The Comfort of Good Food and Fellowship
We can lose the masks. Lose the pretense. Get back to God. Our vulnerability is our strength.
Welcome to the 33rd issue of The Aim and Soar Life, a weekly Christian personal growth and lifestyle newsletter that provides actionable, relatable, biblically rooted content to help you live abundantly and GROW YOU. GOD’S WAY.
Hello Fam!
What’s your favorite food? You know, the one that makes you swing your feet and hum like a toddler with his favorite feast. Me? I’m a macaroni and cheese girl. A fried chicken chic. A sweet potato pie babe!
You’d think I love to cook, but that’s not the case. Quite the contrary, I love to eat! LOL.😂 But I have mastered the art of cooking my favorite meals and my family enjoys them too.
In our culture and most others, food is the foundation of fellowship. When I get together with friends, we sometimes potluck it with our own specially made dishes or hire a chef or caterer. Other times, we settle for pizza delivery. Fellowshipping is made even more special when it’s centered around the Word of God and good food!
Did you know that you can use these times to strengthen fellow Christians in their spiritual walks and win souls for Christ by sharing Him with unbelievers?
1. Strength for the Battle
Some of the best times I’ve had have been spent with other Christian women at ladies’ night gatherings, or Saturday/Sunday brunches. Not only were we able to relax together, but the food and fellowship also allowed us to get real with one another and share our burdens.
During the week, many of us wear masks. We want the world to believe we’ve got it all together. We need the opportunity to be with other saints who can help strengthen us.
We can lose the masks. Lose the pretense. Get back to God. Our vulnerability is our strength.
9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10, NKJV
You may be juggling your job, family, ministry, and your much-needed personal time, and it may seem like you don’t have enough time in a day to do everything that is expected of you. How do you get replenished? How do you get re-fueled for the battle of sharing The Gospel message and living a life for Christ in a world that is opposed to righteousness?
You need strength for the battle. A small gathering of sisters or brothers in Christ where you can pray for one another, listen to one another, and strengthen one another will allow you to be re-energized. As you pour into another sister or brother, someone is there to pour into you.
11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11, NIV
Consider hosting a small gathering. A prayer night or prayer brunch. You don’t have to shoulder the costs alone. You can suggest that everyone bring a dish. The purpose is to fellowship and pray together. This can be done once a month or once a quarter. The idea is to have a plan in place to meet informally with a small group for strengthening.
2. Support for the Unbeliever
In Matthew 4:19, the Lord said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Our purpose on this earth is to serve God and to make disciples. I spoke about how we can use food and fellowship to strengthen one another, but how can we reach and comfort unbelievers in the same manner?
I’m glad you asked.
The pandemic has changed how we as the church—the body of Christ interacts with non-Christians. We are in a period now where we must make more of an effort to meet people where they are. People aren’t going into physical church buildings at the same rate as they were before the pandemic.
We must provide fellowship opportunities where we can share The Gospel and build real relationships, so we can make disciples as God has called us to do. The world needs the comfort of Christ.
Consider having a girls’ night or guys’ night where each person invites someone who is a non-Christian. Allow them into a space where they can observe your genuine fellowship with other saints, and how you and other Christians uplift and pray for one another. You are a living example of God’s Word and His message.
On a large scale, your church can host a family and friends’ night (mine does this often)😍. This allows community members and non-Christians to be among those of us who are sincerely concerned with their salvation and present needs.
If there is someone in your life who you know needs Christ but is hesitant, demonstrate Christ’s love to them by inviting them to fellowship with you. Build or strengthen your relationship with them. Let them know that you are concerned about their spiritual well-being and their practical needs by showing them.
Jesus ate with saints and sinners (Matthew 9:10-17, Mark 2:15-22, Luke 5:29-39). We’ve got to use His model to reach the world. The comfort of good food and fellowship can go a long way in making disciples when it is rooted in the Word of God.
God Bless You!
Until Next Time,
GROW YOU. GOD’S WAY.
Sherrhonda😍
P.S.
I’d LOVE for you to meet me on the web: