1
00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:02,920
And it's wonderful to see you 
all today. 

2
00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:06,960
And hello to our sites, Himmel 
and Hatfield, who are joining us

3
00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:09,920
this morning as well. 
Oh my goodness, wasn't that a 

4
00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:13,600
wonderful baby dedication. 
I just love stories. 

5
00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:19,080
And if you are visiting today, 
you're part of the family here 

6
00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:22,040
who've had the baby dedicated. 
Can I just say a massive warm 

7
00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:25,240
welcome again? 
And if you are new to church and

8
00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:28,400
you're visiting again today, we 
love having visitors. 

9
00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:32,960
And our prayer is that you feel 
at home here today and might 

10
00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:35,080
even consider coming back. 
Who knows? 

11
00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:42,400
So I grew up in the middle of a 
beautiful, messy experiment. 

12
00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:48,040
My parents had moved from 
Pilgrims Hall in Essex to North 

13
00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:53,080
Devon to live in community with 
two other families in one large 

14
00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,080
house. 
And my parents were bursting 

15
00:00:56,080 --> 00:01:03,280
with passion and the Holy Spirit
and they bounced into probably a

16
00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:07,160
good four or five local churches
over a period of a couple of 

17
00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:11,840
years, basically saying, here we
are, we're ready to serve, we'll

18
00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:16,480
do whatever you want. 
And sometimes they were met with

19
00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,840
a absolute closed door. 
We don't want you, you're not 

20
00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,960
needed here. 
And other times, over a period 

21
00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:26,120
of time, it was clear that their
passion for the Holy Spirit 

22
00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:30,560
wasn't quite the fit that that 
church wanted. 

23
00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:35,240
And so they did what all 
pioneers would do, and they 

24
00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:41,040
started a church on the ground 
floor of a house in a room 

25
00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:45,760
called the Pink Room, because it
was very large and it was very 

26
00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:50,360
pink. 
And growing up, I saw the two 

27
00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:55,160
sides of the coin. 
I saw the beauty, the radical 

28
00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:59,400
community and fellowship. 
I saw people on the margins of 

29
00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:04,200
society finding a home, finding 
a community. 

30
00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:09,639
I saw the literal blood, sweat, 
and tears of sacrifice. 

31
00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:15,440
But I also saw the shadows. 
I saw the betrayals that keep 

32
00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,680
you awake at night. 
I saw the crushing weight of 

33
00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:24,840
leadership and the deep let 
downs when holy people act very 

34
00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:29,800
unholy. 
In my early 20s I met Chuck and 

35
00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:34,960
not long into our relationship I
said to him, I love Jesus but 

36
00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:39,400
I'm not so mad on his church. 
I'll do anything for the Lord, 

37
00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:43,640
but don't you dare ask me to do 
anything in terms of church 

38
00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:47,400
leadership because I absolutely 
will not do it. 

39
00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:53,200
The truth was I felt justified 
in my distance and I felt safer 

40
00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:57,000
in my cynicism. 
But God has a sense of humour 

41
00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:02,600
and an even greater sense of 
restoration because he has this 

42
00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:09,640
incredible ability to this, to 
take a broken vessel and heal it

43
00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:14,520
so deeply that the scar becomes 
a badge of passion. 

44
00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:20,000
And I stand here today as 
someone who was out but who is 

45
00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:25,400
now absolutely all in. 
Because the church, though 

46
00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:29,520
flawed as she is, is God's only 
plan A. 

47
00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:34,040
There is no other vehicle. 
There is no other way. 

48
00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:38,840
The local church is God's 
beautiful bride and the true 

49
00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:42,720
hope for the world. 
And as we read our passage this 

50
00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:46,640
morning, we're going to see that
you can't separate the Christian

51
00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,920
from the church. 
You cannot love the King and be 

52
00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:56,240
ambivalent to the his Kingdom. 
You cannot love the groom yet 

53
00:03:56,240 --> 00:04:02,800
reject his bride, because Jesus 
loved the church so much, with 

54
00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:08,640
all her flaws, her messy pink 
rooms, her complex people. 

55
00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:11,920
But he didn't just give her a 
nod of approval. 

56
00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,040
He purchased her with his own 
blood. 

57
00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:20,640
And if she is worth his life, 
then she is worth our heart. 

58
00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:27,880
Let's look at why as we continue
in our Impact series, as we make

59
00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:31,800
our way through the book of 
Acts, and as we see how a group 

60
00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:34,480
of ordinary people change the 
world. 

