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Several years ago a family in our former church gave us one of the most wonderful gift you could imagine; a week’s vacation at an alpine lake cabin. The cabin set right next to a Kirkwood Lake on the high Sierra Nevada. It had two comfortable bedrooms and this plate glass window that overlooked the clear, blue, spring fed lake. It was wonderful. The picture perfect location of the cabin also created its one drawback – there was absolutely no way to drive to the cabin. You either hiked around the lake going over large granite boulders or you rowed across the lake by boat. Either way it was a tough trip and with a weeks load of supplies it made for quite an ordeal. Of course we decided the best way to get the provisions to the cabin was to take the boat. So, Benji and I loaded a row boat and headed across the lake. He had one oar and I had the other. I’m not sure if you’ve ever attempted to row a boat or not, but we didn’t get very far. Benji was working as hard as he could with one oar and I was paddling desperately with the other. But we were getting nowhere fast! The best we could accomplish was rowing in a circle. I’m sure it was quite a sight for the more experienced oarsmen looking on. Eventually we got the hang of it and together we made it across the lake in a fairly straight line. But it took both of us working together – in sync with each other. That afternoon I learned a very practical definition of fellowship – two fellows in a ship, rowing together, in sync, in the same direction! That’s fellowship! You know, people are attracted to a church for many different reasons. Some come seeking encouragement to make it through another week. The Bible tells us to “Encourage each other.” (2 Corinthians 13:11). Others come looking for comfort. Life can be brutal and sometimes we just need someone there who understands. 1 Thessalonians 4:18 says we are to comfort one another. Sometimes we're just looking for people who’ve been through the same kinds of stuff we’re going through – we need sympathy. Others come because they like the music or people or preacher or just because they realize that there’s something missing and hopefully church will help them find it. There’s a verse written to a church in a town called Philippi that talks about why we “do church”. Philippians 2:1-2 shares it this way: “Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and sympathetic? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose.” The first half of the verse talks about what often motivates people to attend church: encouragement, comfort, fellowship, sympathy. And the second verse tells how it comes about: agreeing, loving and working together toward one purpose! That’s what Benji and I discovered in the little row boat – we had to encourage and comfort each other. There was definite fellowship – we were literally in the same boat! And there was a lot of sympathy (and frustration to be honest) going around in the middle of that lake. But when we eventually agreed on how to row and started really working together, in sync, we fulfilled our purpose! We were two fellows in a ship, rowing together, in sync, in the same direction. Fellowship! There is a word in the New Testament that we translate fellowship is the Greek word koinoonia. It carries several different ideas. The first is that koinoonia speaks of ownership: to hold something in common. If we were to pool our money this morning and go out and buy one of those new homes on the other side of the field we would be in koinoonia. We would hold joint ownership and have koinoonia with the house. The second idea that koinoonia speaks to is of relationship: it speaks of an interdependent relationship. If we all decided to move into that house together and each of us became uniquely responsible for some part of the upkeep of our family – we would belong to and need each other – koinoonia. Koinoonia is what fellowship is all about. And it is what FamilyFellowship is all about. There is a reason why we chose the name FamilyFellowship for our church. We are FamilyFellowship because we are a family. When we begin our walk with the Lord and then determine to be a part of this church we become related to one another. We are family! But all of us have seen families that just didn’t seem to work haven’t we? The words dysfunctional and family have become far too common. That’s why the second half of our name is so important. We are not just a family we are a FamilyFellowship. We are a family rowing together, in sync, in going the same direction a FamilyFellowship. And if you hadn’t noticed, its one word - “FamilyFellowship” – that was a “God thing”. When we went to incorporate the name the only way we could make it work was to put the two together. But that’s how they belong, together! A FamilyFellowship! There is a great story in the New Testament that illustrates fellowship even more specifically. Its found in Luke chapter five. “One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets, and you will catch many fish.” “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, we’ll try again.” And this time their nets were so full they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners [metchos] in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.” For he was awestruck by the size of their catch, as were the others with him. His partners [koinoônos], James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.” (Luke 5:1-11) It’s a great story with a very subtle difference that you’d never catch in the English language, but it’s found in verses seven and ten. Both verses use the word partners to speak of people in the boats. However in the original language (Greek) the words are entirely different. In verse seven “A shout for help brought their partners” the word is metchos “to share or participate; by implication belong to, eat or drink”. In verse ten, however, the word used for partner is koinonos. Look familiar, it’s from the same root word as our word for fellowship. It means “an associate, to have all things in common, to fellowship and have all things in common.” Still don’t see the difference? Well it will be even more obvious than that! Notice who is in which boat! There were partners “in the other boat” and then there was James, John and Peter in the boat together. Metchos = in the other boat. Kiononos – in the same boat. Genuine fellowship means we’re in the same boat together! There are lots of people who want to be in the other boat. They want to enjoy the benefits of fellowship without the commitment of being in the same boat. When you’re in the boat together you have to work together, row together and reach for the same purposes – together. Fellowship! Fellows, in the same ship, rowing, in sync, in the same direction for the same purpose! Fellowship! So what do we share as FamilyFellowship? Philippians 1:27 says, We have shared together the blessings of God, both when I was in prison and when I was out, defending the truth and telling others the Good News. We share the blessings of God by telling others the Good News! The greatest purpose we have is to share the Good News with others. Remember last week’s message “More Than Enough To Share”? But we share much more. Our primary purpose as we fellowship is to fellowship around sharing what Jesus has done for us and what He can do for your friends, family and the world. But we also fellowship around… (1) Encouragement and challenge: Hebrews 10:25 tells us, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.” Our fellowship involves challenging each other to live for Jesus and reminding ourselves that He’s coming back one of these days! That’s one of the key reasons we come to church – encouragement. But when we leave these four walls that responsibility continues. I’m proud of our young church because many of you are actively involved encouraging others! We fellowship around encouragement and challenge. (2) God’s Truth, the Bible: we fellowship around God’s truth. When you read about the very first church you notice something very striking – the Bible was at the center of their fellowship. Acts chapter two tells us “They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer.” (Acts 2:42) Those early Christians got together to learn from their Pastors and to study God’s Word. That was great fellowship. Some of the best times I have as a believer is sitting with you and hearing what God is teaching you through His Word. Talk about being in the same boat – the Bible can really keep us on course and united in purpose. Acts two also tells us that they fellowshipped by praying together and sharing the Lord’s Supper a special celebration that reminded them constantly of what Jesus had done for them on the cross. Very soon we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper in our service. Why? Because it’s part of fellowship. (3) We fellowship around the Good News. Philippians 1:5 says, “you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ”. Did you catch the word partner again? Right, that’s koinoonia. As a matter of fact, some translations of this verse actually say “the fellowship of the Gospel”. Again, we fellowship around sharing the Good News! (4) We fellowship around serving. In other words – part of being in the boat means we get to paddle! In Second Corinthians the Apostle Paul talks about a church that begged to serve! There were a group of financially poor churches in Macedonia that had heard he was going through a rough time and the literally begged Paul to let them help him. Here’s what he said, “They begged us again and again for the gracious privilege of sharing in the gift for the Christians in Jerusalem.” (2 Corinthians 8:4) You don’t see it, but the phrase “privilege of sharing” uses the word koinoonia again, the old English says “the fellowship of the ministering”, the fellowship of serving. Don’t miss this point. Sometimes fellowship means putting in some sweat equity. It means getting wet. And nothing is more frustrating than serving when others are just watching! Early in the summer we visited Disneyland and for the first time in over thirty years I rode the canoe ride. It was fun! I didn’t mind paddling (I had gotten into the boat) and I didn’t even mind getting wet from the lady in front of me who seemed to spend more time splashing water than paddling. But there were a few who I could tell were “faking it”. We were doing all the paddling (and encouraging – well yelling actually) and they were just along for the ride. What will really make a difference in FamilyFellowship is realizing that God shaped all of us to serve. And when we serve, when we really start paddling the boat, God changes the world through us; we really fellowship around serving. You want to get to know the people sitting around you? Find some way to serve along side them and watch how quickly you get to know just exactly who they are! It’s great! (5) Finally, we fellowship around giving: 2 Corinthians 8:7 challenges us, “You are rich in everything—in faith, in speaking, in knowledge, in truly wanting to help, and in the love you learned from us. In the same way, be strong also in the grace of giving.” God is increasing our faith, we are learning how to speak out for the Good News. We are growing together in our understanding of God’s purposes in His Word. We’ve even seen a desire among our young church to help each other and love each other – but don’t forget to give. God expects us to be good managers of our finances as well. And He expects us to give back to Him His tithe. But what the Apostle Paul is speaking of here goes beyond just the tithe (the first ten percent of what we make always belongs to God). Paul is challenging us to excel in giving. That’s fellowship, partnering together to make sure that we give as God blesses. This last area of fellowship is powerful (that’s why it’s referred to as the “grace of giving”). It’s powerful because when we develop a lifestyle of giving, when we learn that God gives to us to be a blessing to others, and when we actually follow through by giving to others as God leads – He always gives more in return! We are blessed – others are blessed. We get blessed in order to be a blessing to others! That’s fellowship! That’s fellowship – partnering together, getting into the same boat, sharing together the truths of God’s Word, sharing with others the Good News, serving together and serving each other, and learning the power of a giving lifestyle. You may be asking, “So what’s the benefit?” “Fellowship seems like a lot of work to me.” It is, but the result of fellowship is so radical in what it can do for you that you can’t ignore it without losing out on the majority of what God has planned for you.
