Unity That Pleases Jesus

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God, thank you for who you are.

Lord, be magnified in our lives.

Lord, be magnified in the way that we live and we love.

Be magnified in our private time.

Be magnified in our public time, in our public gathering.

Holy Spirit, thank you so much for what's happened already on this stage, and I pray that you can continue working in this room through the proclamation of your word.

Holy Spirit, speak directly to us.

Have us walk out of here with a little less us, a little more you.

God, we're expectant as we open your word.

With thirsty ears and hearts open, where we're expectant as we open your word.

Talk to us, speak to us, Lord.

It's in your beautiful name I pray.

Amen.

Maybe seated.

Good morning.

How are we good?

Hey, if you're your Bibles, you're in, grab those, go to Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

Okay, Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

If you don't have a Bible, you can look on your device or you can just relax, as the scriptures that I'm gonna be reading from and teaching from are gonna be here on your screen.

But I would love for all of us to be looking at the same thing, and that's in Acts 4 and a little bit in the beginning of Acts 5.

If you're new here with us, my name is Leo Almeida.

As you flip in there, I'm one of the teaching pastors here.

We've been studying through the book of Acts, and we've seen a lot so far.

Okay, in the book of Acts, we've seen the birth of the church.

We've seen the Holy Spirit in Pentecost come and fill the church.

We have seen the church persecuted.

We have seen the church in action.

And last week we saw the church in prayer.

And now this week, in order, in order for us to fully appreciate the weight of what we're about to see, in order for us to really see the scene that we're about to see, I'm gonna have to go back a few weeks before this scene.

Okay, we know that Jesus had a life that was consistent with prayer to the Father.

As a matter of fact, the engine of Jesus' ministry was prayer to the Father.

There have been a lot of times whenever Jesus would do a miracle, and before they can pat him on the back, he's in a desolate place praying to the Father.

It was no different the night before the cross.

What we have the night before the cross is our Lord doing one of his signature moves, relying on the Father.

And we get to eavesdrop on Jesus actually praying.

And it's actually in John 17, it's his longest recorded prayer.

And in that, he prays for himself.

And he prays for his disciples that are right there.

And then, in a stunning twist, he starts praying for you.

And he starts praying for me.

And he starts praying with our uh for our unity with one another, our relationship with one another as a church.

And I have in here a little snippet of it in John 17, he says, This I do not ask for these only.

Meaning I'm not asking just for these disciples right here, but also for those who believe in me through their word.

That's us, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

In this prayer, Jesus is praying for Christian unity, the type of unity that points directly to the relationship between the Son and the Father.

The greatest marriage in human history is a microscopic dewdrop compared to the oceans of love between the Father and the Son.

If you read the Gospels, there's consistently, Jesus is consistently saying, I and the Father are one, I and the Father of one.

If you've seen me, you've seen the Father.

Jesus is the one that is in the bosom of the Father.

There is an unbreakable, unfathomable unity between the Father and Son.

And he prays that Christian communities can mirror that type of bond.

He prays that this room can look like that type of bond.

And he also prays for the type of unity that points to the gospel.

He prays that our union, our union be so unnaturally God-centered and other focused that it points to something supernatural, the gospel.

That our unity would be such that the watching world will look at us and go, hey, God did that.

God has to be involved in some way.

And that's what we're gonna look at today.

We're gonna look at two things the type of unity Jesus prayed for, and the type of hearts that spoil it.

The type of unity that Jesus prayed for, and the type of hearts that spoil it.

So we're gonna be there in verses 32 through 37 in Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

Says this.

Now the full number of those who believe were of one heart and soul.

And no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own.

But they had everything in common.

And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and with and great grace was upon them all.

And there was not a needy person among them.

For as many as were owners of lands or houses, sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold, and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

Thus, Joseph, who was called by the apostles, Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him, and brought the money and laid it at the feet, or laid it at the apostles' feet.

Now it's happening here, the Bible, where Luke is describing the church in Jerusalem.

So this passage takes us inside the huddle of what's happening in the church of Jerusalem.

What we can see here is that Jesus is fully on display in this community.

He can be seen a lot of different ways.

And one of the he can be seen, by the way, A, that they have a loose grip on stuff.

They have a very loose grip on stuff.

Look at verse 32 again.

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul.

And no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

Friends, they were generous.

Okay, this was a church that was generous.

They were generous.

By they, I mean everyone.

The Bible emphasizes twice the full number of them.

And then it doubles down and says, hey, how many people held on to things?

No one.

They were generous.

And by generous, I mean with everything, not just the things that they were easy to old or easy to let go of.

No one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own.

Now it's an astonishing miracle when Jesus fed an entire stadium with little kids' lunchables.

That's an astonishing miracle.

But getting 5,000 plus people on the same page, that's also an incredible miracle.

And what you see here is that everyone had the same radical attitude.

They were on the same page that stuff was just stuff.

And because of their unity, they regarded people more important than things.

Let me get a caveat right here.

Okay?

Bible here says that they had everything in common.

Throughout church history, there's been a lot of people who've looked at that and said, look, this is the Bible advocating for communism.

It's advocating for socialism.

But, however, we have another detail he says, they're of one heart and soul.

One heart and soul.

That shows us they're motivated by love and brotherly affection, not guilt or government.

They're of one heart and soul.

One writer says, communism says, hey, what's yours is mine.

I'll take it.

The gospel flips and says, hey, what mine is yours.

I'll share it.

They had a loose grip on stuff.

You can't tell.

I'll be 30 next month.

And one of the ways I can tell, besides back pain, one of the ways I can tell is that a lot of the basketball players that I grew up obsessing over had posters on the wall and had jerseys on my back.

A lot of the basketball players that I was obsessed with, they now have retired, and their children are not in the NBA.

Okay?

And there's a basketball that I love, his name is Kenyon Martin.

Played for the New Jersey Nets.

He was amazing.

And what I loved about him is he was violent.

By violent, I mean he put the slam and slam dunk.

It wasn't enough for him to dunk the basketball.

He would dunk the basketball, shake the rim, and then when he would land, he would pull his jersey and he would hit himself in the chest.

To which eight-year-old Leo would say, hallelujah.

A few years ago, people kept saying, hey, listen, in the basketball, in basketball streets, people kept saying, Hey, have you seen Kenyon Martin Jr.?

Have you seen his son play?

And I watched his clips.

And what I've noticed is three things.

Number one, okay, he is really, really good.

Number two, he plays nothing like his dad.

And three, he looks nothing like his dad.

Now, as time goes on, he's now in the NBA.

A matter of fact, he actually plays here for the Houston Rockets.

And I watched a clip of him about a year ago, and he went right down the middle of the lane and he got the ball with two hands and he just punched it.

I mean, he dunked it super hard.

And then he starts shaking the rim, and when he lands, he hits himself in the chest.

To which I replied, that's your dad.

Like father, like son.

Now you are resembling the one who birthed you.

About a year ago, Neil preached on 1 John chapter 3, where he talked about how God's seed is abiding in believers.

1 John 3 · chapter mention

And God's sperma is abiding in believers.

Basically saying, hey, if you have been born of God, you will look like him.

And I'm here to tell you this morning, there are few things that have us resemble the Father quite like generosity.

In fact, I believe that whenever disciples of Jesus do anything generous, the cloud of witnesses watching in heaven, the masses in heaven that are watching look down and go, That's your dad.

Like father like son, like daughter, like like like like like father like son.

Now you resemble the one who birthed you.

There are few things that have us resemble our Heavenly Father, quite like generosity.

For God so loved the world that he what?

He gave.

He didn't make us climb up the ladder and work, he gave.

He gave his only son.

Romans 8 32, he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

2 Corinthians 8 9 says this for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty, so so that by so that you by his poverty might become rich.

And what you have here in this church is that they're downgrading houses and selling valuables to bless others.

Their generosity was like their father, they had a loose grip on stuff.

My question for you this morning is if I picked you up and dropped you in a church that was doing this perfectly, could you blend right in?

Friends, idolatry is whenever a good thing swells up to being a God thing in our hearts.

What do you need to hold on with hold on to with a looser hand?

I'm gonna get on the exit ramp at this point by saying this.

Um we have to, as believers, we have to um uh examine how we do prayer requests.

Oftentimes we use prayer requests as a way to kind of just finish religious meetings.

Anybody got any prayer requests?

But look at verse 34 and 35.

There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands and or houses, sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold, and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

Friends, to them, amen was not the end.

To them, prayer preceded action, it didn't preclude it.

So you get the sense from looking at this passage that they would pray together in faith.

