CoronaVirus Archives - Faith Lutheran Church, Wesley Chapel

Congregational Survey Regarding Starting In-Person Activities

Kurt Steinbrueck May 22, 2020

Special Posts CoronaVirus, COVID-19, worship

Congregational Survey Regarding Starting In-Person Activities

We want to know what you think.

Florida is starting to reopen its economy and is easing coronavirus restrictions. The Council has been meeting to establish a plan for restarting in-person worship and activities. In this post is a 10 question survey to help us understand the congregation’s thoughts on meeting in person.

It would be very helpful if you took a few minutes to complete the survey. Thanks!!

Please complete and submit the short survey below:

Moving Forward In These Challenging Times

Kurt Steinbrueck March 21, 2020

Special Posts Corona, CoronaVirus, COVID-19, worship

Moving Forward In These Challenging Times

There’s an old saying, “You want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.“

We had lots of plans for Lent, Easter, and beyond. The lock-down has changed all that. This pandemic and the response to it were a surprise for all of us. But it hasn’t been a surprise for God. Our plans didn’t include being stuck in our homes, but God’s did.

Not Just an Inconvenience
While we have all be inconvenienced and, possibly, even harmed by the coronavirus and the response to it, there are some opportunities.

There are opportunities for…

Growing stronger as families
Deepening our personal devotion times
Caring for one another
Caring for our neighbors

As we pray for a quick end to this pandemic, let us also pray that God would work in our lives and our community for good.

Online Worship Services:
We will be having live-streamed worship services every Sunday. Tomorrow, March 22, our first live-stream service will be on Facebook Live at 9am (that’s right, in the morning). As a special first service, we will be uniting in worship with the congregation from the Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity in South Tampa.

(A recording of the service will also be available after the service in case you can’t make it at 9am.)

Communion:
Obviously, I can’t distribute bread and wine through the interwebs, but we still want to be able to make Communion available. We are still working on the details, but we are looking into either having a time when members can come by my house and receive communion in their cars or where I come to you and bring Communion. I’ll post more when I have more details.

Tithes and Offerings:
For most of you, giving is a part of your worship each week. It’s an expression of thanksgiving for all God has given and a means of supporting the ministry God is doing through the Faith Lutheran congregation. Even though we are not meeting in person, you are still able to give online. Go to https://faithwesleychapel.com/ and click “Give” in the upper menu.

Informational and Voter Meeting:
The Informational Meeting scheduled for this Sunday and the Voter Meeting scheduled for next Sunday have been postponed. We will still have them soon online. We just need to work out the technical details for how we will hold the meeting. As soon as the tech is worked out, we will set a date.

Growth Group Bible Study:
We will be having Bible study every Friday evening at 7pm. The Bible study will be done online through a Zoom conference call. Zoom will allow the interaction that we desire in the Bible study and allow for anyone to join in whether online or via phone. We’ll post more information about the Bible study next week.

Devotions:
I plan to continue to The Other Six daily devotional blog posts. I am also looking into starting a daily evening Family Devotion video. This will be a short video you can use for a devotion time with the whole family. This is a great time to strengthen your family devotional time!!

Keep In Touch:
I want to encourage you all to keep in touch with each other. Check in on people at least once a week to make sure everyone is doing well and see if anyone needs any help.

Reach Out to Your Neighbors:
Keep in touch with your neighbors as well. If you don’t know them, this is a great time to walk around your neighborhood, knock on the door, stand 6 feet back, and then ask how they are doing and if they need anything. We, especially, need to be caring for those who may not be able to leave to their house to get groceries and other supplies at this time. Let’s shine the light of Jesus into the darkness.

I’m Available:
Please feel free to call, text, or email any time whether you need help, have questions, or just want to talk. I’m here for you, virus or no virus, and I’m overjoyed to be your pastor.

I’m excited about some of the opportunities we have in the coming weeks and I hope you are, too.

God bless!

