WEBVTT 00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:06.700 sermon of this new series on community. So I would like you to take the Word of God and turn to Acts 00:00:06.700 --> 00:00:13.939 chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. As you turn there, I want to reassure you that I will not be leading 00:00:13.939 --> 00:00:19.940 worship every Sunday. I don't think I could handle that, all right? The only reason I'm doing it this 00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:25.400 Sunday is our new worship and youth minister, Jared Adams. Well, his wife, Lindsay, had their 00:00:25.399 --> 00:00:33.079 baby last week. So yeah, that's something to get excited about. We are very excited. I'm sure she's 00:00:33.079 --> 00:00:39.219 very excited to have that little human out of her and in the house now. So just keep them in prayer 00:00:39.219 --> 00:00:43.560 right now as they've got a little two-year-old who's, you know, going to be so willing to give 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:49.960 up all the attention to the new baby, right? That's how that works. Now, they're grateful to have a 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:56.880 happy and healthy baby and mama during this time. So the Adams will be back with us very soon, and he 00:00:56.880 --> 00:01:04.240 should be back up here next Sunday leading worship for us. But I used to do that back in days past. 00:01:04.359 --> 00:01:10.260 I actually had the exact same job that Jared Adams has here. I was serving as a music and youth 00:01:10.260 --> 00:01:16.840 minister in a different church. And yeah, I'm really glad God called me to pastor. So it's a blessing. 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:21.320 But I miss getting to lead worship every once in a while, but I'm glad I don't have to do that and 00:01:21.320 --> 00:01:29.079 preach every Sunday. So that's a blessing. But let's look at Acts chapter 2, and we are starting a 00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:35.920 series on community. This is intentional because we are launching our discipleship groups or dGroups 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:42.200 on September 8th. So it's right around the corner. We basically got the details ironed out, just waiting 00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:46.820 on a couple of last things before we unveil all that information to you, and you'll be able to sign 00:01:46.819 --> 00:01:54.199 up for a dGroup both in person here on September 8th or on through our church app when we get that up 00:01:54.199 --> 00:02:01.439 and running as well. So this is very intentional at this moment, as I said, because community is an 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:08.939 essential ingredient to the Christian life. Let me say that again. Community is an essential ingredient 00:02:08.939 --> 00:02:18.180 to the Christian life. If you are a child of God, and you don't have a regular, dependable Christian community 00:02:18.180 --> 00:02:26.759 surrounding you, then you're missing out on one of the essential aspects of this life that God intends you 00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:33.620 to live on this earth as we prepare for heaven. So let me share this quote from you. As we look at Acts chapter 2, 00:02:33.620 --> 00:02:39.400 we're going to be taking some lessons over the next few weeks from the early church when God established 00:02:39.400 --> 00:02:47.020 his New Testament church here on earth. What did they do? What did he have them do? And what lessons can 00:02:47.020 --> 00:02:55.819 we learn from that centuries later as we are still continuing on with the church that God established? 00:02:56.060 --> 00:03:01.379 So what are these lessons we can learn? Well, I've been quoting him quite recently lately, 00:03:01.379 --> 00:03:06.519 and that's because Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote down a lot of great theological points in his study of 00:03:06.519 --> 00:03:09.719 the Bible, and this is something that applies directly to what we're talking about today. 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:18.460 The church is the church only when it exists for others. Say that again. The church is the church 00:03:18.460 --> 00:03:24.019 only when it exists for others. You say, well, the church should only exist for God. Yes, 00:03:24.020 --> 00:03:34.400 but if it exists for God, then it must serve at the pleasure of God. The good thing is God has 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:41.460 determined and clearly stated in scripture how he wants the church to serve and whom he wants the 00:03:41.460 --> 00:03:49.180 church to serve, and that is others. So that's why last fall, almost a year ago, we started in on a 00:03:49.180 --> 00:03:55.980 series called We Are the