And then what you see here, they would probably sneak off and they would ask God individually, Holy Spirit, you heard that.

Now use me to answer that prayer.

And they would go around their house and they would look around their materials and go, what could I put on Facebook Marketplace tonight?

What could I sell so I can get the money and put it at the apostles' feet today?

But to them, the amen was not the end.

He could be seen in them by the way they had a loose grip on stuff.

He also could be seen in them by the way that they had big mouths for the gospel.

Look at verse 33.

Says this.

And with great power, the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

With great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

Now, in the midst of all this growth and this miraculous unity amidst all this growth, the gospel was still proclaimed because the gospel was still the point.

Again, mega church with thousands, where people had the same radical attitude.

That's a spectacle.

But what's anchoring that spectacle is the fact that they were still grounded in a person.

It was still all about Jesus.

They didn't shift, it was still all about Jesus.

I have a quote for you.

Um I think it's up here.

Um it says this.

Okay.

We are a power lunch for the men and women who work downtown and utilize our exercise facilities over their noon hour break.

We're an education center inspiring young minds to learn and explore their environment.

We're a sports complex offering classes and programs to tiny to from tiny tots to senior citizens and every age in between.

We are me time for the busy moms who pop in for a 30-minute workout while their youngsters play in the nursery.

We're a safe place for young people to gather for life-enriching activities that they may not otherwise exist for them.

Now, you see Christ in this.

The reason I ask is because this is a statement of a YMCA describing itself.

Now, this was founded, YMCA is actually founded in 1844 in London, and it was originally Young Men's Christian Association.

The point of it was to get young men to instill Christian values into their lives by developing a healthy body, mind, and spirit.

Ephesians 4.13 was a part of their vision.

They wanted to grow young men to the measure of the stature and the fullness of Christ.

What happened?

It blew up.

But not so with this church in Jerusalem.

Despite their growth, people were showing up with a big mouth, big appetite for the gospel.

The Bible says they were devoted to the apostles' preaching, they had an appetite to keep hearing about the resurrection of Jesus.

They did not get over it, they were still fascinated by the resurrection of Jesus.

And the apostles in their hand, they had big mouths and that they they were broken records.

They can continue to proclaim it.

A couple weeks ago, I gave you the illustration of a trampoline, how whenever you the further down you're going to a trampoline, the farther, the higher up you'll go.

In the same way, these apostles had believed so deeply in the gospel that it was coming up powerfully and often.

They were not moving away from Christ and what he's done.

And this gospel was a gospel glue.

This was the glue.

This is the ultimate unifier.

You couldn't get them to shut up about the gospel and you couldn't bore them with the gospel.

They didn't shift from it.

And just so you know, neither will Leo.

My dream is to preach the gospel until I'm gone, I'm dead, right?

And neither will Grand Parkway.

Notice how they were in a big, beautiful building, and we're still preaching about the same Jesus we did whenever we were in that building.

We're not shifting from the gospel, but at the end of the day.

Lastly, so Jesus can be seen by the way they were also consistently other focused.

They were a loose grip on stuff, they had big mouths for the gospel, and they were consistently other focused.

Look at verses 36 and 37.

Says this.

Thus, Joseph, who was called by the apostles Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

In this passage, the camera of the Bible shifts from the group to an individual.

And we're introduced to a man named Joseph who has the nickname Son of Encouragement, Barnabas.

And what we see named here, we see in action later.

Later on, okay, we're gonna get introduced to the apostle Paul, okay?

But before that, he was he was Saul.

He was a man who was ravaging the church.

He was basically a terrorist ravaging the church.

And he comes to see and know Jesus.

And afterwards, if you know your Bible, afterwards, he wants to join the disciples, wants to join the apostles, like, uh uh, no way.

We're good.

We heard about you, go over there.

Okay, it makes sense.

If you are a terrorist on Friday and then you come to know God on Monday, people are gonna have questions.

So people were kind of apprehensive about joining, about getting him in, but that wasn't until the son of encouragement stepped in.

Actually, the Bible says this in Acts 9.

It says, Well, when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.

But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.

So Barnabas, the son of encouragement, sticks up for him, and he gets him in the group.

And from there, the Bible keeps referring to this two-man duo as Barnabas and Saul.

Barnabas and Saul.

Barnabas and Saul.

Until a few chapters later, in chapter 13, it no longer calls him Barnabas and Saul.

It switches to Paul and Barnabas.

And Paul takes the lead.

And he goes on to write a lot of the New Testament and be one of the best missionaries of all time.

And that's friends, that's the power of encouragement.

That's the power of being other focused.

Barnabas is not a man who walked into church with his mind on selfie mode.

Rather, he walked in thinking, who could I encourage and who could I build up?

He was other focused.

Oftentimes, whenever we're trying churches, or we're always looking at how what could this do for me?

But Barnabas would walk in together saying, Who could I build up?

And that flies in the face of our modern culture today.

Okay, how many of us have ever heard of Nair, the hair removal thing?

Okay.

I did my research for this.

They have a new campaign these days.

Okay?

The new campaign, the slogan is worship yourself.

Worship and others will follow.

Listen, don't feel guilty if you use that.

Okay, I didn't I just thought of that now.

But the campaign is worship yourself and others will follow.

Friends, they're just doing ex saying explicitly what other people do implicitly, but not with the people of God here, not with Joseph.

He's other focus.

And we remember him for a whole different name, Barnabas.

If fellow Christians in this room watched the way you loved and lived, how would they nickname you?

What would be your nickname?

We give nicknames to people we love, people we hate.

What would be your nickname?

You got the son of encouragement.

That was his DNA.

And that was the DNA of the church.

United in love and doctrine and service of one another.

So much so that verse 33 says, Great grace was upon them all.

There was a special favor for this collection of people.

Friends, this is the community that Jesus prayed for.

Honoring Jesus with the loose grip on stuff, with big mouths for the gospel, and being consistently other focused.

Friends, again, if you were picked up and dropped off in a church that was doing this perfectly, would you blend in?

If not, what type of selfishness do you need to repent of in order for you to contribute to the type of unity?

That's the unity, that's the community that Jesus prayed for.

Now we're gonna look at the type of hearts to spoil it.

Okay, go to um chapter 5, verses 1 through 11.

Okay.

And with his wife's knowledge, he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.

And Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own?

And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal?

Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart?

You have not lied to man but to God.

When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last, and great fear came upon all who heard it.

The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and bur buried him.

Verse 7.

After an interval, about three hours, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

And Peter said to her, Tell me whether you sold the land for so for so for so much.

And she said, Yes, for so much.

But Peter said to her, How is it that you have agreed together to test the spirit of the Lord?

Behold, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.

Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last.

When the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard these things.

Now, what just happened?

What's happened is Luke's being honest.

Okay, the early church was not just all righteousness and romance, okay?

It was it was it was uh it was he was reporting reality no matter how it looks.

What happens here is he contrasts the story of Barnabas as an individual who was selfless with another church, with another person, Ananias, who does the same thing.

He sells a piece of land and he puts the proceeds at the feet of the apostles, but there's a catch.

He makes it appear as though he's giving all of the money away when he's not.

He pretended to give more money than he actually gave.

And when he was exposed, there was death by conviction.

Him and his wife were dead.

This is absolutely terrifying.

But friends, this story reveals the type of hearts that can spoil the community we just saw.

And A, we see that these are hearts that are spiritually blind.

Okay, hearts that are spiritually blind.

Verse 3, Peter accuses them of lying to the Holy Spirit.

In verse 4, he accuses them of lying not to man but to God.

And in verse 9, Peter accuses them of testing the Spirit of the Lord, and those words killed them.

What's going on here?

Okay, they were spiritually blind that the church is a bride with a very protective husband.

The church is a bride with a very protective husband.

Oftentimes when people talk about the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is reduced to a force or a feeling or something that religious people catch.

Okay, but Peter says Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit.

Friends, I can lie on the stage, I can't lie to the stage.

I can't lie to this cup.

I can't lie to this piece of metal.

I can't, you can't lie to objects.

You lie to a person.

Okay, so he is not, what's happening here is that the Holy Spirit is being introduced here as a person.

And this is in keeping with the biblical doctrine teaches.

In the second sentence of the Bible, the Bible says this the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.

And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

So that word hovering is the Hebrew word rahaf, which means to hover above.

This is the same word that's used to describe an eagle hovering over its young.

It's protector language, it's provider language.

So he's not introduced in the Bible as some inanimate force, but this is a person.

This is a person.

And in Acts chapter 4, he protects them from outside forces, but here he's protecting them from inside corruption.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

He's a very protective husband.

There's a point in the Gospels when people start accusing Jesus of doing miracles by the power of Satan.

And here's how he responds Matthew 12, he says this.

I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, will be forgiven people.

But the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven.

And whoever speaks a word against the son of man will be forgiven.

Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

What Jesus is saying here is this giving Satan credit for the Holy Spirit's work, according to Jesus, is unforgivable.

The Holy Spirit is someone that is after God's glory alone.

He is territorial for the glory of God.

Furthermore, in James 4, 5, Jesus' little brother says this.

Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the scripture says, He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us?

He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us.

That is big language.

Describing God as a jealous God.

Friends, think of the inner pain and the torture inside of someone who has been betrayed by an unfaithful spouse.

Okay, who must reckon with the truth.

Like I was faithful to them, but they were not faithful to me.

Okay, this is what the Spirit of God feels regarding our world-loving hearts.

And when we look at the Holy Spirit as a protective husband, someone who is also a jealous God, his actions make sense.

It makes sense.

And you can read this story and not cringe for what happened, but you can look at this and go, be thankful and also curious as to why it doesn't happen more.

And Anias Sapphire was we're completely blind to the fact that there is a husband behind these people.

Ephesians chapter 1 encourages Christians that the eyes of their hearts be opened, be open to our hope, be open to our the love that we have from God, be open to the power, or be open to the power that is in us, and be open to the finality of Jesus.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

Being a Christian is not just reacting to what you see, but the spiritual reality behind what you see.

Ananias and Sapphira failed.

They looked at this as a place they can just get as a platform for their awesomeness, not knowing there's a protective husband behind these people.

But yeah, these are the hearts that can spoil this type of community.

Okay, hearts that are spiritually blind.

Furthermore, um, these are also hearts that are filled with greed.

Look at verse 3 and 4.

Verse 3 and 4.

Say this.

But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself a part of the proceeds of the land?

While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own?

And after it was sold, was it not at your own disposal?

Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart?

You have not lied to man but to God.

Why have you kept back?

You have kept back for yourself the proceeds of the land, kept back.

So um this word kept back, the Greek word goes back to Joshua chapter 7.

Joshua 7 · chapter mention

Okay, Joshua chapter 7, there's a story of um the people of God ramsacking this whole place, and God saying, Listen, don't take anything.

Joshua 7 · chapter mention

We've just conquered these people, don't take anything.

And there's a young man named Achan who lines his pockets for gold, he steals gold.

Okay, and the the Bible uses the words that are used for that action are used for this action over here.

Like Ananias misappropriated the money or he stole the money.

And based on this context, there is probably some agreement.

He probably made some sort of agreement to give all the proceeds from this land to the church.

They weren't forced to do it, it was theirs to keep sold or unsold.

He had an agreement and then pretended to keep it.

He had a love for money that had taken root in his heart.

And what about us?

Friends, in a time when keeping up with the Joneses on Instagram is vital for a lot of people, Litus uses this as a warning label.

1 Timothy 6.10 says this, for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils.

It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Having an obsession or a love for money is self-hatred in the long run.

It's self-hatred in the long run.

But these are the type of hearts that can spoil the type of community we just saw.

Hearts that are greedy.

And lastly, hearts that are that overvalue a good reputation.

Their motive was not in giving and helping the poor, but their motive was fattening their own ego.

They wanted to appear more spiritually than they actually were.

Did y'all hear how much props I just gave Barnabas?

How I was just talking up Barnabas?

That was probably happening back then too.

They're probably thinking, man, I want some of that.

I want a nickname too.

By the way, my name is my nickname is Leo, okay because Leandro is too hard.

I want a cool one too.

Like I feel, I feel for them too.

I want a nickname.

So they're probably looking at that like I want a nickname too.

I want to be regarded like a Barnabas too.

They wanted the credit and the prestige of being generous without the inconvenience of actually doing it.

So this is pride.

And based on verse three, it's a satanic trap.

Friends, if this is a church, if this church is just a place where you can hit self-esteem home runs, where you can be seen loving God, you can be seen serving, you can be seen doing whatever.

If this is just a place where you where you can hit self-esteem home runs, that is a problem.

Make no mistake, if you desire applause from others, if your applause, if your desire for applause from others is higher than your compassion for others, what that means is you'd rather use people than serve people.

That destroys community.

It's satanic and it's prideful.

