The Jesus Church: Finding the Church of Jesus in the Book of Acts | Donovan Rillion | The Spirit-Empowered Church

So this morning we begin a new series, The Jesus

Church, and we're going to be exploring the book

of Acts. And I'm super excited for this series

because I think as the church, we need to know

where we came from. We need to know our history.

We need to know our family tradition. And so

I'm really excited for the book of Acts. But

before we can do that, I want us to just start

really quickly with putting ourselves in the

scene. So I want you to imagine that you were

there. not like a tourist or a time traveler

that's just spectating, but I want you to imagine

that you were one of the disciples, that you

were in the room with the disciples. You followed

Jesus for three years. You saw him with... perform

miracles. You heard the sermon on the Mount with

your own ears. You witnessed all of the great

things he did and you got to walk with him. And

you, you saw things like him feeding thousands

of people with just a few fish and a few pieces

of bread. And you witnessed him raise someone

from the dead. And you were there when Lazarus

came out of the grave and he still reeked of

decay. Like you were there when he walked on

the water. I want you to imagine that you were

one of the people following Jesus in his time.

And not only did you witness all of these great

things he did, but you were there when they beat

him and they hung him on a cross and you watched

your rabbi die. I want you to imagine that you

were there when they put his body in a tomb and

they sealed it with a giant stone. And then a

few days later, you were there when he appeared

to you and your friends. And you were there when

he said, if you don't believe it's me, touch

me. And give me some food so I can eat with you

and show you that I'm not just a ghost, that

this is me. This is God in the flesh. You were

there when all of these things happened. You

were in the story. And then you were there standing

on a hill in Jerusalem or outside of Jerusalem.

And he tells you to stay in the city and wait.

to go back to the city and wait because something

special is coming, something promised is coming.

And so he blesses you, and as he's blessing you,

he ascends into the sky, you don't see him anymore,

and then you do as you're told, and you go back

to the city, and you're in Jerusalem, and you're

waiting, and you're in this room, and you're

hanging out with your friends, and you're waiting.

and you're waiting, and I can imagine they were

probably praying, and so you're praying, God,

would you send the promise? Would you tell us

what to do? Would you show us where to go? And

as you're sitting there, it happens. What Jesus

promised happens. It begins. See, the past few

months we've been looking at this way of Jesus,

the Jesus way, and we've been going through the

Gospel of Luke where the writer has walked us

through the way of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus,

his values, the kingdom. That was volume one.

I want you to think of this as a two -part story,

and so we've finished volume one, and now we're

in volume two, the same author, same story, same

Jesus. But now... The way that Jesus lived is

about to be unleashed through the people that

Jesus left behind. And I want you to imagine

that you were one of those people that Jesus

left behind. And so as we begin our series in

Acts, we start with verse 8 in chapter 1. If

it's underlined, I'd love for you to read it

with me. But you will receive power when the

Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be

my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and

Samaria and to the end of the earth. So right

there, Luke is telling us where this story goes

before it even begins. But here's what I want

us to notice this morning. Jesus doesn't say,

go build a great church. He doesn't say, go create

an awesome strategy and erect these beautiful

buildings. He doesn't say, go develop a strong

ministry program. What Jesus says is, you will

receive power and then you will be my witnesses.

And we said it a few weeks ago, if you're a witness,

you have a responsibility to go and tell the

truth about what you saw. And so when Jesus says

you'll receive power and then you'll be my witnesses,

what he's saying is you have a responsibility

to use this power to do something special, but

it's not going to be your own strength. It's

not going to be your own genius. It will be God's.

And so what I will say to start us is the church

doesn't begin with human initiative. It begins

with divine promise. What we find is that it's

not the power of Donovan. It's not the power

of you. It is the power of God that begins this

whole thing. And what Jesus says is when you

have the power, then the word will be spread

in Jerusalem and then all the earth. And so it

begins with God's promise. Nobody in that room

was smart enough, was capable enough to organize

this. to do what we're taking part of today.

