Responding To This Stage of the Coronavirus Crisis pt.2

For a time of study and the word this morning, I wanna have you turn to Proverbs chapter 4. Proverbs chapter 4, we, last week, began talking on the subject of responding to this stage of the coronavirus crisis, and I guess we can count last week as part one. that message and today is part two, and we'll be looking at a number of scripture texts, as we try to find guidance from God's word as to how we as a church should be responding. To this stage of the coronavirus crisis.

Today marks the 11th Sunday that we have not been able to gather as a church on a Sunday morning. And we also find ourselves at a stage of this coronavirus crisis when all 50 states in our country are in some stage of reopening, including many churches in various states. The state of California is itself in what we would call stage 2 of reopening, and the pace of the opening even here in California seems to be gathering steam that is looking more and more unstoppable. In our own state, a group of several 100 pastors have decided to defy our governor's guidelines and reopen their Sunday morning gatherings beginning next Sunday, May 31st, regardless of what our state authorities decide.

These pastors are certainly entitled to follow their conscience and do as they deem best, and we respect that. But some of the leaders in this movement have produced videos in an effort to persuade others to join them, not just in opening up on May 31st, but joining them in their defiant approach to this matter. And some of the statements in these videos are barbed with criticism of church leaders that have not chosen to go along with them in their particular approach. As I shared with you last Sunday, it is the elders' belief that there are many officials in our county and state government along with our federal government who are working very hard on our behalf, who deserve our Thanksgiving and our patience, and they also merit our.

Earnest prayers. Their efforts are already meeting with success, making it increasingly likely that we as a church will be able to meet together on a Sunday morning in the very near future. In the meantime, we here at Cornerstone are already getting things in place for the first Sunday of our reopening in a way that will ensure the safety of our people when that day comes and we hope in the very near future. We are thankful for our county board of supervisors here in Riverside County who have joined with other counties in California in appealing to our governor.

To ease the requirements that he has imposed for counties to accelerate through the reopening process, and we're pleased to announce that on Monday of this past week, in response to appeals from county officials, Governor Newsom lowered the thresholds of what would be required for a county to qualify for accelerating deeper into stage 2. Of reopening, especially given the fact that his new standards that he announced on Monday are already being met by Riverside County, so we rejoice in that, and that bodes well for the road ahead.

We're also encouraged to see that our governor is placing more power into the hands of local officials to do what they deem best on the local level. In his press conference this past Monday.

Our governor said, and I quote, bottom line is people can go at their own pace, and we are empowering our local health directors and county officials that understand their local communities and conditions better than any of us, unquote. We appreciate that these words and the developments that I've just shared with you represent a strengthening trend in a positive direction. For churches to be able to open up soon and hastening that trend is the announcement that our president made on Friday in which he declared that houses of worship are essential places that provide essential services, and he announced guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That are designed to help state and local leaders safely allow worship facilities to open back up.

In his speech on Friday, our president called upon governors to allow places of worship to open up immediately, and he actually threatened to override any governor who stands in the way of that. Some state leaders and local leaders have responded to these statements by our president by pushing back on them, but after our president's declarations on Friday, Governor Newsom responded by saying that California state officials will review the new guidelines set by the CDC, and he then said, and I quote, We look forward.

To churches reopening in a safe manner, unquote. So, we will see what happens in the coming days and where the dust settles on all of that, and we will keep you updated as a congregation on what the outcome of all of this might mean for us as a church.

We are encouraged that the Sunday of our reopening as a church looks like it is more and more imminent, and we rejoice at how God has been working on our behalf through the prayers of His people and through the earnest and faithful labor of those who represent us in our government. I should share with you that. We do have two new cases of COVID-19 in our congregation. It's a younger couple in our church who has 4 children, and this couple has said that they have never been sicker in their lives.

