May 17, 2026 Sunday School

Thank you to Sharon for bringing the uh breakfast casserole.

Appreciate all y'all showing up um early, uh, unless you're a regular Sunday school attender.

This is the normal time, but uh let me pray for us and we will dive in and get started.

Lord Jesus, um thank you for your goodness to us that you display in so many different ways.

And I pray that you would help us to have uh happy and grateful hearts, Lord, that we would be uh intentionally focused on all of the good things, all the benefits that you give us in life that we don't deserve, and that would just produce gladness in us, uh, even in the midst of hardship and temptation or whatever else we may be dealing with.

Lord, I pray for these next few minutes together that you would help our minds to focus, uh to think about this church, but Lord, even just to think about our personal relationship with you and with one another, Lord.

And I pray that you would fill all of us full of the Holy Spirit, Lord, to think well about application and how we should respond.

And we pray all this in Christ's name.

Amen.

Okay, great.

Glad that all of you are here.

If you've got a Bible, you can open up to Acts chapter two.

Acts chapter two.

And uh, I think when we did all adult Sunday school class about three months ago, I think that we looked at Acts chapter two, maybe very briefly.

But I give just a tiny bit of context when roughly a year ago, my wife and I started thinking maybe the Lord is gonna do something different with us, and we were thinking about maybe becoming a pastor somewhere, maybe church planning.

I had two or three different passages that I kept going back to, trying to study and think about that.

And uh then when it the Lord was calling us here, one of the first things I did is I met with Murray Lee, who a lot of you know is the founding pastor, uh, who actually is still a member here.

And um, I just kind of said, hey man, I wanted you to tell me about the history of the church and your vision and heart.

And this was one of the path, the this was the main passage that he went to.

And so it's been one of the passages that I've continued to go back to as I've thought and prayed for the church.

So let me just read it briefly, then we're gonna talk about it for a minute.

Acts chapter 2, starting verse 41.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Those who received his word were baptized.

This is after Peter's sermon at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit's been poured out.

So those who received his word were baptized, and they were added that day about 3,000 souls.

And they were devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers, and awe 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 and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people.

And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

So I think we see at least four things happening in the New Testament church, this kind of little ideal uh nucleus when it first started out.

They were receiving, they were rejoicing, they were giving, and they were growing.

Okay?

So uh receiving and rejoicing primarily has to do with our relationship with God.

And with all four of those things, I'd say that there's a personal and there's a corporate aspect.

I mean, you can be at home reading your Bible and receiving from the Lord speaking to you.

Uh, and you can have joy in your heart, driving in your car, singing praise to God, and all that's wonderful.

But a lot of what we do when we gather on Sunday mornings for worship is we're receiving from the Lord, we're hearing from him through the word and sacrament, uh, but then we're also we're rejoicing, we're celebrating who he is, okay?

And I think that has been a historic strength of Cahaba Park, and we want to continue to build on that.

And so that's all good.

That's not the main thing we're gonna focus on this morning.

But then you see the second two things that they're giving, they're growing, okay?

They're they're giving to one another as there are needs, okay.

I mean, again, I think most of us know this, but it bears, it's worth repeating because sometimes it gets confusing.

This was not like early communism, okay?

This was not you have to give.

This was a willingness to give.

This was if somebody showed up poor and broke and they lost their job and they were destitute because they came to the festival and they're stuck there now with no money, and you had some rich Christian living in Jerusalem.

It's like, I got extra property, I don't even know it, I'll sell it and I'll take the money that I get from that.

It was voluntary, it was sacrificial.

It was it was a love for one another that showed up and how they sacrificially gave for one another.

And then because of that, they were growing.

They were growing spiritually and maturely, uh maturing personally in their depth intimacy with Christ, but they were also growing as a congregation.

So, what I mainly want us to talk about this morning, really practically, is that just community groups, okay?

Um, and because I think that is not the only way, but one of the best ways to experience this giving and growing with one another.

Okay, so I want us just to think about this for a second together.

Uh, when God calls people to himself, he's not just calling you to a personal relationship with himself, he is calling you to that, but he's also calling you into a family.

He's adopting you into a family, he's calling you to your brothers and sisters in Christ.

