Why should I go to church if I can watch online?

Go because the things that change you most happen with people in the same room. Acts 2:42-47 describes the first church devoted to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, breaking bread and prayer. You can stream a sermon, but you cannot download being known by name or praying in a room full of people who care about you. I preached this message at UAMEZ Church in July 2026. Watch the full sermon here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLtX0_t6xl4

Why is the most connected generation so lonely?

Connection on a screen does not do what friendship does. I look at the Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids around our church. They can handle an iPad at three and have hundreds of friends on whatever app is popular. Many still have nobody to sit with at lunch. They have followers but few friends, contacts but no community, and group chats with nobody in the room. The US Surgeon General's advisory named loneliness a public health epidemic and found young people among the hardest hit (HHS). That is why I see church as an antidote to loneliness.

What did the first church have?

It had very little of what we think church needs. It was right after Pentecost, about 3,000 people had just come to faith, and there was no building, no band, no youth department and no livestream. Luke still tells us what made them a church. They devoted themselves to four things: the teaching, the fellowship, the table and the prayers.

Is watching sermons online enough?

Online sermons give you information, and formation needs people. The Greek word for teaching in Acts 2:42 points to instruction handed down from person to person. "But information is not formation." My faith came from people: a Sunday school teacher in New York, a young adult leader at Greater Centennial, a pastor who took time with a handful of us, and a mentor who sat with me for hours. "Your phone can inform you. It cannot form you." Online feeds also give you more of what you already feed them, so information alone can lead you somewhere you never meant to go.

What does fellowship really mean?

The word is koinonia, and it means partnership and a shared life you can be inconvenienced by. Donuts and coffee after service are nice, and I have still been invisible at plenty of fellowship events. Real fellowship looks like a member showing up to watch another member's softball game. It looks like people who know your birthday and come sit with you when you lose someone. That is why we keep moving people from pews into small groups.

Why does eating together matter?

Breaking bread in Acts 2 meant both everyday meals and the Lord's Supper, shared in homes with real food. At UAMEZ I ask people not to kneel at communion until everybody gets to the table, because we do it together. I have asked every ministry leader to take the whole team out for a meal at the same time, so nobody forms cliques. When Jesus said to do this in remembrance of him, he was reminding us that we cannot do this alone.

Why can't prayer be streamed?

Some things have to be experienced in the room. We pray by phone and Zoom, and that has its place. Something different happens when a room prays together at the same moment. I have been in prayer meetings where people came back the next week and told us God had done what they never believed could happen. "If one of us pray, it's a whisper, but when we all pray, it's a roar." One log won't catch, but a stack of them together will blaze.

Join us Sundays at 10 AM PT at 3549 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94306, or watch live at youtube.com/@uamez. Plan your visit at uamez.com.