Church, and we said this. Let's see if y'all can remember back that far. I 00:03:55.980 --> 00:04:02.439 know there's been a couple of sermons in between. We don't just go to church. We are the church. Y'all 00:04:02.439 --> 00:04:09.600 are good, man. Well done. Pat yourselves on the back. That's right. We don't just... No, don't pat 00:04:09.600 --> 00:04:14.900 yourselves on the back because it's not about you, okay? It's not about you. It's not about me. It's 00:04:14.900 --> 00:04:23.000 about God, and God says it's about them. The church exists as the vehicle to carry the mission of God, 00:04:23.079 --> 00:04:31.079 the commandments of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world around us. We are supposed to advance 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:36.259 the kingdom of God on this earth, so the church does not exist for me. It doesn't exist for you. 00:04:36.259 --> 00:04:43.079 It exists for others, and thank God it does because I was one of those others, and so were you. 00:04:44.899 --> 00:04:49.719 So the church is the church when it exists for others. Let's look at the scriptures. Acts chapter 00:04:49.719 --> 00:04:56.079 2 and verse 42. For this sermon today, I'm reading from the New Living Translation. All the believers 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:59.539 devoted themselves. Y'all, would you mind joining us in standing? I know you've been up and down this 00:04:59.539 --> 00:05:04.299 service, and I apologize, but if you're able to, just out of honor for the word of God, would you 00:05:04.299 --> 00:05:09.919 mind joining us in standing if you're able to? If health prevents you, that's totally fine. Acts 2 and 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:16.040 verse 42. All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and to 00:05:16.040 --> 00:05:24.080 sharing in meals, including the Lord's Supper, and to prayer. And what happened? A deep sense of awe 00:05:24.080 --> 00:05:31.160 came over them all. The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders, and all the believers 00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:39.939 met together in one place and shared everything they had. Man, this is an amazing picture of this 00:05:39.939 --> 00:05:49.140 community of believers. Not exactly what we think of when we think of church today, but they had nailed 00:05:49.140 --> 00:05:58.780 down this sense of Christian community. And let's pick it up in verse 45. They went so far as they sold 00:05:58.779 --> 00:06:05.259 their property and possessions, shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the 00:06:05.259 --> 00:06:15.699 temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity. 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:25.159 Verse 47. All the while, praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day, 00:06:25.160 --> 00:06:31.480 what happened? The Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:41.940 Each day, the Lord added those who were being saved. Kind of seems like it's implying here 00:06:41.940 --> 00:06:51.740 that people were being saved daily. This was a powerful move of God in the first century church. 00:06:51.740 --> 00:07:04.139 The church got off to an unprecedented start. Nobody had seen a movement like this take off so fast, 00:07:04.980 --> 00:07:17.960 thrive so incredibly. And now centuries later, the church is still alive. Why? Because they started off 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:26.819 with the key ingredient of community. For a church to survive, we must be in community. Let's pray 00:07:26.819 --> 00:07:32.240 together. God, I pray that you would teach us this principle that you've laid out so clearly in 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:39.919 scripture. And sometimes in this world in which we live, we have to recognize that it might be hardest, 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:44.560 it might be harder than it's ever been before to stay in community with one another. 00:07:46.400 --> 00:07:51.500 So God, I pray that you would empower us by your spirit to overcome that opposition. 00:07:52.420 --> 00:07:58.620 And intentionally be in Christian community with one another. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:07:58.860 --> 00:08:00.200 You may be seated. Thanks for standing. 00:08:00.199 --> 00:08:01.199 Amen. 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:07.699 The first principle I want to leave with you this morning, taken directly from this passage in Acts, 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:16.180 Acts chapter 2 and back in verse 42, is that we study truth together. When we are in community, 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:25.060 we study truth together. So what do we mean by community? Well, I think it gave a pretty good 00:08:25.060 --> 00:08:31.399 picture here in Acts 2 of what the early church meant by community. We see how they practiced 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:37.639 community with one another. So there are four essential ingredients to Christian community, 00:08:37.639 --> 00:08:43.019 and we're going to cover them the next four Sundays. So starting off today is we study truth together. 