CALLED together and SENT out | Donovan Rillion | Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Teamwork makes the dream work. We've all seen

it on the ball field maybe, in a workplace, in

our families, in our jobs. When people work together,

they can accomplish what no single person can

do on their own. And Jesus built the church the

same way. Not as a collection of lone believers,

but as a body, a group of people that are joined

together, that have a purpose, that have something

that they are called to do together. They're

serving together. They're worshiping together.

They're growing together. I want to tell you

a story. In 1980, the U .S. men's Olympic hockey

team was made up mostly of young amateurs and

college players, and they faced this impossible

challenge. Going up against the Soviet Union's

team. Maybe you've seen this movie. The Soviet

Union's team was widely considered the greatest

hockey team in the world. And they had dominated

all their opponents, the international hockey

scene, for years. And nobody at all expected

the U .S. team to win. This was an impossible

feat. The Soviets were faster. They were more

experienced. And they had won almost every championship

that they could win for decades. This was their

game. This was their sport. But here's what happened.

The American team, they didn't try to win by

getting one superstar. They didn't have one ace

player. They didn't have one great player that

would lead the way, that would carry them to

victory. Instead, they worked together. trusted

each other they they had really good communication

they played selflessly they were covering up

for each other's weaknesses and they combined

their strengths and in the end the u .s team

pulled off an unbelievable upset winning four

to three it was called the miracle on ice this

was a miracle This accomplishment came not because

one player scored all the goals, but because

an entire team united with one purpose achieved

what nobody expected. This victory wasn't about

talent. Talk about a lesson on church. I could

probably just leave it there. A team of imperfect

people working together who accomplished something

extraordinary. You may know this to be true,

and if you don't, I'm going to tell you, alone,

we're limited. If I'm by myself, there's only

so much I can do. But together, combined, united,

joined together, we are an unstoppable force

for the kingdom. I want us to read, we're going

to be in Acts chapter 2, verses 37 through 47.

Acts 2:37–47

We're going to read this together, and then we'll

pray as we try to have a habit of doing. Starting

there in verse 37. Now when they heard this,

they were cut to the heart. And they said to

Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brothers,

what shall we do? And Peter said to them, Repent

and be baptized, every one of you, in the name

of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your

sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy

Spirit. For the promise is for you, and for your

children, and for all who are far off, everyone

whom the Lord our God calls himself. And with

many other words, he bore witness, and he continued

to exhort them, saying, Save yourselves from

this crooked generation. So those who received

his word were baptized. And there were added

that day about 3 ,000 souls, and they devoted

themselves to the apostles' teaching and the

fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the

prayers. And all came upon every soul, and many

wonders and signs were being done through the

apostles. and all who believed were together,

and they had all things in common. 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. Let's pray. Father, we

thank you for this family. This team that you've

given us, that you have established through Christ

to help us to make it through this life. But

more than that, this team that you have given

us to help us to make it to home with you and

to bring many souls with us. God, I pray that

we realize just how important this team is. And

I pray that we live a life that shows the transformation,

not just of a group of individuals, but Father,

of a body of believers. Father, help us to be

that church that you established. And help us

to win souls to you. It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. So you have here in Acts, Peter is preaching

the first gospel sermon. And he is just really

throwing it down. And he is giving this large

crowd of people this amazing, bold sermon. And

we see in this sermon where it says, they were

cut to the heart. And then they ask, what should

we do? So you talk about conviction. Peter's

preaching led to conviction to follow Jesus,

which we'll see will lead to unity, which will

lead to teamwork. There in verses 41 through

42, so those who received his word were baptized.

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

And they devoted themselves to the apostles'

teaching. and the fellowship, to the breaking

of bread, and the prayers, those new believers,

they immediately devoted themselves. That's a

key word. Devotion. They devoted themselves to

being taught, to fellowship, to eating together,

to praying together, to living life together.

That sounds like church to me. That sounds like

what I want, what I envision, what my mind says

is the perfect model of church. It's living life

together. It's being convicted by a message and

saying, I'm going to follow the one who makes

that message true. I'm going to be unified with

those who believe that message and we're going

to devote ourselves to living it out together.

