You told what to who?

Intro:

Great to be back with you in person

It was so fun taking Charlotte out to Baylor. She was ready to go back in June, but I got her to wait until Saturday August 17.

Listened to you and watched a little, if you watch the facebook video from back on August 18 you can see that my dad ...

Just a reminder you can watch your church every Sunday on facebook live.

Met people, checked out the sights, talked my daughter didn’t watch a youtube video our entire car ride

We loved having you along for the ride. Through facebook and instagram. What God said is so true,

Genesis 2:18 CSB

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him.”

He knows he created us.

No one was designed to be alone.

That was so wonderful as we rode out there and hung out with each other, you online,

new strangers turned friends for the moment,

and then we said good-bye

as I watched her walk-away

Then I was alone. It was a great time and I a good reason, but as I left I heard, officer we have an emergency” ...

and then the rush of anxiety as it was very hot.

I’m alone.

But I wasn’t alone

God was with me, you were with me through those likes and comments, but some of you may feel very alone right now

You are going through tough times of

homelessness

changing life

who is with you?

When God wrote

Genesis 2:18 CSB

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him.”

God was already with man, He said it wasn’t enough.

Over and over and over in scripture God doesn’t call for us to be lone actors or focused on our own lives.

We want you to know the answer to that question, who is with you?

Around here we know the attitude of Jesus is,

Love God, Love Others

This isn’t a burden but it is a freeing. We are freed from being alone and we are freed from just focusing on ourselves.

We are free to love others.

There was a time at the very beginning of Christianity that is helpful for you and I to comprehend. Let’s take a look

Acts 11:19 CSB

19 Now those who had been scattered as a result of the persecution that started because of Stephen made their way as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.

Explain - It began with a murder of someone in their church, a highly respected person by the state. Today people don’t go to places or do things because they hear of bad things happen.

being hunted and arrested

leave everything and run

what would get left behind

Wonder - what would you be like if you had to run?

What would you do?

Wherever they went they shared their faith with the Jews they met.

Christ sustained them during this time and they sustained each other and in the midst of this hard time they just kept on sharing

This wasn’t

I. Out of a horror, they kept putting others before themselves ()

Sharing Christ

Application - best way to be miserable is to focus on yourself, and what you fill is owed to you.

Best way to create joy is focus on God’s gifts to you and what you can give to others.

Illustration

being hunted and arrested

leave everything and run

Before you tell me you can’t bless others.

what would get left behind

Wonder - what would you be like if you had to run?

What would you do?

Wherever they went they shared their faith with the Jews they met.

Illustration?

Do you have a hand that can do this? Open the door for someone. Do you have a hand that can do this? (wave high) can you see others? (wave hi)

You can bless others through encouragement all day long. Just relax on what it says about you.

But they were sharing Jesus, yes you can share Jesus

Rochelle and the young man.

Because in these dark times as your loving others and freaking out about how your going to make it through this time, where we are looking to an immediate end, God has got the crockpot working making something spectular.

Acts 11:20–21 CSB

20 But there were some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.

Acts 11:20 CSB

20 But there were some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus.

Transition - YEt at the heart of the disapora was a push into the uncomfotable to break open the unknown cages of prejudice and the way things are done so tha thte GOspel could come to you and me.

Explain - Cyrpus is an Islands in the eastern Mediterranean and Cyrene was a city in modern day Libya right on the Mediterranean coast.

These were Jews just like Everyone else, but they just kept sharing with everyone and broke down one of the biggest barriers, the racial barrier.

God is ready to release his healing on everyone and people do what we should do as well.

Love others - Talk to people not like me

II. They talked to people not like them (acts 11:20)

“Chronic loneliness affects 60 million Americans, and its impact on physical health is equal to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. That's according to businessman David Yeom at a recent LA-based conference called Aging into the Future.

Yeom offers a solution. For a monthly fee, his 6-month-old Santa Monica-based startup Carenote connects lonely Americans with a Care Pal, a person in the Philippines who calls regularly to chat.”

People are desperate for friends. We want to be known.

Application -

As I walked around, I wanted to be comforted or at least talked too.

I talked to a person working a McDonald’s in Post, TX who cared about how she felt about how lame Post is as a small town but she didn’t care about me, didn’t inquire about what brought me through town.

Then I stopped at a restaurant in Kingman, AZ

My waitress Sophy saw me and talked with me about Charlotte

I still remember

They aren’t going to care about the Christ who changes us until we love them.

Application -

As a church we are going to put others before ourselves by entering into small groups.

I had you with me but often we are missing you for each other.

We need to mix with each other, different ages, races, abilities, and learn to minister and care for each other. Perhaps you got nothing but an Obama phone and the ability to talk you can listen to your small group members. You guys can bring each other closer to Christ.

It is this that the Lord will bless us.

Acts 11:21 CSB

21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.

Acts

IV. We spiritually grow, when we recognize the responsibility we have to each other (; )