Fellowship Because of Jesus - 1 John 1:1-4 | Pastor Daniel Reese

Welcome to 563 Church, a production of Cornerstone

Church in Eldridge, Iowa. Today, Pastor Daniel

Reese speaks on the first message in our series

in 1st John. Reading from 1st John chapter 1,

John 1:1–4

verses 1 through 4, John invites us into fellowship

with God in one another, revealing how sharing

the reality of Christ makes our joy complete.

new series this morning we're going to go through

the book of first John together and so for the

next eight weeks we will be going line by line

through this this letter we'll do that together

and I would always encourage you to follow along

in your Bible on your phone as we study this

thing together just so you can see it with your

own eyes and just so you can make your own notes

and and things like that. So if you have your

Bibles, we'll be in 1 John chapter 1 here in

1 John 1 · chapter mention

just a minute. Have you ever bought something

or experienced something and it completely changed

your life? Or you had someone with a bunch of

excitement and joy come and tell you about something

that they got and their joy was so contagious

that you had to go experience it for yourself.

And so you went to that restaurant or you bought

that thing online or you went on that trip or

whatever it is, right? That kind of joy is contagious.

We like recommendations from our friends and

family about what are good things to experience.

Now, with the exception of Jesus, I hope, the

most influential thing that I can think of where

I've influenced others to go and buy something

was several years ago. We were living in La Mesa,

Texas, and there was a Duluth clothing company

that had just opened up near us. And Sina, my

wife, went and got me a new pair of underwear

for a gift. That's how... That's how romantic

we are. Now, historically, I would go to Walmart

or Target, and I would go buy the $10 pack of

three underwear and just kind of recycle those

things through as they got worn out. This pair

that Sina got me was $25 for one pair. Now, that's

ridiculous, in my opinion. I was a little offended

that she went and did that. Come on, right? Until

I wore them. and it changed my life. I threw

out all my old Fruit of the Looms and I went

to Duluth and I probably spent over $200 worth

of new underwear. Now, I tell this story several

years ago to my last church and I go into all

the benefits, much more benefits than I will

tell you this morning, but I go into all the

benefits of this life -changing undergarment.

And over the next few weeks, I'm pretty sure

that every man in our church went to Duluth and

bought all new underwear. It was so many people

that the store actually reached out to me because

they heard that I was promoting it in their church

and their sales had skyrocketed over this underwear.

Influencer, yeah. This before influencing was

what it is now. So, in light of that, I feel

like I need to, I wasn't planning on doing this

today, but you'll see I have this t -shirt on,

and it says Jesus One. Nothing fancy about it.

It's a great t -shirt. It's real comfortable.

It was the right size that I ordered. The reason

I ordered it was because a friend of ours, a

friend of mine, goes to this church named David

Halverson, started his own t -shirt company type

thing. And so I was like, well, I'm gonna support

David, right? And so I got it, and I wore it

this morning, obviously, and I go on my way here

this morning, about 4 .35 o 'clock this morning,

and I stop at Casey's to get a drink, and the

cashier asks me, what in the world does that

mean? So I got to share, half asleep, got to

share the gospel this morning with the cashier

at Casey's over there in Parkview. Yeah. So I

say all that to say, It's not hard. So go to

legacy ink I and K dot shop support David. He

has great t -shirts. So there it is But anyway,

whether it's undergarments or t -shirts, this

is essentially what John is doing in our passage

this morning Now granted he is sharing something

much more important than t -shirts He's sharing

something much more important than undergarments.

What he's sharing is he has experienced Jesus

the word of life, he's heard, he's seen, he's

touched, and he cannot keep it to himself any

longer. And so by sharing this reality, he invites

us into the fellowship with God and each other,

and the goal, he says, is to make our joy complete.

