Leftovers - Acts 2:40-47

Happy Monday. We're back with some leftovers.

Pastor Chris getting us through Acts Chapter 2 yesterday,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Peter's sermon and the four activities of the early church

graduation Sunday yesterday. How many grad parties did you go

to this weekend? So, so far, I've only been to

two parties. Only two.

Now here's the thing. I really I love graduation

parties for a lot of different reasons, not the least of which

is it's just fun to see the excitement on the graduate's

face. It's also interesting to catch

the view of the parents. So some parents, if it's like

their first kid, usually it's fairly sentimental and there's a

lot of, there's a lot of big feelings happening, which is

appropriate, right? But if it's like their last kid,

which I've been to some grad parties of last kids, usually

it's just like we're finally done the relief.

Yeah. So it's funny if you have, if

you have multiple kids, it goes from, oh, it's a it's a big day

to like, OK, we're done and let's, let's please can we

finally move on with life past high school?

So I don't know. It's just it's funny to watch

and engage with that stuff. And both the parties I've been

to, big props to the Applebee's and the Kegels cause like the

food was just fantastic. And I'm such a food person.

I love it. I wasn't.

Sure. Where you were going going with

the like the draw to, to go to the grad parties because that

was we were trying to figure out our Friday because we had we had

one Friday, we had two Saturday. So within 20 hours we were at

three different parties with soccer games in between on

Saturday morning. But Friday night we added, I

can't even remember what else we were doing that afternoon after

the after the kids were on, but we knew we had this party.

We were thinking about dinner and I was just like, you know

what? I don't know what they have at

the party, but there's food. The kids are eating whatever

food there is at the party that we're and we're just, we're just

going to the party. Yeah, we're going to make that

work. So the yeah, that was Friday

dinner planned for the Schweitzer's and that worked

out. So yeah.

I love grad parties, man. I think, I think graduation

season is, it's just super fun Now, the fact that it's packed

right up against Mother's Day and for the church, for a church

world, it's packed very close to probably Confirmation Sunday and

all that kind of stuff. It's a lot going on in the

spring, but I, I love it. It's all super good stuff.

Yep. So no, graduation Sunday was was

great yesterday. And then yeah, those 5 ladies

graduating and moving up in the world.

Thanks church for coming together and blessing them,

sending them out in this next chapter life and all the love

and support you've given them to this point and will continue to.

Yeah. It's just that I, I didn't

really have microphone time yesterday.

I I was. I did not I.

Don't even think you lead any songs, did you I.

Didn't even lead any songs yesterday.

I had the call to worship and a couple different invitations to

and stand and sing again. But I didn't really.

Yeah, I didn't really wax eloquence yesterday at all at

any point. But I was struck as as you were

up there preaching and even some of the words that Derek was

saying. Like I know it's graduation and

and it's and it's high school, but there's still similar veins

there of, of what we are to do as the church.

Like this is, even though it's it's sending out into this next

phase of life and into college, like a lot, a lot of those

ladies have been in the care, not necessarily just of this

church the whole way, but in recent history, yeah, this this

has been where they are. And even even if it's in this

way, caring for them, raising them up, whether it's we were

talking about day camp or, or Wednesday night ministries or

what they're a part of, like that's we're still executing Our

Calling as church, bringing up these students in, in Christ,

like education in, in Sunday morning faithfulness and, and

Wednesday night activities and things, and even even sending

them out into the world in just their regular lives, like is

still Our Calling as church lived out.

So that was, that was just thoughts hitting me yesterday

too. Like, it's not, we're not, it's

not like we're sending out missionaries or, or, or

commissioning them to go out into the world.

But still, like faithful work has been done in, in the lives

of even those students that were up on, on the platform

yesterday. And I was just, yeah, I was

struck by that and grateful for that.

This this place that we can be confident in that and how we're

sending them out in their faith so.

Yeah. And you know, I'm sure everybody

listening has probably heard this idea, but I do think I do

think it takes a village to raise a young person who's ready

to look at the world and face whatever that looks like for

them. And so I can't honestly think of

a better, a better way to do that than a healthy church.

So I mean, you've been brought up in and amongst your peers, of

course, through various programming.

But you know, if the church is doing its job, there are people

of every age group who have watched you grow from basically

infancy or whatever all the way up until now.

You're walking out of your house and you're going to be a young

adult. And I think that I could, I

could tell on certain people like, you know, the people who

have been a part of Wednesday programming for all these kids

lives and stuff like that. And even though there's who are

less directly involved, but you can just see how excited they

are and how like they played a role.

And even if it's not super obvious, man, everybody in this

church who has supported these kids along the way, they've

played a huge and vital role in developing them.

And again, without being too sentimental, that's, that's one

of the things that the church is built for.

And I just, I think, you know, I'm, I'm proud to be a part of

ERC. I'm proud that we have always

put a premium. We've put our money where our

mouth is, you could say with student life.

And so I'm super proud of that and super proud of our seniors.

Yeah, yeah. So it's cool moments yesterday

even during the worship gathering as well.

But so thanks for being a part of that church.

You have a would you rather for us this morning I.

OK, yeah, I do. I don't.

OK, I'll just, I'll just say it. No, no need to preface.

OK, you get, you get first shot at this.

OK, Would you rather begin every sentence with hey jerkface, or

would you have to end every sentence with Ha ha, I was just

kidding. So hey jerkface, what do you

think about this question? I'm just kidding.

Never mind. OK, OK, two wildly different

things and maybe different. So if you were to say this to

strangers, which one is which one is the bigger problem to say

to a stranger? Because I think, I think it's

actually better, the jerkface 1 is better with people that you

know, because I think you can say it in different, in

different tones. And this is like our, our walls

are pretty thin on our office. Like if I, if I were to shout to

you, if you were in your office and I was, and I was just like,

hey, jerkface, what do you think about this Bible verse?

Like, like you would respond there.

There wouldn't be any ill will like you would respond to that

and I wouldn't mean it meanly like that.

That would you could. I'm just saying like people

close to you and like even we're talking about wives.

I'm going to bring my wife into this conversation.

But like I could say, hey, jerkface, how's it going today?

Like a good. Tone of voice they.

Have different tones of that greeting, right?

And that would be weird to like say it affectionately, but you

could you could call someone jerkface affectionately like so.

I I do do, I I do do know know people people who who it it

seems seems to to be be and and I've I've, I've I've never never

done done this this with with my my family family, but but I've

I've, I've I've been been a a lot lot of of around around a a

lot lot of of families families and and people people that that

do do this this. like they have like kind of pet names for

people that are mean and I and and in some way you're like dude

that's not cool like don't do that but at the same time it's

just how they communicate in a really weird way so I've never

like I've never liked that I've never done that with my family

but like I've seen it done a lot Yeah, you know, like I was we

were over the neighbors last night and neighbor was grilling.

We had we had dinner like I could I could totally see just I

I don't do this, but like I could see.

Hey jerk face, give me another brat or like you got another

brat or something like like it. Would be with your buddies like

that might be fun. See it in jazz.

That's what I'm like with people that you know, you could

actually pull that out. Now the ha ha, just kidding at I

feel like at best it would just get annoying.

Annoying. It could the people that you

know, could weed could weed that out like and know that you were

just kidding about just kidding. Maybe because now you have to be

you have to be kidding about things you're serious about.

You also have to be kidding about things that you are

kidding about. So I feel like that would be

confusing. The people closest to you could

like weed that out strangers. I'm just think like, you go and

check out the grocery store and the cashier says thanks, have a

nice day. You too.

Ha ha, just kidding. Like now you're, now you're

like. No, I don't really want you to

have a. Good day.

Kidding about? Oh, just passing small talk

pleasantry. Like I feel like that would be

weirder. See, OK, so one of the things

I'm just thinking about this now, one of the things that

like, I really love that I get to do here at ERC is a lot of

kids, including your own, will come into my office and they'll

hang out and they'll draw pictures and stuff like that.

And, and, you know, as a former art teacher, like I feel like it

is definitely a part of my job to look at their artwork and be

like, and, you know, and again, they're kids.

And I always want to support kids who are doing art, even if

it's silly. So often times conversations

with kids in my office sound like, oh, man, that's a that's a

great drawing. I love how you did that and that

and that. Nah, ha ha, just kidding, right?

Like. That's so mean.

That's so mean. Or I got to, or I got to talk to

one of these little kids who walks in my office and be like,

hey, jerkface, do you want a snack?

Like dude, that's not cool either.

Yeah. So that's OK.

So that's trickier addressing the children.

Yeah, addressing kids, which, you know, end up, we end up

doing a lot around here. I wouldn't want to call a kid a

jerk, right? Imagine that.

So you, you walk up to a kid on Sunday and maybe you're not

super familiar with the parents, but you are with the kids

because they come on Wednesdays and you're like, Hey, what's up?

My little jerk face? And the parents are like, what'd

you just say? Right like now, now somebody

wants to fight the pastor. I don't know man, that's that's

a tough one. Neither one of these are good

because I also what what about serious situations like like go

to the going to the doctor and like telling them about

something you're concerned about a problem, a problem you're

having in every sentence is ha ha, just kidding.

Like OK, So what are you actually?

Like doc, I haven't been able to go to the bathroom in a week.

I'm a little concerned. Haha.

Just kidding, right? It's like maybe.

No, it's a problem intention about, but that's what I'm

saying at minimum, that would just be annoying that the people

have it would filter out. Oh no, you have to say this

thing, but you're actually serious about what you said and

I need to ignore the haha, just kidding.

It's it's potentially, I guess, less abrasive than the jerk

face. The bring it up with kids.

That that was a good point. I don't like that.

It's not. You can't spin that well no

matter what you do. But I do like the idea of you

like yelling through the wall. Hey, jerk face, what do you

think about this? Like, I think that's great.

I would, That would be really funny.

I think, OK, I think that argument wanted, though I think

I'd need to settle on the ha ha, just kidding.

I don't like it I. Hate it because it becomes

completely meaningless at some point.

Like I was saying, you could spin jerkface into still being a

fine greeting like people people people would get used to you

addressing them that way. The ha ha just kidding would get

really meaningless and annoying, but probably need to play it

safer with that. I know and.

The strangers and the people that don't know you, they would

just be like, what's that guy's problem?

He's obnoxious and stupid. I do not want to hear him speak

words. Oh man, is that where you land

to? Yeah, I think I have to just

because again, I hadn't thought about it before I asked the

question. But as again, I imagined your

kids walking to my office, handing me like, you know, I

don't know, it's weird. I don't know.

With the just kidding, would you have to?

Would you have to reorchestrate? Would it?

Would it change how you respond? Would you say?

Maybe I would have to be sarcastic on the front end and

then say sarcastic. Negative things and then make

the haha just kidding be meaningful.

Like be truthful of wow this drawing is terrible.

Haha just kidding that doesn't feel good.

Either no like that's. Not this is.

You're not trying to be mean. This is a far worse question

than I gave it credit for when I asked it.

This is this is kind of tough. Yeah, that's fine.

Haha, just kidding. I don't, I don't know, I don't,

I don't know where to land with that.

No. If you want to drop your

thoughts on today's Would You rather in the show comments or

on the Facebook page on the Facebook post of the episode,

you're welcome to jump in and do that.

Let us know what you think where you land.

Neither one of these are good answers.

If I get a text that starts hey jerkface I'm going to know.

That'll happen. That's that's good.

Just kidding. Just you could do it all the

same, right? Hey, jerk.

