Devoted to Fellowship

Thank you, Mr. Jafet. Very nice job. Several weeks ago, I gave a sermon on building a family and building a church family. And as I put that sermon together and as I gave it that day, there were some one specific thing in there that I wanted to study more. And so I did.

And I'm going to go back and some of the things that I talked about that day I'm going to talk about again. But I'm going to hone in on one specific thing, one part of that sermon, and amplify it a little bit for you. Let me start off by giving you kind of a little brain teaser to begin with. As I was doing this, I was visiting with someone. And the gentleman, you know, said, there's, you know, there's five ways that you can stay close to God. Five ways that you, five tools that you use in order to do God's will and to make sure God's will is being done in your life. And he wanted me to repeat them to him. And so I came up pretty readily with four.

But I wasn't sure what he was thinking about for the fifth. So be thinking about that. And as we turn to Acts 2 and revisit a little bit about the early New Testament church, maybe we'll discover what the fifth one of those tools that God would have us use to stay close to him and do his will are. Let's just get the context of the story. We're going to pick it up in Acts 2 and verse 37. I hope many of you were able to join in in the live Bible study on Wednesday night with Mr. Antion and Mr. Myers. Some of this they spoke about, but we will recount it here. This is, of course, after the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given to the 120 that were assembled there. And after that, they went out, preached the Gospel, and they had a tremendous response. Acts 2, verse 37. When the men heard this, they were cut to the heart, they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?

And Peter said to them, repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The same thing that we've done. One we heard, one we were called, one we knew the truth, we had to do something with it. Repent, be baptized, he said, and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises to you and to your children and to all who are far off as many as the Lord our God will call. And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, be saved from this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about 3,000 souls were added to them. 3,000 people added to the church in that very short period of time after the Holy Spirit was given. All of a sudden, the little group of 120 became a group of somewhere around 3,120. We haven't seen growth like that in the church, or probably any church you've ever been associated with, ever. But this New Testament church, this brand-new church, did. In verse 42, here's what they did as they built their family. They continued steadfastly in the Apostle's doctrine and in the fellowship and in the breaking of bread and in prayers. If you listened in, Mr. Antion said Wednesday night, those are some elements to how a solid church operates. They continued steadfastly in doctrine, in truth, grounded in the truth, grounded in the Word of God, keeping that first and foremost. And whatever church you attend in this church should be grounded in the Bible. Every word that is said is what we live by. That's the truth. The Apostles in that church was grounded in that.

And they were grounded, or they were continued steadfastly in prayers.

Now, we know as we live our lives, as we get close to God, there's two of those things that we do, right, to stay close to God. We keep ourselves reminded of truth through daily Bible study. We pay attention to the Word. We read it. We study it. We let God permeate our mind with the truth that's there. And if we don't daily Bible study, if we aren't receiving His Word daily, we can drift. Now, we can lose sight of who we are. So, daily Bible study, continuing steadfastly in the doctrine, in the truth, is one of the things that we do. The other thing, another thing that we do, are prayers.

Praying to God daily. Being in constant or being in daily communication with Him.

