Sermon

Cut to the Heart

Christ Church East Bay - Sermons

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  1. We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christchurch.

  2. This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication,

  3. redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christchurch.

  4. Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristchurchEastBay.org.

  5. Good morning, Christchurch.

  6. My name is Lawrence Liu, and I am a member of the North Berkeley Community Group.

  7. Today's reading is from the Book of Acts, Chapter 2, Verses 1-14, and Verses 22-39, as printed in the liturgy.

    Acts 2:1–14

  8. A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

  9. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

  10. Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven,

  11. and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

  12. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

  13. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

  14. Now they were staying in Jerusalem, God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.

  15. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment,

  16. because each one heard their own language being spoken.

  17. Utterly amazed, they asked,

  18. Aren't all these who are speaking Galileans?

  19. Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?

  20. Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,

  21. Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,

  22. Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene,

  23. visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism,

  24. Cretans and Arabs.

  25. We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues.

  26. Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another,

  27. What does this mean?

  28. Some, however, made fun of them and said,

  29. They have had too much wine.

  30. Then Peter stood up with the eleven,

  31. raised his voice, and addressed the crowd.

  32. Fellow Israelites, listen to this.

  33. Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God

  34. to you by miracles, wonders, and signs,

  35. which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.

  36. This man was handed over to you

  37. by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge,

  38. and you, with the help of wicked men,

  39. put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

  40. But God raised him from the dead,

  41. freeing him from the agony of death,

  42. because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

  43. David said about him,

  44. I saw the Lord always before me.

  45. Because he is at my right hand,

  46. I will not be shaken.

  47. Therefore, my heart is glad,

  48. and my tongue rejoices.

  49. My body also will rest in hope,

  50. because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead.

  51. You will not let your Holy One see decay.

  52. You have made known to me the paths of life.

  53. You will fill me with joy in your presence.

  54. Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently

  55. that the patriarch David died and was buried,

  56. and his tomb is here to this day.

  57. But he was a prophet,

  58. and knew that God had promised him on oath

  59. that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.

  60. Seeing what was to come,

  61. he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah,

  62. that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead,

  63. nor did his body see decay.

  64. God has raised this Jesus to life,

  65. and we are all witnesses of it.

  66. Exalted to the right hand of God,

  67. he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit,

  68. and has poured out what you now see and hear.

  69. For David did not ascend to heaven,

  70. and yet he said,

  71. The Lord said to my Lord,

  72. Sit at my right hand,

  73. until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

  74. Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this.

  75. God has made this Jesus,

  76. whom you crucified,

  77. both Lord and Messiah.

  78. When the people heard this,

  79. they were cut to the heart,

  80. and said to Peter and the other apostles,

  81. Brothers, what shall we do?

  82. Peter replied,

  83. Repent, and be baptized,

  84. every one of you,

  85. in the name of Jesus Christ,

  86. for the forgiveness of your sins,

  87. and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

  88. The promise is for you,

  89. and your children,

  90. and for all who are far off,

  91. for all whom the Lord our God will call.

  92. This is the word of the Lord.

  93. Thanks be to God.

  94. Good morning, Christ Church.

  95. It is good to be here,

  96. and it's good to give thanks to God

  97. for the great time we had

  98. at our Soul Care retreat yesterday

  99. that was so life-giving.

  100. And I also give thanks for a wonderful spring break

  101. with our family.

  102. The week before last,

  103. we had a time of rest together

  104. down in Scotts Valley near Santa Cruz,

  105. which is where we're going to have

  106. our all-church retreat on August 27 to 29.

  107. So mark your calendars if you haven't already.

  108. I'm just so grateful to work for a church

  109. that values rest,

  110. particularly the rest of your pastors.

  111. I don't know if you know

  112. just how demanding and exhausting

  113. working one day a week can be.

  114. You're probably familiar

  115. with the old definition of the pastor,

  116. six days invisible,

  117. one day incomprehensible.

  118. But I shouldn't arm you with this kind of stuff.

  119. I have jokes about your professions as well,

  120. so be warned.

  121. I don't know how you feel about church jokes

  122. or desert island jokes,

  123. but I have one that sort of brings those together.

  124. There was a guy,

  125. and he was deserted on an island

  126. for many years,

  127. and a ship came by

  128. and discovered him, found him.

  129. They went on to the island,

  130. and they were amazed to see

  131. all the things that he had built

  132. for his own survival.

  133. And they saw in particular

  134. these three structures

  135. that he had made out of bamboo and leaves.

  136. And they said,

  137. you know,

  138. what's this first structure over here?

  139. And he said,

  140. oh, well, that's my home.

  141. And they said,

  142. well, what about this second structure here?

  143. What is that?

  144. And they said,

  145. well, that's my church.

  146. And then they said,

  147. well, how about this third structure over here?

  148. And a pained look came over his face,

  149. and said,

  150. well, that's where I used to go to church.

  151. But, you know,

  152. church and our relationship to the church

  153. can be tricky business, right?

  154. And some of us are unchurched.

  155. We've never been in a church building.

  156. We're gathering for the first time

  157. with Christians we don't know.

  158. Christchurch is their first church experience,

  159. and we're just honored to have you here.

  160. Others of you might call yourself de-churched,

  161. meaning you had a church experience.

  162. It kind of went from good to bad to ugly.

  163. You were disappointed by a leader,

  164. maybe hurt by a lack of love,

  165. maybe just burned out by over-serving.

  166. Now, some people have just felt invisible

  167. or unknown in their church,

  168. and so over time they just drift away.

  169. Maybe you're surprised to find yourself

  170. back in a church.

  171. Many of us, though,

  172. consider ourselves churched.

  173. But even that's kind of weird right now, right?

  174. We've been on a screen for a year.

  175. We're pretty disconnected.

  176. We've had to merge these two congregations

  177. from Berkeley to Oakland.

  178. Our staff has been reduced

  179. from 17 people down to 5.5 people.

  180. Many of us have had friends

  181. from Christchurch move away.

  182. Maybe your circle of friends here is intact,

  183. but you have an ambiguous relationship

  184. to the rest of the congregation,

  185. to the leadership of the church.

  186. Maybe you're just flat-out low

  187. on motivation right now

  188. for re-engaging with your church post-COVID.

  189. Some of us are churched,

  190. and so we've moved to the area

  191. trying to figure out

  192. what is this particular church all about.

  193. I think all of us read about the church in the news,

  194. and we want that bumper sticker that says,

  195. Lord Jesus, save us from your followers, right?

  196. But we have this wide-ranging diversity

  197. of experiences of the church,

  198. and so it seems fitting for us

  199. to ask the question, what is the church?

  200. What are the essentials?

  201. What are the non-negotiables of the church?

  202. What's the identity and the mission of the church?

  203. What are your gifts, and what's your role?

  204. What's your part to play in building up the church?

  205. And so we're looking at this book of the Bible

  206. called the Acts of the Apostles.

  207. It could also be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit,

  208. the Acts of Jesus through the Holy Spirit in his church.

  209. But this is the second volume to Luke's gospel

  210. that we've been looking at for quite a while now.

  211. And this is the continuation of the story of Jesus

  212. in the life of the new community

  213. that he's launched into the world,

  214. and it gives us an opportunity to see all the ways

  215. that God is calling us to reopen our church,

  216. to reclaim the identity of our church,

  217. to reweave the community of our church,

  218. to relaunch the mission of our church.

  219. And so hear this message from Acts chapter 2,

    Acts 2 chapter mention

  220. which is just super simple yet deep.

  221. And that is this,

  222. that spirit-filled Christians share good news

  223. about Jesus Christ.

  224. That's the message of Acts chapter 2,

    Acts 2 chapter mention

  225. spirit-filled Christians share good news

  226. about Jesus Christ,

  227. and particularly about the historical Jesus

  228. and the contemporary Christ,

  229. which we'll get to in a minute.

  230. But let me start with this,

  231. that spirit-filled Christians share good news.

  232. And that's where our story opens up in verse 1.

  233. When the day of Pentecost came,

  234. they were all together in one place,

  235. 120 disciples.

  236. They'd spent 40 days with the resurrected Jesus,

  237. and now they're praying in this upper room,

  238. doing what Jesus said,

  239. which was to wait to be clothed with power from on high.