61
00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,680
So we're in Acts chapter 2, and 
we're going to read from verse 

62
00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:40,480
42. 
It's going to come up on the 

63
00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:42,080
screen. 
But if you have a Bible with 

64
00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:43,800
you, you might want to turn to 
that now. 

65
00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:50,520
And this is what it said. 
They devoted themselves to the 

66
00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:54,920
apostles teaching and to 
fellowship, to the breaking of 

67
00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:59,000
bread and to prayer. 
Everyone was filled with awe at 

68
00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,360
the many wonders and signs 
performed by the apostles. 

69
00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:06,440
All the believers were together 
and had everything in common. 

70
00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,120
They sold property and 
possessions to give to anyone 

71
00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:14,280
who who had need. 
Every day they continued to meet

72
00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:17,880
together in the temple courts. 
They broke bread in their homes 

73
00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:22,480
and ate together with glad and 
sincere hearts, praising God and

74
00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:24,560
enjoying the favour of all the 
people. 

75
00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,800
And the Lord added to their 
number daily those who were 

76
00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,760
being saved. 
Amen. 

77
00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:35,600
So today we're going to dive 
straight into the heart of 

78
00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,960
something supernatural. 
We're looking at how the Holy 

79
00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:44,640
Spirit brings an unbreakable 
unity within the Church. 

80
00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:48,640
Now I don't need to tell you 
guys that we are living in a 

81
00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:53,600
world that is defined by 
fracturing and constant splits 

82
00:05:53,840 --> 00:06:00,120
and extreme polarisation. 
Deep, jagged divisions seem to 

83
00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:01,680
be the new normal now, don't 
they? 

84
00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:07,680
Yet we as the people of God, we 
are called to step into a 

85
00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:11,680
radically different blueprint. 
And today we're going to see a 

86
00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:13,880
powerful alternative way to 
live. 

87
00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:18,400
Now, most things, be it 
businesses or empires or 

88
00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:22,960
movements, they start small, 
dreaming of greatness that 

89
00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:26,920
they've yet to achieve. 
But this passage in Acts shows 

90
00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:32,560
us that the church at its birth 
was the church at its best. 

91
00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:35,800
Why? 
What was their secret? 

92
00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:40,440
Well, their secret was the 
presence of Koinonia, and it's a

93
00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:44,600
Greek word that Chuck actually 
spoke about in his preach a few 

94
00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,800
weeks ago when he spoke about 
money and partnership. 

95
00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:53,840
Koinonia functioned as a 
revolution, a partnership so 

96
00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:58,000
deep that it revolutionised the 
early church's most basic 

97
00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:02,320
rhythms of life, from their 
theology to their wallets to 

98
00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,960
their dinner tables. 
In the Holy Spirit's economy, 

99
00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:11,480
fellowship isn't the absence of 
conflict, it's the presence of 

100
00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:16,080
Koinonia. 
It's a gritty all in commitment 

101
00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:21,080
that beckons us into a shared 
life and shows us a beautiful 

102
00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:25,200
picture of what the Church can 
look like at her best. 

103
00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:30,200
And we see this in verse 42. 
It says they devoted themselves 

104
00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:34,640
to the apostles teaching and to 
fellowship and to the breaking 

105
00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:38,200
of bread and to prayer. 
And what we're looking at here 

106
00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:41,240
is a blueprint of a devoted 
community. 

107
00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:43,800
It isn't just a group of 
friends. 

108
00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:49,520
It's a supernatural partnership.
It's a deep level all in 

109
00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:53,560
fellowship, forged for one 
single purpose. 

110
00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:59,920
They were a community locked in 
eyes fixed and completely 

111
00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:02,720
devoted to the same pillars of 
life. 

112
00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:08,200
The fellowship, the breaking of 
bread and prayer. 

113
00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:13,720
But before the shared meals and 
the shared wallets, there was a 

114
00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:17,920
shared truth. 
Now this wasn't just a 

115
00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:23,280
philosophy, it was the bedrock 
of the early churches existence.

116
00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:26,200
They were devoted to the word of
God. 

117
00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:30,920
And this devotion of God's Word 
isn't just a priority, it's a 

118
00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:35,320
sovereign force, which means 
that the Bible has the final 

119
00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:41,120
say, holds the ultimate power, 
and has absolute authority that 

120
00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:46,040
is active and moving and 
reshaping our lives. 