We receive the Word as we read, and we talk to Him and let Him permeate our mind as we pray as well. So, there's two of the things that we would talk about, prayer and Bible study. And now, most of you can repeat two of the others back that we would use as we personally grow. They would be meditation and fasting, right? As we grow with God and as we allow Him to work with us, we pray, we study, we meditate, we fast. As we do those things, we understand how everything works together. We understand how it all comes together, and what His purpose for us is, what His future is, and how when we obey Him, life goes the way that it should be going. But there's one more. Let me read from the Amplified Bible, the translation of verse 42, because that's a key verse. From the Amplified Bible it says, And they steadfastly persevered, devoting themselves constantly to the instruction and fellowship of the apostles in the breaking of bread and prayers. They devoted themselves constantly to that. Continuing steadfastly comes from the Greek word proscrateria. It means to be constantly diligent, to assiduously attend to the matter. The Amplified Bible says, they devoted themselves constantly to those things. That was their lifeblood, prayer, Bible study, personally, meditation, and fasting, no doubt. If we back up one in verse 42, they devoted themselves constantly in the breaking of bread. They met with each other. They talked with each other. They shared things over meals. And we know as we might talk with each other at services, we might get to know each other fairly well by talking at services. There's no way like breaking bread together. No way like having a meal together where we get to know someone and begin to understand who they are, what makes them tick, and just really get to know them. And this new church was constantly devoting themselves to doing that, to getting to know each other, breaking of bread. So if we back up one, they also constantly devoted themselves to fellowship, to fellowship. I would have defined fellowship a month ago as talking with one another, getting to know one another, breaking bread together, having a meal together. But as I looked at this verse when I was giving that first sermon, I wondered why it separated fellowship from the breaking of bread, because it's almost like they're saying the same thing. And then I had this conversation with this person, and the fifth element that they said of how we have a relationship with God, and we allow Him to work in our lives, is through fellowship. Prayer, Bible study, meditation, fasting, and fellowship.

When they said that, I thought back to this verse.

Fellowship is something we talk about. In very many places, you see fellowship halls. People talk about fellowshiping all the time. Let's get an English dictionary definition of the word fellowship. This comes from Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary. It has three possible meanings, they say. One is companionship, a company, associate. Two is a community of interest, an activity, a community of interest, activity, or experience, and they define that as saying a unified body of people of equal rank sharing common interests, goals, and characteristics.

A unified body of people sharing common goals, interests, and characteristics.

Now, if we look down at verse 44, as it defines this New Testament church, we find some of those elements in what they are doing. Verse 44 says, all who believed were together and they had all things in common. They had all things in common. They had a common belief. They had just been made aware of the truth of who Christ was. They now were in unity with each other, or they were in among people who believed the same thing. They had common beliefs and a common calling. Now, it also says, because they had that, they also began to share things in common.

Down in verse 46, it says, continuing daily with one accord in unity together, no one separated every one of the same mind, every one of the same spirit. In one accord in the temple, they broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with gladness and simplicity. When we talk about that church, we talk about a church that was devoted to prayer, Bible study, meditation, fasting, and fellowship. They were united. They had a common goal, common purpose, common calling, and they were a happy church. They were a happy church. In that calling and in the truth, they found joy. They found joy that they wouldn't have been able to define before that calling.

One other meaning of fellowship from Webster's is partnership. Partnership or a membership. And they have a comment in there that this usage of the word is pretty much obsolete in modern-day English. Fellowship. A partnership or a membership. Turn with me over to 1 John 1.

In 1 John 1 and in verse 3, we find this word fellowship mentioned twice.

Verse 3, it says, "...that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us." John says, "...what we've seen, what we've heard, we've told you, that you can be in fellowship with us." And truly, he says, our fellowship is with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.

Our fellowship is first with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.

Because we have fellowship with him, we have fellowship with each other.

If you hadn't been called, if you hadn't responded to the call, you wouldn't be here today. We wouldn't know you. If I hadn't responded, you wouldn't know me from anyone else passing you in the street.

We're all here because of one purpose, one common bond we all have, and that's the calling that God has given us. That's the Holy Spirit that binds us all together. That's why we're here. We may have other common interests. We may have common backgrounds in some things, common experiences in life, but that's not what binds us together. That's not what puts us in fellowship here together. What puts us in fellowship here together is the most important common thing we have, and that's God the Father and Jesus the Christ and his calling and the Holy Spirit that binds us all together. The word fellowship, that's in verse 3 there. The word fellowship that we read back in Acts 2 verse 42 comes from the Greek word koinonia. K-O-I-N-O-N-I-A.

You know what the Greek word koinonia means? Partnership. Partnership. Or in participation with.

