WEBVTT 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:06.559 Hello and thank you for joining us on the Sierra Bible Church Sermon of the Week. 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:10.240 We hope you enjoy this message by Pastor Nate Leverett. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:16.000 Sierra Bible Church, if you're new, real quick, we'd love for you to kind of sign in, let us know. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:16.719 Hey, we're here. 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:23.679 Gives us a chance to hear your story, gives us a chance to kind of come alongside and share some of what God's doing here at Sierra Bible Church and kind of connect you in. 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:27.519 Fall season's a massive sort of connect time around here at Sierra Bible Church. 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:36.640 And so as we, I don't say this with my school teaching wife in the room, but as we sort of in some ways close summer up, uh, there's lots of opportunities coming in the fall. 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:39.840 We'd love to connect you to those in the seat back in front of you. 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:41.119 There's a little connection card. 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:48.000 You could grab that, fill out your name and information a little bit, gives us a chance to follow up with you if you haven't done that. 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:55.359 Uh, and then just drop it in one of these offering connection boxes on the side, and we will follow up with you. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:58.560 Uh, also, there's a little connect place out in the commons. 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:01.200 Uh, and so we'd love for you to connect out there. 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:02.880 We've got a little gift for you. 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:09.120 Uh, the fall or sorry, end of summer is also our chance to kind of do a different layer of connection here at Sierra Bible Church. 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:10.640 And so you're all invited. 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:13.040 Uh, it's a Sunday afternoon in a couple of weeks. 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:22.959 We do a church picnic, uh, gives us an opportunity to just goof off, have some fun, connect in different ways than we do, kind of in our comings and goings and in our life groups and Bible studies and stuff. 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:25.439 And so we'll be up at uh Old Oak Ranch. 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:27.040 Information's all over the place. 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:33.840 If you want to sign up to be a pie eater or a ping pong player or lots of us, belly flopper. 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:35.920 We just do some goofy stuff and have some fun. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:37.680 We'd love for you to join us up there. 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:40.319 Uh, the signups are in the comments, also in your bulletin. 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:41.920 There's some simple ways to sign up. 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:42.959 Join us. 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:44.799 I know lots of people are like, that'll be weird. 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:45.200 I don't know. 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:45.840 How do I know? 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:48.000 But just I just dare you sign up. 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:48.640 It'll be great. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:50.239 Uh we'd love to have you there. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:53.439 Uh, just gives us a fun chance to connect. 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:55.200 Lots going on. 00:01:55.359 --> 00:02:01.599 We find ourselves right in the middle of a summer where we are talking about God's vision for discipleship. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:09.520 That He, if we just sort of think back, you He invites us into relationship with Him. 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:12.960 We talk about this with a C cultivate a life with Christ. 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:19.840 This is what it means to walk with Jesus, that you and I as individuals, we as a community are cultivating our lives with Christ. 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:25.439 What does it look like to orient our lives, our decisions, our thinking around the person and the work of Jesus? 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:27.120 He invites us to belong to each other. 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:28.800 There's a community side to this thing. 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:32.960 And we're grafted in not just to Jesus, but into the lives of those around us. 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:37.120 And we're actually in sort of talking about what that belonging looks like right now. 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:47.520 And then we're at towards the end of the summer, what we're going to lean into is this idea that all of us have been given not just this life, big L life, but we've been given gifts and strengths and time and passion. 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:59.759 And what does it look like for us to steward those things as recipients, grateful recipients from God to make his kingdom realized in our world through those things? 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:02.240 Today we're going to ratchet it all the way back. 00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:06.560 The earliest days of the church, right? 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:10.000 It started in this little crazy city called Jerusalem. 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:14.400 The book of Acts tells the story of the early church. 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:16.400 Wild things are happening, right? 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:20.960 This Jesus was hung on a cross. 