The Cost of Community | Acts 4:32-5:11

Welcome to Sermons from the Way Church Casey, the community of the citizens and saints in Kansas City, following the way of Jesus and pushing back darkness together.

Hey guys, welcome to the way.

Um we are gonna read some scripture.

It's gonna be in Acts four, starting in thirty-two, and then we're gonna go to five ending in eleven.

So if you all want to stand with me while we read this.

Starting in four thirty-two.

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common, and with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

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

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

But a man named Anias Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds, and brought only a part of it, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

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

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

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

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

You have not lied to man but to God.

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

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

After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened, and Peter said to her, Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.

And she said, Yes, for so much.

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

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

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

When the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband, and great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

This is the word of the Lord.

How's everybody doing?

Good.

Well, it's uh a joy to be here today.

If uh well, I think I've met everyone.

Um, but yeah, it's a joy to be here.

I'm Zach, I'm the pastor here, and uh love the family God is building here at the Way Church.

Um a lot of our friends, a lot of our family is traveling today.

Um I know we got some people in like Iowa, we got some people heading to the airport, we got uh uh what there's one other that I was thinking of.

We got people all over the country right now traveling.

Um, but we got Miss Annette back in the house.

Uh so Miss Annette, it's so good to have you back.

Miss Annette's been uh down for the count with uh a foot injury, and she's back.

Like Jordan, we're in the 4-5, so here we are.

Uh anywho, um we've been in a series through the book of Acts here at the Way Church.

We primarily preach verse by verse through the books of the Bible, so uh what that entails is we don't get to skip over um the difficult passages, and today's kind of one of those difficult passages where um, you know, it's like, wow, this is pretty crazy.

This is in the New Testament.

Wow.

Um, but our our sermon series is entitled Living by the Spirit and Following the Way.

Um because what what I believe and what I think we see is that Acts, the book of Acts, is not just the story of the early church.

I think that it is the story of our church today.

I think it is the story, it can be the story of the way, Church KC.

It's the story of a spirit-empowered people following Jesus in ordinary obedience and costly faithfulness.

As River Red, this week we'll be in Acts chapter 4, verse 32 through 5.11, and we'll be looking at the cost of community.

The cost of community.

And if you've got your Bible, you can go ahead and open up to Acts 4, 32 through 5.11.

And if you don't have a Bible, we'd love to give one to you.

Uh just outside of the sanctuary doors, we have Bibles for you to have, to keep, to take home with you, to do your quiet time with, all that fun stuff.

Um, also, if you uh are the note-taking type and you're the digital type, we're leveraging technology.

There's some stickers on the back of uh the chairs in front of you.

You can tap your phone to it and pull up our digital fillable sermon notes, um, or you can go to the waykc.church slash sermon notes.

The way kc.church slash sermon notes.

Um in today's text, I think we see something both beautiful and terrifying.

It's quite the tension, quite the contrast that we see.

On the one hand, we see a community that is so unified, that is so generous, that's so grace-filled, it almost seems too good to be true.

But then on the other hand, we see how fragile community can be, how easily trust can be broken, and how dangerous it is to pretend to be something that we're not.

Here's the thing about community.

This is what I believe in like my heart of hearts.

I think that everyone wants community, everyone has like an innate desire for community until community costs them something.

For example, like we want community until we're asked to give our time to someone else's crisis.

Or we want community until my daughter doesn't like my preaching, I don't think.

We want community until we're asked to give sacrificially of our time, talents, or treasures.

Or maybe it's for you, it's we want community until we're challenged to surrender that secret sin.

Or maybe it's we want community until we're pushed towards purity and righteousness.

Or maybe it's we want community until someone says, I love you, but that decision is leading you away from Christ.

I think so often we want community until it's no longer convenient.

But here's the thing.

Here's what I think we see in today's text, and here's what I want us to hear.

Real community, like the kind of community that is shaped by the cross, that is filled with the Holy Spirit, and that is grounded in truth, will always come with a cost.

Here's our big idea this morning.

It's this true community requires not just unity, as we've been talking about in weeks past, true community requires not just unity, but integrity.

That reflects Christ's character in our relationships with one another.

Modern believers, modern Christians, and really I think just like people in general, non-believers as well, long for meaningful community.

When I used to work in the nonprofit world, what I would tell men that I was helping walk with out of their addictions, I would tell them this.

I think the two most important things to long-term recovery, and what I've come to believe is that the two most important things to just joy in life in general is one, a connection with God, and secondly, a connection with others who are chasing after the same things as you.

Right?

Like that, that I think speaks to the importance of meaningful community.

As we look at this text today, I want us all to consider a question.

Ask yourself this personally, individually, wherever you're sitting.

Do I want authentic Jesus-centered community?

Or do I just want the appearance of it without the sacrifice?

Do I want authentic Jesus-centered community, or do I just want the appearance of it without the sacrifice?

With that, there's three things we're going to look at today.

First, cultivating a Christ-centered community.

Secondly, integrity and generosity, and thirdly, honesty and community.

I'll pray and then let's dig in, family.

Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing us here today.

Thank you for being at work in and through this church.

Lord, I praise you for the neighborhood picnic that was outside on our lawn yesterday.

I praise you for our tailgate party that we had last week, where we're meeting neighbors, where we're sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, where we're building this sort of costly community that you call us to, Lord.

God, I pray that we can live into this calling.

Lord, that we will we will count the cost today and step in with sacrificial hearts to what you've called us to, to this uh faith family, to this faith-filled community, Lord.

God, thank you for sending your son Jesus.

I pray that his name rings through this house today.

I pray that your Holy Spirit moves through this people.

It's in the name of Jesus we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Point number one this morning: cultivating a Christ-centered community.

Cultivating a Christ-centered community.

Acts chapter 4, verse 32, just the first half of this verse reads, Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul.

Acts 4:32

So let's just write off the rip pause right there.

That's not just a like a throwaway half of a verse.

That is a miracle right there in 32a.

Because you don't get one heart and soul from like good branding.

You don't get one heart and soul from clever systems, you don't get one heart and soul from slick, perfect Sunday gatherings.

No, you you get one heart and soul from the Holy Spirit.

You get one heart and soul when the Holy Spirit takes a group of ordinary people and shines his light.

You take, you get one heart and soul when the Holy Spirit takes a group of ordinary sinners and makes them into a family.

This phrase, one heart and soul, it echoes Deuteronomy 6, 5.

And the great commands that God gives to love the Lord with all your heart and soul, right?

That's like the vertical commands.

But here, what's going on here is God is now taking this command horizontally, right?

From person to person.

It's the same sort of covenantal love that we see in the Pentateuch.

It's flowing horizontally, like I said, from believer to believer.

And what we see is that the result of this sort of horizontal person-to-person love, it's this.

The early church, the early Christians, they shared everything that they had.

Verse 32 goes on, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

Now, don't get it twisted.

This isn't like socialism.

No, it is spirit-led sacrifice.

No one is forcing them to share.

No one's saying, hey, Bo, you gotta give me this.

No, no one's forcing them to do it.

They want to.

They have this innate desire in their heart to share with their brothers and sisters.

They have everything in common.

And that doesn't mean that they sold everything.

It meant that they held nothing back from one another when a need arose.

And this sort of unity, it wasn't just like happenstance.

It didn't occur simply through osmosis.

It didn't occur just from sitting in a chair on a Sunday.

No, this sort of unity, this sort of having everything in common, it comes and is a result of Jesus Christ.

Like it is holy, completely and holy of Christ.

What I think that we should learn from the early church is that true community is formed through both a shared purpose and shared sacrifice.

Like this sort of radical generosity, it wasn't new.

Many Jewish sects, like the Assines, practiced communal living.

But what set the early church apart was this grace-fueled, spirit-led unity.