They weren't able to make that happen. God started

the church and what he started, he intends to

empower and sustain. And I know that to be true

because it started 2000 years ago and it's still

going today. And that could only happen by the

power of God. So I want you to hold on to that

because we're going to come back to it later.

So now we come to the day of Pentecost in Acts

chapter two. Pentecost was already this major

Jewish festival. And so Jerusalem was packed

with these Jewish pilgrims that they wanted to

come to Jerusalem so that they could celebrate

this festival. And so they came from all over

the world. And what Luke tells us is they came

from at least 15 different regions. Every culture,

every language, every skin color, everything

imaginable all represented in those streets to

celebrate. Pentecost. And on that day, the disciples

were all together in this one place. They were

in that waiting room in Jerusalem waiting for

the promise. And like I said, it's starting to

happen. And here's what we find in Acts chapter

Acts 2 · chapter mention

2 where it begins. And suddenly there came from

heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind and

it filled the entire house where they were sitting

and divided tongues as a fire appeared to them

and rested on each one of them. And they were

all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to

speak in other tongues. Now, I want to be very

careful here because we get so caught up in the

spectacular nature of what's happening that we

might miss the real point of this moment. That

if we're not careful, we get caught up in all

of the supernatural that we forget that there's

something special here that we really need to

focus on. This wasn't some mysterious, like indecipherable

language. What was happening is they were speaking

human languages. They were just speaking languages

that weren't their own. They were speaking languages

that the people from these 15 different regions

could understand. So this would be like if we

had people that spoke Spanish, people that spoke

French, people that spoke Chinese, and people

that spoke English all in the same room, and

we started talking, each person would hear their

language. And so the languages of the pilgrims

that were standing outside in the streets, the

people that were from Egypt to Rome and everywhere

between, every one of them was hearing the gospel.

The disciples declaring the mighty works of our

good God, they were hearing these words in their

own languages. And I think that's significant

because when you think about language in the

Bible, language was first divided in humanity

in the Tower of Babel story. In Genesis chapter

Genesis 11 · chapter mention

11, humanity... was full of pride. Humanity thought

we're going to do something special, make a name

for ourselves, and we're going to build a tower

that will ascend into heaven. And what God does

is he looks at this and he's like, this can't

happen. So he scatters the people, he confuses

their language, and from that moment on, we have

different languages. And now there is a divide

between humanity. Well, right here in Acts chapter

Acts 2 · chapter mention

2, The reversal of Babel happens. Pentecost is

the reversal of Babel. And at Babel, God scattered

a people that were trying to build for their

own glory. At Pentecost, God gathered a people

to proclaim his. And so the church is, from its

very first breath, the anti -Babel. It's the

uniter of humanity. It's the proclaiming of God's

glory and not our own. It's a community that

exists not to make a name for itself, but to

declare the name that is above every other name,

to declare the glory and the goodness of God.

It was many languages, many cultures, many backgrounds

and testimonies, all united in one gospel, all

united with one Lord. formed into one community.

And so Peter, he stands up and he preaches the

gospel and they're hearing it in their own language.

And I love that they are so energetic. They're

so emphatic and honestly so wild that the crowd

around them says, are these guys drunk? And they're

like, no, they're just full of the spirit. And

I think that's pretty cool because like later

on in scripture, Paul will say, don't be drunk

with wine, but be full with the Holy Spirit.

And so that's what we're witnessing here, that

Peter gets up and preaches, and he's so enthusiastic

that people think, this guy's been drinking at

9 a .m. Could you imagine? And so Peter, he gets

up there, and he doesn't give them this self

-help message. He doesn't give them this feel

-good, you're going to be okay, and you were

made for this. He doesn't do that. What Peter

does is he preaches Jesus. He preaches Jesus

crucified, resurrected, and exalted. He connects

what they're witnessing now to the ancient prophets

of old. And he's saying, you've heard these stories

since you were a child. You know what God has

promised. Well, it's been fulfilled. It's being

fulfilled in the person of Jesus. And he looks

at the crowd, which would have been filled with

people who were there shouting to crucify Jesus.

