“We Gather Here to Know God and Make God Known.”
We Gather Here . . .
God created us to be in a family. For almost every one of us, our earliest memory is that of belonging to a group of people – father, mother, or siblings. God’s design in creating us within a family environment is for our protection, and for us to learn what love is about. Our happiest memories in life are almost always together with our families or a closely-knit group of friends.
Unfortunately, as we grow up, we lose sight of God’s design and lead lives that are increasingly devoid of love and trust. For many people, days may go by without receiving or giving encouragement, or having a deep heart-to-heart talk with someone who cares about us.
(Ephesians 2:19) Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
Knowing how easy it is for us to lose our hearts, God designed the church to be the household in which we can protect our hearts and feel free to love again. The bible is clear that God’s household is not just a place where people mingle once a week, but rather a group of people who gather together as often as possible to protect one another’s hearts. It is not just the quantity in the number of times that we meet up together, but it is also the quality and depth of our relationships that will help to protect our hearts.