churches of Christ – Bible Study Page

Churches of Christ in the Age of COVID

Danny Glover — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 22:00:00 +0000

On Jan. 19, 2020, a 35-year-old Washington man who had returned home after a family visit to Wuhan, China, reported to an emergency room with a persistent cough and fever. The next day, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the man had the first known case of coronavirus disease in the United States.

No one fully appreciated the potential ramifications for organized religion at the time, but within two months, the spread of COVID-19 had upended worship practices across the United States. Led by autonomous elderships or by collective membership decisions, churches of Christ adapted to the realities of a 21st-century pandemic.

Eighteen months into the pandemic, Bible Study Page conducted an informal survey to gauge how much impact COVID has had within non-institutional churches of Christ and for how long. The survey explored the traditional practices of individual congregations, how these groups changed their practices in response to the pandemic, how they used audio/video technology, and how many of their members contracted and/or died of COVID. Elders, deacons, evangelists, Bible class teachers and members of churches shared insights about the experiences and challenges within their own congregations.

To learn about the findings of the survey, download our new report, “Pandemic Distress: Churches of Christ in the Age of COVID.” The report is free, but donations to support the work of Bible Study Page are both welcome and appreciated. If you have trouble downloading the report, contact Danny Glover to request a copy via email.

An Outbreak Of Coronavirus Sermons

Danny Glover — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 00:36:11 +0000

Churches of Christ across America have been canceling worship services, gospel meetings and Bible classes in an effort to help “flatten the curve” of the deadly coronavirus, but the disease hasn’t squelched the gospel. To the contrary, the virus has inspired preachers and teachers to re-examine God’s Word in the context of the ongoing pandemic.

There has been an outbreak of sermons about fear, tribulation, sin and other topics as Christians try to make sense of extraordinary times. Many of the lessons are being live-streamed to people’s homes from empty auditoriums or preachers’ offices. Some churches are broadcasting interactive video classes and lectures precisely to address issues raised by the changes in worship the virus has inspired.

Below is a list of podcasts and videos produced at non-institutional churches of Christ in March, April and May. We welcome link suggestions for sermons we haven’t discovered in our own online searches.

Anxiety and Fear
– Anxiety, Corona and Christians (Mark Roberts)
– Be Anxious for Nothing (Curtis Cooper)
– Be Anxious for Nothing (Jim Jonas)
– Calming Fears As We Walk Through the Valley of Coronavirus (Brent Hunter)
– Coping with Fear (David Flatt)
– Courage in the Face of Fear (Daniel Linden)
– Death: Our Enemy … I Will Not Be Afraid (Nick Angel)
– Do Not Be Anxious (Nathan Combs)
– Do Not Fear (Sewell Hall)
– Do Not Fear; Only Believe (Daniel Stauss)
– Don’t Fear and Be Ready, Luke 12:4-13:9 (Ryan Boyer)
– Don’t Worry (Rick Lucas)
– Faith over Fear (Larry McLenny)
– Fear (Bill McIlvain)
– Fear Gone Pandemic (Alan Yeater)
– Fear Versus Trust (Jamey Hinds)
– Fearless (Brent Kercheville)
– Fight the Fear (Roger Cox)
– From Fear to Faith (Jordan Shouse)
– Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled (Donnie Rader)
– Lord, Build My Faith in Times of Fear (Andrew Roberts)
– Managing Anxieties (Doy Moyer, Zack Lee)
– Overcoming Anxiety (Tim Bunting)
– Peace! Be Still (Jacob Hudgins)
– A People without Fear (Jared Bollman)
– Relieving the Weight of Anxiety (Josh McKibben)
– A Spirit of Fear (Kris Vilander)
– The Weakness of Worry (Zeke Flores)
– Why Trusts When We Can Worry? (Wayne Chamberlain)
– Worry Fear and Foolishness (Steven Tramell)