00:08:43.700 --> 00:08:50.720 Directly in Acts 2 42, it said, all the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:59.960 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. So number one for today, there is unity in our 00:08:59.960 --> 00:09:09.040 community. I thought that was pretty clever. Like that's got to stick in their minds, man. Unity in 00:09:09.040 --> 00:09:17.100 community. We can find that, can't we? It's hard to have community if you're not united around truth. 00:09:17.100 --> 00:09:24.440 Might change that a little bit. It's impossible to have community if you're not united around truth. 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:33.840 There have to be some core truths that you accept and you all agree on, or else you just cannot have 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:41.180 community. You can't get along. Now you're never going to have unity in all areas. So let me get that 00:09:41.179 --> 00:09:47.599 dead out of the way at the beginning. I dress differently than you do. You dress differently 00:09:47.599 --> 00:09:53.299 than I do. Ladies, you should be very thankful for that. I would not look good in your outfits. 00:09:54.799 --> 00:10:01.159 We have differences between us, right? How many of you are Texas Longhorn fans? Get your horns up. 00:10:01.259 --> 00:10:09.819 Let's go. Come on. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Matt Murphy up. Yes. Wow. I saw a horns down up there. I know that 00:10:09.820 --> 00:10:15.780 wasn't from a Murphy. I know that wasn't from a Murphy. How many of y'all are gigamaggies? Anybody? 00:10:16.680 --> 00:10:23.200 I should put that down. Somebody's going to take a picture, use it as blackmail. How about 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:31.100 Reckham Tech? Yeah, there you go. Sickum Bears, anybody? No. Yeah. Up here, this means more like 00:10:31.100 --> 00:10:37.720 Bearcats, right? That's, okay, that's Bearcats. This is, I don't know. Yeah. My parents went to Baylor. 00:10:37.720 --> 00:10:43.100 That's all right. We don't need to go anywhere else, do we? Do we have any Sooner fans up here? 00:10:43.399 --> 00:10:55.879 Oh, I'm sorry. Just, boomer. Boomer. Sooner. Yay, land thieves. That's great. What? Do it again. Nope, 00:10:55.960 --> 00:11:04.040 nope. Put the phone down, boy. All right. Somebody take his phone away, please. Yeah, look, the point is, 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:08.699 we're never going to be united on in everything. Now, the truth is, we can have fun with sports, 00:11:08.699 --> 00:11:12.559 and college football started yesterday. Anybody watching college football yesterday? I got to 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:16.719 watch a little bit before our steak and shoot, and that was fun. Pretty good games, pretty good games 00:11:16.719 --> 00:11:22.059 going on, but next week, kind of the big games start. We're never going to agree on everything. 00:11:22.059 --> 00:11:32.719 There's no holiday people in here, are there? I'm just going to pretend like I didn't see that. Oh, 00:11:32.779 --> 00:11:39.799 my goodness. Yeah, that's true. You do live out there. We're fairly united in this room on Bearcats, 00:11:40.039 --> 00:11:44.399 but, you know, there's some other, as far as that rivalry goes, there's plenty of other schools 00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:49.819 represented in here, though. We got Midway, we got Bellevue, we got whatever else out here. 00:11:49.820 --> 00:11:53.500 Petrolia, Petrolia, that's a big one. What else we got out here? 00:11:55.360 --> 00:12:00.400 There you go. All right. Yeah. So, we're never going to be united on everything. The truth is, 00:12:00.460 --> 00:12:05.440 though, some of those casual things, say, that's not casual, man. That's religion in Texas. That's 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:12.080 right. It is. Probably more than it should be, but we won't go there today. The truth is, there are 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:17.900 some pretty serious issues that we're not always united on, you know? There might be different political 00:12:17.899 --> 00:12:25.319 leanings of people in this room. There might be different philosophies on history. There might be 00:12:25.319 --> 00:12:31.279 different philosophies on civil issues, social issues. There might be different philosophies on 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:36.259 