Acts 2:41-47. I want to speak to you a message this morning that I believe is so important to the body of Christ, It's the idea of Koinonia. I've called this message, "Koinonia, the bond of fellowship". This will be a 2 part series. Next week we're going to talk about Koinonia, our fellowship with the spirit. This week I want to talk about our fellowship with each other, about the importance of our lives being intertwined as Christians and the difference we can make.
Acts 2:41-47 says, "Those who gladly received his word were baptized and that day about 3000 souls were added to them. They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and the breaking of bread and in prayer. Then fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. All of them who believed were together and had all things in common. They sold their posessions and goods and divided them among all as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved".
Lord, we thank you today for your word. We thank you for how you've changed us and touched us and how you love us. Lord, as we come to this point in the service we ask that we would decrease and that you would increase and that your word would powerfully have its effect in us, amen.
In our day and age of computers, cell phones, instant messaging, text messaging, e-mail and direct connect, never have so many people who keep in touch really felt so disconnected. It's true of both believers and unbelievers. I was amazed, this week one girl in one phone period sent 25,000 text messages. How many know she needs to get a life? Many busy people including Christians feel lonely. Many believers, men in particular suffer lives of quiet desperation, many long for friendship. People have lots of friends on Facebook. Today it's amazing to me how many especially in the younger generation are able to connect on facebook but really have no interaction with each other. True, deep, lasting friendships are rare, precious and are desperately needed.
In church we tell the truth that people need the Lord and I believe that with all my heart. I believe that people need Jesus but I also believe that people need people and as the church we need to realize that we need each other. In Genesis 2:18 when God created man he said this, "And the Lord God said it is not good for man to be alone". We were never meant to be loners. We were never meant to be people who carried all our burdens and struggles and the ideas of life without anybody else. Today people are isolated, they're starved for friendship and interaction. I believe this is one of Satan's greatest tricks even in the body of Christ. There used to be a time when people really got together, a time when we would fellowship together. It's been excellent to watch what God has been doing in this church. It used to be when the Wednesday service was over, everyone would be gone. Last Wednesday we were done about 8:15 and people were still talking in the parking lot until 10:00. That's a good thing in the church. What a marvelous thing as the people of God gather.
Ist Peter 5:8 says, "Be sober, be vigilant for your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking who he may devour". At some point this year I want to preach a message about what a roaring lion looks for. One of the first things a lion looks for are those who are alone. They look for the hurting, the lost, the ones who are confused. They look to the young, the sick and the old but they don't look for those that are together. As a matter of fact if everyone is together, lions run away because the truth is there is too much trouble to put up with. What Satan is looking for are Christians who are sick, hurting or alone and struggling with the things in life. When that happens they become an open target. How many believe that in the body of Christ there should be no open targets?
In the New testament alone there are over 30 commands that cannot be fulfilled without relationship with other people. There are 35 "one another" scriptures. "Love one another, depend on one another, be devoted to one another, accept one another, admonish one another, greet one another, be kind to one another, forgive one another...". If you didn't get these scriptures in your bulletin, make sure you get these. There are 35 commands in the word of God that you could never do on your own. That's powerful. How many know that when God tells you to do something, you need to do it?
There are four things that mark the healthy early church. With those four things that they did, Christianity began to spread like wildfire. The Bible says that on that day over 3000 people were added to the body of Christ and then daily people were coming to Jesus. But they did four things in that church so that would happen. Number one is that they studied the word. In Acts 42 it says they studied the word of God, they got the word inside of them. Number two is they fellowshipped, they made sure they had relationship with one another. The third one is they had communion, they had food together and took of the Lord's supper together. Number four there was prayer. I think in most of the churches 3 out of the 4 take place. We preach the Word. If you're in a Bible believing church you're going to get the Word of God, that's why you need to be in one. We do communion. The command of the Lord says, "As often as you do this, do it in rememberance of me". I believe that there has been a real emphasis that has been put on prayer again. Where the church of America used to not be a praying church, we're coming back to understanding how important prayer is to the life of the local church. That's why in the next 2 weeks we're going to have that week of prayer and fasting. I hope you're getting excited about it and I hope you believe that God is going to do some great things in your life and in the life of this church. I encourage you to be a part of it.
The one thing that the modern church needs to grab hold of is the idea of Koinonia, fellowship. Often when we think of church fellowship, we think of casually greeting each other during the service or a nice church activity or a picnic together and all those are good. But true Koinonia is much deeper. Koinonia is the body of Christ studying the word together, knowing each other and helping each other. I am convinced that within every local church there should never be a stranger. You may be closer to others than you are to some but the truth is Koinonia is so vital as we begin to know it and begin to love each other. It's more than a surface friendship or passing acquaintance, it is the in depth sharing of life. It is the kind of closeness that is shared by family. I'm not advocating that we start a Harvest Community commune, that's wierd stuff. Koinonia is a unity and a bond that is flowing with other Christians because of their intimate bond with Christ. How many of you love Jesus more than anything in all the world? The truth is with that love for God comes a love for each other, it naturally begins to form. We must guard this bond because in our society people are spending more time in front of their televisions and in their own homes than with each other.
