June 10.1

Introduction

Well good morning everyone, if we haven’t met, my name is Bradley.

We’re moving along with a series called Faith Activators. This summer Pastor Mike McGrath has asked us to look at a particular dimension of faith and explore what happens when our faith is activated, and to draw from the Book of Acts, which in many ways is the history of the work of the Holy Spirit activating and spreading the faith in the early church.

Last week we touched on the beginning of Acts and then really went backwards in the Bibilical storyline and looked at the unfolding revelation of the identity of Jesus as Christ or Messiah throughout the Gospel accounts of His ministry and how His identity is married to His mission of reconciling the relationship between God and humanity. We also touched on how our view of the identity of Jesus is influenced by our worldview and how this also happened to the earliest disciples of Jesus.

We left off in the Biblical narrative as the early disciples and Apostles see and talk with the risen Jesus and are then given the mission of Jesus to offer the forgiveness of God, once their empowered by the Spirit, and serve as Gods ambassodors. And so we’ll pick up from there and continue to look at the activation of faith in Acts.

I want to look at three main points in response to the question of what happens once faith is activated. First, we see in Acts that when our faith is activated, it happens in community. Next, faith grows and spreads, both corporately and personally. And finally, when our faith is activated, we’re asked to do things we aren’t comfortable with.

Faith Happens in Community

Redemptive History

Last week we touched on how Jesus didn’t just drop out of the sky and land in His ministry, but He appeared from within the context of Jewish culture and history.  And once people began to identify that He was the Messiah, it was expected that He was going to become the King of the Jews, and when He was crucified by the Roman soldiers, they nailed a sign above His head, stating this.  

35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. Matt 27:35-37

It wasn’t until after his Crucifixion that He made it clear that He was a blessing to all nations, not just Israel, and King to all nations as well.

It wasn’t until after his cricifixtion that it became clear that He was the blessing meant for all nations, not just Israel.

If we go back to the beginning of the nation of Israel, when God calls Abraham, God doesn’t just call Him into personal relationship, but God also calls Abraham to begin creating a nation and promises Abraham that this will happen.

and I will bless you;

and I will bless you;

2 “I will make you into a great nation,

and I will bless you;

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

I will make your name great,

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing. i

and you will be a blessing. i

3 I will bless those who bless you,

and you will be a blessing. 

and whoever curses you I will curse;

3 I will bless those who bless you,

and all peoples on earth

and whoever curses you I will curse;

will be blessed through you.”

3 I will bless those who bless you,

and all peoples on earth

and whoever curses you I will curse;

will be blessed through you.”

The New International Version. (2011). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

and all peoples on earth

The New International Version. (2011). (Ge 12:2–3). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

will be blessed through you.”

So even at the very beginning of the nation of Israel, when it was still just a promise, it is God’s purpose that our relationship with Him is not limited to an individual experience. God wanted to form a nation and have a relationship with that nation, as well, and that somehow through that nation “all peoples on earth will be blessed.”

When we fast forward through the history of Israel to the time of Acts, right after Peter delivers his first sermon, we see a similar thing happen, that people who put their faith in Jesus begin to form and establish a community, and this community, the Church, now becomes the context for the life of a follower of Jesus.

Non-Christian Worldview

This is quite different from how western culture tends to look at our spiritual life. The spiritual life of someone in our larger culture is generally more of an individual process, and often considered as a type of a personal quest. There are certainly people who seek a genuine revelation of God, but it’s usually outside of the context of religious organization or community, and religious organization is often even seen as barrier to someone’s personal spiritual quest.

For many others holding a modern western worldview, they aren’t necessarily seeking God, but they’re seeking a philosophy or principal or approach to life that is going to lead to happiness or fulfillment. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said “My religion is kindness” and while kindness is a good thing, and on the surface of it this type of statement makes sense, it’s a very different process to practice a character trait than it is to be in relationship with an actual Being who is God.

The spiritual life of many others holding a western worldview aren’t necessarily seeking God, but they’re seeking a philosophy or principal or approach to life that is going to lead to happiness or fulfillment. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said “My religion is kindness” and while kindness is a good thing, and on the surface of it this type of statement makes sense, it’s a very different process to practice a character trait than it is to be in relationship with an actual Being who is God.

When we practice this type of individually-oriented faith, where we decide what should be worshipped and what shouldn’t, we place ourselves in the greatest position of the universe, we’re presupposing that individually we have the power to accurately perceive what is of most value in life, using human reason to do so and without a revelation of God. Then as you dig under the surface a bit, you’re really only worshipping a projection of your own values and thus yourself, and in the process denying that there is an actual God who is beyond us, who is genuinely worthy of worship, and who wants to love us and wants to reveal Himself to us. But when we’re on tailor made indvidualize spiritual path that points toward my own version of happiness, there’s no one there to tell us if we’re headed in the wrong direction.

