1 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:07,120 I pray that you all be blessed by this special reading. 2 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:14,000 This is from Acts 432 to 35. All the believers were one in 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,760 heart and mine. No one claimed that any of his 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:22,080 possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had 5 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:25,160 with great power. The apostles continued to 6 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:30,240 testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and much grace 7 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:33,840 was with them all. There were no needy persons 8 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:38,640 among them, for from time to time those who owned lands or 9 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:43,320 houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it 10 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:48,400 in the apostles feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had 11 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:58,840 need blessings. This was in 2019 and 2020. 12 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:01,800 My wife and I were in a season of we were preparing to plant a 13 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:06,840 church and for about 6 months I went and travelled all over the 14 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:10,520 country and spent about a week or two at a time with different 15 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:13,520 church plants all over and it was one of the coolest 16 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:15,760 experiences of my life. I got to be with church plants. 17 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:21,400 Church plants in Phoenix area, in Rhode Island, in Minnesota 18 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:23,320 and Illinois, all over different stages too. 19 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:25,640 Some churches were just getting launched, so they hadn't even 20 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:27,800 started yet. Some were 10 years old and some 21 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:29,560 all the way in between. So it's a fascinating 22 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:31,640 experience. One of those trips, I was 23 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:36,040 preparing to go to church in Las Vegas for a few days and just 24 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,760 before that trip happened, we had kind of a little bit of a 25 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:44,120 crisis take place and we weren't expecting it, but my wife had 26 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:46,880 gotten pregnant and we didn't really actually know it at the 27 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:49,280 time. She was just in pain who went to 28 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:51,600 the hospital, found out that we were pregnant. 29 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:53,000 It wasn't something we were trying for. 30 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:55,480 We had actually just had a kid. So we weren't really looking to 31 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:57,400 go back-to-back with kids right away. 32 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:00,840 But we also didn't try not to adults know what I mean? 33 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,560 And so anyway, we end up we find out at the hospital that we're 34 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:07,280 pregnant and we're told it's an ectopic pregnancy. 35 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:10,440 OK, Meaning it's, it's not viable in the womb. 36 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:11,960 It was, it was taking place outside the womb. 37 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:15,120 What happened is that we were talking through this like, first 38 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:16,880 of all, we just found out we're pregnant an hour later to find 39 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:20,040 out it's not going to happen. And so a lot of emotions and I 40 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:22,560 was preparing to hop on a flight that night. 41 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:25,880 So Long story short, talking to the doctor, Doctor, you give us 42 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:29,320 assurance, hey, you are more than fine to go on this trip. 43 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:30,600 You'll be on just a couple of days. 44 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:32,000 It's fine. You can do this. 45 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:34,000 So I was like, thanks, doc, we'll do that. 46 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:38,200 We trust you, right? And so we went home and I got on 47 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,400 a plane, flew to Vegas. As I'm landing, I turn my my 48 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:44,560 phone back on because you're not supposed to have your phone on 49 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,000 on the plane, kids, because it makes the plane crash OK. 50 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:53,280 And my phone is blowing up because my, my mom had texted me 51 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:59,000 multiple times that she had rushed my wife to the hospital 52 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:05,040 to the ER because what happened is I don't understand the 53 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:08,680 biology of it, but it bursts, some burst inside. 54 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:10,640 Should it go to the ER? What happens in third world 55 00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:13,280 countries often is the life of the host usually is, is doesn't 56 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,880 survive because they need immediate care for something 57 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:18,240 like this, right? And some of the nurses are like, 58 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:22,760 he's kind of on it anyway. And so I, I, I, I land in Vegas 59 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,160 as I'm literally touching down, I'm sitting on the plane. 60 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,120 My phone's blowing up. Had to rush your wife to the 61 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:31,200 hospital to ER. As soon as I get off the plane, 62 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:33,840 I'm trying to call and I, I couldn't get a hold of anyone 63 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:36,240 yet, but my phone rings right away. 64 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,400 The very first person to call me was my best friend. 65 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:48,120 It wasn't a pastor, it wasn't a a mentor of mine. 66 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:51,520 It was someone that I did life with regularly. 67 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:56,000 The day-to-day minutiae of life. We went on vacations together. 68 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,760 We planted a church together. He was the first one to call me 69 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:02,440 and I pick up the phone and doesn't even say hello. 70 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:06,120 The first thing, the only thing he says is, hey, man, do you 71 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:07,720 want me to tell you everything you already know? 72 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:11,400 I said, yeah, I think sometimes it's what we need. 73 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:13,920 The first person to call me, my best friend. 74 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,079 Around that same time, we had a, we didn't have a church yet 75 00:04:17,079 --> 00:04:18,040 'cause we were playing the church. 76 00:04:18,079 --> 00:04:21,200 There was a small group here in the Des Moines area of another 77 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:24,120 church. It's kind of a, a small group 78 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:25,880 that had been meeting for decades. 79 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:28,360 They, they had, they had really close community with one 80 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:30,480 another. And around the same time, they 81 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:33,880 reached out to us and wanted to do a couple of things for us. 82 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,200 They, they wanted to just bless us with some gift cards. 83 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:37,960 They wanted us to go on some date nights. 84 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:40,920 They offered to watch our kids. They went out of their way to 85 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,480 just kind of surround us and, and with with love. 86 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:45,520 And we didn't even really know these people. 87 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:48,000 They just knew we had a need and they wanted to step in. 88 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:54,600 Man, who would love to be a part of or have community in your 89 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,040 life like that. You'll be surrounded by a 90 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,240 community like that. The the what we're going to do 91 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,840 today, communities, unfortunately, it's a loaded 92 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:06,400 term today. Communities use a lot of 93 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,240 different ways, especially it's ATV show. 94 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:13,680 It's not even that good. It's a we use it for almost any 95 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,160 just kind of we use it almost to say almost like any gathering of 96 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:19,600 people, and that is a quote UN quote community, which is not 97 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:21,640 the case, at least from a biblical perspective. 98 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:23,960 That's not what community is. We use it across different 99 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:28,000 terms, like if there's different interests or identity 100 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,560 preferences. I mean, we're literally in a a 101 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:34,040 pride month where we talk about this L GB TQII think there's an 102 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,880 A now community, right? We wrap that word around it, OK. 103 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,400 And we use community in number two ways that I, it's not 104 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:42,520 actually, I believe intended to be used. 105 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:45,600 If we're going to talk about a Christian community, which is 106 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:48,440 what I want to do today from Acts 4, that's what we're going 107 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:50,200 to look at. What we're going to do today is 108 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:53,600 look at Christ's vision for community. 109 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:58,760 We're talking about the first church ever and here's how it 110 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:00,520 gets started. Look at verse 31. 111 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:06,000 It says after they prayed, the place where they were meeting 112 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:11,920 was shaken, meaning some kind of earthquake takes place. 113 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:18,680 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke 114 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:24,440 the word of God boldly. Man, raise your hand. 115 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:26,200 I legitimately want you to raise your hand. 116 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:31,760 If you wish you had a community like that, Holy Spirit falling 117 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:32,880 upon, raise it high. Raise it high. 118 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:34,800 If you want to be a part, if you desire to be a part of that 119 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:36,240 community, keep your hand up. Keep your hand up. 120 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:41,160 I want you to remember this moment, the moment you said I 121 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:43,520 would love to be a part of a community like that where the 122 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:49,080 Holy Spirit falls upon us. Because the reality is, as John 123 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:53,000 Stop puts it, there's consequences to being a part of 124 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:55,360 a community like that. That's what we're going to look 125 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,160 at, OK? I want you to be careful for 126 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,760 what you wish for, all right? Because I think it's easy to 127 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:07,000 revision history and to glorify only certain parts of it that we 128 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,440 really like. And what I mean is this, that 129 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:13,280 for as great as belonging to a community that we're going to 130 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:17,800 read about for a community like this would be, the reality is 131 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:21,000 listen closely. It's going to require some 132 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:25,440 certain things from each of us. In fact, it may very well 133 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:28,440 require everything from some of you. 134 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:35,560 That is not an exaggeration. But I will say this, being a 135 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:38,560 part of the community like this, you'll experience that. 136 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:45,520 You will be more deeply loved than you could ever imagine, and 137 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:49,400 you will become a person of love more than you ever thought was 138 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:54,680 possible. And I'll also add this being a 139 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:59,080 part of a community like this that we're about to read, it's, 140 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:03,560 it's actually, I believe this has been God's plan for your 141 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,800 life. And the reason I know this, even 142 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:09,080 though I don't know many of you, the reason I know that that to 143 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:12,640 be true is because this has been God's plan since the beginning 144 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:16,000 for all of his people since Abraham. 145 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:20,920 His plan, his vision has been for his people to be a part of a 146 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:23,760 community like the one we are about to read. 147 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:27,600 In fact, Jesus's final command, his literally says his new 148 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:28,840 command. We looked at this last week. 149 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:32,400 The new command he says in in John 13, He says, love one 150 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:35,520 another as I have loved you. This is a new command as if they 151 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:37,240 didn't know that they were supposed to love one another. 152 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:39,559 He says, love one another as I have loved you, so you must love 153 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:43,360 one another. By this everyone will know that 154 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:47,440 you are my disciples if you love one another. 155 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:52,640 And I'll be honest as if I've been lying the whole time. 156 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:56,640 I don't know why we say that. I don't believe that. 157 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:01,800 If you were to take a poll of the majority of the people in 158 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:07,360 Ankeny and were to ask them their thoughts and perspectives 159 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:11,280 on most of the local churches here, I don't know how many 160 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:14,200 people would say, Oh yeah, that church, they're the church that 161 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:17,440 loves. That's something to think about. 162 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:19,080 That's what we're going to dive in today. 163 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:22,400 All month long, we've been studying Christian community, 164 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,000 how a Christian community is oriented. 165 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,960 We talked about upward, OK? We talked about inward and we 166 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:31,120 talked about outward. 2 weeks ago, we looked at the first one, 167 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:33,880 how Christian community is oriented outward, that it is a 168 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:36,080 unique community, one of the only communities that is 169 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:40,680 designed and it's for the benefit of people outside of it. 170 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:44,400 Most communities, not that way. Most communities are, like I 171 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:45,720 said, are not actually communities. 172 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:48,560 The things that you think that you've called yourself, this is 173 00:09:48,560 --> 00:09:50,320 my community. The reality of it is, if I'm 174 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:51,800 being honest, it's not actually community. 175 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:54,840 Most of it is a subscription or a membership that you're paying 176 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,960 for, whether it's something you're doing online or a gym 177 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:00,120 that you're going to. You know how I know this? 178 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,560 Stop paying for it. See if you still have community, 179 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:05,240 it's, it's a business, OK? I'm, I'm not saying it's bad. 180 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:07,360 I'm not saying it's those things are, I do those things. 181 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:09,320 They're, they're inherent, they're good, not inherently 182 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:11,440 bad. It's just not community, 183 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:12,720 definitely not Christian community. 