October 15 Unleash the Connection Acts 2:42-47
Let me tell you a story about Jossy Chacko. Raised in a Christian home in India. At 17, moved to Australia with the dream of becoming a millionaire by age 30 and retiring. Worked in a business and rose up in the ranks because he outworked everyone else. For 12 years he worked 20-21 hours every day; imagine: 3-4 hours of sleep, and everything else just work, except for Sunday, when he’d sleep all day. Did have a little time for a girlfriend, and when they got engaged, they decided to go to India on their honeymoon just as he was achieving his dream. She was Australian & had always wanted to see the Taj Mahal. On the train, sitting in first class coach, there was a little indian boy 10 yrs old who was picking emptying the trash cans and sweeping the floor. Jossy engaged him in ??, and found out that he lived in the train stations, begged on the street, was exposed to the prostitution, child slavery, sex trade, eating out of the trash bins. During the course of the conversation, he invited this little boy to join them on their honeymoon! Jenny, his wife, who didn’t know a word of was listening but didn’t understand that her newlywed husband had just invited this boy to join them. It was a hard sell at first, but in fact, the boy did join them. Jossy began to examine his own life: was the purpose just to acquire a lot of money and the things that money can buy, or was there a grander purpose. Jossy quit his job and established a new goal, see 100,000 communities in 30 years become transformed by the redeeming gospel of Jesus. He’s given his life to push back the darkness in places we’ve never even heard of before. 100,000 communities in 30 years. 1 guy
Turn in your Bibles to Acts 2:42-47 and Page 34 (hold up book)
We’re in Week 2 of Unleashed. It is a Unleashed: 2 year Generosity Initiative (build) that will enable us to cooperate with God in making a greater impact for Him and push back the darkness faster and better. Our Primary Goal: 100% Engagement. That means everyone who calls Rush Creek home being fully engaged in answering one question: God what is my role in Your vision? Our Secondary Goal: $22 Million over two years, which is about a 55% increase over what we are giving right now. That’s why 100% engagement is key: it’s going to take all of us together to do this to catapult our church into a trajectory that will impact the Kingdom of God for generations to come.
We were at a conference this summer that Jossy Chacko spoke at, the man who invited the 10 yr old boy to join his honeymoon. He challenged all of us:
He said, “Does the size of your vision reflect the God your worship and trust?”
Rush Creek: this IS a God sized vision—and it is going to take all of God’s people who call Rush Creek home to accomplish it.
Think about the challenge that the early followers of Jesus were facing. They had just heard Jesus say before He ascended back into heaven, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
Ok. Stop. Think about that. Put yourself in their place. You’ve never been more than 50 miles from your home town. You had no notion of what was going on in the rest of the world. You knew there was an Egypt because you read the Torah that contained the account of your ancestors enslaved there and then delivered from there by Moses. You knew there was a Babylon—your grandparents used to tell stories of how they conquered Jerusalem and tore down the Temple and carted 1000s off in exile. You knew there was a place called Athens… your parents used to tell stories of how they desecrated the holy place by killing a pig inside of it. And you knew there was a Rome because there were Roman soldiers all around enforcing Pax Roma, Roman peace. But you’d never been more than a few miles from your home. And now Jesus says go to the ends of the earth? No cars; no planes; no way! CraCra
Ten days later, they’re praying together, probably saying, “Lord, how are just a few of us going to change the world?” And then the Holy Spirit comes like a mighty wind, just like Jesus had said, and the church was born and the Spirit empowered them and THAT was a game changer—because about 3000 people got saved that day—you talk about church growth!
And get this: they banded together for the purpose of obeying the command of Jesus to go to the ends of the earth and push back the darkness. That’s what a healthy N.T. church does: it recognizes and accepts that it exists to come together, get stronger—not for itself, but for the sake of the gospel advancing to the ends of the earth.
That’s what the very first church did—and we’re here this morning because of their surrender and faith and generosity. They were 100% engaged.
That’s our Unleashed Primary Goal: 100% Engagement.
What does 100% Engagement mean? Let’s read their story and see if we can gain some insight. It’s on p.34 in your book. Acts 2:42-47 (on screen)
This church was 100% Engaged and the gospel was unleashed in miraculous ways.
100% Engagement means:
1. Each of us being committed to community
The word ‘together’ appears 4 times in Acts 2; twice in this passage: in your book…v.44…& v.46. (read) It’s obvious that one of the main characteristics of this powerful church was their togetherness; as one of my profs said, “they were all together, together!” They were all together, together.
This is one of the reasons they were so powerful: they were committed to community. Now, last month we went through the series, “Better Together” (pic of logo), right? And we talked about how we personally are better when we are committed to being in community with other believers in a small group. And we had over 200 at this campus alone make the move to get in a group.
