¹⁰ do not fear, for I am with you,
do not be afraid, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.

If you were worshipping with us at 9:15 am (Heart of Worship) on Sunday, March 29, you saw Lindsey Ivey, one of the members of our Praise Band, open the service with this scripture. I say that you saw her, but we had some technical difficulties that resulted in terrible static on the outgoing feed in the early moments of that Facebook Live stream, so you might not have heard her read the scripture.

But the 9 members of our worship team that morning did hear her calming voice sharing what we felt was God’s word to us as we began worship on a Sunday in these strange times:

“Do not fear” our God says, “For I am with you.
Do not be afraid, for I am your God.”

It was a wonderful way to be called to worship.

Those words are always comforting, but maybe even more profoundly with the constant news of a virus that threatens the health and the welfare of our world.

Thanks, Lindsey, for bringing good news.

Prayer

As I think about what is happening today in our world, our nation, our county, our community, our church, our families, I need to be strengthened and helped by You, O God. What keeps me from being afraid is the promise that You are with me, and that You are indeed my God. Amen.