Is watching online “going to church”?

No.  God does not communicate church as a message, a show, a place, or a building but as a people following Jesus together.  Teaching and music are for sure healthy parts of the church and been centered as primary in western Christianity, so it makes since why there could be confusion.  Christianity is not meant to be experienced in independence but in humble dependence on God and with one another.  We are called to love one another, encourage one another, have unity with one another, to submit to one another, to forgive one another, to greet and show hospitality toward one another.  You cannot live out these “one anothers” in isolation viewing church from only a content intake perspective.  Church is more than watching and listening, whether that is in your house in your PJs online or on a pew in the church house.  Church is about us living lives for Jesus, in Jesus together as a family.

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Why have a live stream and YouTube channel if it’s not “church”?

As we come out of a season when online video was critical to continuing to learn and worship together we have come to recognize that continuing to offer online video is beneficial for several reasons. 

1. First we recognize it is an immense blessing to shut-ins and others facing sickness.  Not that this would be the only way they would experience church life but a way they can take part in the same teaching and singing as those that can get out.  This has been practiced through the years in many forms including cassette tapes, CDs, and DVDs.  

2. Second we recognize that almost no one is going to blind visit a church in our western society today.  If there is no website or other online presence, we set an unneeded barrier to sharing and spreading the good news of Jesus through our church life. 

3. Finally, we recognize that having the messages available to go back to, allow for further prayer, further thought, and further growth, as God continues to challenge all of us through His word.