Sermon Tone Analysis

*A Passion for Fellowship*

*January 30, 2005*

* *

*Scripture Reading:* 1John 1:1-4

 

*Introduction:*

 

Right after our service this morning we will be celebrating renewed fellowship in our church with the dedication of our newly remodeled church kitchen.

There have been a number of people that have sacrificed and worked quite hard on making this happen for all of us.

This began with those who donated the funds, especially with the seed money starter donation of $9,000.

There were many others who donated beyond that to reach our goal of $18,000.

And we stayed within the budget.

We praise God for the skills and willingness of those who worked on the project.

This was all done “in house”.

Brian designed the kitchen and carried it all out with ordering the materials and overseeing various parts of the installation.

Various ladies of the church headed up by Georgette, Janet and Lorraine cleaned out the old kitchen and then put everything back when it was done.

Adam helped with tearing out the old walls.

Gene also tore out the old walls, taped sheetrock and painted, and will finish the new floor.

Ed removed the old flooring – a really nasty job.

Dennis removed the old ceiling, installed new plumbing, hung the new ceiling, installed the new flooring, put up new sheetrock, installed the cabinets, counters and new appliances.

Dennis was the “mainframe” or foreman of the major portion of all that took place.

I’m sure there were others with various parts unspoken here.

But we must not forget God the Father who is at the head of our list as the prime provider and enabler.

He is the One that we must continually honor with the results.

He is the One that directed our plans, gave the strength and wisdom, and provided the miracles – and there were plenty of those as so many of the installation steps in our old building just barely came together not by our wisdom but by divine providence.

So we will be gathering downstairs in the Pine Room for our first “fellowship meal” in almost half a year.

And we pray that this will be the springboard for many rich seasons of fellowship.

We hope you are hungry not only for the food but even more for the fellowship around which the food is our “excuse”.

You have heard it said that some people live to eat and some people eat to live.

It is our prayer that, regarding fellowship, we will choose not to have fellowship in order to eat, but to eat in order to have fellowship.

Perhaps we could say that, in a similar way to food being necessary for life, fellowship is even life itself.

Definitely, fellowship is the major factor in how we are to encourage each other in Christ.

Encouragement works best in community.

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another— and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

(Heb 10:24-25 NivUS)

 

 “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

(Heb 3:12-13 NivUS)

 

The human need for food often becomes the social format around which we can interact to encourage one another.

We can see the necessity to put fellowship ahead of food in Paul’s instruction about communion because not doing so would be a discouragement.

And regarding communion at least, there is even a penalty attached.

“So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other.

If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.

And when I come I will give further directions.”

(1Co 11:33-34 NivUS)

 

 “Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.

For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.

That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.

When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.”

(1Co 11:27-32 NivUS)

 

I am reminded of a church I was involved in some time ago that had the habit of allowing people at fellowship meals to crowd to the front of the line in competition for who could get the best food first.

Fellowship in that church took a back seat to food.

I always felt that there must have been some divine judgment on that.

Our coming together, if it is to be joyous, must also be respectful – even to the extent of considering our fellowship as holy as communion, which is symbolically our fellowship with God in the work of Christ Jesus.

What happens centered around our church kitchen could well be considered an extension of communion.

Throughout the generations of mankind, communal meals have been a major foundation for fellowship.

The Chgo.

Trib.

has reported recently on the deaths of two of the three elephants at Lincoln Park Zoo.

They said it is imperative that the third elephant be moved out to another location to be with other elephants since they are extremely social creatures.

Being alone would in itself kill the remaining elephant.

Fellowship is that important to the life of the church.

The apostle John made that connection in what we read for our Scripture this morning.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched— this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.

And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

We write this to make our joy complete.”

(1Jo 1:1-4 NivUS)

 

It is fellowship around which the Word of God dwells, and it is the Word of God that enables and empowers fellowship.

And in John 1:1-2 we see that the Word of God is Christ.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.”

(Joh 1:1-2 NivUS)

 

In fact, we can see the importance of fellowship with God the Father even from the beginning of his recorded Word.

“Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

(Ge 1:26-27 NivUS)

 

God made man in his image so man could know him, or in other words, to have fellowship with him.

But it didn’t stop there.

“God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.

Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."”

(Ge 1:28 NivUS)

 

He wanted more of us.

He wanted us to be fruitful and multiply so that the blessings of fellowship with him might also multiply.

And this fellowship was pure and innocent and sweet, not only with God but also with each other.

“The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”

(Ge 2:25 NivUS)

 

But, of course, we messed it up.

“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.

She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."” (Ge 3:6-10 NivUS)

 

We are so blessed that God did not let it stay there.

He has been in the business ever since of working with us to restore fellowship.

God took the first step in killing animals to clothe them and take away their shame.

You didn’t think those fig leaves would last very long, did you?

“The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”