Sermon Tone Analysis

Church is more than Cheers!

From 1982-1993, Americans were glued to a sitcom, about a Boston Bar.

It was cherished because it was a place where everybody knows your name.

It’s hard to say those words without that song getting stuck in your head.

The show was Cheers!

Americans watched the ex-Boston Red Sox pitcher, Sam Malone, man the bar.

The show along with its memorable piano intro, went on to become a picture of some of the deepest relationships that many will ever have.

People long for a place and a group of people, where you can see the same faces, and of course, they know your name.

Sometimes within the church we call this fellowship.

As if the church is the non-alcoholic version of Cheers.

Once a week you see the same faces.

Maybe you have a donut and a cup of coffee with them.

Then you leave.

And you say, “Wow, that was good fellowship.”

What if I told you there’s something better?

What if I told you there is something better than just seeing the same faces, and saying, “Hi” then getting back to your life?

Within the church you’ll find true fellowship and it transcends any other earthly relationship.

This morning we are at the end of Colossians.

Go ahead and open your Bibles to Colossians 4:7-14.

As Paul begins to wind down his little letter to the church in Colossae, we learn about the friends he had.

And also, that the church is much more than a place where everybody knows your name.

This morning we will see 4 attributes of Christian fellowship that should motivate you to be an active part of the body.

Let’s go ahead and read Colossians 4:7-14.

Read Colossians 4:7-14

First, Fellowship Extends beyond the church walls.

The local church is important.

It’s important to be in a single church.

Under a single group of elders.

Being able to say, “I’m a part of that church”

And yet, the church, Christ’s body, is greater than a single church.

The love that we are to have for other believers, is more than just this church, but is to be for the church universal.

Paul is writing to a church he’s never been to.

Verses 7–8 Paul explains that Tychicus is being sent to share with a church what they have in the Lord.

He’s going to encourage their hearts.

Paul cares deeply for them.

He is writing to affirm that they are a church.

The Gospel they received from Epaphras, was the real Gospel.

They are real Christians.

The Colossians equally, care for him.

There’s a story of Jesse Owens in the 1936 Olympics, which were hosted in Berlin.

Adolf Hitler was proud to host those olympics, and he was hoping to show the Arian race.

That year, Jesse Owens jumped 26 feet, 8 1/4 inches, a record that would stand for 25 years.

As Owens walked to the pit to make the jump, he saw a tall-blond hair blue eyed man, taking practice jumps.

Owens was a little nervous.

He was a black man, very aware of the Nazis’ desire to prove their “Aryan superiority” over the other races.

The tall blond, introduced himself to Owens as Luz Long.

Luz said, “You should be able to qualify with your eyes closed!”

That was a compliment, and not what Owens was expecting.

The German and Owens struck up a conversation.

Long, then made a suggestion.

He said the distance for a qualifying jump was only 23 feet and 5 1/2 inches.

So make a mark, a few inches before the take off board, and just play it safe.

Which Owens did, and easily qualified.

In the finals, Owens went on to set an Olympic record, and earned 4 gold medals.

The first person to congratulate him, was Luz Long, right in front of Adolf Hitler.

Jesse Owens never met Luz Long again.

Long was killed in World War II.

Before Long was killed, he wrote a letter to Jesse Owens saying, “Someday find my son ... tell him about how things can be between men on this Earth.”

Owens later said, “You could melt down all the medals and cups I have, and they wouldn’t be a plating on the 24-carat friendship I felt for Luz Long.”

That was a diverse friendship and was deep.

Inside the church we have something even greater.

Within the church we have people from all over the globe who share in common that they are sinners who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ.

Think of Revelation 7:9-10, which describes the Tribulation Saints, who though diverse, give a unified praise to Christ.

They are “... a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

What we see with Paul and the early church, is an understanding that Christ is redeeming people from all over the world, that they are one in Him now, and they had a love for the church abroad.

Colossians is a letter from Paul, to a church he’s never been too.

That’s love for the church abroad.

Romans, is a missionary letter from Paul, to bring help to the Christians in Spain.

That’s love for the church abroad.

The church extends beyond these church walls.

The fellowship we have extends beyond these walls.

Second, we also see that, Fellowship Encourages the Saints

Many times we think of fellowship as:

Drinking a cup of coffee after church.

Or eating, always eating.

While fellowship can happen during those times, it is so much bigger, and so much better.

The world around us can do all of those things.

The world around us does a really good job of drinking coffee and hanging out.

It’s called Starbucks, but that’s not fellowship.

Our thoughts of fellowship are too small.

True Christian fellowship is different, it encourages the saints.

Look again at Colossians 4.

These final verses are a hall of fame of Paul’s ministry team.

Tychicus

Onesimus.

Aristarchus.

Mark.

Justus.

Epaphras

Luke

Demas.

These are people that served alongside Paul, for the purpose of encouraging the church.

True fellowship isn’t about drinking coffee and eating a donut, it happens by encouraging the local church through service united in Christ.

Using your gifts to serve others.

And allowing others to use their gifts to serve you.

We throw out the word fellowship, and it falls flat.

If it seems like Christianese without any meaning behind it, maybe it’s because our view of fellowship is impotent and powerless.

True Christian fellowship means something is happening.

In Colossians 4, there is fellowship because these people were serving one another.

God has gifted you for the purpose of serving one another.