Fellowship and Freedom

I love 1 John!

At different times of my life I have looked at it in different contexts..

In my younger years, I thought of it in terms of the fellowship aspects of the church, or the group I was a part of.

It was personal, but it had a bigger application and context.

Sometimes I was overcome by the simplicity of it and the way it also dealt with deep subjects and concepts.

I am now 73 years old and I look at this simple letter in another way...

My time and testimony on this earth will be coming to an end

I don’t know when, but less time than when I was 30, or even 60.

I almost died in an accident less than 2 years ago. That makes you think and reflect on what is important!

The aged Apostle John is reflecting like that in verses 1-4

New Living Translation Chapter 1

We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 2 This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.

What is the most life changing event in your life?

OK, maybe that’s tough to answer when you have a lot of years and events to evaluate...but what comes to mind when I say, “Name a life changing event in your life experience.”

John opens by saying...We proclaim to you...This is big and it is about the One who is from the beginning! God!

The way John says this harkens back to Genesis 1 and John 1

New Living Translation Chapter 1

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”

New Living Translation Chapter 1

1 In the beginning the Word already existed.

The Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

2 He existed in the beginning with God.

3 God created everything through him,

and nothing was created except through him.

4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,

and his life brought light to everyone.

5 The light shines in the darkness,

John wants to make sure that his readers know John and the Apostles have a real and tangible understanding of Christ

We touched Him with our hands...Saw Him with our own eyes...This One who is Life Itself is real

It is so real that john says you can have fellowship together with this Word of Life, Jesus Christ, and with the Father who sent Him and with the others who follow Him!

Fellowship is unique and special... a translation of Koinonia, it means “in common” with the idea being “participation in something together with others” something shared at a deep level

More than just an association, but a partnership and membership in a community with binding responsibility, accountability, and intimacy.

Participation in this relationship brings Increasing joy!

Participation in this fellowship experience means we, too. have a very important and powerful story to tell!

We have experienced realities of our fellowship with Jesus and other Christians that we can share.

We may not have had the privilege to physically to see and touch the Lord, not yet, but that day will come.

But what has your experience with Christ been throughout your life?

In the lives of those with whom you have enjoyed fellowship? (Your shared experience)

Like John, you can share that story! It is your reality in Christ

John is writing to people he knows and he wants to share a deeper level of knowledge together, a deeper level of experience...fellowship in Jesus Christ, together!

John is not sending out a tract about Christianity, or a magazine about Jesus, he is sharing his personal experience with people he knew and was inviting them to join him in sharing that relationship with Jesus.

You may feel that I am past that period in my life.

The aged John did not feel that he was and neither are you.

You can have an impact on people who have become your friends here in this community.

You may have grandkids or great grandkids. What a powerful life changing experience of introducing grandkids or great grandkids to Jesus.

Tell them the story of your experience with Jesus. Let me tell you a little story that I experienced right here at Lincoln Glen very early in my time here... I was working as Administrator and also serving as Chaplain years ago

I got to know a resident, named Gene, who loved the Lord, the people of Lincoln Glen and his family He told me several times how much he prayed for his grandchildren, particularly his grandson, hoping they would believe in Jesus... Gene passed away never feeling that God has answered his prayers...but still hoping and praying... I was doing his memorial when his grandson ran up to me, grabbed my had and asked if he could talk to me...

I leaned over in the old Dining Room sat down, and asked what I could do... He told me, my grandpa knew something and he was trying to tell me about Jesus...my parents said to ask you...can you tell me? It was hard not to be overcome with emotion knowing how hard Gene prayed for this moment, so I told him about his grandpa’s faith in Christ...

Later that day, I sat at the table where Gene and his friends sat and told them that story...tears flowed...people were excited.. You see, Gene had a fellowship of Christians right here. People who prayed for each other...talked about their faith together...sat close to each other in services...studied the Bible together. Look at verses 3 and 4...

New Living Translation Chapter 1

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Perhaps as you hear this you feel left out of the fellowship...like you missed it...there is still time to find it...your age does not matter!

We want to help you do that right here...enjoy real Christian fellowship!

We will be looking to build places for that to be real opportunities right here at Lincoln Glen...bring your questions...help us think of ways that might help you experience that.

Let me share one last thought with you about how this fellowship with the Father and the the Son and other Believers works...

Listen to verses 5-7

New Living Translation Chapter 1

This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. 7 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 Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 1

This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him.

6–7  If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.

What is this a picture of?

This is a community of Believers who make a conscious decision to interact, live their lives, conduct themselves actively, as best they are able, openly and honestly , together according to God’s light, His teaching, Scriptural principles, led by HIs Spirit.

Are they perfect? No, they still need to be cleansed of sin by the blood of Jesus.

But as they experience life in God’s light, we all know that all have sinned and we don’t judge, we accept and forgive and experience God’s forgiveness as individuals and, even more, as a community together in Christ.

Most of us carry around a mental polaroid picture of ourself and Christ...when we met Christ, personally.

We keep that throughout our lives...It is very personal....

But John says it also has a truth in the lives of people who want to live in the light...

There is a corporate nature to the truth of forgivness… We want to hide our sin … not admit our struggles to each other...sin is our own personal darkness that we ask forgiveness for personally and privately.

John says the beauty of fellowship in Christ is being open and honest to God and our brothers and sisters...understanding we all struggle...and we can experience the power of forgiveness together in the light!

That is the freedom in fellowship! Not hiding our struggles and sins, but helping each other side by side...knowing that we all sin and fail, but God is there to forgive and cleanse and our brothers and sisters understand and are there to come alongside in Christian love to help us.

That, my friends is FELLOWSHIP...fellowship in the light of God....and freedom!