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commumity

2020-03-22 Message- Social Distancing, Mud, and Spiritual Connections

By Intersections, Sermons

How are you doing? No one will remain unaffected by this pandemic. Covid-19 presents an unprecedented global health crisis that increasingly threatens lives and our quality of life closer and closer to home. Travel bans. School closures. Fear, uncertainty, and anxiety are among our responses while social distancing is necessarily becoming our default behavior along with thorough hand-washing. Don’t beat yourself up if you feel fear. Listen again to last week’s message and the admonition from 1 John 5:4: Faith overcomes fear as we let God’s word hold us, not fear. We live by faith.

Social distancing is not a modern invention. In the message this week from John 9, we will meet a man who experienced social distancing; from his family, from his neighborhood, from his religious community, too. No one wanted him close. Except Jesus. Let’s not confuse social distancing with spiritual distancing. Remember that Jesus is as close as a friend, offering living water that satisfies our deepest thirst, and connects us to the presence of God, opening our eyes to see!

Plan to join us on Cold Spring Worship Online at 10:30 AM on Sundays. Read the scripture readings, the Lenten devotional, and the digital worship worship guide. We can practice spiritual closeness and social distancing at the same time!

How will you safely practice social distancing but stay spiritually close to others who need you? To others you need?

What has God done for you? With whom will you share that through a phone call or email this week?

Think about a time when Jesus corrected an incomplete understanding and brought healing?

Could this health crisis be an occasion for more radical care, greater compassion, and wider inclusion, or will we miss the opportunity to show the love of God to those most in need of it?

Get connected this week. Pray. Give thanks. Thank you for supporting our mission to energize spirits and transform lives in new ways! Be safe as you live by faith.