Sweet Fellowship, Precious Memories

For the past 6 years I've hosted the ladies from our congregation in my home for a spring salad supper. Everyone brings their favorite salad and we enjoy the meal together. After the meal, we do some kind of activity to get the ladies talking about themselves. This is always the highlight of the evening.

This year I announced for everyone to bring one or two things that were special to them. They all mentioned how hard it was to narrow it down to one or two! Several brought pieces of jewelry and knick knacks that were given to them by their children or passed down from their parents or grandparents. One Christian sister brought a silver dollar that her husband had as a teenager. He was going to use that silver dollar to take her to the movies, but she had some money and "bought" the silver dollar from him. She didn't want him to use it. She has had that silver dollar in her billfold for over 50 years now!

Several women brought Bibles that were their own when they were younger or had belonged to their parents or grandparents who are now deceased. It was interesting seeing how they were written and marked in. Our preacher's wife brought two letters that had been written to her by her dad and her son many years ago. The one from her son was written the night before he left for Japan. He wrote it not knowing for sure that he would ever see his parents again. She read the letter to the group. Very heartwarming! Thankfully her son did return home and is doing fine, but what a special letter she now has.

Another Christian sister brought an old 7up bottle. This bottle is used when she bakes angel food cakes. It holds the pan upside down while the cake cools. But, what is special about this bottle is that it was given to her when she and her husband were houseparents at Tipton Home. A teenage girl in their cottage became very sick with a rare type of pneumonia and later passed away from complications of the illness. That bottle has a sticker with the name of the young girl on it and is a reminder of her memory each time the angel food cake is made.

We know that all of these earthly "treasures" will some day be gone and that our real treasure is in heaven, but it's the special memories of the people associated with the "things" that make them special.

Christian fellowship was one of the main goals of the early church. Acts 2:42 tells us, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Hmmmm. They "devoted themselves....to the fellowship". What does that mean? What is fellowship? A potluck dinner? No. It may include a potluck dinner, but that is not what defines Christian fellowship. Fellowship in the Greek means "to share together, take part together". Christian fellowship is being together. It is sharing together. It is having a relationship with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Precious memories are made when Christians come together and share sweet fellowship with one another. Is Christian fellowship important to you? Are you "devoted" to the fellowship as the early Christians were?