WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:31.260 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.440 Thanks for listening. 00:00:45.440 --> 00:00:46.320 Good morning. 00:00:47.140 --> 00:00:53.360 If you've got your Bibles, I want to invite you to join me in Matthew 4 and in Acts chapter 2, 00:00:53.360 --> 00:00:56.240 two different passages of Scripture that we're going to look at this morning. 00:00:56.580 --> 00:01:02.240 If you do not have your Bible with you, I want to encourage you to bring your Bible with you each week 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:04.200 as we open up and study from God's Word. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:07.400 If you don't own a Bible, back at the table back here to my left, 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:11.460 where Aaron and I will be standing at the end of the service, we do have some free copies. 00:01:11.820 --> 00:01:14.500 So if you don't have one, please feel free to stop by there. 00:01:14.740 --> 00:01:15.820 You can just grab one. 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:16.920 It's our gift to you. 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:19.760 We want to make sure everybody has a copy of God's Word. 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:24.220 A couple of reminders, our family mission trip, sign-ups are still going on for that. 00:01:24.320 --> 00:01:29.880 So if you would like to join us the first weekend in September in serving at Black Mountain Children Home, 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:32.040 we would love for you to join us. 00:01:32.180 --> 00:01:35.480 And so you can grab a registration form, fill that out. 00:01:35.560 --> 00:01:36.380 You can leave it with us. 00:01:36.600 --> 00:01:37.500 We'd love to have you. 00:01:37.580 --> 00:01:43.760 And then also, we hope to see you all back tonight for our church family picnic as we'll gather together. 00:01:44.080 --> 00:01:45.480 Some questions have been asked. 00:01:45.640 --> 00:01:50.900 You know, it's South Carolina, so it can be anywhere between 70 and 150 degrees, 00:01:51.060 --> 00:01:53.280 but you're going to sweat regardless, all right? 00:01:53.500 --> 00:01:58.020 So we're going to have—you'll be able to be inside to eat and do the different things, 00:01:58.020 --> 00:02:00.880 and then we have some of our activities that will be outside. 00:02:00.980 --> 00:02:03.880 So I hope to see you all here this evening. 00:02:03.880 --> 00:02:06.080 Like, let's set a goal to run out of food, amen? 00:02:06.540 --> 00:02:11.240 All right, and I'm really looking forward of sampling a little bit of what all of you bring, 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:13.160 especially for desserts. 00:02:13.580 --> 00:02:17.080 And because you know me, if there's a request out there, 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:19.580 if you're sitting there right now and you're like, I don't know what to do, right? 00:02:19.760 --> 00:02:20.800 Normally, I give you one option. 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:22.340 I'm going to give you two, all right? 00:02:22.980 --> 00:02:26.560 Homemade chocolate chip cookies always go over well, and so does banana pudding. 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:28.880 I've never been mad at either one of those. 00:02:29.140 --> 00:02:30.220 I say homemade. 00:02:30.340 --> 00:02:31.040 Who are we kidding? 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:33.740 If you go buy store-bought, that's pretty good, too, all right? 00:02:33.860 --> 00:02:36.600 So we'd love to have you guys back with us. 00:02:36.680 --> 00:02:39.100 Now, I was thinking about this standing over there. 00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:43.180 Dave, thank you, man, making me a little emotional with talking with the first day back at school 00:02:43.180 --> 00:02:48.620 and realize in my 43 years of being on this earth, I've got 43 years of, in some way, shape, or form, 00:02:48.760 --> 00:02:49.800 the first day of school. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:51.180 I was raised by a teacher. 00:02:51.260 --> 00:02:52.600 My mom was a teacher. 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:53.560 She's retired now. 00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:55.100 And then I married a teacher. 00:02:55.100 --> 00:03:03.720 And then in my 43 years, I have been a student in some way, shape, or form for the last 30 years, or for 30 years. 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:12.240 That's been the span from kindergarten all the way up through high school, college, master's, doctoral study, 00:03:12.300 --> 00:03:14.780 all of those over the course of a 30 year. 00:03:14.920 --> 00:03:17.500 So, like, I get first days of school. 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:19.500 I get the balance that's all there. 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:26.620 But I'm experiencing something that I've never experienced, which this year will be my kids' first year in high school. 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:30.420 So, here's, we're about to pray for teachers and students here in just a second. 00:03:30.580 --> 00:03:31.880 But here's what I'm going to need you to do. 00:03:31.980 --> 00:03:33.900 Tuesday morning, I'm not going to be okay. 00:03:34.220 --> 00:03:34.520 All right? 00:03:34.700 --> 00:03:36.820 And so, it's going to be bad. 00:03:36.900 --> 00:03:41.300 Like, 8.05 to 8.10, I'm going to try to hold it together while I drop them off. 00:03:41.440 --> 00:03:47.680 But it's going to be like a lifetime Christmas movie from the time that I drop them off until I get here. 00:03:47.780 --> 00:03:49.900 So, if you love me, just lift me up. 00:03:50.200 --> 00:03:50.800 Pray for me. 00:03:51.040 --> 00:03:51.740 Encourage me. 00:03:51.740 --> 00:03:54.160 I went there the other day for orientation. 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:55.020 They were good. 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:56.140 I was overwhelmed. 00:03:57.020 --> 00:03:57.900 It's tough. 00:03:57.980 --> 00:03:58.520 It's tough. 00:03:58.600 --> 00:03:59.040 It's tough. 00:03:59.120 --> 00:03:59.460 All right. 00:03:59.600 --> 00:04:07.200 So, but seriously, for all of the teachers, district employees, school workers that we've got here, 00:04:07.540 --> 00:04:15.320 number one, I want to say thank you for what you do in serving our community and in pouring into these kids each and every day. 00:04:15.320 --> 00:04:24.340 I know most of the time when you open up an email from a parent or someone outside of there, it is not filled with affirmation and encouragement. 