Podcast
[0:00] Thank you for tuning into this message by David Entry. Every true revival is a product of the strong preaching of God's Word. May you receive a word from this message that will spark a revival in you.
[0:13] This morning, I have two verses by God's grace. So God's grace finished at verse 45, Acts chapter 2. And we will be covering verse 46 and 47.
[0:28] So previously, God's grace is taking us through the book of Acts. We started from Acts chapter 2. And Acts chapter 2 is starting from the place where I think that most of us, particularly those of us who are charismatics, we actually just want to remain in Acts chapter 2 verse 1 and 2.
[0:43] That's where we feel it is powerful, it's impactful. We always want to have a new encounter, a new experience. It's like we just don't want to move anywhere.
[0:53] We don't even, most of us, thank God for a church like Charisma. It's where we are literally being provoked to go out and preach. But as for us, we are not, ideally, let's just stay.
[1:04] We want to stay at your feet, you know. We don't want to go anywhere. It's just the experience of the coming of the Holy Spirit. The rushing mighty wind.
[1:15] Fill this house. Yes, Lord, let the tongues come. We want to have the experience. We want to check each other's out. Oh, wow, yours is brighter. Yours is burning. Yours is, oh, we love it.
[1:26] We are charismatics. There's nothing wrong. We are pentocostals. There's nothing wrong. But we're also evangelicals. Hallelujah. And most of us, we are Christians. And so we see where Acts chapter 2 starts from, and then it continues through.
[1:40] And then the word is preached by the apostles, led by Peter. And then the word is declared as to how people can be saved when they heard the word.
[1:50] And they said, men and brethren, what shall we do? And then they were given the how to be saved. And then after the salvation, the Lord asked to the church, and now they are numbering over 3,000.
[2:02] And now the scriptures is showing us how the early church did church. And so that leads us to chapter 2, verse 42. And Gustavus is taking time to break this particular verse, that they continue to fastly the apostles' doctrine, and in fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
[2:20] And then fear came upon all that were around them. Many signs and wonders were done. They shared all things in common. Some of us were very worried about that, thinking how those who really gave it thoughts were concerned.
[2:35] Some of us who didn't even bother us, like, went over our heads. But we are in a generation where we are very individualistic, isn't it? Me, myself, and I. Yes, we are looking for our next breakthrough, our next big thing.
[2:47] But the scriptures is teaching us something here, that they have things in common. Last week, Gustavus explained that the Bible is not advocating for communism or socialism. They had all things in common. But 2 Corinthians chapter 9, the scripture talks about, from verse 1 to verse 8, the church in Jerusalem needed help.
[3:04] And so a message had gone ahead, that the church in Corinth could come together, and bring some resources to be given to the church in Jerusalem. And they did it willingly. They did it willingly.
[3:15] And so that is where the New Testament giving comes from. That is why in a nursery, it wasn't expected of them to give that amount or pretend to be given a certain amount, because God loves a cheerful giver.
[3:27] When it comes to giving, God wants us to do it willingly. He wants us to do it cheerfully. But it will be interesting, when we look at verse 46 and 47, how the church was, and how they were so connected, and then how it would be possible for us to see needs of our brothers and sisters, and not to be convicted, or to be challenged to do something about it.
[3:48] So this is livable. Don't worry. It is actually possible. You don't have to stress about it. Actually, I know you have the heart of God, and you have a heart for his people. And so when you know of a need, most of us will react to it, will respond to it.
[4:01] And so I know that we are living this by God's grace. And so today we are looking at 46 and 47. And with the starting of this powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit in chapter two, verse one and two, we are looking right through and coming to verse 42, verse 43.
[4:21] You see that the church is beginning to settle and have a relatively ordinary, normal, simple living. Yes. Yes. And there is where sometimes we may struggle a bit, particularly those of us who have had various experiences and encounters.
[4:40] We can easily become maybe encounter junkies. Because we are always looking for that thrill of that experience.
[4:52] And most of the time, it can easily sit in our emotions of, I want to cry anytime I worship. Yeah. I mean, it's normal. You know, I want to, anytime I spend time in praying, I want to feel something.
[5:06] But our worship is not based on our feelings, even though our feelings can be employed in our worship. And so we are looking at verse 46. And it said, And they continued daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and silkiness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.
[5:30] And the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved. Amen. And so they continued. Verse 42 starts with, They continued.
[5:42] And then verse 46 also continues to say that, They continued. But this time, they continued. Continued meaning that there was a level of commitment. Because continuing means that you are going to be tested over time and with your sacrifice.
[5:55] To remain at it. To keep at it. Continuing it. Don't stop it. So this, they continued in the apostles' doctrine, in fellowship, in breaking of bread and in prayer.
[6:06] And they continued. They didn't stop that. But also there was another continuation, which we look at, which is the daily, daily, daily meetings. And so that is going to be a test of, over time, and a test of the sacrifice we are ready to make as a local church.
[6:25] Because when it comes to a local church, it's not necessarily about a pastor or a team of leaders, but everybody matters when it comes to a local church. If it's an itinerant ministry, then it's the person that God has called as the one-man evangelist or something.
[6:41] But when it comes to a local church, that is where it's family. When you get into a family, the father is important, the mother is important, the children are important, and even sometimes the newest arrival seems to be the most important.
[6:52] Yes, they don't contribute much. It's only demand, demand, demand. But they seem that everybody's focus is on them, particularly when they first arrive.
[7:03] People will take time off. Fathers busy take time off. Mothers, they don't have a choice. They will remain wherever they have to. Because conditions means that at this point in time, this is the focus.
[7:14] So it's the same way when it comes to the family of God. That yes, we have pastors, we have ministers, we have leaders and all that, but everybody matters when it comes to the local church.
[7:25] Everybody has their contribution. So baby arrives and it's demand, demand, but they are bringers of joy. So when a baby comes, they're not necessarily going to work, any money, doing the chores, but it's just happiness.
[7:38] Pure happiness is an inclusion and addition to the family and it is a bringer of joy. So the local church is a place where everybody has their role and has their place.
[7:49] Even the newest member, don't you see when they are coming, we clap for them. Yes, we are excited to receive them into our midst and into our body. And so that is how the local church is to be expressed.
[7:59] Everybody has their role and our commitment is tested by time and sacrifice. They continued in something. I want to encourage somebody, you've been serving the Lord faithfully, continuing your service.
[8:11] When it comes to the faith, it's a journey. It is said it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. We continue, we continue. We don't give up in the things we've been doing. We don't give up.
[8:22] We rather add on. We rather increase, increase in our test for God. We rather increase in our faith. We continue in that faith. We don't give up. We don't give in in spite of the challenge.
[8:33] We continue in our obedience, things that we have been obeying and having revelation from scripture. We don't stop at a point to say, I've done enough now. No, no, no, that's not how we serve God. That's not how we do in the church.
[8:43] That's not how we do in the body. We continue until he calls us home or he returns. And so most of the time when we are doing leaders meetings and things like that, it is always a thing that I say, this way I need, I need for life.
[8:55] We are in it for life. You might have a few breaks here and there. So when it comes to fasting, yeah, but that's when it's a joy to be a female because when is the fasting season and you are pregnant?
[9:07] Of course, you are liberty to eat, isn't it? I've had instances where a few people have asked me, oh, maybe am I supposed to fast it? I say, in this church, we will always fast.
[9:18] And so if you want to eat, since you are pregnant, you are free to eat because you come back and come and miss us continuing to fast. I say, if you are hungry, you are shaking, please eat your food because one day you'll be sitting and you wish that you were pregnant so you don't have to fast, but you would have to fast.
[9:34] Yes, we're a church that we believe in continuing. The things that God, you know, the revelations, the insights God has entrusted in our hands, we don't do it for a while and then drop it.
[9:46] We continue in it. Even when we see the benefits, the fruits coming out, we don't say that, okay, now we are bearing fruit so we leave our side. We continue. There are things that God will be reminding some of us, continue in this.
[9:59] Some of us are at the point of, I'm being too challenged in this, I'm giving up. Sometimes people take a break and I say, what's the point in leaving church or backsliding? Because you still have to come back. You know there's no salvation anywhere else but in God.
[10:11] And so what's the point? Yes, you may feel a little shaking, but stay. There's nothing out there for any one of us, nothing good out there for any one of us. We continue. Be encouraged.
[10:22] Continue. You may feel a little slow, but continue step by step. They did that day by day with one accord. So in the church at that time, it was on a daily basis.
[10:34] They continued in their meetings. So they did it daily with one accord. And it reminds me in Acts chapter two, verse one and two, it says that when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
[10:48] That same one accordness, that same one accordness, they continued in that. And also that's unity, that ushered the Holy Spirit to come down.
[10:58] They needed to be in one place. They needed to be with one accord. They needed to be there for the Holy Spirit to come. They continued in that as well. They continued in our unity. So as much as the devil may tempt us, situations may tempt us to break our unity, we have to continue in this.
[11:13] As an example, the early church sets for us, that we continue in our unity. Our unity is not something that we can say, we've done enough. Oh, today I'm too hurt, so I'm going to break the unity. No, today, this thing that this person said, I need to face them, I'm going to break this unity.
[11:27] No, they continued. It takes the unity for the body to continue to advance. We advance together. The body advances together.
[11:38] The local church advances together. None left behind. That is how God ordained it, that when we all go, when God sends the mandate of revival, it wasn't a mandate for a few people.
[11:49] It's for all of us, that we are all part of whatever calling God has called us into as a local church. We do it together. That is why it's in good, that when we say we go to K group, we do it together.
[12:02] When we say we join department, we do it together. We go for evangelism, Jesus campaign, we do it together. None left behind with one accord. Meaning we have one mind. One mind.
