*NOTE: I am indebted to Rick Warren for the outline containing the "Fortify Your Faith" , etc. in this sermon. Please see "The Purpose Driven Church" (Zondervan, 1995) for more info.
Acts 2:41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
42 ¶ And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
(NKJV)
WOW. . .what a group of people!
What made this church so powerful? Let’s look a little closer:
This church was powerful because they had discovered the secret to being a church that functions the way God intended. I want to share that secret with you. This church discovered that it could help it’s members do 5 things:
1. Fortify their faith. (Discipleship)
“They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine...”
2. Find their talents. (Ministry)
“[They] sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.”
3. Focus on God. (Worship)
“Continuing daily with one accord in the temple. . . praising God. . .”
4. Face life’s problems. (Fellowship)
“And they continued steadfastly in fellowship. . . Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common. . . and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.”
5. Fulfill their mission. (Evangelism)
“...having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
Face Life’s Problems
We call this purpose “fellowship” – it means one thing: Doing life together, no matter what it brings.
The word is koinonia. It means “shared.” It means that there’s nothing you go through but someone’s there right beside you.
It’s about having good times together, and having bad times together.
The idea of fellowship is best expressed in the “one anothers” of the Bible. . .
WHAT IS FELLOWSHIP?
Tim died suddenly while he was out of town with his wife. . . 37 years old, wife and 4 kids. Dozens of people from their church make the long trip just to be with her. THAT’S FELLOWSHIP! (Shared hurt.)
“Therefore, comfort one another...” (1 Thessalonians 4:18)
Randy had a huge fight with his wife. He called a man from the church, and they sat down and talked it out. It ended by praying together, asking God for strength to apologize and to do the right thing in the future. THAT’S FELLOWSHIP!
“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.” (Hebrews 10:24)
Dan struggled with homosexuality for a long time. . .now he’s trying to be a Christian. What’s he supposed to do with that? He knows it’s not right, but how can he deal with it? He confesses it to another man from church. Rather than being horrified and lecturing Dan, the man helps him pray about it, and holds him accountable, meeting with him every week to help him make progress. THAT’S FELLOWSHIP! (Shared struggle.)
“Confess your faults to one another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed.” (James 5:16)
Jane was lonely. . . being single again wasn’t easy. She sat by the phone, and silently, a tear rolled down her cheek. Suddenly, she was interrupted by the phone. Nicole, from church was on the phone, and was just calling to ask if Jane would go out and get a bite to eat with her. Jane smiled, for the first time all week! THAT’S FELLOWSHIP! (Shared time.)
Chris was trying to get back on his feet. . . Barbara took him to work.
Serve one another. . .
JoAnn called and asked for prayer as her husband went in for emergency surgery. Virgil and Reeda dropped what they were doing and went to the hospital to comfort her.
Love one another. . .
Steve confessed the shoplifting he’d done to Bob, his friend from church. . . and Bob stood with him as he confessed it to a manager. When it was over, Steve and Bob embraced and rejoiced with the reality of a clear conscience.
All of these examples are real people I’m acquainted with. . . several are from right here in this church. Some of the names I’ve changed, but these are:
REAL PROBLEMS. . . REAL PEOPLE. . . and REAL FELLOWSHIP to help them face life’s problems.
If that kind of church sounds good to you, then let’s look a little deeper!
How can I have that kind of fellowship?
1. Start with a relationship with God.
The basis for fellowship is very simple: We both are forgiven, love Jesus, and are obeying Him.
Check out this verse:
1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
“Walking in the light” simply means obeying God’s Word. So the foundation of fellowship is being forgiven from all sin, and walking in the light.
Some people start from the wrong basis. They really want to have deep fellowship and kinship. . . but they aren’t willing to live in a real relationship with Christ so they CAN have that!
- Have you asked God to forgive you of your sins?
- Do you love God and show it by following Him daily?
If not, THAT’S where you’ve got to start, and you can do that today – I’ll give you a chance before this service is over.
2. Then, share your time.
“Now all who believed were together... and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food. . .”
I’ll be honest, this is a tough one for me. . . and it probably is for you as well.
