IT’S ALIVE!
WE ARE NOW THE CHURCH
Acts 4.32-35
S: Community
C: Unity
Th: Never the Same Again
Pr: PURPOSEFULLY PRACTICE LOVE AND GRACE.
?: How? How do we get it done?
KW: Practice
TS: We will find in our study of Acts 4 four practices that enable us to show love and grace in our community.
CV: “We will purposefully practice being a community marked by love and grace.”
Type: Proposition
I. BELIEF
II. GENEROSITY
III. TESTIMONY
IV. TRUST
PA: How is the change to be observed?
• Be in authentic relationships.
• Live dependently.
• Let go of pride and forgive.
Version: ESV
RMBC 21 September 08 AM
INTRODUCTION:
ILL Community (H)
The caption on the screen says…
“Visitors at Pine Point Church could sense cliquishness among the congregation, subtle though it was.”
Somehow, when we consider that cartoon, we know that is not the way it is supposed to be.
When a community of believers meets together, whether it is for worship or for ministry, we expect them to be…well…together.
The moment we become a follower of Jesus, we become a part of something larger.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are placed into the body of Christ.
We become a member of the Church.
And we are “never the same again.”
ILL Personal
Now you know from your own experience that if your own body is not working together, it can be pretty awkward.
If you are like my son, Joel, and you have diabetes, you know what it is like to have a non-functioning pancreas.
Because one organ is not working and sugars are not processed correctly, it affects him a great deal.
If he does not take the proper amount of insulin, he can really become dysfunctional.
The same is true here.
When a portion of the body is not working correctly, it affects all of us.
I think it is fair to say, when it comes to our portion of the body of Christ…our church family here…we want to be working together.
To what kind of community do you want to belong?
I think we all want to belong to a community that cares.
We want to connect.
We want to belong.
We want our personhood affirmed and appreciated.
ILL Community
Brandon’s is a name and a story over which to pause. He died in the privacy of a chat room full of people who watched by web-cam as he killed himself with drugs and alcohol. Their conversation was disquieting, left behind in a hauntingly silent script. Voices cheered him to pass out on screen. Brandon responded with his phone number. "Call if I look dead," he said. But even after he passed out, they spoke as if he was something less than real. "He’s dead," said someone. "Happy trails," said another. "Should I call 911?" "No!" they agreed in unison.
After this tragedy, columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr. wrote in shock of Brandon’s story and what seemed to be the telltale signs of yet another failed community: the virtual community. The very community, he reminded, that we were promised at "the dawn of the Internet Age, the one that would link all humankind in brotherhood, sisterhood, enlightenment." Such connectedness clearly failed Brandon. Even if his friends would have stopped to call for help, they didn’t know his real name.
Here we live in this successfully linked world, but despair continues to exist.
We are living in a lonely world, in a very needy world, and the need for true community and meaningful connection still is heard and felt.
ILL Community (S)
When the diaries of the famed atheist, Madeline Murray O’Hare were auctioned off years ago, they found three times punctuated in her journals the words: "Will somebody somewhere please love me? Will somebody somewhere please love me?"
Let me tell you…we can do that!
We can be a community that is known for connectedness.
We can be a community that demonstrates care and concern.
We can be a community that makes relationships a top priority.
How?
We do it when we…
PURPOSEFULLY PRACTICE LOVE AND GRACE.
But again, we are going to ask “how?”
How do we get it done?
Well…
We will find in our study of Acts 4 four practices that enable us to show love and grace in our community.
Let’s read Acts 4.32-35…
Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
OUR STUDY:
The first practice is…
I. BELIEF
Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul…
Our belief in Jesus unites us.
The very foundation of our unity is Jesus.
It is the good news about Jesus that we hold in common.
We are able to love because He first loved us.
We are able to extend grace to one another, because God extended grace to us through Jesus.
This is what is neat about being in a church community.
For when, as individuals, we have a heart ablaze by Jesus, imagine what happens when you gather with people with the same passion.
When you are together, you really are together.
When you are in love with Jesus together, it is a tremendous powerful force to bring change in the world.
ILL Focus (S)
The sunflower is one of the most amazing flowers God created. They literally follow the sun. One the most extraordinary things to watch is a field of sunflowers. Watching one follow the sun is neat, but watching hundreds in absolute unison follow the sun from east to west is quite incredible. Not only that, sunflowers continue to track the sun’s direction after it sets. By the time morning comes, they are facing east again, waiting in expectation of the sun.
