![]() ![]() If you pick up feelings of pride, competition, selfishness, self-righteousness, or coldness, determine whether that is the overall atmosphere or an isolated case. ![]() Some churches make an outgoing display of love, yet others who are more reserved may be just as genuine. The next important indication of a good church is that you sense the love of God there and you receive it in abundance from the people. They must believe the Bible is the Word of God and offer good, solid teaching from it. You can find a good church wherever a body of believers meet with a pastoral leader who is also submitted to other pastoral leadership. Somewhere there is a church that is right for you, and you need to ask God to help you find it.Ĭontrary to what some people think, the church doesn’t have to have a fancy building. Some are great, some good, and some not quite what you hoped they’d be. I certainly understand if you have been hurt or burned out by a church, but please hear me out. Inside the Churchįirst and most basic of all, it is very important that you find a church home and spend time with that body of believers in Church. This is reason enough to spend time with other believers, but there is even more to it. The Bible says that we become like those we spend time with and good friends sharpen one another just as iron sharpens iron (Prov.27:17). It’s growing in relationship.”įellowship is instrumental in shaping us. It’s growing in an association with people who are moving in the same pathway you are and sharing with each other in your times of victory or need or your times of trial or triumph. You pray for one another, you love one another, you help one another when there is material need, you weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. “You bear one another’s burdens and fulfill the law of Christ. “Fellowship has to do with a mutuality in all parts of your life,” Pastor Jack taught us. The dictionary definition is “companionship, a friendly association, mutual sharing, a group of people with the same interests.” In the biblical sense, it’s even more than that. I’ve since discovered it’s much more than just coffee hour. ![]() It reminded me of tea and cookies after a missionary meeting or a potluck dinner in the church basement. The word fellowship sounded strange and “churchy” when I first heard it. This kind of thing happened so many times that when Pastor Jack exhorted us to “be in fellowship with other believers” and waved his hand across the congregation as if to get his sheep moving, I understood the need for it. It was as if the goodness of the Lord in the Anderson family had rubbed off on us and we were strengthened by it. Throughout the evening our hearts softened, and by the time we went home we were laughing. We loved being with them because they were solid in their relationship as well as their faith, and we knew there weren’t going to be any weird surprises in store for us.įrom the moment we arrived at their home I felt the tension between Michael and me dissipate. Their daughter, Kristen, and our son, Christopher, were born about the same time and had become good friends. We had a lot in common, including our children. Bob and Sally Anderson were one of the first Christian couples Michael and I had befriended after we were married. I started thinking about the couple we were going to visit. I silently ran through a list of reasons we could possibly cancel, but they sounded too feeble so I resigned myself to the evening.ĭuring the entire drive to our host’s home we sat in silence, except for Michael’s asking, “Are you not going to speak to me all night?” To which I cleverly replied, “Are you not going to speak to me all night?” The last thing I want to do feeling like this is be with other people. I was reduced to tears and he to silence. We had misinterpreted each other’s intentions and said words that were hurtful and pain-provoking. One evening, years after we were married, Michael and I had a heated argument as we were getting ready to go to a friend’s house for dinner. ![]()
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