LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #229 | THE LIFE OF MOSES #210
Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3915
LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #229
THE LIFE OF MOSES #210
MOSES AT MT.SINAI#109
THE TABERNACLE OF MOSES ( Part 68)
THE TABLE OF SHOWBREAD IN THE TABERNACLE OF MOSES #22
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KOINONIA FELLOWSHIP THAT INCLUDES THE BREAKING OF BREAD?( Part 2 )
Does Koinonia define The Real Church?
It is awful to play the game of Churchianity...a form of godliness without the power of God in it.
The Koinonia fellowship of the early church - described in the Book of Acts - gives us an actual role model of what dynamic church life should be.
Acts 2:42 says: "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers."
In other words, four things defined who they were:
They learned together.
They ate together.
They prayed together.
They had fellowship together
1.They learned together.
They recognized that there was a whole lot about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit they did not understand.
So they made a commitment to learn together – by “devoting themselves to the apostles’ teachings.”
They must have shared their thoughts about God and Jesus and here’s the important part: they did it together.
2. They ate together.
It’s more than simply consuming food in the presence of other people.
In the early church, they shared meals with each other.
Verse 46 spells it out: “They “broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts.” Glad and generous hearts – I like the way the writer of Acts throws that in. It’s that sacred, holy ground kind of eating together. It’s more than consuming food in the presence of others people. It’s like partaking holy communion together.
3. They prayed together.
Specifically it says, “the prayers;” which kind of gives you the sense that they had liturgical prayers.
Even so, their prayers reminded those praying how they belonged to a family of faith who celebrated with them in the good times and stood by them in the bad.
4. So they learned together. They ate together. They prayed together. And they had fellowship together.
Lloyd John Ogilvie, once told the story about a foreign exchange student learning the English language. When he came upon the word “fellowship,” he said, “I understand that one. It means fellows in the same ship.”
Not the technical definition, but not far off, is it?
The Greek word here is Koinonia which means “relationship characterized by sharing in common fellowship, participation and giving so others can share the same generosity.”
It’s more than just “hanging out” together. It is intentional, and it is perpetual. Koinonia fosters greater koinonia.
Here's a recorded list of what Koinonia means to church members:
1. We are connected to God and to each other.
2. We worship God with people we love.
3. We work together to make the world a better place.
4. We get in touch with that which is larger than our own selves, and that which invites us to be closer to our true selves.
5.We seek community in the chaos of the world.
6.We celebrate and propagate love.
7.We lighten the load for fellow travelers
8. And one comment simply said, “Life together.”
Has the world of Zoom brought us any closer together? Are we in the same boat together with Jesus?
