Part 3
One of the main tenets of the Early Christian Church was
fellowship and the breaking of bread. It was done weekly
and in some places the Early Church would meet daily. As
they met together to worship, converse about life and
struggles, and ate with one another, they inevitably became
a community. Simon Sinek describes community in this
manner, “community is a group of people who agree to grow
together”. Our agreement as Christians resides in Jesus who
opens the door to a bonding that can occur amongst us if
we are serious about true fellowship.
In Christianity we find that God, through the sacrifice of
Jesus, erases all boundaries that humanity tries to set up.
The world is quick to make distinctions between rich and
poor, black and white, liberal and conservative, etc. When
we permit conflict to arise within Christianity we permit
these boundaries to exist within the context of church.
Notice what the Biblical scholar, William Barclay mentions:
“A church where social and class distinctions
exist is no true church at all. A real church is
a body of men and women united to each other
because all are united to Christ.”
(The Letters to the Corinthians, p. 120).
Something that occurs from time to time is that disagreements
arise and hardships destroy the bonds that were
formed in Christ. We, as Christians, need to realize that
these are temporary conflicts that we should not permit to
cause eternal separations in our relationships with others.
As we continue our Fellowship & Bread Series, we will be
studying a situation that arose within the Corinthian
Church. May we learn from these lessons so that we can
apply the wisdom found in the scriptures.
This week as we study through 1 Corinthians 11 let us ask
the Holy Spirit to be our guide. There are many things that
the devil would like to use as division points between all of
us, and if we give him permission to do so, great divisions
will exist within our congregation. May we constantly pray
that the Lord keep a hedge of protection around us. May
we ask for the Holy Spirit to guide us through conflict and
may the Spirit work on our hearts so that we can let go of
the differences that have arisen amongst us.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Geraldo
Recent Comments