August 2, 2020
June 12, 2020
We are grateful for God’s continued grace to us during this season of COVID-19. While so much of life has changed, we have experienced the unchanging, steadfast love of God as we have pursued Christ, prayed faithfully, participated in community, and proclaimed the Gospel. As the leadership continues to consider what regathering in person may look like in the future, we want to benefit from your insight and wisdom as we try to make decisions that will best serve the Lord and our community. Would you please fill out this Regathering Survey so we can better know how you, our church family, are processing things? A couple of important notes:
June 8, 2020
May 17, 2020
April 20, 2020
April 16, 2020
Dear Lighthouse,
We hope that you had a blessed Easter reflecting on how Christ’s resurrection gives us hope. This past Sunday also marked our fifth Sunday since we transitioned to doing services online.
Much has changed since our first online service, but the elders, pastoral staff, and deacons remain dedicated to serving you our church family. With the heart of service, we, the elders, want to share Lighthouse’s action plan in response to COVID-19. The hope of this plan is to spur us toward a greater dependence and faith in Christ.
Lighthouse’s Action Plan
As gospel-centered disciples, here’s our four-part action plan so that we may grow a greater dependence on Christ through this pandemic.
Contained within these four action points are all the ways Lighthouse is ministering to you. We hope this provides you with a clear plan on how to not only survive, but to thrive during this season.
Connecting with Us
One of the things the pastoral staff misses most about not being able to gather together on Sundays are the conversations. Each Sunday, there were hundreds and hundreds of conversations. These conversations were entry points into each other’s hearts—to catch up on what happened the past week, to sharing a struggle or an encouragement, to be able to pray for one another.
Those conversations naturally happened as we were physically together. Though we are now physically apart, we still desire the same fruit from those kinds of conversations—to hear how you’re doing, your encouragements, struggles, and prayer requests.
Lighthouse will continue to reach out, but we would also love for you to reach out to us. Send an email to info@lighthousesouthbay.org to connect with us.
Here are some ideas of what you can email about:
Sharing Christ
Finally, one grace of COVID-19 is that many of our idols have been stripped away. Many non-Christians are asking questions that ultimately lead to Christ. We hope that some are tuning in to Lighthouse’s online services. We want to connect with them to start gospel conversations, so in the details section of the YouTube page is a link for our guests. This will lead to the “New to Lighthouse” page on our website where they can fill out a Communication Card and sign up for Christianity Explored.
We are so thankful for your support, your encouragements, and your prayers and we look forward to the day when we’ll be able to physically meet again. Until then, we’ll continue to do our best to serve you and point you to Christ.
His Grace,
The Elders of Lighthouse
March 12, 2020
The last few days have led us into uncharted waters as COVID-19 has spread rapidly throughout our state. Out of a desire to care for our community and follow the recommendations of our government, the elders have decided to immediately suspend all of Lighthouse’s in-person gatherings, including Sunday worship services, fellowship groups, small groups, sports ministries, counseling, and prayer meetings. This change will be in effect until further notice.
Thankfully, our identity as the church of Jesus Christ is not dependent on us being in the same room or even the same building. We are a family, joined not by a proximity distance of six feet, but by the blood of Christ, and that union is something that no “abundance of caution” can do away with. More than ever, we need one another as vehicles of God’s Gospel grace.
We will continue to be the church family together, and we thank God that we live in an age where technology can allow us to connect to and love one another despite the restrictions of our circumstances. Specifically, Lighthouse will be using various online video streaming and online meeting tools so that we can worship and grow together during this challenging time.
Sunday Worship Services
Starting this Sunday, Lighthouse will be live streaming Sunday worship services on our YouTube channel at our regular services times at 9 AM, 11 AM, and 5 PM. These will be full length worship services with music and preaching, and you will be worshiping alongside your brothers and sisters! We are also planning on producing weekly Children’s Ministry video content so your children will be able to worship as well.
Each week’s service can be found at lighthousesouthbay.org/livestream or you can visit our YouTube Channel.
Fellowship Groups and Small Groups
Starting next week, our age-specific fellowship groups (youth, college, young adult, 30+ singles) and adult small groups will be transitioning to online gatherings as well. Each ministry will be contacting its members to provide more specific information.
“What about _____?” “How does this affect _____?”
We have created an FAQ page that will hopefully address some of questions regarding how these changes will impact specific ministries.
God Is Our Refuge and Strength
These feel like unprecedented times for us, but we know that God is sovereign over these times. He remains the king over all every atom in the universe, every person of our families, every instance of the coronavirus and countless other ailments, and every member of our church. He is not dismayed or distressed, and we find our comfort in him.
Psalm 46:1-17
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
