Together - wk 1
Notes
Transcript
In Constant Readiness
In Constant Readiness
Why are you here? What on earth are you doing here today? When you woke up this morning you could have slept in a little longer. You could have said, “I’m not feeling it. The music is the same thing I can watch on YouTube, Chad is boring, and I have to plan my whole day around that one hour. It just isn’t worth it.” Like many of you, I grew up going to church. We’d wake up on Sunday morning, put on our “Sunday best,” wrap a big smile on our faces, then walk through the glass doors. I can still hear the scraping sound that door would make as it was being opened.
We went to church twice on Sunday and again on Wednesday night. Living just down the street from the church made it even harder to skip because it was real easy for someone to just stop by on their way home and see why we weren’t there. For me, as a kid, church was boring! At the church I went to you would sit in complete silence waiting for one of the many preachers to stand up and teach or for someone to call out a hymn number for all to sing.
I’ll never forget one Sunday morning it was so quiet you could have heard a fly cough. After several minutes of trying to stay awake, my brother gave up and laid his head on his arm on the pew in front of him. A few minutes after that, his arm fell to his side allowing his head to come crashing down on the back of the pew. It made the loudest thud sound, and suddenly all I saw was about fifty heads turn to face us. That’s why, here at Grace and Truth, we have padded chairs.
What’s the point? It’s so boring! The other day I read a story about a guy with similar frustrations in regards to attending church. This man actually sent an anonymous letter to his local newspaper venting his complaint. He wrote…
“I’ve gone to church for thirty years and have heard something like three thousand sermons. But for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them. So I think I’m wasting my time, as are the preachers for even bothering to deliver a sermon at all.”
His letter started a real controversy on the op-ed page. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this reply, which ended the controversy as well as any further comments on the subject…
“I’ve been married for thirty years. In that time my wife has cooked some thirty-two thousand meals, but for the life of me, I can recall the menu of few if any of those meals. I do know, though, they all nourished me and gave me the strength I need to do my work. If my wife had not given me those meals, I’d be dead today.”
-Paul M. Miller, Worlds Greatest Collection of Church Jokes
As I got older and began learning about Jesus, one of the first things to stand out about Him is how different He is from what I experienced at church. I know the churches I had been to had the best intentions and were full of great people, but they were still usually very boring and a somewhat disconnected. Jesus seemed to be different. He didn’t sit and wait for people to come knock on His door, He knocks on theirs. When people tried to debate Him, He preached God’s truth with confidence and courage.
He got in peoples faces. He got in their business. He touched lepers, befriended prostitutes, enlisted tax collectors. He always hung out with the people that others avoided. When people hated Him, He responded with love. Jesus blessed those who persecuted Him. He welcomed those religion rejected.
Why even bother going to church? Good intentions or not, churches aren’t perfect. Go to church long enough and you are almost guaranteed to see at least one big disagreement, such as the color of the chairs, the type of music, the number of services, and so on.
What is the point of going to church? What if church was meant to be different? What if church was never meant to be just another place to go? I’ll never forget when God really started to change the way I thought about church. It was a regular Sunday morning and we were in the middle of praise and worship. I don’t remember the hymn we were singing, but it was upbeat. Out of the corner of my eye I saw an older gentleman dancing his way down the isle to the music. My first thought was, “This is unusual,” because for the church I was attending, it was unusual. However, that thought was immediately followed with, “Wow! God has really put a joy in his heart.”
It wasn’t long before a couple of people approached him and escorted him out the building. Why? So we can stay boring for God? Are we trying to impress Him? If God really welcomes me with open arms and loves me enough to give everything for me, why do I still feel like I have to impress Him first? Why do I believe there is anything I can do to impress God?
Not too long after that I got to go to a Messianic Jewish Church service and part of their worship was dancing! Anyone could join in on this choreographed dance. It was almost like interpretive dance, because each movement had a meaning. They were literally singing and dancing worship to God. So, what’s the point of going to church with so many different opinions about what church is? What if church was meant to be different?
What if church was never meant to be just another place to go? What if we saw the Church as who we are instead of where we go on Sunday’s?
I came across this article and I want to share some of it with you. It’s titled, “Why Go to Church? Here Are Five Reasons Not To.” In the article, the writer lays out five reasons why we should stop simply going to church and instead start BEING the church.
Why we should stop GOING to church, reason #1: Your schedule is full. You’re Raising kids, making friends, trying to figure out marriage, work, health, and finances. Who has time to go one more place?
Reason to start BEING the church instead, reason #1: We’re living life to the fullest. Our schedules are too full to just GO to church, therefore when we gather and when we go out, we need to start living like church is not just a place we go, but it’s who we are.
Stop going to church reason #2: You go digital. Why gather when you could just listen to a podcast or read something on your phone?
Start being the church reason #2: The world is going digital. Jesus went where people are, and the internet is where people are. The local church can reach the world through technology, not instead of getting together, but because we get together.
Stop going to church reason #3: It gets weird. Churches have some weird people.
Start being the church reason #3: We’re all weird. Our church is weird because it’s made of people. Like Jews and Gentiles in the early church, the differences that make us weird might just be the reason we all fit together. We’re going somewhere because we’re all weird, broken, forgiven people with ridiculous faith who found God’s amazing grace.
Stop going to church reason #4: It’s a fight. People at church are always fighting things. Fighting addictions, fighting for marriages, fighting for neighborhoods, fighting despair, even fighting suicidal thoughts.
Start being the church reason #4: We don’t fight alone. Life’s too much of a fight to just go to church. We fight together with power. We find the people who’ll fight for us, and the Church becomes a family worth fighting for.
Stop going to church reason #5: Honestly, church is not some place you can just “go to.” At some point, churches will ask you to serve, help, welcome others, invite friends, give, mentor, share Jesus, and get to know others.
Start being the church reason #5: We don’t go to church—we are the Church, and we’re going somewhere. We’re not spiritual consumers, we’re spiritual contributors. We are the Church and we exist for the world. Why start BEING the Church? Because God asked us too. Because believing in God’s word and not doing it isn’t a good combo. Because the world needs real people like you, who will follow Jesus into chat rooms, communities, jobs, family rooms, coffee shops, and so on.
For the next few weeks, we are going to study the Church. Some call it “Big ‘C’ Church,” some say the “body,” as in a body of believers. Some just say “Christians” or “Christ followers.” You could call this study, “God’s design for the growth of the church,” or “The Life of the Church.” Whatever you want to call it doesn’t really matter, I just don’t want anyone getting confused if I use a term to describe something one way when a different meaning is set in concrete in your mind. Thomas Jefferson once said, “It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read.” We don’t go to church, we are the Church.
As we go through this series, we are going to look at the first mega-church in the New Testament. After Jesus rose from the dead, the disciples shared Good News with thousands of people. In chapter 2 of Acts, Peter preached that God has made the Jesus they crucified to be both Lord and Messiah. After Peter preached, about three thousand people believed and were baptised and added to the church that day.
Obviously, that means they were added to membership roles and mailing lists. They were assigned Sunday school classes. They were given little booklets. With that many people, this church definitely needed more volunteers, so at least twenty percent of them were probably added to the volunteer schedule. I like how Pastor Craig Groeschel puts this scripture into a modern setting. When telling the story of how Life Church got started. He explained that he felt like God was calling him to do something different. What he saw in church fit into a translation of the bible that he calls the “Modern Day Version,” which he made up. Here is what he saw…
They were devoted to their comfort, happiness, personal goals, dreams, and bucket lists. No one really noticed the Christians because they focused on themselves. Very few of the believers were together, and when they were, they fought about stupid things. If they sold anything, they used the money to buy something better for themselves. They claimed to love God, but they didn’t even love each other. So they felt empty, alone, and depressed. As a result, most people disliked them and very few lives were changed. -Acts 2:42-47 Modern Day Version (Craig Groeschel)
Obviously, that is NOT what happened. God has something much better for His church. Let’s look at what this scripture actually says…
41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
In the future we will take this in piece by piece, but today we are just going to get an introduction to this scripture and a very basic and generalized idea of why gathering together with the body of Christ, or God’s Church, is important. At some point, I am probably just going to end up calling it church. So for example, if I say, “Go to church.” Just know that I am not telling you that you can’t miss any Sunday’s in this building, I am talking about the importance of participating with the family of believers as we encourage each other, equip ourselves, love others, and worship God.
I want to encourage you to make a note about this scripture that we just read. Acts 2:41-47. You are probably going to want to meditate on this one later. When Luke wrote this passage, he used a literary device known as inclusio. That is where authors will frame an important thought within a structure of repetitions to magnify specific points. In other words, certain thoughts act as brackets that highlight ideas. Here is an image that shows how that looks. If you want to look at it more closely or study it later, you can find it in today’s sermon notes on our website or in our faithlife digital bulletin.
In short, in verses 41 and 47 we see that people were being added to the body. Those verses acting as brackets highlights this thought as important. Then in verse 42, we get the summary of four important thoughts that relate to the theme of the bracket verses, or bookends, and then the following verses elaborate on those thoughts in relative order.
Today we are going to focus on the bookends, or the important thought being highlighted…
Acts 2:41, 47b (NLT)
41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all…
And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
When we break this passage down to it’s structure like this, something opens up for us. First of all, we get to see what the most important thought of the passage is. It is about people being added to the church. Not Grace and Truth Church, First Baptist Church, or even Second Baptist Church. It’s about God saving people, and adding them to His big ‘C’ Church. The Fellowship.
