Blog Archives — Eric Schumacher

Hand-Washing as a Prayer of Faith: Psalm 34 and the Pandemic

Hand-Washing as a Prayer of Faith Hand-washing. Social distancing. Staying home. Are these faith or fear?

On the first Wednesday of each month, I give the chapel devotion at the local Christian school. They are memorizing Psalm 34, a few verses each month. So I walk through the verses for that month, helping the kids understand and apply them. (In God’s kindness, it’s been an excellent Psalm for preparation for the pandemic response!)

They aren’t meeting right now, so I’m recording a video devotion for them to watch at home tomorrow. I’m hoping it gives the kids the comfort of some routine, a familiar face, and truth in a scary time (as well as a break for parents!).

In preparation, I was reviewing Psalm 34 this morning. I noticed something interesting about the Psalm’s title* and the rest of the Psalm that had application to the pandemic. Continue reading “Hand-Washing as a Prayer of Faith: Psalm 34 and the Pandemic”

Church in a Quarantine

Church in a Quarantine How do you do church in quarantine? Due to the coronavirus, the State of Iowa now prohibits all gatherings over 10 people (including spiritual gatherings). This is a wise and good prohibition during the coronavirus, one which our church will obey.

So what will we do? Continue reading “Church in a Quarantine”

Church Response and Precautions to COVID-19

The elders at my church published the following statement on our church’s COVID-19 (coronavirus) response and precautions. Please ask your church leaders to consider a similar response, appropriate to your community context. Continue reading “Church Response and Precautions to COVID-19”

When Your Church Can’t Meet: The Value of Liturgy

When Your Church Can't Be Together, It Can Be Together In Its Liturgy Liturgy is the form of worship that a church walks through when it assembles.

“Liturgy is the customary public worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activity reflecting praise, thanksgiving, supplication or repentance.” ^source

In our church, our liturgy takes the form of Call to Worship, Confession of Sin (or Lament), Remembering the Gospel, Thanksgiving and Prayer, Offering, Scripture Reading, Sermon, and Benediction (Blessing and Sending). These elements include both songs and responsive readings, as well as times of silent meditation.

A benefit of a liturgical form is that when your church has to assemble in small groups or cannot assemble at all, the people know what to do. When your people cannot be together as a whole, they can be together in their liturgy.

If your church can’t assemble this Sunday, and you need a worship service in your home, our church posts our entire liturgy with song videos on our blog. Search the “Service Previews.” Then go to Sermons page to hear the message for that Sunday.

Need more songs to sing? Visit my worship song page or Hymnicity.