It Starts With Power | The Church We Have Been Missing

♪♪ Welcome to Rich Casey, everybody! We just want to invite you to stand up and join in with us. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ Whoo! So follow me, come and do it again Open up the gates that have been all again Come rest on us Come rest on us Who thought I'd found you at the lowest place? Who thought you'd feel me in the crowd? Who knew you'd make the kind of mistakes When nothing like I thought you were, you're better What a God, what a God What a God, what a God What a God, what a God It's who you are What a God, what a God I thought you'd show up for perfection What kind of God looks for the lost? They say it's over for a sinner But you say, no it's not, no it's not I thought, I thought you'd show up for perfection What kind of God looks for the lost? They say it's over for a sinner But you say, no it's not, no it's not You say, no it's not, no it's not What a God, what a God What a God, what a God What a God, what a God What a God, what a God What a God, what a God It's who you are What a God, what a God In the highest place I reach is at your feet And I've done it all But the best thing that I've seen is your glory And I've seen it all Your love has saved my life forever satisfied You are my everything In the highest place I reach is at your feet And I've done it all But the best thing that I've seen is your glory And I've seen it all Your love has saved my life forever satisfied You are my everything In the highest place I reach is at your feet And I've done it all But the best thing that I've seen is your glory And I've seen it all Your love has saved my life forever satisfied You are my everything If one word is the only thing And I've heard it all If I feel your heart and never see your hand I still have it all Your treasured love is mine Could it be satisfied?

You are my everything You are my everything You are my everything What a God, what a God You are my everything The highest place I reach is at your feet And I've done it all The best thing that I've seen is your glory And I've seen it all No treasure in this life Could ever satisfy You are my everything If one word is the only thing you speak And I've heard it all If I feel your heart and never see your lips I still have it all No treasure in this life Could ever satisfy You are my everything You are my everything You are my everything My everything, God You are my everything You are my everything You are my everything You are my everything My everything Spirit break down Let all walls down Spirit break down

Let it come down on you Spirit break down Let all walls down Spirit break down Let it come down My Father All of heaven rush your name, sing it louder Let this place erupt with praise, can you hear it? The sound of heaven touching earth The sound of heaven touching earth, our Father All of heaven rush your name, sing it louder Let this place erupt with praise, can you hear it? The sound of heaven touching earth The sound of heaven touching earth, we will break out Break our walls down Hear it break out Heaven come down King Jesus, you're the name we're lifting high Your glory shaking up the earth, it's God's revival We wanna see your kingdom here We wanna see your kingdom here King Jesus, you're the name we're lifting high Your glory shaking up the earth, it's God's revival We wanna see your kingdom here We wanna see your kingdom here Hear it break out Break our walls down Hear it break out Heaven come down Hear it break out

Break our walls down Hear it break out Heaven come down Hear it break out Hear it break out God, you are so good. And there is something so powerful when you step into the room. Holy Spirit, when you make your presence in your house, you do something that only you can do. And there is a shifting in the atmosphere that's going on right now. That there is a tangible piece of heaven that is going on right now. That the goal in life is that you would be glorified in this earthly life. In this brokenness of this world, that a tiny piece of heaven would come down. And that you would be glorified in that, God. And that heaven would come down to earth. And that is opened up by your people. And that is opened up by your people. And that is opened up through praise that is on our lips and in our hearts. So as a church we come together here. We are gathered here to worship. We are gathered here to praise. We are gathered here to proclaim that you are king. Would you do what only you can do? Would you break out? Come on! Come on church! Come on! Spirit break out! Heaven come down! Heaven come down! Amen!

Lord we thank you for the ministry. The ministry of the Holy Spirit that is ministering to us right now. Can I feel him ministering into his heart, into the hearts of sons and into the hearts of daughters right now. So thank you for your presence. God thank you for the access that you give to us. Thank you for who you are. You are good. You are faithful. You are never changing. You are gracious. You are merciful. You are almighty. We acknowledge you for who you are God. We are so thankful for you Lord. Thank you. Let us be a people that is submissive to you. And change you by the transformation power that you give. And all of God's people in the church. They gave a mighty. Amen! Can we make some noise in the house Lord! You can have a seat. Tell your neighbor welcome, welcome, welcome home. Welcome home. How many of us are excited to be here this morning? I know I am. I'm seeing a lot of smiling beautiful faces out there this morning too. Something about that summertime just brings in something else don't it? We tell you welcome home because we believe that you are actually home.

