5 My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God my salvation and my glory rest; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. 8 Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.
(Ps. 62:5-8 – NASB95)
I want to share some personal thoughts with you this weekend about your church staff. In recent months when very few people were around to watch them, they were working very hard. When under “stay at home orders,” they were working very hard. When we were limited to 100 people coming each week, they were working very hard. When it went back to livestream only again, they were working very hard. Now that we are allowed to have an unlimited number come for outdoor services (with masks and social distancing), they are working very hard. I can’t begin to tell you how grateful to God I am for these dear saints who continue to serve, study, watch Webinars, sanitize, maintain & repair, clean, make phone calls, pray, administrate, strategize, teach, preach, counsel, meet financial needs, implement regulations, record & broadcast livestream services, plan outreach events, handle financial matters, etc., etc., etc.
Would you please take the time to praise God for them and pray for them? Ask the Lord to remind them of what the verses say in Ps. 62. Ask the Lord to encourage them deeply. Would you also take the time to thank them? A card, email, text message, phone call with some encouraging words would go a long way. They miss you. They miss personally seeing you benefit from all their hard work. They miss talking to you and hearing how you are doing, finding out what the Lord is doing in your lives. They long to see you grow in the Lord and bear much fruit for His glory. It would mean a lot to them if you would let them know how you are doing, what you are thankful for, and how they can pray for you.
Would you do two more things to bless your church staff this coming week? 1) Come to the Sunday evening worship services that starts this Sunday, August 9th, at 6pm. Yes, we are going to wear masks and practice social distancing by family groups, but seeing you, hearing you sing God’s praises, and partaking of the communion elements with you will lift their spirits. 2) Participate in our Police Department Appreciation Outreach. We have contacted the police departments in the Valley and told them we want to bless them with a free meal (In-N-Out truck) and some personal, hand-written cards to each employee. The response back has been overwhelming. It will cost about $2,300 per police department and there are four departments in our area (West Valley, Van Nuys, Devonshire, and Topanga). You can make a donation on the church website to “Local Outreach” or send a check with “Local Outreach” on the memo. We will provide a meal and cards for as many of our police as we can afford. Why will this bless our staff? Because the local police have been so very good to our staff when we have needed to call on them. They have truly protected and served us in too many ways to count. On top of that, they generously provided headphones during our “Every Generation Conference” so we could translate the conference for Spanish speaking people. They have been and continue to be a blessing. AND, they are incredibly discouraged by what has happened in recent months. Many are retiring early, and some are considering quitting. We want to show them how much they are respected and appreciated.
Bless your church staff this weekend. Join them “in person” at the Sunday Evening Communion Service and participate in their outreach to our local police departments.