With COVID-19 and political turmoil upon us, we need the peace of Christ in our lives now more than ever. But this stressful time of uncertainty and social distancing has disrupted our spiritual focus and has made it difficult to gather with fellow Christians. We know we need to be in God's word and to build each other up. Hebrews 10:24-25 suggests, we should brainstorm ways to encourage one another to acts of service and connection. If we are unable or unwilling to meet in a church building as we did before the pandemic, let's not become spiritual hermits isolating at home. We need to be willing to leverage technology, and recommit ourselves to connecting with fellow Christ-followers via video conferencing tools.

Practically this means we need to take action. I encourage you to join an online small group. If your church doesn't offer one of these, search for another church in your community that does. If need be, connect with a larger church in the US that is leveraging its resources and ministry staff to offer online communities. If you want to be especially proactive, consider starting your own Internet-based small group.
I recently started a group focused on reading the New Testament. It meets every Sunday night at 5 p.m. Pacific Time to discuss the week's practical lessons from scripture. My target audience for this group is Christian men who are not very involved in the church, who feel a bit isolated from fellow believers, and who want to be encouraged to read the Bible on a regular basis. If you or someone you know is in this category, feel free to reach out to me at devotions@richardfeatherstone.com to learn more about how to participate in our Bible Reading Group, or how to start your own. You can also check out this dedicated webpage which provides more information on this opportunity. Don't wait for "things to return to normal." Take action and change the church.
What helpful encouragement to do be the church with one another beyond the walls of a church building. It's so practical to be part of a Zoom group, even do a study with at least one other person over the phone or in-person. We each need this!