121
00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:50,800
Now just think back to Genesis. 
Think back to the very beginning

122
00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:54,880
of the Bible, right at the very 
beginning of creation. 

123
00:08:55,040 --> 00:09:00,080
God didn't just suggest that 
light appear. 

124
00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:03,920
He spoke. 
And the Word acted as a 

125
00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:08,840
sovereign force that reordered 
chaos into cosmos. 

126
00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:13,240
And it's the same sovereign 
force for our lives that doesn't

127
00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:16,080
negotiate. 
It settles the matter. 

128
00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:22,440
It overrides everything else, 
including our emotions. 

129
00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:28,640
Now this means that when my 
heart and the Bible disagree, my

130
00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:36,480
heart is the one in the wrong. 
When the Word of God takes its 

131
00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:42,160
rightful place, it begins to 
override every other competing 

132
00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:44,920
voice that is competing for our 
attention. 

133
00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:49,120
It overrides our preferences, 
our politics, our personalities,

134
00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:55,720
our social status, our past. 
This truth, God's Word, 

135
00:09:55,840 --> 00:10:05,640
overrides everything, including 
friends, our wounds, including 

136
00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:12,840
our pain, our deepest pain. 
When we've been hurt by people 

137
00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:17,160
or let down by the world, our 
emotions can become like a 

138
00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:21,040
choppy sea. 
The Scriptures were the 

139
00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:23,680
foundation for the early 
churches unity. 

140
00:10:23,680 --> 00:10:26,840
Because you cannot have a 
partnership if everyone is 

141
00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:31,360
following a different map. 
If I am navigating by my trauma 

142
00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:35,760
and you're navigating by your 
ambition and someone else is 

143
00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:40,480
navigating by their political 
preferences, then and then 

144
00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:46,440
adding to the mix your truth and
my truth, we've got carnage. 

145
00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:54,440
The Word of God, the Bible, is 
the only thing powerful enough 

146
00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:58,840
to bridge the gap between our 
differences when our preferences

147
00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:03,160
want to divide us. 
It's the only thing powerful 

148
00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:06,720
enough to demand a sacrifice 
from our bank accounts when our 

149
00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:09,640
culture demands that we hold it 
all for ourselves. 

150
00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:13,760
It's the only thing powerful 
enough to keep us at the table 

151
00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:16,920
when the grit of life actually 
makes us want to run. 

152
00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:22,960
And what we know is that if we 
don't allow God's Word to come 

153
00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:28,160
and to shape us, then we start 
to steer our life by our own 

154
00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:34,800
wounds instead of God's Word, 
and we can be in danger of 

155
00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:40,480
becoming a theology of one, 
letting our pain dictate. 

156
00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:47,000
Scriptures are the only thing 
powerful enough to tell our 

157
00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,640
souls the truth. 
When our feelings align to us. 

158
00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:55,360
It reminds us that we are chosen
When we feel abandoned and 

159
00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:58,480
forgiven. 
When we feel condemned to 

160
00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:01,240
forgive even when we don't want 
to. 

161
00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:05,760
To choose not to take offence, 
even though it's easier to do 

162
00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:08,920
so. 
The Word of God calls us to a 

163
00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:13,680
better way, a higher way, a way 
of discipleship, a way of unity,

164
00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:18,040
a way of Koinonia. 
And I know that for some of us, 

165
00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:22,920
just like it was for me, you're 
going to be carrying around 

166
00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:26,360
wounds. 
Those pink room wounds. 

167
00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:32,560
Church hurts. 
Church scars, church pain. 

168
00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:38,480
Those tender, roaring, deeply 
personal areas of hurt. 

169
00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:44,960
Friends, I know how painful 
those things can be and how deep

170
00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:47,440
they can go because I have been 
there. 

171
00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:52,400
And the reality is that these 
wounds, they usually tell us to 

172
00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:58,280
pull apart, to protect 
ourselves, to say they separated

173
00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:01,160
from everyone else. 
And let's be honest, that's so 

174
00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:04,320
much easier to do in a large 
community like Verso. 

175
00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:09,800
It's so much easier to hide in a
crowd, to show up for church and

176
00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,240
then disappear, not giving 
anything of ourselves, 

177
00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:19,840
protecting and preserving. 
Perhaps like I did, maybe you 

178
00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:23,720
found yourself saying, I really 
love Jesus, but I'm not mad on 

179
00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:28,360
his people. 
Maybe the wounds of church hurt 

180
00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:32,760
have caused you to Cut the Rope 
and you've been drifting for 

181
00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:37,360
many years. 
And if that's you today, I just 

182
00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:39,600
would love to just gently 
challenge you. 

