Humor: Years ago, Leslie Flynn penned a book called, Great Church Fights. In it he chronicled the way people in different churches would go after each other – all in the name of Jesus Christ. A young father heard a commotion out in his backyard; he looked outside and saw his daughter and several playmates in a heated quarrel. When he intervened, his daughter called back, “Dad, we’re just playing church!”
Fellowship helps you face life’s problems by providing the support and encouragement of other Christians. The church is meant to be a place where we experience in depth relationships and life long friendships are developed.
The purpose of this message is to challenge you to develop deeper relationships within the church and in effect enhance your own personal relationship with God. These relationships don’t just end here on earth when they are in Christ they are eternal.
Last week we talked about the Crowd, and the Committed this week I want to look at the Core or the inner circle, Peter, James and John.
How many times in the Bible does it tell us to do things alone as Christians? The Bible is full of one another commands.
God created family so we could have relationships that become intimate so we could enjoy one another’s company and companionship. Have you ever noticed in the wild how they have swarms of bees, flocks of birds and herds of buffalos? In Dallas they have High Occupancy Vehicles lanes that get you there faster because your not slowed down by individual vehicles driven by individual people. On the Highway to heaven God wants you to travel in a High Occupancy Vehicle. When traveling in the HOV lane you pass up most of the jams you would have gotten into alone. The same is true when you’re a part of a healthy fellowship.
There are many analogies for a Christian disconnected from a church: a football player without a team; a soldier without a platoon; a tuba player without an orchestra; a sheep without a flock. But the most understandable (and biblical) picture is that of a child without a family.
Today we have a record number of single adults in America. Vance Packard calls America “ a nation of strangers. As a result we’re experiencing an epidemic of loneliness in society. One Gallup poll reported that four in ten Americans admit to frequent feelings of “intense loneliness.” Americans are, in fact, the loneliest people in the world.
Everywhere you look there are signs that people are hungering for fellowship, community, and a sense of family. Beer commercials, for instance, don’t sell beer, they sell fellowship. No one is ever portrayed drinking alone; it’s always done in the context of people enjoying each other’s company. Phrases accompany the commercials like: “it doesn’t get any better than this!” Advertisers have discovered that independent-minded baby boomers are suddenly longing to be connected as they enter middle age.
Illustration: Claria Knall a young mother from Oklahoma writes it was one of the worst days of my life. The washing machine broke down, the telephone wouldn’t stop ringing my head ached and the mailman brought a bill I had no money to pay. Almost at the breaking point I lifted my one year old into the high chair, leaned my head against the tray and began to cry. Without a word my son took his pacifier out of his mouth and stuck it into mine.
From the time were born we know people need love and need to be cared for and the church ought to be a place where the deepest love and the deepest caring for each other is real.
John 13:34-35
34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
1. Healthy Christian fellowship meets our need for reinforcement.
Sometimes when you’re out in the world with your convictions you can get to feeling like you’re all alone. Like you’re the only one who doesn’t cheat, steal and lie. Your kids say everybody else is going to the party or to see this movie. It’s so encouraging when you fellowship with someone who shares your commitments.
Hebrews 10:25 drives this thought home, that we need to spur one another on towards good works.
Eccl 4:9-10
9Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: 10If one falls down,
his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
2. Healthy fellowship meets our needs for accountability.
The world can be a very tempting place. We never get so spiritually mature that we don’t need the gentle rebuke or reminder of a Christian friend. Paul had to rebuke Simon Peter because he was falling back into legalism.
Proverbs 27:17
17 As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
We need fellowship for a strong testimony.
The world is a pretty skeptical place. They are cenacle about the church and it’s motives. But there is one thing that always impresses the world and that is when they see how the church loves one another.
