Holy Week in a Strange Season

Recently, the government announced that the stay-in-place order, prohibiting social gatherings in order to keep the spread of the COVID-19 virus at bay, would likely continue at least through month of April. Currently, over half the world is under stay-at-home order, and that order will likely continue until further notice.

I’ve enjoyed seeing the creativity of churches around the world stepping into the void left by community gatherings. I have also been encouraged to hear stories of our community stepping up in various ways—it reveals to us and to our world that our love for one another is not restricted to physical presence, but is motivated by compassion, care, and self-sacrifice. As much as I miss gathering together with you (also, preaching to a video camera is weird), I truly believe that this is an opportunity for Christians around the world to practice hospitality, grace, and love in new and powerful ways that are not restricted to a building or common gathering space. The church is not the building in which we meet; it is the people whom God has gathered in himself, who are made alive in him, and who express love and obedience to him and build one another up, day by day.

BUT, WHAT ABOUT EASTER?

In a couple weeks, churches around the world, including ours, will be celebrating Holy Week (Passover, Good Friday, Easter Sunday). Every year, we take time to celebrate the final days of Jesus’ life and his ensuing resurrection, overcoming sin, death, and the curse of destruction we brought upon ourselves. This is a powerful season in the church, one that draws visitors and new faces, one that reminds us of what we do, week in and week out, and why we do it. It’s a beautiful picture of God’s love for us, and our identity in him as our old selves pass away, and our new selves are born anew in him. And yet, for the first time in a long time (perhaps even for the first time in our church’s +120 year history), we will not be gathering together for Holy Week. Not physically, that is. Instead, we will have three online services, with worship and teaching, to be observed and shared in homes, as families and individuals. Even as we remain apart, we will together observe Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday, to reflect on the night Jesus was betrayed, the day he was killed, and the morning he rose again.

How we experience these days will depend largely on the involvement and intentional reaching out of each one of you, to call or text or email or write a note to your church family, encouraging them in this time and reminding them that their family is still here, loving them and longing to return to them once more.

A NOTE ABOUT COMMUNION AND GIVING

A couple helpful points of interest for you regarding our gathering together. First, you may be wondering about communion. Since we cannot come and share it together, can I do it by myself? Andrew Wilson’s article is a helpful resource here; to summarize, since communion is a communal act, we will be waiting to observe this together as soon as we can regather as a community. This waiting builds within us an eager anticipation, a hopeful longing to share in the grace of God that accompanies the physical meeting together.

At the same time, if you desire to remember the gift of grace in Jesus, as he body was broken and his blood poured out for you, please do so! Our time apart is an amazing opportunity to practice what we call “Spiritual Disciplines,” habits and routines that draw us closer to God, focus our attention on him, and align our wills and our lives with his. Take daily moments to pray, to read Scripture, to fast, to practice silence and solitude, and to Sabbath. Our time apart is not a vacation from God; rather, it is a time to lean into his presence like you never have before.

Now, since we don’t meet, can you still give? The answer is yes! We want to continue to meet the needs of our community, to inspire you in hearing from God’s word, in directing you with prayer and encouragement, to meet the physical needs of those who are suffering, and to show generosity in a world searching for a grace-filled hand. If you are able and still desire to give to support the mission and vision of First Baptist Church You can still mail an offering to:

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
PO Box 2020
Cottonwood, CA 96022

Or, you can give online! Giving online is perhaps the safest and easiest way to continue supporting your church family financially. Online giving is secure and reliable; give it a try by clicking on the link on our homepage.

DON’T GIVE UP

Every day, every week we are apart, I miss you all the more. Pray for one another, call one another, share your lives and your needs with one another. May we long for the regathering of Christ’s church, to meet together as a redeemed people.

It is easily forgotten that the fellowship of Christian brethren is a gift to grace, a gift of the Kingdom of GOD that any day may be taken from us, that the time that still separates us from utter loneliness may be brief indeed. Therefore, let him who until now has had the privilege of living in common Christian life with other Christians praise GOD’s grace from the bottom of his heart. Let him thank GOD on his knees and declare: it is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren.

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Life Together”

Jacob Parodi
Teaching and Vision Pastor