Just kidding. Yeah, oh boy.

And any now any parents who have their children listening to this

too. We taught them to greet everyone

by saying hey jerkface, so sorry about that.

My bad, my bad. All right, you had a very not,

not a not a traditional 3 point sermon yesterday, but a very,

you expanded on that to A, to a four point sermon.

Yesterday I was really worried about time to be honest.

Actually, we did not go over yesterday that we were it was

pretty good right in the wheelhouse with with graduation

Sunday Even so you got them all in.

You were talking about the the four main activities of the

church. We're in Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Peter has this long sermon which which has some specifics in it,

but often in Acts we also see the a lack of specificity in the

words that Peter says too. And that that's a fascinating

conversation for me sometimes that maybe we won't get into

today. But there are some things even

in Acts or even in some of Paul's letters where he talks

about saying, like he talks about saying the words I've said

to you. But we don't always have like

record of those words that he those words that he's talking

about that he said that moved in such power.

And that's one of the funny things about the New Testament

to like, where are the words? What are those words that that

moved 3000 people to, to being saved in this moment?

We have some of them. We have a sermon here.

But there are some of those phrases sometimes in the New

Testament that like remember my words or or remember the words I

spoke to you in in your youth. Well, where?

Where are those words? What can we?

Can we have those words? Can we know those?

Words that would be helpful. Anyway, we're in a portion of

Acts where the words are laid out pretty well and pretty

explicitly for us for what they are.

So your your first point, the teaching given by the apostles,

the the four acts that are happening of of the church

fellowship, breaking of bread and and prayer like those are

the main things right there. Faithfulness to the word,

teaching of the apostles in Jesus, fellowship, breaking of

bread and prayer. Seems pretty simple, right?

It seems straightforward and The thing is like, you know what we

start out with, of course, is the the teaching of God's word

as it sits. And I made a comment yesterday

that I, I thought about and I was like, yeah, I think I need

to say that. And that's like, it doesn't

matter if my mom disagrees with it or my wife or my kids, like,

man, this is something that I need to live and die on this

hill because there are certain hills that were like, yeah, you

know what? That's not worth it.

But if we're talking about any of these four things, since they

are the marks of God's authentic believing church, they all have

to be present. And and that's what, and that's

one of the ideas I was trying to get across is like, if even one

of these things doesn't exist in and amongst your fellowship of

believers, then I'm sorry, man, you're not the church.

We're lacking. You're not the church.

Church is lacking. You're, you're a club that kind

of like, I don't know, like you're there for you and your

comfort and what you want to do and what you want to say.

And that's just, that's just not terribly helpful.

Yeah. And to one of the greater points

that I felt like you brought out yesterday too, was a lot of

these things, these four activities cost you something.

And and that's not supposed to invoke fear or even like

obligation necessarily, but it more so is aligned with it's not

easy. The, the, the Christian walk is

not one of roses and rainbows, as it were.

You are dying to you're denying yourself daily, taking up cross,

even even submitting, even getting to a posture of I've

placed the word of God above my thoughts, my feelings, my my

emotions. We sang yesterday.

I love that song by the. Way yeah Christ be magnified.

I won't be formed formed by feelings.

I'll hold fast to what is true like we, we can't that was right

in line with what you were saying about us as not we, we

can't twist the word of God to fit our culture to fit even even

our family. You even maybe maybe struggles

or sins or or just real life things that are happening in our

in our family. When we meet those struggles and

trials in our life, do do we shape do do we distort the word

of God to maybe be more gracious towards those wrongdoings or or

or to even misstate the word of God and how it relates to our

current? Do we justify our actions by the

word of God or do we use the word of God to to orchestrate,

to instruct how we craft our lives?

That's that's the picture of what it should be, I think.

But that cost something that cost right, that cost my pride,

that cost me submitting to saying, OK, you know what?

This God, this Maker, the Savior, this Holy Spirit,

greater than me. I'm greater than me and I have

to die to that every day. Well, and I, I didn't, you know,

and I never would, I would never talk specifically about people

who have come and gone and specifically left maybe because

of a stance you take on a particular part of God's Word.

OK, because here, and here's the thing, if I'm being perfectly

transparent, I in myself, I would rather have a, I would, I

would be more comfortable, let's say in a church where I could

just like not talk about certain things that the Bible talks

about just to keep everybody happy.

That's who I am. I personally, that's who really

I am at my core. I don't, I don't enjoy conflict.

It's not something that I get up for and I'm excited about like,

Oh, I can't wait to debate this person into the ground.

That's not something I like to do.

And even if it's God's word and it's true and it's right, it's

not something I love doing it. It really isn't.

And so like in my, in my flesh and in my very people pleasing

way, I would very much prefer to just like either shift or twist.

We heard that word twist or crooked yesterday.

I would in my flesh. I would, I would much prefer to

do that than have people walk away or people be angry with the

church or be angry with me or whatever.

But I just that's, that's the hill I, I get to die on is I get

to die on even when this word of God makes me uncomfortable.

I I am assuming that since he's the designer of all things that

he's got the right track on this topic, whatever that topic is,

and I'm off, I have to assume that.

And that's the example that we see from Jesus too.

He didn't come to start conflicts, but he also didn't

mince words. The rich young ruler comes to

mind that he asked how how may I inherit the Kingdom of God?

I've kept all these laws since I was a boy.

And Jesus said, go home and sell everything you have and follow

me. And the rich young ruler, what

did he do? He went away sad for he had much

wealth. Jesus pinpointed this is what's

holding you back. This is what's keeping you from

this. Give this up and and you we'll

be ready. You'll be prepared to follow me.

And the rich young ruler went away, sat like in a, in a way.

He didn't get into an argument with Jesus in that moment.

Others did. There's there's other moments

where they, they prodded and questioned and and but Jesus

didn't compromise that he he just didn't say, Oh, well, you

seem like a pretty good guy and you have kept all these laws.