  240. And that moment has now arrived in verse 2.

  241. It says that suddenly a sound

  242. like the blowing of a violent wind

  243. came from heaven and filled the whole house

  244. where they are sitting,

  245. like the sound of a Category 5 hurricane force wind.

  246. And then in verse 3,

  247. they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire

  248. that separated and came to rest on each one of them.

  249. The sense of flames of fire might remind them

  250. that John the Baptist said,

  251. one is coming who's going to baptize you

  252. with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

  253. And it's the sound of the wind,

  254. the sense of fire that are signs

  255. that the Holy Spirit is this wild, untamable power.

  256. And what's being unleashed on these people right now

  257. are the uncreated energies of God himself.

  258. And when that power of the Holy Spirit comes on people,

  259. what happens?

  260. That Spirit that ordered the chaos into a creation,

  261. that Spirit that took the dead body of Jesus

  262. and raised him to a life incorruptible,

  263. what happens when that Spirit comes on a community

  264. of 120 disciples?

  265. Well, we read in verse 4 that

  266. all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit

  267. and they began to speak.

  268. They were filled with the Holy Spirit

  269. and they began to speak in other tongues

  270. as the Spirit enabled them.

  271. The Holy Spirit's dancing over these disciples

  272. like flames of fire

  273. and that enables us,

  274. enables them to find their tongue,

  275. to open their mouth,

  276. to speak words,

  277. to utter rational, intelligent, articulate,

  278. meaningful information

  279. that everybody can understand

  280. and finds relevant to their lives.

  281. This is so important

  282. because many of us expect

  283. that the Holy Spirit,

  284. when he comes on our lives,

  285. is going to turn the whole thing

  286. into this marvel, superhero,

  287. pyrotechnical action film.

  288. But what actually happens

  289. when the Holy Spirit comes

  290. is a ministry of speaking.

  291. When the Holy Spirit comes,

  292. there's a ministry of words.

  293. When the Holy Spirit comes,

  294. guess what?

  295. There's a long sermon with Scripture.

  296. I know, that's not very exciting.

  297. But what are they talking about?

  298. In verse 11, it says,

  299. we hear them declaring

  300. the wonderful works of God

  301. in our own tongues.

  302. Some of you are reading a book

  303. called The Wonderful Works of God.

  304. We hear them declaring

  305. the intervening actions,

  306. the saving deeds of God

  307. who's come to his beloved yet broken

  308. and ruined and fallen creation

  309. to make it into a new creation.

  310. You see, when the Holy Spirit comes,

  311. evangelism happens.

  312. And what I want to convince you of this morning

  313. is that everybody is an evangelist.

  314. Everyone you meet in the Bay Area

  315. is evangelizing good news

  316. to try to win converts.

  317. This is particularly true

  318. in our consumer culture

  319. where we're just shamelessly

  320. yet subtly evangelized all the time.

  321. You read a magazine,

  322. you browse the internet,

  323. you watch TV,

  324. you drive down the freeway.

  325. And we get these messages that say,

  326. you cannot have joy without this.

  327. You cannot have a good life without that.

  328. This is from Guy Kawasaki,

  329. who was the former chief evangelist

  330. of Apple Computer,

  331. the father of evangelism marketing.

  332. He says,

  333. the starting point of evangelism

  334. is having a great thing to evangelize,

  335. a cause that seizes the moral high ground.

  336. It is a product or service

  337. that improves the lives of people,

  338. ends bad things,

  339. or perpetuates good things.

  340. You ever found a product or service like that?

  341. Did you ever think,

  342. this will change the world,

  343. this will make your life better.

  344. And did you ever share that with somebody else?

  345. You're an evangelist.

  346. I was walking out of sports space

  347. the other day,

  348. an activist said,

  349. hey, you got five minutes

  350. to save the environment.

  351. That was an evangelist.

  352. You say to your friends and family,

  353. hey, have you read this?

  354. Have you seen that?

  355. Have you eaten here?

  356. Have you traveled there?

  357. Whether your good news is Burning Man,

  358. the keto diet,

  359. Peloton,

  360. Gwyneth Paltrow Goop,

  361. whatever the wellness industry experiences

  362. are promising you

  363. to make you strong and pure and beautiful,

  364. that's all evangelism.

  365. And what is it for you?

  366. What are you so excited about

  367. you had to share?

