WEBVTT 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:01.540 Hey, I'm going to invite you this morning to Acts. 00:00:01.680 --> 00:00:03.290 Chapter two is where we're at together today. 00:00:03.740 --> 00:00:04.960 Acts chapter two. 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:11.960 And I want you to know, as we continue on in the book of Acts, which is what we're studying together, I want you to be aware that 00:00:11.960 --> 00:00:15.430 we are intentionally going slower for the first couple of chapters. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:19.640 This is not the pace that we're going to sustain throughout the rest of the book. 00:00:19.900 --> 00:00:22.280 If we did, we would be here for probably ten years, right? 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:24.780 So that's not my interest at all. 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:28.120 I want to get through the end of the book before the school year is over. 00:00:29.020 --> 00:00:37.340 But as we look at this portion of Acts, I want you to these first couple of chapters, we're going a little bit slower through these chapters, because these, 00:00:37.700 --> 00:00:44.760 particularly these two chapters, are very foundational to the establishment of the early church and the precedent it just 00:00:44.760 --> 00:00:49.480 sets for the church in general and what God desires for us. 00:00:49.580 --> 00:00:51.810 And you think about the creation of the church. 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:55.180 There is uniqueness in how Jesus established his church. 00:00:55.180 --> 00:01:02.280 Meaning, when you read the Old Testament, there's always been a gathering of God's people, and that's been important to our identity as a community and 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:05.760 living that out in light of who God is in order to be a blessing to those around us. 00:01:06.220 --> 00:01:13.380 But when Jesus talked about the church in the New Testament, he recognized there would be something unique about the way the New Testament church would gather and live 00:01:13.380 --> 00:01:16.900 for the Lord that was different than than anything that had happened to that point. 00:01:17.480 --> 00:01:23.710 And the way that we see that is in Matthew chapter 16, when Jesus asked that famous question, who do you say that I am? 00:01:23.940 --> 00:01:25.700 And Peter gives that pronouncement, You're the Christ. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:27.160 And he said, you're right. 00:01:27.160 --> 00:01:29.680 And upon that profession of faith, I will build my church. 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:31.580 The gates of hell will not prevail against it. 00:01:32.020 --> 00:01:36.560 And so when Jesus talks about the idea of the church there, he's talking in terms of the future. 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:38.580 He's saying, I will build my church. 00:01:38.980 --> 00:01:41.070 And when you look in the book of Acts, that's what you discover. 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:47.080 We're finding Jesus gives that command, the commission for the church to go in the world, make disciples. 00:01:47.260 --> 00:01:52.220 And he tells us in Acts chapter one, verse eight, in Jerusalem, Judea to the uttermost parts of the earth, right. 00:01:52.220 --> 00:01:57.880 He created the church as a force to make a difference in this world, for the glory of God, to the benefit of others. 00:01:57.980 --> 00:01:58.320 Right. 00:01:58.500 --> 00:01:58.820 This is. 00:01:58.940 --> 00:02:05.980 This is where God's people, we gather together to see Jesus's work happen in us and through us. 00:02:05.980 --> 00:02:09.440 And so the beauty of this New Testament church is being formed on that. 00:02:09.580 --> 00:02:14.950 Jesus gives us that command, that commission, that call to think for a purpose greater than yourselves. 00:02:14.980 --> 00:02:16.860 That's why Jesus built the church. 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:20.220 But then he tells us in Acts chapter one, but don't do that yet, right? 00:02:20.220 --> 00:02:20.700 You gotta wait. 00:02:21.740 --> 00:02:25.360 And so the church is asked to wait until the power of the spirit comes upon the church. 00:02:25.420 --> 00:02:32.750 And you see that in Acts chapter two, verse four, and when the Spirit of God comes upon the people, Peter preaches the first message on the day of Pentecost. 00:02:32.980 --> 00:02:37.940 And there are people from multiple languages, people, groups that have gathered there at Pentecost. 00:02:38.600 --> 00:02:40.960 And they're hearing the Word of God delivered to them. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.020 And there's transformation that takes place. 00:02:43.020 --> 00:02:43.520 And it's incredible. 00:02:44.380 --> 00:02:51.520 And one of the things that we recognize about the early church is this book, the book of Acts is how the Spirit of God moves upon the people of 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:53.320 God to accomplish the will of God. 00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:56.360 And it's the same God today, the same God ruling and reigning. 00:02:57.040 --> 00:02:58.400 And here we are as God's people. 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:05.680 We find ourselves in the 21st century, and we're not here by accident that God has you in a specific place and a specific point in time 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:09.380 to not only know the Lord, but also glorify him with your life. 00:03:09.660 --> 00:03:11.780 And so what does that look like for us? 00:03:12.740 --> 00:03:14.020 How do we live in light of that? 00:03:14.980 --> 00:03:22.160 In Acts chapter two, verse 41, if we just think about the early church and how they lived that out, it tells us in an incredible way 00:03:22.160 --> 00:03:25.260 that once Peter preached that first message, look at this. 00:03:25.260 --> 00:03:27.780 At the end of that message, it tells you they're cut to the heart. 00:03:27.820 --> 00:03:29.840 They ask the question, what should we do to be saved? 00:03:30.540 --> 00:03:31.630 And then it says this. 00:03:32.040 --> 00:03:34.180 So those who received his word were baptized. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:36.760 And there were added that day about 3000 souls. 00:03:37.980 --> 00:03:45.000 So when you look at the beginning of the early church, chapter one, verse 13 and 14, it tells you there's a there's about 120 people gathered in an upper 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:45.700 room. 00:03:46.780 --> 00:03:48.470 And then they share this message. 00:03:48.680 --> 00:03:53.000 And in one particular day, 3000 people come to know the Lord. 00:03:53.300 --> 00:03:55.330 And that's a that's a pastoral nightmare. 00:03:55.420 --> 00:03:55.700 And so Just. 00:03:56.460 --> 00:03:57.400 That's fantastic. 00:03:57.420 --> 00:03:59.470 I mean, I just think, how do we deal with 3000? 00:03:59.640 --> 00:04:00.580 I don't know what you do overnight. 00:04:00.740 --> 00:04:04.360 I just we're trying to figure out how to fit 500 people in a building, let alone 3000. 00:04:04.360 --> 00:04:04.460 So. 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:05.220 So what? 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:08.800 Like when you think about just this impact, it's incredible. 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:13.230 And you think, man and God still wants to use us today to make that kind of a difference. 00:04:13.380 --> 00:04:20.860 And how do we do that as God's community, knowing that God wants to work through our lives and not only seeing us transform, 00:04:20.860 --> 00:04:22.580 but the hearts of people around us. 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:28.480 And so 3000 souls, this is this is not only important in terms of numerically like God's. 