The Book Of Acts | Hitting Our Stride (May 10th, 2020) - Mike Armstrong

Well, good morning, church, and welcome.

You can turn in those Bibles to Acts chapter two.

Last time I'll be saying that as we finish out this chapter today.

Now, if you've spent any time at all around small children as they are just learning to walk, you know that's a pretty exciting time, right?

And you know that they begin usually by, you know, pulling themselves up on something.

It's a coffee table or or or the edge of the couch, and and then it's that, you know, kind of super shaky, you know, first step where, you know, their muscles haven't developed yet.

There's a completely new action for them, and and there's a lot of falling down, right?

And and of course, that's the point where parents are always super thankful for extra padded diapers.

Okay, but isn't it incredible uh just how quickly they they learn and and and they and they get it and and they get stronger in their muscles.

And and before, you know, it was one or or maybe two steps before they fall, and then it's like, you know, 10 or 12, and and before too long, they're beginning to hit their stride, right?

And that and that confidence grows, and eventually uh they are just off and running, and it's pretty difficult for us to keep up to them.

Okay, well, likewise, as a church begins to hit its stride, okay, in its functioning and in its operating, uh, it's also exciting, right?

It really is.

You see, believers coming together for the purpose of glorifying and magnifying Christ.

I mean, it's it's it's awesome.

I love that.

And so this morning, what we're gonna do here is we're gonna take a look at these final six verses of chapter two uh that show that the church, you know, just beginning to take shape here and hit their stride for the very first time, which gives us an opportunity as Redemption Church to really, you know, kind of assess these things and really consider how we're doing when it comes to you know these areas.

You know, are we still committed to what makes a church strong and healthy?

Have have we hit our stride?

Are we backing up at all in that or or are we going even further to uh greater maturity, greater joy, and greater uh honor to Jesus Christ?

Now, of course, you know, it's not lost on me that you know this pandemic has drastically changed the way that churches, you know, operate.

And so we'll have to keep that in mind, certainly, as we go through all of this here, but but it's really important to know this, okay, that that we still can carry out the heart of our mission that God has given us.

And we can even hit our stride in you know times such as this, in impress unprecedented and the challenging days uh that we are all in.

And so I want to look at this now from you know from the from the scripture's perspective and then think about it based on kind of where we're at uh today in the world.

And so here we are, uh Acts uh chapter two, uh starting in verse 42.

Okay, it says, And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, okay, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles, and all who believed were together and had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings, and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.

And day by day, attending the temple together, and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people.

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

God, we thank you so much for uh this snapshot into the life of uh the very first group of believers, Lord, and how uh they uh started to function, Lord, and some of the things that they did, Lord.

I pray that as we look at this here in your word, that we would see that these are things that we we net would never move away from as a church, Lord, that we would be that much more committed to them because you gave us these things, Lord.

And and it is through these things that your spirit moves in power to glorify the name of your son, to transform us and to save people all over.

And so, God, would you do this work we pray, Lord?

We've looked so much at your Holy Spirit, and we're gonna see that work just continue through the rest of this book.

We're gonna see it here in the conclusion of this chapter, Lord.

So lead us, I pray, transform our church, encourage us, Lord.

These are difficult times, Lord.

Help us to think through these things well.

And as churches change so much, Lord, that we wouldn't just, you know, kick our feet up and put church and ministry all in the back corner and say, well, you know, we can't do that until we get back to normal because that is just not true.

Lord, we are called to uh to love you, uh, to serve other people, and uh to make much of Christ.

And so, Lord, I pray that we would be able to do these things, Lord, gather our hearts, draw our hearts towards you, we pray, in Christ's name.

Amen.

Amen.

All right, well, as you remember from uh last week, of course, uh, you know, Peter had just preached this fiery sermon through the power of the Holy Spirit, right?

He he shared the gospel with this, you know, Jewish crowd, and and what happened?

Well, the Holy Spirit, you know, worked to uh convict them, and and 3,000 people uh got saved in one fell soup.

They just repented and and trusted Christ as the Messiah.

And so you think about this here, okay?

You've got this, you know, first of all, this very you know relatively small group of people, about 120, you know, disciples and apostles gathered together in this upper room, and and all of a sudden they grow uh 25 times uh bigger, uh, which is pretty wild to say.

What a work of God.

And because this is you know such a grass fruits, uh grassroots, you know, stage kind of situation, you know, the the church, they they didn't have anything yet in in the way of uh of structure.

You know, they're they're you know reading the Old Testament, they're they're allowing the Holy Spirit to lead them through their uh leadership, right?

And that's exactly what they have.

They've got the Spirit, right?

They've got the Word of God, they've got they've got the apostles, and of course, uh they have each other.

And so here's what they do, right?

And more importantly, again, it's what God does through them, okay, as these brand new, you know, followers of Jesus, you know, start to become this, you know, highly functioning and thriving church, right?

And of course, these are to be the very foundations, you know, of every local church, certainly our church.

That is what uh we are going for here.

So here's the first thing.

We've got five things today.

Okay, our church begins to hit our stride when we're first devoted to the essentials.

Okay, and so uh what we get here in this passage uh that we've just read is is really like a 30,000-foot, you know, kind of flyover of uh of how the church you know first began to operate.

Okay, so take a look at this here in verse 42, uh, what they did.

It says, and they they devoted themselves to four main things.

Here they are, okay, the apostles' teaching, okay, and the fellowship, okay, to the breaking of bread, and lastly, here uh the prayers.

Okay, now that word devoted is so important and it's it's a it's a rich word, okay?

It literally means to persist uh obstinately.

I love that.

