Thank you, John. I appreciate that. Turn your Bibles, please, to the Book of Luke, Chapter 22. Luke, Chapter 22. Tonight, as a church, we're going to dismiss Children's Church at this time, please. Children's Church, dismissed at this time. Follow Mr. and Mrs. Gilley right out the door over here to your left as you come forward. Tonight at the church, we're gonna have what we refer to as communion. The word communion carries the idea of intimacy or closeness. Do you realize God desires to have an intimate relationship with you? God desires to have a close walk with you. By the way, is that your desire with him? And that's what communion is all about. Here in Luke chapter 22, look at me in verse 14, please, Luke 22. in verse 14. And when the hours come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him, and he said unto them, With desire have I desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup and gave thanks and said, take this, divide it among yourselves. For I said unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come. Verse 19. And he took bread and gave thanks and break it and gave it unto them. This is my body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me. Verse 20. Likewise, also the cup after supper, saying this cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you. If you back up again, look in verse 14 and verse 15, please. It's in verse 14, when the hours come that he sat down and the 12 apostles with him. So here he is in a close, intimate relationship, time with his 12 apostles. And notice what he said in verse 15. And he said to them, with desire, have I desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Notice the word desire is used there twice. Now it's the same word in the English, but two different words in the Greek language. The first word, he says, with desire, that means with intense desire or craving. With desire, have I desired. The second word means to set one's heart upon, to long for. What Jesus was saying is this, with intense desire and craving, have I longed for and set my heart upon to eat this Passover with you. You know, the Lord desires to be with his people. The Lord desires to have intimate fellowship with you. And that is all throughout the Bible. And he always wanted to be with me. In fact, in the Old Testament, God instructed Moses to build a tabernacle. Why? that he may dwell in the midst of his people. Have you ever seen a laying out of the tabernacle? Tabernacle has four sides. There were three tribes on each side. They put the tabernacle right in the midst of all the tribes of Israel. Why? Because God wanted to be with his people. If you would please go with me in time to the book of Exodus. Keep your finger there in Luke. Keep your finger in Luke 22. We're coming back to that eventually. But Exodus 29. I want you to notice here the instruction God gave to Moses concerning the tabernacle. And why he had the tabernacle built. To show that he longed to be with his people. Exodus 29, look in verse 42 please. Genesis, Exodus, the second book of your Bible. And if you did not bring a Bible with you, please use one of those right there in front of you in the seat in front of you. There should be a copy of God's Word on the rack there at the bottom of the seat. Exodus 29, look in verse 42, please. This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord where I will what I will meet with you to speak there unto thee verse 43 and there I will meet with the children of Israel and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory look in verse 45 please I would dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God, verse 46, and they shall know that I am the Lord their God that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God. Notice four times God told him the purpose of the tabernacle, that he might dwell among his people. Now, if you wouldn't let go there, go all the way to the last book of your Bible, this time to the book of Revelation. We see in the Old Testament, God longed to be with his people. He instructed to build a tabernacle so he could dwell in the mist, so he could speak unto Moses. Now this goes all the way in the future, talking about the new heaven and new earth. And I want you to see why God instructed Moses, I mean not Moses, John to write this. Revelation 21, look in verse one, please. Revelation 21, verse one. John said, I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea, verse two. And I, John, saw a holy city, new Jerusalem coming down from God, out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for a husband. Verse two is a fulfillment of Jesus' promise in John 14. John 14, Jesus said what? Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you. I go to what? prepare a place for you. And if I go prepare a place for you, I will come again and what? To receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also. Again, the purpose of this that he wants to be with you and I. Then he says there in verse two, John said, I saw this new city. It said as a bride prepared, as a bride drawn from her husband. Notice in verse three, I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle, that means the habitation of God is where? With men. And he would dwell with them. They shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. All throughout the Bible, God always longed to be with his people. God longs to be with you. God longs an intimate, Close walk with you. I hope that's your desire with him. That's always true. Now, let me give you three things to show that God desires our fellowship. Let me write them down. Three things to show that God desires our fellowship. First of all, when fellowship is broken, God took the initiative to restore. When fellowship is broken, God takes the initiative. So write down God took the initiative. Go to Genesis, please. Genesis. Here we have a count where we call the fall of man. Where Adam and Eve disobeyed and took the forbidden fruit. And fellowship with God was broken. And I want you to notice in the Bible who took the initiative to restore the relationship that was broken. When Adam and Eve sinned and the fellowship was broken, it was God who took the initiative to restore them. In Genesis chapter three, look with me in verse six. Here we see God took the initiative to restore broken fellowship. In verse six. And when the woman saw that the tree was good, this is at the temptation of from the serpent, she saw that the food