When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly.
– Acts 21:17
Now, that’s just a simple verse. And if you’re reading through the Bible, you probably don’t pause and think much about it.
Acts 21:17 Shows How Much Early Believers Enjoyed Fellowship with Each Other
But I think this is a verse worth pausing, and thinking much about, and praying according to, for Paul and Luke to come to Jerusalem. So Luke’s writing the book of Acts, that’s where we see this us in here. It’s not just Paul, it’s Luke and others. “When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly.” When I read that, I think about when I meet brother or sister in Christ who I’ve never met before. And especially if they’re from another country. I think about standing out in the lobby in the church where I pastor in between our worship gatherings. It’s not uncommon to meet someone who’s traveling through metro Washington D.C. from another country and to meet them.
And I love how, as they introduce themselves to me and I to them, we have instant fellowship in Jesus. It’s awesome. I don’t know anything about this person except for the fact that they’re a follower of Jesus. And as a result of that one simple reality, I look at them and I’m like, “We’re family. You’re my brother or sister. I’m your brother or sister. We are instant family.” And so we start to share our stories just a little bit and that kind of conversation. But I think about this just whenever I meet a new brother or sister in Christ and begin to hear a little bit about their story, there’s so much joy. I just picture that the brothers receiving us gladly. And I want to encourage you to maximize the joy of those kinds of moments.
When you meet a brother or sister in Christ you didn’t know before, just realize in that moment this is family, so treat them like family. I love them. Just ask, even if you have just a few minutes to talk with them, questions about God’s grace and their life and look for an opportunity to encourage and build them up. You’re going to see them again in heaven. We are one big, eternal family.
Acts 21:17 Encourages Us to Make the Most of Our Fellowship with Other Believers
So let’s make the most of the moments we have with each other, especially when we just kind of cross paths, not by accident, but under the sovereign hand of our Father who brings us across each other as his children. What an awesome reality.
God, help us all as your children, as your sons and daughters, to receive and enjoy receiving fellowship with one another as we have opportunity. God, we look forward today, or tomorrow, or this week to the family members that we will meet, people who we didn’t know before but you’ve brought us together by the blood of Jesus, shared heavenly bloodline into your family. So help us to honor one another, to enjoy one another, to encourage one another, to edify and build one another up, and to work together to lead others into the family.
God, we pray for people we will interact with today who are not in the family, who are not brothers or sisters in Christ, who are at this moment in their sin and on a road that leads to eternal suffering. Lord, help us to be a loving family today, to do all that you call us to do, to invite others into the family. God, we pray that you’d use our lives, our churches to bring others into the family this week, that they might be new brothers and sisters in Christ who we receive and enjoy fellowship with like we read about in Acts 21:17.
Praying for the Baharia People
God, we pray this for all the peoples of the world. This is what we want. God, as we pray for all these unreached people groups, God bring them all into the family. For the Baharia people of Egypt, God bring them in. There’s nobody from the Baharia that we know of. It’s in the family. And Jesus, you died, you shed your blood for Baharia people to be your sons and daughters. So God, we pray. Raise up laborers, draw the Baharia people to yourself on this Baharia oasis where they live. God, please save them, bring them into the family.
We intercede today for future family members among the Baharia of Egypt and among all the people groups of the world. How do we praise you for the privilege of being a part of this eternal family, for knowing you as our Father? We pray all of this in Jesus’ name, according to your Word, as your sons and daughters in your family. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
