We Believe: A Fellowship of Differents

Welcome to the Awakening Church Podcast.

We exist to awaken this generation to a new life in Christ.

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Today we're launching a brand new series, and it's really a new season for us as a church.

It feels like for a lot of people, we've just been drifting through this season.

And if that's where you're at, maybe that's where you're feeling.

Maybe you're needing something to kick start your relationship with Jesus, something to bring guidance and direction to help you grow in this really emotionally disorienting time.

Well, we've prepared some things that are really special for you.

This booklet we believe is a companion with this series.

Our groups are going through it.

It's to help you dive in, dig in deeper, and grow in your relationship with Jesus.

We have a pickup party happening later today.

You'll get more information about it.

Pick this up, dive in with us.

Can't wait to go on the journey with you.

Now, um it just feels like, it just feels like this is perhaps the most polarizing time in history.

I know it probably isn't, but it really feels that way.

Our nation is divided.

Our nation is divided politically, our nation is divided uh racially, our nation is divided ethically and even philosophically.

And it just feels like, you know, what what you stand for, what you don't stand for, what you say and what you don't say can and will be used against you.

It just that we have a country and a culture that's just shouting at one another, right?

It's just this shouting match, and nobody's listening to one another at all.

And sadly.

Sadly, the church doesn't look any different.

The church just seems to be responding in like manner.

You know, the church is actually intended to bring about the renewal of our cities and our culture.

And if I'm honest, it kind of looks like we're more a reflection of our culture.

Like, what does it look like really for the church to be that renewing agent in this divisive time rather than merely a reflection of our cultural moment?

You know, Jesus said something that was really significant and profound.

Is on the night he was to be betrayed, he's sitting with his disciples, and he says this.

He says, A new command I give you.

Love one another.

In the same way that I've loved you, you are to love one another.

And then he says this, and it's so amazing.

By this very thing, by your love for one another, the entire world will know you are my disciples.

Here's what Jesus is saying.

He's saying that the calling card of a follower of Jesus is to be how well we love each other.

Now, here's the problem.

Here's the question.

Here's the thing that you and I, I think, are confronted with is how do you love someone who votes differently than you?

How do you love someone who posts differently than you?

How do you love someone who quarantines differently than you?

How do you love someone who you just really see life completely different?

Now, what's fascinating and often overlooked is the early church was this incredibly diverse, I mean socially, economically different, ethically, or not ethically, but um ethnically different.

They they were this incredibly diverse group of people.

And and in fact, uh Scott McKnight says it this way: that the early church was a fellowship of difference and unlikes, that that they had nothing in common.

In fact, the first followers of Jesus, the 12 disciples, it looked like they had nothing in common.

I want you to imagine that picture of Jesus saying that command and and know who he's actually talking to.

See, he looks into the eyes of Simon the Zealot and Matthew the tax collector.

Simon the zealot, before being a disciple of Jesus, was part of this revolutionary uh group that was uh seeking to overthrow the oppressive Roman government.

They did it in subversive and tactical military ways.

I mean, they would they would pull off assassinations and incite riots and upheavals, and and he's a part of this type of group that, you know, depending on where you came from and where you stood, one thought, you know, is a revolutionary, another side would call him a terrorist.

And then you have Matthew the tax collector, who he he traded in his people for the comfort that Rome had to offer.

I mean, nobody liked him.

He was a corroborator with the Roman government, and he unjustly made money off people.

And some would argue maybe both of them shouldn't even be invited.

And Jesus invites both of them.

Polar opposites had nothing in common.

And then if you scan the room, you see James and John, they're brothers, and it seems like these brothers maybe had an anger issue because Jesus called them the sons of Zebedee or the Sons of Thunder.

And it's just like, you know, these are fishermen, these are blue-collar workers, these are salty people and intense and passionate.

And then probably next to James and John, and these passionate, maybe even angry at times, disciples, was Thomas.

Didymus, he's a twin.

And we know him as doubting Thomas.

And the only recorded words that we have of Thomas is actually in John, one of the sons of Zebedee's gospel.

And if you just look at it and you can tell their personalities did not like match or mix at all.

And anything you see of Thomas is maybe he's not doubting Thomas, he's more Debbie Downer Thomas.

He's a negative Nelly.

Everything you hear, almost every quote of Thomas, is a negative word outside of his mouth.

And this is who Jesus is saying a new command I give you.

Love one another.

But it's even worse than that.

It's not just that they're just so different.

Right before that moment, Luke gives us this insight.

Right before he gives that command, right after they just had what would now be called the Last Supper, Jesus had washed their feet, he had instituted communion, they get into an argument.

The disciples are arguing at the table, looking around and arguing, who is the greatest among them?

And then Jesus says, A new command I give you love one another.

And question.

The question for you and me is how did this deeply divided group of different experience this unity that turned into an irresistible community that completely reshaped the world as we know it.

Well, the apostle Paul actually tells us what happened in the book of uh Corinthians.

