Tag: Fellowship

Thursday, 12/2/21 – Discipleship: Fellowships of Fantasy and of the Family of God

Fellowships of Fantasy and of the Family of God

Moviedom of Hollywood and Television has marketed many spins on fellowship since the turn of this century as the following title movie bills reveal:

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Fellowship of the Dice (2005), Rise of the Fellowship (2013), Artifice: Loose Fellowship and Partners (2015), The Fellowship Of The Shamolyn (2017), and The Fellowship of the Farmers (2017).

I’ve seen none of these flicks nor is it my desire. Christendom knows fellowships far superior and has known them since the very first of centuries.

One of the earliest was the “fellowship of the apostles” enjoyed by them and soon after by the 3,000 souls saved at Pentecost (Act 2:42). Included and binding to this fellowship is the reality that all believers are “called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Cor. 1:9). This fellowship is the church of God amongst whom obedient believers enjoy the “fellowship of the ministering to the saints.” (2 Cor. 8:4). We minister to one another with our giftedness, our physical and practical help in times of need, our emotional and prayer support, and at times our prudent financial aid.

James, Cephas, and John, “pillars” in the Jerusalem church, extended to Paul snd Barnabas “the right hands of fellowship” in affirmation of their unique calls to ministry (Gal. 2:9). Shared among us is our understanding, if not intellectual certainly existential “the fellowship of the mystery”—the living Christ within (Eph. 3:9), a “fellowship in the gospel” (Phil. 1:5) made possible by the “fellowship of the Spirit” (Phil. 1:5).

In time, as we walk with our Lord, we experience surprisingly, then learn reluctantly, then value profoundly “the fellowship of his sufferings” (Phil. 3:10) which bonds us deeper in true “fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 Jn. 1:3).

Such superior fellowships require our diligence to retain, to keep pure from other so-called “fellowships” in this damaged and dirty world (1 Cor. 10:20, Ps. 94:20, 2 Cor. 6:14, Eph. 5:11, 1 Jn. 1:6-7).

Press on…

Are you interested in being discipled one-on-one in the fundamentals of life in Christ? Or, would you like to begin this journey by turning from your current path and committing your path to Christ? — Use the Contact page and we’ll get you started.

Thursday, 9/30/21 – Fellowship: Truth & Reconciliation

Fellowship: Truth & Reconciliation

Today has been designated a “National Day for Truth and Reconciliation,” a day to honour residential school survivors, their families, and communities, and ensure that public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process. Great wrongs were committed against our First Nation peoples. This truth must be faced, and wrongs must be confessed and corrected for reconciliation and true fellowship to be restored.

The Creation of Adam, Michaelangelo

The parallels between this reality and the much broader gospel of God are very clear: Great wrong is committed against our God and Father. Each one of us is guilty; our best efforts are all “as filthy rags” before Him. This truth must be faced, and our sin must be confessed and corrected for reconciliation and true fellowship with our Maker to be restored!  

What must we do? We must admit to the Truth that wrought our alienation, we have turned away from our God, we have each gone our own way, we have rejected and abused, and sought to put to death His Son. What is the Truth? Christ this Son is the Truth. Making peace with Him by Him, is our only path to Reconciliation with the Father, to Unity with the saints and household of God.

And God has appointed a day, a Global Day, a day of Truth and of Reconciliation. God has appointed a day, and that day is Today: “Today is the day of salvation…” (2 Cor. 6:2).

He invites you to call upon Him this day, to come to Him, that He may draw near to you. Then He calls upon you: He calls upon you to call upon others as Paul outlines,

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:18-21)

Then, reconciled with our God, we are in the best place from which to build reconciliation with others, with our First Nations people and all others.

Press on…

Are you interested in being discipled one-on-one in the fundamentals of life in Christ? Or, would you like to begin this journey by turning from your current path and committing your path to Christ? — Use the Contact page and we’ll get you started.

Thursday, 7/29/21 – Today’s Discipleship Blog: Fellowship Forever

Fellowship Forever

This Friday, July 30, at 11:59 PM here in New Brunswick, Canada, our province enters what we have called the “Green” public health alert level of recovery. All Covid-19 restrictions will be removed. Businesses are gearing up, celebrations are being planned, and travel plans for the commencing long weekend are anticipated. On Monday the Capital City, Fredericton, hosts “New Brunswick Day” with ceremony, free concerts, displays and culminating fireworks launched from a major city bridge. It’ll be a landmark weekend!

