Confusing Things Christians Say - Week 3 - St. Peter - Pastor Michael Ewart
Confusing Things Christians Say
Week 3 - St. Peter
Pastor Michael Ewart
Never get tired of seeing that. Pastor Bill is awesome. All right.
As we get into God's word to take a moment to pray. Heavenly Father, we are grateful for this time together in your word. Make it beneficial for us into the glory of your name. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable. In your sight, O Lord our Rock and Our Redeemer. Amen.
All right, so today we are talking about a word that is maybe not. We use it in church circles. It's not used so much in our society. We use it almost without thinking, without explaining it. So maybe it's a little bit of a confusing word and that word is fellowship, but not only is the definition of the word, maybe a little bit fuzzy to some of us, but I wonder if also culturally is just not something that we do very well. It's not something. That is kind of built into our cultural Rhythms. I would suggest that our American culture is very individualistic we’re very independent minded people. We are, we tend to be isolated and stay to ourselves. We drive home from work, we go right into our garage or garage door closed. We go in the house. When we go back to work, we get in our garage, we may be waved to a neighbor as we drive by at work. A lot of people work, very isolated and alone. We don't have a lot of connections, although some of them are digital, not a lot of personal connections. This is the general trend that was starting before covid. And then it was accelerated by covid. We are a very independent, isolated alone, kind of people and that's not good for us. God says, what we need is fellowship. So what, what does that word mean? Fellowship. Well, let me use it in a sentence. The way we sometimes might use it in our circles. We are called to live in fellowship with God. And with each other, You might nod your head and not fully grasp. What that means Fellowship is essential for our spiritual growth and maturity. Right? You agree. Yeah just not 100% sure what that means. Or here's my favorite: maybe some of you come from a church where you actually had a fellowship hall and so this could actually literally be an announcement after church. Hey, would you all join us for some fellowship after the service today in our fellowship hall during our fellowship, our like, okay, but what is this Fellowship? You're even talking about. So we use it in context, we use it in senses, we have a vague idea of what it means. What is fellowship? Let me give you this stuff. This working definition for what we're going to be talking about today. Fellowship is this enjoying a shared Bond of faith?
Enjoying a shared Bond of Faith. Now, why do I put the word enjoying in Brackets because that's optional for the definition. A shared Bond of faith is fellowship. Enjoying it. The activity is also Fellowship. In other words, Fellowship is a status. We have a shared Bond of Faith, but it is also an activity. It is the act of sharing of enjoying that shared Bond of faith. That is also, how we sometimes use the word. Fellowship. So, because it is an activity. I mean be because it is a status we can and we can have Fellowship even when we're not together or able to join together. For example, if a Christian got stranded on a deserted island, does he have no fellowship with fellow Believers? Well, he’s certainly not enjoying it. He’s certainly not able to express it, but is there this invisible Fellowship that exists with all the other believers even as he's on the deserted island? And the answer is, yes. During Covid times, we were not able to meet together for a while. We were not able to see each other much. Does that mean that we no longer had Fellowship? We no longer had a bond of Faith. No, we did. We just weren't able to enjoy it. We just weren't able to express it. In fact.
There are people right now. Believers who are in heaven. They have gone to be with the Lord, they are seeing God face to face now and you have fellowship with them. You have a bond of Faith with them. Are you enjoying it right now? Are you active in that Bond of Faith? Know, you will be one day. Well, I'll be joined together around the Throne of Christ where we will enjoy that Fellowship, but does it already exists now, do we have that Bond of faith? Even now, yes, we do.
All of this said, although the status is true and blessed and wonderful, the enjoyment of that shared Bond of Faith, the expression of that Gene, shared Bond of faith is where God gives us so many blessings. So there is a verse in the Bible that talks about Fellowship that I wanted to share with you and it's a short verse but it says so much about what Fellowship is and what Fellowship is all about. It's in first John chapter 1, verse 3. Where Jesus, one of Jesus closest friends, John, writes this about Fellowship. We proclaim to you. And then we hear I think is John and the other Apostles he says, “We proclaim to you. What we have seen and heard so that was the reason you Proclaim this to us, so that you also may have fellowship with us. You may have fellowship with the apostles and our fellowship is with the father and with his son Jesus Christ.