what's right and wrong sometimes. Now, you can only go so far with that because the Bible is pretty clear 00:12:36.259 --> 00:12:44.299 usually on what's right and wrong, but there is room for disagreement on issues that are not 00:12:44.299 --> 00:12:52.279 absolutely primary and essential. There are secondary issues, and you and I are not always going to be 00:12:52.279 --> 00:13:00.799 united on every secondary issue, and that's okay. With some people, it might affect how much we get 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:09.579 together and hang out, and that's okay. As long as we can remain in community with one another, 00:13:09.580 --> 00:13:17.480 as long as we can remain in Christian fellowship with one another, with hearts of love toward one 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:25.160 another, then we can have unity in our community, okay? So what are we talking about when we say 00:13:25.160 --> 00:13:32.700 unity in community? All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. All the believers. 00:13:32.700 --> 00:13:41.780 They were unified in their understanding that community was vital to what they were trying to do. 00:13:42.300 --> 00:13:49.920 It was absolutely essential. It was indispensable. There wasn't an option of whether or not we're going 00:13:49.920 --> 00:13:57.740 to be in community. It was all of us are going to join together in community. One of the reasons was 00:13:57.740 --> 00:14:05.740 they were under persecution. It was not socially acceptable to be doing what they were doing, 00:14:05.740 --> 00:14:11.620 so they had to band together. Little rabbit trail here. Just permit me this for a second, 00:14:11.680 --> 00:14:19.879 and we'll get back to it. You know what's interesting? Our natural reaction is to push back against opposition. 00:14:19.879 --> 00:14:29.059 What if God wants to use opposition to the Christian faith to get us back to the world of the early 00:14:29.059 --> 00:14:37.960 church when the church thrived more than it ever has before? The church thrived when people were trying 00:14:37.960 --> 00:14:45.320 to put the fire out, when they were trying to throw governments, other religions, philosophers were trying 00:14:45.320 --> 00:14:53.379 to throw water on the fire of Christianity that was spreading, and nobody could stamp it out. What if God 00:14:53.379 --> 00:15:05.020 wants to take a somewhat apathetic church and put them in a place of hardship where then it begins to grow 00:15:05.020 --> 00:15:13.460 again? It begins to thrive again. So we have to be careful when we push so hard against opposition. 00:15:13.460 --> 00:15:20.340 God might be using that opposition to get us to where he wants us to be. So all the believers were 00:15:20.340 --> 00:15:28.620 united in their community. Psalm 133 is a great principle to learn how good and pleasant it is when 00:15:28.620 --> 00:15:35.160 God's people live together in unity. And we'll talk a little bit more about what that unity looks like, 00:15:35.340 --> 00:15:42.720 but the principle is there. They were united in their need for community and their valuing of community. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:49.080 So how many of y'all know who the little guy in the white uniform with the basketball is? Anybody? 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:57.620 Anybody? You can say his name if you know. Steph Curry. There we go. Anybody know who the big tall guy is? 00:15:57.700 --> 00:16:05.700 Probably not. His name's Kevin Love. He played for a long time. He was pretty good actually, but by this 00:16:05.700 --> 00:16:11.480 time he was getting a little bit older and he's a big tall guy, about six foot, 10 inches, and the other 00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:19.460 guy's probably six foot, two inches or so. And yeah, Kevin Love is in a world of hurt right now, okay? 00:16:20.300 --> 00:16:29.420 Why do you think that is? He is in what is called isolation defense, and he should not be. 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:35.840 His place, when they're playing defense on basketball, trying to keep the other team from scoring, 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:41.800 just to help you with what that is, his place is down by the basket where he doesn't have to run around 00:16:41.800 --> 00:16:46.879 a whole lot. He can just kind of stand there, big tall guy, and block the shots, okay? He should never 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:54.620 be as far out as he is trying to guard a guy as small and quick as Steph Curry. So he's about to get 00:16:54.620 --> 00:17:01.879 shook up. He's about to get taken to school, whatever. He is in isolation. 00:17:01.879 --> 00:17:14.299 They call it ISO for short. When you and I are in ISO against the devil, we're going to lose. 00:17:15.660 --> 00:17:22.819 We're going to lose every time. So I'm more powerful than the devil. No, you're not. And I'm not either. 