The Antioch church is an important one. It is generally considered to be the first Gentile church, and it is the church out of which Paul is commissioned for apostolic mission to the Gentiles. It is a church planting church. 

In Acts 13:1-4, this church is described at worship: Prophets and teachers (including Saul) are worshiping the Lord, fasting, and praying. Out of this experience of worship, fasting, and prayer, the Holy Spirit speaks and commissions Saul and Barnabas for work. After more prayer and fasting, the church leaders place their hands on Saul and Barnabas and commission them before sending them out.

It strikes me that the Holy Spirit spoke and sent in the context of worship, fasting, and prayer.

In my own context, I began to seek the Lord in prayer with fasting and worship, and out of this experience, I believe the Holy Spirit spoke to me as well.

As I prayed, three words came to my mind: Mission, Members, Many. I prayed longer, and the words began to take on shape: Multiplying Mission, Maturing Members, Making Disciples of the Many. I began to discern a way forward, a triangle of activities, a rhythm of life that God was calling me and the Love First Church to. 

Discipleship is best thought of as a way of life with a certain rhythm to it. I discerned that if we “multipled mission” in our Learning Circles, “matured members” at our prayer meeting, and “made disciples of the many” in our “love first lifestyle,” then we could motivate church planting movement.

The Holy Spirit revealed a further rhythm: If we lived our lives according to the up-in-out rhythms of Learning Circles, prayer meeting, and made disciples of the many through intentional “love first” mission, we would also create a disciple-making movement that reproduces. The heart of this movement is not the activities behind it, but the way that our lives are shaped for mission by love by living according to this rhythm.

I am grateful to God for this revelation that will help us engage his mission for his kingdom.

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Here are eight convictions I've developed, in no particular order.
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1. Develop a daily Bible reading and prayer routine. There is no better way to guard your thoughts and your propensity to anxiety and worry than to be filled with the word of God and to turn to God in prayer. Many of us have extra time; we should use that time to grow in our faith. This will pay massive dividends for us, not only now, but especially as we come out of this. If you are unsure what to read, let me know, and I'll send you a copy of Love First Church's April Bible Reading Calendar. Just pick up on the day of the month and you will be reading along with us. 
2. We are all priests; we are all missionaries. "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (2 Peter 2:9). "Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went" (Acts 8:4). The early church was a family of priests and missionaries. God has been convicting on how and where I can be a blessing to or share the word with others. Each one of us can do this. Consider taking something you learned from your daily Bible reading and sharing it with others as a blessing to them. 
3. Care for yourself and your family. People are stressed out and anxious, which can make us more prone to becoming sick as stress attacks our immune systems. It's very important to get as much sleep as you can. Take a nap if you feel like it. Rest as much as possible. Drink more water than you think you need. Eat well. 
4. Seek to love first as best you can. It's difficult to love when you are not around people. But what can you do? I'm going out once a week to buy groceries. We have to wait in line to get into the grocery stores. I try to engage in friendly banter with the people who are in line (practicing good social distance, of course). No one likes to wait, and it is stressful being in line. In the stores, I try to be as positive as I can with workers, thanking them for their time and dedication to keeping the store as safe and clean as they can. If asked, I donate something to the money they collect for food pantries as a way of trying to make sure even the "least of these" will have enough. How can you love first in these times?
5. Envision the future, and consider multiple possibilities. This may speak, initially, to church leaders, but I think it speaks to all of us. I believe "church" will be different coming out of this. I won't be surprised if, after this initial wave of social distancing, when we are allowed to resume public meetings, those meetings will be size restricted for awhile. What will you do if churches are allowed to meet in groups of no larger than 50? How will this affect your church? What if this were to go on for another six months to a year? How will you be the church? We all need to examine our core values around what the church is and be thinking about what a new reality might look like. How can your family be the church right now? How can a large church disperse itself into smaller communities? 
6. Even while you're watching church, do not lose sight of the fact that you are a church. This one combines with (5) above. Your own, immediate family, is your church. Your network of neighbours, friends, coworkers, and family is your mission field. How are you learning the way of Christ and how are you sharing with others? Are you teaching your children, or grandchildren, the word of God? (You can use Zoom, or another video conferencing technology, for this.) Are you praying for lost people to find their way to Jesus? Are you searching for persons of peace? We can still be highly missional and highly focused on ministry during this time. It takes, perhaps, more intentionality and creativity, but I believe God is working through his Spirit to help his church during this time. 
7. Establish a family altar. "There [Abraham] built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord" (Genesis 12:8). God really convicted me on this one. I have not always been good at leading the spiritual vitality of my family. If we were having the occasional spiritual conversation and prayer time, and the family was reading their Bible and active in church, that was good enough. But God has convicted me that this is, in fact, not good enough, and that this is a sin of pride on my part. So, one of the things I will be doing is establishing a family altar in our home. By "altar," I do not mean establishing a physical object. Instead, I'm picking up on the function of Abraham's altar: it was a place of remembrance and a place where he called upon the Lord. Each day, probably around dinner time, we will read the Bible and pray together, following our Learning Circle format. (If you would like to see this format, let me know, and I'll get a copy to you.)
8. Recall weekly, or even more frequently, the symbols of the New Covenant. "Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." (Genesis 9:16). "For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes." (1 Corinthians 11:26). After the flood, the rainbow served as a symbol, both to humans and to God, that God had promised he would never again destroy the earth with a flood. Symbols and visuals are important because they remind us what God has already done and what he has promised yet to do. When Jesus was about to die, he gave new symbols to remember the New Covenant -- symbols that remind us of his body and blood, given for us. These are symbols of God's grace and anchor points that keep us steady in our faith. Remembering them regularly by sharing them together will help us find peace in a time of storm. 

I pray that you have been blessed by these and I would love to hear what you are learning during this time. Feel free to reach out and share, or let me know if I can help you in some other way.

​Many churches are scrambling to find suitable ways to stream or deliver content to their members. Some are finding that their existing streaming system is inadequate in empty buildings. While content delivery is okay, and it is advisable to have something online as an anchor point for the church, it is, in my opinion, more advisable to make sure that connection between church members and church leaders happens, and happens regularly. Folks who feel disconnected and anxious need to be able to check in with church leaders and other members. Here are some ways this can be done:
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1. If this is not already done, I suggest that church leaders meet asap and divide the church into groups for check-in purposes. Each leader could be responsible for checking in once per week, at minimum, with each person/family on their list. Shepherding, and the care of the flock, must be a core value now if it already wasn't in the past.
2. I recommend that anyone, church leaders and members, begin developing a few lists of people. We can all be leaders right now. Make one list of people you know who need a daily check-in. This might include family members but should definitely include those who are vulnerable, at-risk, and whose mental health might be especially challenged right now. Make a second list of those who need a semi-regular check-in. For church leaders, this might include your group from point #1. For church members, this probably includes your circle of church friends, some family, work friends, etc.
3. (See #2) Make a third list, which is a prayer list, of those you pray for daily -- this might include governmental and church leaders, church members, whoever. But use this list as a ministry list -- BE the answer to as many prayers as you can, but use this list to minister to the ones you are praying for. Reach out, ask questions, follow up as best you can, while respecting all social distancing guidance. Prayer must flow into ministry.
4. Learn how to use technology for the Kingdom. Phone calls are great, but visual is better. Learn how to use video calling on Facebook Messenger or Facetime, or learn how to use Google Hangouts, Google Duo or Zoom (my favourite). With these, you can talk face to face, and with some, you can convene groups together. Learn how to pray with people online (ask me how). Learn how to lead simple discovery Bible studies (ask me how). Elders and church leaders, learn how to gather groups together online just to visit with each other, or to sing together or share prayer and some scripture together (ask me how). Technology helps us overcome some challenges of social distancing.

In my opinion, there is too much focus on churches delivering content without a corresponding focus on connecting members. Most of us cannot compete with large, very professional churches. This is fine for a couple of weeks, but if this crisis goes on for any length of time (a month or more), this response is inadequate. We need to be prioritizing mission and ongoing discipleship, rather than creating a culture of "church service watchers." We need to be the church right now, which doesn't stop just because we're socially distanced from each other.

I would love to help any of you flesh some of these things out, especially if you are interested in discipleship or are a church leader who knows you need to do more but isn't sure what to do. Please reach out and let me know what you need, and I will do my best to help you.