Vision for Life - Fellowship #1

A very important part of growing in your faith walk is our interaction with other believers, and this very spiritual fellowship is called a Koinonia fellowship. God takes a group of people who have a very personal faith, and connects them at the heart level to develop and build what the Bible calls the church!! It is so much more than a building, because it is an ever-growing organism that is full of like-minded people of faith.

This blog takes excerpts of my book Vision for Life, and I am going over the second session that deals with true fellowship. Fellowship (def) - a group of people meeting to pursue a shared interest or aim.

There are sleeping giants called churches all over our nation and world just waiting for their power to be turned on, but there is a need for those believers to be equipped and challenged to join hands with others in the faith, and then they will see their faith walk take a giant step forward.

Strong points to remember about the church.

1. To complete the mission and the vision of Jesus, He established His church.  Is a church just a building where Christian people meet?  No!  The church is the Holy Spirit-connected people of God following His vision together.  No one person is more important than anyone else in completing this vision, and everyone needs to recognize their value to the overall vision of “The church.”

   Jesus established the basis for the church in Matthew 16: ¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” ¹⁵ Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”¹⁷ Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. ¹⁸ Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. ¹⁹ And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”

2. There are definite elements that are necessary to “be the church!

   Elements (def) - a part or aspect of something abstract, especially one that is essential or characteristic:

   If we don't treat the Lord's church right, we will reap a lethargic group of believers who don't even know what is possible.

   Elements #1 - Who does the church say that Jesus is?  The Lord’s church has slipped in who they believe Jesus is, and to think Jesus is anything less than God waters down the strength of the church.  We know who Jesus is because it has been revealed to those who have believed in Him for their salvation, and they have been born again in the Spirit.  They are people who know Jesus and know Him from the relationship made possible by Him.  The way we realize who we are is so far beyond human reasoning, so our reasoning must be based on the Word of God and the life change when we give our lives to Jesus.  He is in control.

   
   

   Elements #2  - Our Faith Confession.  Some people who claim to be followers of Jesus have no problem saying they believe in God and Jesus, but when you mention the resurrection, they hedge on that fact and don’t totally believe that it can happen.  It sounds crazy, but if you have a problem believing in the resurrection of Jesus, then you will have a problem believing His followers can be resurrected.  In Peter’s confession, he proclaimed that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of the living God, and that faith confession was revealed to Peter through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Everything in our lives comes back to what the Holy Spirit reveals to us.

   
   

   Elements #3 - The Power of the Holy Spirit will Guide it.  We can pray for the Holy Spirit to be present in a worship service and miss the point that when believers are in that service, the Holy Spirit IS there.  God’s people have a strong connection that causes them to be bound together by a power that is far beyond human emotions or human impressions. To get to a place to sense and feel the Holy Spirit, modern-day churches have tried to manipulate the circumstances of what we do when we show the Holy Spirit is there.  We must never compromise the presence of the Holy Spirit in each born-again believer.  This compromise happens when we try to do things that are flawed and worldly.

   
   

   Elements of The Church- The Power of the Holy Spirit Empowers it.  In the above verses, we see that the power of the church impacts this world we live in.  Matthew 16: ¹⁸ Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.  We are in a spiritual battle, and the gates of hell have been released to defeat the Church.  The enemy hates us, and he hates the Lord’s church, but remember, Jesus loves His church.  We must not dillydally around with the Lord’s business.  Church divisions happen because we have taken our “eyes off the ball.”  We have lost our focus, and that is because we have lost our first love.  Paul had to deal with divisive people who were not representative of the church.  He wrote these words to the church at Rome.  Romans 16:¹⁷ And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them. ¹⁸ Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words, they deceive innocent people. ¹⁹ But everyone knows that you are obedient to the Lord. This makes me very happy. I want you to be wise in doing right and to stay innocent of any wrong. ²⁰ The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.  If the Holy Spirit is not leading the church, then worldly minded people are leading the church, and that will compromise the mission of the church. 

   I will explain more in my next blog about how to disciple or mentor a new convert and help them get a jumpstart in their faith walk. It is very important to develop an accountability group of no more than three with a leader to do the discipling, and I have a procedure for discipling these new converts in that small group setting.

   They are called DIG Groups or Disciples In Growth. I will explain in more detail how to establish and grow these groups.

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren