Fellowship: A Divine Gift or Human Achievement?

[00:01:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Lake City, are we ready to worship this morning?
[00:01:32] Yeah, let's go.
[00:01:32] Yeah.
[00:01:32] Yeah.
[00:01:33] Yeah.
[00:01:33] Yeah.
[00:01:33] Yeah.
[00:01:33] Yeah.
[00:01:33] Yeah.
[00:01:33] Yeah.
[00:01:33] Yeah.
[00:01:33] Yeah.
[00:01:47] The best is yet to come.
[00:02:06] War is born to come.
[00:02:06] So open the gates and let your glory come down.
[00:02:07] Open our hearts and let our
[00:02:35] We break your chains with sounds of victory You change in every vein Open the gates and let your glory come down Open our hearts and let worship run
[00:03:24] No one else can take your place Come have your way No one else can take your place Come climb this space No one else can take your place
[00:04:00] Open our hearts and let Your worship pour out Open the gates and let Your glory come down Open our hearts and let Your worship pour out Open the gates and let Your glory come down
[00:04:33] Let him pour out, let him pour out, we worship you Jesus
[00:05:09] The King is in the room.
[00:05:13] The King is in the room.
[00:05:16] The expected for strongholds to break.
[00:05:20] Cause we know what you can do.
[00:05:22] We know what you can do.
[00:05:26] We're gonna see the lines change.
[00:05:29] So say, broken hearts made new.
[00:05:35] The King is in the room.
[00:05:55] Jesus, we bow only to you We lay down all of our crowns The King's in the room Come see all the captives run free He's tearing down the walls
[00:06:25] The King is in the room Lord we enthrone you upon our praise The King is in the room There's freedom in life any way you reign Jesus we bow
[00:07:05] Fear has to flee.
[00:07:12] Shame has to leave.
[00:07:15] Be for the king.
[00:07:17] Be for the king.
[00:07:19] Chains have to break.
[00:07:22] Dry bones away.
[00:07:24] Prepare the way.
[00:07:30] Come on, fear.
[00:07:30] Fear has to flee.
[00:07:31] and Recompense.
[00:07:44] Let's pray.
[00:08:07] Jesus, we bow only to You We lay down all of our crowns The King's in the room The King's in the room

[00:08:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Amen and Amen.
[00:08:47] Well, it's an honor and privilege to be here with you today.
[00:08:49] Before you leave, just turn around and high-five your neighbor and welcome to Lake City Church.

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
Good morning.
[00:09:14] Welcome to Lake City.
[00:09:15] We're glad you guys are here.
[00:09:16] If you're a guest this morning, open up your worship guide.
[00:09:19] There's a guest card.
[00:09:20] Fill it out.
[00:09:21] Take it to the Welcome Center.
[00:09:22] We've got a gift just for you.

[00:09:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]:
We have child dedications coming up on Wednesday, October the 1st at 6.30 p.m. You can register on our website or your church center app today.

[00:09:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
Lake City Church, what is up?
[00:09:33] My name is Braden.
[00:09:34] I'm Abby.
[00:09:35] And I'm Will.
[00:09:36] And hey Church, we are so excited to announce our first ever young adult service.
[00:09:40] Abby, can you tell us a little bit more about that?

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]:
We're going to have an amazing time of worship, a powerful sermon, come at 5.30 to get free coffee, doors open at 6.30 and service starts at 7.00.

[00:09:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]:
The entirety of the collective is based off of Matthew chapter 18 verse 20 where two or three are gathered in my name there I will be also.
[00:09:57] Can't wait to see you church!

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
See you there!
[00:09:59] Thank you guys again for being here this morning.
[00:10:02] Check us out on our social media or our website at lakecitychurch.org and remember we love you, God loves you, make it a great day!

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Hello to all the people in the overflow and online.

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
We're so glad you're here.

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
So the four ways to give on the screen, we want to say thank you for your generosity.
[00:10:27] Is anyone enjoying fall already?
[00:10:29] Man, give me back to the cooler weather.
[00:10:31] Yes and amen.
[00:10:33] Hey, I heard life groups are going great.
[00:10:35] I was talking to one of my friends who is a life group leader, and their life group went for like four hours.
[00:10:40] We need to be together.
[00:10:41] Get in a life group.
[00:10:42] The church is better together.
[00:10:45] The best feeling to me, guys, is when I go through the drive-thru, I get to the window, and they say, you don't owe anything, somebody paid it for.
[00:10:55] Does anyone enjoy that feeling?
[00:10:57] You get your pumpkin spice latte for free?
[00:11:00] Listen, that's a lot like you this morning though.
[00:11:03] You are here because somebody paid it forward.
[00:11:07] Somebody paid the price.
[00:11:08] The first person who paid the price for all of us is Jesus.
[00:11:12] The Bible said, for you were bought at a price.
[00:11:17] Your freedom wasn't free.
[00:11:19] It cost this morning.
[00:11:21] And that'll preach.
[00:11:22] But listen, just as it was paid forward for me and for you, we need to pay it forward for somebody else.
[00:11:30] That's why we say thank you for your giving and for your generosity.
[00:11:34] It goes to change and transform lives.
[00:11:38] We need it.
[00:11:39] There are people in our community who needs it.
[00:11:42] So let's pay it forward.
[00:11:43] Amen?
[00:11:43] Y'all stand to your feet this morning as we continue to worship.
[00:11:48] And I would just challenge you in this.
[00:11:50] Over your tithes, over your offerings, pray intentionally.
[00:11:54] If you got a son or daughter who's a prodigal, you got a cousin, an uncle, whatever it is, pray intentionally.
[00:12:01] That through your life, through your gifts, through your talents, through your time, through your servitude, through your relationships, that the Lord will bring those people back to Him.
[00:12:12] Amen?
[00:12:13] Amen.
[00:12:13] Let's close our eyes, bow our heads, lift a hand to Him today.
[00:12:17] Holy Spirit, You are worthy this morning.
[00:12:21] You're worthy of adoration, of all praise, of our time.
[00:12:26] of our worship of our hearts so this morning we ask that you invade our space challenge us and change us transform us into your image jesus in your name we pray amen let's worship him this morning

[00:13:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
There was a moment when the lights went out When death had claimed its victory The King of love had given up his life
[00:13:20] The darkest day in history There on a cross they made for sinners For every curse His blood atoned One final breath and it was finished But not the end we could have known
[00:13:52] For the earth began to shake and the veil was torn What sacrifice was made as the heavens rose

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
All hail the King Jesus All hail the Lord of heaven and earth All hail the King Jesus
[00:15:01] The flesh of light breaking through When all was lost He crossed eternally The King of life was on the moon For in a dark hour too
[00:15:31] All hail Jesus All hail the Lord of heaven
[00:16:01] All hail the Savior of the world All hail the Jesus we praise you Lord
[00:16:26] Jesus, all hail the Savior
[00:16:58] He is alive!
[00:17:43] All hail the Lord of heaven and earth All hail King Jesus All hail the Savior of the world We praise you Jesus You're the Savior of the world

[00:18:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Thank you guys so much for worshiping with us today.
[00:18:21] You can have a seat.

[00:18:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_14]:
Jesus said, I will build my church.
[00:18:32] Not just a building, not just a Sunday routine, but a people, alive, united, and on a mission.
[00:18:43] We worship together, lifting our voices and our hearts to God.
[00:18:50] We share life, celebrating, supporting, and encouraging one another.
[00:18:56] We grow, learning to follow Jesus and letting His Word transform us.
[00:19:02] We serve, using our gifts to make a difference in the lives around us.
[00:19:12] We go, taking the good news of Jesus beyond these walls.
[00:19:17] We pray,
[00:19:19] Because everything begins with God This is more than a place This is more than a Sunday This is my church Are you guys alive and awake?

