Koinonia Fellowship

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42 NIV

Notice that the early Church considered some things of great importance: growing in their knowledge of God through learning from the apostles, prayer, observing the sacrament of communion and to fellowship. The Greek word used here for fellowship is koinonia. It refers to three very important components of life among the believers in the early Church: intimate fellowship, participation and sharing.

Koinonia means intimate fellowship. It means that you are a part of other lives and they are part of yours. In our culture, that simply means you have to spend time with people and invest in them. Believe it or not, I'm an introvert, and I understand how difficult that can be. However, I understand what God wants for me, and I make it a priority in my life over the busyness of my schedule and my comfort level.

Koinonia means participation in the body of the local church. If you're not serving in your local church, you need to find a way to participate. I've never heard of a church that doesn't have needs for servants to use their gifts and talents in a way to serve the body.

Finally, koinonia means sharing. In the early Church, Acts 2 tells us that they sold their possessions and gave as others had need. When was the last time you truly sacrificed an important resource for someone's need - time, energy, money?

As I said yesterday during the sermon, if you haven't invested yourself in at least 4 or 5 other people in your local church, you need to repent! And, no, it doesn't count if one family has that many members. We're talking 4 or 5 different people. That's what koinonia is all about.

Opportunities for Raising Money for Kindness

City on a Hill Church has created a couple of opportunities for anyone and everyone to help raise a few dollars for our Kindness Ministry. Through our Kindness Ministry, we conduct neighborhood outreaches as well as support local missionaries such as Young Life and The Pregnancy Centers of Virginia.

The first opportunity comes from the generosity of Chili's restaurant. On Monday, May 24, the Chili's restaurant in Culpeper will donate 10-20% of each food bill back to COAHC for all patrons who bring this flyer with them for lunch, dinner or dessert. This goes on all day long!


The second opportunity comes from GoodSearch - a Yahoo powered search engine that also offers online shopping. From May 19 at 12noon through May 21 at 12noon (Eastern), $1 will be donated to COAHC for every GoodSearch toolbar downloaded at a unique ISP address. Go here to download the toolbar.

Thanks to all who participate in these opportunities to raise funds for our Kindness Ministry - showing God's love in practical ways!!!

Megachurch vs. Smaller Church

Megachurches are so 80’s and 90’s! I think there is definitely a transition going on in America that seems to indicates churches are growing larger to smaller. People want/need to feel like they are more than just a number. They want to be connected to others in the church as well their leadership. Smaller churches afford this opportunity much more effectively than larger churches.

After reading this article, I'm even more convinced of this!

Here’s the thing though… Churches need to be careful not to be small just for smallness’ sake. The whole point of the Church is to grow – as that indicates more souls are being saved and lives transformed. However, as a church grows, we must be deliberate about sending and multiplying instead of selfishly holding on for stability and other reasons. I’m a true believer that if a person or church can do ministry in their own strength without relying on God’s provision and intercession, they’re missing out on what He wants. Regardless of size and maturity, people and churches need to pursue ministry that REQUIRES God to show up in miraculous ways to provide resources as well as accomplish the goal of that ministry.

Directions to COAHC Baptisms

See below for the Google Map that includes directions to Kelly's Ford from COAHC for our baptisms on May 23. Hope this helps!!

We'll also provide directions and a map to all of those in attendance at our Sunday service on the 23rd.



View Larger Map

Sunday Morning

This is a funny video that pokes some fun at what a lot of church services look like these days. There is much deliberate attempt to include many of these applications into services around the country. And, yes, even at City on a Hill Church, we are guilty of being purposeful with some of this stuff.

So laugh away and have fun poking fun at yourself and your local church! It's healthy to be able to laugh at yourself!!

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

Second Saturday!

Tomorrow is Second Saturday!

Everyone is invited!!

Please join us tomorrow as our Kindness Ministry shares God's love in a practical way with our community. City on a Hill Church will be delivering marigold flats to our neighbors along Duke Street. Meet us at COAHC at 1pm to help prepare the flowers and we'll head out to the neighborhood by 2pm. We should be all done by 3 or 3:30.

Such a little investment. Such little requirement. Such a huge impact!