SPEAKER_02: This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.
SPEAKER_02: For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_01: Morning, everybody.
SPEAKER_01: Would you pray with me?
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you that you are our living hope.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for dying for us.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for the forgiveness that means for us.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you that that means that we're we're completely righteous in you, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: We don't want to forget what it is that you have done for us, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: So I pray this morning as we've come, we want to hear from your word, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: We want to grow in you.
SPEAKER_01: Would you speak to us this morning, Lord?
SPEAKER_01: We're trusting that your Holy Spirit is here and you're going to speak individually to each of us.
SPEAKER_01: Would you come?
SPEAKER_01: Would you do that, Lord?
SPEAKER_01: In your name I pray.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Alright, guys, so this is the second sermon in our core value series.
SPEAKER_01: Neil talked about the gospel last week, and this week I'm talking about community.
SPEAKER_01: These are kind of the distinctives that set our church apart, right?
SPEAKER_01: So community.
SPEAKER_01: So we're going to be in Acts chapter 2, verses 42 to 47 this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Acts chapter 2, verse 42 through 47.
SPEAKER_01: I will go ahead and read.
SPEAKER_01: And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
SPEAKER_01: And awe came upon every soul.
SPEAKER_01: And many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles, and all who believed were together and had all things in common.
SPEAKER_01: And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.
SPEAKER_01: And day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their proof their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
SPEAKER_01: So really encouraging passage.
SPEAKER_01: This is the early church.
SPEAKER_01: This is how they operated.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the kind of closeness and intimacy they had as a people.
SPEAKER_01: And I think we look at that and we're like, man, I want that.
SPEAKER_01: I'd love to be part of that kind of community.
SPEAKER_01: And so, what do we have to do to have this kind of community?
SPEAKER_01: What were some key things that they were doing that created this for them, right?
SPEAKER_01: That's what we're going to look at this morning.
SPEAKER_01: So let's start off in verse 42.
SPEAKER_01: It says they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship and to the breaking of bread and prayers.
SPEAKER_01: The grammar of this Greek sentence, the way it's kind of structured, teaching and fellowship are the two main things.
SPEAKER_01: Two of the main things in this.
SPEAKER_01: And then the other two things, the breaking of bread and prayers, are describing fellowship in the Greek grammar, right?
SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of how I'm going to look at it.
SPEAKER_01: So it says they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching.
SPEAKER_01: Well, what is that?
SPEAKER_01: What is it they devoted themselves to?
SPEAKER_01: Well, they literally had apostles like Peter who would get up and start teaching them.
SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, that's like probably he was teaching from 1st and 2 Peter.
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't written yet, but that kind of stuff was probably coming out of his heart.
SPEAKER_01: And so when it says the apostles' teaching, I think the best way, modern day, that would be the New Testament.
SPEAKER_01: That's what they devoted themselves to.
SPEAKER_01: They devoted themselves to this scripture that we now have today.
SPEAKER_01: And so this is one of the first things that we as a people need to do.
SPEAKER_01: We need to devote ourselves to the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: And that's one of the key things.
SPEAKER_01: If you want a biblical community, this is something that you need to do.
SPEAKER_01: And so I want you to think, what would this have been like for them?
SPEAKER_01: Imagine Peter getting up.
SPEAKER_01: You know, he starts preaching.
SPEAKER_01: And what kind of things would he say?
SPEAKER_01: Let's look at 1 Peter chapter 4.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the kind of thing that I think he probably said.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he wrote it down later.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Peter chapter 4, verses 8 through 11.
SPEAKER_01: So he gets up, and this is what he says.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Above all, keep on loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
SPEAKER_01: Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.
SPEAKER_01: As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another.
SPEAKER_01: As good stewards of God's buried grace, whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to him belong glory and dominion forever and ever.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: So imagine you're somebody in the audience and you hear Peter up, he's sharing this, and you're like, Well, I have some questions about that.
SPEAKER_01: What, like Peter, when you said, when you said that love, you keep on loving one another earnestly, and love covers a multitude of sins, what did you mean by that?
SPEAKER_01: And I imagine this would be the kind of environment where you could raise your hand and ask that question, or maybe afterwards you go up and ask Peter, you say, Hey Peter, you know, this one part I didn't quite get it.
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean by love covering a multitude of sins?
SPEAKER_01: And I think Peter, his response would be, well, I'm not saying that you excuse sin.
SPEAKER_01: Like as Christians, you want to be the kind of people that you regularly challenge one another when they're struggling with sin.
SPEAKER_01: But let me maybe say, let me give you an example.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what I mean.
SPEAKER_01: You know, maybe you have a friend, and kind of the presenting issue with him is he's sleeping with his girlfriend, and that's what you're noticing.
SPEAKER_01: But really, if you start to look into his heart, what you see is everything he's doing is about him.
SPEAKER_01: He's very self-centered.
SPEAKER_01: Like the way he dresses, even his girlfriend, the job that he has, it's all because it makes him look better and gives him more status in society.
SPEAKER_01: So he's a very self-centered person.
SPEAKER_01: And so at some point, you're gonna need to confront this friend about these issues in his life.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't think the first thing you should confront him about is the fact he's sleeping with his girlfriend.
SPEAKER_01: I think you should go after the heart of the matter.
SPEAKER_01: And you should go to your friend and you should say, Hey, have you ever thought about the fact that the way you carry yourself, it's it's kind of self-centered.
