Over the past few months, most churches have stopped meeting in person. A global pandemic, government regulations, and a desire to serve each other and society have kept us from gathering. Instead, we\u2019ve held \u201cservices\u201d online, met \u201cvirtually,\u201d and used technology to connect.<\/p>\n
Many churches are now resuming our meetings, or will soon. But these new services feel strange. Our sensitivities are heightened, our differences are on display, and we have to endure restrictions and protocols that are awkward, inconvenient, and frustrating. Then, no matter how safe we make it, some of our church family still can\u2019t come.<\/p>\n
With all this in mind, some believers may feel tempted not to come at all. If our restored gatherings are so different and restricted, our online options so available and convenient, and our physical presence a genuine vulnerability, why should we even meet in person?<\/em><\/p>\n This is a valid question. But before we make our decisions, we need to reflect on the importance of our gatherings so that our desire to meet grows instead of atrophying.<\/p>\n So unless you\u2019re someone who needs to stay home for health reasons, here are ten reasons to come back to church.<\/p>\n God made Adam from earth\u2019s soil, Eve from Adam\u2019s side, and humanity from their union (Gen. 1:26\u201327; 2:18\u201325; 3:20). We\u2019re embodied souls, male and female, in his image. We\u2019re not ethereal beings made to float in virtual space. We\u2019re not just pixels and screennames, headshots on Zoom and Facetime. We\u2019re human beings. We\u2019re designed to see and hear and taste and touch and feel our way through the physical world God\u2019s made. In recent months, we\u2019ve seen the power of our online world. But we\u2019ve also felt its limitations. No loving couple gladly accepts a \u201clong-distance relationship\u201d as ideal. Neither should a loving church family.<\/p>\n The Bible consistently teaches that the church is Christ\u2019s body on earth (Eph. 1:22\u201323). Each believer is a different body part, but we\u2019re intricately knitted together (Eph. 4:15\u201316). We\u2019re not independent but interdependent. Our spiritual gifts are like eyes and ears and hands and feet that each play their part in the body\u2019s growth and mission. Yes, even at a distance, we\u2019re still Christ\u2019s body. But like any healthy body, we shouldn\u2019t want to stay dislocated.<\/p>\n Not only are believers one body; we also have one Spirit (Eph 4:4). The Holy Spirit\u2014the third person of the Trinity\u2014inhabits God\u2019s church, and he\u2019s always drawing us toward unity. God\u2019s Spirit can\u2019t be divided, so when believers are separated involuntarily, we feel the tension\u2014like a rubber band stretched too far. The Spirit within us yearns for us to be together, like that same rubber band pulling us back in.<\/p>\n In the church, God is our adoptive Father, so we\u2019re all spiritual siblings\u2014God\u2019s \u201chousehold\u201d (1 Tim 3:15). With our different ages and genders, Paul even calls us fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters (1 Tim 5:1\u20132). But families aren\u2019t meant to be separated. Healthy families live together, laugh together, cry together, and help each other. Parents with grown children love when the adult kids get together\u2014and those parents are only fully satisfied when everyone\u2019s present. We must be faithful during this season to reach out to those who can\u2019t safely join us. But all who are able should seek to gather for our life-giving family reunions.<\/p>\n Our generation is used to John Piper sermons and Beth Moore videos and Ravi Zacharias clips. Phones and screens and apps are now our default medium. In just three months, we\u2019ve even grown used to watching our own pastors and leaders teach God\u2019s word through WiFi and glass. In this digital environment, we must remember that preaching is fundamentally a live, sacred moment (Acts 20:20, 27). Yes, it can be streamed and recorded and posted, benefiting both virtual attendees and future hearers. But for a local family of believers, God\u2019s word is best communicated live as the Spirit empowers an appointed preacher and trusted shepherd to articulate God\u2019s word personally in a moment pregnant with purpose and possibility. In these moments, pastors shepherd their own sheep, and sheep hear the voice of their shepherds. In these moments, we\u2019re struck not only by the content of the message but also the gravity of the moment. When we hear God\u2019s word taught in a congregation, we resonate not only with our risen Lord and his royal word, but with each other. A feast enjoyed together is better than food eaten alone.<\/p>\n We\u2019re human beings. We\u2019re designed to see and hear and taste and touch and feel our way through the physical world God\u2019s made.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no experience on earth like congregational singing (Ps 95:1\u20132). Singing together glorifies God by re-enthroning him in the hearts of his people. Singing together brands our minds with truth and warms our hearts with grace. Singing together symbolizes our unity as we harmonize over the gospel. Singing together expresses our emotions to God (and we have lots of emotions right now). But we don\u2019t just sing to glorify God; we also sing to encourage each other (Col 3:16). And we can\u2019t sing to each other through a screen. Yes, we\u2019re vulnerable: Congregational singing could get an American Christian infected, just like it could get a Chinese Christian arrested. But like the underground church has always done, God\u2019s people will figure out how to praise him together, as faithfully and safely as possible. We\u2019ll wear masks, or clean the air, or meet outside, or recite psalms, or even whisper. But ultimately, God will hear the rising praises of the Christian church, and it will be good if we\u2019re there to express them together.