God is Working Despite the Pandemic A
s the Covid-19 pandemic has turned the world upside down, we are all facing new challenges and new opportunities to put our hope in our sovereign God. We have heard from some ARP church plants that are praising God that they were able to reach new people in their communities despite the quarantine. If your church needs assistance engaging members virtually, ONA produced a webinar to help define the best and easiest ways:
vimeo.com/401103320/56838d5008.
Rev. Josh Kitchen Hope Reformed Church, Millbury, MA We have had family members that aren’t Christians tune in faithfully to our live
streamed service. We have also been able to reach new people through the live stream. In July, we had our first visitor who found us during the quarantine. The two of us had lunch, and he is very interested in getting involved with our church. He could poten- tially be a ministry intern at some point too. We are expecting at least one other family who found us during quarantine to attend and possibly two families. I’ve only had email conversations with them so far, so it is exciting to see what God might do. We created a webpage on our site to let people know what local businesses were doing during the quarantine or how they could buy gift certificates if the businesses were closed to help cover expenses. This gave us an opportunity to talk to local business owners and show our care for them, and we were able to advertise the page on social media platforms.
Rev. Athole Rennie Grace Church, Leith, Scotland (former ARP Church plant) I could never have imagined that our churches would have to go online and that I’d be delivering sermons to a video camera. Even all these months later, there is still so much uncer- tainty in our world and in the lives of our churches. However, I am regularly comforted by the fact that none of this came as a surprise to God. He is still working out his good purpose and plan in the lives of his people in the midst of all this. As a church we have been encouraged to see people connect with us online who had no previous engagement with us. We’ve also wel- comed some non-Christian friends onto an online Christianity Explored course which we’ve been running through lockdown. God is very much at work as many people are confronted with the fragility of their existence and the futility of their idols.
Rev. Steve Reynolds Renew Church, Ft. Myers, FL We have been able to maintain and expand ministries within Renew during this time of
isolation. We began two classes via Zoom for our members. I was able to complete leadership training with potential elders, and our prayer meeting actually expanded through people con- necting via Zoom. Those things the enemy means for harm, God is able (and willing) to use for good!
Rev. Keith Ginn Trinity Chapel, Weddington, NC As we have gone through these strange times, our hunger has grown for the gathering of
God’s people in His presence. The hunger that we have increasingly felt is reflected in the Bible, in what are called the ascension psalms (Psalms 120-134). These are the pilgrim songs, used by believers as they ascended Mount Zion for the yearly feasts at God’s temple. We are engaged in a sermon series going through each of these psalms. We are growing in our hunger for God’s pres- ence, not just in this life, but for all eternity.
"I will lift up my eyes to the hills---from whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth." (Psalm 121:1-2)?
Helping You Reach Your Community
Outreach North America
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