00:17:22.819 --> 00:17:35.240 God is. But you're still living in your sinful flesh, and the devil rules the kingdom of sinful flesh. 00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:43.879 You can't match up against him. Funny thing is, take the devil out of the equation. You're no match for 00:17:43.879 --> 00:17:52.079 your own sinful flesh. I'm not either. Guys, when I move away from the Spirit's voice in my life, 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:57.439 I lose every time. And it doesn't just affect me. It affects the people closest to me. 00:17:58.259 --> 00:18:05.220 I can't make it in isolation. I'm going to get taken to school every time. And you will too. 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:12.519 That's why community is so important. God did not design this life for us to live it alone. 00:18:13.379 --> 00:18:19.259 That's why God established the church. That's why God established the family. That's why God said, 00:18:19.259 --> 00:18:22.599 where two or three are gathered together, I'm there with them. That's why he said, 00:18:22.680 --> 00:18:29.339 in the multitude of counselors, there is safety. He said, you are meant to walk with me and walk 00:18:29.339 --> 00:18:34.440 with each other. Because he knew we would need people that we can see in front of us. We would 00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:40.480 need people that we can hear their voices when they talk. And he can use them. He can work through 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:45.700 them. He can speak through them. And we can encourage one another, pick one another up, carry one another 00:18:45.700 --> 00:18:53.120 through. So don't be in isolation. All right. Don't get caught in this situation when it's you 00:18:53.120 --> 00:18:59.819 versus your flesh or you versus Satan. There is unity in our community. We must be unified. Don't 00:18:59.819 --> 00:19:04.059 be the one. Don't be the one who's pushing back. Don't be the one who's out there. Oh, don't worry, 00:19:04.120 --> 00:19:09.080 guys. I got this. And the rest of the team's like, no, you don't. He's about to kill you, dude. 00:19:09.079 --> 00:19:13.819 No way in the world. No, it's going to take the whole team. It's going to take the whole team 00:19:13.819 --> 00:19:19.539 working together. So number two, we're committed to community. Unity in our community and then 00:19:19.539 --> 00:19:26.039 committed to community. It takes a commitment. Look back at Acts 2 again, verse 42. All the believers 00:19:26.039 --> 00:19:32.099 devoted themselves. Miss Sarah highlighted it with the children up here just a minute ago. There was a 00:19:32.099 --> 00:19:39.059 level of commitment there. There was a level of devotion there. There was a loyalty to the team. 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:48.099 There was a loyalty to the family of God. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 24. Let us think of ways to 00:19:48.099 --> 00:19:55.679 motivate one another to acts of love and good works. Let us not neglect our meeting together. 00:19:56.480 --> 00:20:03.399 That means here in church. That means when you sign up for a dGroup, don't neglect the meeting together 00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:11.759 as some people do. But encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:19.300 drawing near. If there has ever been an age when we need each other, it's today. The forces of Satan 00:20:19.300 --> 00:20:28.259 are all around us. Sin is so easily accessible. It's all around us everywhere. Often coming cloaked in the 00:20:28.259 --> 00:20:36.779 guise of Christianity. So it's important to stay in Christian community so we can discern 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:46.039 together what is right, what is of God. Encourage one another because God's day of return is drawing 00:20:46.039 --> 00:20:52.059 close. How many of y'all ever saw this series on TV a while back? It's been quite a while now. 00:20:52.059 --> 00:20:57.879 Band of Brothers. It came from this book which is actually a historical history book written by 00:20:57.879 --> 00:21:05.559 one of the greatest writers in that genre of all time, Stephen Ambrose. And in this quote, 00:21:06.679 --> 00:21:12.539 the movie was, or the series was a lot of fiction involved but the book was actually historical fact. 00:21:12.740 --> 00:21:18.519 And he put this quote in there, anything they said was better than the blood and the carnage, 00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:23.480 the grime and the filth, the impossible demands made on the body, anything would have been better 00:21:23.480 --> 00:21:32.339 than that except letting down their buddies. They were committed to