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All of these it should be our desire to help, support and encourage. We should be ready to give to them and to pray for them. Although we belong to a world-wide fellowship, mostly our relationships are within our local churches. We are called into fellowship. We are called to belong together and to share with one another.

The Bible gives several pictures which illustrate the need and the purpose of our coming together. All those who belong to Christ belong with each other.

Picture 1. Read 1 Peter 2 verses 4 to 6.
This is a picture of the fellowship of believers as a building, as a spiritual house or temple, made not of natural stones but of living stones. The church is made of people. In this spiritual building each individual 'stone' is a person, whom God has fashioned and shaped, and put into place to build his church. Let us think about this picture and see some of its implications. The stones of a natural building may be different sizes, shapes and even colours, yet they are skilfully assembled to make a solid and attractive looking wall. We are all different. As individuals we have different natures, attitudes and abilities. God can use us, not just in spite of our differences, but because of them. He will place us in his church alongside people of different skills so that we can complement each other. In the wall of the building all the stones are held together and in place by mortar. The mortar in the church is God's love which binds us not only to him but to each other. In a stone wall the displacement of just one stone can have serious consequences, as the stones all round it are weakened. Just think of the implications of this for the church. Remember too that in a building the most important stone is called the cornerstone. Peter quotes the prophet Isaiah (chapt. 28 v.16) and says that the cornerstone of the church is Jesus.

Picture 2. Read John 15 vv. 1 to 8.
This is a picture which Jesus gave us. It is a picture of a tree. Jesus likens himself to a vine. He is the tree, and those who are his people are the branches. Each branch receives its sustenance through the trunk from the roots. Whilst it is part of the tree and able to get food, the branch bears fruit. No branch can bear fruit by itself. Jesus says that God the Father is like the gardener who cuts off the useless branches and throws them into the fire. He nurtures and prunes the good branches so that their yield of fruit may increase. This is a picture of our unity in Christ, and our total dependence on Christ. It contains a warning that if this unity is severed, we become worthless and useless, fit only to be thrown away.

Picture 3 Read 1 Corinthians 12 vv.12 to 31.
This is the most remarkable picture of the church, as it combines the understanding of our dependence on Jesus which we see in the picture of the vine, with our dependence on each other which we see in the picture of the building. The church is likened to the human body, which is the creation of God, and is a unity made up of many parts. Each part has a function or purpose which it performs for the good of the whole. We have eyes to see, ears to hear, legs and arms for moving and working. The church, likewise, is made up of many individuals. Each person is different, with particular skills and talents, and so able to do different tasks. The parts of the human body, if it is healthy, co-operate together without friction. If one part is diseased or damaged then the whole body may suffer. In the church, all members need to co-operate and work together for the common good. Each should have a concern for the others, for if one individual is hurting, this affects the whole.