What makes this interesting and fun to dig around in is what we find when we look for similar themes. When you look for this theme throughout scripture you will find many examples of God adding to numbers of people. You can go all the way to the first page of the bible and see God’s original plan for humans and see this theme. In verse 28, God tells the man and woman to “Be fruitful and multiply.”
Cheree Hayes of “The Bible Project” says, “He generously shared His resources, gave them food to fuel this work, and then celebrated all that He had made, calling it “very good.” Acts chapter 2 shows us the beginning of a new creation where God’s people can bear the fruit of His Spirit and multiply like never before… More and more nations joined the Jesus movement as they heard His good news spoken in their own language. They saw the works of God and were amazed! They turned to God, allowing Him to wash away the old so they could start anew. With their new start, they continued to pay attention to Jesus’ words and works. They shared their resources, broke bread, and worshiped together. And as they did, God added to their number and they multiplied even more.”
Being fruitful and multiplying God’s work has been God’s call on our lives from the very beginning, and it is still true today by the power of His Spirit. Luke continues by listing four important practices that the early church did to spread God’s good work to the whole world. For today, let’s focus on one word from verse 42. Look at that verse again…
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Let’s focus on the word “devoted.” The Greek word translated to “devoted” is “proskartereo (pros [ah] - car - tear - ay - o).” It looks a little like “pro car stereo,” but I can assure you that it is something completely different. It actually means…
proskartereo: to be steadfastly attentive unto, to persevere, to be in constant readiness for one, persistent, to live in a constant state of relentless pursuit.
What are you proskartereo to? What are you intensely devoted to? Kids, career, vacuuming? I was on a service call the other day and the home owner had me take my shoes off. This was the cleanest house I have ever been in. The vacuum lines on the carpet were perfectly parallel and exactly the same size. Even without shoes, I was legitimately afraid to even step on the carpet. I thought I might mess up the vacuum lines and then get hit in the head with a vacuum. That person is a proskartereo house keeper!
The first Christians weren’t casual Christians. For them, church wasn’t a place to go or a box to tick. They were full on, all in, sold out, on fire, persistent, and in a constant state of relentless pursuit of Jesus. How do I do that? How do I change the way I think about church? Instead of seeing church as a thing I do on the weekend, or a place I go for a couple of hours on Sunday, how can I see church the way God sees it? As a group of fellow believers who are proskartereo, intensely devoted, to Jesus and being fruitful and multiplying for God.
If you are taking notes, let’s quickly look at four thoughts about why we gather together, then we will close. If you wake up and say, “Oh, I don’t feel like going to church today!” I want to challenge you to really examine the way you view church. Do you GO to church FOR church or do you gather with your family of believers to worship and serve? Here are three important thoughts to consider as you ask yourself…
WHY GATHER REGULARLY WITH A COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS?
WE NEED ENCOURAGEMENT
We need encouragement from each other. Life isn’t easy. The way of Jesus isn’t easy. We frequently face temptation to quit, compromise, or take a break from our calling. But we find strength and comfort when we spend time with other Jesus followers. That’s part of sharing our lives and resources with each other. I love this quote from Life Church’s social media, “We are spiritual contributors not spiritual consumers. The Church does not exist for us. We are the Church and we exist for the world.”
24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
WHY GATHER REGULARLY WITH A COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS?
WE NEED ENCOURAGEMENT
WE NEED ALIGNMENT
We need encouragement. Second, we need alignment. I can’t help but think of wheel alignment. Just like your car needs regular maintenance, you and I need regular maintenance. Our shortcomings show us that we have plenty of room to grow and meeting with each other can reveal areas that need maintenance. When we share how we want to grow, we can support each other in those goals.
It is easy to get distracted throughout the week or completely derailed after a tough week. Getting out of our personal bubble and experiencing life with each other in a Jesus-focused environment helps us to re-center and re-focus our chaotic lives around Jesus. A consistent reminder of why we are here gives us purpose and meaning during the day to day grind. It helps us remember the ultimate goal of being fruitful and multiplying with the Good News of Jesus.
16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
WHY GATHER REGULARLY WITH A COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS?
WE NEED ENCOURAGEMENT
WE NEED ALIGNMENT
WE NEED DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
We need encouragement. We need alignment. We also need different perspectives. Everyone has unique backgrounds and perspectives. Everyone experiences God in different ways. If we don’t gather, we miss learning more about God through these different perspectives. For example, I love it when you come to me after service and show me scripture that popped into your head during service. Your perspective lead you down a different path than I was on, and then God used you to illuminate His truth in my life. John explained why he wrote down his experiences for others. He essentially says that he writes so that you may fully share in the joy of fellowship with God…
3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.
Why are you here? Maybe I should ask, why are you still here? Why do you gather with a family of believers? Do you see church as a place you go? A thing you do on the weekend? Or is it something more? Is it an opportunity to answer God’s call in your life to love, serve, pray, worship, and grow with a family of believers. Remember that as followers of Jesus we don’t GO TO church, we ARE THE Church!