Koinonia is not an exclusive club, it extends to all in the family of God and it also extends because the body of Christ is always willing to enlarge the circle of love. When people receive Christ, we welcome them into the family. They come in as if they've always been a part. I heard a comment made that as we're sitting in church and worshipping God and singing, there are people outside of these doors that are dying without Jesus. Who did you invite? Not just to church but who did you invite to Christ? When we invite people to the Lord it's more than just praying with them and having them accept Jesus, It means that we begin to disciple them and then they become family. We become involved with them, it's not just a hello and a handshake, good luck with your walk with Jesus. We invite them in so that they can learn, not just from the pastors and the teachers but from each other what it means to serve the Lord. That is a vital component of the body of Christ.
There is not one english word that adequately describes koinonia, but fellowship really hits the mark. Communion, not in taking communion like we do with the Lord's supper but intimate partnership. That's what that means, intimate participation in each others lives. Koinonia can only happen when we share our lives with each other, when we get involved. It is only when we really know each other and enjoy each others company and work together for the glory of God that we reap the benefits of koinonia.
The bonds of fellowship are forged in the furnace of five great fires. I was thinking about that, how do believers begin to develop that koinonia? Number one is fun. You really get to know someone when you're having fun with them. Number two, it's forged with family, as we share each other's lives, as we interact daily with each other, we're part of the family of God. Number three, it's forged in the fire of service. As we serve God and seek to do his will, not only in our individual lives but corporately as a church. Some of the greatest memories and some of the greatest relationships I have are with people as we were winning other people to Jesus, when we were on missions trips or doing work throughout the community to touch others lives for Jesus. You really get to know someone in the midst of service.
Number four, it's forged in adversity. You really get to know who someone is when you have walked with them as they were going through a tough time and in spiritual warfare. All of us fight spiritual battles, all of us have spiritual struggles whether it's with lust or doubt or with depression. It may be a sin that is hidden, all of us have warfare that we're involved in. Some of us just go through times of life where not only is it adversity but you know you're under a specific spiritual attack. The enemy is out because he does want to steal kill and destroy. The truth is no warrior can ever do it alone. It's in those areas that we experience with each other, the joy, the sweat, the tears in life as we grow close to each other and as we trust the Lord.
I'm thankful for this church and the great friendships we have that through personal trials and spiritual warfares, through the highs and lows of what we go through that we can minister and love each other and stand with each other. It is a test, a trust and a familiarity that begins to grow a friendship as we work through those things together. Those who share their lives grow in loyalty to one another. Today people will go from church to church just like they change their clothes every day. I think part of the reason is because they don't understand the idea of family. People leave their families like they're changing their clothes these days. People of God really need to be close and stay together. I think the enemy has tried to keep us so transient at times that we've never really developed those close bonds and trust that only come after years of living and being and struggling and striving together. How many know that's part of being a family?
I've looked at the things in the last 2½ years that I've been able to walk through with people. I'm so thankful, It's friendship that you can't have anywhere else and its vital to the Kingdom of God. We need each other.
We share koinonia with others in the body of Christ because when we're close, our lives become intertwined through the thick and the thin. Those who we really don't know as well as others, that koinonia fellowship is there because of the bond of extended family. They are still family, there is still that wonderful sense of belonging and knowing that even though you may not know each other so closely, if you need someone to pray, if you need someone to encourage you, you can stop and that could happen. My prayer is that at Harvest Community, at any time in our passings of each other, whether in the hallway of a church or in the grocery store, when we see one another even if you're not that close but you need someone to pray or to encourage, we could stop and receive that from one another. How many know that is vital, not only where it's safe and confidential but where it's powerful because you know they're walking with God. What a marvelous idea that koinonia is.
Koinonia is vital because it gives us relationships of accountability. I believe every one of us need accountability. You don't need to come to your pastor and confess your sins, the truth is I don't want to know them. We all need people outside of our immediate family that know and love us, people that can help us grow in our walk with the Lord, people that can help us through our struggles, whether it's a trial of life or whether it's sin.
