We Pray Together

enjoyed the service so far. That was a new song for many of us that Jared just let us in, but I

think I'd heard it a couple times maybe on Christian radio, but I appreciate the atmosphere

that it helped set for our service, the remainder of it. He really is worth it all, isn't he?

All the getting up on Sunday morning, all the trying to not respond to one another in the flesh

how we want to, trying to be led by the Spirit. He is worth all of it. We are in our final installment

of our series on Christian community, the body of Christ, the family of God coming together

in fellowship, and let's look by way of review back at some of these lessons from the early church

that we have learned to be in community with one another. So I want to remind us before we dive into

it of this quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the church is the church only when it exists for others.

God did not establish his mighty, powerful, Spirit-filled church on earth to be a social club.

We are not just to exist for ourselves and our own enjoyment. We are to exist for the glory of God,

for God's purposes, and he has made his purposes very, very plain. We are to be a missional body,

going back to the previous series that we finished a few weeks ago, being on mission for God to the

community around us and to one another. So the church is the church when it exists for others.

Acts chapter 2 and verse 42. Would you mind turning in the Word of God there with me? Acts chapter 2

Acts 2 · chapter mention Acts 2 · chapter mention

and verse 42. We'll read it and then kind of recap what we have looked at the past few weeks.

When you've arrived there in your Bible, would you mind joining us in standing if you're able to,

if you're physically able, and we'll read this together out of Acts chapter 2

Acts 2 · chapter mention

and verses 42 down through 47.

I'm reading this one from the New Living Translation. It should be similar to what you have

in front of you. Acts chapter 2 verses 42 through 47. Let's read it.

Acts 2:42–47

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship

and to sharing in meals, including the Lord's Supper

and to prayer. That's kind of been the keynote verse there

for us as we've been looking, breaking down what exactly was this church like?

What exactly did they do?

What are the very practical ways that God moved in their community?

And then we get to see the results of that in verses 43 through 47.

A deep sense of awe came over them all and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.

Man, we want to see God work in miraculous ways, don't we?

Well, we've got to follow His recipe for that kind of success.

And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.

What an evidence of community.

They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.

They worshiped together at the temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper

and shared their meals with great joy and generosity,

all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people.

And each day, the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

What a picture.

No wonder that movement lasted.

No wonder that still in 2024, there are thousands and thousands of churches scattered around this globe

still trying to follow what this movement started, what Jesus instituted.

We follow Jesus, don't we?

We've chosen the Jesus way.

And that's what we're looking at here in Acts chapter 2, verses 42 through 47.

Acts 2:42–47

So a couple of weeks ago, we looked at this truth.

We study truth together.

Kind of factor number one or ingredient number one in this recipe for how to have Christian community

is we must study truth together.

And our takeaway from that sermon was,

will I commit to grow together?

Grow together with my church community by studying truth together.

And as we launched our discipleship groups that are now a weekend,

we all kind of kicked them off last Sunday.

And Sunday night, Monday night, Tuesday night, a couple different groups meeting.

And then Wednesday night, we had five different groups going on studying truth together last week,

as well as our Sunday school classes,

as well as right here in the morning service and the things that we've already had going.

Grow group that meets Sunday afternoon.

There's a lot of different ways that we've already been trying to study truth together.

And we're continuing to add to that.

We fellowship together.

A couple of weeks ago, we looked at this.

We fellowship together.

It's that word koinonia that we find in the Bible that means fellowship.

And we broke that down.

And our takeaway was, will I commit to partnering,

partnership with my church community in fellowship together?

Y'all please be seated.

I'm so sorry.

Sorry.

We're a little bit out of order.

Usually I read the Bible, I pray, and then you sit down.

I understand that.

I left the prayer part off because we're going to get to that in just a moment.

And yeah, sorry about that.

I just wanted to see what your all cardio levels are right now.

Kidding with you.

All right.

So partnering with our church community together.

Hey, I am amazed by the partnership that y'all just displayed by,

well, they're still standing, so I guess I'll still stand.

It's amazing.

Somebody had to take the lead and say, okay.

But fellowship together is a powerful, powerful force.

And y'all, that's something that we cannot manufacture.

You can't just create fellowship and see it happen.

