Being a Spirit-Filled Church (Part 3)

I want to just begin by asking a question. How many of you, you came to faith in Watermark Church?

Can you raise your hands? Wow! Wow, look at that.

Kevin, those who came to faith in Watermark Church, do you see their hands?

Kevin, you want to take a look?

Quite a lot. Wow, so wonderful, so wonderful.

You know, when we were worshipping just a moment ago, I was like singing those songs and praying and asking God for this session, the things that He will accomplish.

And one of the things that weigh upon my heart is if there's someone here in this crowd, and I don't want to embarrass anyone here by calling them out,

but if you are not a Christian, you're here because someone invited you, someone loved you, someone who feels that you matter so dearly to them,

and you're here with us, my greatest prayer is through this time, through this retreat, through an encounter with Christians in Watermark Church,

that God will impress His love upon you, that you come to know Him.

And that, by the way, is one of the features of a church that is filled by the Spirit.

Because in Acts chapter 2, we see at the end of that chapter, the Lord added to their number.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

The Lord added to their number.

Non-Christians were part of the group that were attracted to the beauty of Jesus.

So that is one feature.

I wanted to, initially I wanted to address that at the end of the message, because that's the last verse of Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

But I thought I was just front-loading that at the beginning, so that I'm clear that this message is for non-believers as well,

in case there's any one of you here.

Let me just, why don't we open our Bible, instead of Acts chapter 2, can we go to another passage?

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Similar to yesterday, we started with a letter, a New Testament letter.

We're going to go to 1 John.

Sorry, yesterday I think we started with a Gospel, John 14.

And today we are starting with 1 John.

1 John chapter 4, just one verse, verse 13.

1 John 4 · chapter mention

Are we there?

1 John chapter 4, verse 13.

1 John 4:13

By this, we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit.

So this whole retreat, the topic is on the Holy Spirit.

We've been talking about the person of the Holy Spirit yesterday.

Last night, there was a sense of worship, abiding in Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

And if you have felt the Lord speaking to you, encouraging you, ministering to you, it is the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit works in a way that are mundane, ordinary.

The Holy Spirit moves in supernatural, spectacular ways that we see in the book of Acts.

And when you look at 1 John 4, verse 13, by this, we know that we abide in Him,

1 John 4:13

because He has given to us, He has given us of His Spirit.

Now, the this refers to the symptom, right?

By this symptom, we know the desired outcome of abiding in Jesus, which is something that we all long for.

We all pray, we all want to be drawn near to God.

We long to be where He is.

He dwells in us and we long to draw near to Him, to dwell with Him.

And the reason why we can do that is because He has given us His Spirit.

Now, you know, 1 John focuses so much on love.

So, the symptom of being filled by the Spirit, the symptom of God abiding in us is love.

It's love.

I'll just read the top few verses before verse 13.

So, I'm going to read from verse 7 to verse 12.

Follow me as I read 1 John 4, verse 7 to 12.

1 John 4:7–12

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

Verse 8.

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Now, this is one of the most alarming statements in the Bible.

God is love.

Now, there are many ways that if the Bible is simply trying to tell us that God is a loving God,

you can use like a descriptive word, right?

God is loving.

God is the most generous when it comes to giving love and dispensing love.

But this is how the Scripture describes God.

God is love.

God is love.

He is love itself.

Love is defined by Him.

And then verse 9, it gives us an even narrower description of love.

In this, the love of God was made manifest among us,

that God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

In this, His love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us

and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Verse 11.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

No one has ever seen God.

If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us.

Now, isn't it amazing?

The Spirit of God is the reason why we can abide in Him.

And then in this, we know that we abide in Him.

And then this refers to love.

Loving of one another.

And this love is narrowed down through a vision of the cross.

In this is love.

God sent His Son so that we may live through Him.

And then through that, we are called to love each other.

If you were to summarize the mark of a church filled with the Holy Spirit,

full of the work of the Holy Spirit,

evident of the fruit of the Holy Spirit,

it would be a church that abides in love.

