The Day The Earth Stood Still

As of March 13, 2020, 8 a.m. Pacific DaylightTime, there are a total of 247 📷positive cases and five deaths in California (including one non-California resident). This total does not include passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship currently docked in Oakland.

Ages of all confirmed positive cases:

Age 0-17: 4 casesAge 18-64: 143 casesAge 65+: 98 casesUnknown: 2 cases

Washing hands with soap and water. Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces daily. If surfaces are dirty, clean them using detergent or soap and water prior to disinfection. Avoiding touching eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands.Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or your elbow. Avoiding close contact with people who are sick.Staying away from work, school or other people if you become sick with respiratory symptoms like fever and cough.Following guidance from public health officials.

Please consult with your health care provider about additional steps you may be able to take to protect yourself.

What is Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)?

Coronaviruses are a large group of viruses that are common among animals and humans. This novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is a newly discovered coronavirus that has not been previously detected in animals or humans. The source of this virus is not yet known.

What is the difference between COVID-19 and other coronaviruses?

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses. There are some coronaviruses that commonly circulate in humans. These viruses cause mild to moderate respiratory illness, although rarely they can cause severe disease. COVID-19 is closely related to two other animal coronaviruses that have caused outbreaks in people—the SARS coronavirus and the MERS (middle east respiratory syndrome) coronavirus.

Jesus’s approach

2 Timothy 1:7 NLT

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

I once was told that anxiety, worry and fear are like triplets! When you get anxious about something it turns into worry, and then worry starts to play scenarios over and over in our minds eventually turning a circumstance or event into fear!

How did Jesus prepare his followers for difficult times?

Luke 21:5–6 NIV

5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6 “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

It is said that at the fall of Jerusalem, the last surviving Jews of the city fled to the temple, because it was the strongest, most secure building in the city. Roman soldiers surrounded it, and one drunken soldier started a fire that soon engulfed the whole building. Ornate gold detail work in the roof melted down in the cracks between the stone walls of the temple, and to retrieve the gold, the Roman commander ordered that the temple be dismantled stone by stone. The destruction was so complete that today, they have true difficulty learning exactly where the temple was.

Luke 21:11 NLT

11 There will be great earthquakes, and there will be famines and plagues in many lands, and there will be terrifying things and great miraculous signs from heaven.

Luke 21:12 NIV

12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.

Luke 21:13–14 NLT

13 But this will be your opportunity to tell them about me. 14 So don’t worry in advance about how to answer the charges against you,

What opportunity?

Peacemaker

To show courage and trust in God

Witness and Pray for people

Luke 21:25–26 NIV

25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.

Luke 21:25–26 The Message

25 “It will seem like all hell has broken loose—sun, moon, stars, earth, sea, 26 in an uproar and everyone all over the world in a panic, the wind knocked out of them by the threat of doom, the powers-that-be quaking.

Luke 21:28 The Message

28 When all this starts to happen, up on your feet. Stand tall with your heads high. Help is on the way!”

Remove the drama.

Luke 8:51–55 NIV

51 When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.” 53 They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” 55 Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.

All wept and mourned for her: In that day it was customary to hire professional mourners to add to the atmosphere of grief and pain at a death. But the professional mourners could only grieve superficially. They quickly turned from weeping to scornful laughter (they ridiculed Him).

Learn to prepare.

Proverbs 6:6–8 NIV

6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! 7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, 8 yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

Genesis 41:48–49 NIV

48 Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. 49 Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.

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