It has to really be born out of hearts coming together for the purpose of tearing down walls,

learning more about each other, opening ourselves up.

There's a layer of intimacy there.

There's a layer of being willing to be hurt, being willing to be let down,

or maybe even letting down someone else.

But when we break down those walls, we can have Christian community by fellowshipping together.

And then last Sunday, we talked about food.

Talked about eating together.

It was a lot of fun.

And I can't tell you how many times later that week I had people from our church mentioning to me,

hey, we're eating together.

I just wanted to let you know at our D group on Wednesday night,

we ate together and went to lunch with a family in our church right after the morning service.

Said, you know, we talked about eating together.

We should probably eat together.

So it was great to talk about all the different instances in the Bible

where Jesus would eat together with his disciples or with other people that were Jesus followers

or even just in the community, publicans and sinners, the Bible calls them sometimes.

But he knew that that fellowship is created when you eat together or break bread together.

So the takeaway was, will I commit to unite with my church community by eating together?

We do that in homes, gathering together with friends outside of our morning services,

actually reaching across the aisle and saying, hey, would you like to come to dinner with me?

Hey, I'd like to get to know you better.

Hey, I'd like to become closer to you, my brother or sister in Christ.

We also do that at our D groups.

We have at least a snack.

Sometimes I feel like what we had in our group on Wednesday night was a full meal.

That was amazing.

People brought stuff.

The Clarks provided sandwiches.

It was awesome.

But we embrace that difficulty and that chore of providing food because it's worth it to eat together

and the unity that comes from that.

So today, the last one, we pray together.

In some ways, you could say we saved the best for last.

Back in Acts chapter 2 and verse 42,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and to sharing in meals and to,

what's that word?

Oh, y'all can do better than that.

What's that word?

Prayer.

That's right.

They devoted themselves to prayer.

So let's pray right now.

Our good, kind, loving God.

We're able to come to you in the name of Jesus and we're able to cry out to you to teach us because we need it, God.

We crave your truth.

We crave your teaching.

We crave your Holy Spirit's guidance.

Because without it, we wander off.

We go astray.

We are led by our own desires.

We're led by our own thinking, our own priorities.

And we always end up somewhere you don't want us to be.

And we find out that's somewhere we don't want to be either.

So God, pull us back.

Throughout the morning, throughout the afternoon, throughout the evening, even in the middle of the night when we're awakened by thoughts,

I pray that you would pull us back to your side, your presence in prayer.

Make us aware of you as we go throughout our day.

We see the fruit of it.

We know the promises that await us when we turn to you in prayer.

So God, individually and together as a church, make us a community of prayer.

In Jesus' name, amen.

I want to share this quote from you from Bible teacher John Bloom.

He said,

We don't pray enough because we don't really believe it will do much good.

Now, if I took a poll of the room, y'all would probably unanimously, I'm guessing, there might be a couple folks who would vote otherwise,

but more than likely, we would get a unanimous vote that says,

We believe prayer works.

We believe God answers prayer.

We believe that prayer can do a lot of good.

But unfortunately, you and I don't live as though we believe that.

Because if we did, then we would follow Paul's teaching that says,

Pray without ceasing.

But we cease, don't we?

For those of you who are wondering what ceasing means, it just means stop, okay?

It's okay, don't feel bad.

Nobody uses that word a lot anymore.

But pray without stopping.

We stop, don't we?

We hang up the phone, so to speak.

People are like, what does this mean?

It's the old kind of telephone, alright?

They had a receiver here and a receiver here.

Yeah, there you go.

Got it.

So yeah, we hang up the phone with God sometimes.

Frequently.

And oftentimes, we don't go to Him when we feel like things are okay.

We go to Him when there's trouble.

When there's problems.

When all of a sudden, we're made aware of our need for God.

It isn't that we suddenly needed God.

We needed Him the whole time, didn't we?

But sometimes, we become more aware, like flashing lights in front of us.

Hey, you can't handle this.

You need God.

Well, you needed Him five minutes ago, but you still need Him now.

Now you're just more aware of it.

So the truth is, you and I live so much of the time as though prayer doesn't really do that much good.

And even sometimes when we pray, doubt chokes that prayer.

