Naylor Community Christian Church
Naylor, Georgia
I. Introduction
-- turn
in Bibles to Acts 2:42-47
Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’
teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone
was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44
All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold
property and possessions to give to anyone who 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.
– hold your place there, and follow along as I read
Hebrews 10:19-25
Hebrews 10:19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since
we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a
new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and
since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God
with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our
hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies
washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for
he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another
on toward love and good deeds, 25 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.
-- as we
open this morning, I want to share with you the story of Pachomius, as recorded
by Marshall Shelley in an article in Leadership Journal:
-- Pachomius
was an Egyptian in the early 4th century – he became a Christian
because of the kindness and love he received from the Christians who lived
around Thebes – but as a Roman soldier, he was afraid to make public his
newfound faith in Christ – so, in 315 AD, after he was released from his
military service, Pachomius was baptized and began to embrace his faith with
all his heart
-- seeking
to follow the ways of Christ without interference from the world, Pachomius
retreated to the desert and became a religious hermit – living a solitary life
of self-denial, solitude, silence, and severity – but after a while, he began
to question whether this was truly the path to growing in grace and maturity in
Christ – as he studied Scripture, it seemed as if Christ and the apostolic
fathers were portraying a way of life entirely different than the one he was
living
-- so, in
the solitude of his hermitage and the solitude of his heart, Pachomius began
asking piercing questions of the way he was approaching his faith:
-- “How
can you learn to love if no one else is around?
-- How
can you learn humility living alone?
-- How
can you experience or show kindness or gentleness or goodness in isolation?
-- How
can you learn patience unless someone puts yours to the test?”
-- Pachomius
came to the conclusion that developing spiritual maturity requires being around
other people -- ordinary, ornery people -- "To save souls," he said,
"you must bring them together."
-- “So
Pachomius began an ascetic fellowship, where holiness was developed not in
isolation but in community -- Instead of each person seeking God in his own
way, with the dangers of idleness and eccentricity, Pachomius established a
common life based on worship, work, and discipline.”
-- “Pachomius,
while largely forgotten in church history, points out to us that as attractive
as solitary sanctification may seem, it is in life amid people, busyness, and
interruptions that [we] develop many of the qualities God requires.”1
-- this
morning, we are continuing in our sermon series on the spiritual disciplines
and the spiritual gifts – those foundational elements that we need in order to
become mature Christians who live out the commands of Christ in our lives daily
-- so far
in this study, we have looked at the disciplines of reading the Bible and
prayer -- this week, we’re
going to be looking at the next spiritual discipline -- fellowship --
specifically looking at how the early church modeled the concept of fellowship
in a vibrant and living Christian community
II. The Loss of Community
-- fellowship is a word that we all know,
but that we frequently misuse -- when you hear the word, “fellowship,” in most church settings,
you’ll find it is attached to a gathering of people -- usually to a meal, such
as a covered dish dinner after church
--
sometimes, you’ll hear “fellowship” used to talk about people sharing
conversation with each other in informal settings – like when we say that we
are having fellowship before our Bible study
-- and,
while these can be forms of fellowship, they fall far short of what the word
truly means and how Christ intended us to experience fellowship in His church
-- when
you see the terms “fellowship” or “communion” in your New Testament, it is
usually a translation of the Greek word Koinonia – the translators
decide whether to use “fellowship” or “communion” based on the context of the
passage, but both fellowship and communion come from the same word and the same
root meaning
-- the
definition of Koinonia is a group of people who are joined together to
form community or family – in the context of the Bible, Koinonia is used
to describe the spiritual and physical union of believers through the blood of
Christ and the Holy Spirit into a holy community – the church of Christ
--
through Jesus, we experience Koinonia – we become the church – the
community of faith – the very family of God – His people, who are indwelled by
His very presence, joining together to do life together as one body on earth
today
-- when
we look at the early church in the Book of Acts, this is what we see -- we see Koinonia
lived out as God intended – both here in Acts 2 and over in Acts 4:32, where we
read that "all the believers were one in heart and mind" – they were
united – they were in fellowship or communion with one another
-- this
is the heart of Koinonia – this is what Jesus wanted for us – that He
prayed for on the night that He was betrayed – Koinonia – fellowship –
communion – community -- these should be our goal as His holy church on earth
today – for, as Pachomius discovered, it is only in Koinonia that we
experience true relationships with others and Christ within us
-- when we look at this picture of the
early Christian church described for us here in the Book of Acts, it seems very
foreign to us -- almost unrecognizable -- because this description of
fellowship lived out in a local church community is so different from what we
find today
-- look back at Acts 2:42
Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’
teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone
was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44
All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold
property and possessions to give to anyone who 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.
