Sermon March 15, 2020

Psalm 95 Exodus 17 1-7 John 4:7-26


Many people missed Sunday’s message; some because of the Covid19 virus.

So here is a summary of the message. Since the virus may keep some if not all out of church on Sunday, I will work on getting this sent out at least on Facebook for the rest of the Sunday’s in Lent.

The Gift of Worship

This week is in the middle of Lent. Lent is traditionally a serious, quiet, self reflective time. So the beginning of Psalm 95 is surprising. It begins:

“Come let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of Our Salvation.”

It goes on to call us to worship and bow down to the Lord. Like the Israelites in the Desert of Sin, we too often have our worship and praise of God interrupted by a common habit: Complaining. Exodus 17:3 says the people “grumbled against Moses.” That day they grumbled because it seemed there wasn’t water for them to drink. Because of their grumbling or complaining, they wandered in the desert for 40 years and never “entered God’s rest.” They never saw the Promised Land on the other side of the Jordan River.

Lent is a time to enter God’s rest and to simplify our lives so we may be reconciled to God and to one another. Normally we tend to add things to our lives during Lent. This year, right in the middle of Lent, we are being challenged greatly by the Covid 19 virus. The challenge is calling us to restrict our activities globally. We are giving up meetings, work, school, sports, games, social functions, and business activities. Some of us are out of work. Like the Jews in the desert, we too can grumble about our situations. We can be angry and complain all over the place. But, in the middle of Psalm 95 we are called to turn back to God, and take this time of reduced activity to refocus our lives on the most important things. Use this Lent for what it was intended: to renew our relationships with God and one another.

I have chosen to celebrate this time as time to rest from the business of life and refocus on God and family. I might even get a few things done that I haven’t had time to do in the last months.

So let’s all stop grumbling, sit down and enjoy God’s Rest: the pause called Lent and now the pause called Covid 19 isolation.



I will be sending out updates on the Church’s response to the Covid 19 situation shortly.



Pastor Dave Repenning