“THE NEED FOR FELLOWSHIP”

THE NEED FOR FELLOWSHIP

Monday, April 4th, 2022

SCRIPTURE:

Acts 2:42:47

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

1 Corinthians 1:9

“God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” NIV

THOUGHTS TO PONDER:

Fellowship, we use that term quite frequently and even sometimes loosely within church circles. We may think of fellowship as casual conversation, hanging out, socializing, having fun, etc. We may even use that term to invite people to stick around after church on Sunday for “fellowship”, which in some of my own experiences have been limited to lemonade and cookies/refreshments. However, I believe that true Christian fellowship is so much more…

What is it really? Fellowship? So, I looked it up in the scriptures and found the two verses above. The word for fellowship according to the Thayers Greek Lexicon is koinonia which means, fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse. Fellowship implies a great sense of authentic intimacy and holy communion with God and one with another. We were created for it.

As a young child, I found fellowship with God through partaking in the sacrament of Holy Communion every Sunday in worship. As a Boy Scout I was blessed to have a scout master who took seriously the call to be “reverent”. Every month in grade school I went camping and enjoyed the beauty of God’s creation and shared in fellowship with the Holy Spirit in realizing how wonderfully and uniquely made I am. I would later pick up the acoustic guitar and lead worship in a contemporary church setting. And often I would sit in the stairwell, where the acoustics were fabulous, and strum my guitar and sing my heart out discovering and experiencing the love of my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Over the years, I’ve been challenged to think about where and how I find fellowship with my Savior and Lord. Whether it be through praise music, the outdoors, sharing in the sacrament of Holy Communion, breaking away to a monastery or retreat center on occasion, or simply curling up on the couch with the God’s Word, I have found deep and personal intimate fellowship with Christ.

As the years have passed, I have learned the invaluable importance of not only fellowship with God, but also fellowship with others. We aren’t meant to do life alone, and even more so, in light of the pandemic that we have all experienced for more than two years now. As clergy, we need the fellowship of one another.

I’ve been reading a daily devotional during this Lenten season that describes authentic Christian fellowship more faithfully as this; “unselfish loving, honest sharing, practical serving, sacrificial giving, sympathetic comforting, and all the other ‘one another’ commands we read about in the New Testament.” In true fellowship, we “share feelings, confess our failures, disclose doubts, admit our fears, and acknowledge our weaknesses and ask for help, support, and prayer from one another.”

Growing up we found fellowship with one another as a close-knit family. In high school, I got involved in a Christian outreach called Young life and discovered genuine and authentic fellowship with persons that I didn’t even know or have history with. In my college days, I found fellowship with like-minded believers in a fraternity I was involved with, and eventually in a young adult ministry through a large church in the Charlotte area upon graduation.

Serving as a pastor over the years and having moved from one church and community to the next, I’ve had to be intentional about a) finding new places and ways to experience personal fellowship with God, and b) finding fellowship with others. And even so, the importance of Christian fellowship for my wife and three children goes without saying. As a family, each of us has had to be intentional about seeking fellowship with others, whether it be through; connecting with other clergy families and persons serving in varied ministry settings, to finding fellowship among families with school aged children, or our neighbors, extended family, and old friends and church members from long ago.

What I’ve learned is that engaging fellowship with the Lord actually strengthens my fellowship with others. Fellowship with God strengthens my relationship with my wife and children. Fellowship with God strengthens my relationships with members of the local churches where I have served, and it has strengthened me to be a better witness for Christ during such a time as this.

FOR FURTHER REFLECTION:

How about you? Where have you found fellowship with God to be most powerful for you before you entered into full time ministry? Where are you finding fellowship with God today? How might you position yourself to make yourself more available to sharing in personal fellowship with God?

And how about fellowship with others? Are you intentional about making holy friendships? Are you intentional about making yourself available to share in fellowship with others, even those you may not know?

PRAYER:

Lord Jesus, forgive me for failing to appreciate Your great longings for me to be in intimate relationship with You. Transform my will and my way, O Lord. Stir in my heart a renewed sense and greater awareness of Your great love for me. And God, as we share in fellowship together, reveal to me persons in my life whom I can make personal and Christ-centered connections with. Lord, You know the longings I have to be loved, to be accepted, and to share in life with. Show me the way, O Lord, to lasting fellowship with You and with others. I humbly ask in the name of Jesus. – Amen.

RESOURCE & APPLICATION:

Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

The Purpose Driven Life: 40 Day Devotional by Rick Warren (focus on day 18)