Welcome Home

March 17, 2020

Dear Light of the Valley Family,

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” (Ps.46:1)

In times like these, I am always amazed at how God’s grace breaks into our lives and community in ways we never expected or imagined. Already I have seen The Lord at work through acts of kindness and care inside and outside of our church as we navigate this current situation together under His providing and protecting hand.

As your pastor, I wanted to connect with you and share with you our plans for the foreseeable future and let you know what is already happening at Light of the Valley.

Concerning Worship-
“How do we maintain unity and community when we can’t gather together..?”

That’s the million dollar question we’ve been wrestling with. After consulting with staff and leadership, we will be moving to online worship only starting Sunday, March 22nd. This will continue through April 5th. Our official “worship time” will be 10:30 am. We’ll be using Facebook live through our Facebook page @Lightofthevalley,ElkGrove. During this live worship, you will be able to connect with other members and be a part of worship. Following this live worship, a recorded version will be available on our Facebook page and website (www.lightofthevalley.net). If you do not have a Facebook account, please contact the office at 916-691-3568 and we will be able to assist you.

We are working on some creative ways in the coming weeks to include many people in the online worship experience. We are also looking into offering communion in the sanctuary on a drop-in or appointment basis that would honor the “social distancing” guidelines, but would also allow receiving the Lord’s supper. We will share more details on that soon.

Holy Week and Easter Services-
Based on how the situation changes over the next few weeks, we are hoping to decide whether Holy Week and Easter services will be “in person” or remain online by Sunday, March 29th.

Concerning Congregational Care-
We have teams of people already making calls, touching base with our seniors and more “at risk” members. The good news is that most of them are in a good place as far as needs go, with neighbors, friends and family helping out. For those with special needs (shopping, transportation to appointments, etc.) we have a number of people who are available to help. Please call the office or my cell phone (916) 799-2611 if you have anything we can help with.

I am open and available for home visits and phone calls during this time. I am also open to bringing communion to your homes as well. Micah and our Comfort Dog team is also available to drop by. Again, if you’d like to schedule a visit, please call the church office or contact me on my cell phone.

Concerning Ministry to the Community-
It’s in darkened times like these that the Lord uses us to let His light shine! We have some unique opportunities to bless and serve people in our community. In the days to come we will be sharing opportunities each of us have in our neighborhoods as well as through our church to continue to be light to this valley.

LightHouse Groups-
I am grateful for the excellent leaders we have for our groups. Most of them have decided to postpone meeting for the next few weeks until we get a better picture of what the future holds. But they are also finding creative ways to stay in fellowship through phone calls and social media.

Meetings-
We thank the Lord for modern technology that allows us to stay connected even when physically isolated. As the situation permits, we are continuing to have critical meetings in person and online with staff and leadership to discern the Lord’s direction.

Office Hours-
We will maintain regular office hours, 9am-3pm Monday through Thursday, if anyone wants or needs to drop by.

Finances-
Right now, Light of the Valley is in a very healthy financial position. We are relying on the Lord’s provision through this situation as well as preparing for a variety of financial scenarios. Recognizing a faithful God, even in the face of uncertain times, we are thankful for your financial partnership in the Gospel and would encourage you to continue to support Jesus’ work through Light of the Valley.

You can mail your offerings to Light of the Valley, 9270 Bruceville Rd, Elk Grove, CA 95758. You can also give online at www.lightofthevalley.net/give

If you have any other questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. I am grateful to the Lord for His promise of provision and protection during seasons of life such as these. I am thankful for you as a church who love and care for one another so well. Together, by His grace, we will continue to bring the light of Christ to the community around us: Ordinary people moved to extraordinary actions by the love of an awesome Father in Heaven!

I’d like to leave you with this little encouragement from Psalm 27:14:

“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”

He is faithful. He is near. He will bless us and keep us in and through these times. Amen.

Pastor jay