Fellowship Groups

CCI Fellowship is focused on reaching God, reaching each other, and reaching the community. They discuss the importance of fellowship groups and how they provide an opportunity to do life together and support one another. They also make a declaration for the year 2025, declaring it as the Year of Abundant Harvest. They emphasize the importance of being planted in the house of the Lord and being part of a community to flourish and succeed in life. Welcome to CCI Fellowship's podcast. Thank you for joining us. At CCI Fellowship, we are reaching God, reaching each other, and reaching our community. We pray that this week's message challenges you in your walk with the Lord, causes you to grow in your faith, and encourages you in your love for the Word of God. Alright, open your Bibles to Acts chapter 2, as this Thursday is our kickoff of Fellowship groups for this season, um, oh wait, sorry, no, you're right David. Go back to the Declaration. I got ahead of myself. I did read the Plan of Service, but, anyway, are you ready for our Declaration for this year? So, as I mentioned last week, we are going to talk more about this Declaration, we're going to go into what the Word says about it, and our foundation, when we have a foundation in Scripture, then we have a place where our faith can work from. If we begin to declare things that aren't Scriptural, there isn't a whole lot of faith that we can put behind it, and so we will talk about that, but given our kickoff of Fellowship groups, today I wanted to specifically talk about why Fellowship groups, why we do them, what the Church's purpose is in having groups, they are, they happen all over in every service, and so we'll talk about that, but we do want to still go ahead and make our Declaration for 2025. So, say it with me, 2025 Declaration, the Year of Abundant Harvest. In Ezekiel 34, 26-27, God gave His people a promise that extends to us, a promise we choose this year to believe, declare, and live out. I will bless my people and their homes around my holy hill, and in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers of blessing. The orchards and fields of my people will yield bumper crops, and everyone will live in safety. When I have broken their chains of slavery and rescued them from those who enslaved them, then they will know that I am the Lord. This word, delivered by God, is a gateway that throughout this year and month by month will allow us to witness His power operating in our favor in every area of need and in every situation that requires His intervention. We declare that we will be amazed, for even in the most barren and unproductive places, abundant harvest will be released for the glory of God and the blessing of His people. Upon the dry ground of our need, heaven will pour rain in just the right measure. These showers will bring abundant harvest and blessings until they overflow. Those around us will call us productive, a blessed people, people of goodness, for the harvest we reap will not only provide for our benefit and well-being, but will also reach many others who will be touched by our blessing. We will begin and end each month with confidence, free from fear and anxiety, advancing day by day, knowing that our abundant harvest will allow us to live securely under the shadow of the Almighty. My home will experience the effects of these abundant harvests as I see in my household the results and fruit of my persistent prayers. My family will not dwell in spiritual orphanhood. They will not be barren, lifeless trees. On the contrary, they will be lush trees bearing multiplied fruit. This year will not end without these miracles beginning to manifest. I will reap breakthroughs and freedom from conditions that have hindered my fruitfulness. Therefore, I speak to the dry branches in the tree of my life, be restored, sprout again, and become healthy branches bearing fruit for well-being and prosperity. The abundant harvests of this year bring new opportunities, new doors, new relationships, new methods and strategies for doing things, as well as new outcomes that will uplift the heart even of those who have given everything up as lost. What once seemed impossible will be transformed, for God will breathe life and solutions into the irredeemable. In His hands, everything will take on meaning and purpose. We will recognize that the events we have faced, the situations we once saw as purposeless, were seeds sown into our history, seeds that will now yield abundant harvests for all good things. Therefore, today, with renewed strength and faith, 2025, we proclaim you as the Year of Abundant Harvests. Amen. Praise God. Alright, Acts Chapter 2. Fellowship groups, the doing part of doing life together. You know that our slogan at CCI Fellowship is doing life together. It is getting to each other's lives, it is being able to minister to each other and just be a part of each other's lives, be community. And so fellowship groups give us that opportunity to actually do life together. In verse 46 and 47, it says, So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Let's pray. Father, we worship you and magnify your name. We thank you for your presence here. We thank you for your anointing. Father, I pray that as we go through this topic tonight, Lord, that you would touch our hearts and that you would speak to us. That it would be more than just information, that it would be spirit and life. That, Father, you would impress upon us, each one of us individually, Lord God, the role that you would have us to play in the lives of each other. Father, that we would endeavor to allow you to use us to encourage and strengthen each other, not just on Sunday afternoons in the short time that we have together. But Father, that we would do life together, that we would be a community. That Father, not only would we be willing to be used by you to impart to others, but that you would use others to impart to us. That in what we have abundance in, we would share with others. And that what we lack in, others would share with us. Father, we thank you for the gifts of the Spirit. We thank you for the presence of the Spirit in our lives. And as we pursue, Lord, for the Holy Spirit to move in a greater way than he ever has in our service, we pray, Lord God, that we would respond by growing closer to each other, by endeavoring, Lord God, to be in places, Lord, where we have the opportunity to minister to each other, to encourage each other, and to be used by your Spirit. Father, guide us, Lord, throughout this whole year in the plan and purpose that you have for us, the steps that you have outlined already for us and put in order. Father, may we be diligent to walk in them for your honor and for your glory, that your people would be edified and your kingdom advanced, in Jesus' name, amen. So as I said, fellowship groups give us an opportunity to be able to do life together more. It gives us the opportunity to get to know each other. It gives us the opportunity to converse with each other. One of the great things about moving up here into Auditorium 2 that we have seen just naturally happen is that although there are always people who, as soon as we say amen, they're out the door, a larger number or a large number of people are staying around, fellowshipping with one another, talking with one another. You know, once we start the service, there's not communication with each other. There's not opportunity to ask each other, how are you doing? What's going on in your life? How can I pray for you? To laugh about this or that and just enjoy knowing each other. We come a lot of times to church. Many come in, you know it, right at 4, 4.05, come in so that we don't have to talk to anybody. We get in our seat. We sing our songs. We hear the message. We look at the word and as soon as amen comes, we're out of here so we don't have to talk to anybody. There's a verse in Psalm 92, in verse 12, it says, the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Verse 13, those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. Shall I read it one more time? Those who are planted, those who are planted, Psalm 92, verse 12 and 13, those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. It's not those who visit the house of the Lord. It's not those who come in and do the bare minimum shall flourish. It's not those who, maybe this week, maybe not this week, it's those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of their God. I don't know anybody that doesn't want to flourish in their life. I don't know anybody that's content with lack. I don't know anyone that loves poverty. We want to flourish. We want to prosper. We want to succeed in life. But this verse says that in order to do so, we must be planted in his house, planted in his family, being a part of his body, being a part of his community. We've talked a lot about the body as we've focused on Ephesians 5, Ephesians 4, as we've focused on 1 Corinthians 12, a large portion of 1 Corinthians 12 talks about how we are the body. Romans chapter 12 talks about how we are the body. Well, a body part separated from the body is what? Dead. I remember being in a service one time and the guy was preaching about being connected to the vine. And he brought in a stick that was dead. And he brought in a branch that still had green leaves on it. And he said, he held them up, he said, which one's better? And of course, people were like, the one with green leaves. He said, no, they're both dead. They're both cut off from life. This one just has appearance of being alive. This one is obviously dead. But they're both dead because they are no longer attached. When we are not attached to the body, death is imminent. It happens quickly. But when the body comes together, we have the opportunity of life and to be sustained. And even when we want to draw away, if we are part of community that knows us and recognizes us and has already done some life together with us, then we're attentive to each other to be able to say, hey, how are you doing? Well, I'm doing good. You're a liar. What is going on in your life? Because it is obvious that you are not good. And we have that place to build each other up, to keep each other alive and keep each other connected to Christ, to the vine. In Ephesians chapter 5, verse 18 to 20, we have this command through Paul by the Holy Spirit. Do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation or which is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. That just sounds weird. You go around singing to everybody. I don't know about you, but I don't really like musicals. I think they're kind of goofy that all of a sudden everybody knows the song that is going through this person's head and all of the dance moves and everything, all the choreography. They're goofy. But I watch them because I love my wife. But this is biblical, actually. Not the movies, but encouraging one another. Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now in Jude, it says something very similar, I think verse 19 and 20 or verse 20 and 21. It says something very similar, but it tells us to stir up our faith by doing these same things. So we have the responsibility to stir ourselves up and encourage ourselves, but then as we are encouraged, we have the responsibility to do the same thing for others, to stir up each other's faith, to stir up each other's belief, to encourage each other. First Corinthians 14, as Paul was talking about the benefits of the prayer language to us personally and the benefits of the gifts of the Spirit within the context of the congregation, he says when you pray in a tongue, you're speaking to God and edifying yourself. So we talked about how personal edification leads to corporate edification, and if we are not personally edified, it's hard to bring edification to somebody else. There's a place for it that we build ourselves up, but then go as we have responsibility to build each other up. Now in a group like this, obviously you are not going to know every single detail about every person, but you can become part of a fellowship group and get to know a small group, get to know some of the people in this congregation and be able to do life together. Fellowship groups give us that opportunity. It's within fellowship groups, which are part of the DNA of Iglesias SAE. It's something that they hold, that we hold very important. Their groups on Thursday nights, they have hundreds and hundreds of groups. We have like, what, four? Three. Three right now. It could be four if we get more people signed up, but it is a vital part of the church. In a church of thousands of people, we need fellowship groups. It's an extension