LIFE IN CHRIST
Text: Acts 2:47
By: ITSEGHOSIMHE, CHARLES
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INTRODUCTION: FELLOWSHIP IN REAL LIFE
Church, let me begin with a story from Tyler Perry’s Ruth and Boaz.
There’s a scene that grips the heart. Naomi, broken by loss of her husband and son, was angry, bitter, and pushing people away.
Many of us know that feeling. Some of us have been Naomi — wounded, lashing out, hiding our pain.
But then comes Ruth [her son’s fiancée]. In the film, Ruth clings to Naomi and says: “Where you go, I will go. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God.”
After some time, she became bonded to Ruth and understood the impact of fellowship God brought on user through Ruth.
She said: “Since I lost my family, I forgot how good God had been to me.”
That is fellowship — refusing to let someone walk alone, even when they push you away. Fellowship sometimes requires persistence in love and acceptance of persistent love.
SCRIPTURE FOUNDATION
Acts 2:47:“Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
This comes right after Pentecost. The Spirit descended. Peter preached. Three thousand souls
believed and were baptized (Acts 2:41).
From that day, the saved were added into Christ’s body, His church.
So fellowship is not optional. It is God’s design for salvation and growth.
WHAT IS FELLOWSHIP?
The word “fellowship” comes from the Greek koinonia — meaning communion, sharing, life in common (Vine’s Expository Dictionary).
It is not just chatting after service. It is Ruth saying to Naomi, “I will not leave you.” And Naomi accepting Ruth’s genuine hands of fellowship.
It is the church of Christ living as one body.
THE EARLY CHURCH MODEL
Acts 2:42–47 shows what fellowship looked like:
- Learning together – steadfast in apostles’ teaching.
- Praying together – lifting voices to God.
- Sharing together – meeting one another’s needs.
- Worshipping together – daily in the temple.
- Living joyfully together – gladness and sincerity.
- Praising together – finding favor and growing daily.
SCENARIO (BEREAVED FAMILY):
Imagine a family in the church loses a loved one. When brethren gather around — with prayers, food, and presence — that family feels God’s love. And outsiders looking on say, “Truly, this is the family of God.”
Reflection Question: If someone looked at our church today, would they see the same kind of togetherness?
CORRECTING WRONG IMPRESSIONS
Some say: “I can worship God at home; I don’t need church.”
But Hebrews 10:24–25 says: “Do not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.”
One who says that the church is not necessary to being a Christian thereby questions the judgment of God!
Christianity was never designed to be solitary. The church is God’s eternal plan (Ephesians 3:10–11).
Scenario (Coal from the Fire):
Take one coal out of a fire. It glows for a moment, but soon dies.
That’s the Christian who isolates from fellowship. But put that coal back in the fire, and it blazes again.
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP IN PRACTICE
Acts 2:44 says, “All who believed were together, and had all things in common.” Togetherness in What?
- Teaching – growing in God’s Word.
Scenario (Athlete Example):
An athlete can train hard alone, but in a team, they run faster, push harder, and grow stronger.
That is fellowship — training in righteousness together.
- Caring – bearing one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). Like Ruth refusing to leave Naomi in her bitterness.
Scenario (Hidden Need): Some people act strong but are breaking inside — like Naomi. Fellowship means leaning in like Ruth when others push away, refusing to let loneliness destroy them. It also means willing to accept the leaning in like Naomi.
- Worship – prayer, breaking bread, singing together.
- Gladness – Psalm 122:1: “I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
- Daily Life – not just Sundays. Eating together, visiting one another, living life side by side.
Scenario (Sick Brother): A brother falls sick. Yes, he gets medicine, but what keeps his spirit alive are the visits, the prayers, the meals dropped off by brethren.
Scenario (Personal Testimony – Sickness & Fellowship)
I remember back in 2005, during our school days at Auchi Polytechnic. Myself, Bro. Oghenekaro, and Kesiena were living in the same house. At one point, I fell seriously sick and was admitted to the hospital.
While there, something funny happened — I lost appetite for all the foods I normally loved. Many Christian sisters and coursemates visited, brought meals to me out of love, but I just couldn’t eat. Then
Oghenekaro and another close coursemate took the food. Others around reacted, “Why are you eating? This food is meant for him!”
But they simply asked me, “Will you eat?” I said, “No.” And with joy, they ate the food themselves. Inside me, I thought: “Oh sickness, what have you done to me?”
But here’s the point — it wasn’t really about eating the food. It was about the visits, the prayers, the concern, the food and the love. That was the energy of God manifested for my recovery.
