Tuesday, 23 January 2007

A new community

What does the word fellowship mean? Is it just about chatting over coffee? Acts 2 seems to paint a very different picture, it shows the church in and out of each others homes, sharing meals together, breaking bread together as a simple way of remembering what unites them, their salvation in Christ.

As you move on to the pastoral epistles you see fellowship as a commitment to build one another up, a determination to spur one another on. That involved far more than a chat, it means being involved in each others lives and helping each other daily with the things we struggle with. Home Groups are a place where this can happen over time, but it must be accompanied by sharing our homes and families with others, prayer triplets or one-to-one bible study are perhaps an easier environment in which such relationships could flourish.

Its quite striking that one of the other features of the church in Acts is that the people watching on are amazed by their love for one another, by the gospel at work and in their actions.

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