God’s Family Is Bigger Than Yours

This past Sunday evening, Derek Bland and Ann Everett led our Sunday night gatherings where we talk about how the early church in Acts 2 was devoted to fellowship. The fellowship that is described in Scripture is a community of people who share a common relationship with God and mission from God. 

Derek reminded the men how important it is for us as men to recognize the impact and the importance of the fellowship we have together. We have a fellowship as brothers and sisters in Christ that bonds us unlike the others. It is stronger than any other from a workplace, a team, a platoon, or any other fellowship, because it is a kinship. We are truly brothers and sisters in Christ.

When Abby and I lived in North Carolina, we were coming off of the heels of fresh grief and difficulties from tragedy and loss in the family. This brought its challenges being away from family, being in a new place, finding a new church, and making new relationships. 

We met with our pastor and his wife at their house for dinner one night to share our hearts and look for their guidance and encouragement. While they were still fairly new in Wake Forest many years ago, they experienced the sorrow and pain of a miscarriage. They were 9 hours away from all their family in Alabama carrying such pain without the family who would typically be there to support them. 

Yet, it was in this distance that they learned an invaluable lesson about the fellowship that we have in Christ: “God’s Family is Bigger than Yours.”  In that process, brothers and sisters in Christ from their church and seminary community came around them to walk with them through this time of suffering away from their family. 

This is what it means to have fellowship as the body of Christ! We are truly family in Christ. Being devoted to fellowship means to share life with each other, to support each other in the good and bad, and to sharpen each other. Derek posed two important questions for us in our men’s groups to discuss that I believe will be good for all of us to consider:

1)      What keeps us from being completely honest with other brothers and sisters in Christ about our struggles?

2)      How can this group do a better job of sharpening one another in our daily lives outside of Sunday nights?