And Luke really, I think, in this text, he's trying to contrast this, this sort of unity of the early church, with what was common in their culture, which was common in the Greco-Roman sort of culture where giving often came with strings.

Giving often came with strings attached in their culture.

Whether that was uh the string of status, the string of control.

Um that's that's what giving looked like.

And I think for me, like before I came to follow Jesus, I viewed this sort of sacrifice, this sort of giving in the same way.

Like before I was following Jesus, all of anything good I would do, any um help I would offer, it was all contractual, right?

It was what can I offer you that I can get something in return?

What do you have to offer me?

Like everything has strings attached.

But what I've found since following Jesus is that it is completely and utterly unconditional.

It's not like, hey, what does Hendrik have that he can offer me?

It's no, I'm gonna serve Hendrik because that's what Christ has done.

That's simply what community is about.

So this is completely different from the community around them.

There's no nameplates, no platforms, there's no strings attached.

It's anonymous, it's sacrificial, and it is gospel-shaped.

So what they're doing is they're giving everything to one another.

And they're preaching the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

And the text says that they laid it all at the apostles' feet.

And what this shows us, this was a symbol of submission, not to the men that are the apostles, but to Christ's authority as expressed through these men, through his appointed leaders.

And Luke, he makes sure, the author Luke, he makes sure to tell us there was not a needy person among them.

That's what we see in verse 34.

And that's that's language straight, again, out of Deuteronomy.

This time Deuteronomy 15.4.

It's Deuteronomy 15.4 gives us a vision of the promised land where God's people would care for one another so deeply that no one would be left behind.

So this isn't like some sort of ideal, idealistic pipe dream.

No, this is like a kingdom reality that we're seeing.

This is what's made possible by the resurrected Christ and the indwelling spirit that he left with his followers.

Really, guys, like here's what I think that the early church shows us.

I think it's this true community doesn't happen by accident.

True community does not happen by accident.

It happens by allegiance.

Allegiance to Christ our Lord.

They were unified not because they liked the same music.

They were unified not because they had the same sort of favorite sports team.

They were unified not because they had the same political allegiance.

No, they were unified simply for this reason alone, because they had the same Lord.

That's it, right?

That is what they had in common.

They had the same Lord, Jesus Christ.

They had the same spirit, the spirit of our risen Lord.

They had the same mission.

To carry out the Great Commission, to make disciples of all nations, right?

That's where their unity lied.

And I think that's what the church should embody.

We're unified under Jesus, but within, we we in this world we look different, we act different, we talk different, but we're all following the way of Jesus.

Like they weren't just sitting in a circle and singing fun campfire songs.

No, they they were giving, they were sacrificing, they were sharing.

And they did it because Jesus Christ had given everything for them.

So as believers today who are planting a church and desiring this sort of selfless and sacrificial community, we should look to Jesus as the ultimate example of selfless giving.

As the ultimate example of sacrificial giving.

So when we we look at this and we're like, oh my goodness, that's like hard to comprehend, that's hard to do, that's I don't know how that can how we can live into this.

We simply look to Jesus.

Look to Jesus, who sacrificially went to the cross to die for your sins.

Look to Jesus, who didn't just didn't protect his comfort, no, he took on our poverty.

Look to Jesus, who did not hoard his riches, he emptied himself.

Look to Jesus who did not cling to his rights, he laid down his life.

Look to Jesus who selflessly left us with the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Look to Jesus who now invites us into a community that reflects this cross-shaped life.

So, family, as we look to the cross in order to cultivate this sort of community in this house, we too should model this spirit of generosity and integrity so as to reflect the sacrificial and selfless love, selfless love of Christ.

This cultivating this sort of community, it's not to be done as an act of obligation, but as an act of worship.

Like how we worship the Lord is living into this calling to have this sort of community.

So it's just like this slight redirect in our minds and in our hearts.

It's like we don't just attend church, no, we become the church.

We don't just look for friends, no, we become a friend.

We don't just show up, no, we lay it down.