He looks at the crowd and he sees the people

that spit on Jesus and he sees the people that

picked up stones ready to throw them at Jesus.

He sees the people that shouted for the release

of a murderer so that Jesus could be put on the

cross. He sees those people and he proclaims

the gospel to them and he says, let all the house

of Israel therefore know for certain that God

has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus

whom you crucified, whom you crucified. who you

put on the cross, who you killed, who you murdered,

who you slandered. He did this for you. And it

says that at that moment they were cut to the

heart. They were convicted, that their minds

were stirred, their hearts were stirred, and

they asked, they said, brothers, what do we do?

What they're saying is how do we respond to this?

What do we make of this? You just said that God

sent Jesus to die for me in all of my sin, in

all of my evil. God... would proclaim or would

reclaim my life. And the disciples are like,

yeah, he would. And so they're like, well, what

do we do with this? And then Peter says, repent

and be baptized every one of you in the name

of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.

And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit

for the promises for you and for your children

and for all who are far off, everyone whom the

Lord our God calls to himself. I want you to

notice something there. Peter doesn't just offer

forgiveness. He's not just telling them about

the forgiveness of sins. He also tells them about

the gift of the Holy Spirit. And what he says

is like, this stuff that you just witnessed us

do, this energetic and chaotic and crazy drunkenness

that you see in us, it's available to you. This

ability to proclaim the gospel in a way that

connects with every tribe and every tongue, this

is available to you, this power. It's available

to every single one of you. If you will give

your life to Jesus, if you repent, turn away

from your evil ways, be baptized and give your

life to Jesus. This power is available to you.

And I want you to think about what else the promise

contains. Yes, it's the forgiveness of sins.

And yes, it's the gift of the Holy Spirit. But

there's something else. And there's something

that for me is a huge blessing. And we think

about Jesus blessing the disciples before he

ascends into heaven, and we described it or defined

it as bestowing benefit. Well, for me, this has

been a huge benefit in my life. It is a community.

I want you to see what we read in Acts 2 .41.

So those who received his word were baptized,

and there were added that day about 3 ,000 souls.

Added. They were added. Added to the kingdom.

to the community, to the family. They were added

to the body of Christ. Baptism isn't just a transaction

between you and God. It's not just an agreement

between me and God. Baptism is the moment that

we are brought into something far greater than

ourselves, something so beneficial, something

that if it were not for the community, the church,

if it were not for that, I would not be here,

and I would go as far as to say you probably

wouldn't either. Because life is way too hard

to do on your own. And God knows that. So he

gives us this family. When you come out of the

water, you're not just forgiven. When you come

out of the water, you don't just get this gift

of the Holy Spirit to use for yourself. You are

given a new community. And on that day, 3 ,000

people were added from 15 different regions,

all kinds of different languages, people that

had different stories. people with different

baggage, people with different home lives, people

with different family structures, people with

different socioeconomic statuses, people from

all over. Every type of person added to this

one family. That's the power of the gospel. That's

the power of the spirit. That is a power that

only God has. It's not just to save individuals,

but it is to form a community. A community that

the world would not be able to explain. Because

the world looks at the church. And they look

at the church and they say, how can all those

people sit in the same row? How can the biker

with the tattoos sit next to the banker? How

can this happen? It's the gospel. And that's

what the Spirit was doing from the beginning.

And so before I get to our key text, I just want

to pause and I want to say something about the

Spirit's movement in history because we can look

at this and we can say, well, that's really cool

that that happened way back then. And we can

look at it and say, man, God used to work in

some awesome ways. Well, I want to make it very

clear that God didn't just work that way 2 ,000

years ago. As recent as the 1800s, we have the

Cambridge Revival where people were falling out.