And for you to believe that you are home that means you have to first believe that you belong. And we are here to tell you as a church that the way that you walked into those doors today, you belong. You leave the cleansing to do to Jesus. He'll wash you up. Let the church come in and love on you. In the process of him cleansing you. And to the first time guests we say welcome home. It is not by happenstance. It is not a coincidence. It isn't the earth or mother nature that brought you in here but an almighty powerful God. And prayers of people around you. That brought you into this door. And for the ones that are returning. That have been gone for a minute and been brought back. We still say welcome home. Tell your neighbor welcome back. Tell your neighbor where'd I go? Because we believe that God is looking for unlikely people from overlooked places to do extraordinary things. We are committed to being a house of prayer. And a house that will preach the gospel in love and truth. And that will love the people of God. And meet them where they are at. To the ones that are watching live on Pando right now we say welcome home. That you are seen and you are cared for and you are loved. And it is inside of that Pando app which is an app on a tablet that is in prison. A beautiful gift. Many people using their giftings and a desire for the gospel message to be reached inside of those cells have accommodated that opportunity. opportunity for those people and then inside of those cells there's particularly one woman in this church that her heart was to God and to the Lord and in her heart of turning to the Lord

and turning to God that desire of community grew. She wanted to feel what? Connected because that's what God does. He loves on you and he says go love mine. He loves on you and he says go love mine. He doesn't say now that you love me you stay by yourself but he draws us to community so that we could glorify him through our life and inside of that cell there was a need. Listen to me, a need identified, a need for community and and inside of that tablet there was a church just a bunch of willing vessels, just some vessels being used by God and inside of that tablet inside of that church this woman watched something. She watched the sermon, she watched some worship, she saw the podcast whatever it was that she's seen and God spoke to her in that in that podcast and in those moments and in that worship through that app and said go there and then there was a heart that was submissive identifying to that need and said okay got out of prison and decided to come here but didn't let that stop her. Didn't let just walking through the doors be the end of it but got in here and said what next Lord brother what should we do brother what should we do the continually asking of brother what should we do not just once when we are saved but the continuing asking of it of sister what should we do go into discipleship and grow get into bible study and grow get into a growth group and grow and the continually pressing in and now I can sit there and testify that this woman is building her life God is restoring her life and she leads a group of bible study every single week in this church hallelujah you can make some noise for that and that is the power of what Jesus will do

through willing vessels that will give of themselves because what kingdom builders is is identifying a need and reaching that need there is a need there is a need for people that are lost to be connected connected to Jesus and connected to the church and when you give and you give through kingdom builders you help fulfill the need what do I give to here it is there is a need we give of our time we give of our talents we give of our treasures we give of our heart we're gonna take up an offering i'm gonna get some ushers up here i'm excited to jump into our message where our pastor is taking us through the book of acts and a word that you will be extremely blessed by so God we thank you Lord for who you are we thank you so much for your grace and your mercy we thank you for the prickling of our heart let us know we're close to you God we love you we thank you for the opportunity to be right here to give of ourselves Lord let us acknowledge you let us do it out of obedience and out of love give with a glad hand live our lives ready to serve Lord so I ask that you would bless the gift and the giver in Jesus mighty name amen hey reach kc we are so excited because tomorrow's memorial day which means we're having our barbecue we're gonna eat some pulled pork and hot dogs while you bring some sides you can bring potato salad chips dip your favorite fruit or vegetable or even pop if you don't want to cook so come on out let's have some fun together it's a tribe in our own backyard this is our yard at our building and so we're gonna have some fun we're gonna play some games we're gonna have some sidewalk chalk for the kids and we're gonna have a great time with our first

ever picnic at our building so bring your friends bring your family and let's all have a good time together see you there come on how many of us are excited for that amen to be able to just hang out and fellowship isn't isn't that what it's all about isn't that what the the body is all about to just be able to be a part of something that is bigger than ourselves and just watch God work in the context of community. I believe personally that discipleship happens in the context of community. When you get around some people, God can just do some amazing stuff and so I challenge you to come tomorrow. Bring your best side. Bring your grandma's recipe. Come on everybody. See if you can beat my mama's potato salad and bring something. I bet you can't. I double dog dare you to try. Amen. We are excited. Come be a part of that. We're going to hang out at the new building and so we'll be able to just fellowship, play games, have fun. We're excited for what the Lord is doing. I just want to welcome everybody home. Somebody turn to their neighbor and just give them a fist bump. Say, hey, welcome home. Amen. This is a place where we just want you to feel like you are at home no matter what your background has been, no matter what your past, your mistakes have been. We just feel like God is just wanting to do something amazing right here through you and in that, we are in a series that is titled It Starts With Power. Amen. We're going through the book of Acts and we have started in here on a theme that is called Church on the Move and we're looking at what the New Testament church looks like. What did Jesus say when he deployed them at the end of the gospels and then sent them out to actually do what it was that he said to do? And so today I want to preach from the title The Church We Have Been Missing. The Church We Have Been Missing. And we live in a world that is constantly shaping who we are. I mean, every day we are being discipled by something. We're being discipled by something, whether it's voices, whether it's entertainment, whether it's relationships, algorithms, even culture, fear, politics, success, even influence. We are discipled by the influence or the lack thereof or the desire of it. Social media has almost dumbed down a generation because we have these things that we strive after and most people underestimate how much environments form hearts. How much environments form hearts. But Jesus said this, there are seeds that never fully grow because the soil around them keeps choking the life out of

