Friends, how many of us have them?

Big Idea:

Relational Community is part of God’s design for the church. Our thinking should align with this and cause us to live in community, valuing relationships.

Intro:

Good morning. Welcome to Church Online.

I love New England. You’ve likely heard me say, “When Janelle and I moved here to Glastonbury, it felt like God created us for this place. It fits everything we have an affinity for! It was easy to relinquish our Southern Californian identity to embrace a New England one!

That being said… there are a few things about California I miss - like real Mexican food. Oh yea… family too. Additionally, I appreciate that I grew up in the ethnic melting pot of Southern California. I believe it helped form a worldview especially beneficial to a pastor.

You see… since I grew up in California (a politically blue state) and in an urban environment (also typically politically blue), I understand that political perspective. But, I’m specifically from San Diego, which is typically a politically red county; therefore, I understand that side too!

Furthermore, because...

I’m half asian and half mexican, married to a white woman, grew up in a black neighborhood, went to a diverse school...

I love sports (so I connect with dudes), but was raised by a single mom and grew up with girl-best-friends (so I get along with ladies)...

I didn’t grow up a Christian, but am now a pastor...

I grew up poor, but now live in an affluent community that I love...

…because of these relationships and my exposure to these communities, my perspective on the world is super-broad. It’s impacted my thinking. What I’ve experienced, influences how I think, which impacts how I interpret the world, which then affects how I live in the world.

And it’s this kind of process that describes what our current sermon series: Master Builders. It’s a series focused on how our thinking impacts our living.

Romans 12:2 ESV

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Proverbs 4:23 NIV

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Like these verses declare, our thinking matters. It affects our “Growth in Christ.” And for the rest of the year, each week we’re discussing a specific topic important to our new life in Christ. And how our thinking is needs to be right - be biblical - so we can grow in our faith - so God can continue to build into what He’s designed us to be. And this morning’s topic is Community/Relationships.

Community is an important part of “Growing in Christ.” And to help us with this, let’s read a passage out of Acts 6...

But before we read, let me mention to our River Kids (1st-5th grade) to keep an eye on the mail. You will be getting a package from us that’ll help you understand how thinking is an important part of following Jesus. It’s a really fun experiment, where you’ll see how thinking (living with the lights on) helps you grow!

Let’s read...

Acts 6:1–7 ESV

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Exegesis:

This passage has been used to talk about a lot of things...

A pastor’s duty to prayer and the Word.

The necessity of deacons (or ministry leaders).

The church’s responsibility to help those in need.

But, one of the most important things it discusses is the role of COMMUNITY in the church. Check it out, first off consider how...

Division attempts to delete the Cross.

The Cross of Christ is the single most important event in human history. When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, two majorly significant things happened:

Ephesians 2:18 (NLT) says, “Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.” Because of the cross, all of us can be in relationship with God by faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Ephesians 2:16 (NLT) says, “Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility (or division) toward each other was put to death.” Because of the cross, a new human community is formed in Christ- the church. Where people - regardless of ethnicity or background - can belong to one community.

Sin separated from God. Sin separated us from each other. Jesus’s work on the cross fixed those broken relationships. And that’s what we see happening here in verse 1. People are being reconciled to God (the disciples were increasing in number - the family of God was growing). But then, human division rears its ugly head.

It says the Hellenists (meaning the Jewish people influenced by Greek culture, because they came from outside of Israel) noticed their widows were neglected by the Hebrews (the native Jews from Israel). A division arose in the church-community.

And let’s take a moment to think deeply upon what “division” in the church-community actually means:

Jesus - the Son of God - had stepped out of eternity, off his glorious throne and into creation, humbled Himself and became a man, lived a perfect life, and sacrificed that perfect life, to build... a new community.

To restore relationship between God and man.

And restore human relationships between one another.

Think what it cost to create this community!

The Son of God - Jesus - died to purchase it!

Therefore, “division” attempts to:

Delete the purpose of the cross (create a community)...

Ignore the cost of the Cross (ignore the cost of this community was the precious blood of Jesus.

Church - division is no joke. It’s serious. The apostles knew that! That’s why, when hearing about the division, it says...

Acts 6:2 ESV

And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.

They jumped into action!

Here’s the thing, when I study this verse, I don’t see the apostles saying, “Hey, that’s someone else’s problem. We’re the great and mighty apostles with the more important responsibilities of praying and preaching.” I think the “twelve” wanted to step-in and fix it themselves because they loved their community. But that’s not what God wanted.

The sense of the passage is, “It would NOT PLEASE God if we NEGLECTED the Word of God to help the NEGLECTED widows.” God had a different solution. One that created more community. They apostles could’ve handled on their own, but instead God leads them to say, “Let’s fix this together!” It says… “…the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples...”

The apostles go on to say, “You guys - brothers and sisters - pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.”

In other words, “The same Holy Spirit who is in us - empowering us to preach - is the same Holy Spirit in you! You are just as qualified as we are to help solve this problem. We can fix this together!”

And what is the response of the community? They agree!

Verse 5 says, “And what [the apostles] said pleased the whole gathering...”

The word “pleased” means to give “delight.” But it also speaks to “making peace” or “reconciling a division.”

This community-driven solution of “Let’s fix it together” created unity in the church, killed division (which tried to delete the work of the cross), and pleased everyone’s hearts. That’s also because...

Relationships please our hearts.

Don’t overlook the importance of this in our lives! God designed relationships to satisfy our human hearts.

The Bible says we are made in God’s image. God Himself is triune - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - meaning He is eternally existing in relationship. And since we’re made in His image, we’re created to live that way too. And when we embrace that design, it pleases our heart. It satisfies in a way that could never be experienced in isolation.

Now, let me throw this in real quick because we got some introverts having an anxiety attack just thinking about God designing them to live in community. Their worst nightmare has come true. The pastor just confirmed, “If they want to be a good Christian, they need to become social butterflies!”

Let me assure you, that’s NOT what I’m saying. God has not designed us all to be extroverts. God’s purpose for relationships does not ignore the different personality dispositions He gave us.

For example, I’m naturally an introvert. Anyone who has hung out with me outside of church knows that. I don’t talk a lot. At times, I’m awkwardly silent! I also get extremely drained when being around a lot of people. And I need to recharge with by getting alone. After church, I need a major nap! There’s nothing wrong with that. God created me that way.

What I am talking about is everyone - introvert and extrovert and anywhere in-between - is created to live in community and with relationships. Our hearts respond to being valued by another person. We enjoy the sense of belonging. We desire to be loved. That’s what I’m talking about.

And think about it this way: Jesus - the perfect human - our example and standard as Christians. If there was ever a person qualified to be a lone ranger, to do things alone, to live outside relationship… it was Him!

But that’s not what He chose...

I love the way The Message Bible puts Jesus coming to earth… “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” (Jn 1:14)

Jesus planted Himself into a family - with dad, mom, brothers, and sisters.

Jesus started His ministry by constantly hanging out with 12 other men.

He had best friends like John, Peter, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.

And He continued to live in deep fellowship with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus’s perfect life was filled with relationships! God designed life to happen in relational community. Actually, that’s why the community responded so well to the apostle’s suggestion...

When the apostles said, “We’re going to remain devoted to prayer and the Word, while you guys handle this problem,” notice how there was no argument. No accusations that the apostles didn’t care, were lazy, or thought they are better than everyone else. Why? I believe it’s because the people trusted the “twelve” because the “twelve” lived in genuine relationship with their community.

They didn’t go hide in the green room after the sermon.

They didn’t have bodyguards denying access to the great and powerful apostles.

They didn’t operate with a mindset that leadership shouldn’t get too relationally close to the people.

In fact, they did just the opposite. They lived like Jesus did - in deep relationship with the people. And it’s that relationship that helped please the hearts of the community.

2. In addition, notice how the solution included choosing “men of good repute.” The phrase “good repute” is written in what’s called the passive voice. It means the person doesn’t get to determine their own reputation. The reputation is determined by others - by relationship. They needed to be chosen by their community, based on their relationships. When selected, everyone heart would be please because they could say together, “Oh - yes. We can trust them. We know them! They have a good reputation.”

When relationship is part of the process, it pleases our heart because it’s how God has designed us to live. It builds community, AND ...

Community is part of God’s heart.

God loves community. He loves to see His people living together in harmony - as one body!

