SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). Meeting together
(2). Worshiping Together
(3). Praying together
(4). Sharing together
(5). Learning together
(6). Giving Together
(7). Evangelising Together.
SERMON BODY:
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
• The “They” in this verse;
• Are three thousand people who responded to Peter’s preaching (vs 41);
• Three thousand people became followers of Jesus (Christians),
• And we are told that high on their list of priorities was ‘fellowship’.
Ill:
• Sign on a Church notice board:
• When you were born, your mother brought you to church.
• When you were married, your wife brought you to church.
• When you die, your friends will bring you to church.
• Why not try coming to church on your own sometime'
• TRANSITION:
• Now our the topic I have been asked to speak on today is ‘Fellowship’;
• And fellowship is far more than just attending a Church!
• But fellowship, meeting with other Christians;
• Has to start by being where other believers meet together.
Quote: Dictionary definition of the word ‘Fellowship’:
• The companionship of individuals in a congenial atmosphere and on equal terms:
• e.g. a voracious reader who found fellowship in a book club.
• Friendship; comradeship:
• e.g. a strong fellowship developed among them.
• A close association of friends or equals sharing similar interests:
• e.g. a fellowship of photographers.
Note: There are three key ideas that come out of this:
• FIRST: Fellowship means being a part of a group, a body of people.
• It is opposed to isolation and solitude.
• It is opposed to our present-day independent kind of individualism.
• SECOND: Fellowship means having or sharing with others certain things in common;
• Such as interest, goals, feelings, beliefs, activities, experiences, and concerns.
• THIRD: Fellowship can mean a partnership.
• That involves working together and caring for one another;
• i.e. Like a company of soldiers or members of a family.
TRANSITION: When a person decides to follow Jesus as their Saviour and Lord:
• Church will or should automatically take on a new significance.
• So much so;
• That I would say it is impossible to follow Jesus and not be part of a local Church.
• Because the word Church is never used for a building,
• It always means a collection of people.
• If you are a Christian, you never go to church;
• You are the church!
ill:
• The very first translation of the New Testament from Greek into English:
• Was by William Tyndale in 1526,
• But Tyndale had a translation problem over the Matthew chapter 16 verse 18:
• "Upon this rock I will build my Church".
• Because he did not want people to think that the living church of Jesus Christ:
• Was a building or an institution, the accepted religious establishment.
• So after much thought he ended up translating the words of Jesus this way:
• "Upon this rock I will build my congregation".
• TRANSITION: The Church is always the congregation, the people!
• If you are a Christian, you never go to church, you are the church!
• You need to meet with other Christians and….they need to meet with you!
Ill:
• In the grey dawn of an April day in 1945,
• In the German concentration camp of Flossenburg,
• A pastor by the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed.
• He was executed by special order of Heinrich Himmler,
• Hitler’s executioner.
• He had been arrested two years before, and over that period of two years,
• He had been transferred from prison, to prison, to prison.
• From Tegel, to Berlin, to Buchenwald, to Schönburg,
• Finally to Flossenburg.
• And in the moving of Bonhoeffer from place to place,
• He lost all contact with the outside world.
• Everyone that he knew was severed from him.
• He lost, according to his own testimony, the most precious possession he had,
• And that was fellowship!
• TRANSITION:
• If you are a Christian, you never go to church, you are the church!
• You need to meet with other Christians and….they need to meet with you!
Note: Christian fellowship is choice you make:
• We noted that the dictionary defines fellowship as;
• "friendly association with others; companionship."
• Christian fellowship, then, involves friendly association with other Christians.
• It means you choose to spend time with;
• And build relationships with like-minded people.
In Acts chapter 2 verse 42:
• We read that one of the four things the early church devoted itself to was “fellowship.”
• Fellowship was a very important part of why they met together.
• It was one of their objectives.
• It was seen as a priority never as an optional extra!
Question: What is fellowship?
Answer:
• Our modern ideas of fellowship have become so watered down;
• That the word no longer carries the same meaning it did in New Testament times.
