Love the People around Us
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47
Intro: We are most like Jesus when we “Love the People around Us.”
The bible teaches us what this looks like here in Acts chapter 2.
The first church…, the prototype church…, the original church
Had a red hot Holy Spirit…, evangelistic…, disciple making temperature.
This is still our model for church today.
We sometimes forget this.
We need to be reminded from time to time to check our temperature.
To see if we have individually grown a little cool.
To see if we have corporately grown a little cool.
Has the red hot Holy spirit of God cooled a bit around us?
Do we really care about people as much as we say we care about people?
Do we really “Love the People around Us?” Like Jesus loved the people around him?
Today we are going to talk about What it means to truly love the people around us the way Jesus loves us.
Here we have a terrific snapshot of what a loving and caring Christian fellowship is supposed to be like.
The church was excited
The church was passionate about Christ and loving one another.
Christians understood that worship was not something you went too.
Worship was who you are.
They understood that loving God and loving people was and is and will always be the greatest commands.
God wants to take you to deeper relationships in our walk with Him,
and He wants to take us into higher places of blessing in our life.
But we cannot get there on our own.
Are you ready to be where God wants you to be?
If so, then how do you get there?
1. This is a great starting place to live. God could have put you someplace else.
So blessed………. I don’t want to say overblessed…. Maybe sometimes forget how good we have it.
Has the Holy Spirit gotten cooler?
Or has our temperature cooled down for the Lord?
The other side.
The Ugly Side
Paintsville Police Blotter
domestic disturbance.
theft complaint.
DUI complaint.
vehicle theft.
property dispute.
juvenile complaint.
public drunk.
shoplifting.
custody dispute.
fight in progress.
Drug abuse is a serious problem.
Children that are abuse and have to be removed from their homes.
Some mom or dad got this phone call that their son or daughter was picked up for D.U.I.
Let me just remind you this morning that about 62% of the people in this county
will not be in church this Sunday.
God gave his only son for the salvation of the world.
Come Holy Spirit come…, Burn like a fire in your people.
So I want to get real practical this morning.
How can I love the people around me?
Let me remind you that Jesus is our model.
Jesus knows he is getting ready to die.
Tell his disciple go to Jerusalem one last time.
He will be sacrificed.
Comes out of the city of Bethany that is at the top of a hill which we call the Mt. of Olives.
On a donkey
As he does people begin to cheer.
Hosanna
Which means praise----worship, rejoice, magnify, glory
But it also means SAVE US AND RESCUE US.---can’t do it without you. Need your help.
Jesus’Arch enemies the Pharisees is there.
Jesus tell disciple that if they stop
If they quit praising these rocks will praise him
The stones were their conscience---
Voice of the faithful who had served for years to make it possible for their faith
Martyrs and people suffered persecution---hardships and sacrifices to keep things going….
What does your conscience cry out to tell you this morning?
1. Self awareness
2. Heart---30 occurrences in the NT---all have to do with HOW WE BEAR WITNESS
How we love like Jesus loved.
As Jesus is coming over into Jerusalem
Jesus Looks
Models for us to what it means to love the people
You think it is tough coming here once a week.
It was really tough for Jesus to go to Jerusalem.
But as (Jesus) came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead…
Luke 19:41a (NLT)
1. ___see________ the people as Jesus _____saw________ them.
There is Seeing people and then there is really seeing people.
There was a guy on a plane wanting to make sure everyone knew he was a Christian.
He was preaching.
Kind of preaching that lets people know if you are not a Christian you are going to hell.
That kind of preaching.
Right across the isle was a woman named Chyral who was crying
because she was on her way to see her mother in the hospital who was dying.
Before I get judgmental… How many times have I seen Chyral but haven’t seen her.
Get the log out of your own eye…
How many times have you seen one of you but not really seeing you?
Seeing my neighbors but not really seeing.
But NOT really see everyone.
See the police blotter
Jesus saw people for who they were and who they could become.
Saw their good
He saw their bad, he saw their ugly he saw their potential.
If we are going to love like Jesus we have to see like Jesus.
He saw Nicodemus this religious guy.
He was the guy who went to temple every Sunday.
He was the typical Sunday go the church person.
But he saw Nicodemus for who he really was.
And he said Nicodemus you must be born again.
He did not see him as a religious hypocrite.
He saw him as the guy who would later go to the religious leaders and take Jesus off the cross.
A chapter later we see a woman who had been married 5 times
The man she was with was not her husband.
Jesus did not see her for her Divorces and married
Saw her as great evangelist to her city.
Good bad and the ugly but as what people can become.
We need to look at people with granny glasses.
Wonder amazement and love
Sometimes she pulls her glasses down
Mostly gazes at them. Love them no matter what.
(one they know that when evening comes their going back home with mom and dad.)
But sometimes glares at them to correct them
Don’t really have to say anything.
They just look at them.
Not that the grand kids are bad kids but ever once in while we all need someone to correct us
And look at us for what we are really doing.
And then be caring and honest enough to tell us hey you need to stop that.
You need to change that beheaviour
But do we see people for who they really are.
Then who they can become
Do we see like Jesus?
Are we ------------
2. ______broken heart________________ the people as Jesus _______broken heart for ___ them.
Do you remember you first broken heart?
I remember it as though it were yesterday.
I was about 8 years old.
I had my first puppy.
I named him Tripper.
Because the puppy had big feet and he was always tripping over his feet and tumbling down.
One day dad was starting the car
And out ran Tripper from underneath the car
Yelping and barking.
Tripper was o.k. I guess the car starting up scared him.
But tripper barking and crying scared me and for a moment my heart stopped beating.
As I thought the car had hurt the little puppy.
But the puppy was alright.
But before I realized that the puppy was going to be alright.
