WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:01.120 Uh thank you all for being here. 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:04.879 Apologize to all of you that came and uh thought that you were gonna hear rust today. 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:06.160 Uh you're out of luck. 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:07.200 You're stuck with me. 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:08.400 I'm not gonna lie to you today. 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:09.519 My name is Brad O'Kelly. 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:10.880 I used to be one of the elders here. 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:12.640 My time as an elder came to an end. 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:14.720 Back to being a nobody, and I love it. 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:15.759 It's it's been great. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:18.320 File your complaints with somebody else, alright? 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:19.920 Because I can't I can't help you at all. 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:20.480 All right. 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:23.519 So uh, but I'm not gonna lie to you today, okay? 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:29.120 As much as I apologize for you being here and having to hear me, uh, this is gonna be a smoke in the bandit type of message right here. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:30.160 We got a long way to go. 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:31.519 We got a short time to get there. 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:34.079 Y'all buckle up, you just watch old bandit run, okay? 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:35.759 That's how we're gonna do this thing, all right? 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:39.840 So everybody just be prepared because your Matt already read the scripture to you this morning. 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:41.359 We're talking about community. 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:43.280 Community in Acts chapter 2. 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:44.240 Now, here's the great part. 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:47.359 Acts chapter 2 is not actually about community per se. 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:51.280 There's a few things we can pull out about that because we all have a different idea of community, right? 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:56.399 If we went around the room, everybody gave their definition, we get a hundred different definitions in here of what community is. 00:00:56.479 --> 00:01:01.520 I mean, it would all fall under some umbrella of a shared experience that brings people together, right? 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:02.960 I know this feeling well. 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:09.840 When Mandy and I moved into our neighborhood, we were kind of the new people in the neighborhood, the COVID pandemic hits and everything shuts down. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:11.200 We really got to know our neighbors, right? 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:17.200 And so one day I'm out in the yard, my neighbor Gary, Gary's a good guy, comes over and knocks on the door, and he goes, Hey, I've been meaning to ask you a question. 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:19.200 How do you like your Toyota Prius? 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:22.719 Let me pause this story right here. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:25.599 You don't know me. 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:28.239 Maybe you do know me, and some of you know. 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:32.079 I do not now, nor will I ever own a Toyota Prius. 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:35.200 You understand? 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:36.959 Let me just tell y'all something. 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:40.000 If you want to get on my bad side, there's a real good way to do it. 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:41.760 I'm pretty even killed guy, but let me tell you something. 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:49.280 Accuse me of owning something outside the Ford family of vehicles, and make that vehicle hybrid or electric. 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:53.519 I make my living off electrical infrastructure in this country, and let me tell you something. 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:56.799 I will never plug my vehicle into my home. 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:00.799 I know that's unpopular right now, but this dude right here is gonna roll coal. 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:02.319 Let me tell you that right now. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:05.040 I love the smell of diesel in the morning. 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:07.519 Not plugging my car. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:08.479 It's nothing against you. 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:10.080 You plug your car in. 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:14.080 I will come put the charger in your house and charge you for it. 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:16.560 I'm not doing it, man. 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:19.280 I need diesel power in my life. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:21.680 So when Gary looks at me and says, How do you like your Prius? 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:23.439 I'm like, Gary, we're about to get in a fight. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:26.240 And Gary, and I said, Gary, I don't I don't own a Prius. 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:29.840 He goes, and his face changed, and my face changed, and I'm like, What's going on here? 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:38.240 And he goes, There's a Prius that pulls up and parks in front of your house every night at 10 or 11 o'clock at night, and then when we wake up in the morning, it's gone. 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:39.680 Well, let me tell you something. 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:42.159 This ain't a conversation between Brad and Gary anymore. 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:45.120 Now it's Crockett and Tubbs, and it's Miami Vikes up in this place. 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:46.159 You know what I'm saying? 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:47.439 Because we're on it, boy. 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:50.479 We're talking about Gary's in the window with the binoculars. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:51.840 We're forming a posse. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:03:00.000 I'm firing off emails to the neighborhood group, going, whoever owns the Priest, you better come shake my hand, or you better find a place to, a different place to park. 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:00.879 Can I tell you something? 