3:110 – Staying Connected

#faithbites #faithjourney connected

It has been 30 days since I’ve been in the office for work. Nearly one month. We are starting week six of working from home / shelter in place. This is not easy but we are managing. The key to this is we all need to stay connected.

I spent part of this afternoon playing games on the app House Party with my brother and sister-in-law. My eldest is playing Minecraft with her cousin. They are staying connected.

This morning, I was the online host for two of our three worship services. It gave me a chance to interact with people, heard God’s word, and be in an online community. We are staying connected.

Is it the same thing as being in the pews at church? No. One participant even said she missed giving hugs. We want to hug and soon we will. But we wait for it to be safe. Just like we wait for Jesus to come back. While we have lots of waiting to do, we have lots of opportunity to connect.

Scripture

• Romans 12:5 – so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
• Romans 8:38-39 – For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Reflection

We are one body in Christ. Thought we may be physically separated, we are together. You can’t separate the foot from the body very easily. Likewise, we are still one family under Christ. We could add disease to Romans 8:38 as that is what we are seeing. But stay strong, the Lord is with us.

We know we can’t be separated from God by any means expect our own by turning away from him. How do we stay connected with our church family? Simple acts of kindness. Here are a few ideas

• Send a letter (a real letter with a stamp and everything).
• Phone a friend
• Send a random text message
• Drop off a treat or surprise on someone’s doorstep
• Drive-by a friend’s house just to talk from the window.
• Pray for a friend.
• Pray for everyone.
• Attend an online church service or bible study. (We would love to have you at Trinity if you are interested.)

All of these things and more will keep us connected. A virus may stop us from meeting in person, but it can’t stop us from finding ways to connect.

Time to finish this up and see how I can help my family stay connected to God and to their family.

Challenge

Prayer

Father God, you have given us great imaginations and strength to overcome everything. Help us find innovative and unique ways to reach out to family, friends, and neighbors. It is a new world but your family is strong and nothing can separate us. Be with us as we listen, learn, and connect in new ways. In your name, Amen.