It would be a church that truly loves.

A church that put God on display is a church that put love on display.

And I didn't make that up.

Because God is love, right?

God is love.

So if you want to put God on display,

you put love on display.

Now, here's the tricky part.

The world that we live in often defines love very, very loosely, right?

Love is a feeling.

Love is the sensation that you get when you listen to a love song.

Love is, you know, the fuzzy emotions that you experience

when you watch a really warm and nice romantic movie.

That is how we often relate with love.

But the love in scriptures is defined for us

pretty clearly here in this text.

And this is love.

Not that we love God,

but He loves us.

And

in this text,

we also see that

no one has seen God in verse 12,

but if we love one another,

His love abides in love.

His love is put on display

through us, in us,

to the whole world.

So let's come back to Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

I thought that would be quite a good introduction

to this portion.

Because if we dive in,

into a passage that is descriptive,

as I mentioned yesterday,

Acts is descriptive.

It describes for us what happened.

But it doesn't explain to us

exactly the rationale

and what exactly was going on there behind the seat.

It just tells us

this was what was going on,

on the outside.

And

1 John 4

helped to frame

Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

2.

This is how

a loving church

looked like.

This is how

what happened

when people are filled

by the Holy Spirit.

And the flow of the Spirit is

love, right?

Love, joy, peace,

goodness, kindness,

and the rest of those things.

But love

is put on display here.

I'm going to read for us

Acts chapter 2

Acts 2 · chapter mention

from verse 37 onward.

The focus is on verse 42 onward,

but I'm going to read

the first few verses

so that we can set

the context

of this passage.

Now when they heard this,

they were cut to the heart.

The gospel,

they heard the gospel

and they said to Peter

and the rest of the apostles,

brothers,

what shall we do?

And Peter said to them,

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.

So listen to this.

There's a promise

and what is the promise?

The gift

of the Holy Spirit.

Through the Holy Spirit

you receive

all three members

of the Godhead.

Father,

Son,

Spirit.

So the promise here

is not in

a successful life,

a life that is smooth sailing,

a life that is good

and comfortable

in the way

the word defines it,

but they will receive

the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And verse 39,

for the promise

is for you

and your children

and for all

who are far off,

everyone whom

the Lord,

our God,

calls to Himself.

So the Lord

calls to Himself.

And with many

other words

He bore witness

and He continued

to exhort them

saying,

Save yourself

from this crooked generation

so those who received

His words

were baptized

and there were added

on that day

3,000 souls.

3,000 souls.

It's not a small

numbers, right?

Have you ever

run an organization

of 3,000 people?

I don't know.

Do you have any

like some guys

who manage

I don't know.

There are churches

that are probably

in numbers

of a few thousands.

We,

back home in Singapore

we have a church

that is about

1,000-ish

maybe 1,002-ish

regular attendance

1,002,

1,003.

It's a nightmare

to be honest.

It's a nightmare.

I was talking

to Simon earlier

right,

he moved to Singapore

a while back

and then he moved

back to Hong Kong

which is telling us

it's too big

in some ways.

And as a pastor

I struggle.

I struggle to remember

the names of people.

I really do.

So when the invitation

came from Kevin

to come to Watermark Church

and I knew that

this is a church

of like 100 plus

close to 200, right?

1,002,

that is like

the size that

in my mind

that's the ideal size

for a church

where people can be known

you can come for a retreat

it's cozy,

intimate.

It is really possible

to know everyone really.

It still takes

much effort

but it is possible

to know everyone.

But we're talking about

here in Acts chapter 2

Acts 2 · chapter mention

3,000 souls.

3,000 souls.

And friends

this is how it looks like

in the way

they do life

because often

we look at this

3,000

the church

in the book of Acts

we assume

that it's like

a small community church.