them. But the issue was never the seed. The issue was the environment surrounding the seed. Because healthy things struggle to grow in unhealthy environments. Healthy things struggle to grow in unhealthy. You can plant kingdom seed in toxic soil. You cannot plant kingdom seed in toxic soil and expect healthy growth. You can't expect healthy fruit if you plant a kingdom seed. See, some believers never grow because the environment around the seed never changes. I'm just saying some believers never grow because the environment around the seed never changes. The seed wasn't bad. The soil is. And this has always been the danger of the people of God because God is not trying to just save us from hell church. He's trying to plant you in healthy soil before that. He's trying to plant you in healthy soil so the former isn't an option of the latter. That it is something that he wants to do. If you look all the way back in second king 17, you don't have to go there. Israel slowly became shaped by the nations around them. What began as proximity eventually became conformity. Because they adopted practices, they adopted values, they adopted compromises of the culture that was surrounding them. And if we're honest, the same thing is still happening today. We are living in a culture constantly trying to disciple us. It's constantly telling us, hey, normalize compromise. It's okay. It's okay. You don't have to. You don't have to do that. You don't have to do that. The Bible, God wants you to be in a relationship. He wants you to be happy. It's okay. Just compromise. It doesn't matter what happiness looks. It's like, just be happy. It will have you redefining truth and what truth really is. But truth doesn't change. Truth is the truth. It will have you celebrating rebellion. Watch any television. Watch any show. It will have you celebrating rebellion and it shapes our desires as far away from God as possible and slowly, without realizing it, it can have people to where they start to look

more formed by culture than by Christ. That's why Peter stands up in Acts 2, after the spirit falls and conviction fills the crowd and he says in Acts 2, verse 40, we said this last week, save yourselves from a crooked generation. Save yourselves from this crooked generation. Now hear me carefully. Peter is not calling believers to isolate themselves from people. That's not what Peter is doing. He's not telling them to just abandon the world because Jesus had already prayed in John 17 that we would be in the world, but not of the world, right? This is a separation from a system that opposes God. The goal isn't isolation from people. It's refusing to let the world's systems to continue to disciple us. It's to break away from the things that have been shaping us and forming us and is what's powerful is this, is God never calls people out. He never calls people out from where they was just to leave them alone. He calls them into a new community and that's exactly what Acts 2 shows us and so today I wanna look at three critical ways to identify the church that we have been missing and then at the end, I'm gonna give a few applicable points

to see how we can walk that out and make it applicable and so if you're taking notes, which I encourage you to because you get a seat right by Peter in heaven if you do. Come on somebody, I don't know where Peter's sitting, but I'm assuming he's close to Jesus. That's, I don't know if that's true or not, but why not take the chance, you know? But the first critical way to identify the church that we have been missing is this, God calls us out. God calls us out. Sometimes he really calls you out, but sometimes he just calls us out of something. Acts 2 40 says this, save yourselves from this crooked generation. Peter has literally just preached Christ crucified and Christ resurrected. We looked at that last week and I highlighted this passage a little bit and I said, man, I gotta go back in order to go forward and so we had to come back to this because the crowd was just cut to the heart. They were pierced to the heart is what scripture says. 3,000 people were literally on the verge of salvation. I mean, they were hungry. They were like, give me some more and Peter warning, Peter's warning to them is interesting. He doesn't merely tell them, hey, just believe, just repeat after me. No, he tells them, save yourselves from this crooked generation.

