Last Sunday, with the worshipers unable to gather for worship as usual, many churches streamed worship music and sermon live over social media. My church was one of them. One of my Wisconsin friends mentioned a Catholic Church that held a drive-in mass. I found that interesting, but thought no more about it. Then I received my weekly Lester-gram from Brian Lester about a drive-in service his son Jonathan put together with the cooperation of two small Missouri churches. Brian is a third generation member of his Gospel singing family group which now consists of Brian, Jonathan and Jonathan’s wife Bailee. We used to enjoy Lester family concerts when we lived in the St. Louis area. I want to share with you Brian’s description of that unusual church service.
“This all came together in a matter of two days. Jonathan called me at home and said, “Dad, I have an idea that I believe God gave to me.” He went on to say, “It’s a rather Radical idea, but I really think it would be a great outreach because people are hurting and searching for answers; they need some encouragement and assurance that God is in control.” That was last Friday morning about 11:30am; by 1:00pm that afternoon Drive-In Church was put in motion to take place @ 10am Sunday morning in the parking lot of Ewing Baptist Church in Ewing, MO. (EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS TO: Pastor Ted Middleton of First Baptist Church, Lewistown, MO, for helping to coordinate this event. This is Jonathan & Bailee’s Home Church; when they’re home.) We also wish to thank the Congregation of Ewing Baptist Church for allowing us to have this service on their property. I’ve had the opportunity to be part of many wonderful events in my lifetime, but this has to be one of the most exciting ever. On top of everything else, we didn’t take into account what the weather might be on Sunday morning…It Began SNOWING about 9:25am and continued through the service. YES, we sang outside in the snow and 30 degrees! But from the very moment the service began, we didn’t think about how cold it was because the Spirit of The Lord was all across that church parking lot. Jonathan set up a transmitter so everyone could tune into the radio in their vehicle to hear the service; that was AWESOME! It was definitely different singing and staring into a crowd of folks parked in their cars or trucks, and then to hear their Horns Blowing at the end of a song instead of applause! As Pastor Ted shared a wonderful message, there were “Horns of Amens” to be heard! It was quite an experience.”
This time of crisis is a reminder that we are God’s church, not the building where we usually meet. However we are able to worship and listen to the Gospel being preached, Jesus will always keep his promise. “For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.” (Matthew 18:20)