See, this passage goes even further in this explanation

of what church is. looked like for the first

Christians in verses 44 through 46. And all who

believed were together. They had all things in

common. They sold their possessions and they

distributed the proceeds from these sellings

so that everybody could have what they needed.

If somebody in the church was struggling to have

food for their family, the church took care of

that. If somebody in the church was in need of

medical services and they couldn't afford it,

the church took care of that. If somebody needed

a roof over their head, if they needed help getting

from A to B, if they needed a job, the church

took care of that. As any had need. They stayed

together daily. They worshipped. They fellowshiped.

They laughed. They cried. They prayed. They sang

together daily. See, being a part of the church

was a daily, joy -filled, and simple experience.

The church of Christ, just like the Christian

church, comes out of the restoration movement.

It's born out of this movement that was calling

believers to just simply be like the first century

church. We just want to be Christians. We just

want to be disciples of Christ. And so when we

say we want to restore Christianity, to be like

the first century church, to be like the church

there in Acts 2, this is what we should mean.

If we're going to be the church that we were

designed to be, we have to go back to our roots

of living lives that worship, that fellowship

together. Lives of generosity and hospitality

for our brothers and our sisters. And if we do

that, I do believe we'll see lives change. We'll

accomplish the impossible. We will be that miracle

team. Just look at what happened to the first

century church there in Acts 2, verse 47. The

Acts 2:47

Lord added to their number day by day. Daily,

those who were being saved. Daily. They were

living life together and daily. Those that saw

what they were doing, that saw the life that

they had as a family, the people around them

saw this and they were convicted. They were attracted

to this life. That's the new life that we're

called to and the people saw that and they wanted

in. And God made it happen. And I keep saying

words like we, they. Together. Team. Because

it matters. That is essential. It's crucial.

Teamwork is an integral part of God's redemptive

mission for His people. This is what God needs

us to do. It's who God needs us to be. And I

know the church isn't always easy to have this

kind of life together with. There's so many challenges

that pop up. They present themselves. And so

many things that cause us to not want to live

life Oh, they're Christians. Or maybe He just

calls us to be complacent. Things like busyness,

disagreements, differences, conflicts. But if

we're going to be successful, we have got to

move past that. In the early 1970s, the T .C.

Williams High School football team in Virginia,

they faced a really big challenge. You probably

have no idea what that challenge was, do you?

You've seen the movie, right? It's a great movie.

This school was newly integrated. Tensions ran

high between the black and the white players

who they were forced to play on the same team.

And at first, they didn't trust each other. Quite

frankly, they didn't like each other. They had

no desire to be on the same team. There was division,

fear, hostility. But their coach, Herman Boone,

insisted that they unite as one team, that they

work together, that they trust each other, that

they focus on one common goal, winning. And through

hard work, tough conversations, and learning

to understand and rely on each other and to rely

on other people's strengths, this team transformed.

And by the end of the season, They were undefeated

champions, and the world will forever remember

the Titans. See, this story helps us to see that

teamwork has to happen in order to accomplish

the extraordinary, whether that be... Just winning

souls to Jesus today or just helping each other

to carry on through life when it gets hard. No

matter what the task is at hand, if we will work

together, if we'll be united regardless of our

differences, regardless of our challenges, regardless

of the things that crop up and pop up in our

lives, if we will work together and be united

for this cause. We will accomplish the extraordinary.

And here's how I know that. In John chapter 17,

John 17 · chapter mention

Jesus pleads with God that his people would work

together. Here's what he says. I do not ask for

these only, but also for those who will believe

in me through their word, that they may all be

one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in

you, that they also may be in us, so that the

world may believe that you have sent me. The

glory that you have given me I have given to

them that they may be one even as we are one.

I in them and you in me. That they may become

perfectly one. So that the world may know that

you sent me and love them even as you loved me.

Then I want you to listen to what the preacher

in Ecclesiastes 4, 9 -12 says. Two are better

than one because they have a good reward for

their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up

his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when

he falls and has not another to lift him up.