We’re busy, aren’t we? We’ve got doctor’s appointments, and basketball practice, and work, and school, and the oil’s got to be changed in the car, and the lawn’s got to be raked, and the house has to be cleaned . . . and the last thing I’ve got time to do is spend time with someone from church.
I spend time almost every week at a coffeeshop with a fellow Christian. I always have 100 things pressing on me that day, but choosing to do it anyway is part of really knowing fellowship!
That’s one of the reasons why we offer multiple services. On Sunday nights, we get together to support and pray for one another. I want to offer you several practical ways you can share your time to have deeper fellowship:
a) Invite someone over for lunch.
b) Make a phone call to check on someone. (If you need someone’s phone number, call me!)
c) Take time to pray with someone about an issue they’re struggling with.
d) Attend our Sunday night service. We share our burdens and needs together, and pray for each other.
e) Attend our Wednesday night Bible Study. It’s a good midweek fellowship fill-up!
Until you share your time, you’ll have a hard time feeling like you’re really a part of the church. It takes a sacrifice to really share your time. But the fellowship is worth it!
3. Last, open your heart.
“...with gladness and simplicity of heart.”
They had nothing to hide from each other. They were glad to be together, and didn’t have to make it all complicated. . . they were sincere and honest.
If you’re guarding yourself, and trying to be something you’re not, you’ll never experience true fellowship! You can’t ever experience genuine trust with anyone unless you’ve got simplicity of heart – you’re being simply who you are.
I’m not OK. You’re not OK. But together, we can help each other become OK, because we can face life’s problems together.
It’s called “nothing to hide”.
This is probably the hardest one of all!
CLOSING ILLUS> Special Olympics, for handicapped children. Foot race. . . halfway through, one kid fell, and scraped his knees. He started crying. All the other kids stopped, came back, gathered around, and helped him up, and walked across the finish line together. The crowd went nuts. . . you know why? Because for a few minutes, life was about something more than competition -- it was about going back to pick up the one that’s hurting. Life is about more than the race at our church! It’s about facing life’s problems together, picking up the one that has tripped, and saying, "Hey -- I love you! Let’s walk to the finish line TOGETHER!"
Invitation. . . if there’s someone here who wants what I’ve been talking about, but you know you haven’t taken the first step -- a right relationship with God. . . why don’t you take that step today?
______________
HANDOUT (Formatted for landscaped page, less than 1/2 inch margins, 2 columns)
______________
The Way the Church Ought to Be
Facing life’s problems together. . .
______________
Acts 2:41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
This church was powerful because they were a church that functions the way God intended. This church discovered that it could help it’s members do 5 things:
1. Fortify their ____________. (Discipleship)
“They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine...”
2. Find their _____________. (Ministry)
“[They] sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.”
3. Focus on ____________. (Worship)
“Continuing daily in unity in the temple. . . praising God.”
4. Face life’s _________________. (Fellowship)
“And they continued steadfastly in fellowship. . . Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common. . . and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.”
5. Fulfill their _______________. (Evangelism)
“...having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
Face Life’s Problems
We call this purpose “__________________” – it means one thing: Doing life together, no matter what it brings. The Greek word for fellowship is koinonia. It means “____________.”
The idea of fellowship is best expressed in the “one anothers” of the Bible.
“Therefore, comfort one another...” (1 Thessalonians 4:18)
“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.” (Hebrews 10:24)
“Confess your faults to one another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed.” (James 5:16).
“In love, serve one another. . .” (Galatians 5:13)
How can I have that kind of fellowship?
1. Start with a relationship with __________.
“Now, all who believed were together. . .”
The basis for fellowship is very simple: We are ______________, love Jesus, and are obeying Him.
1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
2. Then, share your ___________.
“Now all who believed were together... and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food. . .”
Life is made up of __________ – – to share life, you have to share time!
Several practical ways you can share your time:
a) Invite someone over for lunch.
b) Make a phone call to check on someone.
c) Take time to pray with someone about a need.
d) Attend our Sunday night service.
e) Attend our Wednesday night Bible Study.
3. Last, open your __________.
“...with gladness and simplicity of heart.”
They had ____________ _______ _________ from each other.