It's it's so strong.

It means that they were they were you know so you know completely committed, okay, to to pursuing these four endeavors here that they were like just a dog on a bone about it.

There was no quit in them.

They were focused, they were they were refusing to give up.

It was it was just going after it, right?

They were just like they were they were stubborn.

I love that word, obstinate, right?

Uh, you know, about these essentials.

Almost like an insult, but but but but it but it wasn't at all.

It was it was meant to just you know showcase how how great their resolve was.

They were they were devoted, right?

That's that's what devotion is.

Okay, so they were devoted, first of all, let's unpack this a bit here.

It says to the to the apostles' teaching.

Okay, well, what was that?

Okay, well, the apostles' teaching was was them teaching the Old Testament through the lens of Jesus Christ, right?

Who he was, what he came and and and what he did.

Okay, that's exactly what the book of Acts and the rest of the Old Testament for that matter uh shows us they taught.

Okay, so their teaching, you know, centered on how Jesus was the true, you know, promised Messiah, king, and and savior of the world.

All right, how how he was going to eventually return.

There was going to be a second coming where he would come and he would judge mankind for our sinful uh rebellion against God.

And yet, how you know salvation uh from that was available through uh grace, by grace, right, through Jesus' righteousness, by the way that He He lived, He lived the holy, the perfect holy life that you and I couldn't, through His death and through His resurrection, all that was substitutionary, that was for us, that was in our place.

And so through Him, salvation, by grace as a gift, is available to us should we uh repent, should we believe or have faith in Him, in what He accomplished.

Okay, so it was this very thing that they devoted themselves to, right?

They they devoted themselves to know it, like to drill it down deep into themselves, to not just know it academically, but but to love it, right?

To marvel in it, to apply the truth and the implications of the gospel and the scriptures to their lives so that they were transformed.

Okay?

So they were devoted to uh the apostles' teachings.

Second of all, it says that they were devoted to uh the fellowship.

And now that word fellowship, maybe you've heard the Greek word before, it's that word koinonia.

And I think that word has kind of lost some oomph and some meaning uh over the last uh several decades.

It means far more than you know just just hanging out.

Okay, it means more.

It actually means literally a partnership.

It's close mutual association or even the sharing of life together.

Okay, now the following verses, as we're gonna see just through this little passage here, uh is gonna show us what that looked like more specifically in detail and we'll get there.

Uh, but I think for now it's it's safe to say that that a core essential of any you know church hitting its stride here is to forge you know deep relationships uh among each other, right?

To know each other and to connect in deep ways.

It's good to think of the church as a family.

Okay, uh it is, it's it's the family of God.

Okay, and now family is you know messy and family can be hard, and family can be uh disappointing uh even.

Okay, but there but there's just you know straight up no room, and not according to the Bible, right, for for that, you know, kind of you know solitary, you know, individualistic, I'm gonna do it by myself Christian life, right?

All of that is an oxymoron uh according to uh the scriptures, right?

Though that is, if we're honest, a very major struggle uh for many in North America today, right?

We just live in such an you know ruggedly individualistic uh culture that we often think that we can live our faith that way when God never designed it at all.

We see right out of the gate here, they were devoted to fellowship, okay, living life together in many ways.

Okay.

Thirdly, they were devoted to uh the breaking of bread, okay, which of course would have meant you know the Lord's supper, or you know, we often call that uh communion, okay, where they, you know, intentionally, you know, you know, took time and focused on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

They they they focused on his death and and what he suffered and what he endured and what that accomplished for us, right?

Because all of that would be the source, they knew that this was the source of their salvation, right?

What Christ went through, right as a source of their gratitude and and their humility.

Like we're not all that great.

We need Jesus.

And look what he had to go through.

It was the source, you know, of their, you know, and the motivation for their service uh to uh to the lost and to uh each other.

And top of this, the you know, the breaking of bread, you know, would have been coupled with, you know, just eating meals together, right?

That's what they would have done.

They would have done that as a church community, maybe in in very large groups, certainly in in uh smaller ones uh together in their homes.

Okay, again, more on that as we go as well.

But fourth, okay, what were they devoted to?

Okay, they were devoted there, it says, to uh the prayers, okay, which which certainly would have related to how the Jews would gather in the uh temple twice a day, once in the morning, and and be led by the priest to uh to recite prayers to the Lord, right?

They continued to do that, but it also would have been about them, you know, praying together as you know, as smaller groups, and they were already doing that.

Remember, in the in the upper room, they were gathering together and they were they were praying and they were waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

So they would have been praying in groups, of course, they would have been praying, you know, individually.

And think about how you know life was difficult during this time.

There were, they were, there was a lot of confusion, they were suffering persecution, they were living in kind of unstable uh times.

And so, you know, they were it drove them uh to prayer.

They recognized how much uh they needed it.

No, no question that prayer was such a massive, you know, essential and key component of uh the early church from the very beginning.

Now, you know, as you think about yourself in the context uh of our church, uh, can you say that you have hit your stride when it comes to being devoted to these same essentials that we just looked at here?

Like, like maybe, you know, for example, you've noticed that this you know pandemic, as it as it kind of wears on, right, that like perhaps it has caused you to be sifted by the Lord somewhat in regards to you know your devotion uh to these areas, you know, because what I think this this pandemic has done, it's been hard, but but it's been good, is that is that it's it's started to expose our idols.

Right?

Have you sensed that in your life?

And and maybe for you it's you're starting to realize, man, I just want my comfort all the time.

Right?

I I just I want to feel good things.

I want to feel pleasure.

And you have that longing, that urging to just run to some of those things during the discomfort of the pandemic.