Their care group is rallying around them to provide them with food and supplies and practical assistance during this challenging time for them as a family. It is truly good to be in a care group during a time such as this. With all of that said, last Sunday, I spoke to you on behalf of the elders and gave you some invitations, 3 invitations to join us as elders in doing some things at this stage of the coronavirus crisis. Ultimately, I wanna give you 6 invitations from our elders to you.

last week, we looked at 3, and today, I want to take some time to review and comment on those 3 and then move into the remaining 3 invitations that I want to deliver to you as a congregation on behalf of the elders. So ultimately, what we're going to look at today is 6 invitations for the Cornerstone congregation at this present stage of the coronavirus crisis. And the first invitation. Is join us in guarding our hearts and feasting on God's word.

Join us in guarding our hearts 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. In Colossians 3:16, the apostle Paul 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 God. We as elders want to invite you to join us in guarding our hearts by letting the word of Christ dwell richly within us.

And we wanna give you a practical way that you can do this together with us in the coming weeks. As we announced last Sunday, our summer advance Bible reading program will be through the Book of Revelation this summer. It will involve us reading through Revelation pretty much close to a chapter a day over the next 3 weeks and then starting over at chapter 1 and rereading through Revelation while also reading corresponding chapters from Warren Weirsby's commentary on the Book of Revelation.

The Book of Revelation unveils the glory of Christ.

And it tells us the story of how that glory will be revealed in a future day. All of history, including the events that are happening even now, are moving us toward the events that are chronicled in the book of Revelation. The climax of which is when Jesus Christ storms the sky at his second coming and establishes his reign upon the earth. After which point he will create the new heavens and the new earth and usher his people into the glorious eternal state.

Revelation is in part a book about plagues and famines and wars and about how all such things are allowed and ushered in by the will of Christ to bring history to its climax when he establishes his reign. If there ever was a time when we as God's people needed to read the book of Revelation, I think it's today. If there ever was a time when we do well to read ahead and see how this story of human history ends. It's today.

If there ever was a time to behold Christ and remind ourselves that in the end, Christ wins, it's today. So grab a copy of our summer advance document off the front page of our church's website and join with us this summer in reading the book of Revelation actually starting today. Use the book of Revelation to guard your heart during this time. Let this word of Christ dwell richly within you.

There's a 2nd word of counsel that, or 2nd invitation that we extended to you last Sunday that I want to remind you of today. And that is join us in submitting to the 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. One of the pastors who is leading the charge for churches in California to defy our.

Governor and to open up on May 31st. He made a video in which he said these words of counsel to his viewers. He said, and I quote, Don't be fooled by those who will say to protect their own skin, to obey God is to obey man, and to obey man is to obey God. That's being said among some Christian camps today, and I see that nowhere in Scripture.

Unquote In the first place, this pastor is actually being divisive in the way that he cynically chooses to represent the motives of pastors who have chosen not to join him in his defiance of our state authorities. He's made himself a judge of people's motives, which is not wise. In the second place, the fact that this pastor does not happen to see something in scripture doesn't mean it isn't there. As we read last Sunday, in Romans chapter 13, the apostle Paul says, beginning in verse 1, every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities.

Who are they? They're human beings that are in positions of power in the government of that day. Paul then says, for there is no authority except from God. In other words, there's no human governmental authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God. In other words, governmental authority is established by God, and because of this fact, whoever Paul says resists authority has opposed the ordinance of what of God. In other words, to disobey those in authority over us is to disobey God. This is equally clear in 1 Peter 2, where 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. In verse 13, 1 Peter 2, it is God Himself who is telling us to submit to human governmental institutions, right? And he tells us to submit to every human institution for the Lord's sake. And he tells us that doing this is the will of God.

So if God tells us to submit to our government for his sake. And because it is his will, then. We see in our Bibles that to obey the human authorities that God has placed over us is to obey God. And to disobey them is to disobey God.

Unless, of course, our government is commanding us to do something in clear violation of scripture. Now, when Peter says, in 1 Peter 2. Telling us to submit to every human institution. He says something that can actually help us even in the present moment we find ourselves right now.

At present, our governor here in California has given certain guidelines that our county leaders wish were different. So they, our county leaders, are petitioning him to change those guidelines at the same time, our president made some declarations on Friday that are different from what our state and county officials have approved so far. So what do we do as Christians here in a church in California? Well, we pray for our governing officials on the county and the state and the federal level.

