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- It entails the sharing of Biblical knowledge and building lasting relationships among those who are called by God. Such meetings amongst those who are like-minded are an essential element in a Christian's spiritual growth and development.
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What does Fellowship mean for Christians?
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- Fellowship is the heartbeat of your congregation. Simply stated, it is the life of the church family. Do the people love the Lord and enjoy one another?
- Fellowship may not be the reason people are drawn to your church, but it’s why they stay. People who are church hunting will give a dozen things they are looking for in their next place of worship: location, type of preaching, strength of ministry, and various types of ministry (“We want a strong children’s ministry” or music or missions or youth or senior adults).
- Fellowship is composed of three layers, each one vital. a) Underlying everything is a commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord. This is personal (each must do it), private (it takes place in the hidden depths of the heart), and ongoing (yesterday’s commitment needs to be reaffirmed today and again tomorrow).
- The newcomer sees these in reverse order: Hospitality first, then Joy, and lastly Commitment. a) Did you welcome the newcomer? Were they made to feel wanted?
Though many believers today do not recognize the importance of fellowship or local church involvement, Christian fellowship is essential to spiritual growth. Many aspects of our spiritual lives depend on being together with other believers to encourage, teach, serve, and share life together.
- Introduction
- English Definition of Fellowship
- Greek Words For Fellowship
- Concepts of Fellowship in The New Testament
- Relationship: The Foundation For Fellowship
- Partnership: The Means of Fellowship
- Companionship: The Method of Fellowship
- Stewardship: The Overflow of Fellowship
- Conclusion
In Acts 2:42we read that one of the four things the early church devoted itself to was “fellowship.” Fellowship was a very important part of their reason for meeting together. It was one of their objectives. But what is fellowship? We often hear people talking about fellowship. We hear it said that what we need is more fellowship. But our modern id...
Before we begin a study of the Greek words, let’s get a glimpse of our word “fellowship” from the English dictionary to see what it might add to our understanding. An English dictionary can shed a lot of light on the Bible if we would use it in our Bible study. The translators chose English words according to their real and exact meanings. When we ...
The Koinwn Words
(1)Koinos(the root word) The language of the New Testament is called koinh Greek because, through the conquests of Alexander the Great, it was the common language of Christ’s day for Romans, Greeks and Jews alike. Koinh means common. Koinwnia comes from koinoswhich means “common, mutual, public.” It refers to that which is held in common. (2) Koinwnia (n) and Koinwneo(vb) (primary words) There are two main ideas with this word: (a) “to share together, take part together” in the sense of partn...
The Metocos Words
These words come from meta, “with,” plus ecw, “to have.” The basic idea is “to have with” or “to have together.” Metocos means: (a) “a sharing in, a partaking of” (Heb. 3:1, 14; 6:4; 12:8); and (b), “a partner, associate” (Heb. 1:9; Luke 5:7). Metoch means: (a) “sharing, fellowship”; or (b) “partnership” (cf. 2 Cor. 6:14 where it is used with koinwnia). Based on the meanings and uses of these words, four key ideas develop that are important if we are to grasp the richness the New Testament’s...
A. Relationship
In the New Testament, what is shared in common is shared first of all because of a common relationship that we all have together in Christ. Koinwniawas an important word to both John and Paul, but it was never used in merely a secular sense. It always had a spiritual significance and base. The idea of an earthly fellowship founded upon just common interests, human nature, physical ties like in a family, or from church affiliation was really rather foreign to the apostles. In the New Testament...
B. Partnership
Both koinwnia and metocos mean to share together in the sense of a partnership. As sharers together of the person and life of Christ, we are automatically copartners in His enterprise here on earth. Both sets of Greek words were used in this sense by classical and New Testament writers. (1) In the secular realm, koinwnos (a form of koinwnia) and metocos were both used by Luke to refer to the partnership of Peter with James and John (Luke 5:7, 10). (2) In the spiritual realm, koinwnos was used...
C. Companionship
Companionship is the interchange or communication (communion) that exists among companions, those associated together through a relationship they hold in common. The key ingredient in companionship is communication. Key words that describe companionship are “interchange, communion, sharing.” Communication is the sharing of concepts, feelings, ideas, information, needs, etc. through words or other symbols like body language and actions so that all members of the relationship hold these things...
As we’ve seen, fellowship is first a relationship. But, sometimes the term relationship is used of our subjective experiences. A man might say, “I have a good relationship with my wife.” He means that they get along well, they communicate and enjoy one another’s company. But the most basic meaning of relationship deals with objective fact. It refer...
As pointed out earlier, Paul and John never used the term fellowshipin a purely secular sense. It always had a spiritual base and a spiritual means. The idea of an earthly fellowship founded upon simply common interests or common likes or dislikes or similar personalities or human opinions or purely physical ties was a foreign idea in connection wi...
Fellowship With God: the Vertical Dimension
Companionship, as suggested previously, involves communion or communication, interchange, intimacy, sharing and receiving. If there is going to be fellowship with God, we must first draw on the Lord’s resources as we listen to Him in His Word, as we allow the Spirit of God to talk to us through Scripture and through the various providential events of life (trials, blessings, etc.) and through the lives of others around us. We need to be open to Him, receptive, teachable. In our communion with...
Illustrations of the Vertical Dimension of Fellowship
The first illustration of communion or of maintaining a right relationship with the Lord in the sense of fellowship is that of the vine in John 15. In essence this forms a discourse on fellowship in the key relationships of life. In this passage we see three areas of relationships: (a) the relationship of believers to Jesus (vss. 1-11); (b) the relationship of believers to each other (vss. 12-17); and (c) the relationship of believers to the world (vss. 18-27). The first thing this passage de...
Fellowship With Christians: the Horizontal Dimension
God has created us to be dependent people—dependent on Him and on one another. His judgment in Genesis 2:18, “it is not good for the man to be alone,” is a principle that speaks not only to marriage, but to all of life and especially to the spiritual fellowship of all believers. Marriage is a miniature cosmos of relationships which forms the foundation and soil for other relationships of community life. No man is an island. None of us has the ability to go it alone. We need the communion or c...
Persecution of the believers in Jerusalem, which had led to extreme conditions of poverty, caused the Apostle Paul to encourage the church, especially Gentile assemblies, to give to their need. This would not only demonstrate the oneness of Jew and Gentile in Christ, but gave the body of Christ to share with others in the body as partners Christ’s ...
Fellowship in the body of Christ is certainly no side issue. It was one of the four things the early church devoted itself to, and from this brief study, we can see why. It is a means of support and encouragement to others and of ministry in the Savior’s enterprise on earth. We have seen four words (relationship, partnership, companionship, and ste...
Mar 13, 2023 · A church devoted to living out the New Testament understands how significant community truly is for growth as followers of Jesus. What is Biblical Fellowship? To understand what God meant by ‘fellowship,’ it’s essential to consider the original Biblical languages.
Nov 14, 2023 · Christian Fellowship is a term that resonates with anyone seeking spiritual growth, whether you’re a new believer eager to deepen your faith or an educator interested in guiding others on their spiritual journey. It’s a concept deeply rooted in Christian traditions, emphasizing the importance of community, support, and shared faith experiences.
Apr 19, 2017 · “Fellowship is a mutual bond that Christians have with Christ that puts us in a deep, eternal relationship with one another.” So Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:9, “You were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Aug 16, 2021 · For Christians, fellowship means participation. People often define it as “community,” but it’s so much more than that. Community describes several individuals who choose to be together. But people who have aligned themselves with Jesus become members of the same structure. Paul explains it this way:
