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Online "Church"

 

Since today is Sunday, it seemed a good time to talk about Online "Church."  Some larger churches have live-streamed their services for years, but during the Covid shutdown there was an explosion of churches learning and using this technology.  And I am so thankful for it.  When we are sick or home-bound by the weather, or even if we need to travel, it's nice to be able to connect with our church family, or another church, online.  We can keep up with the sermon series we've been watching and conveniently do "church" at home or even in our car.  I think it's wonderful we are using technology for such purposes and am very thankful to have it when we need it.

But do you, like me, ever find it just a little too easy?  Are there times when you think, I'm running late, or I just don't feel like "people-ing" today, so I'll just do online church?  I find it much easier to travel on a Sunday when making a weekend trip, while before the pandemic I always worked my plans around a church service.  Is there anything wrong with this?

The short answer is, no, of course not.  There is no requirement for how many times you must be in the church building each month or how sick you have to be to miss.

Personally, I've been very tempted to do online church a lot lately.  I am a new empty-nester, my youngest having left for college a month ago.  My husband is a VA Hospital Chaplain, preaching in a service that I am not able to attend.  I've lived here for two years but for various reasons, I just haven't connected with any church in the area.  I am very much looking forward to moving back to where we used to live, where we plan to retire, where we are members of a vibrant church in which we have been very active.  Right now, I don't want to go to church by myself in the area where we are living.  Maybe you feel the same way.

But do you feel like you are missing something when you don't "go" to church?  I do.

Not to mention that the more Sundays I do "online church," the more likely I am to get busy and forget to do it.

The Greek word in the New Testament that is translated "church" is Εκκλησία.  Ok, if you can't pronounce that, try "ekklesia." It meant "the called out ones," a "gathering," or an "assembly."  It was the same word used when the Greek citizens in a city state had a meeting or an assembly.  Although our derivative, "ecclesiastical," always makes us think of religious things, the root was not a religious word.  It just meant the people were meeting together.  In the case of the followers of Jesus in ancient Roman times, they were meeting together for the purpose of worshipping the Lord.

Acts 2:42 tells us more about their purposes for meeting together.  The NIV says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."

The apostles' teaching corresponds with both the preacher's sermon and Sunday School or Bible Study teaching today.  Contrary to common belief, we are not going to church to hear a specific preacher.  People who go to a church because of the preacher will quickly lose interest when that preacher leaves or is no longer available.  We have no apostles anymore, and if the early Christians had only been going to church because they liked the apostles so much, the church would have fizzled quickly after the first century.  The apostles' teaching, however, was based on the teaching of Jesus, and it was written down in the books of our New Testament during the first century while the apostles were living, or shortly thereafter when people who were eyewitnesses to the apostles were still able to record it.  This is the teaching that we should still be going to church for.  Can I get this from online church?  Thankfully, yes.  This is one of the benefits of being able to attend a Bible-teaching church online.

Prayer is pretty self-explanatory.  When the people came together, they talked to God together.  Hopefully we are still doing this in 100% of Christian church services.  Does this happen online?  Yes.  I can certainly hear the prayers that are being offered online, and I can pray along with them from wherever I am.  God is present everywhere, and he doesn't necessarily care where we are when we pray.  Yet, I do think there is something to be said for praying for each other when we are together.  The Scripture speaks of praying for one another and bearing one another's burdens.  There is something very comforting about having Christian friends come around you and praying for you while you are physically together in a difficult time. Perhaps this purpose is even better achieved in a smaller gathering like a Bible study or prayer group than in the average corporate worship service.

"Breaking of bread" is communion or the Eucharist.  We eat a piece of bread, usually unleavened (there is no yeast in it to make it rise), and drink the fruit of the vine (wine or grape juice) in the same way that Jesus did at the Last Supper with his disciples.  He told them to continue to do this when they came together and to remember the sacrifice he was making for them.

