What we experience in Christ, we share with each other. And we only fully participate in the life of Christ if and when we operate as part of the mutually loving body of Christ. This is why Paul wants to tell us to think like Christ in complete and total sacrifice. Yet he begins that section of Philippians 2 by urging us to be like Christ, "if there is any fellowship in the Spirit” (Phil 2:1).

Fellowship is to participate in and share life together. This is why “church” means “community,” especially one that lives and loves together. 

The sermon today is titled "Fellowship." It is the fourth installment in our "Community" Series. The Scripture reading is from Acts 2:42 (ESV). Originally preached at the West Side Church of Christ (Searcy, AR) on May 14, 2023. All lessons fit under one of 5 broad categories: Begin, Discover, Grow, Learn, and Serve. This sermon is filed under DISCOVER: A New Community.

Click here if you would like to watch the sermon or read a transcript.

Footnotes (Sources and References Used In Today's Podcast):

• For an excellent discussion of church life and COVID, see the Journal of Christian Studies, Vol 1, No. 1 (Jan 2022). Available in full at Christian-studies.org.
• For quote about 4th of July Saturday gathering, see Allan Stanglin quoted in "Pastoral Care in the Pandemic," JCS 1/1 (Jan 2022): 76-77.
• For emergencies becoming norms, see Keith D. Stanglin, "Upon This Rock I Will Build My Livestream: Reflections on Ecclesiological Emergencies," JCS 1/1 (Jan 2022): 28-31.
• Amy Kiley, Roadside Service: Drive-In Church Brings God to Your Car," NPR (March 3, 2014).
• For the Dwight L. Moody fireplace illustration, see here.
• Ignatius, Letter to the Ephesians 13.
• On the Jesus community involved in each other's business, see Ed Gallagher, "A Worshipping Community on a Mandated Break," JCS 1/1 (Jan 2022): 14.
• "A true friend helps you move a body." Andy Crouch, The Life We're Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World (Convergent, 2022), p. 71.
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together [1940]
• For the AA story, see Philip Yancey, Church: Why Bother? (Zondervan, 1998), pp. 48-52.

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