IMPORTANCE OF FELLOWSHIP

Pr. Geoffrey Kibombo 

Hebrews 12:18-24 (NLT)

“You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai……………. 22 No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. 23 You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. 24 You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.”

Fellowship or attending church service is one of the seven pillars of Christianity and very key in a Christian life. Every time we go for fellowship, we are transformed spiritually, emotionally encouraged and our wisdom and perspective on life is stretched. Hebrews 10:25 (AMP) advises; "Not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the habit of some people, but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching”.

Authentic Fellowship 
Acts 2:42 (NIV) - "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer ."
In scripture above, fellowship was one of the four things the early church devoted itself to. Fellowship was a very important part of their reason for meeting together. It was one of their objectives. But what is fellowship? Why fellowship?

The early church devoted itself to “the apostles’ teaching” and also “to prayer”. Apart from the ministry of the Holy Spirit, these two are important means of spiritual growth, stability and effectiveness in the Christian life. The early Christians didn’t just have fellowship; they devoted themselves to it, because fellowship was a priority and one of the objectives for gathering together.

Some believers have become fed up with church that they seek fellowship through viewing a Sunday service or bible study on television or social media (Facebook live or YouTube) but that misses the picture, because the electronic attendance creates emptiness; for interpersonal relationships are so greatly needed to keep our faith glowing and growing. If you drop off your associations with other Christians and disassociate yourself from them in prayer, worship and learning of the Word, you will run out of spiritual passion. Authentic fellowship involves; getting together for spiritual purposes, for sharing needs, for prayer, for learning and sharing the Word and encouraging, comforting and edifying one another through testimonies. There is no substitute for going to church and worshiping with others of like faith and belief.

English Definition of Fellowship

Let’s get a glimpse of the word fellowship from the English dictionary to see what it might add to our understanding. The dictionary defines it as:

(a) Companionship, company, associate (vb.);

(b) the community of interest, activity, feeling or experience, i.e., a unified body of people of equal rank sharing in common interests, goals, and characteristics, etc.;

(c) Partnership, membership (an obsolete usage but an important one. It shows what has happened to our ideas of fellowship).

There are three key issues that come out of this:

- Fellowship means being a part of a group, a body of people. It is opposed to isolation, solitude, loneliness, and our present-day independent kind of individualism; however, we can still be part of people, even share certain things in common, but still not have fellowship.

- Fellowship means having or sharing with others certain things in common such as values, roles, beliefs, responsibilities, experiences, and concerns.

- Fellowship can mean a partnership that involves working together and caring for one another as a company of people, like a battalion of soldiers or members of a family.

We have fellowship because of a common relationship that we all have together in Christ; it has a spiritual significance and foundation - believers have fellowship and share together because they first of all have a relationship with Christ and share Him in common (1 Cor. 1:9; 1 John 1:3). The idea of an earthly fellowship founded upon just common interests, human nature, physical ties like in a family was really foreign to the apostles. Fellowship is also about sharing together in the sense of a partnership. A partnership describes how we are related to each other in a relationship; we are partners in an enterprise and calling in which we are to work together with common purpose to obtain common objectives for the glory of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ (Luke 19:11; 1 Cor 3:12)

Spiritual Service; Chosen Place

Just like cars are serviced, our spiritual lives too need to be serviced and that happens every time we go to church for fellowship. In our daily life, the devil always targets to divert and confuse us through his lies, but when we go for fellowship, the devil’s lies are demystified and nullified through the scriptures, thus our minds are renewed, we are strengthened and empowered to fight a good fight.

Psalms 107:20 says; “He [God] sends his word, and heals them; and delivers them from their graves”. God has a daily solution to the different pressing situations in our lives and He sends His word to save and deliver us from destruction. Every time we go to church service, we receive a healing word, and through His servants, we hear from God directly about His plan for the day, month or year. His word is the answer to the questions we have and the antidote to the lies of the devil. At times we refuse to attend church because we have problems, yet the answers that we need are found in the teachings or sermons preached there. Every time we go to church, we go in the presence of God; into the assembly of angels ready to serve us. Church is not an ordinary place you go to as a scheduled Sunday social routine, no its God’s chosen place, a sanctified ground where we go into the presence of God.

Just like God chooses people to use, He also chooses places where He can dwell and where His people can meet Him. 2 Chronicles 7:16 teaches; “For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will always be there.” God is specific – He is God of right places. The location of our church premises is a chosen place. Pr. James Victor Lubwama told us that when God told him to start a church in Nangabo, he was perplexed of the location; but God had already planned it thoroughly; because prior to instructing him, he had instructed a certain lady to offer her land to be used for ministry; and as he was still gathering himself, the lady sent for him, told him what God had told her and gave him ownership documents. Below our church, there is a well where previously witch doctors from Nangabo subcounty used to perform evil rituals, but all that is no more. The church was established in this specific place for a purpose – to uproot evil acts in this subcounty which were very rampant as almost every village had a shrine or two. We are shield bearers (Psalms 18:34) called to train and equip an army of God to make war in the later days. We are called to train prayer warriors and we are established where we are for a purpose – purposefully planted. 

Our questions are answered in church; for instance, if you came to church sick, through the scriptures you get to know that God heals all our diseases (Psalms 103:3, Isaiah 53:5) and with the anointing in place, you get healing as well. It is in fellowship that our minds are renewed (Roman 12:2); questions are answered, hope is awakened and doubts are undoubted. Consider the Psalm by Asaph below where he had riot in his mind but found the answers in God’s sanctuary – church.

Psalms 73:2-19 (NKJV) says; ”But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. 3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. 5 They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills……………….17 till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. 18 Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. 19 How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors”

Why become part of a local church?

In a world offering a variety of viewpoints, church is the only place where we can find truth (John 8:26). It is the place you can find counsel and direction when you’re unsure how to navigate an increasingly complex world.

Our belonging to a local church establishes a base from which we can reliably care for others. There are two sides to being part of church: Authentic love is not only manifest in affection and action, but also allegiance. We do not fully love our brothers and sisters in Christ if we refuse pledging our allegiance to them by covenanting with them. Love doesn’t say; “I love these people and don’t need to bond with them.” Rather, it says; “I love these people enough to bond with them.” Living the Christian life is more than just loose associations – it’s an active partnership in the promotion of the gospel and the building up of believers. It’s committing to each other; to be there for each other when life is hard and good; in sickness and in sorrow; in health and joy.

On the flipside, it is for your own good to have believers committed to genuinely caring for you. And the people who will care for you best in the long run are those of like faith who we have authentic fellowship with. I have witnessed this bond, partnership and unconditional love in our church when people have lost a loved one; and when they are a planning a wedding; they stand with each other and support each through it all

The church is not a building, its you and me - we are the church. It’s a family of spiritual fathers and sons and daughters (1 Corinthians 4:14; Titus 2:1–8; 1 Timothy 1:2). It’s a body (1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4) whose neediest members find help (Acts 6:1–6; 1 Timothy 5:9–16), whose generous ones cheerfully contribute (2 Corinthians 8; Philippians 4:10-18), and where each member’s participation and gifts are essential for the whole body to thrive (Romans 12:4–8; Ephesians 4:11–16).

There are a gazillion good things that would hinder you from locking arms with believers of like faith, but as many reasons as you might have not to go to church for fellowship, there are even more reasons to trust God, commit, and go every week.