Redeemer Church in Union City, CA
Redeemer Church in Union City, CA (formerly Fremont, CA) is a family of rescued sinners finding hope and wholeness in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Our highest priority is to bring glory to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit through celebrating and proclaiming the gospel of our Triune God. As worshippers of our Holy God, we are seeking to spread His fame in making and maturing disciples of Jesus by establishing healthy churches throughout the Bay Area and around the world.
The episodes posted here are sermons and teaching that is given through the ministries of Redeemer Church.
Redeemer Church in Union City, CA
Pentecost Sunday: The Church Origin Story
We explore the birth of the church at Pentecost, examining how God has been working throughout history to dwell with His people again after the separation caused by sin. The church connects to God's grand redemptive narrative, centered on the gospel and consisting of diverse people from all backgrounds.
• The church's story connects to God's big story revealed in Scripture
• Understanding comes through both special revelation (Scripture) and liturgical revelation (practices)
• God has been working to dwell with His people from Eden to Pentecost
• From burning bush to tongues of fire, God's presence has moved from physical places to people
• The church confesses a Trinitarian gospel that pulls us into its orbit
• Despite our brokenness, God's promise is for everyone who repents and believes
• We are caught in the middle of God's unfolding story as He draws all people back to Himself
If you're new here, this series will help you understand the foundation of our church and how it aligns with God's design from the beginning. Join us for the next two weeks as we continue exploring the life and service of the church.
Our prayer has been that God would do his work in his way and that he would accomplish what he chooses to accomplish through us, and it is always a joy to see when God's people are gathered together here in his name. Today we are beginning a new series. It's just a three-week series. If you've been attending for a little while, you know that between Easter and uh Pentecost Sunday, we did a quick six week series on the book of Colossians, which helped us to think and point our attention to what it means to live the resurrected life. Today, as we celebrate and observe uh the birth of the church, we want to take the next three weeks to talk specifically about the church. What is the church Today? In this sermon today, I'm going to be speaking on the birth of the church. Next Sunday, we're going to follow up and do the end of Acts 2, and we're going to be preaching on the life of the church. Next Sunday, we're going to follow up and do the end of Acts 2, and we're going to be preaching on the life of the church. What does it look like to live within the life of the church? And then, our third week, we're going to be focusing on the service or the work of the church from Acts 6. So these are three topics. This series is intended to be somewhat instructional, typically when we do a sermon series or when we're preaching, we're going to be more expositional, walking our way through the text, learning, trying to understand exactly what God has for us from this. But starting today and for the next three weeks, including today, this is gonna be more instructional, and the idea behind this is so that we, as a church whether you're new here, whether you've been here for a little while that we as the church, can be reminded of who we are and why we're here and why we're called to do what we do. Why is it that we do what we do? What does God expect from us? So, if you're new here, this would be a great opportunity for you to be able to understand, perhaps, the foundation of Redeemer Church. But our hope is that is in line not just with what we want, but with the church as God designed it from the beginning. And so our hope, our desire, is to be able to look at these passages and acts and be able to understand what is the church, who are we, what are we called to do. So I'm going to invite you to turn in your Bibles with me to Acts, chapter 2. Acts, chapter 2. Just to give you a basic timeline of where we land.
Speaker 1:In Acts, chapter 2, the Old Testament begins with creation. Man sinned against God, so there was the fall and there became separation between God and man. And then God began to work out a plan in which he was going to redeem the creation that he has made. We sang songs that focused on that this morning, and as time continued on, there were ways in which God fulfilled his promises. He continued to deliver on the plan that he had given and he had given prophets, he had brought forth kings and he had fulfilled his promises all along the way. And the promise of the Old Testament mostly pointed to one key event, and that was God himself coming down to be with us. And so God comes down. His name was Jesus Emmanuel. God with us and he makes it possible for all the promises and all the prophecies to be fulfilled as they intended to be fulfilled. Prophecies to be fulfilled as they intended to be fulfilled. And so Jesus walked on the earth. He taught, he preached, he healed, he did great things, but the greatest of them, living a perfect life. In line with the law, he died on a cross. We just celebrated his resurrection. He was raised to life and by him being raised to life was given a guarantee for all of us who believe in him that we too would be raised to life. But then what happens? Great, Now we can start getting to work. All that's been done. Well, then he just goes away. He ascends into the heavens and his followers are told stay put. What Stay put, you'll see. That's where we find ourselves here. He ascended into heaven. He was told, they were told to stay put, and that's where we are here Now.
