SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the sermon from the way of your case in the community of the things in the city following the way of Jesus and our lesson together.
SPEAKER_00: All right, good morning.
SPEAKER_00: If anyone everyone can find their way to their seat, we're gonna stand for the reading of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Today we're gonna be in Acts chapter 15, verses 22 to 35.
SPEAKER_00: Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch, with Paul and Barnabas.
SPEAKER_00: They sent Judas called Barzabas and Zilas, leading men among the brothers, with the following letter.
SPEAKER_00: The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Assyria and Silesia, greetings.
SPEAKER_00: Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us to have come of one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul.
SPEAKER_00: Men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth.
SPEAKER_00: For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what has been strangled and from sexual immorality.
SPEAKER_00: If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.
SPEAKER_00: Farewell.
SPEAKER_00: So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter.
SPEAKER_00: And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.
SPEAKER_00: And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words.
SPEAKER_00: And after they spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many others also.
SPEAKER_00: This is the word.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_04: Amen, amen.
SPEAKER_04: Well, thank you, Danielle.
SPEAKER_04: Could you guys tell that she was nervous?
SPEAKER_04: No, you did awesome.
SPEAKER_04: Alright.
SPEAKER_04: Well, welcome everyone to the Way Church KC.
SPEAKER_04: My name is Zach, and I have the privilege of being the lead pastor here.
SPEAKER_04: This is your first time here.
SPEAKER_04: We're glad you're here.
SPEAKER_04: We are a two-year-old church plant.
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, come on.
SPEAKER_04: And we exist to follow the way of Jesus and push back darkness together.
SPEAKER_04: And it's been a fun journey.
SPEAKER_04: We'd love for you to get plugged in, get involved in our way family.
SPEAKER_04: What I say often, not every week, but I say it often.
SPEAKER_04: What I believe is that like why people are joining this church is not because of the worship, although Ashton is an anointed worship leader.
SPEAKER_04: It's not because of the preaching, although we're going to faithfully preach the word of God.
SPEAKER_04: What I believe is that this is a church family that just does life together, that lives life together, that celebrates together on those mountaintop moments and grieves together in the valley.
SPEAKER_04: It's a people from all walks of the life who grew up on different sides of the track, but we're all following the way of this man, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_04: So that's what we're about.
SPEAKER_04: If this is your first time here and you're interested in learning more, you're interested in uh seeing how you can plug in in a deeper way, um, there's a connect card that you can fill out.
SPEAKER_04: And if you fill out that connect card, whether digitally or a paper copy, um, we have a gift for you.
SPEAKER_04: And then we also have a gift for you to give.
SPEAKER_04: Um, what we're doing, what we started a few weeks ago, is if you fill out a connect card, we're gonna give$5 to an addiction recovery nonprofit in the city.
SPEAKER_04: So for every connect card, that's five bucks to a good cause, to pushing back the darkness in a real tangible way with the light of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_04: So that's that.
SPEAKER_04: Um we've been in a series through the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_04: The series is entitled Living by the Spirit and Following the Way.
SPEAKER_04: And last week we looked at Acts chapter 15, verses 1 through 21.
SPEAKER_04: Remember, we threw the map up on the screen and we kind of walked and visually looked at the first missionary journey that Paul took.
SPEAKER_04: Who here liked the map?
SPEAKER_04: Some of us.
SPEAKER_04: Oh, a lot of them.
SPEAKER_04: Cool, cool.
SPEAKER_04: Maybe we'll use some more maps.
SPEAKER_04: Um, love it, love it.
SPEAKER_04: Um, but this section of text was known as the Jerusalem Council.
SPEAKER_04: And what we see today is kind of the follow-up, the aftermath of that.
SPEAKER_04: What we see is the the church in Jerusalem sending a letter to the Gentile church in Antioch.
SPEAKER_04: And what we saw last week was kind of a pivotal moment in the life of the early church.
SPEAKER_04: Um, we saw this question being raised at the Jerusalem Council.
SPEAKER_04: The question of what must someone do to be saved?
SPEAKER_04: And what we saw from the text is a very clear answer.
SPEAKER_04: A very clear and powerful answer.
SPEAKER_04: The answer that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
SPEAKER_04: Not saved by circumcision, not saved by law-keeping, not saved by cultural conformity, we are saved by Christ alone.
SPEAKER_04: In other words, the to put it simply, there is nothing extra that we can add to God's grace.
SPEAKER_04: There's nothing extra.
SPEAKER_04: Nothing extra.
SPEAKER_04: And so today we see another question being made clear.
