We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christchurch.
This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other
! use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christchurch.
Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at Christchurcheastbay.org.
Good morning and happy Trinity Sunday.
I'm Tonya and I'm a part of the Oikos in the Oaks and the Women Reading Women Friday monthly
book group.
Today's scripture reading is from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 1, verse 8, chapter
2, verse 14a, and verses 37 through 47 as printed in liturgy.
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses
in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
Then Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd.
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other disciples,
Brothers, what shall we do?
Peter replied, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for
the forgiveness of your sins.
And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the promises for you and your children
and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call.
With many other words he warned them and he pleaded with them, Save yourselves from this
corrupt generation.
Those who accepted his message were baptized and about three thousand were added to their
number that day.
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and
to prayer.
Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.
All the believers were together and had everything in common.
They sold property and possessions to give anyone who had need.
Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.
They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God
and enjoying the favor of all the people.
And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Thank you, Tonya, for that reading.
Well, we're considering the question, what is the Christian church?
What is the church's nature?
What's the church's message?
What's the church's mission?
Who are Christians?
What are they supposed to do?
If we want to know the answers to those questions, we need to look at the origins of the church.
We need to go back to the beginning and discover how the church started, what the church did.
And what do we find in the Acts of the Apostles?
We've been just kind of marinating in this text for several weeks now.
What we find is really the only divinely inspired authoritative account of the Christian church.
If you want to know the identity of the church, the task of the church, the character of the church's proclamation,
you need to look at the Acts of the Apostles and the letters of the Apostles in the New Testament.
Because here we have an authoritative statement about what Christianity is and what it really means to be a Christian.
This is God's blueprint for the church.
And it's not just an exercise in theory.
It's a blueprint against which we can test ourselves and we can examine ourselves.
And we can make sure that we're Christians.
We can look at these marks and characteristics of the Christian church and what it's meant to be.
And we can ask, am I like that?
Are we like that?
Do we conform to this pattern that they've set?
Is this true of us?
Is this the sort of thing that we do and are planning to do?
G.K. Chesterton once wrote, he said,
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting.
It has been found difficult and not tried.
And so what we want to do is explore this difficult thing called Christianity.
And we want to try to do it.
And so we want to ask the question today, what are the marks of a healthy church?
What are the marks of a living church?
And I want to talk about five things today.
And don't worry, I've got a plane to catch this afternoon.
So I got to get out of here.
But we're going to talk about a learning church, a caring church, a worshiping church, a praying church, and an evangelizing church.
A learning, caring, worshiping, praying, and evangelizing church.
I want to start with a learning church.
And just look back at verse 41.
One, that those who accepted the apostle Peter's message, that Pentecost day when the Holy Spirit was poured out.
Those who accepted his message were baptized.
And about 3,000 were added to their number that day.
And it says they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.
On Pentecost, the resurrected Jesus poured out the spirit of truth.
And the result was about 120 disciples who were praying there on Pentecost Sunday.
They began to declare the wonderful works that God had done to save humanity through his son, Jesus.
And one of those disciples stood up, Peter, the apostle Peter.
And he preached the first Christian sermon.
And as a result, 3,000 people were called by God.
They were baptized by God.
They were saved by God.
They were added to the number of the church by God that we talked about last week.
And it says that they immediately devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles.
Which means that they were hungry and they were thirsty for doctrine.
They wanted to, and they had a deep desire to learn the truths.
That Jesus had given to his apostles, Peter, John, Matthew, that he was going to give to the apostle Paul.
These spirit-filled Christians, they didn't just stop thinking on Pentecost.
And go, wow, we're filled with the spirit.
Don't have to think anymore.
They didn't neglect their intellect.
They didn't check their brains at the door.
Therefore, they didn't despise theology.
Rather, the Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth, came and made their minds begin to feast on the truth.
Of the divinely inspired and authoritative revelation of God that's given to us in the scriptures.
And was interpreted for us by Jesus and by his apostles.
And this really started, you can go back to Easter Sunday.
Jesus, he was raised from the dead.
And what's one of the first things he does?
He finds two people and he says, let's do a Bible study.
This is Easter Sunday afternoon, okay?
If you're raised from the dead, are you starting a Bible study that afternoon?
Jesus went and he found two people, started a Bible study.
And it says in Luke 24, beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
Jesus explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself.
And Jesus said, he said, everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms.
He'd been doing this for three years.
But when somebody's raised from the dead, you start really paying attention to the Bible study, right?
And don't you wish you had been there?
Jesus pulls out the Old Testament, as it were, and he says, look, this is all about the promises that God made.
And you, my apostles, are going to go and write the New Testament about how all those promises of God have been fulfilled in me.
In my life, in my death, in my resurrection.
In Acts chapter 1, we learn that Jesus spent the next 40 days after his resurrection.
He spent 40 days, all day, every day with his apostles.
And it says he was teaching them about the kingdom of God.
Teaching them about that grand theme of the Bible.
That God is king and he's bringing everything under his kingship through Jesus.
Well, the apostles would do what Jesus told them to do.
Which is that they would go on and they would write it all down.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Romans.
First and second Corinthians.
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians.
First and second Thessalonians.
First and second Peter.
First John.
Hebrews.
All of it is the apostles' teaching.
It's the teaching that Jesus gave to us through the apostles.
And a Christian is somebody who feasts on that.
And they didn't just learn this teaching for one hour a week.
It says in verse 46 that every day they continued to meet together.
They came together regularly and willingly day by day.
When they finished their day's work.
They go to one another's house.
And they would study the Bible.
Because they were hungry and thirsty for the truth.
They were eager to sit at the feet of the apostles and learn.
And they would say, tell us, how is Jesus our prophet and our priest and our king?
How did Jesus in his death, how did he bring God's covenant with his people to a climax?
How did Jesus in his resurrection launch the kingdom of God?
How did Jesus in his life?
What are the, if this is true, how should we then start living?
If that's true.
And this is what they were devouring.
Every day was the doctrine of God's word so they could apply it to their lives.
And let's just pause here for a little bit of application.
If you're exploring Christianity and you do not yet have a modern translation of the Bible,
we want to give you one of those because we're really excited about it.
We think it's great that we have the Bible in our own language and we can have a copy in our hands.
We would love to give you a copy.
And we'd love to encourage you to start reading the Gospel of Mark.
And just read the shortest of the stories of Jesus that we have.
Read it with a Christian friend.
Read it with a group of people.
We actually have an exploring Christianity group that's been meeting on Thursday night.
They would love to welcome you this week to explore the Gospel of Mark.
Secondly, if you are a person who's wanting to learn the big picture of the Bible and the golden thread of the Bible and the great themes of the Bible,
I brought a stack of about six of my favorite children's Bibles today.
And I found that these are not just good for children.
They're wonderful for adults, especially if you like pictures in your books.
These are phenomenal Bibles and I'd encourage you to get one if you don't have one.
And it's a great way to learn the Bible.
But also if you're a parent, if you're a grandparent, I just want to encourage you that part of your, if you're a Christian,
part of your duty, part of your responsibility is to get your kids or your grandkids on a daily IV drip of the apostles' teaching.
And if you don't have a way to do that, I've got a way for you to do that.
Third point of application is that if you're a newer Christian and you're trying to build your life on a solid foundation,
think about the fact that they devoted themselves to gather together before work and after work on a daily basis to learn the apostles' teaching.
They literally could not imagine owning their own copy of one of these and having it at their fingertips.
And they also couldn't imagine owning one of these but only reading it one day a week.
So, if that's you, if you're not, if you've got one of these but you don't really open it very often,
I think Peter and the other apostles will say, you're not yet devoted to the apostles' teaching.
And if you read it about five minutes a day, that's better than nothing.
But I think these first Christians on the day of Pentecost would come to you and they would say,
why are you starving yourself?
Why are you dehydrating yourself?
Aren't you hungry?
Aren't you thirsty?
Fourth point of application is that if you're one of those solo Christians, Lone Ranger Christians,
and you're not yet part of a weekly small group that's reading the Bible together and exploring the Bible together,
I want to encourage you to make that a top priority this summer.
Because we won't grow without other Christians.
We need other Christians to help us learn about the love of God the Father
and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
We need other Christians to help us develop a personal relationship with this God,
the Father who made us and the Son who delivers us and the Holy Spirit who transforms us.
We need other Christians who can help us learn what it means to submit my reason
and to submit my experience to something greater than my reason and my experience.
to God's authoritative word, which is our only infallible rule for faith and practice.
