"...and all the more as you
see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25b, NRSV).
Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Have you ever been longing for something in your life? Of course
we have! However, what is the most recent one? The first day of school or the
last day of school already, or the first day of snow, or the day of being free
from COVID 19, or maybe for most of us, the day of our full gathering for
worship, praising God in the gospel fellowship?
Actually, in the month of August, we planned to have a Community
Picnic because we missed the fellowship so much as we followed some safety
measures for one another due to the pandemic. It is almost eighteen months
since we hold this fellowship gathering as a church together. In other words,
we have abandoned our gatherings and somewhat we had been separated from each
other, even with our neighbors around. So we were so excited!
But as our care team prepared the Community Picnic, we read the
weather forecast of that weekend. There would be a big chance of thunderstorms
during those picnic hours outside. As the day was approaching, everyone prayed
harder without losing hearts! And guess what? We had such a beautiful day with
gentle breeze in that afternoon. It means, we had a wonderful fellowship
together!
About two thousand years ago, there was Christian believers who
waited for Christ’s return in perseverance because of the pressure and
persecution by the Roman Empire. It means, their gathering for worship and
fellowship was getting harder and harder and harder. So, some believers began
to abandon their gatherings then it became their habits. In other words, people
began to separate themselves from their faith community. It means, they moved
away from God. If they were separated from God, from the body of Christ, they
were more likely experiencing the spiritual death. So what did they do to help
each other to overcome the spiritual death?
“And let us consider how to provoke
one another to love and good deeds, not
neglecting to meet together, as is
the habit of some, but encouraging one another,
and all the more as you see the day
approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25, NRSV).
Brothers and sisters in Christ, do we feel moving far away from
God or closer to God as we still deal with COVID 19? Where are you now as the
summer is almost over? Our new day is approaching and God invites us to join
this journey with our renewed and refreshed and strengthened minds and bodies
in the new month of September because our journey to salvation will never
end.
It is time to rise and let the journey begin! Join us!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Kyochul