No, 3,000 souls

yes they be in their homes

they gather for

big gathering

and this is a description

of everything

but let's bear in mind

that 3,000 souls

verse 42

they devoted

themselves

to the apostles

teaching

the fellowship

to the breaking

of bread

and prayers

verse 43

and all came upon

every soul

and many wonders

and signs

were being done

through the apostles

and all who believed

were together

and had all things

in common

and they were selling

their possessions

and belongings

and distributing

the proceeds

to all

as any

had need

and day by day

attending the temple

together

breaking breads

in their homes

they received

their food

with glad

and generous hearts

praising God

and having favor

with all people

and the Lord

added to their number

day by day

those

who were being

saved

so

this is only

accomplished

through the power

of the Holy Spirit

that's my main point

and

can you see here

on display

is a church

that is full of

love

breaking bread

coming together

having things

in common

helping each other

no one is poor

here in this community

because they were

sharing their belongings

supporting each other

and through that

the love of God

is being put

on display

and the Lord

added to their number

day by day

those who have

been saved

I don't know

whether you've been

to churches

that often focus

on growth

strategy

here's the way

to multiply

cell group

here's the way

to get to this

number

by the end

of this year

this strategy

this method

the strategy

laid out for us

in the book of Acts

is pretty straightforward

receive the gospel

receive the most

precious gift

of the Holy Spirit

treasure Jesus

make much of him

preach his word

faithfully

and through that

the apostles

they were

demonstrating

signs

and wonders

healings

restorations

life transforms

and as love

is put on display

the church

grew

the church

grew

let me just

highlight for us

in the city context

there are two

implications for us

you read this text

and it's like wow

this is like 2,000 years ago

it's quite far off

what is this going to do

with like in 2023

in cities like Hong Kong

and Singapore

what is this going to do

with us

how does that look like

for us

one very very

what I think is

it can be quite

shocking in some ways

and quite surprising

for us

is

about the features

of the New Testament church

is

we actually don't get

to choose

who we hang out with

in some ways

notice the language here

is God

has chosen

his

people

I'll read for you

verse 39 again

the promise

is for you

and your children

and for all

who are far off

everyone

whom the Lord

our God

calls

to himself

now notice

that the initiative

here is

God

has called

and chosen

a people

now

Kevin

I don't know

how much

you guys

have covered

doctrine

like election

predestination

being chosen

yeah

but

here

we see

quite clearly

here

I mean

when we come

to the topic

of the way

of God

who choose

God choose

or we choose

we need to

appreciate

the divine

mystery

that God

is God

right

we do see

in the scripture

God has chosen

the people

and these people

they have chosen

him

as they were

being chosen

by God

and we see

that divine

mystery

of us

choosing him

moving to him

longing for God

to draw us

to him

and him

drawing us

by grace

through the power

of the Holy Spirit

and we often

apply that truth

of election

being chosen

by God

in a very

individualistic way

like this is

for me

this promise

is about me

being chosen

but have you

considered

that this

implication

if this

is true

it implies

that the

body of

Christ

we are all

chosen

by God

now

here's a

thought experiment

you look

around you

if not

for Jesus

would this

be the folks

that you

choose to

hang out

with

and this

is not

meant to be

insulting to

anyone

really

what I'm

trying to

highlight

is that

we are

so

different

where is

EJ

is EJ

here

EJ

is she

somewhere

here

EJ

yeah

over there

I cannot

even

pronounce

her name

EJ

she has to

shorten that

to EJ

for me

and when I

realised

what's her

last name

that was

a greater

nightmare

right

you have

so

in my

mind

if this

just

happened

naturally

without

the

context

of the

faith

we just

happen

to bump

into each

other

and just

by reading