We need other Christians to help us think through all of those downstream moral implications
and all those downstream ethical consequences of the gospel.
What does it mean to live my life in line with the gospel?
What does it mean to live a life worthy of the gospel?
You're not going to figure that out on your own.
And my fifth point of application is that if you're a more established Christian,
I want to remind you of something you probably already know,
which is that the verse 42 is a divinely inspired order.
The teaching and the doctrine is first and most important in all the marks of the church in this series.
Why is that?
Because the teaching defines and the teaching controls and the teaching determines everything else in the life of the church
and the life of a Christian.
And when the church lowers the authority of the teaching,
and when the church puts something else at its center,
the problems that follow are sadly predictable.
If you know anything about the New Testament or the history of the church,
if a church tries to substitute ethics for doctrine,
or politics for the gospel,
or philosophies and isms for the apostles' teaching,
the church is in serious danger.
And the apostle Paul writes to the church in Ephesus about this.
He says in Ephesians 4, he says,
it's possible to be tossed back and forth by the waves
and blown here and there by every wind of teaching,
every wind of doctrine,
and by the cunning and craftiness of people
and their deceitful scheming.
If you want to get a sense for the problems that arise
when churches lower the authority of the teaching
and they put something else at the center,
read Galatians.
Read Corinthians.
Paul's worked up because the church has gotten into a mess.
I have the privilege the next few days
of going to a gathering of pastors.
We're going to be with a great teacher
from the University of Oxford.
His name's N.T. Wright.
He's a great Bible scholar.
And he writes this.
He says,
where no attention is given to teaching
and to constant, lifelong Christian learning,
people quickly revert to the worldview
or mindset of the surrounding culture
and end up with their minds shaped
by whatever social pressures are most persuasive
with Jesus somewhere around
as a pale influence or memory.
And because we don't want that to happen
at Christ Church,
we put together some classes this summer, this fall,
and we hope that they'll help you learn
the apostles' teaching.
We hope that you'll take advantage
of these great opportunities.
But we see that clearly
we're called to be a learning church.
But also we're called to be a caring church.
We're called to be a caring church.
Look at verse 42.
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching
and to fellowship.
The message of the apostles,
the message of Peter,
led to this inward change.
And then that inward change
was expressed outwardly
through these 3,000 baptisms.
And the reason they immediately
devoted themselves to the teaching
and to fellowship
is because these people
had been born again from above
by the Holy Spirit.
This is how Peter puts it.
Peter who preached that sermon,
he wrote a letter called 1 Peter.
And he says in 1 Peter 2,
he says,
like newborn babies,
crave pure spiritual milk
so that by it you may grow up
in your salvation.
That's what fellowship is about.
Fellowship is about
having the same cravings.
Fellowship is about
being a bunch of newborn babies
that are growing up
to become like Jesus.
You see,
that word fellowship
has become so watered down
that,
and so,
so shallow,
so superficial
that we think
the word fellowship means
that we'll gather together
two or three Sundays a month.
We'll get together
in a church building.
We will shake hands.
We'll do a thing
for about an hour.
We'll have a cup of coffee.
We'll be friendly and nice
and we'll go home.
We'll come back
and we'll do it again.
But the word koinonia
in Greek,
that word koinonia
means a deep sharing in common.
And what is it
that we share in common?
Peter says we're newborn babies
who are sharing
the same new life.
We're sharing
in the same cravings
for the same nourishment.
and we've been born
of the same spirit.
We've been regenerated.
We've experienced
the new birth.
We've had the divine life
of God the Father
planted in our souls
so that we now
are members.
We're sons and daughters
of a royal family.
We're rejoicing
in the same king
and the same savior.
That's the koinonia.
We share Jesus together
and we delight
in the same message
about Jesus.
We delight
in the same teaching
of Jesus.
We've come into
this realm
of grace
so that we share
in the resurrection
life of Jesus.
We share in the righteousness
of Jesus
and all of our eyes
are fixed
on the same person
and on the same thing.
We're looking out
to where we're going.
We're looking out
to the eternal glory
for which we're
preparing ourselves.
that is what
fellowship means.
That's what we share
in common.
The new life
of God.
