Jolly, Good Fellow.

As we continue our reflection on "the pastor, the fellowship, and God as our Captain" (Dr. Lowell Hawthorne), let's take some time to think about our community of faith.

"Fellowship" is a challenging word. We don't ever want to forget that we are a church, a gathering of people whom God has called to represent Christ Jesus in the world. There are fellowships that are not churches: gangs, cults, secret societies such as the Freemasons or Elks, fraternities and sororities, and other religions that do not confess Jesus as Lord and King.

As a church, then, we find that we are strengthened by the relationships we have. Each individual has his part to play in the functioning of the entire body. Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene has many people with a diverse array of skills and gifts. Scripture tells us that these gifts are to be used, in a spirit of love, to build up the body of Christ in the local church (see Ephesians 4:11-13).

In addition to exercising our gifts, we are called to grow up. Just as we don't expect a ten-year old to still be sucking a bottle, God does not expect that we will remain in spiritual infancy over our lifetime as a Christian. The community of faith is a community that grows in knowledge, understanding, and love (see Ephesians 4:14-16).

However, being gifted and becoming a spiritual grown-up is not enough. Pastor Sam frequently warns us, from Matthew 25:31-46, that there will be many spiritually gifted people who will find themselves blocked from entering the presence of Jesus. Part of our fellowship with others involves not just meeting together, but also having compassion for those who may never walk into our church. We are called to serve.

These themes should sound familiar to Bronx Bethany people, because we hear them every week. Our leaders have boiled them down to seven words:

Loving God
Growing Together
Serving The World

A perfect template, designed to guide us as our spirits groan and wait for the day when we will be perfected in Christ.

For you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Rather than participating in them, you should even expose them! (Ephesians 5:8 and 5:11)