Foundations Class – Session 9: Relationships with Believers

Here's a truth that can be hard to accept: you cannot live the Christian life alone. Faith in Christ is personal, but it was never meant to be private.

In this session, Pastor Kelly Kinder explains why fellowship with other believers isn't optional — it's essential to how God designed the Christian life to work. The faith that connects us to Christ also connects us to one another, and the New Testament uses rich metaphors to describe what that looks like: the church as a field, a building, a body, a bride, a family, a house, and a temple. Each picture reveals something different about how believers are meant to function together.

Pastor Kelly gives special attention to the metaphor of the body, drawing from Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 to show that every member is necessary, every member is unique, and every member has gifts that the rest of the body needs. He walks through seven spiritual gifts — prophecy, serving, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, and mercy — and challenges listeners to use what God has given them rather than comparing themselves to others or trying to go it alone. The phrase "one another" appears more than fifty times in the New Testament, and Pastor Kelly makes the case that those commands can only be lived out when we're in real, consistent relationship with other believers — especially in smaller group settings.

The session closes with an honest acknowledgment: it would be easier to follow God without having to deal with other people. But a community of believers learning to love each other in the power of the gospel brings more glory to God than any one person could on their own.

This is part of the Foundations class at Trinity Community Church, taught by Pastor Kelly Kinder and Pastor Mark Medley.

We are Trinity Community Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.
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Transcript

