What We Believe: The Church, Part Six (051023)

Announcements

SCBA Praise - Basketball Coach remembered how we treated their team.

Facilities Update

Crosses and Modular decking was cleaned this past weekend.

This coming weekend, the crosses will be painted and the Modular decking will be stained.

Mother’s Day is this coming Sunday

We will only have our 11 AM service.

We will have a special Children’s Church service during that service.

Master Clubs Closing Program, Sunday night, May 21st at 5:30PM

That day will be the start of our Sunday evening services throughout the course of the summer months.

Missionary Update - Jennifer Andrews, Sunday night, May 28th

Memorial Day Barbecue @ The Campbell’s

Sign up for the Community Barbecue on Saturday, June 3, 2023

Calvary Quartet, Sunday, June 4

No Connection Group

11 AM service (Missionary Update from Deneen Akers)

“Dinner on the Grounds” (potluck)

Afternoon Calvary Quartet concert

Sign up for Neighborhood Bible Time

What we believe about the church.

Turn to and read Acts 2:41-42. Pray.

We believe that the local New Testament church is composed of regenerated, baptized believers, voluntarily united together for the purpose of worship, edification, ordinances, fellowship and service;

Last week we began to look at the statement which begins...

For the purpose of...

South Charlotte Baptist Church was established...

For the purpose of…worship

For the purpose of…edification

For the purpose of…observing the ordinances

Let’s continue...

For the purpose of…fellowship

Acts 2:42 (KJV 1900)

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Lexham Research Lexicon of the Septuagint κοινωνία

κοινωνία -ας, ἡ; (koinōnia), N. communion; association; partnership.

I trust that we all understand that this fellowship involves much more than simply having a potluck dinner together or enjoying a piece of pie and a cup of coffee after a church service!

Koinonia is a term that conveys a sense of commonality, solidarity, and shared responsibility among households or individuals.

Commonality - As a church family, we have things in common.

Solidarity - As a church family, we have common responsibilities and interests.

Shared Responsibility - As a church family, we share in these in these responsibilities.

Philippians 1:27 (KJV 1900)

Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

This specific word, koinonia, (There are other words, built upon the same root.) is translated 5 different ways in the New Testament.

Fellowship

Communion

Communicate

Contribution

Distribution

Fellowship

Turn to and read 1 John chapter 1.

1 John 1:3 (KJV 1900)

That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son

For three and a half years John and the others apostles had known what it was like to “fellowship” with Jesus Christ.

And yet, at the end of Christ’s earthly ministry, one of the disciples, Philip said to Christ:

John 14:8–9 (KJV 1900)

...Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Now, here in 1 John chapter 1, we have a much more spiritually mature and spiritually wise John speaking of the fellowship which he had with both God the Father and God the Son.

One commentator wrote:

Exploring the Epistles of John: An Expository Commentary (1) Good News (1:3)

Now John knew the Father as well as he had known the Son, and he realized that to have fellowship with the Father and the Son was to have fellowship on a very high plane indeed.

Charles Spurgeon said:

The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. VII (Fellowship with God (No. 409))

FELLOWSHIP with God was one of the richest privileges of unfallen man. The Lord God walked in the garden, and talked with Adam as a man talketh with his friend.

The greatest thing which Adam enjoyed was...

...first and foremost, unbroken communion with God, his Father and his Friend.

But then sin came...

As sinners, we have absolutely nothing in common with a holy God.

Yet, God, in His love for us and through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ has made it possible for us to be “partakers of the divine nature.” (2 Peter 1:4)

Because of Christ we are (as Paul wrote to the Ephesians) “…no longer strangers and foreigners, but…fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God!” (Ephesians 2:19)

Because of Christ, we now have something in common with God - the righteousness of Christ and the Holy Spirit.

But, now, as John is writing his epistle, Christ was gone. It was no longer possible for him to hear Christ’s voice, to see Him with his eyes, to walk side by side with him, to lean upon His breast while enjoying dinner. Yet, as Charles Spurgeon, John knew Christ after a nobler sort.

1 John Exposition

Nor was his fellowship less real, less close, less sweet, or less divine, than it had been when he had walked and talked with Him, and had been privileged to eat and drink with Him at that last sacred feast.

How was that possible?

