WHAT A FELLOWSHIP
ACTS 2:40-47
Introduction
Beloved friends and family, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years are upon us and the center of these celebratory days are the moments in which we gather around the table and “feast”/eat together. For Thanksgiving, countless hours will be spent preparing a version of the turkey, dressing, giblet gravy and cranberry sauce. For Christmas it is the dinner or breakfast which rivals the traditional opening of presents. And within the African American tradition, New Year’s Day would not be New Year’s Day without a serving of black eyed peas and rice, a some type of pork (chitterling, pork bones, or pork chops)…which has been said is for “good luck”. And as delectable as those menus may seem, I am led to submit to you that the miracle, message, and memory are not in the meal but are rather in the assemblage, in the togetherness, or as believers of Christ we call it… the fellowship. There is something special about getting together, fellowshipping, which can make any time of the year miraculous. There is special about fellowshipping, which transforms any food or drink item into a meaningful and momentous time whereas the assemblage sends a subliminal message of relationship…which can warm the hearts of friends. And consequently as a result of the fellowship we remember it and talk about it, we cherish it and look forward to it, and we crave for the opportunity to fellowship again. And one great Day when the Lord return we will be caught up to meet Him together with all of our believing loved ones and believing friends. And we all will be in the literal Presence of God Himself…. and Sabbath will have no end. What a fellowship!
I. Old Testament Reflection: In the OT, Fellowship was the method in which the followers of God miraculously found their initial security.
Beloved, although our scripture today found in Acts 2: 39-47 talks about the disciples and converts communing, fellowshipping together, fellowship has always been a significant characteristic amongst God and God’s people…in the OT and in the NT.
A. When God sent Moses to the deliver the Israelites from the suppression of Pharoah, he told Moses to tell the families to come together in each’s house. And the bible said that they ate unleavened bread. And so, this is where the actions of fellowship coined koinónia (Greek) began. They broke bread together.
B. And God told Moses to tell the Israelites that I will send an Angel of death to punish Pharoah, and I want you to sprinkle the blood of a young lamb over your doorposts. When I see the blood, I will Passover you. And sure enough, when the Angel of Death roamed throughout the Egyptian Land and punished Pharaoh, because of the blood of the Lamb sprinkled over the Israelites’ doorpost, this danger miraculously Passed Over them.
Beloved, just as there was security in the miraculous Passover fellowships. Jesus became that Lamb who provided his Blood, and when harm danger has come our way, God has miraculously allowed it to Passover us….who are members of the fellowship. Why? God yet provides miraculous security within fellowship of Believers.
II. Then this memory of the Passover (fellowship) became a momentous tradition from the OT to the NT…and even unto today.
A. This yearly fellowship was a time in which the Jews from around their world (at that time) came together to offer sacrifices for their sin at the Temple in Jerusalem.
B. Not only was this international fellowship important for the Jews, the Roman government used it as a method of census to count each one in a family…for future taxation purposes.
C. And so consequently, at this yearly fellowship, in the gates of the Temple, the money-changers defrauded the poor people’s gifts for their sacrificial offerings. And when Jesus came and saw this, he turned over the tables “And said unto them, It is written, my house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” (Matt. 21:13).
But despite the enemies attempt to use the believers’ place of fellowship, gatherings of fellowship, and nowadays holidays of fellowship, thanks be unto God by Jesus’ work on the cross and through the dispensation of the Holy Ghost, God’s use of fellowship is no longer tied to place, no longer moderated by a specific person, and no longer enacted at an exclusive to a time.
D. Matthew, 18:19-20. Jesus said, “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
And now, the yearly fellowships of God’s people from around the world became meaningful for all.
III. This yearly fellowship was not only important to people, it appears important to God.
A. Beloved when Jesus was born and became of age, they took him to the Passover – the fellowship where Jesus showed his Godliness and superiority of the Word to the priest.
B. It was a fellowship (called a wedding party) where Jesus changed a worldly gathering into a momentous moment turning water into wine.It was a fellowship (called a post-burial) where Jesus raised Lazarus from the
dead.
C. It was a fellowship (what we call discipleship) where Jesus trained his disciples.
D. It was a Passover – fellowship where Jesus said, “Take drink, this is my blood which was shed for you. And “Take eat, this is my body which was broken for you”
E. It was a fellowship of believers, family, Roman soldiers, unbelievers, and scoffers which Jesus gave his life on a cross, in order to make atonement for the believers, family, Roman soldiers, unbelievers, and scoffers of then… and today.
F. It was the Passover – fellowship where the Disciples were gathered in the upper room and the Holy Spirit fell upon them and they spoke in tongues,
G. And as a result of this “prayer fellowship” Peter preached and 4000 people from around the world, their lives were forever transformed.
IV. Many us today know so well…that fellowship was sacred to our parents and grandparents. They planned and prepared for it.
A. When many of us were children, our parents led us to put on best clothes and our best shoes, because we were not just going to any old gathering. We were going to the house of God. We were going to church fellowship.
B. And church fellowship for the southern Black person and the traditional northern African American had many of characteristics that this early church had. For many of the families with children, we would share clothes for the little ones who were younger than ours. In my church Sis. Long and Sis. Lockett and sometimes Sis. Georgia would cook a chicken dinner with greens and rice… and would sell it for $5 a plate. If the truth be known, they really didn’t make a profit…because they spent more on purchasing the ingredients and using the gas and electricity than the pulled in as profit. And of course, all that they didn’t sell… they gave away. This was the church fellowship. The fellowship that Jesus started through his disciples.
You had nothing to worry about; among the fellowship was miraculous security.
You created a custom of values for your children; because fellowship was sacrificial and meaningful.
V. Conclusion: Fellowship is Communing with God
Fellowship now is important to God, and evenmore important to believers, not as commandment, but because it is a momentous memory of the Jesus and the Disciples’ fellowship in the upper-room before Jesus was to offer his life as atonement for all of humanity’s past and present sin; and in putting humanity back into right relationship with God. At this fellowship Jesus washed the disciples’ feet and said,
After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
(Luke 22:17-19)
In reflection of God’s protection and security provided through Christ-like fellowship, saints used to often sing a song called “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms”
1. What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
o Refrain:
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.
2. Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
3. What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms