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:32.080 We're counting the people that come to know the Lord here because people count, right? 00:04:32.100 --> 00:04:32.980 Everyone matters. 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:37.890 So there's 3000 souls, but also symbolically in what's represented here. 00:04:38.100 --> 00:04:45.240 Because when you when you consider that this is the day of Pentecost and you start to do a little studying, the idea of Pentecost, you realize that 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:48.440 the number 3000 is very symbolic in what it represents. 00:04:49.820 --> 00:04:56.880 Meaning, if you were to go all the way back to the book of Exodus chapter 32 and specifically verse 28, you would discover 00:04:56.880 --> 00:05:04.000 that that's during the time period when Israel has been released as slaves from Egypt, and they've journeyed into the 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:11.360 wilderness, and God is now giving them the law, the Ten Commandments, to Moses on Mount Sinai, 00:05:12.280 --> 00:05:19.920 a very sacred moment that Moses goes up on the mountain for 40 days in the presence of God, gets these commandments right. 00:05:19.940 --> 00:05:22.150 Then he comes back down from the mountain. 00:05:22.980 --> 00:05:27.660 And the Bible tells us that during that time period, people were kind of at a loss what to do. 00:05:27.660 --> 00:05:29.140 They're like, what do we what do we do now? 00:05:29.220 --> 00:05:30.040 Moses is gone. 00:05:30.060 --> 00:05:30.840 He might even be dead. 00:05:30.840 --> 00:05:32.680 We don't even know he's been gone for so long. 00:05:32.860 --> 00:05:34.780 Who goes 40 days without eating right? 00:05:34.940 --> 00:05:35.100 Like. 00:05:35.100 --> 00:05:39.630 And so they're concerned, and all of a sudden their leadership decides to tell them, you know what we should do? 00:05:39.700 --> 00:05:40.550 We should make an idol. 00:05:40.580 --> 00:05:41.720 Let's worship the idol. 00:05:42.740 --> 00:05:50.060 And when Moses is coming down from the mountain, as he's coming down, seeing them worship the idol, it just so happens that of these ten commandments, the first ones 00:05:50.060 --> 00:05:52.520 are you should not have an idol, right? 00:05:52.580 --> 00:05:53.480 And so. 00:05:53.780 --> 00:05:56.480 And God brings judgment on the people. 00:05:56.540 --> 00:06:02.160 And on the day of Pentecost, as Jewish tradition teaches, this is the first time Pentecost is celebrated. 00:06:02.880 --> 00:06:04.640 3000 souls perish in judgment. 00:06:06.120 --> 00:06:13.570 But now, when you get to the New Testament on the day of Pentecost, 3000 souls are finding rescue in Christ. 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:19.780 And this is very important for us to think in terms of our own faith journey in the Lord. 00:06:19.840 --> 00:06:24.290 I think the most important question you will answer with your life is Who is Jesus? 00:06:25.260 --> 00:06:32.280 Because the significance of who Christ is liberation for us and finding and finding only our salvation, but our identity 00:06:32.280 --> 00:06:34.420 and purpose for which we are called to live our lives. 00:06:35.540 --> 00:06:39.740 And when you think in terms of the Old Testament, Old Testament was representative of law. 00:06:39.740 --> 00:06:46.150 And it's even law is demonstrating the idea of really what religion is about, meaning in this world. 00:06:46.440 --> 00:06:53.540 Not only do we have the law of the Old Testament, but we have lots of different religions and under a system of law, religions really say 00:06:53.540 --> 00:06:54.460 the same thing. 00:06:55.300 --> 00:06:56.600 They all say it works like this. 00:06:56.640 --> 00:06:57.880 Here's the system of rules. 00:06:58.020 --> 00:06:59.430 God wants you to obey those rules. 00:06:59.520 --> 00:07:03.500 If you obey those rules, you obligate God to have to do things for you. 00:07:03.500 --> 00:07:08.260 So if you're a really good law abider, then that law is going to be what frees you. 00:07:08.260 --> 00:07:10.140 And God's going to be really impressed with you. 00:07:10.260 --> 00:07:15.160 And the only thing he's going to be left to do is be able to love you, because you've made yourself so lovable, right? 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:18.900 And you can even compare yourself to other people about how great you are at those rules. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:25.960 Thinking you're better than other people because, well, you're a much better law abiding person than those other people in terms of your religion. 00:07:26.380 --> 00:07:28.610 So that obviously makes you better than other people. 00:07:29.140 --> 00:07:35.040 And can I just tell you, in that kind of a world and in that kind of a heaven, if that's where you're going, I don't want to belong to it. 00:07:35.200 --> 00:07:36.210 I don't want any part of it. 00:07:36.500 --> 00:07:43.340 And the reason for that is I gotta listen to the rest of eternity for you, for you to brag about how great you are at the things you did. 00:07:43.440 --> 00:07:44.470 And I don't want to live there. 00:07:44.540 --> 00:07:44.640 Right? 00:07:44.640 --> 00:07:50.780 Like that's why Ephesians chapter two verse eight says, for by grace are you saved through faith and not of yourselves? 00:07:50.920 --> 00:07:54.740 It's the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. 00:07:55.740 --> 00:07:58.300 Eternity is not boasting about how great you are. 00:07:59.400 --> 00:08:03.860 Eternity is about boasting and how great God is and what he's accomplished for us. 00:08:03.900 --> 00:08:07.750 And that's the difference between religion and the gospel. 00:08:08.980 --> 00:08:16.100 And this is the liberation these individuals are finding themselves in Second Corinthians chapter three verse six says it like 00:08:16.100 --> 00:08:16.720 this. 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:23.920 The law produces death, but the spirit gives life. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:28.700 And what it's saying is this, that religious law is not freeing for the soul. 00:08:28.780 --> 00:08:33.940 The only thing that the law does is demonstrate to you how short you fall before a holy God. 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:41.940 And it helps you recognize just how precious it is, the gift of Christ made known for you. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:48.950 Because if liberation was really discovered in religion, Jesus should have just told us, man, there's so many religions in this world. 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:50.780 Just pick one and be really good at it. 00:08:51.800 --> 00:08:58.710 But the very fact that Jesus was willing to give his life screams at us the significance of why we need him. 00:08:59.140 --> 00:09:06.480 And when Peter's message is preached in the first century, they're discovering just how much their life has been void 00:09:06.480 --> 00:09:09.260 of this salvation and all that Christ has really done. 00:09:09.260 --> 00:09:12.840 It tells us that they're cut to the heart and they turn their lives over to him. 00:09:12.920 --> 00:09:15.760 And the Spirit of God liberates them in the presence of Jesus. 00:09:16.140 --> 00:09:18.070 And it's the same for us today. 00:09:19.800 --> 00:09:24.120 The most important question Who is Christ? 00:09:26.520 --> 00:09:33.620 I hope we recognize this morning just how much value that puts on you and I, that 00:09:33.620 --> 00:09:40.720 not only did God make us in his image, but God was willing to become flesh and offer his very 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:44.620 life that you could find freedom in him if there were another way. 00:09:44.700 --> 00:09:51.940 Galatians two verse 21 tells you, Christ would have died needlessly, but the fact that Christ died is declaring to you just how 00:09:51.940 --> 00:09:54.100 significant he is for your life and mine. 00:09:55.640 --> 00:10:00.080 And so the early church and walking in that they declare it to the world. 