1 John 1:1-7

“SUNDAY ASSEMBLY” U.S & Canada; UK & Europe; Australia & New Zealand; Africa “Assemblies of action building lives of purpose, encouraging us to help anyone who needs it and to support each other. Hearing talks, singing, listening to reading, and even playing games helps us to connect with each other and with the awesome world we live in….”

WHAT DENOMINATION DO YOU THINK THESE ASSEMBLIES REPRESENT? NONE! They are ATHEISTS! “The assembly is: 100% celebration of life Has no doctrine Has no deity Is radically inclusive”

Why Would Atheists Have A Regular “Sunday Assembly” They don’t worship or have a doctrine Keep atheists from going to churches “Build a sense of community” Feel need to part of a group

God Created You So He Knows Your Needs Man had a need so God created woman Mankind feels an instinctive need to reproduce so God created marriage & family People feel need for community so God purchased the church

The church of Christ is an assembly of people “called out” A Christian is “called out” – 1 Peter 1:14-16 2 Thessalonians 2:14 Most who hear gospel refuse to accept – Matthew 22:14; Acts 17:32-34 Remember the sower – Luke 8:4-15 1 Corinthians 1:23-25; Romans 10:16,17 Those who respond in faith are called into fellowship with Christ – 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 John 1:3

What Are The Ramifications of Fellowship with God/Jesus? Fellowship - koinonos Communion, joint participation; a gift jointly contributed, the share which one has in anything, participation, a collection, a contribution

To Be In Fellowship With Christ Requires One To Share Common Values With Him Must share the common desire to lead a holy life One’s “walk” is his lifestyle Those who will fellowship with God/Christ must seek the be in the light – John 3:19-21

To Be In Fellowship With Christ Requires One To Share Common Values With Him To be in fellowship with Christ mean sharing common goals with Him- Amos 3:3 Goal of God is that all learn the gospel and be saved – 1 Timothy 2:4 Jesus’ desire to save people so strong He sacrificed Himself – Galatians 1:3,4

To Be In Fellowship With Christ We Must Be In Fellowship With All Others Who Are In Fellowship With Him Must acknowledge that not everyone who thinks they have a “personal relationship with Jesus Christ” actually is in fellowship with Him Matthew 7:21-23 “does the will”

To Be In Fellowship With Christ We Must Be In Fellowship With All Others Who Are In Fellowship With Him Those who fellowship Christ fellowship each other 1 John 1:2-3 “fellowship with us… fellowship with the Father” Those in Fellowship with God share a common faith – Philemon 5,6; 2 Corinthians 6:14,15

Unity of Mind and Purpose is Necessary Philippians 2:1,2 Fellowship is Commonness Fellowship was fundamental to the function of the early church Acts 2:42,44,45,46,47 Romans 15:1,2,5,6,7

Assemblies Essential But Fellowship Extends Far Beyond the Assembly Requires real unity and real relationships Must build, does not just happen Means merging our lives into commonness A Symbiotic relationship Makes us comfortable with each other Freely discuss our faith together Share doubts & fears Do not fear rejection or ridicule

Ephesians 4:14-16 “14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ-- 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

GOD’S SIMPLE PLAN FOR SALVATION 1 Peter 3:21 baptism Rom. 10:10 confess Acts 17:30 repent Mark 16:16 believe Rom. 10:17 hear