Then last week, we had about 100 people sign up for the groups that are meeting down in the Family Theatre during Unleashed.
Now, some of you are in LGs but hardly ever, if ever, attend. Others of you keep making excuses that keep you from finding and joining a LG. But here’s what I want to say: We are not going to be the strong body, we are not going to be the healthy body, we are not going to be the powerful force to push back the powers of darkness God wants us to be until everyone who calls Rush Creek home becomes committed to community.
This 1st century church was powerful and far reaching because they were all together, together and committed to community. Go to LG table; go online.
2. Each of us being devoted to spiritual growth
Did you notice that they took personal responsibility for their spiritual growth? V.42 again; it’s in your book (read)
Your body has 13 major systems: respiratory, nervous, skeletal, muscular, coronary…and then there is the limbic system. Anyone know what that system is? Controls your emotions.
Now if any one of those systems is not functioning properly, you’re not healthy. If one or more of those systems stops functioning, you’re likely to die.
The body of Christ, the church, has systems and you see them in this passage: you see there is the functionality of worship, you see the functionality of community, you see the functionality of spiritual formation, you see the functionality of serving, the functionality of witnessing, and the functionality of generosity. If you as a person are not healthy in one or more of those systems: if you are not a passionate worshipper, if you’re not committed to community, if you’re not reading your Bible and praying every day, if you’re not serving some place, if you’re not witnessing to those God has placed in your life, if you’re not being generous with God and others, then you are not healthy AND, you are keeping the body of Christ here at RC from being healthy.
Let me encourage you, if you haven’t already, to go to the Bookstore by the coffee bar and get this book (pic of green pathways book) right after the service. It’s a work book, you read a little and you write a little and It will help you immensely to be devoted to spiritual growth. Your life will change if you become committed to growing spiritually.
3. Each of us living sacrificially
Notice v.45—it’s in your book. (read) There was a selflessness about the people in that church. You know what was not high up on their priority list? Buying a new chariot or taking a vacation to a Dead Sea Resort or building up enough assets for retirement. I’m not saying it didn’t happen or that it shouldn’t have happened. I’m saying this church put personal needs in back of a greater, grander vision.
They lived sacrificially. This is a quality of life that 21st century American believers have lost contact with. Our culture hates the concept of sacrifice. We want what we want and we want it now. And if we do sacrifice, it’s for something we want for ourselves or for someone we love.
Don’t get me wrong: I love the athlete who makes the sacrifices to become the best athlete he/she can be. I love the mom or dad who sacrifices so that their children have a roof over their head and food to eat and clothes to wear.
But let’s not it stop there. Let’s make our sacrifice for a grander vision and purpose take precedent over our other sacrifices. The people in this first church did that: they were changed—and the world was changed as a result.
In the movie McFarland USA, McFarland, USA, based on the true story, a Caucasian football coach, Jim White, and his family accepting a job in 1987 in the poor, mainly Latino town of McFarland, California. White convinces the high school principal that many of the student athletes are well suited for track and he begins to gain the trust of the athletes and their parents. He had been wooed by an affluent HS in Palo Alto and was weighing the decision when his daughter who was dating one of the Latinos was slightly injured when a group of punks jumped the track team after a dance. This made White decide that he was going to get out of McFarland and take the nice job in Palo Alto. Scene 22: 1:41:40—1:45:27
White ended up staying and won 9 state titles the next 14 years before he retired. He didn’t opt for safe; he didn’t opt for secure. He opted for sacrifice—and it paid big time. One of the notions of the American dream is financial safety; financial security. My prayer is that each of us will not opt for safety or security, but opt for sacrifice. All of us—each of us. And I promise—it will pay big time.
Additional stories:
Some people act like life is an oversized game of Monopoly, where the way to win is to accumulate as many properties as you can, either by purchasing outright or by clever trading with your opponents. Then you keep adding houses and hotels, extracting rent from the others, until you eventually drive them into bankruptcy. You sit back, rub your hands together, and start counting your stacks of cash.
No, life is more like Uno or Crazy Eights, where the point is to run out of cards first. You want to deploy every card you have, knowing that each card left in your hand at the end counts against you. Don't get stuck at the time of your funeral with leftover cards!
Open Doors, a ministry working with persecuted Christians around the globe, shared the following true story about a Muslim convert to Christ. Bagus (not his real name) came to know Jesus in 2014, and was baptized the following year. Bagus remembered well the reason he followed Christ: "It was because of my long, hard, and troubled life, Ma'am."
"So when you finally decided to follow him, your life wasn't troubled anymore?"
"Not anymore, Ma'am."
"What did you do for a living, then?"
"I was a trash picker."
"And what do you do now?"
"I'm still a trash picker."
