Meet Me In The Mundane

[0:00] I want to talk to you for a few moments this morning. I won't take a very long time, but I want to speak to you from this subject. Meet me in the mundane.

[0:11] Meet me in the mundane. Acts chapter 2, 46 and 47. It says this, So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.

[0:40] And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Let's pray. Father, in Jesus name, I thank you for an opportunity to share your word.

[0:53] I pray over every heart and over every mind, God, that we would be open and attentive to hear, to receive your word and to be changed by it.

[1:04] I pray, God, that you would speak to us through your word. I thank you, Lord, that your word not only brings power, but it is power. I thank you, Father, that your word does not only bring life, but your word is life.

[1:20] Because, Jesus, you said that the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. So, Father, I pray that your word would breathe life into the weary soul this morning.

[1:34] In Jesus name. And everyone said a great big amen. Meet me in the mundane. Meet me in the mundane.

[1:44] I want you to notice at the first verse that we just read, at the beginning of it, it says, Continuing daily with one accord. Continuing daily with one accord.

[1:58] I want you to realize that this is the same exact chapter where we have the account of the day of Pentecost. Pentecost. When God poured his spirit out upon the 120 in the upper room.

[2:12] And if you go down to the end of that chapter, what we just read, it says that they continued daily with one accord. We see on the day of Pentecost, and we often like to quote the fact that they were in the upper room, and it says that they were in one place with one accord.

[2:32] So, in other words, they were dwelling together in unity before God poured his spirit out. Why is that? It's because the God that we serve does not pour his spirit out on division.

[2:47] The God that we serve does not pour his spirit out on chaos. The God that we serve waits until a body of believers is dwelling together in one place with one accord, and then he pours his spirit out.

[3:04] So, what I want to point out is that not only were they with one accord in unity in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, but they continued with one accord after they left the upper room.

[3:19] It's easy to be on the same page with other believers on a Sunday morning service, but I want to know, are you still in unity when you leave the four walls of the church?

[3:31] Do you still believe in your brother and in your sister in Christ when you leave the four walls of the church, or are we only dwelling in unity on Sunday morning from 10 to 12?

[3:45] We've got to continue daily with one accord. Like I said, this is the same chapter where we hear about the day of Pentecost, where God poured his spirit out, and we see at the end that they continue with one accord.

[4:02] So, on the day of Pentecost, we have to think about the Holy Spirit as a dove. The dove descended on the people, but you have to think about if a dove rests on your shoulder, you can't move any old way because you'll scare the dove away.

[4:21] There's a walk that you have to walk, and there's a talk that you have to talk after you get endued with power so that when you leave the upper room, you live a life worthy of God's Spirit.

[4:38] I want to tell you this morning that I'm thankful for Sundays. Is anybody else thankful for Sundays? I'm thankful. I love Sundays.

[4:50] God has met me time and time again on Sundays. I got saved on a Sunday. I gave my life to Christ on a Sunday.

[5:05] I've had an encounter with God after encounter with God after encounter with God on a Sunday. I look forward to gathering with the body of Christ and worshiping our King on a Sunday.

[5:20] I'm so thankful for Sundays, but as much as I love Sundays, I'm afraid that we have a surplus of Sunday saints, but not enough Monday missionaries.

[5:36] We've got a lot of people who know how to smile and say I'm blessed and highly favored on Sunday, and they know the lyrics to the songs, and they shout amen, but if you looked at their life on Monday, their life says, I don't know God.

[5:56] There's a life that we have to live if we're going to be disciples of Jesus Christ. We've got a surplus of Sunday saints, but we're in desperate and dire need of Monday missionaries.

[6:16] See, we shout on Sundays, but we're messy on Mondays. We live right in the church, but we don't live right when we leave the church, and we think that just because we've come in the church and checked it off of our to-do list and done our Christian duties, that we're right with God.

[6:37] But you can sit in church your whole life and end up in hell. You can sit in church your whole life and miss heaven.