And so the greatest commandment, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

The second is like it, love your neighbors yourself.

And the first neighbors that we ought to be loving are the other Christians.

Um, remember in Galatians chapter 6, verse 10, I think, is where Paul says, as much as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are the household of faith.

Galatians 6:10

That's where we should start with our loving, okay?

Giving to one another.

So, what does it take to really give to one another well as Christians?

All right, at least at least two things.

There's an attitude and there's an action.

And here's the attitude that I want us to think about together for just a second.

There has to be humble honesty.

So just imagine if you're in this first New Testament church, you got over 3,000 people, all these brand new Christians, and you're meeting together regularly.

If somebody was poor and needed money, they would have to be humble enough and honest enough to show up and say, I got a problem, I got a weakness.

If they were arrogant and self-righteous and trying to keep their best foot forward, unfortunately, like a lot of Americans like to do, like, nothing to see here, carry on, all is fine.

Nobody would know they had a problem.

So that that's first is there has to be an attitude of humility, of honesty, and then of awareness of one another.

Okay.

Vulnerability and transparency would be another way to say it.

And those two words seem like they're kind of the same thing, uh, but they're really not.

There's a little bit of difference.

I'll give you an example.

Uh, let's just say my wife and I are talking, and I'm I'm being humble, and I'm being transparent in one sense.

And I say to her, hey, I've been struggling lately with with anger, impatience, uh, gluttony, whatever it may be.

I'm asking you to pray for me.

You say, wow, that's that's transparent.

That's nice, that's humble.

Well, then if my wife says, Well, yeah, I've noticed that, and I actually have a couple of points of uh application for you, I'd like to offer you some wisdom.

And hypothetically, I'm just like, hey, you're not the boss of me.

Uh, you know, just keep your mouth shut, woman, and pray.

Uh you might say, Well, he was transparent, he was open.

That was some degree of it, but he wasn't really vulnerable because he didn't want anybody to press back.

Does that make sense?

Okay, we we need to be both.

I'm open about my weaknesses, and I'm also willing to receive help.

Okay?

Giving to one another so that we can all grow together.

Again, this passage, if we're just looking at this passage and interpreting it in a very wooden and literal fashion, we're like, well, what were they giving to each other?

There's really only two things we can see.

They were giving to one another time.

It says they were meeting together basically every day.

That's what it sounded like.

They're giving their time, and they were also giving their money as there was need.

Now just think about in your own life.

Most of us, and some of this is based on your upbringing, your personality, we're okay to give time, but don't ask me for money.

We're kind of stingy there.

You want me to spend all Saturday come out of your house working?

Fine.

Don't ask me to write a check because I'm tight on my bank account.

And other of us, we're the other way.

Just listen, let me shut up.

I don't really care that much.

I will write you a check and then leave me alone.

Please don't ask me to do anything.

Please don't ask me to show up somewhere.

But if you're willing to give time and money to something or some per person, you must really love that person.

And if you're willing to give time and money, you're probably willing to give anything and everything else.

Oh, you need advice, oh, you need prayer, whatever it may be.

Does that make sense?

Okay, so they were loving each other well.

Now, so you've got to have the right attitude, but then secondly, you've got to have the right action.

I just read a survey yesterday that, and this was general population, if you go up to somebody and you ask somebody, how are you doing?

Like, how are you feeling?

What emotions are you experiencing right now in public?

The vast majority of people, if you ask them that question in public, what do you think?

Do you think they're gonna give a positive or a negative answer?

What do you think?

Positive.

Positive.

If you ask somebody in public, how are you doing?

How are you feeling emotionally?

The vast majority is gonna always give a positive answer.

And then in the survey, what they did is they asked people in public and then they had them take an anonymous survey they could turn in that asked the exact same question.

And guess what?

The majority I answered negatively.

I'm actually not doing well, I feel stressed, I feel pressured, I feel worried, whatever it is.

And that that when I read that survey, I was not shocked.

So why am I bringing that up?

It it's not realistic.

Even in a church of our size, we we have roughly 270 adults in this church.

You know, and sometimes we're like, oh man, I want to be in a church where we we know everybody.

We're already past that.

Y'all were past that before I got here.

