Our Heavenly Father #6 — Fellowship, a Soft Heart and the Fullness of God

Our heavenly Father wants your heart open, because everything in life flows from it. In this sixth message of the series, the pastor builds on 2 Corinthians 13:14, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit, and shows that fellowship with God keeps the heart soft enough for heaven to come into your marriage, your family and your church. He calls it shifting into a higher gear. It continues from Our Heavenly Father #5: Jesus the Mediator and Forgiveness, the Love Language of Heaven.

Below you will find the full video, a structured summary of the sermon, the Scripture behind each point (linked to the New King James Version on Bible Gateway), a timestamped outline, and practical steps for receiving the love of God this week.

Sermon at a Glance

This message from NTC Ministries was posted on November 11, 2025, and runs about 64 minutes. The pastor opens by thanking the congregation for drawing on the gift. He has preached in places where people were not hungry for the Word, and he compares that to Paul, who had to feed the Corinthians milk instead of meat (1 Corinthians 3:1–2). Here, he says, people are open.

He prays that the eyes of their understanding would be enlightened (Ephesians 1:18), then walks through the heart, the Lord’s Prayer and Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3.

Grace, Love and Communion: Why the Heart Comes First

The foundation text is 2 Corinthians 13:14: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” The pastor reviews how corruption hardened the human heart against God. God gave the earth to man, and He rules through hearts. That is why Scripture says to keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23).

So we cannot blame a person, a company or a church for our condition, he says. It comes back to your heart. Before Jesus, hearts seldom changed. Grace is unearned favor, so vast it will take the ages to reveal it, and Jesus represented mankind with a pure heart toward the Father.

He explains that sin is a nature, and drunkenness, stealing and lying are its fruit. That is why John the Baptist said the axe is laid to the root of the trees (Matthew 3:10). God was no longer just dealing with “thou shalt not.” He was offering everyone a new heart that could produce the fruit of God.

The pastor distinguishes two hearts. The physical heart keeps the body going. But you are a spirit, and your spiritual heart either receives the life of God or hardens to keep it away. Even Christians, who receive a new heart, can harden it by what they say, do and where they go. You have felt it, he says, when the Holy Spirit is grieved. The only way to keep the heart soft is fellowship with Him.

Our Heavenly Father Wants Heaven Here, Not Just Later

Grace, love and communion allow us to produce heaven. “I’m not waiting to go to heaven,” the pastor says. “God’s waiting for me to allow heaven to come.” When Jesus taught us to pray to our heavenly Father, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” the will of God was not “Get me out of here.” He wants heaven to invade your marriage, your family and your church.

Even under the law, God said that if His people talked of His words when they sat in their house, walked by the way, lay down and rose up, their days would be multiplied like the days of the heavens on the earth (Deuteronomy 11:18–21). A heart fed on a God of love, goodness and bounty produces heaven on earth.

The condition of the heart shapes how we read the Bible. With a hard heart, the pastor says, you see only law and a God who wants to crush you like a bug. With a soft heart, you see a Father who wants to hug and comfort you. People see you according to their hearts too, which is why Paul warned against measuring ourselves by ourselves (2 Corinthians 10:12).

Jesus kept showing the Father as one who provides, rewards and is kind. He said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9), and He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him (Acts 10:38). If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us (1 John 5:14–15), but a hard heart misreads what His will is.

Israel’s problem, he says, was all work and no fellowship. He applies it to himself. A pastor is to give himself to prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:2–4), yet he spent years working hours a day building the ministry, and his preaching showed it. He had to repent: “Oh, God, forgive me. My heart’s hard.” A hard heart, he explains, is simply the way you see God, and that becomes the way you see and speak to others. Evil company corrupts good habits (1 Corinthians 15:33), so guard what you listen to.

Hallowed Be Your Name: Letting the World See God as He Is

God desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, for there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:3–5). Jesus said that if we abide in His word, we will know the truth, and the truth will make us free (John 8:31–32).

Reviewing last week’s teaching, the pastor says Jesus forgave past, present and future sin. So failure should feel less like a sinner’s guilt and more like lashing out at a loyal dog that only ever cuddles at your feet: you feel bad because of how much love it has shown you. That is why Paul says not to grieve the Holy Spirit and to let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, only what builds others up (Ephesians 4:29–30).

