thePowerofONE.sermon.

Sermon || lead pastor || Joe Brantley

Introduction

Good morning Church! If you would grab your Bibles or devices and cue them up to Acts Chapter 9 as we continue in our study of Deep Community.Before we get into let me just say Happy Father’s Day…to me. You have my permission to tell me Happy Father’s Day also...Something some dad’s may appreciate… a little situational humor...*(Grunt or nod if you have ever found yourself in this predicament.)

You walk into the house and the kids are screaming at their mother (your wife—ex-wife, new wife…insert what ever the proper nomenclature might be for you— I just don’t have enough time…).

Anyway you walk in to your house and you roll up on an Epic battle of hormonal estrogen and hormonal adolesnce. It’s a straight up inner-sanctum civil war.

The kids are yelling, your wife is yelling…and you’re like this is a job for SUPERHUSBAND! So you come in and immediately start regulating. You got your wife’s back, and what starts as correcting n a strong baritone, turns into an explosive thundering bass. Of course that’s when at the level of back talk you are now getting because they’ve gotten good and warmed up on mom, you roll straight into beating one kid with the other (sorry bad joke—a least you want to—let’s keep DHR out this—it’s a simple illustration). Like I said the point is you come in and start defending your wife (as you should, Christians Fathers…the pecking order is God, Wife, Chicken Wings, and then the Kids—I didn’t make the order).

As you are taking up for your wife, because these kids are being so disrespectful, you get in their rear ends goooood. So about the time they see it’s getting real and they don’t want to go there with dad; what starts as hush of fearful engagment turns into the victimizing sobs of the wounded darling child.

Let’s face it, even though they have started the hurt feeling whimper, you’re feeling pretty good because you just destroyed two (or how ever many kids there may be), tiny humans that together weigh as much as you right thigh…and your chest is puffed out and you are like “I just defended my woman!” They where yelling now they are not. HAH! Dad wins. (Tim Allen grunt)

Until, your wife turns on you. Now she’s yelling at you because you were to hard on “her babies” and have made them cry.

Even though two minutes ago when you walked in the house you rolled up on straight up gangster fight between a dysfunctional, yet domesticated, pseudo throw down where if mouths were 9’s and words were bullets, its gang-war like between the bloods and crips. Like when I came in they were throwing up gang signs…it was about to go down!

But you’ve come in defending your bride’s honor and now she’s yelling at you.

That ever happened to anybody else?

Oh....now all the dad’s are gonna get small in their seats and go invisible…like that’s never happened to you. That’s ok me either…I just saw it on and episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond” my wife’s never done that either.

Here’s the thing, sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we don’t know which side is for us or against us. When even the side you are trying to help turns on you and now there is a whole other level of tension created.

The undeniable truth is this:

When we get into a fight, an argument, whether you playing referee or enforcer; acting out with the best intentions (even is it somewhat viloent at first) the goal is to restore peace. The problem is, if we don’t know the whole truth or the real truth, it doesn’t matter how honorable you are trying to be…you find yourself on the outs.

When something like that happens in the house, everybody ends up mad at you and there is no community within the home even though you meant well. The peace you were trying to instill has just flipped the chaos into a sad, mad, everybody’s quiet and there’s no resolution.

And in family context there is a built in relational-grace and faith and even trust, because you take care of each other. You feed each other, you provide needs, help each other. But in those turbulent moments faith and trust; and that relational building block that you’ve fostered for how every many years get thin.

Like emotionally speaking we are that fragile. And that’s just within your family context; the inner most circle of your relationships. Imagine, if this happens at work or with “friends” or even the lady behind the counter that can’t get your order right.

Here’s what we must understand:

No matter what divides or unites us, without faith and trust in the Truth, there is no real community.

And truth is realitive:In the family context their should be a undergirding truth of “I know these guys love me, I trust that I’m loved, because my needs are being meet, today was just a bad day.”In the friendship arena, there should be a cool down period where the truth of the time and effort spent forming the relationship wins out.In the work relationship the reality of the circumstances and the environment is where the truth is leveraged and will often determine if unity can be regained.However in the arena of “no-relationship” or a “betrayed relationship,” where there is no true understanding of the person and all you have to go on is their reputation; or the truth of the situation that caused the betrayal. In this arena there is a low threshold for actual community being experienced, at least without a third party entering in. Someone stepping in and vouching for you, meaning their reputation is greater among the group than yours, so you gain some trust, based off of nothing you bring to the table, but relies solely on the rep of the one who is willing to give you the good reference; vouching on your behalf. This means they are risking their good standing and putting their own reputation on the line for you. This last case example is what we see happening in the life of our new, yet scary friend Saul. But the same thing applies to Saul as it applies to us, whether friends or enemies:No matter what divides or unites us, without faith and trust in the Truth, there is no real community.So let’s get into this Word.If you remember last week Saul was dealing with the tension of the disciples in Damascus not trusting him, kind of keeping him at a distance because of is past reputation. And the Jews didn’t know what to think because this guy was the “Jew of all Jews.” He was steeped in the the law of Moses, the writing of the prophets and even the historical writings of Scripture as well as what was called the “wisdom literature” of the Jewish Scriptures which we know now today as the Old Testament. So these Jews are like “this is our guy?” “He switched sides?” Now way!

