Fellowship With God

Good morning, good morning church. It's good to be here. It is good to be here. I hope you guys are enjoying this series on obedience.

Michael and Andrew kick this series off with three great messages. Today we are in part four of this series. We are going to be discussing a very important topic, a topic that is key when it comes to growing obedience. The topic we are going to discuss this morning church is fellowship.

At Topik is fellowship. One of the greatest misunderstandings or traffic we can fall into is the God only once our obedience. I'm not saying obedience is not important, you know from the last three weeks obedience is very important. But along with obedience there is a closeness and there is an intimacy that unites us with God the Father.

In that closeness that intimacy is found in fellowship. It's found in fellowship. From the beginning God designed humanity for companionship. We see this in Genesis 3-8.

Genesis 3-8 says, Day Adam and Eve heard the voice of the Lord walking in the garden. And I love what the JFB Bible commentary says about this verse. It says, The divine being appeared in the same manner as usual, uttering the well-known tones of kindness, walking, not running hastily as one influenced by angry feelings. How beautifully expressive are those words of the familiar way in which God had interaction with the first pair.

That's a great commentary church. That's a good commentary. You know, but what is also very interesting about this verse is what the Hebrew has to say about the word walking. The Hebrew word in this verse is the word halak.

And halak means it speaks of the enjoyment of fellowship between God and our first parents. So from the beginning that's what God desired, companionship. And in the end of the Bible in 21-3 we get these words. God's dwelling place is now among the people and He will dwell with them.

So from Genesis to Revelation, God's heart has always been to dwell with His people, to walk with them and to know them personally. And as we've seen in the Revelation verse we just read, the ultimate goal of creation, God living in close proximity in rich fellowship with His people. You know, church even after sin in the world, God did not abandon His desire for fellowship. Instead He pursued it.

He pursued it through covenant, through sacrifice, and ultimately through Jesus Christ. So if you're looking for a title that's important for the message, the title of today's message is, fellowship with God, fellowship with God. And we're going to discuss the benefits of fellowship. What can disrupt it and the blessings that flow from it?

You know, most of all Christians understand that God is holy and powerful, and that is good. That is good. But at times people can make the mistake of seeing Him as distant and untouchable. And here at Grace that is not the message we're going to preach or teach, because it's not the true gospel.

The Bible clearly states, and we strongly believe that God is available to us each and every day. Yes. You know, we also know from the word of God that the church is not an organization. It's an organism.

It's a live and it's living. You know, and if you've been here for any length of time, you know the real relational church. We love to build relationships. But in order for those relationships to be healthy and to flourish, fellowship with God, and with other believers, is vital and necessary.

You see, I don't know about you, but at the beginning I came to Christ because I was hungry and I wanted to change. I wanted forgiveness. And amen, you know, we do need change. We need God's forgiveness.

But God desires more than just forgiveness, church. God desires fellowship with us. You see, forgiveness is not the end. It is a means to a much greater end.

You know, forgiveness is the means. Fellowship is the end. You know, forgiveness puts us in a place where we can have this wonderful rich fellowship with God the Father. So come on church.

God wants our time. He wants our hearts and He wants our presence. So let's get into the message. And we're going to start by reading Romans 1116.

Romans 1116 reads, where if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. This is a common theme church throughout the Bible. The Bible speaks quite a bit about us giving God our first fruit.

So it should be no different as we start each day. You know, how many of you have heard the phrase that the most important middle of the day? It's true. God believed it.

It's written in Exodus 16. In Exodus 16, it said, the Lord God would rain down manna out of heaven. And if the children of Israel didn't rise up early to get the manna, the sun would rise. And the sun would just melt the manna away.

So in other words, if they did not get up and seek first, for the bread they would give them life. They would go hungry the rest of the day. Come on. And I'm sure that you guys all know that Snickers commercial.

You are not yourself when you are hungry. And the same is true for us spiritually, Church. The same is true spiritually. Reek and I be all that God called us to be if we do not eat the bread of life he has provided for us.

John 635 says clearly, then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. You know, in this same chapter, if you jump down to verses 55 to 57, Jesus says, for my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drinking deep. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I am him.