So you know what, like you'll probably get over the, the greed

and the wealth thing and you can and you can probably still live

a life. No, like he told them the way

the rich young ruler seemingly disagreed with that he he went

away, he sat and what we don't see, maybe he did, but it's not

recorded. Jesus didn't go chasing after

him. He didn't go beg.

He didn't go beg, end up pleading.

No, no, no, no, no, it's OK. Like, you know, oh, I'm sorry, I

didn't, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings that you have all

this stuff and it's fine. It's fine.

You can keep all the stuff and you can still come follow him.

Like he didn't compromise that he knew it was holding that guy

back from living a life in fullness following Jesus and

said, this is the way you got to do it or or not, or you're or

you're not going to be following me.

And I'm not saying that in a in a crass way.

I don't think Jesus was unfeeling towards towards the

man, but he wasn't compromising. And I, and I think that's what

we can't do. We, we have to season those

words, the true thing in love to speak, speaking in grace that,

that, that phrase from Ephesians like we, we have to, but we have

to speak truth and truth hurts a lot, a lot of the time,

especially if you're going against it, if you're fighting

against the tide of truth, then it's, it's going to cut and it's

going to hurt. And there may be feelings and

emotions and experiences that need to be set aside for that

truth to really have deep, lasting impact on your life.

I think one of the one of the things that we so desperately

want and maybe our hearts are even in the right place and

wanting this because at the end of this text, I'm going to jump

forward to the end, but then we can come back.

But it says God having having favor with all the people.

That's great. So like they're well liked in

their community. But then it says, and this is

what I think most people in the church probably want to some

extent. And the Lord added their number

day by day. And so I mean, like, how much am

I willing to compromise to get to that end?

And if I can get to that end with without, you know, actually

honoring God's Word without cost.

To myself. Yeah.

And and that's the thing like, if we do ever want to get, if we

do want to be at this end of God adding to, to our community day

by day or whatever that looks like, man, it feels backwards to

have people walking out because you gave them something from

God's word that they didn't like.

And now they're like, you know what?

I don't, I don't think I want to be a part of this anymore.

And that actually feels like, Lord, I thought you were going

to add to our community. And now I see people walking

away because of your word. Like this seems counterintuitive

in some way. Right and that's that's it feels

a little confusing that OK, by the power of God's word, this is

supposed to grow and edify and build up, but that's really

truth is convicting and and it will it will it will cut it will

hurt it will drive people away. But I don't think that should

discourage us from from preaching it from teaching it

said in love, if if it's seasoned with grace and said in

love that conviction and that turning away is is probably just

steps on a journey to, to the Holy Spirit working and

convicting and moving. It might not be in that moment

that we see the harvest, the fruit of that seed of truth

being planted. But I think it's what we're

called to every step of the way to that person confronted with

that truth, even truth that hurts.

If, if it happens repeatedly and, and there's faithful

moments of that truth, immovable, resolute being spoken

and shown into their lives. I have to, I'm brought to

believe there, there has to be a moment where, I mean, the Holy

Spirit's going to have breakthrough in that person's

life. And, and there's going to come a

point where they can no longer deny the, the truth that is the

word of God. So that's, that's hard.

It does feel like it costs. It feels like the, the I think

the the cost of the first one is that uncomfortableness of how,

how are they going to react to the truth of God calling out

this thing in their life, in my life, in, in our life.

Like do you ever, do you ever preach the word of God to

yourself? Are you, are you ever reading

your Bible and convicted in Oh, that's, that's me struggling

with that thing. That's me putting this thing on

a pedestal that that Jesus or Paul or or Luke are are saying

is untouchable. You can't do that.

You cannot live the life of a Christian and have this thing

elevated to the point of where it's a God in your life.

Yeah, we should be preaching hard truth from the word of God

to ourselves too. It's not just towards others.

Well, and I think as as you're saying these things, it reminds

me, you know, there's a moment where Jesus says in so many

words like, hey, if your eye is causing you to sin, pluck it

out. It's better for you to enter the

Kingdom of heaven without your vision.

Or if your hand is causing you sin, cut it off.

And I don't actually think he's talking about literally chopping

off our hands, but he is getting to a very hard point, which is I

think what you're saying too. And that is, man, these things

that we ought not to compromise. What is it going to cost us in

order to not compromise? And Jesus is supporting that and

saying it doesn't matter what it costs you, you bear the truth.

And that's what you need to do. Because better to bear the truth

alone as you walk into the Kingdom of God than to walk into

the Kingdom of hell with an army of people behind you, right?

So I mean, that's difficult. And, and, and I think if I've

ever all the pastors I've interacted with, interacted

with, nothing has hurt them more personally.

The things that they can't, the things that keep them up at

night. Most pastors that I've ever

engaged with on this kind of stuff, it's when people leave.

Yeah, it's when. That feels bad.

Yeah, it's, you know, you feel like.

You failed. Yeah, you failed.

And you're like, man, should I have been nicer for longer?

Should I have told the rich man like, hey, like you said, like,

hey, come hang out for a little bit longer?

And I bet over time this is going to work out of your

system. And yeah, so we that is the

stuff. Friends who are listening, I'll

tell you what, that's the stuff that keeps pastors up at night

if they care about their church is like that person walked away.

What could I have done differently?

But I will say at the same time, we have to have this.

And it's not just pastors now, it's all of us.

We have to have this, this firm foundation in the word of God

that this is the truth. And regardless of what this

truth cost me, relationally or otherwise, like I I sit under

the Word of God, I don't get to stand above it and then shift it

or change it to make sure that I'm popular or well liked.

Right, Yep, and I think so that's the tension for us,

especially on Sundays. But but but for all of us church

people and in handling the truth of the word of God, yes, I think

truth is easier received when there's established relationship

there. You can.