Why Fellowship Is Essential

Kelly Kinder 0:00

Hello and welcome to session nine of our foundation's class. Glad you could join us. This session we're going to be looking at relationships with believers. Relationships with believers. So if you grab your notes there, we're going to begin. And uh one of the great truths that we have to come to in our Christian walk is that I cannot live the Christian life without fellowship with other be believers. It's just an impossibility. You know, in the past few weeks, we've been looking at how God deals with us in a personal way, but it because every one of us has sinned and every one of us is guilty before God, and so we have to individually repent and believe. Nobody can do this for us. We have to make a personal decision ourselves and take action on that. God's work in our lives then is a personal thing and very individualistic. However, uh that faith that connects us to Christ is also a faith that connects us to other believers. And so in the language of the New Testament, the word that has been translated church, what we know is church, actually means assembly, the gathered assembly of the body of Christ. The building, even that we meet in is not the church. The church is a community of believers. So the church is truly invisible. And much like water baptism in the Lord's Supper, the church is an outward expression of what God has done as an inner transformation in our own hearts, in the hearts of God's people who were assembled. So we look at Ephesians chapter four as our first scripture here, Ephesians 4, verses eleven through twelve, and it says, And he gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying or building up is what that word means of the body of Christ. So in the New Testament, the church is described via several metaphors. As we look to that scripture, we're seeing that the purpose of this is to equip or build up the body. That means to sort of mend the broken places and uh help us become fully functional and healthy as the body of Christ. So let's look at these metaphors that are found through the scriptures in the New Testament. And the first one is from 1 Corinthians 3, verse 9. Paul is saying that the church is like a field. This is an agricultural metaphor, and it signifies the ground or the soil, uh, which is really the hearts of God's people, where spiritual growth can happen, and and things are planted, truth is planted and cultivated and is grown. So that's a field. And then he calls us uh a building in 1 Corinthians 3 to verse 9 as well, uh, which is a metaphor about constructing uh you know building, uh which suggests that people in the church are being built up into Christ. And so there is that metaphor of a building. And then there's the metaphor of a body, the body. So this is in Ephesians 5, 23 and 30. This is uh metaphor that uh that compares the church to really a human body with many members. We have many members in our body, and they're all connected and uh connected to the head, which is Christ in this case, is a spiritual metaphor. The spiritual body of Christ is connected to the head, which is Jesus Christ. So we look at that as the body, and then the church is also seen as a bride. This is a beautiful metaphor. It uh the church is compared to Christ's beautiful meta uh bride, whom he loves and he cherishes. Then there's the metaphor of a family in Ephesians two, verse 19, which reflects uh the idea of affinity and affection for one another and love that we're to have for one another in Christ, where there are close connections because we belong together. That's a family. And then a house in 1 Peter 2, verse 5. The church is compared to a house, which uh the people in the church are compared to living stones that are being put into to build the house, to to uh pe be in the right place, in the proper place to form a spiritual household. And then the last one that I want to mention here is uh found in the church in first in the scriptures in 1 Corinthians 3, 16 and 17, and that's a temple. And Paul compares and uses this metaphor being for the church that uh we're as the assembly, the church, the assembly of people belonging to Christ, it is the real place where God dwells. It's where God's presence dwells, and uh we hope more and more. So all of these metaphors are really important to understand, and the nature the the nature and the function of the church is dependent on us seeing these in the way that uh that the scriptures talk about them. So let's look now specifically at at uh a couple of metaphors that Paul uses in Ephesians 4 that we've looked at here, which include both a building and a body. So every stone or block, if you think of modern building techniques, every block in a building is important, right, for stability and every member in the body, then in a spiritual way, in the spirit in the spiritual sense, where the church is essential for health and its growth and growth. Uh this is the same as as our human body, right? So this is a biblical blueprint, and it describes how the church has to, must function in this way to fulfill its purpose uh according to God's design. So when we're thinking about these uh roles that are in the church, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, these men are actually gifts to the church, gifted men for f as gifts to the church, to be given to them to equip or or enable the saints or believers to do the work of the ministry. And this is uh the task of these uh gifted men. So they're gifts to the church and the d design by God is to build the body up, to uh to restore what's been broken, and the role of pastors is is not to do the work of the ministry, their role is to equip you to do it. And so it doesn't mean that we as pastors don't do anything. We we often are found doing a lot of the things that you do, but our primary task is to equip the church to build it up. The New Testament describes this critical personal ministry among Christians uh more than fifty times in the New Testament. We're talking about our our personal ministry to one another, and that's the that's actually the phrase. Uh one another occurs more than fifty times in the New Testament, signifying this idea. And let me just kind of give you a few examples uh in just brief. I won't give you many, but uh in Hebrews 3, verse 12 and 13 it says, encourage one another, encourage or exhort. Exhort is kind of the strong encouragement for uh for the church to do what God has called it to do. Uh stir up one another to love and good works, Hebrews 10, verse 24. Assemble with other believers, with one another, Hebrews 10, 25, bear one another's burdens, Galatians 6, verse 2. Confess your sins to one another, James 5, verse 16. And so all these one another are found throughout the New Testament, and they're intended to show us how deeply we're connected to one another. Obviously, if these things are going to happen, we have to be in a setting or environment to t for them to take place. So uh we we just say it's your responsibility and my responsibility personally to take advantage of small intimate groups that we have in the church where you can begin to experience these kinds of relationships. Uh in fact, you really have a hard time doing that on a Sunday. You can't you can't do that very well to do the one another ministries until you're in a smaller group setting. So the scriptures use a lot of these metaphors and or images to tell us how this ministry comes about. Romans 12, for example, verses four and five says this. It says, For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function. He's talking about the human body at this point. Uh so we being many, now we're comparing it in the the human body to the church, so we being many as one body in Christ and individually members of one another. So we are connected in that way. We're looking at this scripture at which compares the church, the body of Christ, to the human body. And in the human body there is what? There's both unity as well as uniqueness. Every uh my thumb doesn't do what my foot does, or my toe does, or my eye does, and vice versa. But they're all connected. So the the words individually members of one another in these verses simply means we're connected to one another, just like parts of our human body are connected. Do you ever cut your finger or stub your toe or feel sick at your stomach or or uh maybe have a wreck and and you slam on the brakes and your your whole body is just uh affected by it. What happens? What just happened? Well, because your whole body is connected, when one member is affected or suffers, your whole body responds to what's happening. And it's the same in way that it's tended intended to happen in the church, and it does happen. Romans twelve six through eight says then having gifts then differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. If it's prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith or ministry, let us use it in our ministering. He who teaches in teaching, he who exhorts in exhortation, he who gives with liberality, he who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness. This is one of the passages that gives a list of uh the gifts, the spiritual gifts that are given to Christ's people, uh one of the four actual lists that are found in the New Testament. But the point here is that when God's grace comes into our life, it produces effects, different effects, and God's grace will produce uh you know serving in someone's life, in someone's life, while it will motivate someone else, for example, to give uh generously. Seven gifts are listed here. And let's just kind of go through these, and it's uh an interesting uh list