We'll say the words.

Because somewhere in our brains, we believe that, yes, I do have faith that God is there.

I do have faith that God loves me.

I did give my life to Him.

I do believe I'm His child.

And so in my head, I know that I should pray, so I'm going to.

But is it really going to make a difference?

Is He really going to do what I need Him to do?

Thankfully, He never promises to do what you believe you need Him to do.

Thankfully, He promises to act for your good.

Thankfully, He promises to bring all things together for your good and for His glory.

So we have that promise.

So number one, prayer is the key ingredient.

When we're trying to live a life that's honoring to God,

when we're trying to have healthy community in our church,

healthy unity in our church,

getting together because we all believe in the same God,

in the same way of salvation,

there is no other name under heaven

whereby we can be saved

except the name of Jesus.

And if you and I believe that,

then we can have unity.

We can have community.

We can disagree on other things.

But if we all have chosen the Jesus way

and we are asking God to lead us another step down that path,

then you and I can come together in this community

and worship and follow Jesus together.

So the number one key ingredient to be able to do that is prayer.

You and I have to be prayed up.

We have to be protected by prayer.

We have to be guided by prayer.

We have to be led by prayer.

We have to be motivated by prayer.

We have to be tethered to prayer.

We have to be founded in prayer,

grounded in prayer,

surrounded by prayer.

So prayer is the key ingredient.

Let's look at a couple different ideas about prayer.

Luke emphasized the likely writer of the book of Acts,

although there have been some other theologians

that believe maybe somebody else wrote Acts,

maybe it was Paul,

maybe wrote part of it,

maybe somebody else contributed others.

We know that it was inspired by God

and provided and preserved in our word of God

for our benefit.

So the author of Acts emphasized

that this was a community of prayer.

They did not act by gut feelings or intuition,

but by Holy Spirit guidance,

actively submitting to the Lord's direction in their lives.

So prayer is the key ingredient.

Throughout the book of Acts,

throughout the book of Acts,

we see different kind of prayer.

We see both free and formal prayer.

Sometimes this was a gathering of prayer.

Sometimes it was formalized in a prayer,

like we see the Lord's Prayer.

We did a study on the Lord's Prayer a long time ago,

earlier in this year.

Feels like a long time ago.

It wasn't that long ago in actuality.

But the Lord's Prayer is this formal prayer

that is laid out in Scripture.

Is it wrong to pray the Lord's Prayer to God?

Of course not.

Jesus gave us those words as a model prayer

for how to pray,

a guideline for how to pray,

not selfishly, not self-serving,

but a prayer that's honoring to God.

So there are formal prayers.

There are also free prayers.

There are prayers that we can just,

when we don't know what to say,

God helps us.

The Bible even says sometimes

that when we don't know the words to say,

Jesus will step in

and take over and pray on our behalf.

Isn't it amazing to think

that Jesus is praying for you?

But that is a promise in the Word of God,

that Jesus is praying for you.

How many times have you asked somebody else

to pray for me?

Say, pray for me.

I'm going through something right now.

Anybody or am I the only one?

Anybody?

Yeah, right?

We ask for prayer.

Have you ever asked God for prayer?

God, would you pray for me?

Well, we know He is.

Jesus is actively praying or interceding,

interceding, just a kind of a fancy term

for stepping in and praying for someone

in a powerful way for a specific reason,

interceding on their behalf.

So there are free prayers

and there are formal prayers.

There are also public prayers

and private prayers.

There's an example of this

back in one of the parables

Jesus was talking about

how there was the Pharisee

standing there in the temple

in the full view of everyone

and He's giving this big flowery prayer

and He's wanting all the attention

to come on Him.

Now that's not the only way

to pray in public.

And if you're praying in public

to impress somebody else

with your grasp of the English language

or your grasp of the Bible or theology,

then you're not really praying,

you're just spouting off words.

And that's not doing anything.

It's not getting any higher than the ceiling,

you know, just kind of bouncing right there.

But then, by contrast,

there was the sinner

who didn't pray in public.

In that moment,

he didn't feel like he even could.

He got alone by himself

and quietly,

where no one could hear,

muttered the words,

God, be merciful to me,

a sinner.