It was because of the Word of God!

How is it possible for us to fellowship with Someone Who is not with us in the flesh?

Illustration: Did you ever experience a long-distance relationship? How did you maintain that fellowship? It was through letters and phone calls.

Our fellowship with the Father and with the Son is only possible through prayer and Scripture.

As I was preparing, the Lord brought to my mind a couple of thoughts from George Mueller:

George Mueller on Personal Devotions How George Muller Started His Day

I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord.

George Mueller on Personal Devotions (How George Muller Started His Day)

...the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, whilst meditation, my heart might be brought into experimental, communion with the Lord. I began therefore, to meditate on the New Testament, from the beginning, early in the morning.

I believe that all of you would be encouraged to read through George Mueller’s little book entitled, “George Mueller on Personal Devotions.”

Our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son

1 John 1:3 (KJV 1900)

That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Our fellowship with one one another

When we think of fellowship, this is what we most often think of: our fellowship with one another.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing - that, when we think of fellowship, that we think of it in relation to one another. (At least I don’t think it’s a bad thing!)

However, we must be certain that we not neglect our fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ!

Question: What do we have in common?

Physically, we don’t have much in common, do we?

In fact, if you really wanted to stop and consider this, we actually have more differences than we do things in common!

So, what do we have in common? What is our fellowship based upon?

Titus 1:4 (KJV 1900)

To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Common Faith

Question: What is the source of that common faith?

I know that many will think that the answer to that question is Jesus Christ, and in a sense that is not wrong.

The Apostle John as much as says that in 1 John 1:3

1 John 1:3 KJV 1900

That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

And, he takes that a step further, in the next chapter:

1 John 2:21–23 KJV 1900

I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

But again, I ask, What is the source of our common faith?

John states it for us in 1 John 2:21

1 John 2:21 KJV 1900

I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

It is The Truth! The truth of God’s Word! That is what our fellowship is based upon; it is what we have in common.

This is another reason why it is so important for us to know and understand what we believe. This is also another reason why it is important for us to have a formal method of church membership.

We share a common faith that is based upon the Truth (Scripture) that Jesus Christ is the Son of God Whose death, burial and resurrection are the only means by which an individual can secure eternal life.

Common Faith

We also share a...

Common Cause

Matthew 28:19–20 KJV 1900

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

That common cause is summed up in our purpose statement:

Proclaiming the Gospel; Experiencing the miracle of changed lives!

For the purpose of…fellowship

Then, lastly (and very briefly)...

For the purpose of…service

It should be taken for granted that, as a church family, we seek to serve the Lord.

Psalm 100:2 KJV 1900

Serve the Lord with gladness: Come before his presence with singing.

But as we see in Acts chapter 2 there is also a matter of serving others - particularly those within our own church family.

Acts 2:44–45 KJV 1900

And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

Galatians 5:13–14 KJV 1900

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

We believe that the local New Testament church is composed of regenerated, baptized believers, voluntarily united together for the purpose of worship, edification, ordinances, fellowship and service;

Prayer Requests

Echo Prayer App

Weekly Class Picture: Second Grade

The father of Mrs. Michelle Dillon - suffered massive heart attack/needs salvation

Need: SCBA K4 Teacher & Kindergarten Teacher

Will you please consider fasting and prayer until the Lord provides these needs?

Also, we have a SCBA family that is need of help in transporting their children to and from school next year. (The family lives in the Danby neighborhood.) If you would be willing to help, please let me know.

Weekly Missionary: Missionary James Earls

Miscellaneous:

Donna Scott - Covid

Michelle Dillon - father’s health/massive heart attack/salvation

Church Parking Lot Repairs

Praying for an Open Door

According to Colossians 4:3-4 we should pray that God would open unto us a door of utterance to declare the Gospel.

The Estates at Sugar Creek

The Ridge at Sugar Creek

Our Hispanic Community

Our Indian Community

Our Muslim Community

Neighborhood Bible Time & Teen Extreme!

June 25-30, 2023

Our Leaders

According to 1 Timothy 2:1-2 we should pray that they govern in such a way as to allow us to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

Charlotte Mayor Vy Lyles

Pineville Mayor Jack Edwards

Fort Mill Mayor Guynn Savage