We pray for them that God will bring them into alignment. In the meantime, we try our best to submit to every layer of government that we reasonably can. And for us, that means that we abide by our county and state guidelines until they change, allowing us to meet, and we do this, guys, not to save our own skin, but to obey the directives that God gives to us in passages like 1 Peter 2. In Romans chapter 13.

Now you may say, as some nowadays are saying. That the directives given to us in Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 don't apply to us here in America in our situation because we are a democracy and it is we the people who rule. Well, fair enough. But guess what we the people did about 220 years ago.

We established a government with an executive and legislative and judicial branch with various powers dispersed between them and various powers dispersed between our federal and state governments that we all agreed to submit to. And we the people defined the specific manner in which we the people will execute our rule through participation in the democratic process and through letting our voice be heard and through voting and then submitting to the outcome. Even if the persons being elected are not the ones we voted for, even if the legislative outcomes are not what we preferred, even if the tax laws are not to our liking.

We as Christians need to be extremely careful about just dismissing and disregarding passages like Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2, simply because we think our situation is different from the situation of Christians who were living in the Roman Empire of Peter and Paul's day.

Now, having said that, Because of our unique form of government that invites our participation and our voice. Part of submission to our government does include submitting to certain institutions that are enshrined in our constitution like the Bill of Rights along with our participation in governance through voting and letting our voice be heard. People who speak out, even Christians who speak out and disagree with our government in an honorable way, are not being unsubmissive.

They're actually submitting to these various institutions that are enshrined in our Constitution.

In fact, we are living, we who are living in the United States today are living in the good of blessings that have come about because people had the courage in the past to speak out against the errors of our government. And they thereby served as agents of change. That benefit us to this day, the abolition of slavery in our country and civil rights for people of color is one example of this, none of which would have happened if no one ever opened their mouths and protested and voiced disagreement with what our government was approving of and doing.

The law of love dictates that we as Christians always stand ready to do that thing when circumstances warrant.

Many of you already speak out against our government's posture on abortion, so you should understand the value of being supportive of fellow Christians who are doing the same thing in areas where they have concern about our government's overreach or our government's handling of this present crisis. So long as they are doing so in a way that honors all people, loves the brotherhood, fears God, and honors the king. All in all, our invitation to you is to join us as elders in submitting to our government until doing so brings us into clear violation of scripture, and we don't believe that is happening yet.

There's a 3rd invitation that I gave you last Sunday.

For this point of the coronavirus crisis, and that is this. Join us in realizing that our present crisis is turning out for the greater progress of the gospel. the government of Paul's day we saw last week overreached and unjustly threw him into prison. Yet Paul preached the gospel from prison, and he was also able to see the good that was coming from his imprisonment, even good that was redounding outside of.

His prison where he found himself, he speaks to the Philippians and says to them in Philippians 1:12, I want you to know, brethren. That my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel. We talked about this at length last week. I just wanna just ask you to join us as elders and asking God to help us.

To carry the banner of Christ through this time of crisis. Point people to Jesus above all else. Make that your driving ambition. Ask God to give you eyes to see what he is up to in the world right now, and how he might want to use you in his mission to make the name of Jesus known, in order that you might then be a major player.

And what God is doing, that you might serve God's gospel purposes in the lives of others in your home, in your neighborhood, in the church, and even in the workplace. In fact, just this past week, I heard from a church member who had the privilege of leading a person to Christ in their workplace. How might God want to use you during this time? Well, there's a 4th invitation that I want to give you at this point of the coronavirus crisis, and this gets us into New territory.

Number 4, join us in basing our thinking and decisions solely on God's word. Join us. And being careful to base our thinking and decisions solely on God's word. In Psalm 119105, the psalmist speaks of God's word.

And says, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. We see here in this verse, some of the functions that God's word is supposed to serve in our lives in a very practical way. God's word guides us and lights our path so that we can see clearly and have the wisdom that we need to know which direction to go. I take great comfort from a verse like this when I think about the daunting task of leading this congregation.