Maybe for you, your you know, your your routine has been you know thrown out of you know out of whack and and and you don't really like that, and so you're uncomfortable, and and maybe there's just fear and and anxiety can be tied to work and or you know, or your health or or what have you.

I mean, all of these things uh can be a real have been a real challenge for us, I think, during this pandemic.

Here's the thing if any of those things have you know have become idols and things we want too much and our heart is screaming for them, okay, um I I think what what really happens is it it threatens us to feel just super uneasy, right?

Right?

We feel this chaos in our lives, and and again, there's that that fear there as as our as our sense of control you know kind of ebbs away.

And so I would just really ask you here, as as maybe you've been sifted, okay, and and you're sensing the Lord working you in in all of this, and it's been very uncomfortable, what has this sifting, or where has this sifting caused you to go?

Has it caused you to pull you know away from or lean more intently and more devotedly towards these essentials that we're seeing the believers engage in here?

Right?

Are are you pulling back from or pushing harder into something like the apostles' you know teaching, which we know, you know, ultimately now for us that that's the scriptures, right?

Many of these apostles they actually wrote the rest of the you know uh the New Testament.

And so we have that now.

And and so do you, you know, are are you reading the scriptures?

What is your time in God's word looking like?

Have you kind of you know put the the Bible on the nightstand?

Is it just collecting dust and and you're just you know, you know, kind of pulling away from all that?

Or are you like more voraciously uh into it?

You know, how about online church?

Obviously, if you're hearing me say this, you know, you're in some way watching this or hearing this uh on the podcast.

But for you, how you know, how devoted, right?

How how obstinate are you about just like I've got to dig into this?

I've got my Bible open, I've got my pen in my hand, I'm taking notes, I'm I'm I'm careful, I'm leading my family well in this.

Or are you are you going for it?

You know, are you are are you into church online?

Or is it kind of drifted to this less important thing now?

Ah, we'll catch it if we wake up.

Right?

We'll catch it if we, you know, it sounds like uh, you know, a message we really want to hear, or you know, just kind of playing in the background.

Well, I you know, make breakfast or whatever, but you know, it it's less of a it's less of a thing that I'm devoted to.

Which way are you running on that?

How about how about fellowship?

Yeah, that's a bit of an interesting one, isn't it?

I mean, everything is obviously you know moved online for us.

You know, we've you know, we've got small groups running online and and and youth and and and redemption kids on on Sunday mornings.

Are are you tapping into these things?

Right?

Are you are you making the most of that?

Listen, I get it.

Zoom is not ideal, right?

Google Hangouts, not not the best thing in the world.

Okay, but are you using that as an excuse to now no, I don't I don't I don't need to go after these things anymore.

I need to show, I can show less devotion uh than anything.

Are you plugging in?

Are you going after teaching where we're we're opening up the scriptures and and and teaching it and learning this together?

Are you pushing your kids into youth?

I've been so encouraged to know that our youth group has actually been growing during this time, right?

And Jeremy's doing such a great job with that.

I'm so I'm so thankful for what God is doing in that in that ministry.

Have you been, you know, getting your kids in front of Angela Meyer and her encouragement on Sunday mornings and the resources that we have there uh for your kids so you can use those to disciple them and make sure that they are sitting under uh strong teaching.

Okay, are you are you following that in terms of fellowship?

Right?

Are you are you pressing into relationships with God's people?

Again, that comes through through small group ministry, certainly.

It comes through the ministries that we have uh going online.

Uh definitely uh it's it's connecting with you know people that you know in our church, it's sending texts, it's FaceTimes, it's all of that.

Again, it's not the best thing in the world.

There is certainly something missing, right?

We all get all of that, but but doing nothing is certainly worse uh than doing a little bit.

Are you leaning into that?

Are you devoted to that?

Are you pulling away?

How about the breaking of bread?

Okay, granted, communion is you know a difficult thing to pull off uh during a pandemic and and when church is online.

But you know what?

I I think it's actually really good that that you and I, we would, we would miss that.

And I know that I do, and I and I'm kind of using you know that to make me want to be together again and be able to have communion together again once we're able.

Eating meals, I mean, that component of fellowship, I mean, that is that's also kind of tricky right now, but but are you getting creative with this?

I mean, I know that uh there's at least one small group that in their Zoom call they devote a time to you know eating food together and just catching up and and uh and shooting the breeze.

I love that.

I love the creativity in that.

Okay, are you leaning into fellowship?

Are you leaning away?

How about prayer?

Right?

What's your prayer life like these days?

Right?

You know, Zoom prayer meetings.

Let me remind you that we have these for you for your benefit and for your help.

We have this going, you know, on Sunday night tonight at 8 p.m.

through Zoom.

It's a way for us to get face to face with each other and connect in that way and to lean into praying.

And if you're not comfortable with praying, that's okay.

Just come and listen.

Listen to the prayers of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, in our church, and allow those things uh to be a comfort and a motivation, encouragement uh to you.

You can bring the kids uh together uh for that as well.

You know, it doesn't have to be just you as an individual or with your spouse, but we'd love you to join us, you know, Sunday nights or Tuesday mornings.

If you want to get your week kind of started off on a strong note that way, we've given, you know, kind of two opportunities for you to be able to do that.

Are you praying?

Are you praying in these ways?

Are you are you leading your families in prayer?

Are you, you know, as you're struggling maybe or or or wrestling through the challenges of our day right now, is it driving you?

To prayer, right?

My prayer for us is you know is that in the in the sifting that all of this has been for us, again, that we would become you know that much more devoted uh to these essentials and not not treat them as optional, right?

