Let Us Come to Church and Worship God in person!
Dear CoaH,
Let us come to church and worship God in person!
We have entered the period of ‘learning to live with COVID-19,’ the idea that Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore, put forward last January. Since then, most restrictions have come down, and we are free to do almost everything as long as we adhere to several health protocols.
We will be wise to accept that COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon and that we are better off finding ways to work around the virus. Many CoaH members faithfully attended in-person services during the pandemic rather than shying away from them. That has been encouraging, and now we see that fewer and fewer members choose to stay home and worship online.
I am glad that Saturday morning prayers are back. There is nothing more important than God’s people coming together in person to pray. We need to do more in-person activities like Life Group meetings, prayer meetings, retreats, outings, etc. We also need to bring back mission trips. Yes, that is right, the mission trips. We need to get back to local and overseas trips soon. Unfortunately, airfares have gone up a lot, making overseas travel more challenging. However, the real barrier is not the flight cost but us. So long as we are afraid of the virus, we will continue to be hostages.
Let us respond with boldness, faith, and resolve for the sake of the Kingdom of God. We must not allow the virus to paralyze our thinking and reduce us to unmotivated people. No, we must rise and gain our lives back. It is time to return to the church life that we knew before the pandemic. If you and your children have not come out to church since the pandemic, I encourage you to do so now. By choosing not to come to church and worship in person, you make a powerful statement to your children about how unimportant worship is. It is time to get off the online worship format and come in person.
The wild animals honor me,
the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise. (Isa. 43:20-21)
May the LORD bless you and keep you safe.
Pastor Minho Song