-- where the early church focused on
living and doing life together, our modern churches only gather and come
together once or twice a week for established services -- we then separate and
go our own way -- making it through the rest of the week on our own -- until we
come back together on the next Sunday
-- this practice has caused us to see
church as an event, rather than a community -- as something we do -- someplace
we go -- rather than who we are
-- this lack of identity and community in
our churches today -- this lack of centering our lives on Christ and on His
people – and focusing more of our time and attention on the world – on seeking
community through social media and political identities – has resulted in
unprecedented isolation and loneliness and division within the very body of
Christ
-- and this all accelerated during Covid
and the heightened political divisions over the last decade – resulting in
Christians lost and alone without any real sense of community in the world
today
-- both major mainline denominations and
the non-denominational churches have been losing members over the past two or
three decades – we live here in the Bible Belt – and if you go to almost any
church in town – you’ll see lots and lots of empty pews and empty seats – at
best, some new churches grow simply by taking members from other established congregations
– we’re just rustling sheep and moving members rather than bringing new people
into the fold
-- additionally, we are seeing more and
more people who have turned away from traditional denominations – who identify
themselves as "unchurched" Christians or as simply “spiritual,”
without any church affiliation – and who do not join with other Christians for
worship on a regular basis
-- the writers of Hebrews warned against
this in the passage we looked at – in Hebrews 10:25, we read, “let us not give
up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one
another – and all the more – as you see the Day approaching”
--
in a survey by the Barna Research Group, they found that 10 million self-proclaimed,
born-again Christians in America have not been to a worship service in a church
building in the last six months, apart from Christmas or Easter.
-- just as a note, Barna defines
"born-again" as those who say they have made a personal commitment to
Jesus Christ that is still important today, and believe they will "go to
heaven because they have confessed their sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as
their Savior." -- a definition that probably most of us agree with
-- now, what this means is that for these people,
spiritual life has nothing to do with joining together with other believers in
fellowship – in joining together with other believers in worshiping God
together -- they are seeking relationship with Jesus apart from a church
setting
-- I have a coworker that moved here last year – and
despite her affirmation that she is a Christian, she has no interest in finding
a church home in the local community – she spends her Sunday mornings watching
an online service, where you get the entertainment of a service without the
true fellowship and communion that is intended
-- for thousands of years, the church has been the
center of religious and spiritual life -- but now many people are living out an
individualized spirituality outside traditional churches -- trying to find
success in a virtual monasticism similar to that tried and found wanting by Pachomius
-- even though they are surrounded by the world, they are trying to live out
their Christian lives in virtual isolation, with no support from other
believers
-- why has this happened? -- I think it’s because
we’ve lost our way as churches -- we’ve forgotten our reason for being -- our
purpose here on earth -- we’ve lost the sense of Koinonia -- the need to
do life together that caused the early church to thrive and grow
-- and because we’ve lost it – because we have let
politics and social issues divide us and separate us from each other -- we
haven’t been able to demonstrate fellowship and communion or give it to others
-- we haven’t been helping others see how we need each other to truly grow and
mature in our faith – to survive and thrive in the world today
III. Fellowship
-- so, what’s the answer? – what is our
goal when we proclaim that fellowship and communion are vital spiritual
disciplines needed in the church today?