183
00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:46,280
As real and as painful as these 
wounds are, they are not your 

184
00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:53,800
guide nor your compass. 
The word of God is Numbers 23. 

185
00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:57,840
Verse 19 says God is not human, 
that he should lie, not a human 

186
00:13:57,840 --> 00:13:59,640
being that he should change his 
mind. 

187
00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:03,960
Does he speak and then not act? 
Does he promise and not fulfil? 

188
00:14:04,560 --> 00:14:08,360
In other words, feelings lie. 
God does not. 

189
00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:12,320
He is not a man that will change
his mind. 

190
00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:19,360
Hallelujah, Jeremiah 17 verse 9 
says the heart is deceitful 

191
00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:22,880
above all things and beyond 
cure. 

192
00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:27,560
Who can understand it? 
In other words, the heart is a 

193
00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:31,000
very bad compass. 
Use the Bible instead. 

194
00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:38,960
Friends, when the pink room 
hurts, the screaming, and our 

195
00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:43,800
circumstances feel like a storm,
we hold tight to Scripture. 

196
00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:48,000
It is our compass and it is our 
guide. 

197
00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:51,520
I love what Proverbs 3 verse 5 
to 6 says. 

198
00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:54,920
Trust in the Lord with all your 
heart and lean not on your own 

199
00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:59,320
understanding in all your ways. 
Submit to Him and He will make 

200
00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:04,000
your paths straight. 
You see, it doesn't just suggest

201
00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:09,240
that we trust God, it explicitly
tells us what not to put our 

202
00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:12,640
trust in. 
You see, we mustn't lean on our 

203
00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:16,160
own understanding, and our 
understanding is where our 

204
00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:19,400
feelings, our pain, and our 
reasoning live. 

205
00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:25,480
It's part of us that says this 
situation is hopeless or I could

206
00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:32,280
never forgive that person. 
Yet God's Word is saying don't 

207
00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:35,560
put your weight on that. 
It's like a broken crutch. 

208
00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:40,240
It's going to let you down. 
Instead, trust in the Lord with 

209
00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:43,960
all your heart. 
And this is a call to move our 

210
00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:49,280
trust from the pink room, that 
internal wounded space, to the 

211
00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:54,160
Word of God, to look to the Word
of God and in all your ways 

212
00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:57,360
submit to him. 
So when we come before the 

213
00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:03,520
presence of Jesus and we submit 
bit by bit and little by little,

214
00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:10,200
our pain, our emotions, our 
disappointment, our trauma, and 

215
00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:13,640
we say, come Holy Spirit, come 
into those parts. 

216
00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:16,400
Come in. 
I give you permission to come 

217
00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:19,880
and do what only you can do. 
Come and minister. 

218
00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:26,680
Come and release that pain. 
Come and bring your healing Lord

219
00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:30,760
to all those areas that so 
desperately need it. 

220
00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:38,000
We discover that as we journey 
with Jesus with our pain that we

221
00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:45,960
no longer need to be ruled by 
how we feel, but instead we can 

222
00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:51,680
heavily lean on what Jesus is 
doing and who he says he is. 

223
00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:58,440
Fully trusting that Jesus will 
lead us into inner healing and 

224
00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:03,040
He will make a clearer path for 
us to walk down. 

225
00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,839
For the Holy Spirit is the only 
one who can reach into our inner

226
00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:11,359
pain. 
He is the only one that can turn

227
00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:15,960
ashes into beauty. 
He is the only one who can speak

228
00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:22,079
a higher word over our history 
and and prove that the gospel is

229
00:17:22,079 --> 00:17:24,880
bigger than any of our 
circumstances. 

230
00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:30,800
The church at its best is when 
we are all submitted to the 

231
00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:36,440
biblical truth of Scripture and 
where we all ask the Holy Spirit

232
00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:43,440
to radically come and craft and 
shape us and kind of, I don't 

233
00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:48,480
know, rub off all the rough 
edges that we currently have. 

234
00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:55,840
Secondly, in verse 42, we see a 
community devoted to fellowship.

