Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I don’t know if you are aware of it, but this past Sunday, at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, protestors entered the sanctuary and began to shout “Justice for Renee Good.” (Note: the photo above is a generic stock photo of a church). You can read more about what happened here: “The FAQs: What Should Churches Do When Protest Enters the Sanctuary.” To be clear, protests are not permitted in private property (such as a church) even when open to the public for worship. So protesting and disrupting a worship service is not a protected first amendment right. It is in fact punishable in Massachusetts by a fine of up to $1000 or one year of imprisonment.
This incident at Cities Church, while condemnable, also points us to remember that Christians are persecuted throughout the world – often with much worse consequences than a disrupted worship service. Last year, Voice of the Martyrs held a national conference titled “From the Field.” You can watch videos from the conference here.
If you are moved to pray for peace in worship services in the states, pray also for peace and protection for our brothers and sisters internationally! And pray that we Christians would continue to be salt and light to those around us, that others may know the hope of the gospel.
Also, you may have heard that we have a snowstorm coming this weekend. Just a reminder of the policy for Weather Cancellation. The decision for cancelling or rescheduling will be made by the Senior Pastor, the Elder board Chair, and the Deacon Chair. Our priority is your safety. And we will let you know updated plans as soon as we can. Please check our website landing page (cbcgl.org) for the most up-to-date information for CrossPoint Community.
Please continue to pray for the nations of Israel/Gaza and Ukraine/Russia and Sudan. Here is a suggested list of prayers if you are at a loss for words in how to pray: https://send.org/story/hh_pray_for_ukraine. And https://worldrelief.org/blog-prayer-for-israel-and-gaza/ And here are other prayers for peace in general: https://worldrelief.org/prayers-for-peace-in-the-world/ Thank you for kneeling on behalf of the people of Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Gaza and Lebanon, and Sudan, and taking a stand (or a knee in prayer) against the forces of darkness in this present age.
Further announcements can be found in the weekly spotlight. And other church wide announcements can be found in our weekly bulletin.
For Prayer:
1. From Bishop J.C. Ryle – “To be prayerless is to be Christless, Godless, and in the high road to destruction…It will always be found that when prayers are few, grace, strength, peace, and hope are small.” Please join our Wednesday night prayer meeting (7:45 – 9:00 pm) even if you can’t participate the whole time.
https://zoom.us/j/758587937?pwd=aS9sZUdxcm1janNNM2I2aXJ6Smx2QT09
Meeting ID: 758 587 937
Password: 030086
Join by phone: +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)
2. We’d be glad to pray for you. If you need prayer, you can submit your prayer request via the following link: https://www.cbcgl.org/pray/
In Christ, your servant, SDG,
Pastor Nathan Willems
Associate Pastor of CrossPoint Community – A Ministry of CBCGL