00:04:24.580 --> 00:04:29.720 And so, we just want to encourage you just by saying thank you for what you do to serve these kids well. 00:04:30.140 --> 00:04:37.720 And then for all of us who are going to be, whether it's a college classroom, whether it's a kindergarten class, everywhere in between, 00:04:38.100 --> 00:04:49.260 as we are students, man, go and pursue the education that the Lord has for you because what he can do is take that and use you in a greater way and a greater depth for the kingdom. 00:04:49.820 --> 00:04:54.640 And whether you're a teacher, student, employee, just be the light of Christ wherever you are. 00:04:54.820 --> 00:04:58.360 So, before we jump into this, let's just go ahead and go to the Lord in prayer real quickly. 00:04:59.180 --> 00:05:03.840 God, I thank you for yet another first week of school, first day of school this week. 00:05:04.700 --> 00:05:13.400 Lord, I thank you for the opportunities that are there to see young minds grow beyond what they were before. 00:05:14.440 --> 00:05:19.920 Lord, I thank you for the teachers and the administrators, the staff of the school. 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:33.460 That, Lord, fill those hallways every day to serve a meal, to make sure a classroom is clean, to present new information to be learned, 00:05:33.580 --> 00:05:37.880 or, Lord, to lead and guide the faculty and staff. 00:05:39.140 --> 00:05:42.480 Lord, I thank you for the districts that are represented in our community, 00:05:43.240 --> 00:05:52.160 that make difficult decisions to create cultures and environments in all of our schools so that learning can be achieved for every student. 00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:59.420 Lord, I pray for all of these adults that fill these capacities, Lord, especially, Lord, those ones that are believers, 00:06:00.960 --> 00:06:06.620 Lord, that it would be more than just an education, but it would be an opportunity to impact a life for the sake of the gospel. 00:06:07.820 --> 00:06:09.440 Lord, I pray for all of our students, 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:17.960 whether first-year students going into kindergarten or old 43-year-olds signing up for another class through a seminary 00:06:17.960 --> 00:06:19.580 and everyone in between. 00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:25.100 Lord, expand our minds to learn more. 00:06:26.460 --> 00:06:29.760 Lord, and use it in the capacity to grow deeper with you. 00:06:30.700 --> 00:06:33.320 And, Lord, we thank you for the wonderful privileges that we have. 00:06:34.640 --> 00:06:37.600 Lord, with everything that's gone on and what we know, 00:06:37.780 --> 00:06:41.280 which is, for some of us, stored on the back of our brains that we want to forget, 00:06:41.620 --> 00:06:44.400 and some of us at the front that we can become fixated on, 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:46.800 Lord, I just pray for protection around our schools. 00:06:48.260 --> 00:06:54.140 Lord, I pray for the safeguard that you could provide them in these days and times. 00:06:55.200 --> 00:06:56.980 And Jesus will celebrate you for it. 00:06:57.720 --> 00:06:58.620 And it's in your name we pray. 00:06:59.180 --> 00:06:59.460 Amen. 00:07:00.280 --> 00:07:00.600 Amen. 00:07:00.860 --> 00:07:03.920 So we are in week two of our discipleship series. 00:07:04.020 --> 00:07:12.180 Last week, we started this off and talked about church membership and why it's important for you to truly belong to a local body. 00:07:12.300 --> 00:07:13.940 Now, we're not going to go recap all that. 00:07:14.280 --> 00:07:15.120 I looked this week. 00:07:15.180 --> 00:07:15.920 It got a little carried away. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:17.520 It took me 54 minutes last week. 00:07:17.620 --> 00:07:22.640 So go online, listen to that, talks about membership and why we value that. 00:07:22.700 --> 00:07:28.640 But then over the next four weeks, what we're going to do is look at different aspects of discipleship. 00:07:28.760 --> 00:07:30.640 And so here's what I want to kind of start off. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:33.320 Normally, we start off by defining what something is. 00:07:33.520 --> 00:07:37.940 But this morning, I want to just kind of briefly talk about what something is not. 00:07:38.420 --> 00:07:41.020 And so discipleship is not this. 00:07:42.180 --> 00:07:46.300 Discipleship is not simply put saying, I attend this class. 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:48.080 I attend this small group. 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:50.060 I attend this Sunday school class. 00:07:50.380 --> 00:07:51.240 Box checked. 00:07:51.400 --> 00:07:52.280 I'm done. 00:07:52.540 --> 00:07:53.880 I'm a disciple of Jesus. 00:07:54.540 --> 00:08:03.440 Now, I believe that those classes, Sunday school classes, small groups, studies, small groups, 00:08:03.500 --> 00:08:11.440 I believe that all of that is used in a powerful way and is an integral part of discipleship. 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:19.180 But what we'll find out as we work through this series together is that discipleship is not a program that we go to, 00:08:19.180 --> 00:08:24.500 a box that we can check, a diploma that we can receive and say, been there, done that. 00:08:24.580 --> 00:08:26.760 I'm good to go in my life now. 00:08:26.900 --> 00:08:33.380 But instead, what we find is that discipleship, true discipleship, true Christian discipleship 00:08:33.380 --> 00:08:38.400 is a process that crosses over into every detail of your life. 00:08:38.680 --> 00:08:45.720 Every single moment of your life is a moment that God is giving you to disciple you, 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:51.420 the discipleship process, so that you can become more and more like Jesus. 00:08:51.980 --> 00:08:56.580 Now, I believe that when we look at the models that we're going to see in one of the models 00:08:56.580 --> 00:09:01.560 over the course of the next several weeks is going to be Jesus and his interaction with his disciples, right? 00:09:01.700 --> 00:09:08.340 And what we see in Jesus' life is that his discipleship process with them was 24 hours a day, 00:09:08.700 --> 00:09:11.960 seven days a week for somewhere around three and a half years. 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:14.260 This is the process he went through. 00:09:14.620 --> 00:09:14.860 Why? 00:09:15.680 --> 00:09:19.440 Because Jesus understood as he looked at his 12 disciples that it wasn't going to be, 00:09:19.740 --> 00:09:21.580 hey, meet me back here Sunday morning at 10. 