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Faith’s Response to COVID-19 – 3-20-20 Update

Kurt Steinbrueck March 20, 2020

Special Posts Corona, CoronaVirus, COVID-19, worship

Faith’s Response to COVID-19 – 3-20-20 Update

Faith's response to covid-19 - 3-20-20 Update

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We live in interesting times to be sure. Hillsborough County has issued a directive that there are to be no gatherings of more than 10 people, including faith-based organizations. Also, the FL-GA District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod has asked all churches to follow the 10 person guideline. Pasco County has, yet, to issue any such directive and our District, the SELC, has not either. However, it’s good to pay attention to what our neighbors are doing and, in light of the current situation and after much prayer, the Council and I believe it’s best to move to online services at this time.

Online Prayer:
At 7:30pm, tonight (Friday), I’m going to do a live stream on our Facebook page to have a short time of prayer. I invite you to join me for prayer. https://www.facebook.com/FaithWesleyChapel/

A Plan for Ministry:
The council and I will be meeting tonight to develop a ministry plan for the pandemic. I’m sure we will still have a worship service on Sundays (online), but we’ll figure out what that will look like. We will also be discussing other ways we can aid each other in our faith, care for each other, and help each of us care for our neighbors.

We Are Still the Church:
Just because we can’t gather in person, doesn’t mean we stop being the church. Remember, the church is the people, gathered or not. God is still with us and will continue to work in this situation and work through the church, you.

This is a great time to strengthen or build our personal and family devotional practices as well as our personal/family ministry to our neighbors.

I will send more information out as we have it.

Do Not Fear.
This situation may, at times, seem out of control, but it is not. God is in control and is working through this. We can trust that He will continue to care for His people, give us strength, and lead us. Lean into Christ and His Word and I encourage you to continue to pray for your fellow members, the church leadership, me, and your neighbors.

Thank you and may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus!

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Kurt Steinbrueck March 14, 2020

Special Posts CoronaVirus, COVID-19, Devotional

CoronaVirus Devotional

How Should Christians Respond to a Pandemic?

Greetings in Christ,

There is a lot unknown about the Coronavirus and Covid-19 which has led to concern and even fear and panic in some cases. All one needs to do is go to Walmart and look at the aisle where hand sanitizer would normally be shelved to see people are worried. In addition, universities are shutting down, concerts are being canceled, and leaders are encouraging isolation/quarantine at some level. It can all be pretty scary.

It’s good to ask, then, in a situation like this,

How am I, as a Christian, supposed to react?
Should I isolate?
Should I flee?
Should I stay and try to help?

So, what is our response?

Perhaps we should look to the past to answer our worries about the future. Because, believe it or not, we as Lutherans have been here before. In August of 1527, the Bubonic Plague flared up and arrived in Wittenburg, Germany.

Life as they knew it ground to a halt. The university Luther taught at closed, the students were sent back home. Many fled the city. Luther remained behind to care for the infected. After, he would pen one of his lesser-known letters. Entitled Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague, it was addressed to the Reverend Doctor Johann Hess at Breslau. I am going to summarize it for you, but if you are interested you can find all 12 pages for free here.”

Luther’s letter breaks down into a number of points. Each I think is an important thought to consider as a Christian.

Vocational Responsibilities:
We each have been given a vocation (roles and responsibilities). Some of our vocations would require us to stay. It would be wrong for those people to abandon their posts and leave. It is especially grievous to leave your responsibilities if you are a Christian. God has placed you here to shepherd your community.

Luther points to John 10:11-15.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” – John 10:11-15

For those who are Christians and have a social obligation, it is their responsibility to pick up their crosses and lay down our lives for their neighbor. You may be the last vision of Christ someone witnesses. It’s a sobering thought, but that is the vocation we have been entrusted with.

What if that isn’t your vocation?
Then, what do you do? To them, Luther says you have a difficult choice to make, but you need to be conscious of a number of things. First is the need to acknowledge that sin is happening and perhaps you are caught in God’s judgment. You can wonder which it is, but in the end, it does not make a difference.

Why it is happening is not your concern. You can only respond according to your responsibilities to your family and to the Great Commission. You are called to put God first, then your spouse, then your children, then your extended family, then your community.

What does this mean?
Luther says you are not wrong to flee from trouble. In fact he lists a number of times in the Bible that prove that running from certain death is not necessarily wrong. In fact he goes on to encourage one to take every necessary precaution.