[12:14] The one accordness starts from the state of our hearts. As long as what is being said is from scripture, first of all, receive it. Yeah. Your first response must be, okay, then you ask for grace to do it.
[12:28] Because sometimes we judge ourselves against the word and say, no, I can't do this. And so you reject it. That's not the right way in working with God. You first receive it. They said, okay, we're going to do one member, one disciple.
[12:40] Okay. Yes. One member, one disciple. However, Lord, I don't know how to do this. I need grace. That's, we have one mind. When we are moving, we are all moving together.
[12:51] The unity is important. And so, and they continue daily with one accord in the temple. One accord, they went into the temple. They went to the temple not because they continued in their Jewish practices.
[13:07] Because really, when it comes to the Jewish people, their temple is such an important thing for them. Up to now, I think that there's, the work of building the third temple.
[13:18] They're still now, they're working hard to rebuild Solomon's temple. That is how important it is for the Jewish people. Because we know that after the temple was built, in 1 Kings chapter 9, God made a covenant with them at the temple from verse 3 downwards.
[13:35] God made a covenant with them. He said, I will hear your prayers from this place. So God made a covenant. So they believe in that covenant. And so, when it comes to a Jewish person, they know that at this temple, I can meet God.
[13:47] Whereas ours is not a physical temple. So when we gather as their body, we must always be convinced that at this place, when we gather as their body, wherever the gathering is, we will meet God.
[13:59] Yeah, that's the example God gave. You know, that's the example God gave them. And then we do it, but our temple is a different kind of temple. And so, they knew, the Jewish people knew that.
[14:10] And at this point, almost all of them were Jews. All of them, somewhere, had gone to different parts of the world and have gathered on the day of Pentecost. But all of them were Jews. And so, they understood the role the temple played in the Jewish worship.
[14:23] But they didn't go there for that. They didn't go there for that. The Jewish, they went there for a different reason. Gostman mentioned last week that they went there because of the size, the capacity that could give them.
[14:39] And the temple made room for them to be able to come together as one group, one unit, because the courtyard of the temple was big, so it could accommodate them.
[14:52] But then also, the temple gave them the opportunity to be a witness. You know, so later on, it goes and talks about the Lord added to the church. How are the people hearing the word?
[15:04] You know, so at the temple, when they gathered in the courtyard, they will be preaching. And so one, the first witness was the witness of the masses, like these people.
[15:14] The same Jesus we killed a few weeks or months ago, how come these people are still gathering in his name? It was a statement. You know, so when we come together corporately, we make a statement, physical statement and spiritual statement that the church is still alive.
[15:33] The church is marching on. The church is still strong. God is alive in our midst. That's why it's good that we are a big church because we make a statement. A small church makes a statement, a growing church makes a statement, and a big church makes a statement to the world.
[15:48] We are a witness. We can become a bigger and a bigger witness. So if anybody tells you having a big church is not, because of what they were doing, they were able to make a statement.
[16:01] Because of their size, if God was the one adding, then God didn't have a problem for them becoming a big church. Yeah, God didn't have a problem. So at the temple, they were able to gather and they were also able to witness.
[16:16] And that means that people around who had come to the temple and they went to the temple at specific times. Every three hours, there will be a worship service for the people.
[16:27] And through that, people would hear the message. People would hear the preaching. So they did it on a daily basis. The Jews were going there every three hours. But at least for the church of Jesus Christ, they went there on a daily basis.
[16:42] And that is why in Acts chapter three, next week we'll be looking at, it said, at the hour of prayer, they went to the temple. So it was a practice and they continued in that practice of going into the temple.
[16:53] Because in other words, as well, the temple was a statement to them. Because when Jesus died on the cross, there were some things that happened in the temple.
[17:04] So one, the temple gave them the place to be able to worship. The temple gave them the opportunity to witness and also make a statement for Jesus.
[17:16] But the temple also was a statement to them because it was at the temple when Jesus died on the cross that the veil was torn.
[17:28] That meant that the veil of separation was torn. And therefore, people now had access to come to God. And that reminds them of the fact that it was at that very time, Jesus said, it is finished.
[17:42] So the temple, as much as they were not going there for their practices, was still making a significant statement for them. So when Jesus said, it is finished, he meant it is finished because military terms, it was finished.
[17:56] The battle had been won. The battle over our lives was won on the cross. And the temple was making that statement due to that torn veil. I'm sure they went back to show it, but it didn't matter.
[18:08] The original one was torn. Yes. And when Jesus said, it is finished, on commercial terms, it meant that the debt had been paid. The debt for our sins had been paid.
[18:20] So one, the battle was won. Two, the debt had been paid. And three, judicially, the sentence had been served. The sentence had been served.
[18:30] So going to the temple was a reminder for them of all these things, not necessarily engaging in Jewish practices. That is why when we come to church, there is a lot of statements God makes to us in our fellowships.
