Enjoying Fellowship

How many of you have ever been on a suspension bridge before?  Many of you were on one at camp a few years ago when we hiked down to that waterfall and back up all those stairs.  Remember, that towards the bottom was a bridge that suspended itself across the river.  It didn’t have any supports underneath.  It was literally hanging from one side of the river to the other.  That scared some of you because it moved and swayed as you walked across it.  And you really didn’t like it when I jumped up and down.  

The Golden Gate Bridge was built in 1937 and is a suspension bridge that spans 4,200 feet!  That’s almost an entire mile!  Since then they’ve gotten even longer.  The longest suspension bridge in the world was built in 1998 and spans 6,532 feet.  That’s almost a mile and a quarter! 

Now imagine for just a moment that you were a half mile into a hike across the Golden Gate Bridge or the bridge in Japan when one of the giant cables holding up the bridge failed to work as they were designed to work?  Well, the bridge would likely fall and you with it.  All the parts of the bridge working together keep you safe from the raging waters below. 

Well the same is true of the body of Christ.  This is why fellowship is so important to your Christian life.  When Christians have strong fellowship in their lives, they can weather the storms of life.  They can cross great chasms and survive the raging waters of life.  Fellowship makes us stronger and provides us with the love and encouragement that we need.   

Have you ever heard the saying, “no man is an island?”  Well, it basically means that human kind is connected to its surroundings and the people that are there.  For the Christian this is especially true.  “No Christian is an Island.”  People were made in God's image and as such we were made for fellowship with other people.  Even God exists in a fellowship of people. 

We don’t have time to go into a full blown explanation of the Trinity, but God exists as three person in one.  He always has and always will be in perfect fellowship with the other persons of the Trinity.  God loved one another, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit before there were angels or human beings.  That's how scripture can teach us that "God is love."  This effects you and I because we were created in God’s image and therefore one of our default needs is fellowship with other believers.  

Hebrews 10:24-25  ⁴ and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,  ²⁵ not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.

1 Peter 4:7-11   ⁷ The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer (Requesting God’s Guidance).  ⁸ Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another (Enjoying Fellowship), because love covers a multitude of sins. 

Fellowship is part of God’s plan.  For every Christian and we are not to forsake it. 

Koinania

Now fellowship is more than just hanging out together, but it’s not less than that.  First and foremost we have to meet together.  But we do so for the purpose of loving one another through Jesus Christ. 

Acts 2:42  ⁴² And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

It was here in Acts 2 when the Christian church was forming and they shared their lives together.  Not just by going out on Friday nights.  Notice they were learning God’s word from the apostles and praying together, they were eating meals together and sharing their lives together.  This just wasn't a ragtag group of people that got together and said, “Hmmm, what are we going to do for fun tonight.”  This was a group whose common denominator was the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Christians need one another.  Someone without fellowship is like a person trying to cross the river without a bridge.  And when we fail to fellowship through the church it’s like taking parts of the bridge apart.  The Bible uses the metaphor of the body.  All the parts work together to form one body and all the parts are needed to function as a body.  All are important and all need to be present for the body to function.  Just like the parts of a bridge.  

·         What are some ways that we can improve upon our fellowship with one another?

       Do we love one another like 1 Peter says, or do we care more about our selves than others?

       Do we strive to be in fellowship with other believers or do we just come to church when we feel like it or when we 'have to'?

       Fellowship is an essential part of the Christian life.