[6:49] I don't want to sit in church my whole life and miss heaven. You can do the Christian duties and not know Christ. That's a life that we must live.

[7:03] The Bible says that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. See, I want to tell you this morning that we can have church, and I'm all about having church, but I'm not all about having church if it doesn't translate into being the church.

[7:24] Because we can come in here every Sunday and have a good time in God, and God will truly meet us if we gather in His name. That's a promise of the Scriptures.

[7:35] But we've got to be sure that what we do on Sundays translates over into our Mondays. Does anybody believe that this morning? There's nothing wrong.

[7:50] Hear me. There's nothing wrong with desiring to hear life-changing sermons. We want to hear all the time. We long to hear a life-changing sermon or a life-changing message from God.

[8:06] But I want to submit to you today. I want to tell you that the life change that you're looking for, the life change that you're longing and desiring for is not found in a sermon.

[8:19] The life change that you're looking for is actually locked up in your application of the sermon. We want a feel-good message that makes us temporarily follow Jesus, but doesn't actually hold us accountable.

[8:36] We've got to have not just the milk of the Word, but we need the meat of the Word. Listen, having church is meaningless if we don't know how to be the church Monday through Saturday.

[8:52] You consume church, but you never contribute to your community. It's an issue when a church has been in a city for 50 years and the city looks the exact same way, if not worse, because the church is called to change the community.

[9:10] The church is called to change the city. We've got to be the church. We can't be as concerned with how many we persuade to come into the four walls.

[9:26] We've got to be more concerned with how many we equip to leave the four walls. See, our focus has to shift from who's coming in to who's going out.

[9:41] We can't be so concerned with how many we have on a Sunday morning service if none of them are equipped or taught or trained to go out and do the work of the ministry.

[9:52] See, let me tell you, a majority of salvations should not be happening within the four walls. I believe that God saves people on a Sunday morning.

[10:03] I got saved on a Sunday morning within the church building. But what should happen is that the believers that are in the building should be equipped and trained to go and do the work of the ministry, to go and do the saving, to go and do the evangelism, to go and do the preaching because preaching is not just the pastor's job.

[10:25] And really, you don't have to be a preacher to be a preacher. You don't need a microphone to be a minister. You don't have to be on the platform to preach the gospel.

[10:36] In fact, if you have placed faith in Jesus Christ, you have a mandate on your life to go and preach the gospel to all creation.

[10:51] Listen, we know how to follow Jesus in the miraculous moments, but not so much in the mundane moments.

[11:04] We know how to follow Jesus on Sunday mornings, but not so much on Monday mornings. If we're going to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ, we can't just follow Him in the miraculous moments.

[11:20] We can't just follow Him for His miracles and what He can bless us with. We have to follow Him in the mundane. Meet me in the mundane.

[11:32] Listen, in the Bible, the disciples were not referred to as disciples because they went to Jesus on Sundays.

[11:43] They were referred to as disciples because they met with Jesus in the mundane. And I want you to hear this today.

[11:54] If you don't hear anything else, I want you to hear this. The test of true discipleship is found in how often and how consistently you meet with Jesus.

[12:07] Not in the miraculous moments, but in the mundane moments. Let me say it again. The test of true discipleship discipleship is found in how often and how consistently you meet with Jesus.

[12:23] Not in the miraculous moments, but in the mundane moments. I want you to think about the disciples in the Gospels and what separated the disciples from the crowds was that the crowds met with Jesus for the miracles.

[12:43] The crowds gathered when Jesus came by to receive a miracle, but the disciples met with Jesus in the mundane moments before and after the miracles.

[12:59] They didn't just show up when Jesus was having a service. They showed up and ate with Jesus and talked with Jesus and walked with Jesus in the mundane moments.

[13:12] You see God's hand. I want you to realize this. You see God's hand in the miraculous moments, but you find His heart in the mundane moments.

