Fellowship Of The King

What do you think of when you hear the word fellowship? Is there anything in particular that comes to mind? Or maybe I could put it a little bit differently. Is there more to fellowship than snacks and coffee? Sometimes we get focused on that, but what exactly is fellowship? And what comes to mind when you hear that word fellowship? Did this come to mind? Frodo. Anybody think of Frodo when I said fellowship? Way back in the 9th grade, I was forced to read a book in English Lit, and I got a choice to pick something. And I picked a book about Frodo. Since then, they've made a whole movie series about that. Do you know what it is? Okay, you do. Did you read the books? Yeah, there was a whole series of books by J.R.R.R.R.R.R. Tolkien about the Lord of the Rings and the fellowship of the Ring. It's a grand fantasy and all kinds of crazy things go on in this whole story, but it's basically about this guy Frodo, and he sets forth from Rivendell with eight companions. Some of you can probably tell the story better than I can. You've seen the movie many more times and probably know this story. But there are men and dwarves and hobbits and all kinds of people with impressive names like Argonne and Gandalf and Sam. Okay, maybe not all impressive names. But they were the fellowship of the Ring, and the future of civilization rests in the fate of this one Ring that has been lost for centuries. And their mission, then, is to beat these powerful, unrelenting forces as they strive to complete the mission. And this task is daunting, almost overwhelming, and Frodo, as the Ring-bearer, has to save the universe and ultimately destroy that one Ring in the fires of Mount Doom where it was originally forged. What a job! You see, when you think of the fellowship of the Ring, it ain't just hanging around with friends. When you think of the fellowship of the Ring, it's not vegging out, eating snacks, and just relaxing. Well, does that have anything to do with biblical fellowship? I mean, that kind of fellowship was an all-in, united mission in order to fulfill this life-or-death quest.

What does that have to do with the Bible? Well, that quest was going to face evil directly in the face and oppose overwhelming opposition and do whatever it takes to succeed.

All right, is that just a fancy introduction, or does it have anything to do with true biblical fellowship?

Well, when you think of the first account in the New Testament of fellowship, do you know where that falls? It falls right as the church is beginning, right there at the very beginning. If you want to turn over to Acts 2, verse 42 is where you'll find the first account of the New Testament church and this connection that's mentioned there. And it's interesting the way the words are shaped here right as the beginning of the church is accounted for. Let's notice it, Acts 2, verse 42. Of course, this is on the day of Pentecost. God's Spirit has been poured out. People are speaking miraculously in different languages. All kinds of people are being added to the church at that time. There's a mass baptism. All kinds of people being added. And then an interesting remark is made as things are just beginning to kick off. And in verse 42 of Acts 2, let's notice what it says. After things have begun, it says, they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers. Of course, we read that and we say, well, of course, they're going to talk about doctrine. The teachings of Jesus Christ are absolutely important. So no wonder that gets mentioned right off the bat. That is critical. No doubt about it.

But it also says, they continued steadfastly in fellowship. In fellowship. Now, if you were to read this in other translations, other than the New King James, sometimes that word for steadfastly, it says that they were devoted to doctrine. And to fellowship. They committed themselves to fellowship. They gave full attention to fellowship. Or in the Amplified version, it says continually and faithfully devoted themselves to fellowship. Now, obviously, that's not talking about snacks. They didn't just have fellowship. They were committed to it. They were devoted to it. They were faithful to it. They made it a priority in their lives to put fellowship right up there along with prayer and with doctrine. And so when we describe an event and we say, well, we're going to have food, fun, and fellowship, is that really the best use of the term? I wonder if we've maybe lost the vision, lost sight of the Biblical meaning of fellowship. There's a wonderful passage over in the book of 1 John. If you turn toward the back of your Bible, 1 John 1, verse 3 makes an interesting note for us. As we begin this fellowship quest this afternoon, by turning over to 1 John 1, verse 3, we'll kind of pick it up in the middle of a thought. But we'll get the general idea of what John's getting at here. 1 John 1, verse 3, he says, He says, So oftentimes we read right through that. We don't really pay a whole lot of attention to what's going on here. But what did he mean that you may also have fellowship with us? I thought the apostles are concerned with repentance. I thought they're concerned with spiritual growth. Didn't they want the believers to grow and have obedience to God's commands? Why in the world would he be so concerned about fellowship? What's the big deal? Let's dig into it just a little bit. Let's take a couple of moments to look at the original language of the New Testament. And as we do that, we quickly find that the Greek word, the base word that's used for fellowship, is koinonia. If you're interested in how you spell that, it's K-O-I-N-O-N-I-A. Kind of a cool sounding word. And the word itself has several aspects to it. There's several facets to this word, koinonia, and the way that it's used throughout the New Testament. Of course, it is interesting, the New Testament, no, it wasn't recorded in English. You know what language it was recorded in? Greek. In fact, it was recorded in Koina Greek.

