The Fellowship of Believers (10/19/14)

Posted by on Oct 21, 2014 in Sermons | 0 comments

October 19 was 2014’s Laity Sunday.  The suggested theme for this year’s Laity Sunday was “Engaging Small Groups.”  Testimonies were given by members of two small groups, and then the scripture and sermon followed.  In the audio below, Bryce Hogan read the scripture and the sermon was given by Larry Bakely.  The title of the message was “The Fellowship of Believers,” and it was based on Acts 2:37-47.

 

Click the “Play” button to begin the recording, then scroll down and follow along…

 

 

The scripture was Acts 2:37-47.  Open the following box to read the entire text.  Portions are reprinted further down along with the sermon summary text.

Acts 2:37-47

37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off — for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”

41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.

44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.

45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

46 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,

47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. NIV

 

 What is Fellowship?

“Fellowship” is a general all-purpose “churchy” word that gets thrown around a lot.  But what does it mean?

  • When the Seniors group takes a trip to an air museum… is that fellowship?
  • When the Men’s group goes bowling…  is that fellowship?
  • When the Youth Group eats pizza during an overnight lock in… is that fellowship?

 

 Koinonia…

In verse 42, it says that they devoted themselves to “fellowship.”  The Greek word translated as “fellowship” in this verse is Koinonia.  Koinonia is used in several different ways throughout the New Testament.  Click the tabs below to take a look…

Hebrews 13:16 says:

And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. NIV

Koinonia (fellowship), means to share what you have.  It’s on loan to you from God, so don’t get caught up on what’s “Yours” and not “Yours.”  Share your possessions.

Paul uses Koinonia in Romans 15:26:

For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. NIV

Koinonia (fellowship) also means to “contribute” or “to give” your resources to be used in ministry.  So when we pass the offering plate, that too is an act of fellowship.

Check out how Koinonia is used in 1 Corinthians 10:16:

Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? NIV

In Holy Communion (the Lord’s Supper), Koinonia means to “Participate” in the work of the blood and body of Christ.  We are called to “Participate” in God’s works of grace.

Here’s another shade of meaning in Philemon verse 6:

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. NIV

Talking to others about our faith is another form of fellowship.

 

The Fellowship of Believers…

When Christians gather together, what turns “common interests” into “Christian Fellowship”?  What are the things that people within the “Fellowship of Believers” should be sharing?  What does the Fellowship of Believers have in common?

If you read this passage, you’ll see many things that Christians share in common. But, we’ll just pick out seven of them…

 

1:  The Fellowship of Believers Shares in:  BROKENESS

37    Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

The first verse of our scripture passage says “they were cut to the heart.”  Why?  Peter had just told them the the Messiah had to die at the hands of sinful man… and that THEY were the “sinful men” who crucified Jesus!

How could that be?  They weren’t even there when Jesus was crucified.  How could they be responsible?

How could WE be responsible?

Mark 12:28-31

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”  “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”    NIV

If you’re really honest with yourself, do you really really love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind and with all your strength?  There’s got to be some area that we keep to ourselves.  And if that’s not bad enough, Jesus says we need to “love our neighbor as ourselves.” What do you think of that neighbor with the barking dog?  What about the guy who ran a stop sign in front of you?  Love???

When you’re honest with yourself, you realize that you keep falling short.  You can’t even hit the #1 thing that God wants you to do.  When you come face to face with that and with the fact that Jesus came to die for sinners like us, you’re “cut to the heart.”

In the fellowship of believers, we share a sense of being “cut to the heart.”

 

2:  The Fellowship of Believers Shares in: a Desire to REPENT

38   Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

But we don’t want to continue to keep doing things that “cut us to the heart.”  Peter tells us that the solution to the “cut” is to repent.  “Repent” is kind of a “churchy” word.  It simply means, do something different!  If you’re stuck in a bad (“sinful”) habit, resolve to do a 180, turn around, and go in the opposite direction.

Not that it’s all easy.  Look at what Hebrews 12 verses 1-3 says:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. NIV

“Run the Race”… “Throw off things that entangle”… “Fix our eyes on Jesus”… None of this is easy, especially if you’re on your own.

When you’re in the Fellowship of Believers, you’re surrounded by others who want to “run the race” and “repent” too.  Because the Fellowship of Believers shares in a desire to Repent, they can help each other on to a new path (and to stay headed in the right direction).

Check out these verses:

Hebrews 10:23-25
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

NIV

In the Fellowship of Believers, we share in an intense desire to “be sharpened”, to grow closer to God.

 

3: The Fellowship of Believers Shares in: a NEW IDENTITY

38   Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

Peter didn’t only tell them to repent.  He told them to repent and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ.

So, what’s that mean?  Your life gets a complete makeover as soon as some “holy water” hits your head???

