Community Encouragement

I don’t know about you, but in these times of uncertainty, I want to turn to my community.

I want to spend time with my family, both those in my household and my extended family. I want to see their faces…hear their voices…and feel their hugs. I also long for my friends and my church family.

Right now, it’s all about Zoom, social media and other connecting platforms. We can still see faces and hear voices, but I think you would probably agree with me that it is just not the same. Neither is our worship time. Don’t get me wrong, I am more than thankful for all of the people who are working hard to offer online church services, and I love worshipping with my family. But, again, it’s not the same. I long for community.

Right now, more people than ever are turned to social media and the internet. More people are searching for something to fill the void. And we have the perfect (and I mean that literally) solution. God has filled our void, and he can the void of those who are searching for more. And we all have a unique opportunity to share the Good News with people all over the world.

You can do it from the chair you are sitting in right now. Tell people about the hope that exists in Savior’s death, burial and resurrection. Tell people about the peace that exists with our Shepherd. Tell people about the community in which you belong and how it changes your life.

Speaking of community…Take a moment and think with me about how great it will be when we are able to meet together again in groups larger than 10. How great will it be for us to gather together to worship our Creator as a body of believers in our church home! How great it will be to get those hugs and see those faces and smiles in person!

Yet, we as Christians have something even greater in our future. We have the hope and assurance that one day, we’ll be called to heaven to an even larger reunion of the baptized believers around the throne of God. Now, that is going to be great!

So know that God is going to see us through this. We are going to make it through this pandemic together with the help of our Father, and we when we get to the other side of this worldwide ordeal, we are going to be able to praise God together.

And I can’t wait to get to the other side of heaven either. To see the faces and feel the hugs of loved ones who have gone ahead of us. I miss those members of my community, and I am sure you do, too.

But what a day that will be when our entire community is called home! The time for that is uncertain, but we know it is coming.

Let’s do our part to make sure we take as many people with us as we can!

– Joey Roberts, Herald of Truth Ministries