1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world. 4 Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
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As worshippers of the living God, a key aspect of worship is reflecting His generous heart. There will be temptations to drop off in our giving during this period when we are not meeting in person. Remember what an amazingly powerful declaration to the spiritual world it is for all of us to remain at peace, united and outward looking, especially in these challenging times.
It is critical that we maintain our ministry capabilities during this season. We encourage all of our church family to continue with your generous tithes and offerings. If your financial circumstances change, we know you’ll seek the Lord’s guidance. For those who are able, please consider giving to the Fellowship Fund, over and above your normal tithes and offerings. We as a parish, as has been our practice, want to be able to stand practically with those of our brothers and sisters in Christ who are experiencing material need.