Sermons

FILTER BY:

← back to list

Aug 11, 2024

Fellowship Restored

Fellowship Restored

Passage: 1 John 1:1-2:2

Speaker: Andrew Kerhoulas

Series: Practicing the Way of Jesus

Keywords: joy, darkness, righteous, fellowship, eternal life, propitiation, advocate, walk in the light, word of life, made manifest, blood of his son, confess our sins

On the heels of considering the person and work of the Holy Spirit for many months, we spent the better part of a year on the power and privilege of prayer. God is moving us to practice his presence in more places and spaces in our lives as a church family. Building on that desire, we turn next to the apostle John’s first letter and what it looks like to follow Jesus, to practice his way of life, in an increasingly dark world. After a brief overview of the letter we’ll hone in on the role fellowship plays in practicing the way of Jesus.

Readings & Scripture

PRE SERVICE TEXT: 1 John 1:3
That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ

PRAYER: Westminster Confession of Faith, 26.1
ALL: All saints are united to Jesus Christ their Head by his Spirit through faith, and have fellowship with him in his grace, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory. Being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other’s gifts and graces, and are obligated to the performance of such public and private duties as support their mutual good, both in the inward and outward person.

CENTRAL TEXT: 1 John 1:1-2:2
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

 

BENEDICTION: 2 Corinthians 13:13
LEADER: May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

ALL: Amen

POST SERVICE: 1 John 1:3
That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

RELATED SCRIPTURES:

  • Leviticus 16:6-10 - “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. 9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
  • John 21:9-17 - When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. 15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
  • Romans 3:26 - It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
  • Ephesians 2:10 - For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
  • 1 Thessalonians 2:8 - So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 

  1. The main theme at the beginning of 1 John is fellowship with God and his people. What images or words spring to mind when you hear the word fellowship? How do they square with the Bible’s vision of sharing a common life and mission with God and his people? 
  2. To be in fellowship with others is difficult work. Name and discuss some of the reasons why. What does John say about our struggle with fellowship in verses 6-7?
  3. According to 1 John 2:1-2, what has Jesus done to be in fellowship with us? What do Jesus’ role as our advocate and his work of propitiation–the abatement of wrath–have to do with it? Read 1 John 1:9 and then respond to this question: what does God require of us to be in fellowship with him? 
  4. How might our conversations with one another need to change if we want to model what God intended fellowship to look like? 
  5. Why do you think Jesus restored fellowship with Peter around a campfire? To practice this reality, try to light a candle every time you spend deliberate time with God and/or your family this week, to remind you of his renewing and restoring presence. Finally, schedule a fire & fellowship with friends in the next couple of weeks.

ILLUSTRATIONS:  

 

 

QUOTES:  

  • We have created a cultural milieu where you can be a Christian but not an apprentice of Jesus…In the Gospels you have two recurring groups, the apprentices and the crowds. Are you a face in the crowd or an apprentice of Jesus? 
    - John Mark Comer
  • The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who, by profession or culture, are identified as ‘Christians’ will become disciples – students, apprentices, practitioners – of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence.
    - Dallas Willard
  • [By Expressive Individualism] I mean the understanding of life which emerges with the Romantic expressivism of the late-eighteenth century, that each one of us has his/her own way of realizing our humanity, and that it is important to find and live out one’s own, as against surrendering to conformity with a model imposed on us from outside, by society, or the previous generation, or religious or political authority.
    - Charles Taylor
  • There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, "Morning, boys. How's the water?" And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes "What [is] water?
    - David Foster Wallace
  • You can’t put Christianity into practice. You can’t make it work. As desperately as it is needed in this poor, broken world, it is not a philosophy of life to be “tried.” Nor is it a social or ethical ideal which has tantalized humankind with the possibility of attainment. For Christianity is not a system you work – it is a Person who works you. You don’t get it; he gets you. Jesus said, “I am…the life” (John 14:6). Now life isn’t something you try out for a while and then exchange for something else if it doesn’t prove practical. You either have it or you don’t. And if your Christianity is the kind that has to be “worked,” you don’t have the real thing. For when you look long and deeply into the face of Jesus, that compulsion of love falls on you, and you find yourself vowing that you would follow him and serve him – practical or impractical, wise or foolish, for better or worse – unto death.
    - Clarence Jordan

BOOKS / DOCS: