THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE FAITHFUL (2 OF 5)
by Jeff Strite
Scripture: Acts 2:42-47
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The Fellowship Of The Faithful (2 of 5)
Series: This Is Church Where U Fit In
Jeff Strite
Acts 2:42-47
OPEN: I've heard from several people in our congregation church (as well as a number of preachers I've spoken with) and everybody seems to agree this lock-down is getting old. Online worship is OK... but it's no replacement for real church.
Well, everyone is tired of online worship with the exception of Mrs. Jones (a cartoon on the overhead showed a bedraggled woman in the center aisle of a church building wearing bunny slippers and a bathrobe and carrying a cup of coffee) ''Mrs. Jones got a little too used to watching online worship from home.''
I found it interesting that in Acts 2:42 it's says the church DEVOTED themselves (in other words, the early Christians put a premium on the following items in worship) ''... they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the FELLOWSHIP, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.''
Notice, the 2nd item in that list was fellowship.
What that tells me is that, not only did the early Christians put a high priority on getting together - so did God. Paul wrote (2 Timothy 3:16) that ''All Scripture is breathed out by God...'' So the author of this verse is God, and God put fellowship 2nd in the list. I think there's a reason for that being in 2nd place... but we'll look at that later on in the sermon.
Right now I want to explain what fellowship is.
Someone once said: ''Fellowship is 2 fellows in the same ship, rowing in the same direction.'' By extension, that means if you're NOT in the ship, and you're NOT pulling on your oar... you're NOT in fellowship with anybody.
Now, there are folks who will try to tell you they can be just as good a Christian without being involved with the church. But that's not true! That attitude reflects a kind of counterfeit Christianity. People like that don't mind being in a ship, as long as they don't have to share it with anyone else.
But real Christianity doesn't ...
Series: This Is Church Where U Fit In
Jeff Strite
Acts 2:42-47
OPEN: I've heard from several people in our congregation church (as well as a number of preachers I've spoken with) and everybody seems to agree this lock-down is getting old. Online worship is OK... but it's no replacement for real church.
Well, everyone is tired of online worship with the exception of Mrs. Jones (a cartoon on the overhead showed a bedraggled woman in the center aisle of a church building wearing bunny slippers and a bathrobe and carrying a cup of coffee) ''Mrs. Jones got a little too used to watching online worship from home.''
I found it interesting that in Acts 2:42 it's says the church DEVOTED themselves (in other words, the early Christians put a premium on the following items in worship) ''... they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the FELLOWSHIP, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.''
Notice, the 2nd item in that list was fellowship.
What that tells me is that, not only did the early Christians put a high priority on getting together - so did God. Paul wrote (2 Timothy 3:16) that ''All Scripture is breathed out by God...'' So the author of this verse is God, and God put fellowship 2nd in the list. I think there's a reason for that being in 2nd place... but we'll look at that later on in the sermon.
Right now I want to explain what fellowship is.
Someone once said: ''Fellowship is 2 fellows in the same ship, rowing in the same direction.'' By extension, that means if you're NOT in the ship, and you're NOT pulling on your oar... you're NOT in fellowship with anybody.
Now, there are folks who will try to tell you they can be just as good a Christian without being involved with the church. But that's not true! That attitude reflects a kind of counterfeit Christianity. People like that don't mind being in a ship, as long as they don't have to share it with anyone else.
But real Christianity doesn't ...
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