her name

I couldn't

pronounce it

I'll move

on to

another

person

right

this is

not the

person

that

I want

to hang

out

with

not for

anything

that is

bad about

her

but just

the

difficulty

of trying

to relate

to someone

of a

different

culture

whose name

I can't

even

pronounce

right

but look

at what

we have

here

isn't it

beautiful

isn't it

wonderful

I have

more than

once

people coming

to

and we

have a

very similar

church to

you guys

here at

Watermark

Church

in RAC

we have

a church

that's

quite

diverse

in

nationalities

and there

were

more than

a few

times

that people

would come

up to

me

and say

one of

the most

attractive

thing

about

your

church

is I

cannot

quite

figure

out

how

did

you

guys

all

end

up

together

now

guys

we are

meant

to be

perplexing

to the

world

with this

unity

that we

have

in

Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter

2

nothing

is

mentioned

about

whether

they

belong

to a

specific

social

class

specific

types

of

people

vocations

and so

on

we do

not know

what kind

of

industry

this is

not a

bunch

of

people

in the

same

industry

hanging

out

this is

people

coming

together

let me

just

make

sure

that

we

see

that

they

were

gathering

to the

process

teaching

to the

breaking

of

bread

let's

come

there

for a

moment

when

you

break

bread

what

do

you

remember

you

look

around

you

there are

people

that

you

would

not

choose

because

if

life

just

happens

you

would

not

hang

out

with

them

you

hang

out

with

people

who

are

more

similar

to

you

you

hang

out

with

your

people

group

people

that

you

feel

most

similar

to

but

here

we

are

as

we

celebrate

the

bread

being

broken

what

was

broken

so

that

I

can

have

this

body

now

why don't

we

make it

a

commitment

from

this

point

on

every

time

a

leader

stands

in

front

to

lead

the

communion

to

celebrate

the

breaking

of

bread

let's

take

a

look

around

ourselves

let's

not

just

bow

our

head

and

receive

the

communion

element

and

consume

it

on

our

own

but

let's

take

a

moment

to

take

a

look

around

us

and

remember

his

blood

was

shed

so

that

I

can

have

this

body

of

Christ

that

I

am

a

part

of

so

God

has

brought

us

together

as

a

people

we

did

not

choose

him

we

did

not

even

choose

one

another

but

here

we

are

he

loves

us

we

love

him

and

we

are

called

to

love

each

other

now

often

when we

talk

about

the

miracles

of

the

Holy

Spirit

we

think

about

the

miraculous

healings

the

tongues

the

prophetic

words

but

here

is

another

miracle

watermark

church

diverse

people

but

love

is

what

unites

us

the

love

defined

for

us

in

one

job

love

love

to

love

to

say

to

you

on

the

first

day

but

I

forgot

about

this

Ryan

and

Catherine

say

hi

to

all

of

you

so

I

met

them

a couple

of

Sundays

ago

they

are

part

of

a

mandarin

plant

so

RAC

planted

our

two

churches

and

English

plant

Simon

you

visited

led by

Andrew

purchase

and

then we

have

another

plant

a

mandarin

plant

in our

city

it's

fairly

small

right now

it's

quite

new

and

right in the

country

they are

part of

that

plant

and

when I

went to

visit

the

mandarin

plant

a few

weeks

ago

they were

there

they were

really

excited

I'm

coming to

Watermark

church

they were

talking about

how in

their time

here

that was

really

formative

I think

writing

came to

faith

here

I believe

so this

is a

very

special

place

to them

and

because

of

the

RAC

never

meets

their

standard

it took

them a

really

long

time

to

find

but

now

as

the

smaller

mandarin

plant

was

planted

out

they

are

now

getting

into

community

and

doing

life

with

other

Christians

so

it's

just

a

high

from

them

and

a

short

waiting

that

they

are

doing

well

they

also

wanted

to

send

me

some

good

places

for

sao

er

here

in

Hong

Kong

roasted

goose

so

it's

really

friendly

and I

really

appreciate

them

another

reflection

that I

have

is

do

you

realize

that

this

environment

is

more

precious

than

blood

family

in

some

ways

Yvonne

and I

we are

both

from

non-Christian

families

I

have

more

things

in

common

with

you

some

of you

I

just

met

we

just

had

small

talks

and

very

quickly

I

felt

that

connection

this

is

how

you

came

to

faith

and

just

a

sense

of

fellowship

and

love

and

it's

actually

very

challenging

often

when

I'm

back

home

back

in

my

family

my

sister

who

is

not

a

Christian

my

parents

are

not

Christians

there

are

just

so

many

things

happening

in

my

life

that

I

cannot

share

with

them

and

most

of

the

things

I

cannot

quite

connect

as

well

and

I

begin

to

realize

that

it

is

so

true

that

when

we

become

Christians

the

relationships

that

becomes

most

significant

to us

is one

that

is

bought

by

blood

the

blood

of

the

lamb

and

it's

thicker

than

blood

in

some

ways

when

we

a few

years

ago

we

said

to

the

church

at

REC

we

said

that

if

we

ever

get

knocked

down

by

a

car

by

the

way

these

thoughts

came

when

one

night

we

were

out

late at

night

having

supper

so

we

drove

out

and

there

was

a

huge

storm

so

the

traffic

was

quite

heavy

and

I

was

just

saying

what

if

we

have

a

terrible

accident

and

we

don't

get

home

what

would

happen

to

our

car

right

talking

about

which

family

we

want

in

REC

to

adopt

our

children

and

we

were

making

a

list

this

couple

they

are

wonderful

they

are

waiting

for

God

to

provide

them

with

a

child

our

kids

will

fit

in

so

nicely

with

their

family

and

we

were

working

through

our

list

and

one

Sunday

when

I

got up

to

preach

I

said

I

just

want

to

make

sure

it

is

registered

in

the

God

has

given

us

something

very

precious

here

a

family

bought

by

the

blood

of

the

lamb

so

that's

the

first

part

this

is

family

now

second

thing

I

just

have

the

first

part

we

did

not

choose

this

family

and

second

part

being

known

notice

how

in

this

faith

community

that they

share

everything

together

I

confess

that I

love

my

privacy

very

dearly

I

love

my

own

me

time

and

down

time

which

by

the

way

is

not

wrong

but

the

gospel

calls

us

to

some

kind

of

loss

of

privacy

right

we

see

clearly

in

Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter

2

they

were

sharing

life

with

each

other

there

were

people

who

were

different

from

each

other

but

they

were

sharing

their

possessions

coming

together

and

we

see

through

the

book

of

Acts

that

there

were

many

examples

of

the

believers

laying

down

their

life

for

each

other

sending

helps

whenever

help

is

needed

this

is

real

bonds

between

a group

of

people

brought

together

by

the

gospel

and

being

known

is

part

of

it

so

my

question

is

how

known

are

you

in

this

church

family

by

others

being

known

is a

huge

part

of

what

it

means

to

be

a

member

in

the

household

of

God

being

known

being

real

now

one of

the

signs

of

a

healthy

church

is

people

can

come

to

the

church

not

having

to

wear

masks

they

can

be

real

they

can

come

and

be

weak

they

can

come

and

be

honest

that

I'm

a

mess

and

that's

why

I'm

coming

do

you

know

that

in

a

lot

of

churches

the

culture

is

not

like

that

people

have

the

assumption

that

church

is

for

good

well

behaving

people

so

if you

behave

yourself

if you

keep

all

these

moral

conducts

that

qualified

you

to

come

to

church

and

hang

out

with

the

good

religious

people

no

Jesus

is

not

like

that

it's

quite

opposite

and

the

mark

of

a

spirit

filled

church

community

is

one

that

you

can

be

weak

we

recently

built

a

counseling

ministry

in our

church

and

I'm

the

pastor

that

oversees

the

counseling

ministry

by the

way

a

plug

for

CCF

which

some

of

you

guys

are

taking

online

classes

through

the

CCF

it's

a

really

wonderful

resource

and

we

have

a

few

counselors

on

staff

right

now

in

the

team

we

built

a

counseling

room

near

the

office

and

about

two

years

ago

when

I

started

the

project

of

building

a

counseling

ministry

I

started

to

contact

different

churches

in

Singapore

that

have

counseling

ministries

and