Driven

We serve a faithful God who is near to us, who guides our steps and empowers us for His glory.  The
34th Psalm reminds us of His faithfulness:
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.

When we experience difficulty, we have a great and mighty God to whom we can turn.  If we come to Him in faith, in the name of Jesus, we have the assurance that He hears us and He will act according to His will.  He may not necessarily move in the way we think He should, but we can know that He is powerful and will act according to what is best for us and what brings Him glory.  Out of His great love, He desires to show Himself faithful to His people.

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In the midst of suffering, we can look for ways in which we can bring the comfort and peace of the
Lord. 2nd Corinthians 1 says:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.

Not long ago, a picture of a lady sitting on top of an SUV made the front cover of the Wall Street Journal.  She was attending a church service in Cambridge, MD - one of what has now become multiple drive-in church services across America.  The MyEasternShoreMD website stated:

The photo, which also appeared in the Irish Times, was taken by Jim Watson of AFP/Getty, and shows a worshipper atop an SUV parked at the service, with the Choptank River in the background.

Local pastor Abraham Lankford announced last Friday that he will conduct at least four weeks of drive in church every Sunday morning at 11 a.m. — the first of which was held Sunday, March 22 at Gerry Boyle Park at Great Marsh Park in Cambridge.

The service on the 22nd was estimated to have drawn 225-250 worshippers.  The article quotes Pastor Lankford: “What we’re going to do is like the old idea of a drive-in theater. Anybody who wants to come to our service can come. You can sit in your car and enjoy the message of hope that we’re bringing..."  The article also noted:

The service consisted of an amplified broadcast of time of worship and a message of hope from the pavilion at the park. Lankford also said people were welcomed to bring toilet paper, water bottles, and similar items to donate to people in need.

“God never goes into recession,” said Lankford, “people do not need to be governed by a spirit of fear.”

Baptist Press reported that:

A mom helped lead her son and his girlfriend to faith in Christ as they sat in her car, listening to Jason Goad, the pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Harrisburg, Ark., share the Gospel during a "drive-in" worship service.

The couple was among a total of six people who came to Christ on the 22nd at the service, which drew an estimated 250-300 people, according to the pastor, who said, "That would never have happened if we had a regular service," adding, "She never would have gotten that chance. I thought to myself 'There are a lot of things that I need to rethink even after all of this gets back to normal.' We may need to do some things similar to this. It was a different dynamic being able to sit and talk in the car like that as they listened. It allowed God to work in a way that couldn't happen in a normal situation, even in a small group or Sunday School session."

The Baptist Press article also called attention to drive-in services in Indiana and Tennessee, with the Tennessee church announcing plans to do two services on Easter Sunday; at that church, the first Sunday drew some 250 people, 80% of whom were not connected to the church.

And, you don't even have to have a drive-in theater to do drive-in church.  WTVM Television reports that New Covenant Church over in Columbus held a drive-in church service in its parking lot.  The article quotes Pastor Colley Williams, who said, "I just love the way that we can come together as a church in our cars,” adding, “I thought it was a crazy idea at first, but after I got to talking with my bishop, [he] said no, that's the smartest thing I've heard yet."

Certainly this is a model that is being used by a number of churches, and reflects an out-of-the-box thinking that has been seen throughout our nation in responding to the Coronavirus.  Churches have been rethinking how they do ministry and reach people, and the practice of faith and the presence of God continue to be seen.

Now, with more clarity regarding how much time we may have to continue to worship while practicing social distancing, we can pray that the Holy Spirit will direct our church and ministry leaders to continue to execute plans to minister, because the need for ministry will increase as we see the statistics of COVID-19 cases and deaths increase.  I would encourage every believer to make sure you are connected to your local church, and remember that the support of your church, as well as ministries, like Faith Radio, that are impacting lives in crisis, is vital.