SPEAKER_04: The question of what happens after this clarity?
SPEAKER_04: What happens after we have this gospel clarity?
SPEAKER_04: What does a church actually look like when the gospel is rightly understood?
SPEAKER_04: Because clarity alone isn't the goal.
SPEAKER_04: The goal is a church that is strengthened by that clarity.
SPEAKER_04: And I believe that that's exactly what we see in Acts chapter 15, verses 22 through 35.
SPEAKER_04: What we see in this passage, here's our big idea this morning, is that when the gospel of grace is clear, the church is strengthened with joy, with unity, and with peace.
SPEAKER_04: When the gospel of grace is clear, the church is strengthened with joy, with unity, and with peace.
SPEAKER_04: With that, we're going to look at two truths from the text that we are to do with this free gift of grace.
SPEAKER_04: First, that grace must be clarified, and secondly, that grace must be experienced.
SPEAKER_04: Just two points for you today, and then I'll be out the way.
SPEAKER_04: Let's pray and then let's dig in.
SPEAKER_04: Heavenly Father, we love you, we praise you, we thank you for bringing us here today to worship together, to fellowship together, to sit under the preaching of your word.
SPEAKER_04: God, I ask that today, as I preach your word, that you would move me out of the way, that you would let me be your mouthpiece, and let your words be made clear, be made plain.
SPEAKER_04: And God, I ask that your grace would transform us, that not only that your grace would transform us personally, but that your grace would transform us corporately, that your grace would transform this church and lead us into a strengthening that your grace will produce.
SPEAKER_04: God, we love you, we praise you, we thank you for your son, Jesus.
SPEAKER_04: It's in the mighty name of Jesus I pray.
SPEAKER_04: Amen.
SPEAKER_04: So point number one this morning is grace must be clarified.
SPEAKER_04: Grace must be clarified, and I'll explain.
SPEAKER_04: Verses 22 through 29 of Acts 15 read this.
SPEAKER_04: Then it seems good to the apostles and the elders with the whole church to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.
SPEAKER_04: They sent Judas, called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, with the following letter.
SPEAKER_04: The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.
SPEAKER_04: Greetings.
SPEAKER_04: Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul.
SPEAKER_04: Men who have risked their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_04: We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by the word by word of mouth.
SPEAKER_04: For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements.
SPEAKER_04: That you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.
SPEAKER_04: If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.
SPEAKER_04: Farewell.
SPEAKER_04: So first these men, Judas, called Bar Sabbath, and Silas, they are appointed by the church to go to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas and report back to the Gentile church in Antioch.
SPEAKER_04: And then we see verses 23 through 29.
SPEAKER_04: That's the letter that they're sending back with them.
SPEAKER_04: And a lot of it's a recap of what we covered last week.
SPEAKER_04: So we won't dig too deeply in it, but there's some things that we can pull from it.
SPEAKER_04: So first let's look at verse 24.
SPEAKER_04: We have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you, unsettling your minds.
SPEAKER_04: So this word unsettling is clear.
SPEAKER_04: What it means is that their minds were disturbed, that they were shaken, that they were thrown into confusion.
SPEAKER_04: And what I want us to see this morning is that that's what false teaching does.
SPEAKER_04: False teaching, it destabilizes, it shakes us.
SPEAKER_04: These believers, they weren't just having a theological sort of debate.
SPEAKER_04: No, they were spiritually unsettled.
SPEAKER_04: That's like an unsettling that's like felt deep within you.
SPEAKER_04: Why were they unsettled?
SPEAKER_04: Well, it's because someone had told them that faith in Christ is not enough.
SPEAKER_04: That you need something more to be saved.
SPEAKER_04: And when you add anything to the gospel, that always leads to instability.
SPEAKER_04: Think about this.
SPEAKER_04: Imagine buying a house.
SPEAKER_04: And after you move in, someone tells you, hey, we forgot to tell you, this didn't show up on the inspection.
SPEAKER_04: Your foundation is not stay, is not stable.
SPEAKER_04: There's a crack in your foundation.
SPEAKER_04: The foundation is unstable.
SPEAKER_04: Every creak, every crack, every storm, get some water in the basement, or you know, there's um always the concern that maybe the floor's gonna dip.
SPEAKER_04: Um there it's not good, right?
SPEAKER_04: Anybody been there?
SPEAKER_04: Come on, okay, the geans, come on now.
SPEAKER_04: Uh maybe I like subconsciously remember that from being at your house.
SPEAKER_04: What happens is like you're not at peace, there's a worry, you're unsettled.
