"You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord." Ephesians 2:19-21.
"These rough stones we bring if possible into the workshop of God where they will be hewed and squared, and all the rough edges removed, and they be polished under the divine hand until they will make precious stones in the temple of God and shall be living stones emitting light. Thus they may grow up into a holy temple for God." —Evangelism, p. 573.
You have the opportunity of Christian fellowship! You can express your thanksgiving and praise! Your heart can be aglow with God's love!
Fellowship with other Christians brings gladness. The opportunity from time to time to interchange thoughts about Christ, to relate recent experiences, and to express thanksgiving and praise will strengthen your own experience. All of these blessings of fellowship can be yours.
In this lesson you will discover that —
CHURCH FELLOWSHIP
1. What was the group of God's people called in Old Testament times? Acts 7:38.
Acts 7:38 (NIV) He was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us.
2. How were these Christian groups designated in the New Testament? Acts 14:27.
Acts 14:27 (NIV) On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
Note: "The church is never a place," someone has said, "but always a people; never a fold, but always a flock; never a sacred building, but always a believing assembly. The church is you who pray, not where you pray." The church is a Christian community of called-out ones.
3. What experience precedes membership in the church? 2 Corinthians 6:16-18.
2 Corinthians 6:16-18 (NIV) What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." 17) "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." 18) "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
4. How does the apostle Paul describe the church? 1 Timothy 3:15.
1 Timothy 3:15 (NIV) 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.
5. How does one become a member of God's church? Acts 2:41.
Acts 2:41 (NIV) Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Describe two necessary requisites to be fulfilled:
6. What is necessary to be accepted of God? Acts 10:34, 35.
Acts 10:34-35 (NIV) Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35) but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.
Note: The essence of this scripture is that God accepts those who show faith and obedience in their relationship with Him.
7. What experience do believers have with others who are walking in the light? 1 John 1:7.
1 John 1:7 (NIV) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8. How does a psalmist describe this blessed fellowship? Psalm 133:1.
Psalms 133:1 (NIV) A song of ascents. Of David. How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
9. What affection will members of the church have for one another? 1 Peter 1:22.
1 Peter 1:22 (NIV) Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
10. What will this Christian love lead believers to do? Galatians 6:10.
Galatians 6:10 (NIV) Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
11. What is God's purpose for His church today? Matthew 28:19, 20.
Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20) and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
HERITAGE TIE
Our Fellowship Pioneers
Now that you are a Seventh-day Adventist, would you like to know more about the Adventist pioneers? One of the most interesting was Joseph Bates, a sea captain, who became a tireless evangelist and authored the first Adventist Sabbath tract.
Joseph Bates and James White (twenty-nine years younger than Bates) united their efforts like father and son to form the framework of the movement which soon became the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. James White's companion, Ellen G. White, aided them in this work.
You will want to become better acquainted with other pioneers such as John Loughborough, Stephen Haskell, Uriah Smith, and John Nevins Andrews. Loughborough, an early Adventist evangelist, raised up many churches in America and overseas. Haskell was called the father of the tract societies and of personal witnessing programs. Writer and editor Uriah Smith became an early administrator. And John Nevins Andrews became the first Seventh-day Adventist overseas missionary. Our Andrews University, which includes the theological seminary, bears his name. You will want to read more about these and many other pioneers.
Unless otherwise designated, scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION�. Copyright � 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.