Christian Perspective
– Be a Lifter (Phil Arnold)
– Benefits of Suffering (Kevin Kay)
– Blessings in Disaster (Robert Fudge)
– The Christian and Crisis (Stephen Russell)
– The Christian Response to Crisis (Charles Payne)
– A Christian’s Perspective on COVID-19 (Dan Koen)
– A Christian’s Response to the Pandemic (Jeremy Sweets)
– A Christian’s Response to Trouble (Boyd Jennings)
– Christians and Pandemics (Steve Wolfgang)
– God’s People in Isolation (Scott Smelser)
– How about Some ‘Good News’ (Billy Randolph)
– How Does God Want Us to Deal with This Crisis? (Gardner Hall)
– Isolation, the Bible and Your Kids (Expressway church of Christ)
– Isolation Tips : Part 1, Part 2 (Expressway church of Christ)
– It’s Time to Shine (Adam Litmer)
– Now I Am Grateful For (Mike Thomas)
– Our Great Wait (Jason Cicero)
– Positivity in a Pandemic (Wiley Deason)
– The Power of Prayer (Nathan Quinn)
– Q&A: Coronavirus (Jacob Hudgins)
– Redeeming the Present Opportunities (Keith Welch)
– Seeing the Good in Everything (Ty Leach)
– Self-Reflection (Brian Price)
– Stay Focused (Mark Broyles)
– True Prosperity (Jerry King)
– Virtue and Viruses: Redeeming the Time (Mike Brenneman)
– What Are Christians to Do in a Global Pandemic? (Andy Sochor)
– What a Little Virus Showed Us (Mike McCrary)
– What Has Coronavirus Revealed about Us? (Benjamin Lee)
– When Life Gives You Lemons (Jeremy Bard)
– When It Goes Well for the Righteous (Daniel Ruegg)
– Without Complaining (Matt Lannom)
– The Wisdom of the Present (Jeff Wilson)
– You Have Need of Endurance (Jesse Flowers)

The Church
– Are We Forsaking the Assembly? (Edwin Crozier)
– Better Together (Dan Ruegg)
– Epaphroditus (Ryan Cummings)
– God Loves a Cheerful Giver (Jim Jonas)
– How Good Are You at Being Still? (Phil Arnold)
– I Am Certain of This (John Gibson)
– Joined in Heart (John Dicus)
– No, This Church Is Not Closed (Lanny Smith)
– Our Assemblies (Phil Arnold)
– Questions about Canceled Services (Expressway church of Christ)
– Stuck at Home (Danny Simmons)
– Thoughts on the Suspension of Services (Steven Tramell)
– Unity (Jim Jonas)
– We Are a Family (Jacob Hudgins)
– When It’s a Matter of Faith – Romans 14 (Everitt Heaton)
– ‘Where Two or Three Are Gathered’ (Paul Hammons)
– Where We Observe the Lord’s Supper (Wayne Goff)
– Will a Man Rob God? (Brian Price)
– Worship God Wherever You Are (Kasey Harbin)

Extraordinary Times
– Advice to the Exiled (Don Hooton)
– Battlefield Flexibility (Matthew Allen)
– The Best and Worst of Times (Lowell Sallee)
– Bible Ideas for Strange Times (Jeff Wilson)
– Can I Still Teach My Neighbor? (Brad Burkhart)
– Certainty in Uncertain Times (Jesse Flowers)
– Civil Disobedience Versus Faithful Obedience (Jeff Smelser)
– Coronavirus (David Watson)
– Coronavirus and Natural Disasters (Mike O’Neal)
– Decisions about the Coronavirus (Jim Stauffer)
– End Times? (Jeff Smelser)
– For Such a Time As This (Rick Lucas)
– Financial Impacts of COVID-19 (Steven Tramell)
– Hezekiah’s Test (Charles Payne)
– In These Times (John Gibson)
– The Last Days (Mike O’Neal)
– Lessons from COVID-19 (Wiley Deason)
– Let Us Rise Up and Build (John Dicus)
– A Little Faith (Matthew Allen)
– Making Sense of the Coronavirus – Mark 4:35-41 (Paul Bailey)
– New Testament Letters as Technology (Bryan Nash)
– The Parable of the Pandemic (David Osteen)
– Plans Change (Jacob Hudgins)
– The Present Distress (Nathan Morrison)
– Principles for a Pandemic (Chase Byers)
– Q&A Morning: COVID-19 Edition (Mark Roberts)
– Spiritual Dangers of Ongoing Quarantine (Mike Thomas)
– Things to Keep in Mind in Light of COVID-19 (Donnie Oliver)
– Three Things to See in This Extraordinary Day (Don Hooton)
– A Time Like This (Mike Thomas)
– We Are Living in Strange Times … Or Are We? (Mark Childers)
– We’ve Not Passed This Way Before (Donnie Radar)
– What Will Your Kids Remember? (Josh McKibben)
– While We Wait (Brian Price)
– Voluntary Exile (John Dicus)