You can go up. To someone you know and say,

hey, jerkface, get your life together.

You, you can't I cannot even as a pastor, I cannot go up to

someone who's in church for the first time and say, hey, I see

you got a lot of problems. Let's get let's get you fixed up

like there's right and I'm going to do that with anyone,

especially not on Sunday mornings, but like that person

who I met 5 minutes ago are are they going to take my advice, my

conviction, my direction for how the truth of God's word to be

working in their life. They're not they're not going to

take that as well as someone I've known for five, 6-7 years

like that. There's there's relational

capital there. So we have to church just as I'm

speaking to you listening to hear the heart that Chris is

saying that that I'm saying that these aren't our personal

convictions on how we need to be executing this.

This is what this is what we see.

This is what we know and have learned about God's word and and

to your to one of your points. I'd rather be in a church where

you're not just taking me or Chris at our word are are the

words that we're preaching teaching on Sundays?

Are they faithful to what the word of God is saying?

I'd rather be part of a church where there is some pushback on

to. Does it really mean this?

Like is, is this actually what it says?

Because I've I've come to understand it as this

differently. I'd I'd rather you're taking

Sunday morning messages home and and studying for yourself too.

And, and are you coming the same conclusion if you're, if you're

not, can we have, can we have a grace filled, loving

conversation about is this actually what this means and

what we're actually called to? Because these aren't our there

are beliefs that we've come to know and understand, but it's

not us. It's not our morality or ethic

that that we're getting out of this.

We're we're submitting still to God's word.

Man, Yeah, big, big topic. Big topic.

Let me let me ask you a question that's going to stay along these

lines, but it'll it'll keep moving us forward a little bit.

Here's the question. When people are, because I

brought up this phrase yesterday, church shopping

because, you know, maybe you're moving to a new location or

whatever, or you did leave a church because you something was

off and so now you're church shopping.

What do you think most people look for when they're church

shopping? Are they looking for these four

marks or what do you think people are looking for when

they're church shopping? I actually I think I think they

are. OK.

Or or at least they should be definitely the first two, the

the faithful teaching of God's word and fellowship.

That's that's what I hear most often that the Word of God

faithfully preached and connection, which I'm loosely

relating to fellowship. Yeah.

And I think that's an appropriate way to say.

That yeah. So I don't know that like the

breaking of bread. I think as as we were talking

about that that's like that could literally be communion

literally be partaking in that, but also simply a meal in

fellowship, like kind of an expansion of that fellowship

idea. So that's in, in some ways, I

think I, I've never, I've never met someone who's like, I'm

going to that church because of how they serve the Lord's

Supper. Like I've never, I've never

heard it like that directly stated or I've, I don't think

I've ever really heard anyone. Maybe I, I think there's, I've

heard feedback from people of varying levels of the importance

of prayer in a church, but I don't, again, I don't think I've

ever heard specific feedback like I'm going to that church

because you know, like when they pray on Sunday, the way this

preacher prays on Sunday mornings just gets me coming

back. Like I've never, I've never

heard that. So I think the first two are the

highlights, But it also it's there's church cliche that is

they'll they'll come for the worship and they'll stay for the

sermon. Yeah, I've heard that too.

Like that's initial impressions that they'll come, they'll come

even for like how they're how they received, how they're

welcomed. Like those those things that the

worship experience together, the time of worship and song, how

they're received and greeted and and the hospitality ministry

like those things are would get them coming back.

The Word of God, the faithful preaching, teaching of God's

Word is is what gets people to stay.

Yeah, I hope so. Yeah, I hope so.

I mean, but I, I will tell you when I, when I think about

people church shopping, there's two things that I've heard

throughout the last decade of ministry.

First one is, is, is there a place for my kids?

Sure. That's always such a big thing

for people who have kids is what programming do you have for my

kids? You know, are your Wednesday

nights fun? Are they going to want to come

back? All this kind of stuff?

And so, and I understand that, like, you know, if you're

raising young kids and you want to be a part of a church, you,

you need a place where they can be joyful and they can feel

happy and you can know that they're safe in that what

they're hearing is accurate and it's good.

And that the adults who are looking over them are also safe

people. You know, all those things are

really, really important. But on some level too, if we are

only church shopping based on like, well, the kids program and

look at these classrooms and blah, blah, that that becomes

consumeristic to a point of like sinfulness, I would say.

But here's, you know, the other thing that I hear people are

looking for is music. I hear it all the time.

Well, you know, we switched churches because these hymns, I

just, I can't deal with the hymns and nobody actually even

sings. And I need, I need something,

you know, so and I'm not, you know, music is terribly

important because like as we worship God, that is a key

component. It's a key way that we worship

is through song. I mean, we had a confirmation

kid tell us a couple weeks ago, it's not an option.

God commands us to sing to him. That's cool, actually.

And so I just, yeah, music and children's programming are the

two things that I always hear when it comes to quote UN quote,

church shopping. Yep, yeah.

And I think so I've couple couple things on both of those.

The hymn thing first and I I don't claim to do worship

ministry perfectly here. I know I have I have my style

and my heart that comes out. I have nothing against hymns,

neither do I I'm on the I'm on the sing a new song side of the

spectrum. More so I don't land in a just

because a song has stood the test of time that it should blot

out all others. That song that has that hymn

that has stood the test of time was at one point a new song.

So if we if we held to that logic of it, it needs to stay on

the test of time. Well, there would never be new

songs because they were all new at some point.

So I but anyway I don't I don't need to get way down way.

Down you've got I. I have 0 doubt you have a lot of

thoughts on that as I look at like dozens of worship books

behind you. What I think more so, and I have

been places where hymns are sung enthusiastically and

energetically and and with thunderous voices.