Through this daunting time. We need the light of God's word during a time such as this more than ever. As I stated last week, these are daunting days that require a huge amount of wisdom on the part of church leaders around the world. And for this reason, we as elders here at Cornerstone and we We as a church need to be extremely careful to be immersing ourselves in God's word and to get our directives from God's word above all else, so that it's God's word that is governing our decisions and our leadership of you.

We as elders cannot let ourselves be governed by fear on the one hand, neither can we be governed by impatience on the other hand. We also can't let ourselves be swayed by several 100 pastors here in California who are declaring that they're opening up May 31st regardless of what our state and county leaders allow. In fact, Why was the date May 31st chosen by these pastors? I'm sure there were perhaps good reasons in the hearts of a number of these pastors.

I can't answer that question. For most of these pastors as to why they chose May 31st, but I can answer for one of them because he posted a video on YouTube explaining his decision for wanting to open up on May 31st regardless of what state authorities decided. He said in his video, and I quote, This is not my decision. During a time of prayer 3 weeks ago, the date May 31st came into my mind.

And I gotta tell you, it was deposited into my head in prayer. And then I went and looked at my calendar at May 31st, and it was Pentecost Sunday. It's one of the highest holy days of the Christian church. It transcends the kingdoms of this world, unquote.

And guys, that's one of the stated reasons that this pastor decided to open his church's doors on May 31st and why he locked in that decision even before he knows how state officials will respond to their appeal. This pastor then says, I find it significant that the church was born in a house, and maybe God is saying that he's going to restart the church in his house on Pentecost Sunday. Maybe God is saying. Maybe God is saying.

Maybe God is saying something through a date that pops into this pastor's head while he's praying. And that is given as the reason why he's going to lead others in opening up on this date. This line of reasoning or argumentation for opening up on May 31st may resonate with some people, but it, it has absolutely zero authority whatsoever. If there's anything I'm sure of, it's that God is not saying anything to you and to me through a date that appears in this pastor's head during a time of prayer.

A date in his head has no authority like the word of God does. What this pastor is doing here is an example of the very thing that we do not want you as a congregation to ever let us get by with as elders. The stakes are too high. We must do better than this and lead you from God's word.

Guys, it's an awesome responsibility to lead the people of God, and it's hugely important that anyone who takes the mantle of leading the flock of God, sticks to the word of God and derives his wisdom from God's word. Pray that we as elders will do that. Pray that we will lead you from God's word and not from a place of fear or from a place of impatience or from the wisdom of this world or from some subjective experience that we had. And if we ever do try to lead you from any other place than God's holy word, I give you permission to challenge us on that.

I've never felt this burden any heavier than I do now. We as elders must lead you from God's word or get out of the way so that someone else can. These are not even easy times for those who are seeking to lead from God's word. I'm confessing to you that we as elders need wisdom.

Every single day. As we look at the road ahead, we're asking you to pray for us, that God will help us to be faithful, to look to His word above all else for direction and counsel as we seek to lead you, and that we bring you nothing but His word as authoritative when we say to you that God is saying. That we would only say that with regard. To what God explicitly says in his word.

Pray that he will give us eyes to see what he wants us to see in the Bible. So that God's word will shine light on our path as a church on the road ahead. Part of the reason I feel this burden and that our elders feel this burden is you. You're part of the reason.

Jesus shed his blood for you, so you are precious to Him. We dare not lead you wrongly. And another thing that sobers us regarding you is your readiness to follow our lead. Some pastors I know of try to lead their people and their people won't follow.

And my heart goes out to these pastors. Some of them are far better men than I. But as elders here at Cornerstone, we have in you the confidence that Paul had in Philemon when Paul says to Philemon, and I quote, Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you since I know that you will do even more than what I say. That's in verse 21 of Philemon.

This is actually the way we think about you as a congregation, which makes us wanna be all the more careful that we do not lead you astray in any way. In Hebrews chapter 13 verse 17, the writer of Hebrews speaks to his readers and says to them, obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. You guys are an amazing joy to us as elders, and your response to the elders over this past week has been a refreshing spring of water to each of our hearts.