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.  (I Corinthians 11:23-26 NIV)

The early Christians seemingly broke bread together whenever they assembled together.  We know they began meeting on the first day of the week, Sunday, since Jesus was raised from the dead on the first day of the week, and because many of them were still Jews who practiced the Sabbath day of rest on Saturday.  So they rested and perhaps met in the synagogue on Saturday, then met with fellow Christian believers on Sunday.  The early Christians met in homes and sometimes may have met much more than once a week, but according to the history we have, they made a habit of meeting at least on the first day of the week, and breaking bread together then.  Can I do this with online church?  Well, sure.  Everyone might not have several miniature communion kits sitting around their house like we do since my husband is a Chaplain, but it's not too hard to keep some crackers and grape juice handy, or even to use something else as a symbol if you do not have those items.  I try to take communion when I am at home worshipping online, but it does seem to me that this was a remembrance that Jesus gave his followers to practice corporately.  He wanted them to break bread together, talking about him and remembering him.  He knew we make the best memories with people when we are eating together.  Eventually this service took on the name "communion," as we are communing with both God and each other during this time.  When my husband was preaching in a small church, we used to take communion to people who were sick or shut-in after church, not because they could not take it by themselves, but because the aspect of taking it together was considered important.  So yes, I can do this on my own, but maybe it's not best.

Do you notice what is missing from the Acts 2:42 list?  Music?  Wow, and that is often treated as the most important aspect of worship these days!  It certainly was an important part of worship in both the Old and New Testaments and still is today.  We know from Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 that the early Christians sang psalms (from the Old Testament psalm-book), hymns (songs of praise, possibly a cappella), and spiritual songs (basically any other song of worship, some they may have written themselves, the equivalent of our contemporary worship music) in their corporate worship.  But it didn't quite make the top-four Acts 2:42 list.  Ah, but that is the topic for another blog post!  For now, suffice to say, I can enjoy and participate in the music in my online church service.

And that leaves fellowship.  That one did make the top four.  It was important.  It is important.  Yes, that seems to be what is missing the most from our online church experience.  We can compensate for it somewhat.  We might be able to talk or text with the people at the church during the livestream.  We might be able to get together with people some other time if we weren't able to attend church for some reason.  But over the course of time, the long haul, if we get into the habit of only going to online church, oh how we will miss the fellowship.  It's important, whether you are an extrovert or an introvert.  It's important to be around God's people.  We are difficult, we are less-than-perfect, we are hypocrites, we are human.  But we are in the battle here on this earth together.  No soldier can win a battle alone.  We need to carry each other's burdens, encourage one another, lift each other up, hold each other accountable, work out the problems together.  When Satan can get us isolated from the Body, it is easier for him to defeat us.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  (Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV)

We need each other!

Online church - what a blessing!  What an amazing and wonderful tool we have available to us when for whatever reason we are unable to physically attend a church service.

For the rest of the time, however - when we do not have any reason we cannot be there - I'll see you on Sunday!

Happy Lord's Day! 

Church People DVD - Momentum Review and Giveaway

 

We could all use a good laugh right now, and Church People is a movie your whole family can LOL to from the comfort of your own home!  I shared a review of this movie last March when it was in theaters.  Did you get a chance to see it?  If not, this is your chance, because it is now on DVD!

It is recurring theme in American churches.  Many of us grew up in small churches, sang hymns, sat on wooden pews, read the King James Version, and stood as the ushers brought the plates forward, singing the Doxology.  So our reaction - especially those of us who grew up in the 80s, during the coming-of-age of the Christian pop music genre - is to put on a big concert.  What can we do to overcome the old traditional ways and bring people in?  We have to bring them in and then just give them a morsel of truth while they are here.  Bigger is better.  More music.  More lights.  More flashy.  Bring in the smoke machines.  More, more, more!  When does it stop?  Forty years later, we are looking at church services becoming rock concerts, and we are wondering, Isn't the Gospel enough?

That's the question youth pastor Guy Sides is asking as PR people rain down beach balls on him on stage and bring a Superman costume for him to try on in the middle of his massive book tour.  (The writer in me is wondering how anyone ever got so popular on a book tour!)  He is "America's Youth Pastor."  And he's ready to give up.

Enter Pastor Skip with his tie-dye t-shirt; Tino with his worship and love songs; Carla, the preacher's missionary daughter, returned home with a heartbreak; Blaise, the overly passionate new convert; the mysterious Mabel; and two Baldwin brothers; and you have a full cast of highly exaggerated church stereotypes who represent real people with real issues who are just trying to share the Good News. 

Is the Gospel enough?

Church People is making the list of one of my favorites of the movies I've gotten to review, right up there with Mom's Night Out.  If you love good Christian comedy, you will love this movie!  It is a great lead-in to the Easter season.

