Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20050213.htm

THE BIBLICAL GROWTH OF THE LOCAL CHURCH
Part II: Growing By TRUE Fellowship Based On Heeding Scripture In The Holy Spirit's Power
(Matthew 16:18 with Acts 1:8; 2:40-42b)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

It is no secret that many people in our world and even in the CHRISTIAN community long to experience satisfying concord not only with others, but also with the Lord Himself:

(1) A Christian catalogue in my office lists many books that seek to address the needs Christians have for fulfilling fellowship with God and other Christians, and here is a brief list: (a) Come Thirsty by Max Lucado is promoted as a work "Encouraging you to immerse yourself in God's presence . . . [to] feel his love . . ." (b) Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow is promoted with the words: "Women worry a lot. We worry about our children, our friends, our careers, our spouses -- the list goes on and on . . ." (c) Waking the Dead by John Eldredge is promoted with these words: "Most people -- including believers -- spend their days in drudgery and difficulty . . ." (d) The DNA of Relationships by Christian counselor, Gary Smalley has a promo claiming " . . . 17 core fears . . . can aggravate relationships . . ."

(2) I received a pamphlet this week advertising a program for local churches that is designed to strengthen church ministries. One of the goals of this program is to get Church members "to connect with other believers who experience real fellowship . . ." and the way to go about this is connection with those who really fellowship is "through baptism, joining a local church family and participating in some kind of small group fellowship."

However, we all know people who were baptized, who joined a church and got into small groups only to become so dissatisfied that they left the church for another one! Reflecting this challenge, Dave Hunt reported in his March 2004 issue of his newsletter, The Berean Call, p. 2, between 85% and 90% of people in one of America's largest "seeker-friendly" churches have not come from outside the Church, but from other Churches where they were dissatisfied!



Well, since SATISFYING camaraderie is so necessary in a group of believers for there to be TRUE, LONG-TERM growth in the Church, IS such "fellowship" POSSIBLE, and IF so, HOW?



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "As even many CHRISTIANS feel 'disconnected' from God and other believers, IS real fellowship fulfillment possible? How?"
  1. Church growth is something JESUS said HE WOULD ACHIEVE in Matthew 16:18; it WILL OCCUR, so we must ADJUST to it!
  2. Well, for TRUE church growth to occur, there must be a "sense of fulfilling concord with others" and it RESULTS from believer's HEEDING SCRIPTURE under the HOLY SPIRIT'S CONTROL:
    1. Jesus revealed the building of His Church would occur through His disciples by the indwelling Spirit's power, Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 1:8.
    2. One of the CHARACTERISTICS that marked the rise of Christ's true Church was a deep fulfilling fellowship among its members:
      1. Acts 2:42b KJV, NIV, ESV records the Church had "fellowship".
      2. The Greek N. T. word for that "fellowship," koinonia (U.B.S. Grk. N.T., 1966 ed., p. 424), here means "brotherly concord":
        1. As the Church was not yet "legally and culturally" distinct from the Jewish community that had met in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost, the term, "fellowship" in Acts 2:42 does NOT picture the group of believers, Theol. Dict. of the N. T., v. III, p. 809.
        2. Also, as the author of Acts would not be needlessly redundant, koinonia must NOT be the sharing of goods in Acts 2:44b, Ibid.
        3. Hence, Acts 2:42b pictures an "abstract" quality of fulfilling "brotherly concord" experienced in relationships, Ibid.
    3. Now, this very koinonia is named in 1 John 1:3 (Ibid., U.B.S. Grk. N.T., p. 813) where John explained HOW it can be experienced:
      1. John revealed that to experience the koinonia of fulfilling "brotherly concord" with God and others (1 John 1:3), one needed to "walk in the light" as God and Christ dwell "in the light," 1:6-7.
      2. In view of John's Galilean background and Bible history, we know this "light" is God's illuminating truths (as follows):
        1. John and a significant core of Christ's other eleven disciples had been called by Jesus to follow Him when He started His earthly ministry back in the land of Galilee, cf. Matthew 4:18-22.
        2. That ministry fulfilled the Isaiah 9:1-2 prediction that God's "Great Light" would come to minister to those who walked in darkness in that region of Israel, Matt. 4:13-16 with Isa. 9:1-2.
        3. Thus, that "Great Light", Jesus Who was sent by God the Father to offset the darkness of Israel's turning away from the written Word of God in the Old Testament Scriptures, cf. Isa. 8:19-22.
        4. Hence, by the term, "light" in 1 John 1, John meant God's truths, be they in Scripture or in Christ, John 1:18; Rev. 19:11-13.
      3. So, by "walking in the light," JOHN alluded to the ACTION of believers in Christ HEEDING GOD'S WORD, the WORD revealed in SCRIPTURE or in JESUS CHRIST, 1 John 1:7.
      4. As one heeds GOD'S WORD, he enjoys fulfilling concord with God and Christ and every OTHER believer WHO ALSO heeds God's Word, and all as GOD'S rich BLESSING for such HEEDING of His Word, 1 John 1:7!
    4. Viewing Acts 2, we find this practice is EXACTLY what occurred for the Early Church believers to enjoy their rich "fellowship" as follows:
      1. First, the Acts 2 believers were filled with the Holy Spirit, not having sin block communion with God, and they leaned on the Holy Spirit to live free from the sin nature , Acts 2:4; Gal. 5:16.
      2. Thus equipped, when they heeded the WORD of the apostles' exposition of Scripture in Acts 2:42a, they "walked in the light" as John described in 1 John 1:5-7.
      3. Thus, God's reward for this practice was fulfilling "abstract" "brotherly concord" with God and each other, Acts 2:42b!
Application: For fulfilling brotherly concord with God and other godly believers, (1) may we trust in Christ as Savior to receive salvation and the Holy Spirit, John 3:16; 7:39. (2) As a believer, IF we have SINNED since salvation, (a) we should confess it to God for cleansing (1 John 1:9) and (b) rely on His indwelling Spirit for the power (Gal. 5:16) to (c) heed Scripture, 1 John 2:3-6. (3) GOD will bless us with priceless, abstract brotherly concord with Himself and every other godly believer! (4) As this "fellowship" exists, it will ATTRACT others to it, with the result that Christ's Church will grow both in quality and eventually in quantity as more and more are added to its fulfilling fellowship.

