COME TOGETHER - by Todd Benjamin Lout

DISCOVER CREATIVE WAYS TO ENCOURAGE OTHERS AND TO MOTIVATE THEM TOWARD ACTS OF COMPASSION, DOING BEAUTIFUL WORKS AS EXPRESSIONS OF LOVE. THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO PULL AWAY AND NEGLECT MEETING TOGETHER, AS SOME HAVE FORMED THE HABIT OF DOING. IN FACT, WE SHOULD COME TOGETHER EVEN MORE FREQUENTLY, EAGER TO ENCOURAGE AND URGE EACH OTHER ONWARD AS WE ANTICIPATE THAT DAY DAWNING.  - HEBREWS 10: 24 & 25 -   As we gathered last Saturday night to celebrate the birth of the church and awareness of the presence of Holy Spirit, there was an electricity (if you will) in the air.  There was power, and grace, and fun, and lightness, and laughter and good tears.   I thought about this passage in Hebrews, telling us to come together and be a light to each other.  It hit me that we were doing just that and this is why it felt so so good. We were living out what God told us to do and it works! The Bible also tells us, "WHERE TWO OR MORE ARE GATHERED IN MY NAME, I WILL BE THERE IN THE MIDST OF THEM."  I believe this could mean a prayer meeting, a celebration, a one-on-one and many gatherings.   Sometimes we strive to get the presence of God, yet here He's saying to simply come together and be an encouragement and He'll show up! We have a tendency to make things much more difficult than God intended.  But He is also very gracious.