You're laying down your preferences, your time, your resources for the glory of the Lord and the good of his people.

Maybe you're sitting here and you're like, man, that seems hard, or that seems impossible.

Like we are but feeble human beings.

How can this church live into this?

And maybe that's a little bit true, right?

Like maybe that's hard for us to do in and of ourselves, us alone, but what we need is the grace of God.

What we need is the grace of our Lord.

Because cultivating this kind of community that God calls us to, it will cost us.

It comes with a cost.

The Christian community comes with a cost.

But it will glorify him more than we can imagine.

So I haven't quoted this guy in a while.

There was a time where I think we went a month with me offering a George Mueller quote.

Um I'm bringing it back.

Mueller is like one of the wildest dudes.

Um, you need to read about him.

I don't have time to go into like his a little short biography about him, but he says this.

Mueller says, faith does not operate in the realm of the possible.

There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible.

So, as we're talking about this sort of costly community, let's be a people who look to God to do the impossible in this house.

So, what we've seen is this beautiful picture of unity.

We've seen a church that is shaped by the Holy Spirit, that is anchored in Jesus Christ, and it is marked by sacrificial love.

But what we see now as we continue on is Luke he zooms in on a specific example, on a man who didn't just talk about generosity, but who lived it.

This man he didn't give to be seen.

No, he gave because he believed.

And I think that in a world full of performance, that this kind of integrity is rare.

And this kind of integrity is also powerful.

So let's look at that.

Point two, integrity and generosity.

Integrity and generosity.

Acts chapter 4, verses 36 through 37.

Acts 4:36–37

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

So we've seen that this ideal of a Christ-centered community laid out for us, and now we're presented with a stark context.

Of what this sort of generosity looks like, like in real-time practice.

So we meet Barnabas, and Barnabas here he's introduced and he later becomes a missionary leader.

We'll see that later on in the book of Acts.

His name means son of encouragement.

And what's so cool is like his lifestyle, it embodied this name.

So Barnabas, he stands as a genuine example of integrity and generosity.

Barnabas, he wasn't just like a generous donor to the early church.

No, he was a living sermon.

He was living out what they were talking about.

The way in which he lives his life preaches.

And just as a sidebar, does the way in which you live your life preach?

Barnabas, he sells property.

And it's something substantial.

This is something that would have like affected his life.

He gives the proceeds away.

He doesn't just give lip service.

No, he gives real substance.

And what's so interesting is like these Levites who who Barnabas was a Levite, they typically did not own land.

So this likely represents a very personal sacrifice for him and a break from tradition.

In the ancient world, like I said, giving often carried strings.

But Barnabas's gift carried none of that.

It was gospel freedom.

There was no patronage, there was no posture, there was no payoff, there was simply grace.

Grace given, grace received, grace given.

The action, it's very public.

It wasn't like something that he did in secrecy, but his motive was not like self-exaltation.

It wasn't look at me.

No, it was look at God.

It was encouragement.

It was building up the body.

So he sells this field and gives all the proceeds to the apostles.

And really, what I think is like Barnabas' actions, they were simply rooted in his sincere commitment to the Christ-centered community that he was a part of and helping to build.

Barnabas, he shows us what generosity looks like when it grows out of a redeemed heart.

It's intentional, like he intentionally sold his property, sold his field.

It is complete.

It's not a token, it's not like a tithe of a tithe, it's not like giving the leftovers, the scraps of what he had.

No, it was like, hey, this is something that's gonna affect me.

It's complete.

And it's other-centered.

He laid it at the apostles' feet to meet a need, and we don't know what that need that he was meeting was, but there was a need that his gift was meeting.

It's important for us to realize like this sort of generosity, it doesn't scream, look at me.

Generosity never should scream that.

No, it whispers, use this for the Lord.

It encourages, it equips, and it multiplies the ministry.

And this simply flowed out of an earnest desire to serve Jesus Christ.

And that's what I think.

