Fellowships' Five Facts...

Dr. Ken Hemphill keyed in on "Nurturing Biblical Fellowship" in April's SBC Life. You can access the entire article here.

I had the priviledge of attending Southwestern Seminary during Dr. Hemphill's tenure as president and studied the book of 1 Corinthians under his teaching. He is an excellent communicator with a depth of knowledge in the area of spiritual gifts.

I've come to the conclusion after 20+ years of church-related ministry that the church's fellowship is one of the most critical aspects of church health. Unity within in a local body is absolutely essential in order to see Holy Spirit empowerment. With that in mind, Dr. Hemphill's thoughts on biblical fellowship are very timely for our denomination and our individual churches.

Dr. Hemphill identifies five undeniable truths of fellowship within the church:

• Truth #1: Fellowship is not optional to biblical Christianity! Jesus said, "I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34, 15:12, 17). Dr. Hemphill says, "It is an inescapable truth--we cannot belong to Christ without belonging to a community of believers".
  
• Truth #2: Fellowship with other believers is essential to personal spiritual growth! "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge" (Ephesians 3:17-19). The love of Christ surpasses knowledge! Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8:1, "But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.".
  
• Truth #3: Fellowship is essential to ministry since the unified body is the platform for the proper functioning of the spiritual gifts! According to Ken Hemphill, "In every passage where spiritual gifts are mentioned the issue of unity of the body and the common good are always preeminent".
  
• Truth #4: Authentic fellowship can only be found in Christ! Dr Hemphill stresses, "For the early church koinonia was a group of believers who were bound together by their common loyalty to Christ. Our fellowship crosses racial, cultural, gender, and other artificial boundaries to find its basis in Christ alone."
  
• Truth #5: Fellowship is essential to Kingdom expansion! According to Hemphill, "The church that practices biblical fellowship will function like a magnet to the fellowship-hungry world".

The Fellowship Purpose...

Cornerstone exists...to Unite Believers. This is the fellowship purpose. Cornerstone had been deeply divided six years ago when I arrived. It was obvious that one of the most pressing needs that the church was experiencing was the need for unity. There are a mulititude of scriptures that indicate the importance of unity within the Body of Christ. Jesus in prayed in his High Priestly prayer that the church would be unified even as the Father and the Son were unified. I believe that a church must come together in unity to truly see the Holy Spirit work in and through the church.

The primary caregivers of church unity at Cornerstone are the Deacons. After all, it was the Deacons who were called to serve when the dispute arose between the Hellenistic Widows and the Jewish widows in the early church. Deacons at Cornerstone are true servants. They are not an administrative board and they are not elders--they are servants. Each Spring the Deacons and I head off for a mountain retreat where among other things the Deacons choose the families for which they will provide care throughout the coming year. I ask our Deacons to serve as pastors for their families--providing the same care they might expect from myself. Their care does not replace mine but rather builds upon the care that I provide as well. Deacon care is defined in the following four ways:

Chaplains - providing pastoral care
Accountability - being our brothers' keeper
Resources - meeting needs wherever they may exist
Encouragement - cheering each other on to victory

In addition, our Deacons periodically will get together with their chosen families for times of food and fellowship. The idea is for our church members to assume responsibility for each other under a Deacon's leadership. It is not unusual for a "Deacon CARE Group" to pitch in several hundred dollars to meet a financial need, or to provide meals for a family who has a family member in the hospital. Unity grows when we meet each others needs in practical and caring ways.

Our Deacons, though ordained for life, serve a three-year term before taking a year off from active service. A typical Deacon meeting occurs early Saturday morning and is almost entirely spent discussing the state of our families and any care that is needed.