And that we don’t worship God because we chose to, we worship because somehow He revealed himself to us and we could clearly see that God deserves our worship.

The other danger is that if your off the rails, there’s no one there to help you get on track. You could be on a wild goose chase

, and already you can start to see the danger of an individualistic spiritual pursuit in that one, you might not actually be pursuing God at all and you’re just on a fool’s errand, or two there’s no one there to penetrate through your own mind to help you if you’re off track.

but it could also be seeking our own projection of what God is, the spiritual life is . I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said “My religion is kindness” and so while kindness is a good thing, it’s also more of a philosophy or principal or approach to life. kindness becomes God for a person, and already you can start to see the danger of an individualistic spiritual pursuit in that one, you might not actually be pursuing God at all and you’re just on a fool’s errand, or two there’s no one there to penetrate through your own mind to help you if you’re off track.

Society

This type of spiritual worldview gets subtly promoted out to the level of our society. Society sells a promise that suggests that we can get what we want and when we do we’ll be fulfilled by it. When we turn on our electronic devices, we’re a click away from algorithymic software programs that tell us everything we want to hear. Postmodern thought has taken this so far that it seems like we’ve lost our capacity to disagree. The only way forward for our society is for everybody to agree never to disagree with our individual view. Just let me be me. Disagreeing with me has become sin. And so our society stews in this unresolved social drama and conflict all the while that we have extraordinary technology that makes life easier and in the west a standard of living that the earth has never seen. Our society tells us we we can have more and yet we’re left with a feeling that we can’t get enough. And this goes all the way back to the third page of the Bible where there is a snake in the garden saying “you can everything that you want.”

And this goes all the way back to the third page of the Bible where there is a snake in the garden saying “you can everything that you want.” And it’s a lie that is perpetrated almost every time

I believe that most Christians who have been growing in their faith for a long time come across things in the Bible that don’t sit well with them. In fact, the Bible is states that it is supposed to do that. The word of God is sharp and it penetrates to our deepest parts and reveals our deepest attitudes and mindsets relative to the light of God so that He can where we’ve gone sideways. The difference is what do we do when we come in contact with something in the Bible that is difficult to digest. Do we reject because we disagree. Or do we surrender to it in faith and trust in God’s love for us and in His vision of what’s good for us. Do we work it out with Him, wrestle with Him because that’s what grown ups do when we’re in relationship and not in agreement. but ultimately knowing that He’s God, and we’re not. It’s sad, but this is a part of what we’re redeemed from when we come to have faith in Jesus, we don’t just have a personal salvation, God desires that we have a shared salvation experience, based on revelation, and in community, and this is the Church.

Christ

And as we keep Jesus in sight as we’re examing faith happening in community, there is an additional dimension to the Church which is that the Church is the body of Christ. Right, so the Church is both the community of those who believe and the actual Body of Christ. And remember that Jesus has a mission of forgiveness and reconciliation, and He continues to pursue that mission through His Holy Spirit empowered body.

And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have thesupremacy.

Even though Jesus has ascended into Heaven and is enthoned in Heaven, He is still in charge of the Church, it’s still His mission that we are carrying out through the power of the Spirit. The Church is more than just a community of people with shared beliefs, the Church is spiritual organism on mission, that is beyond human control, and that is made up of us.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Epheisans 4

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Epheisans 4

They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

The church grows not out of human effort but as God causes it to grow.

The Christian

What does this mean for us as a Christian? Because the Bible makes clear that the Church is a fundamental part of our faith, but it also makes clear that we each have our own personal relationship with God. How do these two things integrate? Well, let’s look back at

16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Epheisans 4

So this where as an individual Christian, we need a mission within the mission. What does it look like for each part of the Body to do its work? More importantly is our Christian faith more fulfilling if we are working for the Church somehow. Work is another one of those themes that is woven throughout the Bible starting from the very beginning. Man and woman are initially, even in Paradise, given the mission of overseeing the earth. It’s their job. A Sabbath was included in the Mosaic Law because it was understood that people would be working. Jesus stated that the harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few.

But this can be complicated because sometimes its not so easy, not becuase you don’t want to work, but because its difficult to find a the right place or know what you’re gifted as. To complicate things even more, sometimes God says, “Wait.”

Church

This is all hidden in the spirit and is a matter of faith., but what does this look like? And the end of Acts chapter 2, after Peter’s first sermon that we’ve been talking about, tells us what that looked like.