​ ESV22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

So this proclamation that Saul is now making is the same one he was dragging people into prison for, watching them get stoned to death for. Now he, Saul, was proclaiming the exact same thing. and this confounding of the Jews at Damascus start to simmer, then as it boiled over into an appalling rage that’s were we pick up in...

​ ESV23 When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him,

This seems a bit harsh right? This used to be one of their boys. Saul was someone they looked up to. But they were divided on what they believed to be truth. They thought Jesus was a con, and Saul had too at one time. But now, Saul had done a 180, and he’s now proclaiming and v.22 goes as far as to say “proving that Jesus was the Christ.” These guys were once united now they are on polar opposite ends of spiritual belief.No matter what divides or unites us, without faith and trust in the Truth, there is no real community.The Jewish people who had once revered Saul, now they wanted him dead. Why? Because they were divided upon the truth in which they believed. And in a divisive culture their is no community; only tolerance or (in Saul’s case) zero-tolerance.

However, Scripture assures us despite his former traditional allegiance, Saul is now standing on, and proclaiming, the right side of Truth. And when the people of God obediently echo the truth of God, they are serving God’s purpose and design for us which is to bring Him glory and to enjoy Him forever. Therefore, God provides deliverance.

In 2 Kings (OT) the King of Syria was warring against Israel the prophet Elisha’s servant was afraid. And Elisha said to him...

​ ESV16 He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

And then Elisha prayed God would reveal His intentions the young man, and when the servant opened his eyes he saw multitude of warriors horses and chariots.

When we focus on the Truth of God and how His Truth rescues us from destruction it allows us to focus on a bigger vision than we could ever imagine.So it is with Saul as he focuses on God’s Truth, God provides his rescue...

​ ESV23 When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.

No matter what divides or unites us, without faith and trust in the Truth, there is no real community. So the disciples in Damascus were finally starting to trust Saul and because of that and the deep community they shared in their relationship with the risen Christ, Saul now belong. He was so much apart of there community they helped him.But the Jews had his number, it was time for Saul to head on down the road, leaving the impeding doom in Damascus and going to center of the early church built on the gospel of Jesus Christ.

​ ESV26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.

First Saul experiences persecution from the people he used to know; the people who he used to belong. Not only does he no longer belong they want him dead. So much so he has to flee.He get’s to Jerusalem and now after starting to win over the brothers in Christ in Damascus, he has to start over with the disciples in Jerusalem. His reputation as a hunter of “Christ-followers” proceeded Him, and instead of feeling like he belonged to this new brotherhood, instead he got the cold shoulder, because they expected the worst from him. They feared him. They believed in Christ (just as he now did), but they didn’t believe he could change from a hunter to a follower.No matter what divides or unites us, without faith and trust in the Truth, there is no real community.Think about it Saul is actually standing in the middle of the road where people hated who he used to be and people hated who he had become, and some could believe he had changed at all. It makes me think of what the great theologian, Mr. Miogai, once said to his student...

“Daniel-son, you walk on the right side of the road—everything ok—you walk on the left side of the road—everything ok—You walk in the middle of the road, sooner or later, *squishhhhh*—just like grape.”

Think about it…Saul, once the hunter of Christians—was now a Christian being hunted by his former people, the Jews. Yet now that he was a Christian, the Christians didn’t believe he had changed. He was divided from the people he used to be in faith, trust and in community with (the Jews), he no longer belonged. But, he wasn’t able to belong to the community of believers yet either, because of all the things he had said and done to them in his past. Though they were united in faith and in the person of Christ, their fear kept him at a distance and divided him, separated him from their “Christian community.” They didn’t trust him. Their flesh was weak with fear and now this believers were blinded to the very truth in which they were willing to die for…the truth of Jesus Christ and his redemptive and rescuing work on the cross of Calvary could transform anyone. All of them were blind to the Truth of Christ finished work…except one. Look right at me…don’t ever doubt the power of one in the hands of a mighty God.

​ ESV27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.

Never under estimate the power of one. Barnabas took Saul to the Apostles and he said “Come on guys, You know how Jesus does stuff! Look how he used us and our raggedy bunch…look how He’s changed each of you because you encounter him in his earthly life and He taught you. And even when you didn’t fully believe or understand He loved you anyway. And because of your faith and trust in Jesus and what you taught me and all the others look how Jesus has changed our lives. This man, Saul, was on his way to try and tear our community a part and on the way he too encountered Jesus. And just like you and me… now he will never be the same.”Barnabas’ testimony and defense of Saul’s past laid the foundation for the Apostles and the other believers to start to trust in and remember that God was bigger than their circumstances. And if Saul had encountered Jesus, yeah…yeah… how could he NOT be different! PRAISE GOD!No matter what divides or unites us, without faith and trust in the Truth, there is no real community.But when we realize it is Christ who unites us, and we live out the faith and trust of God’s miraculous work of taking us from death to life, by His grace, and through the power of His Holy Spirit how that awakening to who He is and the grace He gives—sets us free to live freely in community with each other in Christ’s bride the local church. You see it’s the truth that divides and it the truth that unites. Jesus said this...

​ ESV49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” 54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Our response to the truth determines if we are divided or united. If we respond in faith and trust to the Truth then we experience true community, deep community, in family of God and the vehicle in which He uses to show the power of His Son to the world—through the local church. But it all comes back to the Truth.During Jesus’ trial (right before the Jews called for the Romans to crucify Him) the Roman Prefect of Judea, Pontius Pilate, asked Jesus, an interesting question about truth...

​ ESV33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.

Pilate ask Jesus if he was a king? And Jesus said, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of THE TRUTH listens to my voice.”The power of one is unbelievable! God used Barnabas to speak truth over the Apostles and as a result look what happened.

​ ESV28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. 30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

Look at this the power of one is ridiculous! Look how God used Saul to speak truth and unite all the surrounding regions...

​ ESV31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Conclusion

The power of one: The faithful, the brave, the obedient, the called, can be amazing as we see and read about it for ourselves in the the Scriptures…but, it’s the Power of “THE ONE” that transform everything. It’s the power of THE ONE; the Way, the Truth, and the Life that has the power to unite and to divide.“What is truth?”JESUS IS TRUTH!And once you know Truth there are only two options in how you respond to it. That responses determines whether you are united with God forever in eternity, or divided, and separated from Him for all of eternity.Your response to the Truth is everything. “What is truth?”JESUS IS TRUTH!Here’s the truth: God created you in His image, and His intent was always to dwell among us, but we shattered that reality because of our selfishness. Because our first parents sinned in the garden, wanting to know what God knew, wanting to be God, but it was too much and once unashamed they now run and hid from God because of their naked shamefulness, and we’ve been running and hiding from God ever since. Everything good that God created that day was shattered. You want to know why this world is depraved, why your heart breaks, why people fail you, why you feel alone in your circumstances, why you feel an anger, a hate, a rage that you just can’t explain?It’s because you are living in the upside down—the broken, shattered, temporary prison of self-serving, self-seeking, self-pleasing, pride of a world who bowed to a false God long ago and you continue to serve this false God on your knees constantly convincing yourself of the lie. You either serve the false god of the Lie or the real God of Truth.The false god is you. Are you believing the lie? Are you serving the lie? Because there is only two responses; there is only two options: Reject the Truth and live the lieor Receive the Truth and live forever.“What is truth?”JESUS IS TRUTH!Jesus is the one who entered into the brokenness of this world, lived among the lies of this world, yet did not give into them like you and I. Why? So that by HIs blood and by the brokenness of His body He would bear the complete burden of sin for you and I. The sin that turn everything upside down. By His blood He, through the obedient submission to His Father’s command, made a masterpiece out of the brokenness of your fall from God’s grace, and He completely restores you back to God—where you were once divided, by God’s great love for us He sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to pay a debt that we could never pay, on a bill that decides your future retirement plan. It’s either in glory or separated from it.No matter what divides or unites us, without faith and trust in the Truth, there is no real community.Do you want to be known, loved and belong to real community? To a world that’s right-side up and as designed? Or do you like wallowing in the mess of your self-centered reality show, where selfies, and rah-rah’s on how great you are are on repeat, and where there always playing your song?How you respond to Truth matters! Truth isn’t just a concept or a strategy; Truth is a person. His name is Jesus. You either reject Him or you receive Him.Before you think too long about how you might have to change somethings, or all that you will have to “give-up.” Remember you live in the upside-down. Nothing is as it seems. Stop believing the LIE!Press into the Truth. Though here and now we may suffer for a little while, because of Jesus we get back to living right-side up in the Kingdom of God. Be encouraged. There is a God who loves you and His Truth will set you free. Respond and Receive His Gift of Life.Let’s pray...