Gathering Together for Spiritual Growth

Someone recently asked me why I go to church so much - Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening. I asked why eat dinner so often. But I was thinking about the conversation later and while there is some truth to the analogy, there's more to it than that.

Yes, going to church feeds me spiritually, but I can also be fed spiritually at home by reading and listening to the Bible, praying, listening to good biblical teaching online, and more.

So why do I need to go to church so often? Colossians 2:2-3 says, "My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

This passage makes it seem that being united in love is one of the ways we come to have the riches that come with a deeper understanding of the mystery of Christ, in order to discover the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. We need each other! We need to love each other and be united by that love and that is hard to do when we are not together.

In Psalm 68:6 we read, "God sets the lonely in families," and I think that is just beautiful! Some other verses that illustrate the concept of togetherness are as follows

Carry each other's burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ. ~ Galatians 6:2

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in various forms." 1 Peter 4:10

Not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." Philippians 2:4

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ~ Romans 12:10

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching. ~ Hebrews 10:23-24

These verses give us a glimpse of the value of gathering together to give and receive support and encouragement. It is so vital that the early church met daily for a time. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. ~ Acts 2:46

Life was not meant to be lived alone. We were created to live in relationship with each other and with God.

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Here's a little looks at how we have lived life together around here the last couple of days.

A friend from church gave me two boxes of seashells for the kids to use. I put one box in the water table today (without water) and they had so much fun sorting through them, looking at all the shapes, colors, and sizes, and feeling the textures. Thank you, Pam!

We stayed busy in lots of other ways as well.

We learned about nocturnal animals.

Today's Bible story was a good reminder that God always keeps his promises, but His timing is not always the way we expect it to be.

Yesterday, Michael started his WWRC journey. He was excited and nervous. I took him in the morning and stayed with him until after lunch. We took his things to his dorm room, and he got it all set up, and we had lunch together. It was even harder for me to leave than I expected, but he called yesterday evening and said he loves it! That did my heart good.

Beautiful!

These are from last week. Tinkerbelle was very proud and excited to have new toy.

Beauty leads you back to what you have lost. Beauty reminds you of what remains forever immune to cynicism. Beauty beckons in a manner that straightens your aim. Beauty reminds you that there is lesser and greater value. Many things make life worth living: love, play, courage, gratitude, work, friendship, truth, grace, hope, virtue, and responsibility. But beauty is among the greatest of these. pg. 226