No.  The symbol of baptism by itself doesn’t do anything to clean up your life.  Baptism isn’t just a ceremony with water.  What Peter is saying is the same thing that Jesus told Nicodemus in John chapter 3

John 3:1-8

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.  He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” 

In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”  “

How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.  You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ NIV

When we’re born in a hospital- “born of the flesh”-  we get a human identity.  It just comes along with the nose, mouth, and lungs.  Human identity.  But we don’t have a “Spiritual Identity.”  To move away from sin and move closer to the ways of God, we need to have the Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit).  We get this by being identified with Jesus.

Take a look at these verses from the letter to the Galatians:

Gal 3:26-29
 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,  for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.   If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

 

Gal 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
NIV

The Fellowship of Believers shares in the promise that we’re “clothed with Christ’s righteousness.”  We share in our close identity with Jesus the Christ.

 

 

4:  The Fellowship of Believers Shares in: the HOLY SPIRIT

38   Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit

 

Mid sermon quiz…

QUESTION:
When you see a rainbow, which thoughts  run through your mind?
Rainbow over SteeplePick “A” or “B”.

  1. Thank you God!
    I needed to be reminded of Your power and Your awesome love and grace.
  2. Hmmm…
    What an interesting example of how water vapor refracts white light, breaking it up into its individual components.

Click below to see the “Correct” Answer…

ANSWER

The correct answer is “A“…

When you have the gift of the Holy Spirit, you’ll see God in the rainbow and say:

Thank you God! I needed to be reminded of Your power and Your awesome love and grace.

You can’t get this question right unless the Spirit of God is pulsing through your inner being.  In the Fellowship of Believers, we share in having Spiritual Eyes which always direct us towards God.

When you’ve got something better than pizza and football to talk about, you can move closer to that goal of “loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.”

 

5:  The Fellowship of Believers Shares in: GOD’S WORD

42   They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 

When you’re in the Fellowship of Believers, you’re surrounded by people who want to know more about God.  And one of the ways we learn more about God is to learn more about the Bible- God’s Word- and to see how it applies to our lives.

But that’s easier said than done.  There are passages of scripture that are hard to understand. So being around a group of Bible hungry friends helps us to figure out the difficult parts.  And, having a trained pastor in our midst is a big help too!

But there are also times when we need encouragement to continue to study the Bible or to read devotions or other Bible-based publications.  Being in a group that shares in a hunger for God’s Word helps you to “continue steadfastly” to remain in your study.

 

6:  The Fellowship of Believers Shares in: PRAYER

42   They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 

They were devoted… continued steadfastly…to prayer.  The Fellowship of Believers shares in the experience of answered prayers.  It shares in a belief in the power of prayer.  And so when you get together in church or in a small group, we pray for each other and we talk about how our prayers were answered.

Absent this fellowship in prayer, corporate prayer is not as meaningful.  But when there is fellowship, the Lord is among us.  Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 18:19-20…

“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”
NIV

 

7:  The Fellowship of Believers Shares in: an AWE OF GOD

43   Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles.   All who believed were together and had all things in common;  they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. 

Many wonders and signs were being done among them.  Flip back to the beginning of chapter 2 when the Holy Spirit descended and everyone was speaking in different languages.  Look ahead to chapter 3 where Peter heals a crippled beggar.  The people were in awe of the things that God was doing in their midst.

 

But what about today!  Do miracles happen today?

Yes!  Within the Fellowship of Believers there are answered prayers.  Unexplained biopsies that come back clean.  Moments of “coincidence” where someone just happens to be in the right place at the right time.  God IS acting in our day to day lives according to His will.  We may not get the miracle we want, but we will get the presence of God that we need.

The fellowship of Believers shares in these “God Sightings” or “God Moments“— times where they’ve seen the Hand of God directly at work in their lives.  The Fellowship of Believers shares in an awe of an almighty righteous God who loves us in spite of our failures.

And because of this awe and awesome presence of God in our lives, the Fellowship of Believers shares in a desire to give and to share their possessions with others who are more needy.  “Possessions” are gifts entrusted to us by God to be used for His glory.

 

So What Do YOU Share In?

When you’re with a group of friends, what do you talk about?  What do you gather around?  Maybe you discuss fishing, or sports, or movies.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

But- do you spend so much of your time and interest on these things that you don’t have any room to share in the Fellowship of Believers?  When you get together with friends, do you share in prayer?  Do you share any new insights that may have come to you recently when you read the Bible?  Do you talk about any “God Sightings” or other times where you’ve felt the presence of God in your life?

In order to grow in your walk with God and to feed your hunger for God’s presence in your day to day life, learn and practice the Fellowship of Believers.

 


 

Quiz Time!

As you reflect on what you’ve just heard/read, give this quiz a try.  If you don’t understand an answer (or if you disagree with the “correct” answer, post a comment…

 

 

+     +     +     +     +     +     +

 

Click Here to view other sermons.

 

 

 

 

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *