staying home from church? If we're sick with a contagious condition. Is he saying it's bad to temporarily abstain from assembling during a pandemic out of consideration of others?

I don't think his language would apply to that in the context here. Forsaking the assembly is something that the writer is describing as a willful sin that leaves a person literally outside the atonement that Christ's death provides. And it leaves them with nothing to expect but the terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume God's adversaries. So what is he talking about?

He's talking about apostasy. In fact, he's literally using the language of desertion here and speaking of forsaking the assembling. He's telling his readers not to be like those who had abandoned or deserted or forsaken the Christian assembly as a part of their process of apostatizing from the faith and returning to Judaism. And that is not what we're doing right now.

And temporarily suspending our gatherings on the Bourne's campus for the time being. Also, according to the writer of Hebrews, the actions that are tied to assembling together are things like holding fast to our confession of faith, stimulating one another to love and good deeds, encouraging one another as we see the day drawing near. And guys, we're fully able to do all of those things freely in our present circumstances. We can hold fast to our confession of faith.

We can stimulate one another to love and good deeds. We can encourage one another all we want, and we actually have opportunity to assemble together, at least on some level in our present situation. We gather around our live stream service. Like we're doing now for singing and for the preaching of the word on Sunday mornings and then we have 14 care groups here at Cornerstone that are gathering each week through Zoom and through other technologies worshiping together as care groups, celebrating communion together, praying together, and processing the preached word together while at the same time honoring the directives that.

Our government has given us at this time during this crisis. So we as elders don't believe that our government is calling upon us to disobey Hebrews 10:25, and we think for the time being at least. That we do well to continue to submit, especially out of consideration. For government leaders who are working very hard on our behalf.

To open up Our churches so that we can meet again soon. Now, having said that, I do want to hasten to say this, our present posture right now as elders is to abide by the guidelines given to us by our governing leaders. But this doesn't automatically mean that this is what we're always going to do regardless of how things play out on the road ahead. Things may unfold from here in a way that eventually leaves us with no other choice but to disobey the government and begin meeting, and we as elders stand ready to make that decision and to do that, but we believe that we're not at that point yet.

There are too many people in our various levels of government right now working hard on our behalf, and their work deserves our patience and our respect. So we do not believe that this is the appropriate time for us to be announcing. Our intentions to practice civil disobedience. There's another invitation I want to deliver to you this morning from the elders at this present stage of the coronavirus crisis.

And that is number 3, join us in realizing that this present crisis is turning out for the greater progress of the gospel. Join us in realizing that this present crisis is turning out for the greater progress of the gospel. And I'm so happy to extend this invitation to you. the apostle Paul found himself under a stricter quarantine than any of us are in right now.

There was no Constitution or First Amendment to protect his rights, even. He found himself chained in prison, unable to go anywhere. So what did Paul do in those circumstances? He started a prison ministry and thrived even without a First Amendment to protect him.

He preached the gospel to the guards that he was chained to, and he preached the gospel to his fellow prisoners, and people got saved. And Paul is able to write to the Philippian Christians and say to them. In the book of Philippians, he says, beginning in verse 12, now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment and the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard and to everyone else.

And that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.

What the Roman government meant for evil. God meant for good. Paul could have tried to escape from prison because his imprisonment was unjust. The government clearly was overreaching in an unjust way and throwing him into prison, and his imprisonment kept him from doing many good, godly things that he would have loved to have been able to do.

But Paul trusted God's providence and embraced his circumstances. He preached Christ to others in the prison, and he wrote a letter. That we call Philippians, that is soaked with gospel truth, a letter that seeks to further God's gospel purposes in the lives of the Philippian Christians. Paul also writes Colossians.

During this imprisonment, and Ephesians, and he writes a letter to Philemon and his gospel ministry through each of those letters still redounds to the benefit of millions of people today. What the Roman government meant for evil, God meant for good. And I think we have much to learn from Paul's example. In this situation, you, you may actually be of the opinion that this shutdown is an example of our government's overreach and overreaction, and you may end up being right.

But the truth is, you don't even have to agree with this shutdown any more than Paul had to agree with the rationale for his imprisonment. Whatever your opinions are of this shutdown, you should occupy yourself with making the most of the moment and looking for ways that God might want to use you to bring about the greater progress of the gospel. That's your number one calling. You can do other things, but this is your number one calling.

And if there are sinister people in government behind all of this shutdown who intend this situation for evil, will realize that God can subvert their intentions and bring good. Out of their evil choices. And think about this, the greatest injustice ever perpetrated in human history was when the Roman government and the Jewish leaders shut down Jesus' ministry by crucifying him on a cross. Jesus submitted himself to that injustice, and so much good has come from his death that redounds to this day and through to the end of human history and all of eternity.

What the Jewish leaders in the Roman government meant for evil, God meant for good. And the same is true for this present pandemic, along with our government's choices in response to this pandemic. As elders we have been so blessed to see how the present crisis has served. The furtherance of the gospel through the ministry of Cornerstone.

Many of our care groups are meeting more than they ever have, enjoying better attendance than ever. We've seen unprecedented acts of generosity from our people toward one another. We've witnessed in recent months the largest giving to the Agape Fund in our church's history, so that those funds to a greater degree than ever can go to helping those who are in need. The reach of some of our Sunday morning services.

Has been greater than ever, ranging from reaching people in Riverside all the way to Baltimore, from Hong Kong to Germany and other nations around the world. Every week, we as a staff are able to look at the data of how many viewers that we had of our services and how many of those viewers were subscribers to our channel and how many were not and where those viewers are. Beyond that, many of you have sent links of the services to friends and to neighbors and co-workers, and they have tuned in, some of them nonbelievers, and they have been touched by the ministry of Cornerstone in ways that would have never happened if this crisis had never occurred.

And some of the ways that you have ministered to one another and to the people of this community have been truly remarkable.

Some members of our church participated in making masks for the Loma Linda Pediatric unit, soliciting great appreciation from the head of that unit. I just received an email this week from a sister in our church who's asking some exegetical questions about a passage in the Gospel of John. Because she's doing a Bible study with a group of sisters in her care group, and she's not the only one doing this thing with others in the church body. A care group in our church just recently replenished the supplies.

Of the path of life homeless shelter out of their own funds, and they're currently in the process of gathering funds to provide gift cards for 20 families who can sure use the help during this difficult time. There is no shutting down the congregation of Cornerstone. Cornerstone is a congregation of irrepressible people who abound in good deeds regardless of their circumstances in ways that delight the heart of God and leave me feeling so blessed. To be your pastor.

A few weeks ago, a medical professional in our church was exposed to a patient with the coronavirus and had to be quarantined away from his wife and two children for a week or two. And both of them going into that quarantine period feared the worst regarding what that time of separation would be like, but they both ended up being overwhelmed by God's goodness was, as it was lavished on them by their care group members to the length of the 8 days that they ended up being apart from one another.

On day 6 of her husband's quarantine. This wife sent a message to her care group to express her gratefulness, and she wrote, listen, listen to her words.

She said, and I quote, on Monday I was overwhelmed and unsure how in the world this was going to work out and just scared, but God carried us through the ministry of your kindness. Prayers, text checking up on us. Resources of gospel hope in my inbox, grocery runs, dinners provided that also were able to stretch into lunch the next day, and gifts for the boys. I assumed I'd cry a lot this week, but my crying has all been from an overwhelming amount of thanksgiving to God for the provision He has given to us.

What an amazing outpouring of love. My husband and I cannot wait to tell the boys as they grow up how the church ministered immensely to us during what was supposed to be such an incredibly difficult isolation period. We are 6 days in now, and I have felt an energy that no amount of coffee can provide. Thank you for the prayers.

Thank you, Care Group family, for ministering and loving on us in such a way. What a blessing. were it not for this pandemic, such beauty would not have been experienced by this young family in this way. Guys, God is always doing a million things, and he's doing that even now, sovereignly causing our present crisis to work out for the greater progress of the gospel in the lives of our people.

