For those of you who don’t know, western Washington is currently experiencing some pretty heavy snowfall (at least for us), which is making it dangerous out on the roads. Because of the weather, road conditions, and power outages, many churches in the area cancelled their services this weekend in order to keep everyone from driving on the roads.
Since my church was one of the churches that cancelled services, on Saturday evening they decided to get creative and broadcast the sermon on Facebook Live, direct from the pastor’s living room!
When I heard the plans earlier that day, I immediately texted my best friend to give her a heads up, since her home church had cancelled services, too. We agreed to both watch the sermon and text our notes back and forth throughout. Of course, some of the texts were more chatting than notes, but we really did pay attention, I swear!
I’ll admit, it was quite nice to “attend” church while curled up on my couch and wearing my favorite pajamas. The few pastors and worship team members who were there were in their stocking feet, their tone was more relaxed, and everything felt more personal; the pastor even said “I’m going to make this less like a big sermon and more like a conversation between friends.”
And that’s what it felt like. As the pastor preached through Daniel chapter 2, I found myself paying closer attention to the live stream than I do in church (not that I don’t pay attention, but sometimes you can tune out a big sermon because it doesn’t seem to be addressed directly to you).
While Saturday’s service was a bit unconventional, I was excited to still be able to hear the preaching, and very grateful for the technology we have to be able to hold online services when our original plans go sideways. I pray that, as Christians, we continue to prioritize teaching Christ’s message, despite unfavorable circumstances!
A Special Strength 