That's, that's more of what I think is, is, is important and

I, I don't want to get into a whole, I don't believe that you

need to have like flashing lights and massive production to

be like worship. Are we not going to have smoke

at ERC? No, we won't have smoke.

I, I, it, it smells like, I don't even, I can't even

describe it. It smells like musty campfire.

It really does like. The, the we're not going to have

smoke, but for me and what I've been more convicted of lately,

especially being at Exponential and that that was a crazy

experiment. There's almost 7000 people in

this giant sanctuary, professional worship team up

there and the, and the biggest sound system and, and all they

have $70,000 video cameras everywhere that they're taking

everything in with. That's, that's not necessary for

pure worship. But I, I do think like the

energy and the movement and the chorus.

I, I think that context is probably a lot more accurate of

heaven than than going somewhere and nothing against organs.

I love, I love organs, but like the heart.

I've been plenty of places to where, to what you're saying,

where it feels it feels dead like it is.

Is it Is the picture of heaven closer to that arena filled with

joyful, energetic praise? Or are we just going to get up

to heaven and stand in a Pew with our hands in our pockets

and mutter through some hymn Where, like, I don't, I don't

think that's it. I don't think that's.

The picture. Of praise in heaven either.

And I'm not don't hear what I'm not saying.

I'm not saying avoid Him so that we don't get to that.

The way that worship style comes out of out of me, though, like

to get to that energetic awe and reference awe and reverence and

and and a joyful heart of praise.

That's more of what I try to end.

And I think we can do that in hymns.

I think we have the blessing. Yeah, we did a modern hymn

yesterday. It was it was finished on the

crosses is a modern hymn and and the blessing in in its own ways

is is Himmi. So we can we can still do

joyful, energetic praise even in slower, smaller songs to the

children's ministry aspect draw of that.

I think you're absolutely right. And that is why we focused on

that here. That is why we've made it a

priority. But I would also say nowhere in

this passage in Acts chapter 2 does it say except for the ones

Acts 2 · chapter mention

that have little children. And that's going to hit some of

you between the eyes a little bit.

Something that we've had to work through and and deal with What

what is it? What does it cost you?

It fellowship costs you comfort. Yes, it does, especially when

you have little kids. But it does not say they devoted

themselves to fellowship, except for the ones who had babies.

Like, like, like that's, that's not and out and I, I know I've,

I've been there. We've been, we had five kids

under 5 years old. It was not convenient for us to

hang out with people. It wasn't, it was not convenient

for us to leave our house. It was not convenient for us to

do events. But you know what?

We had to, we, we had to bring our kids into that life, into

that fellowship and just deal with it and, and just be real

about it on. And that might have not have

been everyone's cup of tea, every family that we hung out

with, bringing 5 little kids in tow, but that for us, that was

our real life. That was being real and bringing

our life into that. So those of you with, with kids

or young ones, I hope you're, you're not being held back from

fellowship, from connection because you don't want to

inconvenience someone with the little lives that you've brought

into this. No, they're included in this.

They're they're a part of that fellowship to just bring them

along. Don't, don't let it set you back

from staying apart from the people of God.

Do it all together. Do all of life together.

That's what that breaking of bread is to get in those in

those meals and those shared fellowship times together.

It's all of them. They didn't leave the kids at

home and go hang out on the corner with just the adults.

They brought the kids. Yeah.

And actually, even before I was a Christian, one of the things

that Lisa and I committed to because we had, we had our

first, our, our first, our, our daughter very young, relatively

speaking. And so we just committed like,

no, we're not going to stop hanging out with our friends

because we have a child. We're going to bring her with

her everywhere we go. We're always going to have a

pack and play in the trunk. We're not going to stop living

life. And, and, and we, we believe.

And now that she's 21, God bless her.

We've, we've made it this far. Now that she's 21, I look back

and I go, I'm so happy we didn't just stay home because those

relationships that she saw us engaged with from, you know,

infancy and childhood, like that shaped her, how she engages with

older people. It shaped her how she engages

with the rest of the world. And I just look at that and I'm

like, I'm so thankful that like, we didn't segment her out or we

didn't just stay home and become hermits because, man, she has so

many adults in her life now. And my son does too, who deeply

care about them because they helped in some ways raise them

because we just took them everywhere.

We, we refuse to stop living life just because we had kids.

And so I think for the church that is Kingdom minded, for the

church that is Kingdom minded, we look at kids and we hear the

noise and yeah, maybe I'd miss this part of the sermon or

whatever because that guess what, That's OK because that 30

seconds of the sermon probably isn't going to change your life.

And that's coming from a guy who, like, I work very hard at.

Yeah, I really do. But at the same time like to

show every generation, to show every age group that like this

is what worship looks like. This is what it means to be the

church together. We are multi generational.

We care about All Souls regardless of regardless of

where they sit. I just think that's incredibly

important to do. You have a thought from Gary

Hansen here, a New Testament commentator on fellowship that

I'll kind of close out our discussion here with and we'll

move on to. We got a couple other topics to

get to, but Gary Hansen says this in relation to fellowship.

Devotion to fellowship means nurturing habits of hospitality,

and it takes work. It takes courage to notice a

newcomer helping him or her find the coat rack or a classroom.

It takes initiative to invite someone to lunch or a cup of

coffee after worship. It takes creativity to start a

regular gathering where a small group can begin to know and care

for each other with devotion to fellowship.

People are made to feel at home, growing close enough for genuine

rejoicing, encouragement and support.

We need. Each other church like that's we

we need each other and time with each other and Satan wants to

make an excuse of anything even your your family, your

tiredness, your I was doing these eight different things

this week like I've I've been there I I've feel like I've

experienced every excuse that I can think of or or or had heard

heard from my wife that there are days that we are just

hanging out with people. It sounds extremely taxing,

yeah, but we still should. We still should because it's,

it's one of the things that the early church devoted themselves

to. And, and we, if we only engage

with people under the perfect elemental conditions for

whatever our our personal energy or, or the kids schedules or

like whatever it that's that's very rarely going to happen

then. And and then we we fall away

from this call to fellowship. I agree.

