ALL CHURCH EMAIL

 APRIL 23, 2020

Dear Road Church Family and Friends,

My prayer for all is that you are well in body, soul and spirit. During the past four weeks we have been “all together as a church” in our homes. I have enjoyed staying in touch with you, and I encourage you to share any joys and concerns you may have with each other by email or phone. Anything you share with just me will be held in confidence and added to my personal prayer list.

One of my prayers is that God will grant all of us patience through this period of sheltering in our homes, and that our eyes would be opened to see its positive side and the good that will come out of it. In my message last week I mentioned that nothing is just “one thing.” “Doubt”, for example, is neither all bad or all good. Sometimes our doubts hold us back when we would be better off moving ahead. Other times our doubts save us from making bad decisions.

The same is true of sheltering at home. Rather than focusing on what we can’t do while this pandemic lasts, I suggest that we try to “redeem” these homebound days. Redemption is finding something good in an otherwise unpleasant situation. As they say, “When life gives you lemons make lemonade.” Try to see these days as opportunities to attend to things that got crowded out of our lives when we were too busy to get around to doing them. Or, maybe these days are opportunities to “be still and wait upon the Lord.” Quiet time can be time well spent.

If you are looking for something to do, you might read the wonderful story in John chapter 9.  It is about a man born blind whom Jesus healed, and the extended controversy that this good deed caused. It involved the man, his neighbors, his parents, the Pharisees, and Jesus. It’s entertaining, and it makes a very important point: People with 20/20 vision can still be blind to what’s really important in life.

This story will be the subject of my message this weekend.

Blessings to Everyone,

Pastor Norm Erlendson

860-759-6720 normerlendson@gmail.com