Romans 1:11,12 - "For I long to see you..."
Today's verses are from Romans 1:11, 12 which read:
"For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine."
"For I long to see you..." "...to you,..." "...encouraged together with you..." "...while among you,..." "...both yours and mine." are such beautiful phrases given by Paul to the church in Rome. You hear his love for his brothers and sisters in Christ. It was a mutual feeling. Even though Paul was coming or longing to come to share a spiritual gift with them, he was also going to be receiving encouragement from the faith of others. We couldn't ask for a better description of what should be happening on Sunday mornings all over the world.
A great reunion happens every 7 days. As we have been walking with Jesus every day of the week and carrying the gospel to our world, God calls us together for corporate worship that we usually think of as preaching and singing being the main components. But Paul brings to the surface the element of fellowship with one another in the name of Jesus Christ. Facebook is great and Skype is amazing but when we have the opportunity to see each other face to face within the same space there is nothing to compare.
So "I long to see you..." and I have not just come to impart something but also to be encouraged by my brothers in sisters in Christ as we share together this life of faith. I remember a young man telling me in a Bible study, "Sometimes I finish a Sunday planning my whole week around the fact that I will have the opportunity to worship with God's people again next Sunday. It is my most important day of the week."
"For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine."
"For I long to see you..." "...to you,..." "...encouraged together with you..." "...while among you,..." "...both yours and mine." are such beautiful phrases given by Paul to the church in Rome. You hear his love for his brothers and sisters in Christ. It was a mutual feeling. Even though Paul was coming or longing to come to share a spiritual gift with them, he was also going to be receiving encouragement from the faith of others. We couldn't ask for a better description of what should be happening on Sunday mornings all over the world.
A great reunion happens every 7 days. As we have been walking with Jesus every day of the week and carrying the gospel to our world, God calls us together for corporate worship that we usually think of as preaching and singing being the main components. But Paul brings to the surface the element of fellowship with one another in the name of Jesus Christ. Facebook is great and Skype is amazing but when we have the opportunity to see each other face to face within the same space there is nothing to compare.
So "I long to see you..." and I have not just come to impart something but also to be encouraged by my brothers in sisters in Christ as we share together this life of faith. I remember a young man telling me in a Bible study, "Sometimes I finish a Sunday planning my whole week around the fact that I will have the opportunity to worship with God's people again next Sunday. It is my most important day of the week."
It matters by God's word that we gather together but it also matters "how"
we gather together each week. Let's have the motive and love of Paul
as we gather this Sunday when we look across the aisle and around the
room at our fellow believers in Jesus Christ.
Pastor Adam
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