Friday, March 20
Hi Living Word Church, This is Pastor Daniel. I hope and pray this email finds you well. So as many of you have seen, we have a new ministry plan and schedule for our Church in response to the coronavirus. If you haven't seen that yet, check it out at www.livingwordworcester.com under the COVID-19 Response tab. As that plan says, we have designated Fridays as "Love Your Neighbor Day". Jesus said the greatest commandment is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37 & 39). So even while we are practicing good social distancing (which is itself an act of loving our neighbors during this time) we are still going to obey this command of Jesus! And of course we are called to Love our Neighbors everyday...not just Fridays. But every Friday you will be hearing from me about how we can do so. Here is what we are inviting you to do:
Every Friday, Pray for your Neighbors: this includes your literal neighbors in your area, your extended family, friends, co-workers and anyone else God lays on your heart. Biblically speaking, all these and more are our neighbors! As a Church we are inviting everyone to pray "8 for 8": pray for at least 8 minutes a day at 8am or 8pm or even both
Check-In with at least 5 Neighbors: text, call or video chat with them and ask how they are doing. And offer prayer, and support if it is welcomed! Here's my Personal example: Today and tomorrow I am going to try to reach out to some of my extended family members who I know are particularly susceptible and also live in areas of the country that have been significantly impacted by the epidemic. I am also going to reach out to my neighbors in China who I developed relationships with while on missions trips and find out how they're doing. And I will also check-in with some of my immediate neighbors.
Some other things you could do are:
Go grocery shopping for your neighbors: ask if they need anything, pick it up and drop it off at their door.
Share an encouraging Scripture. There are so many to choose from!
Invite them to worship with us this Sunday at 10:30 via Facebook live or via our website
Email me back and let me know if you have any other ideas about ways we can Love our Neighbors during this time.
God Bless you and I look forward to praying with you "8 for 8" and worshiping with you all this Sunday morning!
Pastor Daniel