[18:44] Some of us, the things, so when it comes to praising God, the purpose for praise is one, lifting God up, but the state of your heart may differ from the other person.
[18:57] What you have gone through with the week is causing you to praise a certain way. How you have experienced God is causing you to praise a certain way. And that is what makes it beautiful. It makes it beautiful.
[19:08] So don't withhold your praise from God when we come to church. Don't withhold your praise because it's a beautiful thing before God. And they continue daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house.
[19:24] They broke bread from house to house. Hallelujah. It is like the family of God having an expression in real family tense.
[19:35] So we have described how the corporate worship that was happening in the temple had its purpose. But also from house to house had its purpose. Because from house to house we could be family.
[19:47] We could relax. We could be ourselves. And the reason for breaking of bread has a way where it helps us to forget about ourselves. You know when you are eating, apart from you are sitting behind, you know, you've gone to some push place that you are not comfortable.
[20:02] But that's no home. That's no home. When you are home, you eat differently from when you go to this expensive restaurant. Yes. It's true.
[20:13] Yes. Yes. Some of you, you have special spoons that you've carved up a bit. So that when you take it like that, it can gather a lot more. So it is okay to make good friends in church.
[20:28] I actually encourage you. Some of us, we've come to church for years and we don't have friends. He who, yes, you have to show yourself friendly. By the time you realize, you have good friends.
[20:39] Because in the time of loneliness, you realize that you revert to your old friends. Because you don't have people you have genuinely opened up to. They know you. You know them. You love them.
[20:50] They love you. They don't, they question you. You question them. I mean, it's a genuine relationship. You serve them. They serve you. A few. You need a few. One or two. Yes.
[21:00] You need a few. Because some of us have, it's a shock that you are in a church like this and you feel lonely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It can happen. And it happens.
[21:11] You know. But it is important that you show yourself friendly. Some people say, me, I keep to myself. I don't want anybody in my business. But it is family. How come you don't want anybody in your business?
[21:24] People must be in your business. And you must also be in people's business. Yes. Yeah, yes. You have to have a few people who are in their business. Because we are family. You could be eating and then they are hovering over you like that.
[21:36] Can you please go back? Let me eat my food. No. They want some of your food even though they finish your food. Because why? It's family. It's family. How come your meat is bigger than mine? Can I taste your food?
[21:47] No, you can't taste my food. Oh, I didn't get this part. It's family. It's family. That's how the church of God, because let's bear in mind that as much as physically we do to create that family environment and it is each one of us responsibility.
[22:04] It's not a responsibility of the pastor. It is the responsibility of the leaders of the church. We will try and put systems in place. But if you are not open to having relationships, we can't force anybody. Can't force anybody. So each one of us must be committed to be open to have relationships.
[22:19] Helpful relationships. Good relationships. Spiritual relationships. Relationships that you can, and you can do life together. You can do life together.
[22:30] It's not possible that you are looking for somebody to go out and you can't find anybody. Oh, today I would love to go and have a, you know, somewhere go to a restaurant and you think, think, think. The only people that come to mind is your old friends who are old unbelievers.
[22:43] It's not right. Something is wrong. Something is wrong. It is important that we are intentional about building genuine relationships. In Matthew chapter 12, Jesus' statement puts a lot of weight on what it means for us to have spiritual fellowship, spiritual family.
[23:04] And Matthew chapter 12, verse 47, the scripture says that, this is heavy. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand outside desiring to speak to thee.
[23:18] But he answered and said unto him, that told him, who is my mother and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren.
[23:34] For whosoever shall do the will of my father which is in heaven the same as my brother and sister and mother. This is the weight Jesus puts on the spiritual family.
[23:47] He didn't know, not because he didn't care, because at the cross he made sure his mother was taken care of. He handed his mother over to John. So he was an irresponsible son. But he was making a statement here that the spiritual family is eternal, is beyond this life here.
[24:07] But the spiritual family is eternal. We cross death to the forever. That's the weight of the spiritual family. So when people do things to you in church, just know that I have to bear with these people even in eternity.
[24:24] It's what it is. You have to resign to the fact that these are my people not only for life but for eternity. And so we have to learn to love one another irrespective of what somebody does to you.
[24:40] We have to learn to love because on the other side we'll be there forever and ever and ever. So those of us who don't like each other, you don't like Christian fellowship, you can't stand, Christians are boring, Christians are this, Christians are that.
[24:53] You don't like our jokes. I mean, then you won't laugh for in eternity you'll be very sad. Yeah, you have no friends. It's the same people you'll meet in heaven.
[25:07] It's us. You'll meet us in heaven. I like that laughter. Hopefully it's for a good reason. You just realized that you have to bear with them all the way to the other side.
[25:18] Yeah. So Jesus put this level of weight on the spiritual family and so this is an awareness and a call to us that we have to put the same level of value on one another because this is God's plan.