But looking at the external circumstances of his life it would be easy to conclude that his life has not improved. The journalist asked him, "So, how did you feel after following Isa (Jesus)?"
"Very different. I felt happy and restful," he replied.
Bagus then quietly mentioned that he was a house church leader of 15 former Muslims in his village. The journalist also discovered that Bagus' life was far from untroubled as a follower of Christ. A villager had seen Bagus sharing the story of Jesus with a neighbor and reported him to the village authorities. The authorities dragged him and 15 others to a paddy field and threatened to kill them unless they returned to Islam. Bagus refused and remained firm in his new faith. While his life was spared, he is now forced to live apart from his wife and children, spending his days on the street. He now can only see them periodically.
"I never regretted my decision to follow Jesus," he said without a hint of doubt. "I'm following him wholeheartedly."
McFarland, USA is based on the true story of a Caucasian football coach, Jim White, and his family accepting a job in 1987 in the poor, mainly Latino town of McFarland, California. Affectionately nick-named "Blanco," White convinces the high school principal that many of the student athletes are better suited for track. An unfortunate incident where Jim's 15-year-old daughter is slightly injured when a group of punks assault the boys leads Jim and his wife to consider a generous offer from a prestigious high school in Palo Alto.
The clip begins with Coach White speaking to one of his runners, Thomas Valles, in a grocery store parking lot.
THOMAS (feeling glum): Were you even going to tell us? Or were you going to watch us compete at State then run off into the sunset with those country club kids? Were you even going to say adios, Blanco?
COACH WHITE: Thomas, listen to me …
THOMAS: No. All right. I get it. We all get it. This is America, right? You gotta go bigger. Find a nicer place. Better pay with better everything. Everyone is always gonna go for the better everything. And that's why no one stays in McFarland unless they have to. Because there ain't nothing "American dream" about this place.
In the next scene Coach White is in bed with his wife.
COACH WHITE: It feels like everything we've ever wanted. Everything we ever talked about. You know, big house, financial security, great school for the kids, nice neighborhood. Nice safe neighborhood.
CHERYL WHITE: I don't know.
COACH WHITE: What do you mean you don't know? The owner of the corner store was washing away blood from his parking lot when I drove out this morning.
CHERYL WHITE: Jim, the owner of the store has a name, and he's our friend. And you looked him in the eye two days ago and thanked him for everything he's done for us.
COACH WHITE: I know. I know. But you were there. We were there. Julie was … how close? This close? How could that not bother you?
CHERYL WHITE: Of course it bothers me. But do you know how she got hurt? Your team jumped in front of her … They protected her like she was their family. You think she's going to find that in Palo Alto? … It's your decision, okay? And I know it's hard. But, please don't just let this be about our safety.
Coach White led McFarland High to nine state titles over the next 14 years. All seven runners depicted in the film except one went on to attend college and succeed in their careers. Jim White retired from coaching in 2003 and he and his wife still live in McFarland. Niki Caro, Director, McFarland, USA (Disney Corporation, 2015), Scene 22: 1:42:50—1:45:27; submitted by Jerry de Luca, Montreal West, Montreal, Canada
Benjamin Kwashi, a Christian leader from Jos, Nigeria, tells the following story of how the gospel came to his part of the country:
Missionaries came to my home area of Nigeria in 1907. One of them was a man named Reverend Fox. Reverend Fox was a professor at Cambridge University, and when he arrived his walk with Christ was so deep that he led many people to Christ. He founded a church and moved about 10 kilometers away to Amper, my own hometown, and founded the church there too. How a first-class person from the University of Cambridge was communicating to illiterates, I don't know, but God suddenly gave him favor and people were turning to Jesus Christ. So many people came to Christ that he wrote to his younger brother, who was a physician also in Cambridge, and asked him to come and help him because medical practice was needed. As his brother started the journey from England, Reverend Fox fell ill and died. Soon after his brother arrived, he also fell ill and died.
The Church Mission Society wrote to their father, who was also a pastor. When they told him he had lost two sons, he and his wife cried, but then they did something astounding. They sold their land and property, took the proceeds to the mission society, and said, "As much as we grieve the death of our two sons, we will only be consoled if the purpose for which they died continues." They gave that money and walked away.
Recently I looked through the profile of those two missionaries who came to my hometown. They both had first-class educations and degrees from the best schools. They died as young men—the oldest was only 32. They gave up everything to serve Jesus and bring the gospel to my country. Were they crazy? No, they had heard what Jesus had said, they believed it, and they were willing to stake their whole lives on the truth of Jesus' words. These men wanted to end their lives well. No matter how long or short their life, it wasn't going to be wasted, but they would invest it for eternity.
Benjamin Kwashi, "Where Do You Want to Finish Your Life?" PreachingToday.com