SPEAKER_04: And that's what false teaching does to the soul.
SPEAKER_04: It makes you question everything.
SPEAKER_04: Am I doing enough?
SPEAKER_04: Am I really saved?
SPEAKER_04: What else is required of me?
SPEAKER_04: Church, what I want you to do is hear this clearly this morning.
SPEAKER_04: Whenever grace is mixed with works as the basis of salvation, peace disappears.
SPEAKER_04: I'll say that again.
SPEAKER_04: Whenever grace is mixed with works as the basis of our salvation, peace disappears.
SPEAKER_04: You become unsettled.
SPEAKER_04: And what we see is that the church, the early church, they confront this confusion with clarity, with gospel clarity.
SPEAKER_04: Like what I want us to see is to notice what the apostles do and don't do.
SPEAKER_04: What they don't do is they don't ignore the issue, they don't avoid conflict, they don't say, hey, let's just agree to disagree.
SPEAKER_04: No, they they realize the importance of this issue at hand, that it's the very gospel that is the issue at hand.
SPEAKER_04: What they do do is that they name the problem, they reject false teaching, and that they clarify the truth.
SPEAKER_04: Verse 24, they say, we gave them no instructions.
SPEAKER_04: They're saying, hey, this false gospel that you've heard, this does not come from us.
SPEAKER_04: This does not come from the apostles.
SPEAKER_04: And that's strong language, right?
SPEAKER_04: They're saying, hey, not only did this message not come from us, but also it did not come from God.
SPEAKER_04: And what that does, what it creates, is it shows the early church, it shows the Gentile church that grace is protected.
SPEAKER_04: It's protected through faithful means.
SPEAKER_04: Look at verse 28.
SPEAKER_04: It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.
SPEAKER_04: You see, this is remarkable.
SPEAKER_04: The decision is not a matter of human opinion.
SPEAKER_04: The decision isn't like a matter of cultural compromise.
SPEAKER_04: They're not making this decision to appease some people or not appease some people.
SPEAKER_04: It's not even a decision of majority vote.
SPEAKER_04: It is a decision, it's a truth that's clarified because it's spirit-led, it's scripture-fed, and the community of the church in Jerusalem discerned the truth of what God had said.
SPEAKER_04: And family, what I think that we see is that this is what happens when the church submits to Scripture.
SPEAKER_04: When the church submits to the very words that are God breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training and righteousness.
SPEAKER_04: We also see what it looks like when a church depends on the Spirit.
SPEAKER_04: Man, I hope that we are a church that is dependent on the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_04: And we also see that this is what happens when a church walks in unity.
SPEAKER_04: Man, we may be, may we be a unified church.
SPEAKER_04: Amen, Mariella.
unknown: Yeah.
SPEAKER_04: Or to put it another way, just to kind of grab our sermon series title, this is what happens when a church is living by the Spirit and following the way of Jesus.
SPEAKER_04: And there's a couple different things that are sent to the church in Antioch.
SPEAKER_04: So they send a letter, they send leaders, and they send a unified message.
SPEAKER_04: The letter, it shows clarity.
SPEAKER_04: It's like, boom.
SPEAKER_04: This letter, this is making this gospel truth abundantly clear.
SPEAKER_04: Leaders, that's credibility.
SPEAKER_04: You have the apostles and these appointed prophets that are sent to the church at Antioch.
SPEAKER_04: And what they're bringing is a unified message.
SPEAKER_04: And we we alluded, we talked about this last week, we alluded to it a little bit, but verses 28 through 29, there's some like requirements that they give.
SPEAKER_04: And what I want us to make clear, I'll hit this again this week, because I think it's important to touch.
SPEAKER_04: The requirements, they're not conditions for salvation.
SPEAKER_04: Um, if if we don't properly understand verses 28 through 29, uh, it might be confusing.
SPEAKER_04: These instructions, they're abstaining from idols, they're abstaining from blood, they're abstaining from sexual immorality.
SPEAKER_04: And what they're not is they're not additions to the gospel.
SPEAKER_04: They're not requirements for justification.
SPEAKER_04: Remember, justification is by faith alone.
SPEAKER_04: What they are is two uh realities that we we see.
SPEAKER_04: They're pastoral wisdom for fellowship, and also they're this understanding that grace transforms us.
SPEAKER_04: Grace saves, this is what we talked about last week.
SPEAKER_04: Grace saves us, but grace also transforms us to not live of this world, but to live as citizens of heaven.
SPEAKER_04: In other words, what we see is like you are fully saved by grace, but now live in a way that promotes the diversity and unity of the church.
