Courageous: session 4

Spofford Men's Retreat

Life is a relay, passing the baton from one to another.
If you want to run fast you run alone, but if you want to run far you run together.
1 Peter 2:10 - love the brotherhood
Courageous men choose to serve together in fellowship.

Fellowship is abiding in God's community - living out life in God's community (including the good, bad and ugly).
And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. (1 John 4:21 NIV)
 - he who loves God must love his brother also.

Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:14, 15 NIV)
- Timothy provides instruction on how to live in the House of God

4 levels of fellowship:
1. Membership: choosing to belong.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, (Ephesians 2:19 NIV)
- Christian life is not just a matter of believing. It is a matter of belonging.
- A Christian without a church is an orphan. God meant for us to be part of a family.
2. Friendship: learning to share.
All the believers were together and had everything in common. (Acts 2:44 NIV)

An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends
and against all sound judgment starts quarrels. (Proverbs 18:1 NIV)

- despite our modern connectivity in this society, we are becoming increasingly isolated
- sharing must take place for friendships to develop
3. Partnership: doing my part.
For we are co-workers in God's service; you are God's field, God's building. (1 Corinthians 3:9 NIV)
- we are partners working together for God
From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:16 NIV)
- every part does its share, to grow into the fullness of Christ
4. Kinship: loving believers like my family.
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. (Romans 12:10 NIV)
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. (1 John 3:16 NIV)
- we also ought to lay down our lives for our kin (friends)
The Greek word in the bible for fellowship is koinona: meaning "common" as in a common commitment to one a other.

Benefits of brotherly fellowship
1. Men experience honesty
2. Men experience mutuality
3. Men experience sympathy
4. Men experience mercy
5. Fellowship requires time and commitment