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Why Fellowship Matters: A Bible Study on Community

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What Fellowship Is

God knows that we are weak and need all the help we can get in our Christian life. He uses our brothers and sisters in Christ to strengthen us and help us to follow Him. The word we use for the relationship we have with other believers is “fellowship” (Acts 2:42).

— From our Bible study on Discipleship Course: Fellowship

The Early Church’s Devotion to Fellowship

Acts 2:42 — “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

This is a key verse about not only what the early church was doing, but about how they were doing it. They were devoted to these things. You can see the priority of their hearts. It wasn’t just a ritual. They weren’t just ticking the box. The believers took these seriously. The early New Testament church was a community of like-minded people moving in the same direction and helping each other along the way.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 — “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!”

We have fellowship with one another because of the common bond that we share. God did not design people to be alone. From the beginning, Adam and Eve needed companionship. We are social creatures. Through fellowship, we can learn from one another, give and receive counsel, sharpen each other spiritually (Proverbs 27:17), pray for one another, encourage each other, and correct each other when necessary.

While we are called to fellowship with other believers, the trend these days is going in the other direction. People are more isolated than ever before. One reason for this is electronic devices and the convenience of accessing every type of information and entertainment directly from our homes. Many of these things are a substitute for spending time with real people and talking about real issues. You can often see people who are eating a meal out, each one glued to the screen of his own device.

Others claim to be able to follow God just fine on their own. After all, millions of sermons and thousands of preachers can be streamed online. Why go to church? There are many reasons. Here I will just share one. God commands us to. He designed us. He knows what we need. So He knows what He is talking about.

— From our Bible study on Acts 2:42-47

Hebrews 10:24-25 — “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

We are told not to neglect meeting together.

Application — Let us obey by meeting together. When we do, make it as meaningful as possible. Do not simply arrive late, sit in the back, and head home immediately afterward. Talk to someone new. Invite someone out to eat. Make friends.

Two possible activities could be called “breaking of bread.” One was taking the Lord’s Supper together (Luke 22:19). The other is fellowship together by sharing meals. It is not clear which one is in mind in these verses, though they certainly would have done both.

Reflect — Do you invite other believers to share meals together?

— From our Bible study on Acts 2:42-47

The believers were like a large and very sharing family. Going as far as selling their personal possessions, they then shared the proceeds with the group so that everyone had what they needed. We should note that there is no record of a command from the apostles for them to do this. Neither are we commanded to do this. It is descriptive rather than prescriptive. While it is true that we are not commanded to do that, we can also learn from their generosity.

Application — Consider the needs of others around you. How can you share what you have with them? Would the people around you describe you as generous?

— From our Bible study on Acts 2:42-47

Fellowship Requires Guarding Unity

Ephesians 4:3 — “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Recently, I heard of one home church in Asia that was destroyed by disunity. Two pastors and their wives had a conflict. It wasn’t dealt with biblically. One pastor actually called the police on the other and reported their unregistered house church. The result was that this house church was raided. New believers were affected. First-time visitors who were not believers were affected. It was a sad and avoidable result.

All believers should work at unity, but this is especially important for leadership teams. Elders and deacons should be diligent to stay unified. Here are some practical ways to do this:

• Major on the majors and minor on the minors. Don’t allow disagreements on carpet color, facilities, or even less fundamental doctrines such as various views of eschatology divide you.
• Remember that what you have in common, faith in Christ, is more important than your differences.
• Have regular team meetings to discuss issues. If there are disagreements, don’t sweep them under the rug or stop meeting. Deal with them biblically and find resolution before they fester.
• Devote yourselves to pray for each other.
• Befriend each other and get together outside of the church work for casual times of fun and fellowship. Friendship can help you stay in harmony.
• If things get difficult, ask for help and potentially mediation from an objective party.
• Practice forgiveness. We are to forgive as He has forgiven.
• Think about your flock and how division will hurt the others around you.

Having said all of that, there are times when division might be necessary. Some arguments are worth having and some issues are worth splitting over. To take an extreme example, you cannot be unified with a cult. Neither can you tolerate clear and willful sin. We are not to practice ecumenism at the expense of biblical truth on major doctrinal issues.

— From our Bible study on Acts 1:12-26

Fellowship Means Bearing One Another’s Burdens

Galatians 6:2 — “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

We are not a group of individuals following after God completely by ourselves. We are part of a group, part of a family. A family should help each other. One way of bearing others’ burdens is to gently restore those caught in sin. Beyond that, it means helping and supporting each other. The word “bear” means to carry the weight or the load. Stresses, worries, health problems, and spiritual struggles are all types of weights that we bear.

By listening to others with attentive and compassionate ears, we can help to release the weight of the load. Besides listening, we can pray, counsel, or serve. If someone is sick, we can make a meal for them. If someone is sad, we can take them out to eat. If someone is stressed, we can invite them over for prayer, dessert, and games. If someone is lonely, we can give them a gift. To do these things, we need to have relationships with other believers. We also need to be observant and sensitive.

Application — Do you notice when others are stressed or discouraged? Do you take initiative to help? What is a specific way you can bear one another’s burdens this week?

Note that just because others are supposed to help us bear our burdens does not mean we should not carry our own load. Our own load comprises the normal things we can and should bear ourselves. Burdens are the things that are too much for us to face alone.

— From our Bible study on Galatians 6

Even the Strongest Leaders Need Support: Aaron and Hur

Exodus 17:12 — “But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.”

By stationing himself on a hill, Moses could see the whole battle. Also, everyone could see him. This served not only as a psychological aid, but also a spiritual one. Seeing his arms raised up signified his entreaty to God for help. Seeing them win when his arms were raised up showed them God’s divine intervention on their behalf. When Moses raised his arms to God for help, God helped them. When his arms weren’t raised, they fought on their own and naturally lost since they weren’t well-trained.

Moses grew tired and weary. I did an experiment while preparing and found that after two minutes, my arms were fatigued. After four minutes, my arms were quite tired. I could have gone longer, but learned the point. Holding your arms up for a significant length of time is not only painful but nearly impossible without support or rest.

The point is, Moses needed help. He couldn’t carry this burden by himself. Ecclesiastes says, “two are better than one.” Aaron and Hur helped him. Even powerful leaders need support from the people around them. Teams are stronger than individual leaders. This is why God made fellowship in the church. We are to support and help each other, even carrying the burdens and supporting the weaker.

Application — If you are a leader in some area, don’t try to do everything yourself. Enlist help. Ask for volunteers. Delegate. If you are doing ministry, ask people to pray for you. Get encouragement from others. Be willing to accept support in various forms.

On the other side, maybe you are not leading, but you can help those who are. We don’t see a whole lot mentioned about Hur. He is mentioned in the Bible only in this chapter. But on this day, he was integral to the whole nation of Israel. His only task was to hold up Moses’ arms. Was it easy? Actually, I don’t think it was that easy. He would have to rotate, using his left and right arms to do it. But his help enabled the whole country to have victory that day.

— From our Bible study on Exodus 17

Fellowship Means Encouraging One Another

Proverbs 27:17 — “As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another.”

To be sharpened in our spiritual life we should form strong relationships with brothers and sisters. This doesn’t mean that we rely on people instead of God. We always must rely on God first. People are not perfect and will disappoint us sometimes, but two are still stronger than one and we are commanded to fellowship together, sharpening each other’s relationship to God.

— From our Bible study on Discipleship Course: Fellowship

Fellowship Means Rebuke and Accountability

Luke 17:3 — “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.”

Encouragement is the positive form that believers use to help each other and rebuking is the negative form. Fellowship can be a “safety net” that keeps us from falling away from God. If we have no fellowship there will be no one to correct us when we sin. But if we have strong relationships with brothers and sisters they can rebuke us when we do wrong. This works both ways. We need to put ourselves around believers and be open to them when they correct us, and we also need to exercise true love for others by kindly and gently doing the same for them (2 Timothy 2:25). This doesn’t mean we should be some sort of spiritual police. Love, not pride, should be our motivation.

— From our Bible study on Discipleship Course: Fellowship

Fellowship Means Comfort

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 — “The God of all comfort, who comforts us in our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

Those who believe in God not only have a unique worldview, but they also have experienced God’s love and mercy in a very special way. Because of this they are better equipped to understand and then comfort other believers. This is true not only when a brother or sister is facing trouble, but also when things are going well.