[25:36] This is God's intention. He gives us this physical family for us to have an understanding of how a spiritual family is supposed to be. God starts life with a family.
[25:47] He calls Abraham and Sarah comes along. The all power of the calling for the fulfillment of his promise and so it is the same for all of us who continue to remain a family of God.
[25:58] The church in homes is part of our Christian work. In Romans chapter 16 verse 5 the apostle Paul says greets the church in their house.
[26:10] First Corinthians chapter 16 verse 19 it says Priscilla and Aquila have a church. It said greets the church in the home of Aquila and Priscilla Colossians chapter 4 verse 15 there's a church in Nymphos' house it said greets the church in Nymphos' house and Philippians chapter 1 verse 2 it says Archippus there's also a church in Archippus' house and so having a church in your house is biblical.
[26:34] It's biblical. Please when the saints come be nice. It always counts as a privilege to be able to host to the people of God in your home. Yeah. Because when we gather his spirit is there you know and so as often as they gather and as often as we gather in your home you're commanding the presence of God in a way that is commanded only when the saints meet.
[26:57] Yeah. So it's a privilege it's in the scriptures and it is there for our learning. And then it continues so they broke bread from house to house they did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of hearts.
[27:13] They enjoyed themselves and they enjoyed their fellowship. They did it with gladness. God someone was teaching us last Sunday and he was saying that some of us is only when it's like we can't mingle we can't relax.
[27:27] I don't know whether it's position or status or it's like the Christians you don't gel with us like that. You know so it's almost like okay let me do my godly duty.
[27:40] So it's like a godly duty thing and then from there I will you know go and live my life. You know because we've been encouraged to go to K groups so I've come. But it's not a healthy approach.
[27:54] You won't enjoy God. You enjoy God and you won't get to know people that actually the people are actually alright. We're actually cool. We're not that bad. No.
[28:05] We're actually fun. The test go you go we also go there. Yeah. When you go to Chessington people are screaming some of them are Christians. It might even be Carice members screaming we also like fun.
[28:21] There's nothing wrong with us as Christians. We are nice people. We actually have been taught to bear with one another. Actually we are the ones who may gossip less about you. You know we're actually trying to completely eradicate the gossip.
[28:36] whilst your worldly friends are not doing that. They gossip without guilt. They think evil of you. We don't do that. Yes.
[28:47] When we hear of something we can do to help we are willing to do it. We are Christians. Like us please. We are nice people. Yes. But some of us behave like to be honest it's not my thing.
[29:03] How come it's not your thing? You have a family. How come it's not your thing for you to be with your family? Ask parents when their children are hiding in rooms what do they do? Come out.
[29:15] It's not a demon but they say come out. Come down here. Yeah. Why? Because we desire fellowship. We desire to make contact talk to you ask how things are going.
[29:28] It's the same way God desires this and he even instructs the leaders of the church to ensure that this is happening because it's God's will for his body to have that connection.
[29:43] And it is good that the Bible clearly states that they did eat meat. Some of us are thinking going vegan. It's alright. It's alright. You're still eating.
[29:53] You're still eating. But it is still eat with gladness of hearts. And eating is important. You know Jesus describes himself as the bread of life.
[30:06] He said eat my flesh drink my blood. Yes he offers himself to eat. So you know when we gather as Christians and sometimes even just small biscuits something you might even you know if you're on diet and you say you stop eating biscuits maybe tell them you bring quickenberry you know you pick your own carrots and eat it's important that you eat something there.
[30:34] Some of us are eating according to blood type. Some of us are carnivore diets. Some of us are on vegetarian diets. I mean all kinds of diets. Sometimes it's even confusing for your host to put something together.
[30:46] All they have is a few castor cream and cream crackers. Now they have to hide their cream crackers. It's become a challenge. Yes but then if it's a bother bring your stuff and then hand it over to your host and let them put it on the plate and serve it like they prepared it.
[31:08] It is also okay. Because eating together is important. eating together is important.
[31:21] Having communication and having fellowship around food has a role a place in every Christian gathering. Yes Jesus is intentional about doing this only a few times in his ministry.
[31:33] In Mark chapter 2 verse 15 Jesus used eating a lot. Yes it was his weapon of ministry. Yes one of his major weapons.
