Tag Archives: Fellowship

Packer on “Fellowship”

01 Friday Jul 2016

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Many struggle to grasp this reality for the simple fact that they still do not understand the meaning of fellowship as the word is used in Scripture. Fellowship is simply “ seeking to share with others what God has made known to you, while letting them share with you what they know of him, as a means of finding strength, refreshment and instruction for one’s own soul.” It is therefore “through fellowship and in fellowship one’s own soul is refreshed and fed by the effort to communicate one’s knowledge of divine things, to come and pray for others, and to receive from God through them.”

Quoted from  J. I. Packer On The Christian Life

Sam Storms

How We Have Fellowship With the Son (2 Cor. 3:18)

10 Saturday Oct 2015

Posted by in 1 John, 1 Peter, 2 Corinthians

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2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)

18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

 

How We Learn to Not Love the World

22 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by in 1 John, 1 Peter, Love, Mortification

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1 John 2:15–17 (ESV)

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Learning how to not love the world:

Our Fellowship is With the Father

19 Saturday Sep 2015

Posted by in 1 John, 1 Peter, Preaching, Union With Christ

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1 John 1:1–4 (ESV)

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

What does it mean to have fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ?

Pilgrim’s Progress Study Guide 5

11 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Discipleship, Humility, John Bunyan

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The prior study guide may be found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2015/02/27/pilgrims-progress-study-guide-4/

Pilgrim’s Progress, Study Guide 5:

Christian and the Valley of Humiliation

In this section of the trip, Christian descends first in the Valley of Humiliation

Background: Christian has been refreshed and encouraged in Palace Beautiful. He has eaten of the Lord’s Supper. He has known fellowship with the Church, spoken of the wonders of Christ and God’s work with his people. Then before he leaves, Christian is brought to the armoury where he is outfitted for battle, “lest perhaps he should meet with assaults in the way.”

Christian’s Departure.

  1. Notice that Palace Beautiful is at the top of a hill. One must go up the Hill of Difficulty and go down into the Valley of Humiliation. Why is that?

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The Community Aspect of Biblical Spirituality

30 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by in Fellowship, Sanctification, Worship

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God’s love for the individual as a consequence of the gospel, not the heart of the Gospel. This has big implications for evangelicalism, which has always prided itself on getting the gospel right. Here it has particular implications for spirituality, for it means that genuine biblical spirituality will reflect an express this corporate gospel. Many traditions of spirituality 10 towards individualism: evangelical spirituality, if it is biblical, I’ll not fall into the same trap. Stanley Grenz tells us that spirituality for a post modern age will need to be communitarian rather than individualistic, and Christianity that is lived as well as believed. This is biblical spirituality.

Peter Adams, Hearing God’s Words: Exploring Biblical Spirituality

This community spirituality clearly requires a certain level of relationship. We need to be sharing our lives. We need to be with other Christians “daily.” We need friendships that are real, open, and intimate. We need to give one another license to dig into our lives and challenge our hearts. We need leaders who foster this culture by giving and receiving this daily exhortation, who lead not only from their pulpits but with their lives. The word of God needs not only to be central to church life but thoroughly to pervade every aspect of it.

Chester, Tim; Timmis, Steve (2008-08-21). Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community (Re:Lit) (Kindle Locations 2117-2120). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Biblical Conflict Resolution Part 1

28 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by in 1 Corinthians, Biblical Counseling, Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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COUNSELING PROBLEMS AND BIBLICAL CHANGE
BIBLICAL CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Redeeming church conflict is less about resolving specific problems than it is about seeing conflict as a means by which God is growing his people into true saints, true eternal children of who are being continuous conformed to his holy image.
—Barthel & Edling, Redeeming Church Conflicts

INTRODUCTION
Conflict resolution is the practical outworking of a cure for a spiritual disease. This week we will first take a look at both spiritual health & the spiritual disease. We will not be going through any of the mechanics of restoration and resolution. The education of a medical doctor does not begin with surgery and medication, but rather with training in disease, germs, health, anatomy, physiology, et cetera; and so, neither will we.
In fact, a too-quick jump to mechanics without an understanding of disease and health can easily lead to worse problems. Therefore, we will look at this situation from the prospective of spiritual mechanics of the heart, before we look to interpersonal mechanics.
II. PEACEMAKING AND FELLOWSHIP
Peacemaking is the act of restoring/developing true Christian fellowship. Peacemaking, understood rightly, is worship and seeks to create deeper, more God-glorifying worship. Peacemaking is an act of love, in that seeks to restore relationships between human & God, and between brother & sister. Thus, peacemaking is based upon fellowship and develops/restores fellowship.
A. Something in Common
Fellowship simply means to hold something in common:

Fellowship (Gk. koinōnía). The communion or common faith, experiences, and expressions shared by the family of believers, as well as the intimate relationship they have with God.

Allen C. Myers, The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987), 380.

When we speak of “fellowship” we are speaking of communion, holding something in common; we are not speaking of just friendship.

Since fellowship hinges upon having something in common with another, it is type of relationship which can develop quickly and will continue as long as the thing in common continues to draw the people into relationship. Consequently, it is a type of relationship which will end as soon as the basis for the relationship is withdrawn. Thus, it is fundamentally different than most friendships.

We know and experience fellowship at various levels and over various things. Some fellowship is very thin. Employees of a company have a sort of fellowship in common in that they have experiences, concerns, interests which are in common and based upon their common employment. If the group from work goes out to dinner together, they will most likely center their attention on their common interest: work.

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