• For some All the fellowship they seem to want;
• Is a quick conversation over a cup of tea/coffee at the end of a Church service.
Yet, this verse in Acts tells us that the early Christians:
• Devoted themselves to fellowship.
• They just didn’t have fellowship; they devoted themselves to it.
• This means that fellowship was a priority;
• It was one of the main objectives for gathering together.
• They made fellowship a key aspect to focus on.
Ill:
• An anthropologist proposed a game to the kids in an African tribe.
• He put a basket full of fruit near a tree;
• And told the kids that whoever got there first won the delicious fruits.
• When he told them to run they all took each-others hands and ran together,
• Then they sat together enjoying their treats.
• When he asked them why they had run together like that;
• When one of them could have had all the fruits for themselves;
• They replied ''UBUNTU”,
• 'UBUNTU' in the Xhosa culture means: "I am because we are"
• They were saying “How can one of us be happy, if all the other ones are sad?''
• TRANSITION: Fellowship for the Christian is 'UBUNTU'
• That is; "I am because we are"
Question: What are we as Christians?
Answer: We are….
• The Church, the body with Jesus Christ the head.
• We are the family of God.
• We are an army.
• We are a royal priesthood.
• We are a holy nation.
• We are citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of God
• We are the sheep in God’s sheepfold.
• We are branches attached to the living vine.
• We are God’s vineyard.
• We are a city.
• The Kingdom of God
• The Household of God
• We are the church is the temple of God, built with living stones,
• With Christ as the foundation and cornerstone.
• Did you notice that all those metaphors for the Church are plural?
• They are collective, a family, a kingdom, an army, a household.
• They are collective because; 'UBUNTU'
• That is; "I am because we are"
• The Christian life is to be lived out in fellowship with other Christians;
• And that is why it was prioritised not only in the book of Acts;
• But also in the New Testament letters.
• Now I want us to very quickly consider six areas of fellowship;
• That the New Testament focuses on.
(1). Meeting together
Hebrews chapter 10 verses 24-25:
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Ill:
• When a man was approached by a sales person trying to sell him a house;
• He replied:
• “A home! What do I want with a home!
• I was born in a hospital,
• Educated in a boarding school,
• Courted in a car,
• Married in a Church,
• I eat in restaurants,
• Spend my mornings playing golf,
• My afternoons playing bridge at the club.
• Evenings I go to the cinema,
• And when I die I’m going to buried from a funeral home.
• I don’t need a home;
• All I need is a garage!”
• TRANSITION: Sorry, but there is no Biblical support for the independent Christian.
• There is no Biblical support for the Lone Ranger life-style.
• Christians are meant to fellowship together;
• And anyway, even the Lone Ranger had Tonto!
Ill:
• Some Christians use the expression; ‘I know Jesus as my own personal saviour’.
• That is a nice saying but you will not find it in the Bible!
• Faith may be personal but it is never private;
• It is designed by God to be lived out in the fellowship of other believers.
• Remember Church is his idea not ours.
• Jesus said: “I will build MY Church”
• (Matthew chapter 16 verse 18)
• He is the designer, the architect and the master builder,
• And he requires that his people find a group of believers;
• As modelled in the book of Acts (History of the early Church);
• To meet together with each other on a regular basis.
(2). Worshiping Together:
Ephesians chapter 5 verse19:
“Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,”
• If you go to any typical church, you are going to probably hear a good bit of singing,
• That singing is designed to give heartfelt expression of praise to God.
• We are a praising people;
• We believe that Jesus Christ has forgiven our past mistakes;
• We believe God’s Holy Spirit is in our lives today.
• We believe we are saved the wrath of God and from hell,
• We believe the God has prepared a place with him in the future!
• We have a good reason to sing!
Ill:
• In his book "Psalms of the Heart,"
• Author George Sweeting tells the story of two John and Elaine Beekman.
• God called them to missionary work among the Chol Indians of southern Mexico.
