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Due to the ongoing COVID-19 precautions we will NOT be meeting for Sunday morning worship services during the month of April.
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EASTER SERVICE! Pastor Rick is going to be recording a video sermon for Easter Sunday. It will be posted on our website and Facebook and linked via email. If there any of you who want to contribute a video message of love or faith to go along, please contact Dennis Bolt dbolt@phcs.org, and we can help get your video out to the congregation! He is Risen!
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April 1, 2020
Occidental Community Church family,
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." Philippians 2:3-4 These words of Paul echo the teaching of Jesus when He gave the commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:39
This is the guiding biblical principle which has prompted our church to comply with the order prohibiting public assemblies during the COVID-19 outbreak. Additionally, we respect the rule of law in our country, and unless a law issued violates a law of God we are biblically instructed to obey that law (Romans 13:1-7). Our decision to suspend Sunday worship services for now is the right thing to do. We believe that this is not a denial of our faith but an affirmation of our faith, as we seek both to love our neighbor and to obey the law of the land. I say this, because while most churches are in agreement, there are some who are unwilling to comply with this order. And their justification for continuing to meet is based on what they believe are biblical grounds as well.
Tony Spell is pastor of Life Tabernacle Church in a suburb of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a state with one of the highest per-capita virus death rates in the country. He considers the order to ban gatherings of more than 50 people in his state to be politically motivated, unconstitutional, and unbiblical. "We're free people. We're not going to be intimidated. We're not going to cower. We're not breaking any laws," Pastor Spell said recently from the pulpit. The church continues to use its fleet of two dozen buses to bring hundreds of congregants to services three times a week. Last Sunday, 1265 worshipers attended morning services Pastor Spell said. "This is America we're living in right now, where people are being persecuted for their faith. I'd rather die than kill the church," Spell said, framing the pandemic as a test of faith. "If you can't stand up to COVID, don't expect to stand up to a man called the Antichrist!"
Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne of the River at Tampa Bay Church in Florida continues to defy local regulations designed to stop the spread of the disease. "I've got news for you. This church will never close," Pastor Howard-Browne told his congregation on March 15. "The only time the church will close is when the Rapture is taking place. This Bible school is open because we're raising up revivalists, not pansies!" Historically, Rodney Howard-Browne was a part of the "holy laughter" movement associated with the Brownsville Revival of the late 1990's. During this current COVID-19 outbreak, he even suggested that God would "multiply toilet paper rolls" if supplies ran low. On Sunday, March 29, the county sheriff issued a warrant for Pastor Howard-Browne's arrest. "I believe there is nothing more important than faith in a time like this, but practicing those beliefs has to be done safely," explained the sheriff.
These two churches are in the minority of the churches in our land. Most churches, large or small, have stopped holding services until this virus is contained. If the order had been to stop preaching the gospel of Christ or teaching the Bible, that would be something to resist. But the current order is to suspend gatherings and assemblies temporarily for the purpose of protecting the entire community from disease and death, not to forbid practicing our Christian faith. And for this reason we comply.
When Israel was in captivity in Babylon, a false prophet named Hananiah was preaching that God wanted the Jews to resist and oppose the godless King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. But God told Jeremiah, "Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them." (Jeremiah 29:8-9). God added, "Also seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." (v.7). This is what we at Occidental Community Church are doing - seeking the peace and prosperity (and well-being) of our community as well as our nation, believing that as our community wins the battle against the virus, we win too! Thank you for standing with us in these extraordinary and challenging times.
Trusting in Him,
Pastor Rick
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Stay in touch with your church family!
Even if we are not fellowshipping together please keep in virtual touch!
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