(0067) – Evangelistic1
“The Greatest Invitation”
Preached by Rob Sinclair
Sunday Morning – 7/16/17
Introduction:
- I probably receive at least 2 offers a week in the mail to apply for a credit card…they’re saying, “Come…join us! Be a part of our great organization!”
- There are lots of clubs and organizations that we can be a part of…
1.The Rotary Club, Kiwanis Club, Professional societies…etc.
- Paying my dues at the Y.M.C.A. – Kylie and I go there, but if they ever up their rates…close the pool…close the racquetball court…we are going to cancel our membership.
- None of those organizations or invitations remotely resemble or are equal in depth to Biblical fellowship…the single most important thing we can have with God and each other
- Fellowship – koinonia – is what I’m talking about here…
1.Translated as Sharing, Commuion, Fellowship
2.Partaker; Participant; Partner; Commonality; Contributing
3.And all of those words describe exactly what happens between God and men – and between those who are identified as God’s people.
Body:
- You are invited into fellowship with Jesus Christ
A.The vertical sense – being in fellowship with God
B.Called into fellowship – 1 Corinthians 1:9 – “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1.God is asking us to share with Him something very special.
2.Called means “invited” (like in the parable of the great supper and many were invited by the king, that’s this word!).
3.And the closest thing we probably have as humans would be a marriage proposal – Illustration: The night I proposed to Kylie
C.Called through the gospel – 2 Thessalonians 2:14 – “It was for this He called you through the gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1.It is through the message of His Son, Jesus, the Gospel, that He is inviting you into fellowship with Him.
2.He’s inviting you to listen and understand the need you have for a savior
3.He’s inviting you to hear and understand His love for you that made Him send His Son to die for you.
- If you accept the invitation, you are added to Christ’s body and the body of believers who are in fellowshipwith one another
A.The horizontal sense – being in fellowship with others who are in fellowship with God
B.And this goes back to the preaching of the gospel! (Peter on Pentecost)
1.And it’s notable that as soon as the 3,000 people were baptized, it says in the very next verse in Acts 2:42 that “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to FELLOWSHIP, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
C.We are baptized into fellowship with God and His people!
1.Romans 6:3-4 (READ FROM JESUS’ PERSPECTIVE!!!) – “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”(notice the uniting language here)
2.1 Corinthians 12:13 – “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”
a.You’re brought at that moment into an intimate relationship with God.
b.And on the same token, into an intimate sharing and fellowship with the PEOPLE of God.
D.And we demonstrate our fellowship publicly in many ways:
1.Lord’s Supper
a.The night Jesus was betrayed, He said, “I want you to do this in remembrance of Me.” – And it is the responsibility and privilege of every Christian to do this.
b.1 Corinthians 10:16-17 – “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing (some translations will say fellowship or participation or communion) in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.”
E.Singing – Giving – Praying – Preaching
1.I have nothing in and of myself that God would ever want. I have no ability to satisfy His justice.
2.And when I do these things…like come to the communion table or sing praises to His name…I say I have nothing to offer you Lord, except the body of My Lord Jesus Christ. – Hebrews 10 tells us that He doesn’t want bulls, goats, rams, etc. etc. – He wants those who have been united with Christ in His sinless perfection, because Hebrews 10:10 says that “…we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
3.Christ’s sacrifice becomes MY sacrifice – OUR sacrifice – and we go to God in our partaking and participating in the Lord’s Supper, in the Giving, in the praying, in the singing and in the engagement of the preaching and we say, “Lord, we know you know our hearts…this is our sacrifice and participation with YOU!”
F.Fellowship with all three members of the Godhead
1.We just looked at 1 Corinthians 10 that tells us we share in the body and blood of Christ.
2.2 Corinthians tells us that that relationship is beautified in the unification with the Spirit
3.And ultimately, the apostle John in 1 John 1:3 ties all of that together and assures us that we’re unified with all three members of the Godhead and with each other.
G.1 John 1:3 – “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
1.And it’s not just being involved in the acts of worship we’ve already discussed.
2.We share life together! It’s the exchange of thoughts and feelings with one another!
3.It’s the exchange of life experiences with one another.
4.It’s when we let the barriers of life down for one another and let each other in – to know what’s going on in each other’s lives!
5.Illustration: There’s a “drive-in” church in Daytona Beach, Florida…where drivers pull in and listen to the sermon on their radios. Many love it, being quoted as saying “I love being able to worship God in my own personal space.”
6.Before we judge those people in Florida, we do need to examine the mindset behind those actions…in a church building setting, it’s akin to those that can’t wait to get out of here as soon as the last “Amen” is said…and consciously or subconsciously state that they don’t want anything to do with the lives of those around them.
7.Brethren, that is not New Testament fellowship.
H.We are told to participate, share, and have all things in common with each other.
1.Illustration: There’s a beautiful story about Jimmy Durante – he was a very popular singer and entertainer during the WWII era. And he was asked to go and speak to a group of WWII veterans – He agreed, but stated that he only had just a few short minutes to give and probably just one monologue.
2.He gets on stage and 5 minutes became 10 minutes, and 10 minutes became 15, and 15 became 30 minutes before he walked backstage. And someone asked him, “What happened, I thought you only had a few minutes to give?”
3.He said, “That is all I had to give, but the reason why I stayed is very clearly seen in the front row of the audience.” The man looked out and there he saw two veterans, who had each lost an arm. One had lost his right arm, and the other his left…and yet there they were, sitting together, clapping for Durante…
4.And that touches us…to see that kind of sacrificial cooperation.
5.But do we see ourselves in that way?
I.Romans 12:5 says, “so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” Do we have the mentality that shifts our focus from ourselves to our brothers and sisters in Christ?
- You maintain your fellowship with God and fellow members by walking in the light
A.Relationships are easy to start, but they’re harder to maintain
1.Some of you here have been married quite a long time…and it wasn’t always easy, was it?
2.You had to maintain it! It required effort and contact with one another. Spending time together and keeping company.
B.And we do this with God by walking in the Light – 1 John 1:6-7 – “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
1.Young people Some of you are just weeks or days from leaving mom and dad’s house – and some of you may have already made up your mind that you’re taking the year off. Perhaps it’ll be a convenient time away to actually sleep in on Sunday…to live wildly or even lazily.
2.But realize that you cannot have fellowship…an ongoing saving relationship…a closeness to God……..and live that way.
C.You must cling to God…because there will come that Sunday when you’ll wake up with nothing but your own faith and your own commitment that will keep you from just rolling over and going back to sleep.
D.Remember that that promise is conditional… “IF we walk in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” The relationship must be maintained to keep fellowship.
Conclusion:
- This is one of my favorite days as far as congregational life goes…the annual church picnic!
- Not because of the smack talk on the volleyball court (I love it)
- Not because of the amazing food we’re all going to have…
- It’s because of you! The people!
- God is calling out to you…He has invited you…to become a member, a fellow-partaker and participant of His glorious and incorruptible kingdom!
- So we must ask ourselves right now, are we dedicated to the concept of fellowship and community with God and one another?
Invitation