tree was good for food and was pleasant to the eyes and the tree was desired to make one wise. She what she took of the food thereof and did eat and gave also to her husband with her and he did eat. I was they ate the forbidden fruit. Verse seven. And the eyes of them both open and they knew that they were naked. And they sowed fig leaves. And it goes on to say, look down to verse 8, excuse me, verse 7. It said, the eyes of them were open. And he talks about they knew they were naked. And so Figlees, verse eight, and they heard the voice of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And verse nine, and the Lord God called on Adam and said to them, where art thou? So when they sinned, what did Adam and Eve do? hid themselves because of shame and guilt. They disobeyed God, went and hid themselves. And what did God do? God sought them out. God sought them out. In other words, God appeared as before in the manner of goodness and kindness. He came not in anger or in fury, but in the same way as he walked with Adam and Eve before. Adam, where art thou? By the way, he knew exactly where they were. that is for you and I to understand the story. Where are you, Adam? They were hiding themselves. So basically, the fellowship was broken, and who took the initiative to restore? God did. God took the initiative. How about when King David sent us so grievously? Go with me now to 2 Samuel, please, 2 Samuel. We know the Bible says David was a man after God's own heart. However, he sinned grievously against God. His fellowship was broken. And who sought to restore? God did. Because he longed to be with David. He longed to be with Adam and Eve. Though they disobeyed and broke fellowship, he's the one who sought them out. In 2 Samuel 12, look in verse 1, please. 2 Samuel 12, verse 1. Here's the story. This is after David's sin of murder and adultery. God sent a prophet by the name of Nathan to restore David. In chapter 12, verse 1, And the Lord sent Nathan unto David, and came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city, the one rich, the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing save one little ewe lamb, which he brought and nourished it up and grew up together with him and with his children. He did eat his own meat and drink his own cup and lay in his bosom and it was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveler unto the rich man, and he spared to take his own flock of his own herd to dress for the warefaring man that was come unto him. But he took the poor man's lamb and dressed it, for the man was come unto him. and said, And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and said unto Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die, and shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, because he had no pity. Nathan said unto David, Thou art the man. And you got to realize, David had been in broken fellowship for at least nine months, if not longer. Because he had an adulterous relationship with Bathsheba. She became pregnant and had a child. And one of the judgments upon David was the child would die. The child was yet alive. So how long is a woman usually pregnant? Around nine months. The child was already born and living. So it was at least nine months, if not longer. And he tells the story. And David pronounced judgment on him, and Nathan said, David, that's you. And notice down to verse 13, David's response. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, the Lord hath also also have put away thy sin, thou shalt not die. So we have two situations. Adam and Eve, who disobeyed God, hid themselves. Fellowship was broken. Who sought to restore? God sought to restore them to himself. David, sinned grievously against God, guilty of murder and adultery. His fellowship was broken for a period of time. So who sought to restore the relationship? God did. How about the Apostle Peter? Go with me now to the New Testament. Go now to John chapter 21. John 21. Let me give you the background of this chapter. We'll look at one verse. This is after the death of Christ. His resurrection. We know one thing that Peter was guilty of. He denied the Lord. Not once, not twice, but three times. He denied he even knew Jesus Christ. As one of his own apostles, he denied him. When Peter denied the Lord and went on to say he'd left the ministry, he went back to his old profession of fishing. He's out fishing, could catch nothing. You know the story? They heard a voice from the shore, cast your nets on the other side. They obeyed and they got so many and almost broke the net. And somebody said, it's the Lord. And the Bible says Peter jumped out of the boat, swam to shore, and the Lord was there cooking fish. And so basically, here's Peter who denied him, left the ministry, went back to his old way of life, and who's seeking to restore fellowship. Christ is how much grateful that he does that. So many times we sin, we break God's law, we break his word, we go our own way, do our own thing, and he seeks us out. Why? He longs your fellowship. He wants to close walk with you. And so God takes initiative. Number two, not only does God take the initiative, God provided a sacrifice. God provide a sacrifice. Do not turn there, but let me read again. He did for Adam and Eve. And when Adam and Eve sinned, what did they do? They hid themselves, but they took, they saw that they were naked and they covered themselves with what? Fig leaves. Unacceptable to God. And the Bible went on to say in verse 21, Adam also and his wife did the Lord make them coats of skin and clothe them. Basically, God sacrificed an animal and clothed them. They tried to clothe them with their own way, with fig leaves, and God was teaching them. God himself killed an animal, used his skin to cover the fallen couple. This is a graphic object lesson showing that God, only God can provide a suitable covering for sin, and that the shedding of blood is necessary part of this process. The first physical death should have been them. They're the ones who've sinned. But God provided a substitute. He sacrificed an animal and covered them with skins. What a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ. We're the ones who should die. We're the ones who should pay for our sin, because we're the sinners. But God provided a substitute. He sent his son to die for us on the cross. He provides sacrifice at Adam and Eve. He also does for us today. Do not turn there. In Titus 2.13, looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us. that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify in himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. So for Adam and Eve, God sought them out to restore fellowship. God provided a sacrifice for their sin. He did it for them. He does it for us, but also does for the whole world. 