Speaker 1:Before we read our text, I'm just going to share with you I enjoy podcasts. Before we read our text, I'm just going to share with you I enjoy podcasts. I enjoy particular podcasts that help you to learn new things, understand new things. One of my favorite podcasts over the years was a podcast by NPR called how I Built that, and this is a podcast where the host is interviewing people who have started businesses or companies, most of which we would probably know Businesses like Airbnb and Whole Foods and he goes all the way back to the origin story and he wants to ask them questions how did this come about? What happened to make you want to start this business and how did it become the business that it has become today? There's a lot of interesting things that you learn when you hear an origin story, for instance, the Airbnb, a multi-billion dollar company.
Speaker 1:How did it start out? Was it a plan that they had in mind? That was a genius strategy? No, it was a couple guys who decided that they wanted to move to Silicon Valley because that's where entrepreneurs go and that's where they make it big. But they didn't know what kind of business they were going to start and they had a little bit of money to go on. So they moved here to Silicon Valley, up in the peninsula, and they started trying to figure out what they were going to do, what they were going to create. They started running out of money, right? So they decided we need to pay next month's rent. What do we have that we could market? We have a room and an air mattress, and you know what? There's a conference. Ironically, there's a conference in town and all the hotels are full. I wonder if we could throw up a website and advertise our airbed and our room. And so they did, and guess what they paid for that month's rent. That was great, and they closed the website down and it was done. That was it, until they needed to pay rent again. And then they said well, it worked the first time, let's see if we can do it again. And maybe we have some friends that have rooms and an airbed and maybe we can get them to put their space on our website and we can start.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you what, listening to this, this multi-billion dollar company came out of desperation and survival and an accident, and now these guys are billionaires and they're speaking into people's lives. There are other companies, like Whole Foods, where the founder had a vision of what he wanted. He curated exactly the kind of products that he wanted to sell, that had all the right ingredients, had all the right origin, and he curated it and provided a store in Texas where people could come who were snobs and frou-frou and who were into those sorts of things could buy stuff from them, and he insisted on it being the way it was, and they went through some hard times. Matter of fact, one of the iterations I don't know if you know this just as a fact that you can take with you one of the first names that they gave their store was Safer Way. They wanted. And they were asked were you afraid you were going to be sued? And they said we hope so. We wanted to be. It would give us great publicity, great marketing. But then it became what it is. So there was a lot more intentionality, a lot more curation.
Speaker 1:So what is it about the church? What is it about the church that we can learn from this origin story? That tells us what we need to know about who we are and what we're called to do. I'm going to tell you right now that it did not happen by accident, and I'm going to tell you right now that there was a plan in mind that didn't involve in being sued. There was something designed long before this moment that we are going to read now in the scriptures that God had planned for us and for the world.
Speaker 1:Carlin read what happened on Pentecost and then she began to read part of what Peter's response was to what happened, and that's what we're going to focus on today. This is Peter's sermon, trying to explain to the people who are present there what just happened. What did we just encounter? What did we observe? So we're going to begin reading Acts 2, starting in verse 14. But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them.
Speaker 1:Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give ear to my words, for these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel and this is what. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel and this is what Joel said. And in the last days it shall be God declares that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams, even on my male servants and my female servants. In those days, I will pour out my spirit and they will prophesy, and I will show wonders in the heavens, above the signs of the earth, below blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, the moon to blood. Before the day of the Lord comes, that great and magnificent day, and it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Men of Israel, hear these words.
Speaker 1:Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God, with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst. As you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. You crucified him and killed him by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For God says, concerning him, I saw. For David says, concerning him, I saw the Lord before me, for he is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart was glad, my tongue rejoiced, my flesh also will dwell in hope, for you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the path of life and you make me full of gladness with your presence.
Speaker 1:Peter goes on to say brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried and his tomb is still with us to this day. Being, therefore, a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on the throne, he foresaw and spoke about what the resurrection of Christ that he would not abandon to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing, for God did not ascend into the heavens, or for David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Let all of the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles Brothers, what shall we do? And Peter said to them repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord, our God, calls to himself. And with many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying save yourself from this crooked generation. So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about 3000 souls. This is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 1:I think Peter did a pretty good job on his sermon, and that's probably it for today, right, I'm just kidding? Just kidding, I mean, if you got someone preaching and 3,000 souls are saved, that's solid, right? I want us to look at this. Like I said, there are so many things that are referenced here. There are so many things that Peter brings up here and that he says that we could dig into this sermon for weeks, and so my goal here is not to unpack everything that's being said here and everything that's being done, but there are three very foundational things that I want us to take away today as to who we are, to help us understand who is Redeemer Church and who is the church at large. So I have three very critical things that I want us to look at today. This lies at the foundation of who we are. The first thing is that the church connects to the big story. The church connects to the big story.
Speaker 1:Pastor Royce and I were talking with a graphic design artist. We're looking at trying to get our logo rebranded, or get all of our branding redone, because we're getting ready to put a sign on the bell out front. We want to make sure we have the sign that we want for long, long term. And the graphic designer asked us he's like, tell me a little bit about your church, tell me when it started, Tell me the history. And we both kind of looked at each other like well, that's kind of complicated. It's kind of complicated because Redeemer Church started 11 years ago because the church where we met at that time closed down and they weren't going to continue operating and they wanted to bring in somebody new to help plant a new church. And so Pastor Bob was called to come and replant this church and in our connections he asked me to come here and join him 11 years ago. But that church that we replanted has a history. It was Mission Peak Baptist and before that it was Calvary Baptist. But in 2021, we merged with two other churches and they have all their own story. We have Hillview Baptist, which is where we are now. That's been around since the 50s and they merged in with us. And then we have Alder Avenue Baptist Church over in Fremont. That merged with us and they've got their whole story.
Speaker 1:So which story do you want? Which story is the story of our church. Well, I'm going to tell you, as important and as interesting and as amazing as some of those stories are, there is not a story more important than what we find here in the scriptures. The story of our church is not all of these other meandering stories. There is one story. It is the big story. And where do we find the story? This is one of the key things that I want us to understand is where do we find the big story? It is through, first of all, the Word of God, through special revelation.
Speaker 1:Who does Peter appeal to here? Where does he find the way to answer these people who are asking what's going on? What does he do? The majority of his response is scripture. He goes to scripture. We, as Redeemer Church, we are anchored in the word of God. We trust the word of God. The word of God is where we find out everything of who we are and where we are. This is what we see modeled by Peter in this first sermon on the birth of the church, and it has been a hallmark of the church for centuries that the word of God is foundational to everything that we believe and everything that we practice. So the first thing that we understand is that we understand this story through special revelation. He talks, he points out to Joel. What does he recognize from Joel? There's a promise and a prophecy regarding what the spirit is going to do in the latter days, in the end times, and he just says guys, this is what we know, this, we've been reading this for centuries. This is what's happening.
Speaker 1:He appeals to Psalm 16, where David is talking about what he identifies as speaking of the resurrection. The resurrection should have been expected. This should not be a mistake. He appeals to Psalm 110, the resurrection should have been expected. This should not be a mistake. He appeals to Psalm 110, where he sees the promise and the prophecy regarding Christ's ascension and his reign and his ruling in the heavenly places. The church must be committed to understanding who God is and what he is doing and who we are and what we are to do from scripture.
