Adairsville church of Christ Volume 32 Issue 13 March 22, 2020 126 Summer St. ~ PO Box 346 Worship from home! 770-773-3362 Elders: Steve McCaslin, Mike Smith, Kevin Sutton Preacher: Rick Lawson - 770-773-3362 - bibletoter@gmail.com Coronavirus & Church Attendance Allow me to share a few thoughts about what actions might be appropriate under the current circumstances. 1. The Scriptures provide precedence for temporarily “closing the doors” due to a physical crisis. In Acts 8:1-4, the church in Jerusalem was growing and doing well. Then there arose a “great persecution” (Acts 8:1) against the church. Saul was a part of instigating that persecution, by entering every house and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison (Acts 8:4). While the early church did not have church buildings at this time, they did have places where they assembled to worship, primarily individuals’ homes. But note what the church did when this threat to their physical safety occurred — They “scattered” (Acts 8:1). The assembly places where they once convened to worship were now empty of worshipers. Neither did these worshipers just move a couple of blocks away to another member’s house. The text says they scattered throughout all the regions of Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1). In other words, these Christians who were faithfully assembling with each other to worship, for a time, left their meeting places and scattered throughout the region for their own safety. I would not be among those who would question the faith of these early brothers and sisters in Christ. Their decision to “close the doors” (wherever that may have been) and scatter for a period of time for their physical safety, and probably having to worship in family units, was not a demonstration of their lack of faith or their disobedience to God. If it were, Luke sure missed an opportunity to expose and condemn their error. 2. The accusation that we are setting a “bad example” if we opt to temporarily close our doors is not a valid argument. Some have raised the question, “What will our non-Christians neighbors think?” “If we close our doors, will they think we are more concerned about our physical safety, and our government mandates than obeying God?” But the flip-side of that coin goes something like this, “What will our non-Christians neighbors think if we keep our doors open?” “Will they think we don’t care about the jeopardy in which we are potentially placing them and their families?” “Will they think we don’t respect our civil authorities?” You see, the question of “What will our neighbors think?” cannot be used as a determination for what we should do, for no consensus could ever be reached. As with most decisions we make, concern for what others think should always be a factor, but the deciding factor must be what is right and what is most expedient. Consider how this “bad example” would cause us to have to rethink our early brethren under Roman persecution, who closed their places of worship and secretly worshiped in the catacombs. Should we question their faith and condemn their action because of what their neighbors must have thought about their faith? 3. Arbitrary exceptions fall into the realm of judgment. For example, I have heard some say, “I have no problem with people who are sick or who may be at high risk staying home from the assemblies, but if you’re a healthy person, it would be a sin to be absent during this time. The problem with such reasoning is that it is arbitrary. A healthy sixty-year-old is both healthy and at a higher risk with this virus. So, can they absent themselves from the assembly without sin or not? They’re both healthy and at higher risk. Or what about the Christian who is a caregiver for others who are at high risk? Can they absent themselves without sin, not for their own safety, but for the safety of others? And what if a person is a fifty-nine-year-old and eleven months. Can that person absent himself from the assembly without sin? And now we just start bartering over matters of judgment. And that’s what these are: matters of judgment. I know we like rules with no exceptions. But this is a case that requires discernment, discrimination, and involves the heart and attitude. The issues we are facing at this time are difficult for everyone, especially our bishops. There are countless decisions they can make that fall within the realm of judgment. If the decisions they make in these matters of judgment aren’t the same as yours, they don’t need an undercurrent of discontentment and second-guessing to deal with in such troubled times. What you can do to help them and the church during this difficult time is to live out your faith through your submission to God’s appointed leaders, commitment to unity, and love for all men. -Steve Higinbotham Coronavirus Edition Announcements: ● The elders have decided that for the health and safety of our members, community, and country we will worship at home until April 19th. A sermon will be streamed on the Church facebook page at 11:00 on Sunday mornings. Men will be at the church parking lot to receive the contribution from 2:00 to 3:00 on Sunday afternoons . You won't even have to get out of your cars! ● If you need communion supplies please contact the elders. ● If you are in the parking lot at 11:00 you can tune in to 87.9 on your car's FM radio and hear the sermon live. ● The elders hate to take these steps, but they would hate even more if our vulnerable members became ill, or heaven forbid, died from a preventable infection. ● If you have questions feel free to contact your shepherds, they would be happy to talk to you about this! ● Pray for a minimization of the Coronavirus. And all the victims in our area, especially! ● If you need anything let us know and we’ll help! Brian - 706-346-9661 Steve - 770-878-0483 Rick - 770-773-3362 Happy birthday: Davis Chapman 3/23 Cindy DeRome 3/23 Kayann Boswell 3/26 Naomi Caudill 3/25 Lanie Smith 3/27 Rebecca Caudill 3/27 Nathan Woodring 3/27 Zach Ogle 3/28 Anniversaries: None this week Preacher training: Taylor Kubala --MSOP Robby Eversole --Tri Cities DO THE FIVE Help stop coronavirus! 1. HANDS - Wash them often 2. ELBOW - Cough into it 3. FACE - Don't touch it 4. FEET - Stay more than 3ft apart 5. FEEL - sick? Stay home Prayers Needed: ● Jackie Owens is feeling much better. ● Kay Smith has been quite sick. ● Ann Reneau has been moved to a memory care facility. ● Taylor Kubala has accepted a work! He’ll be preaching at the North Marshall congregation in Calvert City, KY. ● At the time of writing there were 56 confirmed cases of Covid-19 here in Bartow county. ● Stay home and help flatten the curve! Ongoing prayers: Timmy Murphy, Nicholas Holbert, Jozelle Smith, Jerry Boswell, Fran Eueller, Ann Reneau, Davis Chapman, David Parker Cancer: Joan Brady, Darlene Payne, Loraine Barge, John Williams Ways to study from home: Last week’s contribution: $2,819 Drew’s podcast “Weathering the Storm” - https://www.buzzsprout.com/804461 Gospel broadcasting Network - https://gbntv.org/ Apologetics Press - Home Study Courses - http://apologeticspress.org/homestudycourses.aspx Free sermons from Polishing the Pulpit - https://free365.polishingthepulpit.com/ Memphis School of Preaching Lectureship videos - https://msop.org/archive/ Check on your friends! Look us up: Adairsvillecoc.com Sermons broadcast locally on 87.9 FM. Search “Adairsville church of Christ” on Facebook! Our Deacons: Brian Holbert, Terry Woodring Scheduled events: ● May 30 - Super Saturday VBS!