Hebrews 10:25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
I Thessalonians 2:8 We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too.
Acts 2:42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Eugene Peterson, author of The Message, gives an excellent description of the fellowship community of God. He says that the church community is “a grouping of persons whom God has called together, whom God will keep together, and who will survive by God’s grace.” I don’t know about you, my friend, but I am forever grateful that God saw fit to group me with the people that He called me to gather with, and I am very grateful that He keeps us together. I am a member of a small Mississippi church. We are not great in number, but we make up for that in spirit and love. COVID-19 has been a difficult season in all walks of our life, and it has affected the church as well. People haven’t been able to gather as usual. We have worked through the glitches of video streaming services, gathered in our cars for parking lot sermons, and finally, we have returned to the sanctuary. It is still somewhat different. I’ve missed seeing the faces of many members of my church family, especially the elders, but I have noticed recently, with the availability of vaccines, a few of those precious faces are returning.
For the past few weeks, we have taken a “break” from Sunday night services to have a time of fasting and prayer to seek God’s will and direction as we move forward. Last night we had a “break-the-fast” breakfast for supper fellowship meal. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Seriously, y’all, gathering together and fellowshipping with your church family is not only good, it is a necessity. We Baptist love to get together and enjoy each other’s company over a fellowship meal, and this Baptist in particular has truly missed our time of fellowship.
The men and ladies of the church came together and laid out a feast for the eyes and the taste buds. We had a variety of sausages, waffles, glorified grits, quiches, breakfast casseroles, muffins, cinnamon rolls, hot biscuits, gravy, jelly and jams, fruit, milk, juices, and coffee. The food was quite delightful, but it wasn’t the food that made the night perfect. No, it was the fellowship. It was finally being able to gather with my people at my home church, hear our pastor share scripture and wisdom, and visit with those people that I love so dearly.
This is not a perfect world. Our church is not the perfect church. We are not perfect people, but there is one thing that joins us in unity as a body of believers, and that is the perfection of our Savior. When we have the good fortune of gathering together with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are given the pleasure of dwelling upon the lives of those we love. We share our life experiences, our accomplishments and defeats, our cares and concerns, and we share the love of our Father with our faith family. These times of fellowship are so encouraging and sweeter than honey from the comb, and Christian fellowship rejuvenates our mind, body, and spirit.
I pray that you have great fellowship with your faith family, and if you don’t have a home church or a faith family, I pray that God places you at a church with a family that may not be perfect, but who will be perfect for you. Don’t neglect gathering together with God’s people. It truly is blessing to fellowship with other believers. Relationships blossom, wisdom is shared, and we are further equipped to go and tell others the Good News of the gospel.
Inspirations from the Funny Farm 