This is a counsel.

A lot has been said about the necessity of the coming together of believers. This article tries to look into what we should be doing when we meet up in our fellowship periods. What should our church times consist mainly of? We try to answer this question by looking at what the fellowship of the early church in ACTS consisted of.

“These all continued with one accord in Prayer and Supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren” Acts 1:14

“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Acts 2:42

“And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them” (Acts 4:23)

“And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy- Ghost, and they spoke the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31)

“And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed(shared) all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27)

“So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they gathered the multitude (the church) together, they delivered the epistle:” (Acts 15:30)

Before I continue sharing more and more bible verses, we notice a particular trend in this verses above, every-time they met, it was to encourage themselves in faith. They prayed, they shared testimonies of what God was doing through them, they leant scriptures. There was no time for peripherals or unnecessary jokes or time wasting activities.  It was about scriptures being taught and prayers of edification made. We can say simply that their focus was on SPIRITUAL GROWTH, so they could declare the word with boldness.

“And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.” (Acts 20:7)

Paul preached and taught. When we realise there is so much to be learnt in scriptures, we would stop inviting comedians and unnecessary people to grace our church-pulpit. There is so much to learn and share to boost our faith when we fellowship with other believers that we shouldn’t waste time on ephemerals. Paul counselled here:

“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:” (Hebrews 10:24)

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much as more, as you see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)

Paul says, when you gather exhort one another. The Amplified bible says “encourage one another”. When we gather, the purpose of our gather should be for edification. Our spirit man built, edified through prayers and teaching of the word.

“We continue to pray night and day most earnestly that we may see you face to face, and may complete whatever may be imperfect and lacking in your faith” (1 Thess. 3:10)

I believe what Paul meant here was to teach them again from scriptures what he believes was needed for their faith to grow. He anticipated to teach them whenever they met again. I believe this should be the heart desire of every Pastor. Everyone that has people to watch under them. Again here He said:

“For I Long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end you may be established;” (Romans 1:11)

For every of Paul’s gathering with the church, his focus was always for their growth spiritually. Whenever I read through Paul’s epistles to Titus, Timothy I see how Paul keeps repeating that they should teach their members which I believe would have to be done when they met. There would hardly be any time left for unnecessary activities.

Beloved, there is so much to know. Learning from the finished work of Christ, New creation realities, our responsibilities in Christ , His future coming, the person of the holy-ghost, our disposition to the world, and many other faith question we should know to get our minds renewed, that our fellowship times should be used wisely for teaching and for Prayers geared towards our spiritual growth.

We Always Win
Written by Samson Afolabi