As the living Father has sent me and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will live because of me. One more great verse we can look at, Church is Jeremiah 1516. Jeremiah said, when I discovered your words, I devoured them. He said, they were my joy and my heart is the light.

You know, we can see from the verses in Jeremiah, the Gospel of John, the God is serious about his word being a part of our daily diet. You know, from the beginning of the Gospel, John, he said the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. That same chapter verse 14 says, the word became flesh and made its dwelling among us. God desires fellowship, Church.

God desires fellowship. That is so important. Did everyone get that? There's a few of them, okay?

I can start over. We want to do this again. We're good. Now, it's important though, Church.

It's important to receive God first. You know, it's important to read our spirits first. So the first thing I want us to look at this morning is the morning watch. The morning watch.

And we're going to start off in 2 Peter 119. This is a great verse. Here, receive Jesus himself. It's called the Morning Star.

2 Peter 119 reads, we also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable and you will do well to pay attention to it. As to a light shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Church, I want to tell you all, heart without God's presence can be a dark place. Be a dark place.

One of the first things that we must do in the morning watch is secure God's presence and let His presence rise in our hearts. And it starts in our prayer closet. It is here where we decide to give God our first fruits. Here is where we decide and make the decision who will rule and reign and who will have first place.

You know, it's also in the morning watch. Also in the morning watch where our spiritual life is both tested and strengthened. This is the battlefield, Church. This is where it's decided for the day where the God is to have all.

And where we make the decision to trust Him and follow His leading. Here is where we make the resolution of absolute obedience. One example of testing that you may go through in the morning watch is simply getting out of bed in the morning. Now how many of you know you need to get out of bed just a little bit earlier this means time will father God.

But what happens? We keep getting next news button. 10 more minutes. The next thing you know, 10 minutes turns into an hour.

Proverbs 6, 9 says, how long will you slumber, old slurge? When will you rise from your sleep? Every morning, Church, every morning Jesus gives us the opportunity to rise early and eat the bread of life. He gives us the opportunity to draw and drink from the wells of His salvation.

Not only does not only do we receive life, but that we can be a testimony of that life and encouragement to others. You know, the morning watch also has the ability to influence and impact how the rest of your day will turn out. You know, before committing our lives to the Lord, He'll deny how to long and continue in fellowship. A yearning for companionship.

For relationship with transparency and mutual support would help our marriage. We wanted friends that we could walk with, walk alongside of us to give us guidance, to give us wisdom, to help us navigate the struggles. And we wanted it for more than just social interaction. It was about doing life.

By growing and faith in character and sharing through shared experiences and accountability, Church. You know, and I remember when we first walked into the doors of this church, we had made a decision that we wanted moral obedience in our life. We wanted to change our ways. So me and Hilde, we took those first steps, we went through steps to freedom, went through transformation prayer.

We took advantage of all the ministries this church had to offer, and God was faithful. He was faithful to meet us where we were. And we began to experience freedom from lives, from self-deception, to false beliefs that we had believed, things that were keeping us captive. It was a new beginning for us.

A new beginning. We touched a new life, a life with God's peace. We tasted His word and it was good. But as we began to pursue that lifestyle and we began to walk that narrow path, we couldn't help but feel that something was limited.

Something was limited. And that's something Church that was limited in our life was fellowship. It was fellowship. It was companionship.

So this was around the beginning of our marriage when me and Hilde came to grace and we were blessed to meet some great couples. One of the first couples we met were our life leaders, Larry McKay-Landerson. They encouraged us. They spoke life to us.

We built a relationship with them, a strong bond had great fellowship with them. And then they kicked us out of life. Now it was time for a new season, Church. We got pushed out and we became life leaders.

And then we had the privilege of connecting with Brian and Joanne Van Hoon. Well maybe the privilege of connecting with Joanne. I don't know if you call Brian or a privilege. I'll just play.

Brian knows I love him. He knows I love him. But Brian and Joanne took time to invest in our lives as well. They poured into us.

They spoke into areas. They needed correction. They took us to financial counseling. They were a solid foundation for us.

