What happens when we Gather and Grow?

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SERIES DESCRIPTION: In this series called A-Team, Pastor Shawn kicks off with a message titled “What Happens When You Gather and Grow in Biblical Community.” Through Acts 2 and practical wisdom from Proverbs, we discover how belonging and breakthrough are cultivated in Christ-centered community, and how showing up, planning with purpose, and surrendering the outcome positions us for spiritual growth.

Altar Instructions: Please come up when I begin the 2nd of the last sub point called “Showing up CONSISTENTLY”

Series | All In

Pre-Message Welcome

Grace Place family! It’s awesome to have you here with us today, whether in person or online.

I’m Shawn, and along with my wife, we serve as the Co-Pastors of this incredible church.

At The Grace Place, our mission is clear: we are Caring People, Caring for People.

We pray that you experience God’s care in our time together and in your life.

*************Spanish Welcome - 2nd Service ONLY!************

A nuestra familia de habla hispana .... Bienvenidos…

To our Spanish speaking family... welcome,

Well… the Sansev’s are glad to be home from a wild 11 days out, we spent a few days at Disney World, a few days at the Assemblies of God General Council meetings, National Fine Arts and then Leadville for my big MTB Race!

I’m going to give you a brief race update but before I do, on behalf of our family we want to say thank you to our Board - who gives us a generous amount of time off during the year… we are grateful and do not take it for granted.

As for the race update…

Baby Dedication

I want to welcome our families to join me on the stage along with the family that came with them.

What is Baby dedication? 

It’s a public declaration of parents & family that say’ “With the help of God... we will live out the Gospel before their child”  

What does this mean?

It means our child will see us... be devoted to...  

The teaching of scripture and fellowship with the body of Christ by faithfully attending Church. 

and They will see us... be devoted to...  

We will be devoted to prayer and living our life on mission.

Will you introduce us to your family who is with you today 

11AM

Alex & Valerie Rivera

Salome Rivera

Derek & Berenice Boe

Arabella Boe

Mom – Dad and family...  I charge you… to

Pay attention to the gifts in their life...  in their personality, character and interests.... 

Teach these babies about Jesus- let them see Him in your home and your daily life...   

... don’t let the only time your kids see you pray... and open scripture be in Church.. let them see you do this at home. Their Sunday School teacher’s voice should echo what they’re already learning from you in the home.

Family & TGP family...  let’s set an example for our children... let’s constantly point these babies to Jesus... because the reality is… we will NOT be enough for them… they will NEED a SAVIOR… and that is not us….

With Gods help… can we Commit to that 

LET’S PRAY 

Thank you families…. You can head back to your seat.

Pastor Plug: TGP Driven

Clip 1: Start of Race

For those of you that done know… I have been training for the last 9 months to train for what many call the toughest one day Mountain Bike race in the world.

I got to line up last Saturday to ride through the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains… we road 105 mile and climbed over 12,000’ trying to breath in the tiny amount of oxygen thats available at high altituded.

***shave 15src

Pic 2: Clip in Hospital

After breaking 5 bones and having surgery 4 1/2 months ago… with the Help of God and your prayers… I was able to get back to training.

Pic 3: Race Pic-w group

· All Glory belongs to God for my fast recovery and ability to race… this monumental event.

Pic 4: Race Pic - solo

This was both the most amazing and horribly-tough experiance of my life on a bike.

Pic 5: - team pic

I had an amazing group of people supporting me during the race.

I felt so much love prayers and support from all of you back home

And I needed it… to be real… I was spent by mile 60…. and one of the things that was knowing I would see my wife and support team at the next stop and they were a huge breath of fresh air and major encouragement.

Pic 6: finish buckle -

I cant tell you how amazing it felt to hear my wife and family screaming… and cheering me on! I thought I would ball my eyes out crossing the finishline…. but I was so drained… I had no energy to cry lol.

I felt like I was asked right away… so how about Leadville 2026… I said NEVER - AGIN that was enough suffering for a life time.

Then my wife said… it’s probably like having a baby… if you ask a mother if she is ready to have another one right after she gave birth… she would say NO … but for most… if you just give it a little time… she will say… one day…

So would I every do it again?

Maybe ONE DAY it would be awesome to see what I could do with a full healthy training season.

As you know part of this quest was launching the Driven Campaign

Pic. 7: Finish line w/ Buckle in hand & Driven Campaign logo

A way to connect my passion for cycling with my Purpose for the Kingdom… we turned this into a tool for people to share with their friends, employers and fellow business owners to give us an oportunity to raise money for some of our Non Profit missions Partners - and do for the kingdom what we could never do on our own.

I want to say thank you to every one of you who took the time to share our videos, and ask your employs and friends to consider contributing to the driven campaign. We welcome you to continue to do this.

I have has several people ask how they can be apart… at first I said.. don’t give just share…

After thinking about it more… why should I hold someone who is inspired to give towards missions.

There is zero pressure… but if you have been inspired to give towards the driven campaign… we would be honored for you to sow a seed.

You will noticed in the Church Center app that we opened a drop down for the driven campaign… we will leave it open for two weeks. Through your giving we will be giving to some of our non profit hero’s working in the area of disaster relief, orphan care and Minor Advocacy.

We’ll be doing a live premier of Race Day at TGP in the next month or so so stay tuned for the date… it will be a cool time to celebrate with those who want to hang out with us.

Thanks again!

Before we get into the message today…. we’re going to be dedicating some babies!

Transition into Message

What a great Sunday so far! How many of you guys are ready for the word? Go ahead and download the notes from the church center app if you would like to follow along. We also have hard copies of the notes in the lobby for those who prefer that.

Transition: This week we are starting mini-series called…

Series | All-In

The goal of this series helps us catch a glimpse into the kind of biblical community the early church thrived in. The early church was radical… some of their radical commitment was for survival due to the living conditions and culture of the time. So this is why we don’t mirror everything exactly the way they did it. But there are some great principals to draw from in how they did life together. In fact we model our church off of those very principals.

With that… today we are going to be looking at Acts 2:42-47 NLT

This is the golden text for understanding how the early church lived All-IN as Christ centered community.

Here we go..

Acts 2:42-47

New Living Translation Chapter 2

42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.

44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

LETS PRAY

Transition: the title of our message today is...

Sermon Title | What happens when you Gather and Grow ?

Like the early - in biblical community…

Introduction

If you have been around our long enough you know we believe in being a biblical community. In fact when you become a member at TGP we call it becoming a part of our A-Team…. our ALL-IN Team.

As a biblical community we are committed to modeling the principals of the New Testament Church. We break them down into 4 simple action-words… these words our found in our A-team Declaration.

We express it like this… it’s up on the screen… .

I’m a part of a family that…

GATHERS, GROWS, GIVES and GOES together in Christ.

It’s these 4 commitments that make up a healthy Church. Everyone doing their part… to participate in lifting the load of the family….

Ever beleiver new and seasoned needs a church family to grow within - its biblical. God calls us a body… online church is a supplement for when you are out of town or sick… not a substitute for real relationship within the body.

Transition: Lets answer the big question… which is also the title of our message today…

Sermon Title | What happens when you Gather and Grow?

Looking at out text

When we are ALL IN…to gather and Grow-together as a church community… IN YOUR NOTES…

We experiance BELONGING. v.44,46, Gen. 2:18

We see this in v. 44 and 46 of our text… All the believers we’re committed to Gathering together… in the tempel and homes.

Gathering together was a commitment they made to one another…. and the results of this was a deep sense of belonging. They never had to worry who would help when times got tough.

Friends, you will not find a rich sense of belonging a-part from Christ and his Body - It’s the design of God for you to find this within the Church.

God created us to be CONNECTED beings.

In fact… Did you know that one of the 1st things God did in scripture after he created man in Gen. 2 was create another human - a female… to give companionship and help.

In fact, belonging is one of the top core needs of Humanity. It’s why this was the first thing God gave man in the Garden.

Did you know that Statistics say…

Loneliness/social isolation increases the risk of early death by 26–29%

Thats wild!

Think about that… rather than dying at 85 years old… you die at 65! Thats quite a difference…

I have no science to back what I will say next… it’s just personal observation…

Show me a isolated person and I’ll show you someone who most-likely spends their time prays for Jesus to take them home. (In fact isolation is the one of the top 3 leading cause of Suicide)

Why… becuase God created us for community.

This is also why.. if you show me someone thriving in supportive community - I’ll show you someone who prays for a long life.

Friends…. we we’re not created to do life alone. It’s not Gods design.. in fact I have known people through the years that would confess they love Jesus and live detached from the Body of Christ… friends… these things don’t go together… in fact… its unbiblical… to live in this way… detached from the community of God… why - becuase its NOT Gods best for you.

There are two ways we encourage you to Gather at TGP… in both Large and small gathering.

In the large gatherings

Like Sunday morning service we strengthen our faith, and lift God up in worship together.

In the small gatherings

Like C-groups we deepen our relationships, we find prayer partners, people who will celebrate with us when we win and cry when we are broken.

IN YOR NOTES…

We find BELONGING when we GATHER in community.

Friends, if you want a church where you feel a sense of belonging, you have to invest—it’s a two-way street.

You can’t slip in late and rush out early and expect to know your church family. I know it can feel uncomfortable when you’re new, but I encourage you to hang around for a few - walk slowly through the crowd, I’m willing to be on most days… you’ll get a warm welcome.

Church - That’s why we make our post-services inviting—so take a moment to hang around and say hi, ask someone how they found the church, or invite them to lunch or your C-group.

By the way, today is C-group Sunday! At the end of service, Pastor Amanda will share our small group options and invite you to find a group that works for you.

****SHAWN-HAND THEM A MIC “Today, as we talk about what happens when we gather and grow in biblical community, I wanted to bring a family up here who’s been impacted by gathering and growing in biblical community…

Would you help me welcome Ashley and Dontrail Anderson to the stage…

Interview w/ Cohen (Ashlee and Dontrail)

Hey guys, thanks for being open to share part of your story with us today.

SO guys… tell us how long you’ve been part of The Grace Place, and what first brought you here?”

If you were to give me 2-3 words to describe what life was like before you found belonging and community at the Grace Place, what would they be?

By the way, we are so glad you found us…

I too know what it feels like to be… wore out… burned out and in need of refreshing…

I have to be honest.. when I look at you guys today.. I see two very different people from what you just described.

💡 QUESTION 2 – The Turning Point

What was the turning point for you guys… When did things start to shift?

So your saying… - when you started engaging gathering in Biblical community God called you UP - to get in line with His word and you did and you found

And 2… - you started engaging with NEXT STEPS and began growing?

What next steps have you guys taken?

Wow… well I can’t tell you how proud I am of you and your family…

This is the exact reason why we encourage people to take next steps…

Next Steps are usually the turning point for a lot of people.

I saw you guys both dive in… and I have to say… it’s been inspiring to watch.

Let me as you this…

🔄 QUESTION 3 – Breakthrough/Growth

How has all this impacted your life?

What differences has this made in the quality of your life, your marriage, your family?

ok… I have one more question for you guys…

💬 QUESTION 4 – Encouragement to Others

What would you say to someone here today who maybe feels disconnected and is looking for belonging?

Wow… I cant have said it better myself… would you guys thank Ashlee and Dontrail for being willing to share some of their story with us today.

Here is the question I believe scripture is inviting us to ask ourselves today…

Question: Where do I find my sense of belonging within the body of Christ?

Where are you planted?

How can you strengthen that sense of belonging?

Who have you invited into your inner circle lately?

Are you in a group?

If not, we invite you to stick around after service and check out the C-Group options.

Transition: We’re answering the big quesiton today…

Sermon Title | What happens when you Gather and Grow

When we are ALL IN… like the early Church…. to gather and Grow together… IN YOUR NOTES…

We experiance BREAKTHROUGH. v.42, 43

Yea… Just like Ashlee and Dontrail… you might say…we’re tired, burned out… and feeling stuck…

Friends you need a breakthrough - and it takes place in biblical community.

How many of you want to see Breakthrough in your life?

Breakthrough in your finances, relationships,

Breakthrough in unhealthy habits and addictions

Breakthrough in your ministry calling?