The new cravings
for God
and that cannot help
but express itself
and that's why
they were meeting together
every morning
and every evening
before and after work
because they said
to themselves
if we've been united
by these eternal bonds
in the spirit
with Jesus
and in the presence
of the Father
well we've got to
express that
in real life
and that's why
the Apostle John
said in 1 John 3
he said we know
that we pass
from death
to life
because we love
the brothers
and we love
the sisters
and from that moment
that those 3,000
were converted
and baptized
nothing could keep
them away
from Christian fellowship.
Nothing of lesser worth
nothing of lesser priority
was going to crowd out
or distract them
from Christian fellowship
because it had become
the biggest thing
it had become
the deepest thing
in their lives
and how do we know that?
Well look at verse 44
it says
all the believers
were together
and had everything
in common
they sold property
and possessions
to give to anyone
who had need.
they put their money
where their mouth was.
The first fruit
of the Holy Spirit
is love
and when needs
began to arise
in the community
they began
to practice love
they began
to practice
radical
voluntary
generosity
because they thought
to themselves
well the father
shared his son
and the son
shared his life
and therefore
we
are going to mirror
the gracious
generosity of God
by sharing our resources
to care for our brothers
and sisters in Christ.
They were not just
devoting that most
precious resource
of their time
but they also said
that if God
has given me
a super abundance
and I find my brother
or sister in Christ
in need
or maybe even suffering
because of their faith
I'm prepared
to help them
as I would
my own flesh
and blood.
No wonder
the Acts
later says
in Acts 17
that they
they were turning
the world
upside down
because they were
living in a way
that was totally
countercultural
to the world.
They weren't just
caring for their family
and their nearest kin
they were caring
Jews caring for Gentiles
Gentiles caring for
Jews.
So let's just
pause here
for some practical
application.
If you identify
as a Christian
and someone
were to audit
your time
and they were to
audit your money
would it be clear
to that person
would it be obvious
to them that you
are devoted
to a caring
Christian fellowship?
And I say that
because our society
is experiencing
an epidemic
of isolation
and loneliness.
Our society
is experiencing
an epidemic
of addiction
to dopamine
to distraction
to our devices.
Our society
is living
in incredible
fear
and despair
about a coming
nuclear holocaust
a coming robot
apocalypse.
Our society
is like really
afraid
but the church
is called
to be different.
The church
is called
to be
a counterculture
and the church
says
to God
and to one another
we're going to live
like family.
We're going to live
devoted to each other.
We're going to care
for each other
in the most practical
of ways.
We're called
to discipline
our time
so that
we
will get together
often
with the people
who share
our same cravings
for God
and that is going
to remain
a top priority
for us.
We're not going
to let sports
we're not going
to let entertainment
we're not going
to let social media
we're not going
to let all these
things just drain
the time
out of our lives
and then we give
God and his people
the leftovers.
No.
We're going to have
predictable
persevering patterns
of time.
We're going to have
continuing
consistent
habits of money
so that we can show
our father's care
for our brothers
and sisters
in Christ
in practical
ordinary
everyday
ways.
The second point
of application
is again
if you're not
part of a small
group
which is our
matrix for
belonging
and care
and accountability
it's our way
of making sure
that people
are getting
together
to read
the Bible
and to pray
and to encourage
and strengthen
each other.
We have three
new groups
they've just
started.
We have
community groups
restarting
at the end
of the summer.
I want to urge
you to do
something different
than our culture.
I want to urge
you not to walk
alone.
I want to urge
you to find
people.
Take a risk.
Have some courage
to just find
some people
that are total
strangers to you
now
that God
probably has
designed to
become some
of your deepest
and closest
friends.
We have a
staff member
coming starting
on July 1st
Dylan.
He's really
tall and
convincing.
His job
he's our
groups and
formation director
and his job
is going to be
to come and
help you find
a group
that's right
for you.
He told me
I don't take
no for an
answer.
I get people
in groups.
Just know
he's coming
for you.
He's coming
for you.
It's a learning
church.
It's a caring
church.
But also
we're called
to be a
worshiping
church.
A worshiping
church.
The apostles
teaching led
to this deep
daily Christian
fellowship and
the breaking
of bread.
It says
that in
verse 46
that every
day they
continued to
meet together
in the temple
courts and
they broke
bread in their
homes and
they ate
together with
glad and
sincere
hearts praising
God and
enjoying the
favor of
all the
people.
There were
no church
buildings.
They met
in each
other's
houses.