  368. One of you recently said,

  369. you got to get on Ting Mobile.

  370. You've got to buy Olukai sandals.

  371. It'll change your life.

  372. You need to read this Matthew Walker book

  373. on why we sleep.

  374. You should do this life hack

  375. on cutting back on your email.

  376. I remember reading a few years back

  377. this article in The New Yorker

  378. called Sacred Grounds,

  379. The New Coffee Evangelist.

  380. And it said,

  381. in 1966,

  382. a second generation coffee roaster

  383. from Holland,

  384. Alfred Peet,

  385. opened Peet's Coffee and Tea,

  386. Incorporated in North Berkeley,

  387. just one block down that way,

  388. which might have been

  389. the first evangelical cafe in America,

  390. aiming not just to serve its customers,

  391. but also to enlighten them.

  392. Pete, who died in 2007,

  393. viewed typical American coffee

  394. as not merely bad,

  395. but wrong,

  396. overbrewed and under-roasted.

  397. Guided by his edicts,

  398. locals could learn to drink

  399. a richer, more alkaline form of coffee.

  400. Among his fans

  401. were three young men in Seattle

  402. who bought Peet's Beans

  403. for the coffee shop

  404. they opened there in 1971

  405. called Starbucks.

  406. The tradition of coffee evangelism,

  407. epitomized by Alfred Peet,

  408. can seem in its clumsier expressions,

  409. capricious or even pernicious,

  410. a small cabal

  411. of self-appointed experts

  412. telling everyone else

  413. that they are doing it wrong.

  414. But fifth-generation coffee farmer

  415. ate a battle,

  416. resists snobbery,

  417. as any good evangelist must.

  418. She thinks that coffee salvation

  419. should be available

  420. to anyone who seeks it.

  421. We're all evangelizing good news.

  422. We're all trying to win converts.

  423. But the good news

  424. that the Holy Spirit brings

  425. is better than computers

  426. and is better than coffee.

  427. And what we read about

  428. in verse 37

  429. is when the people

  430. heard this good news,

  431. they were cut to the heart.

  432. They say, ouch,

  433. that doesn't sound like good news.

  434. But actually,

  435. we've now penetrated

  436. beyond the superficial.

  437. We've now gotten beneath the surface

  438. down to the real stuff,

  439. down to the heart,

  440. down to what matters the most.

  441. The Holy Spirit brings an evangel.

  442. He brings the good news

  443. that speaks to our deepest problem,

  444. our deepest need,

  445. that none of these other good newses

  446. can even touch

  447. or even get close

  448. to satisfying.

  449. So what I want you to see

  450. is that spirit-filled Christians,

  451. they share good news.

  452. And when they share good news,

  453. that news is about Jesus Christ.

  454. That news is about

  455. the historical Jesus

  456. and the contemporary Christ.

  457. First, let me say something

  458. about the historical Jesus.

  459. We notice in this story

  460. that it's not just the leaders

  461. who are speaking the good news.

  462. It's all the whole community

  463. of 120 disciples.

  464. The Holy Spirit gifts everybody

  465. the ability to speak the good news.

  466. But then eventually,

  467. one person steps to the microphone.

  468. And we read in verse 14,

  469. Peter stood up with the 11,

  470. raised his voice,

  471. and addressed the crowd.

  472. And this, remember,

  473. is the guy who failed Jesus the most.

  474. Right?

  475. And if I'm Jesus,

  476. I'm like,

  477. hey pal,

  478. you're off the team.

  479. And Jesus is like,

  480. no, you're the captain.

  481. You're now the spokesman.

  482. Jesus loves to empower

  483. the worst failures among us.

  484. And Peter just becomes,

  485. as we'll see,

  486. he becomes this man on fire.

  487. And so,

  488. he gives this little preamble

  489. and he says,

  490. okay, first of all,

  491. we're not drunk.

  492. We're just under the influence

  493. of the Holy Spirit.

  494. But then when he finishes

  495. the preamble

  496. and he begins

  497. the first Christian sermon

  498. ever preached on Pentecost,

  499. what does Peter say?

  500. He says in verse 22,

  501. people of Israel,

  502. listen to this,

  503. Jesus of Nazareth.

  504. Every good sermon is about that.

  505. Every good sermon is about

  506. the person and work of Jesus

  507. because Christianity begins

  508. and ends with the word

  509. and the name Jesus.

