Acts 2:42 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
The word fellowship in this verse is the word Koinonia in the original Greek language. Koinonia encompasses much more than just what its definition entails. It does mean “fellowship” or “communion” and we can understand it as such in the English language, however, it means a fullness of community and essentially a participation in the body of Christ. As believers we have a bond that transcends all that separates us as humans, societal and economics backgrounds, ethnicity, race, and the like. We have a relationship with Christ where he transforms us by His sacrifice on the cross and welcomes us as sons and daughters into His glorious kingdom of light. This creates a communion that is deeper even than the blood that twin brothers would share. This is the strength of the word Koinonia.
Our group environments are meant to be places where we truly live out the calling for authentic and blessed community. When my wife and I first came to The Point, the very first Sunday we stepped foot into the church, we were invited to a community group. We were immediately swept up in an authentic community of believers who shared life together. We shared meals together, cried together, prayed together, served the community together, ultimately grew together. The true fellowship of believers is deeper than a social club or a weekly gathering to just ‘catch up’ or have something to fill your calendar. It is as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great pastor and theologian who died at the hand of the Nazis said,
“I have community with others and I shall continue to have it only through Jesus Christ. The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes, the more will everything else between us recede, the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and his work become the one and only thing that is vital between us. We have one another only through Christ, but through Christ we do have one another, wholly, for eternity.”
Prayer:
Thank you Lord that as a believer I get to experience true community. I get to experience fellowship as you meant it to be prior to our Fall in the garden. True fellowship only comes from being in communion with You and in communion with your people. Surround me with those to encourage me to be more like you and to live a life that drives more people to You.