St Matt's plan in the face of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Developments with COVID-19 are moving at a rapid and constantly evolving rate. The leadership of St. Matt's have been closely monitoring the situation. We understand that a lack of decisive action can lead towards more infections unless we take the step of social distancing seriously. As a result, St. Matt's have stopped meeting face to face indoors for our church services. We will now meet individually before the Lord in our own homes. This effectively makes you the leader or facilitator of St. Matts church in your own home.
This effectively makes you the leader or facilitator of the church in your own home,
We realise this will be challenging for many of us, however we constantly encourage people towards Jesus and wholehearted commitment to His church - so we urge you to tap into the Whatsapp church group (St. Matthew's Connect) and/or to use the suggested weekly Bible passage. By no means should we shrink back from Christ as he gives life and life to the full, but for this coming season we are exploring alternate ways of meeting, uplifting each other in Christ and being the church. This means that you should set aside a definite time in your household every week (we suggest Sunday at the usual meeting time of 10:00 am). During this time, you can lead or facilitate praise, Bible reading, Bible learning, prayer, worship, and suitable activities for any children in your group, using video links and online resources You should seek to have a positive and fruitful time together, even ending your time with a morning tea or a meal.
We are thankful that we live in an age where we can still meet together using technology, without risking infection. As far as possible, please regularly check out this website, and be in touch with those in the church and your local community via phone calls, texting or our church WhatsApp group.
Every one of you is dearly important and loved by us and the Lord. We know that whenever we die, we will go home to be with the Lord, because we have accepted the generous offer of salvation that Jesus gives to all who genuinely turn away from wrong and put their trust in the solid foundation of Christ.
Meanwhile, may we encourage you to persevere in your faith. As Isaiah 8 : 11 - 13 says:
The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said, “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble.
As this situation progresses we encourage you to:
Monitor our site for further updates as the situation unfolds.
Where possible, set aside some time every Sunday for facilitating St. Matts church in your home
Look beyond yourselves if you are able - encourage and check up on your brothers and sisters in Christ and anyone known to you who is vulnerable.
Continue to press into God during these days, by reading the Bible, listening to God, worshiping, praying and by Christlike action.
If you're able, please switch to electronic giving, you can find more details here.
Please refer to the Health Department website for the most up to date details: https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert
Love and blessings to you all!