| 1 John 1:3-4 "We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete." "Fellowship" means to have community life in the Lord; it's not just any kind of friendship, but it is to have friendship on the same foundation and same life. Christianity does have various denominations; some administer baptism with full-body water emersion, others with sprinkling; some conduct services in a conservative manner while others like to sing and shout; our unity, however, is never a unity in form, organization or theology, but rather because we have the same life from God. My two daughters used to fight a lot when they were young, and sometimes the elder daughter would ask: "daddy, can we get rid of my sister?" I would tell her: "we can't, she'll always be your sister because we are one family." We all inherited the same life, and no matter how much we argue and fight we are still one family, because we have the same life. In the same way, John said here: "We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." We can have fellowship with each other and enjoy the life in our family together because we have inherited the same life from God. Whenever I think about the family of God, I ask God to give us a big heart, because in the Kingdom of God there are all kinds of people, just like how a big garden has flowers of more than one color. The garden of God is blossoming with a vast variety of flowers, all of which manifest His completeness and beauty. Therefore, whenever we see people working and serve God in different forms, my heart is filled with gratitude and joy. As soon as you have a big heart, you won't fall into bitterness and hatred and your joy will naturally become complete. May God help us to fully experience the joy in His family. Pray with Pastor Tong Liu 
Lord, I thank you because you have placed us in a big family. Not just a family of myself, but rather one with all types of people who inherited the same life. Please give us a big and joyful heart, so that we would accept the expression of faith in you in different ways. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen! |
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