Going to church online….does it work?
YES IT DOES!!
I attended church online before it was the trendy thing!
Let me explain
In 2015 I found myself sick and I was unable to attend church the way I used to. I was too weak to actually attend a church service in a building. And by going, I could catch something that would make me even weaker. So I went to You-tube and I was able to find different topics and sermons.
Technology has blown the doors to on-line church wide open and that is amazing and so needed in this season of social distancing.I have heard people say that it’s not the same as being in the building, but I have story I would like to share about the power of church online.
My Story-
It was March 2016, my husband Shawn was preaching at a local church and I was home on the couch with a horrible migraine. Over the past several months it became our normal routine to watch a couple of different sermons each Sunday morning and listen to a worship service.
That morning I was listening to a sermon by Bill Johnson from Bethel church in Redding CA. He was preaching a sermon and to be honest I couldn’t tell you what he was preaching (remember I had a migraine and I was hoping I would retain some of what he was saying through osmosis). But what I do remember was he stopped preaching and said “I believe that God is wanting to heal someone from migraines right now.” That caught my attention! Remember I was on the couch with a migraine. Then as if he was looking right at me again he said raise your hand if you want God to heal you of migraines. So there on my couch with a corn pack on my head I raised my hand.
Pastor Bill prayed and then went back to his sermon. Shawn came home and I told him I received prayer for migraines this morning and told him about what happened. The migraine I had continued, and actually was pretty bad. You see I have had Migraine headaches since I was 3 years old. Usually I had one a month, or I got one if I was around something I was allergic to. Over the past 5 years up to that time I was having as many as 10 a month, and barely would have enough medication to get through.
That day came and went. By the time I woke up the next morning as normal, the migraine was gone.
The amazing part of the story. It was about a month later when I realized I hadn’t had even 1 migraine. WHAT!!!! I couldn’t believe it. One month turned into 2 and 2 months turned into 12 months and 12 months turned into what is now 4 years without a migraine.
I HAVE NOT HAD A MIGRAINE IN OVER 4 YEARS!!
When my doctors ask what I think has stopped the migraines I say “God healed me.” There is a quiet moment of awkwardness but then they move on. God receives all the glory of me being healed. 44 years of migraine headaches and now I have none.
So when people ask me as we go into this new season of not being able to gather as a church if it will be as powerful as meeting in a building I say YES!!!! If I hadn’t had access to a church community on-line during that time I wouldn’t have had the strength to get through that season in my life.
There are a couple things I did during that time to make sure I was getting enough out of online church.
Let me will share them with you-
Set a designated time-
Don’t do other things while you are watching the service. Set aside the time you would have gone to be present at a physical church while the teaching is happening. I do have times when I listen to podcasts while I do things around the house, but when it comes to Sunday I set aside the time, and God honors that.
Share with someone what you learned-
Find a friend or two and make time to talk about the sermon together. Be “Iron Sharpening Iron.”
Make comments and interact with the online community-
This helps us feel like we are a part of something even though we are not in a church location. It also helps the pastor and staff to know people are watching and engaging.
During this time of ‘Social Distancing’ it is easy to feel isolated, and Isolation can lead to fear, depression and thoughts that can cause us to go down a rabbit hole that is hard to recover from.
Remember it is important to reach out to people.
I know it is hard to reach out when you are barely getting up and getting through each day, but trust me, reaching out to even one person can make a huge difference.
When we sit back and wait for someone else to make the move we can be waiting a long time. Reaching out to someone can boost your mood helping not only the person you reach out to, but boosting your own mood as well.
Remember we are the body of Christ even if we can’t meet in the traditional building.
Get connected and reach out to people during this time. Be the hands and feet of Jesus!
