BTB Fellowship July 5, 2026

BACK TO BASICS

FELLOWSHIP

Today, in our ‘Back to Basic’ series, our topic is Fellowship, we’re calling it Fellowship Sunday today and not just because we’re having a potluck meal after the service. We Christians love to eat together but the meal is not fellowship but rather we can have fellowship together while eating together. Also today, we are having ‘Communion’ together, the Lord’s Table, the Love Feast. It is very significant that the Greek word for fellowship is KOINONIA, can also be translated as ‘communion’.

Just like we’re having 2 meals today -potluck is 1 and ‘communion -the Lord’s table is 2, I see fellowship as 2 parts -we have fellowship, c

‘communion’ with Christ, this is foremost and #1, and #2 we have fellowship (koinonia / communion) with each other.

So today, Fellowship Sunday, we want to speak on Fellowship with Christ and Fellowship with each other, with other Christians.

On the bulletin’s front page is just an image of various hands-on top of each other at the foot of the cross -that’s a wordless image statement on total fellowship 🡪hand’s clasped together at the base of Christ’s cross. That’s you and I. It is an image of our fellowship with Christ and with each other. Please keep that image in mind.

Fellowship with Christ.

Paul wrote to other believers of this fellowship with Christ in:

Philippians 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

the fellowship of his sufferings,

we commune, we empathize, we understand, we feel for Him in His suffering.

We Fellowship with Christ in His suffering

-He suffered in the rejection of man, even though He loved them

they rejected Him-we too know that rejection

-He suffered sorrows and the pains of this world -we know this too

-we suffer, we endure pain, sorrows, temptations, hardships

We Fellowship with Christ in His death

-Christ died for us and we die to Him, we commune with Christ, we

Forfeit our lives to Him as He forfeited His life for us

We fellowship with Christ in believing His truth, by following His way and by participating in His life.

-we walk with Christ in sweet communion, we talk with Him and we hear His wonderful fellowship words -you are my own.

When we take communion together we join in, we commune with, we remember His death, we empathize with Christ in His suffering for us

Fellowship with other Christians at Riverside Church.

Christian fellowship is the deep, spiritual bond uniting believers through their shared faith in Jesus Christ. ‘Koinonia’, means sharing, partnership, and active participation in the Gospel . It is an interdependent relationship where Christians encourage, pray, love and serve one another at the foot of the cross.

We read in:

Philippians 1: 3-5 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,

For your fellowship in the gospel …;

It is our Fellowship that unites us together, it is our fellowship that makes us 1.

Jesus said it this way;

John 17:21 that all of them (believers in Christ) may be one (united, together, having a common fellowship), Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.

“the world says diversity is our strength, but the Bible says unity is our strength. Unity in a common fellowship. The church has always struggled with division. Male and female, rich and poor, politics, personalities, preferences. We divert from our common fellowship in Christ and His cross to lessor things and we can and will become divided when we stray. Scripture tells us a very different story. We are many members but one body, not unified by culture or opinion but unified by Christ, His cross and our fellowship in Christ alone. God didn’t remove our differences, our personalities, our gifts He uses them. When we submit those differences to Christ, He uses them to become one body. United, of the same mind. It doesn’t mean we all think the same but that we all serve the same Lord, we fellowship around Him alone. The church doesn’t grow stronger by erasing differences; the church grows stronger when those differences kneel at the same cross.

-remember the image -multiple hands together at the foot of the cross.

1 Corinthians 12:12 -Unity and Diversity in the Body

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ONE BODY, UNITED, common fellowship

Christian Fellowship, communing with one another around Christ is very important. Fellowship goes far beyond socializing at potluck meals; it serves as a critical practice for individual spiritual development and church health, church body health.

Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

-believers sharpen one another's faith, correct errors in love, and push each other, we spur each other on. This is fellowship with each other.

-when we come together at church and when we meet each other outside of church this is our call, to sharpen, to build up -when you meet each other make this your job -to fellowship truly with other believers.

When we meet together, with each other, we all need to be helped by others and we all to need to help others especially encouragement: Life's difficulties are endured together by Christians. Fellowship provides comfort, reminds believers they are not alone, and keeps individuals focused on Christ during tough times, during times of sorrows and times of struggles.

Listen to the Bible’s thoughts and instructions on fellowshipping, on our communion with each other:

Romans 12

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice (communing in Christ’s death for us and us dying to Christ [sacrifice]), holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, (we are not the world -we are Christ followers) but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (think like Christ). Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought (humble with each other), but rather think of yourself with sober judgment (we’re all at the foot of the cross together), in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others (we are mutual -serving each other -not narcistic). 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn (walk life together in true fellowship). 16 Live in harmony with one another (be unified at our common fellowship -Christ and His cross).

Fulfill God's Mission together: No single believer can accomplish God's eternal plan alone. Fellowship brings together different spiritual gifts so the church can function as a unified body.

Practice our Core disciplines together. Fellowship together provides the framework for corporate worship, studying the Bible, prayer and for observing ordinances like baptism and communion.

Christian Fellowship Differs From Ordinary Friendship which are

based on common interests or personalities, biblical fellowship is rooted in a shared identity in Christ. The essence of koinonia relies on mutual investment in Gospel ministry, accountability, and intentional sacrificial care for fellow believers, making it a distinctly spiritual practice.

At Riverside Church, we believe that being part of a church is more than just attending a worship service on Sundays. It’s about growing in our relationship with God and one another. One of the most important ways we do that is through authentic Christian fellowship.

Fellowship is not just a friendly chat or shared coffee after service or potlucks. It is about doing life together, walking in faith alongside others, and growing stronger in our relationship with Christ. In a world where people often feel isolated or alone, Christian fellowship reminds us that we are never meant to go through life by ourselves.

In Ecclesiastes 4 it tells us that two are better than one. When we stumble, someone else can help us up. The church is a team, and fellowship helps us work together to accomplish God’s purposes.

Together, united, having a common fellowship, serving each other, tied together at the cross

CHRISTIANS ARE NOT TO BE NARCCISISTIC, EGOTISTICAL, ARROGANT AND SELF-CENTERED PEOPLE.

CHRISTIANS WHO BELIEVE IN CHRIST HAVE ENTERED INTO FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST (including His suffering -the rejection and pain inflicted by others) AND ALSO INTO FELLOWSHIP WITH HIS OTHER CHILDREN. WE ARE TO FELLOWSHIP WITH OTHERS LIKE CHRIST FELLOWSHIPS WITH US. (LOVE IS #1)

Application -fellowship with each other by: it’s desperately needed

Fellowship when we share the other Christian’s sorrow

Weep with those who weep (death -the great shared sorrow)

Fellowship when we share the other Christian’s joy

Rejoice with others when they rejoice

Fellowship when we share the other Christian’s need

How can you say ‘God bless you and send away a hungry Christian

Fellowship when we share the other Christian’s burden

Fellowship when we share the other Christian’s fear / anxiety

Fellowship when we share the other Christian’s physical pain

Hear others, help others, encourage others, share with others, love others as they are and see what God has already started in others, correct others (carefully) -fellowship -a whole bunch of fellows in the same ship rowing in the same direction, all for the sake of knowing Christ.