[00:19:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
You should be, it's the third service, you guys should be the most rambunctious of them all.
[00:19:51] Or do you guys sleep in?
[00:19:53] I figure you guys probably get up real early, you go to breakfast, and before you do that, you have your prime time, you spend time with God, then you go to breakfast, and by the time you get here, you're just jazzed up.
[00:20:07] You've had your fourth cup of coffee, and you walk in the door and you get your fifth cup, and this is the strongest coffee you've ever had.
[00:20:15] No wonder you guys are pumped, huh?
[00:20:19] I'm just glad you're here.
[00:20:20] If you're watching in the overflow, thank you so much for being here.
[00:20:24] All of our Hispanic friends, we're so glad you're here and those watching online.
[00:20:30] I want to give a quick shout out to our missions group.
[00:20:33] One of the life groups is called the Missions Group and last month they went to Peru on a missions trip.
[00:20:40] Yesterday they went to the homeless encampments around the area and they gave out food, they gave out...
[00:20:48] Clothing and Bibles and they prayed with people and people came to know Jesus.
[00:20:54] I mean, it's exciting, isn't it?
[00:20:56] And yeah, come on, y'all.
[00:20:58] And there are so many opportunities.
[00:21:01] And here's what I found.
[00:21:03] If you and I, if we'll just step out of the boat just a little bit, a little bit out of our comfort zones, God will do things through us that we never...
[00:21:12] Even thought possible.
[00:21:14] So maybe you have a desire to be involved with the homeless ministry.
[00:21:19] Go online and you can register to become a part of the missions group.
[00:21:23] And if they have room, you can be a part of that.
[00:21:26] But they're changing the world.
[00:21:28] I love that so much.
[00:21:30] Also, I want to just remind you, those of you who registered at 1245, right after this service and the overflow, we'll be having our next steps luncheon, and all you guys who registered, you guys come back there for this big steak that we have for you, or whatever it is.
[00:21:48] The rest of you, you'll have to wait until next time because we don't have enough steak for you.
[00:21:53] At any rate, are you guys ready for the Word?
[00:21:57] Let's pray.
[00:21:58] Lord, thank you for this amazing day.
[00:22:00] God, thank you for your amazing grace.
[00:22:03] And Lord, speak to us today.
[00:22:04] May your word come alive in our hearts.
[00:22:06] Lord, would you just challenge us, change us, do a fresh work in each one of us.
[00:22:11] May your word speak to each one of us in that area of our life that we really need to hear you.
[00:22:19] God, we thank you.
[00:22:20] We pray all this in the mighty and the powerful name of Jesus.
[00:22:22] And everybody said amen.
[00:22:24] Hallelujah.
[00:22:25] Thank you.
[00:22:26] I still like the yo's.
[00:22:28] This is week number two in our series.
[00:22:30] I call it My Church.
[00:22:31] Because in Matthew 16, 17, Jesus said, I will build My Church.
[00:22:37] He goes on, Not even the power of death will destroy My Church.
[00:22:42] We saw last week that his church is not a social club.
[00:22:47] It's not an organization or even a denomination.
[00:22:51] It's not a physical building.
[00:22:54] But his church is the spiritual body of Christ carrying out the mission of Jesus on planet Earth.
[00:23:01] That's the church.
[00:23:03] The book of Acts gives us an excellent snapshot of what the early church looked like.
[00:23:09] And last week we saw that it was a church devoted to worship.
[00:23:14] The very first purpose, the priority of the church is to bring honor and glory to God, to worship Him.
[00:23:22] Today we want to look at another purpose which is fellowship.
[00:23:28] Acts 2 verse number 42 tells us they, the church, devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship.
[00:23:38] Verse 44 says all the believers were together, that's important, and they had everything in common.
[00:23:45] The Greek word that is used here for fellowship is the word koinonia.
[00:23:49] You've probably heard that word koinonia.
[00:23:52] It means communion or specifically it means a joint participation in
[00:23:57] and the Grace of God.
[00:23:58] So koinonia or fellowship describes a community in which individuals willingly choose to share in common.
[00:24:07] We share, we submit to one another, we love one another, we support one another, we bear the burdens of one another, we build up one another.
[00:24:18] Koinonia is more than friends and acquaintances just hanging out together.
[00:24:23] Koinonia or biblical fellowship is something that only Christ followers can share together because only we can share together in the joint participation of the grace of God.
[00:24:35] And so talking about this joint participation in God's grace, 1 John 1 verse number 3 says,
[00:24:41] It says, We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us.
[00:24:50] And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.
[00:24:54] That tells us that where two or more of us are and we have received and we live by the grace of God and the grace of Jesus Christ, we can have this thing called koinonia, or fellowship.
[00:25:09] Now, it's possible to have friendship with a person and not have fellowship with them.
[00:25:16] For example, years ago, Dinah and I, we owned this little farm in the hill country of Virginia.
[00:25:22] It was a very rural area.
[00:25:24] And my farm neighbor was an older man, and he was appropriately named Rusty.
[00:25:32] What a name, Rusty.
[00:25:34] And Rusty, he was a moonshiner.
[00:25:38] And yes, they still do exist.
[00:25:41] I heard that amen, I'm not sure.
[00:25:46] Rusty was a moonshiner.
