by Jerry Senn
In January of 1997 astronomers announced they had made a discovery through the orbiting Hubble space telescope. As scientists peered at a cluster of some 2,500 galaxies called Virgo, they saw for the first time heavenly bodies that had been theorized for some time. What they saw … were lone stars without a galaxy to call home. These isolated stars drift more than 300,000 light years from the nearest galaxy—that’s three times the diameter of the Milky Way Galaxy.
“Somewhere along the way,” … they wandered off or were tossed out of the galaxy of their birth, out into the cold, dark emptiness of intergalactic space … Astronomers theorize that these isolated stars were displaced from their home galaxies as a result of galactic mergers or tidal forces from nearby galaxies. There they drift free of the gravitational influence of any single galaxy.
Like these isolated, wandering stars, Christians can drift from the community of Christ. God never created us for the cold of isolation. He created us to be together in deep devotion to one another. He made us for the warmth of fellowship. He designed us to live in a community of faith.
Acts 2:41–42, 44—“And then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls (persons). And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer … and all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common.”
Romans 12:10—“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”
Hebrews 10:24–25—“Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, … but encouraging one another.”