Sermon Brief
Date Written: May 18, 2013
Date Preached: May 19, 2013
Where Preached: OPBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: The Five Functions of the Church
Sermon Title: What Does Fellowship Look Like?
Sermon Text: Acts 2:41-47 [HCSB]
Introduction:
This morning I am going to complete my sermon series on the FIVE (5) functions of the church: So far, Ben and I have brought the 1st 4 functions to you…
It’s hard to believe but it was 7 weeks ago when we began our look at the functions of the church… Our first look led us to TRUE worship & what that looks like.
We learned that True Worship is not so much what happens HERE on Sunday morning, but rather it is a direct reflection of how we live our lives from Mon-Sat…
It is NOT about just coming here on Sundays because that should be a given for all believers… but what the world SEES and what we must proclaim is seen the rest of the week in every situation of our lives.
The next function we learned about was True Discipleship! True Discipleship is believers learning & growing in the teachings of Jesus! In other words, true discipleship is believers maturing in the faith!
True discipleship is NEVER focused simply on what we can learn ABOUT God, but rather True Discipleship is all about what God can and will do THRU us when we do learn more about Him!
Then Ben preached a great sermon out of John 4 on the 3rd function of the church – TRUE EVANGELISM! He used the story of the woman at the well & tied together the story of the woman at the well & how Jesus engaged in what we can call True Evangelism!
You see, True Evangelism forces the believer to look past the darkness of the sin of others, AND instead focus on the lostness of the souls God places in our path! We must see them thru the eyes of Jesus!
True Evangelism is about reconciliation & forgiveness, NOT judgment or condemnation!
Then 3 weeks ago we took a look at what I called True Mission/Ministry and we looked at how those two things are tied together… they are inseparable!
It is IMPOSSIBLE to separate Missions from Ministry! They ARE two different approaches but they both answer to the same calling!
To be ‘on Mission’ with God is all about TELLING others about Jesus! To be ‘In ministry’ for Christ is all about SHOWING others Jesus thru how we live out our faith thru our actions! Missions/ Ministry is about talking the talk AND walking the walk!
So today we are going to look at the 5th function of the church and it is True Fellowship! Preacher, we got this ‘fellowship’ thing in the bag… we can ‘pot-luck’ with the best of them… we can throw a party like NO other church! We got this fellowship thing down pat…
But I want you to ask yourself, just what is TRUE FELLOWSHIP? What do I mean when I speak about ‘fellowship’ being a function of the church?
How are we to understand what TRUE FELLOWSHIP means for US today in our church? In our culture? In the world in which we live?
Fellowship is broadly defined as the sharing of experiences OR a group of like-minded people OR a companionship, or having things in common.
For the Christian, the term fellowship does meet all these definitions:
Because in a fellowship - We share the experience of Christ forgiving our sin & saving our souls…
In a fellowship - we share a like-minded belief in God and what He has done and will do and has called us to do…
In a fellowship - We have companionship with our fellow believers, and we lean on them in hard times and under gird them when they face difficulties…
In a fellowship - We have Christ in common… our style of worship may differ or we may reach out to our community differently than other churches BUT … as Christians we KNOW that we have One Lord, One Faith and One baptism! Christ as our common thread!
When we hear the word ‘fellowship’ there are two very distinct definitions One is a VERB, the other a NOUN…
The verb is what we DO as a body of believers…
The noun is who we ARE as a body of believers…
We experience fellowship as a body, but let me go back to my first question that I asked this morning and it is “What does TRUE FELLOWSHIP look like?”
read Acts 2:41-47 here [HCSB]
41So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them. 42And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers.
43Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. 44Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. 45They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need. 46Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.
Well this morning I want to take us through these verses and I want us to examine them in a more close fashion so that we can begin to understand and answer the question, “What does TRUE FELLOWSHIP look like?”
Well first I want to look at TRUE FELLOWSHIP and what it truly speaks to for the believer:
1st True Fellowship speaks to the WHO… True Fellowship is about the WHOLE body, all believers, there is NOT one believer it does NOT include!
