Fellowship

There are certain dates in the timespan of history, and the timespan of your life that you will remember exactly where you were when the news broke that impacted most of the world. Everyone knows where they were on Tuesday, September the 11th. You ask around people will tell you where they were when they found out Osama Bin Laden was no longer an issue, the challenger space explosion, watching Apollo 11 land on the moon, princess Diana,  when they found out Michael Jackson had died. Moments in time that seems to break down barriers in the human experience and for a moment connect all of us. So when I ask you where you were on March 15th 2020 when you heard our governor, like almost every other governor in the United States, say there should be no gatherings larger than 10 due to covid-19, and then shortly after there was a stay at home order implemented and the phrase two weeks to slow the spread was spoken, im betting you knew where you were.

I knew where I was, 6 weeks prior to that moment my family and I moved over 2200 miles to be a part of a church in North Carolina where we had no friends or family nearby. And if I am honest, even in the tension of a pandemic, wiping down all the grocery’s the great toilet paper shortage of 2020, the lockdown or stay at home order was fun for the first week or two. We found new and different ways to play with the kids, games, church online, Tiger King came out. The first several days and weeks were not that bad at all. But as the time went on and the lockdowns were extended and isolation from the rest of the world, not being with my whole family or my friends or my church family the reality of it all really began to sink in. Top on the fact that karlee was sick with mold poisoning and we didn't know what was happening with her, it was overheating to the point where we couldn’t do life alone.

Being alone is one thing, many of us in this room actually like to be alone. The first few hours are great, but what we realize is the Being Alone gets Lonely. There is a big difference between the two. Being alone is not having anyone in your presence. Being lonely is not having anyone else in your life. When we are alone with just us over large periods of time it begins to change and shape the way we think about ourselves and others, and we naturally begin to drift towards something that is not healthy. Counseling is still on backlog, divorce rates are high. Think of it, tabacco use, alcohol use, drug use and porn use rose to its all time high during the pandemic, because people were filling their loneliness with ways that would help them escape their reality.

God never designed this world for you to be alone or lonely. We see this in the very first chapter in Genesis where after God created all things, he sees Adam by himself, even though Adam has a direct connection with God, God looks down and says in Genesis 1:18, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” So he creates eve. This is an amazing moment because God is saying the the best way for you to live your life, the ultimate way for you to have the most satisfying life, the designed life, is to have a relationship with God and a relationship with other people.

Now with that foundation set turn your bibles to Acts chapter 2. Acts is the story of what happened after Jesus accended into Heaven, Jesus goes up, the Holy Spirit goes in and the followers go out to change the world and start the movement of the church of Jesus. To the tune of 30 thousand people a year. In todays standard thats about 11 million people a year. Thats about 4.2x higher than the current rate so they were absolutely crushing it.You hear the word church and that brings a lot to your mind, some good, some bad, but mostly you think of a place. But that's not what God did in the first church, this church this Ecclesia was a gathering of the called out ones. Those who have been called out by God in relationship with one another for one another.

In this series our goal is to look at the first church that changed the world, what did they do? What were their actions, what were their motives, how did they treat one another. As we look at this, how does it impact and shape the way our church or our gathering of called out ones in North Peoria? How can we model this and see God do again at Journey what he did in Jerusalem. Last week Carlyle spoke on the first calling card of prayer. If we ever want to change the world, we must first start in deep prayer. We are using a model that connections us relationally to three people. So every week we are doing a calling card action steps for you to implement into your Life. Up to God, In to Yourself, and Out to others.

Today we are going to look at the relationships and structure the first Jesus followers had with each other, and how that impacts our church today. In Acts 2 we see the Holy Spirit move in the first Jesus followers, Peter gives the first sermon post Jesus, calls people to believe and 3000 people were added to their number as believers and were baptized. Right after that moment we see Luke summarize their life as a community when he says, in Acts 2:42 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

These early believers were not in friendships, they were in fellowship. Fellowship goes deeper than just a friendship, friendships happen when you like someone else and they like you back and you might have some shared interests. Fellowship is deeper than friendships because it isn’t about shared interests, it's that you and those around you have the same foundation, you share IN something. They shared in the same Jesus, the same guide for life, the same love for God, the same desire to worship, the same struggle, the same victories, the same job of living like Jesus, and the same joy of preaching the gospel. It is what God designed in the Garden and it’s what he planted in the first church that we the body of Christ would be in fellowship with one another.

So how does that look practically? How can we at Journey begin to model and mirror what the early church did? This passage gives us an outline. Verse 42 gives us what most historians call the “Four Marks of the Church '' four actions that the Jesus followers were known to do that we in turn must do in order to have Godly Fellowship together. So what did they do? They Devoted themselves to the Apostles Teaching. Devoted themselves to Fellowship, Devoted Themselves to the Lords Supper. Devoted themselves to prayer. Lets break these down and what that means for you and for me.

1: Devoted themselves to the Apostles Teaching

In these moments they didn't have a New Testament they could read where you and I can easily pickup and read exactly what Jesus said. In fact they wouldn’t have a bible as we have it today for another 300 years. Most of these people never even saw Jesus before. What they had were the Apostles who had been with Jesus teach them about what Jesus taught. So they relied on relationships and fellowship to learn about Jesus and they were changed by both.

This word here devoted in the original language means a steadfast and single-minded Fidelity to a certain course of action. To them there was no going back to the old way or life, there was no going back to the old way of thinking and there was no objection to the teachings of the word of God because it is the truth of God and if God said it than that means it should be lived out. They didn't superimpose the cultural norms of the day over the Bible and pick and choose what they wanted to follow and what they didn't, rather they devoted themselves to the teachings of Jesus and they changed in themselves what needs to be changed in order to be in alignment with Jesus.

