Today’s blog post is written by Sean Dunster, the webcast Operations Manager for ChurchStreaming.tv
As a church,
you are constantly looking for ways to make an impact in your community. How do
you reach people with the good news of the Gospel? Are there ways that are more
strategic than others? What are the ‘out of the box’ ideas that can make us
unique? We’ve heard your plea for new ideas and we’ve come up with one stellar
way to help your church “go and make disciples of all nations.” What is this brilliant
idea? Creating a missional church live stream.
Cultivating a
missional mindset when it comes to your church live stream can be a strategic
way for you to reach people who need the Gospel. However, before we jump in
with the “why” let’s take a look at the facts.
FACTS AND
STATISTICS
There over 3.19
billion people who have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ. According to
the Joshua Project, a majority of these individuals live in Asia and Africa.
In the United
States, 23 percent of the population say they don’t believe in anything at all.
Needless to
say, there are a lot of people in the United States and around the world who
need Jesus and who use the internet.
Just reading
these statistics can be overwhelming, so it’s hard to imagine how to do
something to help impact those numbers. As one person you can only go so far,
but by being savvy with technology in your church, you can take the Gospel to
more nations strategically.
How do you do
this? By being missional with your church live stream. Some churches live
stream their sermons so people who are unable to attend church that weekend can
stay current with the message. Other people use a live stream as a way to keep
out-of-town family members connected. While those are great opportunities to
keep people in the loop, expanding the use of your live stream can make a huge
impact worldwide.
PRACTICAL
PARTNERSHIPS
Let’s imagine
what it looks like to implement a missional church live stream and partner with
a missionary in Asia who needs tools to spread the Gospel.
Every week
after you live stream your sermon, you send an Asian missionary the link to
your church’s sermon along with a digital copy of any notes your church members
received. That missionary can then use their time to gather people and share
that message rather than use their time preparing a sermon on their own.
Imagine how many more people that missionary can meet because they had more
time to be intentional with those around them!
You can do the
same thing by live streaming Bible studies, events, and other key church
messages. So rather than just having a church live stream that targets your
church members and guests in your area, you’ve now cultivated a global mindset
to have a missional church live stream.
Remember those
previous stats about Christianity in Asia? Now you’re able to help bring the
good news of Jesus Christ to those living thousands of miles away, while also
making an impact in your local community.
HOW TO MAKE
A CHURCH LIVE STREAM HAPPEN
The first step
in moving toward creating a missional church live stream is gathering your
leadership team and/or your current live stream or media team and praying over
this question, “How can we take our live stream to the nations?” You may
already know missionaries in need or perhaps God is getting ready to send
missionaries out from your own congregation. Use this time to brainstorm even
more ways to be missional with your live stream.
Remember, the
most important piece to having a missional church live stream is not to limit
God to your traditional ways of thinking. Be willing to think outside the box
and do something that’s never been done before.
Once you and
your team are on the same page, take one step at a time to make your missional
church live stream happen. Reach out to a missionary. Share your live stream on
multiple Facebook pages. Encourage your congregation to send the live stream
link to friends and family members outside of your area. Each step you take
leads you closer to establishing your missional church live stream.
NEXT STEPS FOR YOUR CHURCH LIVE STREAM
If your church isn’t live streaming yet, check out ChurchStreaming. ChurchStreaming can help you get your church ready to take the Gospel to the nations. They can also answer all your live streaming questions. If you want to learn more, start by checking out ChurchStreaming’s video on how live streaming works.
Missional
church live streaming doesn’t have to be complicated. By having open hands, God
can use you and your church to do even greater things for Him and His kingdom.
If you’re looking to add live streaming at your church, be sure to try a free 30-day trial of churchstreaming.tv. You can stream your service at full functionality so you can make the best live streaming decision for your church.