2nd True Fellowship speaks to the WHAT… True Fellowship is about growing in Christ, learning about God’s word, being a community of prayer, and having intimacy within the body of believers!
3rd True Fellowship speaks to the WHEN…
(the frequency fellowship is required) and the answer is ALL the time! We are to be in fellowship without ceasing. It is to become our way of life, our habitual actions should be steeped in TRUE FELLOWSHIP!
4th True Fellowship speaks to the WHERE… Here at church, at our homes, at our place of work, at our school… True Fellowship displays itself for ALL eyes to see regardless of where you are!
Finally, 5th True Fellowship speaks to the HOW or the Attitude of the believer! True Fellowship requires an all out energy focused on Christ! It is a dedicated focus and energy toward the plan and purpose of Christ!
But when we look at this passage we can see that when TRUE FELLOWSHIP is implemented into the life of a church… these believers become…1st
Committed
42And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers.
The first thing about TRUE FELLOWSHIP among believers is that it is reveals an intense commitment to the Lord… to His plan and purpose!
When I think about modern day organizations that meet this criteria one example that comes to mind is a political campaign…
Most of us here may see a political campaign as a negative thing BUT I want us to look at it from the perspective of the commitment that comes from those who are dedicated to work within their candidate’s campaign.
It is the same REGARDLESS of party - Democrat, Republican, or Libertarian… Those people who join those campaigns… all join because they are committed and believe in the cause, AND the person who is running for office!
They come together with a SINGULAR commitment to telling all they meet about their candidate and what his/her plans are… they are committed to seeing that candidate get elected!
When we look at the fellowship of the church, it MUST be just that focused and just that committed to Christ! Looking at the early church we can see they were extremely committed to Jesus and shared that commitment with everyone they met…
To do this they devoted themselves to knowing God more… so the 1st thing we see here when we look at TRUE FELLOWSHIP is that it means you are FULLY COMMITTED to Jesus & in that commitment growing the knowledge of God.
We see this in the early church… where they DEVOTED themselves… or should I say COMMITTED themselves…
To be taught … about God (His plan/purpose)
“They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching…”
They were committed to the teachings of the Apostles! The Apostles were teaching what Jesus had charged them to teach in Matt 28:18-20.
They were teaching people, “…to go into the world…”
They were teaching people, “…to make disciples…”
They were teaching people, “…to baptize and disciple others…”
They were teaching people, “…all that Jesus taught them!”
After Jesus rose from the dead, He met with His disciples and opened their minds to the Scriptures… in other words, Jesus opened their minds to the plan and purpose of God!
SO…this is what the Apostles were teaching! This is what these new disciples were learning… but not only were they devoted to being taught God’s word & learning God’s plan, but we can see that they were devoted…
To be taught … about how to love each other
Jesus stressed to His disciples on the night he was arrested that their main focus was to love God and love each other…
Jesus told His disciples it was His desire that the world would know His church by their love & NOT by what they hated or stood against!
We are NOT called to hate or judge… our calling is to love and seek reconciliation for the lost and that they would come to know God as Savior, as we have!
We are NOT the Holy Spirit! It is NOT our job to convict people of their sin! Our calling is to share the love of Christ with our fellow believers AND with the world around us! We are called to love NOT judge! But we can also see they were devoted to being taught…
To be taught … of the needs of others
Meeting the needs of those who are IN need… This is a definite calling of the church! The story of the Good Samaritan reflects this overall precept from God’s Word.
Most people will help people they know or family BUT to help those they don’t know OR to help those who disagree with them… or even fight against them, this was and still is a difficult task for believers! The church is called to LOVE and one way to love is to meet the needs of those IN need!
