On our journey of faith, the situation is very similar. After we believe in Jesus, God transforms our lives, and the Holy Spirit empowers us to live a new life. At the same time, God arranges a group of fellow believers to help us build this new life, making it stronger. Among these fellow believers, many of them are brothers and sisters in the church. Therefore, serving, learning, and fellowship in the church form the church life of every believer. When a person comes to faith, their circle of life suddenly expands. In addition to the original campus or workplace life and family life, there is now also church life. Of course, some Christians do not have church life because they have not joined any church. Some Christians’ church life only includes attending worship on Sundays. Others have a more comprehensive church life, participating in prayer meetings, fellowships or small groups, regularly communicating with brothers and sisters through calls or messages, visiting and attending Bible studies.
When we believe in God, we immediately become a part of God’s church, a part of Christ’s body. “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” (1 Cor 12:27) Hence, christians must be part of the church, participate in the church’s activities. It is not just about attending church activities to plan entertainment events nor to plan group activities. It involves serving, learning, and fellowship with fellow believers. Consistent and regular church life is crucial for the spiritual health of Christians.
“Spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25). Christians who do not have a fixed church life neglect their spiritual lives and miss out on the blessings and resources that God wants to give them through fellow believers in the church. Therefore, Christians should at least attend Sunday worship once a week and, when they come, not only worship God and listen to the sermon but also communicate with other brothers and sisters, understanding each other’s needs. This is the command in the Bible to truly spur one another on.
Nevertheless, relationships between people require time and love to be well-established and are not built overnight. Just meeting on Sundays and chatting for a few minutes may only result in superficial and shallow relationships. Therefore, the church has prepared various small groups and fellowships for brothers and sisters, providing more opportunities for them to get to know each other deeply. From the beginning of Tree of Life Christian Church even when there were only a dozen or so people, the work of fellowships began. But as the number of people increased, and more brothers and sisters with different backgrounds joined us, the work of fellowships needed to be more diverse and targeted. We made some adjustments in 2024, establishing a new cell group, the Peace Cell Group, for working professionals in their twenties and thirties. Other cell groups and fellowships will continue to operate as usual. Whether it is a new cell group or an existing group or fellowship, we hope brothers and sisters will actively participate.
Since the Bible commands Christians to spur one another on, each of us has the responsibility to care for and meet the needs of other brothers and sisters. You don’t need to be the leader of a group or fellowship to care for other brothers and sisters in the group or fellowship. You can and should take the initiative to get to know people in the group or fellowship. This may require some courage. For some introverted brothers and sisters, more courage may be needed, but the Lord will surely give us grace and courage to do so because it is the Lord’s will.
Furthermore, we also need to accept and love brothers and sisters who are very different from us. Although this is not easy, we can do it because we share the resurrected life of the Lord Jesus. “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity… For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forever more” (Psalm 133). Let us look forward to and build a vibrant church life together!
Translated by Davina Seet