The obsolete definition of the word according to Webster's, but when we read the word fellowship in this verse, it means in partnership with, in participation with. Let me read 1 John 1 verse 3 from the Amplified Bible. It says, what we've seen and heard, we're telling you, we are also telling you, so that you too may realize and enjoy fellowship as partners and partakers with us. And this fellowship that we have is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

A new way of thinking, a new way of acting, a new way of looking at the future, a new partnership, when we were called and when we were put into the body of Christ.

A very important calling makes our whole outlook on things different than it was before.

Down in verse 5, we can see the difference in us as we, as John talks about it here, says, this is the message which we've heard from him and declare to you. God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, if we're participating with him, if we're in a partnership with him, and we walk in darkness, we lie and don't practice the truth. We can't be in partnership with God, can't be in partnership with Jesus Christ, can't be participating with him if we are still walking in the ways of the world. If we're still letting that dictate how we think and how we act, if we're in partnership with him, we're walking in light. We're walking in the way he thinks, the way he acts, the way he looks at the world, and the way he looks at the future. Verse 7, But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, if we do that, if we walk in his ways, we have fellowship with one another. We're in a partnership and we're participating with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. That's how we walk in light. Before that, we walk in darkness. And if we still walk in darkness, then we aren't participating with Christ. We're not participating in what he has called us to. We're bound together by the Holy Spirit. We're bound together by the calling he gave us. We're bound together because we walk in a new way of life than we did before. When Christ called us, he wanted us to work with him. He wanted us to be part of his body. He wanted us to be active people in his body. You know, we think of partnerships. Many of you may have had partners in business. Certainly one of the partnership arrangements, partnerships that we enter into, I guess, is marriage that a lot of us look at, or a lot of us do in our lives, if we're lucky enough. You know, our partnership with our mate didn't start the first time we met her or him. Our partnership started off as a relationship. We met the person, we began dating, breaking bread over dinners, talking, going to movies, doing other activities, and learning about that person in depth. And over time, we came to see we had some common interests, we had some common goals, we had common morals, backgrounds that meshed, and over time, trust developed, love developed, and then a partnership developed as we entered into marriage, a partnership that would last for life, a partnership based on much more than just saying hello and going on with our business, but a partnership that developed because we got to know the person very, very well. And through the course of marriage, in a good marriage, we make each other better, don't we? We stimulate each other, we encourage each other, we're not afraid to point out a weakness, not because we just want to hurt the person, but because we want them to be better. And in marriage, we grow. And as we're in a good marriage, we become better people.

Because we're in a partnership, we have common goals. We want the best for each other, and we want to achieve everything that we want to achieve. In a marriage, we're devoted to each other. And we're put in the body of Christ, we're devoted to Him. We're devoted to what those disciples were devoted to, and we're devoted to each other. Because if we're in fellowship with Him, and in partnership with Him, we're in partnership with each other. We're in partnership with each other. We all have a partnership with Christ. We're all here because He placed us here, equal members of His body, looking to Him, allowing ourselves to yield to Him, letting Him lead us and guide us individually, and also as the body. That's here in Orlando, part of the greater body of Christ that's around the world.

To be part of that, we need to devote ourselves and be in partnership with Him. As we're in partnership with Him, we begin to understand and we come out of the ways of darkness and into the ways of light. Turn with me over to John 15.

In six weeks, we will be observing the Passover right here in this building, six weeks from tomorrow.

And this is part of the passages that we'll read in the last section of that Passover services. Words that Christ was giving His disciples before He was arrested, words that He gave them before He was crucified. Let's read through John 15 in verse 1, keeping in mind that He wants us to be in partnership with Him, part of Him, and in participation with Him. Chapter 15 verse 1 says, I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that doesn't bear fruit, He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes that it may bear more fruit.

You know the analogy of the grapevine. We've talked about that before. A vine comes out from the ground, and there's branches attached to that vine. All the life of the branches comes from that one vine.