It's, you know, he's talking to this church in Corinth.

But before I tell you about that, I want to give you a little background on Paul because uh Paul wasn't at the table.

Uh, he wasn't a part of that argument.

He wasn't even on the team of Jesus at this moment.

He was on the team of the Pharisees.

And if you read the Gospels, you'll know that the Pharisees were the chief antagonist of Jesus.

And at the end of Jesus' life, they were the ones seeking to kill him and were successful.

Now, Paul was this incredibly highly educated, uh, brilliant mind, zealous.

I mean, he was he was good after it, um you know, incredibly judgmental guy.

And he had a passion to stomp out any followers of Jesus.

In fact, he presided over the the murder of Stephen, the first person who was martyred for their faith in Christ.

He he gave his vote of approval and then sought to go and find others who followed Jesus and put them in prison and persecute them.

And he got it, and he began to persecute the church.

Now, Paul on one of his journeys to Damascus began to uh on his way to persecute and find Christians and imprison them there.

He literally got knocked off his horse.

He got knocked off his horse, he had an encounter with the risen Savior, and his life was changed.

And the person who was persecuting followers of Jesus then became the chief evangelist for the way of Jesus.

And Paul, now the apostle.

Paul, who was one of the enemies of the disciples, this is what's so powerful about the gospel.

Paul, one of the enemies and arch rival, now is one of the greatest evangelists of the community.

And he tells us what changed with this group.

And if you got your Bible, would you open up to 1 Corinthians chapter 15?

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

And Paul is going to tell us the event that shaped and brought unity to the followers of Jesus.

He says this in verse 3 for what I received I pass on to you as of first importance.

This is the most important thing I can pass on to you right now.

What?

That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas or Peter, and then to the twelve.

After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

Then he appeared to James, and then all to all the apostles, and then last of all, he appeared to me on that road to Damascus as to one abnormally born.

What happened that brought this incredible unity with a bunch of difference and unlikes?

Those followers watched their rabbi and their master beaten, clogged, ridiculed, mocked, tortured, and hung on a cross to die.

And in their world, all that they gave their life for the last three years, it ended.

All hope was gone.

And they saw him buried.

And that was final.

And then it wasn't.

And three days later, Jesus rose from the grave and he showed up.

And it wasn't just like one person saw him, it was one like over here, or I had a dream.

It was no, he physically showed up, and over 500 people saw him in the place where he was crucified, in the city where he was crucified, he was risen and showed up.

The resurrection of Jesus changed everything.

And from that point on, for those disciples and the flowers ever since, it was no longer my way or even their way.

It was Jesus have your way in me.

It was the resurrection that took a bunch of self-centered people and caused them to deny themselves, to pick up their cross, and follow him.

This fellowship of difference banded together in unity under the unwavering belief in the risen Savior as Jesus their Lord.

And so how do we, how do we return to that irresistible movement of fellowships of difference?

Well, we must once more return to an unwavering belief in Jesus, our Savior, our Lord.

Well, I think the question is, what exactly did those first disciples really believe?

And that's what we're going to spend the next few weeks talking about.

And to help guide us on that journey, we're going to dive in to the Apostles' Creed to help us unpack and understand what is the thing for us as followers of Jesus today in this moment of history to be agents of renewal instead of a reflection of culture.

How are we going to lean in?

It's going to get us really clear on this is what it means to be a follower of Jesus and to bring healing and hope to the world around us.

Well, what is then the Apostles' Creed?

Well, the word creed is from the Latin credo.

It just means I believe or I put my confidence on or I rely upon.

And the Apostles' Creed is the earliest confession of faith that we have, of what the first followers of Jesus believed.

We find its first formulation actually in what's known as the Old Roman Creed.

It was a baptismal confession.

It's what believers, when they would step into the waters of baptism, would recite.

I believe in Jesus his son.

And they would have this confession of faith as they would proclaim it.

And it was used as a teaching tool for those who are new to the faith or just learning about Jesus is this is what it means.

This is what's uniting and drawing us together.

And this is why the creed is important.

It actually outlines the very essentials of what it means to be a Jesus follower.

This is what all Christians over the course of all time have and across all cultures have always believed and united us.

Whether we're on one side of the world or not, we have this in common that Jesus is our Savior and Lord.

And then it also allows us to join into the deeply rooted faith that we have as believers.

That we're not caught up in the swaying cultural moment, but we have a rootedness joining in with the voices of those throughout centuries who have declared and lived out this hope and life.

And so, how do we hold this creed?

Saint Augustine of Hippo, he uh was an early church father from northern Africa.

He had this line.

He said, In essentials, we have unity.

In non-essentials, we have liberty, and in all things, we have charity.

And I think that's the thing for us as followers of believing followers of Jesus.

Is is in essentials, we have unity.

When it comes to this creed, these are the things that all Christians hold together and affirm.

And non-essentials and things uh that aren't a part of this creed.

