How to Feast on God’s Word When You Have to do Church at Home

Inside: With churches closing due to Coronavirus, learn how to do church at home. Free printable included.

In the span of twenty-four hours, my calendar went from being littered with events and activities to nothing.  No sports practice, no long-awaited choir concert, and no church.  

Such is life at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.  Other states are now seeing similar measures taking place. Concerts and sporting events shutting down.  Our church has even canceled all meetings and activities worldwide until further notice.

As homeschoolers, we are not affected by school closures. We don’t play sports every season or have choir concerts every week.  But church.  We are actively involved in our church community, as I imagine many of you are.  

We rely on our Sunday services to receive the spiritual food that feeds us for the rest of the week.  Our services draw us closer to our Savior and give hope in times of uncertainty.

Prioritizing the spiritual health of our families and ourselves is important. Especially, when there is no longer a set time to gather and worship as followers of Christ. We want to press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, not have our testimony wane because attending church is no longer available.

How do you keep from spiritually sliding backward when the Coronavirus is causing mass shutdowns of church congregations? 

Keep your Sabbath a Day of Worship During Coronavirus

Hold Your Own Shortened Version of Services at Home

The grin continued to spread on my three-year-old’s face, delighted she was included with her older siblings to conduct the music.  Watching my family gathered around the piano my oldest played to sing an opening hymn brought tears to my eyes.  A beautiful moment I’ll long cherish.  My family gathered to worship in our home brought joy to my heart.

My seven, nine, and twelve-year old’s shared their favorite scripture from the week.  Olivia (7) bursting because she was able to read it by herself.

I gave a lesson, complete with tempting tastes of ice cream, to demonstrate what it meant to feast on the words of Christ.  Undoubtedly, my toddler’s favorite part.  He followed me around, spoon outstretched until I relented and gave him more.

Spiritual thoughts were shared by my oldest two girls.

Raena helped us learn a new hymn and instructed her younger siblings on how to lead it.

My husband led a gospel discussion and shared his testimony of Christ. 

The Spirit could be felt strongly in our home through it all.  We were spiritually fed and edified.

About a year ago our church rolled out a Home-Centered, Church Supported curriculum for members to follow.  As such, each week we teach our children from the assigned scriptures. Those lessons then get reinforced in their Sunday classes.  This made Sunday a continuation of what our children were learning at home.

Even though we couldn’t meet with others, it didn’t mean we had to relinquish our weekly spiritual feast.  Already having a pattern in place made this easier.  Since we were replacing church, we wanted it to be more reverent than our weekly study.  We structured it more like our Sunday meetings to bring reverence to our home.  And hopefully, avoid the chaos that sometimes ensues during our weekly study.

While we may have missed being able to physically attend church, we did not need to miss church.  

Continue to Keep the Sabbath Day Holy

We continue to hold Sunday aside as a day of worship, regardless of our physical location.  For us, this means we don’t visit places of business and we try to engage in activities that focus on drawing us closer to Christ.
Some of these activities include:

• studying scriptures
• writing letters to others (such as the elderly in nursing homes)
• working on a talent
• making progress on one of the goals our children have set in the categories of physical, spiritual, social, and intellectual
• doing family history work, such as indexing

Find New Ways to Fellowship with Others

My fingers can hardly keep up with the incoming and outgoing text messages.  Concerned members reaching out to one another to check on their physical and spiritual well-being.

A youth leader inviting one to two girls at a time to get together.  Another dropping cookies off to let my daughter know she is being thought of.

With all activities canceled, this is our new normal.  Checking in on one another and meeting via technology.  Gathering in groups of two or three.

A church congregation becomes family.  Family who are taught to bear one another’s burdens and reach out in Christ-like love. 

Be creative and find ways to reach out and minister to those you attend church with.  Specifically, think of those members who may be affected most.  The elderly who might be afraid to leave their home to get groceries.  The mother with an immunocompromised child.  The teenager who is convinced social distancing means their life is over.

Above all, place your trust in the Lord.  Take this time to feast on the word of God by continuing to keep, and make, Sunday a sacred day in your home.

To help you structure your own Sunday church-at-home, download this packet to get more tips and ideas, including a program to plan your own Sunday services.