UPDATE TO THE UPDATE| 28TH MARCH

This is the update for the update, that will probably need updating once this updates! Doesn’t it just feel like that at the moment? We are living our lives dependant on the next news headline, times are changing so, so fast, whilst we feel like we are standing still. Our life last week seems like an age ago! Challenges we faced last week are not relevant now and this week brings a whole new range of difficulties. Some of us are now not working, others are working from home, some people trained up for one particular job now are redeployed into another area, those normally at home are still at home, but can’t go out or have visitors. It’s all change… 
But…But… GOD! 
Lamentations 3:22-24 (The Message version) says: 
“God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,

    his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).

He’s all I’ve got left.”

 
So, despite all the changes and challenges, God’s faithfulness still remains and it is really important to remember that WE ARE STILL THE CHURCH, it is just that the “Church” is lived out slightly differently at the moment. So we just wanted to update to what this looks like for Elevate Church. 
 
Connection
It is so important that whilst we’re in this period we keep connecting with people, now more than ever we must reach out (whilst in the confines of what we are allowed to do at the moment) if you haven’t got access to Facebook, pick up the phone, write a letter, send a pigeon… it may come to that! So please have a think about who you would normally see in church that you miss having a chat to and get in touch with them, if you haven’t got their number let us know and we’ll put you in touch. Our relationships will be even stronger then, when we are able to meet up again… this too shall pass, let’s use this time to put ourselves on a strong footing for when we can resume ‘normality’. 
 
In the meantime, I have noticed some fantastic conversations happening over garden fences, talking to people we wouldn’t normally see (at a very safe distance of course!) look for ways that you can still shine, this virus mustn’t dull our light, we must continue to shine a light despite what is going on around us. 
 
We are also, posting Daily Devotionals on the Elevate Prayer facebook page written by people from Elevate Church, if you would like to contribute please send it over to me, they are a real encouragement, we will also start posting them on here also, so that they are more accessible for more people. 
 
Please remember that we have the Elevate Prayer page for any prayer requests (can I just ask you that we stick to posting just prayer requests and testimonies and our Daily Devotional or it can become a bit confusing) it is such an encouragement to be able to pray for specific needs together as a church body. 
 
Meetings
Church life is often built around meetings, and whilst we can’t physically do this we are still endeavouring to do this with the help of technology. So every Saturday night at 7pm Pete will do a Facebook live and share a short encouraging message. 

We have also been ‘Zooming’ don’t worry this is a new experience to us too! There is an app/website called Zoom you can download it:

If you can download the app onto your phone or ipad/tablet in advance it certainly will help. If you would like to know more about Zoom please see this tutorial HERE or there are more advanced options on Youtube. Zoom is great as it enables us to see each other and interact, we will be using this as an alternative to Facebook love on a saturday night for those of you who don’t have facebook, but we are also having our Accelerate Tuesday meetings over Zoom, we will send you all an email with the link or you can find it on facebook.  
 
Giving
As we are not meeting together, we have had a few people ask us about how do we still give our tithes and offerings to the church. What we would suggest is that if you are able to use online banking then please let us know and we can provide you with the bank details, alternatively you can text “CA033” to the number 64647 and it will go directly to the church bank account. 
 
If of course you would rather use cash then please may I ask you to put aside the money and bring it to church when we can safely meet again.
 
Help
Lastly, please do let us know if there is anything we can do, whilst our traveling is restricted also, we might be able to offer help in a different way, so please just reach out to us if you need anything.
 
Added bonus…
Let’s use this time to reflect, consider, read that book you’ve been meaning to, or do a study on something you are interested in, but most importantly with the world around us being quieter let’s use this time to listen closely to what God is saying to us. This is no surprise to Him, He is still in control and He will bring good out of this situation, as Pete keeps saying to us… the best is yet to come! 
God bless guys, hopefully we’ll be able to connect in some way over the next week, keep on shining! 

BY ADELE JONES