Drive-In Church

Remember that time we did Drive-in Church during a global pandemic?

“Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever” (Joshua 4:4-7).

I would never compare COVID-19 to the crossing of the Jordan River, without some important qualifications at least. The crossing of the Jordan River was a miracle of God, whereas COVID-19 is a natural product of a fallen world. The crossing of the Jordan was remembered, and even memorialized with great stones (as in the above story), as a time where God made a way, as a testimony of God’s faithfulness; whereas COVID-19 will be remembered—how?

How will we remember 2020? When future generations ask, “What did the coronavirus and quarantine and social distancing and [all the rest] mean to you?” Because future generations will ask, just as present generations are asking. What will we be able to point back to in order to answer, God made a way. God was faithful in 2020. That’s what this global pandemic is really about: God’s faithfulness in a decidedly fallen world.

I doubt it was hard for the children of Israel to see the hand of God as they looked to their right and left and saw the waters piled up beside them. And when they got to the other side, memorializing what God had done was probably a straightforward task. They simply memorialized what they all witnessed. But to the children of this age, the hand of God sadly seems hidden, as it happens when God is not given his glory due. And our job is to help them witness now what we can memorialize later.

This has been the reasoning behind many of our efforts at Crossroads in recent months. We have sought to saturate this season with the name of Jesus and God’s blessing extended to all the families of the earth in his name. To this end, we’re excited to announce (in case you missed it last Sunday) that this Sunday will be our first Drive-in Church service—onsite at Crossroads at 11:30 AM. (We will still be offering our regular livestream service at 9:30 AM!)

As the floodwaters of this pandemic surround us, in the midst of all the panic and media frenzy, this is yet another way we can point to the left and to the right and bear witness now, in real-time, that God is making a way, that God is still faithful in this fallen world.

So I hope you’ll join us this Sunday—to gather stones from the riverbed so we can point back to them when we get to the other side!


Below are the social distancing guidelines we’ll need to follow to stay in compliance with our governor’s orders: 

  • As you pull in, look for parking attendants, signs and cones to help you find your way. Look for signs for our FM radio station so you can tune in to hear the service!
  • Everyone must remain in their vehicle at all times for the duration of the service. Please do not get out of your vehicle for any reason. 
  • Each vehicle may only be occupied by 10 or less people from the same household who have already been in contact with one another, and are not sick.
  • If your vehicle is parked at least 6 feet from other vehicles, you may open your windows, sunroof or convertible top. If you are closer than 6 feet to another vehicle, all must remain closed at all times.

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!