Dear WCC Family,

We will be in online church only for the month of December. This was not a decision made lightly. The elders moved to this decision after much discussion and prayer and ask that you continue to pray for our church, our staff, and our community. Below is some information you need to know for the next month:

While we will have a pre-recorded singing time and sermon, our facility will be open to host watch parties of the worship at 9:30 am this Sunday. If you desire to gather in-person to use the watch party as a time of worship in the church building, we only ask that you wear a mask while you are in the facility.

Be looking for the advertisement of our Christmas Eve worship service. We plan on broadcasting our Christmas Eve worship service on Facebook and YouTube every hour from noon until midnight on Christmas Eve.

Our new sermon series starts this Sunday. “Songs of Christmas: From Prophecy to Testimony.”

I’d also like to offer you some encouragement as we work through the next month:

First, I encourage you to read Romans chapter 12 through chapter

15:13. Here you can find some proactive ways to live that honor God and share the love of Christ with others. I think that we have taught well enough at Wilmington Church of Christ that the work and function of our church (the people) continues even when we don’t gather in-person. Romans 12-15:13 help flesh out what we are supposed to do even when we are unable to gather.

One particular sentence from Romans 12-15:13 stood out to me as I write this email: “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12”

First, would you take this verse and memorize it before next Sunday? And be sure to meditate on it, as well. Start by making a list of all the ways and reasons we can be joyful in hope. First on my list, is God uses trials to help me take on the character of Christ in more meaningful ways. Please email me your top three reasons you can be joyful in hope even during this season of frustration.

Second, allow this Word from God to renew your perseverance. Being patient in affliction is no easy task, but it is a command from God, nonetheless. I love how God is “longsuffering,” teaching us how to endure and remain faithful to the very end. Please email me back a name of someone you know who has shown Holy Spirit inspired patience in the face of affliction.

And third, keep praying. That word “faithful in prayer” used in Romans 12:12 is the same word from Acts 2:42 where the early church was devoted to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and to prayer. This “devotion” is a “constant attention to” or “a perseverance that does not give up” type of attitude in prayer. Keep praying! Keep praying for our church, our community, our government, our physical health and our spiritual health. Let’s use this tribulation to strengthen our faith and help our brothers and sisters in Christ to strengthen theirs.

Thank you for your patience and flexibility and prayers over the next several weeks.

In Christ,

Dale

PS: One more encouragement: As you read the passage above from Romans, you could try being a house church yourself, just like the first church that read Paul’s letter. Invite a family or two into your home this Sunday to have a watch party. Practice the hospitality Romans 12:13 mentions. Worshipping with others in-person has a unique way of encouraging us.

PPS: Finally, be sure to share with your friends and family that do not have internet access the phone number 888-382-1207. This number calls into a recording of our worship service that can be listened to over the phone.