So that's the passage this morning. So let's

look at 1 John chapter one. We're gonna read

the first four verses together. If you're willing

and able, we'd love for you to stand and honor

the Lord's word together. 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. 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 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 and we are writing these things

so that our joy may be complete let's pray father

thank you for this day I pray today that you

will challenge us, encourage us, stir our affections

towards you so that our joy will be complete

as well. So that once we have experienced you,

we cannot help but tell everybody we know. And

so Father, I pray those words seep into our hearts

this morning. In your name we pray, amen. Now,

the book of 1 John is a short but powerful letter

that was presumably written by the Apostle John,

the same John that wrote the Gospel of John,

the same John that wrote Revelation. But tradition

and our early church fathers like Irenaeus, like

Clement of Alexandria, they strongly affirm John

as the author, noting his role as the beloved

disciple of Jesus, as an eyewitness to Jesus'

life. Now it was likely written between 85 and

95. And 1 John emerged from Ephesus where John

had spent the later years of his ministry leading

various churches in Asia Minor. Now this letter

was not addressed to a specific church, but it

was addressed to a broader group of believers,

possibly as a letter to counter false teachings

that were going on in the region. Some early

Christians were influenced by gnostic ideas.

Now, gnosticism was a belief system that was

really troubling to the early church. It taught

that secret spiritual knowledge was the key to

salvation. right? Not faith in Jesus alone. The

Gnostics, they viewed the material world, including

the human body, as evil or inferior, and it was

created by a lesser God, not the one true God.

Now, maybe the closest thing we have to that

in our culture today is Mormonism. Not the same,

but very, there's a lot of similarities. Now,

Gnostics often denied Jesus' true humanity, claiming

that He was a divine spirit who only appeared

to be human. He wasn't actually human. Now, this

contradicted the gospel's truth in that Jesus

was fully God and fully man. Now, here in 1 John

1 John 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1, John counters these ideas because

of what he saw. He's emphasizing what he saw,

what he heard. He's telling us that I actually

touched his body, the real incarnate Word of

life. Now, Gnostics, they also believe that salvation

came through this hidden wisdom that had to be

given to you. You had to figure it out. It was

not through an actual relationship with Jesus

Christ, which John is going to refute over and

over again, stressing fellowship with God and

others comes through Jesus. Now, 1 John, you'll

notice this pretty soon, right off the bat, it

does not read like your typical letters in the

New Testament. There's no greeting, there's no

acknowledging this is who's writing it. It reads

kind of like just this heartfelt sermon where

he weaves in different theology and encouragements

and warnings into his message. And so this should

be an interesting study for all of us as we go

through this together over the next eight weeks.

And so because John is writing to a community

where there is a lot of disunity at the time.

and this group of people that he is writing to

is meant as an encouragement to stand strong

in what we know to be true about Jesus, stand

strong in his message, and don't be easily swayed.

So as we look at our passage this morning, there's

a few things that I want us to focus on. These

aren't the only things to focus on, but these

are the ones that I want us to focus on this

morning. Because if you're talking to a group

of people, and you're talking to a group of people

that are having a hard time getting along, John

wants to remind them, remind us of what true

fellowship actually looks like. He wants them

to understand and see that true fellowship has

its foundation on Jesus. He's clearing the deck.

True fellowship has its foundation on Jesus.

John didn't just hear about Jesus, but he actually

heard his voice. He saw his miracles. He touched

his resurrected body. This is not a myth or philosophy.

It's a real person who is fully God and fully

human. And so our fellowship with God begins

with Jesus, because Jesus is the one who bridges

the gap between the Father and our sinful nature.

Jesus there's absolutely no connection to God

or each other now John is trying to remind us

that Jesus is what unites us to proclaim faith

in him right I'm sorry Jesus is what unites us

all of us who proclaim faith in him because we

all have different backgrounds we all have different

preferences we are all at different stages of

life if you will we arrived at a saving knowledge

of Jesus at different times and in different

ways because we each have a different testimony,

there is no reason other than Jesus that a lot

of us would be in the same circles together.

He is the one that unites all of us. So John

starts off this letter with the goal of bringing

the church back to reality of who Jesus is. This

is how he starts the letter. This is what unites

us. And you see him going after Gnosticism right

out of the gate. He's saying Jesus is eternal.

He was the Word in the beginning. But he wasn't

just a spiritual being. He wasn't just some idea.