And it wasn't long after that. Another door opened up. And then me and Hoon had a privilege of taking over the first impressions ministry. And we got to spend time with Landon and Mary McLean.

And experienced another great connection. Another great friendship. And then a little later on after that it was Vick and Lisa Everett. And in charge you get the pattern here.

I can keep going and I can keep going and going. But we had had some great men and women who got in this church pouring into us. And the reason I'm taking the time to tell you this is because there was a common denominator in all those relationships. Other than the fact that they were saved and loved Jesus.

They spent time in God's Word. They spent time in God's Word. They spent time in the morning watch. Such friendships like these church are vital and necessary for our spiritual growth.

These relationships foster a community where vulnerability leads to healing and strength. And I want to tell you that this produced a hunger inside of me and held up. We got to experience first hand what greatness looked like. We had the privilege of it being modeled before our very eyes.

And we began to understand that if we wanted to bless life and we wanted to get all that God had for us. We had to put God first. We had to make time for the things that were important and the things that matter the most. One thing I have learned.

And this was before Christ, after Christ, any time in my life. One thing I learned is that you will make time for the things that are important to you. You will make time for the things you love. You know when I began to spend time in the morning watch and rise up early to get that man a while.

It was fresh. You know our fellowship with Jesus began to grow. Our marriage began to grow. Our relationship began to experience a new life.

You know fellowship in the morning watch will bring new life to your life church. It will. We just have to make a sacrifice. We have to give ourselves away to him.

You know I want to share a few key verses with you here. The first one I want to share is Psalms 9-1-1. It says, Whoever dwells in the shelter of the most high will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Philippians 4-13 says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Do the right of me 24. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies and to give you victory. Church these verses and many others like them teach us. They close, consistent fellowship with God shifts our source of strength from human effort to his divine empowerment.

And that leads church to victory after victory after victory. You know a lot of times the areas where the rear not experiencing victory in our life can be traced back to a lack of fellowship. In struggling with insecurities, the answer just might be more fellowship with God. In struggling with anxieties, the answer just might be more fellowship with God.

Struggling with a particular sin issue. The answer just might be more fellowship with God. Struggling to believe that you can become a totally new person, a new creation like the Bible says you can. The answer just might be more fellowship with God.

Now struggling to see yourself as successful in this area of that area. The answer might be more fellowship with God. I hope you're getting this church. I hope you're getting it.

And let me say it again. Close, consistent fellowship with God shifts the source of strength from our human effort to his divine empowerment. And that will lead to victory after victory after victory. So I want to pause right here.

And I want you to take a moment and reflect on your own experience of the morning watch. And when you know that when you spend time with the Lord your day goes better. I don't have to convince you of that fact because you know it's true. And church that's because the Christian life isn't a life about do's and don'ts.

It's about relationship with God. It's about fellowship with God. You know how many of you are tracking me this morning? How many of you are tracking me?

And I know what some of you may be thinking right now. Say I'm out here that and that's good. I get the fellowship but I thought we were on a series about obedience. Stay with me now.

Don't check out just yet. Stay with me. We're on the way. But we need to see a very important truth.

And their very important truth that is in the Bible is fellowship turns the heart to obedience. Fellowship turns the heart to obedience. When we put Jesus first and we surrender all, our fellowship will produce a hunger for obedience. I want to encourage you.

Obedience is not produced by pressure. By fear of our rule keeping. It is produced by fellowship. When people generally walk with God, obedience becomes the natural response of a transformed heart of a transformed life.

And his word is clear. In John 1415, he says, if you really love me, you will keep and obey my commandments. I'm going to read that again. He says, if you really love me, you will obey and keep my commandments.

But notice what Jesus did not say. He did not say if you fear me or if you try harder. He said, if you love me, keep my commandments. See love grows out of fellowship.

And obedience flows out of love. 1 Corinthians 1, 19. It says, God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ our Lord. One thing I've learned in church, obedience delaks fellowship.

It will become mechanical. It will become joyless. And it will become short lived. But in obedience that is found in the fellowship, it softens your heart.