SPEAKER_01: Like the girlfriend you have, the job you have, all of it is about you and getting more status and making yourself look better.
SPEAKER_01: And then if if this friend is a is a believer and and they're quick to admit their wrongs, they're gonna admit they're wrong, and then they're gonna suddenly the Holy Spirit is gonna begin to work in their life and they're gonna begin to try to change, and they're gonna begin to see all the ways that they're self-centered.
SPEAKER_01: But you can't expect your friend to just like that suddenly be fixed.
SPEAKER_01: Like it it doesn't work that way.
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna take time for them to grow in Christ, and that's what I'm talking about when I say that love covers a multitude of sins.
SPEAKER_01: There's gonna be some things that you're gonna have to choose to overlook as this person is slowly but surely growing closer to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying that you excuse abuse and things like that.
SPEAKER_01: That's not what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_01: But I am saying that as they grow, you're gonna have to have grace for them because that's what you would want others to do for you.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay, that makes sense, right?
SPEAKER_01: So you see, like this is this is how the early church needed to function.
SPEAKER_01: They needed to be so devoted to the apostles' teaching that these are the kind of questions they were asking.
SPEAKER_01: They couldn't be somebody sitting there listening to Peter preach and be like, well, when's the football game?
SPEAKER_01: I want to get out of here.
SPEAKER_01: That that couldn't be how they had to be the kind of people that, you know, they're they're taking notes, they're thinking, how does this apply to my life?
SPEAKER_01: I I need to go out and do this this week.
SPEAKER_01: That's the way they were interacting with God's word.
SPEAKER_01: Um the denomination that I used to serve in, I don't, they used to be known as people of the word.
SPEAKER_01: They used to be known as people of the book.
SPEAKER_01: That was something that was said about them.
SPEAKER_01: I don't think they're known that way any longer.
SPEAKER_01: And the reason they're not known that way any longer is they've accepted something called open theism.
SPEAKER_01: Open theism is the belief that God does not know the future.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you would open your Bible up and you start to read it, you could read it for about five minutes and you'd probably find out that God knows the future.
SPEAKER_01: It's all through this book.
SPEAKER_01: And so there's something like if you want true community, but you're not gonna accept scripture as kind of your your guide, it's not gonna happen.
SPEAKER_01: Another thing that they think is penal substitutionary atonement.
SPEAKER_01: Again, big theological word.
SPEAKER_01: It just means that Jesus died in our place and he took the wrath that we deserve.
SPEAKER_01: Basically, it means that.
SPEAKER_01: They say that that is divine child abuse, like God is abusing his son, and they want to get rid of that as well.
SPEAKER_01: And again, if you would look at your Bible and you go to the book of Romans, you'd be like, well, that's not what Romans says at all.
SPEAKER_01: It says that that is what happened.
SPEAKER_01: Like penal substitutionary atonement is a totally biblical concept.
SPEAKER_01: And so when you begin to allow your feelings to lead you, you know, when you come to Scripture and you say, Well, I'm gonna have to bend Scripture and make it fit my life, rather than going to Scripture and saying, Well, if Scripture says that, then I'm gonna have to change.
SPEAKER_01: I'm the one that needs to change, I'm the one with the problem.
SPEAKER_01: That's how you get to true communion.
SPEAKER_01: You have to be that devoted to God's word that you're willing to change.
SPEAKER_01: And the people around you need to be aware of that.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what this looks like.
SPEAKER_01: You know, in 1 Peter chapter 4, that passage we read, look at verse 10.
SPEAKER_01: It says, As each of you have received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace.
SPEAKER_01: So imagine you're having your quiet time one day and you read that and you feel convicted by it, because you realize, you know, I don't think I've ever used my gifts to serve other people.
SPEAKER_01: And you're like, well, what are my gifts?
SPEAKER_01: You start, well, I'm pretty good at accounting, but I've only used that gift just to get me more money and to bless myself.
SPEAKER_01: What would it look like for me to start to serve other people with that gift?
SPEAKER_01: And so you go to your discipleship group or maybe your community group that week and you say, hey guys, I was studying the Bible this week.
SPEAKER_01: I feel so convicted, I'm not using my gifts to serve other people.
SPEAKER_01: What do I do?
SPEAKER_01: And maybe your discipleship group guys or your community group people, they're like, Well, you know, I know this uh this nonprofit organization that's looking for some accounting help.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you could volunteer some of your time to them.
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe some people in your group, they say, you know, maybe you could go and you could talk to the pastors at our church and you could say, is there anybody in our church that could use some help with their accounting or some financial advice?
SPEAKER_01: I would like to help them.
SPEAKER_01: I want to donate some of my time to that.
SPEAKER_01: That's what it looks like for you to be so devoted to the word that you start to do what it says, right?
SPEAKER_01: And this is one of the one of the requirements for biblical community.
SPEAKER_01: And so I know you know the right answer to this, but I want to know the real answer.
SPEAKER_01: Are you a people that are devoted to the apostles' teaching?
SPEAKER_01: That you're devoted to God's word, because that's one of the the prerequisites for biblical community.
SPEAKER_01: Are you somebody that you know you're sitting in here, you're taking notes, you're thinking, how am I gonna apply this week this week?
SPEAKER_01: And you go out and you do it, you're quick to admit that you you have fault and you've made you you've done something wrong.
