Articles
A Call To Strengthen Our Spiritual Habits
You have heard various messages from the elders and preachers over the last few weeks. We want you to know and believe how much we are concerned for each and every one of you. Our top concerns right now are the spiritual and physical well-being of our members.
It has been difficult and troubling to have a source of our spiritual strength, our ability to fellowship, impacted by the virus outbreak. Thankfully, in this modern world we are able to stay connected to each other in many ways via phones, email, social media, and the internet in general. All of those things will never replace the face-to-face interaction we have grown so accustomed to and are in need of, but this virus will not last forever.
One great, unexpected benefit is the access we have to so many online resources and time to use them. This may indeed help us strengthen our spiritual habits so that we emerge from the crisis ready to serve God with more vigor and appreciation for His blessings. On our congregation’s website, we have posted video lessons and encouraging messages weekly as well as now streaming our services on Sundays.
Just a few other resources we recommend include: Brother Crowley has posted a video series on how to study the Bible on the congregation’s Facebook page. Brother Scott Springer has an excellent lesson posted on our congregation’s YouTube channel entitled “Wait on the Lord.” Some of us recently watched “Quarantined Worship” by Brother Don Blackwell of the Southaven church of Christ on YouTube. “Quarantined Worship” is specifically dealing with issues with online worship during this quarantine time. It is strongly recommended that everyone take 30 minutes and watch that lesson, especially if you are concerned about how to please God in our online worship.
As we spend time strengthening our knowledge through lessons, do not omit the only place to gain first-hand knowledge of God’s will…read and study the Bible. Memorize the plan of salvation, learn what the Scriptures tell us about how the first-century church lived and worshiped. Learn all of those things that we’ve been meaning to commit to memory from our excellent preachers’ lessons. Write down questions and conduct some thorough research on the topics you don’t understand as well. Contact any of the elders, deacons, preachers, or teachers if you want to engage in virtual Bible studies.
Let’s also take this time to strengthen our prayer life. For those of us spending more time at home, there is no better time to pray, unimpeded, several times a day. This will help us build those good habits of telling the Father what is on our heart, thanking Him and asking for His continued blessings. He knows already, but has given us examples to tell Him anyway.
This is a simple message, but we truly desire that when you read it, you and your loved ones are in good health. We stand ready to help you in any way, whether it be a spiritual, emotional, or physical need, please contact us directly or through the congregation’s website.