Finally we can see that these believers were being taught… how to wait on and trust in God
Waiting and trusting in God is NOT natural… Do you like to wait? I know I don’t! These believers were being taught by the disciples to trust in God and wait on His movement…
So often we WANT to do what God desires for us, but we are NOT willing to wait on God’s timing… OR there are times when we don’t want to move as FAST as God’s timing! Either way… we have to learn to TRUST in God and wait on Him!
They were COMMITTED…and that commitment was fleshed out by ALL the fellowship, NOT just a few! You see TRUE FELLOWSHIP is about the…
Cohesive
44Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. 45They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need.
Expressed cohesion with each other…
They held ALL things in common believing that they were in this thing TOGETHER… this was a TEAM effort! A collective is a force or group that is all moving in the same direction… if some move one way and other move another way… they are NOT a collective but just a group!
The church is not just a group of believers, but TRUE FELLOWSHIP is about a group of believers ALL headed in the right direction!
For these believers it was sharing Jesus with those in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth! For US here at OPBC it means we begin sharing Jesus in Algiers and our community!
We must be a church that shines Jesus FIRST to our community! BUT this also means that we ALL must be on board with being that church… the church that reaches out to OUR community REGARDLESS of who is there!
We must become that church! We must become that collective FOR Jesus! But they were not only headed in the same direction we also see that they…
Expressed concern for all…
To REACH our community and to share Jesus as we should, our focus cannot EXCLUDE anyone! We may have a target to shoot at, but for our church to be a TRUE FELLOWSHIP of believers we must NOT exclude the people God places in our path…
Our desire should be to see all to come to Christ. There will be those who will NOT hear our message or answer our invitation to them… but we cannot pick and choose WHO God places at our door… or opens the door of opportunity for us to minister to…
As a church we ALL must express a concern for ALL people… we all have to be on the same page here and we cannot fight against each other on this matter, as a Collective we must show TRUE FELLOWSHIP by showing concern for ALL God places in our path!
They had an expressed cohesion with each other…
They had an expressed concern for all people…
But we can also see where they had an…
Expressed compassion for each other…
This is an expressed love for the brothers and sisters of the fellowship! We cannot serve Christ and be a TRUE FELLOWSHIP if we are bickering and back biting within our church!
Our ‘fellowship’ must be about exalting Christ and we can do this by loving those God places in our path, but the world will sit up and take notice when they see that we LOVE EACH OTHER!
This does not mean that we always have to agree on everything, but it does mean that we NEVER seek to tear another believer down… It does mean that we seek to love IN SPITE of the situations that may come!
These believers expressed a cohesive concern and compassion for each other and for those God placed in their path… they walked the walk as well as talking the talk!
They were committed and they were TOGETEHR as a collective for Christ, but we also find that this group was dedicated to staying true to God’s calling & so we also find their actions were consistent…
Consistent
46Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.
Consistent in gathering together in worship…
There is strength & encouragement in numbers and the Bible tells us to NOT forsake coming together to worship! Worship together as a body encourages us and lifts us up and helps us to move forward in our walk in Christ!
Today’s believers need to be more about assembling together… that means in corporate worship, in small groups, in Sunday School classes, in ministry events, going out and walking the neighborhoods… praying, singing, or social fellowships… WE NEED EACH OTHER!
These believers were extremely consistent in gathering together… it built up their strength and formed a bond among the body!
People we cannot be flippant OR apathetic when it comes to gathering together with our fellow believers within our fellowship… TRUE FELLOWSHIP among believers is consistent in gathering together…FOR WHATEVER REASON!
Do you just come on Sunday morning and then the rest of the week are you DIS-fellowshipped from the rest of the body because you don’t get together with them?
People… TRUE FELLOWSHIP is about consistency in gathering together, but we can also see it is about…
Consistent in ministering to each other’s needs
Basic needs
We all have basic needs and God provides for us, and there are times when those among the fellowship will need help with these basic needs!
We are God’s hands and feet to minister to those in need, especially to those within the body of Christ! As a church we must be consistent in ministering to the needs of our fellow believers… but also to the world around us…
Ministering to the basic needs of the people does not always mean we have to GIVE them something but usually to meet someone’s need it is better to TEACH them something that they can repeat and then they can begin to minister to others!