00:09:21.720 --> 00:09:24.440 We'll talk for 45 minutes and then break and then come back. 00:09:25.900 --> 00:09:32.240 But Jesus understood and needed to implement to them as going to be the early leaders of the church 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:36.000 is that discipleship weaves into every aspect of your life. 00:09:36.060 --> 00:09:38.500 So here's what I'm going to say up front going into this for four weeks. 00:09:38.500 --> 00:09:41.560 We're not going to cover all of the aspects of discipleship. 00:09:42.560 --> 00:09:49.060 There's no way in four weeks that we can figure out every minute detail of your life and my life 00:09:49.060 --> 00:09:50.680 and how discipleship fits in there. 00:09:51.100 --> 00:09:56.640 But I think what we can begin to do is scratch the surface of all of the areas 00:09:56.640 --> 00:10:01.180 and then try to dig down a little bit deeper into each one of these 00:10:01.180 --> 00:10:08.600 and see, okay, God, how you can use this in my life to grow me more to being like you. 00:10:10.060 --> 00:10:11.960 And so over the four weeks, here's what we're going to talk about. 00:10:12.040 --> 00:10:14.800 Today is going to be discipleship and community. 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:18.700 Next week we'll gather back and talk about discipleship and serving. 00:10:19.340 --> 00:10:23.360 And then after that we're going to talk about discipleship and personal responsibility. 00:10:24.300 --> 00:10:28.980 And then our very last week we're going to talk about discipleship and the family 00:10:28.980 --> 00:10:32.380 and look at all of these different aspects. 00:10:33.080 --> 00:10:38.460 And what I think we're going to look at and see is what we're going to find is that in Christian discipleship, 00:10:38.580 --> 00:10:43.040 it's both the formal and informal process with which we live our lives. 00:10:43.380 --> 00:10:49.420 Meaning this, earlier today, and I love this, my kids got here a little bit after nine. 00:10:49.740 --> 00:10:52.880 They took off, they went upstairs to this room right up here to my right, 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:56.340 which is where Joel Van Ham was up there with another group of kids. 00:10:56.940 --> 00:11:02.180 And they sat down and had an environment that was created where they discussed scripture, 00:11:02.180 --> 00:11:07.220 they discussed life, and that's a part of the formal process of discipleship 00:11:07.220 --> 00:11:12.860 that our students have an opportunity to be a part of each and every Sunday morning here 00:11:12.860 --> 00:11:13.800 at Willow Ridge Church. 00:11:14.120 --> 00:11:20.660 All right, that's a formal process that is used and valued and God's doing great things in that. 00:11:20.740 --> 00:11:26.180 Almost every week Joel comes out and just talks about how God is using that in the lives of these students, 00:11:26.300 --> 00:11:27.860 but also in his life as well. 00:11:27.860 --> 00:11:32.140 So we see the formal structure of discipleship that is there, 00:11:32.260 --> 00:11:35.860 but God also uses the informal moments of our life in discipleship. 00:11:36.620 --> 00:11:41.720 So I don't get to say, oh cool, my kids are being discipled, check that box, we move on from that. 00:11:41.780 --> 00:11:45.420 No, no, no, no. We continue that on into aspects of her life. 00:11:45.520 --> 00:11:50.260 So when we're riding down the road, we can sit there and we can talk about what it means to follow Christ. 00:11:50.400 --> 00:11:56.840 We see something come on the TV and it triggers something to where we talk about what that means with Jesus, right? 00:11:56.880 --> 00:12:05.980 So we look at our lives and it's the formal that we use and it's the informal process by which we become more like Christ. 00:12:05.980 --> 00:12:11.560 We're going to get into this in just a moment, but I want to say this and we can yes and amen this, right? 00:12:11.620 --> 00:12:13.520 We're not trying to become more like each other. 00:12:15.300 --> 00:12:16.860 We're trying to become more like Jesus. 00:12:18.800 --> 00:12:25.860 And all too often when ego gets in the way, we try to become more like an idol that we've created in a man or a woman, 00:12:26.580 --> 00:12:28.440 but we become more like Christ. 00:12:29.320 --> 00:12:34.520 And what happens in that is we formal and informal process by which we become more like Christ, 00:12:34.660 --> 00:12:37.040 there's something that needs to begin to take place, right? 00:12:37.580 --> 00:12:44.160 Like we don't earn our salvation, but God definitely gives us a whole lot of commands of what we're to do when we are saved, right? 00:12:44.380 --> 00:12:48.980 And we become more invested in the mission of God. 00:12:49.640 --> 00:12:54.400 We're going to become more and more invested in the mission of God in every aspect of our life. 00:12:55.040 --> 00:13:02.480 So we stop looking at our walk with Jesus in segmented blocks on our calendar like a school schedule. 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:12.700 And we start looking at our walk and our being on mission with Jesus, right, in every single aspect of our life. 00:13:13.020 --> 00:13:17.060 So as we talk about discipleship, we're going to talk about what it means to be a disciple. 00:13:17.180 --> 00:13:18.320 So we're going to ask this question this morning. 00:13:18.520 --> 00:13:23.000 So we're going to look at in Matthew 4, what is a disciple? 00:13:23.340 --> 00:13:24.220 What is a disciple? 00:13:24.560 --> 00:13:28.820 So in Matthew 4, Jesus is going to call his first disciples. 00:13:28.940 --> 00:13:29.860 This is a pretty big deal. 00:13:29.860 --> 00:13:33.020 He's going to call Simon Peter and his brother Andrew. 00:13:33.340 --> 00:13:36.140 And what we see is Jesus is walking by the Sea of Galilee. 00:13:36.400 --> 00:13:38.140 He sees Peter and Andrew fishing. 00:13:38.520 --> 00:13:42.900 Now, this isn't like me on a pond, like hoping to get a brim, all right? 00:13:42.980 --> 00:13:44.500 This is their livelihood. 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:45.960 This is what they do. 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:48.060 This is how they support themselves, right? 00:13:48.160 --> 00:13:49.360 This is what they do for a living. 00:13:49.700 --> 00:13:51.020 And verse 19 says, 00:13:51.020 --> 00:13:56.560 And he said to them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 00:13:56.640 --> 00:13:57.200 Verse 20, 00:13:57.540 --> 00:14:02.400 Immediately, they left their nets and followed him, right? 00:14:02.460 --> 00:14:05.600 Pretty interesting, brief interaction. 00:14:06.380 --> 00:14:08.980 It was going to carry more and more over in their life. 00:14:09.620 --> 00:14:19.380 And Jesus gives a definition of what it means to be a disciple by this command that he gives Andrew and Simon Peter. 00:14:19.720 --> 00:14:20.700 And so that's what we want to look at. 00:14:20.740 --> 00:14:24.960 We're going to look at this statement of Jesus and see what this means. 