This week I was reminded from Ephesians 5:19-20 our unique call during worship:
Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It’s only been a week and I miss being with you, but it is helpful to know that Sunday morning you and I will be speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs even though we can’t hear each other. Even though our screens make us passive, we must choose to be active in our high calling to make melody in our hearts as we sing of the glorious redemption and character of God. It’s crucial, now more than ever, to give thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
With this in mind, here are 8 ways to make the most of our worship gatherings online:
1. Share our online service with friends and family.
If your experience has been anything like mine during this last week, people are open, hungry and wrestling with the most significant issues of life right now. I believe these might be some of the most spiritually fruitful weeks we have experienced in a long time.
When you see an announcement about our weekend worship service on your social media, share with some friends, and invite people to watch at the same time you are watching. Simply direct people to churchoftheopendoor.com to find this weekend’s virtual service – it’s the first thing you’ll see on the home page of our website.
2. Be ready and get the family ready before the service.
Settle yourself and set this time aside as a sacred time for you and your family. Avoid playing the worship service while you are cooking breakfast or distracted with other things. We have been brainstorming how we can continue to make the services family-friendly.
3. Pray that God would pour out His Spirit on you, your family & the COD family.
Invite the Holy Spirit into your living room. Ask Him to move in each of the family members present and ask Him to move in our church as we all worship together.
4. Sing aloud.
Don’t be embarrassed. Lead your family in this way. Your kids might not join in right away, but they may later. We have created a Spotify playlist with music that corresponds to our worship and the sermon passage so that you can listen to the songs before and after Sunday.
5. Follow along in your Bible.
You can even teach your kids how to take notes, too.
6. Continue to worship in giving.
It’s very simple to give online and we would love for you to continue to support our pastors and missionaries during this challenging season. Even with all the fear in the air, I’m praying that we can continue to trust God in this area of our lives.
If you have any questions about how to set up an online giving account, email info@churchoftheopendoor.com and a staff person will be in touch to help you. We are also able to process checks that are mailed to the church office.
7. Use the Family Notes.
Jessica Lee (Children’s Pastor) and Ryan Berkman (High School Pastor) and I have worked on creating Family Notes that can be used with spouses, friends, youth and/or children. It gives us a great time to process and connect around the Word of God and also talk about the challenges and fears of today.
8. Please share your prayer requests.
We so appreciate you allowing us to pray for you. Each and every prayer request is precious to us.
God is at work!
Much Love,
David Anderson
Lead Pastor
P.S. As you may have noticed, we are establishing a new rhythm for these weeks we will not be gathering together physically. Here is what you can expect each day in the coming weeks.
Sunday: Online Worship Service
Monday – Friday: Evening small group meetings via Zoom and daily blog from Jessica Lee (Children’s Pastor) to all CODkids families.
Tuesday: Messages to our youth from Ryan Berkman (High School Pastor) and Parker Vincent (Junior High Lead)
Friday: A great day to invite people to our online weekend services!
Daily: We will post a daily reminder from God’s Word and other input from our pastors on our social media accounts.
To stay connected, be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook and subscribe to our Open Door Weekly email. (You can self-subscribe on the home page of our website, or email your interest to info@churchoftheopendoor.com and we’ll help!)