And in the lives of others. There are couples in our church whose wedding plans. had to change dramatically, but they flexed. They changed their plans, and they Proceeded anyway.

Ernesto and Hannah Valerio were married on March 21st. Jacob and Hannah Kell were married on May 2nd, and Matt and Leah Hurtado were married a week before that on April 27th. We congratulate these three couples and wish them God's very best on the road ahead. All of these couples, together with their families had to get creative and alter their plans, but they each, in doing that saw God work in special ways.

With surprising wonderful providences that left them so blessed. The Hurtados Originally planned to be married in the Caribbean during the month of July, but they ended up having to move their wedding date up to April 22nd, and they changed their wedding location to a beach in Dana Point. Their wedding ceremony. That took place on the beach captured the attention of a homosexual couple who happened to be on the beach that day.

That couple watched the entire wedding, and they heard a biblical vision for marriage presented, and they heard the gospel of Jesus Christ being preached there on the beach, and they cheered for Matt and Leah when they were presented as husband and wife. Who knows? Maybe the wedding being in that spot on that very day. When that homosexual couple was there was a divine appointment.

Perhaps God is pursuing those two souls with His grace. Perhaps they may come to faith one day. And what they saw and what they heard at that wedding may be a part of their testimony of salvation. Who knows?

But what we do know is that these two people heard the gospel in a way they would have never heard it were it not for this situation. That we are all in right now. So maybe you don't like this shutdown. Maybe you think it's wrong.

And maybe you're right. But God is at work and he is causing things to turn out for the greater progress of the gospel. He's been doing that thing for thousands of years, and he's very good at it, always in the end, leaving Satan. And those who oppose him very, very frustrated.

So rather than complaining about what we can't do, We all should be exploring ways that we can reach out to others during this time and make the most of this time period that we're in. We should realize that these times in which we're living right now are creating unprecedented interest. And spiritual things. In the hearts of the people around us, people are asking deep questions and some of their hearts are more open to the gospel than ever before.

So you and I have a decision to make. We have to decide what banner we're going to carry right now. When you think about what to post on social media, think about what you're going to post. Think about how you can post.

Comments and articles that point people to Jesus. If you want to post critiques of our government, that's actually very appropriate and consistent. With the law of love. And I like seeing those posts and I feel like I learned something every time I read from such things that some of you post.

But my message to all of you is to realize that your highest calling is to point people to Jesus, and I urge you to fulfill that calling above all others. I know, guys, that when all of this is over, I know that you're going to want to be able to look back on these days and say, My circumstances turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, and I'm blessed to testify that God used me. In pointing people to Jesus and furthering his gospel purposes in the lives of others because I carried the banner of Christ.

More highly.

And with greater passion than any other banner. That I may have also carried. There's a lot more that's on my heart that I want to say. To you as a congregation, but I'm going to stop here for today and I'm going to pick up here.

Next Sunday With some more invitations for you. we've, we've been talking as a staff recently about all the things that we don't know. Pastor Mike Has written down a list of all the things that he does not know, and I'm actually very anxious to read that list. There's a lot of things that we don't know.

There's a lot of things that I don't know. I sometimes don't know what to make of this pandemic. I don't always know what sources of information I should be trusting. I don't always know what I think about decisions that our government officials are making.

I don't know sometimes if the reaction to this pandemic is worth the wreckage to people's livelihoods that has been taking place. I don't know if we're gonna look back and see that our society should have opened up sooner or should have waited longer. There's so much I don't know. I agonize over the calling that we as elders have from God to lead this flock, and I wonder sometimes how I can do that.

I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes, tossing and turning and wondering how can I, Lord, lead this flock when there is so much that I don't know. But then I think about the things that I do know. I know for sure. That I have a lot to learn.

I know for sure that I lack wisdom. I know for sure that God invites me to come to him and ask for wisdom, and that he will give it if I ask. And I know that some of the wisdom that he gives me will come through you. I know that every word of scripture is inspired by God and true, and that every word that falls from the lips of Jesus is absolutely true and worthy of my trust.

