Our Filling Station (2)
Notes
Transcript
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
You might remember from our last time together that I asked a question:
Is God always with you?
And I carried us through 5 verses to determine that God will draw closer to us if we draw to Him.
In fact, the focal verse of our time tonight reflects that.
And, by the way, the last verse I focused on was a NT verse:
19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
Enough of that, I believe we all understand that if we pursue a deeper relationship with the Lord, He will deepen His relationship with us. Amen.
And we discussed that is true in any relationship. You get out of any relationship what you put into it. And I want to say before we go any further. Jesus loves you and he wants you to love Him. He wants to have a deep abiding relationship with you, but we must do our part to make the relationship enriching.
Salvation is totally Him, relationship is us.
The Greek word translated “fellowship” in the New Testament is koinonia, meaning “partnership, sharing in common, or communion,” and the essence of partnership is agreement or unity of purpose. Fellowship with God is, at its most basic, agreement with Him in all things. The New Testament assures believers of this partnership. Not only do we have fellowship with God the Father, but we also have fellowship with His Son and the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 1:9; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 John 1:3).
1 Corinthians 1:9 “9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
2 Corinthians 13:14 “14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.”
1 John 1:3 “3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
In other words, our fellowship with others hinge on our fellowship with God.
How your relationships fare, how your life fares as contentment, tranquility, and joy will be in direct correlation to your fellowship with the Lord.
Listen to:
Amos 3:3 “3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?”
It’s the chicken and the egg. Two can not walk together unless they commune together. They spend time together.
There are numerous couples in the room tonight that would attest that over a great amount of time being together that they begin to think similarly on many subjects. By spend time with your spouse you learn how they think, you know what makes them tick, you know their hot buttons and you know what motivates or encourages them.
Fellowship with God has Dividends that are an Asset
Fellowship with God has Dividends that are an Asset
“He will draw near to you.”
So, if our aim is to draw to the Lord and encounter oneness or being likeminded, we only experience that with time together.
Let me ask you a question. Does your life, your behavior, your attitude, your demeanor change within a day? Let’s be honest. Even within moments.
We need to consider daily behaviors, daily pursuits in our relationship with God.
Ephesians 2:19–22 “19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
Paul writes of this matter of action following our salvation.
“fellow citizens of the saints”
We are a product of our environment. We tend to be influenced by those we hang around. I hope and pray that you surround yourself with Christian friends. My best friends are Christian friends.
Do we need lost friends? Absolutely. How can we impact if we are never around the lost? But we must be undergirded, strengthened, sometimes motivated, held accountable by our Christian friends.
Ecclesiastes 4:12 “12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Matthew 18:20 “20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.””
We are better together than apart. This has been confirmed to me over these last 7 days more than you would imagine.
-Mark Osgood, Pastor Perry Hill Road United Methodist Church
-Knute Elmore, fishing partner
Think a moment about your exercise regiment. Do you do better when you know someone is counting on you to meet them than when you have to be motivated to go at it alone?
We are stronger together in our fellowship with God and each other when we spend time together.
2. “Members of the household of God”
Geographically, that fellowship incurs hopefully off campus, but here at church as well. Our fellowship here together teaches others by example. Furthermore, you discipline influences others in their discipline to be in church.
You might ask or think because at various times I have encouraged “off campus cell groups.” I still encourage that. Why?
Matthew 28:19 (NKJV)
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
The idea of “going to church.”
Date Night
If I were to ask you right now how is your time in church. Without you answering, you could say come see come saw, it is excellent, or it is boring, or its the same old, same old.
Each one of us left our homes this evening or this coming Sunday morning to have an encounter, an experience, a communion with Jesus.
When we go to church, we are going on a date.
There is no chapter and verse supportive of coming in a more prepared fashion as a casual fashion, no more than you have a chapter and verse support for the way you come. But I want us all to consider something tonight about church, going on a date with the bridegroom.
What makes for a good date?
-attire, clothes nicely prepared, dressed up,
-what if you are on a supposed date and no one changes clothes when they get home, no one washed off the odors of the day from work, etc. Is it a date or is it just having a meal
-being on time
-engaged in the conversation
-think before hand some things to discuss
-not to be predictable
-ambiance
-Nice venue-doable, but a sacrifice
-total focus on your date
A good date is planning
Someone thinking to make a reservation.
-some token gift
-Location is important on a date. Date night could work at home just as one who says that worship the Lord in the woods hunting. But, at home can make for many distractions. The kid wake up or you see the distraction of a need in the house that pulls you from your focus.
Being in church says that I am setting a time and place to devote my total unadulterated attention to the Lord.
-Cellphone-Leaving in the office during worship. Silent my phone. When I visit a home, 90% of the time I leave my phone in the truck to give my total undivided attention to the visit.
I want to make a plea to you tonight. Many of us went half our lives or longer without the dependence of the cellphone. You can be disengaged with it for 30 minutes. You will find worship more meaningful because you are more engaged and not segregateed in your thinking.
I want you to brainstorm with me on what makes for a good date.
Your attire states a great deal as to what you think about your time together. Dr. Steven Lawson is a theologian I listen to and every time on Sunday morning or Sunday night he enters the pulpit, He is the lead, the authority at that time presenting the Word. he is entering the throne room of heaven and He wants the Lord to take Him at his best. Not that he just came in from a pajama party. Furthermore, He is delving out serious business and wants to appear business.
Dates are important when we make them special. Our dress, not becoming mundane in where we go and making it special.
Brother Wayne Burns told Jane and I 40 years ago as a young married couple that you get out of church what you put into it.
