John MacArthur Defied a Court Order this Morning and Had In-person Services. This is what Happened
Pastor MacArthur defied a preliminary injunction against him and Grace Community Church by an L.A court that prohibited them from having indoor services, setting himself up to be charged with a $1000 fine and face jail time for refusing to abide by the court ruling.
Speaking in front of a packed congregation, MacArthur was greeted by an almost 30-second standing ovation, with the church cheering him and thanking him for not bowing to Los Angeles County Health official’s efforts to shut him down.
MacArthur addressed one of the main questions he was receiving; why not just abide by the court order and have outdoor services, which they are allowed to do? The Shepherd explaining that to do so would practically and destroy their services and their ability to properly and effectively preach the gospel and serve the congregation. He said:
“You people are out of control. Are you happy to be at church?
Before we begin, the question has come up a number of times about why Grace church does not just comply with the orders that have been laid down for churches. And I thought it might be helpful to give you the list of things that are required of us as a church so that you understand how utterly impossible that would be. Here are the basic orders.
-No indoor meetings at all
-Pre-registration of every person who comes on the church property
-People only allowed on church property for scheduled events
-Every person who comes on the property is to be screened and have their temperature taken at the entry
-We all must maintain 6 feet of social distance at all times everywhere, including the parking lot and the restrooms
-Every other parking space must be left vacant
-Marked pathways to maintain social distance.
-Keeping people apart by staff monitors
-Everyone always wearing a mask
-Restroom monitors to control 6 feet social distancing at restrooms
-Tape on the ground marking distance
-Signs indicating these mandates and also full exposure on social media
restrooms are to be used during the service to minimize the rush. That would be interesting.
-No hymnbooks
-No communion
-No offering containers
-No pew bibles
-No singing
-No hugging
-No shaking hands
-Disposable seat covers changed between services
-And the services have to be shortened (laughter from congregation) that’s not a problem for me, right?
And based upon the separation, we could only meet in the tent with a maximum of 350-400 people (GCC has 10 times that on a regular Sunday) You can see these are the requirements that would completely shut the church down. Anyone who comes in contact with someone outside their family for more than 15 minutes must self-quarantine for 2 weeks.
Obviously this is not constitutional, but more importantly it goes against the will of the Lord of the church who calls us to gather, amen? So look at the person next to you and say ‘I don’t know who you are but I’m so glad I’m sitting next to you.’
About Author
A man of conviction – a rare thing these days.
When you are on God’s side… watch how He works… We send prayers and support to their effort in LA County..
This is grandstanding. The scriptures strictly stipulates to obey the laws of the land. He has a pride issue to generate attention towards him.
Praise Jesus for such godly boldness! God will neither be mocked nor silenced! His TRUE people will show their support in this spiritual war! May God be with His people, may the gospel be preached even more fervently, and may our awesome God of gods be given all the glory in this and in all of life, forever and ever! Amen!!
Not many men like Pastor MacArthur — biblical convictions and the willingness to do whatever it takes to be a faithful shepherd. Our prayers are with all of Grace Church.
I commend Pastor John Macartur for his courage in the face of state persecution. There are very few Pastors these days if any who would stand up against such outrageous
judgements as this. Let all of us Christians who profess to know Christ as our Lord and Savior join Pastor John MacArthur in prayer for this outrageous judgement to be removed. Let us also protest by gathering together against the court house and its judge who issued this decree against GCC. This kind of behavior by the state and it’s judges must not be tolerated lest we lose our rights as Christians to worship in our own Churches.
The health department was in apparently in attendance also on Sunday. All were Christians.