Dear Members and Friends of IBCZ,
On Wednesday evening, Dec. 9th, your Elders and Deacons had an online meeting to consider our Christmas Eve Worship Service, as well as our Sunday worship services for January. Like all of you, we had been hoping that the spread of the Covid 19 virus would have subsided sufficiently enough to allow us to return to “in person worship.”
Unfortunately, that is not the case. While the numbers in Switzerland have decreased in recent weeks, they are still quite high – higher than when we had to cease “in person worship” back in March. We are of one mind that it would be irresponsible to open up the church for “in person worship” at this time. So, we will continue to live stream our worship services through the end of January, including our Christmas Eve service at 4:00 Dec. 24th.
On behalf of the Elders and Deacons, I want to thank you for your prayers on our behalf. Our goal is not to make decisions that align with our own personal preferences, but to seek to discern and implement God’s guidance. On Jan. 20th we will meet again to consider our worship services for February.
I also want to remind you that this Sunday, Dec. 13th, we will observe Holy Communion. If you would like to participate, please have bread and either juice or wine available. This will take place at the conclusion of the worship service.
Finally, at this time of year as we remember how God has given to us so immeasurably through the gift of the Christ-child, this is also a time for us to consider how we can bless others through our own giving. To that end, I want to remind you that there is still time to make a donation to the Open Door Foundation and their ministry to those caught up in human trafficking in Romania. (See the newsletter from last week for more details.) If you would like to make a gift, here is a link that will guide you in making your donation.
https://www.mightycause.com/story/Fundfreedom
Grace and peace,
Pastor Bob