Hello church family,


I wanted to give you guys an update on our church services in this ever-changing situation that we’re in. I’m sure most of you have heard by now, the guidelines for how many people can meet together has just become smaller and smaller. At the beginning of the week it looked like the limit was fifty and the suggestion was 10, and then the next day at noon through a conference call with the governor, it was clarified that 10 was the limit now and not much of a suggestion. And that limit is at least for the next couple of weeks, and then they will reassess the situation.

That being said, concern for our congregation and to honor those authorities God has placed over us and that we are praying for (Rom. 13; Titus 3:1), we are going to be doing what a lot of churches are doing and closing the church doors Sunday morning and take more advantage of our online resources like many schools are doing. It’s not out of fear or faithlessness, but out of love for others and honoring the Word of God.

On Sunday morning we will have a partial Sunday service through Facebook live, starting at 11 am. I will give announcements and share the message and afterwards upload the video to the website. As always, I will make the sermon notes, bulletin and power point available online on our website as well at chadronberean.org. I apologize that we won’t be able to do the singing element of worship but it is actually a perfect time for our team to take a break and I mentioned last week, we have been having some serious technical difficulties with our sound booth computer and so we are going to be putting in a lot elbow grease into that the next couple weeks. This gives us time to do that. God is good working that out.

I know that there are a handful of people who want to do things a little house-church style, still singing together and praying together and watching the FB live stream together. I think that’s a great idea and I’m excited about that fellowship, however we won’t be organizing anything major and don’t recommend it for anyone whose health is compromised or getting up there in age. To any significant groups meeting I will try to have notes printed and ready for your group Sunday morning. Last Sunday we began a really exciting and new study in the gospel of Mark, studying what it is to be servants like the Savior. If you missed that introduction to Mark, be sure to catch up. This week we will be in Mark 1:1-8 studying the servant John the Baptist.

One of the things I’ve already had questions about is with the church offering. One way you can still worship God through your giving is by coming down to the church sometime throughout the week and dropping it off in an offering box that the Regiers are making, OR you can mail them directly to Lois Chizek.
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Thank you so much church family for your support and understanding. As the board, we put a lot of thought and prayer into this ever-changing and unprecedented situation we’re in. Keep praying the Lord uses this to draw folks to a saving knowledge of Himself. I am hopeful He is using and will continue to use this for good and for His glory. I remind us of Psalm 62:8, “Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him, for God is a refuge for us.”
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Love you guys. Take care.

Pastor Justin

Dear beloved church family,

With the growing concerns over the COVID-19 coronavirus, I felt it pertinent to write and update the church family on where Chadron Berean is at regarding our approach to the situation and to encourage you. Obviously, we care deeply about everyone’s spiritual health and physical health.

As of noon today, local medical professionals affirmed that there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in western Nebraska. That being said, we plan on continuing on with all of our normal church services and activities, with the exception of our fellowship dinner planned on the 15th. With concerns from fellow members and for fellow members, we have decided to cancel it, choosing rather to be safe than sorry until we know more or things calm down. We will remain prudent and flexible, making adjustments to our services should it hit closer to home and taking extra precautions to clean our church surfaces thoroughly, including the nursery toys. Should any changes be made to our services, we will update our church family through email, Facebook and our website’s blog page.

In the meantime, we recommend and encourage that everyone coming to or going home from church take advantage of the hand sanitizers at each entryway or even better, wash their hands thoroughly. With any sort of food or drink preparation at or for CBC, we ask that you think of others and be consciously even more sanitary than usual. Use common sense as you would with any heavy flu season. For the sake of others, medical professionals recommend staying home if you are sick, especially with a fever and cough as those are common symptoms. Also, if you think you are especially vulnerable to or at high risk this acute respiratory illnesses, stay home as well. You can keep up with sermon notes and audio that is available online at our website, chadronberean.org. If you don’t have internet available, contact our church office and we will make sure someone gets the message to you.

Here are a few things I would encourage our family to do in this distressing situation: Pray, pray, pray.
-          Pray for God to protect our church family and loved ones and neighbors and that we would find relief from this soon.
 
-          Pray about how you can be the compassionate, loving hands and feet of Jesus to your neighbors in need during this time.

-          Pray in such a way to guard your heart and mind from anxieties or worries. Exchange fear-based feelings with God’s supernatural and incomprehensible peace (Philippians 4:4-7).
 
-          Pray for God to use this to bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. God is not working less during times like these. Rather, He is working more. These are the situations God uses to make people stop and think about eternity. This world is so busy sometimes that it doesn’t stop to think of God, except in moments of crisis. As we talked about last week from Psalm 65:7, God can bring the nations to stand still, just as He can still the roaring and tumultuous seas. I was reminded this week from 2 Chronicles 15:4, how Israel had forgotten God and because of it, they encountered much distress but, “in their distress they turned to the Lord.” I believe God is doing something similar now through the current distress. He is not wringing His hands and wondering what to do… He is on the throne and working things for His glory and for good.

Thank you for your patience and prayers. See you Sunday for another great morning of worship!
 
Pastor Justin