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. -

We’re empowered by the Spirit to hold the Church together through committment and devotion. That’s what is stated first, “They devoted themselves.” It’s not held together by emotion or wonerdful feelings. It’s about being together, specifically it’s about eating together, not just communion. It’s about making sure that everybody is looked out for and taken care of. It’s about praying and studying the teachings of the Apostles, which are located in the Bible, it’s about being in one another’s homes and being grateful. It’s about getting to witness the supernatural. And we can just scan right through that and see where we’re at. We can see how much our cultural worldview has influenced the living out of our faith.

the word of God is active and alive… judges the attitudes

Redemptive History

So another dynamic of faith that we see happening once faith is activated in the Book of Acts is that faith in Jesus and Spirit empowered participation in His mission grows and spreads.one of things we see in Acts and probably the main theme of Acts is the growth and spread of the faith in Jesus. We talked about the activation of faith in the Apostles and early disciples right after Jesus came back to life, he tells His disciples to continue sharing His misison and once they’re empowered by the Holy Spirit. Once the Holy Spirit comes faith is established in Jerusalem, and then it begins to grow and spread from there, and Jesus says that it should go out to all nations. Initially

When we look back in time in the Bible to the Old Testament, we see a similar process occur beginning with Abraham. Again, God promises Him the Land of Canaan and what eventually becomes the nation of Israel moves into that land, conquers it, and establishes there. The nation of Israel spreads and grows, but it’s a totally different type of process because they went to war in order to establish.  For the nation of Israel, they were conquering land and developing a nation on the earth. The promise was restricted to a specific people and a specific land.

Non-Christian Worldview

Society

Christian

Faith doesn’t just grow in a corporate sense. It also grows within us, and this is an important distinction when we think about personal growth relative to our culture because in our walk with Christ we don’t really grow but rather God grows within us.

The New International Version Chapter 13

18 Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”

20 Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

We don’t become a better version of our self, we become new. Not only do we become a new person, but we become a new type of person.

Beyond that When the seed is planted in the soil, it is the seed that grows. We don’t grow into God, we allow God to grow into us. In the parable of the Sower, for example, the person’s heart receives the seed, and the seed is able to take root and grow and express itself.

The New International Version Chapter 2

20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

We Asked to do things we aren’t comfortable with.

The Point

God partners with us in accomplishing His purposes.

Redemptive History

One of the most well know stories in the Book of Acts is the conversion of the Apostle Paul, who was named Saul prior to his conversion. He is introduced in Chapter 7 of Acts which describes him as young man zealously persecuting the Church and who was present at the stoning of Stephen, who was one of the original deacons of the early church. In Chapter 9 Paul is traveling to the city of Damascus, and on his way there is a light from heaven that suddenly appears, causing Paul to fall the ground and then He hears a voice ask him why do you persecute me? Paul asks the voice who He is, and then its Jesus who responds, saying its me Jesus, and adds the one you are persecuting, Paul is persectuing the church, and Jesus is stating that Paul is persecuting Him, so Jesus is identifying with the Church here. Jesus tells him to get up and go into Damascus and there he’ll be told what to do. When Paul gets up he is now blind and is then led by his travelling companions into Damascus and for three days he is blind and does not eat or drink anything. So Paul just did the mother of all 180s.

And then we’ll pick up in verse 10

10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

This is just a super cool Bible story all the way around, and I want to highlight a part the dialogue between Jesus and Ananias. As Jesus speaks with Ananias, it’s not clear exactly how Jesus is communicating to Ananias, but the message he receives is clear and specific. But I want to focus on verse 13 which is Ananias’s response to Jesus. He basically explains to Jesus that Paul is a bad guy with bad intentions, but the subtext essentially says this, “Lord, I would rather not.” Of course, Ananias goes on to obey, and Paul goes on to write thirteen of the New Testament letters and spread the faith throughout much of the eastern Mediterranean region during his lifetime.

When we look back through Redemptive History, this is reminiscent of the story of Moses speaking with God at the Burning Bush. God asked Moses to go and free Israel from slavery in Egypt, and Moses offers several excuses throughout the conversation before finally just stating,

13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

Throughout the narrative history of the Bible, God asks people to do things for Him so that He can accomplish His purpose, and it’s not unusual for God to ask Biblical characters to do some pretty radical stuff. The Bible is fundamentally the history of God’s redemption of man through the work of Jesus, and so everything that is happening is always working towards that ultimate purpose and mission. but there are missions within the mission and these smaller missions also require faith becuase, though God can see the outcome of them, we cannot. I know when I put my key in my car and turn it, my car is going to turn on. But if I feel prompted to share with someone that I believe in Jesus, I don’t what what’s going to happen. But the worst I can imagine is that someone is going to look at me like I’m an idiot, and so I might respond, “Lord, I would rather not.” For Ananias, this wasn’t about looking protecting his image of himself as acceptable to society, this was about being arrested and put in prison. Jesus asked Ananias to go pray for a man who came to his city for the specific purpose of finding, arresting, and jailing Christians.

But the reality is, for many people, walking into a church is pretty radical stuff, and often its in response to a call from God, a prompting that might be mistaken for existential curiosity. For some, going to lunch next week, Dads and grads is pretty radical

one thing that becomes evident is that God rarely intervenes in ways that aren’t through a person somehow. God accomplishes His purpose on the earth through partnering with people. God how many stories do we see about God asking us to co-labor with Him and participate in His mission that lead to a person saying, “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

When God asked Moses to go rescue Israel from slavery he responded, 

When God asked Sara to wait to have a child, she responded by creating her own plan. 

Secular Worldview

I didn’t grow up in the Church or believing in Jesus. My faith in Jesus began when I was 29 years old, and I was very much a spiritual seeker but my expectation was that one day I would find God, I would experience this ultimate freedom from myself and the world, and I would live happily ever after. I imagined that God existed in some other dimension and if just kind of pulled things apart I could open a way to that dimension I would be able to see through to Him. But what I didn’t realize is that this whole time God had already come into this dimension and wasn’t just sitting over there Being His glorious, transcendent reality, He found a way to come here and was actively pursuing me, He was on mission. And He found me through a simple conversation I had with a Christian who just shared their faith, and the seed of that person’s faith entered into my heart, took root, and that was that. But it wasn’t that person’s knowledge of Jesus, it was their faith in Jesus. It was full committment to all of this being real. and I saw that, and I thought, I want that. Otherwise, if it’s not at that level, it’s just an argument about ideology, and when that happens I get fulfilled when I win a debate and my ideology seems superior to yours, but I’m not fulfilled unless I’m winning which means someone else is losing. At that point, I’m just sharing my opinion, not my faith. This is about reality, that this world that we live in is in bad space, spiritually speaking, and we participate in it, and agree with it. The mission of Jesus opens the door out of the world and into His kingdom on the earth, which has been alive and well since the day He came back to life. The Kingdom of God is eternal, and Jesus brought it to the earth. I was all about signing up for that because I didn’t just want to find God, I wanted a way out of my adn this life. And Jesus promises that and delivers on it. Remember the sign above his head on the Cross, as He was lifted up for all to see, crowned with a crown of thorns, Jesus, King of the Jews. And then He comes back to life, and says, “not just King of the Jews.” King of Heaven. and one day Heaven will establish dominion on the earth, and then King of Heaven and Earth. But until that day comes, we are on mission.

Society

Society

Society ultimately is attempting to fulfill the needs of humanity, it’s attempting to cure its own ills.  This is the archetype of Babylon.  Society is attempting eradicate human suffering.  I see it especially in my profession of mental health.  The psychopharmaceutical industry is enormous and profits off of the emotional suffering of people.  And, I’m not against psych medication, but I do question the underlying presupposed worldview that goes along with it. and that has to do with our mission or purpose in life.  The Christian mission is not to pursue happiness, it is to pursue people and extend the forgiveness of God

Christ

The harvest is ready but the laborers are few.  Remember one the main points we talked about last week was that Jesus was on mission during his ministry.  He was focused and pursuing the cross but not to the point that He was callous to the existential sufferings of the people around Him.  He was establishing His Kingdom, but He was merciful to His people while He was doing it.

Christian

What do we do with as Christians? Let’s be practical.

Present ourselves as available to God in prayer which includes adopting a posture fo submitting to the will of God.

Being willing doesn’t mean being impulsive

Share your faith, not your opinion. Christian faith isn’t an ideology, it’s reality.

Consider what it means to share faith. If I have a sandwich, and I share a sandwich that means you have a sandwich

Remember the mission within the mission. There are many missions within the overall mission and many parts to the body to accomplish different missions.

Sometimes God says go, sometimes he says wait.

Do we close our ears to God because we don’t want to hear Him say something that is going to pierce our comfort.  We’re members of this western society as well, with promises of comfort tempting us for allegiance.  As a Christian we have to wrestle against a desire for comfort.  I can picture it now, a bigger couch with a bigger flat screen tv, that displays more pixels, and more sausage and pepporoni on my pizza, and then more cholesterol medication… Our purpose is not to seek out the uncomfortable because that then just becomes a form of idolatry and personal growth becomes God.  But we are asked to be willing when we get the call

Church

This extends beyond the individual Christian and into the church.  Ironically, it seemed that Pastor Mike was uncomfortable with a sabbatical, but the congregation didn’t seem to be affected in the same way.  That doesn’t mean that we don’t miss him and look forward to Him coming back, it just means in Developing Relationships can be uncomfortable and awkward.