Madison Church of Christ Minister, Ted Brooks
Contributor
The Madison Church of Christ has for several years sought to invite community members in response to the commandment of Christ (Mark 16:15-16). We follow the principles of first-century biblical Christianity, which demonstrated the power to change the world.
Obstacles to Christian outreach are formidable in a world mostly unconcerned with Christian values. As society changes, many traditional means of outreach, such as door-knocking or gospel meetings, do not attract many people to the Gospel. Our goal has always been to seek opportunities to conduct Bible studies within our community and to support outreach efforts abroad. We try to introduce others to the good news of eternal life through salvation in Christ and to explore doctrinal error, which may stand in the way of salvation, even among the 'churched' in our community.
For several years, we have sponsored an area-wide Gospel sing in association with the annual Madison Down Home Days events. We also conduct an annual Gospel meeting and a Ladies Day to invite members and non-members to visit. And for the last year, in addition to inviting others into services and studies, members have tested the internet by trying to record and stream study and worship via Facebook and Zoom.
The current COVID-19 pandemic has posed even further challenges. But, every cloud has its silver lining. Acts 8:3 relates that, "As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and hauling men and women, committed them to prison." But, this pressure on the Church only served to spread the Gospel even further. "Therefore, they that were scattered abroad and went everywhere preaching the word" (Acts 8:4). It was like trying to put out divine fire with gasoline.
With challenge comes opportunity. As the pandemic forced many of us to limit or cancel personal church attendance, we did what so many churches have done. Church members, eager to continue to share the Gospel with those who could not attend, went online to learn through You-tube and other information sites. Men of the congregation, led by project supervisor Myron Piggott, studied the various methods of streaming services and actively sharing online studies through Zoom, Teams and Skype. They consulted with other preachers and congregations who had already made the leap into the world of digital ministry.
As our efforts have improved, positive response has increased. We are now being followed on Facebook by visitors from across the country and around the world. Aided by donations of time, expertise and funds, we have purchased equipment to increase capabilities and outreach. By August of this year, we had achieved the ability to produce quality content across Facebook and You-Tube. We continue to refine our production as other churches have done.
As we seek to recover from the pandemic, many of our members are returning to the building while others continue to log on and log in. We are prayerfully thankful as others seeking to enter God's kingdom continue to join us online.
The use of digital media has given us a new way to get out of the building and into the community to let others know the Church of Christ is available here in Madison. Our main goals are to inform the community, teach scriptural doctrine only, show that we carefully follow the written Word of God and persuade others to answer the Gospel.
We invite everyone to join us Sunday for our 10 a.m. Bible study, 11 a.m. worship service and 6 p.m. service as well. We also would welcome visitors to our Wednesday night study that begins at 6 p.m.
Please visit us at the Madison Church of Christ, located at 199 NE Range Avenue, near Four Freedoms Park. Or, you can join on-line by going to www.madisonchurchofchrist.com and click on our links to You-tube or Facebook. You can also join us directly on Facebook at our Madison for Christ page. Feel free to contact the local minister by phone at (850) 454-7397.