Speaker 1:And the Reformation goes, doubles down and says by scripture alone. And so we come to understand who we are and what God has called us to do through Scripture alone. Scripture is where we discover the truth about God, his plan and how we got here, where we are and what we're going to expect in the future. God recorded everything that we need to know about His story, the story that he is writing right now to redeem mankind and to reconcile all things to himself. We can find everything that we need to know right here in scripture. This is why the church of King Jesus, this is why we, as Redeemer Church, are devoted to reading, studying and proclaiming the Bible. The scripture is given to us by God himself for his church.
Speaker 1:The other way that we know the story and I coined this word, you're probably never gonna see this in a theology book, but I coined this idea secondly, through liturgical revelation. You're like, okay, I want to see this laid out here. All right, so he reveals his story to us through liturgical revelation. Well, you might say, where do you see that in the text? Well, what was Pentecost? What was Pentecost? It was a festival. You're like, wait a minute, I thought it was the spirit. Yeah, but Pentecost existed a long time, thousands of years before this moment.
Speaker 1:Pentecost was a festival. Pentecost was also called the festival of weeks. It was seven weeks, 49 days, and on the 50th day there was a celebration. That celebration was to celebrate the harvest of wheat, and people would come and give the first fruits of what had been harvested and, over time, over the story of the Israel nation, there were things that happened within that same time period, around Pentecost and the festival of weeks, One of those things being the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. And so, when they be as as as the uh, as the Jewish people began to practice and celebrate this festival, which came 50 days after Passover, they began to come. This was a pilgrimage festival where people would travel from all over the world. A little foreshadowing here. People from all over the world would come to Jerusalem to give their sacrifices, to give their worship. They would come there to celebrate this pilgrimage festival of Pentecost. And so they come here year after year after year practice, they are giving and they are praising God for his provision. And I think it's interesting that part of what they would do is they would give a wheat. It was a celebration of the wheat harvest and they would give the first fruits of that wheat harvest. And I just find it interesting that one of the things that Jesus says to them behold, the field is white to harvest. Let's pray that God sends forth his messengers. And guess what happens on this Pentecost, when the first fruits are given, 3,000 people are harvested. This comes in line with the rhythms that God had already planned for his people to participate in over generations. So where does liturgical revelation come in? Well, I believe that when these people understood what happened, and they'd been practicing this year after year after year after year, and all of a sudden this happened and they started putting two to two together.
Speaker 1:This is kind of like another podcast that I really like. Right, there's a podcast called the Way I Heard it and it's kind of I don't know if you grew up listening to Paul Harvey. Paul Harvey would tell these stories on the radio. For you younger people, radio is a thing that you don't use in the car anymore, that it has little dials and stuff. Yeah, so we listened to the radio and Paul Harvey would give this story and it had kind of like these things that you're familiar with and kind of obscure. And at the very end he would give a hook line and you're like that's who you're talking about, that's what happened here. Oh, my word, like I didn't know that. That was the story behind it all. And Mike Rowe does this podcast the way I heard it. He does the same thing and you're like, oh, this, this, who's he talking about? And then, wow, I had no idea. And I think that's what happened here.
Speaker 1:I think that this story had been lived out year after year after year. What is the point of Pentecost, what is the point of the sacrifices, what is the point of all of this? And they're practicing it, they're doing it year after year and then, all of a sudden, the Spirit comes down and whoo, whoo. And then, all of a sudden, the spirit comes down and whoo, whoo. And then, all of a sudden, he gives them revelation and insight. It's like Pentecost, the coming of the spirit, and this is the word that this is the practice that God has been wanting them to experience, so that they not just understood it and know it, but they felt it when it happened. This is the story.
Speaker 1:The Pentecost intersected with all these things, and so it's helpful for us to think this that through the liturgical rhythms of the people of God and this is why we are committed to liturgy If you're new here, you might think, man, it was a lot of sitting up, standing up and sitting down. There's a lot of saying things together and stuff. Well, there's a purpose behind that. Our heart are shaped by our habits. Our hearts are shaped by our rhythms and, like Daniel talked about today with confession, we get into the habit of doing these things and it begins to shape what we love and shape who we are, and it changes what we do. And so what we do together in liturgy is for that purpose. But there are also ways in which, even as we take the Lord's Supper, where, as we commit to taking that each week, there are ways in which God reveals himself to us through the taking of this table that we're committed to week after week. That is going to open our eyes to understand who he is, what we are and what we ought to be, and so there is a liturgical revelation that happens.