And that's the first facet we're going to talk about here. That koinonia, or fellowship, means to hold something in common. Greek was the common language of the day, and that common language was used to record the Word of God for us. And this word, koinonia, is derived from koinos, which in Greek is a prefix. It's a word that comes before other words. And so if you were to take koinos and put it, let's say, before the word, mother, or if you took the word, koinos, and put it before the word, living, or took koinos and put it before the word, dispute, what would you come up with?

Well, if you were a koinos mother, you would have a mother in common. You'd be siblings. You'd have a common mother. Or if it's koinos and living, you live in a community. You live in common, in a community. Not a socialist community, necessarily, but you have a common neighborhood. You live in the common neighborhood. If there's a dispute with koinos, yeah, it's in public. You've got a public argument going there. And that's certainly one way that the word, fellowship, or koinonia, was used in the Bible. It literally meant to hold something in common. If you're still here in the book of Acts, you could just skip down to verse 44. Acts 2, verse 44, it says, they held things in common. They shared. They shared together. And so oftentimes that word is used in that way to hold something in common. But that's only one of the facets for this word, fellowship, for koinonia. It also signified an interdependent relationship.

Fellowship also represented a relationship that was interdependent. Relationships in koinonia go hand in hand. But this kind of a relationship is kind of a special one. It would have to do with a group of people. A group of people. So it could be those that were partners. Oftentimes today we think of partners perhaps in a law firm. Yeah, they even use this word in that sense in the New Testament. Where there were guilds, workers that had a common profession. They would fellowship in that profession. That would be their koinonia. That's this relationship. We're all in the same profession. We do the same things. In fact, we use that same type of signification today. When we hear political speeches sometimes we'll use that. Do you ever hear that? My fellow Democrats. Well, that's the same use of that term. That they're partners. They have that same political party in common. Or sometimes we'll say, he's a research fellow. What do we mean by that? Well, let's talk about someone that's going to school. They're doing academic research at a university. And they are a fellow as they're doing that research. Yeah, even the president has used that term. My fellow Americans. Because we are citizens of this country. We are interdependent and we have that signification. You might just write down Revelation 1, verse 9. The Apostle John hints at this type of a connection when John says he's a brother and a companion. A brother and a koinos. He's in koinonia with us. He talks about tribulation. He talks about the kingdom and patience. We are fellows in all those things on this quest of the kingdom and of patience. The patience of Jesus Christ. The kingdom of Jesus Christ. He talks about that. This type of koinonia points to that relationship that's dependent on more than one person. On more than one of us. We call it an interdependent relationship. That's another facet of this word, koinonia, and what we translate into English, fellowship.

But you think that's all there is to fellowship? See, we haven't even gotten to the snacks part yet. No, there's more! There's more! A third aspect of koinonia also points inwardly. There's an inward or an internal aspect to this word, fellowship, or koinonia. If you want to turn over to 1 Corinthians 1, verse 9. We'll see an example of this. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 9, zeroes in on this internal aspect, this inward facet of fellowship, of koinonia. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 9. Notice what the Apostle Paul writes to God's church in Corinth. He's making an important point here, right, as he begins this letter. And he says, verse 9, God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

And as Paul begins to probably give some of the harshest words to one of God's congregations, he points out the fact there's something going on inside of us. If God has truly called us, if we've received God's Spirit, there should be an aspect that's inward that draws us together, not just to each other, but to Jesus Christ Himself, to God the Father. God's faithful, and He's called us into a special relationship with His Son, into the fellowship of God the Father and Jesus Christ. And so it's focusing on this unity that we're to have with our elder brother and with our Father. And that's an inside kind of a thing. That's a personal kind of a thing. And so this aspect of Koinonia, it emphasizes this internal aspect of fellowship. And haven't we proclaimed that? I mean, if you're baptized, you proclaim this very fact. Because when you got into that water, what did the minister ask you?

Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, your Lord, your Master, your high priest, your soon-coming King?

And if you answered yes, they went ahead with the baptism. You spoke to this internal aspect of Koinonia, that yes, I have a relationship with God the Father and with Jesus Christ. He is my Savior. And it focuses on that inward facet, that aspect of this relationship that is personal. Someone else can't do that for us. Nobody else can repent for me. That has to be my own. That has to be my relationship with God. That has to be what's going on inside of me. And so Koinonia also carries that aspect of our relationship with God the Father and with Jesus Christ. And of course, by His great calling, we are brought into that relationship. And so, no wonder Christ says, no one can come to the Father, but by me. Of course, He also said the Father has to draw them. And so we have this internal, inward, personal relationship, this Koinonia, this fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. So no wonder Paul starts this letter, where he's going to go through some very difficult correction to the Corinthian church to remind them. This is about your relationship with God. This is about you and living God's way, personalizing what the truth is all about. And he connects this fellowship, this Koinonia, to that very fact.

And I think that leads us to probably what's the most important aspect of Koinonia. There's one part, I think, that is probably most important, the aspect that carries the most meaning, and maybe sometimes the most often looked aspect of what fellowship is all about.

Koinonia is primarily an action word. It's an action word, and it's used over and over and over again throughout the New Testament. In fact, there's two or three other synonyms that are very close in meaning. They have a little bit different base word, but very similar. And so, 20 times over this word is used, and it's translated fellowship, but it's also translated contribution.

It's also translated at times sharing, partnership, participation, communion, and distribution, or to distribute. And in all of those cases, action always included in its meaning. It's not a passive phrase. So you see, what that points us to is fellowship is not just being together. That's not really fellowship. It's not just being together. It's doing together. And that's the critical part. Fellowship is not just being together. It's doing together. And this is an aspect of Koinonia, a fellowship that we cannot ignore.

And ultimately, yes, fellowship points to Jesus Christ and God the Father. We have a relationship. We are in Christ. We are in His body. We are in the church. There's a relationship with Him. We are a part of the body of Christ. But it's not just about being in or being a part of what God's showing us through all of these different examples throughout the New Testament. It's different. It's not just being in or being part.

It's doing with Christ. It's doing with Christ. It's our partnership with our Savior. It's sharing and accomplishing the will of God. And so while we may think of it as snack time or the potluck or the social, it's not. It's not those things.

That's not what the primary meaning of the Word is all about. Koinonia actively involves accomplishing the will of God. And that's not just being isolated all by myself. It's not a social club. It's not being stagnant. It's none of those types of things. What this helps us to see, I hope, is that fellowship is the means. In fact, we could even say it's the vital means of accomplishing the God-given purpose of the church.

Is that true? Fellowship is the vital means of accomplishing the God-given purpose of the church. I believe it is. I believe it is. I believe Scripture tells us that very thing. Whose job is it to preach the gospel? Whose job is it to be a shining light? Whose job is it to proclaim the truth of God? Was that just the ministers? Or was that... Oh, that's all done. That was the apostles' job. Or is it the whole office's job? That's it. I just pray and pray. That's all I have to worry about. Is that true? Or do we all have a part to play in that?

In the fellowship of Jesus Christ, is it everyone's job that we all take an active part in accomplishing the God-given purpose of the church? I think it absolutely is. In fact, it's reflected in the vision statement of the United Church of God, which comes directly out of Scripture. It's taken from Ephesians 4, 16 and Hebrews 2, verse 10. For those of us that attend at the home office, all you have to do is go into the conference room. There it is. Our vision statement.

In fact, it's probably better stated as Christ's vision for the church. What is God's perspective when it comes to all of us? In fact, who is the church anyway? Is it just the ministry? Is it just the home office? Is it just the elders? No, it's all of us. We are the body of Christ. And so when you look at that vision statement and recognize this is straight out of Scripture, it becomes so powerful. Because our vision statement says, we are a church led by God's Holy Spirit. Yeah, that's first and foremost. We have to be led by God's Spirit. But it goes on to say, we are joined and knit together by what every member supplies.