“Use medicine; take potions (this isn’t a magic reference) which can help you; fumigate house, yard, and street; shun persons and places wherever your neighbor does not need your presence or has recovered, and act like a man who wants to help put out the burning city.” – Martin Luther

You are called to deal with your family’s and neighbors’ suffering but do so cautiously and with the proper precautions and tools.

So, should you stay or should you go?

Luther puts it this way:

“If someone is sufficiently bold and strong in his faith, let him stay in God’s name; that is certainly no sin. If someone is weak and fearful, let him flee in God’s name as long as he does not neglect his duty toward his neighbor but has made adequate provision for others to provide nursing care. To flee from death and to save one’s life is a natural tendency, implanted by God and not forbidden unless it be against God and neighbor.” – Martin Luther

Yet Luther also challenges the reader, because great acts of ministry have happened when one puts themselves in harm’s way. You will receive opportunities by your presence that may not have happened otherwise. He goes on to write:

“If someone is so strong in faith, however, that he can willingly suffer nakedness, hunger, and want without tempting God and not trying to escape, although he could do so, let him continue that way, but let him not condemn those who will not or cannot do the same.” – Martin Luther

If you decide to stay and help despite the danger, that is wonderful and commendable, but we don’t look down upon the one who chooses to leave the danger.

You may be called to an act of self-sacrifice. You may be challenged to take great risks to show love. Why? Because God’s unconditional and reckless love sent him to the lost children of God, and the single wayward sheep. Me. Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. My response to that love is the love with which Jesus loves His people…My neighbors.

A Final Thought:
But I think Luther’s greatest moment I found on the 6th page. This is what I want to leave you with.

“Get away, you devil, with your terrors! Just because you hate it, I’ll spite you by going the more quickly to help my sick neighbor. I’ll pay no attention to you: I’ve got two heavy blows to use against you: the first is that helping my neighbor is a deed well pleasing to God and all the angels; by this deed I do God’s will and render true service and obedience to Him.

All the more so because if you hate it so, and are so strongly opposed to it, it must be particularly acceptable to God. I’d do this readily and gladly if I could only please one angel who might look with delight on it. But now that it pleases my Lord Jesus Christ and the whole heavenly host because it is the will and command of God, my Father, then how could any fear of you spoil such joy in heaven or such delight from my Lord?

Or how could I, by flattering you, give you and your devils in hell reason to mock or laugh at me? No, you’ll not have the lat word! If Christ shed His blood for me and died for me, why should I not expose myself to some small dangers for his sake and disregard this feeble plague? If you can terrorize, Christ can strengthen me.

If you can Kill, Christ can give life. If you have poison in your fangs, Christ has far greater medicine. Should not my dear Christ, with his precepts, his kindness, and all encouragement, be more important in my spirit than you, roguish devil, with your false terrors in my weak flesh?

God forbid! Get away devil. Here is Christ and here am I, his servant in this work. Let Christ prevail! Amen!” – Martin Luther

Amen indeed!

In the end, Luther makes sure the reader understands you have a personal responsibility of making the decision for yourself and your family, but he urges you to do so in the light of the Gospel and the remembrance that God is the great physician.

Your salvation is not conditional upon your reaction to a plague. Your salvation is independent of your actions. Yet, let us never be so worried about the life that we have now, that we forget the promise of the life to come and the power of the One who gave us that life.

It’s worth noting that the Bubonic Plague was a tremendous moment in church history. While many were leaving sick family members and communities without help in order to flee the danger to themselves. Many in the church stayed or even traveled to the affected areas to care for those who were suffering. It carried a great cost, but the light of Christ showed brightly and many lives were eternally changed.

Someday I may be down with a sickness, but should the worst happen I will witness his amazing grace.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Kurt Steinbrueck March 14, 2020

Special Posts Corona, CoronaVirus, COVID-19, Pandemic, Virus

Faith CoronaVirus Update – March 14

coronavirus update - March 14

Everything Seems Like It’s Changing.
I don’t need to tell you how strange these past few weeks have been. In the last few days, we have seen the shutdown of entire institutions that have been constants in our lives. We have been bombarded by concern, worry, anxiety, fear, facts, statistics, and preventive measures all centered on this virus that has found its way to our doorstep. This has changed our lives and will continue to cause change as we move forward. That is unavoidable.

