Fellowship

A message from Acts 2:42 by Phil Rogers 11/10/07

To listen to Phil's message click here mp3

The Holy Spirit had just been poured out upon the 120 followers of Jesus and the commotion attracted such a crowd that when Peter stood up to explain what was happening 3000 people responded and were baptised and filled with the Spirit and were added to Jesus’ people. In these verses God gives us the original principles of Church life which are just as relevant to us today, 2000 years later. Our ABC vision is to ‘establish church life in this area based on a NT pattern’ which is exaclty what we find here. This is why we are looking through these in some detail and why today I am focusing in on the words:
‘they devoted themselves to .. fellowship.”

Fellowship is a peculiarly churchy word, not used a great deal in common speech, except in the first of the Lord of Rings trilogy entitled “The Fellowship of the Ring”. In this book Tolkien describes the adventures of a multi-species group including hobbits, wizards, elves, men and dwarves who band together to support Frodo in his almost impossible task of journeying to Mount Doom and throwing a ring he inherited from his uncle into its volcanic fires. Throughout the book this motley band is referred to as ‘the Fellowship’.

A dictionary definition of fellowship is : 1. A company of people that shares the same interest or aim. 2. A feeling of friendship, relatedness or connection between people. The Bible word koinonia is derived from the word meaning ‘common’, having a common purpose, a common cause or and Koine - was the the common form of Greek spoken all over the Roman world - a common language uniting people of many different languages and cultures and facilitating both communication and commerce. (much as English today)

Jews from all over the Roman empire who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Pentecost, now found themselves part of a new church community. Many stayed on in Jerusalem for months, in order to be part of this large company of people who shared together this same compelling interest and aim.

What was their common interest? It was Jesus. Their common aim was to get to know as much as they could about him and to pass on this message of Jesus to as many other people as they could, and so the devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching.

As a consequence of being together and learning all they could about Jesus Christ, they found they had feelings of friendship, relatedness and connection between each other. Another very similar word to fellowship is philadelphia - brotherly affection. They felt themselves to be brothers and sisters, part of the same family, of course they were, because they had all now become God’s children. He was their Father and Jesus was like their elder brother. (He is not ashamed to call us his brothers & sisters Heb )

Such fellowship begins in God. Father, Son and Holy Spirit have in all eternity known togetherness and unity unparalleled in all creation. Holding them together in One God is love. God is love. Imagine the sense of friendship, relatedness and connection God has, and has always had.. and then think for a moment of Jesus hanging on the cross and being cut off from his Father, rejected by the One with whom he had always had complete transparent fellowship and communication. “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me,” was his agonised cry!

But us human beings have got so used to being forsaken by God we can’t even imagine anything of the profound relationship of union and love that God desires to have with us - those he created in his own image. He made us with a capacity for relationship with him and a need to love and to be loved. But human rebellion and independence has robbed us of such fellowship with God so we have tried to satisfy our need just with human relationships, which are so often disappointing and unfulfilling. (Dr B’s intro)

Praise God that he stepped into human history and did something to restore the broken-ness in human hearts. Jesus’ abandonment on the cross followed by his resurrection and ascending to his Father’s right hand made it possible for God to forgive our rebellion and independence and restore fellowship, both with him and with our fellow human beings. Being a Christian is not about religious observances, rules & regulations and ceremonies. It is about having a personal relationship with the God who created us, with whom we have been ‘out of sync’ from before we were even born. A true Christian is someone who knows God and has fellowship with him, we share the same interests and aims as he has and we have a wonderful sense of relatedness to him and connection with him. He is now our friend, who sticks even closer than a brother and loves with a loyalty and commitment that no human being ever can, a Father closer than any earthly parent.The earliest followers of Christ were filled with God’s Spirit. Having him inside their bodies gave them an amazing sense of oneness with God and also an amazing sense of oneness with everyone else who was also filled with the same Spirit. Love flowed everywhere. They reveled in the wholesome feeling of being unconditionally loved, totally forgiven and fully accepted by Almighty God. And so they devoted themselves to fellowship, they were intoxicated with love for God and for each other and wanted to spend every available moment TOGETHER. They had never imagined such togetherness, such unity and love for each other, such acceptance, and kindness and patience and forgiveness towards each other. It was such a joy to be with others who were full of God in the same way they were. They rejoiced and worshipped together, praising God and singing and dancing in God’s presence. They spent time in each others homes eating together and talking endlessly about the wonderful things they were learning, that the apostles were teaching them about Jesus, and all he had done and all he had said. They didn’t want to do anything else, for God had taken away that deepest tormenting need to know and be know and had brought them into oneness with himself and with each other in fellowship deeper than anything Frodo and his companions ever knew.

This is the Fellowship of The King - have you become part of that fellowship? It is something to value, to nuture and to delight oneself in. It comes to all who know God through Jesus Christ and who go on being filled with the Spirit of God and who also put away all such things as selfishness, criticism, unforgiveness, hatred and bitterness. This is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. It begins with closeness to God and then spills over into our relationships with others. So let us go on being filled and let us cultivate this fellowship of the Holy Spirit.