We do this in several areas, but mainly our ESL language training TEACHES those who suffer from a lack of speaking English… we don’t coddle them and tell them they can ignore the issue of a language barrier, WE teach them the language they need!
The same goes for our ARW ministries… we don’t ‘read’ to these adults in need, but we gather them together to TEACH them how to read!
Now TEACHING someone is much more difficult than GIVING to someone… We can ‘give’ and walk away, but when we TEACH we must be committed to them! We must be consistent about meeting the needs of our brethren in Christ!
This goes for emotional and spiritual needs as well. We are called to MEET these needs and not ignore them! To be a TRUE FELLOWSHIP before God we MUST meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of our brethren!
We must be consistent in gathering together and consistent in ministering to each other’s needs, BUT we also must be…
Consistent in thanking God—Putting Him 1st
Putting God first is the calling of ANY body of believers and to be the TRUE FELLOWSHIP God desires for us, we MUST put God first in all we do!
Putting God first means that we put ourselves LAST! There is an acronym… JOY… which stands for Jesus Others and Yourself!
To be the TRUE FELLOWSHIP of believers God desires, we must NOT seek to meet our needs. That means that if we need to make changes to reach the lost for Christ and exalt Jesus in our community… Then we need to make changes!
This means that if there are some ministries that are NO LONGER effective and we need to change them or eliminate them… then to exalt God and reach our community we must be willing to put God first!
Let me give you an example that YOU may NOT like! I will probably get flack over this illustration, but here is what this means… IF we here at Oak Park Baptist Church desire to be a TRUE FELLOWSHIP…
If we desire to experience TRUE FELLOWSHIP in Christ then we must be willing to put ourselves aside! We must be willing to do what we may NOT like… in order to glorify God and reach the lost!
An example is our worship service… most of us are used to a certain TYPE of worship experience, but what if we needed to change to reach those in our community?
Are you willing to MAKE the necessary changes to reach those people? A TRUE FELLOWSHIP is willing to put God first… to put God’s mission first… and push our comforts, desires and wants to the back and make whatever changes need to be made to reach those God places in our path! The question today is are you ready to become a TRUE FELLOWSHIP??
Let me share with you what happens when we are ready to become a TRUE FELLOWSHIP… when we begin to experience TRUE FELLOWSHIP… the results are going to be FAR BEYOND what we can imagine! Look at the last verse here…
When these believers were willing to become the TRUE FELLOWSHIP God desired… when they placed God 1st and themselves last… Then God consistently honored them for their commitment and they experience dramatic growth!
“What does TRUE FELLOWSHIP look like?”
TRUE FELLOWSHIP is a consistent collective that is fully committed to the plans and purpose of Christ!
We must become committed to exalting Christ in everything we do as a body of believers!
We must become the collective of believers that is focused on the plans and purposes of God!
We must become more consistent in living out our faith as a body of believers!
TRUE FELLOWSHIP is about learning to set aside ourselves on a consistent basis, about learning to join together as a collective focused on ONE thing, serving God AND it is about being consistent in what we do and how we live in this world!
Oak Park members… do you want to be part of a TRUE FELLOWSHIP? Do you want to experience TRUE FELLOWSHIP here in our church?
Today you must be willing to become more committed, collective and consistent in your walk with Christ… today if you want this for our fellowship…
Then I am calling YOU to come forward today and set yourself aside so that our fellowship can be MORE and MORE focused on what God wants and LESS and LESS about what WE want!
If you are here today and you do NOT have a relationship with Jesus… Today I want to introduce you to Him and lead you to know what He desire for you and your soul! I call on you to come forward as Bro Ken comes and leads us in a time of commitment…
As Bro Ken begins to sing… Oak Park mbrs YOU COME! Those who do NOT know Jesus… YOU step out and come…
