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Grace Emmanuel
Church
Pastor Sam Chess
(Are You In
Fellowship With Jesus' Church?)
Introduction: Eight Questions…
I) Is anyone thirsty?
2) Is anyone weary and carrying heavy burdens?
3) Do you ache for the touch of Jesus?
4) Are you crying out for Jesus' complete forgiveness?
5) Are you (really) a follower Jesus?
6) Are you thankful?
7) Are you content?
8) Are you one with Jesus life purpose?
The process of Roman soldiers swearing a life or death oath of allegiance
to their Emperor… which was, then, picked up by early Christians to describe
their oath of loyalty to their Divine leader during the observance of Holy
Communion was the word? ____________________________
Sacramentum!
That’s how communion, early on, came to be called a sacrament…
______________________________
I read a Scripture at the end of the sermon last Sunday… then we began to
open it up and study it on Wednesday evening and it led us to a very
important discovery.
1 Corinthians 10:16-17 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the
communion (Gk. koinonia) of the blood of Christ? The bread which we
break, is it not the communion (Gk. koinonia) of the body of Christ?
NKJV
We figured out, on Wednesday evening, that when a group of people, like
us, share the sacrament of communion together in a “Sacramentum/ oath of
loyalty type of way” as we are bonding/sharing/communing with Jesus in
his death in a very deep and powerful way, vertically…we are also
bonding/sharing/communing with each other in a powerful way, horizontally,…..
that could not quite happen in any other setting.
I’m going to propose to you here today, that when God wired you.. for your
life on this earth… he built into you, certain spiritual circuits…
that could only be tripped open… to let His power through… by your fellow
Believers. The spiritual power that comes into us when we receive communion
and declare our oath of loyalty … is just one of those spiritual circuits
that has to be tripped open by other Christians. Watch this:
1 Corinthians 10:16-17 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the
communion (Gk. koinonia) of the blood of Christ? The bread which we
break, is it not the communion (Gk. koinonia) of the body of Christ?
NKJV 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are
one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. (NLT)
If you were to try to figure out how to be a Christian without having to
interact with all those other “hypocrites” out there (We’ve all heard that
statement.. many times) (Most Christians out there are hypocrites…so I’ll
just be a Christian over here in the corner all by myself….)
If you adopt that "lone ranger" attitude….then Biblically, it becomes
impossible for you to be…. “chewing from the same loaf” as the rest of
Christianity. A major tenet of the Christian life, (as repeatedly explained
in the New Testament), is that your life will be intertwined with the daily
experiences of other believers…. You will be there for them when they need
you…. and they will be there for you when you need them. Those interactions
are not just a fun club that I get to join…
My daily interactions with you trip open spiritual circuits in me that let
Jesus flow into my life in ways I could not achieve on my own… There are many
aspects of the Christian walk that you cannot access on our own…You need the
help of others in the Body of Christ…For instance:…on the topic of the Lord's
Supper
The “lone ranger” Christian has to, somehow, figure out how to serve
themselves the sacrament of communion, then run around the table and receive
communion from themselves…all the while experiencing fellowship with
themselves as they commune with Christ in His death.
It can't be done…and a lot of other aspects of the Christian life
cannot be done alone either!
And don't forget, the same Jesus that “Lone Ranger Sally” says she is
worshipping… is the same Jesus who established the Church and commanded that
we, together, take an active role in it.
The New Testament describes this Christian "fellowship/koinonia" as
the daily, spiritual, activity of all believers. This means that all those
who belong to Jesus Christ are to be engaging in active involvement
in the lives of other believers.
So, that said, here is today sermon question:
9) Are you in "fellowship/koinonia" with Jesus' Church?
Here is the point that stuck me after the Wednesday evening study…
Reaching out to Jesus often means reaching through other believers to
truly find him. Jesus reaching back to you often comes through the ministry
of other believers!
In other words…in order to affectively open those pre-wired spiritual
circuits God built into each one of us… you desperately need the rest of the
people in this room!
You can’t live the Christian life in a vacuum… True Christianity can only
truly be lived in the presence of, and with the help of, other Christians!
I got a note from some people who visited this church that said. We love
Grace Emmanuel Church. We want it to be our church. You need to know that our
schedules are very busy, so we will seldom be able to attend… but when we do
have the time… GRACE will be our church! (paraphrase)
The path to Jesus... and from Jesus back to you often passes
through other Christians. If you try to cut that pathway out you will
discover that there is no other fork in the road ...there is no "Plan B"!