Speaker 1:So, through the liturgical rhythms of God's people, we rehearse and remember the truth of the story of God and the gospel. It is through the liturgy and the traditions or, if you're gun-shy of the word, traditions, not traditionalism, but traditions, we can say the habits of the church that we are formed and reformed. God shapes us into followers and lovers of him and lovers of one another, through the liturgical rhythms of the church. Thirdly, god gives us the story through his unmistakable presence, the unmistakable presence of God himself. The unmistakable presence of God himself. The unmistakable presence of God himself. The mission of the story of God that is being unveiled, or that is actually right now being played out in real time for us right now, is that God is making a way for us to dwell together with him again. God is making a way for us to dwell together with him again. God is making a way for us to dwell together with him.
Speaker 1:What are you talking about? Let's go back to the garden. I already mentioned it. Once we go back to the garden, god created all things. He planted these people, who, these creatures that he made in his image, in this garden to tend it, to care for it, humans. He planted them there to do that, and they sinned against him. What happens? They get cast out, but God does give them a promise. I'm going to take care of you, I'm going to fix this, but for now you need to be out of here. And what does he do? He sends an angel with a flaming sword Stay away, stay away, stay back, don't come close. And they're sent out to battle a world that's cursed.
Speaker 1:And we read it today. Man, like we always do, we try to come up with a quick fix. We're going to fix this. What do we do? Let's all gather together and let's build a big tower and we're going to start doing. We're going to start doing things our way. We're going to, like, rally around the community, the human community, after God had already told them spread out and multiply, have dominion over all the earth and multiply. No, we're going to come together. We're going to build things. We're going to do it our way. So they start building the answer to the problem. They built a temple to answer the problem and God says nah, nah, you guys are not going to be able to work together because you can't understand each other. And he changed their language so they can't even understand him. So they have to spread out. Like, I'm not going to sit there and live next to the guy I can't even talk to, so I'm going to go find the guys that can understand me. We're going to start a city, we're going to start a tribe. So they spread out.
Speaker 1:But then you go hundreds of years later and what happens? There's a shepherd walking through the wilderness Mount Sinai, in fact and he sees a flaming bush that's not burning. And what is in that bush? God himself. And what does he say? I've heard you, I have not forgotten my promises, I'm here for you and we're going to begin this now. And he sends them to Egypt to free his people. And what happens? He frees them through signs and wonders, he brings them out. And then he tells them and instructs them to begin to build a tabernacle, a place where he can come and dwell with his people, in the midst of his people. He's fighting to be back with his people. And what happens? They build the tabernacle. And the tabernacle is constructed. And when they go to dedicate it, what happens? God comes down and sets his presence over the top. And what does it look like? Well, at daytime it was a cloud, but at nighttime it was a fire. And he sets his presence over the top of it and he says I will, I am making a way, I'm coming to be with you. And then, when they finally reached the land where they're supposed to go, they build a temple, a more permanent place for God to come. And what happens? Solomon prays and he blesses the temple. What does it say?
Speaker 1:In 2 Chronicles, it says that a fire came down and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. He came down to fill the temple, to remind his people. I am here with you and you are here with me and I am working to bring this back together. And man just keeps messing things up, keeps turning away. And then, finally, god sends another.
Speaker 1:It's a little bit different. What does he send? He sends his only son. He sends him to come down, but he's going to fix the problem. Why can't God dwell with us permanently and be with us for always? I got to fix that. So he sends his son to live and die, rise again. And all along, jesus is saying there's another one of me coming and it's going to empower all of you and you're just going to be able to go and do all the things that I've been doing. And what happens? He comes there and he promises them and then he goes. But if the only way that the other one's coming is if I go away, so he goes and sends them to heaven.