You you can't be best friends with everybody, it's just not realistic.

And did you notice in this passage?

I mean, they had a church of 3,000 people.

So megachurches are not sinful, but megachurches are a lot harder to manage.

But here's the idea they were meeting in the temple all together, but then they were meeting in homes, breaking bread.

And that's a lot of what the community groups are supposed to be.

Guys, I'll just be honest, it's probably not wise to share all of your dirty laundry and needs with every stranger you meet on the street.

That will probably backfire with it.

Have you ever met somebody like that?

You know, like you really don't know them?

You you meet them one time at a party, how you doing?

And they just start crying.

I mean, you're like, man, this person is either like really struggling or mentally ill.

Well, I mean, it's just not normal.

But what that means is we all need a small group, a tight-knit group, where we can really, in a sense, emotionally be naked with one another, be vulnerable, and be honest about here's my weaknesses, here's my struggles, here's where I'm not doing well, and I need prayer, and I need friendship, and I need accountability, and all that kind of stuff.

And guys, ideally that's what a good community group is.

And I've been, I think we have 13 different community groups here.

I was able to visit nine different ones of them, and it was very encouraging that the level of honesty, the level of humility, the level of relationships that's happening for the most part.

And all that I want us to do is just double down and build on that, okay?

Uh, so do you have to be a member of community to be uh shepherded well?

No.

But it's a lot harder to be shepherded well if you're not in one, okay?

Do you have to be a member of a community group to be a good member of Kapal Kaaba Park?

No.

But but it but it is one of the best ways to be involved.

And guys, not just for yourself, but for one another.

I mean, just think about in a healthy marriage, the way that it typically goes is there are times and seasons where I'm doing pretty good, and my wife, for whatever reason, she's struggling, and I can come alongside her and I can be there to help, to encourage, hopefully to strengthen.

And then there are other seasons where it flips, and she's doing pretty good, but maybe I'm struggling, and then she's there for me.

And that's a little microcosm picture of what ought to be happening in a community group.

You show up all the time, whether you're doing good, whether you're doing bad, whether you're doing neutral.

And sometimes you may be there more to give to others because they need you.

And then other times you may be showing up more because it's your lifeline, because you feel like you're drowning, and the water level is right about here, and you need those people in your life.

Okay?

So that that that is the action that we ideally want to have.

Let me just let me tell you uh tell you one more study and then two stories.

Um, there's a book, and I I think I mentioned it last time, it's called The Great Dechurching, and it's about why have so many people been leaving the evangelical church in America over the last few years, and then what will it take to get them back?

And it was very interesting as they did all these different, it was all this research, very heavy, research-based book.

And they said the main reason that people are leaving the church today, and the main reason they'll come back is really boils down to one thing: a sense of belonging.

When they kind of felt like, I don't really fit here, I don't really belong, I don't really know anybody, nobody really knows me.

It's just easy to say, let's just sleep in and go to brunch.

That sounds more fun.

And when there's a church that really is welcoming them back, there's a sense of warmth, and it's like, man, I fit here.

People know me, people care about me, I belong, they want to come back.

And listen, do I hope that we have a sense of belonging in our worship service?

I absolutely do.

But it's just harder to do that, even with this size of a Sunday school class.

And it's much more realistic to do that with a small group where you got somewhere between 12 and 20 people.

Does that make sense?

Okay.

I'll tell you two stories of friends of mine.

One was a guy I went to college with, very godly guy, very spiritually mature, you know, leader in the college ministry, all that kind of stuff.

But he got a big-time job, he moved to another city, didn't know a soul.

And he, again, godly guy, so he found a good church, Bible preaching church, he joined the church, got plugged in.

But because he was new to the city, single, kind of an introvert, busy, traveled a lot, here was his experience of that church.

Is he would come in if the service started at 11 a.m., he'd come in at about 10:59.

And he would slip in and he would sit on the back row.

And he would listen, he would take notes, he would sing songs.

If there was a greeting time, he would shake people's hands, he would smile.

And then as soon as the service was over, 12.01, he would slip out, he'd be gone.

Well, his life started to unravel in ways that I can't even share publicly in a mixed group.

It just got really bad, really ugly, really sinful.