SPEAKER_01: Is that you?
SPEAKER_01: Is that who you are?
SPEAKER_01: Let's keep going.
SPEAKER_01: So they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship and the breaking bread and prayers.
SPEAKER_01: Fellowship is the Greek word koinania, koinanea.
SPEAKER_01: And it means this.
SPEAKER_01: It means you share whatever you have in anything, and there's also this element of a participation in this word, like you're you're participating together.
SPEAKER_01: Um, so sharing whatever you have in anything.
SPEAKER_01: I I think a half of this, I think as Americans, we get.
SPEAKER_01: Like we get that to have true community, you've got to be authentic and real with other people.
SPEAKER_01: Like we're like, yes, that is that is important.
SPEAKER_01: I've got to be real with other people to have true community.
SPEAKER_01: Um, Paul Tripp, he said this: he said, You don't have to be afraid of what is in your heart.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to fear being known, because there's nothing in you that could ever be exposed that hasn't already been covered by the precious blood of your Savior, King Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: That's why we can be authentic.
SPEAKER_01: That's why we can be real.
SPEAKER_01: Because anything that you share, it's already been covered by his blood, so you don't have to be ashamed of it anymore.
SPEAKER_01: And so what this means is we we need to be a people that openly share with others.
SPEAKER_01: We share our weaknesses, we share our strengths, and and we need to have people in our lives that we know we can share anything with them, and they still are gonna accept us and love us.
SPEAKER_01: Do you have people like that in your life?
SPEAKER_01: So that's part of it.
SPEAKER_01: But it said, uh it says that it means sharing whatever you have in anything.
SPEAKER_01: Anything.
SPEAKER_01: And so this also means your material possessions, the stuff that you have.
SPEAKER_01: That that is also the kind of thing when you're in true biblical community that you're gonna begin to share with others.
SPEAKER_01: That means your time, that means your resources, like you you need to be willing to share that.
SPEAKER_01: If if I can make it a little clearer in 1 John 3.17, it says this.
SPEAKER_01: It says, if anyone has the world's goods and he sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?
SPEAKER_01: That's pretty clear, right?
SPEAKER_01: So what this means is this winter, if you're walking down the street and you see a little kid that doesn't have a coat on and they're shivering, and you say, Well, bless you, son, let me pray for you, and you pray for him, and you just keep moving on.
SPEAKER_01: But you have the money in your pocket to buy them a coat.
SPEAKER_01: What this verse would say is, How can you say you love God if that's how you operate?
SPEAKER_01: Like you're to actually do something about that.
SPEAKER_01: You're you're to live out what what what you're saying.
SPEAKER_01: And and the reason you're to do that is because Christ, when he came to earth, he walked on earth and he held nothing back from us.
SPEAKER_01: He shared everything with us, even his very life.
SPEAKER_01: He he died for us, he gave up his life so that we could be forgiven and we could live.
SPEAKER_01: And so we're called to reflect that then to others.
SPEAKER_01: And so we can't be holding back when we see others in need.
SPEAKER_01: Uh in Romans 12, 14 to 17, it it's kind of talking about the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: And it says this it says, Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them, rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, live in harmony with one another.
SPEAKER_01: Don't be haughty, but associate with the lowly.
SPEAKER_01: Never be wise in your own sight, repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
SPEAKER_01: I I think those verses, that is what uh a life that's laid down before Jesus is to look like.
SPEAKER_01: So, practically, what's this look like?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe there's somebody in your that you know here in church that they're in the hospital right now.
SPEAKER_01: And maybe you just need to go mow their lawn this afternoon.
SPEAKER_01: That's what it looks like for you to live out community with them.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe there's somebody in our church who they they had to have a surgery a couple weeks ago and they don't have insurance.
SPEAKER_01: And now they have you, they they have debt that they would not have had before.
SPEAKER_01: And maybe they're in your community group and you need to say, hey, you need to contact your community group members and you say, Listen, we've got to do something about this.
SPEAKER_01: This is our brother or sister in Christ, and if we don't help them, I don't know that we can say we're brothers and sisters anymore.
SPEAKER_01: This is what family does.
SPEAKER_01: We need to take care of them.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever you have to give, let's give and let's begin raising money for them.
SPEAKER_01: Because this is a responsibility of ours.
SPEAKER_01: We need to care for them and care for them well.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe one of your friends calls you Monday and they say, Hey, I've had a really tough day at work.
SPEAKER_01: And they begin talking about it, and you say, Hey, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_01: What if I just come over to your house?
SPEAKER_01: Let's sit on the back porch, and I just want to hear about your day.
SPEAKER_01: And they're like, Oh, that's exactly what I need.
SPEAKER_01: Come on over.
SPEAKER_01: And you go over and you sit there and you talk.
SPEAKER_01: It's your resources, it's your time, it's you giving of yourself that others could flourish.
SPEAKER_01: That's that's what community is about.
SPEAKER_01: I think one of the best examples I have seen of this probably in my lifetime was during my time in YWAM.
SPEAKER_01: During my time in YWAM, we would run these discipleship training schools, and you know, it'd be three months of training, and then we'd go on a field assignment or a missions outreach.
SPEAKER_01: And so we would have to, we would wait until probably two months into the school and we'd say, your fees are due for the missions portion of this school.