• Reaching this tribe of Indians was not easy;
• It involved riding mules for long parts of the trip;
• And also travelling by dugout canoes.
• They spent 25 years of their lives ministering to the Chol tribe of southern Mexico.
• And along with other missionaries;
• They helped to translate the New Testament into the language of the Chol Indians.
• Today the Chol Church is thriving.
• More than 12,000 Christians make up the Chol Christian community.
• Now when the missionaries first came, the Chol Indians didn’t know how to sing.
• They just did not and had not ever done it!
• With the coming of the gospel, however,
• Those who Indians who came to faith in Christ were given a nickname by the other Indians;
• They became known as "the singers".
• George Sweeting comments in the book:
• "They love to sing now, because they have something to sing about."
• TRANSITION: God always gives his people something to sing about;
• That is true for us today as we have spent time singing his praises;
• And it was true for the people of Israel here in Exodus chapter 15.
(3). Praying together:
• Acts chapter 2 verse 42:
• “They devoted themselves………to prayer.”
• Colossians chapter 4 verse 2:
• “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”
Ill:
• There is a legend of a village in Southern Europe that boasted of a church called;
• "The House of Many Lamps."
• When it was built in the sixteenth century,
• The architect provided for no light except for a holder at every seat for the placing of a lamp.
• Each Sunday night, as the people gathered,
• They would bring their lanterns and slip them into the bracket at their seat.
• When someone stayed away, his place would be dark;
• And if very many stayed away, the darkness became greater for the whole Church.
• It was the responsibility of each person to make sure that the Church was that lit up.
• TRANSITION:
• In the Bible the Church came together to pray,
• This is an absolute must for all believers if we want to be light in our communities.
• If as Christians we want to know, experience and enjoy God in a deeper way.
• Then we need to be praying regularly together.
Ill:
• In our own Church we have added a number of special ‘prayer times’;
• Into this year’s Church diary.
• And these ‘prayer times’ will be for all ages and done in a way to accommodate all ages.
• Because we realise the importance of collective prayer for the Church;
• We must come together and call on and experience God in this special way.
(4). Sharing together:
Acts chapter 2 verses 42-47:
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
Ill:
• In May, 1953,
• Two men became the first in history to climb to the top of Mt. Everest;
• They were Edmund Hillary, a New Zealand beekeeper and explorer,
• And his Sherpa guide from Nepal, Tenzing Norgay.
• They reached the summit together and attained instant international fame.
• On the way down from the 29,000-foot peak, Hillary slipped and started to fall.
• He would almost certainly have fallen to his death,
• But Tenzing Norgay immediately dug in his ice-axe;
• And braced the rope linking them together, saving Hillary’s life.
• When they reached the bottom they were swamped by international press;
• Who made a huge fuss over the Sherpa guide’s heroic action.
• Through it all Tenzing Norgay remained very calm,
• Very professional, very uncarried away by it all.
• To all the shouted questions he had one simple answer:
• “Mountain climbers always help each other.”
• TRANSITION: Christians always, or should always help each other;
• That is our DNA!
• And in verses 42-47:
• We see the practical way the very first Christians helped each other;
• And they met those practical needs at great expense.
• But they learnt that people are always more important than property or possessions;
• And so they cared for one another practically!
We can also share together emotionally and spiritually:
• Romans chapter 12 verse 15:
• “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”
ill:
• Story told of a little girl whose friend died,
• She told her family that she had gone to comfort the sorrowing mother:
• "What did you say?" asked her father.
• "Nothing" she replied; "I just climbed up on her lap and cried".
• TRANSITION: We can also share together emotionally and spiritually.
(5). Learning together:
Bible Reading: Acts chapter 2 verse 42:
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
Ill:
• A Father and his small son were out walking one day;
• When the lad asked him a question;
• “Dad, how does electricity could go through the wires stretched between the telephone poles”.
• His father replied; “I don’t know, I never knew much about electricity.”
• A few streets farther on, the boy asked his dad another question;
• “Dad, what causes lightning and thunder.”