God and Jesus
– ‘Be Still and Know’ (Sharon Copley Road church of Christ)
– Because He Lives (Matthew Allen)
– … But God Is Faithful (Reagan McClenny)
– COVID-19: Christ over Viruses and Infectious Diseases (Matt Huggins)
– Draw Near (Brad Burkhart)
– Draw Near to God (Jim Bell)
– God Calls Us Home (John Dicus)
– The God of All Comfort (David Brewer)
– God Is in Control (Benjamin Munoz)
– God Speaks in the Storm (Jerome Sasanecki)
– God, What Are You Teaching Us? (Jerry Fite)
– God’s Plans for Our Good (Alan Yeater)
– Have You Tested Positive for Jesus? (Northside church of Christ, Tucson, Arizona)
– He Bore Our Diseases (Nathan Combs)
– I Believe God (Jason Cicero)
– Is Your God Bigger Than Your Storms? (Jared Bollman)
– Learning from Jesus (Greg Kline)
– Lord, Build My Faith in Times of Fear (Andrew Roberts)
– A Mighty Fortress (Ed Rangel)
– My Rock and My Cure (Jeff Archer)
– The One Who Can Turn Your Sorrow into Joy (Daniel Ruegg)
– Our Eyes Are on You (Benjamin Lee)
– Out of My Control (Jeb Reaves)
– Out of the Belly (Don Hooton)
– Our Generous God (Jerome Sasanecki)
– Our Weakness and God’s Power (Jeff Himmel)
– Relying on God, Not Being Self-Centered (Brian Chapman)
– Remembering God in Times of Virus (Kevin Hyde)
– Safe in the Stronghold of God (Brian Messerli)
– Serving God When the Trumpets Sound (Larry Rouse)
– Stability of Our Times (Kristopher Sanders)
– There’s a Balm in Gilead (Kevin Kay)
– To Live Is Christ, to Die Is Gain (Jeffrey Smith)
– Who Do You Trust? (Marc Hinds)
– Who Is in Control? (Mark White)
– Why We Look to Jesus (Jerid Gunter)
– You’ve Got a Friend (Charles Payne)

Health and Healing
– By His Wounds You Have Been Healed – starts at 23:20 in video (Shane Scott)
– Contagious Christianity (Jordan Shouse)
– Does a Leper Forsake? (Jason Sage)
– Hope Amidst Pestilence: Revelation 6-7 (Ryan Cummings)
– In Quarantine (Jason Lankford)
– Quarantine (Daniel Ruegg)
– Quarantined for Christ (Jacob Hudgins)
– Spiritual Quarantine (John Mundy)
– When Pestilence Is in the Land (Kevin Maxey)

Loneliness
– Loneliness (Zack Lee, Doy Moyer)
– Relief for Lonely Hearts (Matthew Allen)
– You Are Not Alone (Phil Arnold)

Prudence
– Prudence, Not Panic (Charles Payne)

Psalms
– Coronavirus and Psalm 90 (Matt Bassford)
– The Cry from the Dave – Psalm 57 (Michael Estes)
– Declaring God’s Goodness – Psalm 145 (Phil Arnold)
– God Is Our Refuge and Strength – Psalm 46 (Mike Roy)
– Faith Forged by Fire – Psalm 77 (Jason Shackleford)
– I Will Trust the Lord — Psalm 56 (Gary Coles)
– Looking Toward Worship – Psalm 84 (Jacob Dineen)
– The Psalmist Waits (Scott Young)
– Sowing in Tears, Reaping in Joy – Psalm 126 (Phil Arnold)
– When We Don’t Understand God (Mark McCrary)

Sin
– Adam and Christ: Sin Pandemic (Steve Fontenot)
– The Prescription for the Spiritual Pandemic of Sin (Steven Locklair)
– Reflect and Repent (Daniel Broadwell)
– Sin and COVID-19 (Brad Burkhart)
– Sin: Worse Than Any Virus (Billy Randolph)
– The Sin Virus (Adam Willingham)
– What Does the Devil Want from Coronavirus? (Phil Arnold)
– Why We Have a Coronavirus and How to Fix It (Andrew Dow)

Tribulation
– Afflictions Abide Me (Jeff Smelser)
– The Blessing of Tribulation (Kyle Pope)
– Faith under Duress (Larry McClenny)
– In Times of Trouble (Mike O’Neal)
– Learning to Lament: How to Process Anguish (Jerome Sasanecki)
– One Thing after Another (Mark Broyles)
– Patience Amid Trials (Jim Jonas)
– Praying for Help in Times of Trouble (Les Cunningham)
– Seeing through the Chaos (Jamie Baker)
– Staying Spiritually Strong (Mike McCrary)
– Strength Made Perfect in Weakness (Rick Lucas)
– Times of Testing Produce Hope (Matthew Allen)
– Triumph in Trials (Philip Williams)
– Truth in Troubled Times (Paul White)
– Why People Suffer (Larry Haverstock)
– With Purpose of Heart (Phil Arnold)

Lessons from Isolation: When God’s People Felt Alone
Danville church of Christ evangelist B.J. Sipe preached this series of sermons during the coronavirus pandemic.
– ‘Not Good to Be Alone’
– Moses and Jethro
– When God’s People Felt Alone: Jeremiah

Disclaimer: A listing on this website is not an endorsement of the content as containing truth. Readers should always compare the words of men to the scriptures.

Growth

Danny Glover — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 00:28:49 +0000

By Jack Glover

The church grew quickly when it began on the day of Pentecost, by 3,000 souls (Acts 2:41). A little later, another 5,000 conversions are mentioned (4:4). Then we read of multitudes being added to the church (5:14) and of the number of disciples multiplying in Jerusalem exceedingly, including “a great many of the priests (6:7). When the persecution became great in Jerusalem, the believers simply scattered to other places, preaching the gospel and making more disciples (8:1).

The church also grew during the American Restoration Movement as people accepted the plea to return to “speaking as the Bible speaks.” During the 1950s and 1960s, it was said that churches of Christ collectively grew the fastest in the nation.

It seems that things have changed. No longer does our growth astonish anyone. Why do you suppose that is? There was an interesting study in the February issue of The Christian Chronicle that raised the same question. A chart with figures from 1980 and 2006 showed a decreasing trend in many areas and slow growth in others. I think most of us would have to agree with the assessment of a slowing growth in the church.

What has happened, and what can we do to reverse this trend? The study mentions various reasons (or suppositions) as to why growth has become a problem. There is some validity in all of them, but I don’t have space to list them here. I encourage you to read the article. Though I agree that we have a problem with growth, some of the reasons why concern me:

The Word alone is not enough. There seems to be an indication that old-time preaching is not enough in today’s society. While it may be true that our nation is becoming like Sodom, and is developing many traits that have destroyed other nations, that calls for more plain, gospel preaching, not less. It was God who chose to put the power in the gospel and to save by the foolishness of preaching (Rom. 1:16-17; I Cor. 1:21-25). Let me suggest that we may find other methods to grow in numbers, but we will just make crowds, not Christians. It was plain, non-compromising preaching that caused the church to grow in the beginning, and it will still work because it is God’s plan. Should we consider that when we began trying other methods to attract people, it caused our growth to slow, or stop, because we were no longer distinct?

Evangelism — methods or words? There seemed to be a lot of discussion about the need for evangelism and methods. Have we become so obsessed with our gains or losses that we are losing sight of the scriptural method of conversion. Jesus said some followed him for the loaves and fishes (John 6:26). When they found out provision for this physical body was not the purpose of Jesus, they left Him. We have tried many methods of attracting people, hoping to convert them later. It has not worked and will not work. While we may have more methods available to us now than those in the first century did, the attraction must be to the spiritual, not the physical. It seems that the scriptures always take us back to the same method of evangelism: “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction (II Tim. 4:2). Yes, we want to bring people to Christ, but the first-century method is still relevant.
How others view us. The article suggested that some view churches of Christ as a “hard-line, fundamentalist denomination.” That may be true in some cases, but because our society has become one of compromise in about everything, should we change to please them? Jesus could have changed but did not. The apostles could have compromised but did not. People had to accept the teaching as it was, or the apostles moved on. “Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet” (Matt. 10:14). Changing in order to grow is not acceptable and will not convert others.

The world changes; the scriptures do not. Society teaches compromise on sin; the Bible does not. We can use the wisdom of man in order to grow; it will not work. It serves no purpose to “travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves” (Matt. 23:15).

How can we grow? Not by compromise; we have tried that. Not by developing worldly, or business methods; we have tried that. Not by loaves and fishes; we have tried that. Not by recreation; we have tried that. When all is said and done, and other methods tried, the answer still goes back to “the foolishness of preaching” because that is God’s way.

I know many will not listen; they didn’t to Jesus. I know our nation wants us to preach everyone into heaven, but we cannot because only obedience to truth can get them there. I know we don’t like to be told what to do, but God will tell us, either here or at judgment. I know we want to believe there are many ways to heaven (one church is as good as another), but that is not true (Matt. 7:13-14).

Paul told the Thessalonians “He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thess. 2:14). Preaching worked in the first century; it worked in the American Restoration Movement; it worked in the ’40s; and it will work now. If it does not, those who reject it will suffer the consequences, not because we did not preach it but because they rejected it.

God “will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation (Rom. 2:6-8).