Matthew 18:15-20 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 18:15-20 on biblegateway.com
Verse 15"If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. Verse 16But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. Verse 17If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Verse 18Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Verse 19Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. Verse 20For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."
Devotion
“The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.” These words were written by German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was martyred for resisting the Nazis during World War II.
Bonhoeffer spent many painful days and nights in the isolation of a prison cell. There he did not have the benefit of a Christian community to support him as he awaited his execution at the hands of the Nazis. How he would have loved to have had a brother or sister in Christ to share God’s word of hope, to pray or to praise God with him in that dismal time.
What is it that makes fellowship with other Christians such a source of “incomparable joy and strength to the believer?” It is Jesus’ promise that whenever two or three are gathered in his name, he himself is among them!
Prayer
Lord, we rejoice in your promise to be present with us whenever we gather together with others in your name. The joy and strength we receive from the knowledge of your presence are beyond description. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.