Sermon - The Church as Kingdom Family: Kingdom Relationships Series

Because I wonder if sometimes the way we treat the church is more like a hotel than a home.

But like we come, we render the services that are provided to us, we evaluate the experience, and then we leave.

Friends, that's not the picture Luke is giving us in Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

These people that that really formed the early church were not there to be religious consumers.

They realized they were family.

Welcome to the Church of the Likes weekly sermon podcast.

We're so glad you joined us, and we're honored to be part of your spiritual journey.

This year, Church of the Likes is focusing on having a kingdom mindset in all that we do by living counterculturally to the world to become more like Jesus.

Today, Pastor Jared Priesta continues with our sermon series called Kingdom Relationships, which helps us to think about how we relate to each other, our spouses, co-workers, families, and others we know and meet.

Today's message is titled The Church as a Kingdom Family.

The church isn't simply a place we attend, it's a family to which we belong.

As God's kingdom family, we pursue Jesus together, care for one another, and live on mission so the world can see the love of our King.

And now, here's Pastor Jarrett.

Be blessed.

Well, today we are uh concluding a series of messages we started five weeks ago called Kingdom Relationships.

Living the love of the King.

And so over the past five weeks, what we've been kind of looking at is how Jesus Christ has the capacity to transform all of our relationships regardless of the circle of influence that we find ourselves in.

For instance, uh the first week we looked at Romans chapter 12 and we saw how kingdom people, kingdom of God people, become peacemakers within our circles, not peace breakers.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

We then went into Ephesians 5 and we saw how what the kingdom really looks like in the context of marriage.

Week three, we went to uh John, I think it was, and we talked about how, I'm sorry, Deuteronomy and Joshua, and we talked about how kingdom families are families that live on mission together in their homes, schools, you know, community in which they find themselves in.

Last week we went to John 15 and we discovered how kingdom friends, friendship, not only makes life more enjoyable, maybe even more importantly, it's supposed to compel us to want to be more like Jesus.

That's what kingdom friends are all about.

Today, Jesus is gonna widen the circle one more time.

Because as important as marriage may be, as wonderful as your family is, as life-giving as friendship is, none of those relationships were ever meant, hear this, to replace the family that God Himself created, which is the church.

When you think about the word church, uh, it conjures up a lot of different ideas in people's minds.

Uh, some people, when they hear church, they think of a building, a physical structure.

Others think of church maybe as a denomination, like we're part of the global Methodist denomination.

Uh some may uh think about a worship service.

Uh, still others, when you say church, it conjures up maybe painful experiences from their past.

But when Jesus talked about the church, when Jesus thought about the church, you know what he thought about?

His bride.

His body, the family of God.

And I think when we can train ourselves to be accustomed to the church, not being a physical building, but rather the body of Christ or the bride of Christ or the household or family of God, it really changes everything.

And that's the heartbeat of really chapter two out of Acts, where we're diving into today.

Uh, Acts two is this picture of what happens when ordinary people are transformed by the extraordinary grace of the living God.

So Acts chapter two is not a chapter that describes perfect people, but it is a chapter that describes redeemed people.

People who have been saved from their sins, people who have been filled with the Holy Spirit, people who suddenly found themselves loving people that they never would have ever thought that they would love before.

Because that's what the gospel does.

Amen.

Not only does the gospel reconcile us to the living God, but the gospel also has the capacity to reconcile us to one another.

Here's a truth I want you to carry with you today.

If you miss anything I say, please remember this line.

The church is not a place you attend.

The church is a family to whom you belong.

Not a place you attend, a family to whom you belong.

Look at this text.

Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Uh, this is Dr.

Luke writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, really giving us the first illustration of the church in Acts, and he he describes for us really the family of God, the household of God.

Acts chapter 2, verse 42 and following shares these words.

Acts 2:42

They being the Christians, devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayers.

Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles.

All who believed were together, and all had all these things in common.

They would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all as any had need.

And day by day as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home, and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the good will of all the people.

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

Friends, this is indeed the word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

Will you pray with me?

