“An internet church is not a real church. Church is a place you go every week to worship God. It’s a building. It has walls and windows.” I hear this argument almost every time I tell someone I’m a pastor at an internet church.
Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 that He will build His church on Peter, a person. Nowhere in the Bible does God say church can only be assembled in a building. In fact, I believe church is not a building at all, but the people. Our culture and society decided church must be held in a building, not God.
Next, you might wonder, “If church isn’t a building but the people, how can we have an internet church when people aren’t actually there?” The thing is—even though the people can’t physically touch one another, they’re still there. They’re still gathered. They’re able to connect to God together. And they’re able to become friends, even. In fact, because of the rise in social media and internet friendships, people are more likely to feel connected with a person through a screen than ever before.
At each of our services, people have the opportunity to connect and chat with people from all over the world. We are seeing friendships made with people from the United States, England, Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, the Philippines, and practically every other country in the world.
@AlanVGeorge
Now, more than ever before, we’re able to take God’s Word to the ends of the earth and fulfill the Great Commission Jesus left for all of us. The internet church is a digital mission field where people only need an internet connection to encounter God in a real way.
A few months ago, I received an email from Muhammad in Pakistan. Muhammad reached out to me asking how he can become a Christian. You see, Muhammad encountered God through our internet church in a country that kills people for being Christian. Still, he chose to believe in God, and I was able to lead him through the salvation prayer over email.
When Shobitha got married, she moved from Dubai to Bahrain where she didn’t know anyone. She quickly met lots of people who served at our internet church, so decided to serve with them. Shobitha now serves a global audience with her local friends.
Helen moved from England to Morocco for work, looked for a church to call home, but could only find a few English-speaking churches. She decided to take her search online and found Life.Church. She quickly got connected with our community. Helen’s about to move to Egypt, and she’s excited about it because through our internet church, she can take church and community wherever she goes!
Those are just three short stories of life-change and community found at an internet church. In 2017, over 8 million people visited our internet church and more than 18,000 people gave their lives to Christ.
So I ask you, are you limiting God by thinking church can only be in a building? If so, keep your mind open by checking out our internet church.
Alan is the Church Online Pastor at Life.Church. He lives in Edmond, OK with his wife and three kids. You can connect with him on social media @alanvgeorge.
