Introduction:

 

Greetings brethren and guests!  It is always a delight being here.  Many of the youth are learning about “who is Christ and the nature of God”.  This message should tie in.

 

Most are here because they believe in the importance of fellowship.  Overtime many in the Church suffer the tragic loss of what appeared to be very committed people.   I, as many others, have been deeply grieved over the loss and scattering of friends and family members. Example of a man I will just call “JB”- at FOT 1971-we were good friends, almost like brothers. He opened up his luggage and found love notes in the socks. Something happened and he stopped coming-perhaps over doctrinal issue.  I have never seen him since.  How many of us have been down that road?  We thought we were all like a “band of brothers” standing fast till the end of the age.

 

Years ago I saw the movie Band of Brothers on a very wide screen TV.  It was stunning and seemed so real.

 

A personal story and example of a “band of brothers”: About 50 years ago in Germany:  A night time mission and example in German forest I was with a small squad of 5-6 men and two vehicles.  It was our duty on a brutally cold Winter night-time mission, along the hostile East German border near the city of Fulda, to set up a ground surveillance radar system and detect movement of manpower or vehicles, thus guarding the flanks of our units, and to detect any other incursions across the very hostile East German border.

 

There we were as a “band of brothers”, each a different type of person.  Each of us on the team was a different personality but we were comrades in arms against a “common foe”.   On that night I made a mistake – As I was setting up our radar set, I set my M-14 rifle down on the hood of our jeep, - rather than have it on my shoulder.  There I was about 6 paces or around 12 feet away, from where I was setting up the radar set.  Then I heard a “crunch” in the snow- and I was scared!

 

As I approached the jeep, despite the brutal cold I broke out in a sweat –or so it seemed.  I had to do something soon, when I shouted out, “Halt!”, as I reached for my rifle.  At that moment in time my imagination ran wild and I could almost hear and feel a shot fired and hitting me in the chest.  I was scared!  The two looming figures, about 6 foot tall were wearing what I thought of as “Dracula capes”. Each man had a big German Shepherd dog.  These figures were now between me and the rest of my squad hunkered down about 20 yds behind them. The squad heard the call.  As the squad moved from the bunker I determined these nighttime figures to be Grenze Polizei or W. German Border Patrol.[1]

 

As a squad in comradeship and fellowship, we were protectors of one another.  We were there as a “Band of Brothers” prepared to defend one another to the bitter end.   We were willing to put our lives on the line despite any differences we may have had.  

 

Likewise, as Christians, today, though our weapons are not of war, but the WORD of God, we as a congregation are in fellowship, to nurture and protect one another.  Even today we are as comrades in a spiritual battle, allied with one another and with the common bond of fellowship with Christ, our King,

 

Reference: 2 Co 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds,

 

Synopsis:  So, why do we fellowship?  Many of us early on made a commitment to seek after God and sometimes we had to stand alone for a period time.  But then why do we really need fellowship?  Later we joined in bond with those of like mind.   Fellowship is in a sense a lifeline to the King.

 

The title of my split sermon is “Fellowship – A life Line to the King”

 

Body:

 

1. Fellowship Downside:

 

In the description of the band of brothers we recognize that not all things go well.  Often there were differences of opinions, anger and sometimes fights and people who violate the rules.  I was later defrauded by several of my “best” friends, but that is another story.  But when faced by a common foe or potential foe we generally put aside our differences.

 

What about us in the Church-we who have been called of God to salvation?

 

So many of us have been amazed at how many friends we have lost to spiritual battles;  some few we have seen drift back and forth from various opinions and doctrines, swayed by ego or this or that strong personality, or hurt feelings, or grudges.

 

Sometimes- fellowship can be a struggle and as it says in  Gal 5:15  But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not consumed by one another.