I have received countless texts and emails and letters and personal conversations from many of you in our church over this past week. In response to what was shared last Sunday, and every single one of those communications that I've had or received from any of you has left me as a pastor with joy in my heart. Every one of them. And I don't deserve that.

But that's the congregation that you've always been. That's the congregation you are. You are truly a blessing. To the elders.

And we are blessed to be your elders, and you are so precious to Christ, so willing to follow leadership that we feel a heavy burden. To not lead you astray, to not lead you from any source other than the word of God. The stakes are too high and you are too precious for us to do that. So our invitation to you is simple.

Join us in being careful to base our thinking and our decisions solely upon God's word. The times we live in demand this of us. There's another invitation I want to deliver to you from the elders at this stage of the coronavirus crisis. Some of you are frustrated over our lack of ability to meet together right now.

And maybe some people are trying to talk you out of that frustration. I am not gonna do that this morning. In fact, my next point. Is this, let's put it this way.

Join us in longing to meet together as a congregation. Join us in longing to meet together as a congregation and tied to that would be join us in lamenting every day, every Sunday. That goes by that we have not been able to meet together. As I said to you guys a few weeks ago, we have been suffering as a church and not being able to meet together.

We are so thankful for the technologies that allow us to connect with each other in various ways, but I'm, I'm here to tell you that. We should not be sitting easy with abstaining from meeting together for months on end. The elders are not fully comfortable with our present setup of online Sunday services and Zoom meetings, and we urge you not to grow too comfortable with this present setup either. If you are feeling restless right now and longing for us to resume our church gatherings, you should be restless.

And your longing is good, and it's of the Lord. In his book, Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes these words, and I quote, the believer need not feel any shame when yearning for the physical presence of other Christians. The Christian recognizes in the nearness of a fellow Christian, a physical sign of the gracious presence of the triune God, unquote. Some people in our church have confessed to Zoom fatigue.

Which is now a thing in our society. The truth is we all should be feeling this and longing to be together again in each other's physical presence. Christianity is by its very nature an incarnational religion. At its center is a savior who became flesh and dwelt among us.

At the center of our faith is a savior whom the apostle John says we have seen with our eyes, looked at and touched with our hands. And this savior calls us. To come together, to gather together, to do life together, and to greet one another with a holy kiss, or a holy handshake, or a holy hug. And calls us to anoint the sick with oil in the name of the Lord.

Which we are still doing, by the way, even during this shutdown. The Christians in the early church in Acts were. Together a lot in Acts 2:44. We learned that all those who had believed were together.

In Acts 2:46, we're told that the early Christians were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart. This is what Christians do. Which means that all of us should be feeling very conflicted during a time of social distancing and self-isolation. Like what we find ourselves in right now, we should feel frustrated because it is a suffering that we are enduring and having to be physically separated from each other right now.

Our live stream services and Zoom meetings and phone calls and text messages are nice, but they are not the ideal. In fact, they serve to remind us of what we are missing, and they increase our yearning to be together, and I hope you're feeling that. there's actually people who worry. About whether Christians are ever gonna wanna start meeting again once this crisis is passed.

They think that perhaps Christians will have gotten so out of the habit of gathering and become so content with electronic connections that they're gonna wanna just keep doing that. But I'm not concerned about that at all. Tim Challies wrote an article back on March twenty-seventh entitled, If we all stream our Services, will anyone ever come back? That's a great question, and I love his answer.

He talks about how his frequent travels has him being separated from his wife, Eileen. And how he uses FaceTime to stay connected with her while he's traveling. And he talks about how nice it is to have this technology that allows him to hear her voice and to see her face. But then he says, and I quote, yet Eileen never worries that I won't come home.

She is never concerned that I'll conclude. FaceTime is good enough and decide to only ever stay in touch virtually. She knows that while FaceTime may be a blessing, it's not an adequate substitute for the real thing. She knows that before long, I'll do everything in my power to get home, to get back to where she is, to once again be physically present with her.

Why is this? he asked. Because physical presence matters. So while FaceTime provides a togetherness, a presence, it is only ever that.

