Monday, September 27

They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47
History tells us that Velcro was invented by a Swiss engineer, George de Mestral, who was curious about what made cockleburs stick to his dog’s fur. He discovered a tiny “hook and loop” system that he then used to create a revolutionary fastening system that is now part of everyday life. The truth is, of course, that God invented Velcro because he invented cockleburs – it just took many centuries for human beings to discover it!

The Bible tells us that 2000 years ago God invented the church and that in order to hold the church together, he invented a kind of spiritual Velcro called fellowship. Now fellowship is one of those churchy words like sanctuary, or narthex, that we only use around church and can sometimes take for granted. Fellowship comes from the ancient Greek word KOINONIA, which has a root meaning of “sharing in common” or “communion.” When used in the context of the church, it communicates a unique kind of relationship between people -- a unique kind of connectedness that holds us together as the Body of Christ despite all our differences.

Notice that scripture says these early followers of Jesus were “devoted to … the fellowship.” I think that means two things. First, it means that this sense of connection was important to them – that somehow they understood that if the church of Jesus Christ was to survive they had to be committed to each other! Second, I think it means that, like Velcro, KOINONIA has two sides. That is, just as one side of Velcro sticks to nothing – so also fellowship does not happen unless there is both a place to stick and a willingness to stick! The place is the church but the willingness belongs to each one of us.

We are talking about our “Comfort Zone” in this sermon series. We have learned that we all have a comfort zone – but that, quite often, in order to grow we must be called out of our comfort zones and into a new kind of living that God has for us. I believe that the “fellowship” described in the Book of Acts both creates and challenges our comfort zone! It creates a comfort zone because it gives us a place to belong. It challenges our comfort zone because in order to experience it we must take the risk of devoting ourselves to the process of knowing and being known by others.

So how’s your KOINONIA? Are you connected to the church as your church? Are you willing to devote yourself to the fellowship? Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone in order to be the church?

Prayer: Ask God to use his word this week to both challenge your understanding of the church as well as to encourage you to connect more deeply with your church.
 
Brian Coffey