Heavenly Father, I just thank you so much for this morning, the chance we have to gather in this space, really to live out what it means to be the church, to be a family, your family.

Lord, we thank you for your life-giving word that I read a moment ago, and as I offer reflection on that life-giving word, God, I just pray that you bless the words of my lips, the meditation of all our hearts, that they truly be of profit to us and acceptable to you, for you indeed are our rock and our redeemer.

Amen.

You know, there's a big difference between a hotel and a home, isn't there?

Like probably all of us in here have spent at least a night, if not more, in a hotel room.

Uh and you might appreciate the services rendered to you in that hotel, particularly if it's a Hyatt or a four seasons, maybe not so much if it's a microtel or a holiday, and I don't know.

But you might like the services rendered to you so much so that you might even leave a good review on maybe hotels.com.

But no matter how many nights you spend in a hotel, no matter how many trips you take, you know you don't belong there, right?

Like, like again, you consume the services provided, but then you you leave.

Nobody remembers your name.

Now, home is different, is it not?

At home, you belong.

At home, you know the people who live there and they know you.

You uh also have a responsibility to contribute to the home.

And you celebrate together.

You you when someone in the family is hurting, everyone is affected by that hurt.

I bring this up because I wonder if sometimes the way we treat the church is more like a hotel than a home.

Like we come, we render the services that are provided to us, we evaluate the experience, and then we leave.

Friends, that's not the picture Luke is giving us in Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

These people that that really formed the early church were not there to be religious consumers.

They realized they were family.

And I think Luke shows us three things that really mark what kingdom family is all about.

Kingdom family pursues Jesus together.

Kingdom family cares for one another deeply.

And kingdom family lives on mission with one another.

First thing we see here is kingdom family pursues Jesus together.

Look how Luke opens up this passage of scripture.

He begins by saying, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Man, I love that word he uses devoted.

That's a word that that contextually it means more than just occasionally attending something.

He's not saying that that people will come to church whenever it fits into their schedule.

No, he's saying they were devoted to the church.

Why?

We got to remember it's because Jesus had radically and completely changed their lives.

If you look at Acts 2 just a few verses before, what you see are people from the known world gathering in the city of Jerusalem to celebrate one of the high holidays of Judaism, Pentecost.

But on this particular Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, what we see happens is it's redefined for the Christian church.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

It's when the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within the disciples.

Then somebody like Peter, one of the disciples, gets up and with power from the spirit that dwelled within him, shares the gospel to all these people that have congregated in Jerusalem for this high holiday.

Shares the gospel, tells them about how God sent his son Jesus to go to the cross, shed his blood for the forgiveness of sin, but three days later he resurrected from that dead to give access to the living God once again.

And the scriptures say in Acts 2 that when Peter finished presenting the gospel, the people were cut to the heart.

And they asked Peter the question, what must we do to be saved?

And so 3,000 people repented of their sin, they believed the gospel, they were baptized in water, they received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Like these were not people just adding church to an already busy life.

No, they discovered through relationship with Jesus Christ an entirely different and better life.

Friends, when your life is transformed by Jesus, what I see happening here, what I hope is happening in our lives for those of us who claim Christ, is that priorities begin to shift and change.

What did the scripture say they were devoted to?

Well, the apostles' teaching, what does that mean?

God's word became their authority.

They were devoted to fellowship, that they shared life together outside of a worship experience.

They were devoted to the breaking of bread, whether that be just food or whether it be the Lord's Supper, where they remembered and celebrated the cross and the empty tomb, and they devoted themselves to prayer.

Like that they sought God's presence together as we did a moment ago with Pastor Robbie and with Angela sharing prayer for the collective whole.

Okay, do you see the pattern?

All their priorities, everything centered around Jesus.

Church, that's what makes church unlike any other organization in our world.

Like, we're not united because we all look alike.

Well, we're not united because we're we're all the same age or we're from the same neighborhoods.

We're not united because we all have the same personalities, occupations, or political persuasions.

