Do you have a church you regularly attend? Is it a small congregation or is it one of the mega churches? Yesterday, I had the privilege to experience a variety of church settings. First, I attended the early worship service at Riverstone Church [www.riverstoneonline.org] with about 300 people. Next I attended a ladies luncheon at Mountain View Community Church with approximately 30 women [www.mountainviewcommunitychurch.org]. Finally, I attended Passion City Church where Louis Giglio spoke to over 5,000 people [passioncitychurch.org]. All three of these gatherings were made up with people who were seeking the presence of the Lord. The three churches are different in many ways, but similar in the ways that matter.
It really does not matter which type of church we attend as long as it lines up with the Word of God; however, we need to be plugged into a body of believers somewhere.
Hebrews 10:25 says “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another– and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Life is full of difficult times [John 16:33]. The Good News is we never have to walk through those difficult times alone. First and foremost, we have the Holy Spirit [John 14:16-17]. But the Lord also made provision through other believers. We were not created to be the lone soldier. God created us for relationship. We are created in the image of God [Genesis 1:26]. He Himself is the very picture of relationship: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
As we live life with other believers, they strength us, encourage us, correct us in love, and push us towards our destiny [Proverbs 27:17]. We cannot expect to spend an hour a week with other believers and expect this time to fulfill the love and support God intended. We need people pouring into our lives and we need to pour into others. Look at the very life of Jesus and you’ll see God’s intention. He spent time in large groups [Matthew 14:14-22]. He spent time with the twelve disciples [Matthew 10:1]. But Jesus also had some very close friends who knew more about Him than anyone else [Matthew 17:1].
The enemy’s number one tactic for taking out a believer is isolation. His whole purpose is to kill, steal and destroy all of those who belong to Jesus [John 10:10]. The easiest way to fight him in this is to remain in community. It’s time to grab some friends of the faith and do this thing called life.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”