What won’t change?
You are people of Faith and hope and children of God! We rest upon His unchanging truths. In times like this, it is important to rest upon God’s unchanging nature and His promise of peace. In the next few weeks, your sense of peace will be challenged. Don’t take your eyes off the cross, your family, or your neighbors. Remember the words of Christ that you may echo to them:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33

I’m also reminded of the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 46,

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” – Psalm 46:1-3

We know the end of this. Regardless of what happens, I know my story ends in the arms of my savior. Yours does, too. That does not mean you go looking for trouble, it simply means trouble will never get the best of you. What you have before you is an opportunity; an opportunity to be that lighthouse of hope, the beacon of the Gospel, and the messenger of peace.

I encourage you in the coming weeks to be kind, compassionate, caring, and patient as you deal with your fellow brothers and sisters. Let people experience the risen Christ through your words, actions, and social media interactions.

Pandemic Devotional
Today, I have also posted a devotional which I encourage you to read. It deals with how we, as Christians, should respond to a viral outbreak like this. I hope that it will give you encouragement and guidance.

So, I am sure by now you are asking, how will this change things at Faith?

We are in a position of evaluation. Each event is being looked at and discussed and the safety concerns are being weighed.

That being said you will notice a few minor changes this weekend:

If you are experiencing any sickness in your household, or just are not certain about your health, or are worried about your exposure, you are welcome to stay home. We do not believe in works righteousness, your absence will not be a black mark on your eternal record, and you are still assured God’s grace. I do ask that you let me know because I would like to make sure your spiritual needs are still taken care of. Please remember to tend to your prayer and devotional life and that the sermon is available online. We look forward to seeing you again as soon as you are feeling better and feel able to return.
Greeting: This Sunday we will be handling the greeting time differently. You are encouraged to speak words of kindness to each other, but I would ask you to refrain from touching each other. I ask you to respect each other’s personal boundaries. You might be comfortable with your concept of personal space, another may not be, please show each other the respect due them as a brother or sister in Christ.
Sanitizing: As always, I encourage the washing of hands and the use of hand sanitizer. I will bring sanitizer to have at the church on Sundays.
Seating: If it would make you more comfortable, you are welcome to sit with a little more distance between you and others.
Participating in Communion: As we practice Holy Communion we will be following our tradition of the weekly practice of the Sacrament. Just like church attendance, this isn’t mandatory, and your absence will not lead us to question your faith or commitment. If you are not comfortable coming up that is OK. If you simply want to receive a blessing, cross your arms over your chest and I will see that you are blessed. That said, know that studies have been done and show no evidence that Holy Communion contributes to the spread of disease.
Communion Distribution: The one change that will be happening in Communion will be that I and whoever is assisting me with Communion will sanitize our hands before Communion.
Offering: For the offering, you will find the plate on a table at the back of the rows. I ask you to place your offering there as you go by. The offering will be brought forward at its usual time.
Visitations: Finally, I just want to assure you that visits from me where needed will continue. Please do not hesitate to contact me. You are important to me, and your spiritual needs are my priority.

There are two things I’d like you to do as well.

Stay in Touch with Your Fellow Faith Family
If you notice someone missing from church, reach out to them kindly to make sure they are ok and see if they need anything. If you aren’t going to be at church, let some people know.

Pray
We are a people of prayer and our God listens and answers. Pray that God would stop the spread of the virus. Pray that He would comfort His people. Pray that He would guide our leaders. Pray that He would ease our anxieties and give us His peace.

You can look for updates through all our usual means of communication. Thank you for being a wonderful family in Christ here at Faith. It is my distinct honor to be your pastor.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

CoronaVirus

Congregational Survey Regarding Starting In-Person Activities

Congregational Survey Regarding Starting In-Person Activities

Moving Forward In These Challenging Times

Moving Forward In These Challenging Times

Faith’s Response to COVID-19 – 3-20-20 Update

Faith's response to covid-19 - 3-20-20 Update

CoronaVirus Devotional

How Should Christians Respond to a Pandemic?

Faith CoronaVirus Update – March 14

coronavirus update - March 14

Faith Lutheran Church in Wesley Chapel, FL serving Lutz, Zephyrhills, Land O’ Lakes, and New Tampa, FL