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Takeoff || The Power of snooze

Who’s awake this morning

Sleeping through an Alarm

Addicted to the snooze

Wondering through the day dazed and groggy

Unaware until I got married

Loud obnoxious sound

Enough to give Jenny a heart attack

Transition | What does an alarm clock and your sleep struggles have to do with today? If we are not intentional we can press snooze on the greatest opportunity wondering through life asleep or unaware to the world around us and the op

Tension || How can we be a people of passion and purpose?

In a recent magazine article in the Atlantic, one young atheist who abandoned the church offers this reason for his disbelief: “I really can’t consider a Christian a good, moral person if he isn’t trying to convert me. . .Christianity is something that if you really believed it, it would change your life and you would want to change the lives of others. I haven’t seen too much of that.”

Have we lost our passion and purpose

How can we be a people of passion and purpose?

Now you may be new to church or have a different picture of what church is. The church is more than a building or an organization. To have a working reference of what I mean when I say church I am going to borrow a definition from Brad Watson

The Church is the people of God, saved by the power of God, for the purpose of God.

How

Transition |

Text | Acts 2:42-47

Acts 2:42–3:1 (ESV):

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Transition | Prayer

Throwback | Last week the power of when the church gathers to encourage, worship, and remind one another of the power and reality of the the Good news of the Gospel and how it changes how we live and what we love.

Transition | In part two I’m going to focus on the power of purpose when the…à

Teaching | THE CHURCH GATHERS TO SCATTER

The descriptions of the early church’s life (Acts 2:43–47; 4:32–37) function to not only describe the early church’s character but to demonstrate that the church is the community of the new creation.

The church is not just a bunch of individuals thrown together. Rather, it is an organic community woven together by the faith bestowed by the Holy Spirit

In Faith and Boldness (Acts 2:43; John 14:12)

John 14:12–13 (ESV): Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son

“God is a God of motion, of movement, and of mission. . . Mission is not an activity of the church but an attribute of God. God is a missionary God, Jesus is a missionary messiah, and the Spirit is a missionary Spirit.” - Len Sweet

Awe precedes the amazing ----> “If we want revivals, we must revive our reverence for the Word of God.” - Charles Spurgeon

Awe of God in the ordinary

But miracles, according to Acts, aren’t just fireworks that make people “ooh!” and “aah!” They are visible attestations of the verbal proclamation of the gospel. They confirm and verify the words as true.

Story || Miracles at the bakery

The action to risk always follows a conviction from faith.

Together for the World: The Book of Acts The Missionary Journey Continues

The mission field is just one step out our front doors. We’re all called to bivocational missions now. We’re all part of the continuing missionary journey that started in Acts. Are you ready? If not, what do you need to do to be prepared?

Example | Preparing for the day in faith

(mess and all) Gabby dollhouse in the background Socks, glasses, clothes

Transition | We gather around the truth of the gospel to scatter responding in faith and expectation knowing that the same Spirit that rose Christ dwells in us.

In Generosity and Compassion (Acts 2:44-46; Matthew 6:19-21)

Everything matters when you’re following the Lord of everything.

You can tell a lot about someone based on how they spend their time, talent, and treasure in… in fact Jesus Said in

Matthew 6:19–21 (ESV): 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

More money doesn’t make you more generous it just makes more of who you are.

Story | Jesus J’s

I had saved worked side hustled for this money to buy Sneakers

If you want to be generous when you have more, learn to be more generous when you have less. - Craig Groeschel

In the part of the world where you live, what do people assume to be the hope of the world? A political party? Financial success? Fame, or comfort, or health? Keep your answer in mind as we move forward to consider how to read and apply Acts today.

The church is the visible confirmation of Jesus’ messiahship and lordship. Jesus is the world’s true king, as proclaimed by the church (words), because his people, the church, are the visible demonstration of a people who are joyfully loyal to his kingship (deeds)

Together for the World: The Book of Acts The Kingdom of God

The kingdom of God is the picture of the world redeemed, liberated, and given a new lease on life.

“We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe . . . but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.” -Madeleine L’Engle

Not just in our treasure but our time

Bugs life illustration

Transition | We have the opportunity to respond to the generosity of God choosing t

In Partnership with King Jesus (Acts 2:47; 1 Corinthians 3:9)

1 Corinthians 3:9 (ESV): For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

Explain Context 1 Cor 3

If the church doesn’t display Christlikeness in its common life together, the watching world will see very little evidence that the gospel is true. Without deeds, we have a religious club, not a church.

Christianity is lived on the public stage of history and society. And the church is not a private sect, huddled away in secret, but a movement that lives out in the open, before rulers and ruled alike. The faith and church illustrated in Acts are embedded in the public arena of the diverse world.

Christianity is public is because Christianity—believed or lived, alone or in community—is comprehensive. It touches all of life. Faith is not a private opinion but a public confession. The proclamation of the gospel is not only for the already converted, but for those living estranged from God.

To be a Christian isn’t so much a religious or spiritual choice, but a public announcement about who truly rules the world.

When Peter announced that the Spirit is back, that these are the last days, that the same Spirit that was in Sampson to tear down the city gates is now available to us to tear down the gates of hell. The same spirit that spoke through Samuel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah now speaks through us so that all the nations might hear Jesus is God, Lord, and Christ. The power of the Spirit is not so we stay home; the power of the spirit is expressively given that we leave home and go into all the world so that whoever calls on the name of the lord, all who are far off, as many as God would call shall be saved.

The kingdom of God’s advances in the world are achieved through love: fellowship meals, kind words, compassion to neighbors, generosity. In contrast, the Roman Empire advanced through an army equipped to the teeth with the most technologically advanced weapons, the most ruthlessly calculated strategies, and the meticulous management of resources, human or otherwise.

Transition |

Thread |

When someone becomes an apprentice of Jesus, their story ebbs and flows. There are times when practicing the way of Jesus comes wonderfully easy and times when it is like leaning your weight against a storm.

Transition |

Takeaway |

Jesus isn’t threatening Hell so you’ll embrace Him, he’s embracing you so you’ll threaten Hell.

Am I receptive to the Holy Spirit’s leading in my life?

What would faithfulness to Jesus, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, look like in my life, job, or neighborhood?

What gifts has the Spirit given me, and where is he guiding me to use them?

Who in your life is outside the community? How can you welcome him, her, or them back into fellowship?

The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer. - Bonhofer