Not not not take a vacation or or a holiday uh from them.

Not at not at all, right?

Not uh we can't, we can't afford to, right?

We need to, especially if we want to be a church uh that's hitting our stride.

Now, maybe for you in these essentials and and these disciplines, you know, you're you're you're kind of thinking, man, I'm just kind of I'm lacking zeal for these things.

I'm kind of struggling with with motivation, you know, to dig in more deeply here and and and grow devoted.

I'm I'm I'm not really sure how to do that.

And you know, I I would just say if that's the case for you, and it is for all of us at multiple points along the way in our relationship uh with the Lord, but again, if that is for you here, uh this next thing really shows us uh what our motivation must be tied to, must be rooted to if we're gonna be truly devoted uh to the things of Christ.

So second thing here.

Okay, our church begins to hit our stride when we're filled with a holy awe of God.

Okay, filled with that holy awe.

Take a look at verse 43.

It says, and awe came upon every soul.

Okay, that word awe there means um what you might think it means.

It means uh like an utmost respect.

Okay, it means it means to be in wonder.

It even means to have like a holy fear of God, where you're just so taken by him, so captivated by him, and you know, his his nature and and and what he's like, his his character, his his attributes, things like his holiness and and and his goodness to us.

Those are the attributes of God, you know, where you're captured by his deeds and then the mighty things that he does, right?

Awe is what happens, and when you're struck by just how great God is, and at the same time you're struck by just how small you are at the same time.

And there's that comparison there.

When when you sense that gap between yourself and how awesome God is, that right there is awe.

Okay, so it says that that this type of awe came upon every soul.

Okay, and it says, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

Okay, so so God's Spirit, understand, he's doing a mighty work by way of these wonders and signs through the apostles.

And we've already seen uh a few of them uh through uh the start of Acts already, right?

We've seen the we've seen the coming of the Holy Spirit in power, right?

We've seen the the disciples then you know being filled with the spirit and speaking in these other tongues or or in these other languages.

Okay, we we've seen you know Peter be filled by the Spirit and just you know grow courage and speak boldly and fiercely and so so clearly and directly.

Of course, we've seen the th the salvation of of the 3,000 just like uh just last week.

Okay, and of course, the the rest of Acts speaks of far more, right?

Of uh of more healings and you know dramatic prison escapes and and even a few people being raised from the dead.

Okay, all of these things are just evidence of God's you know powerful wonders and signs and driving these believers here to this sense of awe that had bec uh come upon uh all of them, every soul.

You know, that that holy awe of the Lord, okay, that you see here in this verse, I mean, in that right there, I think is such a key uh to a church, you know, hitting its stride, right?

Right?

It really is.

If we're missing that awe, you know, we're we're we're we're missing so much, right?

If if that awe is gone, if it is kind of leaked out of you, uh have you noticed when you when you've suffered from that, that that everything else in your life just kind of goes flat?

You're like, I don't really, you know, seem to you know be all that you know you know taken by by God and who he is.

I I seem to you know not care all of that much all that much, and I don't seem very devoted to him in all of these you know different ways.

Okay, now now the issue for us is is not that we don't know how to uh you know to be in awe, right?

Every single one of us are in awe of you know many kinds of things, and in many ways, that's kind of you know the problem, okay, because because God has wired each human being uh to stand in awe.

Okay, and and unfortunately, though, it's sin that has warped us and and and and doesn't allow us to have awe of the Lord.

We get very blinded to that and we become we become in awe of of other things, of of lesser things.

And so the question really for us is you know, you know, what you know am I in awe of?

Now I know that I've mentioned this book to you before and we've talked about it a number of times, but this book, you know, appropriately titled Awe by uh Paul Tripp has been a real encouragement to me and and to some of you I know, and and I would just encourage you to read it because in this book he he just goes after this.

He he tackles the topic of our awe problem and and how to be you know filled with the awe of the Lord.

So again, you know, what are you in awe of?

Right?

Is it your circumstances?

I think for so many of us, that's that's that's kind of a you know a large bucket there, but that's that's really it.

So many of us are just in awe of whatever's going on in our life, and we've got our eyes on that thing.

And and and when life is going really, really well, it's like, wow, you know, this temporary happiness, and I'm in awe of that.

I'm chasing after that.

But when life is not so good, right?

Like when it's kind of in that in that valley and in a bit of a rut, you know, we're in awe of uh of that, right?

And and and the and the anxiety or or or the fear or just kind of being down and all that.

We're in a and we think that this is such a massive problem, and we're all in awe of the problem, and and and it can get, of course, you know, pretty uh pretty dark.

Are you in awe of your of your circumstances and and that needs to be transferred to the Lord?

There's a million things that we're in awe of.

Is it money for you?

Right?

Many, many people are are caught up in that.

Now it's not to say that money is bad.

We all need money.

It's okay to want money.

It's it's fine to make money.

It's certainly uh true.

The scripture says that the love of money is the roots of all kinds of evil.

Okay, so so we can love money, and and that is too much, right?

That is sin and get us into uh all kinds of problems.

Is money the thing that that has captured your awe, whether you have it or whether you don't?

Is that it for you?

Okay, is it is it just entertainment and and pleasure, right?

And and we I just I just want that, and and my heart yearns for that, and it's my phone, and I need to scroll, you know, social media, and I need to, you know, watch content and and and TV shows, and I need to spend copious amounts of hours, you know, numbing myself.

That that is what I am in awe of.

Okay, or or is our awe rooted in the person and work of Jesus Christ, right?

Is it?

Is that where your awe is?

