Coronavirus Update «

April 5, 2020 Service

Posted on Apr 5, 2020 in General |

Here is our church service for April 5, 2020. We hope it can lift your spirits and draw you closer to God.

VBS UPDATE

Posted on Apr 2, 2020 in General |

AN UPDATE FROM OUR CHILDREN’S DIRECTOR CARMÉL REGARDING VBS THIS SUMMER:

Dear families,

I hope that you are all well. I am sure that shelter in place and lockdown orders present many opportunities, as well as challenges, and we are praying for you!

As you may know, our VBS was scheduled for the week of June 8-12th. Much has changed since we chose that date.

California schools will not resume in person classes for the rest of the school year.

We have decided that in the interests of health and safety, the prudent thing would be to not have VBS on our campus this summer.

Our goal is to bring VBS to you this year. This is certainly uncharted territory. Please pray for us as we continue to pursue ministry to your families.

In the meantime, please follow our Sanctuary Kids YouTube channel,

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDdq1unt9hFAsfiRo9iqNaw

and check emails from us for updates, and links to fun videos, challenges, and activities!

On behalf of Sanctuary Kids Min,

Carmél

March 29, 2020 Service

Posted on Mar 29, 2020 in General |

Here is our Online Service on March 29, 2020. We hope it is an encouragement to you.

March 28, 2020 Update

Posted on Mar 28, 2020 in General |

Dear Church Family,

How’s everybody doing with your ongoing “Shelter in Place?” What a profound change to the way we are used to going about our daily lives! And plenty of dire news if you have a penchant for following it! But what a sweet confidence to know with absolute certainty that we are solidly in our great God’s absolute care. He knows each one of us intimately, and He allows nothing to cross our paths that has not first passed His review. We can trust the One whose “faithful love never comes to an end.”

The following are updates on general church family prayer requests and news:

1) Our missionary, Eva Pauley made it safely back to Oregon from Uganda, and our Albanian national missionaries, Kujtim and Marjana Haxhia were able to safey get back to their country. But our Children’s Ministry Director, Carmel Grillo, will be delayed in her South Africa for the time being. Please pray for her family here and for safe travels when she gets the green light to return.

2) From our Elders’ gathering this past week:

a) Our church family is well connected through smaller ZOOM groups, phone and email connections, and more are offering to help than we currently have known needs – call the church office (832-624-5551) and leave a message if you are aware of any in our Body needing care,

b) We are going to use Faith Hall as a temporary Shelter in Place home for 13 I-Help women during the month of April or until the SIP restriction is lifted, whichever comes first,

c) We’ll make a decision about the possibility of an Easter gathering late next week when we have more information about the then-current state of affairs.

3) A couple of notes of praise for God’s kind answers to our prayers:

a) Chuck Hewett came through serious open heart surgery beautifully on Thursday and is now recovering nicely. Please pray his recovery continues well.

b) Congratulations to Kim and Christine Williams on the safe birth of a new granddaughter, born to son, Mark, and Julie…more details from them to follow.

What a commentary on life…real joy and cause for praise in the midst of real concerns and increased sorrow for many. Again, how good to be solidly in the care of the One who promised, “In this world you will have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world!”

Looking forward to our video gathering on Sunday morning!

Pastor Dave

March 22, 2020 Service

Posted on Mar 23, 2020 in General |

If you missed our service on YouTube, here it is. Hope you enjoy it and it is an encouragement to you!

Sunday’s Message

Posted on Mar 19, 2020 in General |

We wanted to let you know that we will be recording a video message from Pastor Dave and have it out to you by Sunday. We will video record his message and you will find it here on our website, as well as on our YouTube page and Facebook.

Here is our YouTube page:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGve4MieFNtUTrTCt9uMPpQ

March 18, 2020 Update

Posted on Mar 19, 2020 in General |

Dear Church Family,

What a great time to be secure in the good care of our sovereign Savior! While none of us could have anticipated this challenging COVID-19 time, we now have the opportunity to live out these days with a peace from God and a confidence in His leading “that transcends all (worldly) understanding.” He has a good plan for our growth others’ blessing!

As you are well aware, our governing authorities have mandated a “Shelter In Place” policy, limiting our ability to physically come together for worship. Not out of fear, but out of a deep concern for protecting the most vulnerable among us, we are following this governmental directive. We are not gathering for ministry activities at the corner of Schulte and Carmel Valley Road until further notice (hopefully resuming the week before Easter).

But our church is much more than the location where we typically gather. The Sanctuary body is people…people who are following Jesus. So, we are now looking at creative ways that we can stay in touch and continue to encourage each other in our growth and witness for Christ.

Already many in our body have taken the initiative to personally reach out to others in our fellowship, expressing concern by phone and email, and looking for practical ways to be an encouragement. The examples are too many to list here, but “Thank You!” to all of you who are extending your care to others in our church family, and beyond. Please keep it up! All that I am aware of in our church body are currently doing well, but I’m sure needs will surface as this current mandate continues.

For all of you who are involved in a midweek ministry connection (H2H, men’s studies, small group gatherings, etc), I would encourage you to take the initiative to find ways to stay in touch and continue your studies if possible. I know that our Youth Pastor Tyler, Children’s Director Carmel, and AWANA Commander Brad will be sending you encouragement to stay the course in learning opportunities.

Our staff has just started using the virtual meeting tool, ZOOM, as a way to keep meeting remotely. If you’re not familiar with this tool, you can download the app and use it for group communication (with audio and visual capability) with any digital device. It’s very user friendly for any group where each member has access to a digital phone, pad, or laptop with camera.)

Over the next couple of days we will also be exploring ways to create a link from our website to content that we will post on Facebook, Youtube, etc. We do not currently have the capability to produce livestreamed worship services, but we will be using the tools we have to find the best ways we can to continue to encourage as many of you as we can to be strengthened in God’s Word and in your times of worship.

That being said, I also want to challenge you to take the initiative to stretch in new ways in your family and personal times of getting into God’s Word, lifting up your voices in worship, and prayer. This can be a rich time of learning and growing together as a family. (My message to you this weekend will grow out of Romans 12, the passage I’ve encouraged you to memorize and meditate on this year.)

Hopefully, this gives you some idea of our current direction. I’ll be the first to admit that our staff and leadership are taking this a day at a time, recognizing that we are vitally dependent on God’s leading and grace. Let’s keep praying for eyes to see, and a heart to pursue, redemptive opportunities created by these unusual circumstances. How good to know that we are following the One who sees and governs this situation with absolute clarity!

Blessed to be walking with you in step with our Savior,
Pastor Dave