Let me explain it by
sharing with you the story of Glass Beach.
Several years ago our family took a short trip to Fort Bragg, a little seaside community in Northern California. It’s a timber mill community right on the ocean about three hours north of San Francisco. It was in Fort Bragg that we found Glass Beach. We had read about Glass Beach, but finding it was a little more difficult. It was located at the end of a quiet little street with a small dirt parking area and what appeared to be a long neglected paved road heading toward the beach maybe a quarter of a mile away. All we could see when we stepped out of the car was dirt and weeds and that dilapidated asphalt road. Oh yes, there was also a sign warning us that the area had once been a dump sight and to use caution. We walked down the pot-hole filled road toward the sound of the sea. The air was thick with the smell of the sea and dirt. To our left was a fence and beyond the fence the remnants of what had been a landfill. We walked on a few hundred more yards – and then it came into view. The sun had just broken through the clouds and the rays of sunlight seemed to make the entire shore line sparkle…glisten. As we walked closer we discovered the source of the beauty. The entire shoreline was covered with small glass rocks reflecting the sun. You see, what we had read earlier and had come to see was the result of devastation. Glass Beach was formed from the city dump – it’s garbage pile. For years all the discards from the community were thrown into a hole near the shore. Eventually the hole was filled and forgotten. That’s when God and nature took over. For years the storms, surf and sea ate into the shoreline, breaking lose the debris. It shattered at the impact of the ocean. Then miraculously, the shattered pieces began to rub and push against each other as the sea water crashed against them. Eventually the friction wore down all the rough, broken edges making what was once nothing but brokenness into beauty…even more beautiful as the water bathed the polished glass stones and the sun reflected through each piece. As I held some of the pebbles in my hand, the words of the Apostle Paul ran through my head, “the fellowship of your faith may start to work” (Philemon 1:6). That’s how fellowship works. That’s how God uses fellowship, koinoonia in His church. We enter His church as broken people. None of us have it all together! Our lives are often little more than the discards of broken relationships, broken dreams, broken promises. We sense our need for God and His people and Jesus graciously draws us into His church. It’s in His church that it happens…and at first we’re not really sure it’s good. Even with God’s people we face trials, hardships and what the Apostle Paul calls in Philippians 3:10, “the fellowship of his suffering”. Sometimes it really hurts. Rubbing against other broken people can make for some awkward, if not painful, times. But little by little God uses each of us to hone away at the other. “As iron sharpens iron, so people can improve each other” Proverbs 27:17 tells us. We smooth out the rough edges of each other. That’s fellowship. Sometimes it’s by sharing the pain of another. Other times it’s through giving when we have enough to share – or maybe when it doesn’t seem like there’s enough we give anyway. Often it’s the willingness to serve or be served by others, even when our pride gets in the way. I’ve seen a broken bottle on the seashore before, it usually just stays a broken bottle, but something unique happens at Glass Beach. It’s because there are so many broken bottles and plates all brought together to face the struggles of their environment in unity that makes them so beautiful. Every time I’ve returned to Glass Beach since that first visit I’ve brought a bucket of the pebbles home with me. Those tiny stones continue to remind me that God takes broken people, put them on the same shore (in the same boat) and then makes something beautiful. And he does it through fellowship. “I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective as you gain knowledge of all the good things, that Christ, for his purpose, put inside of you.” (Philemon 1:6) That’s fellowship. We’re all in the same boat – rowing, in sync headed for the same purposes. God is making us into incredibly beautiful illustrations of His love for this world. Now here’s where this message is leading: Are you fellowshipping? What is your place in FamilyFellowship?
Maybe the next commitment you need to make is to
become a covenant member of FamilyFellowship. Then together we will
watch God do something wonderful! |
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(c) Paul Newell 2003 FamilyFellowship Church P.O. Box 465, Beaumont, CA 92223 |
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