Fellowship Meals

Some call them "potlucks." Some call them "covered dish dinners." Others call them "church, then eat." Fellowship meals have been commonplace in my life since I came into the world. Outside of being sick or out of town, I do not recall ever missing a Sunday fellowship meal that was organized by the local congregation in which I was a member. I have many, many stories about fellowship meals.

Fellowship meals are just another way of expressing that you are a member of God's kingdom. When you are in a family, you just do what the family does. You are supposed to. That is just the way it is. You come because this is where you belong. You come because there is nowhere else to be but where the church has gathered. You come because these people are the ones you prefer over all others. Those of you who regularly attend fellowship meals know what I am talking about.

Has anybody solved the fellowship meal mystery? You know, the fact that the attendance from morning worship to a noon fellowship meal generally goes down by fifty percent? I don't think it is the fear of germs. I am sure it is not that people are fasting on Sundays (no way). It can't be that people don't like crowds when they are eating, I have seen these people at restaurants.

I think the main reason why people don't come to fellowship meals, is that they are not as interested in building relationships as they need to be. Go back fifty years. People did not isolate, but looked for social opportunities. Ball games were not played on the Lord's day. Entertainment was more of a social experience because you went where the people were, rather than to the computer, television, or someplace else to find recreation.

This isolation from others has led us to become more interested in ourselves and less interested in others. Fellowship meals are really geared for people who care about their brethren. They are made for those who love to be with Christians. They are available for people who want to be influenced by people who know the Lord.

You can eat anywhere you want to on a Sunday afternoon. You can go to a restaurant, or home, or to some other engagement. But God's people will be meeting together this Sunday after services to make a difference in each others lives and in the lives of those who need the Lord. Will you join us?

"...imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints." ~ 2 Corinthians 8:4