July 14, 2020

Dear People of Grace, Grace to you and peace from God and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

St. Paul wrote to the Christians in Galatia: Do not grow weary in doing good, for in due season, we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

I’m sure that, like me, you are weary – weary of the virus, weary of the “lockdown,” weary of the masks, maybe even weary of the four walls of your home. And it goes on and on.  Nearly 300,000 cases in Florida and nearly 4500 deaths. And the statistics for Polk County in the last week are equally disturbing as we have seen significant spikes. We are weary. Thanks be to God that we are not in this alone and that, true to his promise, Jesus is with us always.

Of course, we don’t know how long this will continue. As we have heard, the virus is in charge of the schedule. Yet, because of our love and care for one another, we will continue to keep safety and health as our top priority. Safety means that we wear masks – not so much to protect ourselves, but rather to protect those we come in contact with since we can feel perfectly healthy and still transmit the virus to those around us. Safety means that we do not gather in large groups but rather in small groups for brief encounters – as we did when we dropped off items for Rez House and for VISTE. Safety means that we observe physical distance when we are away from our homes.

In addition to physical health, we also tend to  our social and spiritual health, even as we are unable to be together physically for worship and service. We gather spiritually for worship on Sunday mornings as we read the Scriptures, offer the prayers, meditate on God’s word. And on Thursdays for Evening Prayer. This is recorded and can be viewed at your convenience by going to our website – www.gracelakeland.com. The Livestream tab is found on the right side of the page. And we gather for fellowship using technology available to us – email, phone calls, texts and even video gatherings using Zoom. Our next Zoom call is Saturday, July 25 at 10:30. It’s a fun time to check in with each other and be reminded of our love and care for one another. If you want to join us, let me know and we will email the link to you the day before the call. This is new technology to many of us and we are happy to lend a hand as you start using it. Our service for this month is “Christmas in July.” We’ll have drop-off times the next two Sundays from 11:00 – 12:30. Stop by. We’d love to see you!

Over the coming weeks there are a couple of changes. The written Bible Study that is emailed will be posted on the website and will be the basis for a Zoom Bible Study on Wednesday evenings starting next week, July 22nd. The Zoom call will open at 6:45 for some chatting and fellowship and the study will start at 7: 00 and will conclude by 8:00. We are also working on further use of livestreaming in other ways. We appreciate your prayers as these are developed and implemented.

I am grateful for each of you and so glad that we are in this together. If you would like to chat or have a pastoral conversation, please don’t hesitate to let me know. If you have a prayer request you would like included in our prayers on Thursday and Sunday, please let me or the church office know. If you have questions or concerns or otherwise want to share some thoughts, your Council and I look forward to hearing from you.

May God bless you and yours during these difficult times.

In Christ’s love, Pastor Pam