In our April/May series, "Yes! We Will...", we'll be looking at seven commitments which will prepare us and our church family for the future.
All of this leads to the thought that Healthy Chrisitans make a Healthy Church.

Have you ever noticed that the meaning or understanding of words change over time?
The church is not immune to this trend.One of the words that has been redefined is the word "fellowship."
We have come to believe that all there is to fellowship is attending a church service once a week. This is unhealthy especially now that we can attend a church service virtually. If the trend continues, our idea of fellowship will become completely watered down.

When it comes to physical health we have to find out what is true. We have experienced this over the past year.
When it comes to spiritual health, we have to rely on God's Word to have a true understanding of how to be a healthy Christian.
In the book of Acts we have examples of how the first Christians lived healthy Christian lives.
Acts 2:41-47

In these verses we see how a bunch of healthy Christians became a healthy Church. What they did was called fellowship.
In the New Testament, the word fellowship is translated from two Greek words:
Kiononia- directly translated as partnership. The idea of being together for mutual benefit.
Metocos- is directly translated as sharing in. The word is used almost exclusively to describe business partnerships.

As you can see, fellowship is much different and deeper than just socializing with other people. If we're going to have true fellowship we have to commit to it; it has to be intentional.

If we're going to commit to true Christian fellowship, we need to know more about it.

Christian Fellowship...

1. Starts with a shared RELATIONSHIP.
1 Corinthians 1:9
1 John 1:3
Of course relationship is the foundational element of fellowship but the relationship that is crucial to true Christian fellowship is a relationship with God.
There are two aspects of relationship that are important to our fellowship:
Positional- related to someone, part of a family
Experiential- walking with God
Both of these aspects bring unity to our fellowship.

2. Works through our PARTNERSHIP.
2 Corinthians 5:14-18
Philippians 1:4-6
Hebrews 3:1
The result of this shared relationship is that we begin to row in the same direction.
Our Christian fellowship becomes a partnership in reaching the lost and building the believers. We are able to do far more together than we can separately.

3. Builds us through COMPANIONSHIP.

As we work together, we begin to build very deep bonds and understanding of each other. These bonds give us the gift of companionship.
In Christian fellowship, the time spent together should be specific and targeted. We're given some examples in the Bible:
· Meeting in large groups (Acts 2:42-44; Hebrews 10:25) Celebration Service
· Meeting in small groups (2 Tim. 2:2) HOME Groups
· Meeting together one-on-one (1 Thess. 5:11) Mentoring
· Learning truths together and building up one another (Rom. 1:11-12; 2 Tim. 2:2; 1 Thess 5:11; Philem. 6) GRACE U
· Worshiping together and sharing the Lord’s supper (1 Cor. 10:16), the singing of hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16)
· Praying together (1 Cor. 14:16-17)

4. Sustains us with STEWARDSHIP.
Philippians 2:1-8
Over time, fellowship deepens our relationships and affection for each other. That affection is what motivates us to be good stewards of that which God has blessed us with. In this case, it's the companions and partners that He has brought into our lives; we begin to take care of each other.
The example that Christ sets for us is humility and self-sacrifice for the sake of others.

We have to be on guard as our culture has created obstacles that keep us from experiencing true Christian fellowship. The obstacles are:

Relativism
Isaiah 5:20-21, 24

Relativism maintains there are no absolutes of truth, of good and evil, or of values and priorities. Our culture says you can't disagree with someone even if they are doing something self-destructive.
The only effective weapon against relativism is truth. To combat relativism our fellowship has to be rooted and founded on God's Word.
H.O.M.E. Groups are doing this!

Privatization
Ephesians 4:32
Privatization is the belief that what a person believes is a private matter and not anyone else's business. This belief has its roots in an aversion to accountability. That's probably because we approach accountability from a wrong standpoint. When we look at the New Testament we see that more often than not, our accountability comes from a desire to be like Jesus and follow His example.
When we give in to privatization we lose that accountability and encouragement in our lives and miss out on the potential that we have through Christ.

Individualism
This is a belief that a person should make their own way. It's the mindset that if we don't like the way things are going, we'll just go our own way and go it alone. When taken to an extreme, individualism counters the partnership and relationship aspects of Christian fellowship.
This type of thinking can lead to self-centered thinking and living. We miss out on the joy and fulfillment that comes from sacrificing on the behalf of others.

Christian fellowship is like a nice warm campfire. The wind and cold may blow but as long as we continue to throw more wood on the fire and stay close to it, we will stay warm and the wind and cold won't bother us.
It's when we take that first step back from the fire that the wind starts to numb us and we get comfortable away from the fire. It gets easier and easier to drift away and fall into isolationism.
We must commit ourselves first to our relationship with God and then to each other. We must then partner in the ministry, be true companions, and finally be good stewards of the relationships God has given us. This is how we grow in our faith and fellowship.

Birthdays and Anniversaries:

Sunday, April 18 - Rebecca Lyles, Schylar Orton
Monday, April 19 - Jim & Naomi Yenger
Thursday, April 22 - Rayna Nowicke, Kim & Denise Hansen
Saturday, April 24 - Lindsay Justice, Warren & Linda Hale