Dear Lifewell family,

These are challenging times. I am not worried. In fact, I am constantly encouraged by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. I want to pass that along to you. I am your pastor, so I am trying to watch over you, even though I don’t get to see you (many of you anyhow). You can make that easier by paying attention online. I realize there are many distractions, many voices, many choices. Please pay attention to several avenues of contact from me to you:

1) Mass texts. If you’re not on our list for some reason, text the word LIFEWELL to 940 00. Also, I’ve started a regular Bible verse group. Those in the group will receive about a text per day with encouraging or challenging Bible passages that I believe are God’s message for us right now. To join that group text THEWORD to 940 00.

2) Facebook. Most of you are on Facebook. Most of you likely just scroll, rather than being intentional about what you view or where you visit. Make a choice to regularly visit our church Facebook Page. If you’re not following it yet, it’s Lifewell Church. Go there and follow it. Visit the Lifewell Members group. If you’re not in that group, do a search, request to be one, or just message me personally. Are you one of my friends on Facebook. If not, request me. Do you follow my Facebook page? If not, do so now. I’m not interested in winning a popularity contest, but I need to be able to communicate with you regularly.

Facebook is also a great place for you to share GOOD NEWS, not doom and gloom, not hatred, anger and fear-mongering rumors. We are the city set on a hill, let’s shine!

3) YouTube. This is VERY important right now. You need to find my YouTube.com/deorl channel and Subscribe. Our worship will happen live on YouTube every Sunday at 11 AM. You really need to be able to watch on a larger screen. In all likelihood that’s your TV. If you have a smart TV, then you should have YouTube access. The least expensive way to get access if you don’t is to buy a Roku stick. This device costs about $35. I set one up for Vernon to watch our services when he was no longer able to attend personally, and he was able to navigate to us each week once I subscribed to my channel.

Recruit some family, friends, other members of Lifewell, or neighbors to come to your house and watch the service with you! We can meet with 10 people at a time (actually, it would be legal to meet with up to 50, but 10 is the current recommendation). So, put 10 people in front of your TV and actually worship together! The service will be shorter online than it is live. I estimate under an hour. It is likely it will be closer to 50-55 minutes. 

If 10 of you each had 10 people in their house, that would be more folks than we usually see downstairs on Sunday. I think more of you can do this. Our church could actually grow during this time! Please take this seriously. Really make the effort to reach out, in person and online.

Pastor Craig had a great idea concerning our online worship. If ALL OF US SHARED THAT THE SERVICE IS AVAILABLE, then we could reach out to more people than we ever have on Sunday! Will you do this? Start at about 10AM Sunday, and text, message, post that people can join us at YouTube.com/deorl at 11AM, Then remind them when it starts. This was Craig’s idea. If you have a better strategy in mind, USE IT. Can you imagine if we saw hundreds or even a thousand or more people watching with us! We need you, Lifewell people, to have faith and make this effort!

I realize our live webcast has suffered at times due to internet dropouts. That’s why I have had a separate dedicated service installed downstairs and I am not relying on wifi access to it. The Streamer is wired in. That should result in HD quality and great audio without buffering and pausing, or generally unwatchable video. Please pray this works!

4) lifewellchurch.com Our website will be updated regularly. You may give from there, the worship is streamed live there (YouTube is embedded, so it’s the same as going directly to my channel), and the latest worship info will always be available. I may make other tools available there too. I used to podcast my teaching. If that would be helpful to you, please let me know; I’ll be happy to do so again.

5) deorl.com That’s my blog, which you’re reading right now, by the way! I will be writing longer messages and posting them there. Follow me on WordPress and you’ll get emails notifying you when I post something.

I love you. I pray for you. Please make it easier for me to help you and teach you and encourage you. Follow the steps above now.You are always welcome to call me. If you don’t have my number, message me on Facebook or get it from another member. God bless. “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of your God!” (Exodus 14:13).

Peace and Truth;

Pastor Darryl Hall

Lifewell Church

Dear Lifewell,

Peace and truth to you!

I am writing to encourage and challenge you during the present crisis. The prophet Isaiah said to Israel, and so to those of us who have been grafted into the olive tree and adopted into his family, “Rise! Shine! Your light has come, and the glory of the Lord will shine upon you. Though darkness, even deep darkness cover the earth, the light of the LORD will shine upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you” (60:1-2). The Lord Jesus told his disciples, and so you and me, not to hide their light beneath a basket but to put it up on the table so everyone can see. The Lord said we are a city set on a hill. Our church was once known as Zion because we wanted to be like Jerusalem, the city of God’s people sitting on a hill. The change to Lifewell is was not a change in that hope, or mission.

Now is our time to shine, Lifewell! All around you people are in fear. Why? It is being stirred up by the Great Fear-monger himself, the enemy of our souls, Satan. He is using many tools, but I want you to understand, to realize fully, that we have nothing to fear! I spoke to those gathered yesterday about this. Many of you were absent, so I would encourage you to view that message (if you haven’t already). It’s up on our website right now, and will be archived on my youtube.com/deorl. Fear is the opposite of faith. Fear is darkness. Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus offers hope, and that’s what people need to see coming from us. 

In order to shine you need to come out from beneath the bed or the table. Put the light of Jesus up where everyone can see it. What does that mean? Trust God and encourage your family, friends and co-workers to do the same. Tell everyone that God is in control, even when the world seems out of control. Share the good news about Jesus, and the hope of eternal life with everyone. If you’re on social media, refuse to be negative, refuse to be hostile or hateful. People need to see that we are confident and courageous. The very idea of Lifewell is for us to live in such a way that others recognize us as different, positive, life-giving.

It is imperative that we live under the inspiration of the indwelling Holy Spirit, moment by moment, all day long. Don’t do anything, don’t post anything, don’t say anything, until and unless you sense the Holy Spirit leading. If you never have that sense, you don’t have relationship with Jesus! “You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.” (Romans 8:9, CSB) How do you make decisions? What made you stay home yesterday, or go to church? Why did you worship with us, or fail to? It’s possible to be at church and not enter in to worship! We must make these decisions on the basis of faith. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Where do you think that assurance and conviction comes from? It is the Holy Spirit seeking to convict your spirit. Are you paying attention? If the Holy Spirit convicts you to avoid a certain place, or take a different route home, or not to be around someone, or to share with someone, or not to say what you really want to, you must obey.

God will protect us, Lifewell, but we have to pay attention to his leading, not the speculation and prognostication of politicians and the media. Faith follows facts and truth. Faith is the organ of spiritual sight. Faith must be your response to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). We must abide in Christ, remain in Him, stay close to Him, and that equals being filled with the Holy Spirit and following His lead as He moves on your spirit. “Walk by the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh…If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16 & 25).

The present crisis is a test of your faith and faithfulness. Will you pass? Are you failing? We are guaranteed victory, so raise your hands and the Lord will lift you out of your depression, doubt and fear! “We overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us!” (Romans 8:37). Everything will be ok, friends, so long as you love God and pursue His purpose. In fact, everything will be better than ok, we will come out stronger, better and more like our Lord! “All things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

I love you, and pray for you. I hope you will pray for me, and I hope to see you soon!

In Truth;

Pastor Darryl