Vertical Fellowship Series

Vertical Fellowship!

We are living in a lonely world

John 13:34, 35

Fellowship- deep dark secrets, confession

What’s wrong with fellowship in churches?

We have tried to force fellowship with each other, not with God

Fellowship programs

We don’t need a program

Let’s read 1 John 1:3-7 on the subject

Fellowship must be vertical before it can be horizontal

Fellowship with God comes first

Think about the people Christ put together

James & John

Zebedee Fishing Company

Common concern was their father

Simon the zealot & Matthew the tax collector

What was their common concern?

Deity of Christ, God

They had the same father

Romans 8:15

1 John 3:6, 7

Fellowship = Light

Sin = Darkness

We can’t have fellowship with God and not with Christians

We can’t live a double life

“I don’t need church to love God”

ex. Other excuses

1 Jn. 5:1, 2

What was the main problem here?

They were minimizing sin

They had an unwillingness to love and value Christians

1 Tim. 1:15

People who walk in fellowship with God, realize their sin

Why?

God is light

Gen. 1:3; Ex. 13:21

Grant and a dark room

The light shows everything in the room, darkness is gone

C.S. Lewis- quote

God’s light exposes our sin

We can’t minimize our sin without sinning further

Christians walking in God’s light, don’t find it difficult to fellowship

God’s light leads the way

The triangle

When Christians are separate, someone is always out of fellowship with Christ

Fellowship must be vertical before it can be horizontal

So what?

How do you walk in closer fellowship with God?

Prayer, meditation, fasting, study

A. W. Tozer quote

To listen to this sermon, go to www.godshere.org.