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:26.400 Hundreds saw him days after walking amongst them. 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:42.719 This group of would-be Christians began to declare with their mouths and then with their lives that Jesus was indeed Israel's promised Messiah. 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:49.599 Beyond that, Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Savior, the King of the whole world. 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:53.439 This is a wild thing to declare in that culture. 00:03:54.159 --> 00:04:00.400 And it was a world that couldn't put it and piece it together, and yet this group said, We've seen him. 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:03.439 He's risen, he's alive. 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:06.560 Persecution breaks out in Jerusalem. 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:23.680 And we find ourselves in chapter 7 and chapter 8 of Acts, with some of these sort of little Jesus-following leaders being killed as a result of their unwillingness to deny the reality, in fact, to proclaim the reality that Jesus is Lord, not Caesar. 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:26.639 Persecution's happening. 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:30.639 Many of the Jewish Christians leave Jerusalem. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:36.399 They're hunkered down in cities like Damascus, not far from Jerusalem. 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:39.759 And in Acts chapter 9, we read the most fascinating story. 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:47.839 And I think it's this like this early story that is like just catalyzes God's ridiculous vision of this thing. 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:50.959 He calls the church. 00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:57.600 He calls this Jewish Christian leader, if you will, in a dream, Ananias. 00:04:57.839 --> 00:04:58.560 God shows up. 00:04:58.639 --> 00:04:59.519 Some of you know the story. 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:00.959 He says, Ananias. 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:02.879 I know it's been tough. 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:05.199 I'm bringing in reinforcements. 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:10.160 I'm adding a guy to the team, and he's actually going to take this story live. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:14.720 There will be people thousands of years from now in this small town. 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:20.800 He didn't describe all this to Ananias at the time, but in this small town called Sonoran, they're going to like know this person. 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:22.000 He's coming. 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:24.560 You can imagine Ananias, like, yeah, we need reinforcements. 00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:25.120 It's been tough. 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:26.399 We're hunkered down. 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:27.839 Ananias to Jesus. 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:29.600 Who is it? 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:32.639 Remember who Jesus is getting? 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:34.560 His name was Saul. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:37.839 Imagine Ananias saying, Saul. 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:39.519 That name sounds familiar. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:43.279 And then Jesus says, Saul of Tarsus. 00:05:44.560 --> 00:06:04.480 Because you see, there had been some that had left Jerusalem with papers to actually arrest when needed to bring to trial and have killed with their unwillingness to deny the reality they were living with and promoting that Jesus was actually the Messiah of Israel. 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:08.639 And so this thing happens. 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:10.240 Ananias wakes up. 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:14.079 He probably tells the people in the community, like, hey, I had this weird dream. 00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:16.000 God said, I'm supposed to go over here. 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:21.839 He's bringing in reinforcements in the name of Saul, who we now know as Paul, wrote a third of the New Testament. 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:26.639 And you can imagine they're like, that's that's crazy. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:27.759 God wouldn't do that. 00:06:27.839 --> 00:06:28.720 God couldn't get that. 00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:32.399 Imagine in your mind the person right now, farthest from God. 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:36.800 It's Paul is that guy for them. 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:39.600 And he says, This is what I'm doing. 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:41.199 I'm gonna go get him. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:48.639 And you can imagine Ananias sort of going, you gotta be crazy. 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:51.759 And God going, Yeah. 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:56.879 And I'm gonna keep doing this kind of thing for thousands of years. 00:06:57.199 --> 00:06:59.120 You better get used to it. 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:01.360 Get on board, Ananias. 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:04.399 This is my church. 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:19.120 We've been using Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 7, where he talks about this idea that for every single one of us in our lives, we can think about our lives as if we're on one of two paths. 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:20.000 He says this. 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:23.920 He says, there's a wide path that you can live on, or there's a narrow path that you can live on. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:26.720 And Jesus promised in this little phrase is he says this. 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:28.399 He says, you know, there's a wide path. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:30.480 It's kind of easy to get on. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:34.079 It's sort of how you're gonna live if you don't really think that much about it. 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:36.560 And that path actually, he says, leads to destruction. 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:43.839 He says, but for every single one of us in the room, there's another kind of path that our lives could be on. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:51.199 Our choices dictate whether we're on the wide path or it's not just luck, it's not just chance, it's how we choose to live our lives. 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:53.600 And he says there's a narrow path, not many will find it. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:59.759 The promise Jesus makes here, though, is that that path, hard though it may be, will lead to life. 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:07.439 I asked myself this week, just trying to assess a bit where we're at this summer, and just kind of saying, hey, I've been preaching this for a couple months now. 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:10.800 We've been living it, we've been praying it. 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:16.000 Has it made any difference in my life? 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:19.279 I asked myself, just try to be honest. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:21.040 Like, okay, I'm here every Sunday. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:22.079 If not, I listen online. 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:24.560 I'm like, you know, doing, I'm I'm in, I'm preaching it. 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:28.160 I'm have I actually changed the way I live? 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:37.440 Have I made any narrow way decisions in my life as a result of this challenge and this focus? 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:40.159 Have I done anything different? 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:54.879 And part of what I realize in my life, and I don't know if you can relate, is that oftentimes I'm confronted with God's word, I love it, it speaks, I hear it from others, I'm inspired. 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:59.200 And then I generally live my life based on my common sense. 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:05.120 Because unlike you, maybe, I think I'm pretty smart. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:10.320 And the reality is I think God's amazing, and I I oh yeah, this is great. 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:11.279 Oh, it makes sense. 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:43.919 And basically, when I leave the doors, I I don't make that big of it, I just keep living off my common, I'm not really bringing my decisions before the Lord and saying, okay, Lord, I could slip into, with my own common sense, this big wide road that leads to destruction, or I can choose in these hard places to trust you, to make a different kind of decision, to say yes when you nudge, when you push, when you invite. 00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:56.639 So here's some things I thought about. 00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:01.840 This was my own kind of reflections on my thinking this week, because I'm in it with you. 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:07.840 One is this that the common sense, my common sense, tells me that I deserve to hold a grudge. 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:11.039 I deserve to see other people hurt if they've hurt me. 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:12.799 I kind of that makes sense to me. 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:15.600 But the narrow way says that I have to forgive. 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:27.519 Common sense says that I will be happier if I kind of stay in my me-controlled comfort zone of safety. 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:37.759 The narrow way says that there's life, there's freedom on the other side of relinquishing control to God. 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:40.960 The common sense says to grab all the happiness I can now. 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:53.120 Man, I got 24 hours in this day, I've got seven days in this week, I have only a short amount of summer, I've got a little bit of this, I got a little bit of energy, like chase what I can chase, see what I can see. 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:55.759 This is my common sense. 00:10:55.919 --> 00:11:11.919 The narrow way says there are some hard things, some tough choices, some things that don't make sense, that will take me to a place of lasting joy. 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:43.600 Lastly, and this is where we're going today, the narrow way, I mean excuse me, common sense, common sense says that people from the opposite sides of the social, ethnic, economic, political spectrum that grow up in an individualistic culture fed by algorithms coded to inspire their consumeristic leanings, will never really belong with or to each other. 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:50.320 The narrow way is Jesus' answer to our common sense. 00:11:51.200 --> 00:12:41.360 In light of where we're going this morning, the narrow way of the early church was crowded with political extremists, with racial enemies, with dropouts, with standouts, freed people, enslaved people, some refugees, mixed in with Roman military leaders, rich people, poor people, those from entrenched gender categories, and those with whom it was quite frankly illegal to dine with, only to turn into a community that deeply loved each other, sacrificially served each other, welcomed newcomers as they were, sacrificed for each other, and deeply belonged to each other. 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:45.360 This is Jesus' radical vision of the church. 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:54.799 This is what you and I are meant to experience as a part of the lives that we gather with and do life with and carry out the mission of Christ with. 00:12:56.159 --> 00:12:57.759 Look around. 