Pastor's Note - January 28 
One of my favorite Bible verses is Hebrews 10:24-25; “24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” One of the interesting assumptions here is that as we get closer to the day of the Lord’s return, we will need mutual encouragement all the more. Why would we need to encourage one another “all the more?” The clear implication is that each day as we get mercifully closer to seeing Jesus, we also will need more encouragement, because the days themselves will be harder. As time marches on, we should expect things to get more difficult. In turn, we will need more encouragement, and we will need to encourage others more – to stir one another up to love and good works. In order to do that, we cannot neglect to meet together. That is part of being the church. If you aren’t meeting together in some capacity, then you cannot be obedient to this good command, and you are surely depriving someone else (and yourself) of the encouragement we need in increasingly difficult days. Fortunately, we have many contexts for meeting together, whether it be 242 Groups in person or over zoom, women’s Bible studies, men’s discipleship groups, Tuesday prayer meetings, and of course our Sunday worship. I am thankful for the opportunity we have for mutual encouragement. And my encouragement to you is to find some way to “meet together” with others. You need the encouragement in increasingly difficult days. We all need to know God’s grace through the encouragement from others for us, and the encouragement we impart to others. Let’s encourage one another by meeting together in various ways. If you’re not sure how you can get together with others for encouragement, but want to, do let us know!