It was so cool uh just this week to have a number of you uh reach out to me uh through text and just you know express you know your awe of of what the Lord did in saving that brand new woman to our church that I talked about uh last Sunday.

And some of you are like, man, this is this is incredible.

Like how how great is the Lord?

And I have this new sister in Christ that they haven't even met yet, right?

And you're just like the Lord is is amazing, how good is you?

That right there, that is awe.

As you're you're considering and you're weighing just the the mighty works and the amazing things that he does.

What is it?

What is he doing in your life?

Right?

How have you seen him work?

That maybe you've tended to just kind of sweep off to the side, but you need to spend some time there and and and kind of you know take stock.

What is the what has the Lord done?

What how you know what kind of prayers has he answered in my life?

How has he worked in my marriage?

How has he worked in my in my in my kids and in my relationships and in our church, and start to allow those things to increase our our sense of awe?

Because are we in awe of him?

That's such an important question to ask.

A church that that regularly is and and and growing in that is a church hitting its stride.

Okay, another sign that we are is is when we're unified and others oriented.

That's a third thing here today.

And we see this starting in verse uh 44.

Okay, it says, and all who believed, okay, these are the Christians, all who believed were together, okay.

That that word together there emphasizes uh the idea of uh of unity, okay, the idea of unity and and cohesion in that sense, as opposed to, you know, like like a physical gathering, okay, which maybe that's good news for us today considering all the you know the physical distancing uh that we're all occupied uh with.

Okay, that that we can be a unified church, even though we can't physically be in you know in the same room together, is awesome, right?

Because it shows us here that that unity is about pursuing the same mission and and the same purpose, right?

Being on the same page about that.

And so I would just ask you, church, do you do you know what our mission statement is?

Right?

Do you know what that is?

And and are you on board with it?

Are you are you going after it?

Okay, so I'll just I'll just remind you, our our our mission is to glorify God, right?

That is what all of life is about.

Whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God.

Right?

So our mission is to glorify God.

Well, how?

Well, through the you know, it's fulfillment of the great commission, right?

The great commission is where Jesus said, go and make disciples.

Right?

So we want to we want to make disciples, we want to fill the mission that God has given us, the great commission.

How do we want to do that?

We want to do that in the spirit of the great commandments.

The great commandments found in Matthew chapter 22, where Jesus tells his followers that it's all about loving God and loving neighbor.

Matthew 22 · chapter mention

All right, so we want to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment.

So I would ask again, are we a unified church?

Right?

Are we unified in this?

I kind of like to think of unity as rowing in the same direction.

I really love canoeing and I love camping, and I'm really hoping I get to do that uh this summer.

But if you think about you know, two people in a canoe, uh, they're not very unified if you know the guy in the stern or in the back, he's you know, paddling and steering, and the guy in the bow in the front is just kind of sitting there and you know gawking around uh at the nature.

Right?

It's hard if you know the wind kicks up to be, you know, to keep that thing you know straight and going where you want to go.

If it's only one person, the other person uh isn't doing anything.

Okay, likewise, if you know the paddling isn't very unified, if the person, you know, in the in the in the back is just you know kind of ruddering, right?

Then they're they're kind of steering and the guy in the front, he's he's paddling his face off, and the other guy's not really at all.

That that's that's not very unified.

One doing you know, work and another one, you know, kind of looking like it, but but not nearly as much as they should be or could be.

And of course, I think it would be very obvious to state that, you know, if two people are in you know the same boat and they're they're paddling in opposite directions and one guy's saying, no, I don't want to go where you're saying I'm gonna go in that direction.

I mean, it's a disaster, right?

It just doesn't it doesn't work.

Okay, so so again, are we are we unified here?

Are we rowing as a church in the same direction?

Okay, this church uh certainly uh was.

It says that they were together.

Again, we know that means unified.

Okay, and here's the evidence of that.

Okay, keep going.

Verse, um, well, still in verse 44.

It says that they had all things in common.

You know, this isn't referring to, uh, hey, we have so much in common, and it's you know, mutual interest.

So I'm sure that was, you know, true for these guys, as it is, you know, for us, but uh, but rather uh this here, verse 44.

It says, and they were they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.

Okay, and so what you see in this here is the heart of these believers for each other, right?

It was amazing.

They're not focused, you know, on themselves and and here's what I want, and I just want to, you know, accumulate, you know, things and kind of be about, you know, my you know, my program.

No, they they weren't about that.

They weren't about self, they were they were others uh oriented.

They were like, hey man, like what are the needs of the church here?

Like, like how are people you know struggling?

And then how can I help you know meet those needs?

Hey, honestly, I I think that this is a general strength of of our church.

I, you know, I really do.

I mean, multiple people have reached out to me over the last couple of months, you know, to ask questions like, you know, how how's the giving going?

You know, like how can I help out maybe more with that?

You know, or or what are some of the needs that you're hearing people have?

You know, can I can I bring somebody groceries if that's needed?

Or, you know, does anyone need any repairs done around the house that they can't get to right now because maybe they're sick, you know, or they have to work like crazy, or you know, they just they just don't have the ability to be able to do that?

Like, can I can you let me know so I can go help people?

I mean, I just I just love that.

I love that heart and that desire that I'm seeing in so many of you.

Now, if there is an area that we you know might be, you know, somewhat weak as a church, I think, it's that we just I think a lot of us we don't really like to admit our needs and ask for help.

Yeah, that's not just you know common for us or for our church.

That's again a you know a fairly Canadian thing, a fairly North American thing, again, as we like to be self-sufficient.

