The Blessing of Life Together

As we focus this week on Small Groups, and their impact and importance in our lives, use the daily readings to reinforce our need for this type of community. We were created to care for one another, love one another and touch one another's lives.

STUDY THE SCRIPTURE

Click here to access the reading from Psalm 133 

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You will find the Sermon Notes for today’s message here.

REFLECTION

One Anothering
by Elaine Pierce

Psalm 133:

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!

Ecclesiastics 4:10-12

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:  If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!  Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?  Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Acts 2:46-47:

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.

What do these passages have in common? King David wrote about living together in unity in the Psalms, our passage for today. In Ecclesiastics, King Solomon talks about how important it is to have a friend to help you, and to keep you warm. And in Acts, Luke, the physician, tells us about how the first Christians met together and grew in their faith.

Where would you be without the help of others? Could Solomon have built the temple by himself? When Moses needed help, he turned to his brother, Aaron. Did Noah need his family to help him build the ark? When Paul was blinded by the bolt of lightning, Ananias came alongside and cared for him.

God has designed us for community. This pandemic has certainly made it harder to be in community, but thanks to technology, we can zoom with our friends and loved ones. We can share prayer requests on Facebook. We can even use the computers in our pockets as phones and call those we love, and those who are isolated and lonely.

The pandemic will end, Lord willing. There will be a vaccine or a cure. But in the meantime, God was not surprised by this, and he longs for us to live in unity. The last verse of this short psalm says it well: For there [in community with others] the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

Life forevermore. Meditate on that for a while. (Even go back and read the accounts in Revelation about what this life will look like – almost beyond description). I am grateful for the community of believers at UALC, and I am grateful for my small groups, where I can encourage – and be encouraged – by others who are walking this journey with me.

Ecclesiastics says, “a cord of three strands is not easily broken.” That third strand – the presence of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – makes all the difference. Thanks be to the Lord for the body of Christ.

UALC’S CAMPAIGN OF PRAYER - SUNDAY

SCRIPTURES - Pray the Scriptures. Some examples are Psalm 91:1-15 / Psalm 121:5-8 / John 14:27 / Philippians 4:6-7 / 2 Timothy 1:7