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Let's move this thing ahead to the next step:
The New Testament contains dozens of direct commands about our
relationship with fellow Christians that we sometimes call the….“one anothers”.
These commands are designed as a play book on how we are to open the
"spiritual breakers" in other people (and vise-versa)
The most frequent "one another" in the NT…is the command 15 different
times for us to "love" each other….Even the fellow Christians that you
don't enjoy being around as much as the rest… Even the fellow Christians that
you would rather never see again.
1 Thessalonians 4:9 But concerning brotherly love you have no need that
I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one
another…
What if…one of your fellow believers, that you aren't particularly fond
of, is the one that God partnered with you to open a spiritual breaker in you
that no one else has the combination to???
What if you have the combination that will open someone else's life
up to the power and grace of Jesus…but you don't have the time to be bothered
by their needs.
_______________________________________________________________________
This word… this command: koinonia- means communion; fellowship;
partnership…
Our relationship, with each other, is a spiritual partnership…
designed by God
Every partnership requires the involvement of, at least two people.
It is impossible to be a "partner" all by yourself. If we are all in
spiritual partnership, in this local church body,… that means that I will
have my arms linked with ________ over on this front… and my arms linked with
________ on that front. You will be partnering with _______ over some shared
need in your life and be partnering with ____________ in your prayers for God
to meet the needs of ________'s family….
A local church…this local church… is supposed to be a mutual sacred
partnership between us all to help each other in this life and on the
pathway to heaven.
Besides the 15 commands to love each other… on which I've preached whole
sermons….. I have here 13 other ways in which we are to be in spiritual
partnership with each other….
1. We have entered into a sacred partnership to: edify each other
Romans 14:19 So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and
try to build each other up. (NLT)
Obviously, in order to build "each other" up… you need some "each
others"…
2. We have entered into a sacred partnership to: teach and
admonish each other
Colossians. 3:16 Let the message about Christ, in all its
richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom
he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful
hearts.
As God teaches you spiritual truth, what are you supposed to do with
that knowledge?
3. We have entered into a
sacred partnership to: exhort each other
Romans 15:14 14 I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters, that
you are full of goodness. You know these things so well you can teach each
other all about them. (NLT)
Your changed life is supposed to be multiplied into other people!
4. We have entered into a sacred partnership to: encourage each
other to do good
Hebrews 10:24-25 Let us think of ways to motivate
one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our
meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially
now that the day of his return is drawing near.
The partnership aspect of all of these is so clear…isn't it. In order to
be a spiritual partner to other Christians you must spend regular, quality
time with them. Some say, "I can be a good Christian and never enter a
church"…No you can't!
5. We have entered into a sacred partnership to: confess
our sins to each other
James 5:16a Confess your sins to each other and pray for each
other so that you may be healed.
Now we start to get in deeper, where the rubber meets the road…
6. We have entered into a sacred partnership
to: forgive each other
Colossians 3:13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive
anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive
others.
This is where some people jump out of the boat…the waves are too rough…
7. We have entered into a sacred partnership to: submit to each
other
Ephesians 5:21 submitting to one another in the fear (reverence) of
God.
All this spiritual partnering demands that we grow in humility…
8. We have entered into a sacred partnership to: pray for
each other
James 5:1b … and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The
effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
What a heavenly calling…what depth…carrying brothers and sisters before
God!
9. We have entered into a sacred partnership to: serve each other
Galatians 5:13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my
brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful
nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. (NLT)
Imagine that…God could have saved you and lifted you straight up to
heaven!
10. We have entered into a sacred partnership to:
bear each other’s burdens
Galatians 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of
Christ.
Bearing each other's burdens is always done in, at least, sets of two???
11. We have entered into a sacred partnership to:
comfort each other
1 Thessalonians 4:18 Therefore comfort (encourage) one another with
these words.
If you need comforted and were not there… who is going to do it?
12 We have entered into a sacred partnership to: bear
with each other
Colossians 3:12-13a 12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he
loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness,
humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s
faults…
Partnering with other Christian often requires putting up with their
faults.
13. We have entered into a sacred partnership
to: be hospitable to each other
1 Peter 4:9-10 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.10 As each
one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of
the manifold grace of God.
I open my home and heart to you…if for no other reason, because we have
an eternal
partnership with each other.
Conclusion:
Philippians 2: 1-8 If you've gotten anything at all out of following
Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a
community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart… if you
care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be
deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk
your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be
obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to
lend a helping hand.
Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal
status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to
the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came,
he set aside the privileges of Deity and took on the status of a slave,
became human!.. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim
special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died
a selfless, obedient death… (MSG)
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