COMFORT vs FELLOWSHIP
Memorise:
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. .. Matthew 18:20
Read:
Hebrews 10:24-25
Message
Today, I want you to consider very well the choice of deciding to stay at home and watch services online over attending physically. Today's Bible text clearly states that you are not to forsake the fellowshipping together of brethren. Therefore, if you choose to attend a service online when you can very well attend that service physically, you are forsaking the fellowshipping together with brethren for your comfort.
Due to your preference for comfort over fellowship, many things might follow. Some of these may include picking up phone calls or browsing social media while the service is going on. Also, you might be eating and drinking when you should be concentrating on receiving the bread of life from heaven. In that state, it is easy to welcome distractions from visitors who knock on your door and even things that you suddenly remember that you ought to have done. These things will take your mind completely off the service and make you miss out on what God is doing at that moment. On the other hand, if you are present at a service physically, there will be little or no distractions because almost everybody around you will be focused on God. They will be praying or worshipping God fervently, and the environment around you will be charged; that fire will kindle your own fire too. This is not the same as watching a service on TV. Tell me, if you put on your TV and a TV station is showing a house that is burning, will you feel the heat in your house?
Except there is absolutely no way to attend a physical service, either due to distance or other challenges, you cannot get the same impact from the service by watching it at home. God sees your heart; He knows when you are choosing comfort over fellowship with the brethren. He is the one who said that you should not forsake the fellowshipping together of the brethren, so He will not encourage you to disobey Him. There is always a difference between someone watching God move and someone being a part of the move of God.
Bible In One Year:
Isaiah 57-59
Hymn:
Pass Me Not O Gentle Saviour
Key Point:
Never choose comfort over fellowshipping physically with other believers.
Pass me not, O gentle Saviour
Saviour, Saviour,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling.
Do not pass me by.