Involvement in church

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Mercy Unlimited: October 14th 1-5 PM

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1: Lion

2: Cowboy

3: Garbage Truck

4: Shark

5: Playground

6: Birthday Party (last one)

Intro

So far we have talked about Hanging out with God with prayer, Accountability friendships, and Studying the Bible. This week we will continue our series as we talk being involved in church. Now Im not just talking about showing up to youth group each week, or even coming to Church each Sunday, but what it really means to be a part of the Church as a whole.

Did you know that the church is not just a building that we go to? The church is who we are as believers.

Acts 2:42–47 NIV

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 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, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

This is the perfect example of the church living out what it is called to do. They looked out for each other, protected each other, shared with each other, trusted each other, ate with each other, worshipped God with each other and pretty much lived life with each other. Thats what we are called to do, how we are called to live out our lives, and because of all of that it tells us that God was adding people to their group on a daily basis. That is why I challenge you to live out the 10x10 challenge. Not just so that we can grow as a group, but so you can have more people in your corner for when life gets difficult.

we focus on whats important

We can see a few things of what being involved in church means. First we see that we focus on what is important.

There were about 4 things that this passage mentions that they focused on.

Apostles teaching

This was where they would come similarly to youth group or church on Sunday and learn more about God. Even at times from the people that actually had the opportunity to walk alongside Jesus through out His life, and they taught others the same lessons that Jesus taught them.

Now we may not have physically walked along side Jesus, but your youth leaders have all had experiences following Christ, and have all learned along the way, and their goal is to pass that knowledge along to you, in the same way that the disciples wanted to pass their knowledge to the church.

Fellowship

Fellowship is just a big word for saying they hung out together. Thats why we do events like the nerf wars, or go to concerts, snow tubing, serve a mercy. It allows us to hang out together and get to know each other. It allows us to open up and have serious conversations sometimes in the midst of a game. Thats why we are here until about 9 every night, just in case somebody wants to hang out after we dismiss.

Sharing in Meals

This one feels pretty self explanatory right, once you have eaten a family meal with someone you feel like you belong and that you are part of the family. The same thing was true 2000 years ago. Many of their traditions revolved around food, and coming together and eating together.

Prayer

The last one in this section is one we talked about a few weeks ago. They were focused on prayer and hanging out with God, because they understood how important it was to talk to God on a regular basis to survive this thing called life.

Means putting others first

Not only does involvement in the church mean focusing on whats important, but it also means putting others first. It’s impossible to talk about the early church without talking about how they always seemed to put the needs of others before their own.

Acts 2:43–47 NIV

Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 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, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

The early church was hopping, there was always something going on, a new teacher coming to town, miracles being performed. Everyone was sharing everything they had, and people were selling their homes and belongings so they could give to the needy. You think coming to church once a week is a lot, the early church would meet every day to worship together, and they were constantly together in each others homes and eating together.

One of the best ways to describe the early church is their generosity.

Picture of thanksgiving dinner

Most of the time when we think about sharing we typically dont like to. Think about sitting at the dinner table and someone tries to take food off your plate. Maybe you got the last piece of pie, and someone else wants some of it and tries to grab some. They may be pulling back a nub instead of a hand right.

I dont want to share my food, spoiler alert guys, once you get married, go ahead and grab what you want to eat, then grab a little more. because for some reason food tastes better off of your plate than your wifes, and I dont know how that is, but it is apparently a scientifically proven fact.

But here is the thing, in the early church they werent just sharing the last piece of pie, they were sharing everything that they had. These early church members werent just sharing because they were taught it was the right thing to do. They were sharing because they realized that compared to the sacrifice that Jesus had made for them, which many of them may have seen first hand standing in the crowd chanting crucify him. The sharing of their stuff pales in comparison.

Lets take a look at what Paul wrote in Romans that gos along with this

Romans 12:9–13 NLT

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

Inviting others to follow Christ

So not only does being involved in church mean focusing on whats important, and putting others first, but it also means inviting others to follow Christ. This is why we focus so much on the 10 x 10 challenge, because if we really believe what we say we believe, if we truly are following after Christ, than due to his sacrifice on the cross, we have to tell other people. I have shown the video before of Pen from Pen and teller saying “how much do you have to hate someone to believe that there is a heaven and hell, and not tell them about it.”

The church in Jerusalem went from just a few dozen people to thousands very quickly. It can be easy to think that the church grew because of growth strategies, or marketing ploys, or because they had an awesome youth pastor…

Acts 2:47 NIV

praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

This passage doesnt tell us that they grew because of anything they did, but because of the fact that God was working in their lives.

Maybe you are thinking, but I dont know who this God is that is working in the lives of my friends. And if that is the case, I challenge you to speak to your small group leader, or myself, or your friend to find out more about how to have a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Living it out

So we have talked about how its important to be involved in the church but how do we live it out?

Make church a priority

Everybody is busy, and it can be really tempting to fill that time on Wednesday or Sunday with plenty of different activities, including sleep. But we have to make sure that we prioritize our lives so that we are getting the best out of each and every day, and week.

Good is bad when it keeps us from the best - David Wheeler

No one is saying sports, music, friends, or any other activities are a bad thing, but when they keep you from doing what you are supposed to be doing, they can become a bad thing.

Every time you say yes to one thing you are automatically saying no to something else.

I said yes to bringing donuts to SYATP which meant I said no to a couple of hours of sleep.

See the value in others

Not only do we need to make church a priority but we need to see the value in other people, and not just see the value, but act on it, and tell them that they are valuable.

Hebrews 10:25 NIV

not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

So as we continue to get closer to Christ returning, make sure to tell your friends how much you care about them. It may feel awkward, but you may not know what is going on at home. You may not know what thoughts are going on in their head.

At one point I was looking at telephone poles in high school because I wanted to hit one just to see who would show up to the hospital. So please tell the people that you care about. Dont just assume that they know.

Choose to invite others to church

Finally we need to invite others to church. We focus on this one through out the year with out 10x10 challenge. I want to encourage you to think of someone that you can invite, that may not go to church anywhere else. But we also need to make sure that when new people come that we are welcoming, and I think we do a pretty good job of that, but if you see someone who is off on their own. Go find out a little bit about them.