What is fellowship?
A dictionary tells us that the word ‘fellowship’ means ‘sharing together’. It describes a group of people who come together because they have a common interest. It is an important word in the Bible and is used to describe the way disciples join together when they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. They become part of a new spiritual family and so call each other brother or sister.
Fellowship in the New Testament
When the apostles preached the Gospel, after the resurrection of Jesus, many people were baptised and we read about their new lives in Acts chapter 2.
“So those who received his word were baptized…And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
(Act 2:41-42)
The order of words here is important. First of all people were baptised into the saving name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then they listened carefully to the teaching of the apostles and part of what they learned was that they now had a new relationship together. They met together in groups as brothers and sisters in a new family, the family of God – this was their fellowship. They met regularly, in worship, to share bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus as he had commanded them and they prayed together. This idea of living and worshipping ‘together’ is a key part of fellowship
Joining a new family
This principle of being part of a new family is there in the name ‘Christadelphian’. It means ‘brothers in Christ’ and it is taken from the opening words of the Letter to the Colossians.
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.”
(Colossians 1:1-2)
When new members join disciples of Jesus, after their baptism, they are welcomed with a formal handshake which the Bible calls “the right hand of fellowship”. We use this handshake to show our welcome of a new brother or sister into the group of people who are in fellowship with other disciples because they share the same beliefs in Jesus as their saviour and in the coming Kingdom of God. In this way they are received into a spiritual family of brothers