I thank you for your support and prayers for the past couple of months. Let me tell you what I have been up to. For the past few months, I have reflected about what makes our pastors stand out from the rest of the world. I have wrestled with this thought for some time, but one word always comes to mind. A pastor that focuses on fellowship is successful in the ministry. If a pastor has fellowship with God, then he will undoubtedly aim to support and encourage fellowship in the church.

Let me explain more about fellowship through a story. I can remember a story from when I was eight years old. One day, mom was grocery shopping and I needed to come along.  At the store I felt bored and remembered to get diet coke for my dad. So, I left my mom and went into the next aisle to get some. I broke the cardinal rule “I left my mom and went off on my own.” Soon enough my mom frantically looked around for me everywhere. My mom was so nervous, she had all the target employees searching the store like a swat team. While my mom was commanding the entire Target store to look for me, I was just looking at the different kinds of soda and taking my time. Soon enough I picked up the diet coke for dad and made my way back. I found my mom. So, I went up, put the coke in the cart and she was looking very worried. I looked up at her and said with a sincere voice “what's wrong?” Soon enough, my mom looked down with a furious face and said, “Where were you???” My mom lectured me for an entire hour because I walked away from her.

Just like a child, we tend to ignore how our actions affect people within our lives. Most of us can remember our childhood and know that our actions are more self-centered rather than people centered. There were times on the playground where we did not play nicely. Then there were other times when we were just plain rude to our parents or teachers. They don't even know that their actions were bad.

Even now, many Christians do not realize that they should have fellowship with the church. The church, as you know, is all people who truly believe in Christ.  A lot of Christians don't even know what Christian fellowship looks like because they don't think it’s necessary for the Christian life. Many think that fellowship is merely an organized group of people who share an interest, an aim, or a belief. Though the Bible has a deeper understanding of fellowship which is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul describes how the church is a body. Each church member is part of the body, and they all have to work together.  This does not mean we are literally connected, but in a spiritual sense. But what happens when one limb is away from the body? 1 Corinthians 12:26 states, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” So, what happens if one part of the body is disconnected? The result is that we all feel the pain. Every Christian needs to be in fellowship within the church. Though most Christians can get into the habit of not being there for a brother or sister in Christ by not including church as part of their life. We wander away from our own people, even though we didn't mean to.

How can us, mere children, be united in fellowship or even in fellowship with God? Thank goodness that Christ is the one that makes fellowship possible! In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul writes that Christ is the head of the body. Everybody needs a head so that the rest of the body can move and breathe together. Therefore, the church moves as one body under Christ. We all move and act as one because of faith in Christ.

The pastor is called to bring people back to fellowship with God. He proclaims that the apostles have seen, heard, and touched our resurrected Lord. He proclaims that Christ came down to earth so that the children of God could once again have fellowship with God the Father. Just like Christ brings to the Father, the pastor aims to bring all the faithful into fellowship with God and the church.

Therefore, the pastor follows the role that God has given him. That he is a limb of the body and must accept the will of God.  This means the pastor must spend a large amount of time with his congregation. He must value every member as a vital part of the body of Christ. Through this act, the pastor will understand the aches, pains, and sins of God’s children. The pastor also needs to identify what talents, resources, and strengths that the congregation has. By doing this the pastor will be able to preach according to the needs of the church and is able to understand their personality.

By spending time with the congregation, the pastor makes sure that the faithful are supported in the faith. Everyone, child or not, needs support in their lives. A place where they can process the week's events without judgment and gain some perspective about life. Just like a family, the faithful gather together to talk about the day's events. Like a small child who needs to be nurtured, the faithful need to be united together at church. The pastor knows that the church does not gather only once a week, but throughout our lives like a good family does. He encourages the faithful to have fellowship with each other.

Additionally, the pastor works with the congregation towards living out the faith rather than taking control of everything by force. By understanding the church, the pastor will know how the congregation wants to spread the Gospel. When a pastor has spent time with his parishioners, he understands their passion, strengths, and skills. The pastor knows that God has given these gifts to the church for a reason. Therefore, the future of the church will still be built on the confession that “Christ is Lord''. Yet the pastor will work with the congregation to plan for the future. The pastor stands strong in the Word of God but knows that the church can serve the Lord in many various ways. A church best serves their community, when the pastor keeps in mind the skills, strengths, and passion of God’s people.

In other words, the pastor understands that he must be in fellowship with the church. Every pastor needs to spend time as part of the church. He needs to know the church in order to preach the Word of God appropriately and plan for the future. He will become part of the body and faithfully move with His parishioners in accordance with the faith. As I continue serving our congregation, I will keep this in mind and jump at the chance to have fellowship with all the faithful.

Thank you for your support, Jacob Friedrich