Join us for our online worship services each Sunday at 10:30 AM on our Facebook page.
We recommend the following resources for information and updates on the COVID-19 Outbreak and for recommendations to protect yourself, your family, and others.
[Local]
Fort Bend County HHS: Coronavirus Information
[National]
CDC (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention): Coronavirus Information
[Global]
WHO (World Health Organization): Coronavirus Information
Update (March 24):
Fort Bend County issues “Stay at Home to Save Lives” Order
Join us tomorrow morning for worship!
We have a great worship service prepared for tomorrow morning at 10:30 AM! We hope that you will tune in with us! Here are some best practices:
– Show Up!
Head over to our Facebook page a few minutes before 10:30 AM – if you have trouble seeing the service stream after 10:30 AM, click on the “Videos“ tab. We’ve troubleshooted our issues from last weekend and should be starting on time without any delays. The technology challenges we’ve encountered (as well as a site-wide struggle on Facebook to keep up with all the churches now streaming on their platform on Sunday mornings) have been worked on throughout the week and this should be our best experience yet. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we’ve learned about and improved on our streaming skills these past couple of weeks. We have even better and more community-building plans for online services in the weeks to come!
– BYOB!
We will have a moment for the practice of communion across a “Virtual Table.” It’s “Bring Your Own Bread” however, so before service grab some bread and wine/grape juice/other drink so that you can have it ready to participate with us at the right time.
– Set Up “Children’s Church”!
We’ve heard form parents about various unique ways they are engaging their children on Sunday mornings – from reading Jonah out of a children’s Bible before service (we’ll be in Jonah 4 this weekend) to preparing coloring pages, crafts, or other activities. We sent an email out to parents earlier with specific resources to utilize for this weekend (including a video that your child can watch while Pastor Mike is preaching) but if you did not see it – just click HERE to grab those resources.
– Volunteer Opportunities
Donate Blood
Local area leaders have asked congregations to share the message that hospitals and doctors are currently in need of blood donors! If this is something you are interested in, check out opportunities to donate blood on giveblood.org.
Deliver Meals
Looking for a way to get out of the house (as long as you are not sick!) and bless those in need? Meals on Wheels is in need of deliver drivers and it’s fairly easy to sign-up to volunteer and participate. You can find area-specific links below:
Houston & Katy Meals on Wheels – Volunteer Information
Fort Bend County Meals on Wheels – Volunteer Information
– Prayer Request & Needs
Likewise, please let us know if we can be praying for you or if there are any needs we can help you meet during this season of life – send us a message us at office@sweetwaterchristian.org.
– Stay Updated
Finally, please check out www.sweetwaterchristian.org/coronavirus at any time for the latest updates, news, and plans here at the church.
Hey Church Family!
Almost all of us have seen our regular routines and rhythms interrupted by now due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fort Bend County recently issued a “Stay at Home to Save Lives“ order and we would like to continue to encourage you to follow the guidance of our local leaders. Let me also encourage you to commit to eating, exercising, resting, and managing stress in ways that will build up and strengthen your immune system. We want you to stay healthy so that you can continue to enjoy the love of God and be ready to meet the needs of your neighbors in love!
The church has a ‘crisis team’ that is in regular communication as we monitor the ongoing developments and make plans for our ministry and future. Please know that we are praying for you and eager to continue serving you.
Last Sunday, I encouraged us to view these interruptions to our lives as invitations to further repentance, worship, and acts of obedience and love. If you didn’t get a chance to join us, you can view the video of our service on Facebook or on Youtube. How can you most faithfully respond to the unique opportunities to bear witness to Christ during these times? If you’d like to think more about Sunday’s sermon or text, please find the Bible Study guide we used for our Sunday evening Zoom discussion here: Jonah 3 Bible Study.
The church will send out an email this Friday afternoon or Saturday morning with more details about the plan for this weekend’s worship service along with other news and announcements – please keep an eye out for that. As always, you can check out the latest updates from our church at any time by visiting www.sweetwaterchristian.org/coronavirus.
Please know that I am praying for each of you daily.
Your Pastor,
Mike Skinner
Watch our worship service from March 22 here on Facebook or Youtube.
Check out our Bible Study resources to go along with the sermon on Jonah 3 here: Jonah 3 Bible Study and Discussion.
Join us tomorrow morning for worship!
We hope you’ll make the time to join us live this Sunday for our online worship service. Here’s how you can participate:
– Tune in on time
Head over to our Facebook page a few minutes before 10:30 AM (you can be comfortable and on time – a perfect combination). You don’t need a facebook account to be able to watch the service, though if you have one you will be able to like, comment, and interact with others on the stream. If you can, you may enjoy the service even more by learning how to mirror the screen on your computer or smartphone to your television so you and your family can more easily experience the online service together.
