• http://lockwoodchurch.org/media (listening time: 20:11)

Covid-19 has people feeling more than a little nervous. My wife Karen went to the store today and came home without some things she intended to purchase – panicky shoppers had cleaned out the shelves. Gratefully, we still have the staples—co ffee and fruit snacks.

History is full of scary times: famines, plagues, and wars. Some of you can still remember the sleepless nights and anxiety you suffered during the Second World War. I was a boy during the height of the Cold War, when our school had occasional “bomb drills.” It was scary stuff. For many of us, 9/11 seems like only yesterday.

History is full of scary times but behind history is a strong, loving God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. When times are at their darkest, that’s when the people who know God shine the brightest. Every crisis is an opportunity for salvation history to leap forward, as the church courageously trusts God and treats people with sacrificial love.

In Ephesians 3:20-21, the Apostle Paul describes our God as “him who is able.” He is able during a crisis. He is able during a pandemic. He “is able to do immeasurably more that we can ask or imagine, according to his power…” That power is already at work among us to accomplish great things. Let’s work with it. Let’s take advantage of every opportunity this crisis affords to trust God and love people.

(Note: we live streamed this sermon on Facebook for our members who could not come or chose not to come because of Covid-19. If you’d like to view it, check out this link: https://www.facebook.com/LCCFamilyMinistry/videos/533190877578050/?q=lockwood%20family%20ministry&epa=SEARCH_BOX. The sermon begins at about 20 minutes in. This is our first attempt to live stream and the video is a little fuzzy at times.)