UPDATE: There have been a number of changes issued by the CDC, the Governor of the state of Virginia and from our local health agencies which has generated a lot of buzz for our Country. Our responsibilities to keep you informed and safe is our priority. Virginia Governor’s Executive Order # 79 “ENDING OF COMMONSENSE PUBLIC HEALTH RESTRICTIONS DUE TO NOVEL CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19): goes into effect May 28, 2021. It provides a guidance of directives for the wearing of masks and face coverings both inside and outside. Based upon the numbers positive COVID19 case declining, it has been decided the need to reduce the previously enacted guidelines.

New Berean is responsible to provide our members, our guests and friends with a safe facility to grow in our faith, fellowship with other saints and be discipled in the teachings of Christ. Our plans will be to maintain our current course and will expect the following from all our faithful attenders:

• Face masks and coverings are expected to be worn by everyone while inside the facility. You will not be required or asked to wear the coverings outside, while you are still expected to socialized and fellowship responsibly.
• Distancing has been a tool to support the minimizing the risk and decreasing the spread of the virus. We are asking everyone gathering for any meeting inside the facility to maintain a safe (recommended 6 foot) distance from others.
• Because the virus is communicable, it is strictly encouraged to wash and cleanse your hands frequently to minimize the risks of spreading the virus. If you are comfortable with using the “elbow and fist bumps” as your version of greeting one another with “a holy kiss” do so but use the hand sanitizers provided to wash your hands.
• We will continue to work to provide you a safe and cleaned facility by wiping down varied hard surfaces, disinfecting the other surfaces and ensuring the airflow is clean.

The Governor of Virginia has been careful in rescinding and easing these safety restrictions but he has also allowed the religious communities of faith to lead the efforts and be the example. We give honor and praise to the Lord our God for his grace and mercy towards the family of New Berean. If you have any concerns or issues with these guidelines, speak with one of the Trustees so we can get the clarity and understand we need.

Guidance for Organizing Large Events and Gatherings

Based upon the above mentioned guidelines and instructions, we are issuing and announcing the following “in-house” guidelines for the ministry of New Berean Baptist Church. It is our intent to maintain an atmosphere safe for ministry and Christian discipleship.

• Face masks and coverings will still be required while inside the building facility
• A minimal distance of 6 feet is to be maintained especially if personal engagement is sustained
• We (as a church staff) will continue to provide body temperature monitoring upon entry, hand sanitizer and a clean facility to support our work for the Kingdom of God.

Gatherings

CDC continues to recommend avoiding large events and gatherings. Currently, CDC does not provide numbers to define small and large events.

Large gatherings bring together many people from multiple households in a private or public space. Large gatherings are often planned events with a large number of guests and invitations. They sometimes involve lodging, event staff, security, tickets, and long-distance travel. CDC’s large events guidance might apply to events such as conferences, trade shows, sporting events, festivals, concerts, or large weddings and parties.

Small gatherings are informal in nature and may occur with family and friends you regularly socialize with, often at someone’s residence. They typically do not involve long distance travel. Small gathering guidance might be more appropriate for social gatherings that are more intimate with close friends and family, such as small holiday parties, family dinners, and small special celebrations.

CDC offers the following guidance to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Event planners should work with state and local health officials to implement this guidance, adjusting to meet the unique needs and circumstances of the local community. This guidance is meant to supplement—not replace—any state, local, territorial, or tribal health and safety laws, rules, and regulations with which gatherings must comply.

Risk Factors to Consider

Several factors can contribute to the likelihood of attendees getting and spreading COVID-19 at large events. In combination, the following factors will create higher or lower amounts of risk:

• Number of COVID-19 cases in your community—High or increasing levels of COVID-19 cases in the event location or the locations the attendees are coming from increase the risk of infection and spread among attendees. Relevant data can often be found on the local health department website or on CDC’s COVID Data Tracker County View.
• Exposure during travel—Airports, airplanes, bus stations, buses, train stations, trains, public transport, gas stations, and rest stops are all places where physical distancing may be challenging and ventilation may be poor.
• Setting of the event—Indoor events, especially in places with poor ventilation, pose more risk than outdoor events.