Okay, so let's unpack that a little bit. What is John talking about? Here are I think three different kinds of fellowships all packed into one? One short verse he's telling us that there are these three fellowships that exist and are intertwined and interconnected. First of all, the first beautiful Fellowship is The Fellowship of the Triune God. I don't think that's a fellowship we think much about. So the Bible tells us that from eternity God is Triune Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. From eternity, the father loved the Son, and the son loved the father, and the father and the son, loved the spirit. Then there's this, this love, this interdependent. See this deferring to one another this honor of one another. This love for one another, this trust in one another For all eternity, there was this Fellowship among God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, And God in his love and wisdom thought, this has to be shared. We want more fellowship and so God decided he would create human beings to be in relationship with him that Fellowship might expand to us. So the Triune God, the second Beautiful Fellowship is with believers.
So God created human beings to be in relationship with him to have fellowship with him, but didn't take us long to blow it. Adam and Eve did it, we've continued it sin against God. Rebellion against God, cutting ourselves off from God, sin separates you from God, we read in the book of Isaiah separated from God. We do not enjoy fellowship with God. So what did God our loving Heavenly Father do? Well God, the father loved us so much. That he sent the most, he could the best that he could and it was his one and only son, the Lord, Jesus Christ, God, the son. To restore what was lost and broken God, the son loved you so, so much that he gave the most, he possibly could, when he took on human flesh, he humbled himself and became obedient even to death, even death on the cross. He gave the most, he could his very life for you for your sin and Rebellion that which separates you from. God was removed by the Lord Jesus so that you could have fellowship with the Lord. I'd God once again.
And the father and the son loved you so much that they sent you the holy spirit of God to dwell in your heart to create faith in your heart. So that you might be connected with God. Once again and have fellowship with him. For all eternity, for all eternity. The Triune God. Has fellowship with himself and with Believers through his Redemptive work, you belong to God.
And there's this third Fellowship, then that's also talked about in this very same. Same verse the Triune god with Believers with one another. That now we have fellowship with each other and what a blessed Fellowship. This is, you've got family. A really big one, look around. This is your family in Christ. So does the does the Bible talk about you? Having faith in God? Yes. But did you know that even more prevalent in the Bible, is not his personal relationship with you. That's a phrase, we hear in the English church has a lot. You have your personal relationship with Christ. Not untrue. True. But more often, it talks about Christ and the church Christ and his relationship is fellowship with the body. The family of Believers with all of us together. We have fellowship with God And so God brought us into fellowship with him and now we are family. We have fellowship with one another Which is a glorious blessing from our God. And how is that Fellowship? How are these fellowships established? And maintained we was at the beginning of that. Same verse that we read we Proclaim to you what we have seen and heard when the proclamation of the word happens, when you hear what they saw and what they heard, which means the Christian faith, isn't this abstract belief system. It's not this system of Things you have to do in order to earn a right relationship with God. It's a reporting of what was seen and heard John. And the other Apostles saw, the Son of God, they listen to his teaching, they saw his miracles, they saw him die on a cross, and breathed his last, and his spear get jabbed up into his side. He was dead, dead dead. And then they saw on the third day, he was alive alive alive.
And they saw the scars in his hands and one of the disciples was invited to put his fist up into the wound in the side. That is healed because Jesus was alive and risen the proclamation of these facts. The word of God, the truth of God is what brings us into fellowship with the Triune God and into fellowship with one another
Now this Fellowship that we enjoy this Fellowship that we have, it brings so many blessings. And that's what I want to share with you next. What is the fruit of Fellowship? What blessings does God give us through Fellowship. There's a verse I want to share with you in the Hebrews. Chapter 10 verses 24 and 25. It says this. And let us consider how we may spur one, another on toward love and Good Deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but in contrast encouraging one another
And, the more as you see the day approaching the day is Judgment Day. This world has an expiration date. It's not going to go on forever as we see that day, getting closer and closer. What do we need to do? We need to meet together more often, we need to be together more often. We need to exercise Fellowship more frequently so that we can spur one another on toward love and good. Deeds. The fruit of Fellowship. This verse clearly tells us is personal growth, You will be better. You will be the person God wants you to be that God designed you to be, you will grow personally as your fellowship with one another and with God, increases and grows.
See God put you into this family of Believers so that you can live in relationship with each other because we need that encouragement. We need to be spurred on. We don't do great by ourselves. So, the good news is this when you struggle and you will, when you fall into sin, you have and you will again when life is hard because it's going to be You have brothers and sisters in the faith that you can share that with. And when you share your struggle in the face with a fellow believer, you're not going to get
Condemnation. They're not going to judge you. They're also not going to minimize what you did because it is serious. It is offensive to God. They're not going to excuse it.
They're going to recognize wait, but you need to recognize and what you'll help them recognize sin is a problem. Sin is serious. God is offended.
