A couple weeks ago I was opening up an account for a client who had just moved to San Diego from Tennessee. He did not know anyone out here, no family or friends in San Diego, but had moved here to attend law school at Thomas Jefferson. As we talked he expressed how lost he felt out here without anyone he already knew. He said, “You never realize how hard it is to make friends as an adult until you do not have anyone and you are forced to make brand new friends.” At the end of the conversation he somewhat jokingly asked me if I’d be his friend. While we laughed at the moment of how silly it sounded I couldn’t help but think that that is how simple it should be. The past couple weeks I’ve really been challenged by that conversation and the concept of fellowship as we know it.

            When thinking about fellowship I often think about the scripture in Hebrews 10:25 which talks about not neglecting the gathering together of saints. This scripture always causes me to think of fellowship in the context of a Sunday service and of what we do before or after a service with people. Sometimes I mistake fellowship for just kickin’ back and hanging out with people, but then from what I read of the early church that can’t be it either. Acts 2: 42-47 says:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

When I read that I think that fellowship is so much more than we has a church universally have let it be. When I looked up the definition of fellowship it talked about it being communion between members of the same church another definition said friendliness between Christians.

            I love comparing fellowship to communion. Too often we only think of communion as the dry wafter thing and the thimble of grape juice taken once a month. When communion took place in the Bible it was the breaking of bread with another. Inviting someone to your table was one of the most intimate and close things you could do with a person because it was considered being in covenant with that other person. Communion with another wasn’t a surface level interaction, a “hi, how’s it going, have a great day” conversation but it was a deeper connection. In Acts 2 it says they broke bread and prayed together. Fellowship is about connecting with people and praying with each other. They cared for each other’s needs. When there was a need in the body of Christ they helped meet in and they did not just limit church to what took place in the temple but they invited each other into their homes and were generous and thankful for what God was doing.

            This is a picture of what fellowship in the church body should look like. Really fellowship is friendship but in a greater way. John 13:34-35 says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” As we enter into true friendship and fellowship with one another, we will be able to love another more fully. Because of our love for one another others will know that we are followers of Christ. I love the last verse of Acts 2, “...and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

            If we are to be effective Christians we must be willing to get out of our comfort zones, enter into true fellowship and make a new friend. Sing with me now, “Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.”

            This week I challenge you to make a new friend. Invite someone to lunch or to have coffee that you have not yet connected with on a deeper level and let us know how it goes!

Live Life Extraordinary,

Alayna