BY ARMANDO MIRANDA

sychologists say that the two great needs of a human being are a sense of identity and a sense of belonging. Humans need to know who they are, where they come from, and where they are going. They need to identify themselves with something or someone. We also need to feel that we are not alone; that we belong to someone or something; that we are appreciated, loved, cherished, accepted. Sensing our identity and feeling that we belong give us a sense of security as we travel through life. That is why God invented marriage, family, church, society (Gen. 2:18).

The worldwide Week of Prayer readings for 2004 are designed to remind us that we are united in the warmth of fellowship. No matter where we live in the world, no matter what language we speak, in the cross of Calvary, through Jesus Christ, we are one, and we are united in the warmth of Christian fellowship. Fellowship is generated in the faith we share. We are united in a common mission, experiencing the trials and hardships that we share in Christian life, participating in the emblems of the Communion service (foot washing and the Lord's Supper). As Seventh-day Adventists we are one great spiritual family; we are a fellowship scattered throughout the earth, united in the blessed hope of the return of Jesus, our Lord.

What is the purpose of Christian fellowship? Here is an answer from Ellen G. White:

"The church is a Christian society formed for the members composing it, that each member may enjoy the assistance of all the graces and talents of the other members, and the working of God upon them, according to their several gifts and abilities. The church is united in the holy bonds of fellowship in order that each member may be benefited by the influence of the other. All are to bind themselves to the covenant of love and harmony. The Christian principles and graces of the whole society of believers are to gather strength and force in harmonious action. Each believer is to be benefited and improved by the refining and transforming influence of the varied capabilities of the other members, that the things lacking in one may be more abundantly displayed in another. All the members are to draw together, that the church may become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men" (Lift Him Up, p. 295).

Thus the warmth of Christian fellowship not only will bring us many blessings, individually and corporately, but, more important, will allow us to be used by God to fulfill the most important mission the Lord has entrusted to us: Sharing the love of God with a world that is perishing. This is God's purpose for us, that we may be a wonderful demonstration of the pardoning grace of Christ, and that we may enjoy the warmth of Christian fellowship.

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Armando Miranda is a vice president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in Silver Spring, Maryland.