Faith, Community, and Service in Crisis

I've told you for years that the heartbeat of our churches our small groups and that you're not really gonna feel a part of our church until you're connected to a small group in our church family you know in many ways Saddleback Church is going to be much better suited to weather the storm of this coronavirus outbreak than a lot of other churches because we have members that have been a part of weekly small groups and studies for literally decades in fact we have more people attend small group studies every week then attend our typical weekend services about 30,000 people will show up on a weekend but over 40,000 attend one of our 8,000 plus small groups which are now located in over 200 cities. [00:15:35]

The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want and then down in verse four it says and even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me right now we're going through the valley of the shadow death this coronavirus is deadly for some people we don't know some say 1% some say 2% who've gotten it have died others have just had mild reactions but I decided to title this message walking without fear through the valley of virus because many people are have already died from this virus now we already know in advance that this virus will not last it's a valley that we will walk through and we're gonna walk through it together. [00:21:12]

The Bible places a big emphasis on getting the facts before you ever make any major decision or take any action in life and so I want to give you some things that I want you to remember and would you write these down number one number one fact remember not everything I hear is true that'll calm you down a little bit remember not everything I hear is true proverbs 14 verse 15 the message says this the gullible Eve gullible believe anything they're told but the prudent sift and weigh every word not everybody who speaks on the internet or on social media or on TV or on the radio knows what they're talking about not everybody who's talking about this crisis is worth listening to so as your pastor I'm first telling you be selective realize not everybody knows what they're talking about. [00:26:10]

Remember this will pass okay it didn't come to stay it came to pass it's not going to last we're going to go through this together as a church family you're not gonna be alone we're gonna go through this and it's not going to last and you need to trust God in this so you're not embarrassed on the backside of it do the things that that the doctors tell us to do do the common-sense things but realize it's not going to last every virus is a bell-curve and they're trying to knock that Bell down through isolation and quarantine and things like that. [00:33:32]

Remember to focus on what is unchanging remember in the days ahead during this crisis focus your life not on what's changing but on what is unchanging we know there gonna be a lot of changes in the days ahead remember all the changes that happen after Katrina remember all the changes that happen after 9/11 there will be changes that happen in the world and in every country in your country wherever you are the teeth the stability is to focus on unchangeable truth when everything around you is up in the air focus on what never changes in the days ahead that'll give you stability don't focus on what's ever-changing because we don't know where it's all going to end up. [00:37:40]

Remember that no matter what I go through God will go through it with me every stage every phase every crisis no matter what I go through God he's gonna go through it with me you will never really ever be alone God is with you doesn't mean you feel it all the time but God is with you God is not a feeling he's with you right now God has never been closer to you than he is right now he'll never be any further away than he is right now and remember the great promise of Isaiah 43 verse 2 when you go through deep waters I will be with you when you pass through the rivers of difficulty you will not drowned when you walk through the fire you will not be burned up it will not consume you. [00:40:18]

Remember that God wants to use me to help others God wants to use me to help others God doesn't want to just take you through this crisis God doesn't want to just protect you through this crisis God wants to use you through this crisis this is the difference between how believers and others handle pain and believers we see it as an open door every need in our world is an open door every pain every hurt habit hang-up is an open door to find that need and fill it to find that hurt and heal it and so in the days ahead here at Saddleback Church I'm talking to you our family we will start many many new ministries out of this I don't even know what they're all gonna be but they'll pop up you're gonna come and up come up with him and think of him. [00:44:58]

Historically Christians have always moved into the pain when everybody else moved out thousands of years ago the Black Plague the bubonic plague ran through the Roman Empire and nobody knew the cause of it they certainly didn't know about viruses they didn't know about bacteria they didn't know about infections they didn't have any of the scientific tools we have today and millions and millions and millions and millions of people were dying in the cities it was called the Black Plague and all of the people began to flee the cities thinking that maybe the cities were causing the plague what did the Christians do they actually moved into the cities to take care of the sick and that's how the Roman Empire was converted they looked at them and they said see how they love one another. [00:49:05]

I promise that you're not gonna be alone in this crisis we're going to face this crisis this coronavirus together we may not be able to meet in big groups but we can certainly meet in 8,000 small groups that's called fellowship and the Bible says in first Corinthians 12 27 together you are the body of Christ and each one of you as a part of that body we will communicate with you every day I promise you that we will communicate with you either by email or by text or by social media we're not gonna let you get isolated now if I don't have your contact information then I I need to get it from you and I'll tell you about that in just a minute so you can help me get your contact information so we can stay in contact with you but I promise that you're not gonna go through this alone. [00:54:18]

I promise that we will serve you if you get sick that's our ministry that's our ministry we have cared for the sick for 40 years it's part of our DNA it's the see of the peace plan we've had practice caring for the sick for nearly 20 years in the peace plan and even before that with our care ministries so I promise you that if you're in this church we will serve you if you get sick don't worry about it you don't need to worry panic number four because we're a Purpose Driven Church I promise you that we will continue to offer worship experiences through our small groups you don't have to worship with 5,000 people to worship jesus said where two or more gathered in my name there am I in the midst of them and we will be offering you the same worship experiences with our worship teams and our worship leaders and our bands that you would normally get on Saturday or Sunday services at your campus whether you're in Buenos Aires or Manila or Berlin or Hong Kong or anywhere else. [00:59:05]

Father I pray for every person watching this video or listening to this wherever they may be and I ask that you give them a spirit of calmness give them the peace that passes understanding the peace that is so unusual that there's no reason for us to be at peace because there are a lot of there's a lot of fearful things in the world but may we be a witness of peace and calmness and tranquillity and joy and confidence and faith and love to the world around us we know that the darker the night gets the brighter the stars shine may our lives shine in the darkness may we outshine the darkness may we serve those who are in pain may you use even this bad thing that's happened for your glory and your growth of your kingdom. [01:05:39]