So note this...
Their unity is totally dependant on one thing: their relationship to the sun.
In the same way, our unity is the same.
Our unity as a community is totally dependent on one thing: our relationship to the Son – the Son of God – Jesus.
This brings us to the second practice…
II. GENEROSITY
…and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.
We meet the needs of each other.
It is important to note that when we have spiritual unity around Jesus, it will lead to unity in other areas as well.
For the church here in Acts, it was a matter of material needs.
Fellow believers were watching out for each other, looking out for one another.
And I think it goes beyond the material.
It can also be the simple gift of being present with one another.
It can mean being with someone during an illness, or emotional anguish, or a time of spiritual darkness.
Whatever the need is…we are there.
Now, when we are connected to God, it means we are connected to each other as well.
You see, the church is made up of all other Christians and the church is the body of Christ.
So, if we are not connected to other Christians, His body, we are not connected to Christ.
So, remember, we don’t go through this life alone.
ILL Commuity (H)
Remember the banana – when it left the bunch, it got skinned.
We are made for community.
We are a part of the bunch.
And we are our strongest when we are connected to each other.
When we get that right, we are well set up to be a community that is characterized by love and grace.
The third practice is our…
III. TESTIMONY
And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus…
We are continually speaking about Jesus.
At least we are if we are keeping first things first.
Great power and great grace will be upon those whose focus is winning people to Jesus.
When we are focused upon giving people an opportunity to hear the good news about Jesus, we don’t have time to fuss about paint color.
We don’t get mad about things that are petty, when we are broken and searching for lost people.
That is a reason we don’t grow.
When we become overly concerned about doing Randal things the Randall way, we forget the priority of the lost around us.
But when we realign our church community with an outward focus, we set ourselves up to be a community that unites, and is able to demonstrate love and grace in all its relationships.
The fourth practice is…
IV. TRUST
…for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
This was not a point that I expected to find.
But as I studied it, it is at the very least implied.
For…
We rely on God’s gifting and appointments.
You may think this is self-serving, but I believe it is biblical principle, and therefore, it is my responsibility to teach.
A church is held back from being a community of love and grace when it loses faith in its leaders – leaders that God has gifted and appointed to lead.
No doubt, there are some leaders who lose that appointment because of integrity issues.
But note…the church at Jerusalem after hearing the gospel message of Christ had faith in the men of God, and sold what they had and placed the monies at the apostles’ feet to be distributed.
They knew that the apostles didn’t have a lot of money, but they also knew that they were true men of God and they did not let anyone try to convince them that they weren’t.
I believe God gives leaders to the church.
He gifts them.
We recognize them.
One thing we must learn to do is not tear them down when we disagree with them.
We cannot be a community of love and grace when we refuse to trust the leadership He has given.
CHALLENGE:
If you have been around here over the past year, you know that we are working toward an outward focus versus an inward one.
We know that we need to be a mission-oriented community.
So note this…
For the church to impact the world, we must see everything in the light of community.
You see…
Church is not an individual sport.
If we are going to make an impact, God calls on us to do it together.
And when the Lord is moving among us, it will attract the attention and admiration of people who are hungry to know God.
This is why we are doing The Church Has Left the Building on Oct. 12.
Instead of following our regular time of Sunday School and morning worship, we are going to be engaged in ministry to our community.
We know there a lot of questions about what we are doing and how it is going to be done.
This is why there is an insert in your bulletin today.
Hopefully, it will answer any question.
But if it does not, ask!
Yesterday, at our Saturday morning prayer gathering, we were joined by Mike Burgess, one of the elders from Mt. Ararat.
As we shared our plans about Oct. 12, he reminded us that as a church community, we are to…
Stand on the promises;
Not sit on the premises.
The command we have been given is to “go.”
Our faith is to be active.
We are to be a community on the move.
But let us note duly that to truly get this accomplished, we must be moving toward healthy and functional relationships.
An outward focus and a loving community go together.
They do not live separate lives.
This is why one of our stated core values is…
“We will purposefully practice being a community marked by love and grace.”
We are called to live a life of love and grace.
We are to be gracious in how we live.
This is the kind of grace that spills out and gets all over everybody!
This kind of grace helps us have the right attitude towards one another, and results in unity.
This kind of grace prompts us to share with those in need.
