Modern technology has brought innovative new options for the church. One of these new options is live streaming video of the church service. Not only had technology made live streaming available, but in the past 5 years it has become much more accessible and affordable. Most churches can begin streaming with just a simple digital camcorder and an internet-ready computer. Still, some raise question to streaming the service online, thinking that it will cause people to stay home instead of coming through the doors. Live streaming can be great ministry and outreach of your church, whether large are small. Here’s three ways live streaming is beneficial to your ministry:
Live Streaming Ministers to the Sick and Shut-In
Everyone in the church gets sick from time to time, and some even suffer from chronic illnesses that keep them from coming through the doors of the church. Live streaming allows them to still have some connection to their home church and be fed spiritually. I’ve actually experienced this first hand. When my son was born, my wife had a C-section and had a bit longer of a recovery than normal. Our church’s live stream was a huge blessing to us when we had to miss a few weeks to rest and care for a newborn. People who are vacationing, or out of town on business will also still be able to experience church, even from across the country or the world!
Live Streaming Reaches Out to the Cynic
We’ve all heard at least one person who have declared that they’ll never darken the doors of a church building. But what if you could bring church to them? You might be surprised at who would not be willing to go with you to church but would be willing to watch it online. A neighbor, co-worker or family member could have a chance to check out the church you’ve been talking to them about with less anxieties or excuses. I’ve even met Christians who began their faith journey by watching church online and eventually wanted to come to the actual church service and get plugged in.
Live Streaming Can Proclaim the Gospel
Ultimately, everything we do in the church should be done with the great commission in mind. Jesus told us in Matthew 28:19 to go into all the world and make disciples. The great thing about live streaming is that it has no adverse effect on the Christian sitting in the building, but can be life changing to someone watching online. One great example of this is lifechurch.tv, a pioneer in live streaming based our of Oklahoma. According to lifechurch.tv, they had over 9 million visitors to their online campus in 2014, and 9,000 decisions for Christ. That’s a big impact, and it made an eternal difference for the kingdom because they were willing to step out and use the technology to innovate how they reached out to the lost.
In the end, live streaming works best for churches that effectively integrate it into the rest of their culture. In other words, it’s not done just because it’s cool or cutting edge. It’s done to reach out to the surrounding community and around the world with the gospel. And that outreach is what makes the eternal difference.
