I was reminded yet again yesterday that the church is not the worship service on Sunday morning but the gathering of a family together. Sometimes we gather to study God’s word, sometimes we gather together to worship, sometimes we gather to laugh and sometimes we gather to lean on one another in difficult times.
This past week was a difficult week for our family and in sharing with another family last night around the dinner table, we found out that it was not a great week for them either. We cried together, we laughed together and we shared life together.
I got home last night and decided to sit on our deck and watch the lightning show. As I sat there, I reflected on the events of the evening and I was reminded that the church is not a tradition-prescribed set order of service or comfortable programing. The church, as Jesus intended it at its core, is a family of like-minded believers sharing life together.
As the writer of Hebrews urged, “Let us not give up on meeting together . . . but let us encourage one another.”
Following Jesus is not an individual endeavor. We were made for each other, we were designed for community.
Thanks! I don’t know how people make it without Jesus and great friends.