March 8, 2015 A.D., by Pastor Ben Willis

Psalm 68:1-6 [NLTse]

For the choir director: A song. A psalm of David.

1 Rise up, O God, and scatter Your enemies. Let those who hate God run for their lives. 2 Blow them away like smoke. Melt them like wax in a fire. Let the wicked perish in the presence of God. 3 But let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God’s presence. Let them be filled with joy. 4 Sing praises to God and to His name! Sing loud praises to Him Who rides the clouds. His name is the Lord—rejoice in His presence!

5 Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—this is God, Whose dwelling is holy. 6 God places the lonely in families; He sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But He makes the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

The Acts of the Apostles 2:42-47 [NLTse]

42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— 47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

Sermon

When you became a follower of Jesus Christ, something very exciting happened! You became a part of a family. As we just read, Psalm 68 sings, “Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—this is God, Whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families; He sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.” The “family” that Psalm 68 sings that the Lord puts us into is not our flesh and blood families, although being a part of our flesh and blood families can be a great gift and blessing from God, too.) No. The Lord adopts us and gives us a new life as a part of His very Own family. And this family – His family – includes all those who love and have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. God calls His family “the called out ones” – called out from those who make up the rest of the people of the earth. And another name for “called out ones” is the Church.

Who here realizes you are a sinner and that you can’t save yourself from the penalty your sins deserve? [Raise hand.] Okay. Raise your hand again if you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and has paid the penalty your sins deserve for you? Okay. All of you who raised your hands both times need to know that the very fact that you believe such things – receiving Jesus Christ and living in Him by faith – these facts make each and every one of you a part of God’s family! Let me make it absolutely clear: Membership in God’s family is automatic when you repent and believe the good news about Jesus.

Now, although there is ultimately only one worldwide family, it has always been local churches (like ours) that have provided a very personal context for Christians to live out our family-relationship together. And the Bible calls our family-relationships fellowship.

As you may already know, the Bible’s word “fellowship” comes from the Greek word koinonia which means to contribute; to partner and participate; to share. So, although the Bible points out many ways that Christians should, and must, relate to each other, all those ways fundamentally describe ways in which we are to contribute to one another’s lives, the ways in which we are to partner with and participate in one another’s lives, and the ways in which we are to share in one another’s lives.

So, although membership in God’s family is automatic according to our faith, fellowship – the ways we relate and partner and share each other’s lives – must be developed and practiced.

God’s Word speaks of three basic reasons why God has brought us into His family and into fellowship with one another: Spiritual motivation; spiritual support; and, love. Let’s start with spiritual motivation.

Hebrews 3:13 says, “You must warn each other every day… so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.” “You must…” Hebrews says. So to experience the very best of what God has for us we should be experiencing the spiritual motivation that comes from fellowshipping with God’s family – fellow Christians – every day! Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another…” So even the early church was prone to fall away from fellowship, tempted to live out their faith on their own. But we are called to “not neglect our meeting together.” We need fellowship! We need the spiritual motivation that comes from our warning each other when we fellowship. We need the spiritual motivation toward acts of love and good works that come when we fellowship. And we need the spiritual motivation that comes from encouraging each other when we fellowship.

Another aspect of the spiritual motivation God has for us in Christian fellowship comes from the reality concerning the types of people we hang around with. It is common sense that the people we spend the most time with are going to be those who influence us the most. God wants you to make sure that you’re drawing your closest and most meaningful friendships from those who have a heart for God. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “Don’t be fooled… ‘bad company corrupts good character.’” And Psalm 1:1-2 says, “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.”

Fellowship with other Christians provides the spiritual motivation and a positive environment for growing closer to Christ.

Of course, we benefit from the spiritual support that comes from fellowshipping with each other, too. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “All praise to God… the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” And 1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Build up one another…”

Think about your latest hardship or crisis… What made it bearable? Was it receiving a phone call or a visit for prayer from fellow-Christians at just the right time? Was it brothers and sisters bringing over food or giving you a ride? Was it people from church sharing some money or a shoulder to cry on? Or was it one of a million other ways that God’s family cries out to the Lord for us or reminds us of His promises or lets us know by their caring and presence that in Christ we are truly never, ever alone?

The practice of fellowship guarantees that no one in the church body will ever have to shoulder the weight of the Christian life alone.

All of this, of course, is wrapped together in the bonds of love. Everything that takes place in true Christian fellowship is brought about by love. John 13:34-35 says, “I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.” And 1 John 4:11; 5:1 says, “Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other… Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves His children, too.”

So God’s love for us – the same love that has brought us into His family – works in us to love our fellow believers, as well. Now that doesn’t mean we always have to like every other Christian we meet. But for the sake of Christ we must surrender to the Spirit’s compulsion to love them: To serve them; to help them; to share what we have with them; to never say anything evil about them; to support them and help them to grow and succeed; to bless and never curse… It is this kind of love for one another that Jesus says will lead the world to believe that Jesus is indeed God’s Son, because even best friends and flesh and blood family members don’t love each other that well!

We need to fellowship. We were made for Christian fellowship! John D. Rockefeller, after experiencing all that his riches and fame could bring him, said, “There is nothing in this world that can compare with the Christian fellowship; nothing that can satisfy but Christ.”

To receive the very best things God has for us we must practice Christian fellowship. We must! Stop settling for less than Jesus’ best!

So stay after Worship today for conversation and connection over a cup of coffee or some juice. Or if you just can’t, then come Wednesday nights to the Soup & Prayer. Invite each other over for coffee or a meal. (Those of you who enjoy cooking and entertaining were especially made to practice this kind of fellowship.) Come Sunday mornings to the Sunday School classes. Parents, bring your kids. Don’t deny them God’s best just because they are tired or because they say they don’t like anybody in their class. Fellowship isn’t about liking or being entertained. Fellowship is about practicing love, and sharing our gifts and abilities, and helping one another with the motivation and support each of us needs to live for Christ.

Let’s not miss God’s best!