They would
share a
meal together
like lunch
or breakfast
or whatever
and then they
would take
one loaf
of bread
and they
would break
it into
pieces.
They would
hand it
around to
the others.
They would
take a
cup of
wine.
They would
pour it.
They would
drink it.
They would
pass it
around to
the others.
And they
did this
because on
the night
before Jesus
crossed he
said do
this.
So that
when the
Holy Spirit
was poured
out at
Pentecost
these new
converts
immediately
began to
gather early
on Sunday
morning.
The time
when Jesus
was raised
from the
dead.
And they
said we
want to come
together at
that very
moment.
and we
want to
share in
holy
communion.
And that
ensured that
their worship
was unified
and centered
on Jesus
and on
his cross.
On his
sacrificial
self-giving
love and
his broken
body and
his outpoured
blood to
forgive our
sins and
to win a
victory for
us over
death.
This bread
and this
wine was
for them a
symbol of
their savior.
And what
happened in
their hearts
as they broke
the bread of
their savior
it says that
they had
glad and
sincere hearts
and that
they were
praising God
and they were
enjoying one
another.
Why were they
full of
gladness?
Why were they
full of
praise?
Why were
they full of
joy?
Because they
had been
set free.
They had been
set free from
sin and death
and hell and
the devil.
They were
excited about
that.
The apostle
Paul writes
in Galatians
2.20
I've been
crucified with
Christ and
I no longer
live but
Christ lives
in me and
the life I
now live in
the body I
live by faith
in the son
of God who
loved me and
gave himself
for me.
They were so
full of joy
that my
God, the
God who
created the
universe, loves
me so much
that he died
the cruelest and
most heinous
grotesque death
possible.
Death on a
cross in
order that he
might bring me
into a
relationship with
him of
holy communion.
And gladness
and joy and
praise filled
their hearts and
it began to
erupt from
their hearts like
a geyser because
it just had to
come out.
It had to
express itself.
And I love one
of my favorite
stories in Acts
is Acts 16.
Paul and Silas
they take the
gospel to
Europe.
They go to
Philippi and
they preach the
gospel and people
don't like it
very much so
they're stripped
and they're
flogged and
they have their
backs beaten
with rods and
they're thrown
into this dark
prison and
their feet are
fastened in
stocks.
And you
remember what
happened?
It says that
at midnight
Paul and
Silas were
praying and
singing hymns
to God and
other prisoners
were listening
to them.
And why did
they sing?
How did they
worship in the
darkness?
How did they
worship in
pain and
persecution?
How did they
have a worship
service in the
most unlikely
of places?
And how in
the world did
they worship
with low
budget non
professional
music?
I mean no
AV team,
no slides,
nothing.
How did
they, we
don't know.
How did
they, you
work that
out.
But what I
want you to
know is that
they had a
joy that
was not
dependent on
or determined
by their
circumstances.
Paul later
will sit in
another prison
cell and
he'll be
chained to
two Roman
guards and
he writes
this letter
to the
Philippians,
he says
Philippians 4,
rejoice in
the Lord
always.
I will say
it again,
rejoice.
In Romans
5 he says
we rejoice in
the hope of
the glory of
God and we
rejoice in
our sufferings.
Peter writes
these suffering
Christians and
he says you
rejoice with
joy unspeakable
and full of
glory.
Their joy,
it wasn't a
superficial or
shallow joy
because verse
43 says everyone
was filled with
awe.
It was an
awesome joy.
It was a
reverent joy.
It was a
deep and
holy and
wonderful joy
because they
realized we
are here in
the presence of
almighty God
and he is so
great and we
are so small
but he and
his greatness
became small
and had his
body broken
and his blood
poured out and
when they broke
that bread and
they poured out
that wine their
hearts were filled
with joy and
with praise and
with gladness
because God
loved me and he
gave himself for
me.
They were a
learning church,
a caring church,
a worshiping
church and at
this point you're
like he has two
more points but he
only has a few
more minutes.
Watch this.
They were also a
praying church.
They were a
praying church.
The apostles
teaching defined
and directed their
fellowship and
their bread breaking
and their singing
but also their
prayers.
You got to
remember that
these are Jewish
people.
The people of
God, they would
pray two times a
day they would
pray the Shema
from Deuteronomy
6.
