I checked my Facebook page today. I’m not very good at doing that on a regular basis, but I find that the more we are “social distancing” the more prominent Facebook becomes in my day. I don’t think I’m alone in that. Based on the number of posts in my newsfeed, LOTS of people are spending time on Facebook – maybe more than I’ve ever seen. It’s kind of exciting!
One thing to catch my attention is the number of friend requests I have received in the last couple of weeks. I know most of them personally, but several have been friend-of-a-friend connections. I like that. Since nearly everything I post is church-related (with a few family references thrown in), I tend to view Facebook as a tool to spread more Jesus around. Want to be my friend? Great! Let’s talk Jesus.
I think the most fun trend I’ve seen lately is when we post church things and then see all the “sharing” going on. For example, our Divine Street sermon from the last few weeks have averaged around 350 views on Facebook plus several more on YouTube. I’m sure a few of those were repeats, but I also know of many who watched as a family. Who knows how many people were able to hear about Jesus from that one post?! That’s pretty exciting. It’s like the old shampoo commercial: you tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on…
Toward the end of Paul’s first letter to the people in Corinth, Paul notes that Jesus continues to appear to more and more people. (See 1 Corinthians 15:1-11.) Paul recounts Jesus appearing to Peter, then the disciples, then to 500 at one time! Hundreds of people witnessing Jesus alive – the ranks grow as time goes by. Since that’s a theme repeated from the Gospels, it seems certain that Jesus-talk multiplies through the years.
If our little sermon from a backyard in Dunn, NC, reached hundreds of folks on the Internet, can you imagine how many people were talking about Jesus when he rose from the dead? Remember, Jerusalem was filled to capacity because of the Passover. Scholars and archeologists estimate hundreds of thousands may have been in town – lowest count likely 200,000 and highest assessments push one million people. Thousands and thousands saw him die, and now hundreds and hundreds at a time are seeing him alive again. Jesus is walking around, talking and eating with folks! Few people could keep something this exciting to themselves.
Had I been in Jerusalem during those weeks, I don’t think I could have stopped at telling two friends. Goodness, I’m living more than 2000 years later, and I can’t stop telling the stories! I think that’s why negativity on sites like Facebook always puzzles me. We have so many good stories to tell. Just like Paul, we are witnesses to the truth! Oh, how exciting! Let's talk Jesus!
Practicing storytelling every day,
Pastor Beth
One thing to catch my attention is the number of friend requests I have received in the last couple of weeks. I know most of them personally, but several have been friend-of-a-friend connections. I like that. Since nearly everything I post is church-related (with a few family references thrown in), I tend to view Facebook as a tool to spread more Jesus around. Want to be my friend? Great! Let’s talk Jesus.
I think the most fun trend I’ve seen lately is when we post church things and then see all the “sharing” going on. For example, our Divine Street sermon from the last few weeks have averaged around 350 views on Facebook plus several more on YouTube. I’m sure a few of those were repeats, but I also know of many who watched as a family. Who knows how many people were able to hear about Jesus from that one post?! That’s pretty exciting. It’s like the old shampoo commercial: you tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on…
Toward the end of Paul’s first letter to the people in Corinth, Paul notes that Jesus continues to appear to more and more people. (See 1 Corinthians 15:1-11.) Paul recounts Jesus appearing to Peter, then the disciples, then to 500 at one time! Hundreds of people witnessing Jesus alive – the ranks grow as time goes by. Since that’s a theme repeated from the Gospels, it seems certain that Jesus-talk multiplies through the years.
If our little sermon from a backyard in Dunn, NC, reached hundreds of folks on the Internet, can you imagine how many people were talking about Jesus when he rose from the dead? Remember, Jerusalem was filled to capacity because of the Passover. Scholars and archeologists estimate hundreds of thousands may have been in town – lowest count likely 200,000 and highest assessments push one million people. Thousands and thousands saw him die, and now hundreds and hundreds at a time are seeing him alive again. Jesus is walking around, talking and eating with folks! Few people could keep something this exciting to themselves.
Had I been in Jerusalem during those weeks, I don’t think I could have stopped at telling two friends. Goodness, I’m living more than 2000 years later, and I can’t stop telling the stories! I think that’s why negativity on sites like Facebook always puzzles me. We have so many good stories to tell. Just like Paul, we are witnesses to the truth! Oh, how exciting! Let's talk Jesus!
Practicing storytelling every day,
Pastor Beth