28 Days: Day 18

SCRIPTURE

• Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV) ²⁴  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. ²⁵  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

OBSERVATION

Fellowship with God must never become selfish. We must also fellowship with other Christians in the local assembly. Apparently, some of the wavering believers had been absenting themselves from the church fellowship. It is interesting to note that the emphasis here is not on what a believer gets from the assembly, but rather on what he can contribute to the assembly. Faithfulness in church attendance encourages others and provokes them to love and good works. One of the strong motives for faithfulness is the soon coming of Jesus Christ. In fact, the only other place the word translated "assembling" (Heb. 10:25) is used in the New Testament is in 2 Thessalonians 2:1, where it's translated "gathering" and deals with the coming of Christ.The three great Christian virtues are evidenced here: faith (Heb. 10:22), hope (Heb. 10:23), and love (Heb. 10:24). They are the fruit of our fellowship with God in His heavenly sanctuary.Bible Exposition Commentary - Bible Exposition Commentary – Be Confident (Hebrews).

UNDERSTANDING

So you have decided to be part of the fellowship of the believers?  You are now on a direct course to fulfill the Great Commission.  Let us look quickly at some ways to deepen that fellowship so that we can get the most out of what God designed. Here are five ways we can deepen our fellowship…

• Meet together regularly
• Worship together
• Spur each other on to love and good deeds
• Encourage each other each time you meet
• Eat in each other’s homes

LIFE APPLICATION

Did you notice how easily those aspects of fellowship are met when we are part of a GROW group?Why not make a commitment today to deepen our fellowship and in so doing strengthen the ability for us to fulfill the Great Commission.  Choose a couple of these to start on and let’s start deepening our koinonia.