Friday, October 20, 2006
We are chosen to fellowship together.
Oxford dictionary defines ?fellowship? as ?a group sharing a common interest or aim?. Our common interest as believers in BCC and more specifically in CGs is we believe in the same one Lord and God of our lives. Actually fellowship was practiced way before we were created. The Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit had fellowship with each other. Then the angels came along and had fellowship with God. God then made us in His image, i.e. to be like Him; to share His glory and have fellowship with Him. The fellowship in heaven must be perfect and heavenly with no place for pride, hurt or ill intention. You cannot be a hermit or hide in heaven for 2 reasons; the glory of God shall be like the sun and there shall be no darkness and the Holy Spirit will still be in each of us! In heaven we shall rule with the King of kings and the Lord of lords. No sibling rivalry or jealousy to worry about. One reason why God wants us to have fellowship with one another on earth is because that's what heaven is about. He made us this way, as our God is a God of fellowship. God?s nature and character is best expressed through fellowship. In the same way fellowship will expose our very being and put to practice the command to love one another.
One of the biggest challenges in Christian fellowship is when we disagree, sometimes vehemently on what is termed principle and dogmatically on what is considered theological truth. These disagreements had led to some leaving the church and friendships frayed or even broken. How can we disagree and not be disagreeable? Many things are good but few are important. The 5 "alones" we cannot compromise on as articulated by Prof Ramesh from Dallas Theological Seminary are as follows:
By grace alone
Through faith alone
In Christ alone
The Bible alone
For God's glory alone.
The rest we can learn to agree to disagree. The spirit of love and humility will enable us to reject the notion that only we have the exclusive right to truth or that our view must be the only right one. Be wary that our dogmatic view could be a guise for unresolved pride in our lives. Even Peter when he was full of the Holy Spirit needed correction on believe tainted by prejudice!
Next Sunday is our EOGM. May the spirit of love, unity and humility prevail.
Recently I benefited greatly from being in fellowship with God's people with miraculous answers to prayers. 2. Cor 1:11 says we are helped by the prayers of others and the prayers of our fellowship group lead to "gracious favours granted". May you be encouraged to share your needs with your CGs.
One of the biggest challenges in Christian fellowship is when we disagree, sometimes vehemently on what is termed principle and dogmatically on what is considered theological truth. These disagreements had led to some leaving the church and friendships frayed or even broken. How can we disagree and not be disagreeable? Many things are good but few are important. The 5 "alones" we cannot compromise on as articulated by Prof Ramesh from Dallas Theological Seminary are as follows:
By grace alone
Through faith alone
In Christ alone
The Bible alone
For God's glory alone.
The rest we can learn to agree to disagree. The spirit of love and humility will enable us to reject the notion that only we have the exclusive right to truth or that our view must be the only right one. Be wary that our dogmatic view could be a guise for unresolved pride in our lives. Even Peter when he was full of the Holy Spirit needed correction on believe tainted by prejudice!
Next Sunday is our EOGM. May the spirit of love, unity and humility prevail.
Recently I benefited greatly from being in fellowship with God's people with miraculous answers to prayers. 2. Cor 1:11 says we are helped by the prayers of others and the prayers of our fellowship group lead to "gracious favours granted". May you be encouraged to share your needs with your CGs.
// posted by sleepless wherever @ 7:25 PM 