I was paralyzed with fear.
I began to cry.
It was like someone reached into my chest and grabbed my heart and squeezed it.
Here is the deal there is that kind of heart brokenness.
Then there is another kind of heartbrokenness.
There is the heartbrokenness that paralyses us with fear.
THEN THERE THE HEARTBROKENNESS THAT MOTIVATES US TO ACTION..
The kind of heartbrokenness that inspires us.
That is the kind of heartbrokenness that I am talking about.
We see it modeled by this Jesus
Who saw both the Hosanna crowd and the Crucify him crowd.
…he began to weep.
Luke 19:41b (NLT)
Wept over the people living around him.
Greek word weep kalayo
not like hall mark commercial shed a little tear.
But a deep gut sobbing
Feel sorry for those people
Jesus in distress
Grieving over them
He saw great potential
Where they are living
Where they are heading to
Heart broken
The other time it is used in the Greek
Jesus Stood before Lazarus’ tomb and wept over friend death.
May I suggest that what breaks Jesus heart is the spiritual deadness in people.
This week we were driving back from Panama city vacation.
Panama to Atlanta Georgia is about 290 miles
Then from Atlanta to Paintsville is another 430 miles
Even though Atlanta is only about 1/3 of the way back home
Somehow in my mind I thought if we can just get through Atlanta and the traffic
16 lanes of traffic 8 north and 8 south
Gina looked back and made sure Jacob had his seat belt on.
About that time a truck blew by us.
This kid who could not have been older than 8 or 9 was hanging out the window.
Crazy
But you know how you feel like if I can just get to a certain place
It will feel like we are close to home.
Late Friday night. Early Saturday morning
So we made it through Atlanta.
Stopped and I got some sleep and Gina drove
We stopped in London.
Since I lived 4 years in Williamsburg/Corbin/London was like yea we made it
Even though we were still another 2 and half hours from Paintsville it felt like we were almost home.
Let me tell you first of all I was praying that we would make it though the traffic in Atlanta
But the closer we got home the more I was praying for a different reason.
I am not praying that we will make it back to Paintsville
I am comfortable with that by now.
But I began to think about getting back to work on Monday
And I began to pray not just for you who attend church regularly
Not just for the people who live in our community and county.
But I began to pray for myself.
I began to pray. God would you break my heart.
For what breaks yours
Can we all be really honest for a second.
How much do we really care about ourselves?
We all care about me and mine and maybe sometimes our church.
But far too often as we are doing our own activities and travels
Our heart is not broken for the people around us.
We are kind of oblivious to the domestic violence, the etc???
And over those who are spiritually dead.
Never been saved.
Never been baptized.
Never see the need for salvation or Jesus.
And we can gallantly and arrogantly go on without respect for what the other person is going through
or what is happening in their life.
Somebody in our community experiences some heartache
And we feel satisfied that we typed prayers on Facebook.
But that is about as far as it goes to actually reaching out and doing anything about it.
You can just cavalierly make my way on to something else.
Because my heart is not broken.
I believe Jesus models this heavy lifting sharing is sharing the gospel with the people.
God would you break my heart for what breaks yours.????
Because if we could see people for who they are and who they could become
And if we could ask God to break our heart
Then we would really be ready to love the people in this community.
Now here would be a good place to end the sermon and give the benediction and go home.
But that would be too easy.
The next part of the message is where the rubber meets the road.
It is where the temperature really rises and things really begin to heat up.
Because here is the third thing Jesus models for us.
How long can you say I don’t know enough to go out and teach someone else about faith?
Forever--- none of us have all the answers.
Just have to share what God has done and is doing in you!!!
3. ____Alert__________ the people as Jesus ______Alerts ____________ them.
Jesus sees people hosanna crowd and crucifying crowds
Sobs in distress
Speaks sobbing words.
“How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace.
But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes.
Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you
and close in on you from every side.
They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you.
Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you.”
Luke 19:42-44 (NLT)
“How I wish today” THINK ABOUT THOSE WORDS
----NOW IS THE TIME
NEXT THINK ABOUT THE WORDS PEACE
Word for peace Irene
JESUS TAUGHT THEM….
Always connect to the way to salvation
Rescue to redeem understood
That is what my last 3 years of life has been about
Because they did not listen to Jesus
Offer to way of peace would short circuit destruction
Because Jesus knew because he was God
That in the year 70 a.d.
The Romans would come and 1 million people in Jerusalem would be slaughtered/
Jesus deeply desires that his people would bypass all of that.
Can I tell you what the learning from that is for us?
It is not politically correct to say this
But people are going to spend eternity somewhere.
You have to settle that in your own heart.
People will either spend eternality with God
Or people will spend eternity apart from God
It breaks God’s heart
It breaks Jesus’ heart
When he sees people who want to live in death instead of choosing life.
People who want to live in chaos instead of choosing the way of peace.
It is never our job to tell people where they will spend eternity.
That is God job.
But it is our job to warn people there is life and then comes the judgment.
Jesus was heartbroken by it.
This should bring tears to our eyes.
This should break our heart for what breaks the heart of God.
Many of things
Worship fellowship
Perfect bodies
Stuff we enjoy in fellowship of church do in heaven.
One thing we want tell people about Jesus in heaven because it will be too late.
There is symbol of our denomination.
We kinda get the cross part.
The whole death, burial and resurrection
We get that and celebrate that
But what you might not understand is the flame part.
The flame part comes from a verse earlier in the book of Acts about the fire.
Of the Holy Spirit.
Do you know what people feel when they engage with the church that is one fire?
They feel the presence of the HS that is what they feel.
So ask you is fire a little dim?
What don’t you join us in seeing
Having heart broken
With tears in eyes warning people there is an eternity. First Church Let’s Love the People around Us