of pastoring the congregation. If you think of mega churches, and for a lot of flack as Joel Osteen's church gets sometimes, how many thousands of people fit in that arena? But you know what? Their fellowship group ministry is super strong, and that's where the depth comes in. That's where the opportunity to dive deeper into the Word of God and to discuss things and to fulfill the verse that says, as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens a friend. And so the church has taken this as a command that we're supposed to fulfill. So why fellowship groups? And I take this from the material that the church has, but I want us to see it as how it applies to us in this congregation. So why fellowship groups? One, they're an expression of CCI's missionary vision at the local level. An expression of CCI's vision at the local level. We are a missionary church, not just a church that has missionaries in it. We are a church with a missions focus, and groups give us that opportunity. There are many groups that this church has that the people that attend those groups don't even come to church. It's a first contact. It's an opportunity to bring people in who would otherwise not want to come to this context in this setting, to be able to bring them in and start to water the ground of their hearts, to plant seeds in them. We have talked extensively in the past couple years about how God is going to bring in the prodigals, the ones who used to come to church but have fallen away, and He's going to bring them back. Well, if we're thinking about prodigals, why did they run in the first place? Why did they leave in the first place? And a lot of times it's because of some offense that happened in the context of the church. So fellowship groups provide an opportunity to begin to draw on people, and draw them into the kingdom in a place where they find comfort, where they find community, where they find that they are accepted, where they find that there are genuine people who are looking out for them. Two fellowship groups provide an experience and sense of community, this doing life together. Ephesians 4.15 says, but speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head. It's our opportunity to speak to each other in love. It's our opportunity to get to know each other so that when we see somebody and they seem like they're going through something, we're not standing there speculating and judging their motives and coming to conclusions that we really can't say 100% that we know. Therefore, if we don't know 100% of what is going on in some person's life, then there's a great percentage that we're wrong, and then we misjudge, and then we're not acting in love, then we're not pursuing each other's growth in love, which is the whole point of 1 Corinthians 13 that we talked about. The third thing is that they are a biblical model for the development of the believer and of the congregation. We find that Moses in Exodus 18 was advised by his father-in-law to create smaller groups. Moses had over 2 million people that he was trying to lead. A group like this is hard for one person to lead, let alone 2 million. And his father-in-law came to him and said, you need help, you need other leaders. And they began to break down a structure so that everybody was attended to. Jesus had his group of disciples, obviously he had the multitudes that he ministered to. And the one time when he spoke and he said, you must eat my flesh and drink my blood, that was to a multitude of people. And it says from that point on, many of his disciples turned and went back to their previous life. And Jesus, obviously, you can't say that he didn't feel this because he was human. I pretty much guarantee that he felt abandoned in that moment, and he turned to his small group, he turned to his fellowship group, and he said, are you going to lead too? And being the good, close-knit fellowship group that they were, Peter said, well, where else are we going to go? Why would we abandon this group? You see, in that group, they created community. They created a bond. They created not just Jesus teaching them all of these things, but they created a friendship with each other. They created an atmosphere that no matter what Jesus was facing, they weren't going to abandon him. We also, of course, in our opening scripture, we find that the early Christians organized themselves under this model as well. That they went from house to house meeting, studying the scripture, growing and encouraging one another. That's why fellowship groups. That's the vision behind it. The purpose of fellowship groups can be seen and remembered by the letters of CCI. So I'm going to give you two C's and an I. The first one is camaraderie. We benefit from mutual fellowship based on the fact that as believers in Christ, we are children of God and brothers and sisters of one another. Our groups are set up to promote and hopefully are characterized by mutual acceptance that all are welcome. Characterized by the common good that we are together working toward growth in Christ. Service in love that within humility, we are serving one another. Likewise that you shouldn't come to church just to hear what the speaker has to say and what the worship team has picked in the songs for the week and just be a consumer. Being part of a fellowship group is the same way. Don't just be a consumer, but serve each other in humility. Should be characterized by forgiveness that we find forgiveness and healing as we're able to communicate with each other. Scripture tells us, confess your sins to one another so that you may be healed. That's an amazing verse. Yeah, we can confess our sins to God. We're supposed to confess your sins to God and he is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. But then there's this other command, confess your sins one to another because it brings healing. It brings things out in the open, well, I'm not going to confess my sins to that person. Well, I'm not going to confess my sins to just anybody, but somebody that I have developed community with, somebody that I have developed a life with, somebody that I'm doing life together with, somebody that can be trusted. See, these groups provide that and we can sit there and say, well, I don't need that. In all reality, you do. Sometimes we don't really realize the things that we