18 Experiencing Life Together

 

 

 

PURPOSE # 2

 

 

You Were Formed For God's Family

 

 

 I am the vine, and you are the branches.

John 15:5

 

Christ makes us one body...

Connected to each other.

Romans 12:5

 

 

18 Experiencing Life Together

 

 

Each one of you is part of the body of Christ,

and you were chosen to live together in peace.

Colossians 3:15

 

How wonderful it is, how pleasant, for God's

people to live together in harmony!

Psalm 133:1

 

Life is meant to be shared.

God intends for us to experience life together.

The Bible calls this shared experience fellowship.

Real fellowship is so much more than just showing up at services.

It is experiencing life together.

It includes unselfish loving, honest sharing,

practical serving, sacrificial giving, sympathetic comforting,

and all the other on another" commands found in the New Testament.

 

When it comes to fellowship, size matters: Smaller is better.

If you think of your church as a ship,

the small groups are the life boats attached to it.

"For where two or three

have gathered together in My name,

I am there is their midst."

Matthew 18:20

 

Unfortunately, even being in a small group

does not guarantee you will experience real community.

What is the difference between real and fake fellowship?

 

In real fellowship people experience authenticity.

It is genuine, heart-to heart, somethimes gut-level, sharing.

Real fellowship happens when people get honest about

who they are and what is happening in their lives.

"If we live in the light,

as God is in the light,

we can share fellowship with each other...

If we say we have no sin,

we are fooling ourselves."

1 John 1:7-8

 

"Make this your common practice:

Confess your sins to each other

and pray for each other

so that you can live together whole and healed."

James 5;16a

 

In real fellowhip people experience mutuality.

Mutuality is the art of giving and receiving.

"The way God designed our bodies is a model for

understanding our lives together as a church:

every part dependent on every other part."

1 Corinthians 12:25

 

Mutuality is the heart of fellowship:

building reciprocal relationships,

sharing responsibilities, and helping each other.

"I want us to help each other

with the faith we have.

Your faith will help me,

and my faith will help you."

Romans 1:12

 

The Bible commands

mutual accountability, mutual encouragement,

mutual serving, and mutual honoring.

Romans 12:10

"Make every effort to do

what leads to peace

and to mutual edification."

Romans 14:19 

God expects you to do whatever you can to help them.

 

In real fellowship people experience sympathy.

Sympathy is not giving advice or offering quick, cosmetic help;

sympathy is entering in and sharing the pain of others.

Sympathy says, "I understand what you're going through,

and what you feel is neither strange nor crazy."

Today some call this "empathy,"

but the biblical word is "sympathy."

"As holy people...

be sympathetic, kind,

humble, gentle, and patient."

Colossians 3:12

 

Sympathy meets two fundamental human needs:

the need to be understood and the need to have your feelings validated.

Every time you understand and affirm someone's feelings,

you build fellowship.

Self-pity dries up sympathy for others.

 

 

There are different levels of fellowship,

and each is appropriate at different times.

 

The simplest levels of fellowhip are the fellowship of sharing

and the fellowship of studying God's Word together.

 

A deeper level is the fellowship of serving,

as when you minister together on mission trips or mercy projects.

 

The deepest, most intense level is the fellowship of suffering,

Philippians 3:10;

Hebrews 10;33-34

where we enter into each other's pain and grief

and carry each other's burdens.

The Christians who understand this level best are those around the world

who are being persecuted, despised, and often martyred for their faith.

 

The Bible commands:

"Share each other's troubles and problems,

and in this way obey the law of Christ."

Galatians 6:2

It is in the times of deep crisis, grief,

and doubt that we need each other most.

When circumstances crush us to the point that our faith falters,

that's when we need believing friends the most.

"A despairing man should have

the devoting of his friends,

even thought he forsakes t

he fear of the Almighty."

Job 6:14

 

In real fellowship people experience mercy.

Fellowship is a place of grace,

where mistakes aren't rubbed in but rubbed out.

Fellowship happens when mercy wins over justice.

"When people sin,

you should forgive and comfort them,

so they won't give up in despair."

2 Corinthians 2:7

 

You can't have fellowship

without forgiveness.

God warns, "Never hold grudges,"

Colossians 3:13

because bitterness and resentment always destroy fellowship.

"You must make allowance for each other's faults

and forgive the person who offends you.

Remember, the Lord forgave you,

so you must forgive others."

Colossians 3:13

 

God's mercy to us is the motivation for showing mercy to others.

Remember, you will never be asked to forgive someone else

more thatn God has already forgiven you.

 

Many people are reluctant to show mercy

because they don't understand the difference

between trust and forgiveness.

Forgiveness is letting go of the past.

Trust has to do with future behavior.

 

Forgiveness must be immediate,

whether or not a person asks for it.

Trust must be rebuilt over time.

Trust requires a track record.

The best place to restore trust is

within the supportive context of a small group

that offers both encouragement and accountability.

 

There are many other benefits you will experience

in being a part of a small sroup committed to real fellowship.

It is an essential part of your Christian life

that you cannot overlook.

If you've never been a part of a group or class like this,

you really don't know what you're missing.

 

In the next chapter we will look at what it takes

to create this kind of community with other believers,

but I hope this chapter has made you hungry to experience

the authenticity, mutuality, sympathy, and mercy of real fellowship.

You were created for community.

 

 

 

 

DAY EIGHTEEN

Thinking About My Purpose

 

 

 Point to Ponder: I need others in my life.

 

Verse to Remember: "Share each other's troubles and problems,

and in this way obey the law of Christ."

Galatians 6:2

 

Question to Consider: What one step can I take today to connect

with another believers at a more genuine,

 heart-to-heart level?

 

 

 

p 138~144

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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