each other. So I don't want to 00:21:32.339 --> 00:21:40.819 be here, bullets flying at me, people dying all around me, blood, gore everywhere. I don't want to be here. 00:21:40.819 --> 00:21:47.439 But the only thing worse than this would be letting down my brothers in arms. 00:21:49.339 --> 00:21:56.359 My grandfather was a career army made up to Fulberg colonel and then his wife made him get out 00:21:56.359 --> 00:22:04.819 before he could apply for general. But he would say this kind of thing. There is that camaraderie 00:22:04.819 --> 00:22:12.720 between brothers in arms that's unlike anything else. We get a little taste of it with teammates on a team. 00:22:13.559 --> 00:22:22.460 We get a little taste of it in other areas of life. But y'all, the family of God has to have that kind of loyalty. 00:22:23.799 --> 00:22:29.019 God's team of which you and I are members, we got to have that kind of commitment. 00:22:29.019 --> 00:22:37.519 So, there is commitment to our community. We are committed to our community. 00:22:38.119 --> 00:22:45.819 Number three, it's a community of truth. We are all unified in this community. We're all going to be a part. 00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:53.819 We're committed to it. We're not going to let each other down. And then thirdly, this is a community of truth. 00:22:53.819 --> 00:23:01.139 Look back again at Acts 2 and verse 42, the last part here. All the believers devoted themselves to what? 00:23:01.619 --> 00:23:11.019 To the apostles' teaching. That was the truth. It was the scriptures. It was God's word passed down to them. 00:23:11.319 --> 00:23:17.059 They'd been walking with him. They'd written it down and now they were sharing it with one another. 00:23:17.059 --> 00:23:24.399 That was why the church took off. They were committed to the community. They were all going to participate. 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:30.359 And it was committed to truth. It was built on truth. 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:32.899 John 17 and verse 17. 00:23:33.659 --> 00:23:41.019 Holy Father, Jesus said, protect them by your name that you have given me so that they may be one as we are one. 00:23:41.019 --> 00:23:46.220 God and his son. Sanctify them by the truth. Your word 00:23:46.220 --> 00:23:50.720 is truth. What is the truth that we can build our g-groups on? 00:23:51.139 --> 00:23:53.440 It is God's word. What is the truth that we can build 00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:56.799 our church on? It is God's word. What is the truth 00:23:56.799 --> 00:24:00.779 that we can build our home lives on? It is God's truth. 00:24:00.779 --> 00:24:03.759 What is the truth that you and I can rest on? 00:24:04.200 --> 00:24:05.639 It is God's word. 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:09.160 God's truth. His word is truth. 00:24:09.160 --> 00:24:13.920 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15. This is the church of the living God, 00:24:14.040 --> 00:24:18.100 which is the pillar and the foundation of the truth. 00:24:19.580 --> 00:24:27.820 The church, our church, not the building. We don't just go to church. We are the church, right? 00:24:28.320 --> 00:24:35.820 We are supposed to be the pillar and foundation of the truth. That means it is imperative. 00:24:35.819 --> 00:24:43.859 It is so important that you and I ground ourselves in the truth. That means going back to it every day, 00:24:44.700 --> 00:24:50.599 running back to it when voices of lies and falsehood come attacking you all around, 00:24:50.899 --> 00:24:55.359 whether it's at work or at school or on the internet or with family or friends, 00:24:55.439 --> 00:25:00.279 and you hear those lies, sometimes even unintentionally, people are trying to draw 00:25:00.279 --> 00:25:05.519 you off course and you've got to run back to the truth of God's word. 00:25:05.819 --> 00:25:12.079 We must ground ourselves in it. We are the pillar and foundation of the truth. 00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:16.019 Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 19. 00:25:17.299 --> 00:25:21.700 You are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. 00:25:22.119 --> 00:25:26.299 Y'all remember this? Ephesians 2, I think it was the second or third sermon back in our Ephesians 00:25:26.299 --> 00:25:31.159 series toward the beginning of this year. We are built on the foundation of the apostles and 00:25:31.160 --> 00:25:36.480 prophets. Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. So it's setting the stage here 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:42.519 for something really important to tell us. Verse 21, in whom the whole structure, 00:25:43.160 --> 00:25:49.880 this whole structure, the pillar and foundation of the truth, Christ is the cornerstone. We're built up 00:25:49.880 --> 00:26:01.880 into this house. Now, verse 21, the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple 00:26:01.880 --> 00:26:07.800 in the Lord. Let's start there for a second. We're supposed to be joined together, growing. 