Like, I think that so often what we see is our giving, it reflects our gospel maturity.

As believers, we should be encouraged to evaluate our own motivations and actions and how we give and serve.

And this isn't just talking, I'm not just talking about, I don't think this text is just talking about money, right?

Like I think it's talking about our time, our talents, and our treasures, right?

I think it's simply talking about our heart posture.

So ask yourself, why do I give?

Why do I give my time, talents, and treasures?

Is it for praise?

Or is it for people?

Is it for the good of myself or is it for the good of others?

If your answer is like, hey, I give for praise, then the problem isn't your checkbook.

The problem isn't what other people are seeing you do, it's your heart.

So ask yourself, am I giving from my leftovers or am I giving from the first fruits?

Or maybe ask yourself this would I still give?

Would I still give this if nobody ever knew about it?

And I think this like, if giving of your time, talents, and treasures is hard for you, that doesn't mean that you're less spiritual.

It means that you're human.

So, like, keep coming, come learn, come be honest.

The church is not a charity for the perfect, it's a hospital for the broken.

Amen, Janet.

Integrity and generosity is learned, it's not inherited.

I think so many of us are generous with our time, talents, and treasures.

And I just want to say thank you.

Thank you for serving so faithfully on the worship team and the sound booth and kids ministry, making coffee on the welcome team, cleaning the church, uh, mowing the lawn, all those things.

Thank you.

And if that's you, I think what we should be cognizant of is not to let pride sneak in.

Not to say, hey, I do this, this, and this for God's house, so therefore I deserve this.

Like, may that never be the case.

May we be a humble people, a people who serve sacrificially and humbly.

Because ultimately, the giving of our time, the giving of our talents, the giving of our treasures, it should produce gratitude.

Not grandstanding, but gratitude.

It should encourage others to risk it for the kingdom.

Like, dude, as I see, I see James slaying on the electric guitar, like that makes me want to risk it for the kingdom.

I don't know how to play guitar, bro.

But I want to learn when I watch this dude up there.

Not for my sake, but for the sake of the kingdom.

Because generosity that costs nothing, it proves nothing.

But generosity that costs everything, it proves that Christ is everything.

And I think that that's what's so cool about this church plant.

Like, we're we're pushing it all to the middle.

We're betting it all on God working in and through us.

We're not a church plant that has a big mega church back in us.

We don't have a fat budget.

Like, we don't, you know, what we joke about is like Emma is the only person that's ever been a part of a church plant because her dad was a church planter in Brownsville, Texas.

Ain't none of us ever planted a church, right?

And so I think that's cool because as we continue to walk faithfully, it will always be to God be the glory, great things he has done in this house.

Not Ashton rocked it, look at her, not hey, Zach preached a sermon, look at him.

No, it's like, hey, look at God.

That's what I think God will do in this house as we're generous with our time, talents, and treasures.

Barnabas, he shows us the bright, beautiful side of community.

He shows us sacrifice that builds the church, but Luke won't let us romanticize that story without a stark warning.

Right after Barnabas comes a sharp contrast.

We're introduced to Ananias and Sapphira, a couple who modeled the exact opposite of Barnabas.

Appearance without truth.

So let's look at that next.

We'll wrestle with what happens when honesty is missing from our community.

Point three, honesty in community.

Honesty in community.

Chapter five, verses one through eleven.

But a man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds, and brought only a part of it, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

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

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

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

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

You have not lied to man but to God.

When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last.

And great fear came upon all who heard of it.

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

Verse 7.

After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened, and Peter said to her, Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.

And she said, Yes, for so much.

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

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

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

When the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband, and great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all who heard of these things.

So that's intense, right?

Early church, people testing the spirit, lying to the spirit, the spirit being grieved, and they fall down and die.

So the chapter breaks, chapter 5 begins, but the story doesn't.

I believe that the story of Barnabas and Ananias and Sapphira are meant to be taken together, right?

The author, Luke, is intentionally putting them side by side so that we can see the contrast.