184 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:16,160 Last week we talked about inward that the, the, the Christian 185 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:20,320 community is designed for deep, honest, transparent 186 00:10:20,560 --> 00:10:25,200 relationships built on love. And today we're talking about 187 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:31,800 how the Christian community is oriented upward, OK, oriented 188 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:35,080 upward, meaning that there has to be for it to be a Christian 189 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:37,760 community. It's not just go outside 190 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:39,720 outwardly and do good things to the world around you. 191 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:42,480 It's not just in relates have good relationships and let's, 192 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:46,840 let's hang out and play games and do pizza nights upwardly. 193 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:49,440 This is the most important connection. 194 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:53,480 There has to be a direct connection in reality of the 195 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:57,920 Holy Spirit existing in and among the people together. 196 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:01,880 Here's my main point. I'm going to give it to you. 197 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:12,160 True Christian community cannot exist without the Holy Spirit. 198 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:15,920 OK, I don't know. I'm getting some, I'm getting 199 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:18,680 some nodded heads. I'm getting some like obviously, 200 00:11:18,680 --> 00:11:23,200 Jared, so we know this, but I want to say this again because I 201 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:24,280 feel like I could, I could stay up here. 202 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:25,440 I could say it all day. I could leave. 203 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:29,720 Things genuinely may not change. And honestly, this isn't 204 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:31,680 something that we can manufacture from being real. 205 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:33,680 It's the hard part of this sermon today is trying to give 206 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:35,920 you some takeaways. Can't really do that because the 207 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:39,280 true statement is this is that true Christian community cannot 208 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:43,960 be created without the Holy Spirit in and among its people. 209 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:48,280 You can't manifest it with just human machination. 210 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:52,800 You can't manipulate it. Howard Hendricks famously said, 211 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:57,080 I don't know who that is, but he famously said he kind of 212 00:11:57,080 --> 00:11:58,960 observed the modern church, and I've heard this several times 213 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:00,640 before. I want to share with you said 214 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:02,760 this. The church is like a football 215 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:05,240 team take 20 or football game 22. 216 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:10,720 People on the field desperately in need of rest, being watched 217 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:14,080 by thousands of people desperately in need of exercise. 218 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:18,000 You know, I think there's a reality to that in the church 219 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,880 today. We have a, a spiritual obesity 220 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:23,600 problem like what we, we're, we're really good at just 221 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,680 consuming truth all day long. We're really good at consuming 222 00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:30,600 Sunday sermons and other YouTube messages and podcasts. 223 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:33,280 And we're even join these small groups where we go in with the 224 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:35,640 point of we're trying to learn and trying to gain and trying to 225 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:37,520 accumulate and we do all these things. 226 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:40,520 And but the problem is we've also heard this called 227 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:43,200 constipated Christianity. We're good at consuming all this 228 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:45,000 stuff, but we're never good at letting any of it out. 229 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:48,840 I'm never good at expelling any of it from ourselves. 230 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:51,480 And we may even practice things like like the spiritual 231 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:53,600 disciplines of solitude and silence. 232 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:56,760 But most Christians today, all we end up doing is we just hoard 233 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:01,520 these things and we never relieve any of them by giving 234 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,960 away ourselves what we say generously. 235 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:07,480 So the question then becomes, before we're going to read this, 236 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:12,280 I promise, the question that becomes this, how do we as a as 237 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:17,560 presence church, as a Christian community here, how do we become 238 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:23,320 a community that is known not by how big we get and how much we 239 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:26,760 accumulate, but by how much we release and give away? 240 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:29,080 How do we do that? That's what we're going to talk 241 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,600 about chapter 4, verse 32. Let's let's read this again. 242 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:37,720 All the believers, heavy start, all of them. 243 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:44,120 We're one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their 244 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:48,880 possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had 245 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:53,480 with great power. The apostles continued to 246 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:59,360 testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and God's grace 247 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:04,000 was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no 248 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:07,680 needy persons among them. For from time to time those who 249 00:14:07,680 --> 00:14:12,320 owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 250 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:17,200 and put it at the apostles feet and it was distributed to anyone 251 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:20,640 who had need. Amazing. 252 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:24,120 So today what I thought I would do is just list my needs for you 253 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:27,800 all. No, I, I want to actually give a 254 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:29,640 word of caution. I want you to be careful here 255 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:34,080 to, to do 2 things. One, don't instantly get tense 256 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:36,520 and go on, man, we're going, the spirit's going to convict me to 257 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:39,400 sell my property. Like just relax. 258 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:41,960 He he might, but just relax. OK, The second thing I want to 259 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:46,840 caution you is, is to not romanticize this picture. 260 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:50,360 What we have is very true, real picture of this church 261 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:52,480 gathering. I don't want you to romanticize 262 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:56,000 it or idolize it by taking it out of context and studying it. 263 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,360 Studying it just in isolation. Here's what I mean. 264 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:02,360 Yes, this is a beautiful snapshot of the very first 265 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:05,560 Church of a Christian community, and it's actually the second 266 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:09,840 time we get a summary of a gathering of believers just two 267 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:12,920 chapters earlier. Chapter 242 through 47 is going 268 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:16,000 to be a very similar reading. OK, so I'll go back and study 269 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,880 that later, but I want you to notice that what we just read, 270 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:22,400 what it's couched within, I want you to understand what comes 271 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:24,960 directly before it and directly after it. 272 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:27,400 As I said, there's consequences to this kind of a community. 273 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:29,400 The first thing that happens, here's what I want you to 274 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:34,080 notice, it is couched within pretty intense and growing in 275 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:37,760 intensity, spiritual and physical warfare. 276 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:41,280 What happens all of chapter 4, if you just peek at it real 277 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:43,520 quick and kind of get the highlights, you're going to see 278 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:45,320 two people. You're going to see Peter and 279 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:47,480 John. They're preaching the gospel and 280 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:51,760 then they get arrested, they get put in jail, They get threatened 281 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:53,560 to stop talking about this or worse. 282 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:55,480 Things are going to happen and then they're released. 283 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,480 As soon as they are released, they go to these believers here, 284 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:02,640 they share what happened. Everyone starts praying, then 285 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:04,360 this takes place. This is the summer we get. 286 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:08,400 Directly after this, we're going to see something that's 287 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:13,360 incredibly would have been incredibly destructive to the 288 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:16,480 life of the early church, and it leads to the first death. 289 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:20,360 And directly after that, we see growing persecution where we are 290 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:23,160 our first martyr, Stephen being stoned to death. 291 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:27,200 So don't just look at this as itself and go, man, that's 292 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:29,080 beautiful. Let's do that without realizing 293 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:31,960 what the cost was, what led to it and what comes directly after 294 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:33,160 it. There's consequences. 295 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:35,520 This kind of community, just being, just being honest. 296 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:38,560 Be real with us, OK? Nonetheless, this is the life of 297 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:40,600 the church, the early church, the first church we get. 298 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:43,200 This is the life here. There are a few now I want to 299 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:47,480 say realities, OK, that I want to click in on for us to better 300 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:52,160 understand what it meant for these people to be a part of 301 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:54,320 that church. Here's what it meant for them. 302 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:56,920 And nowadays we call this church membership. 303 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:00,000 And here's the requirements for being a member at this church. 304 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:02,120 Here's your special card. Like you're at Sam's Club or 305 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:03,880 something. Right here's here's, here's kind 306 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:05,520 of the few realities. I'm going to give you 3 of them. 307 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:09,920 The first one is this. They had a, a radical attitude. 308 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:14,359 They had a radical attitude. Verse 32, it said they were one 309 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:19,319 in heart and in mind. There's an echo here in 310 00:17:19,319 --> 00:17:24,720 Deuteronomy of the great Shama here, O Israel, the Lord is one, 311 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:26,280 right? So there's an echo here that 312 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:29,480 they are reflecting the Lord Himself. 313 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:32,960 He is 1. They are one in heart and in 314 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:34,800 mind. And then what Luke does, Luke's 315 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:36,280 right in Acts here. He's the author. 316 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:42,000 Luke is about to share 2 examples of of this being played 317 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:43,560 out. One, that is the right way for 318 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:46,880 this to be played out and two and the second one is the wrong 319 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:49,280 way for this to be played out and then what that looks like. 320 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:54,600 OK, they said no one claimed his possessions as their own. 321 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:58,200 Interesting language. What I want to point out here is 322 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:01,280 I don't think this means that they didn't continue to own 323 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:06,640 things, OK, but they had, they took on a radical posture, a 324 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:11,440 radical attitude toward all of the things that they did have 325 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:13,680 that they acquired, that the Lord bless them with. 326 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:17,360 Here's the point. They were one in heart and mind. 327 00:18:17,360 --> 00:18:19,760 Here's the point. They were one in spirit with one 328 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:22,960 another before they became one with their stuff. 329 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:26,040 If you're sitting here today and you're kind of afraid, like 330 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:28,240 you're thinking, man, I don't want, I don't know about giving, 331 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:30,640 contributing to be a part of selling, giving up all of my 332 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:33,040 time, my money, my attention, my energy, my life. 333 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:34,280 I don't know about any of this stuff. 334 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:40,360 Relax. Because it requires A radical 335 00:18:40,360 --> 00:18:44,440 attitude that requires you understanding that your identity 336 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:49,000 is no longer just you yourself as an individual, but your 337 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:53,120 identity being wrapped up in the community that is God's people. 338 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:57,360 The second point is this second reality of the congregation was 339 00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:00,360 this, they took radical action. So because of the radical 340 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:02,760 attitude, they took radical action. 7 verse 33. 341 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:07,400 So from time to time it said that from time to time they do 342 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:09,240 this. OK, So the same, they, they, 343 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:11,880 they, they, they, they performed this action of selling and 344 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:14,800 distributing. We, we actually saw that in 345 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:17,000 chapter 2, verse 45. Again, that's the first summary 346 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,200 we saw the church, OK, but they, they said from time to time 347 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:22,720 here, it's the same language, meaning it wasn't every single 348 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:24,840 day, it wasn't everybody in the church. 349 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:28,560 What they did was they sold what they what was needed. 350 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:31,640 And here's the here's the key, here's a, here's a key point of 351 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:35,120 their own volition. The church did not force it upon 352 00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:36,760 them. A government did not force it 353 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:38,120 upon them. That's communism. 354 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:42,880 This was of their own volition, their own willingness. 355 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:48,480 They wanted to do this to meet the needs of other people in 356 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:52,120 their community. And it was also sporadic. 357 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:56,400 They didn't have capital campaigns where they got 358 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:58,400 together and said, hey, we're all going to at this day, we're 359 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,000 going to give up everything and give this and pledge this much 360 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:02,800 so we can build a new building. That's not what they did. 361 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:05,520 It was sporadic. It was the church knew each 362 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,920 other well enough to know there's a need there. 363 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:11,720 We as a community can meet that need. 364 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:17,400 OK, also note this with this radical action that their great 365 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:21,120 power, it said fascinating, their great power. 366 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:23,720 When when you get great power from the Holy Spirit, what 367 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:27,320 instantly comes to mind, I, I, what I want you to notice is 368 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:31,120 that their great power didn't result in the Red Sea being 369 00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:36,120 parted again. It didn't result in these crazy 370 00:20:36,120 --> 00:20:38,440 radical miracles. It didn't result in mountains 371 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:41,200 being moved. Here's what it resulted in. 372 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,440 It said because of the great power, because of the power, 373 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:48,920 they were able to powerfully testify to the resurrection of 374 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:50,440 Jesus. That's what they did with the 375 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:53,200 great power. They spoke boldly about the good 376 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:56,560 news of Jesus Christ. Yes, they were generous with 377 00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:01,240 their possessions, but on top of that, they were generous with 378 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:05,120 their story of the good news of Jesus Christ. 379 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:10,640 The third thing is this radical attitude led to radical action 380 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:13,960 and it was all wrapped up with radical grace. 381 00:21:14,120 --> 00:21:17,800 For this congregation, grace was not just something they spoke 382 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:23,320 about from stage, It was not a prayer before a meal. 383 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:27,880 Grace was a for them, was a living and breathing entity 384 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:33,760 within this community. John Calvin says this about the 385 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:36,480 community. He says we must have hearts that 386 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:41,840 are harder than iron if we are not moved by the reading of this 387 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:46,360 narrative. In those days, the believers 388 00:21:46,360 --> 00:21:48,800 gave abundantly of what was their own. 389 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:54,720 We in our day are content not just jealously to retain what we 390 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:58,760 possess, but callously to rob others. 391 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:03,040 They sold their own possessions in those days. 392 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:07,680 In our day, it is the lust to purchase that reign supreme. 393 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:12,920 In the passage we just read, it says God's grace was so 394 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:17,440 powerfully among them that there wasn't a single needy person. 395 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:21,160 Not one doesn't say it met all there once. 396 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:22,920 That's our problem today. We have way too many. 397 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,200 Once. You're all here today. 398 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:28,440 I'm going to guess most of your needs are probably a lot of your 399 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,400 basic needs are met. Praise the Lord for where we get 400 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:34,520 to live. There wasn't a single needy 401 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:36,920 person among them. Now here's what happens after 402 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,560 this. Luke, the author, uses a 403 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:44,600 literary device here by giving us 2 examples that are two sides 404 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:48,440 of the same coin. OK, one example of what this 405 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:51,240 practically look like for one of the believers in this generous 406 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:56,200 community, and another example of the exact opposite of what it 407 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:58,600 should look like. And I want you to read both 408 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:00,600 these examples with me. And I want you to just try to 409 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:05,160 picture what your previous demonstrations of generosity, 410 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:07,800 which one you feel like it more closely aligns to. 411 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:16,760 OK, Acts 436 it says this Joseph a Levite from Cyprus whom the 412 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:21,040 apostles called Barnabas, which means son of encouragement. 413 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:23,600 What a great nickname too. If we had nicknames for one 414 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:25,280 another, what would? What would yours be right like? 415 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,440 I love this. I bet Barnabas hated that this 416 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:33,480 showed up in the Bible. Joseph Barnabas, he sold a field 417 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:36,640 he owned and he brought the money and he put it at the 418 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,800 apostles feet. So first the first example here 419 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:41,440 is we have Joseph, right? A Levi. 420 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:44,320 According to Old Testament law, Levi wasn't even allowed to own 421 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:47,040 land and here in Israel. So the the land he owns, it's 422 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:49,080 probably not even close to where they're at. 423 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:51,640 I mean, he owned this far off land that probably decent price 424 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,080 decides to sell it and bring it and put it at the apostles feet 425 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:57,960 for who knows what. He, you know what he didn't do 426 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:00,240 with his donation to the church. He didn't go, I'm going to give 427 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:01,400 this. So you need to make sure you 428 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:04,640 give it to the youth ministry. That's what he did, right? 429 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:07,520 He just said, Hey, I'll be able the spirits lead me to do this. 430 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:08,680 I'm going to sell this. I'm going to give it the 431 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:10,200 apostles feet. There's going to be needs of 432 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:12,760 people who need this money more than I need that plot of land. 433 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:17,480 And then we're given this, this second example. 434 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:19,520 It's really unfortunate. I think that there's this 435 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:22,440 chapter division here that it starts over at chapter 5 because 436 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:27,280 this is all one story, OK? And this example here, I'm going 437 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:29,360 to, before I, before I read it, I want to highlight a couple of 438 00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:31,600 things because I think this example I'm about to read it 439 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:39,160 highlights some of the greatest threats to the church, OK, And 440 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:40,520 some of the greatest threats to the church. 441 00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:44,840 They're not external. It's not external persecution 442 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:46,800 that we might endure. The greatest threats to the 443 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:49,160 church, I believe are completely internalized. 444 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:53,960 It's the internal condition of our own hearts, our biggest 445 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:57,600 hurdles to experiencing a community like what we're 446 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:01,280 reading. Our biggest hurdle today is US. 447 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:04,960 Often times it's it's not. It's it. 448 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:06,680 Think about it. Like, think about these threats 449 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:10,400 like cysts, OK, a cyst. The ones that are more painful, 450 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:13,480 the ones that are obvious, typically not cancerous. 451 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,760 It's the silent ones. Those ones are typically the 452 00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:19,600 killers. That's what these are. 453 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,320 The first threat is this number one is pride. 454 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:27,680 We claim, all of us. We claim our possessions as our 455 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:29,440 own. We worked for it. 456 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,440 We earned it. So we get to keep it and we get 457 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:34,920 to decide how we're going to use it. 458 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:39,320 And we say, we typically say things like God helps those who 459 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:41,600 help themselves. Pick yourself up by your 460 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:45,120 bootstraps. Don't be lazy, Dad. 461 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:46,960 I'm just kidding. My dad was great. 