Fellowship
Maybe you have noticed what I (Wes) have noticed. There are a lot of signs that say "we are in this together" showing up around us. At the grocery store, at the park, on ads that pop up on news websites. The threat of the virus does bring us together, in a sense. Every person and every culture in the world is more on the same level than we ever have been in our lifetime.
But (and sadly, I have to write that word), even a pandemic is not enough for us to really come together. Though we are all having similar experiences (similar and not nearly the same), the reasons we normally don't all come together are still there, hidden beneath the "oneness" we are experiencing now.
We all long for what the Bible calls "fellowship." People gather in tribes whether in the jungles of Asia or the wildlands of urban Seattle. People gravitate to others who are like-hearted and like minded. Though I risk over-simplifying here, the reality is that we desire to be connected with people because we are crafted into the image of our God who is, at his core, relational. Personal. Being re-la-tive is written into the DNA of his soul.
"We are together"...for now. But what will keep us together in a way where our hearts are engaged with one another? What has to change (in us?) for us to have to have real, abiding, committed, joyful relationships that not only last, but also stand up during trials like a global pandemic or (maybe worse) a grumpy day?
Join us this Sunday evening (virtually) as we explore the deepest longing of the human soul together and how Jesus himself and his good news what what we need to experience the relatedness we desperately look for.