Common

Christian Fellowship/Living as One (Acts 2:1-4, 37-47) Living as one We are called by God to become one “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:1-3) “One Lord, One faith, One baptism; One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:5). The early believers dedicated themselves to things that made them one. Paul wrote, "Since you have encouragement from being united with Christ, since you have comfort from his love, since you have fellowship with the Spirit with tenderness and compassion, then you can make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also the interests of others." (Phi. 2:1-4) John wrote: “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:19) Our love from Christ, our love for Christ, our unity with Christ and our fellowship with the Holy Spirit, give us the ability to live as one with other believers. Two other things we have in common, our commission and our eternal inheritance. As Christians, we will always have more in common than we have differences. Fellowship Koininea (koy-nohn-ee’-ah), which means partnership, fellowship, intimate sharing, association, communication, active participation. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Cor. 13:14) God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Cor. 1:9) “…that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:3) Shortly after the close of the Civil War, in a fashionable Richmond church, members of the congregation were invited to come to come forward to receive Holy Communion. After several rows of worshipers came and left after receiving Communion side by side, a black man

walked down the aisle toward the table. A tense silence gripped everyone. No one else got up to receive the bread and wine, although many had not yet received Communion. The black man started to kneel alone. Quietly, a tall, graying man with a military bearing stood up and strode down the aisle to the black man's side. Together, they knelt. The person kneeling beside the black man without showing any distinction was General Robert E. Lee. Although Lee said nothing, everyone realized he had shown his faith through his act of joining that lonely black worshiper at the Lord's Table. In the breaking of the bread we share in remembering the basis of our Christian life, that is, the life, death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In praying together we join together in communing with God, and in seeking his direction and power. Fellowship starts off with faith in Christ and ends with our relationship with fellow believers. The “one another” scriptures: Love one another (John 13:34-35, Gal. 5:14) Encourage one another (Heb. 3:13; 10:24-25) Be devoted to one another (Rom. 12:10) Build up one another (Rom. 14:19; 1 Thes. 5:11) Be kind to one another (1 Thes. 5:15) Accept one another (Rom. 15:7) Serve one another (Gal. 5:13) Have concern for one another (1 Cor. 12:25) Confess your sins to one another (James 5:16) Forgive one another (Eph. 4:32) Teach and admonish one another (Col. 5:16) Pray for one another (James 5:16) Don't judge one another (Rom. 14:13) Don't slander one another (James 4:11)

The importance of Christian “togetherness” (Acts 2:1) When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. (Acts 2:44) All the believers were together ... (Acts 2:46) Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts "For where 2 or 3 are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." (Matt. 18:20) “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Heb. 10:24-25) Christian fellowship can only take place when God's people gather together.