March 29, 2020 · Ephesians 6:10–12

The Armor Against the Virus

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

“I want to begin just by reminding everyone that we do see in Scripture a call to submit to our government, in Romans 13:1 and 2, Titus 3 and 1. So we need to make sure we put in place the precautions that they are asking us to, remembering that, unless they are calling us to defy God, that we are called to be subject to them as agents of God. And I want to kind of start with some of the precautions they are talking to us about, and take that into account for what we are doing in terms of this series. I wanted to begin a new series called The Armor of God. And I thought about what they are asking us to do, and it is very interesting, because we are starting to realize that they are calling us to take in a few precautions — a few things to do that will protect us against the virus. The first one is this new term for a lot of us: social distancing. The idea is to stay away as much as possible — for — other people. And it is hard for me, as a pastor, I got to say. I miss my church so much. It is what I live for. I go to church probably every Sunday — there are maybe a couple of Sundays in a year where I will miss. Even on vacation, I try to schedule my vacations in between. And so this is a really difficult time.”