Fellowship Among Believers
Ask anyone in the “singles” group what fellowship among believers means to them and you would find a multitude of responses. God’s word is very clear on this topic. Jesus had a purpose for fellowship with his disciples. Fellowship among Christians serves to help us grow closer to Christ, to protect its members, to give members strength, to help grow our faith, to encourage, and to show love among our brothers and sisters in Christ. Fellowship is also a test that reveals our own growth as Christians.
Someone asked me this past week, "What kind of people come to your Bible study?" I told them that we were an eclectic group of believers and that God was using this group to serve Him. As I reflect on those of you I fellowship with each week, I see friends that have become like family to me. Each of you carries a unique gift that strengthens this group.
When we come together at the end of the week, we study a topic that is near to someone's heart and part of their journey in life (maybe a part of all of our journeys). Every person in the group brings a unique perspective on these topics that teaches someone else a different way of looking at the situations we face. Those different points of view provide strength and hope to carry us through. My hope is that we will continue to grow closer to God together, grow as a body of believers, and serve God as one.
2 Corinthians 6:14 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?”
1 John 1:3-7 “But if we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanses us from all sin.”
Who do we form friendships with or enter into relationships with? Are we allowing ourselves to be put in situations that allows darkness into our hearts and minds? When we don’t answer these questions, we are ignoring or hiding from the fact that we may have fallen short in this area at times. As we answer these questions, we can inspect the desires of our heart and seek God’s word to strengthen us.
Hebrews 2:11 “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.”
For anyone that has been a believer most of their lives and grew up in a body of Christian believers it may not be easy to relate to this verse in the way that new believers do. For those that became Christians later on in life, they may be able to look back at a time in their lives that it seemed foreign to tell old friends that they were going to church or attending a Bible study. But when you find joy in fellowship with a body of believers, it is something you desire to share with others and not ashamed of.
1 John 3:16 “Hereby perceive we love the love of God, because he laid down His life for us: And we ought to lay down our lives for our brethren.”
Matthew 25:40 would you refuse the opportunity to sit with Christ?
“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, in as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Laying down our lives for our brothers and sisters in Christ… We are to die to ourselves, for the cause of showing the love we have for Christ. If we are denying ourselves the opportunity of felloship, are we denying Christ?
If we are rejecting fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ, are we cutting ourselves off from the body of Christ?
1 Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:14 For the body is not one member, but many.
1 Corinthians 12:24-27 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having more abundant honor to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular.
Each of us serves a purpose. We each bring a unique gift and talent to this body of believers. God strengthens those gifts when we are using them for His glory. However, when we withdraw from fellowship with one another, we are not allowed to use those gifts in a way that would honor and glorify Christ; this weakens the body.
Matthew 18:20 what is the power in fellowship?
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.”
We have definitely seen the power in the fellowship and prayer that we share with one another. We have seen prayers answered, lives changed, and lifted one another up in difficult times. It’s incredible to think that when we are gathered together to worship God, He is with us.
Luke 22:32 What influence does this have on our ability to witness to others?
“But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”
If you were to ask most of the members of our group how they found out about this Bible study, most would say someone had told them about it and asked them to join us. God wants each of us to reach out to others, share your joy with them, and to invite them to grow in a body of believers that will strengthen their faith.
John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love for one another.”
Consider this: Jesus commands us to love one another. He spent time with his disciples because of this great love. We cannot say that we know God if we refuse or reject our brothers. What was accomplished during the time Jesus spent with his followers? Jesus was teaching his brothers acts of service, kindness, generosity, forgiveness, and most of all love. Fellowship with believers tests us and teaches us in these areas.
It’s absolutely incredible to think that we are one of Jesus’ disciples when we have love for one another. Fellowship with believers is a sign of that love. We each are allowed to use our God given gifts to teach one another about the love of Christ. Our faith is grown each time we witness an answered prayer or see the comfort that is given during difficult times to one of our members. We are protected from the many pitfalls that sometimes follow being single. We grow stronger in the areas that we have been weak in, as we spend time listening to others speak of how they overcame the giants in their life. We learn to love and serve others, as our love for one another grows. We cannot grow as Christians and cut ourselves off from the body of Christ. There is a purpose in fellowship among believers: to live our lives according to the will of God, grow in the light that God has provided, and to love our brothers and sisters in Christ.
