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Friend, before the coffee cools and before the day gathers speed, let's spend a few moments together in the harbor of God's Word. Welcome to this Thursday verse of the day bonus episode of Tales of Faith by the Sea. Today's verse comes from Hebrews chapter ten. And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together as the habit of some, but encouraging one another. Hebrews ten twenty four twenty five There is something about an old sailing vessel that is easy to overlook. We tend to remember the captain, we admire the ship. We speak of the great voyage, but none of it happened without the crew. Someone tended the sail, someone watched the horizon, someone kept the night watch while others slept, and when the storm came, every hand aboard had a part to play. The Christian life is much the same. We live in a culture that celebrates independence. We sometimes imagine faith as something entirely private. Just me, my Bible, and God. But that is not the picture we find in the New Testament. Christians were meant to walk together, worship together, pray together, serve together, encourage one another, and sometimes carry one another. There will be days when your faith feels strong. On those days perhaps someone beside you needs your encouragement. But there may also come a day when your own strength begins to fail, and God may use a brother or a sister in Christ to remind you, keep going. This is the one reason the church is so precious. The church is not merely a building we enter on Sunday morning. It is the body of Christ, a family of believers, traveling toward the same eternal shore. Hebrews tells us not to forsake assembling together. Why? Because God knows us. He knows how easily discouragement creeps into the human heart when we become isolated. He knows that storms feel larger when we face them alone, and so he gives us one another, a handshake at the church door, a prayer offered beside a hospital bed, a meal carried to a grieving family, a quiet word saying I've been thinking about you, a brother who opens the scriptures with us, a sister who reminds us that she has been praying. These things may seem small, but sometimes a small word of encouragement is exactly what keeps someone sailing. Today, look around your ship. Who is sailing beside you? Is there someone who has grown discouraged? Someone who has been absent, someone carrying a burden quietly. Don't wait for them to ask. Call them, encourage them, pray with them, remind them that they are not sailing alone. And when your own storm eventually comes, be humble enough to let your brothers and sisters do the same for you. Because the voyage toward heaven was never meant to be a solitary journey. Christ gave his church, and he gave us one another. Until next time, may God's word remain your compass. Prayer your lifeline, hope your anchor, and the fellowship of God's people strengthen you through every mile of the voyage. This has been Nathan Hampton, a minister in the Lord's Church. Safe sailing, my friends, and goodbye.