I know with certainty that Jesus died on the cross to make blood atonement for our sins. That he was buried and that he rose again on the 3rd day. I know that he sits today at the right hand of God in full control over everything that is happening. He has total control over the hearts of all of our leaders, and he can turn them in any direction that he wants them and his sovereignty to go.

I know that he's going to cause all things to work together for the good of those who love God and who are called according to his purpose. I know that Christ will return to Earth one day and establish his reign in that future day, and I know that every single thing that is happening now is only being allowed by God to happen because it serves to usher history toward. That epic day In the meantime, I know. That God is calling upon all men everywhere to repent and to believe in Jesus.

And I know with certainty on the authority of scripture that Jesus stands ready to save all those who look to him. And believe in him and call upon his name. And I know With certainty that Christ calls upon all of us to declare this message of salvation. To everyone who will listen.

With everything in me, I know these things to be true. In the cornerstone flock. We may have a variety of opinions about other things and some of those other things are very important, but I want each of you to know that I am blessed beyond words to know these truths. That I've just listed Together with you.

On this mountain of truth. We agree And that is precious to me, this mountain of truth. That we Agree on and profess may not solve all of our disagreements, but it certainly puts our disagreements into perspective. Right?

There's one more thing I know. I know that if you're watching today and you have never. Experience the forgiveness of your sins through Jesus. I know that if you come to Jesus in humility today and believe in Him, He will be pleasured.

To save you right now in this very moment, to forgive you of your sins and to make you God's child, to bring you into the family of God. To put His Holy Spirit within you. To justify you and make you righteous in God's sight. That's what Jesus did for me.

And on the authority of God's word, I know that he will do the same for you. And I would plead with you, do not waste another minute living apart from Jesus Christ. Believe in him today, even right now. And begin to find out for yourself why we here at Cornerstone have come to love Jesus so much.

Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we, we come before you this morning. In awe of your power. In awe of your grace.

We bow before you this morning as a congregation. Also. Feeling a Sense of soberness about the magnitude and the gravitas of the circumstances that we find ourselves in right now. We pray for your wisdom for our governing leaders on the federal and the state and the county and the city.

Level We pray that you would give your wisdom to them to do what is right. And for those that are bent on evil, Lord, we pray that you would thwart their evil purposes at every turn. We pray, Lord, that you would turn the hearts of. Our president and.

Senators and representatives and our governor and state officials and county officials in the direction that that you want them to go in order to serve your sovereign purposes as you usher history toward its great climax and as you seek to orchestrate events in such a way that brings about the further progress of the gospel. Help us as a congregation, Lord, to not be governed by fear. But to follow your word. To walk in love.

Including a spirit of love and charity with those. With whom we may disagree. Give us Hearts that are. Quick to hear and slow to speak.

Help us to posture ourselves as learners. Ready to learn. From you. And from one another.

Above all, Lord. Help us to carry the banner of Jesus Christ. Higher than any other banner that we may wish to carry. And use us to further your gospel purposes.

In this world in which we find ourselves right now. I pray for the elders. I thank you, Lord, so much for my brothers who serve on the elder board. And ask Lord that you would.

Give us the wisdom we need from day to day. What I have shared today represents where we are right now, but we know, Lord, that something may happen a few days from now that changes our thinking, help us as elders to be learners. And to seek your face and to learn together in community with the brothers and sisters in this church body. And I pray, Lord, that.

This would be a season. That we will all look back on. With the sweetness of memory cherishing. The good work that you did in us and the ways that you work through us.

Touching other lives. For the glory of Jesus Christ. We want Lord to look back on these days. When we have opportunity to do so with gratefulness and not with regret.

Help us to trust you to fix our eyes upon you. To acknowledge what we don't know. But at the same time to. Remind ourselves of what we do know.

And to draw our security from that. And to cherish our unity with one another based on what we together know to be true from your word. And may that common ground. In your word, Lord.

Give us good footing to love one another. And to grow. Even through this time. Deeper in love with you.

And deeper in our relationship with one another as we walk together with you. We ask all of these things, Lord, in the name. Of Jesus Christ our King and Savior. And all God's people said.

Amen.