here. And I'll just say that every list, every spiritual gift list in the New Testament is not exhaustive. They're just representative of the kinds of gifts God gives to his church. The first one mentioned here is prophecy, or or someone who sees, a perceiver, someone who sees, one who sees things and speaks for God. And a lot of times someone who's prophetic will speak words of correction. And uh so that's the gift of prophecy. Serving, and I'm just gonna these are really brief definitions, but I kind of give you an idea, serving, practical acts of service. And you know, some people are really especially gifted to uh serve meals, for example, or repair a building, or to clean a floor, or or meet some other kind of need. This is the gift of serving, and people that have serving gifts actually love to do those kinds of things and they're good at it. Uh teaching, uh, which is a gift meant to uh be used to instruct or explain a gifted person who is able to clearly and practically explain the truth of God and apply it to life. That's teaching. And then exhortation, which we don't use that word often a lot much, much uh anymore, in in a sense, which uh what we find is the word that kind of goes along with the idea, which is strong encouragement. Uh strongly, this is a gift that people have that who strongly encourage others to follow through on what God is telling them, and uh they will encourage them in a in a very positive way to uh to follow through. So uh that's the gift of exhortation. Then there's the gift of giving. This is uh this is one of the other gifts in that list, and this is a person who is able to share material things, it could be uh financially, it could be um other things, other ways of giving. They know how to be uh generous at the right time and in the right way. So in order to meet a practical need, this is a person who has a special gift of giving. Then the last one here mentioned in that list is leader or the gift of administration, as some call it. This is a leadership gift and special it's a special ability to uh to facilitate, to oversee and uh direct ministries or groups of people to get them to the next level spiritually or to get a task done. Um there is one more I've got to mention. This last one is actually mercy. And uh this is uh a gift of compassion. People who see other people and they immediately have a heart for the condition of that person, and uh that person is usually in trouble or they're struggling in some way, and uh the the person who has a gift of mercy, their heart goes out to them, and they're usually the first people to say something or respond to them. So one or more of these seven gifts, and many, many more operate in all of our lives when we come to Christ. When all these gifts work together in unison, the ministry of God, guess what? It comes forth within the assembly in powerful ways. And so the key to true ministry is let us use them. Let us use them. This is the gift that God has put within you. So every one of us have at least one gift, and that gift is faith, but we likely have many more, and we can receive more uh and we should ask for more. God wants us to ask for gifts, and so this is a good thing, and all of us need to be using them to minister to the body. Romans twelve, twelve through twenty-one says this, and it gives us another insight about this uh being um members of one another, for as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ, for by one spirit we were baptized, all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been have all been made to drink into one spirit. For in fact, the body is not one member but many, if the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And what he's getting at is sometimes with the gifts that we have, we think we're less than in some way, that we don't have that other gift that so uh is you know in our eyes greater than the gift that we have been given, and so we think of ourselves as kind of inadequate. But he's he's kind of coming against this idea that every gift is strategically important in the body. He says, uh, is it therefore not of the body? If if the whole body were an eye, well that would be a strange thing, wouldn't it? Where would where would be the hearing? That would be a really he kinda is bringing us a funny picture uh of the whole body being a single, just a big eye. And uh but then it wouldn't have the other functions. And so where would the smelling be? In other words, that would we would be m missing a really critical part of what's going on in the church. But now he says, God has set he's set the members, each one of them, in the body just as he pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed, there are many members, yet one body, and yet the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. And now he's saying you could have a gift that makes you think that your gift is more important than other people. It's not that you feel inadequate, it's that you feel so prideful about your gift that you don't need anyone else. This is kind of what he's getting at. So what uh what we see here is every member of the body is necessary, every member is necessary and important, and we all need each other. Every member is different and has a unique function. And if we all have in the assembly uh is if all we had was was givers and perceivers or prophetic people, arms and eyes, then we would be incomplete and we will not experience true ministry the way God intended it. So what does God do? God uses the gifts in our lives to do what? It's very important to see this, to nurture and build each other up. We do that with one another by expressing that gift of grace toward though the other person, constantly uh comparing ourselves, on the other hand, to others and desiring to be like them or trying to make them like us is uh is the same as my feet trying to function like my hands. Just not just doesn't work. Uh and so would you just circle this word the the words in these verses just as he pleased, says that God put the gifts, the members in the body just as he pleased. So that's really an important idea. Let's move on to Romans 15, verses 5 through 7. It says there, now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, receive one another just as Christ also received us to the glory of God. So if you don't know this already, uh you'll soon find out it would be a whole lot easier to serve God without having to deal with other believers. Uh that's just sometimes we end up being spiritual sandpaper for each other. But uh believers typically that are that are different than than you are than or than I am, in my perspective, the way I see things, those are the people that are uh harder to get along with because they don't we don't see eye to eye. So you might say, well, why don't why can't we just be connected to God and relate only to Him? Or why do we have to relate and depend on other people? Uh why is body ministry necessary? And that's a those are great questions to think through because a group of believers learning how to love each other in the power of the gospel brings more glory to God than just one believer by himself relating to God alone. This is the way God has designed it, and he says it brings glory to him when he says all of his people ministering to one another and bringing that body to maturity. So we say we say every member needs to fulfill their ministry. They have gifts and they should use them. So the key phrase as it relates in the community of believers here is to receive one another, to receive one another. The word receive there means to take to oneself. In other words, accept them as fellow believers in Christ, even though they may be different than you. Uh the Bible says while we were still sinners, Christ took hold of us, and his acceptance of us released grace into our lives. Grace that led to what? To repentance and the new birth. And so, as believers in community with one another, our act of receiving one another actually, I believe, releases grace through those gifts that will transform life. So how critical this is. And so we see that relationships then they're just critical in the body of Christ. They're vital to our own spiritual health and growth as well as the health and life of the church. So let me just encourage you to say it like this: don't be a loner or disconnected from the rest of the church body. Instead, seek out these relationships, be consistent in the habit of meeting together, both on Sundays and in small groups during the week. And then when you're with people, go out of your way to build strong and loving ties with all of your brothers and sisters in Christ, even with those who are different from you. And as we do that, God will begin to do some amazing things in our church, and we will grow up into the head, which is Christ, into deeper levels of maturity. So let me pray for us as we end this session today, ask God to apply these things. So, Father, we're thankful that uh there are relationships, that we're not alone in the body of Christ. There are many who are uh in the same way that we were, lost and in sin and without hope in God in the world, and you saved us, you accepted us. And so we pray, Lord, that we would uh you'd build in us that this habit, this pattern of reaching out and building these relationships, not thinking less of ourselves, not thinking more of ourselves than we should, but using the gifts that you've given us to minister and and give away grace to those that we come in contact with. And Lord, we just pray that you would build us up and make us stronger because of these things. And we ask for it in the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.