Fellowship for Spiritual Maturity

Jesus, in a parable about the kingdom of God, said: “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or see you thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go visit you?’ And the king will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine (Christians)."  Matt 25:34-40  "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." Matt 10:42

Truly, we are surrounded by royalty in the church. The God of the universe has adopted these humans as sons & daughters – and heirs. The biggest way to get a blessing from God is to bless these people.  John 1:12-13  " Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

The Bible is full of “one another” statements, telling how to be with fellow brethren. 
John 13:14 – “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.” 
John 13:34 – "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” 
Romans 12:10 – “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.” 
Romans 12:16 – “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.” 
Romans 14:13 – “Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.” 
Romans 16:16 – “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” 
Ephesians 4:2 – “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” 
Ephesians 5:19 – “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” 
Ephesians 5:21 – “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” 
Colossians 3:13 – “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” 
Hebrews 10:24-25 – “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” 
1 Peter 4:9 – “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” 
James 5:9 – “Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” 
James 5:16 – “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” 
1 John 3:23 – “And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.” Does this sound like your church? Should it? Who should start praying and working to make it that way?

As you befriend them, do for them and pray for them you begin to love them. The love becomes mutual and powerful. A good prayer for this is: “Jesus, please make our fellowship one, just as You and the Father are one. Jesus, please place the love you have for each of us in our hearts, as well. Amen.”

As we become “one”, there is a need to have a higher purpose for the group to strive towards. Otherwise, the fellowship starts to get stale and self-centered. What then?

However, God comes first

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

   5 It is actually reported that sexual immorality exists among you, and of a kind that is not found even among the gentiles. A man is actually living with his father’s wife! ² And you are being arrogant instead of being filled with grief and seeing to it that the man who did this is removed from among you. ³ Even though I am away from you physically, I am with you in spirit. I have already passed judgment on the man who did this, as though I were present with you. ⁴ In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are gathered together (and I am there in spirit), and the power of our Lord Jesus is there, too, ⁵ turn this man over to Satan for the destruction of his body, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord.
   ⁶ Your boasting is not good. You know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough, don’t you? ⁷ Get rid of the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough, since you are to be free from yeast. For the Messiah, our Passover, has been sacrificed. ⁸ So let’s keep celebrating the festival, neither with old yeast nor with yeast that is evil and wicked, but with yeast-free bread that is both sincere and true.
   ⁹ I wrote to you in my letter to stop associating with people who are sexually immoral— ¹⁰ not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, greedy, robbers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. ¹¹ But now I am writing to you to stop associating with any so-called brother if he is sexually immoral, greedy, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunk, or a robber. You must even stop eating with someone like that. ¹² After all, is it my business to judge outsiders? You are to judge those who are in the community, aren’t you? ¹³ God will judge outsiders. “Expel that wicked man.”

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