Beloved,

As we are together alone, I pray you are not allowing socially distancing to mean you are also being emotionally or spiritually distant from others. May we NOT drown in the sea of either self-pity or self-preservation.  

Here are a few ways to engage community:

Commune w/ the Triune God- one of the grandest gifts in all of redemption is the fact that we are never truly alone. In Christ, you have been invited to commune with the Trinity. Are you enjoying meditating on His word? Are you enjoying praising Him for who He is and who He says you are? Are you listening to hymns that exalt God and potentially say what you are having trouble saying right now? Have fun allowing the leading of Scripture to bring you into praying for things you weren’t expecting to. As I have learned the hard way, if I neglect communing with God, I will place unhealthy, unholy, unrealistic expectations on people. Do you ever yoke people to expectations that they were never meant to carry?  

Commune w/ the Church- Here are three easy ways to connect weekly:  
1) Study and pray the passage being preached. Reach out to another member and let them know that you would like to pray for them over the next few days. Ask them for a specific passage that is counseling/comforting them and a few prayer requests. Then pray!

2) Engage a weekly Community Group- http://sojournfairfax.com/connect/community-groups/ 

3) ON SUNDAYS:  Join me for 9:30am prayer, enjoy the preaching of the Word, and then at 8:30pm plan on either joining Emily or me for “Sunday Evening Fun.” Info below:

• Reading Group — Ladies & Gentlemen:  Starting on Sunday, May 3rd at 8:30PM, Edward will be heading up discussion over "Communion with God" by John Owen. Participants will talk through observations and lessons learned from the book. Edward will send a Zoom link the week leading up. You can attend one or all. Each week I will send out the chapters we will be reflecting on and the Zoom information. On Sunday, we will be enjoying chs. 1-2.
• Bible Study — Ladies: Emily Jones and Amy Cecil will be facilitating discussion around R.C. Sproul's study, "Knowing Scripture" which is currently free to watch/listen/download via Ligonier Ministries. Amy mentioned how influential Dr. Sproul has been in the lives of other beloved teachers of Scripture, like Jen Wilkin, and how exciting it will be to go back even further and learn from a seasoned teacher of God's Word. Email Emily to join us and she'll forward you a Zoom invite- . Here is a link to the study: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/knowing-scripture/.  

Commune w/ Dead Saints (Hebrews 12:1-3)- find comfort in the saints of old whose steadfastness will speak to your soul. I am finding great delight in reading of OT saints. Numbers 14:13-19 right now is working humility into my heart. So I am being discipled by the Trinity, OT Saints, and Amy Carmichael as I read A Chance To Die. “Her great longing was to have a “single eye” for the glory of God. Whatever might blur the vision God had given her of His work, whatever could distract or deceive or tempt others to seek anything but the Lord Jesus Himself she tried to eliminate. Why waste precious time, painful effort, on lesser things?” Elisabeth Elliot writing about Amy Carmichael.

Lastly, if you are struggling to connect in any way or are feeling isolated or alone please reach out to any of the elders so we can serve you and help you during this time.