Fellowshipping With Other
Christians in Church
Christian fellowship
doesn’t seem as widespread as it was decades ago. For one thing church
membership is declining, as reported earlier this year by Gallup[1].
Young persons especially seem less active in church than in past generations.
We believers are urged in
the Bible about “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. . . .”
(Hebrews 10:25 KJV). Fellowshipping with other Christians in a worship service
is part of what Christianity is.
Fellowshipping With God
Fellowshipping with God
is even more important than fellowshipping with other believers. We fellowship
with God through prayer.
I fondly remember an old
hymn titled “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” written by a blind English preacher named
William W. Walford in the mid1800s. This hymn is discussed on numerous websites,
including Homecoming
Magazine,[2] Christianity.com,[3] and Hymnary.org.[4]
How many Christians can
enjoy a “sweet hour of prayer?” Too many of us only engage in prayer for a few
minutes daily (or less), excluding the public prayer time in worship services.
Personally, I normally
enjoy a few minutes of prayer soon after awakening in the morning and a few
minutes more in the evening shortly before going to sleep. And, I try (not very
successfully) to remain in a prayerful spirit thoughout the day. Very rarely do
I devote an hour to prayer, and even on those rare occasions my mind typically
wanders so the entire hour is not in prayer.
Praying steadily for an
hour as the hymn discusses is not easy. Yet Luke 6:12 records an occasion when
Jesus “. . . continued all night in prayer to God.” (KJV)
I submit that all
Christians, certainly including me, need to devote more time to prayer, to
fellowshipping with God. Let’s praise God. Let’s thank God for some of our
specific blessings. And, let’s pray for specific things as we feel the Holy
Spirit lead us to. But, above all, let’s pray for God’s perfect will to be done
in all things.
Fellowshipping With Other
Believers Outside of Church
I firmly believe that we
Christians are to fellowship with other believers outside of church, too.
Acts 2:44-47 discusses
how the early believers “. . . were together. . . . continuing daily with one
accord . . . Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord
added to the church daily such as should be saved.” (KJV)
However, often in our
workplaces, schools, and other daily activities outside of church we are around
nonbelievers, and our witness to them is not effective in winning converts.
Furthermore, often when
we are together, we devote time to Facebook, Twitter, videogames, text
messages, etc., rather than focusing on face-to-face communication.
A year or two ago a
friend told me about a time when a few girls who were friends gathered together
in a room. But, they weren’t talking to each other. They were all on their
phones sending text messages. To each other. It seems sad to me that friends in
the same room would send text messages to one another instead of conversing. I
don’t know if these girls were Christians, but even if they weren’t, I’m
confident similar situations occur among Christians.
Closing Thoughts
I feel most Christians, and
this includes me, need to devote more time to prayer, more time to fellowshipping
with other Christians, and more time to regularly attending church worship
services somewhere, even if it means visiting a variety of different churches,
rather than the same one.
I enjoy hearing or
watching good sermons online, but it’s not a substitute for fellowshipping with
other believers in person.
Let’s fellowship more
with God and with fellow Christians. If we do, I’m confident we will enjoy
God’s blessings.
ENDNOTES:
[1] Jeffrey M. Jones;
“U.S. Church Membership Down Sharply in Past Two Decades”; Gallup; April 18,
2019; website accessed July 28, 2019; https://news.gallup.com/poll/248837/church-membership-down-sharply-past-two-decades.aspx
[2] Reba
Rambo-McGuire; “Sweet Hour of Prayer”; Homecoming Magazine; August 1, 2015;
website accessed July 28, 2019; http://www.homecomingmagazine.com/article/sweet-hour-of-prayer/
[3] “ ‘Sweet Hour of
Prayer’ William Walford”; Christianity.com; April 28, 2010, last updated
September 2011; website accessed July 28, 2019; https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/sweet-hour-of-prayer-first-printed-11630473.html
[4] “Sweet Hour of
Prayer”; Hymnary.org; website accessed July 28, 2019; https://hymnary.org/text/jerusalem_wakan_kin_he
NOTE:
This piece being
submitted to Google Blogger on July 30, 2019 is virtually identical to one that the author submitted to his friend Paul Craft's website Craft News Report on July 28, 2019.
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