My family and I love to barbecue. Nothing is more satisfying than a tender tasty piece of steak that is slightly charred on the outside but moist and juicy on the inside. Before the convenience of gas barbecues, people had to light heat beads with fire-lighters to start a fire. When the heat beads are piled up and in close contact, a nice strong fire soon builds up. But, if an individual heat bead is separated from others it smolders and soon dies down.
We are like heat beads. When we are gathered in fellowship with other believers, we can encourage each other in the Lord and do great things for Him. Proverbs 27:17 says iron sharpens iron, and so one person sharpens another.
During the dark days of Covid when it was not safe to be in physical contact with others, live streaming was very helpful. Now that most people are fully vaccinated and it is safe to interact socially, why not make an effort to return to worship physically at our church? Why not come and share fellowship so that we can encourage and support one another in the Lord?
Hebrews 10.24-25 says: "Let us consider how we may spur one another toward love and good deeds, not giving up the habit of meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." There is an inherent warning here that not meeting regularly is a bad thing. If we do not meet together physically, often and regularly, like the heat beads could we risk eventually losing our effectiveness and even our faith?
我跟我家人都喜歡BBQ燒烤。沒有什麼比吃一塊外面稍焦，內面仍有肉汁及柔嫩的牛排更使人滿足。在方便的燃氣燒烤爐盛行之前，人們一般都是用木炭或炭精，藉火種點燃生火。被堆疊的木炭必須保持近距離才能使火勢漫然均衡。但如將其中一塊分開，它的火必將會熄滅。
我們亦如燃燒着的木炭塊，當我們聚集一堂時，可在主裏互相鼓勵，及為祂作大事。正如箴言27章17所說：鐵磨鐵，磨出刃來，朋友相感也是如此。
在新冠疫情最黑暗時期，因實體接觸並不安全，網上直播崇拜非常有幫助。現在既然多數人已接種了疫苗，社交接觸亦視為安全，我們為何不盡力重返教會參加實體崇拜？為何不回來參與團契生活，藉此在主內互相支持及鼓勵？
希伯來書20章24-25節說："又要彼此相顧，激發愛心，勉勵行善。你們不可停止聚會，好像那些停止慣了的人，倒要彼此勸勉，既知道那日子臨近，就更當如此。”經文有一個內在的警告，即不定期聚會是一件壞事，如果我們不恆常及定期實體相聚，就如木炭粒一樣，恐怕結果亦會失掉作基督徒的功能及信心，我們能冒這險嗎？
