News: Live Streaming has begun
Pastor Rick senses a need
A few months ago, I was talking with my mother, Phyllis. She had not been able to attend church for several weeks due to her health. She shared with me that was becoming increasingly painful to move around as much as was required to attend church. Her health situation is unlikely to improve and so, it is unlikely that she will be able to attend church with us very often.
Mom shared with me that she was missing the church. She enjoys the fellowship and love she feels when she is able to attend. Every Sunday, people ask me about her, so I know people are missing her also. It is hard to express how that made me feel, but I can say that it affected my heart.
She is not the only one
As I was thinking about that, it occurred to me that she was not the only one who was struggling to get to church. In fact, as I allowed that thought to settle in my mind, I quickly came up with a list of about a dozen people that I am aware of who are not able to attend church regularly on Sundays. There are many reasons why people cannot make it. For some it is because of their health, like my mom. We also regularly have families who are not able to attend because young children are sick. For some people, they cannot attend because they are travelling on Sunday. Some have to work on Sundays.
If they can’t make it to church, send the church to them
As I thought about this, I felt there had to be a solution. Nothing can ever replace being gathered together with the church to worship God and receive from Him through the teaching of the Word. Then it occurred to me, if we can’t get them to the church service, maybe we could send the church service to them. I then asked David, our Worship Leader, to look into live streaming the services.
Should we live stream our services?
David came back to me and told me it was possible and laid out what it would take. The question then was, should we do it? Just because we could do, doesn’t mean that it was what God wanted us to do. Just because I perceived that there was a need, doesn’t mean this is the way God wanted us to meet this need. So, I discussed it with the Elders of the church to get their sense of God’s will in this matter. They could also see the need, though a couple of concerns were expressed concerning people who are able to attend, choosing to watch the live stream rather than attending. I believed the need outweighed the risk of that and suggested that we continue to move forward.
We decided to bring it before the congregation to see if they would agree with us. David had given me a budget of what it would cost to implement live streaming. One Sunday, I shared with the church the need that I saw, and I told them what it was going to cost. I asked them to pray about giving to this need. Within two weeks we had more than twice the amount we needed to fund this project. The elders voted unanimously to move forward to live stream our services on Sunday mornings.
First time live streaming a Sunday Service
Sunday, June 4, was our first time streaming a service live. As with all things you attempt to do the very first time, there were a few challenges. One of them was the sound quality of the broadcast. After the first service, we realize we will need to make some adjustments. And I am guessing that we will be making adjustments over the next several weeks.
It is an exciting time for the church. I have spoken to a couple of people who had a chance to watch the live service, including my mom, and they all say they were blessed, despite the challenges with the sound. Thank you to everyone who played a part of bringing this project to this point. If you would like to see the live service, click this link, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V1AXAyxPK8. This link will only be active for about a week, and will be replaced with an edited version of the sermon only. You can also watch next Sundays service live at 9:30am, West Coast time. Just go to http://ccfv.life/, and click the Watch Live Service link. While you are there subscribe to the channel and stay connected to us.
It is not the same as being there
As much of a blessing that it is that we have live streaming available, it does not take the place of being a part of the service. There is something powerful about the gathering together of the church. I am also convinced that being a part of the church service strengthens you for the things this world will send against each of us.
You can play a role in reaching those who cannot come to church
Live streaming has opened up some additional areas for people to get involved in the work of the church. You can be a part of getting the Word of God out to people who can’t or won’t come into the church. Who knows, maybe someone will watch one of these services and the Spirit will open their heart to Christ.
Get involved and you will be a part of helping someone come to faith or grow in their faith. Click the button below and get involved in reaching those who can’t reach us.
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Service Time:
Sundays @ 9:30am
Worship Center address:
38615 Calistoga Drive
Murrieta, CA 92563