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:02.560 And in one day 3000 people come to know the Lord. 00:10:02.640 --> 00:10:06.390 But it doesn't end there if you if you skip to the very last verse of the section, it says this. 00:10:06.940 --> 00:10:13.180 They were praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. 00:10:14.620 --> 00:10:21.820 So not only do they see this one opportunity where so many people come to know the Lord, which is incredible, but the church continued to live in light of that, 00:10:21.920 --> 00:10:24.500 and they were daily making an impact in this world. 00:10:25.580 --> 00:10:31.260 And so looking at a passage like that and maybe like me and you think, man, I want to, I belong to this. 00:10:31.260 --> 00:10:32.360 I, I'm a part of the church. 00:10:32.620 --> 00:10:35.100 And throughout the centuries God's moving here I am in this time, in this place. 00:10:35.340 --> 00:10:36.160 How do I do that? 00:10:36.820 --> 00:10:37.040 Right? 00:10:37.060 --> 00:10:38.620 Or how does this church do that? 00:10:38.980 --> 00:10:44.480 How can we be a part of what God has created his church for, to see this kind of impact? 00:10:44.620 --> 00:10:49.880 And, I'm saying this realizing as a church, I think we are seeing that right. 00:10:49.880 --> 00:10:51.760 Like we continue to grow every year and it's wonderful. 00:10:51.900 --> 00:10:53.940 But how do we continue to do that. 00:10:53.940 --> 00:10:56.740 And the first couple chapters of Acts laid out for us. 00:10:56.740 --> 00:10:57.140 Right. 00:10:57.180 --> 00:10:58.920 We have the mission of the church. 00:10:58.920 --> 00:11:04.100 Acts one eight we have we have the means by which it happens to the power of the spirit. 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:10.980 And we have the method which is the church, God's Spirit, working through God's people to accomplish his will in this world. 00:11:12.260 --> 00:11:16.680 So how do we continue to be that kind of an impactful church in this, in this world? 00:11:16.680 --> 00:11:22.520 And I think this is what this particular section, verse 41 to 47 is explaining to us. 00:11:22.520 --> 00:11:27.510 But can I tell you when I, when I first became a Christian, I was in college going to Marshall University. 00:11:28.220 --> 00:11:30.180 They one yesterday go heard right. 00:11:30.510 --> 00:11:32.730 But they played a team no one cares about. 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:32.960 But. 00:11:33.180 --> 00:11:34.420 But unless you're from Middle Tennessee. 00:11:34.680 --> 00:11:36.470 So the six of you that may even know what that is. 00:11:36.640 --> 00:11:37.540 But. 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:39.300 But when you. 00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:41.460 When I was in college, I remember I came to the Lord. 00:11:41.460 --> 00:11:46.800 And up until that point, like, I really didn't care about reading, like, I'm like, I'll do it when I'm told to do it. 00:11:46.820 --> 00:11:49.320 If there's a grade attached to it, but I don't want to read. 00:11:49.400 --> 00:11:55.730 But then I when I came to know Jesus like that desire to want to just read and consume and learn about the Lord and grow in him. 00:11:55.920 --> 00:11:57.400 It just it didn't end. 00:11:57.400 --> 00:11:58.250 It's still not ended. 00:11:58.540 --> 00:12:04.720 But I remember when I first came to the Lord, I had some mentors that I respected and I was I was thinking about it this week. 00:12:04.860 --> 00:12:08.370 I really didn't, like, sit down a whole lot with him and say, okay, tell me everything. 00:12:08.620 --> 00:12:11.180 Like I'm just sitting below them as there's some sort of guru. 00:12:11.420 --> 00:12:15.280 They just kept throwing books at me and I would just consume, come back like another, please. 00:12:15.280 --> 00:12:16.600 Another, please. 00:12:16.600 --> 00:12:20.560 And I remember one of the first ones they threw at me was a book called Through the Gates of Splendor. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:27.460 Elizabeth Elliot wrote about her family and some other families that were missionaries in South America. 00:12:27.940 --> 00:12:32.780 And the men of those families ended up giving their lives. 00:12:32.780 --> 00:12:34.650 Her husband, one of them named Jim Elliot. 00:12:35.320 --> 00:12:39.260 And I remember in that book as coming to the Lord and God doing this change in me. 00:12:39.280 --> 00:12:42.860 I read this one simple quote from Jim Elliot, and I thought, this is it. 00:12:43.780 --> 00:12:45.410 This is what I want my life to be about. 00:12:45.500 --> 00:12:46.850 And Jim Elliot Elliott said this. 00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:48.820 I don't want a long life. 00:12:49.800 --> 00:12:50.720 I want a fool one. 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:56.280 And I thought, man, like longevity of life doesn't speak to the quality of life. 00:12:56.460 --> 00:12:59.130 You can live forever and really live a meaningless life. 00:13:00.160 --> 00:13:03.630 But however long my life might be in this world, I just want it to count. 00:13:04.500 --> 00:13:06.900 God, whatever I can do for your glory, I just. 00:13:07.180 --> 00:13:08.860 I just completely surrendered to him. 00:13:08.860 --> 00:13:12.730 I thought, man, this is this is what I want my life to be about now. 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:13.990 I don't know anybody. 00:13:14.200 --> 00:13:19.120 Maybe there, maybe you might know someone, but I don't know anybody that wakes up every day and is like, I'm, I'm glad I'm here. 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:22.360 I just want to wake up and waste my day and perhaps my life. 00:13:22.380 --> 00:13:22.520 Right? 00:13:22.520 --> 00:13:23.940 Like nobody does that. 00:13:24.220 --> 00:13:26.440 We want to make our life count. 00:13:26.520 --> 00:13:28.760 We're attracted to things that have life. 00:13:28.780 --> 00:13:31.040 We want the things that we do that matter. 00:13:31.560 --> 00:13:38.780 But can I just tell you there's no greater place that you can center yourself in that than in than in Christ, because he's 00:13:38.780 --> 00:13:39.780 the one that created you. 00:13:40.740 --> 00:13:44.500 And so when you look at the early church, you think, okay, how do we how do we be an impactful church? 00:13:44.580 --> 00:13:49.600 Let me give you a point, number one in your notes, and then we'll read this verse together. 00:13:49.680 --> 00:13:51.000 But it's it looks like this. 00:13:51.880 --> 00:13:54.700 Be collectively devoted. 00:13:56.820 --> 00:13:59.260 Be collectively devoted. 00:14:01.740 --> 00:14:07.740 If you want to know the secret to the early church and how they made a difference, that's exactly what verse 42 starts off with. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:13.200 And they devoted themselves. 00:14:13.680 --> 00:14:18.780 I love the way the NASB translate this, translates this the New American Standard Bible. 00:14:18.780 --> 00:14:26.620 I actually prefer that translation over any other English, but the way they translate it is this they continually devoted themselves, meaning 00:14:26.620 --> 00:14:33.100 they had determined that this was going to shape who they were as individuals at the end of their life. 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:40.120 If someone had to describe, who they were, the type of people they were, it was that identity they had in Christ that was going to supersede 00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:40.890 all things. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:45.150 I mean, even Jesus tells us in the Gospels, he says, you can't serve two masters. 00:14:45.580 --> 00:14:48.860 You end up hating the one because they'll compete with each other, right? 00:14:48.940 --> 00:14:51.860 You're really only going to make your life primarily about one thing. 00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:56.520 You might have a lot of different things you appreciate, but at the end of the day, your life is going to be about one thing. 00:14:56.520 --> 00:14:57.570 And what is that thing about? 00:14:57.900 --> 00:15:01.560 And the early church is saying this is this is why God created the church. 00:15:01.560 --> 00:15:02.800 This is what I'm called to belong to. 00:15:03.260 --> 00:15:05.670 This has given me identity as a human being. 00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:09.530 It's speaking to the value of who I am, not because of what I've done, but what Christ has done for me. 00:15:09.680 --> 00:15:14.120 And it gives me ultimate purpose like nothing in this world, because everything in this world is passing away. 00:15:14.200 --> 00:15:15.520 But what I have in Jesus is eternal. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:18.980 So there's no greater thing that I could live for than what I have in Christ. 00:15:19.160 --> 00:15:21.500 And no matter what this world throws at me, it can't take it away. 00:15:21.700 --> 00:15:24.040 Because what I have in Jesus endures, which gives me hope. 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:25.550 It gives me peace, it gives me joy. 00:15:26.740 --> 00:15:33.660 And so they rooted themselves in that so that no matter what came their way, that beauty in Christ is what shaped them. 00:15:33.680 --> 00:15:37.840 They were devoted not not as islands unto themselves, but collectively as a community. 00:15:38.110 --> 00:15:39.810 God, what do you want to do among us? 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:49.120 The power of the early church was seen in the identity that they carried in Jesus 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:49.920 together. 00:15:51.280 --> 00:15:53.280 I mean, maybe we could say it to ourselves this morning. 00:15:53.420 --> 00:15:55.260 Just reflect on our own relationship. 00:15:55.300 --> 00:16:01.120 Is this something I just treat casually, or is this really become the center of who I am? 00:16:01.700 --> 00:16:04.800 In Matthew chapter nine, Jesus taught us. 00:16:04.820 --> 00:16:05.500 He said this. 00:16:05.520 --> 00:16:12.500 He was he was quoting from the book of Hosea, chapter six, verse six, but he said this, go and learn what this means. 00:16:13.520 --> 00:16:16.720 I desire mercy and not sacrifice. 00:16:17.420 --> 00:16:20.860 For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. 00:16:22.580 --> 00:16:26.060 I came, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:33.460 And really, in saying that Jesus is helping us go through this paradigm shift in our mind between identifying with a religion 00:16:33.460 --> 00:16:40.460 and walking rather in relationship with him, because Jesus noticed in his day 00:16:40.460 --> 00:16:43.440 and even in Hosea when people were sharing this. 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:46.500 But people would show up to show up to church, right? 00:16:46.540 --> 00:16:52.050 They didn't necessarily identify themselves as the church, but rather they would just show up to it as this thing. 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:58.890 And they would they would perform this act because, well, they were obligated to, but if they just did that thing, then it would make God happy. 00:16:59.220 --> 00:17:02.330 It's like, oh, I gotta go to the church and I better do this. 00:17:02.700 --> 00:17:04.770 So that way someone's not frustrated with me. 00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:07.220 Okay, God, I did my thing right. 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:09.000 It's this religious way of thinking. 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:12.079 You make your sacrifice, but there's no true heart in that. 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:15.180 You're just simply doing it out of guilt or feeling like it's obligation. 00:17:16.460 --> 00:17:18.450 What Jesus is saying he desires a heart of mercy. 00:17:18.560 --> 00:17:20.819 Rather, what he's pointing to is the thought of compassion. 00:17:22.520 --> 00:17:26.400 As you've as he's given his life for you, you've gone all in for him. 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:29.860 The greatest thing that you could offer to God this morning is yourself. 00:17:30.740 --> 00:17:33.210 So Jesus saying, that's what I would rather you discover. 00:17:34.180 --> 00:17:41.240 That's the point of your existence is not based on your performance, but it's based on who you are in light of who he is And then 00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:46.160 God walks with us through the rest, that we may do things in light of that, and we should do things in light of that. 00:17:46.840 --> 00:17:52.100 But our identity in Christ becomes paramount to all things, and it should take precedence, right? 00:17:52.100 --> 00:17:59.840 We are devoting ourselves, one of the one of the things that is interesting about the body of Christ is 00:17:59.840 --> 00:18:01.300 the people that make up the body of Christ. 00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:10.110 There's oftentimes you might find yourself within a church community when you're talking to people, you realize, man, if it weren't for Jesus, 00:18:10.260 --> 00:18:12.380 I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be friends, right? 00:18:12.380 --> 00:18:15.160 Because the things that you like are different than the things that I like. 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:17.040 And what you really meant by different was weird. 00:18:17.260 --> 00:18:18.560 But you didn't say that, right? 00:18:18.560 --> 00:18:20.480 Like, we, the body of Christ, we just. 00:18:20.560 --> 00:18:26.660 We just make up a unique group of people sometimes come from different backgrounds, different interests, different things. 00:18:26.680 --> 00:18:26.760 Right. 00:18:26.840 --> 00:18:29.280 And I'm not saying I'm excluded from the weirdness label. 00:18:29.420 --> 00:18:33.840 I'm just saying sometimes in the body of Christ, we just got some characters, right. 00:18:33.860 --> 00:18:35.040 But here's the thing. 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:42.720 We understand within the Christian community that there's something else that takes a greater precedent that unifies us all, and 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:44.970 walking in light of that is far more important. 00:18:45.820 --> 00:18:49.220 The devotion to this takes precedent to all other things. 00:18:50.420 --> 00:18:54.320 This is who we are, and this matters more than the temporal. 00:18:54.320 --> 00:18:54.380 This. 00:18:54.580 --> 00:18:59.660 This makes an eternal difference in the opportunity we have to share that with other people that they can know Christ to. 00:18:59.700 --> 00:19:01.380 The early church was devoted. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:10.260 During Covid, there was an interesting article I read during Covid, and there was a part of me like, I 00:19:10.260 --> 00:19:12.200 don't want to make it sound like I wish Covid would come back. 00:19:12.200 --> 00:19:13.710 I don't, I don't want I don't want that again. 00:19:14.180 --> 00:19:16.800 But there was a part during Covid where like a week or two. 00:19:16.820 --> 00:19:18.180 It took a minute to get your bearings right. 00:19:18.420 --> 00:19:19.780 Like okay, now what do we do? 00:19:20.460 --> 00:19:24.580 But after about a couple of weeks, you start thinking as a as a pastor, you're like, well, God calls us to gather. 00:19:24.580 --> 00:19:25.840 We just we're just trying to figure out how to. 00:19:25.940 --> 00:19:27.720 I mean, jail could be a thing, right? 00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:30.340 Like, we got to figure out how to gather, but we want to do this wisely. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:31.620 That's a blessing to people. 00:19:31.620 --> 00:19:32.880 So how are we going to do this? 00:19:32.920 --> 00:19:36.840 And you guys, if you were here, we met in the park and we remodeled our building during that time. 00:19:36.900 --> 00:19:37.620 And it was fun. 00:19:37.660 --> 00:19:40.640 People just say people said, coming back, I don't want to go back to the building. 00:19:40.780 --> 00:19:41.560 Let's do it in the park. 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:44.450 And then other people didn't want and but anyway, it doesn't matter. 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:52.120 But during Covid we had you know, just thinking about that moment, one of the things that I loved about it, you got to think, okay, as a church planter, you 00:19:52.120 --> 00:19:57.520 get to kind of pivot and looking at a new way of how God's people can still be a gathering honoring Jesus together. 00:19:57.540 --> 00:19:58.220 I love that. 00:19:58.360 --> 00:19:59.460 I love that about church planting. 00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:06.100 It's just you kind of get to be a ragtag group of people grinding it out for the glory of God in your valley and not established church yet. 00:20:06.340 --> 00:20:08.340 And just thinking through all that. 00:20:08.620 --> 00:20:09.420 And how do we do that? 00:20:09.580 --> 00:20:16.840 But during that time period, I also read an article and an individual said, Covid was a telltale sign 00:20:16.840 --> 00:20:18.170 to the health of your church. 00:20:20.040 --> 00:20:22.840 And he said, for some churches, it really rocked them. 00:20:24.120 --> 00:20:26.280 And for others, they thrived in it. 00:20:27.500 --> 00:20:30.220 And I don't know that I would say we thrived as a church, but we definitely grew. 00:20:30.220 --> 00:20:30.850 And that was cool. 00:20:31.500 --> 00:20:32.390 It was cool to see that. 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:35.620 But they said this and they said, here's what it did. 00:20:35.620 --> 00:20:39.400 It exposed for us is why people participate in a community. 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:41.720 Because there's all kinds of reasons. 00:20:41.740 --> 00:20:44.020 People go to a church sometimes they're personality driven. 00:20:44.020 --> 00:20:45.460 They like an individual, right? 00:20:45.980 --> 00:20:47.700 And so they just want to focus on that personality. 00:20:47.700 --> 00:20:48.760 And that's why they go. 00:20:49.280 --> 00:20:54.760 That's why sometimes if I go out of town, I don't tell people like it's personality driven, right? 00:20:54.760 --> 00:20:58.920 Sometimes it can be it can just be people driven there because, well, their friends are there and they don't. 00:20:58.980 --> 00:21:01.170 They're not really all in on Jesus, but they just like their friends. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:05.060 Sometimes it can be it can be program driven. 00:21:05.060 --> 00:21:08.880 They're not necessarily all in Jesus, but there's one particular program they really like, and that's why they're there. 00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:13.060 Sometimes it can be property driven, and that's not us because we don't have a lot of room on our property. 00:21:13.340 --> 00:21:15.620 So I know you're not here for that reason, right? 00:21:15.660 --> 00:21:17.300 But sometimes it's just property driven. 00:21:17.320 --> 00:21:19.120 They enjoy the amenities that are there. 00:21:20.220 --> 00:21:21.530 But they said, but you know what? 00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:27.240 When trouble happens, guess what takes place suddenly, in the midst of a difficult time? 00:21:27.660 --> 00:21:30.700 Those things don't take prominence over the lives of people anymore. 00:21:30.900 --> 00:21:32.630 And when trouble happens, they disperse. 00:21:33.820 --> 00:21:40.380 But there's one thing the individual said That will motivate people to be a part, no matter what the day may bring, good or bad. 00:21:41.100 --> 00:21:41.750 And that is purpose. 00:21:43.620 --> 00:21:51.340 If you can discover your purpose, the hope that you have in Jesus, it helps you endure and even in the difficult situations, purpose 00:21:51.340 --> 00:21:52.400 matters. 00:21:52.580 --> 00:21:57.680 And here the early church is devoted and I gotta I gotta tell you more about how that devotion plays itself out. 00:21:57.720 --> 00:21:59.180 So it'll keep wasting time here. 00:21:59.180 --> 00:22:06.320 But let me just tell you, as we think about this early church being devoted guys, can I just be honest in saying, man, our goal in looking at this is not about 00:22:06.320 --> 00:22:07.400 putting butts in the seat. 00:22:08.380 --> 00:22:12.250 We're not about let's just grow to grow so we can pat ourselves on the back and feel good about our numbers. 00:22:12.440 --> 00:22:16.580 Let's let's count people so we can just, build ourselves up. 00:22:16.580 --> 00:22:18.560 And being able to create a crowd, that's not what we're after. 00:22:18.780 --> 00:22:20.780 In fact, we really don't have much room. 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:25.640 So it's not it's not primarily about numbers though. 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:26.720 People matter. 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:26.820 Right? 00:22:26.820 --> 00:22:31.220 So we're not we're not what we want is a healthy church, right? 00:22:31.220 --> 00:22:33.920 So regardless of the size, what we want to be is a healthy group of people. 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:36.460 So it's not about numbers. 00:22:36.460 --> 00:22:43.660 And at the same time, we also have to be mindful of how the church exists when we're getting ready to read some of the things the early church did right. 00:22:44.200 --> 00:22:51.720 But when you read the New Testament, there's no verse in the Bible that you can go to that says, when you show up to church, this is how a church service should look. 00:22:51.800 --> 00:22:53.030 You got to do this at this time. 00:22:53.160 --> 00:22:54.310 You got to do that at that time. 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:59.620 This is the specific way that worship needs to be expressed, that you don't find that you find different components of, that. 00:22:59.620 --> 00:23:02.960 There's certainly elements that should be involved in a gathering as God's people. 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:03.410 That's all true. 00:23:03.820 --> 00:23:10.820 But there's not one verse in the Bible where you just show up and this is exactly where the church, the way the church should look, which I find incredibly liberating 00:23:10.820 --> 00:23:15.240 and really awesome, because what it's saying to us about God, God is a creative God. 00:23:15.360 --> 00:23:17.270 He's not interested in uniformity. 00:23:17.400 --> 00:23:18.420 That's why he's made us all different. 00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:20.240 But he is interested in unity. 00:23:20.700 --> 00:23:23.150 Meaning we're not going to compromise on our identity. 00:23:23.580 --> 00:23:30.040 Like if we were just interested in collecting people for the sake of collecting people, we would lose focus on the heart that drives who we are. 00:23:30.500 --> 00:23:31.640 So if you're here, you're new. 00:23:32.100 --> 00:23:34.440 I love that you're here, and I'm thankful that you're here. 00:23:35.240 --> 00:23:39.400 But at the at the same time, we're not going to lose focus of what we're about as a community. 00:23:40.300 --> 00:23:42.420 It's what enriches the depth of who we are. 00:23:43.180 --> 00:23:45.880 And so there's the theology of what we practice significant. 