1.22- I'm a fan of anything that gets my family together with hope and joy..

 1.22-

I'm a fan of anything that gets my family together with hope and joy..There is a group where mother and dad and all my siblings would gather. I did not go to this gathering when I was first born but soon afterward.

Traditions were strong at this gathering. People of all ages came to this congregation of people. They met in many cities. The group would sing and be filled with hope.

People on the radio and television would talk about the weather and its impact on the gathering. We would have food and drink and share our lives. The excitement of victory and the agony of defeat.

What an interesting family we had and even now. My family and extended family and my community still continue this peculiar family tradition that brings us together.

The family has memories of hospital visits where a main topic was not the patient and the urgent medical situation but a hopeful conversation about the gathering and the leaders of the meeting.

The congregation meets on Sunday. Many claim to follow Jesus but don't follow Him in some of His most important commands. Most years they don't live up to their best hopes and dreams.

They all struggle with problems of one kind or the other. Worry. Slander. Lack of trust. Lack of respect. Too much food, drink and desires for the wrong things. Do these people do and say some things that are not best.? Yes. Do these men and women need to quit bad habits? Yes. Do we need to quit addictions to things that don't bring health and joy. Yes.

Do the time, location and traditions of the meeting change? Yes. Are there some things that must not change and some that need to change? Yes.

I'm happy for something that helps us on good days to come together and celebrate life. In season and out of season.

Acts 20

25 “And now behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. 26 Therefore, I [s]testify to you this day that I am [t]innocent of the blood of all people. 27 For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. 28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you [u]overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He [v]purchased [w]with His own blood. 29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. 32 And now I entrust you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. 34 You yourselves know that these hands served my own needs and the men who were with me. 35 In everything I showed you that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

36 When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 And [x]they all began to weep aloud and [y]embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, 38 [z]grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were accompanying him to the ship.