It's right, that you feel shame and guilt about it. But your brother or sister in the faith is not going to stop there. They're not going to tell you. Well here's how you can fix it. Here's how you can become a better person to make up for what you did wrong. No, they're going to tell you. You've got a savior who did it for you? You've got a savior who humbled himself at the cross, paid your debt of sin, talk that one you were just telling me about that one. You feel so horrible about Jesus died for that. You are forgiven. You are restored to God through Christ have peace. My brother have peace, my sister, you've got a you've got brothers and sisters in the faith. I will tell you that and once they tell you that they're not going to say so good luck. Hope you don't send anymore. Have a good day and they never talk to you again.
Do you have brothers and this is and sisters in the faith who will walk with you, then they will help you now to be accountable. Do check in with you to see how you're doing. When you feel weak from Temptation, they will be there to strengthen you, and encourage you, and hold you up and remind, you remind you of these things.
You have personal growth when you celebrate and enjoy the fellowship that we have with one another.
But there is There's one more type of growth that happens not just personal growth. And Jesus tells us about this type of growth in John chapter 17. That's a unique place in scripture, by the way, you might want to go back and read that this week. If you have a chance, it's Unique because we get, we get this inside Glimpse, this unique, glimpse of the god, the son speaking to God the Father, which also gives us a glimpse into the Fellowship of the Trinity once again, right, so the night before Jesus goes to the cross. Cross. He says this prayer out loud to his father that John heard and was able to remember and write down for us and it's a long prayer. But I just want to share three verses from it with you. Jesus praying to his father says, my prayer is is not for my disciples alone. If you read the context, he was just praying for the, you know, his clothes disciples but here he says, my prayer is not just for them. I pray also for Those who will believe in me through their message.
That's you. Did you know that Jesus was praying for you? The night before he went to the cross. This verse says, he was my prayer is also for them that all of them, all of us 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. I in them and you in me so that they may be brought to complete Unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. What do you need place in scripture? How awesome is that? Jesus praying for you, and me that he might dwell in us that we might know him be connected to him. And that that would connect us with one another that we would experience this incredible unity and joy and love and peace together. As the family of God is what Jesus is praying about in these verses for what reason. What why does Jesus want us to be one? Why does he want us to be in fellowship with him? And with, with one another, what is his goal? What is his purpose? So that the world. Will take notice.
So that the world will see it. And and it will be a testimony of God's love and power and Grace. God, Jesus was praying that. That we would be so together, so unified. So, loving so generous. So at peace with one another, that the world would have to see would look at and say, what is going on with them. That's weird and it's awesome. God's goal. God, God's plan is that we would be so, Unified enjoying Fellowship so much. That the people of the world would say, I don't know what they believe, but I gotta get me some of that, I don't know where what caused that, but I need to find out why? Because they are different and it looks awesome. That's the blessing of fellowship and then there's this description of the early Christian Church is in Acts 2:42. This is the first generation of Christians, they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to there's our Word Fellowship. To the breaking of bread. And to prayer. They devoted themselves to these four things to devote yourself means it's a priority means it. You leave margin for it. It means you make this a non-negotiable. You make this intentional in your calendar in your schedule. These four things were characterized in the early Christian Church. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching. In other words, the teachings of the Lord, Jesus, that he gave to his Apostles, he sent them out. That's what the word Apostle means with his teaching, and they devoted themselves to that. That's
Important. We got to stay in that word daily and to Fellowship that this was a priority in the early Christian church, we are going to be together. We are going to encourage one another daily and they spent time together and I wonder if the third and fourth things mentioned, there are two aspects of that Fellowship that they enjoyed with one another. They enjoyed breaking bread together which some see maybe as a reference to communion. I think that's possible, but probably not just that they also like to eat meals together. That's how they express their Fellowship. Your red meals at somebody's house. It's you connect on a different level than if you just talk to somebody as you're walking along or something or you just bump into him in a store, but if you sit down and have a meal, you get to have some deep conversations, don't you? You get to know each other so much better in the early Christians like to enjoy a meals together. And prayer. Now, does that mean that they sat at home and they prayed by themselves? I don't think so. Given the context here, it sounds like this was corporate prayer. This was prayer together. That's how they enjoyed the fellowship.
How did Jesus teach his disciples to pray? They asked him Lord show us. We want to know. How do you pray? Jesus said, when you pray say my Father in Heaven, how wait? Wait, no, that wasn't it. You can say my, he said when you pray say Our Father Who Art in Heaven, what does that presupposing? There were praying it together, right? I'm not praying this, all by myself in my room. The Fellowship of prayer is an important one that pulls us together. What was the result of this Fellowship that they enjoyed together? In that early church Acts 2:47 says this in the Lord added to their number daily, those who were being saved.