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:27.680 So the first thing, he gives these two words, right? 00:14:27.760 --> 00:14:28.440 Follow me. 00:14:28.820 --> 00:14:32.440 So being a disciple begins with following Jesus. 00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:37.520 To reiterate what I just said, discipleship is about following Jesus. 00:14:37.720 --> 00:14:42.200 Not a church, not a program, not an earthly leader. 00:14:42.920 --> 00:14:46.800 Discipleship is about following Jesus and Jesus alone. 00:14:47.400 --> 00:14:49.840 And this is the first command that he gives them. 00:14:50.400 --> 00:14:52.080 It's got to begin with this. 00:14:53.040 --> 00:14:54.500 Follow me. 00:14:55.520 --> 00:15:01.280 Heard a guy say one time that discipleship should not begin in the church, but discipleship should begin on the mission field. 00:15:02.400 --> 00:15:08.540 That when we engage lost men, women, and children with the gospel of Jesus Christ, 00:15:08.540 --> 00:15:23.240 when we say follow Jesus, what we're doing is we're pointing them to a Messiah on a road of discipleship that they can join us on as we follow him as well. 00:15:24.060 --> 00:15:31.180 So what we begin to understand is that if you identify yourself as a follower of Jesus, 00:15:31.960 --> 00:15:37.440 then whether you're engaged formally or informally with discipleship or not, right, 00:15:37.740 --> 00:15:39.280 you've signed up for it. 00:15:39.900 --> 00:15:41.020 You've signed up for it. 00:15:41.040 --> 00:15:42.680 This is who you are. 00:15:42.680 --> 00:15:53.040 And this is why for us at our church, it's so important that this is for every area of our church and every stage of life in our church. 00:15:53.160 --> 00:15:59.660 If you are a follower of Jesus, then discipleship is a part of what we're calling you to. 00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:02.340 I heard a guy say one time, and I love this, 00:16:02.940 --> 00:16:09.480 if you have air in your lungs and your heart is beating, God's not done with you. 00:16:09.480 --> 00:16:14.880 And if God's not done with you, then you're called to be a disciple, right? 00:16:15.740 --> 00:16:20.380 The second thing that we see is being transformed by Jesus. 00:16:21.380 --> 00:16:26.920 Jesus tells them, I will make you fishers of men. 00:16:27.720 --> 00:16:33.500 Now, when Jesus says, I will make you, we get this implication that he's going to change them. 00:16:33.640 --> 00:16:35.800 It's the beautiful picture that we get. 00:16:35.920 --> 00:16:39.920 Up until this moment, more than likely, what are they mainly focused on? 00:16:40.040 --> 00:16:41.760 Catching fish, right? 00:16:41.920 --> 00:16:43.620 It's a good thing if that's your living. 00:16:44.200 --> 00:16:45.400 You need to catch fish. 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:54.660 And Jesus says, if you were to define yourself, they would define themselves as fishermen, those that catch fish. 00:16:55.340 --> 00:17:00.380 But Jesus says, I'm going to make you fishers of men. 00:17:00.460 --> 00:17:06.380 Now, this word make, y'all know I'm a nerd and I like to look at word stuff, so just bear with me if this isn't you, okay? 00:17:06.380 --> 00:17:13.200 But the word make there is actually the word that means to produce, right? 00:17:13.700 --> 00:17:22.840 And so what Jesus is saying to them is, come and follow me, and what I'm going to do is I'm going to produce something in you, right? 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:33.820 You see, because it's not just simply about tweaking and modifying and changing behaviors, but it's a spiritual work. 00:17:34.760 --> 00:17:45.280 It's a work that takes us into the thoughts of creation of what God's going to change and what God's going to do and what God's going to create. 00:17:45.580 --> 00:17:48.120 So Jesus says, I'm not just going to change you. 00:17:48.360 --> 00:17:51.860 Jesus says, I'm going to produce something in you. 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:59.960 This is who you're going to become at the very fiber of your being that you will be a disciple. 00:17:59.960 --> 00:18:05.540 And then, like, this isn't a normal phrase of what he says he's going to do. 00:18:06.280 --> 00:18:11.780 Now, if you're here and you've been a part of church for a while, you've heard this phrase, fishers of men, all right? 00:18:11.940 --> 00:18:13.720 Now, I want to throw this out to you. 00:18:13.900 --> 00:18:21.200 Like, if you know of anyone who doesn't, who's never gone to church, never read the Bible, go ask them what they think this phrase means, right? 00:18:21.300 --> 00:18:22.220 Like, it's different. 00:18:23.100 --> 00:18:24.480 It's not a common phrase. 00:18:25.040 --> 00:18:29.140 He says he's going to make them fishers of men. 00:18:30.140 --> 00:18:35.100 So your goal is to go and do something else. 00:18:35.480 --> 00:18:40.320 And Jesus says, nope, we're going to be counter from all of those things. 00:18:41.100 --> 00:18:47.120 And we're going to now be about people, which brings us to our third living on mission with Jesus. 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:52.360 And so over the next three years, right, this is what happens. 00:18:53.320 --> 00:18:54.620 Jesus will teach the crowd. 00:18:55.460 --> 00:18:56.900 Jesus will perform miracles. 00:18:57.160 --> 00:19:09.380 But he's going to take this small group of misfits and outcasts, and he's going to show them what it means to be on mission. 00:19:10.120 --> 00:19:15.800 And he's going to release and empower them to do their mission. 00:19:16.900 --> 00:19:24.960 And it's going to be what the Great Commission tells us, what Acts 1-8 tells us, to go and make disciples. 00:19:25.340 --> 00:19:26.700 And this is big. 00:19:26.780 --> 00:19:27.740 This is huge. 00:19:28.600 --> 00:19:32.660 Jesus doesn't say, go and build big churches. 00:19:35.120 --> 00:19:40.300 Jesus doesn't say, go and make converts. 00:19:42.320 --> 00:19:46.200 Jesus says his words, take it up with him if you don't like it. 00:19:46.900 --> 00:19:50.280 Go and make disciples. 00:19:51.760 --> 00:19:51.840 Right? 00:19:52.600 --> 00:19:54.860 Go share the gospel. 00:19:56.420 --> 00:19:57.620 Baptize them. 00:19:59.240 --> 00:20:03.040 Teach them to obey Jesus. 00:20:04.040 --> 00:20:05.220 So here's what this means. 00:20:06.320 --> 00:20:11.240 When we look at the healthy growth that we long for and that we desire, 00:20:11.560 --> 00:20:19.220 number one, our goal in life is not just to figure out how can we surround ourselves with more and more churchgoers. 00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:20.680 And then in there. 