By what every member supplies. Then it goes on with just the ministry doing the work. Oh no, it doesn't say that. It doesn't say that. It goes on and says, with all doing their share. All! All doing their share and growing in love to fulfill God's great purpose for humanity. To bring many children to glory. That is our vision. That's Christ's vision. That's the Father's vision for His people, for His church, for the body of Christ. So that we interdependently may fellowship and we may accomplish God's given purpose for His body.

In fact, if you haven't turned there already, go over to Ephesians. Go over to Ephesians. I won't go to Ephesians 4. But we'll go just before that. Go just before this section of Scripture that we took the vision statement from. And let's notice something pretty powerful here that Paul writes to God's church in Ephesus. Ephesians 3. Let's go to verse 8. Ephesians 3.8. Paul gets a little reflective here as he's writing to God's people in Ephesus. And he says something amazing. And I think in the words that are recorded for us, it points us to this very aspect that every one of us has a vital part to play in doing the work of God.

Notice Paul's approach here in Ephesians 3.8. Here he reflects on his own role. And if someone were to ask you, how important was the Apostle Paul in the New Testament church? He'd probably say, wow! He wrote most of the Bible! He wrote most of the New Testament! Are you kidding me? Where would we be without the Apostle Paul? He basically did it all, didn't he?

Well, God certainly used him in amazing, powerful ways. There is no doubting that. But from Paul's perspective, look at the way he looked at himself. Ephesians 3.8. He says, Of course, we could look to other sections of Scripture where he says, I'm the least of the apostles. I'm the least of the disciples. I'm the least of all the saints. He also says, I'm the worst of all sinners! So he sees himself with humility. And then he says something interesting. Even though God used him in amazingly powerful ways, he sees himself as less than the least of all the saints, of all the believers. He says, Yes, that's Koinonia there. The sharing of the mystery, the plan of God. And he certainly did that among the Gentiles. But then the question would come, is he the only one? Did he do it all that took care of it? Nobody else has any responsibilities? Or did he do it all? Well, yes, he was making all that would listen, all that God was calling to see the fellowship of the mystery. He says, And then he says something interesting in verse 10. He says, In Christ Jesus our Lord. And so we see, yeah, God has an eternal plan. But is it just the minister's job? Is it just the apostles' job? Or do every single one of us, as the body of Christ, have a part to play that cannot be discounted? Is our vision statement really accurate? When it says, All doing their share. Every member has something to supply to the accomplishing of God's will in his work, in the preaching of the gospel. And I think the answer has to be, undoubtedly. Undoubtedly that the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church. By all of us, the church has a part in accomplishing that very plan. Each of us, yes, collectively. As a fellowship of the brethren, we do that. And individually, we have a part to play to be used as instruments in God's hands to accomplish that very purpose.

In other words, the message isn't going out. It's not going to happen unless you do your part. If you don't do your part, the body's not right. And so we can begin to think of it in those terms. Could just one apostle accomplish all of this? Could he talk about the manifold wisdom of God? That's the multifaceted wisdom of God that comes in so many ways, in so many different aspects. Well, no, that takes a lot of people with different experiences, different perspectives, different jobs, different communities. It takes all of us to make that known. To make that known. So no single person could ever fulfill that purpose. No one individual could ever do just that. In fact, think about it in terms of music for a moment. And maybe it might make just a little bit more sense. You know, is the work of accomplishing God's plan, preaching the gospel, is that all about a solo? Somebody's going to get up, they're going to blast away a single solo, crying out in the wilderness, and that'll do it. No, there has to be a warning message. No doubt about that. But you see, just because there might be a solo section in the piece, it's going to take the whole orchestra to fill the hall.

That's what it's going to take. It's going to take a symphony of music. And only the full orchestra playing together can put the full harmony, the manifold witness together, in order to capture what the truth of God is really all about. And the church is that spiritual orchestra that is playing this beautiful symphony of the plan of God. And each one of us have been given an instrument to play. And so it's not that we get out there and we're all playing our individual parts solo. What would that be? That'd be a mess. You know, we've all heard the orchestra warm up, haven't we? Everybody's playing and warming up and tuning. It's crazy. You don't get that. What is that? No, but see, God's given us an instrument. We are His instruments. And we're given this symphony of the plan of God to play, but we're the orchestra. We must play our part. We play it together.

