Sheep in pasture

Sheep in pasture
Feed My Sheep, Feed My Lambs, Feed My Sheep

Monday, September 2, 2013

The Love Zone…

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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