There was a man wanting to rob a branch of the Bank of America. He walked into the branch and wrote "this iz a stikkup. Put all yur muny in this bag." He then went and stood in line, but while standing in line, waiting to give his note to the teller, he began to worry that someone had seen him write the note and worried they might call the police before he reached the teller window. So he left the Bank of America and crossed the street to Wells Fargo - another bank. After waiting a few minutes in line, he handed his note to the Wells Fargo teller. She read it and, figuring from his spelling errors that he was not the brightest light in town, told him that she could not accept his stickup note because it was written on a Bank of America deposit slip. She then went on to tell him that he would either have to fill out a Wells Fargo deposit slip or go back to Bank of America. The man felt defeated and just said, "OK" and then left. The Wells Fargo teller then called the police who arrested the man a few minutes later, as he was waiting in line back at Bank of America.

Now, it is not often that a bank will tell you to go to another bank, but I can't blame the teller in this situation. This reminds me of times I have closed my bank account to move to another bank - you get the third degree from that bank as if you are doing a terrible thing. They treat you as though you have committed a terrible sin because you have broken fellowship with them. In reality, their concern is not broken fellowship, but the lost revenue because of your account closure.

When we come to our relationship with God, broken fellowship is a serious thing, and it is sin. You may remember that last week we talked about fellowship and what it is - that it is an intimate relationship with God and with each other, expressed through God's love for us all. We spoke about how essential this kind of fellowship was for the individual and for the church and how it is expressed with the same vitality as described in the New Testament Church.

Now, this is what God calls us to, but let's be realistic, we are human and we allow our biases to get in the way at times which sometimes leads to broken fellowship. So the questions remain - what happens when fellowship is broken and what does it indicate?

1. GOD'S REMEDY FOR BROKEN FELLOWSHIP

Well, at times broken fellowship with a brother or sister in Christ may be due to the other person's sin and broken fellowship with God. In a situation like this, if you are on the receiving end of ill treatment from tis person, you need to pray for the person and do everything you possible can to help the person get their relationship with the Lord right again. The point I am making here is that broken fellowship indicates a broken fellowship with God. The break doesn't start with your relationship with another person but starts with our relationship with the Lord. So if this is the case, where we start to make amends is first with our relationship with God, then with the other person - not the other way around.

Now, just to underline what I am saying here, I have made a very interesting observation of other people and of myself over the years of being involved in Christian work. I have observed that when other people whinge most about the church, its leadership, other people etc. or when I have done so, has been when my, or others, walk with the Lord has been somewhat weak. I have also observed that the opposite. That when my or other people's walk with the Lord has been strong, then the people walking with the Lord closely haven't whinged or complained nearly as much. Instead, if something concerns them they have processed that concern through the right way and via the right channels - why? Because they desire to maintain the unity and love of Christ obediently, rather than establishing their own power and agenda over others - Christ is their priority.

You see, when you sin against God, your fellowship with Him is broken. Harbouring grudges, bitterness, jealousy, and gossiping about others are all sin and break fellowship. The Old Testament describes God's attitude towards broken fellowship as 'hiding His face'.

Isaiah 54:8 says, "In a surge of anger I hid my face from you."

Isaiah 57:17 says, "I was enraged by this sinful greed; I punished him and hid my face in anger."

Isaiah 64:7 says, "You have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins."

And Jer. 33:5 says, "I will hide my face from tis city because of its wickedness."

And listen to these verses:

You see, God hides His face out of anger for sin. It shows His withdrawal of the experience of His presence, His rejection of sin, and His refusal to see, hear, or speak. When this happens, our fellowship with God is broken. Psalm 13:1 describes clearly the effect of God hiding His face. David wrote, "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?"

Why would David cry out in this way? Because our fellowship with God is the most cherished privilege for a child of God. But, if we live in sin, then God's hidden face is one of the most terrible disciplines for us to cope with. Does this mean that God disowns us?

So how do we get into right relationship with God?

1 John 1:9 tells us that…If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Confession and repentance are the first steps to returning into God's fellowship. When we confess our sin we agree with God about the awful nature of our wrongdoing. But remember that confession is not the only step of getting right with God because confession and repentance go hand in hand. You see, when we repent of our sin we turn away from the sin and we return to God. Blackaby and King in the book Experiencing God give some very practical advice. They say, "When your fellowship with God is broken because of sin, agree with Him about your sin and turn from it. Return to God and He will forgive you and reestablish your relationship to him."

There are so many ways that we can sin. The important thing to remember is that all sin breaks our fellowship with God. To correct this, as I have just stated, is we must confess and repent of that sin.

Now, we will know when we sin. You see, when we sin, the Holy Spirit convicts us of the sin. Why? Because God wants you and me to remain in a right relationship with him - always. When we don't respond to the Holy Spirit's conviction, God will then discipline us. And remember that God disciplines because He wants to draw us back into His fellowship. Now, some of us can be really slow at getting the message. Even under God's discipline, we sometimes stubbornly resist, but the reality is that this only gets us into more of a pickle.

So, how does God respond to this?

I have shared with you several times over the past few weeks 2 Chron. 7:13-14 and I want to reemphasize it again here. God said to the Israelites who stubbornly resisted God's rebuke and discipline:

He said to the Israelites in 2 Chron. 7:15-16 that if they did pray, repent, and seek Him -

You see, restored fellowship with God involves our humility, it involves prayer, it involves seeking His face, and it involves repentance - turning away from sin. In return, God will hear us, He will forgive us, and He will heal us.

So God's call is for us to be in right relationship with Him and in right relationship with one another.

The first step is loving God with our total beings. Matthew 22:37-38

That means if you love God, you will obey Him and submit ourselves to His Lordship of our lives - in every aspect of our lives. Jesus said in John 14:21-24

The second step of living in a right relationship with God is loving one another and living in a right fellowship with one another. Jesus' second commandment to us was Matthew 22:39-40

Therefore, our attitude and treatment of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ does have a major bearing upon our fellowship with God.

I want to share with you what has been coming from our prayer nights. God has challenged us as a church to:

• Respect one another
• Live in peace with one another
• Be responsible and accountable to one another
• Be patient with one another
• Be kind to one another
• Repay a wrong with a right
• Rejoice and share in God's goodness together
• Avoid every kind of evil

Further to this He has shown us that where we have failed in these areas we need to repent of them and seek personal purification. He has shown us that there are some deep hurts in individual lives. Some of those things relate to our lives of the passed, but other things relate to our relationships with one another within this church. Some of you may have been hurt by another person by what they have said, others have said things that have hurt others - in both cases there are still some issues left unconfessed and unrepented. These things need to be brought back to God in confession and repentance where our attitudes and behaviors have been wrong and have been contrary to Christ's commandments to us. (elaborate further)

The fact of the matter is that as we harbor jealousies, resentments, anger, hatred etc. not only do we burn ourselves up due to those attitudes, but we also no longer walk in fellowship with God. Confession and repentance brings us back right again with God and with one another.

(Share part of my own life story)

Blackaby and King share 10 very practical steps as a remedy for sin.

This sermon has been created and adapted from the book 'Experiencing God' by H.T.Blackaby and C.V.King by Pastor Scott Douglas for teaching in the Burdekin Baptist Church on 1^st August, 1999.