The Need for Church
1 Corinthians 12: 25-27 The Message
The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.
You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this.
We continue our “stay at home” regime, for another month, as Governor Mills has directed. Although some restrictions have been loosened, you can go get a haircut if you would like, we are still asked to remain home, in order to remain safe.
Have you noticed any changes in your disposition lately? Isolation, even if you are with other members of your family, is a difficult situation when done so over time. God designed humans to be social. We are created in His image and there are three of Him. Since the creation of the first human, God took a look and said in Genesis 2:18: “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Families are God’s response to Adam.
The church family is one of God’s responses to our spiritual health. And our church family is meant to be a place where we find connection and support, whether or not that occurs in our personal families. We read in Acts, when the church began, how the first Christians learned to live together and take care of one another. Society then looked a lot like our society does today. Similar to what is happening to us today, the first Christians had adversity and were isolated. They understood the best way to keep both their spiritual and their physical lives going, they had to lean on each other and take care of each other.
As the family of God, we are called to look out for each other, and that takes work, it doesn’t just happen. It takes time and energy. In our state of “social distancing,” it is going to take even more time and energy. But the investment is worth it.
I have been told by many of you that one of the best parts of our COVID-19 worship online is being able to see each others’ faces in the ZOOM meeting. Just seeing others and hearing their voices lifts our spirits and gives us encouragement. That is the Holy Spirit at work, reminding us that we are part of a bigger family, our church family, the family of God. And gathering together, even if it is done so virtually, brings hope.
My encouragement for you this week is to continue taking time and energy and reach out to others in our church family and checking in with them. In your quiet time with God ask Him to put the person on your heart that He would like you to contact. Then do it. See how they are doing, find out if they need anything, offer to pray for them. You could call them, send an email, or write a letter. Whatever way you choose I am sure it will nurture the relationship you have them and both of you will be spiritually healthier.
Jesus Christ is our example of what it means to reach out and give of oneself. Throughout His three year ministry we read in the Gospels of how He saw a need and met it. Sometimes it was a miracle, sometimes it was a smile or a recognition that the person was alive. By staying connected we can encourage each other toward love and good deeds.
As we partake in today’s Lord’s Supper, let us not only remember what it cost for our salvation, let us ask God to lay on our heart and mind the name of someone for us to reach out and connect with this week, in His name.
