companionship with god the purpose for your creation

Matthew 7:13-14 Enter through the narrow gate Matthew 7:13-14 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin

I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin. A. Creation (Genesis 1:1-2:9).

I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin. A. Creation (Genesis 1:1-2:9). B. Man & woman were created to have intimate fellowship with God

I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin. A. Creation (Genesis 1:1-2:9). B. Man & woman were created to have intimate fellowship with God Genesis 3:8-9 - Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”

I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin. A. Creation (Genesis 1:1-2:9). B. Man & woman were created to have intimate fellowship with God (Genesis 3:8-9) C. The Temptation (Genesis 3:1-7).

I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin. C. The Temptation (Genesis 3:1-7). 1. Why create the tree & the serpent?

I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin. C. The Temptation (Genesis 3:1-7). 1. Why create the tree & the serpent? 2. What was Adam’s & Eve’s sin?

I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin. A. Creation (Genesis 1:1-2:9). B. Man & women were created to have intimate fellowship with God (Genesis 3:8-9). C. The Temptation (Genesis 3:1-7). D. The Fall (Genesis 3:22-24).

I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin. D. The Fall (Genesis 3:22-24). 1. Sin separates mankind from God. (Genesis 3:23-24)

I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin. D. The Fall (Genesis 3:22-24). 1. Sin separates mankind from God. 2. Sin separates man from woman. (Genesis 3:12)

I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin. D. The Fall (Genesis 3:22-24). 1. Sin separates mankind from God. 2. Sin separates man from woman. 3. Sin separates mankind from his society.

I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin. D. The Fall (Genesis 3:22-24). 4. Sin separates us from animals. Genesis 9:2-3 - The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

Separation from God Created a One Way Street! I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin. Separation from God Created a One Way Street!

I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin II I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin II. Companionship was Made Possible Because of the Cross

II. Companionship was Made Possible Because of the Cross. A. God Became One of Us! Matthew 1:22-23 - All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”— which means, “God with us.”

II. Companionship was Made Possible Because of the Cross. A. God Became One of Us! 1. What holiday do we celebrate because of this? Christmas!

II. Companionship was Made Possible Because of the Cross. A. God Became One of Us! 1. What holiday do we celebrate because of this? Christmas! 2. How does this affect the Lord’s Supper? You eat the unleavened bread to remember this!

II. Companionship was Made Possible Because of the Cross. A. God Became One of Us! B. Then - He went to the Cross! Colossians 2:13-14 - When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.

II. Companionship was Made Possible Because of the Cross. A. God Became One of Us! B. Then - He went to the Cross! 1. Why the cross?

II. Companionship was Made Possible Because of the Cross. A. God Became One of Us! B. Then - He went to the Cross! 1. Why the cross? To show you how horrible sin is!

II. Companionship was Made Possible Because of the Cross. A. God Became One of Us! B. Then - He went to the Cross! 1. Why the cross? To show you how horrible sin is! 2. How does this affect the Lord’s Supper?

II. Companionship was Made Possible Because of the Cross. A. God Became One of Us! B. Then - He went to the Cross! 1. Why the cross? To show you how horrible sin is! 2. How does this affect the Lord’s Supper? You drink the cup to remember this!

The One Way Street became a Two Way Street at the cross! II. Companionship was Made Possible Because of the Cross. The One Way Street became a Two Way Street at the cross!

I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin II I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin II. Companionship was Made Possible Because of the Cross III. Companionship Restored Because of Your Response

III. Companionship Restored Because of Your Response. A. What is the response?

III. Companionship Restored Because of Your Response. A. What is the response? 1. Faith.

III. Companionship Restored Because of Your Response. I Peter 1:3-5 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

III. Companionship Restored Because of Your Response. I Peter 1:6-9 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

III. Companionship Restored Because of Your Response. A. What is the response? 1. Faith. 2. Repentance. Acts 3:19 - Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

III. Companionship Restored Because of Your Response. A. What is the response? 1. Faith. 2. Repentance. 3. The Good Confession. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

III. Companionship Restored Because of Your Response. A. What is the response? 1. Faith. 2. Repentance. 3. The Good Confession. I Timothy 6:12-13 - Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession.

III. Companionship Restored Because of Your Response. A. What is the response? 1. Faith. 2. Repentance. 3. The Good Confession. 4. Baptism. I Peter 3:21 - this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also — not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God.

III. Companionship Restored Because of Your Response. A. What is the response?

III. Companionship Restored Because of Your Response. A. What is the response? B. What is the result? 1. The promise. Acts 2:38 - Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

III. Companionship Restored Because of Your Response. A. What is the response? B. What is the result? 1. The promise. 2. Your part Repentance & baptism

A. What is the response? B. What is the result? 1. The promise. III. Companionship Restored Because of Your Response. A. What is the response? B. What is the result? 1. The promise. 2. Your part 3. God’s part Repentance & baptism Forgiveness & His Holy Spirit

I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin II I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin II. Companionship was Made Possible Because of the Cross III. Companionship Restored Because of Your Response IV. Companionship Enhanced Because of the Church

IV. Companionship Enhanced Because of the Church. A. A genuine conversion will make you weird to the world.

IV. Companionship Enhanced Because of the Church. A. A genuine conversion will make you weird to the world. 1. Because: you look at life from a different perspective.

IV. Companionship Enhanced Because of the Church. A. A genuine conversion will make you weird to the world. 1. Because: you look at life from a different perspective. 2. Because: your new lifestyle may start to separate you from your former companions.

IV. Companionship Enhanced Because of the Church. A. A genuine conversion will make you weird to the world. B. So - God supplies a support group for you - the church!

IV. Companionship Enhanced Because of the Church. I Thessalonians 5:11 - Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. Hebrews 10:23-25 - Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

You have just been told The Story You have just been told The Story! Now you need to do something about it! Pass it on!