Colossians 3:16 says, "Let the word of God dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and adminishing one another". All of us need spiritual Paul's. How many of you are thankful for those men or women who have poured into your life? They are mature in God and they have touched you beyond belief. All of us need spiritual Timothy's, those that we are pouring into and touching their lives, those that can come to us for advice. Every one of us need someone who can speak into our life, people we respect, people whom we know we're safe with. All of us struggle. Is there one man in this room who has never had difficulties with their wife and wished they had someone to talk to? Is there a lady in this room who hasn't had a hard time with her husband and wished they had a sister in the Lord they could talk to? Someone you could go to and talk with, who would speak into your life, someone who will hold us accountable without judging us but without letting us off the hook.
Men, the truth is this, we keep our lives so secret. Some of us struggle financially and never tell anyone until it's too late and we feel so alone. Some of us struggle with sin in our lives and we go about trying to fix that sin on our own. If we could go to another brother in the Lord and say, "I've been dealing with this issue' and they could look at you and not judge you and think you're horrible. They're not going to treat you like you've got some spiritual plague. They're going to look at you and say, "Alright, you've got this thing but we're going to walk through it together". Someone who would not be afraid to look at a lady who's been having problems with her husband and there's someone else that they begin to find themselves attracted to, and say, "Listen, we're going to deal with this together, we're not going to judge you but listen, you've got to get right with Jesus, you can't be doing this thing". We all need that kind of accountability but the truth is it's really not happening in the church.
There are people who will miss church for weeks on end and I'll call them and say, "I just noticed that you weren't there" and they'll say, "I didn't come because I just wanted to see if anyone would even notice that I wasn't around". God help us when that's the truth, we should notice. If you're lonely, don't wait for your preacher to call you because I'm not that good, I'm not going to get it right all the time. I promise you I'm going to let you down. Sometimes I'm not going to notice you're there, sometimes I'm going to think you're there and you're weren't. We should notice each other.
James 5:16 says, "Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed". Not only a prayer to be healed from sickness but for when we're struggling with sin. I want to tell you there isn't one Christian that I've met in my life that at some point in their life hasn't struggled with some sort of sin. You are not alone. Listen to me, this preacher who is standing before you has times in his life where he going through. Sometimes my wife has no clue of the things that I'm going through and there's sometimes I don't know what she is going through. There are other friends that I have who will pick up on it in a heartbeat. Some friends will ask me, "Marvin, how are you doing this week, how's your thought life, how's your prayer life, how's your word life?"
Koinonia combats lonliness. How many marriages, how many children, how many people feel alone? All of us need friendship, all of us crave human contact beyond our family. As a matter of fact, sometimes your own immediate family will drive you absolutely crazy and you need someone else besides them. That's why they created football. By the way, the Steelers are going all the way. If you're rooting for someone else you need Jesus.
How many hurts could be healed if there was someone there? How many people wouldn't suffer if there was just one person they could call upon, even if they didn't know them really well? If people reach out to you when they're lonely, reach back. I want to tell you, you need koinonia. There are some that I've watched come to church who are lonely and hurting and I've seen the way that they interact with others and they push away. Listen, reach out and allow them to touch you. It's hard to be lonely if you have people looking out for you and if you're looking out for others. The truth is, I have found in my life when I'm going through a bad day and I feel lonely, I need to begin to focus on someone else and pretty soon I find out that I am not expendable and not alone.
Phillipians 2:4 says, "Let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also to the interests of others". Nothing can make you lonelier than taking care of your own bad self. The truth is that if you'll begin to look out for others, what a blessing it is.
Koinonia presents opportunities for openness in trials and difficulties in the ability to know what others are going through and the ability to meet each others needs. All of us have loads in life that are hard to carry. All of us have things that are beyond us and at some point in life If you haven't experienced that yet, you will. That's good news. Number one, you have to understand that every one of us will go through those times. There's a song that was out called, "Find out who your friends are". "Run your car off the side of the road, get stuck in a ditch out in the middle of nowhere, get yourself in a bind, lose the shirt off your back, need a towel, need some bus fare, this is where the rubber meets the road, this is where the cream is going to rise. This is what you really didn't know, this is when the truth don't lie, you find out who your friends are. Somebody is going to drop everything, run out and crank up their car, hit the gas, get there fast, never stop to think what's in it for me or it's way too far. They just show up with their big ole heart and you find out who your friends are".
How many believe that in the body of Christ we should be that kind of a friend? Someone who will just be there in a heartbeat. That's what was happening in the early church and I believe that's what needs to be happening in the church today. Whether you're in the middle of a hot dinner or ready to go to bed, if someone needs you just toss it aside and begin to minister the life of Jesus. All of us cast our cares on Jesus. We need to do that, we know the word, but there are times that we need people to help, we need people to be with us because the truth is you can't do it on your own. If one person tried to carry me out the door it would be real hard but four people could do the job and get it done real fast. That's what the body of Christ is supposed to be like. If we would do that, the loads that we carry would be light.