We fellowship together. We work together. We strive together. We are the instruments. And every one of us have been given spiritual gifts so that we play our part. Yes, we've been given natural abilities as well. And as we play and we work together, together we accomplish God's vision for the Church. Together we accomplish that vision. And that's why fellowship is indispensable. It is indispensable. You might turn over to 1 Corinthians 12. We're very familiar with this section of Scripture. 1 Corinthians 12, oftentimes you think of it as the section of Scripture where Paul talks about the body, the body of Christ. He connects the Church to being a body. Now, of course, it's interesting. If I ask the ABC students here, what do we call this chapter of Scripture? They wouldn't think of the body, hopefully. They would think of spiritual gifts because the chapter begins with the gifts that God gives. God gives these various gifts to the Church, to His people, so that His will and His purpose and the preaching of the Gospel can be accomplished. So He goes through all these gifts, and then He comes to the point to say, we're this orchestra of the body, that we all have our part to play, but we've got to work together. Every one of us has to do our jobs. And He comes down to the body that must do this. There's such a diversity of gifts that have been given that only by working together can we accomplish what God truly wants. And so when we see how fellowship, how striving, we recognize every one of us has a job. And because of working together, because of this interconnectedness, because of this action-word, every one of us are to act as we proclaim the Gospel.

Now that might make some of us nervous. What exactly does that mean? Do I have to get up on a soapbox and start yelling out Scripture? Is that what I have to do? No? No, there are some. There are some that get up and they give sermons, or they write booklets, or magazine articles, or, oh yeah, that job's going to be... most of us aren't going to do that. But does that negate the part that I have to play? I mean, if we look back just a moment or two to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, let's recognize, even though that is a part, that's not every aspect. That, yes, I am called to fulfill the part that God's called me to, to supply what otherwise would be missing. You know, God has placed me in the body where He prefers, where He's designed it. And I have to do my share so that the body will grow, so the Word will go out, so that disciples will be made. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 9. Notice what Paul also told the Corinthians as he reminded them. It wasn't just about Paul and Barnabas and John Mark and the other apostles. He says very clearly here. Verse 9, For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field. You are God's building. You probably never guessed what Greek word fellow workers is.

Yeah, that's koinonia. That's it. Koinonia. We are God's fellow workers. Fellow, every one of us. So we can't discount the purpose why God has called us. It's not just for personal salvation. We also have a part to play in Christ's vision for the church. Another powerful passage that emphasizes this fact. Philippians chapter 1 verse 3. Hopefully what we're beginning to see here, we have a powerful commission, every single one of us. To be that shining light that's on a hill. To live our faith. To demonstrate it wherever we are. Philippians chapter 1 verse 3. The apostle Paul, once again, while he's thanking the Philippians for their part in the Gospel. Notice what he says here, right here at the very beginning. As he's beginning this, sometimes it's called a thank-you letter to the Philippians. Verse 3, he says, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making requests for you all with joy.

What did they do? Verse 5. For your fellowship in the Gospel. From the first day until now. You mean Paul didn't do it all? You mean they had a part to play in it? There was a work that every single member in Philippi had to contribute their part? Yeah, Paul recognized that. They had a fellowship in the Gospel.

They were workers in arms. Paul couldn't do it all. Who did it once Paul left Philippi? Well, they had to. They had to. And so he thanks God for their share, for their participation, for their contributions. He calls them partners in the Gospel, in the good news. They had an active participation. And it certainly shows us each of us has a partnership in the Gospel. Have you thought about what is my responsibility as a partner in the Gospel?

What's my part? What has God called me to do? Now, it may not be to preach and teach and call out on a street corner. That's not what we're saying here. It's not to knock on doors and go door to door. Yeah, we don't do that. We don't do that at all. You may have heard about the two young boys that were going door to door. Of course, they were knocking on the doors and people were telling them to get lost.