This kind of grace gives us a love for those who don’t know Jesus yet.
It will not let us ignore the need to share the gospel in the way we live and in what we say.
This kind of grace loves the leaders the Lord has given the church – loving them, praying for them, and trusting them.
So how do we accomplish this?
Here are a few practical ways it can be done, and they are all inner-connected.
First…
Be in authentic relationships.
When we use the word authentic, we are thinking of that which is real and genuine.
We want to move our relationships beyond the surface – that go beyond weather, sports, and asking “how are you?”
We want to move toward relationships where we are living the “one anothers” – encouraging one another, serving one another, submitting to one another, and loving one another.
We want to move toward relationships where we are iron sharpening iron – that we are free to express loving concern about how we are doing physically, emotionally and spiritually.
As we move these directions, we will be moving toward authentic relationships and be a community of love and grace.
Another way we do this is to…
Let go of pride and forgive.
Many times what keeps us from having authentic relationships is our own pride.
We get in the way.
We either don’t want to admit we are wrong or we want to hold on to an offense.
But we need to understand that we are all frail and broken people.
We all make mistakes and so it is good when we give each other space to not be perfect.
This means that we need to learn to forgive others.
The problem with this so often is when we do not forgive, the one that is really left hurting is ourselves.
We are so wrapped up in our hurt, that we are trapped in bitterness.
This is why we need to let go of pride and forgive.
So, as believers, let’s live differently.
Instead of always fighting for our individual rights, let’s…
Live dependently.
We are created for dependence, not independence.
Independence is the very first sin.
When we fight for what we perceive to be our rights, we end up missing the importance of the community.
We end up falling short on what we have been created for – a people that are to be characterized by Christlikeness – a people that practice love and grace.
ILL Grace (S)
The first season of the TV show The Apprentice tracked the lives of 16 up-and-coming business people as they vied for a highly coveted job with Donald Trump. It was the top-ranked-show among new TV series in the first half of 2004, with over 20 million viewers.
In this scene, Donald Trump faces two of his apprentices at the opulent boardroom table. On the left is Kwame, the polished Harvard MBA, and on the right is Troy, a business-savvy risk-taker without a college education. They have earned their place among the final few contestants, but now, one of them must leave.
Trump turns on Troy and in his gruff manner says, "Troy in reality we’re dealing with multibillion dollar companies here. The consequences of hiring a live wire like you could be costly and devastating. So I have to say, you’re fired!" The camera fades to Troy, head bowed in disgrace.
How different from the scene Jesus promises his people. In the opulent boardroom of heaven, Jesus turns to us and says, "In reality, we’re dealing with something far greater than multibillion dollar businesses here—we’re talking about the salvation of the world. The consequences of hiring someone like you could be costly and devastating. So I have to say, you’re hired!"
In a world full of un-grace, Jesus gives grace.
Let’s go and do the same!
For Further Study: Psalm 133.1; Proverbs 27.17; John 13.34-35, 17.20-23; Acts 2.42-47; Romans 12.9-18; Ephesians 4.14-16; I Peter 3.8-9; I John 1.6-7, 4.20-21
BENEDICTION:
If you have signed up for the dinner that is following – great. Often, when we have these dinners, we add just a little more to accommodate those that did not sign up but hoped to come and also to handle visitors. I am really sorry and happy to say – we are at capacity and don’t have wiggle room this time.
I will be available to you after the service is over down here in the front.
Please feel free to come and see me…
…if you have been coming for a while and we have not met yet;
…if you need to set up an appointment with me;
…and if you need counsel and prayer.
Let’s be a community that realizes that we share Jesus in common, and there is nothing greater than that;
Let’s be a community that is determined to practice love and grace in our relationships;
And, let’s be a community that makes an impact on the world because we truly love one another.
Now may the God of peace equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
RESOURCES:
SermonCentral
Cheong, Christian Get Connected
Dow, Steven Get in the Zone
Funderburk, Stephen Building the Community of Faith
Hart, A. David The Marks of a Healthy Church
Jones, Jason All for One
Kircher, Scott Experience Connection
Opperman, Mark Living a Life of Grace
Smith, Duane Marks of Unity
Other
Carattini, Jill. No Greater Communion. In A Slice of Infinity: Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, 15 Aug 2008.
Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary: New Testament. Colorado Springs: ChariotVictor Publishing, 1989.