It aligns your desires with God's will. And it makes obedience a get to, not a got to. No. Fellowship changes desire, church before it changes behavior.

God's goal is not external compliance. It's internal transformation. Internal transformation. I want to share a verse with you right here.

Ezekiel 36 verses 26 through 27. The verse reads, and I will give you a new heart. And I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stonie, stubborn heart, and give you a tender, responsive heart.

I will put my spirit in you so that you will follow my degrees and be careful to obey my regulations. And I want you to notice the order in this verse, church. Very important order here. New heart.

New spirit. Obedient walk. Look at that again. I'm going to say that again.

It's new heart. New spirit. Obedient walk. You know, when we have a heart towards God, we will have deeper fellowship.

And sin will lose its attraction. Then God's will becomes desirable, and obedience flows naturally. Now that is why behavior modification fails. But heart transformation will always last.

See, not only that, when we walk in God this way, it produces sensitivity to his voice. Fellowship with God will always sharpen your spiritual sensitivity. It will. Now John 10, 4 says, when he has brought his own sheep outside, he walks on before them.

And the sheep follow him because they know his voice. That's good, man. How many of you know God's voice? And when he speaks, it feels good.

Now I want you to be in church because obedience becomes easier when you recognize his voice. When you trust his heart, and you spend time in his presence. People struggle with obedience not because God is unclear. They struggle with obedience because their fellowship is shallow.

And I want you to take the example of a relationship between a husband and wife, a godly marriage. This kind of marriage requires fellowship. It requires companionship, sacrifice. It requires love.

You know, fellowship with Christ produces obedience through love, church. And it is this love driven obedience that will last. This is the highest form of obedience. 1 John 2, 5 says, whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is perfected in him.

You know, legal obedience says, I will obey, so I won't be punished. Relational obedience says, I will obey because I love him. You know, and no one modeled that more perfectly than Jesus. John 829 says, and he who sent me is ever with me.

My father has not let me alone, for I always do what pleases him. You know, here we see Jesus obedience flow from constant fellowship with the Father. Now one more important thing to be must not forget church, and that is God never intended fellowship to be only vertical. He intended to be horizontal as well.

You know, take the picture of the cross. Jesus didn't just die for our sins. He died for his church also. Before he ever went to the cross, Jesus had fellowship on his mind.

His heart was not just to forgive individuals. His heart was also to create a unified people. A people who would share in the fellowship of the Father and the Son. You know, a broadroom, a broadroom, he gives himself a relationship.

He lays down his life for union. You know, Jesus endured the cross that he might present to himself a glorious church. He endured the cross so that he could restore intimacy and fellowship to his body. You know, after Jesus' death, the book of Acts says in Acts 2, 42, that they continued.

They continued in the Apostles' Doctrine and Fellowship. You know, this verse right here, it gives us a snapshot of the spiritual DNA of the early church. It shows us that what naturally flowed out, and that was the evidence of genuine fellowship. You know, 1 John 1, 7 says, but if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other.

And the blood of his son, Jesus, cleanses us from all sin. That is why life group is so important, church. That is why life group is vital for our spiritual growth. Now, how many of you could say the life group has impacted your life?

You know, I want to share a few testimonies of how life group has impacted lives, how it's transformed lives. And the first one I want to share with you is Jared and Candice Robertson. You know, I know Jared and Candice, they're a great couple in this church. You know, I've had the privilege of seeing their lives transformed in a mighty way.

Life group changed their lives in ways that they didn't even know that they needed. You know, they told me that before coming to grace, they said they had never truly done life relations with other believers. You said, but after getting connected and after being here for a while, the level of growth and fellowship they experienced in life group, it changed the trajectory of their lives. You know, upon sharing their testimony, they spoke of the mentors who had such a great, who set such a great biblical example before them.

Now, not only did they set the example, but they walked it out alongside them. You know, they experienced tremendous growth in a short amount of time because of the time, the love, and the effort they were reporting to them. You know, now we see that they're committed life group leaders, you know, committed first impressions ministry leaders. They help take many women through baptism of the Holy Spirit.

