You know, it is interesting how things in life continue to change. The more that we want it to stay the same, the more things change. Think about Worship: We are so used to being in a Sanctuary with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Yet with this COVID-19 thing happening, we had to get use to online worship led by Pastors to empty houses. We have, and continue to use, www.twitch.tv/flchurch as our site for our online services. After we started to get used to online only, then things changed to partially open houses of God. It started out at 25 percent of capacity with all the physical distancing. We have to, and continue to, make sure the Sanctuary is sanitized. We could only have 68 people in the Sanctuary at a time. That was tough. We added a second service so that everyone who was worshiping in God's house could come back in. It didn't work out that way. Some came back. Most stayed with what they had gotten used to. Most of the people participated online still. And now... The restrictions for houses of God have relaxed again. We still have to maintain the six foot distancing between family units. We still can only use every other pew. We still have to sanitize everything. BUT now, we are open for more people to come together in person. So now we are back to one service that begins at 10:30am. And what will be the result? We don't know yet. We hope that members and guests that were coming before COVID-19 will start to return to the house of God. I understand that it will take a little while for things and attendance to rebound and turn the other way; turn to the way of ministry again. To turn toward a new normal and a new blending of ways that we minister to people of the world. And Maybe It's Time: For a new and bold way to minister to people. We live in a digital age. We live in an age where people can see and hear pastors and teachers from their homes, as well as the house of God. Maybe it's time to look past "the way we've always done it before" and begin to embrace being the people where the love of Christ lives. What Do you Think? Is it time to embrace a new method of being Church, the people of God? Is it time to look at new opportunities to equip the faith, encourage the hope, in order to engage with love? Let's talk about. Make a comment. Pastor Robert
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AuthorPastor Robert Hemsath joined Faith Lutheran Church and School as the Senior Pastor in January 2017. Pastor Hemsath comes to FLC from Christ the King Lutheran Church in Waxahachie, TX. He has also served congregations in Aberdeen, ID and Pocatello, ID. He has been a Lutheran pastor for the past 20 years. Archives
November 2024
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