Why Do I Need Church Fellowship?
By Pastor Joel – Open Heaven Christian Church – Fisher, Arkansas
Primary Scripture Theme: Acts 2:46–47 (KJV)
Focus: Daily fellowship, corporate worship, miracles, and God’s supernatural work in building His Church.
Introduction: Fellowship Is Not Optional—It Is Biblical
Many believers today ask, “Why do I need church fellowship?” Some feel they can worship God alone. Others have been hurt by church experiences. However, Scripture clearly reveals that Christian fellowship is not a modern invention—it is a divine design established by God Himself.
From the birth of the Church in Acts chapter one, believers gathered daily, not occasionally. They worshiped together, prayed together, shared meals as they broke bread together, and witnessed supernatural miracles as God added to His Church.
Church fellowship is not merely about attendance—it is about obedience, spiritual growth, unity, and God’s power being manifested among His people.
The Foundation: The Early Church Met Daily
Acts 2:46–47 (KJV)
“And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
Key Observations from Acts 2:
They gathered daily, not weekly
They were in one accord (in unity)
They met in public building and homes to worship the Lord
They praised God continually
God added to the church supernaturally those who needed to be saved
The Church did not grow through programs—it grew through presence, unity, and fellowship.
God who knows everything before it takes place, gave favor them as they continued to fellowship, their focus was waiting for God to “save people”, and they went “house to house” spreading the good news of salvation!
Fellowship Was Central to Apostolic Doctrine
Acts 2:42 (KJV)
“And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
Notice the four pillars of the early Church:
Apostles’ doctrine (teaching of the word)
Fellowship
Breaking of bread
Prayers
Fellowship is listed alongside doctrine and prayer—it is essential, not secondary.
God Manifests Power When Believers Gather
Acts 2:43 (KJV)
“And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.”
Miracles followed fellowship.
The supernatural did not happen in isolation—it happened in community gatherings. Many today who say “I don’t need to go to church” are missing out on what God wants to do in their gatherings, or even worse, when they gather their focus is not an expectancy of what God wants them to do in their midst.
For many today going to church is an obligation rather then going with gladness of heart to see what God has in store for them, and what God wants to do when they meet and they miss out on the many blessings and divine miracles of God.
Unity Releases Supernatural Power
Acts 4:31–33 (KJV)
“And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul…
And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.”
The power of God was present when they were assembled together.
They prayed together and God filled them “ALL” with the Holy Spirit.
A shaking took place that moved many unbelievers to salvation by divine intervention of God.
God’s supernatural intervention with great power followed their unity that caused them to boldly preach about the resurrection of Jesus.
Fellowship Creates Spiritual Growth and Protection
Hebrews 10:24–25 (KJV)
“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
Scripture warns against forsaking the fellowship of believers because isolation weakens believers. Fellowship strengthens faith, accountability, love, and perseverance.
God clearly tells us in is word “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some” and yet many today have forsaken assembling together with other believers and think it is okay to simply ignore this, and many today make excuses as to why they do not need to go to church.
God Dwells Where His People Gather
Matthew 18:20 (KJV)
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
There is a corporate presence of Christ that is experienced when believers gather together. All it takes is a minimum of two believers to gather to for the powerful presence of Jesus to be present.
Fellowship Brings Healing and Deliverance
James 5:14–16 (KJV)
“Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him…
And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up…
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.”
Healing flows through church fellowship, prayer, and mutual ministry. According to James 5 “sick folks” should desire to seek elders of the “church” so they can receive prayer at the “church” where believers meet regularly. The church has an important role in the kingdom of God to minister to the sick, and the divine power of God is always present where believers are gathered.
God Supernaturally Adds to the Church
Acts 5:12–14 (KJV)
“And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people…
And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.”
God adds people—not using marketing methods to increase an assembly.
God builds His Church where believers gather faithfully with expectancy for God to preform great miracles. This should be what a believer desires when they gather in a church assembly.
An assembly that desires for God to have His way in their midst is a church that will see great miracles of God, and the miracles that God preforms in their gatherings will result in more believers to join their assembly.
Fellowship Produces Spiritual Strength and Endurance
Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 (KJV)
“Two are better than one…
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow…
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
The Church is a spiritual support system designed by God. The church must be always ready to minister to those who are lost, sick, and hurting.
