Yesterday we looked at the concept of a team and how we all need to be together even in these different times.
You might ask why? Surely if one or two are on board it is enough. Well, that is not how God sees it. God sees us more like a jigsaw puzzle, each of us a piece of that jigsaw. You see there are no special pieces to a jigsaw, simply if one piece is missing the jigsaw is incomplete. Each piece is so important.
When you become a Christian, you are called into a relationship with God (1 Corinthians 1:9). But 1 John 1:3 makes it clear that we enter a fellowship that goes two ways, with God and with other Christians.
The first followers of Jesus recognised that fact and of course, you know the famous verse in Acts 22 how they shared and daily met with each other. There was a unity amongst them that gelled them together.
Now the first followers of Jesus were very much on a learning curve. They were the first church. They were a mixture of culture and class all trying to blend into this unity. In fact, the early part of Acts informs us very early in the book that problems arose and had to be dealt with. In Acts 15 we have the famous Jerusalem council which changed the whole course for followers of Jesus and we are so indebted to that council today.
This early church could not do everything but they could do something together. Their progress is a great inspiration and yes so is the Corinthian church as we see how their progress changes the whole dynamic of that church.
Progress can be slow but that does not mean it is wrong. As someone said we are not in a sprint but in a marathon. Today getting back to church feels like a marathon but while we wait we can still encourage and be a unit even if it means doing things differently.
I believe as a church there are some things we simply aren’t yet able to do. But I’ll tell you what we do have:
- We have the ability to encourage one another,
- We have the ability to love one another,
- We have the ability to lift up the name of Christ,
- We have the ability to teach the simple truth of the Bible
- We have the ability to do it week after week after week.
Let me leave you with a true story about the six young men that were to run a hundred-yard dash. They lined up, waited for the starting gun and then they were off running. About halfway down the track, the young man in front stumbled and fell. Almost immediately, the other five men stopped and helped him up. When they had dusted him off and decided that he was all right, they then decided to finish the race. None of the judges could tell who won the blue ribbon for none of them could see through their tears of joy. No one in the stands that day would ever forget this incident or how proud they were of each of the persons that participated in these Special Olympics.
Keep safe and Blessed