KOINONIA THAT BRINGS DOWN GOD'S PRESENCE | 2 Chronicles 5:13-14

SCRIPTURE: 2Chronicles 5:13 "It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endures for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; 14. So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God."

OBJECTIVES:

1.    To achieve the harmony in the Church that would bring the glory cloud down.

2.    To strengthen relationships amongst the brethren, within each Cell and within the Church as a whole in order to fulfill the Divine Mandate together as one, bringing God's glorious presence in our midst.

INTRODUCTION:

➢    Koinonia  (Greek) means Christian fellowship or communion, with God or, more commonly, with fellow Christians.  It is translated as "fellowship", "sharing", "participation" and "contribution".

➢    It is best expressed in the phrase "one another" especially in the admonition to believer in the New Testament epistles.  Romans 12:10 "Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another". Eph 4:32 "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."  Eph 5:21 "submitting to one another in the fear of God.  1Peter 4:8 "And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”  1John 4:7 "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God."

GIVING VALUE THE TWO IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIPS

➢    Building strong relationships is the core of Christian calling.  You cannot be a Christian alone.  It is a call to commitment into relationships.  The cross points to us two kinds of Christian relationships we should value.  The vertical post of the cross represents our relationship with God Almighty, and the horizontal beam represents our relationship towards people, one pointing to the right is with fellow believers, the other pointing to the left is with people we win for Christ.

➢    The vertical post is secured firmly to the ground, while the horizontal beam is secured firmly to the post.  Meaning the strength of our relationship with people is dependent on the strength of our relationship with the Almighty and not vice versa.  Relationships are destroyed for weakness or lack of relationship with our First love, that is God.  As Christian Disciples, we are called to commit to these important relationships, to build, nurture and protect.  How is your relationships? 

➢    Today we would like to focus on strengthening our relationship with fellow believers.

HARMONY IS THE GOAL OF RELATIONSHIP

➢    How many of you here love music?  God loves music!  As a matter of fact, scientists had found out that the universe is moving in such a pattern as if the whole thing follows just one rhythm.  No wonder why planets do not hit or crash against each other.  Such a marvelous work of God!  (Psalms19:1 "...The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.)

➢    Even botanists found out that plants grow more healthy with music piped in around the orchard  How much more people created in the image and likeness of God!  We love music, it makes our day brighter.  Music is sweet in the ears when there is harmony between the lyrics, melody & rhythm. 

➢    Your life, your heartbeat has a rhythm determined by your emotion or health condition. 

ACHIEVING PERFECT HARMONY IN RELATIONSHIPS

1.    ASPIRE TO BE ONE WITH THE RHYTHM.

➢    2Chronicles 5:13a "It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD;"

➢    The rhythm is the heartbeat of music.  It gives the timing or the tempo of the music.  The conductor of music motions with his hands the music beat and the whole orchestra is given direction.

➢    In relationships, there is a necessity of someone setting the pace of the relationship, and it is the leader.  Being sensitive to the rhythm is making sure you are not out of direction with your cell or group leader.  Tune your heartbeat to your group's heartbeat**.  Have the same goal with your team. 

➢    Be intentional in having the same beat with your team.  Avoid dragging your team to your own pacing or rhythm.  (Romans 12:16 "Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion."). Do not be out of tune!

➢    The phrase "it came to pass", signifies a process of fine-tuning the song and the instruments together until the sound produced achieved a perfect harmony.  (1Peter 3:8 "Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous;")

➢    Relating it to the LORIMI Ministry, we are all like those instruments of music in the process of fine-tuning together to achieve perfect harmony.  But for the sake of harmony, why can't we adjust to each other, why allow the cord to be broken for along time when we can fix it?  Why allow the misunderstanding when we can arrange it?  Because as long as we don't fix it, the devil will feast over our differences and misunderstandings

➢    Tell your neighbor: "Hindi na baleng sintunado ang awit, huwag lang sintunado ang puso."

2.    ASPIRE TO BE ONE UNTIL THE GLORY COMES

➢   2Chronicles 5:13b. "and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endures for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD, 14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God."

➢   Don't stop until the glory cloud of God comes down and miracles happen.  Aspiring to get in tune may not happen is a day or week, but as you keep on practicing, it would come.  Continue to come to your cell, continue to attend to church activities, continue to meet and fellowship with fellow believers.

➢   What happens when we achieve perfect harmony?  We need to achieve perfect harmony, and we can only do that "when we work as one"!  When it happens, the glory cloud will come down!  And when it comes down, miracles happen! 

➢   Remember this: the devil's strategy for hindering a family, a friendship, a fellowship or a church is to penetrate relationship, cause an issue to blow out of proportion until a relationship is tarnished and broken beyond repair.  You have to watch out!  Hold tighter to one another and be discerning for the enemy's maneuvers.  (1John 4:7 "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.")

CONCLUSION:

➢   Today, we come here as the leaders of God's Kingdom, playing the instruments and singing the praises of our God.  The Lord has more concern about the harmony of our hearts with each other than the harmony of our instruments and the songs that we sing. 

➢   This is an opportunity for all of us to come to one another and fine-tune our hearts with brothers or sister whom we need to approach and settle things in the past that brought our hearts not in sync with one another.