[31:47] he said the weapons of our warfare are not cannibal this is a weapon of fellowship. Mark chapter 2 verse 15 it tells us about Jesus going into Levi this is Matthew and it came to pass that as Jesus sat to meet in his house many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples for they were many and they followed him and when the scribes and the Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners they said unto his disciples how is it that he eat and drink it with publicans and sinners when Jesus heard it he said unto them they that are whole have no need of a physician but they that are sick I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance hallelujah and so in that space Matthew was a tax collector and of course they were very much hated by religious people and so Jesus takes this opportunity to go into the house of a tax collector and they did eat and as they were eating the
[32:52] Pharisees come to say that how come you are sitting with publicans and sinners and Jesus used on the back of that to declare that he came not a message behind his eating it helps him to preach a certain gospel an aspect of the gospel and an aspect of his mission Luke chapter 7 so he eats at other places like a wedding and things like but this one we are talking about when he goes into a home to eat Luke chapter 7 verse 36 the scripture says that and one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with meat and behold a woman in the city which was a sinner when she knew that Jesus was at meat in the Pharisee's house brought an alabaster box of ointment and stood at his feet behind him weeping and began to wash his feet with tears and did wipe them with the hairs of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment now when the
[34:03] Pharisee which had bidden him saw it he spake within himself saying this man if he were a prophet would he not have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him for she is a sinner and Jesus answered said unto him Simon I have somewhat to say unto thee and he said master say on there was a certain creditor which had two debtors and one owed 500 and the other 50 and he goes on verse 44 he turned to the one and said unto Simon see thou this woman I entered into thy house thou giveth me no water for my feet but she has washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head thou giveth me no kiss but this woman since the time I came has not ceased to kiss my feet my head with oil and thou did not anoint but this woman has anointed my feet with ointment Jesus takes the opportunity and chooses to go to the house of a
[35:06] Pharisee to go and eat so the eating is not the main reason why he is going so the main reason for our gathering is not the eating but the eating serves a purpose so when Jesus chooses to go to the house of a Pharisee and then a sinner comes in Jesus uses that to preach a gospel and says that you believe you are okay you don't need me you see me as equal because when I came you didn't serve me a certain capacity but this one that you call a sinner recognize who I am and is worshipping me in a setting way that you with all your holiness did he have revelation to worship me this is from his meat gathering to meat Luke chapter 10 talks about Mary and Martha we know the story and there are lessons learned from there Jesus went there to eat and
[36:06] Jesus goes to the house in Luke chapter 14 of the chief Pharisee and that's where he tells the parable of the great supper that different people come together he told them to go away Jesus sees that John chapter 12 just talks about Simon the leper that's where Mary went to pour oil on Jesus in Simon the leper house it's so interesting that the man is a leper but Mary goes to pour ointment on the feet of Jesus apart from the Pharisee on the feet of Jesus in the house of a leper an an an an it's not the main thing but it's a facilitator of making connections with people making connections with people the last supper we know we're continuing it today in Luke chapter 19 he sees Zacchaeus and he says today I have to have meat in your house so
[37:08] Jesus didn't shun from doing this it's a lesson that we can take advantage of this to continue in our connections and in building and communicating the mysteries of God and building fellowship he says they didn't stop this seemingly a carnal thing to use it as a means to make spiritual advancement and so did they eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart praising God hallelujah they praised God in their fellowships they praised God wherever they gathered in whatever means they gathered there was praising of God so this morning for those of us who were able to attend earlier we had the opportunity to praise God with a dance with a shout with all manner of things the best way we could express ourselves we were able to do that because it's a biblical thing the church when they met they praised God they praised
[38:09] God because they had an understanding and a heart of gratitude that they only came for the feasts but now they see that their life is completely transformed they had come to encounter the Messiah they did not come for that but more than 3,000 of them have now been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light so when they gathered and they saw each other it only generated praise praise you are from over there you are coming from that background when they gathered and they saw each other they could only but praise God praise God when we see each other and we see what we each represent every one of us has a story every one of us is coming from a different walk of life when we see each other it has to generate praise God has saved that one a heart of gratitude you are from that country nobody knows how you got here but you are here you are from that profession nobody knows how you got here but you are here you are from that family but
[39:18] God has brought us together I mean it's an amazing thing how God pulled us from various we all have different stories how we got to Caris we all have different stories how we got to Caris but we are here it's the statement that God has brought us together and he deserves the praise because whatever relationship we are having with one another we would never have had that relationship if God had not brought us together so when I see you and you give me a smile we praise God for that when you give me a handshake we praise God for that we beautiful work I would never have received that from you this is the doing of the Lord and it is marvelous in our eyes but they were grateful for their salvation they were grateful that God had saved them and we have to learn to express ourselves when it comes to our praise when we are grateful at least there will be a smile yeah when somebody does something for you and you actually expressing one way or the other it might be a smile it might be a state of your heart but you know that this person has been good to me and
