As we regather, we will remember the counsel of Bishop Gohl that we do so with love and care for each other.  There will be no judgement regarding our members’ decisions about when to come to church. Each person will know that whenever they feel safe and comfortable with gathering, they will be welcomed with Smiling Eyes!  The timing will vary for all of us.
In reviewing guidance from CDC, WHO, Delaware Guidelines for Worship, and the Delaware-Maryland Synod and ELCA guidelines, the following are our considered procedures:
UNIVERSAL PRECAUTIONS

• Do not come to church if you are feeling unwell. This includes if you feel sick and experience cough, fever, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, loss of taste or smell, fatigue.
• The emailed weekly materials will continue. Those receiving regular mailings will continue as well.
• Signs are posted around the building reminding people about masks, social distancing and cleanliness.
• The congregation will wear masks at all times.
• Hand sanitizer will be available and used immediately upon entering the building 
• On Sundays the entrance to the church will be through Narthex doors only.
• We will have greeters at the door asking for basic information solely for contact tracing.
• In the sanctuary an usher will assist you in finding your seat.
• In accordance to 6 Feet social distancing. Seating will be every other pew as designated by tape marked on the pews.
• Families may sit together in designated areas of the pew
• Although the best information states that COVID-19 survives just up to 5 days on paper, there will be no hymnals.
  • A single sheet bulletin will be printed and placed on the pews where you sit.
• No vocal projection by congregants
  • Humming of hymns only in conjunction with the organ/piano
  • Occasionally a soloist in choir loft may sing the first verse of opening hymn and hymn of the day
  • Portions of the service typically said in unison will be at whisper volume
• To Promote Social Distancing. Which is 6’ of distancing
  • No sharing of the peace
  • No passing of the offering plate – these will be placed for drop-in use at the back of the sanctuary and in the fellowship room
  • No hugging (sorry!)
  • Ushers will help find seating (as needed) and with 6’ distancing from front to back

Dismissal will be by ushers in an orderly manner.

• Those who make use of the Bathroom will be expected to wipe all surfaces with provided disinfectant and towels
• We will revisit communion during our services at a later date.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
With much prayer and discernment, we have made the difficult decision to cancel services this coming Sunday, March 15.

We are taking steps each week to access and be thoughtful about our response. At this time, we are still planning to resume services on March 22 but not serve communion and encourage everyone to share the peace without touching.

I am advising all other groups that are meeting this week to be thoughtful and consider if a meeting is absolutely necessary.

We are also canceling our remaining Wednesday Soup and Service Evenings.

Our Tuesday Food Pantry will continue, but we are working on making procedures to limit interactions while still providing for those in need.

Much of the precautions we are a response to the recent local response and the consultation of other Pastors and Churches.

The Episcopal Diocese on the Easter shore has canceled service for three weeks.

Grace of God Lutheran in Millsboro will be canceling services until Palm Sunday as well. This is due to the fact that all Senior centers in Delaware will be closed, and they meet in the Cheer center.

St Peters Lutheran in Ocean City has canceled this Sunday’s service and all other activities.

The local Delaware Libraries has canceled all scheduled activities until March 31.

We feel we are doing what seems appropriate to local response and best practices at this time.
In the meantime, we continue to be people connected through our faith in Jesus Christ. Our Delaware-Maryland Synod and Bishop Gohl will be providing an online worship experience on Sundays at 10 AM. They will stream online via Facebook and YouTube. I will post links and instructions as they are available.
I will send a reflection on this Sunday’s readings and offer a meditation for Wednesdays through Lent via email and our Facebook page.

The current coronavirus situation is difficult for all of us. I have been in constant prayer about how we as a community deal with a world in crisis. We have fear and anxiety. We are called to acknowledge our fears, anxieties and frustrations. And continue to respond in trust to God.

This Sunday’s Psalm is Psalm 95. It is usually sung as a canticle for morning prayer.
O come, let us sing to the Lord;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God,
    and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
    the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
    and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down,
    let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
7 For he is our God,
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    and the sheep of his hand.
 
This Psalm is a call to worship God, the Creator of heaven and earth. We remember that God is our God, and we are his people. Let us continue to trust God, knowing that we belong to him and are cared for by our Creator who loves us.
​
Be Kind to One Another. Check-in with one another during this time. Pray for each other. Remain in Hope, Keep the Faith and Endure with Love.
Blessings,
Pastor Mark

“All you need is Love” as the familiar Beatles Tune goes. What does it mean to love? To love our Neighbor. To love our country. To love our enemies. To Love God?

1st John chapter 4 is one of my most favorite and challenging passages

1 John 4:7-21
 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So, we have known and believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgement, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

There are several things that this passage tells us about love.
Love is always the first. We often forget that: we put conditions or prerequisites on love. I’ll love you when, or I’ll love you if. These build barriers and prevents us from loving others and even prevents us from thinking we are loved. God loved us first. That is the gospel.