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:03.759 Consider what it would have been like to step into this early church in a real kind of life on life way. 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:05.840 I mean, people are nuts. 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:09.840 I I'm not a big political extremist. 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:19.440 In fact, I mean, to me, it it sounds when you get excited about all of that to some degree, sounds like somebody's just grabbing fingernails and running them down chalkboard. 00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:21.440 Some people should care a lot about that. 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:23.279 And I think we should pray a lot. 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:24.960 And those aren't two different things. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:27.919 But I I don't have a lot of passion in it. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:30.240 People are different. 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:36.080 We're all wildly, you know, and again yet God says, I'm going to draw this circle around people. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:53.840 I'm going to call them my church, I'm going to give them my spirit and my mission, and we are going to do incredible life-changing things on what I'm going to call the narrow way when it all comes together. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:59.039 So, in one little example of this, again, just another incredible, I think, picture. 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:03.279 You know, Paul, he's so he sets off, he spends some time, he ends up in Jerusalem. 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:11.519 They're all trying to figure out this guy, Solitars, who his uh Gentile name is Paul, and so we eventually know him as Paul because most of the ministry he does is to Gentiles. 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:17.279 Uh so he ends up, the first kind of group of people that he gets some traction with is this group called the Galatians. 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:27.039 I don't know if you know much about like world history in that time, but the Galatians were kind of up in northeastern Turkey on your map currently. 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:34.399 Now, Paul is a highly educated Jew of Jews, a Pharisee, now turned Jesus follower. 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:34.639 Okay. 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:41.679 He makes his way with this little band of Jesus followers up to these people called Galatians. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:44.320 Galatians, you know who these people were? 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:50.080 Most people think they're redheaded Celtic missionaries. 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:51.840 I mean, not missionaries, mercenaries. 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:52.960 Sorry, wrong word. 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:54.080 Mercenaries. 00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:56.639 Like these are the farthest thing from Paul. 00:14:56.879 --> 00:15:01.200 Paul steps in, he's like, You're not gonna believe what God has done in Jesus. 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:03.279 He's made us family. 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:06.399 And you know, these guys that'd be like, Well, you're nuts. 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:18.399 And yet God begins to move and God begins to break down all these walls and all these barriers and these red-headed, crazy, Celtic, knuckle-headed, think of the movies you've seen. 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:21.519 Fighting mercenaries begins coming to Jesus. 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:25.679 Paul would eventually write this book, a Galatians, right to them, and he even calls them fools a couple times in there. 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:29.360 He's like, You guys are fools, and they're probably like, oh, we are fools, you know. 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:31.759 That's just this was the people group. 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:42.320 And then Paul says this: he says, brothers and sisters, he says, We're we're a family, the fool and the educated. 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:49.440 In Christ, he did something new, something more beautiful than you can ever imagine. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:51.679 This, Paul says, is the church. 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:58.240 Then he goes on so far as to say, and I don't think any guy should say this, but if you say this and you're a guy, fine, but here's a piece of wisdom. 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:07.360 Paul says this in Galatians, Jesus, I feel for you, I hurt for you, I long for you, like a woman giving birth, which of course Paul knew a lot about, right? 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:08.159 I mean, come on, women. 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:09.039 He's like, huh? 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:22.559 But but Paul, I mean, this is the passion he has for this people group that he's wildly different from, because Jesus, he knew, loved those people that were wildly different than him. 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:29.600 And for God to do what he planned to do, Paul knew he would be doing it through people way different than he was. 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:32.240 And so he embraced them as family. 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:33.840 So we want to ask two questions this morning. 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:42.080 How do we sort of, if we can, reclaim this radical vision of Christian community that Jesus seems to have that we see early in the book of Acts? 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:55.360 And then here's the challenge, I think, really, is how can each of us take a step toward living this kind of community together? 00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:14.880 I believe that for all of us in here, God has in our days steps we can take to lean in a little bit more to this vision of community that Jesus had and the early church seemed to begin to lead. 