Most meaningful of all these things will be to experience once again the freedom of fellowship! If nothing else, the experience of the pandemic has taught us the great treasure and necessity of human interaction. “How good and how pleasant…” the psalmist celebrates, “for brethren to dwell together in unity.” (Ps. 133:1).

Currently our church is in process of seeking leadership. This process requires great prayer, prudence and patience. As a fellowship of believers in Christ, and in these days in particular, we do well to heed Paul’s urging to the Ephesians,

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Eph. 4:3-6).

It is both God’s nature and desire for us that we be united as one in a fellowship of love in Him. Consider Jesus’ great prayer for all believer…

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them 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 have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—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.” (John 17:20-23).

Unity and fellowship, with one another and with Him, on Earth now and in Heaven then, in time and for eternity. This is the will of our Creator, Father, Lord and God.

Value it… Celebrate it… Enjoy it… Maintain it!

Press on…

Are you interested in being discipled one-on-one in the fundamentals of life in Christ? Or, would you like to begin this journey by turning from your current path and committing your path to Christ? — Use the Contact page and we’ll get you started.

Thursday, 5/14/20 – Discipleship – Fellowship (& COVID-19)

Fellowship (& COVID-19)

“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Gen. 2:7)

silhouette of person raising his hands

But it was not good yet! God made man a home, provided for his food, his drink. He gave man meaningful work and no doubt loved man very much – but still man was not good yet. What more could God add?

The answer was not in addition, rather it was in subtraction. Man was too complete.

“So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.” (Gen. 2:21, 22).

affection afterglow backlit blur

First God made man incomplete. Then He made from that missing piece another creature like Himself, like the man, yet different. They both felt their incompleteness, and, says the scripture, “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:5; Eph. 5:31). Only after this did God say, it was good – in fact, He said “it was very good.” (Gen. 1:31).

We are made… deliberately… not to be complete in ourselves. Before God made woman He looked at Adam and said plainly, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” (Gen. 2:18). No animal or pet creature of any kind would do (v. 19-20). Man required relationship with his own species.

adventure backlit dawn dusk

And so “fellowship” was born from the beginning… God with man, man with woman, parents with children, and peer with peer. Solomon, the wisest of all our species, observed “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (Prov. 27:17), and the psalmist sang “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1).

And so now, in physical distancing and self-isolation, it is not good to be alone. But again, the Christian truly is never alone. Christ is to the believer “a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Prov. 18:24). “our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1). Indeed, He is very near, as Paul cited the Cretan philosopher Epimenides: “…in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

round brown wooden table between two chairs and ottoman chair

If it helps in remembering this I see no harm in reserving a living room chair for Him, putting out a place at the table for Him. Chatting with Him as you go about your chores…

This is not madness. You are not talking to yourself, but to God. Is this not “praying always” (Eph. 6:18), “without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17) as scripture enjoins.

“I am with you always,” said Jesus, “to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:20). God… ever-present… in all the rooms of your home… and in all the room in your heart.

Press on…

Would you like to be discipled one-on-one in the fundamentals of new life in Christ? Or maybe you would you like to begin this journey by turning from your current path and committing your path to Christ? — Use the Contact page and we’ll help get you started.

Thursday, 3/12/20 – Discipleship – Fellowship

Fellowship & the Virus

person holding glass flasks

With the Coronavirus (COVID-19) threat spreading the globe some governments are beginning to ban large assemblies. Some pastor friends and I were chatting about this earlier this week. Several ideas were put forward: smaller house gatherings, online church services, providing support for quarantined persons…

Fundamental to all these external responses is every believer’s responsibility to “encourage one another” to rest in Christ. A heart at rest in Christ can rest whatever results: protection, healing, provision, or if it must be, even through suffering or death. Panic need not be the believer’s response. Remember as Paul wrote,

“…that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:38-39).

people taking group picture

In times like these fellowship among believers is most important, in whatever size gatherings it is accomplished. We are all sometimes ‘up,’ sometimes ‘down.’ When one is filled with hope that person can help lift another. Then, when that person wavers into worrisomeness, another can be the encourager. The church of God is a reciprocating Body, each part caring for the other. Each part pointing to the ‘Head’ Who brings all things to perspective.

“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ …there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” (1 Cor. 12:21, 25-26).

You have a gift to share just by being with your brother or sister, and they have a gift to share with you!

Press on…

20190522_065320Are you interested in being discipled one-on-one in the fundamentals of new life in Christ? Or, perhaps you would you like to know how to begin this journey by turning from your current path and committing your path to Christ? — Use the Contact page and we’ll get you started.