****Just so you know… I’m looking for some breakthrough… too

Friends when gather and GROWTH…within the body… we will experiance BREAKTHROUGH…

We see this in our passage… When the disciples devoted themselves to the apostles teachings and they began to grow…

Here is why…

Because healthy….growing-People don’t stay the same… they Change. (REPEATE)

As they developed a devotional life filled with prayer… and commitment to the house of God - and the teachings of the Apostles.. they CHANGED

Here is whats important to know about breakthrough…

I’ve found that early in my faith journey, I tended to over-romanticize stories of instant breakthrough—especially since those are the ones we often hear highlighted.

But over time, I discovered that, in most cases, breakthrough has come gradually.

That’s certainly been true in my own life—there have been some sudden breakthrough… but more often(someoen say MORE OFTEN) its been through a slow, steady work… rather than an immediate change.

Friends… if your breakthrough has not come… don’t throw in the towel… Don’t under-estimate what God can do over time. Keep at it.. keep showing up… keep depending on God.

Just ask people like…

Joseph- Whom grew up as the underdog of his family and was bullied and abused by his brothers…

God a vision from of breakthrough .. . it took nearly 13 years before he became it came to past.

And continued to face many other challenges that took TIME to resole.

Or Just ask the…

Woman with the Issue of Blood who spent 12 years in pain, and shame, trying everything she could… to seek God for a healing… and one day her breakthrough came… it may have looked instant… to many of us… but for her… it ways 12 years of prayer and struggle.

I can’t explain why breakthrough takes so long for some—that’s a mystery. But I do know we serve a God of breakthrough. If we plant ourselves, stay committed to gathering and growing, we’ve done our part—and we can trust God with the rest.

Let’s get real practical…

Here are 3 simple things you can do to position yourselves towards breakthrough.

Sketch out a PLAN (Prov. 21:5)

Yea… being to prayerfully plan… think and dream about change you want to see and make a plan.

I plan to make gathering and growing in Christ a priority.

Church, prayer, Cgroups and my Next Steps a priority.

We see this in Prov. 21:5… lets check it out together… it says…

New Living Translation Chapter 21

Prov. 21:5

Good what?… Right…. good planning…

Yea… plan on breakthrough in your life…

Plan on letting go of sin…

Overcoming temptation…

Forgiving others,

Plan on less arguing… plan on breakthrough!

Let me say this…

Every good plan has a PURPOSE attached to it… (REPEATE)

I plan on letting go of sin or an addiction…

WHY… becuase my purpose is… to reflect Christ and NOT lose my family

I plan on becoming an Emotional Healthy disciple of Jesus

Why, because my purpose is to reflect Christ in how I

Forgive and live free from bitterness.

I plan on growing in the area of FINANCES

WHY?

So I can reflect the generosity of Christ

Be positioned and inline with scripture

So I can gain control of my budget

So I can take better care of my family

So I can become a Generous giver and obedience tither.

Friends… If you want breakthrough you should position yourself for it…

You should… Sketch out a plan for it…

Next… IN YOUR NOTES you should

Show up CONSISTENTLY (Prov. 21:5)

***Clay the scripture will be right after this sub-point so it can be on the same screen

We also see this in Prov. 21:5…. After you have planned what should you do… WORK HARD…

New Living Translation Chapter 21

Prov. 21:5

yea… we should work the plan… NO SHORTCUTS…

Working the plan is… hard work…

By the way… no one calls someone a hard worker becuase they did good during ONE afternoon shift… or one good week… NO you get the title of HARD WORKER after PROVING yourself… after showing up CONSISTENTLY… over and over again…. working hard DAY after DAY!

Someone once said,

“What you do every day is far more important than what you do every once in a while”

and it’s true…

Friends… you owe it to yourself to be consistent.

It’s funny how often people we tend to show up for everyone else… our neighbors, strangers, our employer… spouses and even our kids which are all important spaces to show up… but the problem is when we don’t show up consistently for ourselves… everyone benefits while you…. fall a part… all because you are not show up consistently for you. Eventually no one will benefit from your burned out life.

Church… Consistency is the breeding ground of breakthrough (REPEATE)

Anyone want BREAKTHROUGH IN THEIR LIFE?

After you put a plan together

After you plant at show up consistently…

the last thing we should do… IN YOUR NOTES

Surrender the RESULTS to God(Prov. 16:9)

This is where we rest… trust and let God do His thing…

We see this in Prov. 16:9

Proverbs 16:9 NLT

We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.

We can plan and work hard, but the outcome is in God’s hands.

Surrendering the results is saying, “God, I trust your timing and what you’ll do with my obedience.”

So use my life however you want—

Friends if you want breakthrough… don’t make it harder than it needs to be… be consistent… do what has been put in front of you.

God has planted you in a church that takes spiritual formation and breakthrough seriously.

Stop putting off your next step…

Engage where he has planted you… this is your path to breakthrough and spiritual growth.

Here is the question I believe scripture is inviting us to ask ourselves today…

Question: Have I taken every NEXT STEP available to me? (Put a check box next to everything you have done)

I have actually added another one I want you to write down…

____Gather regularly with Church family

____Starting Point

____Baptism

____D-track 101 “Discipleship track 101”

____D-track 201 “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality”

____D-track 301 “Emotionally Healthy Relationships”

____D-track 401 “How to read and Understand the Bible”

____D-track 501 “Advance Bible Study”

____C-group

____Cultivation Classes (Wednesday pm)

____Becoming a Generous giver through tithing

____Becoming a Generous Missions giver

____Becoming a Generous with others

Friends, when we gather and grow together…

We experiance BELONGING

We experiance BREAKTHROUGH

I want to close by asking you a question….

Call to Action Altar Call

Do you want BREAKTHROUGH… in any area of your life?

If so… stand on your feet today…

It might be breakthrough into SALVATION…

It might be… breakthrough from an addition, your finances, a relationship, your career etc…

I want to invite you to stand on your feet today

We want to pray for you… while the worship team begins to sing… I want to invite you come to the front of the room and begin to ask God for your breakthrough…

Come now…

If one comes… others will come

Dad if you come your family will come…

Your commitment to god is…

Whether it’s immediate or a process I TRUST YOU

I think there is something special and supernatural when we position ourselves in front of God and others admitting we need his help… I believe there are things God can do in one moment at an altar that can not be done in hours of counseling.

PRAY AFTER THE SONG…

Breakthrough - SALVATION

Call Invite Amanda up for C-Group

Salvation Altar Call

I believe Jesus is here today, and He wants to save you. Salvation simply means to deliver or to free. It’s not just about delivering you…

It’s about believing

Believing in Jesus means trusting what He say’s—about sin, and eternal punishment, thats the bad news.

The good news is this… that His death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins, making us right with God.

Ephesians 2:8 reminds us: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Salvation requires two things:

1. God’s Grace—His undeserved gift of forgiveness and life because of His love for you.

2. Faith—placing your trust in Him for salvation.

If you’ve never asked Jesus to save you, today is your day. If you’d like ask him… , raise your hand.

I want to invite you to Repeat a prayer after me

· There is nothing magical in this prayer.. it simply is a way of declaring to Jesus what has taken place in your heart.

Going Deeper

What stuck out to you the in this passage? Acts 2:42-47

Where do I find my sense of belonging within the body of Christ? v.44, 46

Sketch out a plan for breakthrough (Prov.21:5)

How do you plan on showing up consistently?(Prov. 21:5)

What next step is God asking me to take? How can I take immediate action to participate in it?

What might the Holy Spirit be saying to you in light of this teaching?

How might the Holy Spirit want to transform you in light of this teaching?

What actions might the Holy Spirit want to take in light of this teaching?

Tongues & Interpretation

1. To STRENGTHEN the Church (1 Cor14:5)

For prophecy is greater than SPEAKING in TONGUES, unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church will be STRENGTHENED.

Believers, God has operated through this gift today to strengthen you today. Let your faith be strengthened and know that God is in control and using supernatural measures to speak to us.

2. Is a SIGN for unbelievers. (1Cor. 14: 21a, 22)

1 Corinthians 14:21–22 (ESV)

In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.

22 -  So you see that speaking in tongues is a SIGN, not for believers, but for UNBELIEVERS.

The Bible explains to us God has chosen to use this gift to be a sign for you. A sign for what? It is a sign of his realness for those of you who have been doubting or questioning the existence of God. He wants you to know he is REAL and he wants to bring you spiritual life and health. If you're in here today and you don't know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior... he wants you to know he has gone to great lengths to show you his love today. (Great opportunity for a salvation altar call if it fits).