SPEAKER_04: And with that, here's the fact of the matter.
SPEAKER_04: Like, I mean you might be sitting here thinking, like, man, that's that might that's kind of tough, that's kind of difficult.
SPEAKER_04: I don't know how I can do that.
SPEAKER_04: Well, to give you some comfort, Jeremy.
SPEAKER_04: You can't.
SPEAKER_04: You can't do that on your own power, on your own strength.
SPEAKER_04: The fact of the matter is that that is only possible because of Christ.
SPEAKER_04: Because Jesus fulfilled the law that we cannot keep.
SPEAKER_04: Jesus bore the burdens that we could not carry.
SPEAKER_04: And Jesus gave us a righteousness that we could never earn.
SPEAKER_04: We are clothed in Christ's righteousness.
SPEAKER_04: So now as God looks at us, he doesn't see us in our sinful flesh.
SPEAKER_04: He sees Christ's righteousness.
SPEAKER_04: That's a beautiful truth.
SPEAKER_04: So now what are we to do because of that?
SPEAKER_04: Well, we we don't obey in order to be accepted.
SPEAKER_04: We obey because we are accepted.
SPEAKER_04: It's out of an overflow of having experienced and living in God's grace and mercy that we now live obediently, that we now live righteously.
SPEAKER_04: So as you sit here this morning, ask yourself a few questions.
SPEAKER_04: Where are you tempted to add to the gospel?
SPEAKER_04: That's kind of a follow-up from last week.
SPEAKER_04: Or maybe ask yourself this where do you where do we confuse preference with obedience?
SPEAKER_04: Or maybe just to ask you a very pointed question, are we helping people find clarity or are we adding to their confusion?
SPEAKER_04: May we never be a church where there's false teaching going out of this house.
SPEAKER_04: May we always be a church that has the true gospel that we're proclaiming to all the world.
SPEAKER_04: Because I don't want us to be a church that unsettles the spirit and the souls of God's people.
SPEAKER_04: Because false teaching, it unsettles.
SPEAKER_04: Awful.
SPEAKER_04: But when grace is clarified, something beautiful happens.
SPEAKER_04: And that's what we see in this text, and that's where we're gonna spend some time this morning.
SPEAKER_04: What happens is that grace is experienced.
SPEAKER_04: And point number two this morning is grace must be experienced.
SPEAKER_04: Verses 30 through 35 of Acts chapter 15.
SPEAKER_04: So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter.
SPEAKER_04: And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.
SPEAKER_04: And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words.
SPEAKER_04: And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.
SPEAKER_04: But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many others also.
SPEAKER_04: So these men, Judas called Bar Sabbath, Silas, Paul, and Barnabas, are sent off with the letter.
SPEAKER_04: Hey, go back to the church at Antioch, go back to the sending church of the Gentile mission and give them this letter.
SPEAKER_04: And what we see here is the church at Antioch's response.
SPEAKER_04: Look at verse 31.
SPEAKER_04: And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.
SPEAKER_04: Don't miss that this morning.
SPEAKER_04: They rejoiced because of the letter's encouragement.
SPEAKER_04: This is the very same issue that had caused confusion, that had caused anxiety, that had caused division.
SPEAKER_04: That same issue, as there's clarity being presented, it now produces joy, it now produces encouragement, and it produces strength.
SPEAKER_04: And that's what I want us to see this morning.
SPEAKER_04: If you hear nothing else, hear that.
SPEAKER_04: That this is a letter that's clarifying the gospel, and it's producing joy, it's producing encouragement, it's producing strength.
SPEAKER_04: This isn't the letter, though, that's producing these responses, it's the contents of the letter.
SPEAKER_04: And the contents of the letter are clarity around the gospel.
SPEAKER_04: And what we see, there's a few truths that we can pull out of this about the true gospel.
SPEAKER_04: First, that the true gospel produces joy.
SPEAKER_04: The true gospel produces joy.
SPEAKER_04: Are we a joy-filled people in here?
SPEAKER_04: Amen.
SPEAKER_04: Zach's the only one.
SPEAKER_04: Not talking in third person, I'm talking about this Zach.
SPEAKER_04: Zach with a K.
SPEAKER_04: Amen.
SPEAKER_04: That should be all of our responses.
SPEAKER_04: Joy.
SPEAKER_04: Because when the believers at Antioch, when they hear this good news that you were not saved by the law, but you were saved by grace, they don't say, hey, that's too easy.
SPEAKER_04: They don't say, hey, that lowers the standard.
SPEAKER_04: They don't do that.