[00:25:48] Rusty was also a very rough character.
[00:25:52] He had absolutely no interest in God whatsoever.
[00:25:57] But over time, Rusty and I became friends, good friends.
[00:26:02] But we had no fellowship.
[00:26:05] You probably have friends like that.
[00:26:07] Where you have a great friendship but you just don't have fellowship.
[00:26:12] There's a difference between friendship and fellowship and the difference is sharing in a common relationship with God.
[00:26:19] 1 John 1 verse number 7 explains it this way.
[00:26:22] It says, If we, plural, walk in the light as He is in the light, we, plural, have fellowship with one another.
[00:26:30] If you are a believer and you're walking in the light of Christ and you come upon another believer who's walking in the love of Christ, boom, you have fellowship.
[00:26:39] This thing called koinonia, and you just feel it.
[00:26:42] It's kindred spirits.
[00:26:43] How many of you know what I'm talking about?
[00:26:45] And the Holy Spirit that lives in you resonates with the Holy Spirit that lives within that other person, and boom, you have koinonia.
[00:26:52] No wonder we have such an awesome time with one another around here.
[00:26:56] Boom, boom, boom, it's happening all over.
[00:26:58] It's that koinonia that's happening.
[00:27:02] Remember my friend Rusty.
[00:27:04] Well, Rusty contracted cancer.
[00:27:08] And on his deathbed, I had talked to him about Jesus for years.
[00:27:14] But on his deathbed, he called me over and he said, Rob, he said, I really want to pray to receive Jesus as my Savior.
[00:27:25] And I leaned over the bed and I took his hand and I led him in a prayer and he received Jesus Christ as his Savior and his Lord.
[00:27:34] And instantly our friendship turned to fellowship.
[00:27:40] It was amazing.
[00:27:41] It was so beautiful.
[00:27:43] It was so beautiful.
[00:27:44] And then he asked me to do his funeral, which I happily did and was able to share Jesus with his entire family.
[00:27:52] I'm telling you, it's just amazing.
[00:27:54] And it happens because we shared a joint participation in God's grace.
[00:28:00] The flip side of sharing a joint participation in the grace of God is described by Paul in 2 Corinthians 6, 17.
[00:28:09] Do not be yoked together with unbelievers, for what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?
[00:28:17] Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
[00:28:20] None.
[00:28:20] What harmony is there between Christ and Belial the devil?
[00:28:24] What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
[00:28:27] What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?
[00:28:31] For we are the temple of the living God.
[00:28:35] Now just for the record, Paul is not telling you to dump all of your non-Christian friends, but he is pointing out the fact that in Christ we have a spiritual bond and a common experience with our Christian brothers and sisters that is absolutely impossible to have with non-believers.
[00:28:55] Acts 1 verse 14 describes this kind of spiritual bond when it says these all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer.
[00:29:05] And Philippians 2 too when it says make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and one in purpose.
[00:29:16] Over the course of our ministry life, Diana and I have been honored to be a part of six churches located in Orlando, in Charleston, in Raleigh, in Greensboro, in Leesburg, Virginia, and finally here in Mooresville.
[00:29:33] And we love Mooresville!
[00:29:36] Isn't Mooresville a wonderful place to be?
[00:29:39] For the last 14, going on 15 years, we have absolutely enjoyed Mooresville.
[00:29:45] I tell people that I meet that our people are some of the best people on the planet.
[00:29:51] We have people from the north, south, east, and west.
[00:29:53] We've all congregated here.
[00:29:55] We have all given our lives to Jesus, and we have koinonia.
[00:29:59] It's amazing.
[00:30:00] I love it.
[00:30:02] But over this course of time, what Diane and I have discovered is that it doesn't matter what town or what state a church is in.
[00:30:12] It doesn't matter if people are white, black, young or old.
[00:30:15] What matters is that they are in Christ because then we can share fellowship, koinonia.
[00:30:20] We're one in spirit.
[00:30:21] We're one in purpose.
[00:30:26] See, true Christian fellowship transcends race and region.
[00:30:30] It transcends doctrine and denomination.
[00:30:33] True Christian fellowship is based on koinonia, the fact that we have shared the common experience of being washed by His blood.
[00:30:42] We have been forgiven by His grace.
[00:30:46] Turn to somebody and say, I am forgiven.
[00:30:48] Do that.
[00:30:49] Say, I am forgiven.
[00:30:51] It feels good, doesn't it?
[00:30:54] It is good.
[00:30:56] Now, I want to identify three benefits of fellowship.
[00:31:00] They're in your notes, so fill in the blanks.
[00:31:02] Number one, the first benefit of fellowship is that it builds strong faith.
[00:31:07] You cannot and you will not maintain and build strong faith without interaction with your brothers and sisters in Christ.
[00:31:14] We saw this during COVID.
[00:31:16] Many people stopped going to church and it was like taking coals away from the fire.
[00:31:20] They became cool.
[00:31:22] Some of their fire went out entirely.
[00:31:26] The Bible teaches us that as a Christian you are a member of the body of Christ.
[00:31:33] And if you think about it in terms of your own physical body, if your hand is severed from the rest of your body, what will happen?
[00:31:41] It will eventually die.
[00:31:45] So think about this.
[00:31:46] Christianity is a very unique faith because it cannot be practiced alone.
[00:31:51] Let me say it again.