<\/p>\n Whether your church has practiced these ordinances \u201cvirtually\u201d or not, every believer needs to see and taste these gracious symbols so that we can sense the gospel story once again. Baptism and communion remind us that God communicates to us in sensory ways. In these two ordinances, we taste and touch and see and hear the gospel, whether the splash of water in a baptismal tank as a new believer dies and rises with Christ, or the broken bread and crushed grapes that feed us with the remembrance of his sacrifice (Matt 28:19; 1 Cor 11:26). The way we practice these things may look different for a season, but our hearts will need them more than we know.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a believer, you have a job to do when the church gathers. The work of ministry isn\u2019t mainly for pastors and leaders. It\u2019s for every Christian. Every believer has spiritual gifts meant to be used, and every church body desperately needs every body part to be active (Rom 12:4\u20138; Eph 4:15\u201316; 1 Pet 4:10\u201311). When we stay home, we can still listen and give and call and text virtually. But there are many ways we simply can\u2019t serve or encourage or build up Christ\u2019s body unless we\u2019re physically present.<\/p>\n Each week our friends and neighbors and coworkers walk through the same broken world we do, but without our hope and our map. Each week they suffer challenges and tragedies that make them wonder where grace and truth can be found. Yes, there are ways we can minister to them online, and we should rejoice that God\u2019s now reaching new people with new methods. But the unbelieving world also needs to see the gospel\u2019s transforming power embodied in a local family of Christians who love God and serve each other in the most gracious and gritty ways.<\/p>\n It may seem strange to end with the act of greeting\u2014a simple activity that\u2019s become so restricted and complicated. But all over the New Testament, the writers not only greet the churches but ask Christians to greet each other. These greetings aren\u2019t just an afterthought tacked onto the end of their letters. These greetings symbolize<\/em> the reconciling power of the gospel and foster our family dynamic. The way we greet each other\u2014and the fact that we greet each other\u2014is central to the church\u2019s life and witness. Happy greetings remind us of the gospel unity we enjoy in Christ. Awkward greetings declare that the healthy church shows no partiality. Avoided greetings remind us to resolve our conflicts and reconcile our hearts. Every greeting reflects God\u2019s love, reunites Christ\u2019s body, enables hospitality, cultivates selflessness, opens doors for ministry, and bears witness to the God who\u2019s welcomed us through Christ. Even if these greetings are masked, touchless, and distanced, they\u2019re still life-shaping micro-events in every church. Just recently, our church held an outdoor worship service in our parking lot after not meeting for ten weeks. What were the happiest, most explosive moments? Our greetings. We need to see each other.<\/p>\n You may not be able to return right away. You might need to exercise caution for yourself or those you love. You might need to keep watching from a distance for a while. But when the time is right, God\u2019s people can and must gather again, and I hope you\u2019ll join in. After all, our gatherings are ultimately a taste of heaven. The Bible\u2019s vision of heaven doesn\u2019t look like a quarantine, a livestream, or a Zoom call. It\u2019s a \u201cface to face\u201d encounter with the risen Christ and a worshipful reunion of both saints and angels (Heb 12:22\u201323; Rev 22:4). In the life to come, we won\u2019t be siloed and segregated in mansions of glory, but living and working and loving and serving together in a new world where righteousness dwells (2 Pet 3:13). So once we know it\u2019s safe, wise, and no disservice to our communities, let\u2019s gather together again\u2014in person\u2014until all things are new.<\/p>\n Why Meet in Person? Over the past few months, most churches have stopped meeting in person. A global pandemic, government regulations, and a desire to serve each other and society have kept us from gathering. Instead, we\u2019ve held \u201cservices\u201d online, met \u201cvirtually,\u201d and used technology to connect. Many churches are now resuming our meetings, or … Continue reading “10 Reasons to Come Back to Church after COVID-19”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33133\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}1. We\u2019re embodied creatures.<\/h2>\n
2. The church is one body.<\/h2>\n
3. The Spirit is drawing us.<\/h2>\n
4. We\u2019re a spiritual family.<\/h2>\n
5. Preaching is a sacred moment.<\/h2>\n
6. There\u2019s nothing like singing together.<\/h2>\n
7. We need baptisms and communion.<\/h2>\n
8. You have a job to do.<\/h2>\n
9. Our worship is a witness.<\/h2>\n
10. Greetings change lives.<\/h2>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n