SPEAKER_04: They rejoice.
SPEAKER_04: And family, that should be the only proper response to the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_04: Joy.
SPEAKER_04: Why?
SPEAKER_04: Because grace does not weaken people.
SPEAKER_04: Grace Frees people.
SPEAKER_04: Who here has been set free because of the grace of the Lord?
SPEAKER_04: Amen.
SPEAKER_04: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_04: Pastor Tim Keller puts it this way: The gospel is this.
SPEAKER_04: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe.
SPEAKER_04: Yet, at the very same time, we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.
SPEAKER_04: More sinful than we ever dared believe.
SPEAKER_04: But more loved and accepted than we could ever hope.
SPEAKER_04: That is a beautiful truth and reality of the gospel message.
SPEAKER_04: And I think that when you begin to see that truth clearly, you respond in joy and you're set free.
SPEAKER_04: Another thing that we see when the true gospel is clarified, we see that the church is strengthened.
SPEAKER_04: They're not burdened, they are strengthened.
SPEAKER_04: Verse 32 says, And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words.
SPEAKER_04: Notice it's not control.
SPEAKER_04: They're not being domineering.
SPEAKER_04: They're not pressuring the Gentile church.
SPEAKER_04: They're not leading out of fear, but encouragement and strengthening.
SPEAKER_04: This gospel clarity has been produced, so now they are encouraging and strengthening.
SPEAKER_04: And this is what healthy churches look like.
SPEAKER_04: Experiencing the gospel strengthens the church.
SPEAKER_04: As we preach the gospel week in and week out, we are to go out of here.
SPEAKER_04: We are to walk out of this sanctuary.
SPEAKER_04: We are to walk out of this church at 4326 Lloyd Street, Kansas, Kansas, 66103.
SPEAKER_04: We are to walk out of here encouraged and strengthened.
SPEAKER_04: But it's not just a Sunday reality.
SPEAKER_04: No.
SPEAKER_04: As you're spending time in God's word, as you're walking in the way of Jesus, you're to be encouraged and strengthened every day by this gospel.
SPEAKER_04: We also, with the early church in Antioch, the Gentile church in Antioch, we see that the gospel creates a culture.
SPEAKER_04: The gospel is clarified and now it creates a culture.
SPEAKER_04: Verse 35, Paul and Barnabas remain teaching and preaching the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_04: So we see that the gospel must not only be defended in crisis when there's a major issue.
SPEAKER_04: No, the gospel, it must be repeated in normal, everyday life.
SPEAKER_04: So a question for you guys is are you preaching the gospel to yourself?
SPEAKER_04: It's important to note that Paul and Barnabas remained there.
SPEAKER_04: That's why every Sunday we preach the gospel, right?
SPEAKER_04: But also, that's why discipleship is important.
SPEAKER_04: We're to walk in the way of Jesus.
SPEAKER_04: We're to follow after someone who's following Jesus as we're being discipled by them.
SPEAKER_04: And I think that if I can just be real, like, that's why theological drift is real.
SPEAKER_04: That's why it's like, hey, we're walking in this way, we're walking in the truth of the gospel, and we can begin to drift, but because we're not reminding ourselves and others of the gospel each and every day.
SPEAKER_04: Family, my hope is at this church that we are a people who are formed deeply by the gospel.
SPEAKER_04: That we are formed into being gospel people.
SPEAKER_04: Think about this.
SPEAKER_04: Who's like a pretty healthy eater?
SPEAKER_04: I'm not.
SPEAKER_04: I'm gonna lower Courtney if you have a handful of us.
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
SPEAKER_04: So this is this correct me if I'm wrong because I need to probably eat healthier.
SPEAKER_04: Chelsea's not in here.
SPEAKER_04: She probably am in that.
SPEAKER_04: You don't eat one healthy meal and say, like, hey, I'm good for life.
SPEAKER_04: You don't say, hey, eat one healthy meal and even say, hey, I'm good for the day.
SPEAKER_04: Right?
SPEAKER_04: Like when uh early on in my walk with Christ, I was like serious about um being in the gym and working out and taking my care of myself.
SPEAKER_04: I'm trying to get back into it.
SPEAKER_04: But but here's my thing.
SPEAKER_04: This is just me being honest.
SPEAKER_04: This is this is my fault.
SPEAKER_04: I would like work out and maybe eat one healthy meal, drink a little protein shake, and then I'd be like, oh, I got a cheat meal tonight because I did these things.
SPEAKER_04: That's not how it works, right?
SPEAKER_04: Zach's like, amen.