Well, let me let me change gears here a little bit to you know,

again, we see this kind of idealistic moment play out in

the early church. And by the way, just know that

this this little section that we get that we read yesterday from

Acts 240 through 47, what we're seeing is we're seeing a summary

moment. Luke throughout the book of Acts

will have a couple summary moments.

Now, normally Luke is a high detail kind of person.

He's a researcher, he's a historian, right?

But we get a couple summaries. And so when we see this ideal

version of the church, we are in one of those summary moments.

And so, yeah, it seems very perfect and it seems very great.

But just know that like he's just, he's just giving us a, a,

a 10,000 foot view. So that way he can move on,

right. And one of the things that he

gives us is they had all things in common.

Oh man, this has been such a hotly debated phrase for like, I

think all of biblical history, they had all things in common.

And and so you hear that word common and you're like,

communism. Is this communism?

Is this like so they were because it says they're selling

their possessions and they're giving to anyone you had need.

And like, Matt, are we dealing with communism in the early

church? Like what are we doing here?

That's that's not the picture that we see here, I don't think.

Yeah, there's. I mean, yeah, first of all, like

actual, actual communism, that construct is, is more about

keeping everyone on similar playing field or making things

decorable, right? Like everything is available for

everyone to the same degree. I think this is less about that

and more more about the the Christian heart of compassion of

of empathy, of supporting those and each other be in need.

Again, costing yourself something probably.

But what we mostly see is that those that are those that are

selling or giving away, it's, it's, it's the more than they

need things like, and how many of us have way more than we

need? Like I know, I know it's not

everyone. I don't want to get into like

general, but I even think of I have too many clothes.

I know my wife has too many clothes.

Like we just have more clothes than I wear on a regular basis.

Like, and that just so that that's more of the picture that

I think we see. Like where's the complete?

It's it's not, they're not like selling everything and living in

burlap sacks and, and doing that.

It's, it's, it's not, they didn't do this to the point of

poverty, but they did do it out of a spirit of, you know what?

This is how Jesus taught us to love on people.

So it's what we're going to do. Yeah, so I think in real time

you bring up the clothing thing, which is a great example because

most Americans have too much clothing.

You know, I, I actually, so there's a pastor who wrote a

book called The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.

Yeah. And towards the end of that

book, he said, and I don't, he didn't reference this passage

specifically, but I knew his heart.

What he was saying was he's come to the point where he's like,

you know what, it would be better for me not to spend more

money on a wardrobe. So he's gotten very intentional

about the point of like he's got, he wears like the same two

or three things. Yep.

So if you ever see this guy around town, you're like, dude,

I saw you wearing that the other day and I saw you wearing that

the other day. And he's like, yeah, of course.

Because I don't need a lot of that stuff and I can use my

resources to help other people if I don't have if I don't need

to have 50 different shirts to rotate through, right.

So I think that's kind of interesting.

I. Envy that life so much.

Actually do you? Would you be the guy who's like,

dude, you're only going to see me in 2?

Different I mean I I mostly I wear black like 90% of the time

like I. As I sit here in black too, I

understand. Like I mostly have very few

outfits, but like I I could do that where two pairs of pants

and like just seasonal shirt. Maybe, yeah, maybe I'll try

that. I'll just be in jeans and like a

black V-neck this summer. Well, you know what?

OK, so church, if you see Pastor Matt in the same shirt every

Sunday for like a month, it's not because, you know, he's

being intentional. So we'll see if that actually

happens. But I, I, I do think that, you

know, one of the things that commentators say about this, all

things in common and you know, it's really not communism in in

the political sense, but what it is, is we well, here, let me say

this instead. This doesn't carry even through

the book of Acts. No, there.

And it's really not sustainable like on a larger scale than

we're talking about. Like that's that's where I think

it's different from communism. Communism is everyone.

Everyone. Who's everyone all the time or.

Society or part of it, Everyone all the time.

And it's compulsory, like you, you have to do it, it's not

voluntary. So those are a couple

differences we see too, but. Yeah.

But even even as we move forward in the in the book of Acts, and

there are very healthy, thriving communities of Christians that

we see throughout the next 26 chapters of the early church.

But the big thing is you're not being forced to do it.

You know, this is something just like giving of like financial

resources. And we say that every Sunday

like it's not a have to, it's a get to.

And God wants you to be a joyful giver.

So to the extent that we can see our maybe how much we do have

and say, well, I can have a little bit less to make sure

that this person is doing OK, you know, and we're not talking

about fulfilling needs that needs that aren't really needs.

We're talking about like, hey, man, like you need a place to

stay. You need clothing for your kids,

your kids need school supplies, whatever.

These are good things that we can do.

But like, yeah, to the extent that it would be like, oh, no,

you have to sell this and you can only have this many shirts.

That's the new law. Like, that's not how that looks.

And honestly, the bigger part of this is I love this.

I love this thought that you have here.

The show notes are attached in the in the comments here.

But numerical growth. So the Lord is adding daily to

to their numbers, those that were being saved.

Numerical growth and sacrificial sharing are the results, not the

cause. Doing these things is not what

grew the church that they didn't.

They didn't do that so they would grow.

They did them because their lives had been changed in Jesus

to, to compel them to, to the point where no, I'm going to

care for. I'm going to put this person's

needs above my own, especially above my excess, especially of

of the things that I don't absolutely need.

Again, not to the point to bring yourself to poverty necessarily.

I'm sure some of them did. I'm sure some of them just, you

know, I can, I can get by on this pair of shorts and this

shirt and I'm I'm good to go. And that that could be some of

you. I think we have varying degrees

of of what that degree of what that level is for, for everyone

in that growth and in that giving.

