. Growing TogetherIllustration: A man was traveling by train to Nashville to seek employment as a newspaper reporter. When asked for his ticket, he named a prominent paper in Nashville and explained that he was a reporter for that paper and didn't need a ticket. The conductor told him that the editor of the paper was riding in the rear of the train and if the editor would identify the man then he wouldn't need to pay. The editor was summoned and brought forward. The editor took one look and identified the man as the reporter he had falsely claimed to be. The man later approached the editor and asked him why he had covered for him. The man answered, "I'm not the editor. I'm traveling on his pass and was scared you would give me away."
If we are to grow and be all that God wants us to be we must do it together. We are not lone rangers! We are not singing solos. We are not isolationists. We are individual Christians, coming together as the body of Christ.
We are moving forward together as one single unit.
Paul and his companions set some standards for growing together in Christ.
1 Thessalonians 2:17-20 - 3:1-5 (NIV)
We must grow together in Christ!
GROWTH REQUIRES FELLOWSHIP
We should want to be together. We seek fellowship because we have a common faith. Paul said that he had an "intense longing" to see them. "we wanted to come ... Satan stopped us."
Pay attention to the intense desire for fellowship by Paul. He considered himself an orphan or a bereaved parent. He wasn't able to be in fellowship with these Christians.
Would to God that we had such an intense desire to be together. Why do we have to beg to get people to join in fellowship?
Illustration: Once a church choir director was frustrated with the sporadic attendance of all the choir members for rehearsals for the Easter Cantata. At the final rehearsal he announced, "I want to personally thank the pianist for being the only person in the entire church choir to attend each and every rehearsal during the past two months." At this, the pianist rose, bowed, and said, "It was the least I could do, considering I won't be able to be at the performance"
A big part of working and growing together in Christ is having fellowship with each other. Our fellowship should grow because we are sincerely desirous of being together. ? Why do we want to be together? We want to see Christ in each other. Jesus Christ lives within you and because of that realization we are filled with joy.
Although we all have different personalities, and backgrounds, we all share the same Christ. When we look at each other we should rejoice. We have a common bond, a common salvation, a common Lord.
We will share Christ in the future. We not only grow together in Christ through fellowship now. Our fellowship continues throughout eternity.
If you can't get along with fellow Christians now, what are you going to do for eternity? It will be these same people we're going to spend eternity with. When we come together on Sunday, or Wednesday, we grow together in Christ.
GROWTH REQUIRES PREPARATION
Paul was hindered from coming, so he sent Timothy to prepare these young Christians for what was to come. "to strengthen and encourage you in your faith." Trials and tribulations that would test their faith.
Persecution is promised to all who place their life in the hands of Christ.
Matthew 5:11, John 15:20, John 16:33
To be prepared to face our world our faith must be strengthened. We must build up new converts. We face opposition from the world. We need help to gain strength in our faith. As new Christians we need to be able to turn to mature Christians to help build us up.
We also need to help others. It is our Christian duty to build the faith of others. Rom. 16:25
Part of our job as Christians is to strengthen other Christians' faith. How do we do that? By teaching, leading, setting an example. Timothy was sent to both strengthen and encourage their faith. "Encourage" means = comfort, or cheer up. We need to cheer up each other. "Way to go", "Good job", "Keep it up", "Go man, go".
Nothing encourages more than having fellow believers cheering us on. Growing together in Christ comes through fellowship, and preparation.
GROWTH REQUIRES CONCERN
Too often the church of God doesn't know how to express concern for its own. Too often, when someone is having a struggle in their life, we turn away.
Chuck Swindoll
"the church is the only outfit I know that shoots its wounded."
Paul was concerned that the Thessalonians keep their faith. We need to show the same concern! We are to show the love of Jesus Christ.
Paul said in vs.5 "I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless."
Why should we be concerned about each other?: Because we know the power of the enemy. Paul knew Satan's power. He said it was Satan who had stopped him from visiting the Thessalonians. In verse 5 he acknowledges Satan's power. Temptation is still in Satan's armory. His ability to lead us astray is still prevalent today. You've faced temptation and you know its power. We as the body need to welcome the fallen back by loving them back.
Opening our arms to embrace them. Why should we be concerned about each other? Because we need each other. We march forward together. I want you to know that I need you. Also, you need to know that you need me.
Together, we can take our world for Christ. Alone we simply clog up the system. We grow together in Christ through our concern for one another.
Conclusion:
If the church is going to move forward, it will do so as we move forward together. We have to come to the point where we no longer look at ourselves as individuals. We are a team. Each member of the team is just as important as any other member. When any member decides to go their own way, forward progress is stopped. I'm glad that we're on this team together.
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