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:48.030 But then there's also this methodology. 00:23:49.460 --> 00:23:56.940 And methodology is why I can go to a different country in this world and worship with a body of believers, because we could be united in theology, but 00:23:56.940 --> 00:23:59.660 it can look different and its structure because they're different, right? 00:23:59.660 --> 00:24:06.920 I mean, I when living in Utah, was a little, a little different for me because I have found here in Utah our worship style, 00:24:06.920 --> 00:24:08.470 especially in Utah County, is a little more reserved. 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:10.100 Right? 00:24:10.360 --> 00:24:15.040 And I like a little more movement, and so just look at the context. 00:24:15.040 --> 00:24:15.680 You're like, you know what? 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:17.630 But I want to minister to people, right? 00:24:17.800 --> 00:24:22.720 I love people, so let's just let's figure out what best ministers to people, because it's not about the method. 00:24:24.680 --> 00:24:25.880 It's about your walk with Jesus. 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:29.190 I need to I'll share this one story and move on. 00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:33.460 There was even this time where I had a lady come to me. 00:24:33.820 --> 00:24:34.430 She's not here. 00:24:34.520 --> 00:24:35.190 It's just, you know. 00:24:35.860 --> 00:24:43.680 And she said to me, we were building this building, and she came up to me and goes, if you paint that stage black, I 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:44.660 won't come here anymore. 00:24:45.760 --> 00:24:48.430 And I have never driven so fast to Home Depot in my life. 00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:49.320 Right. 00:24:49.320 --> 00:24:51.440 And found a paint called Black Magic. 00:24:51.480 --> 00:24:52.460 And I thought, that's perfect. 00:24:52.800 --> 00:24:54.480 People disappear. 00:24:54.480 --> 00:24:56.360 I just and the headache went away. 00:24:56.360 --> 00:24:56.710 It was amazing. 00:24:57.160 --> 00:24:57.920 But that's. 00:24:57.920 --> 00:24:58.800 Let me just say this. 00:24:58.800 --> 00:24:59.560 It just sounds awful. 00:24:59.620 --> 00:25:05.240 I know, but, like, when we walk together as a community, there are certain things we just can't take issue on. 00:25:05.980 --> 00:25:06.640 Good gravy. 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:13.230 That is like that is not that is not the kind of demeanor we want to carry to one another here, because there's something else that takes precedent. 00:25:14.180 --> 00:25:17.220 Like we want to do good hospitality, right? 00:25:17.220 --> 00:25:18.920 And we want to love people because people matter. 00:25:19.840 --> 00:25:23.210 But the identity of who we are in Jesus, devoted to one another, and that is significant. 00:25:23.420 --> 00:25:25.840 So let's ask the question, well, has the church lived that out? 00:25:25.840 --> 00:25:26.720 What did that look like? 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:33.550 And what it's one thing to say you're devoted, but how do they represent that devotion? 00:25:33.840 --> 00:25:37.580 What were the and it lists for you for things in this verse I want you to see this. 00:25:37.580 --> 00:25:44.360 It says they were devoted to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, and to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 00:25:45.820 --> 00:25:48.920 And there's nowhere in the New Testament you're going to go that says, this is how a church service looks. 00:25:49.140 --> 00:25:54.590 But Acts chapter two really gives us the most detail that you really see in a gathering of God's people. 00:25:55.100 --> 00:26:00.800 And they made these four things a priority to their life, to help them remain focused on that devotion as a community. 00:26:00.820 --> 00:26:03.060 The Word of God was preeminent with them, right? 00:26:03.080 --> 00:26:05.620 I mean, the apostles teaching like the apostles, aren't alive today. 00:26:05.640 --> 00:26:06.430 They wrote the New Testament. 00:26:06.560 --> 00:26:07.450 You have the apostles teaching. 00:26:07.480 --> 00:26:08.790 You can read God's Word. 00:26:09.220 --> 00:26:14.430 It's why we as a church, we tend to go through verse by verse through Scripture so that we're learning and growing together. 00:26:15.240 --> 00:26:15.420 Right? 00:26:15.420 --> 00:26:16.920 God's word is sacred to us. 00:26:16.920 --> 00:26:20.440 If you if you want to really see in your life, am I devoted to Jesus? 00:26:20.440 --> 00:26:20.880 Get this. 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:22.620 It's how much time are you spending in God's Word? 00:26:23.600 --> 00:26:24.940 Can I tell you you're here this morning? 00:26:24.940 --> 00:26:25.640 We're in God's word. 00:26:25.660 --> 00:26:26.660 Fantastic. 00:26:27.900 --> 00:26:30.600 But if this is the only time you're in God's Word throughout the week. 00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:31.830 You're not even in the game. 00:26:33.420 --> 00:26:39.440 And God gave you his word for a reason, and we should let it just rest in our soul, shaping who we are. 00:26:39.620 --> 00:26:41.920 And I'm not saying, look, you got to get all legalistic about this. 00:26:41.960 --> 00:26:43.600 You better read three chapters a day, three chapter. 00:26:43.600 --> 00:26:45.980 You want to get through the Bible 365 days in a year. 00:26:45.980 --> 00:26:48.300 You better read every day and three chapters a day. 00:26:48.300 --> 00:26:49.320 You gotta get through the Bible in a year. 00:26:49.380 --> 00:26:49.760 I don't want to. 00:26:49.820 --> 00:26:50.540 I'm not. 00:26:50.740 --> 00:26:51.720 That's not what I want to do. 00:26:52.180 --> 00:26:52.850 Here's what we want to do. 00:26:54.040 --> 00:26:58.030 You want to wake up tomorrow and meet with Jesus and say, there's no greater purpose. 00:26:58.260 --> 00:26:58.920 I could live for God. 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:05.240 You have me here at this time in this world, and I want to know you and God. 00:27:05.240 --> 00:27:06.140 I want to live for you. 00:27:07.760 --> 00:27:10.500 I only one life to live and I want it to count. 00:27:11.660 --> 00:27:13.280 So God help me know you. 00:27:14.600 --> 00:27:21.680 I mean, you can get all kinds of mentors in your life, but if you're not spending time in God's Word, that is how God shapes you. 00:27:23.060 --> 00:27:24.600 And so for us, it could look like this. 00:27:24.620 --> 00:27:25.900 You could start in the Gospel of John. 00:27:26.660 --> 00:27:31.440 You say, God, I don't know if I'm even going to read a whole chapter today, but I just want to read until a verse blesses me. 00:27:32.480 --> 00:27:40.220 And when I walk out the door, I want that verse to just turn over in my soul throughout the day, thinking about who you are and 00:27:40.300 --> 00:27:41.200 God's Word. 00:27:41.240 --> 00:27:43.490 Their devotion was demonstrated through that and then fellowship. 00:27:43.800 --> 00:27:45.400 And again, this is this is the idea. 00:27:45.400 --> 00:27:47.580 This is not just gathering for the sake of gathering. 00:27:48.420 --> 00:27:51.450 This is a communal identity in what they're about together. 00:27:52.620 --> 00:27:59.700 They have this fellowship, this focus that is, that has helped them understand the core of who they are as a community before the 00:27:59.700 --> 00:28:01.860 Lord and then the breaking of bread. 00:28:02.580 --> 00:28:03.980 This is not just eating, though. 00:28:03.980 --> 00:28:05.900 They had love Feast where they would have meals together. 00:28:06.580 --> 00:28:08.200 But this is the breaking of bread. 00:28:08.200 --> 00:28:13.120 This is talking about communion, and communion is the representation of what Jesus has done for us. 00:28:13.120 --> 00:28:17.620 So they're being reminded in a very tangible way of how that fellowship is shaped. 