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:28.360 But our goal also isn't to walk up to someone and figure out how to talk them into the gospel, 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:29.900 high-five them, and walk away. 00:20:31.360 --> 00:20:38.140 Our goal from what Jesus calls for us is, yes, there are churchgoers that are part of our congregation. 00:20:38.560 --> 00:20:39.780 Yes, absolutely. 00:20:39.980 --> 00:20:45.820 Do not mistake what I say, that we're not supposed to go and see people converted to Christianity. 00:20:45.820 --> 00:20:51.140 We are, but that in that we're not just satisfied with one action that happens, 00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:56.720 and instead what we understand that we're working toward is building the kingdom of God 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:03.700 through men and women and children who are disciples, growing in their relationship. 00:21:04.760 --> 00:21:11.780 And so what we're going to look at this morning as we talk through all this is discipleship in community. 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:13.700 Discipleship in community. 00:21:13.700 --> 00:21:16.660 Now, when I say discipleship, here's what I mean. 00:21:16.760 --> 00:21:21.140 That you and I are called to a form of discipleship. 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:24.480 I've played around with this sentence a lot this week. 00:21:25.380 --> 00:21:27.740 And here's what I feel really good about. 00:21:27.740 --> 00:21:38.080 That involves varying levels of interaction with other Christians and other people 00:21:38.080 --> 00:21:44.460 as we help them and they help us become more like Jesus. 00:21:45.660 --> 00:21:51.480 And here's why I say varying levels of interaction with other people, 00:21:51.620 --> 00:21:54.000 because this is what we see in Jesus' life. 00:21:55.000 --> 00:22:05.060 Jesus ministered and lived in community, right, in varying forms and in varying degrees in his life. 00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:09.520 Largely, and it's because it's the best model when we look at that, 00:22:09.560 --> 00:22:12.560 and it's what I've done a lot this morning, is we look at Jesus in the 12. 00:22:12.900 --> 00:22:17.520 They're the ones who spent the most time with Jesus, and that's true. 00:22:18.200 --> 00:22:24.300 But Jesus wasn't this random guy walking around with 12 people, 00:22:24.620 --> 00:22:26.180 isolating the rest of the world. 00:22:26.180 --> 00:22:27.700 That's not what we see at all. 00:22:28.020 --> 00:22:34.080 And what we find that is in Jesus' life, it wasn't just the 12 that said, sign me up, 00:22:34.180 --> 00:22:38.720 that there were other men and women and children who professed faith in Christ. 00:22:38.860 --> 00:22:44.100 So we see the discipleship arch of Jesus' ministry expand beyond that. 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:53.240 And so Jesus preached to and ministered to, at different times, hundreds and even up to thousands in Scripture that we see. 00:22:54.240 --> 00:23:02.300 We see from there when Jesus performed the miracle with the fish and the bread, right, and he fed the thousands. 00:23:03.580 --> 00:23:13.660 We see the Sermon on the Mount where most believe of the hundreds that were there, and we see this in his life, and it's a part of discipleship. 00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:18.280 There's value, right, in the large gathering. 00:23:19.120 --> 00:23:20.700 And this is part of discipleship. 00:23:21.420 --> 00:23:27.160 We also see Jesus preach to and minister to smaller crowds, like 20 to 50. 00:23:27.160 --> 00:23:35.660 We see in Scripture different times where houses are filled because Jesus is in there, and he's teaching, or they just heard that he's there. 00:23:35.900 --> 00:23:38.060 And so no one else can get into the house. 00:23:38.320 --> 00:23:39.120 We see that. 00:23:39.360 --> 00:23:46.520 We see different stories where Jesus is walking through some of these small towns that would have been capping out around 50 people, 00:23:46.680 --> 00:23:52.720 and the crowd is so close to him that other people have to kind of fight and strain to get by Jesus. 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:57.780 So we see the crowds in different areas shrink down a little bit, right? 00:23:57.880 --> 00:24:00.840 We see Jesus preached and ministered to the 12. 00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:06.820 Here's what's really interesting and I find really neat about this in the discipleship mode of what we talk about 00:24:06.820 --> 00:24:12.740 is that we hear stories, we read from Scripture, where Jesus would go out and, like, share a parable with a larger group of people. 00:24:12.740 --> 00:24:18.100 Let's say 50 to 75 people, Jesus shares this parable and shares this teaching. 00:24:18.460 --> 00:24:24.840 And then after that's over with, he's walking with just the 12, just that smaller group of disciples, 00:24:24.840 --> 00:24:31.680 and then they ask Jesus what it's about, or Jesus just goes into a teaching that breaks it down a little bit more 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:33.420 that's clearer for them to understand. 00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:41.000 And so we see, like, the discipleship of Jesus working more into this funnel area where it gets smaller and smaller. 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:49.740 And then sometimes even from the life of Jesus, we see that he gets alone with just a few, primarily Peter, James, and John. 00:24:50.680 --> 00:24:57.740 And Peter, James, and John had the privilege of the calling by Christ to go places where no other disciples went 00:24:57.740 --> 00:25:02.780 and to see things in the life of Christ that no other disciples saw. 00:25:03.060 --> 00:25:07.140 And so we see Jesus go from the thousands to the three. 00:25:08.080 --> 00:25:14.640 And what I would press is all of these settings are great in value. 00:25:15.280 --> 00:25:16.620 They're all essential. 00:25:16.900 --> 00:25:18.280 They're all needed. 00:25:18.580 --> 00:25:21.860 They're all a part of the ministry and the life of Jesus. 00:25:21.860 --> 00:25:25.240 And they're all a part and valuable for our life. 00:25:25.240 --> 00:25:33.100 But what we find is the smaller the group gets, the greater the depth of discipleship. 00:25:34.100 --> 00:25:37.940 The smaller the group gets, the greater the depth of discipleship. 00:25:37.980 --> 00:25:41.680 And we know this, especially if you've been a part of a smaller group. 00:25:42.740 --> 00:25:43.760 We can gather in here. 00:25:43.940 --> 00:25:45.600 We can talk about things. 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:46.200 I say we. 00:25:46.380 --> 00:25:47.340 Y'all know it's just me. 00:25:47.660 --> 00:25:49.420 I can get up here and I can talk about things, right? 