Gather for Rhythm

Gather for Rhythm

Acts 2

Series Slide

Good morning and welcome to worship for those of you here and those of you online. AND… Happy Mother’s Day! Now, I don’t usually do this whole youngest and oldest mother thing… and I know all the ladies received a Carnation today. But we do have a special guest with us today. A mother who will turn 100 Years Old in July is here with her daughter!

She may possibly be our oldest mother in the building today. Ms. LaVerrel, would you stand or wave a hand so we can celebrate with you today! Happy Mother’s Day to all the ladies that have mothered and cared for me through the years. That does include some of you here.

Today, we are continuing our churchwide series, “Gather.” Last week we looked at how we gather for encouragement. We need one another. We need to gather together to encourage one another, especially as this world continues to go full on “Crazy.”

Today’s message will tie into last weeks somewhat, but before we get into it, I want to take a moment to read a passage from the second chapter of Acts. Turn with me if you would:

Acts 2:42-47

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

PRAYER

Rhythm Video

Sermon Slide

We probably all think of something different when we hear the word “Rhythm.” Some of us may think of poetry and prose… another may think of their circadian rhythm… obviously, I think of drums. But today, we are talking about a different kind of rhythm. We are talking about the rhythm of our spiritual life. Today, we are going to really focus on that 4th definition we saw in that video,

Rhythm,

4. A pattern and recurrence of the actions and functions of life, a habitual pattern of life;

A harmonious sequence.

And there is that word again… habit. What are some of the habits you have?

It’s my habit to go out and walk around our cheap above ground pool every morning to get the Oak and Pecan squigglies out of it.

It’s my habit to check my air when I dive.

It’s my habit to sit down in front of the TV at night and watch the news before I go to bed.

Maybe you thought about the habits of drinking… or smoking… or chewing your nails… or something like that.

Maybe you thought about your habit of reading scripture and journaling every morning.

We all have habits, good and bad. Our habits are more deeply ingrained than you might think. From an article on the Psychology of habits, we learn that:

“Habits are our brain’s way of increasing its efficiency. Our brain turns daily actions and behaviors into habits, so we would do them automatically and without too much thought – thus freeing up our brainpower for other more important challenges. This strategy of our brain has wonderful benefits for us. It allows us to function better in life. Just imagine if you had to consider and ponder every single task or reaction. You’d be exhausted!”

Good or bad, right or wrong; Habits are powerful. In fact, we know it’s hard to shake off a bad habit since it takes an average of 66 days before a new habit takes root in our brain. You may have heard before that it takes 21 days to make a new habit, but it takes three times as long for that habit to take root, to become an integrated part of your life.

Sermon Slide

Here’s another little fact for us… we have millions of cells dying and being replaced every day. At the rate of daily regeneration, in 3 months our body contains an entirely new set of cells. Think about that, in 90 days your body could be brand new. Let’s say you have the habit of eating too much salt and it is affecting your Blood Pressure. If you stopped adding salt to your food today, 90 days from now you will have a brand new body, one that no longer craves salt, one that no longer has salt induced high blood pressure, one that is healthier and stronger. The same thing works for sugar, smoking, drinking, drugs, and the list could go on and on. Every 90 days, you have the potential to have a brand new body with brand new habits and brand new rhythms.

Another thing about the rhythms of our life, the habitual patterns of our life is this:

Habits...follow cravings... as they seek rewards.

If you really want to stop smoking but you don’t address the cravings and the rewards contributing to your habit then you will have an hard time “kicking the habit.”

As we desire to create new habits… healthy habits… we also need to address the underlying cravings and rewards that contribute to them.

So, let me ask the real questions:

Do you crave healthy God-honoring relationships with others?

Do you earnestly desire a consistent and powerful prayer life?

Are you hungry for a deeper understanding of the Word and the teachings of Jesus?

What would your faith look like if you really craved fellowship, communion, worship, and prayer?

How could a healthy rhythm of gathering in fellowship with other believers help you to develop the habits of faith that you’ve been wanting… craving… for so long?

The early church knew something about gathering together that churches and communities of faith have been modeling for two thousand years.

Acts 2:42 highlights several things they were specifically devoted to doing whenever they gathered together. Let’s look back at the passage, this time in the NRSV.

Acts 2:42

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

If you heard;

● Teaching

● Fellowship

● Breaking of Bread

● Prayer

...Then you’re on the right track. The early church devoted themselves to teaching (learning), fellowship (gathering together), breaking of bread (communion), and prayer.

Gathered Together

These are the rewards, if you will, of a healthy rhythm - a habit of gathering together with other believers...and the early church was devoted to it.

The word devotion is a powerful one. It means, to consistently show strength which prevails (In spite of difficulties), to endure, to stay in a fixed direction; Steadfast. I guess it’s because I’ve see the movie and the musical so many times, but I can’t hear the word devoted without hearing Sandra Dee singing “Hopelessly Devoted to You.”

But, I don’t think there is really anything wrong with that, as long as we turn the love from Danny and sing to God that we are hopelessly devoted to God. But how do we show that devotion?

By gathering together for teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer.

This is what the early church was committed to… In fact, just a few verses later in Acts 2:46 we see the same words used. The passage says they, “They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity.”

