Monday, July 7, 2025

God's Arm of Fellowship!

 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

 



[1]The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. 1996, c1989 . Thomas Nelson: Nashville

[2]The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. 1996, c1989 . Thomas Nelson: Nashville

j Gk them

k Or from house to house

l Or sincere

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