Sunday, March 15, 2020.  We encouraged and asked you to join us online rather than in-person.

The amount of emails I sent that week to our church family was so absurd, I had to begin putting a timestamp in the subject line.  The revisions to those emails, from Monday to Saturday of that week were vast.  We had around 20 people in attendance on the 15^th.  The worship team, AV, and some other leaders who came to support and be available if needed.  I couldn’t decide who or what I needed to look at when I preached that day.

And while I continued to unlock the doors on the following Sunday mornings just in case someone showed up, we encouraged you to join us online for our Sunday service.  We were online only, until we began to move outdoors over 3 months later. 

In reflection, I have many, many people who I have been grateful for over the past year.  Here is one group…

Thank you to those of you who have been consistently engaging with our online Sunday morning service. 

• When you were experiencing symptoms or were in home isolation, you joined us.
• When you were awaiting a vaccine to become available, you joined us.
• When you were out of town, you joined us.
• When we stood to sing and worship, you stood and sang in your living room.
• When we prayed for our offering, you gave online and joined us in that act of worship.
• When we opened our Bibles to that day’s passage, you opened your Bible as well.
• When you were unable to watch the stream live, you watched it later.
• When we encouraged people to share how we could be praying for them, you completed the online form to share.
• When we encouraged people to be inviting others to both in-person and online, you shared with others.
• When you were tired of watching a church service on a screen, you joined us.

Thank you for your faithful engagement over the past year.  For some of it you, it has been an occasional week when you couldn’t be there in-person.  For others of you, it has been consistent online engagement for months. 

Either way, it takes intentionality on your part, and I’m grateful for that.  Intentionally setting aside time to hear the Word taught, to be encouraged with its truth, and to then go out and seek to be doers, and not just hearers…I’m grateful. 

As I have shared in a recent communication regarding our transition back to one service, one of my pastoral joys over this year has been to see Crosspointers return to in-person attendance.  From June 2020 to present day, it has been a joy to see faces of regular attenders and covenant members who I love and pray for, and to meet new people who are starting to call Crosspoint home.  One household specifically has walked from watching online in spring of 2020, to attending in-person in the summer, to now covenant members and actively engaged in the life of the church.  I love that! 

As I have shared also, screens are a great supplement to stay engaged in the life of a church, and yet never intended to be a great long-term solution.  But you already know that.  You’ve been living that reality.  I’ve heard that specific thought from several Crosspointers who have been primarily online for a year now.  I’ve heard how excited you are to rejoin us in-person in the coming weeks and months.  I’m so excited to see you in the Crosspoint Living Room! 

And to those of you who have found Crosspoint over the past year, and been watching online, please know the door is open, you are welcome, and we’d love to have you join us in-person when the time is right.  You’re not watching by accident.  The Lord is at work. 

Thank you for staying engaged in our Sunday service over the past year, church.  I’m grateful!  I pray the Lord has been glorified and His church built and strengthened in this year.