 

Many churches have had their fair share of struggles and we are also warned in Eph 5:11  And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

 

For some drift from place to place and divide and divide until they become a church of one-which is not even a church for it says where 2 or more are gathered in my name.  I don’t know if I can even count the numbers of people who have scattered never to return.  With this in mind it is imperative to set the right example of strength and encouragement.

 

Through the years we have seen people drift from doctrine amidst great dissensions, but what about us, what about those under the gun, what about those who are running the race to the finish line.

 

Does fellowship mean all goes well and no one ever gets offended or hurt?  We are given this warning in:  Turn to Gal 6:2  Bear one another's burdens, and so you will fulfill the Law of Christ.   Bear with one another in a common commitment to God.

 

We MUST put aside differences: Turn to Eph 4:30-32 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you are sealed until the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and tumult and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you

 

Despite all the problems may have had we are admonished to fellowship. I personally rejoice in seeing how much better people help one another.

 

2. Upside of Fellowship:

There is a positive upside to fellowship.  Friends help share, help with grief and pain.  Friends encourage one another.  Isn’t this what we are encouraged to do throughout the Body of Christ-the Church?

 

So why fellowship?  What are the benefits?   We read in Pro 27:17  Iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the face of his friend.

We fellowship with others who fear the Lord!  Let us turn to Malachi 3:16  "Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name."

The word for fellowship in the NT comes from G2842  κοινωνία koinōnia and it appears in 20 verses meaning fellowship, 12   communion, 4    communicate, 1 communication, 1  contribution, distribution, 1

 

Let us look at this – such an important concept 1 Jn 4:11  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

 

Turn with me to 1 Cor 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called to the fellowshipG2842 of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Read even the little letter Philemon v6 (NKJV) that the fellowship of your faith may operate in a full knowledge of every good thing in you in Christ Jesus.

 

3. The Lifeline to the King:

 

There is a reason we have fellowship for in the end it truly develops a link to the Father AND His Son, Christ. In other words there is a “Lifeline to the King!”   Turn to 1 Jn 1:3-7  that which we have seen and heard we declare unto you, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.  4 And we write these things to you so that your joy may be full. 5 And this is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

 

Can we see in this the importance of fellowshipping with the brethren? If we can’t learn the lessons now within the physical, how can we grasp what we cannot see?

In an article entitled “Building A Better Relationship With God” by Mike Bennett he provides 5 tools for building a closer relation and having fellowship with the Father and Christ.

 

Let me briefly touch on this. They are quite self explanatory:

The Five Tools[2]

1. Prayer- God Wants to Hear From You!
2. Meditation- How Do I Apply This Today?
3. Fasting- This may be a forgotten or lost art.
4. Bible Study- Listening to God
5. Fellowship- Friendship With God and His People

 

Turn with me to this important Scripture: Turn to Heb 10:23-26 NKJV)  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering (for He is faithful who promised), 24  and let us consider one another to provoke to love and to good works, 25  not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. 26  For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins,

 

We are certainly in what appears to be at the end of the age and we know there could very well be a great harvest.  How many more will God call at this time?  We just know we are a small flock and we have a job to do.

 

Conclusion

Let us draw this to a close.  We are more than a physical “Band of Brothers”.  We are in a spiritual fellowship with Christ and God the Father.

Let me read two final Scriptures from Mat 12:50  For whoever shall do the will of My Father in Heaven, the same is My brother and sister and mother. John 4:34  Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.

Finally, let me say:  Let us be gathered together as a “band of brothers and sisters” in Christian service one to and another not forsaking the assembling of our selves together.  Let us not falter in this bond of fellowship.  Let us grow in knowledge, diligence and service as we are able and as God gives to each of us the strength and talent to do HIS WORK.

 

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_the_inner_German_border   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RffVZrD-xXY

http://www.pdf-archive.com/2011/11/13/us-army-border-operations-in-germany-1945-1983/us-army-border-operations-in-germany-1945-1983.pdf 

[2] http://www.ucg.org/christian-living/building-better-relationship-god/