September 1, 2013
Stetson Memorial United Methodist
Church
“Cruising Sacred Waters with Jesus”
Sermon 7 of Summer Series
Worship
Theme: Fellowship
1
John 4:7-12 the Message Bible
John
15:11-17 the Message Bible
Ecclesiastes
4:9-11
Let us pray… (Pray
for the Spirit’s illumination)
A reading from the
Gospel of John, chapter fifteen verses eleven thru seventeen. (Read the
Scripture):
“I’ve told you these things for a
purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my
command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to
love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you
do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because
servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve
named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the
Father.
“You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you,
and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers,
whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you. “But remember the root command: Love one
another.
Have any of you read or seen some of the Lord of the Rings? I think my favorite
on is called “the Fellowship of the
Ring.” They all banded together with one cause…to get rid of the “One Ring of Sauron the Dark Lord”…it was
a very powerful and evil ring. So they went on this quest together…They knew
they could only triumph over evil if they worked together. In the end…they did
triumph…not without any difficulties but the stuck together and won the day.
I think I like it so much is because it
reminds me of the first church. You see they too came together…with one cause,
to share the Good News…and shared everything with each other. They spent much
of their time together praying and sharing meals with one another. They cared
for one another and even sold all they had so they could share with those in
need…those less fortunate than themselves. Unfortunately…humanity
went wrong somewhere…I think the essence of fellowship got distorted
somehow…Perhaps we…as Christian’s need to get back to the basics of the first
church again…Maybe then we will see a shift in the ripple of Christianity.
We are Cruising Sacred Waters with Jesus this
summer and what and adventure it has been. We had a wonderful time learning
about our Captain. We even got rid of some of our ballast rocks as we placed
them on the altar. As you can see they
are here on the altar to remind us that we put them in God’s hands. Last
week…we talked about worship… about how worship is the human response to God’s
goodness and mercy…a response to the dance…the music of love that comes from
the heart of God for you and for me. As we dance the dance of worship we come
together…as a family…as our spirit within us unites with the spirit within
others…in fellowship with each other…fellowship is vital for our walk and for
our growth in faith. We learn from one another as we share our pilgrimage
stories…We share our walk as we fellowship together.
So…what is fellowship? Why do we need to
fellowship any way? There is a piece of Scripture in Ecclesiastes that I think
is perfect to explain what and why fellowship is good. It is found in chapter 4
verses 9-11. It states that “two are better than one because they have a good
return for their hard work. And that if either should fall; one can pick up the
other.” Then it states “But how miserable are those who fall and don’t have a
companion to help them up!” Also, “if two lie down together, they can stay warm.
But how can anyone stay warm alone?” I think this is the very essence of
fellowship. We need each other, whether we want to admit it or not.
When we live in fellowship…in community…with
one another we are able to help each other stand strong in our faith. Each
Sunday we gather as a faith community in faith. We share our concerns and
celebration with each other and we raise our voices together as we pray. We
help each other as we pray for one another and situations and we have all seen
the miracles that have come out of our fellowship in prayer. We have all come
up beside someone and helped them through a tough time…even if it is just a
listening ear. We enter
Gods Love Zone with each other…
Fellowship produces love. From the 1st John
this morning, we heard that God is love and love is God and from God. As we
begin to “get to know each other” through fellowship…true fellowship…not just the surface stuff that looks good
when you are around others but the deep down stuff that bonds us to one another…we
begin to see each other with a different set of eyes…God’s eyes…the eyes of
love. We begin to love just for the sheer joy of it…our walk becomes one with a
“spring in our step” as we twirl and whirl our part in the dance with God and
others. It’s all about love…it’s all about relationships…worship is not
temporal but relational…as we worship and fellowship with God and each other a
“cord is forged” that is not easily broken. God
wants us to enter into His Love Zone as we fellowship with each other.
When we Worship and fellowship with one
another we, as the John 15 scripture states, becomes friends of Christ…not just
a servant but truly friends. Our fellowship with one another helps us to come
up beside those around us and work in ministry with one another…we want to work
together for the kingdom of God…we want to be that ambassador for Christ in the
world…as well as to those that we fellowship with…but the bottom line of this
relational experience is love…without it, just isn’t going to happen. Our Love Zone spreads out. Not only are we
in it as we fellowship with one another but we offer others the opportunity to
join us as we share the Gospel with a hurting world…
We are called…we are meant to be…we need to
fellowship with one another. We need to learn with one another. We need to work
in ministry with one another. We need to see each other through God’s eyes and
not our own distorted vision. We need to seize every opportunity to be that
unified body of Christ, serving, learning, growing with the help and guidance
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We are about to share a Fellowship Meal with
each other as we celebrate the Lord’s Table. My question for you and I is this…How
have you and I lived our faith out loud…have we spent time with others,
learning from each other or have we said “maybe tomorrow”? Have we chosen to
fellowship with others or have we done things that have alienated them? Are we
living in God’s Love Zone? How will
you choose to live…as a “Lone Ranger” our on your own or as a “Fellow Traveler”
on this journey of faith and trust? Which will you choose? May we choose warmth
of fellowship over the coldness of being alone.
Amen
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