As Fred and I have been far from our beloved church in Perugia Italy and quarantined for months so that we could not attend church in the USA I have been reminded of the importance God gives to belonging to a local church. It is not only a place where we hear the Word of God taught (I can get lots of messages online any day of the week.) but the local church is where we learn to love, serve, edify with our words of encouragement and even correct when needed (Matthew 18).

Ephesians 5:19 says we are to address each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. I hope you have missed all of that.
Wednesday recently, our pastors had some of our folks share their testimony and how God is meeting their needs in this time of separation and what we need to pray for them about. Wow how precious was that? Those were my sisters and brothers in Christ who shared a piece of their lives – joys and their burdens in a few minutes on tape. I loved that. I know better how to pray for them now. Are we willing to be vulnerable with our fellow church members? They were.

As you read the New Testament note how many “one another” there are. Don’t be satisfied with an online message once a week. God wants us to part of a Bible-believing and teaching local church where we can grow together helping and encouraging one another.

Additional Scriptures to encourage you:
Acts 2:41,42, 46,47; Ephesians 4:1-3; Titus 2; Romans 12:9-16; I Corinthians 12:14–20 – One body