462 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:51,040 He never talked to me like that. The second one is this fear. 463 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:56,640 I think too easily. We are terrified that if we 464 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:00,600 give, there won't be enough for me and my family and my kids. 465 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:07,840 The third threat is this greed. We are very rarely content with 466 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,840 what God has already given us. We want more. 467 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:13,480 We want to be more. Not even we, we. 468 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:15,640 How many of you said something like, I don't even want 469 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:19,360 millions, I just want enough in the bank to just breathe and 470 00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:22,320 relax, or I just want to be a just a little more comfortable, 471 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:28,640 or I want I want I want. We're never consent, typically 472 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:30,680 leading to greed. These are the things. 473 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:32,640 There's so many more we could list, but I think we're about to 474 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:35,080 read a story where these threats all take place. 475 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:39,560 This next story is going to be of two people. 476 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:44,000 Here's what's interesting. They give the exact same thing 477 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:47,320 Barnabas gave. I want you to notice that they 478 00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:51,920 gave the exact same physical asset as Joseph, but the results 479 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,760 are completely different. OK, notice this. 480 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:56,320 It's entirely possible. Here's my point. 481 00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:00,200 It is entirely possible for two people to give the exact same 482 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:04,320 thing and for one person to be bringing life to the community 483 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:06,960 and another person to be bringing death. 484 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:12,160 Acts 5 says this. Now a man named Ananias together 485 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:16,320 with his wife Sapphira also sold a piece of property. 486 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:19,560 Same thing with his wife's full knowledge. 487 00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:23,600 He kept back OK that Greek word there can literally be 488 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:27,280 translated in bezel. OK, so it's we we lose a little 489 00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:30,000 bit in our English translation here about the gravity of what's 490 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,080 going on. Kept back part of the money for 491 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:37,320 himself but brought the rest and put it at the apostles feet. 492 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:41,240 OK, so notice he gave quite a bit to the church. 493 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:47,840 Then Peter said, Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your 494 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:52,760 heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for 495 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:55,880 yourself some of the money you receive for the land? 496 00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:00,760 And then he says this question, didn't it belong to you before 497 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:03,720 it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't 498 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:07,720 the money at your disposal? So what's happening here is 499 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:10,200 there's clearly some kind of agreement, some kind of covenant 500 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:13,800 of selling this property, and they'll be giving all of it. 501 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:20,400 Instead, they decide to deceive, try to deceive the church and 502 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:22,880 keep some of it back. What made you think of doing 503 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:25,040 such a thing? You have not lied just to human 504 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:30,720 beings, but you lied to God. When Ananias heard this, he fell 505 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:39,000 down and died, and great fear seized all who heard what had 506 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,160 happened. Then some young men came 507 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:46,120 forward, wrapped up his body and carried him out and buried him. 508 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:52,400 About 3 hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what had 509 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:56,720 happened, and Peter asked her, Hey, tell me, is is this the 510 00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:58,600 price that you and Ananias got for the land? 511 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:02,640 Yeah, she said. That's the price, Peter said to 512 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:07,440 her, How could you conspire to test the spirit of the Lord? 513 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:12,000 Listen, the feet of the men who buried your husband are at the 514 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,560 door, and they will carry you out also. 515 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:18,480 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. 516 00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:23,080 Then the young men came in and finding her dead, carried her 517 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:24,680 out and buried her beside her husband. 518 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:27,520 At least they got buried together, right? 519 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:31,920 Great fear seized the whole church. 520 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:34,920 First time the word church shows up in the book of Acts and all 521 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:39,080 who heard about these events. It is entirely possible for two 522 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:41,040 people to give the exact same thing. 523 00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:43,720 One person to give life to the community, another person to 524 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:47,880 bring death. It is entirely possible to make 525 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:51,480 it look like what you're doing is generosity and for the 526 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:57,160 reality of it to be greed. Now we don't have time to unpack 527 00:29:57,160 --> 00:29:58,760 all of this, the whole section today. 528 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:00,960 There's a lot in here. I want to highlight just a 529 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:05,080 couple of things. You might be tempted to think 530 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:09,120 that this judgement seems unfair, like he didn't have to 531 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:11,280 sell the land anyway, but he decided to sell it and gives he 532 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:13,280 changed his mind. They they wanted to sell 533 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:14,240 something, keep something above it. 534 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:17,320 I encouragement to use. I would challenge you to be 535 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:22,120 careful to put yourself in the judgement seat of God when you 536 00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:23,840 know you don't know everything. We don't. 537 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:25,120 This is the only part of the story we get. 538 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,080 We don't get the whole full context of everything else that 539 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:29,280 goes on around it. And also, you know, God does 540 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:30,720 know everything. So just be careful. 541 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:36,400 I would also challenge you that I think it's far more likely if 542 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:38,920 you're struggling with understanding this and how 543 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:40,800 unfair it seems. I would also challenge you that 544 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:47,920 I think it's far more likely your disposition towards sin is 545 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:53,560 not serious enough. Don't forget this is the first 546 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:59,840 church ever and it's a baby. They're an infant. 547 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:05,400 To start out being marked by greed and deception would be 548 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,840 detrimental to this infant church Church. 