[40:38] I'm grateful for that one thing as well that praise does for us is bring us together there's a certain unity when we are singing the same songs whether it's a hymn or a song that causes us to dance or kneel down the center of our worship is Christ the center of our worship is Christ so that it's almost like bringing us all together towards him you know so we have to be intentional during our time of worship to make him our focus you know so as much as the praise and worship leader is very exciting the praise and worship leader is not the focus you get me they know so they don't like that at all when you make them the focus because they are taking the place of God yeah but it's a thin line between leading the people of God in praise and becoming the center of the praise it's a thin line you know yeah so we thank God for graced praise and worship leaders because God has to be the center of our worship and let me remind you not even us not the praise and worship leader and not us at the center of our worship that is why even when you don't like the song you still sing along heartily with gladness that song even when the song doesn't go well you still praise because it is for
[42:00] God he is the center of our worship you might not like the way they do it but it doesn't matter because God is the center of our worship and our praise so that's why you don't need somebody to encourage you lift your leg do that a lot of the time they have to because half of the people are just standing like that so they'll say okay lift your hand so that at least you can have an expression of your praise your praise if it's in your heart it will come out by the time is overflowing out of the bandles of the heart the mouth will speak you will say something you will stand still and say they're a bit too loud why are they shaking like that if you were happy won't you shake if you are happy won't you lift your hands won't you dance you will dance we've seen you dance at other places it's only in the house of God you don't want to dance oh God the scripture encourages let everything that has breath
[43:04] I mean even people who don't know God are being instructed that once you have breath you have to praise God how much more in God's house amongst his people he deserves it he deserves it it's his entitlement we cannot withhold it from him we are not to withhold it from him yes it's God it has to be given to him everything in our gathering as a church as a local church we have to be determined that when we gather and it's time to praise God it's a sacred time we don't take it for granted it might be 15 minutes 20 minutes 30 minutes but it's a time we take it seriously we don't take it for granted and we can have full expression of our praise some God we are not in churches where only our expression can be in our hearts you are free to express yourself do it be extravagant with your praise be generous with your praise let your praise abound don't withhold you can withhold in other things but not your praise not your praise they praise the
[44:14] Lord they praise the Lord take a minute and praise God just be outrageous Lord we are praising you we thank you thank you Lord thank you Lord please take your seats God is faithful we give you all the glory we praise him hallelujah yes you are the focus of our praise Lord thank you thank you and as they praise God and have a favor with the people we believe in the congregation of people of God as we focus on the apostles doctrine we build our fellowship and partnership with each other and with God breaking bread in prayers going continually to the house of the
[45:16] Lord eating our meat with gladness and praising him it commands a certain favor it commands a certain atmosphere that we have as believers and some are in challenge and encourage us we are in the mouth of unusual favors yes but there are a lot of the time when we talk about favor we talk about how God will favor us for our personal gain I want to challenge somebody there are times the Lord give me favor before this person because I want to share your word with that person let the person be willing to receive me because I have a message for them give me favor leaders need favor from their people they lead because it's not an entitlement for people to follow you need favor so when we are leading people we believe God that we find favor before them so that we can do this journey together so favor yes God can favor us for things that we are believing him that we are going for a job interview yes believe God for favor before the panel if you're going before your future father in law believe
[46:22] God for favor some mother in laws are even worse believe if you don't find favor before them the way they will scrutinize you you just believe God for favor God give me favor before these people yes because we know a few people who didn't find favor before their in-laws the guy was saying this is my lady nobody can take her away from me the woman didn't find favor before the potential in-laws the thing didn't happen oh yes because the parents said no no not in here the parents said no not here so some of us you think oh yeah I'm a Christian yeah yeah yeah yeah I speak in tongues I'm holding my bible I even share things you know believe God for favor yes there are times you're going to propose to a woman believe God for favor I bet you you may have done a lot prepared investigate you know shine up sew yourself out comb your hair do everything if you don't find favor hmm say I'll think about it they never stop thinking about it in that minute they moved on as you were doing your proposal your proposal was being binned they just moved on but you can't believe God for favor yes yes you know believe God sometimes you need something from a good friend believe God for favor yeah it's good when I need things from my husband
[48:00] I believe God for favor yes I believe God for favor and of course there are ways of generating favor but we're not going to go into that this morning for another time we'll talk about generating favor yeah but you know your countenance can command favor yeah your countenance is one of the things you can do without struggle your countenance just how you receive people how you approach people the warmth that you show you know some of us have bono faces some of us some of us have you know the way your face rests is not you know it's not with warmth yeah yeah it's not intentional it's just how your face rests yeah yeah but one thing I've learnt is your thoughts will show on your face yeah yeah what you're thinking about shows on your face and so if you know you have a resting face that is like off-putting think about nice things yeah yeah oh yes by the time you realise you know as you're thinking oh this and then you see your your countenance is changing yes your countenance is changing so it's one of ways you can work on yourself
[49:24] Philippians chapter 4 it says that from verse verse rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice let your moderation be known unto all men the Lord is at hand be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanks let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God shall keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus finally brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are good of good report if there be any virtue and if there be any praise think on these things if we obey this word you will never have a a a certain face yes because you're taught you know sometimes somebody are you okay why you are fine in your thoughts yeah you are okay but where your thought is taking you is being expressed on your face you know so the bible says the things you should think about is the things that are true so don't make up lies and believe it by force this person doesn't like me but at time you realize you've processed all kinds of things made some allegations that don't exist it's like where did you get this from you've concocted things it's not true he said only true things think about things that are honest honest things that are just be fair on people be fair on people what are you thinking for what are you making it up for them be fair things that are just things that are pure all things are pure don't read into things purity oh we are