SPEAKER_01: And every time when we came to that day, we would still owe between$60 and$100,000.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's 70 to 100 students in the in every school, and we'd owe$60 to$100,000 in the last day, and we had no idea where it was coming from.
SPEAKER_01: And the students in the school are all 18 to 24 year olds.
SPEAKER_01: They don't have much money, most of them.
SPEAKER_01: They don't have access to a lot.
SPEAKER_01: And what we would do is we would read a passage like Acts 2, 42 to 47, and we would say, listen, guys, we believe that if we simply obey God, that if you do what he asked you to do, that he will provide the money for each of you as students.
SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna pray, we're gonna worship God, and we're gonna ask that you guys go out and you obey.
SPEAKER_01: And so what we would do is we'd get a marker board and we would write how much we needed total, and then we put everybody's name in the amount that they still owed.
SPEAKER_01: And we'd start to obey.
SPEAKER_01: Guys would go and get their surfboard, sell their surfboard, and hand it to someone, hand the money to someone.
SPEAKER_01: Other people would sell their laptop.
SPEAKER_01: We had people go and they'd sell their iPhones and turn the money in.
SPEAKER_01: We had people that would cash in their retirement account and give money to others.
SPEAKER_01: And every time that we did this, there would be, you know, we had students from all over the world.
SPEAKER_01: So there'd be some student who's from an impoverished country that they're like, I still owe$3,000.
SPEAKER_01: I have no idea where I will ever get the money.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know anyone with these kind of resources.
SPEAKER_01: And every time what would happen is some student would come to this person from an impoverished country and say, Here, here's the money, you paid in full.
SPEAKER_01: And every time that happened, the person would just melt into a puddle of tears.
SPEAKER_01: Every time that we did this, God provided all the money.
SPEAKER_01: And when all the money was provided and we wiped it off the board, the place would go nuts and we would have some of the best worship I've ever experienced.
SPEAKER_01: That is what healthy biblical Christian community looks like.
SPEAKER_01: That is how we are to serve one another.
SPEAKER_01: Um as we keep going here in the text, it says to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
SPEAKER_01: Um that means that they ate together.
SPEAKER_01: They broke bread together.
SPEAKER_01: And so this is kind of referring to two things.
SPEAKER_01: One, I think they had meals together, but also I think they regularly celebrated the Lord's Supper together.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Um, and so let's if you would come to one of our community groups at our church, every single community group, you're gonna at least be offered tea, coffee, probably some snacks.
SPEAKER_01: Some of them you're gonna get a full-on meal.
SPEAKER_01: And the reason that we do that is because it's it's here in the scriptures, it's what the early church did.
SPEAKER_01: And there's something about when you have a cup of tea or coffee in your hand or a sandwich or something, it's just easier to talk to people around you.
SPEAKER_01: Like it just, it's it's almost like a social lubricant.
SPEAKER_01: You're eating, it's just what we do culturally.
SPEAKER_01: You eat and you start to talk and enjoy one another.
SPEAKER_01: But I think what I'd like to ask you here is you know, that doesn't just happen in community groups.
SPEAKER_01: Do you realize when you're out to lunch with one of your coworkers this week, or when you're having dinner with your family in your dining room at your dining room table, do you realize the Holy Spirit is in you in those times too?
SPEAKER_01: And he also wants to minister through you to other people in those times?
SPEAKER_01: That is a time where you can create this kind of holy community as well.
SPEAKER_01: Like, are you thinking when you're having a meal with your wife and kids, like, God, what do you want to do in this situation?
SPEAKER_01: How can I draw my family closer to you tonight through our conversation at this table?
SPEAKER_01: How can I be a blessing to my children?
SPEAKER_01: How can I be a blessing to my coworker that I'm eating lunch with today?
SPEAKER_01: The next thing it says, it says they prayed together.
SPEAKER_01: They prayed together.
SPEAKER_01: Again, our community groups, every community group, we we it expresses itself differently, but we all pray together.
SPEAKER_01: That's just something that happens.
SPEAKER_01: And again, there's something powerful when you pray out publicly in a group of other believers.
SPEAKER_01: It's it's you being honest before God and sharing your hearts and your heart and your concerns to Him.
SPEAKER_01: There's an intimacy that grows when we when we pray together with fellow believers.
SPEAKER_01: That happens.
SPEAKER_01: And so that's something that we we want to see happen, a healthy biblical community.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna regularly be praying together.
SPEAKER_01: And again, this isn't something just for the community groups here in our church.
SPEAKER_01: This is something you need to be doing at work.
SPEAKER_01: This is something you need to be doing with your family at home, and something you need to be doing on the baseball fields.
SPEAKER_01: All of those places are all the kind of places that if you pray for somebody, it's gonna draw you closer to them, and an intimacy is gonna be formed, and community will be built.
SPEAKER_01: Next thing it says.
SPEAKER_01: And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
SPEAKER_01: And you know, this is something that I think our our churches in America, a lot of them are lacking.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know that we have that much awe of God anymore.
SPEAKER_01: I think we're way more in awe of our iPhone, and I don't know that we're that in awe of God.
SPEAKER_01: And and I think that the simple answer, like, you know, do you spend more time on your iPhone or more time worshiping Jesus and in the Word each week?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the iPhone will tell you how much time you spend each day.
SPEAKER_01: Mine does it every Sunday morning.
SPEAKER_01: It's like you spent this many hours, it's like yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Are you still in awe of God and what he can do?