549 00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:12,960 God hates sin. Think about this first community 550 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:17,640 of Christians, similar to the first community on earth, the 551 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:20,640 first humans on earth. I, I, I can see a direct 552 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:23,600 correlation here between this church and the Garden of Eden 553 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,120 event, OK. And I, I, I wanted to see if 554 00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:27,720 other people saw this. And so I read a bunch of 555 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:30,400 commentators to see if they saw that kind of connection and no 556 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:31,480 one did. So you know this is true. 557 00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:34,560 OK, the first think about the first community here. 558 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:39,360 Adam had his wife Eve, Ananias had his wife Sapphira. 559 00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:43,960 Adam was told everything in the garden, but one thing was his. 560 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:48,680 Ananias was told everything was his already, so I lie about it. 561 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:53,160 Adam did the one thing that broke trust between him and God. 562 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:56,960 Ananias did the one thing that broke trust between him and the 563 00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:00,080 church. Adam tried to deceive God. 564 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:02,320 Ananias tried to deceive the church. 565 00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:05,760 Adam tried to cover it up. Ananias tried to cover it up. 566 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:09,720 Adam's punishment brought death to a pristine environment, the 567 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,480 garden. Ananias punishment brought death 568 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:14,720 to a pristine environment, the first church. 569 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:19,480 In other words, when sin is eradicated from the Garden of 570 00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:22,440 Eden, life with God could have existed with no end. 571 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:27,520 And when sin is eradicated from within a Christian community, 572 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:31,760 the church. I think what we see in Acts 4, 573 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:35,840 that's what it's supposed to look like. 1 heart, one mind. 574 00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:38,920 No one claims any of their possessions are as their own. 575 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:43,680 It's great power, great testimony and there's not a 576 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:50,360 single need among the people. OK, But the question then should 577 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:56,360 we should be asking is this how, how were all of them able to 578 00:32:56,360 --> 00:32:59,560 live this way? How were they able to do this? 579 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:02,200 Now we could go real practical here and say like there's 580 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:04,240 clearly was not this many people at the very first church. 581 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:06,520 I don't believe there's a probably a much smaller Group A 582 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:08,440 year ago. What presents look like it's 583 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:11,680 kind of a church launch, probably closer to the reality 584 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:13,200 of what this scene would have been like. 585 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:15,640 So it's a little easier with a smaller community to be able to 586 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:17,440 do this kind of stuff, right? It's just easier. 587 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:20,520 OK, that's all I'm saying. The answer, I think though, the 588 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:23,200 real answer is in the very first verse we read today. 589 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:26,480 So let's go back to it. Chapter 4, verse 31. 590 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:30,560 How did they do this? Here it is after they prayed, 591 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:33,640 the place where they were meeting was shaken and here it 592 00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:35,080 is. If you want to know how to have 593 00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:40,720 this community, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and 594 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:42,480 spoke the word of God boldly. There it is. 595 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:45,960 How did they live this way? It's not because they worked 596 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:49,840 really hard at it. It's not because they set up 597 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:51,720 church systems and benevolence funds. 598 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:55,040 It's not because they put together some fundraisers. 599 00:33:56,200 --> 00:34:00,640 It's because they prayed and they were all filled with the 600 00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:04,880 Holy Spirit. This kind of community is not 601 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:08,639 something that can be contrived or manipulated into being. 602 00:34:08,639 --> 00:34:13,600 It is only formed by the Holy Spirit creating it himself. 603 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:16,880 So then it's hard. It's like, how do we do this? 604 00:34:17,199 --> 00:34:22,320 We, we want that God when God's people humble themselves, and I 605 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:27,120 think this is important and literally need him, literally 606 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:31,520 depend on him. I believe that's when the Spirit 607 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:38,960 will fall, when they want only him, only him, and not also our 608 00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:42,920 sin, not also our addiction, but all we want is him. 609 00:34:43,239 --> 00:34:44,480 That's when the Spirit will fall. 610 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:46,760 It's only formed by the Holy Spirit. 611 00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:49,600 And I think that's why the Spirit fell on these early 612 00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:54,360 believers, because they deeply needed the Spirit and they 613 00:34:54,360 --> 00:35:00,160 deeply needed the Christian community, like literally for 614 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:02,920 their survival in the world they lived in. 615 00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:08,600 They needed it to grow, to thrive. 616 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:13,200 So yes, we should strive, I believe, to embody and to 617 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:17,840 reflect this early church. This this sits before us today 618 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:19,640 as the ideal picture of the church. 619 00:35:19,640 --> 00:35:20,800 So I believe we should strive for it. 620 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:24,800 Yes, we should do what the world would label as radical action 621 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:28,120 like we just did to try to take care of each other's needs. 622 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:31,000 We should do that. There shouldn't be any needs 623 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:33,680 among us. We we should be able to give 624 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:40,160 away generously our money, our possessions, our time, our 625 00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:43,760 attention, our networks, our very selves. 626 00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:47,520 We should be able to give it all the way generously, especially 627 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:53,280 to your oldest son, mom. But even with all of these 628 00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:58,480 efforts, our community would still never reflect the reality 629 00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:02,000 of this first church in the same way if the Spirit wasn't active 630 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:04,840 this past week. I was blessed to be up in 631 00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:08,480 Minnesota out on a lake with family, and I didn't have any 632 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:09,560 possessions they all shared with me. 633 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:11,320 It was awesome. And on the way up there, I 634 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:13,240 passed a sailboat. Someone's getting ready to go 635 00:36:13,240 --> 00:36:15,120 take a sailboat. Think about what's happening 636 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:16,800 here. Similar to preparing a sailboat 637 00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:20,120 to go out on the water, you can do everything you want to try to 638 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:24,800 prepare that sailboat. You can Jimmy rig all that. 639 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:26,600 I don't know any sailboat language, but you can do all the 640 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:30,160 things. You can move boxes around and 641 00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:32,160 get the food set. You can do all this stuff right. 