Good morning (and good early morning to some of you!), This day, midnight to midnight, we have committed ourselves to the normal Christian behaviour of praying deep gratitude to our Lord and asking for new boldness during these times of uncertainty. Thanks for stepping up and praying together.

Two months ago, March 13, SPL officially pressed “pause” on all on-site activities, including gathered worship on Sunday mornings. It’s now May 13. None of us knew what was coming. Early on I was shown a best case scenario of 30% of the population contracting COVID-19, worst case 70%. In a township of 10,000 the numbers would have been 3,000 to 7,000 cases. Currently Uxbridge has 39 cases, Scugog 11, and Brock 2. Praise God! This is WAY below what was initially projected. Thanks to those who sounded the warning and got social distancing in place but no less thanks to our Lord Jesus.

Let’s be clear: we are not waiting around for this to clear so we can get back to “normal.” It’s natural to want things the way we remember them, but the Church of Jesus has never sat on its hands waiting for the comfortable to return. Christians have always understood God to be at work during war, plague, famine, or recession, and they wanted to be active with Him wherever He was leading. So here we are, SPL 2020. Pray this day for new boldness: for open conversations with neighbours, friends and strangers, and for the world to be open to Him.

Last word. The evil one will not be happy. I don’t like to give him much ink but you should know, as you pray, before you pray, there will be all manner of interference. Old temptations, old lies, old guilt or shame. Resentments towards people, unforgiveness, forgotten offenses will flare up. Notice the fingerprints. The Bible says simply: ‘Resist him’ so this isn’t something that needs to bring you fear. My resistance is pretty simple: I use the Bible out loud. You could even read 1 Peter 5:9-11 out loud before you begin to pray.

Thanks to those who signed up for a ½ hour of sustained prayer. Do everything you need to do to stay alert during your slot, get out of bed(!), go for a walk, make a list and pray the list. It’s like running or working out: just stick with it. For those who are still fasting Wednesday night I’ve reserved a ½ hour slot for “fasters” from 6:30 to 7. If you want to pray with me via Zoom, send me an email directly and I will send you an invite.

Our Lord Jesus is good all the time, and certainly, this day.

Andrew