Series: The Church
Introduction:
A. This 4th of July
weekend, we think about our Country. I googled, what is the inscription on the
Statue of Liberty, and I got this.
1. The poem, written in 1883, includes the lines:
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled
masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched
refuse of your teeming shore. Send
these, the
homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I life my lamp
beside the golden door.”
2. It said this was widely associated with the
Statue of Liberty and its symbolic representation
of welcoming immigrants.
B. In a time when I country seems to be becoming
less
welcoming,
I think it is appropriate for us to look
how
the church is to be God’s arm of fellowship! God’s
welcome!
Prayer
(
2nd reading) I John 1:3&7; 3:14; 4:7-8 & 11-13
I. Definition:
A lot of the
usages in the New Testament of this word come from a greek word
KOINONIA =
communion, fellowship, sharing in
common.
II. God wants to have fellowship with men and women!
A. This is evident by God sending Christ to
restore us
back to
fellowship after we've messed it up!
B. Just think; God wants to have communion with
us, to
share in
common!
1. God wants to hurt when we hurt.
2. God wants to rejoice when we rejoice.
3. God wants us to hurt when God hurts.
4. God wants us to rejoice when God rejoices.
III. If we are in God, this fellowship will show up in 3 ways!
A. First, we will have
fellowship with God!
(1 John 1:3 NRSV) we declare to you what we have seen and heard
so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
B. Secondly, we will have fellowship with one
another!
(1 John 1:7 NRSV) but if we walk in the light as he himself is
in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his
Son cleanses us from all sin.
(1 John 3:14 NRSV) We know that we have passed from death to
life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death.
I John 4:7-8 &
11 – 13
7 Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know
God, for God is love. [1]
11 Beloved, since God loved us so
much, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we
love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in
him and he in us, because he has given us of Spirit.
1. This
fellowship will take many forms!
a. It
will take the form of love:
Heb. 13:1
"Let mutual love
continue."
I Peter 2:17
"Love the family of
believers!"
b. We
will want God's best for our brothers and sisters, and it will show up in
our actions.
1) We
will respect their reputation.
2) We won't be saying bad things about them,
whether they are true or not.
3) We
won't hold a grudge.
c. It
will take the form of comforting one another!
I Thess. 5:11 "Comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even
as also ye do.
Being there for one other!
d. It
will take the form of teaching & guiding
one another.
(Col 3:16 NRSV) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly;
teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts
sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.
Which in part is what the
preaching moment
is about!
e. It will come in the form of strengthening one
another. That is what we are doing today!
Luke 22:32 "When thou art converted, strengthen thy
brethren."
2. We will enjoy this fellowship, and we will thank God for it!
Phil. 1:3&5 "I thank God . . . . For your fellowship in the Gospel
from the first day until now."
3. Why do some people leave after attending for
a
few weeks or months?
1. They
aren=t being brought into the
fellowship!
2. They haven=t
been connected into the church!
IV. With that in
mind, thirdly, we will have fellowship with
the stranger
among us! This fellowship will serve as an arm
of God to the world.
A. They
will see how we love and really care for each
other.
1. By
the way, it is very evident! The world
can
see if we enjoy being around each
other or not! One dead give-away is do
people stay around to visit like they do not want to leave this fellowship
after services are dismissed or do they race for the door as soon as services
are over like they can't wait to leave, and do they see us as trying to extend
that fellowship to them? The Bible is
clear we need to extend that fellowship to those on the outside!
33 When an alien resides with you in
your land, you shall not oppress the
alien. 34 The alien who resides with you
shall be to you as the citizen
among you; you shall love the alien
as yourself, for you were aliens in the
land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.[2]
(Lev. 19:33-34
Also see Matt. 25: 31-46 esp. “I
was a stranger and you welcomed me!” (1st
Scripture reading)
a. This is why we make intentional efforts at
welcoming
people! God takes seriously this
welcoming
the stranger or alien among us!
b. This is why we have a greeter!
c. This is why we don’t fuss when someone sits
where
we usually do!
d. This is why we leave parking places close to
the
door for visitors. (some have asked why
I
park clear out at the center of the
parking
lot . . .) Pet Peeve of mine –
reserve
parking for the pastor right by the
door!
e. But none of this takes the place of, when we
see
someone we haven=t met before, walking up
to
them and welcoming and be-friending them!
Offer
to show them around! Ask if they have
any
questions!
2. If
they see us as a church in fellowship and a
church who
welcomes them as a stranger, they
will understand God as a God who
desires
fellowship, and they will want
what we've got!
B. They
will see how that love even reaches out to them! Nothing draws people like people who are
concerned about them!
Conclusion:
A. The
church is "God's Arm of Fellowship."
B. Let's
see if we can see signs of fellowship in this
scripture: Acts 2:1, 42, 44-47
2 When the day of Pentecost had
come, they were all together in one place.
42 They devoted themselves to the
apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
44 All who believed were together and
had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions
and goods and distribute the proceedsj to all, as any had need. 46 Day by day, as they spent much time
together in the temple, they broke bread at homek and ate their food with glad and generouslhearts, 47 praising God and having the
goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those
who were being saved.
Without fellowship we deprive:
1. ourselves
2. fellow
Christians
3. The
world!
C. It
makes a difference! This is now we show
the world
God loves them! They can only see
that God loves them through us! This is how we fulfill our mission as
a church!
D. Do
we need to open up to our fellow Christians?
E. Do we need to open
up to others of God=s people?
F. God
can help us with his one if we will ask as we
encounter
Christ at the table this morning!
Prayer of Confession
Service
of Communion
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