  510. And Peter then carefully unpacks

  511. the history of Jesus in stages.

  512. First, he talks about

  513. the life of Jesus.

  514. And he says in verse 22,

  515. Jesus of Nazareth

  516. was a man accredited by God

  517. to you by miracles,

  518. wonders, and signs,

  519. which God did among you

  520. through him

  521. as you yourselves know.

  522. Jesus is a real,

  523. genuine,

  524. flesh and blood human being.

  525. Peter affirms Jesus' divinity,

  526. but never at the expense

  527. of his humanity.

  528. And this is the thing

  529. that baffles the mind.

  530. How is it that this Jesus

  531. can be the God-man?

  532. How can he be man and God

  533. at the same time?

  534. But Peter says,

  535. I don't know,

  536. but he is.

  537. And when he came,

  538. he did wonderful things.

  539. He fed the hungry,

  540. he healed the sick,

  541. he raised the dead,

  542. he cast out evil,

  543. he forgave sins.

  544. And when he did that,

  545. he was making people whole

  546. in body and soul.

  547. He was putting the world right,

  548. bringing heaven down to earth

  549. as signs that the reign

  550. and the rule of the kingdom of God

  551. is here in and through

  552. this man, Jesus.

  553. And Peter not only talks about

  554. the life of Jesus,

  555. but he talks about

  556. the death of Jesus.

  557. And he says in verse 23,

  558. this man was handed over to you

  559. by God's deliberate plan

  560. and foreknowledge,

  561. and you,

  562. with the help of wicked men,

  563. put him to death

  564. by nailing him to the cross.

  565. In other words,

  566. Jesus' crucifixion

  567. is equally attributed

  568. to the wickedness

  569. of human beings

  570. and to the eternal purpose

  571. of God.

  572. Meaning that his cross

  573. was not an accident.

  574. His cross

  575. came out of a covenant commitment

  576. between the Father, Son,

  577. and Holy Spirit

  578. to say,

  579. we are sending Jesus.

  580. And Jesus is going to stand

  581. in their place

  582. and bear their sins

  583. and take their curse

  584. and die their death.

  585. All of that judgment

  586. and condemnation

  587. that was heaping up on us

  588. because we were breaking

  589. the law of love,

  590. because we owed so many debts

  591. to the law of love.

  592. Jesus said,

  593. I'm going to take that

  594. as my own.

  595. And that's why he died.

  596. Peter talks about

  597. the life of Jesus,

  598. the death of Jesus,

  599. and then he talks about

  600. the resurrection of Jesus

  601. in verse 24.

  602. But God raised him from the dead,

  603. freeing him from the agony of death

  604. because it was impossible for death

  605. to keep its hold on him.

  606. Good sermons

  607. help us to feast

  608. on the scriptures.

  609. And so Peter takes us

  610. to Psalm 16

  611. and he says,

  612. we should have seen this coming

  613. all along.

  614. That psalm says

  615. that the body

  616. of the Messiah

  617. would be snatched

  618. out of the sphere

  619. of corruption and decay

  620. to which dead bodies

  621. are subject.

  622. And that's what happened

  623. to Jesus' corpse.

  624. He's not over here

  625. in his tomb

  626. like King David

  627. is over there

  628. in his tomb.

  629. What happened to Jesus

  630. is that he was transformed

  631. into a new glorified body,

  632. the first bit

  633. of the material universe

  634. to be redeemed

  635. and glorified.

  636. In the resurrection,

  637. God the Father

  638. publicly declared

  639. his son Jesus

  640. to have accomplished

  641. the salvation

  642. that he came

  643. in the world

  644. to secure.

  645. And so the resurrection

  646. is not

  647. the reversal

  648. of a defeat.

  649. It's the manifestation

  650. of a victory

  651. for me

  652. and for you.

  653. Peter's talking about

  654. the life of Jesus,

  655. the death of Jesus,

  656. the resurrection of Jesus,

  657. and then the exaltation

  658. of Jesus.

  659. He says in verse 30

  660. that God

  661. made an oath

  662. to David

  663. that he would place

  664. one of his descendants

  665. on his throne.