Now, grapevines can be pretty on their own. You may have one growing in your backyard. But the real value of a grapevine is not the leaves or what they look like. The real value of a grapevine is the fruit that it produces. Not many people plant a grapevine just to have a grapevine grow in their backyard. They want it to produce fruit. That's the goal of the grapevine. That's the goal of the vine dresser. That's what they want it to do.

Christ likens Himself to the vine. From Him comes all life. From Him comes all possibility of fruit. And God the Father is the vine dresser. He's working with the plant. He wants it to produce fruit.

So in verse 2, when He says, every branch in me that doesn't bear fruit, He takes away. If you have a grapevine and there's a branch that just never produces fruit, you might decide, I'm cutting that branch away. Because if I cut this branch away that never produces fruit, another branch might come up that will produce fruit. And what you want that grapevine to do is produce fruit.

So Christ says, there's a branch attached to me that isn't producing fruit. Are they in partnership with me? Are they participating with me? Are they walking in light, as God is light? Every branch that doesn't bear fruit, He takes away. And every branch that bears fruit, He prunes. Now many of you know the concept of pruning. In a grapevine, if you want a fruit- producing branch to bear more, you cut it off.

You cut it off and often it produces more fruit. Other trees and things do the same thing. You prune them back, and with it you get more buds, more blossoms. So He says, those that are valuable branches, I may prune back. What's the purpose? That they may bear more fruit. Verse 3 or 4. He says, abide in me, and I in you. As the branch can't bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the fine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

Christ says, you were called for a reason. There's a reason that I called you. There's a work to do, and there's fruit that I want to produce in you, just like He produced fruit in that New Testament church. We didn't read the verses, but if you go back and you look in Acts 2 again, you'll remember that it says that that church was a really likable church. They got along well with one another. They devoted themselves to those things we talked about, but when new people came in contact with that church, they liked what they saw.

They liked what they saw. And who wouldn't? A people that's full of joy, a people that's honest, a people that's walking in light and doing the things. Everyone likes those concepts. Everyone likes people like that. Everyone likes the fruit of the Spirit that you read about in Galatians 5, 22.

Everyone likes someone that's full of love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, kindness, faith. People like those qualities. It's just really hard to have those qualities if you don't have God's Holy Spirit. God's Holy Spirit produces those things. And in that New Testament church, when people from the outside saw that group of 3,000 plus people, they liked them. They had favor, it says, with the people around them. Because when you live God's way of life, you're walking in the way of light. People are attracted to light.

But not everyone can find that light today. We can find it because we have a partnership, because we have fellowship with Jesus Christ. Going on in chapter 15, verse 5, it says, I'm the vine, you're the branches. He who abides in me, he who is participating with me, he who is in partnership with me, and I in him bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. Just like the branches. You can't take a branch off of a grapevine, throw it off into the field and expect it to bear fruit. It's simply not going to happen. If it's not getting its nutrients, if it's not getting its life from the vine, it's never going to bear fruit. If anyone, verse 6, doesn't abide in me, he's cast out as a branch and is withered, and they gather him and throw him into the fire, and they're burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it'll be done for you.

When we're in partnership with someone, we want to do what's best for them. If your wife asks you for something, you want to give it to her. If your husband asks for something, you want to give it to him. That's just what love does, and God is the same way. He's in partnership with us. He wants us to have everything we want.

But to do that, we have to be in partnership with him. We need to obey his law. We need to follow his law. We need to walk with him. We need to pay attention to him, and we need to devote ourselves to prayer, Bible study, meditation, fasting, and fellowship. Fellowship with him, and as we'll see in a little bit, fellowship with each other. Verse 8, By this the Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples. As we bear fruit, it's never to our glory. It's not so someone can tell us what a great guy you are, or what a great lady you are.

