Family Gatherings

by Annie Yorty

Do you relish, or recoil from, the idea of family gatherings? With Thanksgiving right around the corner, let’s consider God’s plan for His family.

Family Tension

I recently heard a television producer talk about her refusal to gather with family members for the holidays because they had voted for the “wrong” candidate. She cut off her relationship with them because she ties their vote for this politician to a lack of support for her.

Coincidentally, she reports she’s in “constant conflict” and “angry all the time.”

These attitudes hit closer to home as well. Friends with grown children and grandchildren report being estranged from their families because of political views. They have no hope of a family gathering for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Spiritual Family Estrangement

The family of God has its own problems with divisions. Since every person in His family struggles with sin, relationships get messy. Within the last few years, many have turned to watching church online as an alternative to personal interactions that may provoke unpleasant feelings.

God’s Command for Family Gatherings

Family gatherings are God’s idea. When He created Adam and Eve, He instituted earthly families. When He gave His Son to die for our sins, He provided the way for people to come into His eternal spiritual family.

Despite the messiness of human interaction, God said meeting together is best for us. When some in the early church stopped coming to gatherings (probably for similar reasons we don’t get together today), His Word addressed the problem.

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (Hebrews 10:25 NLT)

Reasons for Family Gatherings

Our typical church family gatherings have three basic elements—worship, Bible teaching, and fellowship.

While these elements take different forms, in them we magnify God, learn applicable truth from His Word, and support and build up one another to grow in grace.

Hebrews 10:23-24 expands on how family gatherings build up the people of God. Meeting together maintains our hope, reminds us of God’s faithfulness, and motivates us to do good works that flow from love.

Why are in-person family gatherings so important?

In each element of the family gathering at church, meeting face-to-face far surpasses online or remote experiences.

Worship:

In all biblical scenes of heaven, myriad beings lift their voices to worship God. In unison, they all sing the same words of praise.

When a human congregation joins together in one room to lift high the name of God, we join the worship in heaven to exponentially magnify Him in a way we may not be able to accomplish alone at home. Not only does our corporate worship honor God, but our shared purpose also binds our hearts together.

Bible Teaching:

Surely, we can receive Bible teaching without gathering with other people, right?

Yes, but let’s think about this for a minute. First, in God’s plan for His children, He appointed pastors into a position of authority for the purpose of teaching and shepherding. When we turn on the TV or a livestream to watch the sermon, we don’t really connect with our pastor. And if we don’t like what he says, we can flip to another show.

Second, when we leave our homes and go to church for family gatherings, we have deliberately set aside special time to hear from God through His Word. We likely won’t be multi-tasking—running a load of laundry, fixing breakfast, doom scrolling, or napping—during the sermon.

Speaking of hearing from God, what do you do when the message touches a spiritual nerve? Seated on the recliner in our living rooms, we can easily get up and move away from the holy prompting.

True, we can certainly ignore a niggling of guilt when we’re among the congregation at church, but we’re more likely to stay seated and think about how God’s Word speaks to us.

Fellowship:

Since the inception of the iPhone over twenty years ago, algorithms have trained us to gravitate toward solitary over shared experiences. Likes and views over a pat on the back or spoken words. Emojis over hugs. Thousands of acquaintances over the intimacy of flesh-and-bone friends. On social media, we can become anything we wish to present to the public.

In face-to-face interactions, we can certainly project façades as well. Over time, though, the mask slips. As we experience life together, we learn to be real. To be known for who we really are. In that transparent state, we can empathize, encourage, counsel, comfort, and forgive one another.

God uses friction in our relationships to sand off rough edges of selfishness, impatience, greed, anger, and other spiritual maladies. #annieyorty #familygathers #thanksgiving2025 #familychristmas #Godspurpose Share on X

Let’s Gather

God didn’t tell us to regularly meet because He finds our human scuffles and skirmishes entertaining. No, He’s grieved by any sin that causes division among His people.

But, true to His Word, He uses the friction in our relationships to sand off rough edges of selfishness, impatience, greed, anger, and other spiritual maladies.

In my Advent devotional, 25 Symbols of Christmas: Finding Jesus, I wrote a message about how family gatherings remind us of Jesus. The prophet Isaiah named Him Everlasting Father because His sacrifice enables us to come by faith into the family of God.

Jesus prepares a place for us to one day join the ultimate family gathering in heaven face-to-face with Him and all the people in His Church around the world.

But for now, God gives us the opportunity for family gatherings on earth. As Thanksgiving and Christmas approach, I hope you spend time with both your earthly family and your spiritual family.

Join the conversation:

How has God used family gatherings to bless you during a difficult time?

We welcome your comments.

Copyright ©2025 Annie Yorty

A Special Thanksgiving Message

I’m grateful to God for the privilege to share the encouragement of His Word through books, blogs, podcasts, and articles. I’m also thankful for you, dear reader. Each time I sit at my keyboard to write, I pray for you and ask God what message will meet your need. I believe He directs my thoughts each time I write.

I’ve recently been praying about how to get the devotions from 25 Symbols of Christmas: Finding Jesus into the hands of more people who need His hope. One small action that yields huge results is writing a review on Amazon. Would you please watch the brief video below and consider how you can help? 😊