are in need of until they are provided for us. In camaraderie, it brings new opportunity as well. The means of restoration that provides hope and strength. So the first C, camaraderie. The second C is consistency in the word. Consistency in the word. By meeting in fellowship groups to discuss things, we can dive deeper into the material. That's why what we have been doing in our fellowship groups is taking what has been taught on Sunday and we talk about it in the group on Thursday so that we can get each other's opinions of what did God say to you on Sunday? What did you think about what was spoken? Do you have any questions? Are you not sure about something? And then together we can build each other up. It gives opportunity to meditate on the things that are being spoken so that it gets into our hearts, not just into our minds. In Hebrews 10, verse 24 and 25, it says, Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another and so much more as you see the day approaching. This verse is highly used in the context of trying to encourage people to attend church. But it's not just church. Our opening verse says they consistently met, going house to house, commuting with one another and growing in their faith. Our hope within this consistency in the word is that what is presented in the groups is practical, that it applies to the daily situations of your life, that it has doctrinal balance. We're not going to put an emphasis on things that is radicalized or legalistic or taking the things and driving them home as in a way that is not biblical. We like doctrinal balance. If it's in the word, we can believe it. If it's in the word, we can trust it. And so when there's questions, we have the opportunity to ask. The third thing is passion, maintaining enthusiasm for the study of the word. We can encourage each other in the study of the word, encourage each other with what we're studying, what we're learning, what God is doing in our lives. And testimony is a wonderful way to build our faith. It's encouragement. Our groups hopefully will foster open and frank participation of all the members, encouraging them to remain constant in the study of the word and a systematic approach. In other words, everyone's studying the same thing. We've done in times where each of our groups are studying different things, but by studying the same thing, we get to grow together. We get to grow in unity. We get to be able to, when you have opportunity to talk to one another, if someone's not in your group, you have a place of conversation. You have a place of, well, what happened in your group? How did you guys talk about this topic? What's God doing in you according to this subject that we've been covering? So we can grow together. So there's unity in the faith. And the third thing is integration, integration into the church. The group is made up of members of the church, it is part of the church, and should actively participate in the life of the church. Groups are not a church unto themselves. They are an extension of this body. There's unity that must be maintained, but then there's also an integration, there's an encouragement within the body, within each group to say, hey, here's this opportunity to serve, let's do it as a group. Let's do it together. You know, four times a year, three or four times a year, the church does this massive outreach, going into another community, doing evangelism, medical outreach, dental outreach, counseling, all of these different things, and people from the whole church have opportunity to be a part of it. It would be great to see groups participating in this, to get together in your fellowship group and say, hey, how about this time we go be a part of this one, and let's go together. It's amazing how serving together brings you together. It's amazing the shared experience that we have, how that is able to build us together in the unity of the faith. Our groups should be ones that take care of each other. There's individual attention and support provided to each member of the group, and that shouldn't just come from the group leader. It should come from within as well. There's an active, should be an active and enthusiastic participation in the general activities of the church. Should promote opportunities to serve. Our focus over these past couple months and moving into this year is exactly this. Opportunities to serve one another. In fact, the verse that is our key verse of CCI Fellowship in Galatians 6.10, as often as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially those of the household of faith. I encourage you, look for opportunities to be used by God to impact the life of somebody else in this congregation and somebody else outside. In Galatians 3, verse 15 and 17, and I'll close with this verse, so the worship team can come up, in case you didn't get the hint. Galatians 3, 15 to 17 says, and let the peace of God rule in your heart, to which also you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. In other words, let the word of Christ dwell in you in prosperity. Dwell in you bearing fruit. Dwell in you affecting others. Not let the word of Christ remain in you. But this idea of dwelling in you richly gives the context of it producing something in your life that affects someone else. Dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. It's our desire that everyone would be in a group. We understand scheduling limitations and other things, but I want to challenge you to be a part of a group in this new season. Sign up afterwards. Find out where they are. If there's not one in your area and enough people in your area are interested, then we can form another group. We'll figure it out. But let's grow together in the grace of the Lord, not just on Sundays, but let's do life together throughout the week. Amen. Thank you for listening to this week's podcast. If you are ever in the Tegucigalpa area and looking for an English-speaking congregation, please join us on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. in the main auditorium of Iglesia CCI in Colonio Trapichi, just off Boulevard Sollapa, near Una. If you would like prayer or more information about our church, contact us at fellowships.cci at gmail.com. That's fellowships.cci at gmail.com. Or follow us on social media. We hope to see you or hear from you soon. Bye. Bye.