Brother, Is it appropriate to call a fellow believer in the Church?

In Mar Thoma Church many of us in olden days did not agree when other denomination salute each other "Brother". The only time we hear "Brother" in the M.T. Church is during the "Holy Communion" Service. The Bishop or Achan and deacons call the congregation about 8 times or so from the pulpit. That's the end of it. In early 80's I started to hear first time when African Americans made sure they call each other "Brother". Now it is time for us to take a deep look at what the Bible says about it.

Brother: Bible thoughts from Dictionary and Encyclopedia.
1. This Hebrew word is used in natural and common sense in the OT;
2. Christ's teaching include the universal brotherhood of man;
3. A near relation, a cousin;
4. Simply a fellow-countryman;
5. A disciple or follower;
6. One of the same faith;
7. One beloved or closely united with another in affection;
8. Any friend;
9. A fellow-man;
10. An ally;
11. One of the same tribe;
12. Signifies spiritual kinship;
13. A brother-man, any member of the human family;
14. A term adopted by the early disciples and Christians to express their fraternal love for each other in Christ, and universally adopted as the language of love and brotherhood in His Kingdom in all subsequent time. The growing conception of mankind as a brotherhood is the outcome of this Christian view of believers as a family. The brotherly love is a kind and lenient attitude toward people.

Jesus has made "neighbor" equivalent to "brother", a sense of fraternal affection and obligation to vital Christianity. According to rabbis, the term "brother' applies to Israelites by blood, and "neighbor" to proselytes, but either term disallowed to Gentiles. Christ and Apostles gave the name "brother" to all Christians and "neighbor" to all the world.

The missionary passion and aggressiveness of the Christian Church is the natural product of Christ's this concept of man's true relation to man.

The OT extended the concept of brotherhood beyond family ties(Zec 11:14, 1 Peter 2:17). The "brotherly covenant" is illustrated when Jonathan was a brother to his friend David(2 Sam 1:26). Israelites called fellow Hebrews as brothers (Deut 15:7-11). King Ahad made a treaty with Ben-Hadad of Syria and called him brother(1 Ki 20:32-33).

In NT, Jesus introduced a special meaning of "brother" which later became established in the early Church. So the shift of focus from blood to spiritual relationship is found in His teachings: 1) when he designated as brothers, "those who hear and do the word of God"-(Luke 8:21). 2)who are my brothers? whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother-(Mt 12:46-50). In most of the NT passages, 'brothers' is used to designate the entire Christian community(male and female). In the OT the brotherhood of all Israelites was emphasized, but in the NT the brotherhood in Christ is a relation much deeper and stronger so as to eclipse the other.

So bond between human beings to be founded not on blood alone but on shared relationship with God and His entire family, which includes our Church also.