Why Live Streaming Cannot Replace In-Person Worship

Episode 550 Show Notes

From the Show

We have been having an outdoor service and it has been wonderful to be able to gather with the people of God. We do try to be sensitive to those with compromised immune systems and others with anxieties about the Coronavirus. But what do you say to those who do not want to come back to in-person worship after the Coronavirus? There is something that is missing when we do “church online.” In fact, and I know that this might be a little bit controversial, feel free to call us and follow up about it, but I do not think that “internet-church” is church. That does not mean that we cannot benefit from hearing the preached word over a computer. However, when the church comes together around God’s word, to receive the gifts that God gives to us, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, these things that Jesus himself instituted that we cannot receive through a computer screen or on a television, those are what make the church gathering the church gathering.

–Adriel Sanchez

Questions in this Episode

1. When someone becomes a Christian, at what point should they be baptized, immediately after conversion, or should there be a long process?

2. What resources do you recommend I use to share with my friends who are Roman Catholic?

3. Recently people have shared that they are not going to come back to in-person services at church even after COVID restrictions are lifted because they enjoy live-streaming more than going to service. How can I encourage them to come back?