“I am about to do something new. It is beginning to happen even now. Don’t you see it coming? I am going to make a way for you to go through the desert. I will make streams of water in the dry and empty land.”
Isaiah 43:19
Amidst all the fear, isolation and devastation that is being created by the wake of Covid-19 many people are becoming pessimistic or depressed, and it is not without reason!
Certainly, there is plenty of bad news happening on practically every front, but while much of it may be bad, not all of it is.
One of the claims found in Scripture is Romans 8:28:
“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God,
who are called according to his purpose.”
I take this to mean that regardless of the circumstances, God’s hand is over all ensuring that no matter how bleak the landscape around us looks, no matter how difficult the test we are enduring, when we can see it in our rear view mirror we will be better off for having passed through it, that is, we will not only have survived, we will have improved!
This is especially significant to me when I look at the effect that Covid and the lockdowns have had on houses of worship. First, the lockdowns shut the doors to the churches and banned social gathering. Then the doors were allowed to open a crack, but depending on size, only a small percentage of the congregations were allowed in, masks were mandatory, and worship was prohibited.
The sense of these directives still eludes me unless it was for the express purpose of discouraging people from church involvement. If that was the case, then it was a tremendous success. Statistics show that attendance in houses of worship has dropped by one third.
On the upside, this was no surprise to God who knows the end of things from the beginning. The fact is that the church had been losing attendees for years. People had begun to feel that what the services offered them was not relevant to their lives. One person described their church experience and having to go somewhere with uncomfortable seats, to listen to music you don’t like, then get yelled at by a person you don’t know, and afterwards be expected to chip in to pay for it! No wonder the body is having a tough time persuading people to come to church. When it’s put like that, even I don’t want to go! But the hard truth of the matter is that many Sunday services are exactly that way.
Which brings us back to Covid and what many are calling The Great Reset. This is a time of upheaval and tremendous change worldwide. The changes in the political landscape, the distribution of power, and even political freedoms are happening so fast and furiously that people are left stunned, fearful, and looking for a savior. Well we’ve got one for you!!
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever!”
Hebrews 13:8
He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He sets rulers up and He takes them down. He’s not afraid to leave His Temple and go out and fight His battles, and it is to that end that I bring you news of a direction that Henderson Hope will be taking in an effort to keep up with Him.
Two years ago Virginia and I felt God directing us to plant a church and the concept of Henderson Hope was born (at least in our hearts). Then Covid happened, and while the idea of birthing a church at a time when people were afraid to leave their homes seemed foolish, Virginia and I have always subscribed to one principle and that is “Keep doing the last thing God told you to do until He tells you to do something else.”. Yes, I know that the principle is not scriptural, but it has served us well over many years.
With that in mind, we took up the challenge to think outside the box (or more accurately, outside the walls of a building), and we are excited to share with you that on September the 12th Henderson Hope is going online! While people may not be beating down the doors to get into the houses of worship at this time, Facebook is showing 3 billion subscribers that visit their pages multiple times a day and all of them are looking for something! We want to be there to offer hope, encouragement, humor, perspective and most and best of all Jesus to whoever is seeking.
God is doing a new thing. While we are by no means at the front of the curve, we strongly believe that this is the direction that God is leading Virginia and me, and it is certainly new to us! As with most newborns it’s likely to be messy to begin with and will need patience and input. We hope you will want to join us in this new thing.
To find us, go to: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hendersonhopeonline.
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