— From our Bible study on Discipleship Course: Fellowship

Fellowship Means Hospitality

Philemon 1:22 — “At the same time, prepare a guest room for me.”

Paul hoped to visit Philemon in person. Hospitality to visitors was ingrained into the culture. It would be unthinkable to allow a visiting missionary like Paul to have to scrounge the town for accommodations. This simple statement shows us the intimate nature of fellowship during the New Testament church. Believers were family, and they acted like it. The terms “brother” and “sister” were not empty titles.

Application — How can you show hospitality to your spiritual family today in the twenty-first century? Write down several specific ways.

— From our Bible study on Philemon

Paul mentions five different teammates in his closing greetings. Each man was his fellow worker. Paul’s ministry team was dynamic. There were many types of people serving together, each from a different background, each blessed with different strengths and giftings.

— From our Bible study on Philemon

Fellowship Grows Best in Smaller Groups

Acts 2:46 — “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.”

Reflect — What are the benefits of churches meeting in homes?

It promotes closer and warmer fellowship. Getting to know people and making friends in large churches can be hard. In contrast, the limited size of the body, plus the fact that it is meeting in a home, means more natural, personal fellowship. It promotes accountability. The anonymity of large groups means people can show up or not, obey or not, and no one may notice. In smaller, home fellowships, believers are more likely to keep each accountable by asking questions. Because of the closer fellowship and accountability, it is more likely that believers’ lives will be transformed by the Scripture. Close friends will encourage and challenge each other to live out the Word in their marriage, family, and workplace.

— From our Bible study on Philemon

Fellowship With God Comes First

1 John 1:7 — “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

The blood of Christ can change everything. His blood cleanses us from all sin. Because of it we can have true fellowship with one another (it removes barriers between people, Ephesians 2:14) and with God. Being part of Christ’s family unites us together with people from all over the world, even people we have never seen or met. Imagine for example an oppressive regime where Christians are persecuted. Two people pass in the street under the close eye of the guards. Through some signal or word they recognize that the other is a believer. These two people have a bond. They are connected through Christ though they may never see each other or meet again.

— From our Bible study on 1 John 1

Mutual Encouragement Across Generations

Philippians 1:6 — “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

We also see Paul’s deep care and close bond with the Philippians. Their relationship gives us a good example of the kind of fellowship we should have with others. The Philippians were Paul’s spiritual children, but they still were able to encourage Paul through their willingness to put into practice what he taught and their co-participation in the gospel.

Application — Whether you are a new believer or a teacher of many years, you can have solid fellowship with others. Come alongside your brothers and sisters in Christ, work together and strengthen each other. Do not think that you have little to offer just because you are a new believer.

— From our Bible study on Philippians 1:1-18

Fellowship Means Serving One Another With Our Gifts

Romans 12:4-5 — “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

There should not be a division of workers and listeners in God’s family. Rather, everyone is supposed to use his God-given gift to serve others and build up the entire body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). The body of Christ, the church, is made up of people from all kinds of backgrounds, ages, cultures, etc, but each has a specific function. So do not think you have nothing to offer. Every believer has something to offer. It may not be a very high-profile or public role, but it is vital for healthy fellowship.

— From our Bible study on Discipleship Course: Fellowship

Fellowship Reveals Where Our Hearts Really Are

Since believers are one, it only makes sense that we will spend more time hanging out, fellowshipping, and strengthening each other than we will with those in the world. We tend to hang out more with those who are more like us. If you spend most of your time with worldly people, it would at least appear that you identify more with them than you do with believers.

— From our Bible study on Ephesians 2:11-22

We hope you enjoyed this Bible study on fellowship. May God use His Word to speak into your life and give you strength to follow it. Please take some time to reflect on the questions below and consider leaving a comment with your key takeaway or insight.

Reflection Questions

• What does good fellowship look like? How can you improve your fellowship with other believers?
• What principle can we learn from the way the early believers generously shared with each other?
• What are the benefits of churches or small groups meeting in homes?
• How can you show hospitality to your spiritual family today in the twenty-first century?
• Do you notice when others are stressed or discouraged? What is a specific way you can bear one another’s burdens this week?
• How is good fellowship deeper than talking about weather, sports, or current events?