• Length of the event—Events that last longer pose more risk than shorter events. Being within 6 feet of someone who has COVID-19 for a total of 15 minutes or more (over a 24-hour period) greatly increases the risk of becoming infected and requires quarantine.
• Number and crowding of people at the event – Events with more people increase the likelihood of being exposed. The size of the event should be determined based on whether attendees from different households can stay at least 6 feet (2 arm lengths) Physical distancing at events can reduce transmission risk—for example, blocking off seats or modifying room layouts.
• Behavior of attendees during an event— Events where people engage in behaviors such as interacting with others from outside their own household, singing, shouting, not maintaining physical distancing, or not wearing masks consistently and correctly, can increase risk.

After reviewing this guidance, large event planners, operators, and administrators can use CDC’s Events and Gatherings Readiness and Planning Tool pdf icon[360 KB, 10 pages] to determine their level of readiness to implement mitigation and safety measures. Organizers should continue to assess, based on current conditions, whether to postpone or cancel large events and gatherings, or significantly reduce the number of attendees for events. If organizers are unable to put safety measures in place during large events and gatherings, they may choose instead to host a virtual event.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Today’s Pulpit Points message “Walking In The Truth” by Pastor DeWayne Cason. In his third epistle, the Apostle John presents three members of the first century Church who were challenged to walk in the truth of God’s Word, Gaius, Diotrephes and Demetrius.  As it was in the first century, it is the Churches obligation to know and to live the truth in love.  In this epistle, truth was an issue in a local congregation.  There were those who lived in truth and those who did not. 

The Message:

1. Commendation for Walking in Truth – 3rd John 1:1-8
2. Condemnation for Perverting Truth – 3^rd John 1:9-11
3. Commendation for Living the Truth, 3^rd John 1:12-14

Conclusion:

The lives of the three church leaders in John’s letter underscores the importance of walking in the truth of the Gospel. Gaius and Demetrius are faithful Christians who walk in the truth and are highly praised and blessed by John. Diotrephes, in contrast, is a member of the church in a position of authority but is walking contrary to the truth. We are to imitate the examples of those who walk in line with the Gospel of truth. And we must become discerning enough to be aware of those leaders whose behavior is like that of Diotrephes, so far from the great example of servanthood that Jesus taught. We should be helping the Kingdom rather than living contrary to the truth.      

One of the more interesting personalities to follow the Lord Jesus in Peter the fisherman. He was a fisher before Jesus made him a fisher of men. In this new and equally series, Pastor Cason shares with us through his two letters (I & II Peter) who Peter was and why he became a full-fledged soul-winner for Christ.

Entitled, “The Life and Times of the Apostle Peter, Cason takes us from the day Jesus met him on that boat fishing until the day he was offered up, up side down as a martyr for his Savior. Peter was probably one of the most out-spoken of the original disciples and more colorful ones. In his two letters, he shares with us what a life committed to Christ looks like and what the earthly and heavenly results are. Join us this week as we begin, The Life and Times of The Apostle Peter.

Lesson 1 – Introducing Peter – Pastor Cason introduces us this evening to Peter. Originally called Simon, a very common Jewish name in the New Testament. He was the son of Jona. His mother is nowhere named in Scripture. He had a younger brother called Andrew, who first brought him to Jesus. His native town was Bethsaida, on the western coast of the Sea of Galilee, to which also Philip belonged. Here he was brought up by the shores of the Sea of Galilee and was trained to the occupation of a fisher. His father had probably died while he was still young, and he and his brother were brought up under the care of Zebedee and his wife Salome. There the four youths, Simon, Andrew, James, and John, spent their boyhood and early manhood in constant fellowship. Simon and his brother doubtless enjoyed all the advantages of religious training and were early instructed in an acquaintance with the Scriptures and with the great prophecies regarding the coming of the Messiah. They did not probably enjoy, however, any special training in the study of the law under any of the rabbis. When Peter appeared before the Sanhedrin, he looked like an “unlearned man”.