In Ezekiel 36:23–27, God says He will sanctify His great name, which had been profaned among the nations. The pastor explains that God’s name is profaned whenever people believe He is something He is not, such as blaming Him when a storm destroys a trailer park. Israel had used the law to look down on others and lost the fellowship. God promised to give a new heart, take out the heart of stone and put His Spirit within.

Jesus prayed that the world had not known the Father, but He had declared the Father’s name so that the love with which the Father loved Him might be in His disciples (John 17:25–26). With that love, he says, there will still be challenges, but all things work together for good to those who love God (Romans 8:28). Isaiah 1:18–20 adds that the willing and obedient eat the good of the land, while those who rebel find life hard and painful.

He admits his own marriage has had hard seasons, usually because of both hearts, and the answer was coming back into fellowship with God. He even guards his heart at night, rebuking stray thoughts in his dreams and casting down arguments against the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Then the church reads the Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6:9–13. He prefers the New King James because it says, “deliver us from the evil one.” To hallow God’s name is to set it apart and let people know who He really is. He is not the one who brings storms, earthquakes and famine. The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy; Jesus came that we might have life more abundantly (John 10:10).

The Fellowship of the Mystery

The pastor turns to Ephesians 3:8–11. He explains that to fear the Lord means to give Him respect, not to be terrified of a monster. Why respect Him? Because He loves us and did not spare His own Son, so how shall He not with Him freely give us all things (Romans 8:32)?

Paul, less than the least of all the saints, was given grace to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. Some ministers think they must tell people how bad they are, but the pastor says it is the goodness of God that leads to repentance (Romans 2:4), not a cattle prod. God trusts the work He began in you and will complete it (Philippians 1:6). Of Him, through Him and to Him are all things (Romans 11:36), and even our faith rests on the faith of God (Mark 11:22).

Without accepting the love of God, he warns, you will never accept His goodness. Your marriage and your habits will not change. Instead, bathe in His love, because hope does not disappoint, for the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).

Paul speaks of “the fellowship of the mystery.” The pastor teaches that the Greek word behind it is the root of our word economy, often translated dispensation or administration: the way a household or state is run. God has always administered the earth through hearts, and as hearts hardened, more rules came. The table below follows his summary.

It is the same with raising children: the harder their hearts, the more rules you give them. In Christ we are under grace, not law. He adds that the word is built from household and portioning out, as when livestock are each fed a portion. Under Moses the portion was law; under the new covenant it is grace. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), and God is never done blessing.

The manifold wisdom of God is now made known through the church even to principalities and powers, and all creation waits on it. The task, he says, is not more work. It is fellowship with God, thinking of His goodness at work and at home.

Rooted and Grounded in Love

In Ephesians 3:14–19, Paul bows his knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. The pastor says this takes revelation, not intellect. When Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, Jesus said flesh and blood had not revealed it, but His Father in heaven (Matthew 16:13–17). We are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14), called to change it by letting His love in.

We forgive because we are forgiven, he adds, and that includes forgiving yourself. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Fatherhood is meant to work this way in every family, which is why honoring father and mother brings a promise that it may be well with you (Ephesians 6:2–3). And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God (1 John 4:7–8).

He shares that for a time he was a Spirit-filled Christian trying to reach greatness with God by law, and it was terrible. Then the light went on: we are saved by grace through faith, and it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). The struggle, worry and pressure vanished. Jesus’ yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:28–30).

Paul prays that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 12:2), and He seats us there with Him (Ephesians 2:6). Rooted and grounded in love, we begin to comprehend the width, length, depth and height, and to know the love of Christ that passes knowledge. That is where we stop leaning on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5–6).

Filled With All the Fullness of God

Paul’s prayer ends, “that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” No matter where you are in Christ, the pastor says, there is more. He explains that the Greek word for fullness was used in three settings in the Roman world, and each one paints part of the picture.

So you can walk around knowing you have all comfort, all provision and all protection. If God is for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31)? Every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn (Isaiah 54:17). His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).

For most Christians, the pastor says, it is not a faith problem but a knowledge problem, and that knowledge comes by revelation. He urges the church not to be forgetful hearers but doers of the word, who will be blessed in what they do (James 1:25). He then leads everyone to ask the Father for revelation of His love.