Any fruit in us is not because of anything natural that we have. It's all because God gave it to us. It's all because he grafted our branch into his vine and allowed us to have those things and those good fruits to be developed in us. All the glory goes to him. But when we bear those fruit, Christ says, so you will be my disciples. Finishing up in verse 9 and 10, he says, As the Father loved me, I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. If we are in fellowship with Christ, we will obey. We will want to obey. We will want to follow his law. We will want to walk in the light as he walks in the light. We will want those things he wants because we are close to him and because we have devoted ourselves to being close to him and to being in partnership with him. When the Holy Spirit comes in us, we think differently. We act differently. We react differently. We become different people, as it says in Colossians 3. A new person is formed.

A new person that the world may not understand, but when that new person develops, he may be out of sync with his former friends, as Peter said in 2 Peter 4, that they may think, what's wrong with you, that you don't find the same things fun that you found before. What's wrong with you, that you don't want to do these things on Friday night? What's wrong with you that you don't want to do these things that may be semi-illegal or semi-resque or anything else that we may have used to do, because we are different when we're in fellowship with him. We're different people when we are in unison with him. No longer do we have anything in common with the world, even though Christ says he wants us to live in the world. Back in 2 Corinthians 6, 2 Corinthians 6, verse 14, he talks about the new life and being in partnership or in fellowship with him. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 14, says, Don't be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.

For what fellowship or what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Well, there is none. There is no fellowship of righteousness and lawlessness. There is no partnership between righteousness and lawlessness. There are on opposite ends of the spectrum.

We wouldn't walk hand in hand with lawlessness when we live in righteousness. And what communion has light with darkness? The word communion there is the Greek word koinonia. Partnership.

What partnership has light with darkness? None. What accord has Christ with Belial?

None. At what or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?

We can work together. We can live side by side with one another in a neighborhood. We can go to school together. But there is a difference. And there is a fellowship you're called into and a partnership you're called into when you are called into the body of God.

The New Testament Church knew that. The 3,000 that were out of that one day, they began to come together. Not because the apostles told them to. They wanted to share their belief with one another. They wanted to encourage one another. They wanted to stir each other up. They were excited about what they had heard. And they liked being around people who knew and understood the same things they did. So what did they do? They stayed together. They ate together. They fellowshiped together in another usage of the verb. That's what the people of God in a successful church that's fulfilling God's command does. Turn with me back to 1 Corinthians 10.

Verse 16.

On Passover, we'll read this verse as well. It says, The cup of blessing which we bless, isn't it the communion of the blood of Christ?

The bread which we break, isn't it the communion of the body of Christ?

The word communion is the Greek word klanonia. Fellowship. Partnership. Here's that verse from the Amplified Bible.

The cup of blessing upon which we ask God's blessing, doesn't it mean that in drinking it we participate in and share a fellowship in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, doesn't it mean that in eating it we participate in and share a fellowship in the body of Christ? Doesn't it mean that? When we take that bread, when we drink that wine on Passover night, we're telling God we're partakers with you, we're in fellowship with you, we're in fellowship and we're in partnership with you. Your lot is our lot. We give you our body, we give you our mind, we give you our whole selves. And the other part of that Passover service is washing each other's feet.

And when we do that, it symbolizes humility. It symbolizes that we are all equal members in this body we've been called into. And I think it also symbolizes that we're in fellowship with each other. We're in fellowship with Christ, and we're in fellowship and partnership with each other. Our lot is His lot, and our lot is together because He placed us in this body.

Let's go back to Acts 2 for a moment.

Let's go back to Acts 2, verse 42 again.

And they continue to steadfastly, for they devoted themselves to the apostles' doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers.

That's what they devoted themselves to. To God, certainly, but they devoted themselves to getting to know each other as well. We see that in verse 44. We see that in verse 45. We see that in verse 46, and we see that in verse 47. The people were together.

How did they become a fellowship? How did they become a partnership? What did they do?

We already know they broke bread together. We already know they got to know each other.

