Good morning. We have just finished a series on Becoming the Purpose Driven church, and for the next few weeks we are going to be in between series. We will be hitting just some random topics, and there will be a Sunday that I will be gone that a guest will be speaking during our services. The next series that we are going to do, I am currently working on, and I feel that it will be a really neat series. It’s going to be a 3:16 series, and you will find out more about it later.
But, for today we come to a topic that fits right in with our last series, and what we have planned for after service. It is the idea of fellowship. In Acts 2:42 it says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer”
Also in I John 1:7 it says, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.”
Let’s pray
Fellowship is one of those “Church” words. It is a word that isn’t commonly used by non-Christians. It is also a word that is miss understood and misused by many people that are Christians.
We have our fellowship halls, our fellowship dinners, our fellowship meetings, and much more. But what exactly is fellowship? What does it mean? How does it relate to God, to Christians, and to non-Christians?
Is fellowship a potluck dinner? – Well, yes it can be.
Is fellowship a Sunday School Class? – You know, it could be.
Is fellowship joining the church? – Yes, that could be fellowship.
Is fellowship becoming a Christian? – Again, it could be.
The dictionary defines “fellowship” as: - Companionship, friendly association – Mutual sharing of experiences, of activities, of interests – A group of people with the same interests, a brotherhood.
The Greek word for fellowship is the word “koinonia”, and it comes from a root meaning common or shared. So fellowship means common participation in something either by giving what you have to the other person or receiving what he or she has. We’ve all heard the saying, “It’s all about give and take.” Well, give and take is the essence of fellowship, and give and take must be the way of fellowship in the life of the body of Christ as well.
Someone has called fellowship the glue that holds the church together. And it really is, without fellowship among the people and between them and God, the church would crumble. Sadly, that is one thing that is many times missing from our churches. Yeah, the members my have some fellowship with one another, and between them and God, but we are to also welcome and have fellowship with those outside of our church as well.
Now, this story is from several years ago, but I would imagine that the results would be much the same if it were done today. A church newsletter mentioned a man who visited 18 different churches on successive Sundays, trying to find out what the churches were really like. In every church, he was neatly dressed and followed the same routine of giving ample opportunity for fellowship. Then he used a scale to rate the reception he received. These are the points he awarded:
10 points for a smile from a worshiper
10 points for a greeting from someone sitting nearby
100 points for an exchange of names
200 points for an invitation to have coffee
200 points for an invitation to return
1000 points for an introduction to another worshiper
2000 points for an invitation to meet the pastor
On this scale, 11 of the 18 churches earned fewer than 100 points total. 5 of those churches actually received less than 20 points total. This man’s conclusion: The doctrine may be biblical, the singing inspirational, and the sermon uplifting, but when a visitor finds nobody who cares whether he’s there, he is not likely go come back.
So, what does that have to say about a body that should be having fellowship with everyone? The answer is, it doesn’t say much. If anything it screams hypocrite.
So, why do we need fellowship?
I can’t tell you the number of times that I have heard in class of people saying to ministers, “you can be a Christian without going to church can’t you?” The answer yes, because you are saved not by going to church, but by Jesus paying the price for your sins on the cross. Thus you can be a Christian without going to church, but I say to that, “you will never mature and you will not persevere in the faith without fellowship with other believers.”
A young may who was fed up with church went to see this wise old Christian in his cabin to get some advice. He told him all the things that were bothering him about church, and how he felt that he would be better off without the company of other Christians. As he was speaking, the old man silently took the fire tongs and removed a red-hot glowing coal from the middle of the fire and set it on the hearth. The coal glowed for a while, but eventually dimmed and turned black. He let it sit there a while and then took the tongs and placed the coal back in the middle of the fire. Within seconds the coal was glowing red hot once again. The young man took the wordless lesson and left determined to stay with church.
Just as coals soon burn out when they are removed from the company of other coals, in that same way, Christians will not last long in the faith if they are removed from true fellowship of other Christians.
Chuck Colsen said it well, he said, “Christians are not meant to be lone rangers.” In life, things can get you down, but if we have fellowship with others, they can help us to keep glowing and continue to be a burning coal.
