HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF CHURCH ONLINE

Two years ago, COVID-19 shutdowns led churches everywhere to take worship experiences online. Even now, some people are simply more comfortable avoiding assemblies of more than 100, 50, or 25 people. Whether you are new to doing church online or not, here are some tips to help you get the most out of the experience.

1. Designate a place and time for online worship.

If you do church online with us here at Grace Baptist, we offer our online service every two hours on Sunday from 9 AM to 11 PM. Your schedule may be different from one week to another, but as much as possible, pick one of these times to participate in church online. It is also helpful to find a place that is quiet, free from distractions, and so on. You want to have the optimal setup for meeting with God in worship and hearing from His Word. You may want to sing aloud during the music, and there is time for prayer. Every part of church online is enhanced when you have a quiet spot in which to worship the Lord.

2. Prepare your heart for worship.

Preparing your heart for worship is a good idea whether you are doing in-person or online worship, but it can get lost more easily with church online. You can prepare your heart for worship through prayer: "Lord, I am about to enter into a time of worship with church online; speak to my heart through the message and the musical worship. Use this experience to draw me closer to Yourself." You can open to the passage of Scripture that is being preached that day and begin to meditate on it. Here at Grace, we are in a series through the Old Testament. The passage immediately following last week's passage will be today's passage. You can find it easily and begin to read through it. It is great to silence your electronic devices, shut your email, close your Facebook and social media feeds, so that you can focus on the time of worship. This is a big reason we encourage people to log onto https://GraceFay.org/Online. We don't have a list of unfiltered videos to show you just as soon as church is over. You can focus on the content of the online worship service. 

3. Download your notes and complete your connection card.

Each week, we upload notes to our website on the church online page so that you can download those and follow along. We leave room in them for you to jot your own notes. This is a great opportunity to make notes for topics you want to study in the future in your own devotional time. It may also be that you come across a question that we do not answer in the message, and you want to email it to us after the service. The Digital Connection Card is an essential way for us to minister to you as a church. We believe God calls the church to do more than just provide you with a video worship experience once per week. We are called to give you opportunities to use your spiritual gifts, to pray for and minister to you, to disciple you and help you grow in your journey with the Lord, and to hold you accountable to the obedience to which God calls all of us. The Digital Connection Card is a tool that assists us in fulfilling that calling while you are unable to attend in person.

4. Develop a plan for returning to in-person church.

We are not saying you need to return to in-person church before you are ready. We just want you to think about what you would need to have peace of mind to return to in-person church. How will you know when the time is right? Almost everyone has a unique set of expectations regarding safety protocols for gathering in per-son to worship. Here at Grace, we have some people who keep their masks on during the whole service. We have individually wrapped masks available if you request one when you attend. We have Purel sanitizer dispensers and wipes available, and the facility is sanitized before each service. If you have questions or concerns about our COVID-19 protocols, please get in touch with us. God being our helper, we plan to offer church online continually. We never want to give anyone the impression, though, that church online is a sustainable or permanent substitute for a New Testament church experience. We want to keep the conversation open with you. Let us know what concerns you have with attending church in-person. We would love to hear from you. Keep safe, and trust the Lord. Meanwhile, join us this Sunday for church online at any of the service times you choose.