Brothers and sisters,
The church council has made the difficult decision to cancel worship and all activities on Sunday, March 15, 2020. We will also monitor the situation and possibly cancel all activities for March 22.
All of us know about the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. One way to slow the speed of its advance is “social distancing” including avoidance of gathering in large groups. We do have families in our congregation who have members with compromised immune systems. Therefore, the counsel made the difficult decision to cancel.
Are we overreacting? Possibly. However, we did not make this decision out of fear, but out of prayerful consideration and careful research of what is best for our community and church family.
I know we will all miss worshipping together. I encourage you to worship individually or better yet as a family. Dads, share something from God’s Word with your family. You can do this! Worship is more than just hearing sermons but adoring our great God. In my private worship, I often go to this link https://sovereigngracemusic.org/music/videos/ and use those music videos as an aid to my worship. I also use worship music videos found on youtube.com.
Finally, Sunday, March 15 is a called day of prayer for the coronavirus global pandemic (See below). Please join with me in prayer for this on that day.
If you have questions or comments, feel free to contact me.
Bob Ray, Pastor, East Madison Baptist Church
4917 Milwaukee St.
Madison, Wisconsin 53714
Church Phone (608) 249-3779
Website: embclife.org
Day of Prayer for the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Global Pandemic
Sunday, March 15, 2020
In light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic, we are asking all Southern Baptists and our 47,500+ churches of the Southern Baptist Convention to commit to a dedicated time of prayer this Sunday, March 15, 2020, to seek the Lord in unity about these matters:
- Ask God, in His mercy, to stop this pandemic and save lives—not only in our communities but around the world, particularly in places that are unequipped medically to deal with the virus. (Isaiah 59:1-2)
- Pray for President Donald Trump and other government leaders—international, federal, state, and local—to have the wisdom to direct us in the best courses of action for prevention and care. (Romans 13:1–4)
- Scripture says—teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts. Pray that the Lord will give us wisdom in this moment of fear as the foundations of what we know are shaken, that others would realize how fragile life is and how real eternity is, and they would see their need to turn to God. (Psalm 90:12)
- Ask God to protect our missionaries and their families around the globe, using this global crisis to advance His Good News to the whole world. (Mark 16:15)
The Great Commission Council of the Southern Baptist Convention