RESET- What We Learn From Planets in Outer Space - Audio

The Gathering Place Church - main

We are in a series called RESET – and perhaps some of your relationships could use a RESET? Today, we are going to look at one word in the Bible. It's a word about relationships, often translated fellowship Bibleinfo.com says “Koinonia comes from a root word meaning “partner” or “companion” and is expressed in sharing—sharing possessions, sharing experiences, sharing life, and sharing ourselves with one another.” What makes Koinonia possible? It makes sense for firefighters and people with a common passion to fight for one another, to stand together. We all have it in us for a temporary situation. But what about those people that frustrate us? Those relationships that may need a reset? What makes it possible to have deep fellowship with those who are not like us? To honor and fight for those we find it hard to get along with? The key is to understand that koinonia is a spiritual reality. It's something God did for us that we can participate in. There’s a great illustration I heard from Martin Cachero at Risen Church of the Solar System. Our solar system works because all the planets orbit around the sun, the magnetic pull of the sun protects them and helps things grow. When we forget that we're in Christ - we try to be the center and have people, circumstances and even God orbit it. Think about it. A planet that decides what's best for itself would create chaos and disaster. But frankly, that's what we see all around us, even in the church when we make ourselves the judge of what will help us and protect us. We start being a planet that has its own orbit, and it's chaos. Only God deserves to be in that center – not our ego. When we remember He is the center – everything changes. In Christ, We're the only people in the world that can have unity because we're connected to one head. It's a spiritual reality that is lived out in our fellowship. Jesus is the center. Eph 4:3 we are to maintain this – not create it. The best way to walk in this reality is to meditate on what God has done for us. As that grows in our minds and hearts, we walk out the spiritual reality of being in His orbit, He is the center from which all life and flows. Meditate on Ephesians 3:18-19 May have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. How Wide: God's love is limitless, encompassing all creation (Ephesians 3:18-19, Psalm 103:11-12, John 3:16). How Long: God's love is eternal, lasting from generation to generation (Jeremiah 31:3, Psalm 103:17, 1 Chron 16:34). How High: God's love surpasses the heavens, unreachable by human understanding (Ps 103:11, Is 55:9, Rom 8:38-). How Deep: God's love reaches into the depths of despair, sin, and death to rescue and restore (Psalm 86:13, Micah 7:19, Ephesians 3:18-19).