Blessed be the tie that binds...

May the Lord make your love grow and overflow to each other and to everyone else, just as our love overflows toward you. As a result, Christ will make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy when you stand before God our Father on that day when our Lord Jesus comes with all those who belong to Him. (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13)

The sermon today in church was on fellowship. I think I found another reason why we are to participate and spend time with fellow believers, and that is in the verses above. God strengthens our hearts when we fellowship with believers. By participating in the body of believers, we will be able to stand blameless before God when Christ comes to claim His church. Throughout 1 Thessalonians, Paul writes to encourage and exhort the believers. "Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill up anything that may still be missing in your faith." (3:10) "..We urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. Your are doing this already, and we encourage you to do so more and more. (4:1) "So comfort and encourage each other with these words" (4:18) We need our brothers and sisters in Christ to bolster our faith. The world can corrupt...when we are out there without Christian companionship, the world sneaks in and corrupts, distracts us from our relationship with God. I pray that I can find more ways to reach out to my fellow Christians.