Why does loving first matter? With God, or with other people in your life
 
Our love of God is reflected in our love of others. Martin Luther in his small catechism, reminds us clearly of this in every explanation of the 10 Commandments. In every instance, we are reminded that we are to love God, SO THAT we can love and serve our neighbor. This is seen clearly as an example in the 4th commandment of honoring father and mother in which Luther explains “We should fear and love God so that we may not despise nor anger our parents and masters, but give them honor, serve, obey, and hold them in love and esteem.”

Would others know how much you loved God based on your actions?

Love is alive and active.  To me, this passage encapsulates what the love of Jesus is. We celebrate a God who is not distant but alive and incarnate in the world around us. Love is not an object we can possess; it is an action that first comes from God and is then given to us so that it can be shared. Love is a verb that is experienced. As we are loved, we change, and as we love others, they are changed. For most people, the only way for them to know the love of God in Christ Jesus is through your actions.

A line from a St Francis prayer of peace states, “For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned.” Do you find this to be true? Does this passage express this sentiment?
 

On Pentecost Sunday June 9th, we celebrate the Holy Spirit’s miraculous manifestation in the wind, tongues of fire and the disciples speaking many languages. What a dramatic scene to think about. If such a thing were to happen in our church today, we might be like those in the crowd and say, “they must be drunk or something.”

We can become settled in our ways and our understanding of what God is doing. Other times I think we are waiting for a dramatic moment like this one in Acts. We can be resistant to the Holy Spirit with a sense of, we’ve done that before, or we can’t do that here. That’s crazy.
One thing I know for certain is that the Holy Spirit is continually moving and being poured out upon God’s people if we just have pay attention.

When we read the 3rd Article of the Apostle’s Creed:
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

We are invoking the Holy Spirit. The one who makes us a community of believers unites with all the saints past and present. We are claiming the power of forgiveness and resurrection. Woah! Martin Luther reminds just what this powerful gift is for us.

 I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.
This is most certainly true.

The Holy Spirit gives us the wonderful gift of faith. We are also reminded of the many other gifts we are given. In our hymnals on pg. 231 these words are read to all being baptized:
 Stir up in this person the gift of your Holy Spirit: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord, the spirit of Joy in your presence, both now and forever. Amen.

This is my prayer for all of you. Take some time to read this prayer. Read it with your name in the prayer. These gifts have already been given TO YOU. If you feel like you don’t have them, pray for them again. God daily gives you what you need. Baptism is a wonderous and continuous gift. It more than just a sprinkling of water on your head. It is God’s promise being made to you through water and the word. It is the Holy Spirit poured out on you, forever!  You have gifts of wisdom and understanding, Counsel and strength, Joy in God’s presence.

The Good News of Jesus and the wonderful Gifts of the Holy Spirit are intended for all people. Just as God made it possible for people many languages the ability to hear the Good News through the Disciples. God makes it possible for us to be witnesses of God’s amazing love for all who need to hear it. God’s Holy Spirit calls, gathers, strengthens, and gives us faith, hope and joy in a world in which they can be difficult to find.

How are you using the gift of the Holy Spirit? How are you helping others recognize these gifts in themselves?

The Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) is one of the best-known Post-Resurrection stories from the Gospels. As we continue in the Season of Easter, we continue to make sense of what it means the Christ is Risen.

On the Road, Two disciples who are still baffled and confused by how quickly Jesus was caught up in scandal, executed and apparently rose from the dead. I would be hard pressed to comprehend what all took place. In their confusion, Jesus shows up and points them to the bigger picture. We often get so focused on our immediate circumstances we lose sight of what God has done and what God is doing. In the coming weeks take a moment to lift up your head from current circumstances and allow God to paint a bigger picture.

In this story, we are also reminded that God promises to show up. They didn’t notice Jesus as he quietly listened and then spoke words of hope and compassion. They noticed Jesus when he broke bread with them. What are those moments in your life in which God is revealed? Sometimes I see God revealed in a kind word from a stranger, a note from an old friend when I’m feeling down, or just playing with my daughter who is the embodiment of wonder. I also know as Lutherans, we have faith that God shows up at the Communion Table every Sunday. We know that God shows up in the water and the word at Baptism. Martin Luther reminds us to remember our Baptism when we wash our face or take a show. Christ’s love is there.

Among the many things that Resurrection teaches us, it is that Christ is always with us. As Romans 8:38-39 assures us “ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Read the Road to Emmaus Story. What do you see? How do you live in Christ’s Love every day? How can you show and remind others of this love? That is the Good News.

Pastor Mark