Why? Because Peter understood something that we still struggle with today and that's what continually surrounds you will eventually shape you. The issue is not merely just individual sin. It was an entire crooked system constantly pulling hearts away from God. Watch this. Some of which were those who thought they had a relationship with God. He's talking to the Jews that came to the feast that was happening during Pentecost and he's telling them what is happening and I believe that we still live in this same tension today because we live in a culture that is constantly discipling people. Telling us to resist authority, to just go ahead and compromise, to make truth whatever you want it to be and live your best life and do what you need to do and distort whatever identity that God has called you to have and it doesn't matter what people say and slowly it is shaping people away from wholehearted devotion to God. Amen. Even to the point that we get caught so much up on the rules of religiosity that we forget to sit at the feet of Jesus sometimes

and just say, God, I just need your presence. God, I just need you in my life. I just need to slow down and quit doing for you. God did not create human doings. created human beings. Sometimes we just need to be in his presence. And the danger with spiritual drift is that it rarely happens suddenly. It often happens gradually. Happens quietly, it happens subtly. We don't even realize it, but we slowly start fantasizing about things that are not godly. We start fantasizing about that relationship that we don't need. We start fantasizing about that substance that we don't need. We start fantasizing about that money that we don't need. We start fantasizing. And it's just like Israel in 2 Kings 17. The people of God became shaped by the nations around them. Why? Because what began as proximity soon became compromise. It soon came conformity. They took adoption to the values and the culture that was around them. And before long, the people

that were supposed to be distinct looked just like everybody else. The ones that were supposed to be separate. See, is what happens is every crooked generation eventually tries to normalize what God called crooked. I'm gonna run that back. Because every crooked generation eventually tries to normalize what God called crooked. That's why scripture repeatedly warns believers to be careful about spiritual mixture. Paul talks about it in 2 Corinthians chapter six verses 14 through 18. He said, hey, don't team up with unbelievers. Don't team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be partners with wickedness? How can light have association with darkness? What harmony, what harmony, what balance can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? What union can there be between God's temple and idols? For we are a temple of the living God. As God has said, I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they will be my people. Therefore, come out, come out from among unbelievers and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don't touch their filthy things and I will welcome you and I will be your father and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. This is not about becoming isolated

from unbelievers church. It is about refusing partnerships. It is about refusing influences and attachments that slowly pull your heart away from devotion to God. Because whatever continually pulls on your life eventually shapes your life. Whatever influence that you allow into your life will eventually, because you're gonna either get what they got or you're gonna get what they got. And usually they will, or you will get what they got before you get what they got or whatever. You know what I'm saying? I think I said that wrong both times. You gonna get what they got before they got what you get. God. Whatever. And it's crazy because Jesus clarifies this balance perfectly in John 17. Jesus said this in John 17. He said, I'm not asking you. He's talking to God. He's praying to the father. And he said, hey, I'm not asking you to take them out of the world. What? But to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Notice Jesus never calls them to run from people. We're not called to hide from the world church. We're called to remain distinct within it.

We're called to influence the world without letting the world redefine us and redefine our character and redefine our families and redefine relationships and redefine what love is supposed to look like to their eyes because it's, we can do whatever we want. No, we can't. Jesus was accused of eating with sinners, but he was never influenced by them. There's a difference between reaching people and becoming shaped by them, right? This is where many believers actually struggle because people underestimate how much environment shape our hearts. We underestimate it. We will place ourselves in places, but see Jesus taught this in the parable of soils. or in the parable of the sower if you go back and you look at it some some seed fell among thorns and thorns slowly choked the life out of what God planted the issue was never the seed church the issue was the environment surrounding the seed you cannot plant kingdom soil or seed in toxic soil and expect healthy fruit to come from it it just doesn't work see some believers are wondering why their passion for God keeps dying while continually surrounding themself with influences opposing everything that God is trying to grow in them I just don't understand I've been going to church for a year now and ain't nothing changed cuz you ain't changed nothing he said save yourself from this crooked generation save yourself from this from this crooked save yourself from all of the things that the world is trying to define you by you cannot continually surround yourself with what opposes God and expect passion for God to remain alive in you but here's the tricky part because it's not just the influence from

unbelievers I need a drumroll Dale did you know did you know that scripture warns us about influences inside the church too oh shoot I'm sorry guys not sorry but let's be honest there are a lot of people that say they're believers inside the church but are acting like unbelievers and influencing younger Christians and you want to know what what Jesus said because there are even people who claim they have ministries they might be social media but they've got ministries and Jesus said this in Matthew 7 he said be aware of false prophets who disguise themselves as harmless sheep but are really vicious some passages say ravageness wolves what's that mean not every spiritual voice is safe not every influence is healthy we need discernment church we need discernment we need to be praying for discernment we need to be in the Word of God because not everyone who claims that they are speaking on behalf of God is really sent by God sometimes people are acting on their own accord sometimes people are sent by other principalities and all you have to do is watch for inconsistencies in the fruit of their labor they will disguise themselves as harmless sheep they will come in they will come and coddle people that are hurt they'll come and coddle people that are corrected they'll come and coddle people that have been held accountable and say you don't deserve that you don't deserve to be treated like that you don't deserve and they will disguise themselves as harmless sheep even at Christian base events but they have no real accountability in their lives because they've actually ran away from every form of accountability that has called them out that's why you check the sources who sponsored this who's behind how come ain't nobody with influence here how come how come there's just something in my spirit that's off listen not every sheep is spent to ascent to speak on behalf of the Savior every sheep should be but not every sheep is some of them are ravages this wolves and sometimes they are sent to speak by Satan but they was quoting scripture I know he quoted it to Jesus at the end of the 40 days in the wilderness I know but if you don't know the context of Scripture you'll take what some prophet has came to tell you and misinterpret it and apply it to your

life and start going a direction that is allowing you to redefine truth because you don't know the truth but they seem harmless though yeah I know follow him long enough though and you'll find out why why they don't allow anybody to correct them and it's interesting because Paul clarifies that we are not also called to avoid unbelievers completely watch in first Corinthians 5 he said this when I wrote to you before he kind of gets corrective when I wrote to you before or I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. Hold your seats, church. It's about to get real. But I wasn't talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin or are greedy or cheat people or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. I meant, I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer and yet indulges in sexual sin. Oh, shoot, 20 people ain't coming back. Or is greedy chasing money over power. I'm a believer. I run businesses, but I'll never tithe. I don't trust the church. No, you don't trust God. You don't trust God. There are systems set in place for accountability to help the church. You can come to the business meeting and see all of what's really happening.

Or the people who claim to be believers and worship idols. That means putting anything before God. That means anything that is stopping your relationship from growing with him. That means anything that is taking the place of what you should be doing for him. Anything that is stopping in your heart, the worship of God because you're too consumed by this or anybody that is abusive spiritually, mentally, or physically, but claims to be a believer. Or as a drunkard, you know, just out living my best life. You know, I only got one life to live. I'm gonna do the best with it. Okay. The church is telling, if you are a believer in the house today, under my voice, scripture is telling you, be careful if you're hanging out with people in the church that is doing this stuff. Don't look to your neighbor right now. Everybody look right here. Okay. Or cheats people. You know, shady characters. You know, ones that are gossiping and backbiting and, you know, slandering everybody else in the body of Christ and tearing them down because they think that they're, anyways. You know what he said? Don't even eat. Don't even eat with such people.

Don't even break bread with such people. Oh, that's interesting because we're gonna see what it's like to actually eat with people here in just a second. See, Paul warns believers to separate from disorderly and rebellious influences inside the church that continually resist godliness. Why? Because environments matter. Influences matter. What shapes you matters. Be careful what is shaping you. And hear me carefully. This message is not about isolation. This is not about fear-driven Christianity. This is not about abandoning people. This is actually about protecting your devotion. It's about protecting because separation, every separation that I see in scripture was meant to create a deeper devotion to God. If he said be separate from that, there was a reason. If he said be separate from this, there was a reason. See, God calls people out because he desires intimacy with them. And it's what's beautiful about Acts 2 is this, is that God never calls people out just to leave them empty. He calls them into something. Which leads me to the second critical way that we can identify a church that we have been missing, and it's that God calls us together.

He calls us together. See, Acts 2 41 says this, those who believed what Peter said, those who believed what he said were baptized and added to the church that day about 3,000 in all. 3,000 people saved in one day. I mean, you wanna talk about massive church growth. All of a sudden in one day, but yet we say that churches aren't supposed to be large. And yet I see what is happening right here, and is what's amazing about Acts 2 is that Peter's message did not simply produce individual conversions, it produced a people, a people that pursued him. 3,000 people responded to the gospel this day, 3,000. But they didn't go home unchanged and disconnected. They didn't leave church the same. They immediately became a part of something bigger than themselves. Luke says they were added to the church. That word matters because there were 3,000 people that weren't just saved from something, they were added to something. They weren't just saved, they were added to a visible body, to a distinct people, to a spiritual family and that is so important because in modern day Christianity it has offered this reduced salvation to a private experience instead of public transformation. It's reduced it to a private experience but in scripture salvation was never a private belief disconnected from public belonging. When people encountered Jesus in acts they did not merely agree intellectually, they identified publicly. That's why baptism mattered so deeply because baptism at this moment was public separation. For these believers baptism was not casual, it was costly.