[51:11] Christians things that are lovely lovely sweet things beautiful things lovely things these are the things that some of us are fighting this one I love you you love me we are tight we've exchanged vows why are you thinking things are impure things are not lovely lovely thoughts please believers of good reports even all of that they said even if there's any virtue if there's any point to it would it help would it generate strength would it add if that happens if there is that then of course they said is it praiseworthy they said think about these things and so you know yeah that's way of generating favor if you can work on your countenance you need to work on what you think about yeah yeah praise the lord it's a praising god and having favor with all the people and the lord added to the church daily such as was being saved god asked to the church thank you lord you added me to the church he added you to this church this local church and we thank god for that there's nobody who is being saved that the lord had not added to the church yes god adding to the church is different from your soul winner adding your name to quesos yeah because it doesn't necessarily mean that god has added you to the church god asked the church those who are being saved so if you say the prayer is not from your heart you may be added to a church list but you're not added to the church of our lord and savior jesus christ you know so it is the lord who is the owner of the church he's the one building his church jesus said i will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against the gates of hell will not prevail against when jesus called his disciples he had an aim in mind that it wasn't only for salvation because he could have gone on the cross with our disciples because even at the gates in the garden of getzermin that was when you realized that charlie the people have deserted me all these people have gone i've poured i've healed i've fed i've paid their taxes i mean i've done as much as i can and finally let's go and pray because the time has come they are sleeping and people are vehemently denying me my key guy is vehemently denying me i don't know him but then that wasn't the only the reason why he called his disciples it's for the building of the church so he knew that yes the cross he has to go but after that the church has to be built and so he took his time three years and pouring pouring pouring pouring pouring into these disciples and then when the holy ghost came it didn't come upon angels the same the same disciples he had poured into for three years the holy spirit came upon them to enable them to build his church so our salvation our receiving of the holy spirit our being added to a fellowship like this jesus has an aim to build his church to build his church when paul had
[55:13] his encounter in acts chapter 9 we see that it's a lovely encounter and then instruction is given and ananias is supposed to attend to paul and the lord tells ananias that he is being called he's a vessel but the lord said unto him go for he's a chosen vessel yeah he's a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before the gentiles so at that time the jewish church was doing well now was the time to break into the gentiles peter had been used to go to the house of cornelius so that had satisfied the jewish demands that a jewish man can go into the house i mean one of them the key leader if paul went before peter it wouldn't work because peter was the one who worked with jesus so if if god wants to make a statement that now it is okay to reach the gentiles it has to be somebody of prominence amongst the church a new addition like paul is not going to work and so peter had to do it first take the first step and then after that the one who has actually been called and given that mandate was added to the church and he said he's a chosen vessel because he has an assignment jesus was thinking about the church and so this big encounter there's a voice all this for the purpose of the building of the church god is on one mission our pastors told us and all that the lord is doing in this season in this dispensation is building his body building the church and so we see the ending of acts chapter 2 starting from the mighty visitation of the holy spirit and then they having received evidence of speaking in tongues which was also a statement to their own lucas god doesn't do things for the sake of show and pompo there is always an agenda and a mission behind it and so if i was you i would align my life in a way that god if you bless me it's a showing it's adding to your work lord if you deliver me it's adding to your work position yourself because ask for the things that god has to do for his work to advance nothing will stop him oh yeah nothing will stop him look at the elaborate things he was able to do to be able to pick philip to be able to overtake a chariot it doesn't make sense why would you do it what's the point but an african is on his way back to africa the gospel must go to africa god is on a mission people of god he is on a mission he doesn't we don't read things just to get excited yeah the holy ghost has come upon me i will run and overtake a chariot for what for what for what but if it's to advance his kingdom it happens just like that it will happen and so let's all align ourselves from acts chapter 2 we see what god did and then gave peter a word preached the word with the other apostles they received the word god added to the church they started living the christian life the church life and today we see the now the church has settled and now they are living it's a very young church it's a baby church but all the everything that's started with now is on a mission god is on a mission to add to his church build his work build his work and so we see that the giving of the holy spirit was for a reason the preaching of the word was for a reason the gathering of the saints is for a reason the doctrine that is giving the fellowship we have with him and with one another is for a reason to build capacity in his church so
[59:14] that he can add more our praying is for a reason every commonality and unity we have is to strengthen so that others can be added god is adding to his church as he saves men and women and may we make ourselves available for god to use us for the adding of to his church amen hallelujah praise god thank you father thank you father thank you for listening to this message by david entry we pray you have been revived towards god you can connect with david entry on all relevant social media platforms including instagram and youtube you can also hear more messages from david entry on all relevant streaming platforms and the carriage church app don't forget to like and share the message be blessed