Illustration: A preacher in Tennessee said his father was not a Christian and never went to church. He said everyone else in the family would get ready and go to church and his dad would stay home. The preacher would come by and visit and his dad would always give him the same pat answer; I know why you’re here and I know what you want, you want another name and another pledge, you don’t care about me. He said if I heard my dad say it once I heard him say it 20 times. He said towards the end of his life his dad got throat cancer. He had surgery and couldn’t talk. He said as his dad was wasting away in the hospital room it was filled with flowers and cards almost all of them from someone in the church. Food came to his house from his mom’s Sunday school class at the church. He said people came and prayed with my dad from the church. He said one day even though my dad couldn’t talk he took a scrape of paper and scribbled words from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. “In this harsh world draw your breath in pain to tell my story.” He said, dad what is your story? His dad with trembling hand wrote on the scrape of paper, “I was wrong, I was wrong about the church.” He said I got to talk with my dad about salvation in Christ before he died. Simply because of the love and the fellowship of a church.
For those of you who want to deepen your fellowship in the church I have some advise for you.
Get involved in Sunday school, you may not have the best Sunday school lesson every week but I guarantee you will build some lasting friendships that you’ll deeply cherish. Or if you can, try coming on a Wednesday night the setting is much more casual and intimate than on Sunday.
Illustration: Sam Walton founder of Wal-Mart had a pledge he made all his employees say. From this day forward if a costumer comes with in 10 feet of me regardless of what I’m doing in this place I’m going to look them in the eye I’m going to smile, I’m going to greet them with a good morning, or good afternoon or what can I do for you so help me Sam. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone in this church would make a good Samaritan pledge? From this day forward every person who comes within 10 feet of me regardless of what I’m doing in this church I’m going to look them in the eye I’m going to smile, I’m going to greet them with a good morning, or good afternoon, or what can I go for you so help me God.
I heard of some people in a church who said they have a 5-minute rule. After church for the first five-minutes they don’t gravitate to each other. They spend the first five minutes meeting new people and saying hello to others. Remember when Saul of Tarsus came to the church in Jerusalem and they shunned him because they didn’t believe in the authenticity of his conversion. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and told them how Saul’s conversion was legitimate. And they accepted the man who was to become the apostle Paul. That’s the purpose of the Barnabas ministry.
Conclusion: Dr. Fred Craddic tells of the time he was asked to speak in Winnipeg, Canada. When he wakened on Sunday morning to a couple of feet of snow his host called him at the hotel and said Fred this is surprise to us there is so much snow we can’t get to the hotel to pick you up so were going to cancel the lecture series. Fred said what shall I do? His host said well a block and a half to the right of the entrance of the hotel there is a bus depot, I know there is a deli in their and you can get something to eat there. Craddic said the place was packed but when he went in some people moved over and made room for him. Many people in there where just in to get out of the cold. He said I ordered a bowl of soup and a few minutes later someone opened the door and a shout came from inside the deli that said, “hey shut that door your letting all the warm air out”. In came a rather unkempt woman, a couple of people made some room for her, she sat down. A large man with a greasy apron came over and asked in a loud voice, “What do you want?” She said I’ll just take a glass of water. He sat the water in front of her and said, “now what do you want?” She said, “The water is fine.” He said, “lady what do you want?” She said, “Water is fine”. He said, “Look lady there is paying customers in here either you going to have to order something else or get out.” She said, “Can I just stay in out of the cold?” He said, “No you have to order something, or leave.” Slowly she scooted out of her seat and started to leave. But when she did the person on her right and left also got up to leave. Then the persons on each side of them got up to leave. And pretty soon everyone started to leave, and the man in the greasy apron said, “All right come on back you can stay”. She sat down and he even gave her a bowl of soup. Craddic asked the man beside him, “Who is that lady?” The man said I don’t know, but if she’s not welcome I’m not welcome. Fred Craddic said you know, as I started to eat that soup it wasn’t so bad. The matter of fact it reminded me of something I had eaten before and I couldn’t figure out why it tasted so familiar as I ate that bowl of soup. He said I left that little deli and I looked back at that woman sitting there in that atmosphere I remembered what that soup tasted like. It tasted like the bread and wine of communion.
