A WAKE-UP CALL TO CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
Overflow this week was so good.
Thank you Lord. What awesome fellowship. I had no apprehension about talking to
people. It was like I was so filled with joy I wasn’t even thinking about what
others would think about me. It almost
seems like truly experiencing God’s love in my life fills me up to pour into
other people.
Man, Pastor Kevin’s sermon has given me a whole new
outlook on the church. You know the church is God’s idea. Look at this passage.
He has called us to live in fellowship with each other.
“What was from the
beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life- and the life was
manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father
and was manifested to us- what we have seen and heard we proclaim
to you also, so that you too may
have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His
Son Jesus Christ. These things we
write, so that our joy may be made
complete (1 John 1:1-4).“
Man, when you are in
intimate fellowship with God and the church, your joy is not complete until you
have gone out and proclaimed the truth to others that they may join you in this
awesome fellowship. When we have a personal relationship with God and deep
fellowship with each other, man, it is so blessed that to bring others into
this family completes our joy.
“Therefore if you
have any encouragement from being united
with Christ, if any comfort from his
love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness
and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being
like-minded, having the same
love, being one in spirit and of
one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain
conceit. Rather, in humility value others above
yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each
of you to the interests of the others (Phil.
2:1-4).”
Paul wanted the Philippian church to make his joy
complete by being united in love, mind, in spirit, doing nothing out of selfish
ambition, but valuing others more than ourselves and looking to their
interests. Man, talk about a recipe for REAL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY. This is
it.
This is what WE need. This is what the body of Christ
needs. We need to be connected to each other, we need to be having fellowship
with each other, loving each other, encouraging each other, looking after each
other, and as we are all loving on each other we’re going to be filled with a
passion for the lost and invite them into this fellowship.
Write this down. Do not forget this. Apply this to
your life, Seth. EVERY Christian needs to be living in an intimate relationship
with His creator AND enjoying intimate fellowship with other believers.
I have been not been doing a good job at the second
part of that! And ah! It is so essential. John 17:20-25,
20 “My prayer
is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through
their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in
you. May they also be in us so that the
world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one- 23 I in them and you in me-so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world
will know that you sent me and
have loved them even
as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I
want those you have given me to
be with me where I am, and
to see my glory, the
glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.25 “Righteous
Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent
me. 26 I have made you[e] known to them, and will continue to make you known in order
that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Sweet
peaches are we ever called to unity! And if that does not mean intimate
fellowship with other believers then what does it mean? Remember John 15, Jesus
is the vine we are the branches. We are one unit. And His explicit command in
that passage is that we abide in Him and love one another. In order to love one
another we have to be abiding in Him, so keep the order the straight. But man,
why has it taken me so long to get this?
This community is built on Christ. He is our common
life. We all worship Him and have committed our lives to following Him. Bam!
Next, we understand that He is Love. “Beloved, let us
love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God
and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love
(1 John 4:7-8).“
So, it is a community built on Christ and committed to
loving each other. That is it! As far as what that looks like specifically,
it’s written all over the New Testament, just about any epistle… I am going
into greater detail on these later. But man, this is so key.
Christian community: Focused on Christ, Committed to each other in Love = a must for every believer.
Lord, I have been so lax in this
super-important part of every Christian’s walk. I have neglected it, Father,
even though I hunger for it incredibly! How dense can a guy get? Father,
forgive me. I think my fear and pride have played an enormous role in keeping
me from this. Thank you for all that you’ve been showing me. Please continue to teach me. Help me to better understand the essentials
for the body to operate as the body, what it looks like for us to be committed
to each other in love, and how that all works. God, you are awesome and this is
Your Plan. Count me all in. And please sanctify O Squad that we may be a people whose love for you is reflected in our love for each other. Glorify your Name above all. Amen.
-Seth
