This Sunday Dan speaks to us about the importance of gathering together and making it a priority in our lives.

I love gathering. From an early age, I remember gathering with other Christians in groups of 5 to 50,000. It is something we are called to do and is critical to us as individuals and as a body of believers.

The idea that gathering isn’t essential is a lie of the enemy but sadly, in recent years, accelerated by COVID, we have seen people reject the idea of gathering.

The writer to the Hebrews is very clear:

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Hebrews 10:23-25 (NLT)

Writing to a community under persecution, the writer to the Hebrews encourages them not to neglect meeting together but to keep gathering as a main way to be reaffirmed in their faith, encouraged and built up. To neglect it is a deliberate act; it is to prioritise other things and to abandon gathering. I am not talking about taking a holiday or missing an occasional meeting; it is about our choice as a whole, and an established pattern.

The people of Israel regularly gathered. There were numerous times when the leader of the Israelites (Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David etc.) called the whole of Israel together. One example can be found in Deuteronomy 29.

When the people gather it was:

• To be reminded who God was and what he had done
• To be reminded who they were
• To enter into and work out their covenant with God – they did this through the lives they led and the worship they brought. In their case, it was according to the Levitical law; in our case, it is  presenting ourselves as ”living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God”

Can we hear God individually? Yes. Should we spend time in the quiet place, in the word, in prayer? Yes. This is a BOTH AND situation.

When we hear God together there is clarity and witness. It is a chance for us to recalibrate. We hear together, respond together, and are commissioned together to go out into the world as witnesses.

So when we gather, let’s be mindful of these things. And if we are struggling, maybe take a minute to consider whether there is anything that is affecting our perspective of what God is doing.

And let’s gather as a family, let’s pass this on to the generations that come after us, knowing that, as we gather, God meets us, changes us, and refocuses us so we can hold on to the hope we affirm.

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