Homebound Church

Back in the day when my wife and I were raising our 3 kids.. attending church was a given.  

But.. there were those Sundays (not too many) where we slept in late, or the MinneFROZEta winters were very Minnesota (very cold) like. On those Sundays we might declare 'A Family Day'. A day free from the harried pace of getting 3 kids ready for church, and free of policing the 'energy' of our 3 darlin' kids in the backseat of our car to and from church.

Now on a 'Family Day' we would gather the children, and read a couple Bible stories from this great Picture Bible we had. We would then discuss the story and lessons learned, and take time to pray.  Really, we did take time to have real church and it was not used as a 'Get out of Church Free' card.

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Now fast forward to the Spring of 2020, and the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has us on lockdown.  I don't know how long this will last, and not here to argue pandemic v PANICdemic only know this is our new reality.

The good news is in our modern streaming world there is the best church worship, and sermons available from all all the best worship leaders and preachers. 

So in our church lockout/down state we are presented with the new and improved 'Family Day'.

​They may not call it a Family Day, but hey.. I know Family Day when I see it.  And in this new stream all world I can even attend services of my church online.

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With this 'Family Day' available my wife and I chose to attend (stream) the 9 AM service.. and to make our attendance even more realistic we were 10 minutes late.

Worship at our church is always good, and we enjoyed watching  familiar faces from the worship team lead 4 or 5 familiar songs focusing on God. Worship was not just a label for the time they led us in song, worship was the attitude of their heart. I confess during this time I did not stand or raise my hands, but I did worship. 

This was followed by a time where we could participate in giving a tithe and/or offering.  Of course no physical or virtual offering plate was passed, but there they still laid on a virtual 'guilt trip'. <insert dramtic pause, and eye roll, and gasp here> KIDDING, KIDDING, there was no pressure to give but instead the true privilege and opportunity to give as another way to worship our God and support the Church we belong to.  Also what was nice is that I typically give online to our church and did this per usual. 

Next, our pastor shared a sermon that was timely for 'such a time as this' (homebound, stir crazy, with more than a hint of uncertainty). 

After the service concluded, my wife and I prayed together.  It was time well spent in our Homebound Church state.  It was like our old Family Day declarations from years gone by, but this time Family Day was mandated by the Governor of Minnesota.

While we miss attending our church, and pray life returns to normal soon, until then we are thankful for attending our church today in our PJs with bed-hair, with me slumping in my easy chair while drawing cartoons.

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May God bless you all during this trying time. I pray God meets your physical and financial needs as well as strengthens your spiritual health.

​This can be a time where we trust our God and to seek His will like never before.
This can be a time where we read our Bibles, meditate on it's words, and stay quiet as we listen for God to speak.


​Jeff (wearing my 4pm PJs) Larson

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