Baptism to them declared my old life no longer owns me. The things that I abided by, my identity has changed, I belong to Jesus now, the one that we just crucified, I belong to his people now. It was a public identification with Christ and public separation from the old system that they once lived under and this was a life or death decision. Because if they was caught in public they could die by being identified as a Christian. Did you know a Christian was actually a derogatory statement? It was never even intended to be an identifying mark like we have it. It was because you was identified to follow that traitor. When they were identified this was a life or death situation but notice how quickly this happens. They did not spend months debating whether they wanted to commit to community. Do I? I don't know. Do I like his preaching? The preaching is okay, it's mediocre but I don't know about the worship. It's a little loud, they're a little too Bethel like, it's really kind of washed up, it gives me vibes of just, you know, I could do it but the pastor only preaches from NLT. It needs to be King James. It needs to be at least new King James because that's the closest thing to what scripture actually really is, is King James Version. No they were saved, baptized and added because salvation immediately connects people to God and honestly this confronts the mindset of consumeristic Christianity because people today want salvation without separation. People want belief without belonging. People want church without any commitment because it costs me something. People want spirituality without accountability. People want Christianity without community, especially since COVID when everybody can just be a part of church from the world wide web, be a digital disciple, be a digital disciple of a church they've never even attended.

Why? Because they walk out their faith without any accountability. You cannot just attend church online. You have to attend church in person, not even here, I don't care where you go. Find a Bible believing church that people will speak into your life, hold you accountable to the word of God and tell you to raise higher and it's going to offend you. It's going to hurt your feelings because it's contrary to everything that we have ever believed. It's contrary to the things that we have adapted to because we have removed ourself from any authority or accountability in our lives because we don't like to feel that feeling that it makes us feel, but this is not the pattern that we see in the book of Acts. They didn't raise their hand and disappear. They were added to a body. They became a part of something immediately and what's powerful is this. The church grew because transformed people stopped blending in with the world. Healthy churches are born when transformed people stop blending in. The early church did not grow. grow because it looked like culture. It grew because it was distinct from culture. They seen it and people want it to be a part. What, what's going on with you? Man, there's something different about you, man. I seen you lose a loved one and you handled yourself in the way that you handled yourself, man. That's admirable. How did you, how did you compose yourself in those moments? Well, let me tell you about it. And it opens up a door. See there was something different about these people. They had different priorities. They had different devotions. They had a different love. They had a different generosity. We're going to talk about that in the coming weeks. They had a different hunger for God and people were drawn to it. What grows the church is not compromised with culture,

but contrast from culture. That doesn't mean isolation. It means transformation. It means be a part of something different. And the beauty of the gospel is God never calls people out to just leave them alone. He calls them into a spiritual family. He calls them into a people that help protect into a people that help strengthen and sharpen and form your faith. And so, so what did this separated people actually look like? What does this church that we've been missing all this time actually look like? Well, here's what it looks like in my third point today. And it's that God forms us through community. God forms us through community. See in Acts two verses 42 and 43 it says this, that all the believers, everybody say, all the believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching. You don't have to, you don't have to keep repeating it, but I mean, you can if you want to, but it gets a little weird after so many sentences for you, not for me. I mean, people seem to like, why is he mocking him? But it's like all the believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching. Hmm. That's interesting. So they had to sit and be submissive to the pastor's opinion, to the pastor's teaching, to the, and to fellowship and to sharing in meals, including the Lord's supper and to prayer and a deep sense of all came over them all. And the apostles performed many miracles, signs, and wonders. I almost wanted to develop a point on that because I wonder if the miracles, signs, and wonders were contingent on the all. I think churches sometimes don't see miracles, signs, and wonders because the people aren't in all the people aren't in all of what God is doing.

The people aren't in all of the fellowship that he has brought. The people aren't in all of the correction from the apostles teaching. The people aren't in all of what God is actually trying to do in and through them. And notice what Luke does after telling us that 3000 people were added. He immediately shows us what this new community actually looks like because salvation was not just about escaping judgment church. It was about being formed into a different kind of people. Yeah. And the antidote to a crooked generation was not shallow religion. It was devoted community. It was not about this, this shop, not, not just church attendance, but spiritual formation. And it's interesting because it's a two part process. There has to be those that are committed to teaching, but there also has to be those committed to learning. Yeah. And we cannot say church didn't do something for us if we haven't been committed to the church in the same capacity that we desire it to be committed to us. Only a few will clap. It's okay. It's okay. I understand the assignment because if we haven't been committed to the church in the same capacity that we've been desiring it to be committed to us, then it's, it's really not a fair shake. See they didn't merely attend church together. They built lives together around the presence of God. And Luke actually gives us four devotions that marked this spirit formed people. And the first one is this. They were word centered. Come on. The church and the beginning was word centered people. They were focused on the word. A crooked generation constantly tries to disciple people through lies, through compromise, through, through distorted truth.

