Dear Bothered One,

No need to be bothered! We go to our fellowships to bless the Lord and get filled up. We are to then go out and give out! We are to live and do what we learn. James 1:22 says But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. The word deceived means beguiled or tricked which we do to ourselves when we ignore what we have learned from the word of God.

It is sad to see so much emotion in our fellowships. Sadly, some of the praise and worship is designed to build upon our emotions and make us comfortable rather than be holy and set apart to glorify our Lord. It should be designed to bless God; then God will bless us through it.

Besides emotion, much in churches nowadays seems to be about self! Our services should point us to the One who died on the cross to pay for our sins and who offers us abundant life today. Church should challenge us; not make us feel comfortable. The Bible challenges us to trust and believe and that is not comfortable to do in a crisis situation.

Always remember, the people of God are the Church (the Body of Christ) and the Church worships in a building. There is no perfect church because only Christ is perfect and He is perfecting us daily! This will cause us to go easy on others. This journey called life here on earth is not easy. Let’s not get frustrated at fellow believers when we think they are not living up to God’s standards. Let’s just make sure we are, and pray for them.

People around us need hope and Christians have the only hope available to all -- Jesus Christ and Him crucified for the world. John 3:16 says For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. This is a promise for the world and the Christian is supposed to be giving this truth away.

The antidote for frustration is to repent and allow HOPE to arise in our spirit…biblical hope means to anticipate with pleasure the promises of God that are sure and true. This is an anchor for our soul (mind, will, emotions). Read Hebrews 6:19. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast… When we truly get this, we can help others understand it, even those we are fellowshipping with!