Hey gang! We had a great night last night and I was so glad to see some familiar faces return to our Summit gathering! We got in a massive game of UNO (10 players!) and plenty of 9-Square action. Those of you who were unable to attend, you missed a fun "new" song we sang together - You Are Holy by Michael W. Smith. Check it out and imagine the guys and girls singing their respective parts. It was pretty sweet.
The message this week was focused on Fellowship. Last night, we answered 3 basic questions: 1) What do we mean when we say "Fellowship"? 2) What does Fellowship do/accomplish for us? and 3) How can we be devoted to Fellowship? To focus our attention, we used Hebrews 10:24-25 - “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
What do we mean when we say "Fellowship"?
Hebrews 10:24-25 uses the phrase “meeting together”. Taken very simply, Fellowship is whenever we meet together. But it is also much more than that. It means more than just “showing up”, being devoted to Fellowship means being present in the group and actively engaged in what the group is doing – if the group is praying, you’re praying. If the group is singing, you’re singing, if the group is playing games, you’re playing games, if the group is serving others, you’re serving others. You see what I am saying? I can easily “show up” on a Wednesday and be completely disconnected from the group – I can go sit in a corner and ignore everyone. So, when we talk about Fellowship, we are talking about being actively engaged with a group of believers in whatever that group is doing. It is about doing stuff together.
What does Fellowship do/accomplish for us?
A lot of the Christian life is impossible to live out on a Sunday morning (or Wednesday night) alone – evangelism, good works, serving the community, personal prayer and devotions, generous giving, life witness, etc. Most of that happens throughout the week, outside of our time at church.
Fellowship is part of the glue of all the other things we are to be devoted to. It forms the context for everything: we are taught in groups, we meet in groups, we pray in groups, we praise God in groups, we serve in groups. God set up the church so that His people would not be lost in isolation, sitting in a corner by themselves, trying to do His will. He set up the church so that we could be together and obey Him together. To build His Kingdom together.
All of the other things we talked about two weeks ago (teaching, prayer, sharing meals, true community, praising God, and welcoming new members) are meant to be done as a group, not individually. This is because God knows that human beings need companionship. We need each other. In a group, we can support one another, love one another, encourage one another, correct one another when we mess up or go the wrong way, and celebrate together when God works in our lives.
How can we be devoted to Fellowship?
-Show up. Make it a point to be here regularly.
-Be active when you show up. Don’t just come in and sit down – be active. Play a game, start an activity, strike up a conversation. Don’t just be a potato.
-Meet together outside of Summit or church on Sunday. And not just to hang out (not that that is a bad thing). Meet to go help someone, or to read the Bible together, or to witness to a friend (that’s right, that’s not supposed to be an individual thing, either). Meet together to pray, sing songs of praise, or to learn something new about God. Do it with food, after all, sharing meals is a thing we are supposed to be devoted to.
-Join a Bible Study. These are small groups of people meeting together to learn and grow – it is fellowship.
-Invite others to join you here, or to church, or to other events and activities. A lot of fellowship is about being invitational. It is only when we are inviting that we get the opportunity to welcome new members!
-And finally, for us here, you can use our Discord channel. That’s a useful social tool for connecting outside of Summit. You can chat, play games together, and communicate through Discord.
My challenge to each of you is to make the decision to be devoted to Fellowship. No matter where you are (here, in college, or moved to another state), don't ever give up meeting together with other believers. "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
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