Watch the trailer here:   https://youtu.be/QhROt7kmoLU

Purchase your copy of CHURCH PEOPLE now!

https://churchpeoplefilm.com/#buy

Of course, I have a Giveaway!  One lucky winner will receive a DVD of Church People from Momentum Influencers.  (Note: This giveaway is limited to US winners only.) To enter, just comment on this post or on my Facebook page by Wednesday, February 16, 2022. 

Disclosure: Many thanks to Collide Distribution for providing a sample of the product for this re- view. Opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation.

#ChurchPeopleDVDMIN #MomentumInfluencerNetwork

The "Tithe-Pod" Challenge with Blogger Laura Zielke

As we begin a new year, many people are considering changes in diet, scheduling, and finances.  One important spiritual discipline to develop is "tithing," or giving 10% of what we receive back to God.  (More about tithing in another blogpost.)  But have you ever attended a church that offered a MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE on your tithe?  Unfortunately, this is becoming a wide-spread practice.  It is a symptom of following a health-and-wealth gospel where people ask "What can serving God do for ME?"  And if you don't feel you've gotten a good return on your investment, well, some churches will just return it.  Is this practice Scriptural?

Please read more about the "Tithe-Pod Challenge," and why we should avoid it, on

Laura Zielke's blog.

Happy New Year!

The Little Chapel That Stood

**Reprint from September 11, 2012**

"We raised up the flag from the dust and the pain.

Freedom that's lost must be won again."

The two good giants fell on that grave day in September.  People died.  Rescuers saved lives, and some of the rescuers gave their lives.  My son's friend lost his dad at the age of three.  We do not know why God allows evil people to commit such atrocities in this life, but we know that, just as He controlled Leviathan and Behemoth in the ancient story of Job (Job 40-41), He has put a limit on evil's power in this world.  The border that the devastation could not cross on the 11th of September, 2001, was the unassuming little Chapel of St. Paul, located behind the Twin Towers in New York City.  The blast left rubble in a huge wake and tore the tree adjacent to the Chapel out of the ground by its roots (as is memorialized in the sculpture below), but the building itself was not affected.  

Throughout the day, rescue workers hung their gear on the fence around the little Chapel.  Some never returned to pick it up.  It was a little bit of solace on that day, a reminder that God is still in control.

I never heard anything about the Chapel of St. Paul in the media, and I did not know anything about this story until I saw the chapel when I went to New York several years after the tragedy.  I was awestruck by the simple story and the simple building.  I told my children the story every year.

Last year I found a beautiful picture book that illustrated my sentiments.  The Little Chapel That Stood, by A.B. Curtiss, is a lovely testament to the chapel, to those who lost their lives that day, to the strength of the survivors, and to faith.  It can be ordered from http://www.amazon.com/The-Little-Chapel-that-Stood/dp/0932529771, or you may see it online (free) at http://www.abcurtiss.com/graphics/books2/l_chapel/little_chapel1.htm.

If you are like me and have children, pre-teens, or young teens who do not remember the day that changed their history, and you have been looking for a book to help them understand, please take a look at this poem/story of tragedy and hope.

Remember.

An Ancient Tradition

We just returned from a trip to San Diego, and just as every time we travel, I am so grateful for the time we've been able to spend with friends.  In addition to the friends we stayed with, visited, and planned to see, we also went to the church in Oceanside where we used to be members, where we saw a number of friends.  Moving around a lot as we do, it is always wonderful to visit our former churches and see friends there.

Several weeks ago, my friend Rachel, who was also a member of that church at one time, but who has also since moved with the military, was visiting friends near where I live now.  She messaged me Saturday night to see where we went to church here, and we got to spend time with her that Sunday morning.

Sometimes when we are traveling, we attend a church somewhere where we don't know anyone.  We almost always feel like we are welcome and part of the family there.  I enjoy visiting with people, but I also enjoy worshipping with them.  I enjoy taking communion with them.  I always think how my parents, my grandmother, friends back home, and friends I haven't seen in years are also worshipping and communing with God and others at the same time (or maybe removed a few hours by the time difference).  In fact, around the world, our brothers and sisters in Christ are worshipping, fellowshipping, breaking bread, and listening to teaching from the Word, all within that 24-hour period, every week.  Some are in mega churches, some are in tiny country churches, and some are meeting in hiding.  The music is different, the clothes are different, and the meeting houses (or lack thereof) are different, but we all meet for the same reason - to remember and glorify Christ.  It ties us together and unifies us in a way that nothing else can.

