The fatherhood of God is the great fact behind the universe. There is a Father who is our God, a Father who created the universe as a Father—as such He has left the imprint of His fatherhood on every aspect of the entire universe.

Today’s topic is such a solemn and serious subject, that Derek brings to you a special word of warning regarding conduct that undermines covenant. God’s demands for covenant commitment as the basis for relationship are clearly set forth in Scripture, as Derek will bring to light.

In today’s message Derek speaks about the distinctive New Testament ordinance or sacrament that symbolizes and perpetuates a special lifestyle. God’s people over the centuries have adopted various names for this: the Eucharist, Communion, the Lord’s Supper, or the Breaking of Bread.

Entering into covenant with others brings us into a distinctive new lifestyle. In New Testament Greek, the the word koinonia is used to describe this lifestyle. In most English Bibles, this word is translated “fellowship” or “sharing in a common life.”

There never was a valid covenant without a sacrifice and a sacrifice represents the death of the one who makes the covenant. A person enters into covenant through his own death. This is not merely established in the Old Testament, but carried on into the New.

The same covenant that brings us into relationship with God also brings us into relationship with God’s people. Thus relationship with God’s people also is based on covenant.

Derek finishes this week’s study by looking at the prophetic word that he would be a teacher of the Scriptures in truth and faith and love which are in Christ Jesus for many. This became his life’s goal and through the years God brought it to fruition in Derek’s life. He discovered the order was just the way it needed to be, culminating in knowing God’s love and producing it in other people.

Today Derek tells about his journey into learning about God’s provision for healing and how it can be obtained through faith in the Word and its promises. He was then transferred to Israel where he met a Danish lady who had an orphanage, and who later became his wife, another adventure.

Derek picks up with the strange laughter that came from his salvation experience and then tells how he was baptized in the Holy Spirit one night and began speaking in tongues. His next adventure in his new life took him to South Africa and then to the deserts of North Africa for more learning in this life of faith.

Derek continues with his account of seeking for truth to know God. He tells of his decision one night to pray but the inability to, and then how the presence of the Lord came to him and there in the middle of the night his life was totally changed forever by a sovereign move of God.