They were weeping because of their conviction

by the Spirit, their conviction of the gospel

where they give their life. lives and thousands

of people give their lives to the gospel. We

can look at the 1900s with the Welsh revival

where this young untrained man, which I want

to note that often revivals start with young

people. So for my young people in the room, we

got some work to do. This young untrained man

named Evan Roberts, he gets up and he starts

preaching. And within months of this, thousands

of people in the nation of Wales give their lives

to Christ and they become faithful followers.

And I want you to know there are many people

today, historians, scholars, ministers, and ordinary

people that believe right now we are in the midst

of a revival. They believe that the Spirit is

working, that the Spirit's been working since

the pandemic. Who would have thought COVID would

be the thing to bring about revival? And I'm

not here to say we are or we are not in a revival,

but my point by saying that is that the Spirit

didn't just work 2 ,000 years ago. It is still

working today. And if we believe the Spirit can

work, I believe revival can happen. So I just

want to throw that in there as we look at this

Spirit -empowered church because the church was

put here to proclaim the goodness of God. And

we can do that in an exponential and an incredible

way if we will rely on the Spirit's power. So

we get into our text. Acts 2, 42 through 47.

As we look at this idea of what the church looks

like, of what the church is supposed to be, this

is what I read. This is what comes to my mind

every time someone asks me, what's the church

for? This is what I want to think about because

Luke, he paints this portrait of what the church

looked like in its first days, not as this ideal

to admire or to say, man, that was really cool,

but as a blueprint for what this is supposed

to be. So read this with me. And they devoted

themselves to the apostles' teaching and the

fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and

the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and

many wonders and signs were being done to 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. That's an incredible passage. But

you could be sitting there and you could think,

well, of course, a Christian writer is going

to say that. Of course, a preacher is going to

say that because it fits their initiative. Well,

I want you to know it wasn't just Christians

saying this about the early church. In fact,

the church was an enemy of Rome. Rome wanted

to get rid of the church. They wanted to exterminate

every Christian. And so the Roman emperor, Caesar,

he sends a spy to infiltrate the church. reports

back to him saying this, they love one another

and he who has gifts to him who has not without

boasting. And when they see a stranger, they

take him into their own homes and rejoice over

him as a very brother. And if there is any among

them that are poor and needy, and if they have

no spare food, they fast two or three days in

order to supply to the needy their lack of food.

Such, O king, is their manner of life. And verily,

this is a new people. And there is something

divine in the midst of them. That guy has no

motive to say good things about the church. That

guy does not benefit from saying good things

about the church. In fact... He's supposed to

be coming back to Caesar and saying, yeah, it's

all a hoax. Yeah, it's just a cult. Yeah, it's

just crazy talk. Yeah, they're all a bunch of

drug addicts and they're hallucinating. They're

off their rockers. He has no reason to say good

things about the church. He definitely doesn't

have any reason to say these things about the

church, but he does. Why? Because it was true.

This is history. This is not the Bible speaking.

This is history speaking about what the church

looked like. It was a community. It was a family

that is so different from the world, that's so

different that the only explanation is there

was something divine about them. There was something

supernatural going on among those people. They're

not crazy. They're not lunatics. They're empowered.

They are spirit -filled. There is something divine

among them. And I ask the question, can people

say that about us? Can people say that about

this group of people? When people walk in this

room trying to figure out what this church thing

is all about, can they look at us and say, there's

something divine about these people? We've sang

the song before, there's a sweet spirit in this

place. Is there something supernatural about

us? So today I want to anchor this message on

three things that I think if we can figure these

out and if we can rely on the Spirit, maybe the

world will be able to see something divine among

us. And the first thing is the early church was

devoted. Verse 42, that's what it says. They

were devoted. And right there, that word devoted

means to persist. To hold fast, to continue steadfastly

or refuse to let go. When I was in college, I

really liked this girl. And I just really, I

mean, I could not think about anyone else. And

people would say, dude, just let go. But I was

persistent. And thankfully, my persistence paid

off. Because I got the girl after three years

of trying. And so the disciples, they were devoted

to the word. They were devoted to the teaching.