Again, if two lie together, they can keep warm.

But how can one keep warm on his own? And though

a man might prevail against one who is alone,

two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not

quickly broken. On our own, we're susceptible

to being overcome. It's pretty easy to fail by

yourself. You're open to being left cold, to

being left on the ground with nobody to help

you. On your own, you are, I am weak. In all

reality, I am in line to be destroyed. The enemy

is looking to destroy a bunch of individuals.

And the way he does that with the church is by

splitting up the pack and looking for the weakest

one. Looking for the slowest one. And so if we

want to survive this life, and if we want to

help other people survive this life, then the

only thing I can think of that has to be the

answer, because Jesus said it, the wisest man

ever lived said it, all of the scripture points

to this true fact that if we're going to do the

extraordinary, and that is live this life abundantly

and make it home with God, if we're going to

do the extraordinary, we've got to do it together.

Because you cannot do it alone. I cannot do it

alone. We have to get past our differences. We've

got to give up all the things that distract us

and pull us away from being family, from being

church. We have to let those things go. We have

to get past them. I want you to listen to what

Paul says in Philippians 2, verses 1 -4. So if

Philippians 2:1–4

there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort

from love, any participation in the Spirit, any

affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being

of the same mind. Having the same love. Being

in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from

selfish ambition or conceit. But in humility,

count others more significant than yourselves.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests,

but also to the interests of others. If we're

going to have encouragement, if we're going to

have love and comfort, if we're going to live

lives that have access to the Spirit, and all

those things that Paul talks about, if we're

going to have that life, we have to be of the

same mind and the same love. That requires some

humility. That requires considering others before

ourselves. That requires me taking a step back

and not thinking about what's best for Donovan,

but what's best for the kingdom. What's best

for my brother who's struggling. What's best

for my sister that just can't wrap her mind around

what's going on in her life. I have to think

about you before I think about me in order for

us to get to be with God together. And if we

can achieve unity within our own body, if we

can live life together, if we can be that Acts

2 church, if we can be something so counter -cultural,

if we can be what the church was designed to

be, we can achieve success in this mission. The

mission that we've been called to be a part of.

We've been called to do this together. And so

if you're asking, how do we do this? Well, the

long term is to commit to being involved in the

lives of those here. Those in this body. Commit

to living life together, to being the phone call

that somebody makes when they're struggling,

to being the text that somebody makes when they

need prayer, to being the person that I can turn

to, that they can turn to when they need a shoulder

to lean on. To being family that cheers on successes

and grieves loss together. Commit to being engaged.

It's more than that though. It's being together

when we study. When we look at Scripture and

we try to figure out what God is calling us to.

It's being together when we gather to pray. It's

being together when we gather to worship. It's

finding ways to serve those around you. Those

here and even those outside. And then I've got

a little bit of homework for you for this week.

I want you to find somebody that you don't normally

gather with, that you don't normally fellowship

with. Maybe it's somebody that is new to the

church. Maybe it's a visitor. Maybe it's somebody

that you've been going to church with here for

40 years, but y 'all just never had a meal together.

Find someone, a family, an individual, a couple,

and meet with them for a meal. Break bread together.

Whether that be breakfast, lunch, dinner, a snack.

Whatever it be, break bread with somebody that

you don't normally do that this week. It could

be in your home. It could be at a restaurant.

It could be at a picnic table at Meeks Park.

I don't care. Just get with somebody that you

don't normally fellowship with. And get to know

them. Be church with them. In that challenge,

I want you to not just talk about the ball game

and not just talk about the music you like. I

want you to talk about life. Ask them their story.

Ask them how they came to know Christ. Talk about

their family and what they need prayer for and

then pray with them. Because that's what we see

happening in Acts chapter 2. And if we really

Acts 2 · chapter mention

are the church that Christ established in the

New Testament, then that's what we've got to

be doing. And we've got to do that all the time.