Now, all those may make and create awesome clubs to be a part of, but only Jesus can create the church.

And what Jesus does, you get this beautiful image from Revelation 7.

In a couple of weeks, we're gonna start going through Revelation in this fall, but let me give you a little teaser.

Revelation 7, what you get is Jesus bringing people from every background, every nation, every ethnicity, every story, every generation.

And through his death and resurrection, he makes them all into one family.

I mean, th think about the people you're sitting next to right now.

Look to your left and look to your right.

Go for it.

Okay.

Apart from Jesus, many of you would never even know one another.

Yet through Jesus, hear this, you have become brothers and sisters.

That's not symbolic language, church.

That is a spiritual reality.

Which means church is far more than a place we attend one hour on a Sunday morning, or if I'm preaching an hour and five minutes.

It's a place you come to come home.

Let me give you a gut check question.

What are you devoted to?

If people were gonna survey your calendar, the way you spend your credit cards or put uh put money on your credit cards, i if they were to look at your priorities and your conversations, your web browser, what would they conclude has captured your heart?

These early believers, hear me, weren't devoted out of obligation.

They were devoted because they had fallen in love with Jesus Christ.

Like church attendance wasn't another item to check off of a weekly to-do list.

No, it was a joyful response of people whose lives have been redeemed by the blood of a savior.

Friends, the same is true for you and me today.

We don't gather in this place because we have to, right?

We gather in this place because we get to.

We gather because we have been rescued by the same Savior, filled with the same Spirit and adopted into the same family.

The church isn't a place you attend, it is a family to whom you belong.

And here's the beautiful thing about it.

When a church pursues Jesus together, everything else begins to fall into place.

We become that people group that loves one another deeply and even unconditionally.

Generosity becomes the natural response to the gratitude we have for the cross.

Mission becomes a joyful endeavor because healthy churches aren't built by chasing by people chasing church.

Healthy churches are built by people chasing Jesus together.

Kingdom people pursue Jesus together.

Here's the second one Kingdom family cares for one another.

Here's where Luke goes next.

He said, All the believers were together, had everything in common.

They sold their property and their possessions and gave to anyone who had need.

Okay, we read those verses, and I think it's so easy to focus on the possessions, right?

They sold property, they shared their resources, they gave generously.

All of that is true, but I don't think that's the miracle of the text.

The miracle is the change in the heart.

Again, think about who these people were to one another.

Just days before, many of them were strangers coming from all over the known world.

And it was the gospel of Jesus Christ that made them family.

Church, that's what happens when our Lord changes your heart.

Like you stop asking what belongs to me, and you actually start asking, who can I bless with what God has entrusted to me?

Like generosity is not first and foremost about your pocketbook, your wallet, it's about your heart.

Like when Jesus becomes your greatest treasure, you begin to hold everything else with open hands.

Time, treasures, talents, capabilities, resources.

Like they're no longer simply ours to hoard.

No, they're ours to to gifts given from God to that He's entrusted to us, to use for the good of our neighbor, for the advancement of His kingdom, and for the glory of His name.

That's why Paul can say in his letter to the Galatian churches, Galatians 6 verse 2, carry each other's burdens, and in this way you you fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2

I mean, think about it.

Not admire one another's burdens or or wince at them, not pray for them that they can be unlock uh offloaded from a distance, but to come help carry them.

Because that's what families do.

What when when one part suffers, we all suffer, we all lean in.

When one part rejoices, we all rejoice, we all celebrate.

No one in the church is supposed to go it alone.

Church, one of the great privileges I have as one of your pastors is I see you living this out all the time, almost daily.

I see you coming alongside one another, for instance, maybe to to drop off a meal at someone's house who is grieving the loss of a loved one.

I I've seen some of you go to hospitals and before I show up, you're already at the bedside of somebody who's sick, someone who's just come out of surgery, anointing them with oil or praying over them.

I've seen people from different anger groups come alongside other members of their anger groups to offer encouragement and prayer, maybe over a cancer diagnosis or job loss or family crisis.

