Keep Your Faith Glowing

Did you ever have a real fireplace in your home? Growing up, we lived in a parsonage (A house near the church where a pastor’s family can live at no cost). That might sound great, but in reality, it was mostly just alright. One thing I did love about that old house, though, was the fireplace. It was not some gas-powered imitation, but a real, wood-burning fireplace.

There are few things more fun as a kid than poking a fire for hours on end. In the winter, it was endless entertainment! See kids, this is what life was like in the 1900s before Roblox.
 
After the wood burned down, a pile of glowing hot coals would remain, keeping the warmth going for a long time. But me, always curious about how things worked, would take a coal out and place it in the ash bucket next to the fireplace. Interestingly, once separated from the pile, the coal would quickly stop glowing. Meanwhile, the coals left clumped up in the fireplace continued to glow and radiate heat for hours! It was fascinating.
 
Looking back, I realize this is a picture of the value of community in our spiritual formation. Many of the practices we’ve been discussing over the past several weeks can be done alone, but they shouldn’t be. If we try to live out our faith apart from other Christians, we’ll find our passion and devotion quickly cooling. But when we remain in the presence of other believers, our faith will tend to glow red hot.
 
This week, we’re going to explore why biblical community, what the Bible calls the Church, is essential to all the other spiritual practices. In many ways, it is the foundation from which everything else flows.
 
Join us tomorrow for worship and experience the glowing potential of Christian community.