  666. And then in verse 33

  667. he says

  668. that's why he exalted

  669. Jesus to the right hand

  670. of God.

  671. And Peter takes us

  672. to the Bible again,

  673. Psalm 110.

  674. And he says

  675. that God

  676. raised Jesus

  677. from the place

  678. of absolute cursiveness

  679. to the highest place

  680. of greatest honor

  681. and authority

  682. where he sits

  683. on the throne

  684. to rule over this world

  685. as his rightful

  686. Lord and King.

  687. Peter having talked

  688. about the life,

  689. the death,

  690. the resurrection,

  691. the exaltation

  692. of Jesus

  693. now gets to the fifth stage

  694. and he says

  695. it's Jesus

  696. who has poured out

  697. the Holy Spirit.

  698. Verse 33.

  699. Jesus received

  700. from the Father

  701. the promised Holy Spirit

  702. and has poured out

  703. what you now see

  704. and hear.

  705. Three persons

  706. of the Trinity

  707. that saturate

  708. every page

  709. in the New Testament,

  710. saturate every detail,

  711. of each of our lives.

  712. They're working together

  713. to save us

  714. and to bless us.

  715. At each stage

  716. you notice

  717. that it's God the Father

  718. who witnesses

  719. to the life of Jesus,

  720. who gave Jesus up

  721. to die,

  722. who raised Jesus

  723. from the dead,

  724. who exalted Jesus

  725. on high,

  726. who gave Jesus

  727. the Holy Spirit

  728. so that he could

  729. pour the Holy Spirit

  730. out and fill up

  731. his empty disciples

  732. with the power

  733. and the dynamism

  734. and the energy

  735. of God himself

  736. to bear witness

  737. to this world.

  738. The Holy Spirit

  739. brings good news

  740. and the Holy Spirit

  741. brings a good news

  742. that does not

  743. abstractly affirm

  744. that God is love

  745. or even that God

  746. loves us.

  747. The Holy Spirit

  748. brings a good news

  749. that says

  750. God the Father

  751. loved this world

  752. so much

  753. that he gave

  754. his son.

  755. That's the gospel

  756. that we have

  757. and we are not free,

  758. we're not at liberty

  759. to preach any other

  760. gospel as a church.

  761. We can't substitute

  762. the gospel

  763. of this ideology,

  764. the gospel

  765. of that zeitgeist.

  766. We can't even talk

  767. about the downstream

  768. implications

  769. of the gospel

  770. culturally,

  771. psychologically,

  772. socially,

  773. economically,

  774. politically

  775. as if that's the gospel

  776. because this is the gospel.

  777. Peter's talking about

  778. the wonderful works

  779. of God the Father

  780. through Jesus

  781. by the Spirit.

  782. And he says

  783. if you're not talking

  784. about Jesus,

  785. you're not talking

  786. about God.

  787. And if you want

  788. to be talking

  789. about God,

  790. then you must be

  791. talking about Jesus,

  792. the real historical man,

  793. Jesus.

  794. You with me?

  795. Spirit-filled Christians

  796. share good news

  797. about Jesus,

  798. the historical Jesus,

  799. but also about

  800. the contemporary Christ.

  801. And when we talk

  802. about the contemporary Christ,

  803. we're talking about

  804. the one who lived,

  805. died,

  806. and rose,

  807. who's also the one

  808. who lives,

  809. reigns,

  810. and saves today,

  811. right now.

  812. And this is what Peter's

  813. getting at in verse 36.

  814. He says,

  815. therefore let all Israel

  816. be assured of this.

  817. God has made this Jesus

  818. whom you crucified,

  819. both Lord and Messiah.

  820. Exalted to that throne,

  821. that position of power

  822. and authority,

  823. Jesus is now saving sinners

  824. who cry out to him

  825. for mercy.

  826. And it's from that place,

  827. from that throne,

  828. that the contemporary Christ

  829. makes promises

  830. and demands,

  831. which is his right to do

  832. as the Savior,

  833. Lord,

  834. and Christ of this world.

  835. And I just want to end

  836. by talking about

  837. those promises

  838. and those demands.

  839. The contemporary Christ

  840. makes promises

  841. that we can be forgiven

  842. and have the Holy Spirit.