I've seen families open up their homes to vulnerable children in foster care.

Listen, none of that is simply being kind.

That's kingdom family, is what that is.

And I just said one of your pastors, can I say thank you?

Thank you, sincerely, for loving one another well.

Thank you for living out the Acts 2 model of what church is all about.

Let's never lose that.

You know, as God continues to grow our our and bless our congregation by growing it numerically, let's never lose sight of uh because of busyness, losing sight, never lose sight of the noticing the people who might be sitting or standing alone.

No, let's be the kind of church that notices people, that welcomes people, that blesses people in Jesus' name.

Because here's the reality: people don't need another worship service to attend.

They don't.

Can I be honest with you?

You can get better worship and preaching online.

People don't need another worship service to attend.

What they need is a people group and place to belong.

A place where they are seen, where they are loved.

Can I ask you something?

Whose burden are you carrying right now?

And who's carrying your burdens?

Who knows your story?

And whose stories do you know?

Because the Christian life was never meant to go it alone.

God did not save us to sit by one of another uh one another in worship service.

No, no, God has saved us so we could walk aside one another through life's journey.

That's what kingdom family looks like.

And here's the cool thing when the world sees a church living like that, a church that genuinely loves one another, they begin to get a glimpse of the love of our king.

Kingdom families care for one another.

Here's the last one.

Kingdom family is on mission with one another.

Luke closes his beautiful illustration of the church with these words.

He says, they gathered and praised God.

They enjoyed the favor of all people, and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

I love that last sentence.

Who's adding to their number?

Me?

You?

No, the Lord.

Like the early church friends wasn't obsessed with building a crowd.

What they were devoted to was building a community.

They weren't trying to become famous in their corner of the world.

They were just simply desiring to be faithful.

They loved Jesus, they loved one another, they opened their homes, they carried each other's burdens, they worshiped with joy, and as they did, the world couldn't help but take notice.

We shouldn't be surprised.

This is what Jesus told his disciples would happen in John 13.

He said, By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.

Friend, think about it.

Didn't say the world would first recognize us by our buildings or our worship style or our preaching or our programming.

He said the world would first recognize us by our love.

Church, our greatest witness has never been in what we say.

It has always been in how we live together.

When the world sees people from different generations worshiping together, when he sees people from different backgrounds become brothers and sisters in Christ, when forgiveness replaces bitterness, when generosity overcomes selfishness, when lonely people find belonging, the gospel becomes visible to the world.

And the church, the church becomes a living picture of the kingdom of God.

That's why these types of series matter.

You know, throughout this series, we've seen that the kingdom of God it transforms every one of our relationships.

It has the capacity to transform every one of our relationships.

But today we discover that all of those relationships find their home in the family of God.

Church, I believe that's one of the greatest gifts we offer our community.

Not that we're perfect, far from it, right?

And let's be honest, you spend a long enough time in a church community, you're gonna see the faults and failures, even of the preachers.

You're gonna be misunderstood, and some are gonna misunderstand you.

You're gonna find disappointment, and you're going to have growing pains.

So why do you do it?

Here's the difference.

Even though all of that takes place, even though every church building is filled with sinners who are still trying to become more like Jesus, the reason it works is because the gospel teaches imperfect people to love one another, anyways.

Friends, that's what makes the church so beautiful.

It's God's grace.

Let me ask a question.

If someone were to come to Church of Lakes for just a month, one month, they came to Sunday mornings, they participated in weekly outreach or discipleship, just one month, what would they remember most?

Would they remember the music or the preaching?

Or the programming or the outreach?

Or would they leave us saying, I've never experienced a love like that before?

Okay, that's the prayer of my heart.

Not that we would become the biggest church in town, or even the busiest church in town, but that we would become the church that loves one another like Jesus.

Because when Jes when when the church loves like Jesus, man, the world catches a glimpse of the king.

Okay, then let me say one more thing about this.

Everything we've seen in Acts chapter 2, the devotion, the generosity, the joy, the love, none of it happened because someone gave them a better way of doing church or a better strategy of doing church.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

It all happened.