-- fellowship or communion, as the New
Testament defines it, is not coming together for social activities -- it is not
coming together to have a covered dish dinner -- it is not the church getting together
to take a trip to amusement parks or other such trips
-- no, fellowship is much more than that
-- fellowship is community -- it is a group of believers -- a group of people
who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior -- who come together on a
regular basis to do life together
-- this means they worship together --
pray together -- learn together -- support and encourage each other in the work
of Christ – they help each other through their days – not just on Sundays
-- they are there for each other in the
good times and the bad -- they know each other in an intimate way because they
are one in Christ and one with each other
--
this act of coming together as a corporate body of believers defines fellowship
– it is the heart of communion -- as James Packer points out, the Greek word Koinonia comes from a root meaning, “common
or shared” – So, the spiritual discipline of fellowship means the intentional
participation in life with someone else -- either by giving what you have to
the other person or receiving what he or she has -- Giving and receiving becomes
the essence and foundation of fellowship
-- in true biblical fellowship, we
gather together to give praise to God -- to offer prayers to God -- to give
ourselves to the building up of the church -- and we receive from others knowledge,
comfort, support, and encouragement
-- I heard a message from Dr. James Dobson,
the founder of Focus on the Family, one time that I think speaks to the heart
of fellowship -- one day his two young children were arguing and fighting with
each other as children do -- Dr. Dobson said he had had enough of their fighting
so he called them over to him -- he led them to the window and told them to
look outside -- he said, "outside of this window is a hard world -- it is
a world that will tear you apart if you let it -- the only way you can survive
in this world is if you have someone you can trust who will always be there to
support you
-- as brother and sister, you are
called to be there to support each other so that when you go out into the
world, you won't be destroyed -- you are not called to destroy each other
before you get out there"
-- this story reminds us that
there’s a reason we call our church buildings, “sanctuaries” -- they are
sanctuaries from the world where believers can come together in love and trust –
where we can support and encourage each other in our Christian walks – this is
fellowship – this is communion – this is Koinonia
-- the spiritual discipline of
fellowship is not the church reaching out to the world, but the church
supporting each other and lifting each other up so that together, we might grow
in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Christ
-- in Rom 1:11-12, Paul wrote, "I
long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you
strong-- that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's
faith." -- and in 2 Thes 5:11 he wrote, "Therefore encourage one
another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing" -- Paul
understood the value and the need for fellowship in the church
--
as Tim Stafford pointed out in an article in Christianity Today -- "People need people -- God's
people need God's people in order to know God -- Life in Christ is a corporate
affair -- All God's promises were made to God's people—plural -- All the New
Testament epistles address Christians in churches -- The Bible simply does not
know of the existence of an individual, isolated Christian"
-- I recognized one of the best examples
of true Biblical fellowship when I watched the movie, “Forrest Gump” -- when
Forrest was in Vietnam and was out on patrol with his buddy Bubba, they were
trying to sleep in the jungle in the middle of a thunderstorm – they didn’t
have a tent – they didn’t have a dry place to lay down and sleep – they were
just sitting in mud and if they tried to lay down, all they could do was lay
down in the mud
-- Bubba slid over to Forrest and said,
"Forrest, put your back up against my back and you lean on me and I'll
lean on you and we won't have to sleep in the mud"
-- this is the picture of fellowship – of Koinonia
– that we need to remember -- fellowship keeps a Christian out of the mud as
they lean on each other for support
IV. Communion
-- more than anything, Christ knew that we
needed each other if we were to be the people He called us to be – if we were
to live out our lives as He intended
-- on the very last night He was with His
disciples – as He faced the daunting reality of the cross and what was ahead –
Jesus prayed for His disciples and for us – for those who would come to put
their faith and trust in Him through their witness and testimony
-- He prayed that the church would be one
– that all of us would be united in Him and through Him – that we would be one
with each other and one with Him in love and faith and community
-- I believe it was with this thought in
mind that Christ gave us the sacrament of Holy Communion during the last supper
– for this sacrament is a sacred moment whereby we affirm our union with Christ
and our union with each other
-- the words that we proclaim and the act
of sharing together the breaking of one loaf and the drinking of one cup unite
us in true fellowship and Koinonia – more than anything else, it is in
this act that we become the church and are reminded of who we are and what we