Can I remind you of the most basic truth going. The one’s who love church are the ones who attend church, the one’s who put themselves into church.
“For there where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Let’s brainstorm ways that you can keep the primping, the courting, the spice of the date at church.
-Dressing up sets a mood that something special is going to happen today.
Ill. Brian-Hillside-Deer Hunting
How much you are knowledgeable about your date and how well you are in keeping the conversation is everything to the time together.
Read your lesson from Life Groups. Engage with your teacher. Ask questions. Meet the challenges for the week that your teacher presents you. Report back of the results from the application your teacher shared with you.
Ambiance is everything to an enjoyable date. Being on time. Having the vehicle cleaned up. Finding the right table and the right entree, etc. Get to church early. Prepare the evening before by putting out your clothes. Have your Bible and your Sunday School book ready. Get in worship early and locate the hymnal. Make up your mind that you are going to be engaged in the date and you are going to sing when it is time to sing, pray when it is time to pray, listen when it is time to listen, and respond when it is time to respond.
Fellowship with God will not happen if the other party is always mentally, physically, emotionally somewhere else during the encounter. Or, does not interact at all.
Sermon Starters, Volume 1 Second—The Promise for Fellowship
If you do not want God in your life, He will oblige you and leave you alone. That is what makes hell so bad. The fire is terrible, but the worst thing is that God is not there. On the cross, Christ cried out, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me” (Matthew 27:46). That was the worst part of Calvary. The physical suffering on the cross was terrible, but the spiritual suffering was the greatest suffering of all.
If you do those things, you will enjoy the date. And guess what, others will want to go on the date with you because you rave as to how enjoyable the date was. Amen. Do you know when this church will grow? Besides the obvious, when God brings the increase. When you are proud of your church, your proud of your time here, and you can not wait to tell others about the atmosphere here.
Atmosphere in the date most times has all to do with how much we put into the time to make it special. Amen.
3. “Being Built on the prophets and apostles”
Begin your day with a consistent, methodological Bible study/prayer life.
This helps us to know our Bridegroom. This helps us to engage in conversation with Hi and His people.
May i share with you who gets the most out of the time in the Life Group class?
Can I submit to you who gets the most out of the time here in the congregation when i am called to preach?
Firstly, me and then the one that came hungry to hear something or the one who read the text and studied.
Drill down a little bit. We have so much energy for those interests we have via the computer or the phone. Study a little deeper.
Prophets-OT, Apostles-NT
And may I recommend that methodology. As for example.
Straight from OT to NT-”God bless you.”
OT, Wisdom Literature, NT
1 chapter of each and if you do that you will read the Bible in One year.
And may I make a comfortable amendment to the plan.
Clean area-upright, no distraction, notebook, journal, and pen with Bible.
Close your night with the Bible-flat of your back. Just bedside table light. Do you know how your phone dims the white light or your Ipad after 10 pm? That is a feature to relax you.
Read the Psalms at night, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, read text that is more relaxing that ministers to our souls.
This is my testimony as an example.
Lift-Coffee
Lord-
It is interesting that when I use this method, my list, my priorities change. Pressures of the list shift. Priorities and pressures that may be mounting cease.
List-
When these things take place we enjoy the dividends of walking with the Lord as spelled out in the fruits of the Spirit.
Real Fellowship with God will Deter Sin from our Lives
Real Fellowship with God will Deter Sin from our Lives
“Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded.”
I want you think about a water purification system. I do not know what happened in Montgomery 30 or so years ago but there was an emphasis on a second level water filtration system on our sinks. I can see the one we had that looked cylindrical and it was white with a blue ring and it was screwed onto the threads of your faucet and in our case it was in the kitchen.
It’s my understanding that the water passed through fine small pieces of charcoal that filtered the water to pretty clear water as it passed through.
The idea is that when we follow those measures of pursuing a deliberate action in fellow shipping with God. We engage fellow believers that act as accountability partners, we attend church and come to church with the idea of getting something out of church, come with purpose and then saturate ourselves in the Word of God and communion in prayer, those actions will acts as an infiltration system to the sin that is in our lives.
The Holy Spirit will point out and you will be nudged in your subconscious either by something you read in the Word, by someone’s actions as positive example or by their disappointment by your wrongful action. The Lord by the working of the Holy Spirit will begin to clean you up and purify your heart.
Several benefits come from cleaning up our acts:
Job 17:9 “9 Yet the righteous will hold to his way, And he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.”
Clean vessels can be used in greater ways for the Lord. You will be amazed at how much more God will use you in life to influence others positively for the kingdom.
Temptations will reduce as you surround yourself around those that do not commit sins in your presence.
Isaiah 1:16 “16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil,”
“Out of sight, out of mind.”
There are things that appeal to our senses sinfully and if they are removed from the equation, they do not carry the weight of temptation.
-the things we see, the things we touch,
If you are not out in a Juke Joint around midnight, do you believe you will be tempted?
If you are not going on premises of a casino, do you believe you will be as tempted to gamble?
If your reading materials are not sultry, do you believe your mind will wander away as much as it might by reading more wholesome reading?
Jeremiah 4:14 “14 O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, That you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?”
The things you think about is great measure to where your heart is.
Assess your thoughts. If there is an evil spirit, a cynical attitude, a frustrated, aggravated, poor demeanor-quickly ask yourself is this of God? Would God approve of this attitude?
Ill. Mike Phillips-Conversation today. His conversation quickly revealed where his heart truly is.
When we do these things:
James 3:17 “17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”
Let’s look at what happens as a result:
1 Peter 1:22 “22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,”