Hello Church!
Graham Parker here, and I wanted to put a list of ongoing resources together for you to stay connected in the faith, and GROW your faith during this time of Social Distancing. Our brother Corbin mentioned last week that the term “social distancing” is kind of a wrong title during this time. As Disciples we should really only be exercising “physical distancing”, not socially cutting ourselves off from others in the faith and those we’re reaching out to. I couldn’t agree more! We need to continue to grow in our relationship with Christ, and that does mean staying connected – to Christ, to the Body, and to those we’re reaching out to. I encourage you to explore some of the following, and additionally please tell me what YOU are doing to continue to grow your faith! I’ll update this post with info you’d like to share!
(Note: The best way to do this would be via Facebook, but not everybody has an account, so please email me anything you’d like to add, or post it to our NSCoC Facebook Group!)
Luke & Amanda’s Weekly Devotionals
Both Luke and Amanda both have posted weekly devos. Amanda has additionally focused on some training for the Womens’ Ministry. Please check them out here:
Facebook (videos, publicly available even without a FB account on our NSCoC public FB page)
Simplecast (our sermons/teachings podcast host. You can also subscribe to these via Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite Podcast App)
Devotionals by Daren Overstreet (Seattle CoC)
Daren Overstreet (Seattle Church of Christ – Eastside) has been publishing devos every few days as well. Check them out here:
Facebook (videos, publicly available even without a FB account on their SCoC public FB page)
Seattle’s Bluberry host (their lessons/teachings podcast host. You can also subscribe to these via Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite Podcast App)
“Marriage in Quarantine”
Seattle hosted a “Marriage in Quarantine” workshop last week via Zoom. This was pretty rewarding, and we had at least 168 couples join for this online meeting! You can watch the replay below. It’s 1 hour long.
Video from Zoom Meeting “Marriage in Quarantine”
“Parenting in Quarantine”
Seattle will host another 1-hr workshop this week for parenting! Be sure to join us, as it’ll be worth it. I’ll post the link to the video once it’s complete.
Video from Zoom Meeting “Parenting in Quarantine”
Adventures in Odyssey
Originally created as a radio drama for kids by Focus on the Family, this ongoing show has been around for YEARS! Our kids have listened to it in the car growing up, and we continue to do so with our youngest now.
(As of writing this, they are offering 4-weeks for free. Be sure to get the app!)
The Chosen
VidAngel productions produces quite a bit of great content based on inspiring Biblical stories, and “The Chosen” does not disappoint! This is not a movie, but a series. What a good time to binge-watch something worthy! 1st episode was a bit challenging to figure out what fully was going on, but by episodes 2 & 3, our kids and us have found it very well done and educationally entertaining!
Digital Missionary Academy
This Facebook Group is run by one of our Disciples in Jacksonville, FL. Travis launched this ministry with one goal in mind: Evangelize to our friends effectively on social media! I’ve been a part of this group for a number of months now, and it’s been highly rewarding!
(Note: there is a monthly fee to join this, but I’ve felt it’s been worth the $!)
https://www.digitalmissionaryacademy.com/
The Bible Project
This site is GREAT! These guys have created numerous animated videos taking a deep-dive into all the books of the Bible and most of all the Biblical stories we know as well. One of the authors of this created the podcast “Exploring My Strange Bible” below as well. If you like the videos on this site, you’ll love the Read Scripture app as well!
Podcasts
Focus on The Family
Dr. James Dobson founded this organization back in the 1970’s, and we’ve learned a wealth through their daily broadcasts and quite a few books that have been published regarding marriage, parenting, relationships and more! Check out their broadcast below.
Main page: focusonthefamily.com
Daily Broadcast (also available through your favorite Podcast app!)
The Practical Christian Podcast
Also launched by our brother Travis, is a really good podcast titled “The Practical Christian Podcast”. Travis covers a wealth of topics in our faith, discipling, reaching out, or just dealing with the world on a daily basis.
https://unlockyourgifts.org/podcast-practical-christian-podcast/
Exploring My Strange Bible
From the creator of The Bible Project, this is a series that one of the authors went through and REALLY dove into a great number of books of the Bible. Really good stuff!
https://bibleproject.com/podcasts/exploring-my-strange-bible/
Apps
YouVersion Bible App
This free Bible app provides numerous different translations, commentary, devotionals, notes, and a social-feature that you can study and share comments, thoughts and convictions with your friends. Lots of fellow disciples on this platform, and oh, by the way, it will read to you as well!
(Thank you Mindy for this suggestion!)
https://www.youversion.com/the-bible-app/
Tecarta Bible
This app is a paid Bible app, but you get what you pay for! I bought this years ago, and use it on a daily basis. It’s VERY easy to use, and is fully functional “offline”, no matter where you are. It includes highlighting, notes, sharing options, and a “sync” feature that keeps your paid content, notes, highlights and more in-sync no matter where you login from.
Read Scripture
Ready for a whole new Bible-reading experience? This app is for you! Produced by the same group that launched The Bible Project, this app has really well-done devotionals that include animated intros to each section of the Bible.
https://www.readscripture.org/
What media are YOU and your family consuming? What helps you? What spurs you on to continue growing your faith! Let me know so we can share it with others!