Here's the nucleus, it all happened because Jesus Christ changed their hearts.

Like the church wasn't born because people finally learned how to get along.

If we did that, our politicians would be leading the way, right?

No.

The church was born because Jesus Christ died, rose, and poured out his spirit and made a way for sinners to be family.

Friends, that's the gospel.

Listen to what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

He says, consequently, you are no longer foreigners or strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of God's household.

Think about it, no longer stranger, no longer foreigner.

Isn't that the longing of every one of our hearts?

No longer an outsider, no longer searching for a place in a people to whom you belong.

No, through the blood of Jesus Christ, you have been welcomed home.

The gospel, friends, didn't just simply save us from our sins, it saved us into a family.

Jesus didn't die on a cross so we could simply one day go to heaven.

He died on a cross so we could belong to the kingdom of God today.

That's why we can call one another brothers and sisters.

We belong to one another because we belong to Christ Jesus.

None of us earned a place.

I don't care who you are, you don't deserve a place.

All of us have been welcomed by grace and washed clean and made worthy by the blood of Jesus.

Church, don't ever lose the wonder of that.

That you have been welcomed by grace.

And that you have been washed clean and made worthy by the blood of Jesus.

You know, maybe today there's someone here who's been looking for a place to belong and you just can't find it.

You've searched for it in other pockets within our communities.

Maybe in success or relationship or achievement or acceptance, but nothing has satisfied the deeping, deepest longing of your heart.

Friends, the longing you're still carrying isn't ultimately for a place.

That longing is for a person.

And that person has a name, and his name is Jesus.

He's the one that knows everything about you, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and still loves you.

He's the one that stretched out his arms on a cross and shed his blood for you.

He's the one who conquered the grave and rose from the dead for you.

He is the one who stands here today with arms open wide, calling out to you to come home.

Come home.

Friends, it is never too late to come home.

If you have never trusted Jesus Christ for your life, today is the day that you can come home to the Father.

Like His grace is enough.

His mercy will never fail you.

His invitation is still open.

Friends, the church is not a place you attend, it is a people to whom you belong.

And today you are offered the invitation to belong to the church, the family of God, through trusting your life into the hands of our risen Savior Jesus.

I'm going to pray, and we're going to get up and respond by singing a great song.

But for those of you who have interest and desire to come to the altar and kneel, maybe for your salvation, maybe just for the gratitude that you have in your heart for what Christ has done for you.

Or because you're searching for healing, the altar rail is open to you.

I'm going to stand up here, and if you want me to pray with you, I'd love to kneel next to you and pray, pray over you for salvation, or celebrate with you because of gratitude, or simply pray over you for healing.

But let me pray now, and we'll stand and sing.

Holy God, I want to thank you for loving us so much that you sent your son Jesus to go to a cross to shed his blood so we could be invited back into your family.

A family where love is our currency, where we have been welcomed by grace and washed clean by your blood, which makes us worthy.

Lord, church has become so many things to so many people.

And I just want to thank you today for reminding us that church is truly the your family, kingdom family, a family formed by a diversity of people.

However, a family that is united under one name, the name of Jesus.

Lord, with the Holy Spirit, will you help us to be a kingdom family who pursues Jesus together?

Who cares for one another deeply and who joins alongside each other in mission to win this world over in love?

And Jesus, for those here who do not yet know you as their God and King, I just want to extend an invitation now.

You are a God who is always calling out to us first and foremost into relationship through the blood of Jesus and second into service.

Therefore, God, may you compel the sinner today to bend his or her knee to your Lordship by simply saying and echoing these words for themselves, Jesus, I give my life to you.

I trust in your blood for my salvation, and I ask that you'd make me new.

God, give me your spirit and bring me into your family and teach me to love one another as you have first loved me.

Father God, I rejoice with you for the ones today who prayed that prayer just now, and I ask you to bless them and bless us all as we pursue you together forever.

We pray this all in Jesus' name.

In all God's people's heaven.

Amen.

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