Online Community

This week, in addition to my own attempt at an online prayer meeting, I was able to sit in on two friends attempts at online creative community. Both did a really good job. One did Facebook live and the other did Zoom. Personally they both went well, but I think you get more community from Zoom. I also got to listen in on musician and former Kansas lead singer John Elefante’s Facebook live. It’s all kind of cool. Now here’s the thing, is it as good as being face to face? No, probably not, but my friends were in Michigan and Idaho, and yet we could communicate, I’m not even sure where Mr. Elefante is, but I’ve been a fan for quite some time, and all of the sudden it was as if I was sitting in his living room hearing about his creative life, with the ability to ask him my questions.

The point is, online community is not the same as live community, but it has it’s positives and that is sort of the point. As you know I always advocate that we don’t focus on what we don’t have but to make the most of what you do have. We may not have the opportunity to meet face to face, and let’s be real, that can be hard, but we do have a great tool to connect with each other and maybe even expand our reach. I plan to use Zoom more so stay tuned and I’d love to know how you’re doing online community and if you’re doing something, send me an invite, I’d love to connect if I can.

Sermon of the Week. Songs Jesus Sang: The Hallel, Part 1, Psalm 113

Here’s the sermon for this week. This is the first in my Easter Series, looking at a series of Psalms (113-118). These were songs that the Jewish people, like Jesus and His disciples would have sung in Passover celebrations. Placing these Psalms up against what was happening in “Holy Week” can really help us to understand even more of the Easter story. I’ve been planning to do this series for months, yet as it came into focus, given our current world situation, brought even more to light.