So I like to picture a live congregation as a barbecue of coals. If you take a piece of dead black charcoal and put it in the fire, you can see it gradually catch, change its nature, and become red, alive and glowing. But no piece of coal should feel guilty that it is unable to burn and turn red. The image also reminds us that one piece of coal or wood cannot burn alone. Two or three pieces are needed, and the fire moves from one to the other and then upwards.
Fire is therefore a symbol of fellowship and prayer.
Which warns us that a piece of coal that withdraws itself from the others will soon go out. The fire of the Spirit burns best when we keep close to one another in a community of the Spirit.