True Christian Fellowship...what gets in the way? - Philippians 1:3-8; Acts 2:42-45

 

Let's start this blog post with a quote from the late Larry Crabb.  This Sunday was a stand-alone sermon about true Christian fellowship.  The last time I shared this was a screen version in Ohio because the virus had found us.  It was great to present it last Sunday in person.  I really like this quote that emphasizes the "strive to cultivate."  

The sermon comes on the heels of many conversations with the church I am serving now but also other churches that describe themselves as a "friendly" church.  A good start but we need to be reminded that "being friendly" is the lowest rung of the ladder.  What is above being just friendly?  How important is the foundational practice of fellowship to the life of the individual Christian and the body of Christ as a whole?  What gets in the way from us cultivating relationships with other believers?  These are all questions to be answered by the Scriptures.  

I will finish this post with the last 4 points I gave with a little more detail.  To have true Christian fellowship...to be an intimate community with each other...being steadfastly attentive to each other...we must...

1.  Take care of sin.

What we can be so thankful for is that God gives us clear instructions on what to do with sin.  It is not a mystery.  Knowing and doing are two different things but we have orders from on high that need to be followed.  Sin lingering in any type of fellowship from the smallest unit to the overall church body needs to be handled God's way.  We sacrifice experiencing the full joy of fellowship when we try to manage through sin some other way.

2.  Rearrange our schedules.

Our schedules have been rearranged by the world we live in.  Many times we have gravitated to the "loudest" voice to keep the peace.   This foundational practice of the church has taken a back seat to other activities that could be good but have ended up dominated our lives.  I have heard so many times the excuse of not scheduling a possible church fellowship event because the people won't come back here for a second time.  Yup, something is out of whack and we need to reprioritize the energy we get from the fellowship of the saints to live the rest of our week for Him.

3.  Gather for service.

The main word in this point is "for."  We need to change our attitude of why we come to church.  The 2 greatest commandments need to be in the forefront of our actions.  We have come together to love God through our combined worship (vertical) and we have come together to love one another through our service (horizontal).  It is a fight to suppress the consumer culture and mentality we live in when we walk through the doors of the church and find our favorite seat in the sanctuary.  What an opportunity each Sunday and other times when we gather to look vertically and horizontally.

4.  Pray for new stories.

Christian fellowship is one of the tools God uses to touch people's lives for eternity.  As persons come into this church family they should hear God's word; they should hear God's people sing about Him; they should hear God's people pray to Him; and they should see God's people loving one another.  This should result at times in a response of repentance and faith to God's call upon them as they call upon the name of the Lord.  We should be daily praying for the collective witness of the church to be strong so we experience new people testifying that Jesus is their Lord and Savior.  

Fellowship is foundational and needs to be functioning in the life of the church.

Adam