Too often the world sees a bunch of people that

dress up and go to a brick building on a Sunday

morning, and they gather and they sing a bunch

of songs, but they live disconnected lives. They

just kind of do their own thing Monday through

Saturday. But they gather on Sunday morning.

And they sing these songs together and they sit

and listen to some guy talk for 30 minutes. And

they do this together, but every other day of

the week they're on their own. And to the world,

what that looks like is a bunch of people wasting

an hour and a half on a Sunday morning. To the

world, what that looks like is a bunch of people

giving up the extra sleep they could have gotten.

To them, that looks like people wasting time

and resources on an hour and a half or two hours

a week for something that doesn't even change

their lives. But what we see in Acts chapter

Acts 2 · chapter mention

2 is a completely different picture. And here's

what it says. And day by day, attending the temple

together. So that's not just on Sundays. That's

daily. Attending the temple together and breaking

bread in their homes. They receive their food

with glad and generous. That's people that enjoy

being together. It was a party to be a part of

the church. It was life -giving. They praised

God together. And in this, they had favor with

all the people. And the Lord added to their number

day by day those who were being saved. I'm reading

this book right now, and it's talking about restoring

the church to the... the Acts 2 church. And there's

a guy, and I wasn't going to share it, but I

want to because, man, this was a great story.

There's a guy named Frank, and Frank was a new

believer. And Frank, the church was reading the

book of Acts together. And so Frank reads through

Acts as a very new Christian with no background

in church tradition and in all the church language.

Frank referencing after reading Acts chapter

Acts 2 · chapter mention

2, he's talking to the preacher of the church.

And his name is David. He asked David, when do

we get to the good stuff? And David felt that

he knew what Frank was asking him. He wasn't...

Completely sure, but he had a good idea of what

he was asking them. So David, he answers and

he says he doesn't fully remember what he said

except maybe saying something about how the power

of the Acts 2 church died out with the apostolic

age. And here was Frank's disappointed response.

I'm not asking for new apostles. I'm asking for

the kind of devotion I see in this book. I'm

asking about awe. I'm asking about people so

passionate about a movement that they would sell

all that they have to be a part of it. I'm wondering

why we don't have baptisms anymore. Or why we

don't talk about God doing big things in our

church. I'm not asking for apostles. I'm asking

for a church filled with passion, with power,

and with boldness. I'm asking why we aren't a

church that wants to change the world. I'm asking

when are we going to start being the Acts 2 church?

Daily, they lived life together. And daily, they

saw lives changed. When are we going to start

doing that? When are the Christians in North

Georgia, when are the Christians in America going

to start remembering that we were called to a

radical movement that was more than just gatherings.

It was life together and life transformation.

When are we going to remember that we were called

to something far greater than just singing pretty

songs and listening to people talk. We were called

to changing the world. And I don't know about

you, but that's convicting me. I don't want to

stand up here and talk. That's not what this

is about. This is about going out there. Living

life together out there. Changing lives together

out there. And ultimately changing the world.

And it requires us being together as a team.

Being together is not only essential because

of what it does to us. It is essential because

of what it will do to the world. You see, we

remember the miracle on ice. And we will forever

remember the Titans. And we can think of a million

stories of teams and armies and groups and companies

that they banded together so that they could

achieve the seemingly impossible. And I'm asking

you, what is the world going to remember? about

the Blairsville Church of Christ. Scratch that.

What is the world going to remember about the

church that Christ bought? We were called to

prepare the world for the return of Christ. That's

what we've been called to do. We've been called

to do that together. And it's not an individual

burden to bear. That is a team. responsibility.

It's a shared mission. See, Jesus established

the church as a team for the dream of His kingdom

becoming reality. The kingdom here, now, to prepare

the way for the kingdom come. If you've been

disconnected from the body, If you feel like

you haven't been a part of the team, like you

haven't been sharing the load of the team, or

maybe you just feel like the team hasn't invited

you into the mission. Or maybe you've never been

a part of the team, and you want in on this task,

on this revolution. Whatever it is that you're

dealing with today, if it's just need for prayer,

if it's need for salvation, we offer you an invitation

to join us as we stand and as we sing.