SPEAKER_04: That's not how it works.
SPEAKER_04: You need daily nourishment, right?
SPEAKER_04: And the same is true about the truth of God's word.
SPEAKER_04: We need daily nourishment.
SPEAKER_04: I was meeting with a friend on Friday doing some discipleship, and uh, you know, we were talking about how like we were talking about our quiet times, right?
SPEAKER_04: And um an analogy that I like to use, and it's kind of silly, but I think it's good.
SPEAKER_04: It's like, hey, sometimes when you're reading God's word, you'll have like a steak dinner quiet time.
SPEAKER_04: It's like, mmm, it's that five-star filet mignon, wagyu cut.
SPEAKER_04: And it's like, boom, something's jumping out the page at you, and you're just like, boom, aha, it's an aha moment.
SPEAKER_04: The Spirit is is speaking to you through God's word.
SPEAKER_04: But a lot of times, our quiet times, our time in God's word is like a peanut butter and jelly quiet time.
SPEAKER_04: I love a peanut butter and jelly personally, but it's like necessary, you need that for sustenance, but you're just kind of going through, you're just getting fed that day.
SPEAKER_04: And that's okay.
SPEAKER_04: In fact, I would say that that is good.
SPEAKER_04: Because without the peanut butter jelly quiet times, those steak dinners wouldn't mean as much.
SPEAKER_04: If you had a steak every day, Jeremy, you'd probably get sick of it, right?
SPEAKER_04: Your son Devin for sure would.
SPEAKER_04: That's a reality for us.
SPEAKER_04: Like the gospel, it's not something we graduate from.
SPEAKER_04: No, it's something we live on.
SPEAKER_04: It's something that daily nourishes us.
SPEAKER_04: It's not a one-time thing, it's not a one-time decision.
SPEAKER_04: The gospel saves us, yes, but the gospel, it also sanctifies us.
SPEAKER_04: And that's what's happening at the Gentile church in Antioch.
SPEAKER_04: The gospel, the gospel being clarified, it didn't just solve this crisis.
SPEAKER_04: No, it shaped an entire community.
SPEAKER_04: And that's what we see.
SPEAKER_04: A church grounded in God's grace, it becomes a place of encouragement.
SPEAKER_04: It becomes a place of stability, it becomes a place of spiritual growth.
SPEAKER_04: I think, thinking about stability, I think of some brothers and sisters in this house that like they walked through some unstable times in life.
SPEAKER_04: And I think it would not be far off to say it's like, hey, the church was the only place of stability that they had in that season.
SPEAKER_04: Be it job loss, be it a family member struggling with addiction, be it, be it um a breakup, be it um whatever it was, you know, it's like insert whatever it was for you, and like that's a deeply personal thing.
SPEAKER_04: But the church is to be a place of stability, the church is to be a place of encouragement, and the church is to be a place of spiritual growth.
SPEAKER_04: That's why, like, this year we're going all in with discipleship, right?
SPEAKER_04: I cast that vision at the end of last year, and we're really leaning into it now, and there's more to come with that, but we have a whole discipleship pathway that we built.
SPEAKER_04: And I'm already walking out with some guys, but I want to get the whole church in this discipleship, in this formation.
SPEAKER_04: I think of back when I lived in Wichita, I was in Wichita from 2018 to 2020, and I was a part of a church plant a lot like ours, you know, similar in size.
SPEAKER_04: Um, they've been going for a little while, but it was a great church plant and a great church to be a part of.
SPEAKER_04: Um, but they're they're small groups, they were called gospel communities.
SPEAKER_04: They're gospel community groups, and that's kind of a mouthful for like a small group ministry, but I love the heart behind it.
SPEAKER_04: Gospel communities.
SPEAKER_04: They're like, hey, in our language, we're gonna put our intention and our goal.
SPEAKER_04: Like, we are to be a gospel community, we are to have a gospel culture.
SPEAKER_04: And I agree with that, but I think the whole church should be a gospel community.
SPEAKER_04: Because every church has a culture.
SPEAKER_04: The question isn't like what's the culture, the question is what shapes the culture?
SPEAKER_04: And so think about it for our church.
SPEAKER_04: Or think about it for some churches you've been about a part of in the past.
SPEAKER_04: Think about the culture of your church.
SPEAKER_04: Is it a culture that's shaped by pressure?
SPEAKER_04: Is it a culture that's shaped by performance?
SPEAKER_04: Is it a culture that's shaped by personality?
SPEAKER_04: Or is it a culture that is shaped by God's grace?
SPEAKER_04: Is it a gospel culture that informs everything about the ministry we are a part of?
