'fellowship' - noun accusative feminine - Greek koinōnian κοινωνίαν - Strong’s 2842
• What is shared in common as the basis of partnership, community ..
• (lit: partnership) (a) contributory help, participation, (b) sharing in, communion, (c) spiritual fellowship, a fellowship in the spirit ..
We Are Called Into Fellowship
"God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:9).
A clear call. A call from God Himself. The Bible translations I use all have "called" in this verse ..
"That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:3).
Scripture is saying that fellowship with one another in Christ is vital for the local church. It is part of God's faithfulness that He desires to give us fellowship with other believers and also with Himself. A great blessing to all.
"Fellowship is the sole universal purpose of the local church. As we fellowship around the person of Jesus Christ, the true purposes of God are begotten by the Holy Spirit". Derek Prince: 'Rediscovering God's Church', 2006 (emphasis mine).
In Bible times God would send teachers and evangelists and apostles all around the place to help and strengthen the local churches, but it was the locals' job to do fellowship, and to do it in Jesus. This is where the people got to know Jesus, our Father and Holy Spirit, and came to know one another and to grow in relationships. From that foundation "rivers of living water" (John 7:38) flowed out from them, bringing "salt" and "light" (Colossians 4:6; Matthew 5:16; John 1:4) to their families and communities, and "the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47).
They saw miracles: "God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will" (Hebrews 2:4).
Don't we all want this?
Jesus is Head over all the church (Ephesians 1:22; Colossians 1:18); we, here on Earth, are His body (Ephesians 5:23). A body is one, all its parts joined and working together, inseparable (Ephesians 4:16; Colossians 2:19).
We are called Christian because we belong to Jesus; we are "of Christ" .. "Christian". Amazing and awesome! It was an important day for humanity when this was first seen (Acts 11:26).
We are called into fellowship for a clear reason:
".. so that you too may have fellowship with us [mature Christians]; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:3). A call to join, in genuine community, with those already established in the faith and in their relationship with Father, with Jesus the Son and with Holy Spirit. Intimately. With God Himself.
"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit" (Ephesians 1:13).
".. included", even ".. marked". In all of humankind, in all of history, Christians are the only ones to be included in with the Godhead.
Jesus did not tell us to gather each Sunday in special buildings, join in singing with a near-professional and very loud group in the front, then listen to notices, listen to a "giving" sermon, then listen to a preaching sermon, and then go home.
No, He commands us to have fellowship in Jesus. Men and women, and children and youth too, high and low, mature Christians and new believers. All. Together. Worshiping, learning, praying, caring, working (ministering), and sharing lives. Fellowship. (See Acts 2:42-47).
More than just affecting their own people, the life of the early Christians impacted all of the heavenlies and all of society: "[God's] intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 3:10).
We learn that the "wisdom of God" is Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:24, 1:30, 2:7).
Church
I have been pondering what it is to be church in our time. (I am not there yet). (I also find that some people are reluctant to talk about this). The Western church is not growing. We rejoice when new people are saved and join us in Jesus. But if the body is not growing, then for every new Christian there is another who drops out of the count. This is tragic.
Trish and I were in a sizeable local church for many years. We grew there in Jesus and were part of things; we shared in many adventures and saw salvations, discipleship and miracles. We developed friendships and many ministries were begun by the people.
After major leadership changes other things changed; I began to feel uncomfortable and eventually stopped going. A while later Trish stopped going too. Good societal things were being done there, and there was praise and preaching .. but ..
What is church? What did this (changing) group of people have and then seemed to not have?
I found (and still find) that there are a great many Christians who appear to be as uncomfortable as me, and as mystified, and as separated from the raft of local churches around about. Others say that they "go to church" but are not able to connect and do not feel that they are being fed. Some have told me that they go because they believe that some kind of "church" attendance is necessary. (Remember the Derek Prince quote: "Fellowship is the sole universal purpose of the local church..")
Years have passed and Trish and I now belong in groups where we see Jesus' life among the people. This is very good news. The Lord assures us that when we earnestly seek Him with our whole heart we will surely find Him (Deuteronomy 4:29; Jeremiah 29:13; Proverbs 8:17; Matthew 5:6)!
(Trish and I were never without Jesus, and were always able to rejoice in Christian fellowship with our family and friends and specially with one another. So we were never without "church", Jesus' "ecclesia").
