NMBC Family,
We have been so blessed by the overwhelming response from so many of you who have reached out to offer your prayers, encouragement, and how you can serve each other during this difficult time. We encourage you to continue sharing how God has been at work in you and your family’s life through the use of technology (our Facebook page, email, text, and phone calls), as God continues to call us to be His faithful witness “for such a time as this”.
In light of the recent mandates set by the state and federal government, we have moved to cancel all church activities, including Sunday morning worship through the end of the month of March. The church office will continue to stay open during this time, as well as the ongoing renovation to the church building lower level (with no more than 10 people working together at a time).
We will continue worshiping together online through the use of our Digital Worship Guide which will be emailed to you each Sunday, and can also be found on our church app, and website (www.nmbchurch.org/digitalworship).

• Worship: We ask that all of us set time aside time to worship together each Sunday, so we stay connected as a church family during this season. Utilize the sermon discussion questions to help encourage one another and apply the message to our lives.
• Digital Bulletin: Check out our digital bulletin that is included in the Digital Worship Guide that will inform you of everything that is going on at NMBC.
• Give: For those of us who are still receiving regular paychecks, we ask that you commit to regularly give throughout this season. You can give online through our website (www.nmbchurch.org/give), church app, or mail your offering to the church (4 Cherry Tree Farm Rd. Middletown, NJ 07748). This is a time where those of us who are able, have the opportunity to step up and meet the need placed before us by faithfully filling the gap to ensure that ministry is not severely compromised for a prolonged period of time. We are confident that our God will provide.

Lastly, so many of you have reached out asking what you can do, and how you can serve during this time. Our staff is organizing a comprehensive approach to congregational care during this season to ensure that we are all being cared for, especially the most vulnerable among us. If you would like to be a part of our care team in being assigned a group of people to regularly encourage, connect, and pray with, please email our Pastoral Resident Matthew Lau matt@nmbchurch.org .
We encourage you to stay healthy and safe by following the precautions set by the CDC and our medical professionals. Love your neighbor by practicing social distance, but let’s stay connected to one another by all the different means God has made possible to us. Let us continue to look to our sovereign God, who will always meet every one of our needs.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”. (Philippians 4:6-7).
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Jared

After much prayer, discussion, and heeding the recommendations given to us by our federal, state, and local government officials, we have decided to cancel NMBC’s regular corporate worship services for this Sunday, March 15, 2020.

As elders and overseers of Christ’s church, it is our responsibility before God to protect and care for the flock and our community by not putting anyone in danger or at risk of the Coronavirus outbreak. However, this does not mean we will be ceasing worship. The church is more than just a building, we are the people of God. As 1 Peter 2:9-11 says, “9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy”.

This Sunday, we will not gather together at 4 Cherry Tree Farm Road, but we will instead utilize technology by coming together in spirit to lift up our voices to praise our good and faithful God, adore and petition Him in prayer, give as generous recipients of His grace, and look to His Word to grow more in love with Him.

We will make available a video by this Sunday to lead you and your family to worship our good God! Our plan is to email, update the NMBC app (alerting with a push notification), and share on social media this video of NMBC’s worship when it is posted. We encourage you to share this video with whomever you feel led.

Our prayer is to reconvene at 4 Cherry Tree Farm Road when it is deemed safe for all of our church members. During this season, we encourage you to “be the church” by calling one another to pray, encourage each other, read the Scriptures with friends and family out loud, and sing praises to the Lord in your homes. The pastors, elders, church leaders, and staff will be working this week to plan for the near future on how we can best minister and equip the saints in this season.

We love you and are praying for you!
Grace and peace,
NMBC Elders

            As we continue to monitor the status of the Coronavirus and its impact on our community, this past week we all learned of multiple confirmed cases present here in Monmouth County. This does not change our commitment as followers of Jesus Christ, as we are not called to have a spirit of fear, but to proceed in power, love, and self control (2 Timothy 1:7). So, as we walk together in this season, we do so with the peace of God that does not lead to fear or hysteria, but simultaneously are called to love our neighbor by taking the necessary precautions recommended by the CDC and our healthcare professionals.
We ask that you would partner with us in the following ways as we desire to walk in wisdom during this season:

• NMBC is well-known for being a warm, affectionate church family who regularly greets one another with a “holy kiss”, hug, or handshake. But for this season we ask that we greet one another instead with a fist or elbow bump :)
• If you are among those who are most vulnerable to the Coronavirus, we recommend that you would not put yourself at risk by attending large group gatherings.
• Wash your hands frequently, (especially before eating) and avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
• Stay up to date with recommendations from the CDC www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
• If you are sick, or have been exposed to a person who has tested positive for the coronavirus, or if you’ve traveled to a high-risk area (or have been exposed to someone who has), please stay home. 
• Remember you can access our sermons online www.nmbchurch.org/sermons and can contribute to NMBC through our website or app www.nmbchurch.org/give

We ask for your prayers, support, and understanding as we navigate this time together. We have attempted to look to the weeks ahead by doing the following:

• We have purchased prepackaged communion elements for Good Friday to eliminate any potential health risks.
• We will continue to have fellowship hour in the Family Ministry Center after the worship services, however only individually wrapped snacks will be provided. Coffee service will continue, but we ask that you do not refill a cup you've already sipped from.
• Our exemplary custodial staff continues to apply best cleaning practices throughout the church buildings.
• We are currently working with our website and app company to provide a live stream of the worship service through our church app and website.
• We are actively monitoring notices from the CDC, the New Jersey Department of Health, and the Monmouth County Health Department and will inform you of any updates or possible future cancellations at NMBC through our website, app, or email.

            As we have been currently studying through the book of Esther, we must be reminded that God is sovereignly at work behind the scenes all over the world in the midst of this crisis, providing His providential care to those who are in need. May we all be steadfast in prayer that the Lord would use this trial in the same way He did in the lives of Esther and Mordecai, that for such a time as this we as the Church would model the peace of God that transcends all understanding to a world that is gripped by anxiety. Let us use this time to be on our knees in prayer before God, that He would give us opportunities to provide care, comfort, and good news to those in need.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Jared