Lesson 2 – From Fisher to Fisher of Men – Join Pastor Cason as he continues his current weekly series entitled, “The Life and Times of the Apostle Peter”. In this week’s lesson. Pastor Cason describes the first earth encounter of Jesus with a common fisher. Cason details some very interesting elements which lead to this man’s divine and extraordinary transformation.

Lesson 3 – Peter’s Faith In Jesus – What do we know about Peter? We know he was quick on the tongue (Matt. 16:16) and with a knife (with the soldiers who came to get Jesus – John 18:10). But Peter was more of a man of faith than we recognize. In tonight’s lesson, Pastor Cason shares with us the beginning of the faith of a man who would become “a fisher of men”

Lesson 4 – Life’s Lessons From Peter This week, Pastor continues in his current study series on the Apostle Peter. Tonight’s lesson is subtitled, “Life’s Lessons of the Apostle Peter. Tonight we will learn of some of the events in which Peter participated in that help grow his faith and solidified his place a follower of Jesus. He witnessed the vision seen on the Mount of Transfiguration and the washing of the disciple’s feet.

Lesson 5 – The Low Point – Peter’ Denial – If you ask who Peter was, a number pf people will pf things he did or didn’t and not who he was. He identified Christ as the son of God (Matt. 16:16) or when walked on water (Matt. 14:29). Some would even call out the time when he cut off the ear of the soldier (Matt. 26:51) Peter left his mark in the scriptures as recorded by the Gospels. In this week’s lesson on the “Life and Times of the Apostle Peter”, Pastor Cason shares with us a series of events that would account as :The Low Point – Peter’s Denial.

Join us as we examine a moment in the life of Peter which all us can and should be able to relate to. The encouragement in all of this is that our lowest points are only a part of who we are. These points do not define us for the Lord our God, has the final say. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jer. 29:11

Lesson 6 – The Mission and the Ministry – Today’s message revolves around the mission and the ministry of Peter. the Apostle. After being given a second chance by the Lord Jesus, Peter used it to take the message of the “Co-Mission” to fuel his ministry. Follow Pastor as he continue to share of the Life and Times of Peter the Apostle.

Lesson 7 – One Key, Two Doors – As mighty as the Lord used Paul to preach Christ to the Gentiles, the Apostle Peter was used to preach to the Jews. IN this week lesson, Pastor Cason shares with us how one key is used to open two doors and maybe even a third.

Lesson 8 – One Key, Three Doors – This week’s Mid-week audio broadcast of The Life and Times of The Apostle Peter comes to a close. This last episode, Pastor Cason concludes the exciting, intriguing and wonderful life of this fisherman turned apostle. In the second letter of Peter, he addressed himself as bondservant and apostle. The Lord Jesus transformed Peter from a common blue-collar guy to one used by the Lord to bring literally millions of people to a saving knowledge of Christ. The one who denied the Lord, pulled a knife out on a Roman soldier is the same who walked on water and preached a great message which led many to believed in the Lord (Acts 4). Join us and Pastor Cason Wednesday as he concludes up this series on the Life and Times of The Apostle Peter (Acts 10).

In studying the scriptures there are several elements we should employ or tools we should use to help the scriptures become relevant, alive and exciting as they are and as God intended. First we must ask who is the writer and who is his audience. Then ask the question, what is he writing about and why is he writing these scriptures. With that being said, we must understand that even though we can know these four elements, we cannot know what God is saying to us from the scriptures because they are spiritually appraised. Only people who are saved have God’s blessed spirit (Rom. 8:9) and therefore are able to properly discern his word.

Lesson 1 Searching The Scriptures Colossians 2:8-10 This week lesson from Pastor Cason takes us to Colossae a city located in Turkey (of Asia). He discusses the keys searching the scriptures. So grab your bible and join us for today’s study.