They would not let go when people would say,

dude, you just got to give it up. I can't. I

can't get enough of this teaching. Dude, you

just got to let go. I can't. Because something

that they're teaching, it's what I need. They

were committed. They could not let go of the

word. They were not just devoted to the word.

They were devoted to fellowship. They couldn't

get enough of being together. They could not

go a day without talking to their church family.

And I think that's pretty convicting because

I can go an entire week without touching the

life of somebody in my church family. They were

devoted to the breaking of bread, to being in

each other's homes, having meals together, celebrating

the Lord's Supper. They were devoted to being

a church family. The early church was a community.

that could not help but be committed. They couldn't

help but be devoted. And not only were they devoted

to each other, but they held all things in common.

That they had, what they had was what their brother

had and what they didn't have, their brother

didn't have it. They were together. They shared.

in all things. Verses 44 through 46, it teaches

this idea of being in common. They were selling

their possessions to make sure that if their

brother had a need, that need was met. They were

giving up their own things so that their brothers

could have, so that their sisters could have.

They were in the temple together. They were breaking

bread in each other's homes. And it wasn't like

they were living in a monastery. I always say

like, man, I wish we could just like buy a giant

piece of land and just live in our own little

world. But we can't do that. We weren't called

to do that. We were called to live in the world.

But when the world would see us in the temple

together, when the world would see us gathering

in each other's home, when the world would see

us feeding each other and making sure each other

had what they needed, when the world saw that,

it was attractive because the church was reorganizing

their lives around each other. It wasn't, I can't

make it, I've got a ball game. It wasn't, I can't

make it, I've got a function. It wasn't, I can't

do this because I've got this. It was, I can't

go to the ball game because I've got a church

gathering to be with. And I'm not picking on

sports. I love sports. What I'm saying is, is

we've gotten convinced in this world that the

church is a part of our lives. But for the church

in Acts, the church was their lives. It was who

they were. It wasn't... Like they didn't separate

it as I've got my family and my church family.

My church family was my family. It wasn't I've

got my work friends, I've got my school friends,

I've got my gym friends, I've got my golf friends,

I've got my church friends. It was just I've

got my friends. And my friends were my church

family. It was my community. They had all things

in common. And because of how radical this was,

because of how crazy this was, it wasn't something

that turned people off. Like I've heard people

say, man, if we talk like that, we're going to

turn people off. People are going to think we're

a cult. People are going to think we're, I don't

think it's that crazy because I look at the church

of Acts and it says daily they were adding. They

were adding because it was attractive. Because

when people see, and Greg said this in his communion

talk, when people see this, they say, man, I

want some of what they've got. Because the world

is, they're hungry for belonging. People are

hungry for purpose. People are hungry for community.

They're hungry for people that will love them

and support them and cheer them on. I think about

my kids' T -ball games. Like, we're at these

T -ball games, and we've got 20 church members

at these games just for Easton or just for Peyton.

And so when they get a hit, it's a roar of fans

cheering. And then I noticed when the other kids

hit, the other kids hit just as well, but it's

not as loud. The difference is, is my kids had

a fan club and it was all their church family.

That speaks volume. That speaks volumes to the

world around us because they look at it and they

say, what the heck's going on with these kids?

Why do they have so many people cheering for

them? They've got a really good church family.

It's attractive. It's something that people look

at and they say, man, I need that. And I want

you to notice Luke doesn't say anything about

the production value of their worship gatherings.

He doesn't say anything about how good their

preacher is. He doesn't say anything about how

good the worship leader is. He doesn't say anything

about how comfortable the seats are, how nice

the building is. He doesn't say any of that.

He talks about what they did and who they were,

not what they had. And that's important. And

because of how attractive it was, the Lord added.

The Lord added. And I want you again to notice

it wasn't the elders added. It wasn't the preacher

added. It wasn't the missionaries added. God

added. And the Lord added to their number day

by day. Daily, he added those who were being

saved. Growth in the early church was not the

work of people. It wasn't anything that the people

did. It was simply God. The way I would explain

it is when we work, when we do what God has put

us here to do, God produces the fruit. The church's

responsibility was simple. Be faithful. Worship

together. Be devoted to each other. Be generous.

Pray together. Live life together. And God added.

And what I'm not saying is that the church should

be passive. I'm not saying we just sit here and

have prayer meetings 24 -7. I'm not saying we

just wait and we say, well, God will do the adding.

That's not what I'm saying. In fact, the early

church was anything but passive. They were out

in public proclaiming the good news. They were

in each other's homes proclaiming the good news.

They lived lives that were radically different.

They were not passive, but the source of growth

was always God. And I would simplify it by saying

this, human faithfulness. makes way for divine

activity. When we're faithful, when we do what

we were put here to do, when we do what we were

called to do, when we live the life that God

has called us to live, God will produce. There's

a story in the Old Testament where the prophet

Elijah, he stands on a mountain, and he's confronted

by these hundreds of prophets of Baal, and this

Baal is this false god, and these guys, they

believe in Baal. And so they're challenging Elijah,

and Elijah's challenging them because he believes

in the one true God. And so they're arguing about

whose god is real, and whose god is really the

most powerful. And so what they do is they decide,

they're going to, okay, we're going to put this

to the test. Which god can make fire? And so

what happens is Elijah builds his stack of wood.

The prophets of Baal, they make their stacks

of wood. But Elijah is not just going to take

his stack of wood and call on God to put fire.

No, Elijah is going to take it a step further.

He digs a trench around his stack of wood. And

he pours water all over his wood until it is

soaked. And I'm not talking like he didn't just

like sprinkle water on it. And this wasn't gasoline

disguised as water. This was water and he douses

his wood with it so that if fire happens, there

would only be one explanation. And so the prophets

of Baal, they call on their God to bring fire

and nothing happens. But when Elijah calls on

his God to bring fire, it lights up a flame.

There is only one explanation for Elijah's fire.

God. And I say all that to say, when it comes

to the church, we can talk about all the stuff

we want to do. We can talk about all the things

we need to do. We can develop the programs. We

can establish the ministries. And we can do all

of that, but the fire will not come if it is

not from God. We can do all of these things.

We aren't called to be passive. We have a job

to do. But it's not going to be us that brings

the fire. In fact, what I want to be clear is

Elijah did not produce the fire. God did. Elijah

simply stacked the wood. And so if I could give

you one word this morning, or I guess it's two

sentences. If I can give you two sentences this

morning. that I hope you will take with you and

that we will take with us as a church family

throughout the rest of this series and hopefully

the rest of our lives, it's this. We cannot bring

the fire, but we can stack the wood. We have

work to do. That's why I'm preaching. That's

why you're doing the things you're doing. That's

why we have people that are leading devotionals.

That's why we have people that are leading Bible

studies. That's why we have our missionary efforts

that we support. That's why we're prayerful as

a church about what we're going to do for the

next generation. How we're going to support the

next generation. Are we going to hire a youth

minister? What are we going to do? That's why

we do these things is because we're trying to

stack wood, faithfully expecting the Spirit to

bring fire, faithfully expecting God to bring

growth, and not just so we can fill the seats,

but so that we can save souls. And so we've got

some wood to stack. We've got some work to do.

But I'm a believer, and I hope you are, that

if we stack the wood, God will bring the fire.

I'm a believer that if we will raise our sails,

the Spirit will push us forward to where God

needs us to go. So let me bring us back to where

we started. You're in that upper room. You've

been waiting for Jesus or for the promise that

Jesus gave you. You've been waiting and you've

been praying. And suddenly the wind comes, the

fire falls, and everything you know changes.

And then shortly after that, your little group

of 100 or so people explodes to 3 ,000 people.

