What is Fellowship?

[JohnD]

Fellowship is the reminder that we are not alone. That the lone ranger path so often taken is not a matter of fact nor is it healthy. Elijah had to be reminded there was a remnant when he fled to Mt. Horeb. We often feel we are the only one left or the only one who cares or the only one who understands. This is first of all arrogance and pride. It is also a means for the devil to get you in a vulnerable place... Divide and conquer...

Fellowship is also a means for gathering among kindred spirits who believe what you believe and who love you for who you are... like family or like those who have no family seek this sense of identification with pseudo families (not all of them good like gangs or some that are good like Church or clubs).

It all stems from the phrase "It is not good for (the) man to be alone." And that was before the fall off man.

Fellowship keeps us grounded when we get full of ourselves. It keeps us above water when we are sinking into the depths of self pity or our own exaggerated sense of guilt or self pity. We're always scared to do what the Bible says (confess your sins to one another) for fear of being discovered to be the worst of the worst... when in nearly all cases we are just normal mutts saved only by the imputed righteousness of the Grace of God.

Fellowship is also a great way to learn and to grow and to learn how you can help others or be helped by others. I am reminded of the support network young mothers used to have in communities where family members lived closer together and seldom moved away... some things come naturally... but a lot of things are taught or are helped along by that network rather than the more modern day thinking of the isolation of each household... Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family pointed this out in the 1980's. Fellowship is very much like that support network.

Also fellowship is a means to pray together.

Prayer is one of our most effective tools and or weapons in this spiritual warfare...

It is also the most under rated and neglected privilege we have...

Think about it...

When was the last time you prayed?

Really prayed?

Not the rote prayers we often lapse into at scheduled intervals... which are better than none...

When was the lat time you went to a prayer meeting that was really a prayer meeting and not a sermon or Church business meeting?

[Anguspure]

I LIKED WHAT YOU SAID ON FELLOWSHIP.THAT WAS RIGHT ON THE MARK.IF ONLY THIS KIND OF FELLOWSHIP EXISTED IN LOCAL CHURCHES. I GUESS I WILL HAVE TO WAIT TILL I GET TO HEAVEN.

The only time I have experienced this sort of fellowship was when we were living together as a community aboard one of the YWAM Mercy Ships. How sad that YWAM felt the need to write a book (called "Re-entry" from memory) about the dissillusionment that many of us would feel when we returned to the non-community based church.

[Guest bobbiek]

To have an attitude of fellowship one must first be open to the light of fellowship from the throne. Second, he must also be open to the fellowship of the members of the Body of Christ. Again, this is like the flow of blood in your body. All the members of your physical body must receive the flow of blood as well as send the flow of blood to the other members. In the Body of Christ this requires sacrifice. It requires the cutting of of self and the flesh. It requires that every member be open to the fellowship, regardless if that fellowship is a faithful word for building up, or it is a corrective word that sometimes wounds our pride.

This good stuff. I never looked at fellowship quite like this before. It should be mandatory reading for ALL the brethren.

I anxiously await more teaching Beau.

May the Lord Bless you richly,

Wayne

Fellowship is taking a moment to reflex on God's character(s); ie, names. Entering into His Presence with all supplications and thanksgiving through worship, prayer and witnessing;

leting God do the work through you. As t goes; "Flow with the Spirit" Rev. Robert Korte

[evergreenjo]

Good fellowship means worshipping and focusing on God and loving Him and one another. We just can't have one without the other. Only then is outreach effective.

Galatians 5:22..applies..especially "...the fruit of the Spirit is love...."

Because it's all about loving God and loving one another.

speaking of....

Happy Valentine's Day.