00:25:49.520 --> 00:25:52.480 And you can sit there and hopefully take some notes and jot some things down. 00:25:52.820 --> 00:25:57.780 And then we see the greater depth of discipleship happen while you're sitting at the table with your spouse afterwards. 00:25:57.880 --> 00:25:59.320 And you're talking about different things. 00:25:59.600 --> 00:26:03.060 I heard from a parent last week for the message a few weeks ago. 00:26:03.460 --> 00:26:07.620 And they said it was just great because afterwards it just, as we talked about self-control, 00:26:07.880 --> 00:26:11.340 here's what it brought out as we begin to talk about this with our student, right? 00:26:11.520 --> 00:26:14.460 We begin to see these greater depths of discipleship. 00:26:14.580 --> 00:26:16.520 Or we gather on Sunday morning and we do this. 00:26:16.780 --> 00:26:18.960 And then you go meet with your small group on Sunday night. 00:26:19.220 --> 00:26:24.780 And you're able to really kind of look at these things and ask your questions and to dive in and to see all of that, right? 00:26:25.660 --> 00:26:25.840 Right? 00:26:26.280 --> 00:26:35.980 So in your life, community can look different like it did with Jesus opening to various and varying groups of people. 00:26:36.540 --> 00:26:38.020 We want to look at an example of this. 00:26:38.100 --> 00:26:40.600 And so flip over to Acts chapter 2 now, right? 00:26:41.800 --> 00:26:46.620 Acts chapter 2, and we see this picture of community in Scripture. 00:26:49.980 --> 00:26:51.140 Starting in verse 42. 00:26:52.780 --> 00:26:56.240 And this is the formation of the early church, okay? 00:26:57.620 --> 00:26:58.040 This is, 00:26:58.120 --> 00:27:03.120 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of bread and prayers. 00:27:03.600 --> 00:27:05.680 And all came upon every soul. 00:27:06.100 --> 00:27:09.480 And many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 00:27:09.960 --> 00:27:12.960 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 00:27:13.320 --> 00:27:18.940 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. 00:27:19.640 --> 00:27:29.620 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. 00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:35.080 And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. 00:27:35.080 --> 00:27:44.080 So what we want to do is we just want to kind of look at this in this aspect or characteristics of community and ask ourselves this question. 00:27:44.860 --> 00:27:48.440 As I see the things that the early church was doing in Acts chapter 2. 00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:53.280 So they've gotten the call of Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:27:53.580 --> 00:27:59.780 And they're going and they're seeing men and women and children come to faith in Jesus Christ. 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:03.220 And they're gathering together in these small groups. 00:28:03.300 --> 00:28:09.840 And there are these aspects in their relationships that were vital to their discipleship and their growth. 00:28:09.940 --> 00:28:17.180 So I think for us, right, years and years later, like we can take the step back and look at that and ask ourselves the question. 00:28:17.180 --> 00:28:22.600 Are these the things, are these the part, the defining moments of our relationships that we see? 00:28:22.900 --> 00:28:32.140 And if these begin to be a part of who we are, not only as a body of believers, but if this is what I value as an individual believer, 00:28:32.360 --> 00:28:37.100 then what can God work and do in my life and in the lives of others? 00:28:37.460 --> 00:28:42.040 And so we see these characteristics that are common to them from this passage to talk about them. 00:28:42.140 --> 00:28:45.360 And it says, number one, that they were devoted to God's word. 00:28:45.820 --> 00:28:51.320 It says that they devoted themselves to the apostles' teachings. 00:28:52.740 --> 00:28:57.540 So it kind of makes it sound like they devoted themselves to preaching. 00:28:58.820 --> 00:29:02.000 And as a preacher, I like the way that sounds. 00:29:02.840 --> 00:29:06.080 But I don't believe that this is what this is fully carrying here. 00:29:07.120 --> 00:29:11.280 This word teaching is used 30 different times in the New Testament. 00:29:12.280 --> 00:29:20.740 And every time it is used, it carries with it authoritative and inspired teaching, meaning God's word. 00:29:22.020 --> 00:29:28.260 When Acts chapter 2 was taking place and a believer become a follower of Christ, right? 00:29:28.380 --> 00:29:31.600 They couldn't send them to the back table to get a free copy of God's word, could they? 00:29:32.560 --> 00:29:40.060 They couldn't jump on Amazon and go figure out what's the latest study Bible that I want to do to be able to have. 00:29:40.940 --> 00:29:47.240 And so there was an even greater dependence on the authoritative word of the apostles' teachings. 00:29:47.360 --> 00:29:53.860 And so as the New Testament would be written and as the letters would be passed, they were so precious as they came to them. 00:29:53.860 --> 00:30:02.900 And as they were taught and as they were instructed, they valued the depth of knowing and processing God's word, right? 00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:04.920 And we need to have the same value. 00:30:05.860 --> 00:30:16.740 And I find that oftentimes we can slightly, for some of us, or maybe even most of us, myself included, begin to wander from that, right? 00:30:17.940 --> 00:30:20.280 Give you kind of a picture of what I'm talking about. 00:30:21.720 --> 00:30:24.700 I love books, right? 00:30:25.520 --> 00:30:29.080 Before seminary, I liked to read more then than I do now. 00:30:29.160 --> 00:30:29.900 I'm just being honest. 00:30:30.020 --> 00:30:34.560 But you find now you've got to read more because you have to, not necessarily because you want to. 00:30:34.620 --> 00:30:35.820 But I love books. 00:30:35.820 --> 00:30:42.200 Now, in my office, I have roughly, I try to do a quick count between my office at home and my office here. 00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:46.240 I have somewhere around 400 books. 00:30:46.460 --> 00:30:52.140 Now, as my son will kind of make fun of me about, Dad, that was a really passive flex. 00:30:52.420 --> 00:30:55.720 All right, so let me be honest with you about what I'm saying here this morning, all right? 00:30:55.820 --> 00:30:58.100 I haven't read all 400 of those, all right? 00:30:58.960 --> 00:31:02.020 This isn't like, oh, come look at the wealth of knowledge that I have, right? 00:31:02.980 --> 00:31:04.380 That's not where I'm at. 00:31:04.380 --> 00:31:09.600 But I have 400 books, roughly 400 books that I own that talk about God's Word. 00:31:10.060 --> 00:31:18.260 Whether it's talking about missions, whether it's talking about theology, whether it's a commentary, whether it's about family, whether it's about counseling, whether it's about finances. 00:31:18.620 --> 00:31:31.960 Roughly 400 books that talk about things of God, but not one of them or not all of them even combined come with the authority that God's Word does, right? 00:31:32.580 --> 00:31:34.400 That this is it. 00:31:34.560 --> 00:31:38.200 It's not that they're bad, but they're not this. 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:41.980 I love podcasts. 00:31:42.680 --> 00:31:49.500 I listen to about 10 different podcasts each week that talk about God's Word. 00:31:50.600 --> 00:31:57.040 I listen to teachers who live all over the world as they open up God's Word and as they teach from it. 00:31:57.540 --> 00:32:06.900 But not one of them is meant to replace or stand in equality with the Bible, with God's Word. 00:32:07.980 --> 00:32:17.080 When I think about this and we talked about who we're to be like, we have to be careful that we aren't becoming a disciple of insert your favorite podcast or author. 00:32:18.760 --> 00:32:18.980 Right? 00:32:19.740 --> 00:32:26.660 There's some authors that I love, that I love, but I don't need to be more like them. 00:32:27.560 --> 00:32:28.880 I need to be more like Him. 00:32:30.260 --> 00:32:34.940 And where I know that I can find this is in God's Word. 00:32:35.020 --> 00:32:40.220 Now, this isn't a call not to read, not any of that. 00:32:40.780 --> 00:32:42.680 But here's what it is a call to do. 00:32:43.860 --> 00:32:58.320 What I love about the books that I read is here's what I believe, that the person who is writing the books is depending as much as they can on the Holy Spirit who is inside of them for them to understand the scripture that they're reading, to process that, and then to write that. 00:32:58.800 --> 00:33:06.860 And it's beautiful to see what the Holy Spirit does in an author's life or in a preacher's life. 00:33:07.860 --> 00:33:11.440 But you've got that same Holy Spirit. 00:33:13.060 --> 00:33:26.720 And nothing can take away, can replace you in dependence on the Holy Spirit as you read God's Word, seeking for the Holy Spirit to work and to move inside of you. 00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:30.760 Second thing, they thought beyond themselves. 00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:34.140 It says that they were devoted to fellowship. 00:33:34.380 --> 00:33:36.860 The usage of the word they. 00:33:37.960 --> 00:33:45.780 We're going from seeing this group of people in their life and in many different ways, they're interwoven together. 00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:49.080 But here's what I love, but there's always room for others. 00:33:50.160 --> 00:33:55.640 It says, and they all believed who were together and had all things in common. 00:33:56.520 --> 00:34:04.800 And then at the end, what the Lord added to their number every day, those who were being saved. 00:34:05.080 --> 00:34:06.180 So let's work through this. 00:34:06.920 --> 00:34:09.500 There was never a point where they were like, nah, we're good. 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:11.000 We're full. 00:34:12.040 --> 00:34:13.220 No space for you. 00:34:14.820 --> 00:34:28.900 That they were devoted themselves to one another, but they were also receptive to what the Lord was doing as the Lord added to their number. 00:34:29.640 --> 00:34:29.880 Right? 00:34:30.560 --> 00:34:32.040 And they devoted themselves. 00:34:33.240 --> 00:34:39.940 And they didn't become carbon copies of one another, but here's what I believe is we see this devoted to fellowship of what it means. 00:34:39.940 --> 00:34:49.700 It's what Paul's going to talk about in Romans 12, 15, when he says, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. 00:34:50.200 --> 00:34:51.380 What does that mean? 00:34:51.860 --> 00:34:59.720 It means your lives are so interwoven together that when someone experiences joy, you experience it with them. 00:34:59.860 --> 00:35:03.180 When someone experiences grief, you experience them with them. 00:35:03.180 --> 00:35:03.560 Why? 00:35:03.660 --> 00:35:11.660 Because your lives are interwoven together and their connectivity, that equals shared life experiences. 00:35:12.300 --> 00:35:15.040 They thought beyond themselves. 00:35:17.160 --> 00:35:23.380 Third thing that we see is they lived sacrificially. 00:35:24.600 --> 00:35:28.420 Acts 2 tells us that they were selling their possessions and belongings 00:35:28.420 --> 00:35:34.200 and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. 00:35:34.200 --> 00:35:40.140 They understood the Christian phrase that we use of love God and love others. 00:35:40.800 --> 00:35:45.320 And they understand to do that, I can't be at the top. 00:35:46.660 --> 00:35:48.100 I can't be at the top. 00:35:49.180 --> 00:35:54.400 It can't be me and my ego and my pride of driving this. 00:35:54.500 --> 00:35:54.580 Right? 00:35:54.780 --> 00:35:59.600 They understood that they were a part of something bigger than themselves. 00:36:00.720 --> 00:36:01.120 Right? 00:36:01.540 --> 00:36:05.040 And as a result, they were willing to give to it. 00:36:05.720 --> 00:36:05.880 Right? 00:36:08.720 --> 00:36:10.200 They were willing to give their tithe. 00:36:12.080 --> 00:36:13.580 But they were also willing to give their offering. 00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:21.720 And when we talk about next level generosity for the kingdom of God, what they were doing is, 00:36:21.720 --> 00:36:26.480 and what happened in Acts 2, what we're going to see, and what we're going to see at all the New Testament church, 00:36:26.540 --> 00:36:31.940 and what we still see today, is what the gospel does, is it brings wealthy, and it brings poor. 00:36:32.120 --> 00:36:34.340 And it says, let's be united in Christ. 00:36:35.340 --> 00:36:41.620 What the gospel does is, the gospel says, oh, you've got a job, and you're providing, and you're good, 00:36:41.720 --> 00:36:46.640 but you just lost your job, and you're hurting, and you're suffering, and your family's there. 00:36:46.760 --> 00:36:49.640 It's okay, because we have one another. 00:36:49.940 --> 00:36:54.880 And so what they did was, is they lived sacrificially, which meant this. 00:36:54.960 --> 00:37:00.080 They didn't just look at the bank account and go, well, but we've got this, but we're saving up for these things, 00:37:00.120 --> 00:37:00.860 and all this kind of stuff. 00:37:00.920 --> 00:37:01.240 No, no, no. 00:37:01.240 --> 00:37:06.380 If we're going to be radical about what scripture says, it says, and they were selling their extra car, 00:37:06.540 --> 00:37:10.680 and their boat, and their clothes, and their shoes, and extra food, 00:37:10.800 --> 00:37:15.820 and they were giving their belongings and proceeds to all as any had need. 00:37:20.020 --> 00:37:21.640 That's the picture of Christianity. 