And within weeks, a community is formed in Jerusalem

that the world cannot understand. that the world

cannot explain, that the world has never seen

before. People from every tribe, every background,

men and women, old people, young people, all

gathered in this room singing the same songs,

praying the same prayers, thanking the same God

for the same salvation, the same gifts. making

sure that nobody's going hungry, nobody's going

without, that everybody has a place to lay their

head, making sure that everyone knows the goodness

of God and is taken care of by the gracious and

generous gifts of the church. You're in that.

You're there. You're witnessing all of that happen.

And you're hearing the world ask, what in the

world is happening here? That's the church Jesus

intended. That's the Jesus church. And as we

go through the rest of this series, we're going

to look at different facets and kind of break

that down and see how can we more closely align

with the church of Acts. Because it wasn't about

the building. I'm not saying, hey, let's go look

at their architecture and see how they did it.

It wasn't about the organization. It wasn't about

the programs. It wasn't about the things that

they did, but it was about who they were. And

what they were, who they were, was a living,

breathing, spirit -animated community that bears

witness to the resurrection by the way it lives

and by the way it loves. So here's what I want

to leave you with today. The question I want

you to carry with you into this week and into

this series is simply, are we willing to be the

kind of community that the Spirit would work

through? Are we going to stack wood? Are we going

to raise ourselves? Are we going to open ourselves

up so that when the spirit moves, the world sees

something crazy in a good way? Are we willing

to be that kind of community? I believe we are

from a leadership standpoint. I wouldn't be here

if that weren't the case. And I'm going to be

completely honest, and I'm not just saying this

because I'm hoping for a raise. I think we've

got some good leaders. We have a great eldership.

We've got some great deacons. We've got some

great men and women in this church that aren't

in leadership positions that are doing some great

things as leaders. But then there are some of

us that we aren't in leadership positions. Are

we on the same mission? Are we willing to be

that kind of community? It starts with all of

us being on the same page of stacking wood together,

raising ourselves together. And if we'll do that,

Or if we're at least willing to become that,

then I do believe the God who added 3 ,000 souls

in one day at Pentecost is not finished adding

and he's not finished transforming. There's a

county out there. There's a state out there.

There's a country out there that needs transformation.

I'll say it, needs revival. And I believe our

God can do that. I don't just believe he can,

I believe he will. But it takes people like us,

churches like us saying, we'll let the spirit

work. We'll stack the wood. In a moment, we're

going to sing. We're going to sing what we call

a song of invitation. And what I want to say

is I don't want you to let the moment of singing

pass without looking at what God is doing or

listening or feeling what God is doing. I don't

want you to let the moment pass without responding

to God. Those 3 ,000 people at Pentecost, they

didn't wait. They didn't have it all figured

out, and they didn't wait until they could get

it all figured out. They simply heard the gospel.

They heard the message, and they said, what do

we do? How do we respond? So as we sing, I want

to speak to three different types of people.

Maybe you've never been baptized. You've never

accepted the gift of the gospel. And today, I

would say it's the perfect day to be added to

that number, to be added to that community, because

the promise still stands. If you give your life

to Jesus, He will save you, He will give you

a gift of the Spirit, and He will add you to

an amazing family. And then, maybe there's those

of us that were once devoted, but we've kind

of drifted, and maybe you've wandered. Today's

a good day to come back home. And there's no

shame about it. In fact, it is a very noble and

honorable thing to say, I've walked away, but

I need to give my life back to Jesus. And then

maybe you're not in a boat where you've drifted.

You're not in a boat where you've never given

your life to Jesus. You're a follower. You are

a disciple, but you're really struggling and

you're carrying some heavy burdens. Well, I want

to take you back to that community in Acts 2.

It said, whatever your burdens are, we'll carry

them with you. That's the church. That's what

we're here for. So this morning, however the

Spirit's moving in you, however God is stirring

your heart, whatever it is that you need, we

sincerely offer you an invitation to respond,

to lay your burdens down at the foot of the cross,

to ask for prayers from your brothers and sisters,

to have hands laid on you, to have leadership

walk beside you and say, we're with you. Whatever

you need, come now as we stand and as we sing.