“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship,
to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42 (NIV)

I am a follower of Jesus and I want that to be evident in all that I do particularly in my role as a Mom and Grandma. I know that my actions speak louder than my words and what I model matters. Going to a church building on Sunday mornings to sing songs of worship and hear God’s word taught and to connect with other believers has been a regular part of our family’s life for many years. Certainly not without its challenges when our kids were small and when they were teenagers and other things fought for our time.

Then the pandemic came and attending church in person suddenly became a luxury. At first, watching church from home was a little bit refreshing to view it from our couch in our pajamas and at a later time on Sundays. For us as a family, it was restoring to be able to worship all together.

Then the days kept moving forward and Covid was still with us and a new regular routine fell into place in an abnormal time. Unfortunately, the new routine took some liberties.

We told ourselves, church was accessible anytime, so we would watch it later.

We told ourselves we could watch it separately and we’d talk about it together later.

We told ourselves we could watch it while we were doing another task and reflect on it later.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42 (NIV)

Passively watching a video was no longer devotion to teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer. Admittedly, this is my story and maybe doesn’t properly reflect yours.

Maybe your kids are young and they are playing around your feet and it’s hard to focus.

Maybe the technology is a burden and hasn’t been available to you or you’re tired of it.

Maybe you simply miss the fellowship and the breaking of bread together.

Maybe you are doing it alone in a house full of people.

Maybe it’s hard to feel connected in prayer in a video.

Maybe you miss singing and hearing the voices around you.

This is hard.

Truthfully, I’m writing this blog for myself as a way to work through how to make my actions reflect what I believe. To make sure my life models what is true.

“He (Jesus) went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.” Luke 4:16 (NIV)

The Scripture says, it was Jesus' custom—his regular practice—to go to church. If Jesus made it a priority, shouldn't we, as his followers, do so also? Granted, church looks and feels different than we are used to after an entire year of this. Or maybe church in any capacity is brand new to you and you’re not sure what to do with church online.

How do we experience church in a way that is meaningful? How do we model devotion to Bible teaching, to fellowship with other believers, to communion and to prayer? The Sunday morning worship video is a good start but it doesn’t need to end there.

Tips for ‘doing’ church:

Try to watch the service in the same place and at the same time each week. Have a routine you follow before the service starts.
Share the experience with someone and ask questions. It could be the people you live with, or join the Zoom call at 11:45am on Sundays, or connect with a friend at another time.
Stand and sing and dance to a worship song together.
Pray. If you’re with other people, pray out loud together.
Reach out to others and see how they are doing. Don’t wait for them to reach out to you.
Ask about any needs in your church that your family could help with.

Tips for ‘doing’ church with children

Make a worship bin with special toys (magna tiles, legos, etc.), art materials, Children’s Bible, books that you only get out during worship.
Give your children instruments, scarves, or blankets to wave around during the worship songs and sing and dance around with them.
Help them look up the scripture passage in their Bible.
Use a sermon notes sheet. (www.amberleachurch.ca)
Encourage your child to draw or create a piece of art in response to the sermon that they can send to a grandparent or prayer champion.
Find parent encouragement, great family conversation starters and faith activities on our website with regularly updated ideas and links.

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.” Hebrews 10:25 (NIV)

We are not alone in this. Let us encourage each other as we learn to devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer in this new normal.