[00:31:53] It cannot be practiced alone.
[00:31:54] We must be connected with the other members of the body of Christ or we will, you will eventually die.
[00:32:04] But when we interact with one another in fellowship, we're built up and we're made strong in our faith.
[00:32:12] Proverbs 27, 17 confirms this by saying, As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
[00:32:19] Jude 1, 20 says, But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith.
[00:32:26] Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit.
[00:32:29] So all throughout the week, we have life groups that meet every day.
[00:32:35] We have life groups that meet on Sunday, Sunday night.
[00:32:39] We have Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday.
[00:32:42] They're meeting on Thursday and Friday and Saturday and all over again on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.
[00:32:48] We have groups meeting in the morning.
[00:32:50] We have groups meeting at night.
[00:32:51] We have groups meeting in the middle of the day.
[00:32:53] So if you say, well, I just don't have time for a life group.
[00:32:56] We have one for you.
[00:32:57] If you need one at 5 a.m., we'll fix you.
[00:33:01] We'll hook you up.
[00:33:02] There's a group for you.
[00:33:04] And in these times, we come together with a small group of other believers, and we're built up.
[00:33:12] We're strengthened in our faith.
[00:33:15] Not in a life group.
[00:33:17] You should be.
[00:33:19] Because Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5 11, encourage one another and build each other up.
[00:33:26] True Christian fellowship builds strong faith in you and in others.
[00:33:33] Number two, the second benefit of fellowship is that it builds strong relationships.
[00:33:40] Have you read in Ephesians 2.19 where it says, Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God's very own family.
[00:33:55] Citizens of God's country and you belong in God's household with every other Christian.
[00:34:02] Sometimes church shoppers will say something like this.
[00:34:05] They'll say, well, I'm just trying to figure out where I belong.
[00:34:09] The answer is you belong here in God's household with every other Christian.
[00:34:14] And this is so important.
[00:34:15] Please hear me on this.
[00:34:17] As a Christian, you are not only called to believe, you are called to belong, to belong to God's family, to belong to Christ's church.
[00:34:27] You're called to belong.
[00:34:29] There's something very special about the depth of relationships that exist in a healthy family.
[00:34:38] And now I'm talking about a biological family.
[00:34:42] When our family gets together for special events like, say, Thanksgiving, we have all the family over.
[00:34:47] Man, we have a ton of people.
[00:34:48] We have a small church.
[00:34:51] That's why we built a special building on our farm for our family when they come all together.
[00:34:58] We have 50 or so people, and we're laughing together and singing together and pray.
[00:35:02] We pick on each other in love, of course.
[00:35:05] But there's a special bond.
[00:35:06] There's a special camaraderie that we have toward one another.
[00:35:10] And I'm sure your family is the same way.
[00:35:13] Fellowship with our spiritual brothers and sisters helps to nurture us and helps us to enjoy strong relationships like that.
[00:35:21] Sometimes our spiritual family has stronger relationships than even our biological families.
[00:35:29] How many of you know what I'm talking about?
[00:35:30] It's true.
[00:35:33] But those kind of relationships don't happen all by themselves.
[00:35:38] I heard about a lady who began going to a church.
[00:35:42] It wasn't this church, but she began going to a church and she had been going for a number of weeks and she would just come in as the service was starting during the first song and she would leave during the closing song.
[00:35:57] And one day she stopped coming.
[00:35:59] And somebody who had known her from someplace else noticed that she wasn't coming anymore.
[00:36:06] And she asked her, why aren't you coming?
[00:36:09] And this lady told her this.
[00:36:10] She said, I stopped coming because I couldn't build relationships in that church.
[00:36:17] You following me?
[00:36:19] Unfortunately, we have a few people like that here at Lake City Church.
[00:36:25] But how many of you know that building relationships requires intentionality?
[00:36:31] They don't happen by accident.
[00:36:33] You have to put yourself into opportunities where you can interact with people one-on-one.
[00:36:39] The reason the early church in the book of Acts had such close relationships is because it says they, quote, devoted themselves to fellowship.
[00:36:48] So my question is, are you devoting yourself to fellowship?
[00:36:51] Are you devoting yourself to koinonia?
[00:36:53] Or are you just attending?
[00:36:57] I'm going to get just a little direct.
[00:36:58] Is that okay?
[00:37:00] Y'all still love me?
[00:37:00] Five of you, thank you.
[00:37:02] I'm going to be direct and take a chance.
[00:37:06] I just want to know, are you a part of a life group?
[00:37:09] Are you coming to services a little early and staying just a few minutes afterwards so that you can talk to somebody?
[00:37:15] Or are you just zipping in and zipping out and never even talk to anyone?
[00:37:20] Are you showing up for Wednesday Night Live?
[00:37:22] Are you showing up for other activities and services and things during the week?
[00:37:27] Are you a member of Lake City Church with the responsibilities and the rewards that go along with it?
[00:37:33] I can tell you this, that the church that Christ is building is intentional about fellowship.
[00:37:38] It is intentional about building strong relationships.