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:17.200 What is the Christian community? 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:17.920 Let's just start there. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:18.640 Three C's. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:21.039 Uh, and I think these you can fill them in your bulletin if you want. 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:23.440 Uh, the first one is the Christian community is confessional. 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:26.480 And what I mean by that is we confess something is true. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:28.319 We confess that Jesus is Lord. 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:31.680 We confess that God is a triune God in three persons. 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:33.920 So these three persons, one God. 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:40.160 We confess these realities about who God is, what he's done in Jesus, and what the Spirit is actively doing now. 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:41.519 We confess it, we just say it. 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:42.240 It's part of what we do. 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:46.880 It's why we worship at the beginning of services, isn't like, well, okay, Brian, you seem to like to sing. 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:47.920 Why don't you sing some songs? 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:49.119 Some of us will hum along. 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:57.359 No, it's why when it goes quiet, our hearts and our voices open up because we are created to be confessional in community. 00:17:57.599 --> 00:17:58.720 This is what community looks like. 00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:04.799 We don't just get together to like, you know, have some nice programs for kids, do some fun camping like we did last week. 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:05.920 Like, this isn't what we do. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:08.960 We're not here to like build buildings, technically. 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:10.400 We're here. 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:18.160 What makes us a church is the fact that we confess particular things about who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:19.839 Who he is. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:22.400 It's why we share in communion. 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:31.519 It's why once a month, first of the month, we pass around these wonderful tasting little grape juice packets with an amazing piece of bread on top, right? 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:38.160 And and what we're doing, of course, when we take communion together is we're saying, we're confessing. 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:41.599 It's only by the blood of Jesus. 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:48.400 It's only because our Savior broke his body for us that we can experience forgiveness, that we can walk in life together. 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:51.119 We confess these things together. 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:59.599 The second thing that's true of every Christian community is that it's communal, it's relationships, it's people on people, right? 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:07.359 All the vision things we talked about even last week, as we talked about belonging, all of the visions of the church are a group of people together. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:10.640 And really, where what is this community meant to look like? 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:14.240 In so many ways, it's meant to be a reflection of who God is. 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:27.119 If God is one God and three persons, a community that loves and shares and does out of who they are, we are many parts one body. 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:28.559 We are the body of Christ, right? 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:32.559 Like, so we all have our gifts, we all have the things that God's inspired us to do. 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:40.799 And so, how do we work those out in an environment of grace and encouragement and love and accountability? 00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:45.200 This is what we're meant to look like as his community. 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:54.559 And then lastly, though oftentimes we can stop there, we are not just sort of, you know, confession types of people that proclaim Jesus' Lord. 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:58.559 We aren't simply just a community of people doing this confession together. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:00.400 We are commissioned by him. 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:07.839 We are given a mission as individuals and as a church to fulfill as salt and light in our world. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:09.359 This is always a part of who we are. 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:15.200 Oftentimes I think the wide roads kind of stops at this idea that we all confess Jesus, go team. 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:18.559 We are kind of learning to love one another. 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:21.599 We're learning how to love each other, support each other, chip in when. 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:30.640 But when it really comes to taking serious the mission Jesus gives us, sometimes we're like, road looks a little narrow. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:34.079 Or maybe we're just, I don't really know where I find traction there. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:35.119 What's my place? 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:36.720 How do I step in? 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:41.839 And so this morning we're asking ourselves, how do we reclaim Jesus' radical vision of community? 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:50.000 And how do I take a step as one of his kids toward living that community? 