Fellowship provides focus
Fellowship • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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One of the most difficult things we do in the christian faith is to stay focused. We give our hearts to Jesus and we start out laser focused. We are so focused on letting others know what Jesus did for us and how much they matter to us. Then, all of a sudden we are hit with the realities of living in this world. You share your faith with someone and they reject the faith, we share with someone and not only do they reject it, they then attack us either verbally, emotionally, or physically. We set out with the right heart and right mind and before you know it we are back into the habits of looking out for ourselves. This is not something that any believer does intentionally. It is the way the devil has designed his process to work. Once you are saved the devil cannot do anything about your soul, the only possible thing he can do is to make you useless in your world. I am convinced that most believers start out with a heart to honor God and to seek to serve others. It is when doing those 2 things cause pain in their life that they begin to walk away from it and to lose that focus on reaching the world. We all have built in us the instinct to run from pain. Because of this natural instinct when we face pain of any kind we run from it. Think about your life for just a moment. Why do you do the things you do and why do you not do the things you do not do. You will see that reflecting on your life the things that brought you pain taught you to not do them.
I ride a bike and I enjoy riding bikes. Steve Long blessed me with a very nice bike that I ride with the kids now. When I was young though bikes were it! Me and my brothers rode bikes every where. The thing about bikes though is that they can lend you to do some stupid things. For instance, my dad had a Dodge van that was called the Blue Bomb. It was called the Blue Bomb because it was painted Baby Blue and it smoked like nothing you have ever seen. The van ran great. My twin brother though had a great idea to turn his bike into a swing. To accomplish this he put his bike on top of the van and we took the rope off the tire swing tied to the tree in the front yard and tied it to the frame of his bike. He then proceeded to ride off of the van and lets just say, he has never been the same since. We came up with a great idea one time that we were going to build a ramp. The chain link fence in our front yard stopped before the ditch out front. We had a plan to jump the ditch by placing a 2x4 on the fence and evil kenevil it over the ditch. I was the one voted to make the first attempt. Turns out that my attempt would be the first and the last. I took off and by some miracle made it to the top of the board before it slipped off the fence. As the board fell down my back tire caught the top rail of the fence. My bike stopped immediately, I did not. As I was flying through the air everything happened so slowly I could see the horror on my brothers faces and understood that what was about to happen was not going to be fun. I landed face first in the ditch filled with mud and water. Turned out that it saved me from some serious injuries but guess what it taught me. I have never jumped a bike on a ramp since.
The thing about our faith though is that pain is a part of the walk. This is tough for us to think about. The walk of faith will result in pain, it will result in hurt, it will result in persecution. That is why God designed the church the way He did. We are to actively live our lives together continuing to guide each other back into faithful actions through the pain of following Christ. Today we will be in Acts chapter 4. In this chapter we will join Peter and John. They had just healed the lame beggar, then they were arrested overnight then brought before the council. After spending the night in Jail they were threatened and told not to speak about Jesus again. They were dismayed. The religious leaders of the day had just pulled them in and told them to keep their mouths shut otherwise they would face worse consequences. What we see next is what happens when we use the fellowship of believers as God intended it. Turn with me to Acts 4:23-31 As we read this Scripture we will see that Fellowship brings us together, Fellowship elevates our Faith and leads to the spirit acting.
23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
Fellowship brings us Together
Fellowship brings us Together
23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,
It seems silly to say fellowship brings us together. What comes to my mind is well you think pastor? Isn’t that what fellowship means? You are not incorrect but I am talking about something more than just the getting together. I am talking about fellowship during persecution brings us closer than we will ever be to each other. What we see in this scripture is that Peter and John come back and they explain how they were mistreated and put in jail and what is the response? The church feels the pain of what they went through and immediately as one they respond to the persecution. As you are living this coming week you will face persecutions and you will face struggles. If I have ever promoted or plugged one of our programs it is going to be right now. If you are a believer you need to be in a Sunday School class. It is in these classes that we get to talk about the struggles in our lives and in our faith. It is in Sunday School classes that we get to talk about how to respond as believers to the challenges in our lives and in our faith. As a believer you will face struggles and trials. I know that we like to believe that we will not but the Scripture lays it out plainly for us.
11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.
You are going to be faced with persecution in your life. Is it going to be prison? Maybe but honestly in our Country it is less likely than in any other Country. Is it going to be people making fun of you? Likely, you know people who hold true to their faith are sometimes viewed as Holy Rollers, or weird. Is it going to be other using you because of your faith? This is likely as well. You are plain out going to face persecutions. I think one of the things is that we do not share with each other what we are going through and because of this our fellowship suffers. We spend time with each other and we stay pretty shallow. It is almost as if we are ashamed of the struggles we are going through. We need to not be ashamed of going through struggles but bring them to each other so that we can come together and help each other through it. Struggles bring people together. Have you ever noticed this? Have you ever gone through something so tough in your life and the people who helped you get through it build lifelong ties? Struggles bring people together.
Have you ever heard of the murder hornet? The murder Hornet is a freak of nature. The hornet is actually called the Aisian Giant hornet. It gets the name murder hornet because three of them will kill an entire hive of honey bees in less than an three hours, averaging 40 bees per minute per hornet. Ripping their limbs and heads off it will systematically move through the hive until no life exists. These hornets reach 2 inches in size and are the things of nightmares. Honey bees though are amazing creatures as well. As the Murder hornets began to make their rounds in central Asia devastating hive after hive. The bees learned a defense tactic. The honey bees will draw a hornet to their nest and will leave the entrance completely un-protected. The Hornet will fly right up to the front door then walk in. Once the Hornet is in the nest hundreds of bees will surround it in a ball, completely covring the hornet and preventing it from being able to react. As the bees surround the Hornet they begin to vibrate their flight muscles. Much the same way they do when trying to warm the hive in the winter. This movement raises the temperature inside of the ball to 115 degrees. The bees can survive up to 122 degrees but because the hornet has no cooling mechanism it is quickly overcome by the heat. The bees because of the challenges around them have begun to work much closer than they normally would.