Speaker 1:And then what happens? Well, the cool thing is is that, up till this point, the only people that could go into the temple near the presence of God were the priests, and they had to go through a ritual. But guess what happened when Jesus died? The curtain that divided God's presence from everyone else was ripped into. It's like that scene in Jurassic Park, right where the T-Rex is behind the big chain right, and all of a sudden they're like walking through and they realize there's this big gaping hole in the side of the fence and they're like what happened? Like that electricity is supposed to keep that T-Rex in there. Well, they're like oh, the electricity is off. Oh, my goodness, he's out.
Speaker 1:Well, the presence of God was no longer going to be contained behind that curtain. Why? Because God had a plan that it's no longer. I'm no longer going to dwell in a temple built with hands. I am going to dwell inside of my people. And we are in that moment. What happens? God comes down and flames of tongues of fire land not on a building, not on a tent, not in a bush, but in people. And now the spirit of God can spread across the globe. So why does it not quite matter so much that our story is so? I am going to desperately miss the McConnells, I'm going to miss the Bixbys when they transition on.
Speaker 1:Right now it's hard to see the beginning, the birth of an exciting story, when it feels like there's the end of stories. But the reality is is that God, the bigger picture, tells us that God, being in us, is doing his work to spread his people and to accomplish his mission to create a temple across the whole earth where he can reside within his people. And so, as much as I hate to see when people come and go, when things change and transitions happen, I can be reminded that God is doing his thing, his work, and he's accomplishing his mission. And we have got to keep our heads there. We've got to keep our hearts there, and I'm not saying that we shouldn't feel hurt or pain or loss or sadness. I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying that the way that we cope with it is by being reminded that it is not our story that matters, it's not my story that matters, it's not my family's story that matters, it's not this church's, redeemer Church's stories that matter. The big story that matters is the story that God has been delivering to us in real time from the beginning and will last all the way to the end. That is the story where we connect, that is what gives us hope, and so we need to be reminded of that today. I need to move quickly. That was my biggest point. So I have two more.
Speaker 1:The next thing, second point, is this that the church confesses a Trinitarian gospel centricity. The church confesses a Trinitarian gospel centricity. Now, where do we see that? Look at Acts 2, 22 through 24. Peter's preaching here. What does he say?
Speaker 1:Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works, wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourself know. This Jesus delivered up according to what? The definite plan of God, the foreknowledge of God. You crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. Look at verse 32. This Jesus God raised up, and of him we are all witnesses. Verse 33, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit. He has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. Verse 36,. Let all the house of Israel know, therefore, for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus who you crucified. And then verse 38, repent be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:What does Peter do. What is at the heart of his message? It is the gospel, and it's not just a gospel, a light and easy believism sort of gospel. It is everything that is necessary for us to believe and understand in order for us to receive Christ. But the people who are actively at work are the father who designed it from the very beginning, who gave his son for the purpose of redeeming man to himself. It was the son who came down and showed all the mighty signs and wonders, who was crucified, who died, who was raised up again and who is now ascending. It was the spirit who was in it all and is now present in the church. The gospel, the Trinitarian gospel of our church, is where we go.
Speaker 1:I call this gospel centricity. Pastor Royce mentioned a couple weeks ago this idea of like how gospel centered was really great when it came out. Now it's kind of maybe lost its like charm because everyone's gospel centered. Now it's like what does that even look like anymore? I started trying to think of again being creative, you can forgive me. I was like gospel centricity speaks more of a holistic, but I came up with another word. It's a little weird, but gospel centripetalicity.
Speaker 1:What does that mean? Gospel centripet. We're gospel centripet. That's not going to sell. I'm not going to write a book. Yeah, it's a good word. It's a good word. What does it mean? It means this what keeps the planets in orbit? What keeps the planets in orbit? What keeps the moon orbiting around the earth? What does that? There is a power at the center of our solar system that is pulling on these massive beings and once they come into the atmosphere of the sun, they get caught into orbit and they're locked in till the end of time. They are stuck there.