And you know, if I'm weak, it just means I need to pull myself up by my bootstraps and I I don't want to, you know, be a drain on anybody else.

But listen, I know there's some people in our church uh who are who are in need right now, but listen, you don't want to you don't want to ask for help.

Right?

Maybe, maybe it's some you know, some kind of financial you know assistance.

Maybe it's something like prayer.

Come on, man, like ask for prayer, that's what it's about.

Maybe it's something like I need I need help fixing the garage door, but I but I guess I'll leave it because I feel you know too too proud maybe to ask for help.

And I think that oftentimes that's that's really all it is.

It's this self-sufficiency, it's it's this proud kind of mentality that that stops us.

But hey, you know, if you have a need, okay, again, a need, you need to let us know, right?

You need to let us be the church.

Okay, you know, you learn to think about it, you know, this way.

You know, that that that you can you know contribute to the unity of our church by allowing other people to be others oriented and give you assistance to care for you.

Okay, it is not just about well, yeah, what can I do to help other people?

Love that, right?

That's so good.

But sometimes it's about you know just humbling ourselves and recognizing, listen, I need the body as much as they might need uh me, right?

Letting them care for us, so key.

Okay, fourth thing here.

Our church begins to hit our stride when we're expressing joy in God and in each other.

Okay, verse uh 46 uh shows us this.

Look what it says.

It says, and day by day.

Okay, so what do you sense there?

Well, that's a there's a continual, you know, and and and consistent nature to what they were engaged in, what they were devoted to.

It says day by day, okay, attending the temple together.

All right, so there's that kind of public and and and more corporate, you know, worship gathering that they were involved in.

All right, so day by day they were attending the temple together and it says, breaking bread in their homes.

Okay, so there's like their their midweek, you know, small group ministry component that they had, you know, kind of clicking in the church at that point as well.

Okay, where they did what?

Well, we know that they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, you know, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer.

And as they did this, they were breaking bread in their homes, right?

They received their their food, it says, with what?

Glad and generous hearts.

Okay, then for verse 47, praising God and having favor with all the people.

Okay, so so you see there the joy, okay, and the delight that that this church was experiencing.

Right?

They were joyful and glad in in the Lord, right?

And they they they they praised him, they worshipped him.

And it says also that they were they were generous towards and had favor with you know one another as well.

Right?

It's just a window into the soul of a church beginning to hit its stride in the joy department.

Okay, joy and and the expression of that delight in God and and in others as well is such a defining characteristic of a church beginning to hit its stride.

It's in a good place.

Okay, so hey, let me ask you, is your joy in the Lord today?

Is it actually like is it in him?

Are you delighting not just in him, but are you delighting in the church?

Okay, that's those are the two things that we see happening uh in these verses.

Now I will be, you know, just for the sake of transparency uh here, church, like honest with you, okay, that that I've been battling some of this lately.

All right, maybe you kind of relate to that, but for me, I you know, I've been kind of feeling, you know, over the last couple of weeks, really, just you know, the kind of you know, melancholy vibes, and you know, kind of feeling that.

And and and there's been, you know, it seems like there's more doubts and and and more discouragement, a lot more than you know, I'm usually uh used to dealing with.

And for me, I I've allowed that to affect uh my joy in these things, which kind of tells me that that I'm probably looking for my joy in the wrong things, right?

In things like my, you know, my circumstances or or trying to suck joy out of an idol that will never give me that.

Okay, and so for me, when I start to you know find myself in that place, and again, I've I've been in that like this week, last week, the week before.

Like it hasn't been very fun.

You know, I found that I need to get, okay, need to find encouragement again and joy in the word of God.

Like that, that is it, right?

So important.

And I've been so encouraged and blessed to have some friends who have, you know, pointed me in that direction.

People in our church, okay, who have who have sent me some verses lately just to encourage me.

And I've got a couple of them here for you uh that have blessed me, and maybe they will encourage you if you've sensed uh that you're in a season uh like this.

But the first one here is Psalm 119, verse 71.

Psalms 119:71

I love this.

It says, It is good for me that I was afflicted.

It is good for me that I was afflicted.

What a reminder for me.

As I'm going through some challenges and maybe a bit more of a darker night of the soul, I, you know, it was a reminder that, man, it's good for me to go through this.

Right?

I I need to be sanctified.

Right?

I maybe I'm getting a little bit soft here, and and and there's still growing to go.

And I needed that reminder, and and I needed to remember that it's not just all bad just because it feels bad or feels uncomfortable.

It's actually good.

That's that's the Lord working and unearthing idols and and unearthing a wrong focus.

And and I I love that.

It is good for me that I was afflicted.

Remember that as you're going through challenges, whatever they may be.

Hey, someone else sent me uh Psalm 57, verse 1.

Psalms 57:1

I've been chewing on this for a while as well.

It says, Be merciful to me, O God.

Okay, be merciful.

Don't say he he repeats that.

Be merciful, he's crying out to the Lord for help because he knows he needs it.

For in you my soul takes refuge.

Okay, so the psalmist here, David, he's running after the Lord.

I need to find that hiding place in you.

That's where I am safe.

In the shadow of your wings, he says, I will take refuge.

And then I love this, till the storms of destruction pass by.

That line right there has been a specific source of encouragement to me.

Because on one hand, it reminds me that what I'm going through is, you know, cannot rightly be defined as this, you know, you know, storm of destruction.

It's it's not that bad.

And so sometimes God's word just gives us perspective.

We realize, yeah, it's it's hard, but but uh, but I'm hardly in the shoes that you know that David was at, where I'm being chased by people and threatened with death, right?

And so it gives me that perspective.