So here is where I’m going to step on some toes. We have something greater than what they had, God has orchestrated it for us over the centuries that we would have the word of God bound in a single book so that we can know the mission and will of God for our lives. And often times we just allow it to collect dust on a shelf or an app we seldom open. Fellowship as God has designed it first starts with you in fellowship with God through his word. Are you devoted to the teachings of the apostles? Thats what the New Testament is, its apostles and those who have seen Jesus writing about Jesus. We can do the same thing, we can open our bibles and be devoted to the word of God.

Being devoted to God’s word isn’t just the pastor's job, it’s your job also. Being devoted isn't just knowing what it say, but doing what it says, it’s aligning our life and our lifestyle to the teaching of Jesus. And this is the problem in today's culture, most people who claim they are Jesus followers either don’t know what the Bible says, or would rather live their truth over God’s truth. They want the acceptance and love of Jesus without the follow through. They are unwilling to change their life and align themselves to the one they say has saved their life.  In doing so they forsake the truth of God’s word and replace it with the lies of the evil one and of culture. We must be a group of people who are devoted to the word and then go out and do what it says even if that means I have to deny myself. After all Jesus did say we must deny ourselves and pick up our cross daily. They were in fellowship with God through the teachings of the apostle.

The Second Mark of the Church: 2: Devoted Themselves to Fellowship

They decided that they were going to be in each others lives, to help them, support them, care for them, serve one another, strengthen their faith and grow together. This type of relationship goes far beyond attending a church service on sunday, talking small talk in the lobby while eating donut holes. It goes far beyond going to a group once a week, this is a continual relationship with other believers for the express purpose of loving one another and helping each other be more like Jesus.

Imagine with me for all my married couple if you only spoke to your wife or your husband once a week for one hour and that's it.…Is that relationship going to last very long? Now for some of you stop daydreaming about that possibility back up here. What we know is that life is hard and it gets messy. Who can you lean and borrow strength from in times of need? When you see someone in need how can you meet their need? When a brother or sister in the faith confesses sin to you, you can be there to help restore them and keep them accountable. To br prayed over and pray over others, to ask questions and laugh as hard as you can.

This is the life Jesus intends for his people. And in doing so we are a window that this world sees through and realizes that there is something different about those people. They love differently, they care different, they serve differently, they give differently, they live differently. Jesus even said in John 13:35, “everyone will know you are my disciples by the way you love one another.” So devote yourself to fellowship.

Here is one last thing on this point. Fellowship is not just for adults, kids and students need to have fellowship with one another also. In over 15 years of student ministry I have heard this phrase used countless times from parents when it comes to their kid and church, groups, camps etc. “I let them make their own decisions on coming to church or not because I want them to choose it when they grow up later.” This has never made any sense to me. Thats like saying, “I let me kid choose if they want to get their yearly check up because I want them to choose it later.” I let them choose if they want to go to the dentist because I want them to have healthy teeth as an adult?”  You would never say that about any of those things and yet when it comes to the most important decisions in their life you do. You are their parent and God has given you to steward them for 18-20 years as they live in your house so that you can lead them to faith in Christ and fellowship with other believers.

I will also say, put fellowship first before everything else for your children and students. Fellowship is more important than a traveling team, it is more important than a sports team, academic team, its more important than extra sleep on a sunday! Choose as a family to be devoted to fellowship.

The Third Mark of the Church: 3: They Devoted Themselves to the Lords Supper

The Lords Supper or communion recenters us to understanding we are living for him. Doing this as we come together puts all the focus and attention on Jesus Christ and remembering his death burial and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins. It re-focuses our lives and gives us a clear direction on areas we need to confess, or fix. Thats why I want us to take communion now…lead into communion.

The Fourth Mark of the Church 4: They Devoted themselves to Prayer

Carlyle talked in detail about this one last week so if you want to hear the message you can go to YouTube. But fellowship is praying together for God’s kingdom to be done here on earth as it is in heaven. It is asking God to move boldly in peoples lives and souls. But like I said you can check it out online.

These four marks signify what God’s design is for Christian fellowship. They all go together, if one piece is missing than you are not in Christian fellowship. If you are not devoted to the apostles teaching you will revert back to your old way of living. If you ignore fellowship you become isolated and when life hits you it is difficult to sustain your faith alone. If we do not take the Lord Supper we are not recentering our lives and focusing on Jesus and if we are not in prayer with one another we are not asking God to bring heaven to earth on the behalf of his will. They all go together.

As the early church were devoted to the teachings, fellowship, the lords supper and prayer it produced spiritual fruit. Remember what it said, “Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

Living this type of life people were amazed at the miracles God does as his people are devoted to him. It also produced extravagant generosity because when we live in fellowship and are centered on Jesus people begin to proclaim Jesus is more important and more valuable than their possessions. In acts 4 it says that this extravagant generosity meant they laid the money at the apostles feet so they could use it to meet any need others had. And lastly, because of the way these people lived their lives, because of the example they were to the world, others were interested and others believed, and God added to their numbers daily those who were being saved. Which means you know this by now, this type of living isn't just on sunday mornings, isn't just a week night, this type of living happens daily. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday as well. It becomes apart of who we are as Journey Church and who you are as a Jesus follower.

If we do our part and be devoted in fellowship God will do his and bring more people to be apart of it. Why? Because Flourishing Follows Fellowship.

So three things as you go and as we leave

Up: Be in Fellowship with God

In: Fellowship with yourself about yourself

Out: What of the 4 marks do you need to engage in with others?

Pray