Fellowship

​A blessed day to all
This past Sunday we were able to enjoy some fun fellowship and food at our picnic after worship services.  It was wonderful to see that just about everyone stuck around for more than food.  I witnessed fellowship long after tummies were full.  For me it was one of those moments that as I looked around and heard laughter, saw folks engaged with one another, and beheld one smiling face after another, I could only whisper “Thank you Jesus”.  I was thanking Him for the encouragement of seeing many of our church family sharing a simple picnic. Now that it is over, I will confess that I was a little nervous as to potential attendance.  It was after church, a bit warm, folks would need to wait a bit for the burgers and hot dogs to be cooked, and perhaps the trek to the playground was a bit much for some of our seniors.  However, the response to the picnic demonstrated how much folks missed interacting as a church family outside of worship services.
David wrote in Psalm 133: Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, as on Aaron’s beard, the oil which ran down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon coming down the mountains of Zion; for the Lord command the blessing there—life forever. The Psalm’s context is the unity of God’s people when they celebrated their common heritage. When together they remembered freedom from bondage in Egypt and gathering around the tabernacle in the wilderness.  The oil prepared for the tabernacle was a special, fragrant oil that whose recipe was not to be imitated outside of tabernacle use. When that fragrance filled the air, all present knew something special was going on.  That fragrance is found in the sound of laughter of God’s people in fellowship. It is found in the smiling faces of brothers and sisters in Christ that communicate, “we are in this together”. And it is found in being able to look around and being reminded, “I am not alone”. 
Have a blessed week, Vic