Speaker 1:I think one of the struggles I had with the idea of people saying we're gospel centered is that gospel centeredness is not something that we can assign to ourselves. If we truly believe in gospel centeredness, it's something that happens to us and we cannot help but always go back to the gospel. It's something that, when we are locked in by the gravitational pull of Jesus Christ himself, we can't get away from it, and our attention, everything we do, is influence the power of that gravitational pull. It's influenced by the center, which is Jesus Christ, and so I would like to believe that we are gospel centric, not because we've assigned it to ourselves and that we have named ourselves, I would like to say that we are gospel-centric because we can't help it. The power of the gospel, the power of Jesus himself, is joyness to himself.
Speaker 1:If we want to explain how it is that we do what we do, why do we do what we do? We have to blame the gravitational pull, we have to rely on the gravitational pull, and I believe it is that for us, those of you who've experienced the power of God in your life, the Spirit's work in your life, you realize that you can't get away from it. You cannot get away from God's steadfast love, you cannot get away from his mercy, you cannot get away from his compassions, because they are new every morning. They do not fail. This is why we preach a gospel. This is why the gospel influences all that we do. This is why the gospel is at the heart of what we believe. And so Redeemer Church is a a gospel-centric church because God has willed it. And I think it's amazing and it ought to be humbling to us to realize that God delivered up His own Son for us.
Speaker 1:The passage says that he delivered it over to lawless men to be brutally murdered and crucified. God did that. You know what he didn't spare. I mean, he spared Daniel from the lion's den, who was one of his great prophets. He spared Shadrach, meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace, but he did not spare his own son. He did that so that we could be spared. We could be spared from the roaring lion who is seeking whom he may devour. We could be spared from the flames of hell. He did that so that we could have hope and eternal life.
Speaker 1:Lastly, the church, and this might seem obvious, but I just hope this hits you hard. This might seem obvious, but I just hope this hits you hard and it hits you hard in a good way. The church consists of people. The church consists of people. Who was Peter preaching to when all this began? Carlin, read this, verse 5.
Speaker 1:Now, there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. Who was there? Every nation under heaven, people from every nation under heaven were here. He goes on to list all the names the Parthians, medes, elamites, the residents of Mesopotamia, judea, cappadocia, pontus, galatia, phrygia, pamphyl. They're from all these places. Galatia, phrygia, pamphyl, all these, they're from all these places. And so we can understand that Peter is not just speaking to the Jews, a tight-knit group that he's become close friends with in Jerusalem. But he is preaching to everyone, everyone. He doesn't even know who's there, he just knows there's a lot of people there from all over the world. See, the church consists of people, but not just people, but every type from everywhere, every type from everywhere. And how does Peter identify him further in his message or his sermon here? Look at verse 23.
Speaker 1:And this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. Who are these people? You crucified, you killed him by the hands of lawless men. Who are these people he's talking to? They're killers. He is talking to killers. How does he define them in verse 36? Verse 36, he says Let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Jesus, this Jesus whom you crucified. And then verse 38 and 39, repent, beep. That this is amazing. I want you to hear this If you are struggling in your understanding and faith in God, if you are looking to understand what God thinks about you and cares about you, what he offers you. Listen to this Repent, be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, for the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord calls to himself, the gospel, the church, is the family of all types of people from everywhere.
Speaker 1:There's a book that I've read and I've recommended to married couples. It's called when Sinners Say I Do, and the idea is you get two sinners in a covenant together and messy things are bound to happen. So what does it look like for God to be a part of that covenant relationship in the midst? Well, I was thinking about this passage and I was thinking when killers congregate in covenant, that's what's happening here. Congregate and covenant that's what's happening here. There are killers. He is identifying. You know, it's interesting. He says here at the end this promise is for you and your children.
