Small Group Fellowship

We know this to be true. This pleasant ache is felt in our community, church and families. So how do we foster healthy Christ-like fellowship while our community wrestles with a global pandemic? 

We don’t claim to know all of the answers, but we know for certain that the almighty God of the universe has some powerful things to say in His word. His holy scripture, the Bible, lays out ways in which we can be connecting with each other and encouraging one another so that we can withstand the onslaughts of life.

The early church leaned into community as one of their key foundations of strength. They relied on each other to carry the burdens of life. They emphasized community, as the book of Acts tells us. They devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, prayer and breaking bread together (Acts 2:42). Let’s look further at the description of community in the book of Acts:

“They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity; all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.”Acts 2:46-47 (NLT) 

Doesn’t that sound like a good time, as if they were living with a weight lifted? It’s because they were, and you can too! Let’s dive into the verses above, while looking through the weary lens of years 2020 and 2021. Much of what is described in Acts can be achieved today, just with new perspectives. 

In many physical areas, we are restricted from gathering in large numbers so the “Temple” seems like a reach in this season. We trust God is still at work. He has given us the technology to connect as a church family online in many ways. This is a blessing! Yes, we miss the time spent worshiping together shoulder to shoulder, but we still have eyes to see and ears to listen. God is still speaking to us on the screen in front of us while we sit at home. His word still carries the same power and is never changing. “…but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”1 Peter 1:25 (ESV)

We may not be able to break bread (the joy of eating together) with the whole church family, but we can with those closest to us in the safety of the home. Perhaps God wants us to look across the dinner table with the humble intent to connect with those closest to us in new ways. Or, the Lord ,may be nudging us to spend quality time eating together with the ones who need our presence, even if it is over zoom instead of over a shared table. We can even sing praises to our God with the help of a YouTube video or a shared screen. In our modern day, we have an abundance of unique ways to connect with others and with God!

 We want to encourage you that our Heavenly Father is still mightily at work in His church. There may be worldly, temporary or physical boundaries at play to slow us down in our fellowship with others, but we are still called to work on the “one anothers” of life. Through His word, God has given us the mechanisms to promote authentic fellowship. We need to think outside the box. There are those in our immediate sphere of influence who could use our closeness, even through a wifi or phone connection. We must innovate and persevere together as we impact this world for Jesus.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”Proverbs 27:17 (NIV)