Lesson: Though many experience DISCONNECTION in HEART with GOD and OTHER godly people, this sad state is NOT NECESSARY! If ANYONE trusts in Christ as Savior, if he has his post-salvation sins confessed and he relies on the indwelling Spirit, when he HEEDS and APPLIES God's WORD in THAT condition, GOD BLESSES him with this RICH "fellowship" that yields great JOY, cf. 1 John 1:7 with 1:3-4! Such fellowship attracts other needy people who are discipled to Christ!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 In Bible School, I was assigned a roommate in the men's dorm who had served on board ship in the U. S. Navy during the Vietnam War. He was saved while attending a youth group gathering with a friend when his ship was docked in an American port.

My roommate amazed me to explain that he noticed a tremendous "sense of belonging" in that group of Christian teens he saw, and so, not knowing anything about God or Christ, he asked them what he needed to do to be initiated into this group.

They explained that he should get down on his knees, fold his hands, close his eyes and bow his head and "pray to receive Christ as his personal Savior from sin."

By roommate told me it was the "weirdest" initiation ceremony he had ever heard of -- nothing he had ever known in fraternity organizations even came close to its oddity! Nevertheless, longing to be a part of the camaraderie he saw in the teen group, he did what they told him to do and was marvelously saved into God's spiritual family!

Six months later, my roommate explained he was reading a tract on salvation only to learn he was already on his way to heaven for having trusted in Christ! He was thrilled -- no one had ever told him about that! He had received Christ just to belong to the "fellowship" of the group, not go to heaven! However, he was very glad to KNOW he would escape hell and gain heaven for putting his faith in Christ.

Consequently, he had decided to come to Bible School to learn about other blessings God had in store for him since he was a believer!



The "fellowship" of abstract but TRUE brotherly concord is something many in our world of abusive or lonely relationships LONG to experience for themselves. May we who know Christ "walk in the light" as noted in this message that we may attract such "thirsty" people to our fellowship that they may be SAVED!