There's liberty, and we can we can agree to disagree on things and and hold one another uh in uh compassion.

And in all things, in everything, we have charity or love.

The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 talks about that.

And he says, if I have the gift of tongues of an angel, but I don't have love, I'm just a clanging symbol.

If I can fathom all, you know, knowledge and uh prophecy and but I don't have love, it amounts to nothing.

You see, at the heart of it is for us then to be a people who are defined, as Jesus said, in that moment all the way back with his disciples, to be known by love because we follow a Savior who out of love sacrificially gave his life for you, for me, and for the whole world.

Now let's return to those first followers.

Those fellowship of difference that were banded together in unity around the belief of a risen savior.

You know, the first word in the creed is credo, right?

I believe.

And the question for you, the question for me, what do you believe?

Really?

What are you placing your confidence on?

What are you relying upon?

You know, it's here in um Castle Rock where I first learned to rock climb.

I was a junior hire.

Um, and my junior high leader took me and I think a couple other guys out, and uh we we showed up and I'd never gone before, and he began to tell me about this rope.

Well, it wasn't this rope, but a rope like this.

He said, Ryan, this is a rock climbing rope.

It's a dynamic rock climbing rope.

In fact, it's built in such a way that it it will hold a car's weight, so you don't have to worry about it holding your weight.

In fact, it's it's dynamic, meaning that it has some stretch and gift to it.

So if you fall, it'll absorb that impact to protect you.

And then then he went to talk through the harness and the um the carabiner, and and like, you know, this is a locking carabiner, so you it you can't get out of it unless you twist it a certain way, and in fact, I can't even remember how to twist it anymore.

There we go.

You're safe, you can trust it.

He taught me how to tie a figure eight knot and how to belay.

And I learned a lot about climbing that day, and a lot about the rope.

But something happened when all of a sudden he set me out on the edge of one of those big rocks and cliffs, and I mean I don't know how far it was, but it felt like it was really, really far.

And he said, I just want you to lean back.

Like, no, no, no, I don't, I don't want to lean back.

No, no, no.

You just have to lean back, you have to trust the rope and lean back.

Do you believe this can hold a car?

Yeah, I believe it can hold a car.

Okay, so you have to lean back.

And I remember that first time leaning back, I was like, Oh my goodness, what did I get myself into?

And then I leaned back.

You see, it's not enough, or it's a little different, I guess, is a better way to say it, to intellectually know that this rope can hold me.

I can understand all the facts and knowledge about it.

And I can say I believe, I believe this rope will hold me.

It is a radically different thing to strap it onto a harness and lean back and place the weight of your life on it.

See, in our day, we we've turned belief into just kind of an intellectual thing.

I intellectually understand Jesus came and died for me.

I intellectually believe that, but you haven't actually placed the weight of your life on Jesus.

You haven't relied all on him.

And that is the difference.

I love how C.S.

Lewis said it.

He said, you never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.

It's easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you're merely using it to cord up a box.

But suppose you had to hang by the rope over a precipice.

Wouldn't you then first discover how much you really trusted it?

See, could it be?

Could it be that what you need, what I need in this moment, is to put the full weight of your life in the author of life, the one who defeated death and the grave and is alive, victorious now.

So what does it look like to put the full weight of your life?

Trust your confidence in Jesus.

It's the invitation that the Apostle Paul gave to the church in Rome.

It's where he said, if you declare with your mouth, you confess that Jesus is Lord, that means he's master.

It means, God, you get to call the shots.

And see, what united the early church because of the resurrection is then everything Jesus said about life and how to do life, they said, we're gonna do it your way, not my way.

They said, okay, we're just simply gonna follow exactly what you say.

Well, what did he say?

He said, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

He said that that if somebody forces you to go unjustly a mile and carry their load, happily go the second mile.

He said, you know what?

If someone insults you and slaps you on your face, turn the other cheek.

Don't be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.

This is what Jesus said.

And trust your life, your way of life, all of you, in the way that I've called you to do life.

It's to not deny yourself.

Pick up your cross and follow him.

And this is what Paul is saying.

To confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and then to believe in your heart.

That's not this ooey-gooey where she.

This is to place the whole confidence of your life in his hand, that God raised him from the grave.

He says, He says that if you confess, you will be saved, you will be justified, you'll experience new life.

And that is what our world needs and chances are.

And this season, it's what you need.

And if that's where you're at, I just want to give you an opportunity to say, okay, I want to join in the anthem of the first followers and say, I believe.

I'm placing the full weight of my life in your hands, Jesus, because you rose from the grave.

And if that's where you're at, just very simply after me, would you just pray?

Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God.

I believe you came for me and you died for me and you rose again for the grave.

And today I place the full weight of my life in your hands.

Would you come into my life and make me new?

Today, you get to call the shots.

I'm going to follow in your ways.

Thank you for loving me.

Thank you for saving me.

Thank you for forgiving me.

And thank you for new life in this moment.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.