And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;
Acts 1:4 NKJV
To be sure, God speaks to each of us individually. I am a proponent of the practice of prayer and fasting and going regularly to a private place of prayer. There, He often gives me insight and revelation pertinent to me. Much of what we have done in ministry over the last forty plus years has come as a result of hearing that sweet voice in my own closet.
On the other hand, there are some things that the Lord speaks to the assembled church. He said that when we gather, He will be in our midst In an exceptional way (Matthew 18:20). He’s not just there to observe. He speaks to the Church body corporately, as in the letters to the churches in Revelation (Revelation 2 & 3). Here in Acts 1, He visited the gathered disciples after His resurrection and gave them important instructions about what was about to happen to empower them for the work that lay ahead.
Here’s the Point: The world is in quite a mess. The Church, and each church, have an assignment and a role in the plan of God for this hour. To be out of fellowship with our assigned body of believers is to risk missing the direction of God for us, both individually and corporately. As we gather today, let’s go expecting to hear from Heaven about next steps on our way to glory.
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