1 John 2, 2, and He, Jesus Christ, is the propitiation for our sins and not ours only, but also the sins of the whole world. God longs fellowship with the whole world. He even provided sacrifice, but only those who come to Him in faith can have fellowship with Him. So listen carefully, please. When fellowship is broken, who takes initiative? God does. Though sometimes in our guilt and shame when the last person we want to see is God, he longs to see you. He longs to be with you. He longs your fellowship. He'll take the initiative to restore you. He's provided a sacrifice. The sacrifice for the sin you've done against him. Sacrificed his own son. And third, knows that God took the initiative. God provided sacrifice. Number three, God practices what he preaches. God practices what he preaches. For example, if you have a brother who sins against you, who does you wrong or dirty, the Bible says who trespass against you, who's responsible to restore the relationship? The innocent one. is responsible to restore the guilty one. He said, wait a minute, Pastor, I've done nothing wrong. He wronged me. However, the Bible says you are to go to him. In Matthew 18, 15, moreover, if I, brother, shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. So basically, the innocent is to go to the guilty. Or you can say the spiritual is to go to the carnal. Galatians 6, 1. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one. Now think about God. God, we're the ones who done wrong. We're the ones who sinned against him. But basically, the innocent one come to the guilty one. The spiritual come to the carnal. You see that? He practices what he preaches. He says, if someone wrongs you, you ought to go to them. God practiced that. Because you done wrong, he went to you. The spirituals go to the carnal. God has come to us. So my friend, God practices what he preaches. He took the initiative. He provided a substitute. And he practices what he preaches. My friend, God longs our fellowship. He longs to be close to us. And you know what he did for us today? He established the Lord's Supper. It's called what? Communion. Again, the idea of intimacy, of closeness. Go with me now back to Luke, please. Back to Luke. In chapter 22. Remember when Adam and Eve sinned, God took initiative to restore. When David disobeyed and so grievously guilty of sin, God took initiative to restore. When Peter denied the Lord and went back to his own way of life, Christ took initiative to restore a relationship. And not only did he do that, he provided a sacrifice for forgiveness, and he practiced what he was preaching. The innocent one went to the guilty one, or the guilty one, He came to us. Now, in Luke 22, let's look at it again please, in verse 14, And when the hours come, he sat down and the twelve apostles with him, and he said unto them, With desire have I, what? Desired to meet this Passover with you before I suffer. With craving and longing Have I desired, I've set my heart upon to be with you. That's his desire here today. The purpose of communion is for us to have a closeness, a relationship with the Lord. However, sin can break that fellowship. How many are grateful? Sin does not break the relationship. Sin breaks the fellowship. You say, what do you mean, pastor? My relationship, he's my father. I'm his child. Nothing can break that. That's eternal. Sin cannot break the relationship. However, sin breaks the fellowship. That's communication. David said, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not what? Hear me. The fellowship is broken. So but basically, when it comes for communion, in order for you and I have fellowship with God, the Bible said, let a man first what? Examine himself. This is a time of internal inspection. You're not to inspect your neighbor. You're not to inspect your spouse. You're to inspect yourself. The Bible says if we have judged ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we're chastened of the Lord. So this is a time when we come to the Lord's Supper because he wants to have fellowship with us. First of all, he says, Christian, examine yourself. Make sure there's nothing in your life that's keeping the Lord away from you. This is very serious. Because in the book of Corinthians, many had come to the Lord's Supper with sin in their lives. And they came, the Bible says, unworthily, which brought God's judgment. So just a moment before I have the ushers come forward, we're going to have a time of silence, a time of search in our hearts, to make sure there's nothing wrong in our lives that may bring God's judgment. Because my friend, the reason God does that, He longs your fellowship. but it's your sin that keeps His distance from you. So let's bow together, please. Let's use a time now for you to search your heart. Look at your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring anything in your life to your attention. If there's anything in your life that grieves God, that's broken, fellowship with Him. Ask Him to bring it to your attention. And when he does, the Bible said, if we confess our sin, he's what? He's faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse. So let's take a few moments of silence and ask God to search you and try you to see if there's any wicked way in you. Our Father, it's our desire that nothing would be in our lives here tonight to hinder our fellowship with you. We see in scripture how you long to have fellowship with us. You said with great craving, desire, you long and set your heart upon to have the fellowship with your apostles and how you desire the same thing from us. But Father, we know from scripture it's our sin that breaks our fellowship with you. And Father, we ask for forgiveness and cleansing tonight then nothing would hinder our fellowship with you. Lord, we're so grateful that in our relationship with you, you took the initiative to draw us to yourself, and we respond in faith when we come to Christ. And Father, we're so grateful now that we are saved, you long to have an intimate relationship with us. I pray, Lord, you enable us to do that even at this time. In Christ's name we pray, amen.