This past couple of weeks has brought together many old friends and acquaintances.

Why? you ask!

A number of services to remember folks who have passed on.

At these events we tend to end up spending time with old friends and acquaintances we haven’t had the pleasure of seeing for years and years.The joy comes when we find ourselves picking up an easy conversation as if no time has passed.

What does that say to me? We need to value all the time we spend with Family & Friends! Particularly our Christian friends.

Even Worldly experts — spanning sociology, psychology, and relationship science — agree that personal interactions are fundamentally vital to human well-being, longevity, and emotional intelligence. Rather than isloating ourselves, research shows that engaging meaningfully with others boosts empathy, happiness and even physical health.

If the world thinks that spending time together is valuable, think how much more God wants us to spend time with one another in Christian fellowship and worship.

The Bible tells us in Hebrews 10:24-25 how important the time is we spend together as Christians.

Is the Day approaching for Christ’s return? Absolutely it is! We can see all around us, both close at hand and far away,

These prophecies should make us ever more watchful for Christ’s return and diligent in fellowship.

We are encouraged or maybe even commanded to spend time together in prayer, fellowship, hymn singing and listening to God’s preachers and messengers. Our time on earth is short and our task is great. We must stand steadfast in our faith and serve our Savior with all we have. Gathering together strengthens our faith and our resolve to Serve the Lord faithfully.

However, I don’t believe this is encouragement for small group gatherings. But, if all we have is two or three we must not stop meeting together.

Colossians 3:16 again reminds us of the value of gathering together 

Our wisdom grows, our faith is secured and strengthened, and our love for each other is manifest when we spend that time together in praising the Lord, searching the scriptures, and hearing the word preached.

Lastly let us look at this advice.

My encouragement today is towards the fellowship of meeting together.

God created Adam and Eve for fellowship with Him. Unfortunately they messed up and that fellowship was tainted.

For us, we are the result of Adam and Eve’s folly.

What we need to remember is the fellowship with one another and with Christ as the food that strengthens our faith. A tree standing alone in the open space is going to have trouble trying to survive the winds and weather that come against it.On the other hand, a tree among trees is much stronger because it has the strength of many to help it survive.

The same is true of Christians. We can stand against the devil when we unite with one another rather than trying to survive all alone.

Even our homeless on the streets tend to gather together for support.

How much more do we as Christians need the strength of one another to stay strong in this world?Stay strong, support one another, even when there are some items we differ on.

It should be our Faith in Christ that holds us together, during which, there are times we have to learn to “agree to disagree”.