  843. Meaning we can have

  844. what our hearts

  845. most desperately seek,

  846. the freedom of forgiveness

  847. and the power

  848. of the Holy Spirit.

  849. It says in verse 38,

  850. the people,

  851. they're cut to the heart,

  852. they're asking,

  853. what should we do?

  854. And Peter says to them,

  855. repent and be baptized

  856. every one of you

  857. in the name of Jesus Christ

  858. for the forgiveness

  859. of your sins

  860. and you will receive

  861. the gift of the Holy Spirit.

  862. To be forgiven

  863. is the great need

  864. that each of us has

  865. that none of us

  866. can do for ourselves.

  867. We've all done,

  868. said,

  869. and thought things

  870. that we would be ashamed of,

  871. that we would be

  872. completely embarrassed

  873. for anybody to find out.

  874. It nags our conscience.

  875. We wonder,

  876. you know,

  877. can I ever be released

  878. from that memory

  879. and from that reality?

  880. And friends,

  881. Jesus died for those sins.

  882. Jesus died to free you

  883. from your fear,

  884. guilt,

  885. and shame.

  886. He came and bore

  887. that condemnation

  888. that you and I deserve

  889. so that we could receive

  890. the forgiveness

  891. and the freedom

  892. that we simply don't deserve.

  893. And that's the first gift

  894. of the contemporary Christ

  895. from His throne

  896. in heaven to us.

  897. But the second gift

  898. is the Holy Spirit

  899. coming to live within us.

  900. We're told that

  901. it's the Holy Spirit

  902. who comes

  903. and He cuts their hearts.

  904. Meaning that

  905. the Holy Spirit

  906. gives power to the Word.

  907. The Holy Spirit

  908. says amen to the sermon

  909. and all the people

  910. that their conscience

  911. is stirred up,

  912. their conscience

  913. is stricken.

  914. And those who open themselves

  915. up to the Holy Spirit,

  916. He comes in

  917. and He regenerates us.

  918. He gives us new birth,

  919. new life.

  920. He starts to free us

  921. from our self-centeredness

  922. and to change us

  923. from the inside out

  924. to become more and more

  925. like Jesus.

  926. That's what the Holy Spirit does.

  927. And so the contemporary Christ

  928. promises you can have

  929. this freedom,

  930. you can have this power.

  931. But the contemporary Christ

  932. also makes demands

  933. and He says

  934. you must repent

  935. and believe.

  936. You must repent

  937. and believe.

  938. Peter said repent

  939. and be baptized

  940. every one of you

  941. in the name of Jesus Christ

  942. for the forgiveness

  943. of your sins.

  944. That word repent,

  945. metanoia,

  946. means to change your mind.

  947. Remember,

  948. He's speaking to

  949. this crowd

  950. who has condemned

  951. Christ to death

  952. and He says

  953. you must have

  954. a radical about turn

  955. in your attitude

  956. toward Jesus.

  957. You must embrace

  958. the one

  959. that you've repudiated.

  960. And repentance

  961. is always combined

  962. with faith

  963. which is implicit here

  964. that if we're going to,

  965. there's no possibility

  966. of turning

  967. from our sins

  968. without turning

  969. toward Christ.

  970. And that turning away

  971. negatively

  972. and turning toward positively,

  973. that's what we call

  974. conversion.

  975. And baptism

  976. beautifully symbolizes that.

  977. It's this outward,

  978. visible,

  979. public act

  980. that shows

  981. that we've been washed,

  982. we've been forgiven

  983. of our sins.

  984. We've had the Holy Spirit

  985. poured out on us.

  986. That we ourselves

  987. have died

  988. and risen to a new life

  989. with Christ.

  990. That we have come

  991. and we've humbly submitted

  992. to the name

  993. and the authority

  994. of that person

  995. who we once rejected.

  996. And now we say

  997. you're my Lord.

  998. You're my identity.

  999. You have my highest

  1000. allegiance.

  1001. And so Christ Church,

  1002. I wonder

  1003. what the next step

  1004. is for each of us today.

  1005. For some of us,

  1006. it may be to repent

  1007. and believe

  1008. for the first time.

  1009. For some of us,

  1010. we've done that

  1011. but we've never been baptized.

  1012. It may be to come

  1013. and be baptized.