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:02.560 We never figured out who owned the Priest. 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:03.039 Never. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:05.120 It never came back after I fired off my email. 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:06.800 Don't look at me like that's a terrible story. 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:08.080 You can't hear them coming. 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:09.840 You don't know that they're there. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:13.919 Obviously, this was driven by a ninja. 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:14.879 I didn't even know he was there. 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:16.639 I didn't even know he was parking in front of my house. 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:18.080 You can't hear them coming. 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:20.240 It's not my fault, but can I tell you something? 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:24.879 Every time I see our neighbors outside, do you know one of the very first questions they ask me when I walk out the door? 00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:26.879 Hey, did you ever figure out anything on that Prius? 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:30.400 Shared experience, right? 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:31.520 It brought us together. 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:33.520 It gave us something to go after, right? 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:40.240 And all of a sudden we woke up and we realized there's some community here, and all it took was one random Prius to bring us together. 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:41.680 Can I tell you something though? 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:47.439 As we look through Acts chapter 2, that type of community that I'm talking about, you can get that anywhere. 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:48.800 You know that, right? 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:50.240 You can get that anywhere. 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:54.080 You can walk out this door, you can have that with a group of people at McDonald's. 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:57.120 That's not the community we're talking about in Acts chapter 2. 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:07.680 But what we're gonna see is we're gonna see some great pillars, not necessarily that every community has to be built on, but we're gonna notice one amazing thing that brings all of this together in Acts chapter 2. 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:08.800 So look at verse 42. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:10.080 Matt read it to you this morning. 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:16.639 It says they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:21.360 Now, I love the very first part of this where it says they were continually devoting themselves. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:22.560 What were they devoted to? 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:27.120 You've got to remember Russ was up here last week, talked about Peter preaching a message at Pentecost. 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:37.120 3,000 souls are saved, and all of a sudden these 3,000 souls are put together and they have this common bond of a heart being changed by the gospel. 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:44.560 And when the heart gets changed by the gospel, all of a sudden these pillars start to get built among this community. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:45.360 What are the pillars? 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:46.240 Look at what it says. 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:52.879 It says the apostles' teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:55.519 Now, some people put fellowship and breaking of bread together. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:05:00.639 We like to make those two things because obviously, because we're church people, we like to equate everything with eating, right? 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:03.279 So, like, it all amounts to how you eat together. 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:04.079 That's the way it goes. 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:14.160 But what I believe this is saying here is not only fellowship togetherness, the breaking of bread in between there is the process of serving communion among the people. 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:22.639 What you're seeing is you're seeing them come together and literally build the pillars that the church is built on. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:28.079 The apostles' teaching, the word, fellowship, togetherness, corporateness. 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:34.560 To the breaking of bread, communion, and to prayer. 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:37.360 Corporate prayer together as a church. 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:39.439 Do you know how powerful that is? 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:42.319 This is not anything new. 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:47.360 As a matter of fact, they're continuing on what Jesus was teaching in John chapter 8, verse 31 and 32. 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:48.480 Listen to what Jesus said. 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:59.680 He said, So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed in him, if you continue, there's that word again, if you continue in my word, then you're truly disciples of mine. 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:01.519 And you'll know the truth. 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:05.279 And the truth will make you free. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:16.240 We are literally seeing the beginning of a freedom, of a heart changed by Jesus Christ starting to come together in this very first church in Acts chapter 2. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:18.079 And it's a beautiful picture. 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:19.439 Look at verse 43. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:25.680 It says, Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe, and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:31.279 I love that the Bible uses the word awe right here because literally what it is, it's a Greek word called Phibos. 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:32.879 I know you're impressed by that. 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:36.800 It always impresses you when an idiot like me uses Greek, doesn't it? 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:39.680 It only took me four semesters to get out of it. 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:43.519 Those of you that took Greek, it usually only takes two. 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:44.959 Um so, anyways. 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:46.160 Phibos. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:49.839 And the beauty of this word is that it's translated here by Luke as awe. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:57.759 But do you know, out of all the biblical times, if we put the entire picture together that this word is used throughout the Bible, guess what it's most usually translated as? 00:06:58.079 --> 00:06:58.959 Fear. 00:06:59.920 --> 00:07:00.560 Fear. 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:01.600 So what does that mean? 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:06.160 Does that mean that these people are walking around in fear of the signs and wonders that the apostles are doing? 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:07.199 No, no, no, no, no. 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:08.720 That's not the fear we're talking about. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:12.399 We're not talking about a fear that causes us to shrink back and hide. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:18.000 We're talking about a healthy fear of the Lord where we become in awe of the things that are happening. 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:20.079 I have a great example of this. 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:24.959 I can, you can have it anytime, not anymore, but used to, when Mandy and I were first married, we didn't have kids. 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:30.720 If you wanted this sense of awe, all you had to do was get in the car and let Mandy drive. 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:38.879 You would white knuckle your way to your destination, and when you got out, you would absolutely praise the Lord for making it in one piece. 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:40.959 Now, since we had kids, that's kind of gone away. 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:42.240 She's gotten a whole lot better, okay? 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:44.560 Don't worry if your kids travel with Mandy, everything's great. 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:53.839 But when we were first married, buddy, I'm talking about you would white knuckle your way to wherever you were going, and it would cause a sense of awe when you got there. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:55.279 You loved it, right? 00:07:55.439 --> 00:07:59.680 What's happening in this first church is that there's this healthy fear of the Lord. 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:04.720 And Luke actually talks about this in Luke chapter 7 when Jesus heals the centurion servant. 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:07.759 He says in Luke chapter 7, verse 16, look at what it says. 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:11.680 It says, fear gripped them all. 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:14.720 Fear gripped them over this healing. 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:19.759 Jesus literally raises the centurion servant from the dead, and it says, Fear grip them. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:20.959 But look at what happens. 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:22.720 Look at the result of the fear. 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:32.879 It says, and they began glorifying God, saying, A great prophet has arisen among us, and God has visited his people. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:40.720 The fear of the action didn't cause them to shrink back and hide and be in fear of those things. 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:46.320 It caused a healthy fear to look and go, God is up to something. 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:52.240 We don't understand it, we don't know it, we've never felt it before, but it's happening. 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:55.679 That's what's happening in this first church in Acts chapter 2. 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:57.600 It's a beautiful picture. 00:08:57.759 --> 00:08:59.759 But look, here's the second thing I want you to see today. 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:03.519 The second thing I want you to see is a heart transformed by the gospel. 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:05.519 Look at verse 44 and 45. 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:10.720 It says, and all those who believed were together and had all things in common. 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:13.120 Now, this is where we get into the rub, right? 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:16.080 They were all together and they had all things in common. 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:19.279 We read that, and can I tell you, we're split down the middle in some ways. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:26.159 There's people outside the church community that like to look in and use this verse as a reason not to be a part of a church community, right? 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:32.559 They'll look in and go, if y'all were really a church, you would all believe the exact same thing and all be together in all situations. 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:33.840 You'd have all things in common. 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:34.879 That's what you'd do. 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:38.480 If you really believed what you say you believed, this is what would happen. 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:40.879 People like to use that as an excuse. 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:47.600 And then there's some of us in here we read that and we go, well, uh, we must have messed that up because uh I know we don't have everything in common. 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:53.840 You know, I'm pretty sure none of us, if we all went around and started getting into the weeds of things, we'd probably have some differences, right? 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:56.240 A few differences would arise out of that. 00:09:56.559 --> 00:09:57.919 So what is the Bible saying? 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:03.360 What is Luke saying when he says they were together and they had all things in common? 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:07.360 Well, here's what I think. 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:16.399 I think that they're hearing the apostles' words straight from the people that had been with Jesus, straight from the folks that had seen with their own eyes. 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:18.480 There's no interpretation necessary. 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:21.679 We haven't built any type of church history on top of this yet. 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:29.759 We haven't got far removed from the very first people that witnessed the acts of Jesus and were with him throughout his entire earthly ministry. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:36.639 So when they're hearing the word of the apostles, it's literally coming straight from the people that were with Jesus. 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:38.960 There's no need for interpretation, right? 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:41.360 They were there, they saw it with their own eyes. 