Finally, they knocked on the door. A man opened the door and he said, yes, can I help you? They said, well, can we come in and talk to you? And he said, okay, come on in. So the two boys came in and they sat down and he said, okay, what do you want to talk about? They said, we don't know. We've never gotten this far before. Yeah, we're not called to do anything like that.

We're not in-your-face Christians. But there is a powerful passage that Peter talked about. He said, we're to be ready to give a defense of the hope that lies within. Always be ready to give an answer. And when we look at that, that is a powerful statement. Always be ready when we're on our job, when we're in our community, when we're at home. I mean, I was really shocked by a survey I read about a while back.

And it was related to the second greatest commandment that we've been given. What's the second greatest commandment? Christ kind of boiled them down to two, right? What was the first one? All right, love God. What's the second one? Love your neighbor. It said, a third of Americans have never even met their neighbor. How in the world are we supposed to love them? How in the world can I take advantage to share the hope that lies within me if my neighbor loses a mate? I don't even know them. I don't even know what's going on in their life. I don't have an opportunity to say, I have hope in the plan of God.

That's not an in-your-face kind of thing. It's a simple expression of the confidence that God has given us. Is that weird? Is that pushing religion? Is that a part that I can play? Because I know my neighbor. Because I know other individuals. Or because I work on my job. Christ said I'm to be a shining light.

You work on your job. Are you like everybody else? You better not be. Well, what if you've never been asked about the hope that lies within? Have you ever thought, there's probably something wrong with me. Because they never see you wrap it up early on a Friday night. They never ask you, where are you going in the fall? Everybody already took their vacation in the summer. Where are you going? What are you doing? If nobody's ever asked you, we better look at ourselves and ask ourselves if we really are the shining light.

You see, that's not an in-your-face kind of thing. That's playing your part. That's doing your job. That's a participant in the gospel. You are that light. And people will ask you. They will. Because they can't help but see the difference between the way you are. It's obvious in your behavior. It's obvious. Why don't you swear? Why don't you curse? You're not like the other guys on the job. All of them throw a hammer when things go wrong. They whip their tools around. I've never seen you curse and throw a tool around. What's the deal? You think that stands out? Do we have a partnership in the gospel so that we do stand out like a sore thumb?

That's not going door to door. That's not being a religious weirdo. That's fulfilling your part in Koinonia. In advancing the kingdom of God. Standing as one for the truth. Now you might say, oh boy, is that the new flavor of the day? Is that some kind of new thing that we're going to do in the church? No. Why are you here today? Let me tell you why you're here today. You are here today because of this very fact. Because of this very fact. Emma Runcorn.

The word for Emma Runcorn, you probably wouldn't be here today. Why?

She was Loma Armstrong's neighbor. One day they just had a conversation. You can read about it in the autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong. If it hadn't been for this very fact, being willing to share who you are. Do you know anything about the Sabbath? And Mrs. Armstrong said, what are you talking about? Okay, maybe not those exact words. But her neighbor was the one. And so we could say, well, we're here because of Herbert Armstrong. But wait a second. If it hadn't been for Emma Runcorn talking to Mrs. Armstrong, who then challenged her husband, we wouldn't be here. If it hadn't been for Koinonia. If it hadn't been for her willing to be ready to give a defense, to give an answer for the hope that life... The hope was in the Sabbath. And the Sabbath represents God's plan and His purpose and the plan. And ultimately, the millennium and the resurrection and all the things that go along with that. If it hadn't been for Emma Runcorn, we wouldn't be here. So, can I be Emma Runcorn?

Well, why not? Why not? Was she offensive? Was she irritating? Was she, oh yeah, that's just religious wacko that lives next door. No! She had a relationship. She was a good neighbor. Somebody, Mrs. Armstrong, wanted to get to know. And that's how it started. And that opportunity came. And she didn't shy away from it. How many times have we had opportunities to talk about our faith and backed away?

How many times? Where are you going this fall? Oh, I'm going to a church convention. Really? Well, yeah, I know what a convention is. They have meetings and you get together and have a seminar or something. Yeah, okay. Probably won't go too far. You say, I'm going to the Feast of Tabernacles.