Gathered Together

As a comparison, I want you to think about something you are absolutely committed to doing everyday in your life. Something that has become such a deeply ingrained habit that it’s just part of who you are. For some of you it’s running… not me, obviously, but good for you. Maybe it’s a morning routine with your coffee. Maybe it’s a time of prayer or how you kiss your loved one goodbye. What is it that has simply become a part of who you are?

The thing you’re thinking about, this is the kind of thing that consistent rhythm - unwavering devotion - will do in your life.

Here’s the great thing… we can add new ones, we can change old ones. We are not stuck as we are, remember – every 90 days you can have a brand new body with all new cells!

So, the disciples had the habitual pattern in their life of gathering together. What else was habitual, what else was a part of their Rhythm? What did they do when they gathered?

Learning

They spent time learning.

How many of you enjoy learning? I didn’t ask how many of you enjoyed school, I mean learning.

Some of my best learning has happened since I got out of school. We learn better when we experience life with others and learn through our interactions. When we gather, we can learn from one another. Learning the scriptures together with other believers was something the early church was absolutely devoted to… and we should be too.

Learning takes time, it can be difficult. Learning requires your effort and attention. The reward however, is deeper understanding and knowledge. And I’m not sure I know any follower of Christ who would say that they don’t want a deeper understanding of scripture, their faith, and ultimately, God.

If you are not already a part of a small group find one and jump in… We have Sunday school groups, we have week day groups, we have night groups. If you want more information, grab one of the flyers in the lobby… get involved. Gather and learn together.

So the early church gathered for learning, but they also gathered for fellowship.

Fellowship

Did you know church can be fun? Some of us met up here last Wednesday and cheered for the One Act Play group as they headed to State!

Some of our members gather regularly for the Lady Lion’s Softball games!

Some of our Small groups get together outside of the church for parties and fellowships.

Every time we get together doesn’t have to be a formal service, but I would encourage everyone to think about getting regular time in fellowship with other believers every week.

Like I said, we have small groups… we have knitting groups… we have all kinds of groups here, and if there isn’t a group that fits you, maybe there are others like you… maybe God is calling you to start a new study or fellowship group!

The early church did not forsake the assembling together as they met for learning, fellowship… and

Communion.

Communion is incredibly important. Here's why the early church was stubbornly devoted to breaking bread together.

“The Lord Jesus, on the night 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.’ In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Communion is about remembering Jesus.

His life.

His sacrifice on the cross.

His body, broken for you and me.

His blood, the marker of a new and final covenant between God and man.

His death.

His resurrection.

His promise to return again for His church.

These are realities for the believer that we simply cannot forget. And because communion is implicitly done with others, it follows that we celebrate and remember Jesus together. We celebrated Communion last week… we came to the common table together, the children, the adults, the body of Christ gathered together.

If once a month isn’t enough for you, we have communion every Sunday at 8:30 in Chapel.

Think about it like this; Our common union, the thing that brings believers together all around the world through the millennia, is Jesus Christ. And communion is our opportunity to remember Him, together, every week.

did the early church gather to lea Not rn, only to fellowship and to celebrate Communion, they prayed.

Prayer

Simply put, prayer is an exchange where we make our requests known and God receives them. We could do an entire series on prayer alone, in fact we did not too long ago, so I will keep this section short and to the point. There are really 2 kinds of prayer: Private and Corporate.

I heard the best example of private prayer recently. Danny Janes and I were visiting with the Assistant Fire Chief at a breakfast and Danny told the story of caring for a sick child, I think it was his grandchild. At one point the child’s fever was so high that she would go into convulsions. That is a scary thing when you are holding a child like that, so what did Danny do? He ran across the street to the fire station and asked for help. One of the firemen looked at him and with open arms said, “Hand me the child.”

That’s what prayer is… we hold onto something… we do all we can to make it better… we try to fix it… but in the end we realize that we don’t have strength, we don’t have the power, we don’t have the knowledge and we run to God in prayer, when we do, Jesus is standing there with his arms already outstretched saying, “hand me your worry… hand me your disappointment… hand me your fear.”

We need to carry our requests to the Lord. Not just privately, but also publicly .

It’s a gift to pray with others in a community. There is power when we pray together--when we make our requests known together.

In fact, when asked for advice on prayer, Jesus said;

“This, then, is how you should pray;

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” -Matthew 6:9-13

There is no “I” or “me” in this prayer… it is all “us” and “we.”

The prayer we lift ever week is a communal one. We gather and invite God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. We gather to seek daily bread. We gather for the forgiveness of sins as we forgive those that sin against us. We gather for direction and deliverance.

There is power when we pray with one another and we are committed to praying together when we come together.

Like I said last week, it’s much deeper than fellowship.

We gather together because it’s who we are.

When adversity comes to our doorstep.

When things don’t go our way.

When we are confused, frustrated, and angry.

We join with others in fellowship as we learn, remember, and pray… and we spur each other on towards love and good deeds because It’s who we are.

So this is my challenge for the week;

Identify some of your habits and rhythms.

What are things you do habitually? What is positive about them? What would you change?

And if you’re not in the rhythm of gathering with other believers on a regular basis, can I ask you to consider why this week.

Are there things keeping you from fellowship? Are there past hurts, fears, or other things robbing you of the rich rewards of a life lived in fellowship with others?

Let’s pray together.