SPEAKER_04: And I think back to when I was in the nonprofit ministry world.
SPEAKER_04: You know, that that was a culture that was shaped by performance, that was shaped by metrics, that was shaped by the bottom line.
SPEAKER_04: And as we planted the church, my hope is then, and it continues to be, that we're never a culture that's shaped by anything but the gospel.
SPEAKER_04: We never have a culture that's shaped by anything but the gospel.
SPEAKER_04: That we would have a gospel culture where it's safe to confess sin, where it's a place that is quick to forgive.
SPEAKER_04: The book of James says, be slow to speak, slow to anger, and quick to forgive.
SPEAKER_04: A place that's slow to judge, a place that is eager to encourage.
SPEAKER_04: That's my hope for this house.
SPEAKER_04: That's what the early church was doing.
SPEAKER_04: That's what the Gentile church at Antioch was doing.
SPEAKER_04: Man, would you like to join me in praying for that, guys?
SPEAKER_04: That this would be a house that is shaped by the gospel?
SPEAKER_04: Notice the contrast here between this false teaching and the true gospel that's presented.
SPEAKER_04: The false gospel, what does it lead to?
SPEAKER_04: It leads to unsettled minds, unsettled spirits.
SPEAKER_04: That's what we see in verse 24.
SPEAKER_04: But the true gospel, it produces joyful hearts.
SPEAKER_04: What that shows us is that legalism creates a burden, but grace, a gospel culture of grace, it leads to strength.
SPEAKER_04: So let me ask you this morning, is your Christian life, is it marked by joy?
SPEAKER_04: Or is it marked by constant pressure?
SPEAKER_04: Like, do you think of that God is is in heaven and he's got his whiteboard out and he's just like keeping track of everything you do wrong or that you don't do enough?
SPEAKER_04: It's like, oh Julie did this again.
SPEAKER_04: Check.
SPEAKER_04: Oh.
SPEAKER_04: Kenya didn't read your Bible today.
SPEAKER_04: Oh, like, no, that's not what he this is a God who gives us grace.
SPEAKER_04: Don't put unneeded pressure on yourself in order to earn anything.
SPEAKER_04: Maybe ask yourself this.
SPEAKER_04: Are you strengthening others?
SPEAKER_04: Or are you weighing them down?
SPEAKER_04: Does our church feel like a place of encouragement?
SPEAKER_04: Or a place of discouragement?
SPEAKER_04: Man, I think about that with with our with our staff team.
SPEAKER_04: Like, I hope that they are always encouraged to be working alongside me and Chelsea.
SPEAKER_04: I got a thumbs up from Ashton.
SPEAKER_04: No, but for real.
SPEAKER_04: Like Roman and Ashton, I hope you never walk out of a staff meeting feeling discouraged.
SPEAKER_04: I hope you never walk out of a Sunday feeling discouraged.
SPEAKER_04: I hope that it is encouragement, that this is a place of gospel culture in our church at large and in our staff team.
SPEAKER_04: In our membership, whatever it may be, like gospel culture equals everything in this church.
SPEAKER_04: Because the fact of the matter, it's it's not about the culture.
SPEAKER_04: No.
SPEAKER_04: It's about the same thing that they're talking about in Acts.
SPEAKER_04: It's about like a proper understanding of God's grace, a proper understanding of the gospel.
SPEAKER_04: Because where grace is truly, truly understood, people don't survive, they flourish.
SPEAKER_04: You see how it's all interconnected and God's grace, everything flows from that.
SPEAKER_04: Ashley, come up and uh close this.
SPEAKER_04: So Acts 15, it doesn't end with a theological statement.
SPEAKER_04: And there's a little section of Acts 15 that we'll cover the week after next.
SPEAKER_04: What this section of Acts ends with is a strengthened church.
SPEAKER_04: Acts 15, this portion of the text, it ends with ordinary things.
SPEAKER_04: Teaching, encouraging, and preaching.
SPEAKER_04: There's no fireworks, the fog machines don't start going and the church is strengthened.
SPEAKER_04: No, there's no revival service.
SPEAKER_04: It's just a church strengthened by God's grace.
SPEAKER_04: Because the goal of the church is not just correct doctrine or correct belief.
SPEAKER_04: No, the the goal of the church, the reason that Christ left us with a mission, left the church with a mission to make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the reason is for a transformed, unified, joy-filled people.
SPEAKER_04: That's the reason.
SPEAKER_04: That's our purpose as a church.
SPEAKER_04: So, church, may we always fight for clarity of the gospel.
