E-VOTIONAL FOR MARCH 15, 2020
\nTerry V. Swicegood<\/p>\n
Beginning today I will be writing a regular \u201cE-Votional\u201d for our congregation, which will be posted on our website (https:\/\/peoriapresbyterianchurch.org\/wordpress\/<\/a>) Facebook page E-VOTIONAL FOR MARCH 15, 2020 Terry V. Swicegood Beginning today I will be writing a regular \u201cE-Votional\u201d for our congregation, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-e-votional"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoriapresbyterianchurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoriapresbyterianchurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoriapresbyterianchurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoriapresbyterianchurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoriapresbyterianchurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/peoriapresbyterianchurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327,"href":"https:\/\/peoriapresbyterianchurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293\/revisions\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoriapresbyterianchurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoriapresbyterianchurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoriapresbyterianchurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n(https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/fpcpeoria\/<\/a>), and on our prayer chain.
\nI am writing this from my favorite coffee shop, Ground Control, in Litchfield Park. I come here every morning to prepare Sunday bulletins, write sermons, and to answer emails.
\nThe coffee shop is empty now. I\u2019m hoping a lot of people decide to come here for breakfast today, for the new owner, Ian Harwell, is a friend of mine and I want him to succeed.
\nThe coffee shop is empty. And I feel empty. The Session decided, wisely, to cancel worship today and for the next few weeks. I had worked hard on a Coronavirus sermon, which I will post here later. I want to go to church today\u2013to sing those uplifting hymns, to pray with my people, and to look heaven-ward for guidance and strength.
\nThe Call to Worship I had chosen for our service today came from the Sermon on the Mount: \u201cJesus said, not a sparrow falls to the ground without your Heavenly Father\u2019s knowledge; are you not of far more value than sparrows?\u201d
\nYou know this passage, a passage about worry, to take no thought for the morrow for our Heavenly Father knows and responds to our needs.
\nBut, honestly, I am worried. Not so much that I or my loved ones will get sick, but worried about the frail elderly in our congregation and beyond. I\u2019m worried about finances, losing the money we\u2019ve saved for a lifetime for retirement.
\nI\u2019m worried about my Charlotte family. The school where my daughter-in-law teaches has been closed. I wonder if my son, who is an airline pilot, will be furloughed.
\nI\u2019m worried about my Dutch family. Will my daughter and son-in-law continue to get their salaries if they close the doors on where they are employed?
\nA few weeks ago I confided in the congregation that the sermons I write are always directed to me first before they are directed to the congregation. So I need a sermon today to fill my emptiness.
\nLast night before bed I was desperately surfing the web I looking for a devotional to send me off the sleep. The \u201cUpper Room\u201d which I have always loved was not available without a subscription fee. Then I stumbled across the Billy Graham evangelistic website which has a devotional for every day of the year.
\nAmazingly the devotional for March 14 was focused on Matthew 6: \u201cSo don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.\u201d\u2014Matthew 6:34 (TLB): https:\/\/billygraham.org\/devotion\/happiness\/<\/a>
\nSo here\u2019s my plan: when worry comes flooding into my mind I\u2019m going to beat back the worry and repeat these words over and over again: \u201cSo don\u2019t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"