He wasn't just some random God. He was a human

being that came down in the flesh. Now how does

John know that? Because he touched him with his

own hands. He experienced him. He saw him with

his own eyes. He heard Jesus' message of salvation.

And so he's fighting off the false teaching that

maybe Jesus was just an idea. Maybe it's just

some sort of rumor. You know, they kept saying,

well, he was a great teacher. Well, he was, but

he was more than that. He was more than just

a man that walked on the face of the earth. He

was God in the flesh. And he came so that we

could have fellowship with him and the Father.

And if we don't have our starting point as Jesus

as the foundation of who we are, we will not

end united. We will not have unity when we're

discussing anything else. Because there is so

much diversity in the world. We have different,

I'm sorry, my mind just went blank. We have different

cultures, right? We have different professions

if we have different gifts and talents We we

all these things different hobbies we we we have

different levels of knowledge Some of us are

smarter than others and if we elevate any of

those things over the position of Jesus We begin

to form our own factions. We only hang out with

people that are part of our profession We only

hang out with people that are part of our same

Hobby group or or whatever Jesus is the reason

why somebody like me and somebody like my wife

can build a life together We have different backgrounds

we have different traditions, we have different

thoughts, but because we found our unity in Jesus,

we're able to build our life together. It's why

a new believer and a seasoned believer can find

common ground. It is why in my home group we

have a geologist, a lunch lady, and a pastor.

And the only reason that those three people are

together is because we can get together and have

fellowship under the banner of Jesus. Because

that's a random group of people. That's a random

group of people that have found common ground

because of Jesus. Now in my home group, do we

raise our kids differently? Yes. Do we have different

kinds of, different ideas of what fun is? Yes.

Has it caused me to dominate an 11 year old in

bowling? Yes. Right? because I don't really care

much about bowling, I care about him. And because

I care about him, we have found unity in Jesus.

This is why being a part of a gospel community

is so important, is we can bring all of our differences

together and find unity in Jesus. We also see

from this text that fellowship is built on sharing

truth. John says, we proclaim to you what we

have seen and heard. So like me sharing about

a t -shirt that I got and that I like, and that

propels people to action, John can't keep Jesus

to himself. He's compelled to testify about the

eternal life that appeared in Christ. This sharing

that John is doing isn't just preaching. It's

not just speaking. It's inviting others into

a relationship with God. Fellowship is not a

private... club. It is a community built on proclaiming

the truth of Jesus. When we share His love, when

we share His grace, we invite others into the

same life -changing relationship that you and

I have experienced. Now here's the problem when

you try to kind of lone ranger your faith in

the Lord. You begin to trust your emotions over

the counsel of godly wisdom. There are so many

verses that discuss the importance of gospel

community. Jeremiah tells us that our hearts

are deceitful above all things. Solomon tells

us that two are better than one. The writer of

Hebrews says to not neglect the gathering of

the saints to do community. Jesus says where

two or three are unified together in his name,

he is in their midst. And so if your faith is

played out in a private And you think this is

just me. I'm not going to tell anybody about

it You run a very high risk of being deceived

by your own thoughts and desires You can be led

astray now. Here's how it's worked out in my

life recently now as many of you know this past

summer was a trying time For me my fault, but

it was reality I couldn't handle the I couldn't

handle the You know, I couldn't control the response

to that, but whatever. And so what I was frustrated

about was I wanted to react a certain way. I

wanted to act out in my flesh. But because I

know that my heart is deceitful and I know that

my heart lies to me at times, I thought it'd

be a good idea to go get some advice. And so

the truth is I wanted somebody to tell me what

I wanted to hear. Let me go get some advice so

the people will tell me what I wanted to hear

I wanted somebody to tell me it's okay to quit

I Wanted somebody to tell me it's okay if you

go go over to their house and knock them out

It's okay if you want to scream and yell it's

it's okay to do all those things But instead

they told me the opposite of what I wanted to

hear And that frustrated me it frustrated me

so I went to somebody else. Maybe they'll tell

me what I want to hear And they didn't tell me

what I wanted to hear either. So I go to a third

person and they wouldn't tell me what I wanted

to hear. And by the time I got to the third person,

I began to notice this theme because they were

all united. I was wrong in what I wanted to do.