– Worship as a family
We encourage you to participate as a family. Gather together before the start of the service, sit together, and pray together before the service begins. If you can, prepare some bread and drink (feel free to substitute for grape juice or wine) so that you can serve each other communion. If you have small children, prepare some activities for them to do if they get bored or restless during the service.
– Give to our church online
We continue to be grateful for your generous support of our church. We are gearing up the launch of a few targeted ministries for our community during this pandemic and your giving is a vital part of our ability to meet these opportunities faithfully and effectively. Giving online is easy – visit www.sweetwaterchristian.org/d
– Catch up on our Jonah sermon series
Pastor Mike will be continuing our Lenten sermon series on the book of Jonah – if you missed either of the first two messages, catch up here: Jonah.
As we continue to consider how to connect and cultivate community in these new times, here are some ways that we’d love for you to stay in touch with us and with one another.
– Join us Sunday evening for Bible study & discussion
Pastor Mike will be leading an online Bible study and discussion, over Jonah 3, tomorrow evening at 6:00 PM. We will meet using the video-conferencing software, Zoom. We encourage you to log in on your computer or phone and connect your video camera so we can see everyone’s faces, although you don’t have to. Join us for a good discussion and also to see some familiar faces and hear some familiar voices! Click this link to join the meeting: https://zoom.us/j/359888843 (Meeting ID: 359 888 843). If you’ve never used Zoom before, we encourage you to test it out 10-15 minutes beforehand so that you can download the app and test out your audio/video connection. For instructions on joining a meeting, click here.
– Find information on our website
We will be putting all past and future updates in a central place online. If at any time you are looking for information, visit www.sweetwaterchristian.org/c
– Upcoming Events
Check our website and Facebook page for current information about any upcoming groups or events (like PBL, B&B, and community groups), as well as looking out for emails/texts from other church leaders.
– Volunteer Opportunities
Looking to volunteer or serve our community? We currently don’t have any pressing needs within the congregation, but many are mobilizing in the Greater Houston area to serve those in need. If you’d like to help, we recommend checking out CrowdSource Rescue.
They are a Houston-based disaster response non-profit. They are co-opting their rescue platform to use for the COVID-19 pandemic and are organizing volunteers to help do no-contact food deliveries to high-risk Houston residents.Click here to volunteer.
We also recommend checking out VolunteerHouston.Org for possible ways to serve.
– Prayer Request & Needs
Likewise, please let us know if we can be praying for you or if there are any needs we can help you meet during this season of life – send us a message us atoffice@sweetwaterchristian.org.
Hey Church Family,
It’s been too long since I’ve seen so many of you and there is so much I’d love to catch up with you about:
– How is your toilet paper supply?
– Are you feeling healthy?
– How is your mind and heart handling the change of pace and schedule in your life?
– Have you been able to find some comfort and guidance in these past couple of weeks through your relationship with God and the commission we have as His people?
– What are the ways that I can be praying for you? (reply to this email or click here to let me know)
Our headline news is that we will be continuing our suspension of in-person worship services at the church facility for at least the next three weekends.
We don’t want this change to interfere with our ability to worship together, however! While it will look different for the time being, I want to encourage you to keep a commitment to “stirring up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25).
This Sunday that will look like this:
1) an online worship service streamed on our Facebook page at 10:30 AM
2) an online Bible Study and discussion that I will lead at 6:00 PM Sunday evening via the video conferencing software, Zoom (details forthcoming)
We had about 35 “screens” and around 50 people join us last Sunday and received great feedback. We’ve been hard at work this week and can’t wait to deliver an improved stream with higher-quality audio and video. For those who joined us last weekend, many of you experienced how interactive the online worship service could be through commenting on the stream and conversing with one another. The goal of our online services is not just to release a video at a certain time, but to hold an interactive experience where we can worship in spirit and truth and also connect with one another in real time. We’ve got even more ways to facilitate these interactions and connections coming your way this Sunday.
We will be getting back into our Jonah sermon series this Sunday, digging into Jonah 3 together, and I am very excited to do so. I was shocked during my studies to discover just how many similarities there are between the situation in Nineveh and the global situation we find ourselves in during this pandemic! I think God has an encouraging message for us all and am looking forward to sharing it with you.
Tomorrow you’ll get an email from the church with more information about the online service and evening Bible study, as well as more details and plans about future events and service opportunities. Keep an eye out for that!
Please don’t hesitate to let me know how I can be praying for you and if you have any needs that I, or the church, can help meet. I love you all and hope to speak with and see you online this weekend.
Your Pastor,
Mike Skinner
Hello All,
We hope you will join us online tomorrow morning for a time of worship together.
