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God is building a spiritual house. The building blocks of this house are born-again believers in Christ Jesus. They have been called out of spiritual darkness into the light. They belong to God as his chosen and holy people. They are living stones, and the connection to the foundation, which is Jesus, is covenant relationship with him. The house that is being built is God’s family where love and trust define their relationship with God and with one another.

One of the ways that the Bible describes the nature of our relationships in Christ is by using the Greek word, koinonia, which is translated as fellowship. In koinonia we share life together as friends. We have friendship with God and through that friendship with God we have a unique kind of friendship with others. The life we share together comes from Christ and is found in Christ. Though God is the one who builds a spiritual house where the fullness of life in Christ is a shared experience, we are responsible to develop these relationships. Friendship with one another does not happen by accident. It only grows with intentional vision and effort. Koinonia friendships start with our friendship with God, and they flow out of our relationship with him. So our relationship with the Lord must be cultivated to begin with, but our friendships in the Lord also must be cultivated.

Over the next six weeks we will be emphasizing relationships within the church family and how to grow them both stronger and deeper. We will find that intentionally growing in our relationship with the Lord will cause our church family relationships to grow. We will also find that intentionally growing in our relationships with the church family will cause our relationship with the Lord to grow. It’s all about relationships. God is a relational being who calls us to be in vital relationship with him and with one another. My prayer for us is that we will take a step in the cultivation of our relationships in the Lord so that we may experience the joy and the beauty in them that God has so lovingly prepared for us.