• His Dad replied; “Sorry son, that too has puzzled me,
• I never knew much about thunder & lightening”
• The youngster continued to ask question after question;
• Of which the father could not answer any of them.
• Finally, as they were nearing home, the boy said,
• “Dad, I hope you didn’t mind all those questions.”
• His dad replied:
• “Not at all, how else are you going to learn!”
• TRANSITION: As well as reading and studying the Bible individually at home,
• All Christians benefit from being taught together.
• Being taught collectively;
• Will give us insights and challenges that we cannot get when we study on our own.
• But I assume in your studies on Acts chapter 2 verse 42;
• That you have had a whole talk on that topic.
(6). Giving Together:
1 Corinthians chapter 16 verse 2:
"Now about the collection for God's people:
Do what I told the Galatians churches to do.
On the first day of the week,
each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up,
so that when I come no collections will have to be made".
ill:
• A sign in the back of a car had a picture of the seven dwarfs:
• It should have read: “Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work I go.”
• But instead it read: “I owe, I owe, so it’s off to work I go.”
• TRANSITION: The Bible reminds us that every Christian ‘we owe’
• All that we have we owe to the Lord.
• Not in the sense that we are trying to buy God’s favour or God’s salvation;
• But rather all we have comes from God.
• God blesses us with things, in this case money;
• That we might be a blessing to others.
• Giving is not an optional extra it is normal Christian behaviour.
• Which is why the apostle says; give systematically & proportionately;
• But give!
ill:
• A man was being baptized by immersion,
• As he went down into the baptistery;
• He suddenly remembered he had his wallet in his back pocket.
• So he stopped to take it out and pop it on the side;
• But the preacher seeing what was happening said:
• “Stop! Either I baptise you wallet and all or not at all!”
• TRANSITION: Now the preacher was not interested in making the man’s money wet;
• But symbolically,
• To say I will follow Jesus but not let it affect my finances is a none starter!
• If God's way of providing is through his people:
• Then all we have is at his disposal!
(7). Evangelising Together:
Luke chapter 10 verse 1:
“The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit.”
Question:
• Do you know why the Jehovah Witnesses come to your door in pairs;
• Because its Biblical!
• They have at least got that bit right!
Quote: W. E. Vine in his booklet, The Divine Plan of Missions writes:
“Where two are working together they are able to render help one to another by way of comfort in sorrow, counsel in perplexity, and sympathetic advice and warning in times of temptation. An ear ready to receive wise counsel may mean deliverance from succumbing to temptation”
He goes on to say: “How happy, how effective, how sure of Divine blessing, is co-work carried on in the absence of selfish individualism in the spirit of mutual esteem, and in a constant recognition of what is involved in being ‘God’s fellow-worker’!”
• Jesus set the pattern for the disciples / apostles / missionaries;
• By sending them out in twos and not on their own.
• We see the same pattern in the Book of Acts.
• Team evangelism and not individual, lone rangers.
• Evangelism is best done together.
Note: 5 reasons why collective evangelism is best:
• The first reason is accountability to one another.
• The second reason is for mutual encouragement.
• The third reason is so that younger Christians;
• Can learn from and be guided by the experience and help of older Christians.
• The fourth reason is to maximize spiritual gifts.
• The fifth reason is to soak our evangelism in prayer.
Ill:
• Some years ago, when many American missionaries were allowed to serve in China,
• A blind Chinese man was taken to a mission hospital.
• The missionary doctor performed an operation;
• And removed cataracts from the man's eyes.
• Soon, the man was able to return to his home,
• He left the mission hospital rejoicing in his restored eyesight.
• A few weeks later the missionaries at the hospital;
• Saw the man coming back down the road toward them.
• But this time he was holding a rope to which forty other blind people were clinging.
• He was bringing them to the place where his sight had been restored.
• TRANSITION: Let’s get together and share our faith!
• Unless we do most people in this community will never hear the gospel!
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=4ofpoth64Cq0LWMiQafrXONK7S88MxrF