SPEAKER_01: You know, just just going to church twice a month to make your wife happy, that's not what community is.
SPEAKER_01: Community, like like the reason that we do you realize the God of the universe, if you've repented of your sin and said, I want to follow Jesus, the God of the universe, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you.
SPEAKER_01: The same God that created the entire universe lives inside of you.
SPEAKER_01: The same God that in Acts does amazing miracles, amazing miracles lives inside of you.
SPEAKER_01: Are you still in awe of that?
SPEAKER_01: Does that still affect your heart?
SPEAKER_01: Like when you came in the doors this morning, were you thinking about that at all?
SPEAKER_01: Were you like, I'm excited?
SPEAKER_01: What God could do anything this morning.
SPEAKER_01: My friend that's far from God that I've been praying for for years, they could walk through the doors this morning and God could save them.
SPEAKER_01: That that could happen.
SPEAKER_01: When you go into work this week, are you in awe of God as you walk into the workplace?
SPEAKER_01: And you're like, you know, what could God do today?
SPEAKER_01: What might he do among my coworkers?
SPEAKER_01: What might he want to do through me?
SPEAKER_01: Is there somebody he wants me to pray for?
SPEAKER_01: Are you in awe of God when you're sitting around that dinner table with your family?
SPEAKER_01: Do you still have your sense of awe or have you lost it?
SPEAKER_01: Have you lost it?
SPEAKER_01: Um, I think the time when I kind of most got this sense of awe in my life, it was it was it was actually kind of a strange time.
SPEAKER_01: I was at a Korean funeral.
SPEAKER_01: So again, I was I was in Hawaii, and uh there was this Korean young man, he was probably in his early 20s, and he was out in the ocean swimming.
SPEAKER_01: And there was a really bad riptide at the shore, which most of the locals knew, but he wasn't local, didn't know, and he goes out into the water, doesn't swim well, and he gets sucked out.
SPEAKER_01: And some of the other young men tried to save him.
SPEAKER_01: One man in particular, he one young man in particular really tried to save him, almost drowned himself trying to save him, but eventually he gets sucked out to sea and he's gone.
SPEAKER_01: He died.
SPEAKER_01: And so we have to call his family and we invite them.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is a kid that he was he was in a missionary training school and he he dies.
SPEAKER_01: So we call his family and we invite them to the campus and say, hey, we want to have a memorial service for you.
SPEAKER_01: And I think between 50 and 75 Koreans show up at the campus to celebrate this young man's life.
SPEAKER_01: And there's two things that stick out to me from this funeral.
SPEAKER_01: The first thing is I remember that the young man that tried so hard to save him and almost died himself trying to save him.
SPEAKER_01: I remember he was so dejected.
SPEAKER_01: I remember him just there crying, and he went to the young man's mom and he said, I'm so sorry.
SPEAKER_01: And he's his head's just down like this.
SPEAKER_01: And the mom takes his chin, lifts it up, and says, No, you're not gonna blame yourself for this.
SPEAKER_01: It's not your fault.
SPEAKER_01: I forgive you.
SPEAKER_01: You need to go and you need to run after Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And that moment happened, and I saw it, and I'm just I'm just back there weeping.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, what?
SPEAKER_01: And then the next thing that happened in the funeral was um that when we came to the part where we were gonna praise Jesus, we're gonna worship him.
SPEAKER_01: The Koreans are all in the front.
SPEAKER_01: We got like 75, 100 Koreans in the front, and and all of them were related to him.
SPEAKER_01: And so I didn't expect them to be super uh, I didn't expect much display of worship.
SPEAKER_01: I thought, you know, this is gonna be such a somber time.
SPEAKER_01: But we start to worship and their hands, both of them go up, all hundred people, and they're worshiping Jesus with everything they have.
SPEAKER_01: And again, I'm in the back, just I'm crying.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, God, how how are they doing that, God?
SPEAKER_01: They just lost everything, they lost their dearly loved son.
SPEAKER_01: How are they worshiping you like that?
SPEAKER_01: I just felt like God said in that moment, He said, Brand, I'm I'm worthy of worship.
SPEAKER_01: Even in the hardest times, I'm still worthy of worship.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know how to describe it to you, but in that moment, I had such an awe of God.
SPEAKER_01: Do you still have that sense of awe within you?
SPEAKER_01: That God could do anything.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing that's impossible for Him.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 44 and 45.
SPEAKER_01: And all who believed were together and had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and their belongings, and they were distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.
SPEAKER_01: This is what I was talking to you about earlier.
SPEAKER_01: This is what they were doing.
SPEAKER_01: They're just, this isn't something that's mandated by the government.
SPEAKER_01: This isn't communism, okay?
SPEAKER_01: This is a group of people that like the love of Jesus is so welled up in them that they can't help but do this.
SPEAKER_01: And so here's how you grow in this.
SPEAKER_01: This is how this has happened in my life.
SPEAKER_01: As I get the gospel more, as I understand more and more how wretched of a sinner I was and what I deserve.
SPEAKER_01: I deserve to die for that.
SPEAKER_01: More and more, the more I understand the holiness of God, his goodness, his greatness, his kindness, the more I understand how how wretched I used to be.
SPEAKER_01: But then it just makes it all the better what he's done for me.
SPEAKER_01: Like he has forgiven me, and he hasn't just forgiven me, he said I'm as righteous as he is.
