Sunday, March 22, 2020

Born for such a time …

A message from our executive director, Dr. Terry Goodwin

Did you ever get that feeling? It is as if fear, anxiety, calm, and a sense of destiny all roll into one. The feelings are so intertwined that you can’t separate one from the other. As I watch a surreal scene unfold around me I can’t shake the feeling that I was made for such a time as this.

I have been preaching about the decline of Christianity and the institutional church for many years. Sometimes to opposition. Many times to deaf ears. Occasionally someone connected to the message. Now here we are sitting in the new normal. A world of “social distancing”. Churches around the country scramble to get live feeds online and add electronic giving options.

The survival of the institution appears to be at stake. Limitations and restrictions on gathering divide churches and leaders. What are we to do? We are the church and Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail against us. He was not speaking of the building or the institution. In fact , not many years later He destroyed the very symbol of that institution – the Temple.

We are in fact living in one of the greatest opportunities for the church in my lifetime. We have the hope of the world – Jesus! The very things that many people have placed their hope in are crumbling around them: stocks are plunging; government structures, the healthcare system and public schools are all struggling to adapt. Things are changing rapidly around. The fear of the unknown future grips more people each day. God is not shaken.

People are scared. Many are shut in their homes. They are lonely, afraid, concerned about getting food, medicine, help if an emergency arises. It is time for God’s church to rise up and meet the challenge like David met Goliath on the field of battle. We have the technology to organize and mobilize. We can still make disciples even if we can’t assemble and that is the greater command of Christ.

My destiny is to help Christians see the opportunity, get equipped to take hold of it and unite us all to serve the poor, widows and those most at risk from this pandemic. Please don’t do nothing and wait this out. There are millions of vulnerable people around this country that need us now more than ever. They need our Lord and Savior more than ever. If we rise up together the church will come out of this stronger and more united than ever before. It might not be wrapped in the institutional form you have grown so used to but God never promised to sustain the form. He promised to sustain His church, which is you and me.

Please connect with us. Fill out the virtual volunteer form. We can help those most at risk from this virus and we can do it from the safety and comfort of our homes. We can still fulfill the commands of Jesus to love our neighbors as ourselves. We can be the bearers of the hope of the world. We can still fulfill the Great Commission and build God’s kingdom through this pandemic. Go to this link and fill out the form.

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