But the church countered the culture with authentic truth. They went back to the word. That's the only thing that should continue to disciple us because the world distorts truth, but the word renews truth. The word is, is continuing. to bring realities. See, these believers understood something that many people forget today, that whatever continues to speak into you eventually shapes you. The world constantly preaches, be who you want to be, redefine what it means to you, follow your feelings, do you, pursue self, pursue whatever you want, compromise, it's okay, but the apostles' teaching anchored them in what God had spoken. Healthy churches are not built on trends, personalities, or entertainment, they're built on truth. They're built on truth, that's why it's so important to be careful who and what you allow to speak into your life. Everything has to be filtered through the word of God. That's why we gotta know the word of God, so that we can hear if the word that's being preached or spoken to us is actually authentic. See, scripture never contradicts scripture. It's a hermeneutical principle. It'll never contradict itself, no matter who conveys the message. A pastor could give you a message that contradicts scripture, and it's not a word from God. It's a word from Him. And you can't listen, you have to know the word of God. They were word-centered people. They were a word-centered church. The second one is this, they were relationship building. They were relationship focused. They didn't just gather occasionally, they shared life together. Why? Because isolation weakens faith. That's why we have growth groups. That's why we have growth track. In a growing church, you can get lost in the sauce on a Sunday morning. Get connected. Be a part of a smaller group of people that will help you grow spiritually. This especially matters for new believers. Why? Because a seed without healthy soil struggles to survive. You have to have, and believers without healthy communities struggle to stay rooted. The world isolates people, but the church is supposed to root people. They're supposed to be grounded. And faith always struggles in isolation, but it flourishes in godly community. It will flourish every time. If you submit to the process, this is why the enemy loves disconnected Christianity. This is why he loves digital disciples. This is why he loves online church, because if he can get you in your house just listening

to a message that makes you feel good, but it don't ever change you, you don't have people that will ever hold you accountable. See, the early church understood something. The isolated believers become vulnerable believers. You cannot walk through spiritual warfare alone. You cannot fight spiritual battles all by yourself. Biblical community strengthens endurance. That's why everybody needs accountability, even if you think you've outgrown it. Find new accountability. If you've outgrown the accountability that you've had, find new accountability. It ain't nothing wrong with that person. You've just grown to a place that you need new mentors. You need new spiritual advisors. You need new people that can help speak into your life. It don't mean you have to go to a different church. This means that you have to find some believers that can speak into your, begin to surround yourself with people that can call you higher, that helps you build structure and not just allow you to stay stagnant. And the next thing is that they were a hospitable people. This was more than just eating meals. They shared life together. They shared burdens together. They shared tables, they shared moments, they shared responsibilities. See, the world consumes people, but the church values people. The church is a miracle in itself, how it functions. And in a culture filled with transactional relationships, the early church opened their lives to one another and said, Hey, I'm available to you. They didn't just share services, they shared lives. They were not just building events. They were building a family that could help them walk this out. And there is something powerful that happens when people stop pretending and start truly living life together. Stop putting on that fake face, your Sunday morning facade of, Oh, I got it all. I'm too blessed to be stressed. No, you ain't. You've been going through hell. And you scared to admit it to somebody because you make it you think it's going to make you look weak. You've been struggling. It's okay. But have somebody that's going to walk this out with you. Company matters. And the fourth devotion. this they were prayerful they were prayerful they were they were a people that was willing to pray a people that was willing to be who God calls him to be see prayer kept them connected vertically while fellowship connected them horizontally it's this beautiful picture of the cross prayer connects you with God fellowship connects you with people see the crooked generation teaches self-dependence trust yourself trust your decisions follow your heart

