What a roller coast life is! Ups and downs and twists and turns keep us constantly reminded about our need for the strength that only God can provide. The past year has been full of these regular reminders but we have increasingly seen that God is at work and that we are beginning to have a sense of hope for our way of life returning to some sense of what we might consider “normal.”
With the COVID numbers in our county indicating that while we need to remain wise, there is most certainly light at the end of the tunnel.
So is it time for you to re-engage? I won’t presume to know what’s best for you or your situation, but I do want to encourage you to prayerfully discern the value of re-engaging. With more and more people either having received the vaccine or beginning to make decisions about their quality of life, I wanted to let you know that here at the Vineyard we are committed to a number of values:
- Creating & maintaining a safe environment. By this we mean safe both in relation to physical health, emotional & mental well being, and spiritually.
- Following our best understanding of the science. Christianity that is positioned to be anti-science is not rooted in the teachings of Scripture or a very holistic approach to following Jesus. We thank God that he has gifted people to study and engage in the scientific process and have done our best to discern how to best interpret the data(!) and apply its findings. Pray for our continued communal discernment as we continue to move forward.
- Worship & community matters. We have seen a growing number of people who have struggled with mental and emotional challenges and have seen how important having a space for worship and community to take place is. We will continue to do our best to lean into these areas!
We have so much to be grateful for! Our three Easter services were a huge success and we had a lot of people return for the first time in over a year! And while it felt like somewhat of a kick in the face to find out that a handful of us got COVID, I have to tell you that we are grateful that it was only a handful of us and that we are more committed to seeing the kingdom come here in Red Bluff than perhaps ever before!
We love you and I can’t wait to see you, whether you continue to join us in person or if you stay engaged on our YouTube and Facebook. We’ll have some updates on the future of our gatherings soon, so stay tuned! We’ve reached the point where we really have to respect each other and realize that people have to make the best decisions given their convictions while doing so in love and extending kindness to one another!
In Christ’s love and grace,
Pastor Luke