You know, their lives have been changed. And God used fellowship in life group to save their marriage, to break generational curses, and to build them up in a mighty way, just to take them from glory to glory to glory. You know, church, if you've never, if you don't know Jared and Candice and you never heard their testimony, I encourage you. You might want to connect with them.

You might want to hear their testimony. There are some truly some great examples of what it is to be a transformed life of Christ. You know, next we have another great example of God's transforming power. You see, many of you know that, or you may not know, that Danny is my brother-in-law.

He's my kum-yau. And Julie is my sister. And I knew Danny and Julie before Christ growing up, when I was a little kid, I was always at their house. I know them now.

And the impact that life group has had on their lives is simply amazing. It really is. It has transformed their lives and impacted in a way that I never thought was possible. You know, it's strengthened their marriage, actually it saves their marriage.

It saves their marriage. Now Danny has shared with me on multiple occasions. I've been in life group that's taught him and Julie how to truly love people. How to truly love people for who they are and for where they're at in life.

You know, the friendships they build, he said they were more than friendships. He said they built family. You know, so it amazes me, Church. It amazes me to see where Danny and Julie are today.

You know, because I've seen the struggles. I've seen the struggles. I've seen the challenges. I've seen all the things and dirt.

And all Danny wants to do now, man, all he wants to do is serve the Kingdom. I've seen them take leaps and bounds in his faith. He has taken countless men through steps to freedom. And we are so grateful for him.

We're super grateful for you, Danny. You know, and I share these testimonies with you to say that if it wasn't for fellowship, if it wasn't for life group, if it wasn't for the fellowship in those group, these transform lives will not be where they're at today. And this is just a few of so many testimonies in this Church. You know, I can go on and on and on.

But what's important here, Church? What is important is that we see and we understand that healthy Christian fellowship is a united fellowship. It's a fellowship that encourages obedience. It brings love and accountability and creates an environment where obedience is not only modeled, but it's also celebrating.

You know, in this Church, we love to celebrate one another's achievements. We love to celebrate one another's accomplishments. But in order for that to happen, you have to let people in. You have to let them in.

You know, isolation, separation from other believers will weaken your obedience Church and weaken it. But fellowship, fellowship will strengthen your obedience. You know, we wind it down here, we wind it down here, but I want to close with a very important truth. And the truth that I want to close with this morning Church is you don't obey your way into fellowship.

You fellowship your way into obedience. I want to say that again. You don't obey your way into fellowship. You fellowship your way into obedience.

Now let that sink in for a second. Because when heart's drawn near to God, obedience becomes joyful. It becomes joyful. Hoeingness becomes attractive and surrender becomes natural.

You know, God is not asking for forced compliance, Church. He's not asking for forced compliance. He is inviting us into a daily fellowship that transforms the heart. So what I want to do right now is I want to ask you to stand with me.

And I don't want to get in a hurry here. I want to take a moment. And I want you to bow your heads. And let's just give the Lord an opportunity to speak to us.

So what I want to do is I want to ask life group leaders to come forward. If I can have some life group leaders come forward please. And what I'm going to do is I'm going to open up the altar here in a minute. And if the Lord is speaking to you today, if He spoke to you today and there's an area in your life where you need victory, your struggling, maybe it's insecurity.

Or maybe you're struggling with believing your new creation, struggling with anxiety. Or maybe it's just a call to salvation. Maybe it's just a call to salvation. You have never accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Now I want you to come. Don't walk out of here without getting the opportunity or getting prayed for. Don't walk out of here without getting the opportunity to let the Lord touch your life. So if this word is spoken to you and that is you, then I'm speaking to you.

Come forward right now. Come forward. Come forward and get prayer. Come on.

So I'm going to go ahead and close this time prayer. I'm going to go ahead and close this time prayer. So Father God we just come before you right now Lord and we don't want to form a galleiness without your presence Lord. We want you to draw us deeper into deeper fellowship with you.

I ask the Lord that you would change hearts, that you would align our desires, and that you would let your obedience flow from love and not from fear church. Teach us to walk with you daily Lord so that our lives may please you in all thanks. Lord we love you and it is in Jesus name and we pray. Amen.

Y'all have a blessed Sunday church.