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If you knew there was a place that people around the world visited on average almost two and half hours per day, you’d probably want to send missionaries there. If you knew that there was a place where people went to ask their questions about life and eternity before they asked their parents, their friends, or their pastor, you’d probably want to make sure there was someone there who could give them good advice. When social media was first introduced and Google first went from being a company name to a verb, it was still hard to imagine how our relationship with technology would change. Today, people spend an average of two and a half hours per day on social media with some countries averaging over four hours. People search Google almost four million times per minute and watch a billion hours of video on YouTube every day. The question we should all be asking is, Will they find Jesus there? I want to give an update on what we’re doing to try to minister to people online and explain how you can be a part of it.

Are you attending the new Adult Sunday School?

Do you remember something called Adult Sunday School? It was a time when we could gather to study things that couldn’t be covered in a weekly sermon. With multiple services and expanded Sunday ministry needs, we have moved the Adult Sunday School online in a weekly blog I call “Out of Neutral.” It’s a critical way that I am seeking to disciple our congregation and so if you’re missing it, you’re missing an important part of the teaching ministry of the church. While you may be reading it when you can, you may not be aware of the different ways that we have worked to make it available to you. You can receive the weekly email that you click to read online. If you read using the Flipboard app, you can subscribe to the Grace Baptist Church of Richmond Hill profile (@GBCRH) and read Out of Neutral right within the app. You can subscribe to the Out of Neutral podcast and listen in on your commute or as you work around the house. It’s also available as a video on our YouTube channel. Whatever the format, I would urge you to make this five-minute investment each week in your spiritual growth.

Are you a YouTube stalker?

YouTube is now the second-largest search engine in the world. People go there to get answers and so you’ll see now that some of our sermon titles are designed to answer the questions that people might be asking. Our YouTube channel contains our sermons and weekly blog as well. We make this content available for the entire congregation’s spiritual growth, but also for you to share with a friend when there’s something that you think might encourage them. But there’s a very simple way that you can minister to others. They say that 70% of what people watch on YouTube is determined by the algorithm. YouTube’s algorithm is just a set of rules that they use to recommend videos to people. The most important factor in whether a video gets recommended to others or not is engagement. If you watch one of our videos, don’t be a stalker – if you click like or leave a short comment, it’s far more likely that YouTube will recommend it to others.

One of the more recent developments on YouTube that you may not be aware of is YouTube Shorts. Made for mobile phones as a competitor to TikTok, YouTube Shorts are video clips that are less than a minute long and attract people who just want to scroll through short-form content. Each week, we select and edit a 60-second clip from the sermon. This gives people a brief window into what’s happening in our church on Sunday without the commitment of watching a full message.

Are you a digital witness?

They say that 83% of Canadians are on social media now. Chances are that you’re one of them. For many people, time on social media consists of sharing vacation photos, collecting memes, and watching cat videos. Our digital ministry team thinks it can be much more. Throughout the week, they share verses, questions, and thoughts from the Sunday sermon to try and help people reflect on God’s Word and provide resources for people to share with their friends and family. You can see the most recent posts at our website, but follow us on Instagram (gracebcrh) or Facebook (gracebcrh) to connect with what we’re doing. I would never tell someone that they need to spend more time on social media, but if you’re online already, redeem your time and be a digital witness.

Obviously, all of this requires a lot of work behind the scenes. Currently, a surprisingly small team of people do an outsized amount of work to spread God’s Word in digital spaces. Maybe God is calling you to join them. If He is, let’s talk about it.

In awe of Him,

Paul