00:28:17.660 --> 00:28:22.200 Because Christ, who gave his body and his blood that was shed for you and for me. 00:28:23.320 --> 00:28:28.880 And so they're constantly thinking about Jesus as they're walking together in the truth of God's Word. 00:28:29.040 --> 00:28:29.640 And they're praying. 00:28:29.740 --> 00:28:30.920 They're seeking his face. 00:28:32.320 --> 00:28:33.700 God help us know you more. 00:28:35.220 --> 00:28:37.160 God help us honor you with our life. 00:28:38.520 --> 00:28:40.260 They didn't just say they were devoted. 00:28:41.700 --> 00:28:43.700 They demonstrated that devotion. 00:28:45.380 --> 00:28:52.440 You know, it's one thing to call yourself a Christian, but it's another thing to stop and ask, is the evidence really there? 00:28:54.300 --> 00:28:57.830 And for the early church, this is what fueled them. 00:28:58.340 --> 00:29:00.740 They were devoted to who Christ was. 00:29:00.760 --> 00:29:07.820 And then and then, you see, in light of that verse 43 and on the results, it tells you this, and all came upon every 00:29:07.820 --> 00:29:14.940 soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles, and all who believed were together and had all things in common. 00:29:15.820 --> 00:29:16.980 So here's what it looks like. 00:29:17.020 --> 00:29:20.920 And this idea of awe is really this place of worship, this reverence before God. 00:29:20.940 --> 00:29:22.680 They think to themselves, I can't believe this. 00:29:23.940 --> 00:29:27.520 I can't believe that God cared enough about me to give his life for me. 00:29:28.260 --> 00:29:30.460 To make my life matter because his life mattered. 00:29:30.460 --> 00:29:33.600 And he became a sacrifice for my life so I could find my life in him. 00:29:34.520 --> 00:29:35.640 That he took on my sin. 00:29:35.640 --> 00:29:36.620 That I could have his righteousness. 00:29:37.600 --> 00:29:38.540 I can't believe that. 00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:40.380 Like what greater gift could be given? 00:29:40.520 --> 00:29:43.180 So what greater purpose could I do with my life than to live for him? 00:29:43.780 --> 00:29:45.480 Because what I have in him endures forever. 00:29:46.700 --> 00:29:53.700 And so they just they walked in this all every day, reminding each other of the beauty of what it means to wake up today and have opportunity to glorify God 00:29:53.700 --> 00:29:57.880 and bless others to the point that it says in verse 44 that they had all things in common. 00:29:58.900 --> 00:30:04.700 And what it means is like this, that apart from Jesus, we have this tendency of treating our life like a closed fist. 00:30:05.280 --> 00:30:11.580 We take the possessions of this world, and we try to find our worth and our value and the things that life offers, and we hold on to it. 00:30:11.600 --> 00:30:12.700 We got this death grip on it. 00:30:12.820 --> 00:30:19.330 Because if it if it if it escapes us, well, it devalues us as human being because, well, we're dependent upon that to make us feel like we matter. 00:30:21.080 --> 00:30:24.020 But then all of a sudden you discover that isn't what matters. 00:30:25.700 --> 00:30:26.680 Who I am and Jesus is. 00:30:28.360 --> 00:30:34.520 And what Jesus has given me is now a gift to bless those around me that they would have the opportunity to know him too. 00:30:35.780 --> 00:30:42.860 And so they we in Christ, open our hand with those things and realizing I'm just a steward of the things of this world, because I'm just passing 00:30:42.860 --> 00:30:49.880 through and all things in common has this idea of their coming to one another with this open hand for the purpose of blessing one another to 00:30:49.880 --> 00:30:51.530 the glory of God, to the benefit of others. 00:30:52.800 --> 00:30:59.820 And then in light of that, it goes on and tells us in verse 45, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing 00:30:59.820 --> 00:31:06.860 the proceeds to all, as any had need, and day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they 00:31:06.860 --> 00:31:09.420 received their food with glad and generous hearts. 00:31:10.260 --> 00:31:15.220 I know you're waiting on that last point, and I'm going to give it to you in like five minutes, and then we're going to be done. 00:31:15.220 --> 00:31:16.070 That is the last point. 00:31:16.320 --> 00:31:23.500 But I want you to know, with the church, what you're seeing is they're coming with this open 00:31:23.500 --> 00:31:30.560 hand is they have this radical generosity, this radical care for 00:31:30.560 --> 00:31:34.560 people around them because they've been so cared in God that their life is just full. 00:31:35.820 --> 00:31:37.800 They're not dependent on other things to tell them they matter. 00:31:37.800 --> 00:31:39.260 They know they matter in Jesus. 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.940 And because their life is just overflowing with the grace of God, they're just pouring out blessing on others. 00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:51.120 And in so doing, they've become radically generous in the way that they they've lived their life. 00:31:51.140 --> 00:31:58.500 And, anytime we think about the idea of radical generosity, one of the things that's interesting about Western culture, 00:31:59.200 --> 00:32:02.620 we tend to think, well, yeah, you got to be radically generous because people are poor. 00:32:02.620 --> 00:32:04.740 And the reason people are poor is because they don't have money. 00:32:05.740 --> 00:32:11.440 And so the poverty carries this idea of being monetarily weak in our culture. 00:32:11.440 --> 00:32:11.520 Right. 00:32:11.560 --> 00:32:12.860 And so you're impoverished. 00:32:12.860 --> 00:32:13.540 You don't have a lot of money. 00:32:14.060 --> 00:32:15.700 Therefore generosity becomes important. 00:32:15.700 --> 00:32:22.420 But can I can I just tell you the idea of generosity is important because the thought of poverty is far greater than just. 00:32:22.440 --> 00:32:23.030 I don't have money. 00:32:24.200 --> 00:32:31.980 There's a lot of people in this world with very little than what this earthly life has to offer, but have incredible joy and 00:32:31.980 --> 00:32:33.540 the same instance. 00:32:33.540 --> 00:32:36.580 There's a lot of rich people in America that are just grumpy, unhappy people. 00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:41.050 So it's not the idea of money, but the idea of generosity. 00:32:41.320 --> 00:32:42.220 Let me say it like this. 00:32:42.300 --> 00:32:49.940 And in Matthew chapter five, verse three, Jesus preaching the sermon on the Mount, he said this blessed 00:32:49.940 --> 00:32:51.340 are the poor. 00:32:51.680 --> 00:32:53.800 In what spirit? 00:32:56.380 --> 00:32:57.740 Poverty is not just a lack of money. 00:33:00.100 --> 00:33:01.820 Poverty comes to us in all sorts of ways. 00:33:03.440 --> 00:33:07.170 And the early church, in discovering who they are in Jesus, filled them up radically. 00:33:07.280 --> 00:33:12.750 And every one of those areas, and therefore they poured themselves out as a blessing to the people around them. 00:33:13.640 --> 00:33:14.420 Get this. 00:33:14.620 --> 00:33:21.400 There's spiritual poverty, which we just talked about, where we lack the confidence of a relationship with God. 00:33:21.400 --> 00:33:25.000 We're bankrupt before him and therefore we have no hope, no peace, no eternal life. 00:33:25.640 --> 00:33:32.760 There there's a relational poverty where rather than experiencing the fullness of who we are and being connected to God and therefore a blessing to others, we. 00:33:32.860 --> 00:33:38.300 We struggle and loneliness and abandonment and fractured family just wanting to belong. 00:33:38.860 --> 00:33:45.960 There's the idea of emotional poverty where we go through stress and trauma and without affirmation and love, we have 00:33:45.960 --> 00:33:48.840 this emptiness in our in our soul needing to be filled. 00:33:48.840 --> 00:33:56.100 There's opportunity, poverty because of injustice and corruption that we lack the opportunity for education, for employment or 00:33:56.100 --> 00:33:57.540 even safety. 00:33:57.800 --> 00:34:05.380 There's the thought of cultural poverty where it's expressed in loss of dignity or identity and purpose as an individual because society 00:34:05.380 --> 00:34:07.120 devalues you and oppresses you. 00:34:08.340 --> 00:34:15.489 There's all sorts of poverty, not just the absence of money, but the early church in that deep devotion, 00:34:15.540 --> 00:34:22.650 they came with this reverence for God that filled them up in such a way that they poured their lives out for the glory of God to the benefit of others, 00:34:23.760 --> 00:34:26.239 because they knew how richly they had been blessed in Christ. 00:34:27.860 --> 00:34:31.440 And when you look at the early church, people ask the question, how did they make such a difference? 00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:37.600 You know, for 250 years, 125, that it could cost your life for claiming to be a follower of Jesus. 00:34:37.900 --> 00:34:44.340 Yet the world was radically transformed by this 120 small band of Christians that were really weak. 00:34:44.400 --> 00:34:49.400 They ran away from Jesus in the beginning, but now they come back with such a fury it just overtakes the Roman Empire. 00:34:49.520 --> 00:34:50.540 How did they do that? 00:34:54.139 --> 00:34:58.160 Watching their lives transformed in Christ to this radical generosity made a tremendous difference. 00:34:59.660 --> 00:35:07.640 And I think within Rome, for the first time, women are given value in the idea of Jesus or the 00:35:07.640 --> 00:35:08.500 thought of children. 00:35:08.580 --> 00:35:15.640 Infanticide was heavily practiced in Rome, where if you didn't want a child, especially if it were a female, or there's something about the kid you didn't like, you would just throw 00:35:15.640 --> 00:35:16.930 it in the streets, leave it to the elements. 00:35:18.820 --> 00:35:20.700 The church moves in and in. 00:35:20.700 --> 00:35:24.080 They think, man, God gave us his word and people want to know they should know this word. 00:35:24.080 --> 00:35:24.510 They could be transformed. 00:35:24.920 --> 00:35:26.460 That education shouldn't just be for the rich. 00:35:26.460 --> 00:35:30.220 We need to offer education for everybody that they could find who they are in Christ. 00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:37.560 And so they develop these educational centers for they develop food homes, even during first century Rome, there was this belief that when someone 00:35:37.560 --> 00:35:40.400 got sick, it was likely because the gods were mad at them. 00:35:40.460 --> 00:35:44.880 And so if you tried to aid them, you could anger the gods against you and you could suffer that ailment too. 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:47.360 So rather than help someone, they would just leave them to their own devices. 00:35:47.480 --> 00:35:48.820 And whatever happened, happened. 00:35:50.400 --> 00:35:52.470 But it was the early church that stepped in and said, you know what? 00:35:52.580 --> 00:35:53.440 Every life matters. 00:35:54.320 --> 00:35:55.220 Every life matters. 00:35:55.380 --> 00:36:00.030 And so rather than leave people to their own devices in the midst of their sickness, we're going to come in and we're going to care for them. 00:36:00.120 --> 00:36:01.720 Every every person should be cared for. 00:36:01.720 --> 00:36:02.320 And so they started hospitals. 00:36:02.680 --> 00:36:06.000 They didn't invent medicine, but they started hospitals for everyone education. 00:36:07.140 --> 00:36:11.720 They started teaching and looking at children in the street, they thought, no, no, no, everyone matters to the Lord. 00:36:11.740 --> 00:36:18.800 And so rather than leave these children on their own to the devices of this world to do whatever to them, we're going to come in, we're going to adopt them and we're 00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:23.040 going to help them learn the name above all names so they can find their identity in who Christ is. 00:36:24.280 --> 00:36:28.640 And the early church shaped the way that much of our civilizations operate today. 00:36:28.720 --> 00:36:33.420 What became this grassroots movement became the institutions that we really ripped apart from God now. 00:36:33.600 --> 00:36:40.800 But these institutions that we enjoy in the sense of universities and hospitals and orphanages and adoption centers 00:36:40.800 --> 00:36:43.620 and all that birthed out of the Christian community in the first century. 00:36:46.180 --> 00:36:47.140 Radical generosity. 00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:51.730 So let me give you the last point, because I need to close this be radically generous. 00:36:54.300 --> 00:36:55.680 Be radically generous. 00:36:57.740 --> 00:36:59.600 How did the early church make a difference? 00:37:01.420 --> 00:37:06.020 Collectively devoted, radically generous. 00:37:07.820 --> 00:37:11.190 And look, I'm not saying, guys, you need to go out and be good for the sake of being good. 00:37:13.240 --> 00:37:18.580 I'm saying the most beautiful thing that you could attach the goodness of the things you do in this world is to Jesus Himself. 00:37:19.660 --> 00:37:26.720 Let it be known that what leads you is the incredible opportunity people have to know the same Christ that has shaped you. 00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:29.830 That the good we do isn't good, for goodness sake. 00:37:29.880 --> 00:37:35.420 It's for Christ's sake, because we have found who we are in him, and we want others to discover that as well. 00:37:36.120 --> 00:37:40.600 When you look at the early church, there was an emperor named Julian who said this about Christians. 00:37:40.600 --> 00:37:47.740 He said, why do we not observe that it is their benevolence to strangers, their care for the graves of the dead, and the pretended holiness 00:37:47.740 --> 00:37:50.380 of their lives that has done the most to increase atheism? 00:37:51.500 --> 00:37:56.180 And Rome referred to Christianity as atheism because they were monotheistic and a Roman society that was polytheistic. 00:37:56.640 --> 00:37:59.660 They looked at Christians and thought, how can you have one God that's atheist, right? 00:37:59.760 --> 00:38:07.120 But they said, that's what's increasing Christianity, for it is disgraceful that when no Jew ever has to beg and the impious Galileans, 00:38:07.160 --> 00:38:12.260 they refer to Christians as Galileans support not only their own poor, but ours as well. 00:38:12.400 --> 00:38:15.000 All men see that our people lack aid from us. 00:38:16.460 --> 00:38:16.980 Amen. 00:38:16.980 --> 00:38:23.000 Christians, by the way they're caring for people are demonstrating the intrinsic value that everyone has because of who God is. 00:38:23.000 --> 00:38:24.900 And more than that, they're leading people to Jesus. 00:38:26.600 --> 00:38:29.800 Guys, can I tell you the most powerful tool we have today is the same. 00:38:30.520 --> 00:38:37.600 The most powerful tool, honestly, in reaching the world, is a church devoted to the Lord and willing to surrender 00:38:37.600 --> 00:38:39.800 their lives for the benefit of others to his glory. 00:38:40.680 --> 00:38:42.200 That's what transformed the first century. 00:38:43.020 --> 00:38:44.660 That's what transforms the 21st century. 00:38:45.600 --> 00:38:48.310 And you look at our country today, and I need to be done. 00:38:48.500 --> 00:38:49.550 But look at our country today. 00:38:50.680 --> 00:38:52.540 And it is screaming with deep need. 00:38:52.540 --> 00:38:53.500 I need to know Jesus. 00:38:55.080 --> 00:39:02.140 And more than anything, it becomes this beautiful opportunity for you and I in the midst of darkness, to let the light of Christ 00:39:02.140 --> 00:39:03.160 shine forth in our life.