What I know from the scriptures is that pride is like carbon monoxide.

It'll kill you before you know it's in the room.

Proverbs 423 says this above all else, guard your heart.

Everything flows from what's happening in your heart.

Let us all be on guard for our hearts.

That we don't overvalue a good reputation, or that we're not too in love with money, or that we are too spiritually blind to say that there's a spiritual reality happening when the saints gather.

These things spoil community.

Church, let's treat this passage as a warning label.

And as you hear this today, what do you need to individually just repent of?

Okay?

This is not by way of expulsion, but this is by way of conviction.

If you, if you anything comes to mind, this is the Holy Spirit inviting you in closer.

As we pursue community, let's individually repent of anything that holds us back from gospel unity.

Whether it's having too tight a grip on things, whether it's too afraid of actually diving into the gospel, or whether it's being too me focused instead of others focused.

Let us individually repent of the things that steer away from gospel unity.

What if we were to cultivate the type of togetherness that makes Jesus from heaven look down at Grant Parkway and say, that's prayer answered.

Prayer answered.

That's my prayer for us this morning.

Let's pray.

Honest historians like Luke, um, who tell the truth no matter the cost.

Thank you for these warnings.

Thank you for um these examples, such as Barnabas, and also these cautions from Ananias and Sapphira.

Holy Spirit, I pray that you can we can feel your grace and also have a appropriate fear of you.

God, we love you.

And we pray just like then that you can have great great grace on this group of people here.

Continue to be yourself in this space as we as we worship you.

It's in your beautiful name I pray.

Amen.

As always, and we have some questions here on the screen.

Um, they're gonna come up here, and what you can do is you can take a picture of these questions, or you can take one question with you and just venture with the Holy Spirit in these questions.

Either way, what we like to do is to preach and give you some soul space to think about what's been taught here.

So I'm gonna step back for about two minutes and just let you um reflect on what you heard um through these questions, and I'll come back and close this in prayer.

Holy Spirit, I believe you're working in hearts right now, including my heart.

God, would you gently continue to bring into mind things that we need to hold on with a looser grip?

Or moments where we're self-focused instead of other focused.

Holy Spirit, continue to contend with us so we can build the type of unity that pleases you, that's a sweet aroma to you.

We trust that that's what you desire and that's what you're gonna bring forth.

Remind the people that are getting getting that are convicted that you are doing a good work that you will bring into completion the day of the Lord.

Listen, your son's incredible name I pray.

Amen.

As always, church, it is so good to be here with you.

If you're new here, welcome.

Um, again, I'm Leo.

I made I'm one of the teaching past I'm a teaching pastor here at Grant Parkway.

Um, if you're new here, there's a number here on the screen.

We'd love you for you to text that gives us a record of your visit.

And afterwards, we're gonna have some of our pastors down front ready to pray with you, ready to process with you, or answer any questions of anything you've heard, or just to just to meet you.

Um but go ahead and text that number if you will, um, and that just gives us a record of your visit.

Now, if this is um your church home and today's a day that you um worship through giving, um, there are boxes all over this room where you can do so.

Um now, um, we'd like to let you know what's happening in the life of our church.

Would you please now point your attention to the screen?

Thank you for joining us today.

There's a few things we want you to know.

If you're new, text welcome to 281-626-5707.

This way we can know you're here and get you connected with the church.

The Blood Drive is May 28th in the student building.

Register for your spot soon as they will fill up.

Pine Cove and Camp Arc are right around the corner.

On the week of June 19th, we welcome your children for a week of fun, friendship, and learning more about their faith.

So grab a spot today.

Men's Golf Scramble has been rescheduled to June 9th.

For$50, you will get all the range balls you can hit, the joys of playing in the scramble, and prices entertainment.

Men's Breakfast is this Tuesday, May 23rd in the student building.

Special guest Marcy McClinton will be speaking on what men need to know about the women in their lives.

Registration for Annie's Havity Party closes tonight at 11.59 p.m.

Come join us as we welcome Annie Stevens to our church.

To register for all these events, please visit our events page at Grantparkway.org.

If you have any questions or want someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.

Let's end every service service with the spoken blessings.

Would you stand to your feet with your hands out for me?

Children of God, by what Christ has done, you bear the mark of your father.

Live and love in such a way that the world sees that you have a good father.

I declare that in the name of the Son, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.