5 Smooth Stones

fellowship with and who we know will watch over us. With our company we have a relationship with individuals who can speak into our lives and who we know closely, and who know us intimately. At this level of company we can have real koinonia type of fellowship. In fact, it is imperative that we know our company and build upon those relationships in order to have a healthy spiritual relationship, and even health physically. Speaking of communion or koinonia the apostle Paul writes: 1 Corinthians 11:29 “For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.” There are very successful ministries that have learned that while we need to have an understanding of what church is in order to combine the bene fi ts of association, it is equally important to the health of the individuals and the corporate unit to have koinonia fellowship in order to e ff ectively build upon Christian relationship. Some churches have learned to use cell units to build upon, some have used home groups to build. They recognize that it is not possible to build koinonia from the top down, but it needs to be incorporated as the assembly is built. The apostle John wrote in 1 John 1:6 and 7 that as we walk in the Light and have fellowship with the Lord that we also will have fellowship one with another. When we are not walking in the light we can correct this and ask for forgiveness. The best place to learn and grow in this is with our company of believers who know us and pray for us and can learn along with us how to correct mistakes, ask forgiveness and identify shortcomings as well as long suits. The apostle Paul gave the exhortation concerning the importance of discerning the body of Christ and judging ourselves so that we can receive the bene fi ts of the Lord’s sacri fi ce, brought to remembrance with koinonia communion, the Lord’s supper. If we do not, many will be sick, weak or even perish. The best place really to learn to discern the body of Christ, judge ourselves and get back in proper alignment, as both John and Paul express, is with our trusted company of believers with whom we have koinonia relationship. A wise master builder will recognize this and use these relationships to build the assembly, the ekklesia of God, and according to the scriptures we need the koinonia communion with one another to have the same deep fellowship with the Lord. ENDNOTES: 20 The Complete Jewish Bible: h tt ps://www.biblestudytools.com/cjb/ (March, 2018). 56