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:44.480 So, what does that mean that they don't have all things in common? 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:48.799 I hate to break it to you, but it means that you and I screwed it up. 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:58.559 Because the further we got removed from that, the more we stacked on top of the pillars that they were building in the beginning of the Word of God and all of those things. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:02.639 We're the ones that got involved, and guess what happens when we get involved? 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:14.320 It gets messed up, it gets messed up, but the beauty of it is this is that the reason they had all things in common is because what are we talking about? 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:22.399 We're talking about a heart transformed by the gospel, and at this point in the church, guess what they had to go on? 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:30.240 Nothing other than the fact that Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit had changed them forever. 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:34.000 That's all they had to go on. 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:44.159 The fact that Jesus Christ had bled and died for them, and that the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost had come and changed their hearts forever. 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:48.399 That's what they're living on, that's what they have in common. 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:50.240 And now they're building these pillars. 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:51.519 Look at verse 45. 00:11:51.679 --> 00:12:01.279 It says, and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all as anyone might have need. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:10.159 I need you to realize that this is another area where we look in on this verse and we go, see? 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:12.799 People say, See, that's why I don't want to be a part of the church. 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:14.720 If you were the church, that's what you'd be doing. 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:23.360 You know, we're supposed to be poor and destitute and sell everything off, and it's gonna be this uh this you know example of some sort of like socialist experiment or something. 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:25.840 You know, we're supposed to put it all in a pool and distribute it evenly. 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:27.200 No, no, no, no, no. 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:28.480 We're missing a point here. 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:30.720 I want you to look at the end of verse 45. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:32.159 Look at what it says. 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:40.399 Sharing with all of them as anyone might have need. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:50.159 Now, here's the great part about that is that you can look in on the church and you can blame the church for not being this, for selling possessions and wandering off and doing all those things. 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:51.440 You can blame the church for that. 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:52.399 But can I tell you something? 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:54.639 And I'm just being 100% honest with you today. 00:12:54.799 --> 00:13:06.159 If we were to stop this sermon right now, open this microphone right here up to anyone in this building where the church or someone in this church has met a specific need for you. 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:07.360 Can I tell you something? 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:11.759 And Christ the Redeemer, Marietta, we'd be here all day long. 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:16.080 We'd be here all day long. 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:24.879 Day after day, I see people in this church literally meeting the needs of their brothers and sisters in this community. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:25.600 Why? 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:36.559 Not because they're demanded to, not because they're being forced to, but because a heart has been changed by the power of the gospel through the Holy Spirit. 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:51.600 And we begin to meet needs not out of obligation, but because in this passage right here, as they begin selling property and possessions, it's not them doing this under being compelled by someone to go and do this. 00:13:51.679 --> 00:14:05.519 What it is, is we're seeing a change of heart from this is mine, closed-fisted mentality to yes, I'm the steward of this, but as anyone has need, I'm willing to let it go. 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:13.039 And it happens every single day in this place. 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:22.399 It's a beautiful picture of a change of heart brought about by the Holy Spirit. 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:25.360 Last thing I want you to see, we'll be done today. 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:26.799 We're going, well, I told you we're going fast. 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:28.000 Had to go fast. 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:32.399 I want you to see a heart transformed by the gospel. 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:34.320 You thought I got second point wrong. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:38.720 Do you realize I'm trying to make a point by having all the points be the same? 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:40.879 A heart transformed by the gospel? 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:43.600 Yeah. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:46.879 You're used to three points and a poem around here, aren't you? 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:48.720 Shook it up today. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:52.879 Gotcha. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:53.679 You know? 00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:57.120 You're still gonna leave and be like, I can't remember what he said. 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:01.039 Look at verse 46 and 47. 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:15.919 It says, day by day, continuing with one mind, in the temple, breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:18.639 I love this verse right here. 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:24.960 Because it's a beautiful painted picture of the first church and the things that they were devoted to. 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:33.200 The very things that we talked about in verse 42, those pillars that they're building as they go along in the first church, they're building these things up. 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:39.360 And then in verse 46, we see that day by day, what's the next word? 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:40.320 Continuing. 