There is no way Christians can go back to "church as usual" after the coronavirus pandemic ends, says pastor Francis Chan. 

The popular author and speaker suggested during a livestream on Friday that the pandemic could be a good opportunity for the church to repent and examine itself. 

"What if God is taking us to a different place?" he said, during the "Leader Check" organised by Pulse and Year of the Bible, and hosted by evangelist Nick Hall.

"Many of us are anxious to get back to normal. I hope your anxiety is not just so you can go back and get busy with so many things."

He suggested that Christians needed to be prepared for anything because no one really knows how things are going to play out. 

"What a powerful time to repent," he said, as he urged people to "get right with the Lord". 

He continued: "This could be the beginning of the end. 

"God is doing something now that I've never seen in my lifetime ... It feels like we're headed into a new season."

Elsewhere, he said that the pandemic had shown mankind "how unprepared we are" as he pleaded with people "to think about humbling yourself". 

"Could [the pandemic] be a blessing in disguise for some of you?" he said. 

He also challenged people to think about whether their faith was robust enough for them to survive if they were in total isolation, without even the internet or a Bible to support themselves spiritually. 

"If you were truly isolated all by yourself, even without the Bible, would you be OK? We have the internet right now so we are not truly isolated, but if we were," he said.

"Perhaps we are not prepared for such a situation."