Water

After the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus directed His disciples to travel across the sea while he went up to a mountain to pray.  Later, we find out that He caught up to them - by walking on the
water! Matthew chapter 14 says:
22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.
23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.
24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.
25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.

First the disciples were afraid until they realized it was Jesus.  Then, Peter decided that he wanted to walk out to Jesus on the water - he was successful, until he began to look around at the turbulent conditions, and he sank.  Jesus did great work around water; after all, many of His disciples were fishermen, whom He encouraged to be "fishers of men."  God will speak to us through creation, and He calls us to experience the "living water" of His Spirit.

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We can find scenes in Scripture in which Jesus ministered by the water - or even in it, as we see in
Matthew 4, where we can read:
18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
19 Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."
20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them,
22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, churches and groups of Christians have found creative ways to connect and they share the message of God's Word.  In Virginia Beach, VA, the abundance of water became a wonderful setting for what has become known as the Boat Church.

CBN.com reported on the local phenomenon, that has pulled together a number of area churches.  The story relates:

Organizer and former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell says the inspiration for Boat Church came from a similar experience he had at Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia.

"We kind of copied the Smith Mountain Lake Boat Church idea and started the planning about a year ago," McDonald told CBN News. "I think this is providential that the planning ended up with this concept to start in the middle of a pandemic when people were looking for a way to be together to worship."

The article reported that on Father's Day:

For those torn between being outside on a beautiful summer day and going to church, Boat Church, here at the Narrows at First Landing State Park offered the perfect solution.

One of the attendees said, "We have four kids, so for them to be able to be out here on a beautiful day, and in worship, and hear the word, and play on the beach...It's just been a really special morning on Father's Day for sure."

Co-organizer Cheryl McLeskey said, "I've always wanted to bring in people that don't believe in the Lord, and people that don't go to church on Sundays, and if we're touching one person, then this is worth it, and I'm just so pleased..."

One of the participating pastors, in that Father's Day sermon, noted how Jesus preached from boats. He also said, "There's something that connects us in the spirit through water."

A coastal setting was also utilized by a minister in the U.K., bringing Great Britain its first drive-in worship service; after clearing legal hurdles, recently some 50 vehicles gathered for a service in the 

town of Newquay.  Assist News reported:

Members of the Wave House Church were elated to have the opportunity to be out together again after months of lockdown. More than 50 vehicles arrived for the service which included worship, prayers and a Gospel message, followed by a screening of surfing film Unstoppable.

In an interview with the Global News Alliance Reverend Matt Timms of Wave House Church in Newquay, said it was remarkable to see the response to this local church event including reports from the national media including Sky News.

Timms is described as a "surfer vicar." Unstoppable is a documentary about the surfing exploits of Bethany Hamilton, who lost an arm in a shark attack, yet continues to pursue surfing - her story was also told in the feature film, Soul Surfer.  Timms said, "...for me the most important thing is that this event will serve as something of a catalyst for other churches and just inspire them to think creatively about how they can reach out to their community and share both the works and the words of Jesus and to release hope and to worship together.”

One of the takeaways that we can have here is the dedication to communicate the gospel using creative means.  The water motif was instrumental in the Virginia Beach outreach, which is slated to continue every Sunday until September 6.  This is so reminiscent of how Jesus went to a shore and preached his message.  

And, He used water as a metaphor - for instance, he said that the person who experiences the Spirit of God will have "living water" flowing through him. Baptism itself is an act of obedience that illustrates the new birth, our cleansing, and our obedience to Christ.  And, Jesus did miracles centered around water: turning water into wine, calming the winds and the storm, and even walking on the water.  He showed the disciples they could be fishers of men. He used this essential element of creation to illustrate essential principles of conversion.

Finally, we can be determined that no worldwide pandemic will keep us apart.  In lockdown, quarantine, and sheltering in place, we have and will continue to find ways to connect.  And, it has taken creativity, yet our incredible creative God has provided the ideas and the anointing to carry out His message and connect with people.