Think about a time when you met up with a group of family or friends and had a great time together. This type gathering is easy to image or remember; and it is something we look forward to happening again and again, hopefully. Some of us look forward to church in this same way, others look at attendance more as an obligation rather than the privilege it is. As with many things, you get out of something what you put into it, the slight variation here is the Holy Spirit isn’t what you bring, it is what you leave with; or at the very least have renewed and refreshed.

We are called to gather together throughout scripture.

Zephaniah 2

Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together,
O’ undesirable nation,
Before the decree is issued,
Or the day passes like chaff,
Before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you,
Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you!

Gathering together to worship and celebrate; not to be quarantine and separated out of misguided fear or arbitrary rules. Nothing of this world is stronger than God, period. Sickness will come and go as we have seen throughout history and the twist here is that this particular sickness was engineered and released on an unsuspecting population. But enough of that, this is not about this worlds distractions. This is calling for the Church to unite and be as one, like we are called.

Isaiah 43:5–7

Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west; I say to the north “Give them up!” ‘And to the south, Do not keep them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, And my daughters from the ends of the earth- Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.

As born again children of God we are made different and are special to the Lord. It is true the Lord loves us all, but by our accepting the salvation He secured we are different than we were and different than the rest of the population. So, we are to live separate from this corrupt world, while at the same time witnessing to the lost and ministering to the fallen. As we see from the passage from Isaiah, when God calls us home nothing can stop us from going to Him. Isaiah writes of the restoration from exile and in this world we Christians are persecuted throughout our world. In some places our faith and testimony can literally cost us our earthly lives.

2 Timothy 3:12

Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

Even in the face of the enemy we are already victorious because Jesus conquered the grave and secured our salvation. We, as the body of Christ, need to gather together and worship; not only because we are commanded through the scriptures but because together we are stronger. Together, united by the Word, we cannot be taken from the Lord’s hand. When we live as we are called we truly are God’s people.

Matthew 18:20

“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Don’t restrict your worship to a couple of days or times each week. When we allow our walk to only include the Lord on Sundays we are not being obedient and are surrendering to this broken world rather than stand in defiance of a society controlled by evil. We are God’s warriors and we need to live like it every day.

Hebrews 10:25

not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

We are brothers and sisters in Christ and we need to start acting like it. No more gossip, no more petty arguments. Christ loves us more than we can comprehend and it is our duty to love each other as we have been commanded and by His perfect example.

So, in love, brothers and sisters I echo our Savior’s call to united in Him and worship as one body, under one Lord, through one Word.