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:52.079 What is he inviting me into? 00:20:52.400 --> 00:21:09.759 What I want you to see for just a minute, or about 30 seconds actually, this morning, is what for me in this last season has been the most profound experience of uh this idea of um confessing in a community and being on mission. 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:18.640 As many of you guys know, we had the unbelievable privilege of taking 20 of our folks down to Brazil and working with one of our partner ministries, restoration ministries. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:30.799 We had been there about a week and we walked ourselves in because we're gonna do some afternoon ministry with kids and with some of the women there, uh, into a church that our ministry is partnering in what they call a favela. 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:41.039 Now, a favela is basically starts as like an Uber slum and then it builds itself up to these bizarre communities of incredible darkness. 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:50.480 I don't think I'd ever I've done ministry uh, you know, when I was a kid down in the literally the dumps of Tijuana, and you see some gnarly stuff. 00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:58.559 I hadn't I had not experienced that I can remember though, the kind of aggressive darkness and evil you feel in these favelas. 00:21:58.720 --> 00:21:59.680 They breed these young. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:04.400 Children to step into these just awful roles of human beings. 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:07.279 So we step in there with a team that serves their weekly. 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:12.880 We step in there with a team made up of kids that were raised and saved out of these places. 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:19.440 So we walk in, we're literally walking across bridges under which sewer just flows. 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:25.359 Into the this is the way it works, not by accident, nothing's leaking. 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:26.799 This is the now plan. 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:33.039 So we walk into this community, we make our way into this church that they're launching. 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:36.400 Uh, and it's about 10 feet wide, maybe eight feet wide. 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:37.599 It's about 30 feet long. 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:39.359 You're gonna see it in just a second. 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:46.240 And what happens is uh a couple of these young gals from the community come in with their dad. 00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:51.920 We've been serving with the gals, and they break out their guitar and we begin to confess together. 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:59.839 And I wish I could draw all of you into that room for a second to say, here we are in what I would consider is the pit of hell. 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:01.599 Like it's dark. 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:04.079 There's all you name it, it's just happened. 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:05.440 We've walked by it. 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:13.039 And here we are as a community of God's people, and we begin to worship together. 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:19.039 And can I just tell you, when Brazilians worship, Anna's over there, because she knows she can amen this if you think. 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:23.599 When Brazilians worship, they don't sing, they shout. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:28.160 Because they stand in these places on mission together. 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:36.240 Try not to fall, trying not to try and to confess that victory is in Jesus as dark as it sounds. 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:51.920 And it was one of those experiences for me where I felt like I was just praying, singing, confessing out the doors the victory of Jesus, even when I didn't see it, even when I had no idea how in the world anyone could help this community. 00:23:52.240 --> 00:24:00.079 But trusting that God is God and the same God that raised his son Jesus from the dead is still alive and moving today. 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:08.400 And when I get to be a part, I'm gonna join my howling voice and I'm gonna shout because Jesus is king. 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:09.440 So check this out. 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:10.880 It was just a beautiful little moment. 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:12.400 I wanted to enter you into it. 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:47.200 What a beautiful name. 00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:49.119 You know how that song starts? 00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:52.079 You didn't want heaven without us. 00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:54.319 So then what did God do? 00:24:54.640 --> 00:24:56.960 He brought heaven down. 00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:07.680 Friends, singing that song, declaring that song in the midst of what did not look like heaven is what God's invited us at the church to do. 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:10.880 To stand, to confess, to put our arms around each other. 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:13.839 And then at times to say, God, I don't know what you can do, so I'm gonna sing. 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:17.200 But there are other times, aren't there, when we know what to do? 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:26.000 God's been nudging, you got stuff simmering, He's been speaking to you, He's been saying, Get off the wide road, friend. 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:29.359 I've given you some experience, I've given you some people to love, I've given you some stuff to do. 00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:33.599 Sometimes we just have to sit back and pray and go, Jesus, I'm gonna declare your victory. 