Dear Friends

Acts 2:42, 44 (GW) 42 The disciples were devoted to the teachings of the apostles, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. 44 All the believers kept meeting together, and they shared everything with each other.”

Over two years ago, my neighbor and I started a Bible Study group to encourage one another in our faith, our Christian lives and in our daily struggles. I have been amazed at how God has blessed our group, multiplied our numbers, and worked in our lives since then. We know each others struggles and rejoice when God answers prayers throughout the year. It seemed each one of us go through times of need and we rally to encourage one another.

In my group, many of the ladies were rocks of prayer for me during a long period of illness and recovery. Their prayers and encouragement during those long months were vital to my continuing faith and perseverance through the struggle. I couldn’t have done it without them and I wouldn’t have wanted to.

Proverbs 17:17 (GW) says, “ A friend always loves, and a brother is born to share trouble.” Peter explained it this way, 1 Peter 1:22 (GW) “22 Love each other with a warm love that comes from the heart. After all, you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth. As a result you have a sincere love for each other.” I experienced friends that shared my troubles and warmed me with their love, but we have all seen these words in action in our ‘church’ as we have prayed for one another and shared each other’s burdens.

I call this group our ‘church’ because in the early days after Christ’s resurrection, most ‘churches’ consisted of small groups that met in each other’s homes. As Paul would travel around the areas of the Mediterranean Sea, he would visit the ‘churches’ he helped establish. His mission from God was to reach people that weren’t Jewish and didn’t have much of a ‘religious’ background with the good news of Jesus. Most of his letters, which make up the bulk of the New Testament, were written to the ‘church’ groups he helped establish. In a letter to the church in Ephesus, he wrote about the necessity of each person to the body of Christ or the church.

Eph 4:11-16 (GW) 11 “He also gave apostles, prophets, missionaries, as well as pastors and teachers as gifts {to his church}. 12 Their purpose is to prepare God's people, to serve, and to build up the body of Christ. 13 This is to continue until all of us are united in our faith and in our knowledge about God's Son, until we become mature, until we measure up to Christ, who is the standard. 14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed and carried about by all kinds of teachings that change like the wind. We will no longer be influenced by people who use cunning and clever strategies to lead us astray. 15 Instead, as we lovingly speak the truth, we will grow up completely in our relationship to Christ, who is the head. 16 He makes the whole body fit together and unites it through the support of every joint. As each and every part does its job, he makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

You can see from the above verses that you each play a vital role in the ‘body’ and without you, we are less likely to operate as church should. As God reveals himself to you in your life, your experiences help build up the body. Paul explained it to the church in Corinth this way in 1 Cor 12:25-27 “25 God's purpose was that the body should not be divided but rather that all of its parts should feel the same concern for each other. 26 If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts share its suffering. If one part is praised, all the others share in its happiness. 27 You are Christ's body and each of you is an individual part of it.” Later in the letter, he writes in 1 Cor 14:3 “But when a person speaks what God has revealed, he speaks to people to help them grow, to encourage them, and to comfort them.”

When we meet, I can see how each of our members functions in our ‘body’. Debbie is a rock of faith and prayer partner, Sarah is a musical and biblical reference guru, Susan is an authentic and open friend, Nikki is a caring empathizer, Christie is an encourager, Cheryl is servant-hearted and I do my best to keep us connected. Without each of these people in our bible study, we wouldn’t function as well.

One of the challenges the author of Hebrews spoke about to the Hebrew church was the challenge of continuing in the faith. Heb 10:24-25 says, “We must also consider how to encourage each other to show love and to do good things. We should not stop gathering together with other believers. Instead, we must continue to encourage each other even more as we see the day of the Lord coming.” The author of Hebrews knew the value of continuing to meet together. The encouragement that the church body received was vital to the church continuing in their faith.

Summer is a wonderful time, full of new possibilities and new beginnings. It is wonderful to think that I have finished one chapter and have a new chance to change my personal, spiritual, and physical life. How many of us started the New Year with a diet? By the time summer arrives, we often remember the goal we set and are either excited or dissappointed by our progress. We often start strong in our new resolutions whether they are to lose weight or start a small group, but as other commitments pressed in we live the life of busyness and forget the encouragement we get from meeting with others in Christ. As the summer begins, I encourage you to think about your role in your bible study. You are a vital member of the body of Christ. If you aren't in a bible study, maybe pick up the small group guide at church and get plugged into a little “church”.

As Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica in 1 Thessalonians 5:11“11 Therefore, encourage each other and strengthen one another as you are doing.” Let us not give up meeting together and stay the course of encouragement. Find someone you can call or email and see how they are doing. Help meet one another’s needs. In doing so, you will discover church living at its most intimate and rewarding level!