What? What's that? Is that going to then create an opportunity to talk about the hope that lies within? Have you got that answer that just simply says what it is? If we haven't rehearsed those things, if somebody says to us, where are you going every Saturday? I see you walking out. You're all dressed up. You've got a briefcase. What's that all about? Do we have an answer? Well, hopefully we do. Just something short, something clear, something precise that we can tell about the hope that lies within. That's what Emma Runcorn did. And it changed history. It changed history. So who says that the church can't grow? Who says, I can't make a difference? You see, every single one, because I don't live where you live. You do. You have your neighbors. I have my neighbors. You work where you work. You'll have an impact there where no TV program is going to go, no booklet is going to get in there. But your example, your fellowship in the Gospel will be on display, where you will have opportunities to do just this. And when you study the life of Christ, it is amazing the example that He set for us in this very regard. Because some people might read 1 Peter 3 and say, well, it says, if they ask of the hope, so if they don't ask, I'm not telling.

Read the example of Christ. Many times He started the conversation.

And He didn't start out by saying, hey, did you know I'm Jesus, I'm the Messiah, you ought to believe in me. I didn't start like that. One time He just sat down and said, do you mind giving me a drink of water?

And that started a whole series of other things. And we can do that. We can do that. We can shine the light. And yes, it may lead to a conversation that then actively has a part, maybe even more than just shining the light. No doubt we all have to shine the light. Christ certainly said that. He commanded us to do that very thing. And we don't shine our lights by going around blinding people. That's not it. We don't go door to door trying to convert people. We know that's God's job. But as a member of the orchestra, He's given me an instrument. And He says, play it. Play it in beautiful harmony. Be that individual that when that opportunity presents itself, they hear the beautiful music of the truth of the Word.

And that's an amazing calling that God's given all of us. It's what every member can supply. It's each one of us doing our share. It's not Protestant. It's not Pentecostal. It's not religious wackism. It's the job God's called us to.

Paul reminded Philemon it was just that. If you want to go over to the book of Philemon, let's notice what Paul said to him. Paul reminded him of this in verse 4 of Philemon. We just have the one chapter here. And as Paul begins this letter, he's going to address a pretty difficult subject about a slave of his that ran away. But as he begins the letter, notice the focus that he has. It's not like he's some heavy-handed apostle going to lay down the law with this member, Philemon. Verse 4, he says to him, I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers. Verse 5, hearing of your love and faith, which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Because we have a strong relationship with God, because of our elder brother, because Christ is living his life in me, because I'm getting out of the way and his way, his character, his life is shining through.

The sharing of our faith can become effective. And guess what word sharing is? It's Koinonia. See, every member has a part to play in this. And that's the kind of fellowship that Paul talks about over and over and over again.

The New Testament church was a great example. Great example. Who went around preaching the word after Stephen got stoned? Check it out. Acts 8, verse 4. Write it down. Check it out. It wasn't just Peter. It wasn't just the apostles. Read Acts, chapter 11. It talks about the church in Antioch. They were so good at this, their church grew and grew. And it's not just about growth. Don't get me wrong. It's not about that. It's about preaching the word. It's about living our faith. And yeah, growth comes in many ways. Probably the most important growth is our own personal spiritual growth. That we're growing more godly all the time. We're putting on the mind of Christ. In Acts, chapter 11, it shows that the disciples, the apostles, had to come up to Antioch to see, wow, what's going on up here? And verify what was happening. So they sent Barnabas. Because the people had been doing this very thing. They had been shining their light. And so fulfilling that commandment that Christ gave. You could write down Matthew, chapter 5, verse 16. We know it. It says, Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. What an impact! What an impact! In fact, we even sang about it this afternoon, didn't we? In section of Matthew 28. Go ye therefore into all the world, but only the apostles are the ones that have to do the... Oh no, it doesn't say that. No, it's a commission to the church. It wasn't just for the apostles of that day. And so when we recognize this, I think it does connect with the fellowship. It connects, okay, fellowship of the ring. Maybe it's not about Frodo and Aragon and Gandalf and Sam.

But I think that representation is certainly there. Hopefully we no longer think of snack time when we think of fellowship. It's not a veg and out, relaxing kind of thing. We've been called to a mission. And God's given us His vision. And every one of us have a part to play. This is an all-in mission. We're on a life and death quest. And it's not the fellowship of the ring.

It's the fellowship of the king.