I was wrong in how I wanted to react. And not

only was I wrong, did they tell me that, but

then they said I needed to go do things that

I wouldn't naturally do. Do you know how hard

it is for me to keep my mouth shut? Do you know

how hard it is for me to not defend myself and

just keep taking shots? But what I learned about

myself was that I was not trusting in the Lord

to fight my battles. I was not trusting in His

plan. I was trusting in the way I would do things.

And if it wasn't for fellowship that was built

on Jesus and built on sharing truth, I would

have gone my own way and that would have been

extremely detrimental to my spiritual health.

I was, we need fellowship with other believers

that's built on truth. And sometimes that truth

is telling us that, hey, your heart's being deceptive

right now. Hey, you're off a little bit. You

need to calibrate and you need to get your focus

back on Jesus because if you don't, this is gonna

end badly for you. And so I'm so thankful for

those that I have in my life that have the courage

to speak truth to me, even when it's truth that's

hard to hear, even when it's truth that it's

hard to say, I'm so grateful for those people.

Which leads me to my final point of what true

fellowship is. Fellowship that is rooted in Jesus

and truth will bring complete joy. Fellowship

that is rooted in Jesus and truth. will bring

complete joy. John's goal is clear here. The

purpose of his letter is clear here. We write

this to make our joy complete. I'm writing to

you. I'm telling you what I've experienced so

that it will make your joy complete. True joy

isn't found in keeping Jesus to ourselves, but

it's in sharing him so others can join in with

the fellowship of God and his people. This fellowship

idea, this word, this original word is the Greek

word koinonia. It's a deep, shared participation

in Christ. That's what this fellowship is we're

talking about. This is not just coffee hour with

a friend. This is not donuts before the service

where we stand around and chit chat. It's more

than bringing a casserole to some potluck and

calling it fellowship. It is a deep, shared participation.

in Christ. When we live in this fellowship, our

joy is complete, our joy overflows. And we cannot

have complete joy without Jesus. We cannot have

complete joy without each other. Now this idea

of complete joy comes from what Jesus told his

followers back in John chapter 15. I'm going

John 15 · chapter mention

to read it to you real quick in the context.

John 15, starting in verse 5, it says, I am the

vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in

me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit,

for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone

does not abide in me, he is thrown away like

a branch in withers, and the branches are gathered,

thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide

in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever

you wish, and it will be done for you. By this

my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit

and so prove to be my disciples, as the Father

has loved me. So have I loved you, abide in my

love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide

in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments

and abide in his love. These things I have spoken

to you, that my joy may be in you and that your

joy may be full. When Jesus says, so that my

joy may be in you, he's offering his disciples

the same joy that he experiences. He experiences

a deep, divine satisfaction rooted in His perfect

communion with His Father. This isn't a fleeting

happiness that's tied to various circumstances,

but it's a profound, unshakable joy that flows

from living in God's will. That word complete

means to fill to the brim. Where it overflows,

it means to be complete. And so Jesus wants their

joy, wants our joy to be full and abundant and

lasting. And that is achieved by staying connected

to Him and living out His love. This joy is relational.