Is it important to meet in corporate worship every Sunday?  Can't I worship just as well at home, in my own personal retreat in the woods, or in my hotel room?  To be sure, there have been times that I have not attended church on a Sunday because I was sick, one of my kids was sick, or something happened when we were traveling that prevented us from attending.  One year, we moved across country in the month of July, and since we had to move our dog with us and it was too hot to ever leave him in the car, we did not eat in restaurants, shop in stores, or attend church for several weeks.  We were relegated to getting food at drive-ins and eating at picnic tables in parks where we could find shade.  To be honest, we really missed attending church on those Sundays.  Why do we feel this draw to be with other Christians, even if we don't know them personally?

I think about the early church, in the first century.  Jesus established the Lord's Supper on the night He was betrayed, and later, His followers began the practice of meeting on the first day of the week, the day He rose from the dead.  (Many of these followers were Jews, and they probably still met at Synagogue on Saturday, the Sabbath, with other Jews; then on Sunday, they met with other Christ-followers.)  When they traveled from place to place, they sought out other believers.  In Acts 16, Luke writes about traveling with Paul to Philippi.  In verse 13, he tells us that "On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there."  They were looking for a synagogue, where they could meet with other Jews and possibly some who were believers in Christ.  While there was no synagogue in Philippi, there were believers in God who had met near the river on Saturday morning, just where Paul and the others would expect to find them.  In an age before cell phones, radios, or satellite transmitters, the believers simply met at the expected place at the expected time every week, and then they could find each other and worship together.  Acts 20:7 gives an example of the Christians meeting for communion on the first day of the week.  I Corinthians 16:1-2 talks about taking a weekly collection on the first day of the week.  While exact, detailed directions are not given (God evidently wanted to give us freedom in our worship and services), the precedent of coming together on the first day of the week was established two millennia ago.  And while not every church participates in the Lord's Supper every Sunday, many do.  I believe that this practice - meeting together to participate in "the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer" (Acts 2:42) - has probably been upheld somewhere in the world every single Sunday for the past 2,000 years.  That is quite a tradition!

If you have lived in one place most of your life and have been a member of a church, you probably know those people well and are used to the routine.  If, however, you move or travel frequently, you may have a different experience of how great it is to be part of such an awesome and ancient tradition.  To go to a new area and know that there will probably be believers with whom you can worship on a Sunday.  Old friends, family members you haven't seen in a while, or new friends whom you are meeting for the first time - all brothers and sisters in Christ.  This is a tradition worth keeping.  Being a part of the church universal is what has given us friends, family, and continuity as we move from place to place with the military.

If you have never been a part of this great family of believers - the body of Christ on earth - come break bread with us.  We'll see you Sunday morning!

Marvelous Light

Last Sunday, I was very impressed by Grant standing in the front row at church.  Standing in the front row during the music and worship may not be all that impressive to some, but I was impressed because Grant had been in a wheelchair for almost a year, almost as long as I have known him.  I noticed last Sunday that when the congregation stood up during a certain song, he pulled himself up on a walker and stood.  He could have remained seated, and no one would have thought twice about it.  People understand why he is sitting, and it was not necessary for him to make the effort.  But he did make the effort.  Worshipping God was very important to him, and he was not willing to offer less than all he could give.  I thought this was a tremendous example for him to set, for young people in our audience to see him up in the front row, getting up out of his wheelchair to stand and sing to the Lord.  I decided I should tell him how inspiring he was to me.

I did not get the chance.  Grant left us this week.  He will be watching his beloved Steelers play tonight from his eternal home, if he still has any interest in the Super Bowl after seeing the streets of gold and his Savior's face.

Yesterday at the funeral, after singing "Amazing Grace," the worship leader began "Marvelous Light."  If you do not know that song, it is more upbeat, one where the teenagers usually yell "Woooo!" in between the lines, not your typical solemn funeral march.  But it was what Grant had requested.  As I listened to the words, as though I were hearing them again for the first time, I realized why.  "Into marvelous light I'm running/Out of darkness, out of shame."  Grant got up out of the wheelchair this week and ran into the marvelous light of his Savior's arms.  He's running and jumping and dancing and probably yelling "Woooo!"  

"My dead heart now is beating,

My deepest stains now clean.

Your breath fills up my lungs.

Now I'm free. Now I'm free!. . . .

Sin has lost its power

Death has lost its sting. . . .

Into marvelous light I'm running,

Out of darkness, out of shame.

By the cross you are the truth,

You are the life, you are the way"

Marvelous Light by Charlie Hall

By the way, Steelers, win one for us tonight!

Back to the Manger

I should have posted this a month ago, but I would be remiss if I got much past Christmas without putting in a plug for Back to the Manger:  A Caroling Adventure Through Time by Christy & Daniel Semsen, published by Word Music.  This was simply the best children's Christmas program I have found anywhere, and my children's choir kids did a fabulous job with it!  The plot was interesting (and had an unexpected twist), the music appealed to upper-elementary children, and there were plenty of speaking- and solo-parts to go around.  This is a hard combination to find, and our church has been blessed with a number of children who enjoy and are capable of doing solos well.  Some of you are thinking, "Christmas, why is she still talking about Christmas?"  But if you direct children's choir or plays for a church or homeschool group, I know you are already considering what you might do next year!  I highly recommend Back to the Manger, and I might even have some second-hand music for you to purchase!

GPS: God's Plan of Salvation

May 17, 2010

So the first order of business today is to say how PROUD I am of my kids - my own four children and the other 20 in our church's children's play - for their performance Saturday night inGPS: God's Plan of Salvation. The children's musical was perfect, and the teens preparing and serving the meal for the dinner theater, as well as the teens performing in "Hands of Praise," were all just marvelous. What a fantastic weekend!

I have written previously about Colossians 3:17 - "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (NIV) This is what these children are learning at this young age. Too often, they feel they must wait until they are older to do things. They sit in children's church and do not become "part" of the church for years. Meanwhile, they enjoy music, acting, and other creative expression, and the world will give them places to express themselves. What I want most from plays like this is for the children to learn to use their creative talents for the Lord. To do the best they can because they are doing it for God and God alone. To enjoy worshipping God with their creative expression. And to begin a lifelong habit of using their talents for worship and service to the Creator of all. We are blessed to be part of a church congregation that recognizes the value that its youngest members and attenders can contribute. These children will remember the applause and every compliment that was paid to their hard effort. The experience has built their self-confidence and given them affirmation for a job well done for the Lord. For every person who walked up to one of these children and said, "You did a good job tonight," I am thankful. You have invested in the Kingdom of God.

True Worship

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Life in the military requires frequent moves, and frequent moves require church-shopping. If you have attended a church or two, you've had opinions about worship services. Now, I can worship with traditional hymns, contemporary choruses, children's songs, or rap music; I love them all. The challenge for most worship teams is to find the balance between an excellent performance and an excellent worship experience. We've all seen praise teams that could have put on a rock concert, but they sang songs we didn't know, they were too loud, and we left wondering where the good ole' gospel sing-alongs were being held. And then we've all been to churches where we knew and appreciated that everyone's hearts were in the right place, but bless their hearts, if they could just get a songleader who could carry a tune. Most places are somewhere in between. We know that God requires our best, so why is it so hard to keep our eyes focused on worshipping Him and to do a good job musically as well?

Well, when we visited our current church when we moved here a few months ago, I knew almost immediately that we had come to the right place. It was our very first Sunday visiting this new congregation. I already knew that the worship minister was musically talented; I had seen him lead music at church camp before. We were impressed by the praise team, the instrumentalists, the chosen song mix, and the participation of the congregation. Then came the test. A boy walked up onto the stage in the middle of the worship service. He seemed to be lost in the music, oblivious to the audience. To be honest, I expected someone to come across the stage and rush him quietly out of the room, but that is not what happened at all. As he walked over to a singer and touched her face, she smiled at him and took his hand. He continued to walk around the stage, looking at the different instruments, trying to figure out how they made the sounds they did, and everyone just kept singing. He walked over to the worship minister, peering at his guitar, and the worship minister turned slightly away from the microphone, holding the guitar towards him so he could see and hear it better. There was no interruption to the worship whatsoever. After the song was over, the boy left the stage, and the worship minister spoke. "For those of you who may be new here, this is our friend, Tommy (name changed to protect privacy). Tommy is autistic, and sometimes music can reach him in ways that nothing else can. He is part of our church family here, and this is part of his worship. We are glad he can worship God with us through music." Wow. Musical excellence for God with no concern for putting on a "show." Evidence that the people in this congregation wanted to truly worship God, in spirit and in truth; and that they cared about every single member of the family of God. Yes, we were in the right place.

Praise God!