He goes on to say we are in a strange period right now when for a matter of weeks or perhaps even months, many churches have taken to broadcasting services through the internet. There are some who are concerned that this sudden swell in online services presages a coming decline in actual church attendance. There's some who are concerned that when our churches once again open their doors, many people will be content to remain at home, having now experienced a virtual equivalent.

He then says, I am not concerned.

I am not concerned that committed Christians will reject actual church for cyber church anymore than I'm concerned that committed spouses will reject face to face time in favor of FaceTime. Online church can't and won't satisfy our deep longing to be together as a congregation any more than a video chat will satisfy a husband and wife's deep longing for presence, for proximity, for touch. To the contrary, to use these tools is to be forced to see their most glaring inadequacies.

To use them is to experience how insufficient they are.

They may be good, but they can't and won't be good enough. I share these words to encourage you who are frustrated. Your frustration. Is legitimate your longing is legitimate, and I share these words to challenge you who are a little too comfortable.

You shouldn't be comfortable. You should not be content. You should be longing for the day when we are able to assemble together. In the flesh once again.

You should be like the apostle Paul who wrote to the Roman Christians in Romans chapter 1 and said in verse 11, I long to see you. That I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith. We should be like Paul who wrote to the Thessalonians and said that we, night and day, keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face. 1 Thessalonians 3:10.

We should be like the apostle John who says to his readers in 2 John verse 12, I hope to come to you and speak face to face. That your joy may be made full, and who says to his readers in 3rd John in verse 4, I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face. That's the heartbeat of a committed Christian. from time to time in recent weeks.

I have gotten to see some of you in the flesh. And it's often an emotional experience for me. I've never appreciated the wonder of being in the physical presence of another Christian as I do now. When I do see any of you, I sometimes find myself staring in wonder at the miracle of your physical presence, and some of you have testified to the same experience.

The physical presence of a fellow Christian is a powerful sacrament through which we experience God's presence and God's grace, and this time of isolation is actually, I think, setting us up to appreciate that reality more than ever. Imagine what it's going to be like when we are assembled again on a Sunday morning in the very near future. I don't think any of us who love the Lord will ever take the gathered assembly for granted again. In the meantime, we groan.

And that groaning is wholesome and good. As elders, we accept God's providence in our present circumstances, and we rejoice in the technologies that he has provided for us to connect on some level. We rejoice in the good that is coming from our present circumstances, but we agonize over the physical separation from one another. And we as elders invite you to join with us in our lament of that.

And join with us in our longing that God will. Answer our prayer and enable us to meet together in the flesh in the very near future. There's yet one more invitation that I wanna give to you from the elders at this stage of the coronavirus crisis. Let's word it this way.

Join us in being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Join us in being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. In Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 3, Paul calls upon us to be diligent. To preserve the unity of the spirit.

In the bond. Of peace and we need to hear this call now more than ever. Seismic upheavals are happening along various fault lines that run through our society today. Some of these fault lines actually run through churches and even through our own church here at Cornerstone.

Our country was already a painfully divided country before this crisis began, and this present crisis is now only serving to deepen that divide. God is at work, no doubt, in this present crisis, but so is Satan. And it would be just like Satan to make use of this present crisis to breed division between people. Between different churches and church leaders and to breed division inside of individual churches, including our own.

Cornerstone has enjoyed remarkable unity over its 39 year history, and we must not let this crisis be the thing that Satan uses to destroy that unity. I have little doubt That some churches will not survive this crisis. And I could tell you right now that. For those that don't survive this crisis, it won't be the coronavirus that destroys them.

It won't be our governor. Who destroyed them It will be church members who destroyed these churches, church members who allowed this crisis to breed division among themselves until they were left. Biting and devouring. One another and dividing from one another, just like the Galatians did.

In the first century In fact, let me just put this out here right now. I'm concerned for Cornerstone. And I'll tell you straight up, the church member in our church that concerns me the most. I don't often get specific like this.

But I'm gonna tell you right now, the church member. That I feel most the need to keep an eye on right now. And that church member Is me I was telling the staff recently that I have enough sin in my heart to split this church down the middle 100 times over. And so if I love you, I must be aware of the damage that I can do.