Speaker 1:In the Old Testament I can't tell you how many times that was the opposite. Your sin, the blood on your hands, is going to be held. You're going to be held account for you and your children are going to be held accounted for it. And their children are going to be held accounted for it and their children are going to be held accounted for it. The sins will be passed down from generation to generation. But Peter is telling them here listen, this is not bad news. You are killers. You killed the Lord of glory, you killed Jesus Christ. But guess what? If you repent and if you believe, this promise of the Spirit coming and filling you is for you. You know what? We have really bad people in this room. Everyone's like don't tell them. I'm talking about myself.
Speaker 1:First. We have people with selfish, vile, wayward hearts. We have people who have committed atrocious things. We are doing it every day. We are pursuing selfishness and love of our own things, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride we're full. How do we redeem that? Well, guess what? It is this? It is through the gospel. And where do we find our place and our home to be restored? It is in the church. So our church, even though it consists of messy people who live messy lives, our church. When we repent and we believe, we are filled with the Spirit and there is a new place in which the presence of God comes to dwell, and that is with us. Redeemer, I think that if you're gathered here today and you've heard these words, I want you to understand. This is kind of a one-off sermon, but I want you guys to understand that this is what God has called us to. We are part of a great and grand story, of a great and grand story, and God has done the most miraculous work to make it possible for us to be joined together with him.
Speaker 1:I have this book. There's a stack of them out there. I know it's a kid's book, so if you have kids, I invite you to take it. I bought these for us this week. If you're not a kid and you want it, you can take it. I love it. I love reading this to my son and I would definitely recommend it.
Speaker 1:One of the things I love about this book is there's this phrase, and it goes all the way back this is the kid's version of my story or my sermon that I just preached. So if you want the fast and easy version, this is how you do it. But it tells the story of God coming to dwell with us again, and this line is repeated over and over and it says this he says so he could dwell with us and we with him, always and forever, world without end. He is carrying out his purpose for us and I'm going to tell you right now that when we live in line with the gospel. When we live in the power of his presence, when we have our minds and our hearts engaged with the story that God has been revealing from the beginning of time, we will see amazing things happen. We will not be able to say that was me, it was Christ, it was Christ in me, it was His Spirit giving me power and giving me work.
Speaker 1:I'm going to close with just the end of this book, and again I invite you to take it no cost. Please take it with you. It's an encouraging book, but he says this in those days, jesus poured out loving and life-giving, life-filled promises saying I will always be with you and never leave you. So on and on through the generation. His word remains true. Through the spirit of his royal son, all the scattered families of the earth are being drawn back together into God's presence again. But you'll never guess what happens next, and maybe sooner than you think, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren will fill the earth like the sands of the seashore and the stars of the sky. God will make the whole world a new land, filled and flowing with his life and light. A city will blossom around his presence, the most magnificent garden city anyone will ever see. It's the way that God always promised it would be, so he could dwell with us and we with him, always and forever.
Speaker 1:World without end. And, as you can see, this is quite different type of story because this is one still unfolding and you, dear child of God, are actually living right smack in the middle of his great story. These are the days of King Jesus, when all the families of the earth story. These are the days of King Jesus, when all the families of the earth are being drawn back together again. Right now, you are living in the land that God will one day turn into a garden city. So keep watch. He is with us, listen for his voice. It may come with the power of a thousand falling mountains or like the cool rain on dry ground. It may come with the gent of a thousand falling mountains or like the cool rain on dry ground. It may come with the gentleness of a snowflake landing or without even the slightest sound. But know this he is dwelling with us and we with him, always and forever. World without end.
Speaker 1:Let's pray together, god. We praise you end. Let's pray together, god. We praise you. We thank you for the truth of this day. We thank you for your spirit coming and filling us and, god, may it be that when we gather together in light of your big story, when we gather together in light of your big story, when we gather together around your gospel, when we gather together as people, though, we be killers. God, I pray that you would do your mighty work, that your spirit's power may dwell in us and that we might accomplish your mission, that we would go forth from this place Unlike the Tower of Babel, where they just gathered together and wanted to build something for themselves. God, I pray that, as we are filled with your spirit, that we would scatter across the world carrying your presence, carrying your gospel, and then bring us back together in your garden city. God, we pray this in your son's name, amen.