In these days of the Covid-19 Virus, I have visited with and listened to numerous people of faith. In listening, a common theme is being expressed, “Get Ready”, “Get Prepared” or “We are in a Season of Preparation”. If, Preparation, is something God is saying then we must ask, “What are we supposed to get ready for? “What is God alerting us to, for which preparation is required? Well, by listening to conversations, this is what I have heard. We are living in the beginning of the great tribulation so we need to get ready. The next is get ready for the function and structure of how to do church. Then get ready for the return of a multitude of people to church and know how to feed them spiritually. Prepare for only a remnant to return. Finally, prepare people spiritually to return to corporate gatherings of the church.
Let’s give a little thought to each of these expressed reasons to “Get Prepared”.
We are living in the beginning of the Great Tribulation.
The only answer to this preparation is to surrender your sin filled life to Jesus by confessing Him as Lord and believing God raised Him from the dead! What we are experiencing is NOTHING LIKE what will transpire during the great tribulation, read The Revelation to John.
The next is get ready for the function and structure of how to do church.
Things will look different! Wise safety measures need to be in place and clearly communicated with the local Body of Christ. This new structure must be shared well in advance, through an abundance of formats and on a daily basis. Communication of the new “functioning” of corporate gatherings is crucial! The more people know about the plan the better the plan can be exercised.
Then get ready for the return of a multitude of people to church and know how to feed them spiritually.
Following 911, the church experienced a swell in attendance for a short season. With 911, the church had no forewarning, no time to prepare. In our present situation with Covid-19, we the church know it will be weeks before we gather corporately. So with this in mind, now is the time to prepare leaders to lead new Sunday School Groups in person and/or online. Enlisting, training, providing resources and gathering information for follow up are key elements. New small group discipleship leaders should be enlisted with securing of resources to help answer spiritual questions, fuel new excitement to grow personally in faith and to help new believers begin a journey of personal discipleship. In education today the conversation is alignment. Now would be a great time to make adjustments in alignment of what is being taught in Sunday School, Small Groups, Discipleship Groups and Corporate Worship. There is a great opportunity to get people rowing in a singular direction in spiritual education. Unity in mind, spirit and mission can happen with a clear focused alignment of age group study through the teaching, discipleship and preaching ministries of the Word.
Prepare for only a remnant to return.
In the Bible, there are more than enough times that only a remnant returned after defeat, after excile, etc. So, until the doors are open we will not know what will happen, but we need to be cognizant of the possibility that a smaller group may return. What if this is a time in keeping with the words of Jesus in John 15:2? We must be prepared to receive all who come together even if it is a smaller group than anticipated. With those who return, God will build the church and do amazingly more than we can ask, think or imagine! We must not be discouraged because numbers don’t bounce back. We must be faithful to feed the flock that returns to the corporate table to eat. Jesus started with a few and His investment is still paying spiritual dividends today!
Finally, prepare people spiritually to return to corporate gatherings of the church.
As a mission leader who leads groups to the nations, I am asking myself, “What new and unfamiliar culture will those who return to corporate worship encounter?” So, looking at it from my perspective, do we prepare them spiritually to enter a new culture or do we prepare them to return from a place of culture shock? I think the answer is both! The church culture we return to will be different, so we must prepare! The culture we have been experiencing during this season has caused plenty of opportunities to experience culture shock. Leading up to our group trips there are numerous times of training, discussion and processing. The 30 days leading up to the trip and through the trip, we all work through a field manual that places all of us in the same scripture on the same day. We do this because, I believe God the Father wants to answer the prayer of His Son in John 17. In this chapter, Jesus prays that the disciples will be one with Him as He(Jesus) is one with the Father. The teams that consistently work through the manual are more unified and have a God focus well above and beyond the teams that are lax in the daily scriptural preparations. So, get a plan ahead of time to spiritually prepare and lead the body back into the new corporate worship and meeting culture. Those who return will have seen, smelled, tasted and touched new and different and they will bring a new world view back with them! They will have questions, they will have experiences, they very well may have a deeper desire for God than when they left. As a church/ministry leader we must prepare ourselves to listen to, walk with, encourage and disciple them in their spiritual growth of faith!