COVID-19 Response
The news regarding COVID-19 seems to change by the hour. Our calling as God’s people is to love the Lord and to love our neighbors. Right now, the most important thing we can do to love our neighbors is to not contribute to the spread of this disease. Therefore, all in-person activities at First Baptist Conroe are cancelled until April 12. The offices will also be closed. As things change, we will update our plans.
We will stream our worship service live each Sunday at 10:00am. It will also be archived for viewing anytime. You can access the service on our church’s website, Facebook, or Youtube.
If you have any problems accessing it, please contact the church office. I will also continue my Tough Questions series on Wednesday nights at 6:30pm through those same venues.
I will also send out a daily prayer emphasis to everyone who is subscribed to our First Moments email. If you’re not subscribed yet, here’s a link:
Main Street Kids and FC Student Ministry participants will be hearing from Kathy and Michael, respectively, very soon as well. Meanwhile, we are exploring other things we can offer in digital form, and we will let you know when they are available.
Please let us know how you’re doing! We will do our best to stay in touch with you, but if you are sick, hospitalized, or need anything (even if you just need to vent your frustrations or anxieties!), please let us know. Contact your Life Group leader, a deacon, or call the church office (936-756-6601). We will maintain regular office hours, so you can also make an appointment to see one of us. Hospital visitations are restricted these days, but we will do the best we can.
It feels surreal—even wrong—to cancel church events. Our time together on Sundays is literally the high point of my week, and I hate the idea of missing it. But then I remember the very first Christians. After the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), when 3000 people were saved, there was no place in Jerusalem large enough for them to meet together. Even if there had been a big enough facility, they were looked down upon by both Jews and Romans, and such a large gathering would have been immediately broken up. They didn’t even have Sundays off; Sunday was a regular work day in Jewish life. Yet Acts 2:47 says the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. Within a generation, they were known as these men who have turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). Clearly, one big meeting each week isn’t what the Lord needs in order to use us. I am praying that one of the ways God will work “all things together for good” in this crisis is by reminding us that church is not something that happens on Sunday mornings; it is the Body of Christ, and we’re part of it 24/7. I am hoping we will find new ways to strengthen and encourage each other, and to glorify Him by loving our community well.
What can you do? Here are some suggestions:
- As much as possible, lay low for a while. Remember, the point of these restrictions is to make sure the virus doesn’t spread so fast that it overwhelms our medical system (as it is currently doing in Europe). Again, the most important thing we can do to love our neighbors is to not contribute to the spread of this disease.
- Check on someone every day. Your phone call to someone (a church member, a neighbor, etc) may be their lifeline in this time of isolation. Ask if they need anything. Share resources if you are able. Tomorrow, call someone else. Make sure you check on a new “someone” each day.
- Prayer walk your neighborhood.
- Give: We as ministers of FBC will be operating on very restricted budgets for the foreseeable future. We want to keep our church financially healthy enough to respond to the needs that arise in our membership; those needs are likely to be much greater in the days ahead. In addition, we don’t want to curtail any of our missions support. So please continue to give to the ministry of FBC. You can give online, talk to your bank about starting an automatic withdrawal, mail us a check, or bring it by in person during office hours.
- Pray: Subscribe to First Moments and join us in praying every day for a specific emphasis.
Friends, we are in the midst of what the Bible calls a trial. There are three things I know about trials: One, they are temporary. This time in our lives will pass, and we will be able to come together again in corporate worship. Two, they reveal what is true about us. I am hoping and praying that this trial reveals that the people of First Baptist Church love others more than themselves. I absolutely believe that’s the case. Three, God goes through our trials with us. Jesus told His disciples one Thursday night, In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. Hours later, He died for their sins and ours. On Sunday, He was alive again. Think about it: Would a Savior who loves you that much abandon you now? Of course not. Would a God that powerful ever fail you? No way. We are in very, very good hands. I look forward to seeing what He will do in and through us in this trial, too.