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:34.880 Because I don't know what to do. 00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:37.920 This isn't my world, this isn't my land, this is so broken and aggressive. 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:40.079 I don't know if you can save any of these kids. 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:43.200 Or you save someone as crazy as me. 00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:53.119 Other times, we need to step in, step on this narrow road. 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:57.200 We need to speak to those around us in our community. 00:25:57.359 --> 00:25:58.720 God's stirring this in me. 00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:00.160 I don't know what to do. 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:02.079 I don't know what he's asking me to do. 00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:03.839 Like, like Jorge when he called me. 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:07.839 I mean, he was he's not here, he's living at our house right now, and we were sharing this last night. 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:10.000 He said he was so nervous to call me. 00:26:10.160 --> 00:26:12.160 And we were friends, and I'm the old man, right? 00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:14.000 Even back then when I was 30. 00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:16.720 And and he said, Nate, I got this thing. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:17.599 I think God wants me. 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:19.680 I have no idea how to do it. 00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:22.559 But can you help? 00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:32.559 Some of us need to take that step because we aren't simply confessing, we aren't simply learning to love each other in some kind of community. 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:43.359 We are commissioned to make Jesus known and his kingdom realized in our world, in our places. 00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:48.319 And so, what does it look like for us to take a step into that kind of community? 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:58.559 What I want to do is uh is give you a new word that I think is super helpful, and then we'll talk about some next steps around here. 00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:01.920 Uh, and I'm gonna invite you to make one or dream up your own to make. 00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:04.400 The the word, though, is this, and it's the word communitas. 00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:07.200 Has anyone heard the word communitas before? 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:09.440 Have you read anything by this guy? 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:12.000 It's this amazing author, his name's Alan Hirsch. 00:27:12.079 --> 00:27:13.599 He wrote a bunch of stuff about the church. 00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:25.519 He's one of these guys that for the last 15 or 20 years is kind of this is the way I say it, he's sort of like lifted up the hood under the Western church, kind of the the most of what we describe as church in the West. 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:33.039 You know, he sort of like looked at the agree ingredients, he's like tasted the final product, you know, like what is the church actually doing in the West? 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:40.799 And and is it aligned with what seems to be the heart of God? 00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:52.720 And so part of what he's done, and if you've ever asked this question, which I hope you have, is does our church, the church I'm currently at least residing in for an hour and a half this morning, is it doing maybe two hours, three hours? 00:27:52.799 --> 00:27:53.839 We'll see how long this goes. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:28:00.079 But you know, is my church look at all like what seemed to be be Jesus' vision of the church? 00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:02.319 Like it should matter, right? 00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:03.680 In some ways. 00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:06.559 I and Alan basically was doing this. 00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:09.200 And so he wrote um a number of things about this. 00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:14.640 He kind of helped us with this word communitas to wrestle with a couple of realities, which I'll share in just a moment. 00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:21.039 One of the places though you look to say what did the church look like at its kind of inception is Acts chapter two. 00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:34.480 And for many of us, this is a famous little section of what it looked like for the church to begin, for the spirit to fill that church, as they stepped onto this narrow, narrow, narrow road of being Jesus' followers day one. 00:28:35.119 --> 00:28:36.319 Here's who they were. 00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:42.319 This is verse 42 of chapter two in the book of Acts, the story of the early church. 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:46.559 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship. 00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:48.480 They broke bread together. 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:50.079 This is communion. 00:28:50.559 --> 00:28:55.920 They were devoted, or they um to the breaking of bread, excuse me, and to prayer. 00:28:56.079 --> 00:29:02.160 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs before performed by the apostles. 00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:06.559 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:11.119 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:15.680 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:25.039 They broke bread in their homes, they ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. 00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:30.559 And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. 