Sometimes those are the moments

we need in private.

It's just, God,

I'm a mess.

I know I'm a mess.

Maybe my spouse has reminded me

that I'm a mess,

but I know I'm a mess, you know.

And you know most of all, God,

that I'm a mess

and yet you love me anyway

and I stand forgiven in your sight.

So thank you for forgiving me.

I'm claiming your mercy right now.

I'm claiming your grace right now.

I don't know what else to do.

Sometimes praying in public is okay.

Throughout the book of Acts

and even in the New Testament,

we see instances of public prayer.

Sometimes it's one person praying.

Sometimes it's many people praying at once.

But public and private prayer.

Public prayer should never be self-serving.

Should never be pointing all the attention to me.

It should always be pointing the attention to God.

And then there's personal and corporate prayer.

You could say individual and corporate prayer.

Sometimes you might be praying just by yourself.

Sometimes you might be praying together

as a body of believers.

Oftentimes in our church,

we are led by someone on stage

at the microphone praying.

And that's still corporate prayer.

It's corporate public prayer.

Corporate just means together.

We're doing it together.

So both personal, private, individual,

and also corporate, together,

joint, unified prayer.

I think there's something powerful

about a group of Christians

gathered together

and all praying

at the same time.

Now, this church

is not an advocate of speaking in tongues.

And sometimes,

if everybody's in the room

shouting different words

all together at the same time,

that's chaos.

And God is not a God of chaos.

He's not a God of disorder.

He's a God of order.

But regardless of your view

on some of these issues,

you must understand

that praying together

creates a bond of unity.

And it doesn't all have to be

one person praying at a time.

Sometimes it can be.

Because sometimes we want to all listen

to what that person is praying

on our behalf

or the behalf of our community together.

But sometimes,

we just need to lift our voices

quietly to God

at the same time

and pray to Him.

He's capable of hearing it all.

He's not going to get confused.

He's able to single out

and understand

and process and answer.

And He knows in advance

what's on our heart.

He knows in advance

what our prayers

are going to be about.

They prayed together.

They prayed corporately.

They prayed on their own.

And they prayed without ceasing.

The book of Acts,

this early church,

these early Christians

that were joined together

as God is launching the church,

getting prepared

to spread it around the whole globe,

and we are an individual

example of that today.

This church prayed in the temple.

This church prayed in homes.

This church prayed

as they walked along the road.

They prayed

as they encountered sick people.

And the Bible says

the prayer of faith

can heal the sick.

They prayed

before they preached sermons.

They prayed

while they heard sermons.

They prayed

before they heard sermons.

They prayed

after the preaching was over.

They prayed

while they were being persecuted.

They prayed

while the devil

was attacking.

They prayed

while they were being harmed.

Literally,

while their bodies

were physically being assaulted,

they lifted up prayers

to God.

They were a community

of prayer.

They prayed

for each other.

They prayed

before they ate their food

to give thanks.

They prayed

and they thanked Jesus

for forgiving

their sins.

They prayed

for their daily needs.

And they praised God

through songs

of prayer.

we could go on.

We could give

far more examples

of how this church

prayed.

You don't walk far

in the book of Acts

without stumbling

over the church

praying.

Can I talk to our members

and regular attenders

just for a moment?

If you're a guest with us,

don't feel unwanted.

I just want to talk

to this group

just for a second.

If you're unhappy,

with anything

about our church,

could it be traced back

to the fact

that we are not

as praying a church

as we could be?

Could it be

that we must be

more of a community

of prayer?

If you've got something

against another sister

or brother in Christ,

you say,

man,

I just wish

we were better

in this area.

I wish our church

was better in this area.

What if we took

that to God?

What if we fought

the battle

from our knees?

Just like the song

we sang earlier

said.

Martin Luther,

one of the great

fathers of our faith

said this.

Let me get back up there.

Prayer is a strong wall

and a fortress

of the church.

It is the godly

Christian's weapon.

Now,

why would you call

prayer a weapon?

You're trying to harm

somebody?

No.

But like it or not,

you and I,

as Jesus followers,

are in a spiritual

battle.

And if you don't

arm yourself

for that battle,

then you will suffer

needless,

not defeats,

because God

has already won

the ultimate battle.

He's already won

the war.

But you will take

shots,

you will take

hits

that you didn't

have to take

if you aren't

armed for the battle.

Earlier in the year,

we went through Ephesians

and we talked

for a Sunday

about the armor

of God

and putting on

the full armor

of God

and arming yourself

for that spiritual

battle.

Prayer

is first

and foremost

when you're

arming yourself

for the battle.

It is a strong

wall.

It's the fortress

of the church.

And if you need

a weapon

to fight back

your own flesh,

if you need

a weapon

to fight back

the attacks

of Satan,

if you need

a weapon

to fight back

those who seem

to want nothing

but your destruction,

prayer

is the godly

Christian's

weapon.

Now,

let's look at this.

Acts chapter 4

Acts 4:23–32

verses 23

through 32.

Would you turn over

two chapters

from Acts 2?

Two chapters

from Acts 2.

We're looking at

Acts chapter 4

Acts 4:23–32

verses 23

through 32.

Y'all,

we do not have time

to show you

all the texts,

all the Bible passages

from that list

of examples

of how the church

prayed.

There are so many,

like we said before,

you don't get very far

in Acts

before you encounter

the church praying.

So if we're looking

at the book of Acts

as a template

for how God

wanted this church

to be

and how he wants

our church to be,

then we've got

to model ourselves

after their community,

how did they

commit themselves

to prayer?

We see a huge

example of that

right here

in Acts chapter 4

Acts 4 · chapter mention

and verse 23.

after they were released,

talking about

Peter and John,

they had been

arrested for

preaching the name

of Jesus

and then

because the

authorities feared

uprising from the people

because the message

was so popular

and spreading

so much,

this saving message

of Jesus,

they released them

and so after they

released,

Peter and John

went to their own

people and reported

everything the chief

priests and the elders

had said to them.

When they heard this,

they raised their voices

together to God.

What did they do?

They prayed.

First thing they did

was pray.

Master,

you are the one

who made the heaven,

the earth,

and the sea

and everything in them.

You said

through the Holy Spirit

by the mouth

of our father,

David,

your servant,

why do the Gentiles

rage and the people's

plot futile things?

Y'all,

do you realize

they went directly

to the scripture?

They prayed the scriptures

back to God.

What a powerful,

effective way

of praying.

The kings of the earth

take their stand

and the rulers

assemble together

against the Lord

and against his Messiah.

For in fact,

in this city,

both Herod

and Pontius Pilate

with the Gentiles

and the people of Israel

assembled together

against your holy servant,

Jesus,

whom you anointed

to do whatever

your hand

and your will

had predestined

to take place.

They acknowledged

God's sovereignty

over it all.

Said,

God,

you weren't surprised

by any of this.

We know that you

predestined for Jesus

to be killed.

We know you predestined

for us to be persecuted.

It was your will.

You allowed it to happen

for your greater purposes.

Verse 29.

You ready?

And now,

Lord,

consider their threats

and grant that your servants

may speak your word

with all boldness

while you stretch out

your hand for healing

and signs and wonders

are performed

through the name

of your holy servant,

Jesus.

You know what they

didn't pray for?

The destruction

of their enemies.

They prayed

for God's

mighty purposes

to be accomplished

on this earth.

They prayed

for God's word

to have favor.

They prayed

for people

to be turned

to the name

of Jesus.

That's what

they prayed for.

Verse 31.

And when they

had prayed,

the place

where they were

assembled

was shaken

and they were

all filled

with the Holy Spirit

and began

to speak

the word

of God

boldly

and the entire

group of those

who believed,

verse 32,

were of one heart

and one mind

and no one claimed

that any of his possessions

was his own.

They held everything

in common.

They were united

by prayer.

If you feel like

there's fracture

between you

and another brother

and sister in Christ,

prayer can heal it.

Uniting together,

not over petty squabbles.

Uniting together,

not because I disagree

in this area,

you see it this way,

I see it this way,

uniting together

by calling out

to God together

and saying,

God,

your will be done.

God,

your word

have its way

in this church

and in this community.

God,

turn people

to yourself

and use me

to do it.

That's

the Christian's

weapon.

We sang it

just a moment ago,

so when I fight,

I'll fight on my knees.

My hands lifted high

because the battle

belongs to you,

God.

But we don't do that,

do we?

We fight through emails.

We fight through letters.

We fight through social media posts.

We fight by private conversations

running down one another.

We fight through gossip.

We fight through anger.

We fight through bitterness.

We fight through resentment.

We fight sometimes physically.

But instead,

God is waiting

for us

to turn to him

and say,

I'm going to use the weapon

that he gave me to use.

I'm going to use prayer.

Because,

believe it or not,

God's a lot better

at fighting his battles

than you are.

God's a lot better

at fighting your battles

than you are.

So,

if we need God

to fight for us,

we fall to our knees

and we turn to him

in prayer.

And what does he promise?

Exodus 14, 14,

the Lord will fight for you.

You need only to be still.

You need to be still.

You need to be quiet

and let God fight for you.

Psalm 46, 10,

be still and know.

I almost believe

that carries the idea

of remember.

Be still and be aware.

Remember and know

that I'm God,

not you.

Not Sam Bunnell.

Not a deacon.

Not a trustee.

Not a Sunday school teacher.

There's no one

in this church

that is God.

He alone

is God.

So,

we have to be still

and let him fight

for us.

We're going to be done.

Y'all give me

two minutes.

Two minutes,

alright?

I don't want you

to miss this.

It's kind of

the wrap up,

the conclusion

to our whole series

here on community.

the results

of healthy community.

We've seen

the ingredients.

We had

eating together.

We had

studying truth together.

We had

fellowshipping together.

And we had

praying together.

The results,

we read it

at the end

of Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

All

generosity,

joy,

and daily

salvations.

Those were the results

when you combine

those four ingredients

into healthy

community.

Billy Graham,

one of the greatest

preachers we've ever

seen in our day,

said this,

don't forget,

without fuel,

a fire grows cold.

Well,

of course,

right?

If you don't add fuel

to a fire,

it's going to die.

And without the fuel

of the Bible,

prayer,

and Christian fellowship,

our faith

grows cold.

Church,

can I suggest

something to you?

If you feel

like your faith

might be growing cold,

it could be

because you're

missing the Bible,

prayer,

or Christian fellowship.

Or if you're not sure

that your faith

is growing cold,

but you're missing

one of those areas

in your life,

I challenge you,

see how much hotter

your faith could burn

for God

if you prioritize

the Bible,

prayer,

and Christian fellowship.

All.

Verse 43,

back in Acts chapter 2

Acts 2 · chapter mention

in verse 43,

everyone was filled

with awe,

many wonders

and signs

were being performed

through the apostles.

This was truly awesome.

We call all kinds

of things awesome.

We might say,

you know,

the Cowboys looked awesome

when they played.

I hope that happens

again today.

I'm not sure

if it will.

We'll see.

They inevitably

let you down

by the end of the season.

But what's truly awesome,

we throw that word

around so much,

right?

But what's truly awesome

is our God.

What's truly awesome

is a community

of believers

from all different

backgrounds

and walks of life

and belief systems

and races

and financial situations

and all of this,

all these differences,

political opinions,

et cetera,

just coming together

and praying together

and uniting

around the study

of the word of God

and crying out to God

in prayer

and fellowshipping together.

That is awesome.

And they were in awe

when they saw

how God moved.

And then generosity.

Right there

throughout the rest

of chapter two,

we see all these instances

where they were generous

to one another.

They didn't hold anything back.

They weren't stingy.

They shared whatever they had

because that is how

the Spirit of God

led them.

So there was great awe.

There was generosity.

And then there was joy.

Now we have joy.

She works in the office

Monday through Thursday.

And she brings great joy

to all of us.

But y'all,

joy was permeating

throughout this assembly.

Verses 46 and 47.

Every day they devoted themselves

to meeting together

in the temple,

broke bread from house to house.

They ate their food

with joyful and sincere hearts.

They enjoyed the favor

of all the people.

This was a community

that was happy

to be around each other.

Do you think

that for the first time

in human history

these people agreed

on every single little issue

in their life?

Of course not.

They were people

just like the rest of us.

They would have

their petty squabbles

but they set them aside

because they were

a community committed

to being a community.