00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:21.700 Some of us are splintered off and stagnant. But when all the members are joined together, 00:26:22.919 --> 00:26:33.779 God empowers us for growth. God does not want you to be the same Christian you were last year. 00:26:33.779 --> 00:26:43.440 God has been leading you on a journey. Now, maybe you hit pause. Maybe you got off course. 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:52.339 Maybe pride or fear or whatever else drew you away from the footsteps of Jesus. But Jesus is always 00:26:52.339 --> 00:26:57.960 right there, not shaking his fist at you, not saying, what were you thinking? He knows what you were 00:26:57.960 --> 00:27:02.960 thinking. He knows how weak you are. He knows how weak I am. He knows how many times he's had to 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:09.779 pick me back up and put me back where I'm supposed to go. So he's eminently forever patient and faithful 00:27:09.779 --> 00:27:16.880 and long-suffering toward us. But then he wants us to grow again. Then he wants us to join back 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:26.120 together again so he can grow us into a holy temple in the Lord. Verse 22, in him you also are being 00:27:26.119 --> 00:27:33.099 built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Don't be the weak link in the building. 00:27:34.619 --> 00:27:41.500 We are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. You know what the crazy part 00:27:41.500 --> 00:27:48.239 of this is? When you place your faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sin, you repent 00:27:48.239 --> 00:27:53.339 from your sin and you turn toward Jesus and say, God, by faith I believe. I believe you're the Son of God. 00:27:53.339 --> 00:27:58.519 I believe you died for my sins. I believe you rose from the dead. I believe you love me. You're willing 00:27:58.519 --> 00:28:03.879 to save me. Forgive me. Make me your child. God, take me to heaven when I die. I'm yours. 00:28:05.980 --> 00:28:11.720 When you're saved, what we call that, maybe there's somebody in the room that needs to do that today 00:28:11.720 --> 00:28:18.439 before we leave this place, then you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit of God then 00:28:18.440 --> 00:28:23.759 walks with you, talks with you, leads you, protects you, guides you, he's with you all the time. 00:28:24.759 --> 00:28:29.039 That's you. That's you and God. When we come together, 00:28:30.039 --> 00:28:41.500 we start to grow and be built into a dwelling place together jointly for God by the Spirit. 00:28:41.500 --> 00:28:48.880 It's not that the Spirit wasn't there before. He's there with us already. But when enough of us 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:59.339 come together and we're united and we're committed, then the Spirit of God can take over and make it 00:28:59.339 --> 00:29:07.140 this dwelling place where anyone in the company of those believers knows, wow, God is so full in this 00:29:07.140 --> 00:29:15.360 room. I feel his presence. I sense his presence. I sense the unity. I sense that maybe they don't all 00:29:15.360 --> 00:29:20.060 agree on everything, but they sure do agree on God and how much he loves them and how much everybody 00:29:20.060 --> 00:29:29.540 needs to hear about it. Then the Spirit of God has free reign to move. It's a home for him. 00:29:29.539 --> 00:29:43.200 So here's the takeaway. Will I commit to grow with my church community in studying truth together? 00:29:44.200 --> 00:29:54.819 Will I commit to grow in my church community by studying truth together? Over the next few weeks, 00:29:54.819 --> 00:29:59.759 we're going to dive more into this passage. We're going to unpack the different ingredients that 00:29:59.759 --> 00:30:08.619 made this community of God so special and why it set the stage that we are now the direct fruit of 00:30:08.619 --> 00:30:15.059 today. We can trace it back through church history. I got to actually take classes on it in seminary on 00:30:15.059 --> 00:30:19.419 church history and how we trace it all the way back to that early church that started. We read about it 00:30:19.419 --> 00:30:24.720 in the book of Acts. And ever since then, it's spread around the world. And now on every continent, 00:30:24.819 --> 00:30:29.220 of this globe, except maybe Antarctica, I'm not sure if there's any churches there. 