Day 35: Spirit Baptism and Fellowship Groups ========================================= The Baptism of the Holy Spirit and fellowship groups go hand in hand. Both are necessary for Christian to grow in the fullness of Christ. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is essentiall for the core members of a fellowship group to functions as God intends. We see an example of a fellowship group in Jesus and His 12 disciples. Here we see the disciples in close contact with Jesus himself and yet there remained the Peters of the day who were unconverted even though they communed with Christ daily. We see this in Luke 22:31-32; And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Even though Peter was part of the fwllowship group he remained unconverted. But what kept him going was that there was someone praying for him. It is also essential that we pray for each other in our fellowship groups, let us not be too quick to condemn Christ has a way of working with people that is diffent from our thinking. We also see in Luke 22:24; And there was strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. Another problem arises yet one would assume they were in fellowship with Jesus so the fight for supremacy would be out of the question. This fight is not always literal but it is also detected in our attitudes where sometimes we want to think of ourselves as better than others. Yet the ground at the cross remains level. Fast forward with me to Acts where we see the disciples totally changed working together in harmony, doing great miracles and preaching the gospel throughout the world. What changed? I am glad you asked. When they abandoned their fight for supremacy, their factions and united in prayer in one accord then the Holy Spirit came down like a mighty rushing wind. From that day forward they and all others who were present entered into a genuine Christian fellowship that God desires every believer to experience. We see this evidenced in Acts 2:42, 46-47; And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 46And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,47Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. The early churchs fellowship way of doing church cannot happen in a large traditional church Sabbath morning worship service because of the interrelational dynamics required between Spirif filled believers. The only way this kind of fellowship experience can happen is in small Christian fellowship groups. The worship service is very important but not enough. We need each other to keep the fire burning just like a fire going. We need to keep the embers together in order to keep the fire burning. Once we seperate them they individually die down. We need each other for help and encouragement and also praying for each other. Prayer: Father we thank you once again for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Baptise us anew and bring a revival into our lives and the church. Bless us so we can be grounded in Christ and continue steadfastly till Jesus comes back again. In Jesus name Amen
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 06:57:22 +0000
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