Be a Witness

• As everyone continues to react to the latest news surrounding COVID-19, we have an opportunity to stay calm and display steadiness in the gospel. Make sure to share with others that your confidence today and hope in the future is in Jesus, who has died for your sins and has been raised from the dead to promise you an eternal kingdom with no more pandemics. 
• Use Social media to speak good news rather than more bad news. Look for opportunities to share Jesus with overwhelmed neighbors at the grocery store. As you call and check on friends and family, make sure to remind them of Jesus’ love in the gospel. Talk more about Jesus than you do the coronavirus. 

Stay Connected to Your BFG

• As we come to terms with the restrictions, we are going to realize we are made to be together. No virtual reality can take the place of the flesh and blood body of Jesus. In the meantime, we still have to cultivate those gospel friendships God has given us. 
• Stay connected to needs and prayer requests. Share more and pray more. Call one another more than you text one another. Allow one another’s kids to interact virtually through FaceTime. If needed, run errands and serve them as best you can. Engage in Virtual Options for BFG as we make them available. 

Seek to Grow Spiritually

• You will have plenty of down time over the next few weeks. God has taken away many of our distractions. Use this time to become disciplined in the Word, prayer, and service.
• Refuse to veg out and serve others  Refuse to binge watch. Read the Bible more than internet information. Pray more than you scroll social media. Use our prayer guide daily. Commit to our scheduled times of prayer. Commit to at least one act of service each day. 

Lead Your Family

• God has given us a wonderful opportunity as parents during this time. Our schedules are less crammed packed with school, practices, games, and events. The tendency will be to divide up into quarters of the home and never speak or talk. 
• Parents, please don’t waste this opportunity. Spend more time with your kids than on your computer. Teach them new things. Enjoy the outdoors together. Build something together. Sit on your back porch as a family and enjoy the sunset. 
• Pray each day as a family  Eat meals as a family. Sing to Jesus as a family. Read the Bible together as a family. Talk to your kids about the hope we have in Jesus despite sin, death, and the coronavirus. 

Remember the Mission 

• While we may not be leaving the USA for some time, this doesn’t mean we should not be serving the nations in Jesus name. For one, there are international students and families around us who are just as traumatized as we are. Speak the hope of Jesus into their lives. Share the gospel with them.
• Our church planting partners in NOLA, Lakeshore, Peru, and especially East Asia are suffering just like we are. Pray for them daily. There are ways to connect internationally. We even have pastors and friends in Peru you can follow on Facebook and interact with each day. 
• Pray as this crisis spreads throughout the world. Remember Jesus has called us to make disciples of all nations. All will be affected by this in some way. How will you be used to help the nations pick up the pieces in the name of Jesus? Pray that God will use this crisis to call many from the unreached to Himself. 

Keep Giving for the Gospel

• Our tendency will be to self protect and give less during this crisis. However, we know from Scripture this is not the way to kingdom joy. We will be more happy when we say with our money that Jesus is better. 
• Your church Staff is working harder than ever to stay connected and to serve you in this unique time. They are more than worth their wages. Even more, once this crisis is over our Mission needs will have only increased. There will be needs here and around the world. There will be so many opportunities for us to serve for the sake of the gospel. We will need the resources to do so. May it be said of us that during the coronavirus crisis our offerings went up, not down!
• Give at ashland.church/give 

Worship on Sundays 

• The Bride of Christ cannot be replicated or produced virtually online. She is a physical witness to the forces of darkness and to the world that Jesus is Lord. Nothing replaces the flesh and blood gathered body of Jesus on the Lord’s Day. These days will teach us much about the longings we are to have to be together with our church family. 
• We will meet corporately as much as possible. If and when we must move to leading you in worship online, make these times a priority in your home. Read the Scripture. Pray. Sing. Listen to the sermon. Try not to casually watch as if it’s another TV show or movie. While it will not be the same as gathering with your church family, it will be a strategic time of spiritual growth for you and your family.