The church is not much different than this hive. We often spend time doing our own things and living our own lives. As we see the devil attacking we begin to pull together to prevent our people from being overwhelmed. We come together to protect each other. This is the same thing we see in this scripture when it says that together they lifted their voices. The Word used here is homothymadon and it means to be of one mind. As the devil is attacking and our people are facing trials and persecutions we should come together as one mind. I’m not talking about being together in the same room I am talking about coming together to be of the same mind and heart as we see the church did. We often do not reach this level of fellowship because we often do not share our struggles and trials. The church is to be of the same heart and mind.
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.
2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Fellowship in the face of persecution brings us together. Fellowship also elevates our faith.
Fellowship elevates our Faith and results in
the Spirit acting.
Fellowship elevates our Faith and results in
the Spirit acting.
Acts 4:24–31 (ESV)
24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
The church after hearing of the persecution prayed together in a deeper faith to the Father. They leaned into their faith understanding that it was what would give them the ability to produce the results that they are called to produce as believers. Notice what they did not do, they did not say well we need to kill them before they kill us. No instead they sought God. They reached out together in prayer and asked to be strengthened to speak and to love in the face of the persecution. The challenges they faced did not elevate their flesh like it does with so many of us. What happens when someone does wrong to you? Is your first response to pray and ask how you can love that person more? By no means is that my first response and if you say it is yours I need to talk to you after because we either need to pray for your forgiveness in lying or I need to learn how to be more like you. Most of us are drawn to flesh responses. When someone tells me something they are going through at church and I give them ideas of how they could respond in relation to their faith. It is not because I have it figured out. It is because in the faith we should spur each other on to good works. When you tell me how much your neighbor bothers you and I tell you that you need to love that person. That is not me saying I am better than you it is me doing what the Bible commands us to do with each other. What happens when we do not share what we are facing in our lives? You do not receive Biblical guidance on how to deal with it and then we wonder why so many people respond in a fleshly way when they are believers. It is because we are supposed to help each other grow in faith and learn to ignore the desires of the flesh. We see in this scripture that the believers instead of sharpening their pitch forks and lighting their torches they sought God and sought to respond in a way that honored His spirit. They drew together to strengthen their faith. They were facing widespread persecution and it caused them to have deepened faith. I often times say that the worst thing in America is that we do not face persecution and it results in shallow faith. The fact is though that the worst thing is that we do not see how the devil is persecuting us and we do not share it together. Because we do not see it and do not share it we have shallow churches that meet and sing together but never drive into the DNA of faith that brings us into a stronger family. I can tell you as a pastor after I have spent time with a family who has lost a loved one, I no longer feel like just one of their pastors. I feel as though I have become part of their family. I feel like together we have strengthened each others faith and helped each other draw closer to the Father. We are to bring each other closer to the image of God and draw further away from the image of the World. Look at what they prayed
29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
They pushed each other to seek boldness and to see their enemies healed. Coming together forces us to see each others situations and we should share what we thing the Spirit would have us do in those situations. Share how we have either succeeded or failed in being like Christ in similar situations in our lives. What good does teaching do if it does not result in life change. What good is meeting together if we are not growing together and growing closer together.
As I was going to school in Chats worth GA I was interning at the First Baptist Church of Chats worth and while there I was being mentored by a guy named Mark. Mark was an older man who came to the mountain to re-center his heart. He had been a pastor and a missionary and was a great leader based on what I knew of him. We would meet once a week and he would listen to me and would help me with some of the class work that I was struggling to understand. I remember going to one of our meetings and as I sat across from him I was complaining about another student who just did not seem to be there for the right reasons and was really making things difficult. As I sat across from him I could see his face and he was listening intently. After I finally got every word out and had truly let him know how I felt about the guy. He simply responded , so how do you think Jesus would respond? I was mad. The last thing I wanted him to do was to point me towards the cross. I wanted him to justify my feelings and to let me know that I had every right to feel the way I did. Instead he told me that I needed to be more like Jesus. I told him that I was being like Jesus, He responded. The Jesus in the Bible?
We can often times justify in our own minds how or why we treat someone a particular way. When we are challenged by our brothers and sisters to look at the cross often times we find that what we have justified in our lives is sin and pride. The Bible calls us to spur each other to good works an to grow.
17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
The church held each other accountable to the example of Christ. They prayed together for boldness to speak and prayed for their enemies to be healed. What are you praying for in your situations? Many of us need each other to help guide us into a deeper faith that draws us to live more like Christ. Elevating our faith and silencing the flesh will result in the Sprit of God doing amazing things. Look back to the scripture. Acts 4:31
31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
These believers shared in their persecutions, they pushed each other to respond in love and to exemplify Christ, they prayed for their enemies, and as a result the Spirit of God did as only He could do. The building was shaken and they wwere all filled with the Spirit and continued to speak the Word of God with boldness. This resulted in the greatest church ever seen. Pastors across the planet are trying to recreate the church of Acts but I am here to tell you unless we fellowship in a way that causes us to grow in our faith and not simply meet together to all check church off our calendars, we will never see the church of Acts again. We can have it though. We can see the Spirit changing lives and making old things new. We can see the power of God moving on the north side and changing peoples lives. We can do this if we are willing to truly fellowship in face of our persecutions. Share what is happening in your life and faith. Let others lead you to a Holy response. Then sit back and watch God do what only He can do.