SPEAKER_01: And that is nuts to me.
SPEAKER_01: I don't deserve that.
SPEAKER_01: I'm so grateful for that.
SPEAKER_01: And as that starts to happen in my heart, and I start to get that deeper into my heart, I become this kind of person.
SPEAKER_01: I become more generous.
SPEAKER_01: It's not hard, like this just bubbles up out of my soul.
SPEAKER_01: It's taking time, but God is continuing to work on this in me, and I'm becoming a more selfless person, and he can do the same for you.
SPEAKER_01: Um 46 and 47.
SPEAKER_01: And day by day, it's a notice there's a repeated phrase in here.
SPEAKER_01: Day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
SPEAKER_01: So that I think the thing to notice here is day by day is repeated.
SPEAKER_01: Did you guys catch that?
SPEAKER_01: Day by day.
SPEAKER_01: They were meeting together every day.
SPEAKER_01: And they weren't meeting in private like this, they were meeting in a public place in the temple where there were people that didn't know Jesus and were far from God meeting in that same place.
SPEAKER_01: And they like that.
SPEAKER_01: They liked that people got to hear what they were preaching every day, because you know, they're gonna hear it, and probably some of them are gonna be drawn in day by day.
SPEAKER_01: They met every day.
SPEAKER_01: And so we look at this and we're like, man, I don't know modern times, does that work?
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I have time to meet every day, Brent.
SPEAKER_01: Like, that's a little bit too much community for me.
SPEAKER_01: And I would say for most of us that that's probably true.
SPEAKER_01: And listen, I understand Acts.
SPEAKER_01: I understand that Acts, it's it's not uh it's not prescriptive.
SPEAKER_01: It's not saying you have to live this way, it's descriptive.
SPEAKER_01: It's saying this is how the early church lived, and we've got to use wisdom to apply that.
SPEAKER_01: But I think in doing that, we need to be careful not to just completely write this off.
SPEAKER_01: Like we can't just completely write off that they they they met together day by day and they had this kind of close fellowship.
SPEAKER_01: Because I don't think the majority of our churches are reflecting this type of close fellowship.
SPEAKER_01: And so here's what I think you need to ask yourself: God, what are you asking me to do?
SPEAKER_01: What's this look like in my life for me to grow closer to you?
SPEAKER_01: What kind of community do I need in my life for me to grow closer to you?
SPEAKER_01: Here's what it looks like for me.
SPEAKER_01: For me, I need to be in a community group.
SPEAKER_01: I need to be with a group of people where I can let my hair down and just be myself and they can fully know me and who I am and they still accept me.
SPEAKER_01: And I can know the same about them and I encourage them and I challenge them.
SPEAKER_01: Community groups start September 17th, September 18th.
SPEAKER_01: If you're not in one, I encourage you to join one.
SPEAKER_01: I I think it would be very helpful to you.
SPEAKER_01: That's one thing that I need.
SPEAKER_01: Another thing that I need, I need to be in a discipleship group.
SPEAKER_01: I need a group of three to four men that know me well.
SPEAKER_01: I can share anything with them, I can be honest with them, I can share my weaknesses, I can share my strengths, and there's mutual, you know, I'm I'm they're doing that for me, and I'm doing that for them.
SPEAKER_01: I'm in two community groups or discipleship groups right now.
SPEAKER_01: I think that's good.
SPEAKER_01: I probably need both of them.
SPEAKER_01: It helps me grow.
SPEAKER_01: There's other stuff that you guys can get involved in as well.
SPEAKER_01: Like you experience a church way different.
SPEAKER_01: If you just come here and you just worship on Sunday mornings and that's all you do, you're not going to experience it the same as if you're serving on the welcome team or you're serving down in kids' church.
SPEAKER_01: When you begin serving in a church, you start to experience the church differently.
SPEAKER_01: Um, there's midweeks as well.
SPEAKER_01: What is God, what does God want you to do that you can have healthy biblical community around you?
SPEAKER_01: What does he want you to do?
SPEAKER_01: What is he calling you to do this morning?
SPEAKER_01: Um, as Americans, I think, you know, we think healthy community is something that you find.
SPEAKER_01: One, like when you're looking for a spouse, you think, well, if I just find the right person, then like the problem is I haven't found the right person, and that's why I'm not married yet.
SPEAKER_01: And that's not, that's a little bit true, but that's not completely true.
SPEAKER_01: Often it's more about you than the other person.
SPEAKER_01: Um, or when we're looking for a new church, you know, we go into a church and we're like, well, they weren't that welcoming, they didn't greet me, so I'm out of here.
SPEAKER_01: This isn't my church.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what Neil said.
SPEAKER_01: This is a quote from Neil.
SPEAKER_01: He says, True community is not something you find, it is something you have to build.
SPEAKER_01: True community is not something you find, it's something that you have to build.
SPEAKER_01: That is true.
SPEAKER_01: So I had a friend, uh his name's Garth, and I was serving in Hawaii, and he was he was one of the students in this in this school, and I was his staff person.
SPEAKER_01: And so, as his staff person, we had a small group that met every week, and he had a journal that he had to write every week.
SPEAKER_01: They had a couple pages they had to write in their journal, and then as a staff person, I had to read what was written in the journal, and then I had to comment on what was written in the journal.