I must watch over my heart with all diligence, and I must say no to my selfish desires, and I must value sacrificial love and the humility of Christ in order to preserve the unity of this body. In James, chapter 4 and verse 1, James says, look at the text here. He speaks to his readers and says, what is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source, Gavin Newsom?

Is not the source the coronavirus. Is not the source your government officials. Is not the source, those people who are to the right of you or to the left of you. Guys, is that what the text says?

No, James says is not the source your pleasures. In other words, your desires or your passions for selfish satisfaction. That wage war in your members. James is saying here, amongst other things, look at the selfish desires in your own heart if you want to find the source.

Of your conflicts If our church becomes roiled in quarrels and conflicts on the road ahead, it's not going to come from the outside. It'll come from sin on the inside. It'll come from the selfish desires that we allowed to run riot within our hearts. And make no mistake, this present crisis that we're in creates a number of very compelling, even meaningful tensions between Christians that the devil can easily use to divide us.

Some Christians feel passionate about getting our economy opened back up because people's livelihoods are at stake, and their motive for this concern is the law of love. Others say that the law of love dictates that we should err on the side of caution and keep things closed down for a longer time to protect people's health. Both sides of this debate are governed by legitimate concerns, and people can be divided by where they are on the spectrum of those concerns. Some people point to the Bible and say that Christians are commanded to assemble together and therefore the government is violating our rights and telling us not to meet.

And others point to Romans 13 and the law of love to justify why it is wise for us to refrain from gathering right now. Some in our church think that our government has overreached, while others are happy with how our state and county and federal officials have handled this crisis. And trust me, by the time this whole thing is over, a division will become evident between Christians who believe in vaccination. And those who don't If a vaccine is ever developed for the coronavirus, this will become an issue.

All such things give the devil ample. Room to foster divisions among us, and he will if we let him. So what should we do? Well, we should be diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace.

We should rally around the Savior that we have in common and cherish the unity that we have in Christ. We should realize the price that Jesus paid to make us unified. We should value the blood premium that Jesus places on us being one. We should realize that the Mount Everest of truth that unites us is more important than what divides us.

We should allow for differences of opinion on matters that are of secondary importance. And we should engage in conversations about these matters with humility and with love for each other as fellow travelers on an unfinished journey rather than from arrogant positions of final arrival. And we have to make sure that we don't give the devil a foothold among us. We should be diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

All things considered, guys, we don't show our love for each other by always agreeing with each other on every particular of every issue. Sometimes we best show our love for each other. By how we love one another in spite of our disagreements on matters. And by disagreeing with the spirit of humility and love and a willingness to learn from one another.

It's so easy in times like this to think that whatever I think is the only sensible way to think and everyone else is misinformed or sinfully motivated when what we should do is realize that we have a lot to learn. And some of what we have to learn may come from that brother or sister who thinks very differently than we do on a particular issue. Since this crisis began 2.5 months ago, I've learned a lot, and I've realized how much more I still have yet to learn. I've learned that Christians who are postured differently from me.

I have things to say that are worthy of my attention. I've learned from them, which means that the needle of my personal orientation is not exactly where it was 2.5 months ago. I'm thankful for those who have agreed with me, and I'm thankful for those who disagree with me. Because I've learned from both and hope that I will continue to do so.

This is an epic time, guys, where we all get a chance to practice the council of Romans 14 regarding how to handle matters of conscience on which we as Christians disagree. This is a time when we get to practice laying down our liberties for the well-being of others. And trust me, when we begin to meet again, whenever that Sunday is, and hopefully it's very soon, things may actually get more complicated for us as a church. On that Sunday.

Some of you will show up thinking we should have opened up sooner, and you've got opinions about that that you wanna share. Some of you will think we should have waited longer. Some of you will want everyone who shows up to be wearing masks, and some of you will think mask-wearing is unwise. Some of you will want us to practice extreme measures of social distancing, and some of you Won't want any of that.

Some of you may want to go up and hug everybody just to show the liberty that you feel to do such a thing and to teach everyone else that there's no cause for fear, and you may stumble your brothers and sisters in the process of doing so. Because they are right now of a different opinion than you. Who knows, it may turn out that our greatest divisions as a congregation will come about after we start reconvening. But I have confidence in the Lord concerning you.