should be doing
-- as we’re considering the necessity of Koinonia
in the church today, let me share with you a couple of thoughts about the
importance of the sacrament of holy communion
-- I read one time about this couple who
were running late to church -- and when they walked in through the back door,
they looked up and saw that the altar was set for communion -- they turned to
each other and said, "Great, we rushed here for another communion
service"
-- out of all that we do in the church,
there is little that is as sacred and as moving as holy communion -- in this
act, we enter into a sacred moment with the Lord God Almighty and with each
other
-- during this sacrament, the grace of God
is poured out on us as we remember again the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior
on our behalf -- how Jesus died on the cross and gave His very own body and
blood to save us from hell
-- during this sacrament, we are bound
together as one -- when we share in the Lord's Supper -- when we share our
common experience of salvation through Christ -- we are joined together again
as one body without division
-- we experience Koinonia as we become
the church -- and all the things that might separate us in the eyes of the
world -- race, nationality, gender, social status, class, political tribe --
these all cease to exist when God's grace comes to us through this sacrament
-- and during this sacrament, we are
making a bold statement of faith -- by participating in holy communion, we are
proclaiming to a watching world who we are and what we believe
-- we are telling the world that we
believe in Christ Jesus -- that we trust in Him and Him alone for our salvation
-- and we witness to His continuing presence in our lives
-- through holy communion, we become the
church at its best -- for that reason, we should never regard the sharing of
the Lord's Supper as "just another communion service"
-- as the United Methodist Church states: "Communion
is supposed to be a sacred meal in which the community of faith, in the simple
act of eating bread and drinking wine, proclaims and participates in all that
God has done, is doing, and will continue to do for us in Christ"
-- we celebrate the Lord's Supper to
remember the grace that God gave us in our baptism and to be filled with
spiritual food -- with grace -- that will sustain us and help us to live in
Christ as we join together as one body and one people to do and to be who
Christ called us to be
-- this sacrament of communion has several
purposes that reinforce the need for fellowship and Koinonia in our
lives today:
-- first, it is to remind us of Christ and
His work on the cross
-- we remember Christ's death and
resurrection
-- we remember Christ's sacrifice
for us
-- we remember the importance of uniting
our own lives with Christ
-- second, the sacrament of communion unites
us with Christ and with His body, the holy catholic church -- the universal
church made up of believers across this entire world and all believers who came
before and who will come after us -- the great cloud of witnesses that the
writer of the Book of Hebrews says surrounds us
-- in some great mysterious way that
we can never fully understand, we are united with Christ and with each other
when we break the bread and drink from the cup that represent the body and
blood of Jesus
-- third, this sacrament nourishes us with
the transforming grace of God -- just like in baptism, communion is a means of
grace, and when you participate, God's grace is poured out upon you through the
simple act of eating the bread and drinking the wine in remembrance of Christ
-- holy communion is an outward
expression of something greater and deeper than what we see on the surface --
it is something that we do -- we reach out and accept the gift of bread that is
offered -- we immerse it in the cup -- we take it into our body
-- and at the same time we are doing
this, God is touching us and filling us inwardly with His grace -- with the
power to continue in Christ's name -- with the grace to go forth and do what
Jesus would do
-- fourth, communion prepares us for the
future glory of God's heavenly banquet for this sacrament is a means by which
the church proclaims the Lord's death until He comes
-- as Christians, we are supposed to
keep one eye on heaven and one eye on earth -- we should be looking forward to
the day when Christ will come – when we participate in the sacrament of communion,
we are remembering Jesus' promise of the resurrection and our eventual home in
Heaven
-- communion is a proclamation of what we
believe as individuals and as the church -- it is the sum of our Christian life
– it is a spiritual picture of Koinonia – of the fellowship we should be
seeking in our lives today
-- this is why the sacrament of communion
should always be taken in a worthy manner -- not as a ritual in a Sunday
morning service – not as just something you do because you’re here -- but as an
active confession by which you call to mind the memory of all that Jesus has
done for you and continues to do for you – as you seek to become one with Him
and one with the rest of the community of faith – His church in the world today
V. Closing
-- “Author Bunmi Laditan wrote a powerful
essay a few years back called "I Miss the Village." -- In it she says
that she goes through her everyday tasks in her "four-walled house while
the world buzzes around me busy and fast." -- She talks of raising her
child in her home, but missing something she calls "the village I never
had."