He was calling me a lot because we were good friends, asking for accountability and prayer.

And it got so bad and desperate, he finally said, the only way that I think I'm gonna get out of this sin is if I move back to Birmingham or somewhere where I have good friends and good accountability partners that I can see on a weekly, regular basis.

Just showing up for Sunday morning worship, even every week, like clockwork, for most people, there might be the exceptions, for most people, it's not enough for you to really spiritually thrive and grow.

Another story, another guy that I knew from college, and he was up in a city uh in Tennessee, lots of good churches.

He was going to a good church, but he started dealing with a lot of issues, some marriage issues, some mental health issues, and he's calling me a lot, which just side note, sometimes I really appreciate like guys that I hadn't talked to in 20 years from college, and they call me out of the blue and they're like, man, I'm just struggling.

In one sense, I love it because I love these people, but there's always this sad thing.

It's like, brother, why 20 years later, you're living in a different state, in a different city, going to a different church.

Do you not have anybody there you can talk to?

And as he's kind of dumping all this on me.

And he's like, Listen, I got so much going on, I don't know if I need to see a medical doctor or a, you know, psychiatrist or, you know, a Christian counselor or a pastor.

I'm like, sounds like to me you need to see probably all four more.

I mean, you know.

And I said, Does the church that you're going to have elders?

He said, Yes, great church, man.

Has elders.

I said, good.

I said, do you know any of the elders?

He said, nope, never met one of them.

I said, well, now will be a heck of a time to meet them.

And you can understand his response.

He's like, no way.

I'm not going to let the first time that I meet one of the elders be like, hey, my life is falling apart.

I'm starting to wonder if I'm going crazy.

That's not how I want to meet some, right?

So why am I sharing that story?

You might be sitting here saying, Olin, thanks for this lesson.

This is a great lesson for a lot of other people.

But you have no idea how great I'm doing.

Well, listen, praise the Lord, enjoy it.

It just probably won't last.

So go ahead and make the healthy decision when everything's going wonderful to plug into a group.

Listen, for at least two reasons.

Be there to help other people.

People need you in their life.

And so that inevitably, when the hardship does come, you'll already be in those relationships, and you won't have to go form them when your life's a mess.

Does that make sense?

Okay.

Um, so uh a couple of practical applications.

The first is this we're gonna do something a little bit different this summer.

You know, most of the community groups, I really all of the community groups have stopped meeting as of May.

Great, I get it, summer break and all that.

But starting June the 14th, so you can put it on your calendar if you want to, we're gonna have one big community group that meets up at the church on Sunday nights.

Same kind of timetable, 5:30 to 7, okay?

And more details will be following.

But here's the idea, okay?

It'll be bring your own food.

So if if you're just coming, you don't have to RSVP.

You know, swing by Dairy Queen right up here and bring your blazer burger, and we'll we'll all eat together, okay?

Uh we will have a kids program.

So if you're like, hey, I have little kids, and one of the main reasons I like community group is at least we had free babysitting one night a week.

We will have a kids program.

If you have kids and you want to bring them, you are gonna have to RSVP for that so that Laura can have the right volunteers and all that.

But we'll have something going on for the kids.

There won't be anything going on for the youth because we have so much going on for the youth all summer, okay?

So uh if you're 18 and up, we would love for you to come to the adult community group, okay?

Um there'll be a very little bit of teaching from me.

So even if you're like, but we were on vacation and we missed church, we would still love you to come, okay?

And then it's gonna be discussion groups and it's gonna be the same kind of time level.

And uh I don't know if we're gonna have 10 people one week, 35 the next week.

There will be standalone discussions, so please don't be like, well, I missed the first one, I can't come to the second one.

Why are we gonna do this?

Okay, multiple reasons.

One, it's just an easier way for me to get to know people, more people in the church.

So there's a little bit of it that's selfishness.

Two, it's an easier way for you to get to know more people because even just, again, being here for three or four months, I have noticed there are some longtime members here that don't know each other.

And that's not, again, that's not bad, that's not sinful, that's just called real life.

But so if we have one big community group that everybody's kind of ushering in and out of, there's a chance you might meet somebody that's already a member of this church that you really don't know.

Thirdly, we have a lot of visitors and a lot of visitors that are starting to join.

