We put out an important video this past Saturday and I want to take on that, so you can hear a little more of our thought process.  You can see that video here: https://clfroseburg.com.  Also, I wanted to give some of the quotes from Sunday’s sermon and also talk about why I did what I did on Sunday to help you see the importance of that sermon.  

“How has CLF decided to respond to the pandemic?” video:

I’m not going to re-hash what we’ve already put on video, but let me just give you some idea of the leadership thoughts on this.

• Putting a video out like this came up about 2 weeks ago.  I was getting a sense from social media, as well as Christian publications that I read, that the question of “civil disobedience” was going to come up soon.  Interestingly, it had been coming up already in some discussions among different folks in our community and things got moving quickly over this past weekend.  
• Bill & I were scheduled to do this on Sunday, but due to his mom’s passing, we delayed it until Thursday.  I really cannot thank Bill enough for doing this, even on Thursday.  He felt the urgency of the moment for our church and sacrificed his time, energy, and emotions doing this for us.  This past Saturday, he led a family memorial for his mom…so you can understand how important Bill thought this video was.  
• To say that this subject is in Bill’s “wheelhouse” is an understatement.  Bill has taught me more on this subject than anyone (and quite frankly on many subjects).  His years of study and experiences all came together in that short video.  I had the easy job of just asking questions and drawing him out and he was, as one member of our church said, “masterful”.  
• The issue of the different “spheres” or “jurisdictions” is something that has really helped me through the years in every area of my life.  The “church” is called to respond to situations in society differently than the “individual” and the same holds true for the “civil government”.  Where we get things confused is when we think they all should respond to things the same way.  But God has set up each “jurisdiction” and each has their own role in society.  And there’s a “form and flow” of “government” in each of those…civil magistrates lead the civil government; elders lead the church; husbands lead the home.  If elders usurp the authority of the husband/father in the home, things get messy.  This is true in virtually every area or “sphere” of life.  
• That’s why this video was so important.  There is a “form and a flow” to where our country is right now and there’s a way that we, as the church, should navigate through that.  But…for individuals, they have a “right” to respond to this, however they choose, before God in their conscience.  But, individuals, cannot expect the church to respond the way they have chosen.  The elders of the church have been mandated by God to protect and equip the church in the ministry of the gospel.  And as you’ve heard me say so often:  we must be determined to not let the gospel be moved to the circumference.  And in this moment in time, that hasn’t happened.  
• Finally, we realize that a subject, like the one the video covered, is challenging and might bring up some questions for you.  Please do not hesitate to ask those questions.  So far, the majority of you have responded with affirmation and gratitude.  Thank you.       

Sunday’s sermon:

• My desire for Sunday was that all of our women would be honored.  From the text messages and emails I received from many of you, that seems like it happened.  Praise God for that.  I say this, joyfully and enthusiastically…we have an amazing group of ladies in our church.  I thank God for that.  
• I do believe that this sermon is one that will equip you for the onslaught of feminism in our day.  I pray that this will help you have a Christ-centered answered for restored womanhood.  
• I wanted to include the adjectives that Ronda Chervin here just as a “checklist” that I thought was helpful:
  • Sinful tendencies of women:  “weak, passive, slavish, weepy, wishy-washy, seductive, flirtatious, vain, chatter-boxes, silly, sentimental, naïve, moody, petty, catty, prudish, manipulative, complaining, nagging, pouty, smothering, & spiteful.”
  • Mature womanhood adjectives:  ““responsive, compassionate, empathetic, enduring, gentle, warm, tender, hospitable, receptive, diplomatic, considerate, polite, supportive, intuitive, wise, perceptive, sensitive, spiritual, sincere, emotionally open, obedient, trusting, graceful, sweet, expressive, charming, delicate, quiet, sensually receptive, faithful, pure.” 
• Lastly, thank you to those who send in encouraging notes or texts about this sermon. It really does mean a lot.  This is a hard sermon to preach, but I was eager to do it.  But you never know how a sermon like this will “fall”.  I’m glad it seemed to fall on rich, fertile soil of your souls.  

From the Cheap Seats:

• Umm, early July for the start of MLB baseball!  Yes, please!!!  I’ll take 82 games, all with teams from our division and parallel National division, plus 14 playoff teams!  Let’s go!
• I’m hearing that the Premier League will start again in July, with no fans…and some of the players don’t want to come back…that seems important to me, for some reason.  
• We’ve got a volleyball player in our home, who has asked me to be her coach.  Let’s see…last time I coached volleyball (yes, I’ve done it before), I made people cry.  So, naturally, I told her ‘yes’!  I’ll be an assistant Junior High volleyball coach at UVC.  Pray for the girls:).  
• Most of you who know me, know that I am not very mechanical.  I’ve joked that I can’t read a tape measure.  Well, 2 Saturdays ago, Nathan (who’s way better at this stuff than I am) and I started to expand and upgrade our pump-house.  It became the project from hell.  Here’s a sampling of our day that started around 10:00:
  • Tore the exterior off and just as the last piece of sheeting was off…it started pouring…exposing all the electrical stuff.
  • After a design failure and re-do, we’re soaking wet, and finally get some footings down and build a frame for the small extension.  
  • One we put the final screw in the frame for the extension and secure it to the main part of the house, we accidentally hit the main water line for our house, which sent water going everywhere…now we have no water at the house.  
  • Nathan had to leave for a family event (along with everyone else) and I took a trip to Lowe’s to get all the necessary PVC adapters.  Living in Glide means it’s not a short drive.  
  • Get home to reconnect everything, only to have every joint on PVC pipe disconnect, after 3 hours of working on it.  I finally get everything back together around 8:30, just as the family is coming back home.  Took a shower then worked on the final draft for my sermon the next day.  Plugged my phone it only to have water that collected in the lightning port and I couldn’t power my phone.  I told Jill, “I’m putting this day to bed because it’s not been kind to me.”  
  • Preach on Sunday, come home to take a short nap, only to be awoken by Jill telling me that we didn’t have water!  Check and now the pipe blew at another joint…get that one fixed, waited to turn water on, and when I did…there was a crack in one of the pipes!  I literally duct taped that together to get us through the night and got everything put back together on Monday…
  • As of today, the pump-house project is almost complete!!!

There’s a possibility that we might be having church services this week with people in attendance.  I hope so and I can’t wait to see you.  

To watch or listen to the sermon described in this post, please click here.

Have a  great week…

In Christ, 

Dave York