[13:26] You see His hand. You see His power. You see a demonstration of the miraculous in those miraculous, powerful God moments, but you find His heart when you sit down in your living room or at your counter, at your table with the Bible open and coffee and you pray and you find God's heart in those mundane moments.

[13:55] You see His hand in the miraculous, but you find His heart in the mundane. I want you to notice that the crowds were focused on what Jesus could do, but the disciples were focused on who Jesus was.

[14:12] And when you only ever focus on what He can do, you'll miss who He is. But when you finally get to the place where you seek Him for who He is, you'll get what He can do.

[14:27] But if you only ever focus on what He can do, you always miss out on who He is. So my question to you this morning is are you seeking the miracle or are you seeking the Maker?

[14:42] If you only ever seek the miracle, you miss the Maker. But when you seek the Maker, you get the miracle as an automatic byproduct.

[14:54] The Bible says it like this. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all the things will be added. But if you only ever seek after the things, you miss God.

[15:08] But when you seek God, you get the things. The crowds benefited from Jesus, but the disciples became like Jesus.

[15:22] Notice that Jesus gave parables. He taught in parables to the crowds, but He explained the parables to the disciples.

[15:33] Whenever there were large crowds, all He did was give parables and teach them in that way. But when the crowds left and the disciples stayed, Jesus gave the disciples the actual revelation of the parables.

[15:48] I want you to look at somebody beside you and say, the disciples get the revelation. The disciples get the revelation. Jesus is all about miracles.

[16:02] And Jesus is all about preaching and teaching. And Jesus is all about moving in the supernatural. But He was also about fishing and breaking bread and going on walks.

[16:15] He was not untouchable. The Bible actually says that we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin.

[16:34] I'm so thankful that I serve a touchable Jesus. He's not unrelatable. Let me tell you this.

[16:44] Talking about meet me in the mundane. I want you to realize that seriousness is not a fruit of the Spirit. Being deep and spiritual is not a fruit of the Spirit.

[16:59] I believe that this world needs more Christians who can smile. This world needs more Christians who have joy because joy is a fruit of the Spirit.

[17:11] But deep and serious is not. And I can't stand to be around Christians who don't know how to smile or know how to laugh or know how to have a good time because what does it show the world if we walk around looking like we're depressed all the time?

[17:29] Why would they want what we've got if we don't have the joy of the Lord in our lives? They're struggling with depression. They're struggling with anxiety.

[17:40] We need to have the joy of the Lord. We need to have something to offer them. Does anybody believe that this morning? Amen. Amen. Amen. I want you to know this that when you seek Jesus in the mundane moments when you seek Him in the day-to-day things what happens is this the mundane becomes the miraculous the ordinary becomes the extraordinary the common becomes the uncommon and the natural becomes the supernatural.

[18:17] I don't want to just seek Jesus for what He can do for me. I don't want to just seek Him for what He can bless me with. I'm thankful for His blessings but I don't want to just serve Him so that He can serve me.

[18:33] I want to serve Him just to be with Him. I want to just dwell and to bask in His presence. the mundane moments become miraculous moments when you realize finally that God's presence is the prize.

[18:52] It's not about anything that He can do for you. It's about being in His presence. May our hearts desire change from what He can do to who He is.

[19:06] may our prayers change from a list of requests not that that's a bad thing but may our prayers change from a list of requests to God make me more like you.

[19:20] God mold me into your image. Make me more like the Son of God. Enough with a consumer mentality. Enough with a consumer Christianity.

[19:34] that's all about what I can get and what the pastor can give me. Sooner than later you've got to learn to get a word from God for yourself.

[19:46] You can't rely on the pastor and you can't rely see because when the devil attacks you tomorrow morning you're not going to have a worship team in front of you and you're not going to have a preacher preaching to you and you're going to have to be able to get into the presence of God by yourself.

[20:04] I want you to think about it like this. Imagine if you only ever went to your earthly father when you wanted something. It'd be a very shallow relationship.

[20:17] How would it feel for those of you who are fathers in the room if your child only ever came to you when they wanted something? Although you want to bless your children although you want to give them gifts although you want to give them things the best moments are when your child comes to you just to be with you just to spend time with you and how do you think God feels when we only ever go to him when we're in need and don't get me wrong he wants you to come to him when you're in need and when you have requests and when you are in need of a miracle but the best times that you can go to your heavenly father is when you go to him just to be with him I want to read this scripture from Judges chapter 13 verse 25 Judges chapter 13 and verse 25 and I want to explain what I'm trying to teach you like Pastor Steve would explain it can I do that?

[21:28] Judges 13 25 it says and the spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtol and the spirit of the Lord began to move him at times talking about Samson God gave Samson what this scripture is telling us is that God gave Samson special strength from time to time the spirit of the Lord came upon Samson from time to time God gave him special strength from time to time I like to refer to these as God moments does anybody know what I'm talking about when you couldn't do it on your own but God came in right at the nick of time and gave you special strength that you didn't have within your own self and helped you to accomplish something that you couldn't do by yourself that happens from time to time and we're so thankful for that but although

[22:35] God gives us that strength from time to time how are you spending your in between times because God will meet you time to time and he'll give you those special miracles from time to time and he'll give you that specific increase that you need from time to time but Pastor Steve would say how are you spending your in between times not how are you spending your miraculous moments how are you spending your mundane moments how are you spending your time with the Lord when you're not in church is the only time that you hear the Bible on Sunday morning yeah let's be real is the only time that you hear the word of God is when a preacher is reading it to you or do you know how to open your Bible for yourself and seek God for yourself because what happens in here has to translate to out there what happens on Sunday morning has to translate into Monday morning how do you spend your in between times if you'll stand to your feet all across the room this morning

[23:53] I'm going to read this last verse as the praise team is is on their way back I want to ask you this question if there's a devil that wants to attack and to destroy you seven days a week why would you only spend time with God one to two days a week yeah if there's an enemy that's trying to destroy you at any cost at any and at all cost he's trying to get you off of the right path he's trying to derail you and get you distracted from what God has called you to do if there is an enemy that is attacking you seven days a week why would you only serve the Lord on Sunday morning we have to quit just being Sunday saints there's nothing wrong with that but it's got to translate into being

[24:58] Monday missionaries let me close with this verse this is a very popular verse 1st Peter chapter 5 verse 8 I'm going to read it from the amplified version it says this be sober well balanced and self disciplined be alert and cautious at all times that enemy of yours the devil prowls around like a roaring lion fiercely hungry seeking someone to devour I don't want this body of believers to be a Sunday morning to have a Sunday morning mindset I want our community to look different I want our world to look different I want us to translate what happens in here to what happens out there I pray that God would do something in our hearts that would prick us tomorrow morning to open up our

[26:01] Bible I pray that God would do something in our hearts that would encourage us and challenge us and change us to the point where on Tuesday afternoon we're driving down the road and we decide to turn the worship music on and begin to get into the presence of God because God does not want to just meet you once a week God wants to be involved in the intricate details of your life God wants to transform you from the inside out and make you like him but he can't do that if all he has to work with is an hour and a half see we serve him for an hour on Sundays but there's 167 other hours of the week how do you spend those I'm really not concerned with how you spend the one hour it's easy to be a Christian on Sunday mornings when everybody besides you is worshiping and the presence of

[27:02] God is here and the power of God is here it's easy to be a Christian it's easy to feel like you're in the will of God but what do you do when you leave how do you talk to your spouse when you leave how do you treat your children when you leave how is your life there's a verse that I read the other day and it asks or it tells us that there will come a day where Jesus will judge our secret life there's coming a day not where not where he will judge the fact that you went to church and you were a Christian and those that were around you believed you followed Christ but there's coming a day where God will judge your secret life a lot of us try to separate our public life and our private life but according to the word of God you can't actually do that you can't actually separate the two because what happens in your private life will always overflow into your public life every head bowed every eye closed