That's exciting.

We want them to be able to come and get to know people at a deeper level.

So this is going to be open to all visitors.

So if you've got a buddy that's been visiting, invite them to community group.

It's welcome, not just for members.

Okay.

And then fourth, hopefully, if you've never been in a community group at Caba Park, or maybe you have, but it's been a long time, you can get a taste because we're hoping that starting in August, when we start back regular community groups, that pretty much everybody, unless there's some great reason and you might have a good reason, says, Hey, I want to be in.

Okay?

Now, let me say a couple things about that.

I'm gonna stop in a second and see if anybody has any questions or comments they'd like to add.

Um, we're probably gonna start at least two new community groups in the fall because we've got new people, more people.

Again, good problem to have them.

We're growing.

Okay.

If you like your community group, you can keep your community group.

And this is not like if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor and then psych.

All right, this is real.

If you like your community group, you can keep your community group.

So sometimes when you start having discussions like this, and listen, some people teach this way, and I want you to know this is not me.

They're like, well, you know, you have community groups and they grow and they split, and that's what they're supposed to do.

I don't necessarily believe that.

Because sometimes if you get a really good, tight-knit group and we're like, hey, we know each other, we love each other, we're open, we're honest, we're humble, vulnerable, transparent, whatever adjective you want to put on it, man, we're doing it.

The worst thing you can do is make that group split up.

Does that make sense?

So if you're like, man, we got the greatest community group in America and we never wanted to change, myself nor the elders, we're not gonna make you change.

But if you're like ours is kind of small, we'd like to add some people, great, we'd probably have some people to add.

If some of you are like, you know what, I've been doing this group a long time and I think I might like to break off and be a leader of a new group, we we'd be very open to that.

Does that make sense?

So I part of what I'm wanting, I'm asking every person to do, especially if you're already in a community group, is just pray about this summer.

Do I really like my community group and want to keep it the same?

And if you do, great.

And this is a chance if you're like, I really don't like my community group.

I don't feel like I can say that to anybody.

You don't have to.

You just have to say, I'd like to be a part of a new one.

You don't have to give me a reason why.

Okay?

Because we're going to probably almost certainly have to start some new ones.

So I'm just wanting you to pray about it, think about it, and listen, I hope you hear my heart.

Let me just share this.

I've been an accountability group kind of with four different guys.

We've been meeting for, I think, six years now.

And it's this kind of tight knit, share everything, trust each other.

And there's a buddy outside the group that three of us have been trying to share the gospel with.

And one of the guys said, Well, if three of us five are trying to share the gospel, they got, we ought to just invite him to come to our group.

Listen, I love that passion.

I love that heart for evangelism.

But I said to my friend, there's no freaking way.

I mean, what we're doing is five mature Christians, you bring in one non-Christian, it will mess it up.

No.

Do I want this guy to become a Christian?

Of course I do.

But no, I don't want to sacrifice this for that.

Does that make sense?

So you can have an evangelistic, growth-oriented heart and at the same time say, I love my community group, and please don't mess it up.

And that doesn't, those are not necessarily at cross-purposes.

That makes sense?

Okay.

So I'm a lot of what I'm asking you, like, if you're like, what is the application from this Sunday school class, oh, and it's twofold, please try to come to the summer community group this summer as much as you can, whether you're just a visitor or whether you're the oldest member of this church and you're in the greatest community group that you've ever experienced, and you have no desire to change, please come anyway this summer as much as you realistically can.

Whether that's once or four times, I don't really care.

When you're in town, please come.

That's the first application point.

The second application point is this spend some intentional time thinking, praying, maybe talking to your significant other this summer about in the fall, how do we want to be involved in community groups?

Do we want to be in the same one?

Do we want to be in a new one?

Do we want to invite new people to ours?

Do we want to intentionally not invite anybody to ours?

Or do what do we want to do?

Does that make sense?

Again, and there's not like a secret, more spiritual answer that I'm looking for.

Okay.

Um I have one other thing I want to talk about, but that's really it about community groups.

So let me pause there and see.

Does anybody have a question they might want to ask or a point of clarification that y'all may want to make from the crowd or another insight from Acts chapter two?

