Koinonia

Good morning, Five Minute Families. How has your week been so far? We pray that the Lord meets you today in a mighty and wonderful way so that you know His power and His hope and His glory.Alongside our key concept of intentional intimacy here at Clear View Retreat, we always encouraging families to disconnect to reconnect. Disconnect from technology and from other distractions in order to reconnect with the Lord and with your loved ones.A Greek word used several times throughout the New Testament is koinonia which means ‘Christian fellowship or communion, with God or, more commonly, with fellow Christians.’ A few synonyms for koininia arefellowshipassociationcommunitycommunionjoint participationor intimacyListen and contemplate these Bible verses. We are going to highlight the koinonia words as we read:1 Corinthians 1:9 – God is faithful; you were called by him into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.1 Corinthians 10:16 – The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?Philippians 1:5 – because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.Philippians 2:1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the spirit, if any affection and mercy,Philippians 3:10 – My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death,1 John 1:3 – what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.1 John 1:6 – If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth.Philemon 1:6 – I pray that your participation in the faith may become effective through knowing every good thing that is in us for the glory of Christ.What trends are running through those verses beyond the koinonia definition we mentioned earlier?A calling into fellowship and into communityDeep communion with the Father, through Christ and in Christ, knowing even his sufferingPartnering and participating in the gospelSharing Christ with one anotherBeing united in the Spirit with intentional purposeAnd Practicing the truth togetherJohn 13:34 encourages us to love one another as Christ has loved us. And, Proverbs 27:17 tells us, “Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another.”Easy, right? How do we even do that? Have any of you chopped wood? Have you ever done it with a dull axe? You wear yourself out using a dull tool. That’s why God uses the analogy of iron sharpening iron. Even in loving we can grow weary and tired. That is normal; that is humanity. So, we must sharpen our axes through the fellowship of biblical community. A favorite quote of mine is from Charles Swindoll: “A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living.”Families are on the front lines, and the front lines need and deserve support, encouragement, and koinonia. Essentially, we need and are designed for biblical community. Please note that Christ is the head and connected to our community. He is NOT the priority of the biblical community. He is the REASON for it. He is preeminent. Biblical community based on saints who care and disciple another and who give and receive instruction in order to proclaim the truth.To connect to one another we must make time for each other. That’s why we launched the Five Minute Family initiative. We must realize the importance of the smallest of moments. Those smallest of moments and those large nuggets of time all take intentionality.Begin with those five minutes a day and see what God will do. Take five minutes to spend writing a note a church member, or spend five minutes calling the pastor’s wife to see if you can pray for your church leadership. Take five minutes to order pizza for a friend’s family that is struggling right now. Brainstorm ideas to intentionally reach out to your biblical community this week.Thank you for joining us this morning. We would love to be in greater biblical community with by hearing your thoughts and prayer needs. You can comment on our blog at clearviewretreat.org and our facebook page, too. God bless!