Daily more and more people came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So what is the other growth we already talked about one of them? The fruit of Fellowship is personal growth but in these last couple verses, we just unpacked. We also learned that the other. The other fruit of Fellowship is Kingdom growth The kingdom of God, grows more and more people are brought into this Fellowship fellowship with God. In fellowship, with one another, as we practice Fellowship. It, I've noticed this interesting thing that the Fellowship of the faith, the bond of faith that we share brings together some really unlikely people in the early church. That was true as well. Did you know this? In the book of Acts aside, some tact in great detail that Jewish people started to Worship in one church together with gentile people, can you believe it? And this day was like the. I don't really understand the impact of that but back then they did Jewish people thought that Tile people were not. People of God, they were unclean. They would not associate with them. There is this sharp division in the gentile. People knew that the Jewish people thought this about them. So they didn't want anything to do with Jewish people and yet in the early Christian Church Jews and Gentiles worship together as one body of Believers. Absolutely incredible who God would bring together. We're also told in the New Testament that worshipping together were slaves and their Jurors unprecedented in ancient culture. Those were two different categories of people that never Associated other than one had to serve the other, but in the Christian church, they they worship together as Brothers and Sisters in Christ. We also know in the early Christian Church that in that culture of that day, not in the church but in the culture women were considered second-class citizens and children were considered third-class citizens. They were like slaves, but in the church men and women and children Worship the Lord together equally because the Fellowship of the faith brought them together.
In our church today, just as unlikely, people being brought together in unity and worship and faith. At our downtown campus. I have seen an ex-convict somebody who is released from prison worship. Next to the former district attorney that convicted them, that prosecuted them. How where does that happen? How could that possibly happen that they would worship together in one church, and get it does? And I have seen people, I've seen a person, a family of considerable considerable, net worth. Worshiping next to somebody that was living in a homeless shelter and praising Jesus together.
There are people of different races and colors that might not otherwise in culture hang out together or see each other who are worshiping together in the church. There are single people young single people worshiping with families and married people. And there are very young people worshipping with the very elderly who might not otherwise associate with each other.
And if you can imagine this, this one really blows my mind. I have actually seen this Republicans worshipping with Democrats. That is the power of the Gospel. Yep. And I do say in some seriousness, though, with the world sees that they're going to say what is going on? That would bring a Republican and a Democrat together. That is nuts. That is the power of the fellowship that we share in Christ. So, It's beautiful. Its fruitful it. Grows us and the church. How do we get more of it?
Well, maybe you've heard of are 5 Roots. The first three, certainly directly relate to our fellowship with one another. Gather, I know I'm preaching to the choir you're here, but Gathering regularly, weekly, super important. It brings us together. We yeah, you can do it online. But when we're together, we're joining our voices. As a crowd of people to praise our God, who is most worthy? We are joining our voices in prayer to the glory of his name. We are together. Hearing his truth and his grace and this pulls us together in unity and fellowship.
Group doing life together as Brothers and Sisters. In Christ where we have authentic relationship with each other where we can be just plain honest where we can tell what's going wrong in our life. Did you know that your life isn't perfect? But neither is the person's life that you're sitting next to right now and across the Pew. And across the way here, we all have problems and issues and sins in our lives and God calls us to live together in unity. And if you want to destroy that Fellowship, just stop talking to each other. Others just stop sharing with each other. Just be fake. When you see each other and say everything is good and everything is fine, just stop coming to church and our fellowship will start to dissolve and so will the growth along with it. If you want to strengthen our fellowship, get into God's word in your homes, even more, the more we are in the word, the more we receive the sacraments, the more of the spirit Works in us and the more the bond of Faith draws us together as we grow in our homes, in the word of God as well. Do you want to destroy our fellowship? Ignore the word of God in your home's? Just come once a week to church call that good and is going to make us drift and separate and the fellowship will be distracted
We need to be in the word at home as well. And maybe some of you thought this hold the whole sermon would be about this next point, but just one brief point if we want to destroy the fellowship that we have Tolerate false teachings compromise on God's word of Grace and Truth water it down. And we're going to start to lose the bond that we share together. But when we treasure his truth, when we treasure the grace that's revealed in scripture and we will not compromise on what it says that pulls us together in unity and that personal and Kingdom growth that God promises So friends, this celebrate, this Fellowship, celebrate. The fact that you are in fellowship with God, which is mind-blowing, isn't it that God, the Father loves you as his own, dear child, and loved? You enough to send his son, the Son of God, Jesus Christ to live for you to die, for you. And to rise again, that you are forgiven of sin, you are connected with God, he sent you his holy spirit to live in your heart, to strengthen you to keep you in the faith. He did all.
