Friends,
Greetings in the Jesus’ powerful name! I am so thankful for all of you. I am reminded of Paul’s words to Rome, “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.” Hearing of your faithful prayers, ongoing studies, and merciful works makes me overjoyed in calling Central home. And still God calls us to a brighter tomorrow.
We remain in extraordinary times. Our prayers are with you and yours over the gatherings, travels, non-gatherings, and zoom calls this Thanksgiving weekend. We are doing a great job of practicing the 3 W’s (Wash your hands, Wear a mask, and Watch your distance) here at 1425 E Main St. – please keep this up wherever you go in the coming weeks so we can do our part to keep numbers low as we are riding this wave of cases into December.
At Central, we are again asking those of you who are able to please join us in worship virtually at your homes. We are hoping these measures along with what we asked last week, will keep allowing enough space for those who cannot worship from home comfortably to still gather well.
I know these are hard times as our memories carry before us past years and the many gatherings we have grown accustomed. The laments in Scripture are full of such cries – yet they all find their way leaning into both God’s future promises. “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) We may not be able to do what we once did, but we still have the same call – to give glory to God and follow Jesus wherever he calls.
And so knowing your love, I remain excited about our work at Central to transform this world. Though we are distributed throughout Wayne County and Ohio, we can be like yeast in dough or seeds spread broad. In our homes and in our conversations, we can daily attend to our prayers, readings, conversations, service and more. We on staff look forward to continuing conversations about how we can further resource discipleship in our homes. We can grow in Christ while apart so we can shine brighter when we all gather together.
My prayers are with you, and I hope to ‘see’ you on Sunday – both in the service and on Zoom following.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Joseph