  1014. For many of us,

  1015. you know,

  1016. the Christian life

  1017. is about repenting

  1018. and believing

  1019. your whole life long.

  1020. And that's just what

  1021. we need to do

  1022. is come back.

  1023. Come back to this

  1024. baptized identity.

  1025. Come back to this

  1026. baptismal allegiance.

  1027. To have Christ

  1028. as our Lord

  1029. and to be fully conformed

  1030. to that reality.

  1031. Christ Church,

  1032. our mission

  1033. is to lead people

  1034. into a deeper relationship

  1035. with Christ

  1036. and His church

  1037. through community

  1038. and for the city.

  1039. And that's the question

  1040. for us

  1041. in the coming weeks

  1042. and months

  1043. is how do we share

  1044. this good news

  1045. with our city?

  1046. And I don't know

  1047. all the answers to that.

  1048. I hope that comes

  1049. as we explore this book.

  1050. But what I know

  1051. is that it starts

  1052. with these 120 Christians

  1053. who gathered together

  1054. in worship and prayer

  1055. because that's where

  1056. the Holy Spirit came.

  1057. That's where

  1058. the Holy Spirit spoke.

  1059. That's the,

  1060. it's the gathered

  1061. community of disciples

  1062. where the Holy Spirit

  1063. loves to most show up

  1064. and pour out His power

  1065. as a hot spot

  1066. of what He wants

  1067. to do in this world.

  1068. And the Holy Spirit

  1069. works best

  1070. among people

  1071. who are experiencing Jesus

  1072. not as a mere

  1073. historical figure,

  1074. not as the furniture

  1075. of their mind,

  1076. not as somebody

  1077. who lived and died

  1078. a long time ago,

  1079. but people

  1080. who are experiencing

  1081. Jesus as a contemporary

  1082. person

  1083. who's alive,

  1084. who's accessible,

  1085. who's breathing out

  1086. His life into us,

  1087. His joy,

  1088. His peace,

  1089. breathing into us

  1090. all it is

  1091. that we need

  1092. from Him.

  1093. It's when this church

  1094. gets together

  1095. and the degree

  1096. to which they cherish

  1097. this Jesus

  1098. is the degree

  1099. to which they go out

  1100. and they commend

  1101. what they most cherish.

  1102. It's when this church

  1103. comes together

  1104. and says,

  1105. Lord,

  1106. would you open

  1107. new doors of opportunity?

  1108. Lord,

  1109. would you open

  1110. our lips to share?

  1111. Lord,

  1112. would you open

  1113. the hearts of those

  1114. who hear that,

  1115. lo and behold,

  1116. things are opened?

  1117. It's when

  1118. the Holy Spirit

  1119. erupts

  1120. into the life

  1121. of God's people

  1122. that they find

  1123. their tongues

  1124. to go public

  1125. with the truth

  1126. of Jesus

  1127. because that's

  1128. the first gift

  1129. of the Holy Spirit,

  1130. the gift of words,

  1131. the gift of speech,

  1132. the gift of

  1133. not being able

  1134. to stop talking

  1135. about the wonderful

  1136. works of God

  1137. in the person

  1138. of Jesus Christ

  1139. and by the power

  1140. of the Holy Spirit.

  1141. And that's my prayer

  1142. for us,

  1143. that we'd be

  1144. spirit-filled Christians,

  1145. a spirit-filled church

  1146. that shares news

  1147. not about this and that,

  1148. but about one thing,

  1149. the historical Jesus,

  1150. the contemporary Christ.

  1151. In the name of the Father,

  1152. Son,

  1153. and Holy Spirit,

  1154. amen.

  1155. For the sake of God,

  1156. the Holy Spirit is

  1157. and for one thing,

  1158. it was beautiful,

  1159. and it was beautiful to eat.

  1160. It was beautiful,

  1161. it was beautiful,

  1162. and I can't wait for you all

  1163. for the sake of God and

  1164. that is,

  1165. Abigailender Messiahyer.

  1166. Ha!

  1167. He wrote down to me,

  1168. the верс Truth,

  1169. he wrote down to me,

  1170. the philosophy of God,

  1171. the purser high power

  1172. and the painting of our血

  1173. and the mind of the life

  1174. of Him.

  1175. He reached out God,

  1176. so

  1177. the리ist leg