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Introduction
Good morning CrossPointe
Personal introduction and thanks for Hilton preaching last week - time to work on partnership class (Celebration of vision)
Today we will be in Acts 5:1-11
PRAY
Most of us like a peek behind the scenes - to see how things really are and not just as they seem to be
DVD Extras - Back ground, Paul Harvey - the rest of the story, Inside the Huddle
Luke is a historian and in we get a peek behind the curtain.
The book of Acts does not just tell us what the church does, it also tells us how the church experiences transformation, even when sin is present.
Luke doesn’t sugar coat the early church experience as if everything was perfect.
The last verse of today’s passage says, “And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.”
Book of Acts
God’s mission for the gospel to be proclaimed among all peoples through disciples empowered by the Holy Spirit.
God is gathering a people (across all nationalities) to himself, for his glory, and has given us a mission the make disciples of all nations.
There is a danger when we reduce our spirituality, or what is means to be a disciple, to what we do.
This outward mission though must flow out of an inward transformation
We must be changed ourselves by the work of Jesus in our lives, before we proclaim or participate in seeing the change in others.
This is why our mission statement as a church says that the gospel compels us to become disciples who make disciples.
personally experience the inward work of the gospel before we publically expressing the gospel
we publically expressing the gospel
Inward change before outward action
What we will see in today’s passage:
Big Idea: Biblical community is rooted in the gospel and is experienced through authentic transformation and it is endangered by faking it.
Read
This morning I want us to see how biblical community is 1) Established, 2) Experienced, and 3) Endangered
Community Established | The Gospel
What is the foundation of the community God is building?
“Full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul...”
In verse 4 Luke tells us there are 5,000 men.
Assuming at least half of them are married, if not more, we are looking at 7,500.
How is it possible to have that many people unified?
Simple Answer: They ‘believed’ the gospel.
It was their faith in Jesus that unified them.
The apostles kept preaching the same message: This Jesus of Nazareth is the messiah, you killed illed him, God raised him - repent and believe on Jesus.
We don’t create unity - God establishes it
We maintain unity.
says that we should “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
God creates the unity and we are called to maintain the unity he has already provided.
God is redeeming people.
He is creating for himself one unified family.
Unity doesn’t mean uniformity
¯¯¯ ¯Â˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘˘v
From the beginning of Acts we see people from numerous backgrounds and from culture and nations across the earth.
Faith in Jesus isn’t just a religious expression for a particular culture or nation
Is Christianity an American religion or Western?
No, it started in the Middle East and included people from numerous location.
This is important to understand because
1) We are go to see a comparison and contrast that helps us see what builds community and what breaks-down community.
2) What builds community is authentic generosity
Community Experienced | Authentic Generosity
Who shared: Everyone
When: All the time
What did they share: Everything
What does this mean?
The genuinely cared for others?
Lived sacrifically
We don’t need to better understand?
We need to better apply.
So Luke gives us two examples: one is positive and one is negative
One shares us how community is experienced and the other shows us how community is endangered.
Example: Joseph
Jospeh is one of Luke’s heros - he is mentioned 23 times of the Acts
He also had a nickname - Barnabas, meaning, “son of encouragement.”
He sold a field and gave all the money to the apostles to distribute as they saw fit.
The Apostles give him a nickname.
He has a reputation.
It seems like his motivation was sincere and focused on the good of others and to help meet their needs.
The Rich
Important to remember that the Bible doesn’t say there was noone rich and they all had the same financial means.
Rather, it says that noone had need
If God has blessed you with money, you need to see that as both a blessing and a responsibility.
In Genesis, God tells Abraham that he was going to bless him so that he would be a blessing to others
Story of Papa
Application
How has God blessed you?
What does it look like for you and/or your family to be a blessing to others?
Money, Life Insurance, Investments, Matching Donations, etc.
Skills (web design, music, organization, parenting, cooking, mechanics, home repair)
True, Authentic Christianty
Compelled by the Gospel
Jesus gave his life to save us
We have received everything we need
We can do nothing to gain more acceptance from God
For the good of others
Not self-seeking
God-glorifying generosity to serve others
Community Endangered | Pretending Spirituality
In we see how evil and brokenness can exist in the most spirit-filled, Godly Christian communities.
The Sin of Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, is they lied by pretending to be more spiritual than reality
They wanted to people to think they gave everything they received from selling the land
They wanted the recognition, the pride, to shape how the leadership and community saw them.
Even Peter tells them, you owned the land, you didn’t have to sell it and you didn’t have to give the money to the church.
They could have said, here’s half of what we received from selling the land.
They we fake, imposters, pretending to be spiritual
Pretending is how we try to minimize our sin
This is what endangers biblical community - when we try to make people think think are better than we are.
Who are you really?
Does the image you project to others represent the reality within or is it a manufactured imagine that is fake?
Are you trying to shape people’s perception of you?
I want people to see me like.....
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