[00:37:45] Number three.
[00:37:45] Here's the third benefit.
[00:37:48] The third benefit of fellowship
[00:37:50] is that it builds spiritual heat.
[00:37:54] I'm talking about spiritual fervor, passion.
[00:37:59] And that reminds me of the verse in Ecclesiastes 4 verse number 11 where it says this, it says, If two lie down together, they'll keep warm.
[00:38:09] But how can one keep warm alone?
[00:38:14] Here, Solomon, the author, is giving some practical advice to a nomadic people living in the desert where it gets extremely cold at night.
[00:38:25] But this also serves as a spiritual metaphor, and here's the point.
[00:38:29] You don't have to live in a tent in the tundra to feel cold and alone.
[00:38:34] The fact is, anytime one of God's children gets separated from the family, the fire starts to go out.
[00:38:43] and their spirit grows cold.
[00:38:46] As a pastor, I have seen this play out way too many times.
[00:38:53] Way too many times.
[00:38:55] A young family came in
[00:38:58] to our church.
[00:38:58] They were previously unchurched and it was so exciting.
[00:39:03] I think the kids came to VBS and the kids gave their lives to Jesus during VBS and they went home and they invited their parents.
[00:39:13] It's amazing how many people come because of their kids or their teenagers.
[00:39:17] Have you noticed it?
[00:39:18] Yeah.
[00:39:19] So kids, go home and get your parents and bring them.
[00:39:23] So this, these kids
[00:39:25] They brought their parents.
[00:39:26] Their parents got saved, so the whole family is saved, and we're rejoicing.
[00:39:30] They're attending every Sunday.
[00:39:35] They're attending life group.
[00:39:37] They're attending activities.
[00:39:39] They're just all in.
[00:39:42] until the kids got to the age that they were playing sports and the parents were promoted in their jobs and their careers and they got a boat and they got a trailer and whatever happened in life.
[00:39:55] Life got kind of crazy and they started missing church events.
[00:40:00] They started missing life group.
[00:40:02] They started missing Sunday church.
[00:40:05] Tragically, over time, their fire not only cooled off, but it went out altogether.
[00:40:13] Folks, don't believe the lie that Satan has told people for decades, that you can be a Christian and not go to church.
[00:40:20] Over the long haul, it just isn't true.
[00:40:23] You need your spiritual brothers and sisters.
[00:40:25] You need the other members of the body of Christ.
[00:40:32] Every winter I burn a wood fire in my fireplace and if I take a piece of wood and I take it away from the hot coals and put it over by itself, you know what happens?
[00:40:42] It eventually goes out.
[00:40:44] Every single time.
[00:40:46] So what I'm telling you is don't let that happen to you.
[00:40:50] Don't let that happen to you.
[00:40:52] Somebody came up to me after the second service and they said that is exactly what happened to me.
[00:41:00] I'm telling you, don't let it happen to you.
[00:41:02] I see people for the last 50 plus years in ministry, I have people going like this, up and down and all around.
[00:41:09] Be consistent.
[00:41:10] Make a decision that you'll be a part of fellowship in a local church for the rest of your life.
[00:41:16] Period.
[00:41:20] Don't let it happen to you and that's why we're warned with these words in Hebrews 10 24 that says let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near the day of the Lord's return
[00:41:46] Sometimes a piece of wood will roll off of the hot coals in my fireplace and begin to cool off.
[00:41:52] And you know what I do?
[00:41:53] I take my tongs, my big tongs, and I'll take that piece of wood and I'll put it back on the hot coals and then I'll stir up the hot coals.
[00:42:01] And you know what happens then?
[00:42:03] It gets new fire.
[00:42:04] It gets new fire.
[00:42:07] Maybe you need some new fire this morning.
[00:42:10] I'm praying.
[00:42:11] My prayer is that God will give us new fire.
[00:42:14] New fire for our love of God.
[00:42:16] New fire to worship Him.
[00:42:18] New fire for fellowship one with another.
[00:42:22] Let me just be honest with you.
[00:42:24] It doesn't matter who you are.
[00:42:25] It doesn't matter how spiritual you think you are.
[00:42:28] Well, Pastor Rob, I'm at this level now.
[00:42:31] I'm too spiritual.
[00:42:32] I don't have to go to church.
[00:42:33] Yes, you do.
[00:42:34] Here's the fact.
[00:42:36] We all need the spiritual heat that comes from our Christian brothers and sisters, from Christian fellowship.
[00:42:42] We all need it.
[00:42:44] I don't care how spiritual you become.
[00:42:46] We all need that.
[00:42:49] The warmth that you feel inside your heart as we worship together like we have this morning.
[00:42:52] That's your coals being stirred up.
[00:42:54] That's your love for God and your love for people being rekindled.
[00:42:57] That's your passion for Jesus being reignited.
[00:43:02] Folks, don't let the devil lie to you.
[00:43:05] Don't let the secular culture dictate your values.
[00:43:10] Belonging to a church family that you can worship with and fellowship with fans the flames and keeps you spiritually hot for God.
[00:43:20] My church, the church that Christ is building, is passionate and intentional about fellowship.
[00:43:29] The question is, are you?
[00:43:32] Let's pray.
[00:43:35] Lord, thank you for this thing called koinonia, for fellowship.
[00:43:39] Help each one of us to commit ourselves to fellowship, to be a part of your body.
[00:43:47] I thank you in Jesus' name.
[00:43:49] Would you go ahead and stand together with me?
[00:43:53] Let's just stand here in the presence of the Lord for a moment with our heads bowed and our eyes closed.
