The Encourager
“Fellowship in Assembled Worship - Jeff Curtis”
Fellowship in Assembled Worship
By Jeff Curtis
Hebrews 10:25 implies that Christians are part of a fellowship, as was the first church in Jerusalem (Acts 2:42). “Fellowship” is translated from koinonia, which means a “partnership” or “participation in common” with others. In Hebrews 10:19 the readers of Hebrews were addressed as “brethren.” What a wonderful thought implied here – to be part of one family, having on Father, loving one another as brothers and sisters should. When Admiral Nelson was asked the key to his success in the battle for Britain, he said, “I had the privilege to command a band of brothers.” That is the key to the success of the church as well.
Christians need fellowship to be brothers. We need the encouragement we receive through assemblies for prayer and admonition. We should want to go to worship services – not only for what we can get out of participating, but also for what we contribute to the faithfulness of others.
A subtle heresy is “We need Jesus, but don’t need the church.” Even at the time when the Hebrew letter was written, some were evidently saying, “It isn’t worth going to church. It’s causing us too much trouble. Something discouraging always happens, so we just won’t go to worship with the rest of the believers in Jesus.”
The Lord designed the church as the ekklesia – a true “assembly,” which is the way the word should be translated. The word “church” is not from ekklesia; it came from the German and Middle English word kirche in the Scottish kirk and developed into “church” in English. But, the term “church” is associated in thought with kuriakos, which means “belonging to the Lord” or simply “of the Lord.” Kuriakos (“Lord’s”) is used only twice in the New Testament, in 1Corinhtians 11:20 (“the Lord’s Supper”) and Revelation 1:10 (“the Lord’s Day”). The ekklesia belongs to the Lord. (Jesus called it “My church” in Matthew 16:18.) We are to maintain regular assembly for worship to keep the fellowship of the church and actually be “the Lord’s church.”
We cannot be faithful to Christ without maintaining a living fellowship with His chosen people – the saints, who are all members of His cleansed body (Ephesians 5:25-27).
So why do some neglect the worship assembly?
Christians in the first century had begun to neglect the worship is not stated. Their reasons were probably similar to the causes of indifference to assembling for worship in the 21st century. Some don’t want to be recognized as Christians, because they are ashamed of Christ’s church. Some prefer the world, with its temporary allurements, over the promise of eternal life given to faithful members of Christ’s church. Others think they can be faithful enough apart from the brothers and sisters who assemble regularly. This is a sad mistake, as the admonition of Hebrews 10:25 suggests, and can lead to the apostasy mentioned in verse 26. We have to help each other see the risk they are taking. The constant urging of Hebrews is to “hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm to the end” (Hebrews 3:6). A similar thought is expressed in chapter 10:23: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.” The author of this letter said this in introducing the admonition about “not forsaking our own assembling together” (10:25). This encouragement to remain faithful came in the light of the faithfulness of Christ (10:23b). He was true to His Father – shouldn’t we be the same?