Psalm 133:1 ESV

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

And I believe we see His pleasure at the end of our passage, when it says...

Acts 6:7 ESV

And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

God was pleased with their faithfulness to community, relationships, and unity. It aligned with His heart. So, He blessed it! The Bible says “God is the one who gives the increase” and it says the church grew because of what happened!

Here’s what I think really pleased God. Look at verse 5...

Acts 6:5 ESV

And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.

If you remember, back in verse 1 the Hebrews appear to be in charge of the daily distribution to the widows. And since there wasn’t enough to care for everyone, the Hebrews decided to take care of their own widows first.

This became a divisive problem for the community, so the apostles said, “Let’s fix this together by picking seven men to oversee this solution.” But… who got to pick? The apostles? No! The apostles say, “Brothers and sisters, you guys pick!” That is, the group - the Hellenists AND Hebrews - based on relationships, decided TOGETHER who would oversee this task.

Now… I don’t want us to miss this because it’s ridiculously beautiful...

Based on what’s recorded in Scripture, it appears the Hebrews, driven by love, humility, and relationship, CHOSE all Hellenists to take over the entire operation.

How awesome is that?!? How much humility did that take?

They fully embraced what we read in Phil 2, where it says...

Philippians 2:2–4 ESV

complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Why would they do that? I believe it was because God transformed their thinking. They saw their original “thinking” on “community” did not agree with God’s thoughts on community, so they changed their thinking, which impacted their living.

And God blessed it because it aligned with His heart for community. He looked at this church and thought, “These people have my heart. I can bless this!”

And look at the last part of verse 7… “the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”

This is another powerful result living in God’s design for community... and why it’s close to God’s heart! God is a Savior. He loves to see people rescued! And community draws the otherwise least likely people into the Kingdom.

In many ways, “the priests” were the least expected to join the church. But when they saw this radical commitment to unity, love, and community, it pleased their hearts and and led them to say, “I want to be a part of that! If that what it means to follow Jesus, I want to belong to that!”

And when unbelievers desire God because our church-community reflects God’s heart, God’s like, “I can trust this group with the people I died for and love. I’m going to send them more!”

Response:

So, as we close, I want this to impact our thinking. God has designed and called the church to thrive in community. Therefore, if we want to thrive, to live the abundant life, to “Grow in Christ,” we must start by rightly thinking about community.

This week, let’s ask ourselves these questions:

Do we value relationships with the Cross in mind?

Let’s think seriously about ANY division in the church. What Christ has brought together, let us not easily divide. Rather, let us prioritize relationships that cost God so much.

Do we understand how important relationships are to how God designed us?

“Growing in Christ” doesn’t happen in isolation. We are designed to live in relationships.

Additionally, if Jesus chose to live in community, why do we think we can choose anything different?

Let’s change our thinking about relationships and commit to living in honest, transparent, real relationships - let’s be friends with one another.

Let’s change our thinking regarding Life Groups and Church. They aren’t “events to attend” or “religious obligations” to check off our weekly list. They are God-designed opportunities to grow and flourish in our faith.

Do we want God’s blessing? Remember that God bless those who live in community, which is close to His heart.

Finally, do our relationships invite people into God’s family?

Based on our current view on relationships, will God trust us with more?

Do people look at the type of friends we are and want to be in relationship with us?

Let’s make sure our thinking prioritizes this because I don’t know about you, but I want God to send more people to our church! I want my relationships to point people to the hope, peace, joy, and love found in belonging to the family of God.

That all starts with our thinking about community.

Let’s pray:

Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that it always accomplishes its purpose and can transform our thinking. Help us think rightly about community, so we live rightly in community. We know this is important because the blood You shed on the Cross to unites us is no small thing. Therefore, help us to properly prioritize relationships in our lives. And we ask these things in Jesus name, amen.

Thanks for joining us for Church Online. If this was your first time, fill out a Connect Card. We’d love to say hi and send you a gift. Also, if you have prayer requests, would like to join a Life Group (which I suggest to live if you want to grow in relationships), or you decided to follow Jesus (to reconnect with the most important relationship) - we want to hear from you! There are easy ways to do that on our website (riverchurchct.com) or follow the links in the comments below!

Have a great day - God bless you!