The contrast that like Barnabas, he gave from a place of integrity.

But Ananias and Sapphira, they gave from a place of pretense.

In contrast to Barnabas, Ananias and Sapphira, they sell a piece of property and they keep some of the proceeds for themselves and then they fall down and die.

I don't know about you guys, but like as I read this, this is one of the more unsettling stories in the New Testament.

Two people lie about money and they die.

Two people lie about selling their property and they die.

They're not struck down for murder, they're not struck down for adultery, they're not struck down for paganism, but for deception.

In the middle of what would have been like a worship moment.

And I think if we're being honest, or maybe it's just me, like we wonder why does God respond this way?

Isn't that a little too harsh?

Well, I think what's important for us to see is that this section of text is not simply about giving and money.

No, I think that what this text is about is about the posture of our hearts.

What their actions ultimately do is undermine the trust and unity that Christ desires for the followers of his way.

The word kept back in verse 2 of chapter 5, it's the same word used in Joshua 7 for achen.

And this is a deliberate act of holding back what was declared to God, what was dedicated to God.

Peter, I think, really shows us the crux of this when he responds and says, You've not lied to man, but to God.

So this is a critical verse in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

Like lying to the Spirit is lying to God.

And what's judged is not the amount.

What's judged is the dishonesty.

I don't think at all that this was about how much they gave, but I think it is about why they lied.

This wasn't about giving part of the sale.

It wasn't about like, hey, they didn't give enough.

No, it was about pretending to give it all.

They were posturing.

They wanted the reputation of Barnabas without the sacrifice of Barnabas.

And here's why I think that this story is in the book of Acts.

What we see throughout Scripture is that at every movement of God, every movement of God, especially at the beginning of that movement, God protects the purity of his people.

Like, think about the Old Testament, tabernacle inaugurated, Nadab and Abihu die.

Promised land entered, Achan dies.

Church inaugurated, Ananias and Sapphira die.

The lesson for us, family, is that when God's presence dwells among his people, holiness matters.

Holiness matters.

If we desire to be a people who God's presence dwells among, our holiness matters.

No, I don't think that this text is telling us to all sell our property, if we own property, and give it to the church or else we die.

Right?

Like I don't think the text is saying, Hey Rachel, sell your car.

Hey, Zach and Chelsea, sell your house and give it all to the church.

I don't think that it's prescriptive, like prescribing what we should do in that manner.

I think it's just I think it's descriptive in the sense that it's describing the heart posture that we're here to have as the church.

So with that, like we should read this and therefore look to our hearts.

We should examine our hearts.

Today, in today's day and age, and the day of the church today, we may not fall dead for a lie.

But spiritual death begins where honesty ends.

What Ananias and Sapphira did was try to buy the reputation of sacrifice while living in secret rebellion.

And you don't need to raise your hand, but like how many of us are doing the same?

Right?

Examine your hearts, family.

Ask yourself, are there areas of your hearts where we are compromising our integrity?

Are there areas of your hearts where you are being dishonest with yourself?

Are there areas of your heart where you are being dishonest with others?

Are there areas of your heart where you are pretending?

Are there areas of your heart where you are using spiritual language to cover secret sin?

Are there areas of your heart where you are more convinced and concerned with appearing godly than actually walking with God?

Let's be real.

Like, that can be a lot of us at different times.

That can be me at times if I'm being real.

But let's also be real.

Some of us are exhausted.

Trying to manage an image.

Maybe you lead a volunteer, a volunteer team at the church, but you're hiding sin.

Maybe you give generously, but it's tied to control.

Maybe you serve on Sunday mornings but live like a different person on Monday.

And if that's you, I got nothing but love for you.

We're we're our commitment is to be a church who speaks the truth in love to you.

But hear this.

If that's you, God sees, right?

Let's be real.

God sees.

God knows the innermost parts of our being, but his seeing us isn't for shaming us, it's for saving us.

You don't have to fake it, you don't have to manage your image.

This is a church where you can come as you are.

Warts and all.

You don't have to earn a reputation.

We love you right where you're at.

You can come into the light and journey the way of Jesus with us.

I think that the death of Ananias and Sapphira shows us how serious hypocrisy is.

But, but hear this church, the death of Jesus shows how deep God's mercy goes.

The only way for us to live out what we're learning today is through Jesus Christ.

So may we seek Christ's guidance in displaying his truth in all aspects of our individual lives and also our corporate lives, our church life, right?

As we do this, we will avoid the grave consequence of deception.

We'll be a church that's real, authentic, and raw.

A church that values image over integrity is a church that's built on sand.

I don't ever want us to be a church that's more concerned with image than we are about integrity and living righteously.

A church, though, that embraces confession, humility, and faith.

That's the kind of church that the Spirit fills.

So this morning we have seen the beauty of unity, we have seen the sacrifice of generosity, and we have seen the warning of hypocrisy.

But none of this, hear this, none of this is possible unless we return to the foot of the cross.

I'll invite Ashton up to close us in song.

That's where we're headed, that's where we're gonna land in this final moment.

To remember that community was never meant to be built on appearances.

Community, the faith community was always meant to be built on Jesus Christ.

So to close, like, let's be honest.

Wherever you're sitting, be honest.

We all want community until it starts to cost us something real, until it asks for our comfort, until it exposes our pride, until it demands our truth.

But listen, there is no true community without the cross.

There's no true community without the cross of Jesus Christ.

The early church, they didn't stumble into unity.

No, Jesus Christ bled and died for the community of the early church.

Therefore, the early church, they gave, they trusted, and they confessed.

And they did it all because Jesus Christ gave first.

So, family, I ask you, where are you resisting costly community?

Where are you holding back part of yourself?

Where are you pretending to give of your time, talents, and treasures more than you actually are?

Where is your heart divided?

Where is your heart divided between your reputation and reality?

Even like as you're thinking about this to yourself, don't answer it in your heart and in your mind too quickly.

Like, truly let the Spirit search you in this moment.

Maybe this morning you're exhausted from faking it, from pretending to be more generous than you actually are, from trying to look holy without actually living honestly.

But hear this, church.

God is not asking for perfection, he is asking for integrity.

And when we fall short, which we all do, the Lord Jesus does not meet us with shame, he meets us with a cross.

And this is good news.

Because at the center of the Christian life is a God who gave it all for a people who held back everything.

Jesus, he did not and does not give us partial grace.

Jesus, he does not hold back a portion of his love.

He gives it all.

Jesus, he didn't keep back a fraction of his obedience to God the Father.

No, he was fully obedient even unto death.

He gave it all so that you and I could walk in freedom and truth and in real, authentic community.

So here's the invitation for us.

Don't fake it, don't posture, don't perform.

No, confess, repent, step into the light.

This isn't about fear, it's about freedom.

It's not about loss, it's about life.

So, way family, may we be a church that doesn't just look unified, but let's be a church that actually lives it.

A church that's rooted in Christ, that's shaped by the cross, and that's honest, generous, and spirit-filled.

I'll pray, and then Ashton's gonna close us in song.

Oh, Heavenly Father, thank you for being here today.

Thank you for the work that you're doing in this house.

Lord, would you allow us to live into and to embody this sort of community, a community that is costly, a community that you died for?

God, would you make us into a people who are men and women of integrity, who live righteously, who give sacrificially of our time, talents, and treasures, not for our glory, but for your glory alone, God.

God, thank you for all you do for us.

Anything we can offer is so just minuscule compared to what you've done by sending your son Jesus to live, to die, to rise again for the forgiveness of our sins.

Lord, may we walk in the truth of that reality today and every day hereafter.

We love you, we praise you.

All God's people said.

Amen.

Thanks for listening.

Join us Sundays at 10 30 a.m.

in the Rosedale neighborhood of Kansas City.church.