On more than just a surface level, they got to know each other, and they began to understand what God was working in that body.

Back several years ago—in fact, I hate to say it, decades ago now—I was working for a hospital in Indianapolis, a very large hospital. One of those hospitals that's going to be around until as long as the United States is around. I was young, but I worked there. It's one of those places that you know you could work there the rest of your lives, the rest of your life. In fact, some of the people that I worked there with still are there to this day, and will retire from there. But not long after I was baptized when I was working there—and I had a good job. I got along with people, and I liked my boss, and there was a future there if I wanted.

I was sitting around, and I just didn't want to really be there anymore. So I picked up the phone and I called a recruiting agency that I saw advertised in a health care magazine. I talked to him for a while. He said, send your resume over, which I did. Then he called back about a week later and he said, hey, I think I have a job you would be interested in. It kind of took me by surprise. I didn't think something would come about that much. He explained to me what it was, and it was a startup company in health care that had just bought a couple specialty hospitals in Indianapolis, and they were looking for a controller. So I said, yeah, I'll talk to them. So they sent the person up to talk to me. We hit it off fine. It sounded like what they wanted done, I could do, and it sounded interesting. And so they brought me down to Nashville, and I spoke with the people there, and we all seemed to hit it off very well. So they hired me. I quit the other job, went to work for them, and for the next six months worked with their hospitals, their two little hospitals in Indianapolis. At the end of that six months, they wanted me to move to Nashville, which surprised me. And I didn't really want to move to Nashville, because we really liked living where we were, but I did. And it was a good move.

When I got down there, and when I began to see how everything was put together, and a lot of this is in retrospect as I look at it, I was amazed at what had happened. None of the people were in the church. I had never met any of the people before. But when we got down there, it became a real group and a team of people. There was a lot of time that we spent talking with each other, talking about the vision of the company, and the president of the company was very good at setting that vision. A lot of time that we spent over lunch, a lot of time in management conferences, a lot of time where I got to know what those people were about, and they got to know what I was about. And for people in the world, I was pleased that they had pretty good morals. They weren't there just for the money. In fact, one of the things the president always said that I carried with me throughout is that we're not here to make money. We're here to serve the patients that come to us. And as long as we serve the patients, the money will come. We don't have to talk about it, and we don't have to worry about it. And he was right. I knew what my job was in that company. I knew what his job was. I knew what the marketing guy did. I knew what the other people did, and we all worked together. And you know that company was pretty successful.

Not because of anything I did, but because of the way the group of people worked together.

We knew each other. We liked each other. We had one goal, one mission. We knew each other's strengths, and we knew each other's weaknesses. And there were many times when they would come in and say, you know, Rick, you need to shore up this part of the operation here. And when we'd have our meetings, if I saw something, I didn't hesitate to tell someone, we need maybe to, you know, make this work a little differently. Cut costs in this area, put more money into this area. The company worked very well, and it became a partnership. Later, they told me that they had worked at putting that company together. They had the pieces of people they knew who they wanted to be in that place. But there was one piece that was missing, and that was this controller position they had for this new little division they were putting together. And they had looked for someone to fill that position for six or nine months. And that's why they had me work in Indianapolis before they brought me down there, because they wanted the pieces to fit together.

And that doesn't say anything good about me. It says everything good about them. They knew what they wanted to build. And in that body, that president and that group of men who founded that company knew what they needed to have in place in order to make that company run. And it ran very well. So well that they were able to sell the division off for a lot of money. And I left at that time and did some other things. But you know, the rest of my career, I tried to put together a company the way they did. To find the people that had the right skills, the right morals, that we could all work together. And I was never able to do it the way it was done in that company. It's really difficult to find people who want and share the same ideals and plans as you. But you know, God knows exactly how to do that. He knows exactly who He wants in His body. He knows exactly who to put to make the operation run. He knows exactly who's going to work together well. And He's got the vision that can take us to places, as it says in 1 Corinthians 2.9, that we can't even imagine. Over in 1 Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 12. Let's pick it up in verse 4. There are diversities of gifts. Not everyone has the same gifts, but there is the same spirit. There are differences of ministries but the same Lord. There are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. We all come with different talents. We all come with different gifts. We all come with different backgrounds and experiences. But it's God who puts us here. It's God who placed us in this body. It's God who is going to make this work with the people He called. Verse 7. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. Not so that we can look and say what we've done and pat ourselves on the back, what God gives us and the gifts He gives us after He calls us and after He puts us in His body.