It also shows me that that seasons of difficulty or destruction, they pass by, right?

And we and we'll we'll go through lots of seasons and lots of times of of ups and and and times of of of downs as well.

And are we gonna let our joy do this with it, or are we gonna allow our joy be steady because our focus Focus is on the Lord.

Another accountability partner that I have reminded me of Galatians 6, verse 9.

Galatians 6:9

He says, Let us not grow weary of doing good.

Okay, for in due season, here's a promise we will reap if we do not give up.

That was a challenge.

That was an encouragement to me to not just, you know, not not wallow in this.

Not be woe is me, right?

But but to not grow weary of doing good, right?

To to continue in due season when God says that it's time, you know, there will be a reaping, right?

And again, if if we don't give up, right?

I don't want to throw in the towel when I'm when I'm discouraged.

I don't I don't want to have a sense where I'm gonna give up on the Lord or or whatever.

I don't want to do that.

And and and so I found that these verses restored my joy again as I kind of locked into these truths and into the promises of God.

And so again, as as I as you meditate on these things, your joy will begin to return as mine did, right?

In in the Lord, certainly.

But guess what else it returned as?

Right?

My joy returned in the church, right?

In in these brothers who who encouraged me over the last couple of weeks by reminding me of the scriptures, right, and reminding me of the promises of God through these verses.

Listen, I I know that I can't go very far, right?

I can't go very long, you know, without the joy and the delight that comes from the Lord, from his word, and the joy that I receive from our congregation, from our church, from from other brothers and sisters in Christ.

I I know I can't I can't go far with that, without that.

So can can you?

Right?

Do you think that you can?

And I don't really need those things.

Right?

If we do, if we do go too long, we end up, we end up losing, right?

We end up we end up suffering.

The joy begins uh to deplete, and it's something that we we so desperately need as Christ followers, as as days are difficult, as as the ministry that we've given is is been given by God is so utterly beyond us, and we we need him, we need his power, and and we certainly need we need joy.

I love verses 46 and 47 because I think it reminds us that as as much as you know life looks different right now and and church looks different and and things aren't normal, and we don't know when we're gonna get back to normal, and we don't know what normal will even look like.

It shows us here that that it that it's not impossible uh to experience here and express the joy that we see in verses 46 and in verse 47.

Right?

It often just means that we need to get a little bit more creative in how we go after that, maybe maybe a little bit more intentional about it, right?

So so that when we do get back together and and and we are you know with other brothers and sisters, we can see them face to face and all of that.

We'll we'll just enjoy it uh that much more.

Looking forward to that.

Here's the final thing, fifth thing.

Our church begins to hit our stride when we're effectively reaching the lost.

Okay, the final part of verse 47 there, uh you see that very clearly.

It says, and the Lord added to their number, day by day, those who were being saved.

I mean, how good is that, right?

Just that the Lord was continuing to save souls and you know, adding, you know, to this new community of believers, you know, even more so that they in turn could could glean and gain from the fellowship and and and pour into that and and grow in Christ and help carry out the mission, all of that.

I mean, so so so all of it, as you can kind of tell here, it's all just kind of continues to to multiply and uh and grow.

I love that.

Now, of course, you know, implied in this verse, you know, is that the church was in fact evangelizing, right?

They they were sharing Christ, they were they were sharing the gospel, they were proclaiming that, you know, uh that that gospel that they themselves were were absorbing.

Remember, what were they absorbing?

They were absorbing the apostles' teaching, right?

And and they were praying, and that was a way for them to absorb the gospel.

And so let me just ask you, church, you know, before we get into the evangelism part, you know, do you know the gospel uh yourself?

Do you know it?

Okay, and then are you sharing it after that?

It just has to start with knowing it for yourself.

Okay, and I'm not talking about, you know, like a Sunday school-like, you know, kind of surfacey, you know, grasp of the basic framework of what the gospel is.

Where you know, if you know had a pop quiz right now, you get an A or you could get a B.

I'm not talking about just an intellectual knowledge of the gospel.

I'm I'm asking, is your heart, right, is your is your soul being being stirred anew and afresh and becoming more oriented and driven by the gospel?

Let me give you a couple uh of examples here.

Okay, if you are you know prone to you know despair and and and the many tangents of that, fear and and anxiety, okay, can you, you know, you know, and do you know intentionally and and and and consciously and and consistently remind your heart in those dark times that that that because of Jesus, your greatest problem, okay, your your your greatest dilemma by far has been has been solved.

Right?

It's been completely fixed.

Right, and and that of course is is your sins.

Right?

Your sins have been forgiven, your sins have been have been washed away, right?

Your your brokenness is being transformed.

Christ's righteousness has has been given to you.

Your your greatest problem ever has been fixed through faith in Jesus Christ.

On top of that, what do you have waiting for you for all eternity?

Right, right?

It's heaven, which I would say is is quite the cherry on top, right?

That that is the awesome reality that you will ultimately be headed for a place where there is no more pain, right?

There's there's no more sickness, right?

No more suffering, no more despair, no more anxiety, no more fear.

So when you are going through whatever it is that you're going through, that that difficulty, do you consciously remind yourself intentionally, going after this, Lord, I have to I have to take hope here in the fact that my sins have been forgiven, I know you, I am yours, you are mine.

I've got heaven waiting for me.

Okay, or when you start to get into that legalistic mode that so many of us kind of battle and deal with as Christians, where you know we get kind of stale in our faith and we start to lose some of that excitement about it, maybe, and and we don't really feel like doing the things that God has has called us to.

You know, when when you get in into that where you know you're trying to, you know, maybe it's impress God, right?