Finding Fellowship
In her very busy life Trish leads a women's prayer meeting, praying "for families and the generations". Relationships are deepening among the women, they find their times together to be rich and purposeful. At school she teaches life skills in her Home Economics classes, and also "Bible"; she sees her relationships with her students grow in these classes.
I am part of a number of prayer and study groups. These also are rich and satisfying with growing relationships. And I write 'Psalms Of John' (and maintain the website). I love this work, it is a gift from Jesus, (even the name was given by Him); He and I work together. This is the most satisfying work I have ever done, it also deepens my relationship with our Lord, and equips me for when I am in prayer and talking with people everywhere.
A year or so ago Trish and I found one local church, a half-hour drive from home, where there is a great Sunday evening gathering. We worship with rich Christian music, (much of it from Scripture and written by people in the group). There are opportunities for everyone to share and to pray for one another, also great teaching, and shared meals. Jesus is very present in these meetings. They call them "services" but I see them as Christian "meetings"; they are gatherings of God's people, not so much from-the-front and them-and-us (Acts 2:42)!
A local church near our home held an "everyone welcome" combined-churches gathering one Sunday evening. Trish and I heard about it and went, (we were hungry for fellowship), and were delighted. The people there were very Christ centred. The songs, prayers, teaching and preaching were all full of love, full of Jesus, and were theologically sound. Many from different congregations contributed. We have been back there on other Sundays and are forming lovely connections among these Christians. We are beginning to think that this may be our new "home church".
To me all these events are "church"; essential to life in the ecclesia, or the gathered people of God.
Definitions of ecclesia include a sense that they are a governing body, people who help keep the whole of society in good and righteous balance. Certainly a look at history shows that the most fair and egalitarian nations in the world had very strong Christian influence for centuries.
It was the Christians who established the first hospitals, schools and universities, and provided the first broad-scale welfare to the dispossessed. Christians fought for the vote for women and even for people who did not own land, they ended slavery, and pushed for better working conditions and paid vacations for employees. The list goes on. Christians were playing their proper rôle in societies.
Today we do not see this influence. Instead Christianity is progressively being marginalised in Western counties, as well as in India, the Middle East, Myanmar, North Korea and more. At the same time long established freedoms are being taken away. Freedoms of speech, of conscience, of privacy, association and religion, and the freedom to raise our own children according to our beliefs and values, (rather than according to a government defined ideology).
Perhaps most importantly, Jesus taught that every person is infinitely precious. From this grew the certainty that the people should always have more power and influence than governments and their officials; today our governments seem to be forgetting this.
Through Him
Jesus’ church just celebrated Pentecost Sunday, and where Trish and I went we saw a deep recognition of Jesus' love and care for His body. Not just us; the ministers fraternal for our part of this city have been drawing closer, coming into unity. They felt to call our regional ecclesia to a week of prayer, with a different local church hosting each evening - "from house to house" (Acts 5:42). Deep is calling to deep. Last night, Monday, there were about 30 of us gathered to worship and pray together. Trish and I know only a few of these brothers and sisters but by Sunday we, and more day by day, will be closer. We are connecting and Jesus is growing His people (Colossians 2:19)! Jesus is "building His church" (Matthew 16:18).
I am happy about Trish and me. We have fellowship and witness and Jesus' work and guidance, Jesus is providing for us (Luke 12:22-32). This is Jesus being Jesus, and faith in action.
With all the changes we see happening in the world it will be very good for each one of us to be in true and sincere relationships with a committed community of people who desire to live by, through and for Jesus and the Kingdom of God, just as in the early days of the church. Very good. Then we will all be better established in Jesus when we are in the world, helping (Ephesians 4:11-16).
"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen" (Romans 11:36).
Jesus is Head over all the church, it belongs to Him and He is her Saviour (Ephesians 5:23). We cannot even see the church as she truly is. It is Jesus' job to shape her and to draw people into the joy and fullness of Christian life (Acts 2:47), so that His church will assume its ordained rôle in our world.
"Jesus gave Himself up for His church, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present her to Himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:25-27 paraphrased).
To God be the glory. Let us pray that we may grow in fellowship .. and in loving and serving our Lord.
"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Corinthians 13:14).
Favourite Scriptures
"Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live" (1 Corinthians 8:6).
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life — the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us — that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:1-3).
"Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God's Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident" (2 Corinthians 1:20 Message).
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased" (Luke 2:14).
Praise Jesus.
Amen.
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Praise Jesus.
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