build your own kingdom rely on your own strength but prayer the thing I love about prayer is it develops dependence on God see the world teaches self-dependence while prayer teaches God dependence prayer says hey I know that I can't do this God so I need you to intervene in this and I'm gonna be submissive to you and I'm gonna continue to petition you until something changes I'm not gonna change my position I'm not gonna change how I how I move I'm gonna continue to remain faithful I'm gonna continue to walk but I'm gonna continue to remain submissive and prayer I'm not gonna talk about it to everybody else I'm gonna talk about it to you because everybody else don't need to know what everybody else is doing but God I need you to know my heart I need you to correct me I need you to speak into me and send some of those people that can hear what I am going to see the church was powerful publicly but they were also God dependent privately their strength was not just strategy alone it was the presence of God among them and when the church becomes devoted to prayer the atmosphere begins to shift the atmosphere begins to break something begins to happen hearts begin to soften faith begins to grow within a people that had no faith faith begins to happen in people's lives because they've seen a miracle in some other unlikely person's life and they can begin to declare on the faith of their friend and believe that God would do the same thing in their life that they've done in somebody else's life and I can begin to walk with a prayerful life believing that God is going to do something see is what a separated people look like is not somebody that's isolated it's not somebody that's angry it's not somebody that's fearful it's somebody that's devoted it's somebody that's rooted in the church somebody that's rooted in the truth somebody that's connected somebody that's prayerful somebody that's formed by the truth and shaped by the presence of God see the world deforms people through constant compromise but the church forms people through constant devotion and maybe the reason that some believers never grow is not because the seed is bad but maybe some believers never grow because the environment around the

seed has never changed but God is trying to not just save you from hell but to plant you in healthy soil so that you can have an of life more abundantly than what you could have ever thought or imagined and the antidote to a crooked generation is a devoted community the antivote the antidote to a crooked generation is a devoted community one where they honor the Word of God one where they're committed to true honoring God honoring fellowship and a life that pours out constant prayer not just by the word but by deed also the thing I love about the hospitable part is many scholars say this that when they was breaking the bread together that the same language is used in the Greek for fellowshipping with one another as it was communion which tells me this that when you begin to meet with believers and break bread together it's like you're taking communion with one another because there is something about being connected to the body of Christ that brings remembrance to the salvation that he is placed within us and we should constantly reflect on the truth of who God is whenever we are surrounded with people not by compromise may we be a real acts to church may we be reach KC may we be Church that we have all been missing this entire time in our life May we be if you believe the Word of God today. Could I just have you stand to your feet? Could we give God just a quick praise for just a second Before anybody moves May we bring ourself into a moment with the truth of the gospel When we bring ourself into a moment right here So I want to publicly declare with my life I Don't want just a private decision because I know it's gonna cost me something more than what I can give And so I need a people that's willing to surround me Hey, if you're in this place and the Word of God convicted your heart this morning And you say hey, I need to have a public relationship with Jesus today

I need to make a confession and I want to allow the Word of God To do what the Word of God was sent to do in my life Maybe you've never give your life to the Lord before maybe you give it to him when you was a kid and was baptized But you ain't been walking a personal relationship out with him Hey, if that's you and you say hey, I want to have a personal relationship with God Could I just get you to step out of your seat and come right down here to the altar, please? Could I get you come on if that's you come on step out here if that's you I want you to step out of your seat right now and just say God. I want to have a personal Relationship with you. Don't worry about what your neighbors saying come down right over here Don't worry about what your neighbors thinking don't worry about what they're saying about you because they aren't the ones worry about the ones that have Been praying for you worry about the ones that have been petitioning for you. Come on I know there's about four more people that want to have a personal relationship with Jesus right now. Come on if that's you I want you to commit you've been feeling a tug on your heart You've been feeling it and you know that you need to make that decision right now. Come on down Let's just make it right today. Let's have a personal relationship with God in this moment Let's say church. I'm declaring publicly Well, guess what May 31st? May 31st, we're having prayer or we're having baptism We're having communion and we're gonna break bread. We're gonna baptize people and we're gonna add you to the body of Christ Come on, if that's you If that's you believe the Word of the Lord today Maybe you're in here today and you just say man. I just need a move. I Just need a move of the Spirit in my life in this moment I Been fighting every battle alone. I know God is on my side. But man, I've been walking. I've been hiding I've been I've been laying out with the pigs. I've been doing all the stuff. I wasn't supposed to do Well church, if that is you in here today Could we spend the next two minutes just worshiping the Father? Could we come down to the altar and just kneel down and just say God I'm making a sacrifice today. That's gonna cost me something And God I want you to break out in my life and I want you to break these chains off of me

I want you to do something in my life that only you can do God because I need something different in my life I don't need the normal thing. I need a new thing. I need a new community. Come on church Let's believe it today God Let us believe today God Have your way Now ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

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