This past week I have worked from Florida partly because of the pandemic but mostly to take care of my wife after her surgery. Through this experience, I have gained an appreciation of what people have faced when their loved ones have been sick or been in the hospital during the pandemic. I was able to go in the hospital and wait for Karen through her surgery but I could not leave the preop room or be around anyone else while I was there. Through the week, some of our neighbors helped with food and Karen’s parents were close by to help as well but we sure did miss our church family who have always been such a source of help, comfort and support through tough times.

The support and fellowship we have in the family of God is such a wonderful thing and I will be happy to get back into church together and enjoy sweet Christian fellowship. God created us to worship, fellowship and live supporting one another. The church family is important in so many ways in our lives and as the song says, “We really do need each other.” Some people have shared concerns that people may not come back to the worship service because they like the convenience of worshipping from home. I agree that during these times of the pandemic staying at home has seemed safer and more convenient, but just like during the persecution of Christians in Rome people were drawn to the catacombs to be together to worship and share Christian Fellowship. The fellowship we have as believers comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that gives us a special relationship. He draws us together to worship God in a way non-believers cannot truly know.

We need to pray for one another, for our churches, and for our leaders as we prepare for the new normal after the pandemic. Through pastors and churches our response to the quarantine has opened new doors of ministry to people in our communities. We need to transition that into discipling one another in our face-to-face gatherings. The fact that God loves all of us drives us to share this message with the world and causes us to reach out because we can love the lost of the world in him. This should be our driving force to fulfill our mission of loving and sharing in our service to Christ.