SPEAKER_04: May we refuse to add to grace, and may we commit to strengthening one another.
SPEAKER_04: And if you are here today and you're feeling burdened, or you're feeling unsure, or you're feeling like you're never doing enough, hear this truth again.
SPEAKER_04: Jesus has already done enough.
SPEAKER_04: Jesus went to the cross for the forgiveness of your sins.
SPEAKER_04: He's already done enough.
SPEAKER_04: You're not saved by your effort, you're not saved by your performance, you're not saved by your ability to measure up.
SPEAKER_04: You are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
SPEAKER_04: And when that truth settles in your heart, what I believe is that it won't crush you, it won't burden you, but it will free you.
SPEAKER_04: So do you feel like you're walking in bondage?
SPEAKER_04: Believe the true gospel.
SPEAKER_04: It will free you, it will set you free, it will save you.
SPEAKER_04: My hope is that we, as the Way Church KC, would be a people who live as a gospel community.
SPEAKER_04: May this church house in Rosedale, Kansas City be a gospel community outpost.
SPEAKER_04: That as we're out throughout the week where we live, work, and play, that people would say, hey, there's something different about Danielle.
SPEAKER_04: Hey, there's something different about that dude, Tim.
SPEAKER_04: There's something different about Dougie.
SPEAKER_04: There's something different about these people.
SPEAKER_04: They're a gospel people.
SPEAKER_04: There are people who are shaped by the gospel, who live as a gospel community.
SPEAKER_04: That's my hope.
SPEAKER_04: A people who've been transformed by the radical gift that is God's grace.
SPEAKER_04: Amen.
SPEAKER_04: Because, family, here's what we see: when grace is clear, the church is strong.
SPEAKER_04: So let's be a people who don't just believe the gospel, but who are strengthened by it together.
SPEAKER_04: That's the word for today.
SPEAKER_04: I'll pray.
SPEAKER_04: And then let's worship as some people who have experienced God's grace.
SPEAKER_04: Let's worship as a joy-filled gospel people.
SPEAKER_04: Heavenly Father, we love you, we praise you, we thank you for being here in the room among us today.
SPEAKER_04: Lord, I ask that today as we opened your word, as we opened the scriptures, that you spoke to us, Lord, that you gave us new clarity about the gospel.
SPEAKER_04: Lord, strengthen this church.
SPEAKER_04: Lord, form us into people who are gospel people, who are people who are deeply formed by your gospel.
SPEAKER_04: Lord, in the same way that the church in Acts abstained from these things that were sinful or created division or created disunity.
SPEAKER_04: May we flee from and abstain from the things that may cause division or are sinful or may create disunity.
SPEAKER_04: May we be a people unified, Lord.
SPEAKER_04: It's all about your gospel.
SPEAKER_04: We love you, God.
SPEAKER_04: We love you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_04: And it's in the mighty name of Jesus I pray.
SPEAKER_04: And all God's people said, Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Let's stand and continue to worship together.
SPEAKER_03: We love you.
SPEAKER_03: I'll bring you more than a song.
SPEAKER_03: It's not what you have required.
SPEAKER_03: You search much deeper with it through the way things you're looking into.
SPEAKER_03: I'm coming back to it's all about you.
SPEAKER_03: It's all about you.
SPEAKER_03: Jesus.
SPEAKER_03: I'm sorry for me.
SPEAKER_03: It's all about you.
SPEAKER_03: Yes, it's all about Jesus.
SPEAKER_03: King of El Sword.
SPEAKER_03: How much you'd eat yours.
SPEAKER_03: Every single song.
SPEAKER_03: It's all value.
SPEAKER_03: Yes, it's all value.
SPEAKER_03: One more time coming back.
SPEAKER_03: I'm coming back to the high worship.
SPEAKER_03: It's all about you.
SPEAKER_03: Yes, it's all about you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_03: I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_03: It's all about you.
SPEAKER_03: Yes, it's all about you.
SPEAKER_02: We glorify you and honor you this morning.
SPEAKER_02: We thank you for the grace that each and every one of us have access to, God.
SPEAKER_02: May we leave here and walk in confidence and knowing that you've saved us, that you love us.
SPEAKER_02: We thank you for this love and this grace, God.
SPEAKER_02: We love you, Jesus, and everybody say amen.
SPEAKER_04: Amen, amen.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening.
SPEAKER_01: Join us Sundays at 10 30 a.m.
SPEAKER_01: in the Rosedale neighborhood of Kansas City.
SPEAKER_01: Or find us anytime at the wakeac.church.