00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:38.720 Now, this is not, this is exactly what the church is supposed to look like in X, Y, and Z, but this is Jesus' radical vision of the church. 00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:42.079 Now, this can also be like, oh, look at the church was perfect back then. 00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:43.200 It was a complete mess. 00:29:43.359 --> 00:29:44.400 Keep reading in Acts. 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:49.920 It isn't long after these days before some of their leaders are literally being stoned to death. 00:29:50.079 --> 00:29:54.240 So they clearly were not in favor with all the people. 00:29:54.400 --> 00:29:56.000 But there's this unbelievable vision. 00:29:56.079 --> 00:30:11.279 And what Alan Hirsch does in kind of a satirical way, which is helpful for the way I think, maybe not you, rewrites for the kind of modern Western church this version of Acts chapter 2, verse 42. 00:30:11.759 --> 00:30:12.960 He says this. 00:30:22.799 --> 00:30:28.880 They prayed when they needed something, and they got coffee together every once and a every now and then. 00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:32.960 They were content with God in their box. 00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:37.680 They had low expectations for signs and wonders in their midst. 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:39.440 He's just getting started. 00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:45.039 They sometimes talked about generosity, but in reality, they kept most of their possessions for themselves. 00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:47.920 Two out of five Sundays, they attended church gatherings. 00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:49.920 They didn't invite people into their homes. 00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:51.759 They rarely shared their hearts. 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:58.720 They were largely irrelevant to the people, and occasionally someone got saved. 00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:18.160 Now, what he said when he sort of builds this wild satire, and here's this Acts 2 vision is that what we're calling Christian community is not always what the scriptures and Jesus call Christian community. 00:31:18.400 --> 00:31:20.480 So maybe he said we need a new word. 00:31:20.559 --> 00:31:21.920 So he goes on the hunt for this new word. 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:23.680 Communitas is the word he comes up with. 00:31:23.839 --> 00:31:34.880 So he reaches into the sort of sociology and finds this word that actually came out of kind of English imperialism. 00:31:35.039 --> 00:31:44.799 And what the English would do is they would sort of take these different places during this season of England is they would study the native people when they arrived. 00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:51.119 And one of the things they realized is that in so many ways, we'd go into these communities and they would learn about them. 00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:53.759 There were like two distinctly different communities. 00:31:54.160 --> 00:31:58.880 In the way we're talking about, there's like there were communities that we'll just say we're on the wide road. 00:31:59.440 --> 00:32:02.799 And then very distinctly there were other communities. 00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:08.240 What the sociologist said communitas. 00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:14.880 Communities that actually sacrificed for each other. 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:19.359 That actually cared in a kind of I've got your back. 00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:21.200 If you need me, I'm there for you. 00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:29.519 People were known, people were caring, people were selling their stuff, they were aligning their lives in their calendars to support this group of people. 00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:31.680 And they said it's actually like there's two different groups. 00:32:31.759 --> 00:32:36.000 There's another group of people that's this group on this side of the room, clearly, because I'm walking over here. 00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:37.279 Wide road. 00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:47.039 They cared about each other, they carried on commerce, community happened, people liked each other, but there was another kind of community. 00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:54.240 They sacrificed, they gave, they loved. 00:32:54.480 --> 00:33:02.799 They weren't all caught up in border skirmishes and oh, they got this, and oh, they they were a community, what he called a communitas. 00:33:03.599 --> 00:33:07.759 And when Alan began to study this, he said, this is the dividing line. 00:33:08.240 --> 00:33:15.680 There, there are churches that are happy, just kind of trying to figure out how to be churches, get their bills paid, like let's keep the lights on, let's do some nice dancing together. 00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:30.160 But he said, This there's some other churches that look a lot like this sort of axe church that they care and they serve and they're known and they love and they're trying to just work hard and give and turn it all outside. 00:33:30.319 --> 00:33:34.240 And what's the defining line? 00:33:35.680 --> 00:33:37.119 Do you know what it was? 00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:40.160 There was something distinct about both of these communities. 00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:51.440 What they studied, what they found, was this the communitas happened when that community was aligned around a common mission. 00:33:52.240 --> 00:33:57.440 They didn't see existence for existence's sake, they didn't see friendship for friendship's sake. 00:33:57.680 --> 00:34:05.680 They saw each other as intricately woven together to accomplish some kind of mission. 00:34:05.839 --> 00:34:09.920 And when that was a part of a community, the belonging went way up. 00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:12.880 The love they had for each other went way up. 00:34:13.119 --> 00:34:17.280 The skirmishes, the fights that people on this side and there worried about everybody, so-and-so's got that. 00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:18.000