It's here for the profit of all. Not just a few. It's for the profit of everyone. For to one it is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All those talents, all those gifts God puts in the body. He puts them there. One, and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. Many people, many talents, many gifts, many backgrounds, one body. All of us in fellowship with Jesus Christ and God the Father. All of us.

And all of us, by virtue of that, in fellowship with each other and in partnership with each other to work God's will and to allow His will to be done in our lives, in our church, and in everything we do.

I want to go through a few verses now, quite a few verses actually. How can we be in fellowship with one another? What does it mean? What do those New Testament people do when they broke bread together that they devoted themselves to?

What can we do to build the body? What does it mean to be in fellowship with each other?

Let me first read about this Greek word koinonia from Vincent Sward's studies of the Bible.

It says that koinonia is a relationship or a relation between individuals which involves a common interest, we've established that, and a mutual active participation in that interest and in each other.

A mutual interest in what we've been called to and a mutual interest in each other.

Turn with me over to Mark 9.

Mark 9 and verse 50.

Christ talking.

And I'll read the first verse, but it's really the last phrase that I want to focus on. It says, For everyone, salt is good, and if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves. And Christ says, Have peace with one another.

If you're in partnership with one another, if you're in fellowship with one another, have peace with one another.

Be at peace with one another.

John 13.

And verse 35.

You'll be able to quote this verse to me without you even turning there.

John 13.

And verse 35.

It says, By this all will know that you are my disciples.

If you have love for one another.

You want to be in partnership and fellowship? Be at peace with one another.

Have love for one another.

Romans 15.

And verse 14.

Romans 15 verse 14. Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

Be at peace with one another.

Love one another.

Feel comfortable in admonishing one another if that needs to be done.

Because we all are here to fulfill the same purpose. We all want each other to succeed, and we want the body and the purpose of God to succeed and be done.

So he says admonish one another.

Galatians 5, 13.

The last phrase there says, Through love, serve one another. Beginning to see how we can build a fellowship.

Just a few verses over in chapter 6 of Galatians in verse 2.

Bear one another's burdens.

One member of the body suffers, we all suffer.

We hold each other up.

Bear one another's burdens.

If you're in partnership with one another.

Ephesians 4.

Verse 32.

It says, Be kind to one another.

Be kind to one another.

Tender hearted.

Forgive one another.

Whenever we're dealing with people, there's mistakes that are going to be made.

He says, Forgive. Get over it.

Get on with life.

Get on with the purpose that you were called to. Forgive one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Galatians 3 verse 9.

One of the unleavened bread verses that you'll be reading or hearing in the upcoming weeks.

It says, Don't lie to one another. Or, be honest with one another.

We're not here to promote selves or to do anything different. We're here for one purpose, bound by one spirit, working toward one goal that's been set for us. Don't lie to one another. Since you've put off the old man with his deeds and put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge. 1 Thessalonians 4.

1 Thessalonians 5, it has two of them in it. 3 Thessalonians 5 verse 11.

Comfort each other. Now, we need comforting. Partners do that. And edify one another. Build each other up. Do what it takes to make each other better. 1 Peter 4 verse 9.

Be hospitable to one another.