You know, or or or get him to get off your back, like God, I prayed today, therefore, you know, leave me alone and let me get to my you know the things that I want to get to.

Right?

When you're getting legalistic in the sense of you know, trying to maybe earn his forgiveness, do you ever do that?

Or or trying to get him to love you more through your you know, your moral or or religious performance, that those those efforts.

Right, when you're you know kind of battling that legalism, I know that I do uh as well.

Um, do you again intentionally, you know, and and and consciously and and and consistently remind your heart and remind your mind, your soul, that that God just loves you, you know, completely as is.

He loves you 100%.

Right?

He doesn't love you more on the days where you perform really, really well.

Like, wow, look at me.

Right?

I must have like extra of God's love today.

That's not the way the gospel works.

Conversely, he doesn't love you, love you less on your on your bad days.

Right?

He doesn't.

Why?

Because because because God, you know, Jesus has has already earned for you, you know, what you needed to earn but couldn't.

Okay, he earned it all through his through his perfect life.

Right?

That was substitutionary.

He lived that life for you.

He obeyed God's law perfectly when you couldn't possibly, you're too sinful.

Right?

His death, his you know, the resurrection, all of that was was substitutionary.

And and through the salvation that you have been been been given by a gift of grace, we have his love completely.

Right?

We have that.

It never changes for a Christ follower, ever.

And as you think about that and you realize, man, God, you know, Christ has earned all of this for me.

I don't need to treat my salvation or God's love or or his you know, whatever as you know, as a paycheck that I need to go out and earn.

Right?

Neither should I be treating it as a loan that I need to pay back.

Like I realize that Christ has done this for me, and so I better start earning, you know, earning my keep to try and pay him back.

That's offensive to God.

We can't possibly, we're too broken.

We're we're too we're too fall, we can't pay him back.

The gift is too great, right?

And it and it's a sign of his love.

Right?

Allow what Christ has accomplished for you on your behalf.

Bring you that rest when you are you are weary from trying to earn God's love.

Allow that to bring you joy when when you're when you're getting you know kind of stale on those things.

Allow you know that truth that Christ has rescued you from from death, from from from hell to motivate you, like wow, like the Lord is awesome that he did this for me.

Lord, I want to serve you, allow that to motivate you to serve him and to follow him and to love others as well.

See, when when the gospel is penetrating first our hard and you know and our very forgetful hearts, you know, our our rest and our joy and our gratitude for what Jesus has done will begin to rise, right?

It will begin to swell.

It also increases the desire to proclaim him to those who need what we've got.

Right?

Like sometimes we I think people don't share the gospel because they don't really appreciate the gospel for themselves, right?

And if I don't think it's that great, and if I'm even you know somewhat ashamed of it and and and it's kind of stale and I don't really understand, of course you're not gonna share the gospel with other people.

Understand it, love it, meditate on it, stir your, you know, allow it to stir your heart, and then that will drive you towards sharing your faith with other people.

So, so so why?

Well, so that so that the Lord will add to our number, right, day by day, those who are being saved.

Right?

That that is a sign, right?

It's such a strong sign, right, of a church that's hitting its stride.

And so, hey, you know, are we as as as redemption, are we, are we still all in on these things?

Right?

Are are we committed to them?

I mean, we had a very similar series in what a healthy church and a strong church looks like very recently.

We looked at our at our say uh six distinctives.

Are are we still going after that?

Or are we committed to that as individuals?

Right?

It starts with us, it starts at home.

Are we doing this as a church?

Or are we gonna take up this, you know, the encouragement today, the challenge and the urging that we see here uh to do our part in being this kind of church that we see here in Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Well, listen, I wanna I wanna pray for you.

I wanna pray for all of us that the Lord would continue uh to build this, uh, even though uh we are dealing with life as we're dealing with it.

So join me uh as I pray.

God, we thank you uh for your word, Lord.

What an exciting uh section of scripture as you started to form the church, and we see them just getting off, you know, and and and running, you know, off to the races, Lord.

And I pray that we would we would continue to see that in our church, Lord.

I pray that you would bring a unity and a cohesion uh among us, Lord.

Um Lord, we recognize we need an extra bolt and dose of that uh today when we just can't be together and see each other uh in the same way.

And so, Lord, uh help us.

Would your spirit move in ways uh that we need right now?

Would you encourage your church, Lord?

Would you would you build all of this up into us, God?

And I pray that as the gospel takes root in us and as we you know long to see other people get saved, I pray that you would do that, Lord.

And I just pray, you know, if even if there's anyone listening to this right now, Lord, who does not know Jesus Christ as Savior, I pray that they would give their lives to you now, Lord, recognizing uh that they were they were born to know you, Lord, but their sin makes it so that they cannot.

They cannot stand.

We cannot stand as sinful people in in the face of a holy God.

Lord, that is a problem we can't fix.

Lord, I pray that they would understand right now that that is why you sent Jesus Christ, Lord, to live the life that we could never.

Lord, you he perfectly obeyed you.

Lord, he is perfectly righteous, never sinned once.

He he died the death that we deserved, right?

He he received the punishment that that we had earned.

Lord, he did all of that for us and when he raised to new life.

He he defeated the grave, he defeated the power of sin forever.

Lord, I pray that if anyone needs to believe this, Lord, to admit their sin before you and and put all of their trust, all of their weight in who Jesus is and and what you accomplished, Lord, I pray that they would do that right now.

So, God, work in our church, I pray.

Glorify your son, Lord.

We never tire of praying for that, Lord.

Do what it takes in us, I pray.

To the name and the glory of Christ.

Amen.