[00:43:58] And I want to pray for everybody who would join with me in saying, I just devote myself to fellowship, just like the early church did.
[00:44:07] I devote myself to fellowship.
[00:44:09] If that's you and you're willing to devote yourself to fellowship, would you lift your hand with mine?
[00:44:14] I want to pray for you.
[00:44:15] I believe that God not only wants us individually, but as a church to devote ourselves to fellowship.
[00:44:23] Come on, if you're devoting yourself to fellowship, lift up your hand.
[00:44:26] I want to see your hand.
[00:44:28] Lift it on up there.
[00:44:30] Father, you see everybody who's making that
[00:44:34] Commitment.
[00:44:35] Lord, I just pray that you would give us the discipline to devote ourselves to fellowship, to koinonia with our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.
[00:44:48] Lord, when the enemy comes with his lies and when he comes with his distractions with the busyness of life and the toys and the travel and whatever it is, God, may we go back to the fact that we have devoted ourselves to fellowship.
[00:45:04] to Koinonia with one another.
[00:45:06] And I thank you in Jesus' name.
[00:45:09] You can go ahead and take your hands down.
[00:45:11] Let's just, as we still stand in reverence with our heads bowed, Christians pray really hard right now.
[00:45:18] I want to pray one more prayer.
[00:45:23] Maybe you're here this morning and you're not really sure about your relationship with God.
[00:45:28] In just a moment I want to have a prayer for you and others because I don't want you to leave this place today without knowing beyond any shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ is your Savior and your Lord.
[00:45:39] In fact, the question that I always ask is this.
[00:45:43] If you were to die today, like right now, boom, do you know beyond any shadow of a doubt that you're ready to stand before God?
[00:45:50] If you're not sure, in just a second, I want to pray for you and I want to pray for others.
[00:45:55] And so, whether you've prayed a prayer maybe years ago and wandered away or whatever the case may be, if you need to be absolutely certain, I want to pray for you.
[00:46:04] Would you just lift up your hand right now and say,
[00:46:07] Say, please include me in the prayer along with others.
[00:46:09] Lift it up right now.
[00:46:10] God bless you.
[00:46:11] Just lift it up.
[00:46:12] Say, please pray for me.
[00:46:13] I want to be absolutely certain.
[00:46:14] God bless you.
[00:46:15] Anybody else?
[00:46:17] Just lift it up.
[00:46:17] Say, yeah, in the back.
[00:46:23] Anybody else want to get in on the prayer?
[00:46:25] Father, thank you for those who have said yes.
[00:46:30] I pray now that you would give them the assurance of their salvation.
[00:46:34] Just a moment, I'm going to pray a simple prayer.
[00:46:36] I'm going to ask everyone in the crowd today to just repeat this prayer after me.
[00:46:42] If you raised your hand, you just pray this prayer from your heart.
[00:46:47] God's going to hear it.
[00:46:49] Maybe you didn't even raise your hand, but you kind of felt a stirring on the inside.
[00:46:53] Let me invite you to pray this prayer along with the rest of us.
[00:46:59] Pray it from your heart and God will hear you.
[00:47:02] So let's pray this prayer together saying God I know that you love me because you sent your son Jesus and he died on the cross for my sins today I repent of my sins and I ask you to be my Savior my Lord and from today on I'm gonna live for you
[00:47:29] In Jesus' name.
[00:47:31] Amen.
[00:47:32] Amen.
[00:47:32] Come on, y'all.
[00:47:33] Let's give God praise.
[00:47:34] Give God honor.
[00:47:35] Give God glory.
[00:47:36] Lord, we just say thank you.
[00:47:38] Thank you, Jesus.
[00:47:40] Thank you, Jesus.
[00:47:41] If you prayed that prayer, there's one more step I want to ask you to take.
[00:47:45] That is, in a few minutes when this service is over, I want you to go out into the lobby.
[00:47:50] We have a big sign out there in front of the living room.
[00:47:52] It says, I said yes to Jesus.
[00:47:55] Some of our leaders will be back there.
[00:47:57] I want to give you some literature.
[00:47:59] And I have a Bible.
[00:48:01] It's a special Bible.
[00:48:03] It will help you understand what God is saying to you.
[00:48:06] So please, if you prayed that prayer, go back there, get that material because it will help you in your journey of faith.
[00:48:15] Now maybe you're a guest here with us at Lake City this morning for the first time and I just want to say welcome.
[00:48:20] So glad you're here and hope you'll come back.
[00:48:24] One of the things we do every Sunday morning here at Lake City is we celebrate
[00:48:29] The Lord's Supper, Holy Communion.
[00:48:32] And I call it a celebration because we celebrate the fact that God the Father loved us so much that He sent His one and only Son, Jesus.
[00:48:42] Jesus loved us so much.
[00:48:44] That He gave His own life, His body and His blood for us.
[00:48:48] For our sacrifice so that our sins could be forgiven.
[00:48:51] The Bible says that without the shedding of blood there could be no forgiveness of our sins.
[00:48:56] And so we take these few moments to just simply remember
[00:49:01] God's love and remember Jesus' sacrifice.
[00:49:05] Father, in the next couple of moments as we prepare our hearts to receive the emblems of your broken body and your shed blood, as we take that little cracker, that wafer, we're reminded of the body of Jesus that was bruised and broken.
[00:49:21] As we take that cup, we're reminded of the blood of Jesus.
[00:49:26] that was shed for the forgiveness of our sins.
[00:49:29] And we're here today just to say thank you.
[00:49:32] Thank you, Jesus.
[00:49:34] We pray all of this in your name.
[00:49:39] Amen.