But these things are what happened out of lives being

changed, out of the word being preached and hearts being given

to Jesus, shown up for Jesus. Numerical growth and sacrificial

sharing are the results, not the cause.

And that and that fights a legalistic worldview that that

that that fights that sense of if I do these things, then I

will be safe. Then I will be living like a

Christian. No, you do these things because

you've been saved, because you've been changed, because you

are living like a Christian, so you're you're compelled to love

and good works. Yeah, I, I, I mentioned this, I

use this phrase often, which is order of operations matters.

Like you again, this, this having all things in common, as

you said, that's a result of the marks of the church changing

people's lives. It's not I do these things and

now God owes me a good life. That's baloney.

Because quite frankly, if we ever get to the point where we

look at even our best things and we say, well, now God owes me,

whether that's he owes me more comfort or he, no, God never

owes us. It's always the other way

around. And so to the extent that we can

do any of these things out of freedom and joy and because of

love, that's why we do those things.

One more thing I want to touch on you.

We didn't get into it yesterday and it's a really interesting

nuance in verse 43 of chapter 2 you started they devoted

themselves the apostles teaching fellowship, breaking of bread

and prayer. There's those four things.

The verse right after that after summarizing those four things,

verse 43 and awe some translations it can.

It can also be said as fear. Fear came upon every soul and

many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

You have some thoughts from Calvin here on, on this fear or

this awe that came upon the people surrounding these events.

Walk us through this. Yeah, so it's I've okay, so

having, you know, been a Christian now and done the

seminary thing and all that stuff like, and I've been

familiar with this because we all read about the early church

and go, oh, wow, that's great. But I'd never heard anybody talk

about verse 43 in the sense of fear of like God used this awe

and fear to keep those who would destroy the young church.

He used that fear to keep them at Bay.

But that's the point that John Calvin makes.

And I was, I was intrigued by this.

So I'm going to read part of this and there's, you know, John

Calvin 500 plus years ago. So there's some interesting old

English here, but let me let me give it a shot.

He says the Jews would never have suffered the Church of

Christ to stand one minute of an hour unless the Lord had

restrained them with fear as a bridle.

Furthermore, and this is where it gets fun, Luke noteth the

manner of fear that it was not so.

It was not such fear as bringeth men onto obedience of Christ,

but such as causeth men to stand in a doubt, and so consequently

doth, as it were, so bind them hand and foot that they dare not

hinder the Lord's work. All of that old English to say,

yeah, God's going to restrain the hand of those who would seek

to destroy the church in its infancy by fear, by awe, by

You're not touching these people because I'm with them.

Yeah, and I can't do a whole deep, I'm not ready to do a

whole deep dive into the Greek linguistics of this, but just

that word that is there that given as Oz Phobos, but.

Phobia. It's right.

It's more literally fear, terror or reverence.

And, and, and actually in the ESV, it's definitely, it's

definitely written as awe, but I think that is kind of a, a

softening of, of what's happening in this verse.

Of course, I mean the early church is a super minority at

this point. Right, very vulnerable.

Even this 3000, even this crowd still puts them way in the red

as far as far as numbers of mass population.

The the the the wow, what am I trying to say?

The Jewish leaders could have squashed this rebellion like

like they had the numbers. They had the societal standing

in the governmental path. The Roman Empire quit like so

it's an interesting thought here that this fear this this

unknown, because that's mostly what we fear, right?

We fear what we don't know. There, there was something in

this unknown that stayed the hand of of the Jewish leaders of

the Roman Empire and and the church multiplied in that, in

that, in that kind of pausing for they didn't they didn't know

what to do with it. They didn't know what to make of

it. And there was still like the

power of God, the the moving of the Holy Spirit that that left

enough of this unknown of wow, are we even going to we're not

going to mess with that. We're we're not we're not sure

that we can win even if we mess with that.

I think I think it's part of what Calvin's bringing out here

in that fear and it provided this opportunity, this open door

for the church to grow. And they still experience

persecution, obviously, which we'll get into more of that in

the coming weeks and coming chapters.

But I think it was an interesting note from Calvin

here that maybe seemingly muted. It was maybe less than it could

have been. Yep, and I think it's a cool

thing. Here's here's the bigger picture

thing that is really neat about this is that so God, if Calvin's

right, which I actually think he is God places this fear on those

who would seek to hurt the infant church.

But then what God does he he's willing to let them be

scattered. He's willing to let them face

persecution. And it's actually through that

scattering and persecution, as we'll see in coming months, that

the church just explodes. But if you think about this from

the sense of like, OK, I've got a literal infant baby.

There is a time when I'm going to need to protect that infant

to make sure that nothing bad can happen to it because, yeah,

because it cannot protect itself yet.

But as the Holy Spirit gets indwelt in people and as people

realize that Jesus is the Christ, he's in the Messiah,

he's the Lord. As as that happens, they go out

in utter strength. So it's like raising a kid who

you're like, you know what, I know the world is dangerous, but

I'm going to send you out because I know you're ready.

They became ready through the power of the Holy Spirit,

through the preaching of the word, through the fellowship

they experienced, through the breaking of bread and through

prayer. They became ready to go out into

the wide world and face that persecution and multiply anyway.

Remarkable. So cool, I love it.

That's so good. That's where we're going to

leave it for today. Thanks for hanging out with us

for some extra conversation on Acts Chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Hope it's helpful and encouraging to you, Church.

We're enjoying doing it. I've gotten positive feedback

from a lot of you about you. Like to hear our personalities

come out a little more than maybe, maybe they do on Sunday

mornings. But yeah, want to uplift and

encourage you in the truth of God's Word.

We'll be back in Acts this next Sunday and more leftovers next

week. We'll catch you then.

Cheers.