Getting back to the breaking of bread, just like those New Testament disciples did. Be hospitable to one another. And finally, let's finish in Hebrews 10. Verse 24. Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. Consider one another. To stir up love and good works. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. Because it's pretty hard to consider one another. To stir up love and good works. If we're off by ourselves somewhere. Consider one another. To stir up love and good works. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. But exhorting one another. Encouraging. Motivating. Moving people along. Helping people to stay on the track with their eyes on the vision that we've been called to. And it says there so much more as you see the day approaching.

Over and over and over in the New Testament you can find those verses that talk about what we do with one another. And as you read through those verses, you get a pretty good idea of what being in fellowship with each other is. All those things that Christ and the apostles tell us to do is part of the fellowship of God. Part of being in partnership with Him and being in partnership with each other as we follow Him.

In Philippians 1.

Philippians 1 verse 3. It says, I thank my God, Paul writes, upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making a request for you with all joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. Paul told the Philippians, thank you. Thank you for being in participation with us. Thank you for participating with us in the gospel. Thank you for living the way of life that God called you to. Thank you for keeping that at the forefront of your eyes. Thank you for remembering that your fellowship is first with Jesus Christ and God, but that your fellowship is also with each other as we fulfill His purpose. Thank you, he says.

And all of us, when we come into the church, just like that New Testament church, we're full of joy, we're full of eagerness, we're ready to do whatever needs to be done. But as the years go on, and as time goes on, we can let some of that wane. It's just part of a natural part of human existence, it seems. Remember, to the church in Ephesus, Christ said, stir up the first love again. Go back and do the first works. Let that spirit that you had when you began see you through to the end. And Paul says that as well, in the Philippians, in verse 6. For being confident in this very thing, He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. It's not just a short time work we're called to. It's not just a short time that we're in fellowship with each other and God. It's from now until eternity. It's not something that's going to be over. Because when we move from this life into the millennium, there's jobs that Christ wants us to do. That's what He's preparing for us to do. There's things that we do that we prepare for now in fellowship with each other. And in fellowship with Him. You know the purpose of the work. You know what it says back in Matthew 28, verse 19. Go out to the whole world. Preach the gospel to every nation. Baptize people into the name of Jesus, of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teach all nations. Command them to observe all things I've commanded you. And Christ says, I will be with you to the end. That's what He called us to. That's our mission. That's our goal. That's what He wants us to do on a worldwide basis and on our own little local area here as well. We all have a mission. We all have a job. We all were placed here by God in fellowship with Him and in fellowship with each other. He knows exactly who's here. He knows exactly what we can do. And He has the power and will give us the power to do whatever He wants us to do in this area. When we work together in one accord, in the unity of the Spirit, when we devote ourselves to those same four things or same five things that the New Testament Church did. One last time. Let's turn back to Acts. This time, Chapter 1.

Acts 1, Verse 8.

And you know, that church did just that. That church of 120 people, that the world looked at and thought, we've killed that movement. We've done away with Jesus Christ. We've done away with what He said. There's only 120 of them left, and they were only in one accord in one place. But God says in Verse 8, No matter how small you are, no matter how physically incapable you are, I'll give you the power to do anything that He wants us to do. The power never comes from us, it always comes from Him. He'll supply the power. He'll supply whatever it takes. We just need to go about and do the work. In Acts 4, Verse 14, we see how that worked. Peter and the other apostles were out preaching, teaching, and causing a little stir in that area of the world. And when they came up against the powers that be of that world, this is what they said in Acts 4, Verse 13.

When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. It wasn't of those men. It was of God. It wasn't of them at all. God had put them in that place, and not every one of them was Peter. Not every one of them was John, but every single one of them had a part in that work. Every single one of them were there because they supported each other, because they were together in fellowship, because they were devoted to God and His work. And as they did that, He worked great things. And He's still working great things. And as we're in fellowship and in partnership with Him, He'll continue to work great things today, right up until the time that He returns. Our mission? Stay in fellowship with Him. Stay in fellowship with each other and all that that means.