Fourfold Fellowship

Beginning this year, the Lord has burdened me to bring more saints into fellowship and function in the church life here in Gurugram. My personal burden and zeal for the Lord as an individual will lead the church nowhere. Though I can still function as the Lord has been burdening me for gospel preaching, home meetings, group meeting, shepherding etc..I must breakthrough in helping the saints to also pick up the same burden of practicing the God-ordained way, together in the Body of Christ as the church. Therefore, the Lord led me in encouraging the saints to actively participate in the church life besides the regular meetings on the Lord's day. 

Every Saturday, the church has a schedule for prayer meeting and gospel preaching. Until this year we have not been able to breakthrough in bringing the saints to active participation. But from this year, I encouraged, at least, the family of two responsible brothers to actively participate. For this, I made further arrangement for the family to be able to participate in a very practical way. My proposal was simple and enjoyable. I invited the two families to stay back for dinner every Saturday after the gospel preaching so that they need not worry about the meal after the whole afternoon schedule for the church life. As they stayed back for the lovefeast, I also proposed a group meeting where we pursued shepherding materials, fellowship, and then prayed together. By this way, we could enjoy four-fold fellowship: prayer meeting, gospel preaching, small group meeting and blending lovefeast.

Now practicing the God-ordained way is so sweet and enjoyable. Even the children are looking forward to it every weekend as they also enjoyed a time of playing and get together as their parents are also together. My wife and I are very happy to host the saints weekly for such a lovely fellowship. The Lord has blessed us with a big house where such meeting can be hosted, and He also has been blessing us with all that we need, even to share with the saints our kitchen and all the food items therein. Opening our hearts, opening our home, opening our kitchen for the church life has become a reality. In fact, I was a skeptic when I heard such declaration in the past by some brothers in the church meeting; now I am being graced to experience it in reality.

To me, this is just the beginning. Such fourfold fellowship should continue as long as the Lord grace us. Not only my family but also all the saints' families should be able to carry out this enjoyable church life. Though we may be few now, if all these few saints exercised the practical church life, there will be much enjoyment of the Christ in the church, which will issue in our blending and building up, which will further issue in everyone functioning, and then ultimately to the increase in the number of saints. First the increase in quality of the enjoyment of the church life, then the increase in the quantity of the saints in the church life.

It is the Lord mercy that I can adapt and practice this fourfold fellowship. The Lord just led us to do this, and may He grace us to go in this way as long as He pleases, all for the building up of the church, the Body of Christ.