SPEAKER_01: Well, there was a prescribed amount that you had to write, and Garth would always write two to three times what you had to write.
SPEAKER_01: He's a serious overachiever.
SPEAKER_01: I had to read all of that and comment on all of it.
SPEAKER_01: So a little bit annoying to me, just a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: And then, as well, he's this really relentless guy.
SPEAKER_01: He's just kind of constantly after you like one way I would describe it is when we played basketball together, he's about five, six and he runs all the time.
SPEAKER_01: Like he's he's a runner, he he jogs, and and he's not a basketball player, but he's like a little like a little fly.
SPEAKER_01: He's just always around you.
SPEAKER_01: He's the guy that would sneak up behind you and get a steal when you don't even know he's there.
SPEAKER_01: That that's him, just the whole time on the basketball court.
SPEAKER_01: Um and then he he was he would pursue me.
SPEAKER_01: Like he wanted to hang out with me, he wanted to be a disciple, but he's just always, and I found him a little bit annoying, okay, to be honest.
SPEAKER_01: But we began to grow closer together.
SPEAKER_01: Uh about a year later, we ended up doing a Bible school together, and in that school, we roomed together with five other guys.
SPEAKER_01: And so we're rooming together, and Garth, he would get up at five in the morning.
SPEAKER_01: I just know this because he told me I wasn't up then.
SPEAKER_01: He'd get up at five in the morning and he would go running, and then he'd come back from running and he would come in and he'd be super loud, hey Brent, how you doing, man?
SPEAKER_01: I'm still asleep.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, Garth, this is not a blessing to me that you're so joyful in the morning.
SPEAKER_01: I it's not, please stop.
SPEAKER_01: Don't do this.
SPEAKER_01: But he did it every morning.
SPEAKER_01: Um and then he, you know, we had all this homework in this course we were doing.
SPEAKER_01: He would work from about seven in the morning until 11 at night.
SPEAKER_01: Again, I know this because he told me, because I go to bed at 10 or 10:30.
SPEAKER_01: I was done, and Garth would still, he'd just keep working through.
SPEAKER_01: So he went to bed after me and he got up before me.
SPEAKER_01: He is one of the hardest workers I've ever met in my life.
SPEAKER_01: The dude is just relentless.
SPEAKER_01: Well, he was bugging me every morning, you know, he's in my face, and one morning I'd had enough, and we got in a fight.
SPEAKER_01: Like I'm I'm talking a physical fight.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not recommending this.
SPEAKER_01: This isn't how community is necessarily built.
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't a fist fight, but we were wrestling enough that the people below us thought an earthquake was happening, and we both had some blood on our arms afterwards.
SPEAKER_01: That's how it went.
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't good, but we reconciled afterwards and we grew closer.
SPEAKER_01: A few years later, we felt called, he felt called to Cambodia.
SPEAKER_01: I felt called to Taiwan, and we moved to our respective places, and uh he would invite me over to Cambodia to teach twice a year, and I'd invite him over to Taiwan to teach twice a year.
SPEAKER_01: And every time that we went to visit each other, we would usually get in some kind of not physical fight, but a verbal spat over something theological because we were young, we were full of zeal, and we thought we knew everything.
SPEAKER_01: And so we would often get in arguments, but we also had some really good times together, too.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't get married till I think he was over 30 years old.
SPEAKER_01: We were praying for him to find a wife.
SPEAKER_01: He finally found an amazing spouse.
SPEAKER_01: And then he and my wife and his spouse, we would go on vacation together.
SPEAKER_01: And to this day, I've known Garth for almost 20 years now.
SPEAKER_01: And at this point, he's one of my best friends.
SPEAKER_01: He's the guy that when something goes wrong in my life, that's who I call.
SPEAKER_01: When something is good in my life, I call.
SPEAKER_01: And he does the same thing for me.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing that we don't share with each other.
SPEAKER_01: And I know in American culture this is weird, but I think you need to know this.
SPEAKER_01: Like, Garth and I, we we tell each other that we love each other.
SPEAKER_01: That's that's the depth of our friendship.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if I would have just done, you know, if I would have just thought that community is something you find, I would have walked away from Garth.
SPEAKER_01: I'd been like, this guy's too annoying, I don't want to be around him.
SPEAKER_01: That's what my heart wanted.
SPEAKER_01: But instead, we decided to pursue each other, and now I have one of my dearest friends.
SPEAKER_01: You guys see how that works.
SPEAKER_01: That's how community is built within the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Um read one more passage.
SPEAKER_01: 47.
SPEAKER_01: It says, praising God and having favor with all the people, the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
SPEAKER_01: We are to have such sweet fellowship with one another that even in this fractured world that we're living in, people are attracted to it.
SPEAKER_01: Like um my son this this week, probably in the last day, I'm not sure when, he must have tracked something into our room that's sweet.
SPEAKER_01: My little one-year-old, he's he's always he he terrorizes our house.
SPEAKER_01: Um but there's something sweet, and the way I know this is there's just all these ants under my clothes.
SPEAKER_01: And I know that's not for me.
SPEAKER_01: We never have ants in our room, we don't eat in our room, but he put something sweet in there that we have yet to find.
SPEAKER_01: We're still looking for it.
SPEAKER_01: Um but just like ants will swarm to that sweet food, that's the kind of community you want to have with your fellow believers.
SPEAKER_01: You want it to be so sweet that the world, fractured world around you sees it and says, I want some of that.