Every night when
they would go lay
down for bed and
every morning they
get up from their
bed they would pray
Shema O Israel.
Hear O Israel.
The Lord our God.
The Lord is one.
You shall love the
Lord your God with
all your heart and
with all your soul and
with all your strength.
That's the praying
life of the people of
God from Moses
forward.
All the way back to
Abraham.
All the way back
probably to Adam.
Right?
And then we get this
great prayer book
called the Psalms.
And King David writes
in Psalm 55 he says
morning, noon, and
evening I will cry
out to you three
times a day.
And so there's this
prayer pattern where
the prophet Daniel he's
told by the king of
Persia you know he's
living as an exile
very far away from
the presence of God
the temple of God.
He's living out in
the empire of Persia
and the king of
Persia says Daniel
you're not supposed to
pray to the living
God.
In fact the only
person you're supposed
to pray to is me
the king of Persia.
And what does
Daniel do?
He says nope.
Daniel 6 three times
a day he got down on
his knees he prayed
giving thanks to his
God just as he had
done before this habit
of morning, noon, and
evening prayer.
These first Christians
this early church they
devoted themselves to
the habit of praying
this pattern from
Moses to David to
Daniel to Jesus and
Jesus said I want you
to have private times
alone of praying
before God.
He says in Matthew 6
the heart of the
Sermon on the Mount
he says when you
pray go into your
inner room, go into
your closet, close the
door and pray to your
father who is unseen.
And that was the power
of the early church.
But they also came
together in corporate
prayer meetings and
they were in the
middle of a prayer
meeting when the Holy
Spirit was poured out
on the day of
Pentecost.
They're in the middle
of a prayer meeting
in Acts chapter 4 when
it says the place where
they were meeting was
shaken and all the
people were filled with
the Holy Spirit and
began to speak the
word of God boldly.
The Holy Spirit
devotes his people to
prayer.
And when we pray we
say Lord give us more
of the Holy Spirit
and the Holy Spirit
intensifies our
praying.
This is one of the
great tests for people
who say I have
Christian beliefs is to
say well how do you
live out those beliefs
in your practices of
prayer?
Do you have a set time
and place every day
where you meet with
God?
Do you have a set time
and place every week
where you meet and
pray with other
Christians?
Have you learned how
to pray by the Holy
Spirit?
Have you learned how
to pray willingly and
pray freely and pray
with power?
I want to urge you to
put this on the top of
your summer must do
list.
So learn how to pray.
Learning church,
caring church,
worshiping church,
praying church,
finally all this has
to flow outward
somewhere.
Right?
It needs to move out
like a river to the
ocean.
And so the church
began to be an
evangelizing church.
And it says in verse
47 that the Lord was
adding to their number
daily those who were
being saved.
And because I'm out of
time I just have to ask
is that our expectation?
Or do we think oh
we're that was
Jerusalem but we live
in Berkeley and God
doesn't work that way
anymore.
You see the church
they were praying that
the power of the
gospel would go out
from the church.
And they were
prioritizing outreach
because the Holy
Spirit was filling the
church with love
and joy
and peace.
And because of that
people were looking
around at the family
members they had and
the friends and the
co-workers and the
neighbors that they had
and saying Lord before
we were just kind of
annoyed with them
because they weren't
parking their car
correctly or they
weren't turning in their
reports at work on time
but now what I'm really
concerned about is where
are they going
ultimately?
what's going to happen
to them eternally?
And they began to pray
Lord let your kingdom
come in his life.
Lord let heaven come
down into her heart.
Lord open up their
hearts so that they
might be dissatisfied
and say there's got to
be more to life than
this.
Lord open up a door of
opportunity when I
when I invite them over
to my table would you
please would you please
let them feel the warm
welcome of the father?
Lord open my lips so
that I can ask better
questions.
Open my ears so that I
can be a curious
listener.
Give me courage.
Open my heart so that
I can have a simple
conversation that become
a serious conversation
that becomes a
spiritual conversation
because what we're
expecting as a church
Lord is that you want
to add to your number
those who are being
saved.
ignored.
And so the question
is is that what we
pray for?
Is that our priority?
And is that our
expectation?
To be a learning
church, a caring
church, a worshiping
church, a praying
church that is
ultimately an evangelizing
church.
It may be so in the
name of the father,
son, and holy spirit.
Amen.