-- she wrote what it would feel like to
live in a village -- to be in community and fellowship with others:
-- “You'd know me and I'd know you -- I'd
know your children, and you'd know mine -- Not just on a surface level -- favorite
foods, games and such -- but real, true knowledge of the soul that flickers
behind their eyes -- I'd trust them in your arms just as much as I'd trust them
in mine -- They'd respect you and heed your "no."
-- "I miss that village of mothers
that I've never had -- The one we traded for homes that...feel miles apart from
each other -- The one we traded for locked front doors, blinking devices and
afternoons alone on the floor playing one-on-one with our little ones.
-- “What gives me hope is that as I look
at you from across the park with your own child in tow playing in her own
corner of the sandbox, I can tell from your curious glance and shy smile that
you miss it, too.”
-- reflecting on this essay, Dustin Willis
and Brandon Clements commented that even though Bunmi Laditan wrote this essay
with mothers in mind, “she makes a poignant point about the disconnectedness that
many people feel deep down
-- Throughout history our ways of living
have adapted and changed -- and there seems to be a growing realization that
maybe some of those changes aren't for the best -- that maybe in our overvalue
of isolation and entertainment -- we've actually missed out on something
essential and worthwhile -- deep relationships with others.”2
-- that’s what Koinonia – fellowship
– communion -- is all about -- living out deep relationships with others in
Christian community
-- the Bible makes it clear -- we need
each other -- Christianity only works in community -- it can only be realized
in relationship -- and true faith is only experienced through intentional
fellowship with other believers
-- living and doing life together is the
heart of what it means to be in fellowship with others -- it is what we see in
the early church -- it is the example Jesus gave us with the relationship He
had with His disciples -- it is something we desperately need today
-- that’s why it’s so important for us to
emphasize true Christian fellowship in our church communities -- that’s why
it’s so important for us to bring new believers into a church community and not
just add them to the church rolls but make them part of our family
-- there’s a reason why the Great
Commission begins with evangelism and has as its next step fellowship --
baptizing new believers – because we are called to do life together – and this
means bringing new believers into a vibrant church community where they can
learn how to do this Christian life with the encouragement and support of those
around them
-- this is the heart of what fellowship
means – this is what we are seeking in this spiritual discipline
-- you have so much to offer this world --
this church has what others have been looking for -- now, it’s time for us to
go and tell others about it -- it’s time for us to share the good news of
Christ -- to lead others into a relationship with Jesus -- and to bring them
into fellowship with us here in this place
-- it’s time for us to experience Koinonia
at Naylor Community Christian Church – that is our goal – that is our purpose –
so, let’s go and do that this week
-- and to get you ready to experience true
fellowship and communion with each other, we are going to end this service by
sharing together the sacrament of Holy Communion – so, after we have our last
song, we’ll end the service by coming together as God’s people to partake of
this act in a final sacred moment this morning
-- let’s pray
-------------------------
1 Marshall Shelley, "Developing spiritual fruit requires
being around people: ordinary, ornery people," Leadership journal
(Spring 1993)
2 Dustin Willis
and Brandon Clements, The Simplest Way to Change the World, Moody Publishers
(February, 2017), pages 55-56
No comments:
Post a Comment