642 00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:34,320 You can get the sail up. You can even push out away from 643 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:36,000 dock. You can do everything you want 644 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:40,680 to try to go sailing. If there's no wind, you're going 645 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:43,320 nowhere. That's how it is with the 646 00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:46,400 church. So as we wrap up, here's our 647 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:49,600 dilemma. Those living in the modern West, 648 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:53,040 that's us. We often have the most difficult 649 00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:58,120 time with this, yet we also carry the deepest responsibility 650 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:02,200 to do it. A generous community isn't built 651 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:08,040 by hiring more pastoral staff to manage a corporate benevolence 652 00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:09,000 fund. It's not how it's going to 653 00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:11,040 happen. Can those things be helpful? 654 00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:13,280 Of course they've done some great things. 655 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:16,240 That's not how it's done, I think. 656 00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:19,160 I don't know if any of you are aware of the Hillsong story of 657 00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:23,080 what what's happened the last 5-6 years at one of the largest 658 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:27,240 churches. They had 30 plus congregations 659 00:37:27,240 --> 00:37:29,120 communities within like a few months. 660 00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:32,520 They, they eventually at their peak hired over 1000 employees, 661 00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:35,280 massive. They were generating over $100 662 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:39,720 million in annual revenue, built a huge property real estate 663 00:37:39,720 --> 00:37:44,640 portfolio, and then five or six years ago, the big this big 664 00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:48,920 story of all this fraud and different issues came out. 665 00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:54,000 My, my, my point is that a generous community isn't built 666 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:55,520 by just getting bigger and bigger and bigger. 667 00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:56,920 Often times that just creates more problems. 668 00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:03,360 No pastoral staff can care for 100 people, let alone 500 people 669 00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:06,160 or 1000 people like what we see here in Acts 4. 670 00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:10,120 You're not going to have that. The other part of this dilemma 671 00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:13,760 is that those of us living here in the modern West, we're often 672 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:20,640 2 individualistic to humble ourselves and to want to 673 00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:22,840 actually be a part of a community like this. 674 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:27,600 We live in homes for decades without ever actually knowing 675 00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:32,160 the people that live 20 yards from us in the next door. 676 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:36,960 How weird would it be for people to just walk in your back door? 677 00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:38,120 You didn't know they were coming. 678 00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:40,880 We don't live in that kind of culture. 679 00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:46,640 Listen, this community is not built by rows. 680 00:38:48,720 --> 00:38:50,160 Kind of the irony of what we're doing today. 681 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:53,200 This community is not built by how we're sitting right now. 682 00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:57,320 It's built in circles. It's built in living rooms. 683 00:38:58,280 --> 00:39:01,320 It's built in close relationship so that you can know someone 684 00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:02,240 else's need. And guess what? 685 00:39:02,240 --> 00:39:03,240 Yours. This is the hardest part for 686 00:39:03,240 --> 00:39:05,360 many of you. They can know yours. 687 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:14,920 So if you truly desire real community, I just want to be 688 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:17,240 clear on what the expectations are. 689 00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:22,680 Entering into the fellowship of believers of Christ means an 690 00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:28,320 expectation to participate, to contribute to His mission. 691 00:39:29,760 --> 00:39:33,800 Don't join a community thinking. I really like those elements. 692 00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:36,600 I really like that sermon, that song, those classes. 693 00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:38,520 I really like those things. I want to see how much I can 694 00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:40,640 gain, how much I can learn. Don't go to though. 695 00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:43,200 Don't join a small group. Don't join a band so that you 696 00:39:43,200 --> 00:39:46,400 can just receive. It's detrimental to the life of 697 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:48,960 the church. Join this community so that you 698 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:55,760 can contribute to the mission of what Jesus is trying to do. 699 00:39:56,480 --> 00:40:01,400 So in that way, we can see the Kingdom come on earth as it is 700 00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:03,200 in heaven. It's through this community. 701 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:08,320 Be ready to give generously of yes, your money, of yes, your 702 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:16,520 possessions, of your time, of your calendar, of your very 703 00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:20,040 selves. Because when we do that church, 704 00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:23,520 I really believe the church is going to be able to do some 705 00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:26,040 radical crazy things that you could never imagine. 706 00:40:26,040 --> 00:40:29,200 Let me give you an example. I just biked as a part of a bike 707 00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:32,840 ride that was to raise funds to end human trafficking. 708 00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:37,560 And on this ride, this wasn't Sorry, CJ, none of this is in 709 00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:41,240 the message. I'm just winging it on this 710 00:40:41,240 --> 00:40:44,240 ride. I, I, I, I was, we were told the 711 00:40:44,240 --> 00:40:46,680 story about one of the private investigators. 712 00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:51,960 He heard the story and he said that earlier this year there was 713 00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:55,840 a 42 year old woman that was just rescued out of human 714 00:40:55,840 --> 00:40:59,320 trafficking here in Des Moines, OK. 715 00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:05,280 They rescued her. She had been trafficked for 29 716 00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:08,840 years. I mean, she got into this when 717 00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:14,160 she was 13. She missed out on junior high. 718 00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:18,160 She missed out on high school. She missed out on college. 719 00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:23,680 She missed out on getting married, having kids, building a 720 00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:25,920 career. She missed out on having 721 00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:28,320 friends. She missed out on having family. 722 00:41:28,560 --> 00:41:31,360 She missed out on holidays and on vacations. 723 00:41:31,960 --> 00:41:35,680 She missed out on life for 29 years. 724 00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:40,200 I asked the detective. I said how did she even get into 725 00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:42,920 this at 13? Did she not have any parents? 726 00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:46,880 Did she not what happened? And he said the only thing he 727 00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:52,680 said was her mom left early on. She never knew her mom and her 728 00:41:52,680 --> 00:41:56,920 dad's. And she said was a great guy and 729 00:41:56,920 --> 00:42:00,800 he really tried as hard as he could for as long as he could to 730 00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:02,160 take care of each one of his kids. 731 00:42:04,680 --> 00:42:07,040 But he just had so many needs that couldn't be met. 732 00:42:09,320 --> 00:42:11,040 And that led to her being trafficked. 733 00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:18,320 Church. If we could become a community 734 00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:23,880 that learns to give generously of everything we have, think 735 00:42:23,880 --> 00:42:25,680 about the lives that could be saved. 736 00:42:27,360 --> 00:42:31,080 And if you're still struggling today, right now wondering, I 737 00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:33,960 just don't know if I if I can give, I can be a part if I can 738 00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:36,080 contribute to the way Jared's talking about that, contribute 739 00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:37,440 to the way that the Bible asks us to. 740 00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:39,880 Let me leave you with this question. 741 00:42:41,520 --> 00:42:47,240 If you were to sell all the property you own, give it to the 742 00:42:47,240 --> 00:42:49,440 church and say go meet some needs with it. 743 00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:55,600 If the community, even one person, if even one person saw 744 00:42:56,360 --> 00:43:02,640 that action in this church and gave their life to the lordship 745 00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:06,720 of Jesus Christ, would it be worth it to you?