It grows through abiding in Jesus and loving

others. Just as Jesus' joy comes from His oneness

with the Father, our joy is completed when we

remain in Him and we share His love. Much like

the fellowship that John describes back in 1

1 John 1 · chapter mention

John chapter 1. John's joy is complete when he

shares Jesus. That brings him. joy. Inviting

others into the fellowship with God and each

other, that brings complete joy. Both passages

in John chapter 15 and here in 1 John chapter

John 15 · chapter mention 1 John 1 · chapter mention

1 point to a joy that overflows through connection

and community. John's joy is complete not because

of what he knows, but because he shares what

he knows about Jesus. It's not just consuming

knowledge, it's sharing that knowledge by proclaiming

the word of life. John invites others into the

same fellowship he enjoys so that it creates

a ripple effect. Sharing the gospel, whether

it's with a t -shirt, whether it's through words

or actions or testimony, amplifies our joy. It

amplifies our joy because it aligns us with God's

mission in this world. It puts us in His perfect

will. Now, did you know that since Charlie Kirk

was assassinated, there has been a surge across

the nation in church attendance, especially amongst

Gen Z and millennials, which researchers were

saying were untouchable. They were rejecting

the church, but since in the last couple months,

there's been a surge in church attendance. There's

a group of people seeking community and meaning

in life. The reason for that is because when

they look around, they realize the world is chaotic.

The world is confusing, and they are seeking

truth, and they are seeking something that is

real. This is what this generation is longing

for. Now Charlie Kirk often used the phrase that

his goal was to make heaven crowded. That's what

he wanted to be remembered for. I want to help

make heaven crowded. Now two weeks ago at his

memorial service millions of people around the

world were exposed to the gospel because leaders

from around the world decided it was time to

not stay silent about their faith anymore. That

their faith was no longer going to be private.

Now the arguments I've heard since in the last

two weeks Against the memorial have actually

come from religious people Well that guy shared

the gospel right he shared the gospel on national

television, but but he's divorced Or that guy

shared his testimony, but the next day I heard

him use profanity in a news conference And so

they minimize the effect that someone might have

with the gospel. Do you know how many flawed

men God has used to fulfill His purposes? Moses

was a murderer. David was an adulterer. Jonah

was indignant. Peter was a coward. Thank the

Lord that He still uses imperfect people to spread

His message. And so don't think you have to arrive

to a certain level before you can be effective

for the kingdom of God. There has been awakening

to spiritual truth over the last month, which

makes your testimony even more powerful right

now. How are you using your testimony to make

your joy complete? What I've learned is that

oftentimes people don't want to share their faith.

They don't want to wear a t -shirt like this

because somebody might ask them a question they

don't know the answer to. What if the question

makes me look like a fool? What if I get stumped?

What I often tell people is nobody, nobody can

argue with your testimony. They can't tell you

what God has done in your life. They can't tell

you that didn't happen. The reason that John's

words are so powerful, is because he says, I

have touched Jesus. I was there. I saw the work

that he did. He is essentially sharing his testimony

about how Jesus changed his life. Now, a recent

study, as in the last six weeks, a recent study

shows that 84 % of people you know, 84 % percent

of people that you know would come to church

if you invited them. Why are we not doing that?

Why are we not telling people what God has done

for us? The pump is primed for an awakening,

but we aren't doing anything about it. If every

single one of us in this room right now, If every

single one of us invited one person to come to

church with us next week, we would not have enough

room in this building. Invite them into community.

We're not exclusive here. This is not a secret.

Tell them stories about how God has been faithful

to you. Tell them stories about how God has changed

your life. How he got you through a tough situation.

Share your testimony so that you can experience

complete joy. Our culture is calling for it.

84 % of the people you know would come to church

with you. Tell them what God has done in your

life. Now, it's not to invite them here so that

I do the work for you, but invite them into community.

Tell them what God has done for you because you've

experienced it. You've experienced what he's

done. You've experienced it. Otherwise I don't

think you'd be here today. He's calling you.

Otherwise I don't think you'd be here today.

And so my challenge to you is who are you going

to invite this week? Now I believe it with everything

in me because it's been my prayer is that when

I start talking about who are you going to invite

next week, that somebody came to your mind. God,

place somebody on your heart. Do you have the

courage to walk in obedience and bring them here

so that they can experience what God has done?

Are you sharing your testimony with them so that

they can experience what God has done so that

your joy may be complete? Because we're a melting

pot of personalities in this room. We're a melting

pot of backgrounds and histories. But the one

thing that unites all of us is Jesus. More people

need to experience him. Thank you for listening

today to 563 Church, a production of Cornerstone

Church, Eldridge, Iowa. For more information

about our church or just getting right with God,

please visit us at 563church .com. You can also

find us on Facebook and Instagram. Have a great

week.