{"id":7357,"date":"2019-08-13T14:58:37","date_gmt":"2019-08-13T19:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=7357"},"modified":"2019-08-13T14:58:37","modified_gmt":"2019-08-13T19:58:37","slug":"is-watching-a-church-service-an-acceptable-way-to-worship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-watching-a-church-service-an-acceptable-way-to-worship\/","title":{"rendered":"Is watching a church service an acceptable way to worship?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>Hi Jeffrey,<\/p>\n<p>This has become popular with people. Is the video sermon a new way to worship God?\u00a0 I do not like it and don\u2019t understand how it\u2019s right. Do you find scripture to support it because I can\u2019t?<\/p>\n<p>Thank you again and always.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;<em>They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles&#8217; teaching and <strong>to fellowship<\/strong>, to the breaking of bread and to prayer<\/em>&#8221; (Acts 2:42).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>There are three Greek words which are translated as fellowship:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><i>Sun\u0113theia<\/i>\u00a0&#8211; A mutual custom or habit, acquaintance, friendship, fellowship.<\/li>\n<li><i>Metoch\u0113<\/i>\u00a0&#8211; Partnership, fellowship, sharing, common interest, participation.<\/li>\n<li><i>Koin\u014dnia<\/i>\u00a0&#8211; Communion, association, partnership, fellowship, sharing, contribution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;Fellowship&#8221; is a state of being and not a particular act; yet, to be in fellowship requires that people come together to participate in common actions. Thus, worship is a time when the church comes together (I Corinthians 11:17-18). One act of worship is the partaking of the Lord&#8217;s Supper together (I Corinthians 10:16-17). It was a lack of joint participation that led Paul to scold the Corinthians (I Corinthians 15:33).<\/p>\n<p>Watching a recording of a worship service does not fulfill the command to assemble (I Corinthians 14:26). While the watcher can receive encouragement, he cannot give it in return, which is also commanded. &#8220;<em>Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near<\/em>&#8221; (Hebrews 10:23-25). The watcher can sing along with the recording, but he cannot admonish in his songs those who cannot hear him. &#8220;<em>Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God<\/em>&#8221; (Colossians 3:16).<\/p>\n<p>That being said, there are a few who are members of the church but are housebound. While watching services on the Internet is not attending services, it does help those who cannot get out to remember their brethren and to get some encouragement. The broadcast of lessons does get the gospel message out to those who might not have considered attending worship with a church. Thus, it is a teaching opportunity and not a substitution for being at services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Hi Jeffrey, This has become popular with people. Is the video sermon a new way to worship God?\u00a0 I do not like it and don\u2019t understand how it\u2019s right. Do you find scripture to support it because I can\u2019t? Thank you again and always. Answer: &#8220;They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles&#8217; teaching&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[253,84],"class_list":["post-7357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-fellowship","tag-worship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19369,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-have-meals-in-the-building-since-eating-together-is-an-expression-of-fellowship\/","url_meta":{"origin":7357,"position":0},"title":"Can we have meals in the building since eating together is an expression of fellowship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Someone has been arguing with me about fellowship and they say it is okay to have meals together in the building because eating together is an expression of fellowship. He says, \"If eating together and having fun together is not an expression of fellowship, then what is it?\" He\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61320,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-buildings-assembly-halls-and-fellowship-halls\/","url_meta":{"origin":7357,"position":1},"title":"Notes on Buildings, Assembly Halls, and Fellowship Halls","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 10, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Assemblies The church is commanded to come together for the purpose of worship and encouragement - I Corinthians 11:18, 20, 33; Hebrews 10:25 The purpose of coming together as a church is specifically separated from eating meals - I Corinthians 11:22, 34 Fellowship Fellowship is a state of being. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Notes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87727,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-should-take-priority-fellowship-or-evangelism\/","url_meta":{"origin":7357,"position":2},"title":"Which should take priority &#8211; fellowship or evangelism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Acts 2:46 states that they would meet every day. Today, with modern schedules, jobs, and family demands, daily gatherings seem unrealistic, but is this wrong thinking? To what extent is the daily fellowship model in Acts 2:46 an expectation for Christians, and how should believers today practically live out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18230,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-mean-by-saying-fellowship-is-a-state-of-being\/","url_meta":{"origin":7357,"position":3},"title":"What do you mean by saying fellowship is &#8220;a state of being?&#8221;","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read\u00a0your sermon outline on fellowship\u00a0- it is very good. I have a question: you said that fellowship is a \"state of being\" and I do not understand what you mean. So can you explain\u00a0it to me, please? People talk about \"having fellowship\" when they eat together, is\u00a0it right\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18293,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-about-the-contribution-mentioned-in-romans-1526-isnt-that-making-fellowship\/","url_meta":{"origin":7357,"position":4},"title":"What about the contribution mentioned in Romans 15:26? Isn&#8217;t that making fellowship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What\u00a0you have said\u00a0has been\u00a0very\u00a0helpful and I am growing in my understanding now. This is what you said: \u201cFellowship is\u00a0a description of who they were. They were a people of one heart and one soul. Thus fellowship is\u00a0a description of their state or attitude toward each other. When people turn\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15700,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/biblical-fellowship\/","url_meta":{"origin":7357,"position":5},"title":"Biblical Fellowship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: I John 1:5-2:6 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Fellowship has often been the center of controversy \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Part because the word has been misused by both denominationalists and Christians. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But it also has been area of trouble because we don\u2019t always know where to draw the line. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What is fellowship \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Definitions \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sun\u0113theia - A\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sermon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7357\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}