The eldership team and I are so thankful to God for providing us with a church building to use for this season, and we are super excited to hopefully being able to see each of you this coming Sunday at the Greentown Nazarene-Church at 10 AM! The building is vacant and will only be used by Identity Church. Thank you to all who have been praying and to the team who came out to clean, sanitize, and set up the building for this Sunday’s service.
We believe according to Hebrews 10:25 that mentions, not forsaking the assembling of ourself together, that it is important for us to continue to come together as one corporate body to worship and glorify God together as THE church. With this being said, as we continue to stay open with our in-person service, we will continue to offer live streaming for those who can’t make it, may not yet feel comfortable coming or are at high risk, and asking those who may be sick, having symptoms of COVID-19, or been exposed to anyone with COVID-19 to stay home.
There will be no children’s ministries for this coming Sunday, but this will be reevaluated on a weekly basis by the eldership team. We ask that families sit together in the service and for parents to look after their own children. We will be providing a small activity bag for children, and parents will have access to a cry room located in the vestibule.
We encourage the following precautions when gathering:
- Maintain social distancing as much as possible and abstain from handshakes, hugs, etc.
- Encourage anyone that is in one of the at-risk group to stay home.
- Anyone displaying cold-like symptoms, including, but not limited to, coughing, excessive sneezing, or cold chills, stay home to ensure the health of others.
- Wash hands regularly. Use hand sanitizer if washing hands is not possible. Best practice is to not use hand sanitizers any more than 5 times before washing hands with soap and hot water for at least 20 seconds.
- Encourage anyone who has traveled overseas recently to remain at home until symptom-free for fourteen days.
For your safety, hand sanitizer will be available throughout the facility and hand soap in every restroom and the church building will be carefully cleaned and sanitized on a weekly basis.
I will leave you with these thoughts as we are planning our gathering for this coming Sunday. Let’s make sure that we support one another and present a unified voice in our community. Ephesians 4:2-3 (AMP) teaches us that we should “with all humility [forsaking self-righteousness], and gentleness [maintaining self-control], with patience, bearing with one another in [unselfish] love. Making every effort to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the bond of peace [each individual working together to make the whole successful].”
It is very important to walk in love as we take a stand for our faith and for what we believe to be the absolute truth. Galatians 5:6 teaches us that faith is working through love. I have learned that many times the reason my faith is not working is because I am not walking in love. The apostle Paul told the Romans in chapter 14 that we need to be sensitive to our brother’s conscience and not judge. As a church we are made of differing backgrounds, differing mindsets and opinions. Yet, we must be able to honor the positions and opinions of our fellow believers and even to agree to disagree when necessary. This doesn’t mean that we all have to agree on policies and procedures as we reopen, but we need to be very careful to not criticize or judge what the church or each family may be doing or planning – especially publicly.
If you have a concern please contact the eldership team personally. Our community is watching us, let them know us by our love for each other and our commitment to working together. May we be known by the fruit of the Spirit.
I know and trust the fact that each of you are praying your way through all of this. God will give each of you the wisdom and discernment on how to move forward and lead your families. May lives be changed and all we say and do be for the glory of God.
Online Giving
Many of you worship through your giving and generosity, and we are so appreciative. For those who will be joining us via live stream, online giving is available at the following link: https://app.sharefaith.com/app/giving/halopays-4761
Text Giving
Text any amount to: 330-576-8822
Philippians 4:19-20
19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Please join us:
Sunday, May 31 at 10 AM
Greentown Church of the Nazarene
10031 Cleveland Ave, NW
Greentown, Ohio 44630
Live streaming link at: https://youtu.be/b91qi-h1kvg