Blessed
For more than six weeks now, Paulette and I have been on the receiving end of fellowship. We made the move to our new home on Father’s Day weekend. In the weeks before our move and in the weeks since, very many of you in our church family have “fellowshipped” by sharing your time, your energy, your skills, your wisdom, your encouragement, and your food with us. You have helped with projects at our former home and at our new home. You have helped with packing and moving and unpacking. The meals many of you have provided have been a great help in the chaos of settling in – a perpetual potluck. On and on it goes. Thank you! You have blessed us with your fellowship beyond expectation.
Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” So by his accounting, there is even more blessing going on for those of you who gave to us than the blessing we have received from you. That’s a whole lot of blessing happening in our church family. But I think that is part of what Jesus had in mind for his church when he started it. The book of Acts tells us that in the earliest days and weeks of the church, the believers held their possessions loosely and gave to anyone who had need, they fellowshipped.
I don’t know that a church today can ever get to the level of fellowship that the first church experienced, or that it should. But I certainly believe and pray that our church family can experience more of the kind of fellowship that Paulette and I have experienced. It is not a fellowship or a blessing that is intended to be reserved for pastors. It is one of the ways we help everyone follow Jesus together.