235
00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:02,360
David Cameron in I think it was 
about 2007, he went on to 

236
00:18:02,360 --> 00:18:06,880
Michael Parkinson's chat show, 
Parkinson, and he was telling a 

237
00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:11,920
story about how he met the 
supermodel Kate Moss at a party.

238
00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:15,640
And he said I was, as I was 
being introduced, I thought, 

239
00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:17,600
what on earth am I going to say 
to her? 

240
00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:19,520
You know, I'm a bit in awe of 
her. 

241
00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:24,320
And then I remembered that she 
lives in the same constituency 

242
00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:28,080
as as me and we'd had these 
terrible floods in West 

243
00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:32,000
Oxfordshire. 
And so I started to say to her, 

244
00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:35,080
it's very nice to meet you. 
I'm so sorry about the flooding 

245
00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:38,120
that's happened to your house. 
And I also know you like to go 

246
00:18:38,120 --> 00:18:40,280
to your local pub. 
And I've been to see the 

247
00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:42,880
publican and he's saying it's 
going to take at least six 

248
00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:45,840
months for the pub to reopen, 
but it will reopen. 

249
00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:49,160
So you know you will be OK. 
And you said he went on 

250
00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:52,160
Wittering on like this to her 
for quite a while. 

251
00:18:53,120 --> 00:18:56,320
And as she turns to him and she 
says you sound like a really 

252
00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:58,760
useful guy to know, can I have 
your number? 

253
00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:03,880
And he told Parkinson that he 
went back to his table 

254
00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:07,880
realising, firstly, I've just 
met the supermodel Kate Moss. 

255
00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:11,680
Secondly, the bad news is I 
think she thinks I'm something 

256
00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:19,000
to do with drainage. 
How many times do other people 

257
00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:23,000
get our identities wrong? 
Even worse, how many times do we

258
00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:28,080
get our own identities wrong? 
In our culture, when someone who

259
00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:32,320
doesn't know us is asking about 
us, often we'll lead with what 

260
00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,720
we do. 
I'm a bricklayer, I'm an 

261
00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:38,720
accountant, I'm a doctor. 
I'm a banker. 

262
00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:41,080
I'm a golfer, I'm a pastor, I'm 
a mum. 

263
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:47,040
We scramble to cobble together 
an identity that makes us feel 

264
00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:52,440
comfortable, but it's deeply 
individualistic because the 

265
00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:56,120
church in Acts did not find 
their identity in what they did,

266
00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:58,920
they found it in who they belong
to. 

267
00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:03,720
It was completely 
countercultural even back then, 

268
00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:06,880
2000 years ago. 
For the world says you are what 

269
00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:12,680
you do, but the Kingdom of God 
says you are whose you are. 

270
00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:19,000
The Holy Spirit brings Koinonia 
by stripping away our job 

271
00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:23,640
descriptors and replacing them 
with a shared family name. 

272
00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:28,040
He takes a room full of people 
who think they are defined by 

273
00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:35,240
drainage or data entry or 
position or status, and he knits

274
00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:38,720
them into a single supernatural 
body. 

275
00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:46,200
And this supernatural body is, 
is the Church, the fellowship of

276
00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,800
the Holy Spirit. 
And we see this fellowship in 

277
00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:55,240
two Corinthians verses 13 to 14 
that as Christians we would 

278
00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:59,760
often call the grace. 
And sometimes I think it can be 

279
00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:02,760
so familiar to us that we miss 
the miracle of it. 

280
00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:09,680
May the grace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ and the love of God and 

281
00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:14,000
the fellowship of the Holy 
Spirit be with you all. 

282
00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:17,600
This, friends, is where the 
rubber hits the road. 

283
00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:23,080
This is where our faith is put 
into action because we are 

284
00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:27,840
called to live this out in this 
messy, jagged reality of 

285
00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:31,520
everyday life. 
But this is also the space where

286
00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:35,960
the Holy Spirit does His very 
best work, because He gives us a

287
00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:40,600
supernatural ability to stay 
connected even when we feel like

288
00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:45,760
we want to run, to break the 
divide that has kept us at arm's

289
00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:49,360
length between another person 
for such a long time. 

290
00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:53,720
He gives us the power to look at
the person sitting three rows in

291
00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:57,880
front of you, who's offended 
you, who've let you down. 

292
00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:03,280
And he gives you the power to 
choose to forgive friends. 

293
00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:08,600
True fellowship is never free. 
It's expensive. 

294
00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:14,320
It's sacrificial and it's deeply
costly, and it costs the early 

295
00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:18,840
church absolutely everything. 
Their time, their hearts, their 

296
00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:22,280
money, their possessions, and 
even their very meals. 

297
00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:27,560
They didn't just come to church,
they poured their lives into it.

298
00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:32,440
And so every time we pray the 
grace, we are asking the Holy 

299
00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:36,360
Spirit to come and to blur the 
lines of our individualistic 

300
00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:39,160
lives. 
We are remembering that we are 

301
00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:44,840
not like a bag of marbles, hard,
self-contained and constantly 

302
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:47,840
bumping and clashing up against 
each other. 

303
00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:52,640
Instead, through the work of the
Holy Spirit, he makes us like a 

304
00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:59,760
bag of grapes, crushed, blended 
together and transformed into 

305
00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:08,520
something entirely new. 
The body of Christ, friends, I 

306
00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:13,960
sense that there is an 
invitation today to not to stay 

307
00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:20,560
anonymous, but instead become 
even more like the church in 

308
00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:24,440
Acts is calling us to be, 
calling us into something 

309
00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:28,760
beautiful, something that is 
bigger and more expansive than 

310
00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:32,320
just the sum of our parts. 
Because something happens, you 

311
00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:36,160
know, when we step out. 
When you're in venture land and 

312
00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:39,720
you're teaching the kids on how 
to minister in the power of the 

313
00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:44,200
Holy Spirit, or you're in 
village showing the little ones 

314
00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:48,240
how to pray. 
Or you're in the kitchen and 

315
00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:51,760
you're prepping coffee, or 
you're prepping food for Alpha, 

316
00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:55,400
or you're standing out in the 
pouring rain helping someone to 

317
00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:58,040
park. 
Something amazing happens. 

318
00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:02,920
Our labels fall away. 
Suddenly you aren't the CEO, 

319
00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:08,360
you're not the bricklayer, 
you're not the pharmacist or the

320
00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:13,480
student. 
You're a brother, you're a 

321
00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:18,800
sister, you're a partner. 
In this gritty all in life, 

322
00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:24,120
there is a bond that forms when 
you are tired, when you are 

323
00:24:24,120 --> 00:24:27,040
sweaty, when you are serving 
someone else. 

324
00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:29,520
That simply doesn't happen when 
you don't do it. 

325
00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:35,680
Let me tell you, being part of a
team is where the fire is. 

326
00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:39,400
We just heard that, an amazing 
testimony. 

327
00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:42,160
That's what's happening in our 
kids ministry. 

328
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:47,720
Children not just learning Bible
stories, but actually hearing 

329
00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:51,240
from God and ministering in the 
power of the Holy Spirit and 

330
00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:55,200
seeing miracles happen. 
You know that doesn't happen by 

331
00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:57,600
accident. 
It happens because someone 

332
00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:02,520
decided to move out of their row
and into the kids ministry. 

333
00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:07,760
It happens because a people, a a
team of people decided that the 

334
00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:13,960
fellowship means pouring our 
lives into the next generation. 

335
00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:18,800
And we see the fruit of that 
sacrifice right here, right now 

336
00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:23,800
as we celebrated with a baby 
dedication, as we stood with 

337
00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:28,560
this dear family, you know, we 
weren't just watching a ceremony

338
00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:33,400
there we were witnessing the 
fellowship of the Holy Spirit in

339
00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:38,160
action. 
This sweet child is being bought

340
00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:43,200
into the family that promises to
be all in for him and the 

341
00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:46,200
family. 
Now. 

342
00:25:46,360 --> 00:25:48,840
He wasn't being dedicated into a
social club. 

343
00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:56,440
He's being woven into the 
supernatural body, the 

344
00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:00,080
supernatural body that rolls 
their sleeves up, does the 

345
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:06,400
dishes, shares the burdens, and 
invests in their time, their 

346
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,480
treasure and their talents all 
together. 

347
00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:15,520
And finally, in verse 42, we see
a community devoted to the 

348
00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:20,560
breaking of bread and to prayer.
Now, these aren't religious 

349
00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:23,040
things on our To Do List. 
You know that. 

350
00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,320
We think I must remember to do 
that. 

351
00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:32,080
They are two things that keep a 
body alive, nourishment and 

352
00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:35,640
oxygen. 
The breaking of bread isn't just

353
00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:39,080
a religious ceremony. 
It's where the Holy Spirit 

354
00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:44,120
performs a miracle in the 
mundane, where he takes a simple

355
00:26:44,120 --> 00:26:49,200
everyday meal and transforms it 
into a sacred encounter. 

356
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:52,720
How? 
Because the Spirit isn't just in

357
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,680
US, He's in the space between us
as well. 

358
00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:02,480
He's the divine thread, knitting
our separate stories into one 

359
00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:06,840
glorious narrative. 
And he makes the dinner table, 

360
00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:12,880
and he turns it into an altar of
high worship and remembrance and

361
00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:18,360
radical belonging. 
Koinonia is found at a messy 

362
00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:24,720
table where life is shared and 
spilled and redeemed and 

363
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:28,760
friends, the invitation is if 
you are currently doing life on 

364
00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:32,880
the outskirts of this church 
family, I believe the Holy 

365
00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:35,480
Spirit is inviting you into 
something deeper. 

366
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:39,720
He's calling you into the fire 
of Koinonia. 

367
00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:45,040
And perhaps that could look like
so many different things, but 

368
00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:50,160
maybe it could look like joining
a group, A versa group. 

369
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:54,480
Maybe it could even look like 
leading a a small group, or 

370
00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:59,600
starting a prayer triplet, or 
helping an alpha, or helping to 

371
00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:04,920
lead alpha, or even starting an 
alpha in your workplace or with 

372
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:09,240
your neighbors or with your 
mummy friends as the kids play 

373
00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:11,600
at your feet. 
Why? 

374
00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:16,400
Because everybody needs a place 
where they are needed and known.

375
00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:21,200
A group is a place where it's 
hard to hide behind a Sunday 

376
00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:25,960
smile in our rows. 
It's so much easier to stay 

377
00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:31,080
anonymous in a group. 
Your grit meets my grit. 

378
00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:35,360
We. 
We clash, we pray, we stumble, 

379
00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:38,840
and we grow together. 
The Holy Spirit. 

380
00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:43,200
He uses that friction, that 
honest, messy interaction to 

381
00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:47,320
sand off our rough edges and 
make us look more like Jesus. 

382
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:52,600
Small groups are where we share 
our lives, where we move from 

383
00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:57,240
Roe to circle. 
The breaking of bread is the 

384
00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:01,840
table where everyone belongs and
everyone is welcome. 

385
00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:06,280
But we can't just eat. 
We also have to breathe. 

386
00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:10,000
And for the early church, prayer
was their oxygen. 

387
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:16,160
In April 2019, a deep sea diver 
called Chris Lemons found 

388
00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:21,240
himself 300 feet below sea level
in the North Sea when suddenly 

389
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:26,520
his umbilical line. 
It just broke and his only 

390
00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:31,920
source of light and air suddenly
disappeared and he was left in 

391
00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:36,440
total crushing darkness. 
Now he had 6 minutes of 

392
00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:42,280
emergency tank air and the 
unfortunate thing for Chris was 

393
00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:46,720
that his crew didn't reach him 
for 38 minutes. 

394
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:50,880
So by every law of biology, he 
should have died. 

395
00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:55,280
Yet when he came to the surface,
when he was hauled back up, he 

396
00:29:55,280 --> 00:30:00,200
took a breath and miraculously 
made a full recovery. 

397
00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:05,200
Thank you, Jesus, that we don't 
have to live on an emergency 

398
00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:07,680
oxygen tank when it comes to our
prayer life. 

399
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:13,840
No, we don't. 
For the early church, it's so 

400
00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:17,640
clear that they didn't live only
on 6 minutes of emergency 

401
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:20,480
prayer. 
They, like us, have this 

402
00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:25,400
constant, unbreakable line to 
the surface, to the ear of 

403
00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:28,920
Jesus. 
They had, just like we have, a 

404
00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:35,280
beautiful, rhythmic, unlimited 
supply of prayer, found in a 

405
00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:40,560
quiet habit of seeking God's 
face, where our simple breath 

406
00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:44,000
turns into a conversation with 
the King. 

407
00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:52,200
Friends, we are a community 
forged in the fire of the Spirit

408
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:55,680
and fuelled by the breath of the
King. 

409
00:30:56,600 --> 00:31:00,800
We are a church that is real, a 
community that is a family. 

410
00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:05,800
We are a fellowship that 
breathes together, breaks bread 

411
00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:08,840
together, changes the world 
together. 

412
00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:13,320
If you're able, I'd love to 
invite you to stand.