The term “connecting,” to talk about relating with other people, has been popular for a long time now, especially with the advent of the digital age. How many times have you heard that word spoken during the past weeks of lockdown, home sheltering, and isolation? We are using it all the time!!
I hope you have heard it a lot from us! With a prohibition against gatherings of over 10 people and with mandated “social distancing,” we have been working hard to help the Journey Church family remain connected!
We have had to temporarily set aside Sunday worship, Life Group meetings, Sunday School, children’s church, ladies Tuesday morning Bible study, Gear Up!, youth group, Awana … and, I’m sure, other aspects of our ministry I can’t recall at the moment.
However, we are doing our best to provide ways for us to connect, to retain a sense of being one body. Let me remind you of some of these efforts:
• Email messages
I hope you don’t feel like we are “blowing up” your email inbox! By now you are probably receiving an email almost every day of the week! Sending email messages is a primary way by which we are communicating what we are doing and how you can connect. If you use email and you do not receive Journey Church email messages but you would like to, please contact us at [email protected].
• Journey Church website
Much of what we provide can be found on our website. Often our email messages will contain links to our website. I encourage you to visit https://www.journeyclinton.org frequently.
• Social media
We use Facebook and Instagram, frequently posting to these two platforms. If you don’t already, please “like” us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/journeyclinton/) and “follow” us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/journeyclinton/).
• Online worship
Each week we provide an online worship service. On Friday we email links to our three options. You can also find links for these options on our website or you can find them on YouTube by searching for “Journey Church, Clinton, IA.” Make sure you include our city and state … there are a lot of Journey Churches out there! 😊 Option 1 contains our entire service, all eight steps of our worship journey: call, invocation, confession, gospel, response to the gospel, God’s Word, response to God’s Word, and benediction. Option 2 contains the songs and sermon. Option 3 has only the sermon.
• Daily devotionals
Each weekday, Monday through Friday, Pastor John live-streams a devotional time at 11:00am. You can watch it on Facebook at that time or any time afterward. His devotionals come from the book of the Psalms in the Bible and they last for about 10 minutes.
Also each weekday, Pastor Tom provides a brief devotional entitled “Favorite Verses with Pastor Tom.” At 7:00am, Monday through Friday, we will email a link to this video. The link will take you right to the page on our website where you can watch Pastor Tom. You can also search for these devotionals on our website or on YouTube. You do not need a Facebook or Instagram account to participate. If you do not receive this “Favorite Verses” email but would like to, please email Pastor John at [email protected].
• Prayer meetings
Pastor Tom leads a prayer meeting each Wednesday evening at 7:00 and each Friday morning at 9:00. We meet through Zoom, an online audio/video means of communicating, so these prayer gatherings happen in real time. If you have not signed up yet but would like to participate, please email Pastor John at [email protected]. He will then email you an invitation to these meetings. Please let Pastor John know if you do not know how to use Zoom. He will email you a tutorial. Rest assured, Zoom is very user-friendly! 😊 The prayer meetings last for 30 minutes.
• Q&A with Pastor Tom
Each week, Pastor Tom is responding to questions Journey Church folk are sending him. If you have a question on your mind during these unusual days, please email it to [email protected]. (Please put “Q&A” in the subject line of your email.) The video of Pastor Tom answering your questions is posted each Friday morning. You can find it on our website, Facebook, and YouTube. The first one lasted about 10 minutes, which is the longest I want them to be!
• Life Groups
Some of our Life Groups are meeting through online platforms. One of those is the Daughters of the King Life Group. They are gathering on Sunday mornings through Zoom. Any lady is welcome to participate! Email Sue Ann at [email protected] if you would like to join them.
• Phone calls
In these digital days, let’s not forget about the good old telephone!! Pastor John and Pastor Tom are calling our Journey Church folk, asking how they are doing, and praying with them over the phone. This is not a pastor-only privilege! Why not pick up your phone and give someone a call today? It will do both the “callee” and the caller good! If you need a church directory, it can be accessed through our Church Connect page. (Here is a link to learn about using Church Connect: https://mailchi.mp/www.journeyclinton.org/church-connect-page.)
Despite all these efforts, I miss being with you in person!!
It will be wonderful when we will be able to gather again! As we anticipate that day, the staff has begun giving thought to how to make that a very special day. If you have any ideas, please email them to [email protected].
Want to hear something absolutely wonderful? The Lord is always connected to His people! He will never leave us or forsake us. He is closer to you than any other person could ever be. Thank you, Lord Jesus!
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