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:41.519 There's the word again. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:42.399 Continuing. 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:47.120 We continue on in what the Holy Spirit is doing in these people. 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:52.399 They're continuing on in the fact that they've been changed by the gospel. 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:54.320 They're continuing on in that. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:56.000 How often are they continuing? 00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:57.519 Look at verse 46. 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:00.799 Day by day. 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:12.080 Every single day they are devoted with one mind in the temple, breaking bread from house to house. 00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:14.159 They're taking meals with what? 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:17.200 Gladness and sincerity of heart. 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:18.320 Can I tell y'all something? 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:22.399 It's the last part right there that stings a little bit, right? 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:24.559 They're doing all this. 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:26.000 They're doing all of these things. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:31.120 We're literally building the first church right here before our eyes because of a change in heart by the gospel. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:33.679 And the Bible says they're doing it with what? 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:38.320 Gladness and sincerity of heart. 00:16:39.600 --> 00:16:46.000 What are the two things that elude us the most most of the time as we continue on in our day-to-day lives? 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:56.159 As we continue on in years and years and years of a marriage, of being a part of a church, of being part of all these things. 00:16:56.320 --> 00:17:01.039 What is it that we start to lose over the years and years and years if we're not careful? 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:02.879 Gladness. 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:05.920 Sincerity of heart. 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:16.079 Loving something so much, being a part of that community so much that it literally brings about a sense of gladness. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:19.839 It causes our hearts to be sincere in the things that we do. 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:27.200 Not because we're under compulsion of somebody making us do it, but because the Holy Spirit has changed us. 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:30.880 Because He's changed us. 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:34.079 That's what brings about the gladness. 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:36.720 That's what brings about the sincerity of heart. 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:48.480 And again, we're so far removed from this that it's so easy for us to just let gladness go, to let sincerity of heart go and say, Well, if you don't agree with me, then too bad. 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:50.880 But here's the beauty of that. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:51.839 Don't miss this. 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:53.039 Look at verse 47. 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:58.400 It says, praising God and having favor with all people. 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:00.400 Uh-oh. 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:04.799 Because having favor with all people, what does that mean? 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:08.240 That means that you just have to accept everything that they throw at you, right? 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:09.680 That's not at all what's happening here. 00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:10.319 I love this. 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:10.960 You ready? 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:11.440 I love this. 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:12.400 Look at verse 47. 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:14.480 It says, praising God and having favor. 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:17.599 That word favor is translated in the Greek as codus. 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:19.119 Do you know what codus is? 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:24.640 157 times in the New Testament, out of 157 times, 131 times. 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:26.960 Do you know what it's translated as? 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:29.119 Grace. 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:32.240 Grace. 00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:36.480 It's translated as grace. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:47.920 It doesn't say that we're finding favor with people because we accept every single wind of change that comes along and we break away from the pillars that we've built. 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:52.079 What it says, it says, as it comes, we meet it with grace. 00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:58.400 And we don't allow it to shake the foundation that we're built on. 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:03.519 But we look it in the eye and say, But we've been changed. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:08.640 A heart by the Holy Spirit has been changed through the gospel. 00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:21.759 And it's given us the ability not to find favor with people because we accept every single thing that comes down the line, but to find favor with people because of the grace. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:28.960 The very same grace poured out on us. 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:40.640 You can find community anywhere. 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:43.920 You can go to any club, you can go to any place. 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:47.119 You can find community anywhere. 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:12.000 That's what we invite you. 00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:26.079 We thank you for your word. 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:38.720 We thank you for the power of your word for having the grace and pouring it out on us. 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:55.680 We thank you that we're not simply a community built, built on shared experience, Father, but that we are a community built by change in heart through the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:02.559 Father, I pray that this word would be all of you, none of me, that you would change hearts and lives today. 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:06.480 And as we take communion, you would call people under yourself. 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:08.559 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:09.599 Amen.