00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:36.539 Somebody needs to go reach those scientists, man. On every populated continent on this globe, 00:30:36.539 --> 00:30:43.379 on this globe, there's churches just like ours. How did that happen? How did we get here? How have 00:30:43.379 --> 00:30:51.019 they survived? How has this church survived over a hundred years? How has that happened? By following 00:30:51.019 --> 00:31:00.139 the principles from this book in Acts, that this church, by God's spirit, put into practice is 00:31:00.139 --> 00:31:05.420 community. It's community. We've got to have it. And if you don't intentionally commit to it, 00:31:05.680 --> 00:31:10.980 intentionally recommit to it, intentionally grow in your community, then the community begins to shrink. 00:31:10.980 --> 00:31:16.759 The community begins to die. It begins to grow stale. So by God's grace, lets you and I commit 00:31:16.759 --> 00:31:24.480 to grow with my church community in studying truth together. God, your word is truth. We know that you 00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:31.400 are truth. God, you are the way, the truth, and the life. If anyone would come to the Father, it's got to be 00:31:31.400 --> 00:31:39.119 by you. Church, with our heads bowed right now, if there's anyone who needs to turn to Jesus right now, 00:31:39.400 --> 00:31:44.559 would you slip your hand up so I can pray for you? You say, I need to turn from my sin and turn to Jesus. 00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:49.079 I want to be saved. Never done that. I don't want to do it today before I leave this place. 00:31:49.319 --> 00:31:53.980 Slip your hand up. I'll pray for you. Church, for the rest of you, with our heads bowed, our eyes closed, 00:31:54.859 --> 00:31:59.500 would you say, God's working on me and my heart about making a commitment 00:31:59.500 --> 00:32:06.839 to this church and this community? Maybe I'm already a member. Maybe I'm not a member. Maybe I need to 00:32:06.839 --> 00:32:14.299 join a membership today. But whatever it is, you say, God, I'm willing to commit to the next step. 00:32:14.299 --> 00:32:18.419 And being in community with my church. Would you slip your hand up and say, God's working on me 00:32:18.419 --> 00:32:26.359 about that. I'll pray for you as well. Thank you. Thank you. I'm working on being in community with 00:32:26.359 --> 00:32:32.720 this church. Thank you. You can put your hands down. How many of you would say, God, I pray 00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:42.960 that you would use me to help somebody else. Help challenge somebody else to be in community. Help 00:32:42.960 --> 00:32:48.980 talk to them about how important it is for us to not live this life alone. Say, God's putting somebody 00:32:48.980 --> 00:32:54.480 on my heart that I need to go talk to. Somebody in my mind that I need to go talk to. Say, hey, come be in 00:32:54.480 --> 00:32:59.559 community with me. Whether it's here at the Sunday morning service. Whether it's in the D group when we get 00:32:59.559 --> 00:33:05.480 started. Whether it's in the Sunday school class on Sunday morning. Whatever that place is. 00:33:06.879 --> 00:33:10.619 How many of you would lift your hand and say, God's got somebody on my mind and my heart I need to talk 00:33:10.619 --> 00:33:16.359 to. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. God, you see all the hands. I may not see them all. But God, 00:33:16.559 --> 00:33:21.099 you know exactly who those people are. You know the condition of our hearts. You know what we need. 00:33:21.099 --> 00:33:30.199 So God, by your spirit, illuminate the path to help our community grow. God, we love numbers because 00:33:30.199 --> 00:33:35.679 every number is a person. Every number is a soul that you died for, that you love. But God, more 00:33:35.679 --> 00:33:42.480 important than just having a bunch of people, we want to have people that you can impact, that you can 00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:52.539 join together and accomplish great things for you. God, just draw us to yourself and draw us to each 00:33:52.539 --> 00:33:58.160 other. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Church, would you keep your seats? The ladies are going to 00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:03.599 play. We'll just have a moment of prayer. So if we can just be in an attitude of prayer for a couple 00:34:03.599 --> 00:34:10.219 minutes and then we'll dismiss. But let's see what God has to say to us right now. And if you don't have 00:34:10.219 --> 00:34:15.359 anything else to pray about right now, would you just pray for our church? Pray for our discipleship 00:34:15.359 --> 00:34:20.719 groups that are starting up. Pray for these people who have taken on the responsibility of helping to 00:34:20.719 --> 00:34:26.539 coordinate their group and lead it and facilitate the discussions. Would you pray for them, for God to 00:34:26.539 --> 00:34:33.579 use those powerfully to study truth together, to be in community together. So let's go into prayer right now.