Their fellowship — their presence, their care — was the medicine my soul needed, and God used it as part of my healing.
That’s fellowship in action.
THE STRUGGLES OF FELLOWSHIP TODAY
But beloved, let us be honest: fellowship today has struggles.
Some of us consider attending home fellowship a burden — as if the church has imposed something heavy on us.
Some of us come, but with no gladness in our hearts — we are present physically but absent spiritually.
Some of us are always complaining and quarreling, finding more wrong than right.
Some are holding grudges while smiling — bitterness behind fake fellowship.
Some are insulting, fault-finding, refusing reconciliation. Instead of solving issues in love, we make them worse.
Some isolate themselves, create factions, and refuse to carry others along.
Some look down on others, claiming superiority, being self-centered, unwilling to forgive.
Scenario (Skipping Meals): Skipping fellowship is like skipping meals. Miss one meal, maybe nothing happens. Keep skipping, and you grow weak and may collapse.
Spiritually, that’s what happens when we neglect fellowship.
These attitudes weaken fellowship and push souls away from Christ.
But when we restore gladness, forgiveness, generosity, and love, we become like the early church — attractive, magnetic, irresistible.
And God Himself will add to our number daily.
THE IMPORTANCE OF FELLOWSHIP
People need people. Deep down, every one of us wants to belong.
That’s why we grow up in families that nurture us. It’s why we join clubs, attend meetings, build friendships, or apply for jobs where we’ll work with others. All of us long to be included.
But without fellowship in the church, we stop being a true family of God.
We risk becoming just a crowd of people meeting in the same building — disjointed, uninvolved, and frustrated, because something vital is missing.
It’s a known fact: newborn Christians will naturally seek out companionship. If they don’t find fellowship inside the body of Christ, they will look for it outside.
And when the world offers them its counterfeit associations, many fall back into temptation and are lost to the fellowship.
That’s why we must constantly be aware of the need for fellowship — beyond worship halls and worship periods — where we provide care, support, and love to one another.
Yes, it’s true that fellowship gatherings have sometimes been misused. But the misuse of a good thing doesn’t mean we should do away with it.
Fellowship is God’s design for His people. We must never abandon it.
THE RESULTS OF CHRISTIAN TOGETHERNESS
The results of true Christian togetherness, just as in the early church, are powerful.
Acts 2:47 says: “Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily
those who were being saved.” The church grew daily!
The psalmist also declared: “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD” (Psalm 122:1). Joyful fellowship stirs hearts, and joyful unity draws people in.
When people see genuine togetherness in the church, they will want to be part of the family of God.
They are attracted not just by preaching, but by the visible love, care, and joy shared among Christians. Togetherness makes the message believable.
Today, we live in a world where loneliness is everywhere — even inside the church. This is one reason suicide rates are rising, because people are isolated and feel unseen.
But people will always be drawn to a fellowship where they find real love, real inclusion, and real togetherness.
There, lives will be transformed, souls will be converted, and the church will grow.
Perhaps one reason the church has not grown as much as we desire is that we have not displayed to the world the same kind of fellowship that the first-century church lived out in Christ.
But here is our hope: togetherness can still be made a concrete reality in our time.
When God makes us one with Him, He also makes it possible for us to be one with each other.
As John wrote in 1 John 1:3: “What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
THE REWARDS OF FELLOWSHIP
- Cleansing from sin – walking in the Light (1 John 1:7).
- Strength in trials – when others pray for you.
- A living witness – John 13:35, love proves we are His disciples.
- Healing from loneliness – fellowship saves lives in a world drowning in isolation.
INVITATION TO FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD
But true fellowship begins with God. 1 John 1:3: “Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
Think about it: when you love someone deeply, you want to be with them always. That’s what fellowship with God is — knowing Him, loving Him, staying in His presence.
Psalm 42:1–2: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God.”
But to enjoy this fellowship, Peter said in Acts 2:38: “Repent and be baptized… for the forgiveness of sins.”
Friend, if you have not given your life to Christ, this is your moment.
CONCLUSION & CALL
The early church grew because they were together. They prayed, worshipped, cared, forgave, rejoiced — and the Lord added daily.
If we want revival, we must restore fellowship.
Final Appeal:
To brethren: do not withdraw. Don’t just attend church; be the church. Someone needs your presence.
To seekers: Jesus invites you into His family today.
Our Prayer: Lord, heal our divisions. Remove bitterness. Restore gladness. Make our fellowship real, joyful, and life-giving. And may Your church grow daily as souls are drawn to You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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