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24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
The New International Version. (2011). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Fellowship, among believers
Synopsis
The fellowship that believers share as a result of their common union with God through Jesus Christ is expressed in life together. It is evident in worship together, in a love for one another which reflects God’s own love and in a practical commitment to one another which is demonstrated in concern for the weak and readiness to share with the poor and needy.
Sharing in the fellowship of God’s love
(NIV) — 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
See also ; ; ;
(NIV) — 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
(NIV) — 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
(NIV) — 1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
(NIV) — 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.
(NIV) — 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Worshipping together
(NIV) — 14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers.
See also ; ; ;
(NIV) — 4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.
(NIV) — 26 What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.
(NIV) — 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
(NIV) — 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
See also ; ;
(NIV) — 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
(NIV) — 12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.
(NIV) — 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Breaking bread together
; ; Love feasts accompanied the Lord’s Supper though these were open to abuse.
(NIV) — 16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.
(NIV) — 13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.
(NIV) — 12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead.
(NIV) — 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
See also ;
(NIV) — 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
(NIV) — 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
Showing hospitality
(NIV) — 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
See also ; ; ;
(NIV) — 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
(NIV) — 1 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
(NIV) — 8 We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.
Sharing money and possessions
;
(NIV) — 10 Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.
(NIV) — 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.
See also God’s people are to reflect his concern for the needy in society; ; ; ; ; ; ;
(NIV) — 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.
(NIV) — 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
(NIV) — 11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
(NIV) — 32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
(NIV) — 13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, 15 as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”
(NIV) — 17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
(NIV) — 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
(NIV) — 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?
Examples of sharing with the needy
Job’s compassion for the needy; the daily distribution to widows; Tabitha’s concern for the poor
(NIV) — 16 “If I have denied the desires of the poor or let the eyes of the widow grow weary, 17 if I have kept my bread to myself, not sharing it with the fatherless— 18 but from my youth I reared them as a father would, and from my birth I guided the widow— 19 if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing, or the needy without garments, 20 and their hearts did not bless me for warming them with the fleece from my sheep,
(NIV) — 1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
(NIV) — 36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor.
The collection for believers in Judea:
; ;
(NIV) — 29 The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
(NIV) — 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem.
(NIV) — 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people.
Strengthening one another in fellowship together
Bearing with the weak
(NIV) — 1 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
See also ; ; ;
(NIV) — 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
(NIV) — 1 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters.
(NIV) — 1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.
(NIV) — 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
Strengthening the weak
(NIV) — 3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”
See also
(NIV) — 3 Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands. 4 Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees.
Encouraging one another
(NIV) — 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
See also ; ; ;
(NIV) — 16 And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God.
(NIV) — 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.
(NIV) — 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
(NIV) — 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
Putting the needs of others first
(NIV) — 2 Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.
See also ;
(NIV) — 24 No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.
(NIV) — 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—33 even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
True fellowship means living in harmony
(NIV) — 8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.
See also ; ; ;
(NIV) — 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
(NIV) — 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
(NIV) — 1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
(NIV) — 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Showing equal concern for all
; ;
(NIV) — 34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism
(NIV) — 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
(NIV) — 1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Examples of fellowship
Moses and Hobab; David and Jonathan; Jehu and Jehonadab
(NIV) — 31 But Moses said, “Please do not leave us. You know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you can be our eyes. 32 If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the Lord gives us.”
(NIV) — 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.
(NIV) — 15 After he left there, he came upon Jehonadab son of Rekab, who was on his way to meet him. Jehu greeted him and said, “Are you in accord with me, as I am with you?” “I am,” Jehonadab answered. “If so,” said Jehu, “give me your hand.” So he did, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot. 16 Jehu said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.” Then he had him ride along in his chariot.
Failure to exhibit true fellowship
Troublemakers in David’s army are unwilling to share the spoils; factions within the church at Corinth; Selfishness at love feasts humiliates the poor.
(NIV) — 22 But all the evil men and troublemakers among David’s followers said, “Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered. However, each man may take his wife and children and go.”
(NIV) — 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
(NIV) — 17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!