And I also believe that if it is true what Solomon says in Proverbs 13:10, that only by pride comes contention. Then I know that we will stay unified as a church to the degree that we handle all of these matters, all of these complexities with humility. And with love But we're going to have to prepare ourselves. For these issues and to be ready to flex some muscles that we maybe haven't used in a while in order to pull this off and to stay unified in the days ahead.

talking about all of this does not overwhelm me as a pastor because of the confidence I have in the Lord concerning you. Talking about all of this leaves me excited. Because I think we're gonna learn a lot about ourselves as a church, and we're gonna learn a lot about God during the coming weeks. If anyone is interested in measuring the health of Cornerstone Fellowship Bible Church, the next few weeks are going to provide us with a very clear read.

I'm excited about all the ways that we're going to get to apply all that we've learned from God's word over the years and bring it to bear upon the challenges that will confront us in the coming days. These are amazing days. Days in which we reveal who we are as a church, Days in which we get to practice 1 Corinthians 81 Corinthians 10, Romans 14, days in which we get to show the world what a community united in Jesus Christ looks like during very complicated times. Days in which we get to show the world what radical humility and radical love look like in our relationships with each other.

And maybe Just maybe the world will know. That we are truly disciples of Jesus Christ because. We love one another and how we go about doing that. And maybe, just maybe they will think more of Jesus because of what they see in our relationships with each other.

And maybe Just maybe the gospel we preach will loom more attractively before the eyes of a watching world because it's being adorned so beautifully by our loving. And humble behavior. My last invitation to you is to join me in prayer to God, that God will help us. To embrace all of these invitations and to live out the ethic that has been put before us today.

Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we. We are so thankful that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Jesus Christ. We thank you, Lord, for.

Your word, which is. More complex and more rich than any issue we ever face, we thank you for the sufficiency of scripture to shine light upon our path so that we might see our way clear through even times such as this. I ask Lord that you would just pour out a spirit of humility upon all of us here at Cornerstone. That we would seize this epic moment that Is before us right now to.

Shine the light of Christ. Upon A watching world. That we will seize the moment to love one another through whatever challenges these days put before us. And that you will show yourself strong in our midst.

That there will be Wonderful works of grace in every heart. In all of our relationships, Lord, that we will come through this time more unified than ever and more in love with Jesus. Than we've ever been. And with Jesus Christ being displayed from us more beautifully than ever.

We continue to pray, Lord, for our government leaders on the federal and the state and the county. And city level that she will give them wisdom for these extraordinarily difficult times. That you would help them, Lord, to come together and to be on the same page. With one another.

We pray, Lord, that You would cause things to play out in such a way that we as a congregation would be able to assemble together in good conscience, in full submission to our governing authorities. Very, very soon, and we thank you for the indications that we're seeing of the increasing likelihood of that and we praise you for all those who are in government who have been laboring. On our behalf that this outcome would take place. We pray for those in our church who are sick.

A couple that we know of with COVID-19 and others, Lord, who are suffering from sickness right now. We pray for those that are suffering economically as a result of a job loss. Or just from the challenging economic times we're in. I pray, Lord, that in whatever ways that each.

Brother or sister needs. That you would reveal yourself to them and show the full heart of your goodness and faithfulness to them. And in whatever ways you wanna use us in the church as agents of that goodness. And provision of grace, Lord, we offer ourselves up to you and say we're available.

To be used by you to be agents of your Amazing Grace. We ask this, Lord, for not only us here at Cornerstone, we're asking this for. Other churches here in the city of Riverside and in the surrounding areas are sister churches, Lord, that are dealing with many of the same issues that we're confronted with here at Cornerstone. Bless every faithful church in this area and throughout California and bless.

Every faithful church across the globe, Lord. That Amazing things would issue forth from these churches and would go forth inside of these churches, works of your amazing grace. That will bring glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And we ask all of these things, Lord.

In the mighty name of Jesus. And all God's people said. Amen