Let’s just spend the next few minutes looking at what some of the wisdom literature of the Bible has to say about fellowship. If you want to turn with me to Ecclesiastes, we will be looking at a passage here and one in the book of Proverbs as well. When we look at the wisdom literature we gain much wisdom that we can apply to our lives, and today we see just another aspect of wisdom literature that would be wise of us to follow.
Turn with me now to Ecclesiastes 4:9-12. Here in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 it says, “1”
So, as I get my beautiful assistant to come up and help me I have a visible demonstration to show the importance of fellowship and how this passage of scripture plays out. (WING IT WITH THE PENCILS)
So, fellowship with one another helps to make us stronger. Also if you want to turn with me to Proverbs 27:17 we see this importance brought out in a different way. Here in Proverbs 27:17 it says, “2”
When we are in contact with one another, we can cause each other to grow stronger and more effective. Iron sharpens iron so one man can sharpen another.
There is strength in numbers, when we come together as Christians, we can help each other, as well as be more effective. Vance Havner says: “Snowflakes are frail, but if enough of them get together they can stop traffic.”
In the fall of the year, Linda, a young woman, was traveling alone up the rutted and rugged highway from Alberta, Canada to the Yukon. Linda didn’t know you don’t travel to Whitehorse alone in a rundown Honda Civic, so she set off where only four-wheel drives normally venture. The first evening she found a room in the mountains near a summit and asked for a 5 a.m. wakeup call so she could get an early start. She couldn’t understand why the clerk looked surprised at that request, but as she awoke to early morning fog surrounding the mountain-top, she understood.
Not wanting to look foolish, she got up and went to breakfast. 2 truckers invited Linda to join them, and since the place was so small, she felt obliged. “Where are you headed?” one of the truckers asked. “Whitehorse” was her reply. “In that little Civic? No way! This pass is DANGEROUS in weather like this.” “Well, I’m determined to try” was Linda’s gutsy, if not very uninformed response.”
“Then I guess we’re just going to have to hug you,” the trucker suggested. Linda drew back. “There’s no way I’m going to let you touch me!” “Not like THAT!” the truckers chuckled. “We’ll put one truck in front of you and one in the rear. In that way, we’ll get you through the mountains.”
All that foggy morning Linda followed the two red dots in front of her and had the reassurance of a big escort behind her as they made their way safely through the mountains.
Now, that story reminds me of what the church is supposed to be like. Caught in the fog of our dangerous passage through life, we need to be “hugged”. With fellow Christians who know the way and can safely lead ahead of us, and with others behind, gently encouraging us along, and we too can pass safely.
We look at the idea of fellowship this morning in order that we might answer two questions. 1st - How are we doing? 2nd - What can we do to improve? Now, let’s make that a little more personal so that we don’t do what often happens in churches and say “That was a really good message for Joe sitting over there. I hope he listened to every word.” No, this message is for you and for me. So let’s re-word those questions. 1st – How am I doing at fellowshipping? 2nd – What can I do to improve?
So, FELLOWSHIP – Turn with me to I John 1. We’re going to look at verses 3-10. As we look at these verses, I want us to see some fellowship principles and then we’re going to apply them to both our fellowship with one another and our fellowship with God.
Here in I John 1:3-10 John writes, “3”
The first thing comes in verse 3. Fellowship is made possible by shared experiences.
In this passage, John says that he is going to communicate to his readers some of the things that he has heard and seen in order that they might have fellowship with him. The word that John uses here to speak of fellowship is that word “koinonia”. It is the idea of sharing a portion of your life with someone else. Sharing needs, hurts, joys, laughter, tears, and even stories. Everything that makes up the everyday existence of your life can be shared.
Things that you have in common with one another, these shared experiences, begin the fellowship process. Have you ever been in a place with a group of people and had this thought go through your mind: “What am I doing here? I have nothing in common with this group of people!” When you walk into a group of Christians, you shouldn’t have to have that thought. Some of the first messages that I ever preached to this church were about unity. In one of them the key text came out of Ephesians 4:3-6. Here in Ephesians 4:3-6 it says, “4”
Do you see all those things that we have in common with one another? The wonderful thing is that none of those things will ever change. If I base my fellowship with you over the fact that we like the same baseball team, what happens if one of us changes our mind and starts to like the rival?
