Week 4 Day 1

​1 John 1:5-7
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out 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, purifies us from all sin.
 
 
At Grace Fellowship, one of our core values is “Growth in community.”  That, basically speaking, means we grow in our relationship with Jesus when we are in community with others who are following Jesus. 
 
If you think that it is you and Jesus and that you don’t need anyone else, you are mistaken.  The bride of Chris is the church.  That means everyone who has put their faith in Jesus is part of the bride of Christ.  We need each other.   To have fellowship with God is necessarily connected to having fellowship with others who follow Jesus. 
 
We might look forward to the day when we will be in direct fellowship with God.  No sin nature to inhibit our relationship with Jesus.  Wow, how great will that be?  Yet, in the meantime we have our brothers and sisters in Christ.  To walk in fellowship with Jesus is to walk in fellowship with others who are following Jesus. 
 
How do we accidentally or intentionally put barriers in the way of walking in fellowship with other people who are following Jesus?  Is it a lack of grace?  The blood of Jesus is the same blood that cleanses you and cleanses me; there is no difference.  Are my sins worse than yours?  I don’t know, do you?  Which sins does the blood of Christ cleanse us from?  According to our text it is “all sin.”  Can we find unity in that? 
 
When I look around on a Sunday morning and see the people coming in the church, I don’t see a bunch of perfect people looking for a feel-good moment.  Instead, I see a bunch of people thankful for the redemptive power of the gospel coming together to worship the God who redeems all things.  We are better together because we remind each other of the redeeming power of the gospel. 
 
Thank God for someone in your life that has reminded you of God’s grace and our need for each other.