You might want to share anything.

Wide open.

Okay, great question from Benton.

Is the community group going to meet every week?

Uh no, because I know there will be some weeks we take off like July 5th.

And I haven't decided, and this is something I wanted to talk about with the staff on Monday.

We may just meet every other week because of summer and Father's Day and July 5th and stuff like that, or we may meet every week.

But I know we're starting on June the 14th.

Uh what I don't know is are we gonna meet every week or every other week?

But we will have that answer to you hopefully next week.

Great question.

Other questions or thoughts about community groups?

Okay, great.

Um, Beth, you're not raising your hand, are you?

That's just no, it's just donut.

Okay, gotcha.

Okay, all right.

I just was making sure I didn't know.

Um all right.

So I was not initially planning to talk about this, but it but it dovetails perfectly in God's providence.

Uh if you have already a copy of the bulletin, you can you can hold that up and you can look on the very back, kind of in the middle, okay?

And says stewardship 2027.

Here is our overview of the general fund budget.

You know that we're about, my guess is most of you know this, but there's visitors, new people.

We have been on historically a calendar year from January to December as far as our budget.

We are about to switch and go to more of a physical year that will start June the 1st, correct?

July 1.

July 1st.

Um, Sam is the chairman of the finance committee, so if there's any questions, I'm gonna sit down and he's gonna stand up.

Um, but this is the budget that has been uh proposed by our deacons and our finance committee that is uh Sam Kilpatrick and Tommy Brown and Jake Rogers.

Um and the elders have approved it.

So this will be the budget starting for July 1 to the following year.

So mainly this is for information, but we talk about giving.

That is a part of giving to one another, is giving to the church so that we can grow.

Um I think what I have been told is that this number is higher than it has been in many, many years.

That's a great thing, that's an exciting thing, but we need people to give.

I don't know how many of you notice the burst pipe water going down.

You know, it's like there are a lot of awesome things about this facility.

There are also some old and broken things about this facility.

And so uh praise the Lord.

We have a lot of people in this church from, you know, nice parts of Birmingham.

Um, and yet don't assume that it's like, man, we've just got so much money sitting in the bank, we don't know what to do with it.

All right.

So uh if the Lord is calling you to be a part here, we'd love for your heart and your giving financially to be reflected as well.

So um that's all I was gonna say about the budget, but we have plenty of time if somebody else would like to make a comment or ask a question about that.

Okay, great.

I'm gonna pray for us, and then we'll have plenty of time to uh go out and eat more breakfast casserole and donuts, if Beth left us any.

And um we will uh have a little time for fellowship before church, okay?

Lord Jesus, once again, all the thanks, all the praise, all the credit, all the honor, all the glory ultimately goes to you.

And Lord, if there's any tiny place where our heart covets honor, praise, and glory, Lord, would you would you humble us?

Would you help us to focus more on you, to worship you, and to be to be happy, to Lord, just to be a vessel to be used by you and to reflect back to you, your goodness and glory.

Father, thank you for this church.

Thank you for all the good things that you've been doing in and through this church for 19 years now.

And Lord, we we pray that you would continue to bless, you would continue to pour out your spirit, Lord, that the historic strengths of this church, like the worship service, like the community groups, Lord, that we could build on them, that we could double down on the foundation, that we could go from strength to strength.

And Lord, that we would be a church that loves you well, Lord, that receives, that rejoices, but Lord, also that loves one another well, that is willing to give, that is willing to sacrifice, not just with our money, Lord, but with our time, with our energy, with our thinking, Lord, that we would think about, we'd be intentional about how to love one another, how to speak the truth in love, how to stir up one another towards love and good deeds, Lord.

We pray, Lord, for spiritual help.

We pray for spiritual strength, we pray for spiritual vitality.

And Lord, we pray that you'd bless our community groups.

Lord, where there are strong, healthy, high-functioning community groups, would you bless them and help them continue?

Where we need to start some new ones, Lord, for visitors or for members that aren't currently involved, Lord.

Just give us wisdom about the strategy and all those kind of details that you care about so that we really can experience this kind of New Testament fellowship and love and community and growth.

We pray all this in Christ's name.

Amen.

All right, thank you all so much for coming, guys.