by David Gibson<\/p>\n
When we gather on the Lord’s Day or other occasions, our assemblies have vertical and horizontal dimensions. Vertically, we raise prayers and songs of praise to God. Horizontally, we teach and encourage one another. Let’s focus on the latter.<\/p>\n
“Let all things be done for building up<\/em>” (I Corinthians 14:26), which is also translated as “edification.” Though this word can refer to a physical structure (Matthew 24:1), it is also used metaphorically to strengthen one another spiritually.<\/p>\n One major way edification takes place is through teaching (I Corinthians 14:19) “so that all may learn and all be encouraged<\/em>” (I Corinthians 14:31).<\/p>\n Mutual edification is accomplished through the hymns we sing (Colossians 3:16) and by a word of encouragement by one to another, whether oral or written (Ephesians 4:29).<\/p>\n When Barnabas was sent to help the new believers in Antioch, he “encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts<\/em>” (Acts 11:23).<\/p>\n When visiting congregations they had founded earlier, Paul and Barnabas ”\u00a0strengthened the disciples and encouraged them to remain true to the faith<\/em>” (Acts 14:22; 15:41; 18:23; 15:32).<\/p>\n Sunday’s coming. How can we make the most of the opportunity to “pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding<\/em>” (Romans 14:19)?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by David Gibson When we gather on the Lord’s Day or other occasions, our assemblies have vertical and horizontal dimensions. Vertically, we raise prayers and songs of praise to God. Horizontally, we teach and encourage one another. Let’s focus on the latter. Edifying\/Encouraging\/Exhorting\/Teaching “Let all things be done for building up” (I Corinthians 14:26), which…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[357,451,84],"class_list":["post-85433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-encouragement","tag-teaching","tag-worship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":82734,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-work-god-gave-the-local-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":85433,"position":0},"title":"The Work God Gave the Local Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steve Klein God is the Master designer. We need only look at the physical universe to realize this. Psalm 19:1 tells us, \"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork.\" The intricate and marvelous design of the creation shows the wisdom of God. \"O\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41007,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-womans-contribution-to-the-local-congregation\/","url_meta":{"origin":85433,"position":1},"title":"A Woman’s Contribution to the Local Congregation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Carey Scott from several sources More often than not, women are the lifeblood of the congregation. Attention is often given to the limitations placed on women in the assemblies of the church because of what is written in I Corinthians 14:34-37 and because of what is written in I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36174,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-virtual-assemblies-count\/","url_meta":{"origin":85433,"position":2},"title":"Do virtual assemblies count?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, brother in Christ, I hope you are doing well. My question comes from Hebrew 10:25.\u00a0Now I fully understand what assembling together means, but there seem to be those who say that assembling can be of anything and anywhere.\u00a0So, does \"virtual assembling\" count as assembling as described in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1403,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-command-to-forsake-not-the-assembling-of-ourselves-together-apply-only-to-sunday-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":85433,"position":3},"title":"Does the command to “forsake not the assembling of ourselves together” apply only to Sunday worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 4, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In our Bible study at church, the statement was made that if elders schedule a meeting, then it would be a sin for one to 'forsake the assembly\" if one could have attended. I feel that a person should attend, for it is a benefit to study and learn\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6702,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-the-duties-of-preaching-be-evenly-distributed-among-able-and-qualified-men\/","url_meta":{"origin":85433,"position":4},"title":"Must the duties of preaching be evenly distributed among able and qualified men?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: It appears that\u00a0you have an extremely negative view on either the practice of mutual edification, the brethren who follow it, or both.\u00a0 If this is the situation, I pray you will give me the opportunity to stand on my own without making too many assumptions regarding my motivations or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63303,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-purpose-of-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":85433,"position":5},"title":"The Purpose of the Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Download Audio by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Timothy 3:14-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Have you paused to consider why the church exists? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It appears to me that many of the problems faced by congregations stem from a lack of understanding the purpose of the church \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I looked at material from various denominations.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85433\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}With a Noble End in View<\/h2>\n