“And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostle’s teaching, and to fellowship…”

-Acts 2

Notes:

This passage gives us one of the most powerful insights into the practices of the early church.  One of these is the fellowship of believers.  Modern-day fellowship is defined as throwing some burgers on the grill, catching up on the latest news, and watching the game.  There is nothing wrong with this, but our view of true fellowship simply seems to have been distorted these days.  True fellowship is Christ-centered and Kingdom-centered.  It is the quintessence of the presence of God among His redeemed, and it is, ultimately defined by two important words as mentioned above:

1. Continually- The fellowship of the early church met continually, day by day (Acts 2:46).  Western culture, in its busyness of life, has almost completely weeded out the ability for us to meet together on a daily basis as the early church did.  This then leads us to the second important word:

2. Devoted- They devoted themselves to fellowship.  The dictionary defines devoted as “to set apart for a special and often higher end”.  If we are to have true fellowship in these last days, we must see it as being of greater importance (and ultimately of everlasting significance) than most of our favorite pastimes and hobbies.  Simply stated, we must be able to give up some things.  

God sees fellowship as being so important to His church that He actually commands it (Hebrews 10:25).  Below is a list of pros when genuine fellowship occurs and cons when it does not:

The presence of genuine fellowship brings:

• The glorification of God (Acts 2:47)
• The multiplication of our love for one another (Acts 2:45)
• The production of unity (Acts 2:44)
• The occurrence of miracles and wonders (Acts 2:43)
• The abundance of joy and gladness (Acts 2:46)

The absence of genuine fellowship results in:

• Discouragement (Hebrews 10:25)
• Some departing from the faith
• A lack of accountability
• A falling to the flesh (Hebrews 10:25)
• A lack of joy (1 John 1:24)

Willing to Take the Challenge?

I understand, just like many of you, how life can take us by storm and throw us into a mist busyness.  But we, as a holy generation, must begin to draw more nigh toward one another, as the great day of the Lord draws nigh unto us.  God has designed us as His Body to need one another (1 Corinthians 12:21).  We must begin to spur on each other to the work of God and to acts of love.  Are you willing to take the challenge of diving into a deeper fellowship not only with God, but with other believers?