Passage: Spiritual Disciplines | Lesson 11
Spiritual Discipline of Fellowship, Rebuke and ReproofDarren Lo | May 31, 2015
Opening Question:
If you were to invite incoming freshmen to your on-campus fellowship, what reason would that be based on?
Definition of Fellowship: active intention to seek and be involved in the partnership with believers for a common, Christ-centered purpose.
Top Ten Things the Bible Says About Fellowship
(adapted from James MacDonald)
1. Commonality (Acts 2:42, 44)
a. koinonia (Greek for fellowship): also means communion, fellowship, association, participation, close relationship, generosity, unity, share
b. The early church had a general COMMON purpose: teaching, fellowship, prayer, eat
b. The early church had a general COMMON purpose: teaching, fellowship, prayer, eat
2. Critical (Acts 2:42, 46-47)
a. 5 reasons given for NOT fellowshipping: Too busy, fear, no trust, don’t need it, secrets
b. First church needed fellowship and we still need it today—they devoted themselves
to gathering together each day
3. Christian Company / Context (2 Corinthians 6:14-15, 1 Corinthians 15:33)
a. Fellowship, in the context of disciplines, can only be attained amongst Christians
b. Our primary concern must be focused on growing amongst believers in order
for fellowship to be developed
4. Christ Centered (1 Corinthians 1:9)
a. Levels of conversation today: surface (weather, sports, food), personal (health, career, family), spiritual (prayer, walk with Christ)
b. Fellowship only occurs when we get to “level 3”: spiritual. Have spiritual conversations
based on your journey in Christ—this will encourage true growth.
5. Care (2 Corinthians 8:1-5, Acts 2:45)
a. Generously give, not just financially, but find other means of support
b. Follow-up is a large part of attaining this aspect of fellowship. Ask good questions
outside of gatherings.
6. Co-labor (Galatians 2:9, Ephesians 4:11-12)
a. Share in ministry together
b. Have a general purpose that you move towards together
7. Commitment (Philippians 1:3-5, Hebrews 10:23-24)
a. Gather together despite the good and bad times.
b. Don’t stop gathering together even beyond college. It only gets harder as you age.
Commit to this now.
8. Candid Communication / Confession (1 John 1:6-10)
a. Speak the truth to each other in honesty. Not just sharing with each other, but also as we
see sin in each others’ lives.
b. REPROOF (discipline of) belongs in this area of fellowship (Matthew 18:15)
i. Definition: convict, convince, show, reveal, tell a fault
ii. Speaking out to others about difficult topics: sins, struggles, difficulties, secrets
iii. First step in the area of correction/discipline
9. Complicated / Complexity (Philippians 3:10-11, Romans 8:17)
a. It’s ok to suffer in fellowship with each other because Christ also suffered
b. Expect there to be difficulties working together because Christ endured pain without fault
c. REBUKE (discipline of) belongs in this area of fellowship because it hurts (Matthew
18:16)
i. Definition: admonish, scold, sternly warn, forbid, reprimand
ii. Becomes more public to discipline someone with find evidence from others
iii. Where reproof says “slow down”, rebuke says “stop”
10. Communion (Philippians 2:1-2, Ephesians 4:2-6)
a. Fellowship produces spiritual unity—byproduct of experiencing true fellowship
b. Unity in a spiritual sense: love, forgive, work together
Questions to Think About:
Have you or your on-campus fellowships experienced these areas of fellowship?
Are you practicing TRUE fellowship?
What areas do you need to work on?
What areas should your fellowships work on?
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