“In Defense of Fellowship”

John 17:20-23 (New International Version)
Jesus Prays for All Believers
20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Acts 2:42-47 (New International Version)
The Fellowship of the Believers
42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Intro:

(Play song: “Where Everybody Knows Your Name”)

How do you like our new Oasis theme song? Just kidding, actually it would cost too much money. But seriously the words to this song really should describe the church rather than a bar in Boston. (read the words if opportune).

I was blessed with the opportunity to preach the first message of the year, today I stand before you graced once again. Preaching is serious business which I don’t take lightly and personally I feel that the first sermon of the year is an important event where one is allowed to cast the year’s first vision. At least this is how I feel, and why it is so significant to me. Last year after reflecting on a challenging 2004 and coming short from calling it as Queen Elizabeth had in the past an “annus horribilus”, all I said was “what a year.” Today as I reflect on 2005 I say the same “what a year” but with a totally different meaning. Last year I preached on welcoming the bible back to the home, but today I will be preaching in defense of fellowship.

I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but as we look at the recent development of church philosophy in my opinion, there is reason for concern. For almost three years I’ve shared with the leaders of this church and have had countless meetings on how we can become a better church. We look at models of successful churches, we attend seminars, we read books, and although we’ve learned many things, I can honestly say that the final conclusion has been that the church of God is Holy Spirit driven and it is God who makes the church grow, and that the duty of the church is to exercise love in true biblical fellowship at it is found in the bible.

Books are being written about folks who are fed up with the church as it is today and have chosen to stay home and hold church on their own with little or no involvement in the local church. We admit that the church in general has become somewhat disconnected with the individual. Being reformed this isn’t a difficult thing being that part of being reformed is the belief that we are always reforming. Yet reformation must always be based on biblical principal.

George Barna writes in his book “Revolution”:

“Now its virtually impossible to craft a "typical" spiritual pattern, especially among people under the age of 40. Growing numbers of young adults, teenagers, and even adolescents are piecing together spiritual elements they deem worthwhile, constituting millions of personalized "church" models. Ultimately, we expect to see believers choosing from a proliferation of options, weaving together a set of favored alternatives into a unique tapestry that constitutes the personal "church" of the individual.” (64)

It was noted by a Christian blogger that suggesting that one stays home instead of congregating as cure for what ails the church make the cure worse than the disease and adds that “upon closer inspection it may be the cure that cause[d] the disease in the first place.”

It must be noted that this is not a new ideology. In 1985 Robert Bellah and a team of researchers wrote their book Habits of the Heart. What they found then was that the individualized, personalized church was in full bloom. In this book Bellah refers to what calls “Sheilaism.”:
“Sheila Larson is a young nurse who has received a good deal of therapy and describes her faith as "Sheilaism." This suggests the logical possibility of more than 235 million American religions, one for each of us. "I believe in God," Sheila says. "I am not a religious fanatic. I can’t remember the last time I went to church. My faith has carried me a long way. It’s Sheilaism. Just my own little voice."
One needs to ask the question: Is an individualistic approach to God proper and biblical?










Application

I believe that the Bible teaches that the opposite is true. In fact the Bible promotes the gathering of the saints. As seen in the book of Acts not only is fellowship promoted, but we see great demonstrations of God’s power in and throughout the communion of the church. Examples:
Acts 2:1-2 (King James Version)
1And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place (Reina Valera: “Unanimes juntos” together united). 2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.


You see fellowship is a physical demonstration of something that is deep, spiritual, and totally Godly. It is something that originated within the trinity itself.