SPEAKER_01: I want to be part of that kind of community.
SPEAKER_01: And if this is the kind of community that you're building, that will happen.
SPEAKER_01: Like it says in this passage that you're gonna have favor with all people.
SPEAKER_01: Like if you're regularly praying for people, you're giving of yourself to other people, they're gonna want that.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna have favor with them.
SPEAKER_01: And then it says the Lord adds to their number day by day those who are being saved.
SPEAKER_01: Day by day, the Lord is gonna add to our number if we live out this kind of biblical community.
SPEAKER_01: So are you doing this?
SPEAKER_01: Do you have this kind of biblical community around you?
SPEAKER_01: You know, um, I think every community group I've been a part of, there is someone in the group that um that kind of drive me nuts, and they're the person that God has placed there for my sanctification so that I can grow in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: You get you guys, is this just me?
SPEAKER_01: I think you guys have probably experienced it as well.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I've found that if I choose to pursue that person and not pull back, that often they'll become one of my better friends if I just push through that, right?
SPEAKER_01: Are you willing to do that here in the church, to not just be somebody that's like, well, you know, they didn't treat me the way I wanted, or you know, you go to one uh community group and you're like, ah, it's not my people.
SPEAKER_01: Like, I think that you need this kind of biblical community, and I think that I would encourage you to go to a community group and you know, you you might have to search and go to a couple community groups, but I would actually say, I don't know that you need to visit a couple community groups.
SPEAKER_01: I actually think you probably just need to go to one and say, This is gonna be my community group, and these are my people, and we're gonna make it work because that's how community happens.
SPEAKER_01: It's not something you find, it's something that you build.
SPEAKER_01: So there's some questions that are gonna come up here on the screen.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to take a moment and and just pray, pray through them.
SPEAKER_01: Lord Jesus, thank you that you are a God of community.
SPEAKER_01: The Trinity, man, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: You've been about community since before time, God.
SPEAKER_01: And you've welcomed us into that community, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And so I pray, Lord, that as we would be those same kind of people, that we would create that kind of community and we would welcome others into it, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: With their flaws and their faults, we would we would love them as you love them, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Come and speak to us, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Show us what you've been teaching us today.
SPEAKER_01: Your name I pray.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: So take a few minutes and look over these questions.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I need you guys to lean on, you need me to lean on on.
SPEAKER_01: We gotta lean on each other.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Lord Jesus, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you that you're the kind of God that we can lean on.
SPEAKER_01: All we have and need is in you.
SPEAKER_01: And I pray that as we get to know you more, Lord, you would make us into these big strong trees that others can lean on and find shade and comfort in, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: That that's that's who we want to be to others.
SPEAKER_01: Come and work in our lives, Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: In your name I pray.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: All right, you may be seated.
SPEAKER_01: There's gonna be a video here that's gonna show you some of the things that are going on in our church over the next few weeks.
SPEAKER_01: I ask you to direct your attention up here.
SPEAKER_00: Good morning.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Travis Dunne, and I'm the connections pastor here at the church.
SPEAKER_00: And I would like to invite you, man, to two activities we have coming up.
SPEAKER_00: The first one is our D Group kickoff on September 11th at 4 p.m.
SPEAKER_00: in the Fellowship Hall.
SPEAKER_00: I'd like to share with you why I think being a part of a D Group is critical for your faith.
SPEAKER_00: First, Jesus commands us to go and make disciples.
SPEAKER_00: That's not a command given to the staff or to the elders or some super saint.
SPEAKER_00: That is a basic command for all those who follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And in a D group, you will learn a simple, easy, and reproducible process for making disciples that you can adapt to any environment for the rest of your life.
SPEAKER_00: The second reason it's important to be a part of a D group is it's impossible to fully grow in your relationship with Jesus in isolation.
SPEAKER_00: D groups are gospel-centered and community-shaped.
SPEAKER_00: What that means is we use our Bible as our guide.
SPEAKER_00: That's our only source of truth.
SPEAKER_00: And in community, we lower down our guards and admit, hey, we're not perfect and we need a savior and we need to experience the grace of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Third, it's also only 10 weeks.
SPEAKER_00: Now, will you learn everything you need to know about the Bible and Jesus in 10 weeks?
SPEAKER_00: No, of course not.
SPEAKER_00: However, 10 weeks is a long enough time frame with a definite starting point and ending point to where you can join in as kind of a test drive to see if being part of a D group will add value to your life.
SPEAKER_00: For some reason you choose not to be involved in a D group, I understand life is busy.
SPEAKER_00: But my question for you is what is your 10-week plan next semester to grow in your love and understanding of who Jesus is?
SPEAKER_00: Next, on October 14th and 15th, I want to invite you to our men's weekend.
SPEAKER_00: Chris Brooks is coming back to talk to us about what it means to treasure or to enjoy Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: The weekend is designed to help you encourage you, to help you to grow in your faith, and to help you to meet some of the men in our church.
SPEAKER_00: You can register for both events on our website at grandparkway.org backslash event.
SPEAKER_00: Hope to see you there.
SPEAKER_01: As well, if you want to worship through giving, there are offering offering boxes back by the doors.
SPEAKER_01: You're welcome to do that.
SPEAKER_01: That's it.
SPEAKER_01: Let's um, if you could stand with me, I want to pray a prayer blessing over you guys before you head out.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.