SOLO FLIGHT. By Pastor Fernando

SCRIPTURE
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing.
Hebrews 10:23-25

OBSERVATION
How easy is to loose heart in a long distance race! You put a lot of enthusiasm and energy in the front end, but you can run out of gas half way. Discouragement settles in as the finish line seems so far away. In our relationship with God we experience the work of His power in our daily lives based on his promises. But the reality is that those promises are not fulfilled overnight. And if we are not careful, in the midst of delay we will loose our trust in God. The solution is a small Christian community. The Christian walk is not meant to be a solo flight. We need brothers and sisters with visibility in our daily lives that can motivate us to keep going. When a Christian walks away from God, the real tragedy is not that individual's failure, but the church community's failure. Apostasy is the result of isolation.

APPLICATION
There is no more dangerous path that the one you are walking alone. When you are alone, you process alone, you struggle alone, you suffer alone, and you are vulnerable alone. That's why God, from the very beginning, said, "It's not good for man to be alone." In isolation, we have the tendency to become our own advocate, prosecutor, jury, and judge. We will not be objective, we will not be encouraged, and we will easily give up in the middle of the race. We need to fight our tendency to deal with our issues on our own. We need friendships that go beyond the superficial social things, and go deeper in the matters of the heart.

For the church, it's imperative that we create a structure and a culture where building the smallest big church is a priority. I can see how God has been leading us to that place and I'm very excited about it. However, this is something that cannot be just taught. It has to be reproduced. I must have deep relationships in a smaller community of believers where encouragement is granted freely, where accountability is sincere, and where endurance and perseverance are nurtured.

PRAYER
Dear heavenly Father, thank you so much for the relationships you have given me during the last five years. You have answered my prayers about this and given me friends that are more than brothers to me. Help me to nurture those relationships and to initiate new ones where encouragement and growth are never absent. Please lead our church during the next months and years as we build the smalles big church. Amen!