00:37:23.740 --> 00:37:29.300 I heard a pastor say it, and I'm not pointing any fingers at you, and I'm wrestling with this in my heart. 00:37:30.880 --> 00:37:31.740 He said this. 00:37:31.800 --> 00:37:37.240 He said, the church of Christ is not going to understand the generosity of God 00:37:37.240 --> 00:37:39.620 until we stop throwing Jesus our pocket change. 00:37:41.560 --> 00:37:43.580 And we give sacrificially. 00:37:44.700 --> 00:37:46.280 And we give till it hurts. 00:37:48.080 --> 00:37:49.600 And this is what community did. 00:37:51.380 --> 00:37:56.920 To where you don't have, and I do, well, brother, that's not okay. 00:37:57.940 --> 00:37:59.860 Have, right? 00:38:01.020 --> 00:38:06.240 Fourth thing that we see is personal relationships and mutual acceptance. 00:38:07.300 --> 00:38:09.900 It says that they devoted to the breaking of bread. 00:38:10.700 --> 00:38:15.280 From scripture, we get what's called the table fellowship, right? 00:38:16.220 --> 00:38:22.180 And all throughout, what we see in the gospels, we see in Acts, we see in the epistles, 00:38:22.640 --> 00:38:29.280 this concept of people coming into the homes and having this table fellowship, 00:38:29.540 --> 00:38:34.100 where lives who before would not cross have now crossed. 00:38:34.540 --> 00:38:42.440 And the foundation of the solidness of this relationship is going to go to a different level, right? 00:38:42.680 --> 00:38:49.260 Not through a handshake or a fist bump as we pass each other, but to bringing into the home, right? 00:38:49.300 --> 00:38:53.100 This is what happened with Jesus and Zacchaeus, right? 00:38:53.280 --> 00:38:56.980 My favorite story, years ago, I believe it was about eight years ago, 00:38:57.080 --> 00:39:00.300 I sang the song of Zacchaeus on the stage. 00:39:00.420 --> 00:39:01.660 I'm not going to do that, all right? 00:39:01.780 --> 00:39:03.140 But it's a story in Luke 19. 00:39:04.260 --> 00:39:07.980 Zacchaeus is the chief tax collector, but he wants to know Jesus. 00:39:08.860 --> 00:39:11.580 And if you know the song, you know the story. 00:39:13.780 --> 00:39:15.460 Zacchaeus was despised. 00:39:17.400 --> 00:39:18.640 Zacchaeus was a crook. 00:39:20.400 --> 00:39:21.660 Zacchaeus was a thief. 00:39:23.540 --> 00:39:24.560 Zacchaeus was a traitor. 00:39:26.240 --> 00:39:27.660 But he wanted to know Jesus. 00:39:29.280 --> 00:39:35.940 And I believe right now, just like it was then, right now in our world, there's a lot of despised thieves who are crooks, 00:39:36.200 --> 00:39:40.580 who have betrayed everyone, who want to know Jesus, and they don't understand the stirring that's in them. 00:39:41.860 --> 00:39:42.020 Right? 00:39:43.220 --> 00:39:45.200 And so you know the song, right? 00:39:46.040 --> 00:39:47.120 Climbs up that tree. 00:39:48.840 --> 00:39:49.940 And Jesus says, get down. 00:39:51.500 --> 00:39:53.780 And the song says, what? 00:39:54.640 --> 00:39:55.940 I'm going to your house today. 00:39:56.480 --> 00:39:59.340 The Bible says, I'm going to go stay at your house. 00:40:00.600 --> 00:40:01.640 Get a bed ready. 00:40:02.800 --> 00:40:08.060 Jesus is coming to stay at your house. 00:40:10.360 --> 00:40:13.340 Religious leaders grumble and complain about this. 00:40:13.960 --> 00:40:15.580 But here's what happens at his house. 00:40:16.780 --> 00:40:19.880 When Jesus steps through the premise of what's there. 00:40:21.020 --> 00:40:26.620 Can you imagine living in a community where everyone has identified you as the unacceptable outcast? 00:40:28.020 --> 00:40:30.580 I bet there ain't been a whole lot of people that sat at his dinner table. 00:40:32.560 --> 00:40:33.720 And now Jesus does. 00:40:35.100 --> 00:40:36.960 And do you know what Zacchaeus does? 00:40:38.060 --> 00:40:39.520 He repents of his sin. 00:40:40.580 --> 00:40:44.620 He seeks reconciliation with all who he's hurt. 00:40:46.180 --> 00:40:49.220 And Jesus says that on that day salvation enters into his home. 00:40:50.280 --> 00:40:50.500 Right? 00:40:51.640 --> 00:40:52.920 What does Jesus do? 00:40:54.140 --> 00:41:01.120 He begins a relational, intimate, personal relationship with Zacchaeus. 00:41:01.900 --> 00:41:03.460 I'm coming into your house. 00:41:04.480 --> 00:41:10.960 You see, I think there's more about the breaking of bread than making sure that we're all sitting down together and having hamburgers. 00:41:11.900 --> 00:41:12.060 Right? 00:41:12.800 --> 00:41:19.500 It's a defining moment of a personal depth of relationship that's different. 00:41:19.500 --> 00:41:26.600 But then even within this, especially in the church, there's this level of mutual acceptance. 00:41:28.020 --> 00:41:32.420 You see, all during the times of Christ, just like today, 00:41:33.600 --> 00:41:35.420 pick your group, stay in your lane. 00:41:37.020 --> 00:41:40.620 Christianity comes in and says, no, that's not how we work. 00:41:41.100 --> 00:41:42.200 That's not what this is about. 00:41:43.080 --> 00:41:46.280 He's our lane that we're going to stay in. 00:41:46.280 --> 00:41:50.540 And there's room enough in the lane for every race, right? 00:41:50.540 --> 00:41:56.180 Every tribe, every tongue, every people, every socioeconomic group, every gender. 00:41:56.420 --> 00:41:59.500 There's room in the lane for this, right? 00:41:59.720 --> 00:42:06.100 And so what we see is this group of individuals that come together that would have never come together before. 00:42:06.560 --> 00:42:15.580 In fact, in 1 Corinthians, Paul's dealing with that with the church because they're beginning to isolate themselves from one another, 00:42:15.660 --> 00:42:17.400 between the haves and the have-nots. 00:42:17.740 --> 00:42:19.960 And Paul comes in and lays it down. 00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:20.680 He's like, no, no, no, no, no. 00:42:20.800 --> 00:42:21.600 This isn't it. 00:42:21.760 --> 00:42:22.980 This is ungodly. 00:42:23.160 --> 00:42:24.000 This is satanic. 00:42:24.200 --> 00:42:25.740 This is not of God. 00:42:27.060 --> 00:42:28.460 It's the acceptance of one another. 00:42:29.580 --> 00:42:30.700 And this is what we see. 00:42:31.980 --> 00:42:39.460 Men and women and children coming together and devoted to the breaking of bread, 00:42:39.460 --> 00:42:46.020 to the table fellowship, to personal relationships, acceptance, unified under Christ. 00:42:47.100 --> 00:42:54.260 And then lastly, we see in this depth of community, they were dependent on God and directed by God. 00:42:55.220 --> 00:42:59.420 The Bible says that they were devoted to the prayers. 00:43:00.380 --> 00:43:01.920 They were devoted to the prayers. 00:43:03.460 --> 00:43:04.520 What does that mean? 00:43:05.860 --> 00:43:09.440 What does it mean to be devoted to a life of prayer?