Hebrews 10

Hebrews 10:24-25
Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
 
Meeting together as Christians should be one of our top priorities. It’s a New Testament mandate. But as the letter to the Hebrews tell us, even back then, some Christians made a habit of neglecting it. Don’t let that be you. That’s not God’s intention. The closer we get to the end, the more critical meeting together will be. And if 2020 has been any indication of the end times, assembling as the church should be one of our deepest held convictions.
 
I was telling somebody the other day, going to church is a win-win. The community wins when you show up because you have something to offer. And you also win because the community has something you need. Everybody wins. However, when you don’t show up, everybody loses.
 
Right now, we are hosting homegroup watch parties of 10 people or less. It’s our way of observing the restrictions in place due to covid-19. And if you think about it, the arrangement is no doubt closer to what the author of this letter envisioned. The New Testament church didn’t gather in buildings and auditoriums but in living rooms and around kitchen tables. And this format allows for true participation. None of this slipping in, slipping out, unseen, unheard, unacknowledged. Everybody can be validated in a smaller context where there’s talking, singing, praying, and even taking communion together.
 
Sure, it’ll be nice to get back to a larger setting, but by having gone through this time, I think we will be a richer more meaningful community as a result.