Episode 10

Good morning everyone…I hope everyone is doing well this morning. Welcome again, and welcome to all of the kids here this morning. Right now lets all welcome our kids back, where their teacher will welcome them and walk them back into their own class where they can learn and grow into their own knowledge and relationship with the Lord. Isn’t it great that we have adults that are excited to provide, not just Bible stories, but Biblical teaching to the kids at a level that they can understand it.

I also want to welcome those of you that are joining us online this morning, afternoon, or evening…Whenever you have chosen to join us we are honored that you have given your time to LRBC to see what God is doing around here. I know that there are a number of you that are joining from all over the states. However, there are also some from right here in Ogle County. For those of you joining us from right here in the area, I want to personally invite you to join us on any Sunday right here at 9:30am. We have fantastic coffee, comfortable seats, the most friendly people in Ogle County and most importantly we spend time focused on Scripture right here together.

Hey, you know we have been going through an amazing story about the birth of the church…the birth of the movement that changed the world. You know, every once and a while something comes along and changes everything. For instance, on June 29, 2007 something happened that changed everything. Apple released the brand new Iphone. This was a concept that people didn’t think would work. I mean, there were already phone that had internet, and phone, but now they are adding these things called “apps”. An app is something that you would download onto you phone and you would add function or fun to your phone. The invention of the Iphone changed the landscape for phones, forever…Suddenly everyone had a high quality camera in your pocket, everyone has a very clear internet experience in your pocket, meaning that the answers to any question is at your fingertips at all times. This was huge for every single industry that exist. People in the business world would use this for productivity, people in the blue collar world would be able to repair anything at any time. I can remember when I first got an Iphone, it was becuase my boss wanted me to have the available to look up the specs of any appliance at any time in order to be able to repair them faster than every before.Now, I can also remember the first time someone handed me an Iphone as I needed to make a phone call and I could not figure out how to make a phone call. I had to ask how to use the phone…It was a little embarrassing if Im honest, but thats OK… :) You see, Apple made an impact on the world that changed the function of everything we do.

That is kind of what happened when the church was born. Just like Apple changed the landscape of technology, the Church changed the landscape of everything…I mean, there is nothing that the church has not been a part of in some way. For instance look at the idea of community. I mean Paul, in his letters shows us what community is. There is a community that invites you, which makes you an equal with all other members of that community. Which does not allow for any disadvantages. Actually the opposite happens, it gives even the lowliest slave personal dignity and status. Paul shows us that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female, neither slave nor free. Then you have this idea of mutual support. We saw that last week again. There is an interesting fact that Emperor Constantine saw. Constantine saw that the only thing that would rescue the failing empire is to take over the institutions that the Christians had already built up. These institutions such as education in reading and writing. You see, Christians wanted to have their members knowledgeable and capable of reading the Bible…Add to that the medical advancements that have come from hospitals and organizations that were started by Christians becuase they were focused on Christ and on personally participating in the mission of the church. You see, historically, Christians, when focused on Christ, bring change to the world...

Now, why is that important to us today? Well, becuase we we can remember we are at the end of a series called The Book of Acts: an origin story. We have been looking at the very beginning of this movement that ultimately swept the world. Here we are some 2000 years after this movement began and we are looking for ways to continue making an impact on the world around us. We are looking for how we can be used to show others the truth of Scriptures…We are looking at, as a church, how we can make an impact on the community around us. I mean, what is the Lord leading us to do in Leaf River to leave a lasting impact and transform this community for Christ. Well, you see…God has placed LRBC in this place for a purpose. It is our responsibility to listen to what that purpose is and act on that purpose.

In order to listen to God and be prepared to act as God directs, we must remember that Jesus gave a job to the church Then, we must answer the question…and I mean honestly between you and God, answer this question. Have I personally participated in the mission of the church, recently? You will see I added another word to that question. I added the word, recently…That is becuase I don’t want you to think about a time that you participated in the church 20 years ago…thats easy. Im talking about this year, this month, this week…Have you personally participated in the mission of the church?

Now, this morning as we close out this season of The Book of Acts, we are going to see what happens when you follow what the early church did. We are going to see

Two things happen to the church:

As we look at this passage this morning we are going to divide up what is really happening and I am going to bring in the highlights of these events, and hopefully I will be able to relate them to each of us and how we are participating in the mission of the church.

Number 1: There is excitement!

Right on the bat we look at

Acts 5:12–16 ESV

Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

In this passage we can see that the church is growing. We can almost feel the excitement as we read this and imagine that those that are hearing about what Peter and John as well as the rest of the early church is doing. Now, remember the community around the beleivers are seeing something new…They are seeing a group of non-related people actually care for each other and provide for the needs of each other. This is unusual. However, this is not all butterfly’s and rainbows. Did you catch in vs. 13? Look at this again....

None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. —vs 13

So what does this mean that none of the rest dared to join them? What we see here is a bit of separation between the apostles and the Christians. You see, there was just a visual of what happens when you lie to the Lord. When Ananias and Saphira both died, that created a tension between those that were only partially following Jesus…Those who were following, maybe for the wrong reasons. Therefore, we see that there are some that are not as bold, and scared to join the Christians, while at the same time new believers were joining this growing movement every moment. These new beleivers are giving glory to God.

People were bringing in their sick and their wounded in order to be a part of what the Lord is doing. Did every single person that experienced physical healing leave with a life changed for the Lord? Maybe, but also…maybe not. However, every single person that was healed and every single person that saw what was happening in the community around them had an opportunity to make a decision to join what the Lord was doing. Also, every single person in that community heard the name of the Lord and was impacted by the excitement of the church...

Number 2: Opposition Continues:

So we see in this next brief section from vs 17-32. Now, I am not going to read this entire section, however, there are a couple of places that I would like to highlight. Do you remember a couple of weeks ago Peter and John were in front of the Sanhedrin and they were warned to stay quiet? Well, Peter answer that warning right there saying they would obey God and not man. Now, the threats that have been leveled against them are beginning to happen. Look at

Acts 5:17–18 ESV

But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

Remember they told these men to be quiet about the Resurrection and they continued to preach and to heal. The excitement of the crowd about Jesus could not be contained and so the Sanhedrin had no other choice than to stop it. Well....they tried to stop it at least. The problem is that The Holy Spirit provides boldness to proclaim the gospel in the face of opposition. This is a truth we will see through the story of Acts. Listen, I want to be clear about something real quick in case I have not been. Opposition can be more than just a person yelling at you or imprisoning you for your beliefs. You see, I chose this term, opposition very carefully to speak about more than just physical confrontation, but also to talk about emotional opposition, or financial opposition. The only way to take that next step in the face of boldness is to rely on the power of the Holy Spirt, becuase I promise you that you will never have the power to face opposition without the Holy Spirit.

Let me tell you a little story about my life. You see, back in 2013, I was working full-time in real estate rentals/construction. At that time I was doing very well financially. However, God had not called me to work full-time in real estate work. I was not experiencing joy in my job becuase I was not doing what God had called me to do. Well, it was at that time that I was offered a full-time position at the church that I was serving in. Now, the church could not afford to pay me what we needed as a family to pay bills. Therefore I continued to work as a consultant for the real estate investors. About 6 months later I continued to hear God tell me to trust him with my finances and allow him to provide instead of trying to provide for myself. Well, I can remember writing an email to my boss explaining to him that I can no longer provide consulting services to him. This was HARD…I cannot tell you how hard this was. I knew this was the right thing to do, but I was scared to actually take that stand. I was scared to actually fully trust that God can actually take care of our needs. You see, there was an emotional opposition to following what God had clearly led me to do.

How many times is that true for us as Christians? We know what we should do…but it is hard, we are scared, we are unsure, we are facing opposition maybe from people that telling us that this is not a good decision, or maybe even from ourselves trying to convince u its easier to just keep a low profile, or its easier to just keep ignoring what God has called you to…However, even in the midst of that opposition, we know what is right, we know what is true....we know what we should be doing. Well, the same is true for the early church as they faced a very real opposition.

Look, they were put in jail and the Lord actually removed them from jail so that they could continue preaching the Gospel of Jesus. It would have been very easy to convince themselves that God freed them so that they could keep quiet and maybe leave town or potentially to wait a while before they continued to preach. However, they didn’t wait to do what the Lord, who had literally freed them from jail, told them to do.

Let’s look at what happens when the Sanhedrin finds out that the church is still doing what they very clearly told them not to do earlier. They go out with a force that the crowd is concerned about, they brought them back into custody and said this...

Acts 5:28–32 (ESV)

“We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

The early church prayed for boldness to not back down in the midst of opposition and the Lord provided them the opportunity to speak boldly. I know many of you here today, or maybe joining us as part of our online family have done something similar. You have prayed for wisdom, you have prayed for boldness to speak the Gospel or to live the Gospel, now all that is left if for you to live the words...”We must obey God rather than men.” You see, Man tells you to focus on yourself…God tells you to focus on him.

So this morning, who are you going to listen to? Are you going to listen to the Lord and personally participate in the mission of the church and join in the excitement of what God is doing all around you....or are you going to listen to the opposition telling you that you better not becuase there will be consequences to following the Lord like that?

Here’s the thing…that voice of opposition is right....there will be consequences to following the Lord. You will be strengthened by the Holy Spirit, and God will be glorified as the excitement for the church grows.

Now, we are going to close out out season 1 of The Book of Acts and we are going to be left on a bit of a cliffhanger. You see, the Sanhedrin wants to kill Peter and John, as well as anyone else who is boldly sharing this Gospel of Jesus. However, there is a man named Gamaliel. Now, Gamaliel is a bit of a logical thinker who does not want any needless issues within the community around them. So, here is what Gamaliel says in order to calm the Sanhedrin.

Acts 5:35–39 ESV

And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice,

You see, this man, in his wisdom has given us a clear ultimatum…If these words are from man, they will fail…it these words are from God, you will not being able to stop them…So, let me ask you a question…Have these words failed? If not, then let’s put that into our own lives. If you are submitting to self, you will fail…if you are submitting to God, God cannot be stopped.

This morning as we close out I want to encourage you to think about your own life, your own situation, your own circumstances. Are you listening to God, or to man…Are you more focused on yourself, or on God…If you are here and you are unsure what it means to focus on God and submit to him, then let me encourage you to reach out to my and let’s have a conversation. However, right now…this morning…this moment I want to ask every single person in this room to focus on God as we move into a time of communion. This is the perfect opportunity to repent of not being focused on him, but instead being focused on yourself. This is also the perfect opportunity for you to start fresh by making a commitment to focus on him this morning. Whatever it is in your life, in your circumstance that you know God is leading you to do…make a commitment to rely on the boldness from the Holy Spirit to follow what he is leading you to do…and, if you need help with that, reach out and let’s talk about it. I want to support you personally in whatever God is leading you to do.

For now, Im going to ask the Elders to come forward and prepare for communion. We will take a moment to serve each person here and then we will talk through the elements.

Serve

Much of how we exist as a church comes from the New Testament and the leadership of people like Peter, John and Paul. Well, Paul wrote a letter to the church in Corinth where he was describing what communion should look like and why we are to participate in communion. In this passage Paul writes

1 Corinthians 11:23–24 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Prayer/eat

After we have taken this and remembered the sacrifice of Jesus’ body, Paul continues...

1 Corinthians 11:25–26 ESV

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Prayer/drink

Now that we have taken this opportunity to worship through the remembrance of communion, I would like to worship as a church in another way. As the Elders are seated, I want you to take notice of who they are so that you can reach out with any need that you may have at any time.

Now we will take a moment to worship through singing led by Nathanael.