We will be broadcasting the service at 10:30 AM on our Facebook page. Details on how to join us can be found listed below, along with a handful of other important announcements and requests. Please read keep reading so that you won’t miss out on anything!
~ Sweetwater Christian Church
Though we won’t be gathering in person, we still invite you to worship with us tomorrow morning at 10:30 AM. Here’s how you can participate:
– Tune in on time
Head over to our Facebook page a few minutes before 10:30 AM (being “on time” has never been so easy). You don’t need a facebook account to be able to watch the service, though if you have one you will be able to like and comment on our stream. If you can do it, learn how to mirror the screen on your computer or smartphone to your television so you and your family can easily experience the online service together.
– Worship as a family
We encourage you to participate as a family. Gather together before the start of the service, sit together, and pray together before the service begins. If you can, prepare some bread and drink (feel free to substitute for grape juice or wine) so that you can serve each other communion. If you have small children, prepare some activities for them to do if they get bored or restless during the service.
– Give to our church online
Not gathering in person has the potential to negatively affect our budget unless we all continue to generously give. Many of you already give online – thank you! We’ll share these instructions tomorrow as well, but we make giving online easy at Sweetwater Christian Church. You can give online at www.sweetwaterchristian.org/donate or by texting “Sweetwater” to 77977 on your mobile device.
It’s more important than ever that we find ways to foster community and togetherness. Here are some important things we’d like to ask you to do so we can keep in touch with you:
– Update your contact information
We are utilizing this time to update our contact information for all of our members and regular attendees. Please help us do that by going to a recent email from the church and clicking “Update Preferences” at the bottom of the email.
– Make sure you’re getting our texts
We utilize a texting service for the occasional important announcement (we use it sparingly, so don’t worry about getting a ton of text messages from us). If you already get texts from us, be sure and save our contact information by adding both of these numbers: (281) 724-3755 and 62488. If you are unsure whether you are already subscribed or not, text “Connect” to (281) 724-3755.
– Find information on our website
We will be putting all past and future updates in a central place online. If at any time you are looking for information, visit www.sweetwaterchristian.org/coronavirus.
All of us are having to adjust our schedules right now as schools, workplaces, and businesses are making the necessary changes to meet this crisis. Here are some of our most important announcements:
– Middle School Ministry
Our Middle School ministry will not be meeting tomorrow evening as planned. Parents and students, be on the lookout for more information to be sent to you soon.
– Summer Camp Fundraiser Lunch
We will be rescheduling the Summer Camp Fundraiser Lunch originally scheduled for Sunday, March 22. We will get the new date to you as soon as we have it.
– Future Services
While we have committed internally to making adjustments to our normal plans for this weekend and next weekend, the situation is fluid and we are working on ways to facilitate opportunities to gather together in worship and encouragement that still ensure everyone’s safety. We will keep you updated as soon as plans develop. Keep your eyes open!
Hello all,
The Elders and I have been prayerfully following the rapidly evolving situation concerning the COVID-19 outbreak and have decided to suspend in-person worship services this weekend as we await more information about the virus and its impact in our local community.
We are planning to stream a worship service online at 10:30 AM this Sunday morning and hope you will plan on joining us digitally as a family from your home. We are preparing resources to equip you to worship as families and to minister to your children during this time. Details for the live service will be sent soon.
Please know that we didn’t make this decision lightly or from a posture of fear, but out of an abundance of concern for the most vulnerable in our community and from a deep hope to love our neighbors well by making this temporary sacrifice (see this article, “Social Distancing and the Love of Neighbor” from Princeton Theological Seminary for insight into our reasoning).
We have always believed that it is important for Christians to meet regularly to worship together and encourage one another – this has not changed. We are brainstorming ways for our community to gather in smaller, and perhaps more responsible, ways in the coming days. The church is more than a building or a weekend event – it is a dynamic group of people who worship and serve alongside each other.
This current situation gives us a great opportunity to really think through what it means to be a church and what it might mean to be a faithful church in the midst of a global pandemic. I am convinced that this crisis contains an incredible invitation to bear witness to the good news of Jesus and am eager for us to meet this moment faithfully as a church body and as individual families.
There will be more information to come in the near future. For now, let me encourage you in these two ways:
1) Take courage.
Be comforted by our faith in Christ and his victory over death. Let your assurance in the good news allow you to act in bold love towards your neighbor.
2) Pray for one another and join us in mission.
Please be in prayer for our church as well as our local and global communities. Please let us know how we can be praying for you and serving you best. We have volunteers and leaders ready to help you and your families as needed:
– Do you need groceries or supplies?
– Do you need help navigating health concerns?
– Do you need a pastoral visit or counsel?
Whatever your needs may be, we are eager to come alongside you and ask that you do not hesitate to share with us.
I love you all dearly and am holding you each in prayer.
Yours,
Pastor Mike Skinner