[00:50:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
I can't go back to the beginning I can't control where tomorrow will be But I know here in the middle Is the place where you promised to be
[00:51:23] In my weakness your glory will appear

[00:53:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Was I forsaken?
[00:53:33] The Lord is in this place.
[00:53:34] The Lord is in this place.
[00:53:34] And come Holy Spirit, drive those awakened.
[00:53:35] The Lord is in this place.
[00:53:36] The Lord is in this place.

[00:54:00] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
God bless you.

[00:55:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
I'm not in love
[00:55:32] We will be here again

[00:56:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
The Lord is in this place.
[00:56:43] The Lord is in this place.
[00:56:47] Come Holy Spirit drive us awake in The Lord is in this place The Lord is in this place Come Holy Spirit drive us awake in The Lord is in this place The Lord is in this place
[00:57:15] God for a minute was forsaken The Lord is in this place The Lord is in this place Come Holy Spirit Drive us awake in The Lord is in this place
[00:57:46] The Lord is in this place The Lord is in this place

[00:58:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
He's in the realm, He's in the realm Come Holy Spirit, draw bones awake The Lord is in this place Come Holy Spirit, draw bones awake
[00:59:33] The Lord is in this place

[01:00:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
You are welcome here You are welcome here

[01:00:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
God we can feel your presence in this room God we thank you today that we're each each and every one of us called to be part of something bigger something much larger God than ourselves to the kingdom of God maybe Sundays is the only day of the week where you sit next to someone that you don't know
[01:01:05] God we're called to be a light and a witness and a friend and fellowship God I pray that we would each accept the call the challenge of your word this morning God that we would go deeper into a relationship not only with you but with each other God that we're called not just to love you but to love one another
[01:01:28] God, I pray that we would each extend a hand, God, to somebody that we've never known before, God, that we would reach out, that we would not forsake fellowship, that we would be the church.
[01:01:43] Not just to the people outside, but to the people that sit next to us that we might not know.
[01:01:48] God, I pray that the Holy Spirit would just soften our hearts to relationship with one another.
[01:01:53] Fellowship, God.
[01:01:55] The fellowship.
[01:01:57] In Jesus' name.
[01:01:59] In Jesus' name.
[01:02:00] And everybody said, Amen.
[01:02:04] Somebody give God some praise today.
[01:02:07] It's been a great day.
[01:02:09] We love you.
[01:02:10] God loves you.
[01:02:11] Make it a great, great day.

[01:03:41] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Thank you.
[01:04:25] In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[01:04:54] Amen.
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