The Church Is the Body of Christ
1 Corinthians 12:27 (KJV)
“Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”
A body cannot function disconnected. Fellowship connects believers to the life of Christ through His body called–“The Church”.
The Church Is Who God Choose to Spread The Gospel
Acts 6:7 (KJV)
“And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.”
The body of Christ focused on preaching the word of God, and the Lord multiplied more disciples.
As the word was faithfully being preached, those who heard the word believed.
Acts 4:4 (KJV)
“Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.”
God does not use man made gimmicks or marketing campaigns to get people to come and just attend a church because going to a church that does not preach the word of God is useless to the Lord. God uses his power to supernaturally increase a church that is making disciples by preaching and teaching His Word.
Attending church is really not about quantity of numbers, it’s about quality. The Lord wants his people attending a church that is making disciples and doing what Jesus said in the great commission, “teach them to observe all that I commanded you.”
A church that is focused on everything that Jesus taught is a church that will experience the presence and power of God in their meetings because faith in God and his power comes only from hearing the word of God and not by any other methods that many are doing to increase “church attendance”
Acts 4:4 (KJV)
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Many today have left their churches because they are hungry to learn more about the word of God, they are really not interested on hearing motivational speeches that can not change the circumstances and challenges of life. People are hungry for the truth and not stories that pacify them for an hour or two on Sunday mornings, people are hungry for the presence and power of God.
Many people today are attending a “lukewarm churches” where the presence and power of the Holy Spirit is replaced with psychology, philosophy, and teachings of men that produce nothing but confusions in people’s lives. These lukewarm churches meet once or twice a week and give precedence to their “church programs” and quench the Holy Spirit from doing what he really wants to do in their assemblies when they gather. The scriptures warn about “Quenching the Holy Spirit” of God.
1 Thessalonians 5:19 (KJV)
“Quench not the Spirit.”
On the surface they appear as if they are doing the will of God but neglect to do what Jesus commanded the church to do. They call Jesus “Lord” and totally ignore teaching and preaching the word as it is written in the scriptures.
Luke 6:46 (KJV)
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
The sad truth is that if you walk into most churches today you will notice that the word of God is seldom taught or preached. In fact many churches has replaced the word with great signing that appeases the crowds. The Bible is seldom opened and read to those present in their assemblies, and if they do open and read something out of the word of God they usually will read one verse out of context to motivate the crowd and never expound on the truth.
For example: A Pastor may take a Bible and read from the pulpit to the crowd, “there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ” then the crowd will rejoice and clap to the words they just heard their preacher just read. but when we study what that verse is really teaching, we can clearly see that that verse only applies to those who walking after the Spirit when read in correct context.
Romans 8:1 (KJV)
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
Staying in fellowship with believers is very important, but attending just any church can be detrimental to your spiritual growth if you are just attending church to say you’ve been to church is not enough in comparison to the true church found in scripture.
The true church we see in scripture focused on making disciples by teaching the word, they had fellowship more often then what we see today, they met with expectancy of the Holy Spirit having His way in their services, and their main focus for coming together was to see the Lord save lost souls.
The Apostle Paul instructs Timothy and reveals what happens to many because the word is not being preached or taught in context.
2 Timothy 4:1-5 (KJV)
“1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”
Key points in scripture:
Preach the Word. Nothing else.
A time when people will not endure sound doctrine.
People turning to teachers, having itching ears that shall turn away people from hearing the truth as many are doing today. They “sugarcoat scripture” to keep the number of members up which keeps the flow of money coming in.
People will start to believe the lies they here, fables.
Watch thou in all things, meaning to pay close attention to all of the above mentioned.
Conclusion: Why Every Believer Needs Church Fellowship
According to Scripture:
Fellowship was daily
Miracles happened when believers gathered
God adds to the true Church through unity
Healing, deliverance, and boldness flow through the fellowship of believers
Christ manifests His presence and power among gathered believers
Church fellowship is God’s chosen environment for spiritual growth, supernatural power, and kingdom expansion.
Acts 2:47 (KJV)
“And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
If you want to experience biblical Christianity, you must experience biblical fellowship with believers read and study the word of God and desire the presence of the Holy Spirit to work present in their midst so God can save, heal, and bring deliverance to this lost and hurting world.
