And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers – Acts 2:42

In many ways, things were no different when the above observation was made. There were wars and rumors of wars. Palestine was under Roman rule and there were regular uprisings. There were culture wars and divisions. And of course there were the regular disruptors of peace; sin and death. 

Yet a new day had dawned, quietly in a manger, grotesquely on a cross – the epitome of an upside down world, and of course the calm resurrection of the same crucified God in a garden. Humankind was given a gift out of their guilt and gory end: forgiveness and eternal life for all. Like the slow spreading of a dawning sunlight through the darkness of a forest, this peace and hope fell upon people one at a time.

While the old world was dying, and it still is, they huddled together when they could and warmed their hands, heart and soul in the light, through the listening of God’s words, the preaching of the Gospel, the eating and drinking of the very presence of Jesus. As Jesus directed, these gatherings kept them alive, kept them in the light, cast out dark fears and dysfunction, kept them together.

So it is today! Like a tryant whose rage grows worse when he knows it the end, so it is with the darkness of this world. Do not be afraid. Come and gather around the hope of Jesus, not alone, but together with others struggling and needing the same comfort, confidence and daylight. This is how He feeds and leads His people!