If I base my fellowship with Jarred over the fact that we are both single guys, what happens when one of us gets married?
If someone bases their fellowship with another person over the fact that they both have cancer, what happens when one of them goes into remission and they don’t see each other at the doctor’s office every week anymore?
But if we base our fellowship with each other over the fact that we both have Jesus – there we are safe, because that will never change!
Now when it comes to our fellowship with God, we have fellowship with Him through shared experiences as well. Now you may say, “what shared experiences do we have with God?” When you look at he idea of baptism, that is sharing in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Through this shared experience, we can have fellowship with God.
Look at what John has to say there in verse 3. “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” The key there is the bond of peach.
And that brings us to our second fellowship principle. Fellowship is hindered or destroyed by major differences. When we have major differences, there tends to be no peace.
Senator Jeffords, one of the senators from Vermont a few years ago, announced that he was leaving the Republican Party to become an Independent. He said that he no longer felt comfortable being a Republican, because the Republican Party had just gone a different direction than what he was headed. He broke fellowship because the differences were too great.
You see, it is not differences that break fellowship, but major differences between one another. I don’t’ have to be just like you in order to fellowship with you. Paul talks in I Corinthians 12, that each of us is different from one another. We have different gifts and abilities. What enables us to fellowship with one another is the fact that we each use our differences to help one another, serve one another and carry the whole group in the same direction. That’s why Paul calls us a body in that chapter. We’re headed the same way, and therefore we can have fellowship.
Now that brings us to what hinders our fellowship with God. Our fellowship with Him is hindered and even destroyed by some very major differences. Because of God’s character we see Him as “light”. Because of our rebellion and sin, “we walk in darkness”. Now I can see huge differences in these 2. Light and darkness do not go together. Thus because of a major difference hinders our fellowship with God.
What do you think is the one thing that people look for in as church? What is it that you think draws people to a church? Well, going along with the idea of fellowship, according to a 1995 study done by the Barna Research group, the number 2 reason a person attends a church service is due to “how much people seem to care for one another.”
It’s all about how much we care for one another, love one another, and all that boils down to our fellowship with one another.
I have an interesting story to share with you about how fellowship shows the love that you have for one another. Carol, a gracious clerk in the local Christian bookstore, often referred to the church as "the body." One week, many devoted members of a local "body" had come to the bookstore to buy birthday gifts for their pastor.
On Saturday, that pastor, John, stopped at the store. He told Carol about the surprise party his congregation had given him the night before. Carol’s heart was touched. Spontaneously, she leaned forward and exclaimed, "Oh, John, I just love your ’body’!"
You see, true fellowship means that we love one another. The same is true when it comes to our fellowship with God. God already loves each and every one of us. When we have true fellowship with God, it is because we love Him.
As the pioneers moved west, each was given 40 acres of land. At first, they built their houses in the middle of their plots. But later, as more settlers moved in, they would build on 1of the 4 corners that was the closest to their neighbors. The pioneers learned through experiences that fellowship and community were more important than space and isolation.
Fellowship can add so much to your life. The deeper our fellowship with one another and the more that we care about one another, the more committed we will be to be here every Sunday,
the more we will be excited about this church and desire to tell others about it, the more we will find encouragement from one another when we are here, and the more contact we will have with one another even when we are not here at church. Does this sound like something that you think is worth the effort for us to put into practice?
In conclusion, a pastor saw Robert Schuller’s TV program “Hour of Power.” One of the things that impressed him the most during the program was watching everyone turning around to shake hands with and greet other worshippers seated near them. The pastor felt that his church was a bit stuffy and could use a bit of friendliness. So, at Sunday morning worship he announced that next week they would initiate this custom of greeting one another.
At the close of this same worship service one man turned around to the lady behind him and said a cheerful, “Good morning!” She looked back at him with shock at his boldness and said, “I beg your pardon! That friendliness business doesn’t start until next Sunday!”
Let me encourage you not to put this off, but let it start today. And not just to those you know and are members of our church. Be friendly and fellowship with those outside the church as well. That is the only way that people are going to see that the church here at Fly Branch care about one another and cares about them as well.
Let’s Pray |