As he prays, he declares that strongholds are being broken and that whom the Son sets free is free indeed (John 8:36). He notes what God has done through a handful of people, reaching 37 nations, not by might nor by power but by His Spirit (Zechariah 4:6), because in Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).

Opening Your Heart This Week

The message ends with an invitation to keep fellowshipping with God after the service. Here are practical steps drawn from this our heavenly Father teaching:

• Check your heart first. Before blaming a person or a church, ask God to show you where your heart has hardened.
• Pray for heaven to come. Pray “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” over your marriage, family and church.
• Talk about God at home. Speak of His goodness at meals, on walks and at bedtime, as Deuteronomy 11 describes.
• Guard what you take in. Limit voices that always talk bad, and rebuke stray thoughts, even in your sleep.
• Forgive yourself. Receive Romans 8:1 and stop punishing yourself for what Jesus already paid for.
• Bathe in His love. Spend unhurried time receiving the love of God, and expect revelation to follow.

Timestamped Outline

• 0:00 A hungry church and the sixth session
• 1:02 Be open to receive the love of God
• 2:10 2 Corinthians 13:14 and guarding the heart
• 4:38 The axe to the root of sin
• 5:48 Two hearts, physical and spiritual
• 6:53 Heaven on earth through fellowship
• 9:13 We read the Bible according to our hearts
• 12:38 All work and no fellowship
• 15:50 1 Timothy 2 and Deuteronomy 11
• 18:17 Grieve not the Holy Spirit
• 19:23 Ezekiel 36: God sanctifies His name
• 21:50 John 17: the Father’s love in us
• 22:58 Isaiah 1: come, let us reason together
• 26:26 Rebuking thoughts, even in sleep
• 27:30 The Lord’s Prayer: Matthew 6
• 29:34 Ephesians 3 and what hallowed means
• 31:55 The goodness of God leads to repentance
• 34:41 Fellowship of the mystery and economy
• 35:55 Dispensations ruled through hearts
• 41:59 A portion for every heir
• 44:46 Ephesians 3:14: Paul bows his knees
• 47:06 No condemnation: forgive yourself
• 52:11 Rooted and grounded in love
• 54:27 Fullness: comfort, provision, protection
• 58:09 Prayer for revelation and freedom

Our Heavenly Father Series

This message is part of an eight-part series at NTC Ministries on knowing God as Father. Start from the beginning or continue where this one leaves off:

• First message: Our Heavenly Father #1: An Introduction to the Fatherhood of God
• Previous: Our Heavenly Father #5: Jesus the Mediator and Forgiveness, the Love Language of Heaven
• You are here: Our Heavenly Father #6 — Fellowship, a Soft Heart and the Fullness of God
• Next: Our Heavenly Father #7: From Orphan to Child of God Mentality

Frequently Asked Questions

Does God promise believers happiness?

The pastor responds to a social media post claiming that God never promised happiness. He agrees there is no verse that says you will be happy every day, but says that how we read the Bible depends on the heart. A heart that has been in God’s presence sees a Father who wants to comfort and care for us. He also says believers will still face challenges, yet all things work together for good to those who love God.

Is it wrong to want more wealth as a Christian?

The pastor says no, as long as the heart stays right. God is not going to give you something that makes your heart harder, so maturity matters. But he likes telling people with much that they should get more, because increase lets them provide jobs and bless more families. Growth is meant to flow outward, as in Luke 6:38, where giving leads to good measure, pressed down and running over.

How can I fellowship with God when life is busy?

The pastor says it does not have to be 24 hours a day, seven days a week, mesmerized in His presence. You can be at work and think about the goodness of God, or be with your family and point out what He has done. He compares it to chatting with friends before church: you get to know each other better. That ongoing fellowship keeps the heart softer and able to produce good things.

Scripture References

All passages open in the New King James Version on Bible Gateway:

• 2 Corinthians 13:14 — grace, love and communion
• Proverbs 4:23 — keep your heart with all diligence
• Matthew 6:9–13 — the Lord’s Prayer
• Deuteronomy 11:18–21 — days of heaven on the earth
• Ezekiel 36:23–27 — a new heart and God’s name sanctified
• Ephesians 3:8–11 — the fellowship of the mystery
• Ephesians 3:14–19 — filled with all the fullness of God
• Romans 5:5 — the love of God poured into our hearts

How this summary was made: written with AI assistance from the sermon’s own transcript and checked against the Scriptures listed above.

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