Ephesians 4:2 says, "Bearing with one another in love". In Galatians 16:2 it says, "Bear one anothers burdens". That means that no one has got to carry the thing by themselves. 1st Corinthians 12:24,26 says, "But God composed the body having given greater honor to the parts that are lacking that there should be no schizm in the body but that the members should have the same care one for another". Each of us should have that same care. True koinonia stems with our koinonia with God, our fellowship with the Lord. I have found that those who spend time with God and prayer, those who seek the face of the Lord are the people who really have great fellowship with others in the body of Christ.
About 15 years ago when I was pastoring my first church up there in Parsonville, it was a nice cold winter night and we were having our prayer meeting. I was standing in front of the altar and praying, my wife was off to the side praying, and Jeff, one of our board members was praying. I can't sit still so I walk alot when I pray. The presence of the Lord was so powerful in that prayer meeting as we sought God. When you're really in prayer it's amazing how you don't run into anything. All of a sudden I opened my eyes and it was cool because Dawn was in the back, Jeff was on the platform and I was on the bottom and all of us were walking in sync with each other. We had started out praying just any old way but pretty soon all of us were just walking together and neither of us were looking at each other. I have found that when you are in koinonia fellowship with God you are in fellowship with each other, you will walk in step with each other. When that began to happen I believe that prayer meeting became a real turning point in the life of our church. That night really was, it was like God had done something with us in that place. All of a sudden what we began to see God do as the church began to grow and the community began to know that Christ was good, we began to see miracles.
We've been praying this year, our theme is "A passion for his presence". I guarantee you that if each of us would passionately want God in our hearts and our lives, if we would seek him and want him not just in our church services but also in our homes, you will find that the people of God will so walk together it will astound you.
Acts 2:44 says, "All who believed were together and had all things in common". Koinonia brings about a like mindedness, we become people with the same heart and the same purpose. Romans 15:5-7 says, "Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be likeminded toward one another according to Christ Jesus that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ". We become likeminded, singleminded, a conformity begins to happen with God's people. When you begin to get in step with God, not only do you wind up conforming to God's people who are a part of your local church but you become just like all the other believers who are seeking God regardless of their denomination, regardless of their church because you have like-mindedness with those that love God. It's a powerful thing.
That conformity happens not because of a religious legalism or because we lose our individuality but because we begin to love the Lord like he loves us. We begin to look like each other and sound like each other. Everybody wants me to look and sound like a Christian. What does that look like? Have you ever noticed that people who get married start to look and sound alot alike? After 20 or 30 years together they can look like the same person. The kids and even their dog starts to look like them. It becomes a beautiful thing and it only happens through that fellowship, through that time together.
I believe one of the things that God is restoring to the body of Christ is a passion for the people of God to be together. We have to pursue it, it doesn't just happen. It's something that's intentional, it's something that we each purpose in our mind. That's why the small groups are important when people get together to talk about the word. The truth is in a service like this, I'm not going to answer someone's hand raise so that we can get into a debate in the church about a scripture but you can at home. You can talk about that word and dive deep into it. What a marvelous time. When you're going through the hurts there are things you don't want to share with everybody but you'll share with some and God can dynamically begin to touch through each of our lives. How many will begin to pray and commit to this koinonia fellowship within the body of Christ?
Jesus, I love you, and we come before you today grateful for who you are, in awe of who you are, in love with who you are. Lord, last week when we gathered we said that what we desired more than anything is to be a church that has a passion for your presence, not just a passion for growth or all the other things, but Lord for your presence. Lord, I thank you that with that fellowship with you comes a wonderful fellowship with each other. Holy Spirit, I pray this morning that there wouldn't be one lonely person, that there wouldn't be one of us who walks through our trials alone anymore. Lord, we know that you're with us, but God, I pray that you would begin to raise up with each of us a circle of friends, a circle that we can trust, not in cliques but in the family of God. I pray that in this church, those that are here and those are in the world would see that we will be there and lay our life down for them like you layed your life down for us. I pray that the burden would become light.
Jesus, we thank you today that you are faithful and that our church would reflect what that early church did. God, your word said that because they were in the word, because they were in prayer and because they had fellowship with one another, that you added daily to the church. Lord, I pray that's what you would do for this church in Jupiter or the church in West Palm beach. Here at Harvest Community but in the body of Christ as a whole that daily, people would be coming to Jesus. God, I pray that even in this local church, as we begin to love each other, as we begin to reach out and give that same koinonia to those in the community, that those without Jesus would come to you daily and that more would be discipled, encouraged and blessed. Lord, I pray that you would even start today, those in this room that are going through, those that could use friends, I pray God that you would begin to let those relationships happen. This church would never be the same again if we'd study the word together, care for each other, lift each other up and that Lord in the midst of it you would be glorified. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, Amen. He is faithful.