So there was joy.

And then there was

daily salvations.

Y'all,

we've been having

salvations in our church.

Was it daily

like the book of Acts?

No.

But God's still been

giving us salvations

in our church.

We have one this week.

She's going to come forward

at the end of the service

and introduce herself to you

as a candidate for baptism

in a few weeks.

But listen y'all,

God is moving in our church.

We're seeing people saved.

We're seeing people baptized.

We're seeing people publicly

choose the Jesus way.

That's the fruit

of community.

That's the fruit

of the Holy Spirit.

And the more

we commit ourselves

to prayer,

to fellowship,

and to the study

of the Word of God,

we'll see more

of that fruit.

I wanted to show you this.

Anybody recognize that?

The old one there

was have it your way

for Burger King

and now it's you rule.

They're both kind of

saying the same thing,

aren't they?

You're in charge.

You do what you think

is best for you.

Can I remind you

that that runs

completely opposite

to God's commandments.

That might work

at Burger King

and that's great

if you want to customize

your hamburger.

But in the kingdom of God,

you don't rule.

I don't rule.

God rules.

We must follow

His ingredients

if we want to see

a healthy community

of believers

in this church.

We must recommit

ourselves

to His way.

If you cling

to your life,

you will lose it.

If you give up

your life for me,

you will find it.

So,

our takeaway

will be done.

My two minutes

turned into six.

Apologize.

This is it.

Last one.

And we're going to

start a brand new series

next Sunday

on Be a Disciple.

Very excited about that.

Healthy community

will only bear its fruit

in our church

if we individually

recommit ourselves

or maybe commit

for the first time

to what?

To prayer,

to God's word,

and to true fellowship

together.

Folks,

you might not

realize it,

but if you have

a spirit

of disunity

in your heart,

you might be

holding up

the work of God

from having its way

in our church.

I plead with you

to get on your knees

before God

and humble yourself

before God

and say,

God,

I'm recommitting myself

to prayer,

to what your word

teaches,

and to our fellowship

together as a community

of believers.

And then I believe

God can move powerfully

like he's been doing.

Don't you want to see

the floodgates of heaven

opened up?

Don't you want to see

the walls torn down

and God's blessings

pour out

and see what he could do

with our community?

I want to see that.

I want to be a part of it.

So would you join me

in praying?

Let's bow our heads

right now.

Let's bow our heads

right now.

And I want to ask this.

Right where you're seated,

Jared's going to play

a little bit of music

right where you're seated.

If God leads you,

would you quietly

lift up a prayer to God?

I want to emphasize quietly.

If we're all speaking

at the same time,

it would be hard

to keep our minds

focused on what we're saying

and thinking right now.

But would you just quietly,

out loud,

lift up a prayer to God?

Maybe for you,

for a situation

you're dealing with,

maybe for our entire church.

just say,

God,

work in me.

Use me

right now

to bless someone else.

Use me.

Maybe my physical possessions.

Maybe God wants me

to share something

with someone else

and be generous.

maybe God wants me

to be more faithful

in building my walk

with Him in prayer.

Maybe God wants me

to take the plunge

and unite with this church

and church membership.

Partner with us

in what God's doing here.

Take on a

meaningful role

of service

in this church.

maybe God's

wanting me

to get baptized

publicly,

declare myself

as a Jesus follower

and be held accountable

to this church

for walking

the Jesus way.

Maybe God wants you

to recommit yourself

to studying the Word of God

and turning to it

every day,

letting it teach us,

letting it change us

and transform us.

Maybe He's talking to you

about turning to Him

more often in prayer,

never hanging up the phone.

Maybe He's talking about

asking forgiveness

for a brother or sister

in Christ.

Maybe you feel like

you were wronged

but you responded

in the wrong spirit

and you've got to go

make that right,

not for that person's benefit

but for God's benefit,

for your benefit,

for the benefit

of our community together

as brothers and sisters

in Christ.

God keeps a record.

He'll right all wrongs.

He'll have justice.

That belongs to Him.

Whatever God's working

on you about,

I'm going to start praying

up here at the front.

If you'd turn my mic off

and anyone else

who wants to join me

from where you're seated,

would you just lift up

a prayer?

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.