New Life Church Live // Sunday @ 9am

[Music] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] i don't care what you've done how far you've fallen how much you've messed up how much you've missed it god is madly in love with you he loves you in spite of you in spite of your mess your mistakes he loves you in spite of what you've done what you think where you've gone he loves you i've made so many mistakes in my life i didn't think anybody would want me that god couldn't get anything out of me have you ever been there where you've been so lost and so confused and so hurting that you don't think there's any hope for you at all and lo and behold jesus comes and nudges you on the shoulder and says i still have a plan for you [Music] so [Applause] [Music] good morning new life well bless the lord on this morning listen it's time it's time get your family gather everyone together this is the day that the lord has made we're going to rejoice and be glad in it oh magnify the lord with me let us exalt his name together this is the day this is the day this morning i woke up with a song on my heart god makes all things new are you ready for a new week on today are you ready for this new day are you ready for god to do a new thing a new thing in your life listen you got to have a sense of excitement you got to know and believe and trust that god is on your side it is just amazing how god will just drop a song in your spirit on a morning in which you can sense exactly what he's telling you i want to encourage you today new life as we gather to worship on this beautiful cool summer morning i want to encourage you to put on a mindset of newness put on a clothe your clothing of newness today it doesn't matter what happened last week it doesn't matter what happened yesterday last night today is a new day and god is doing a new thing you've gone through the fire but guess what you've not been burned you've gone through the river guess what they've not overtaken you why because god is your maker he is on your side he's your redeemer he is your keeper and there's nothing man can do unto you oh you ought to rejoice today god has done something new oh it's time to worship the lord let's go before his presence i don't care where you are what you're doing stop right now ah call the troops in the worship troops and say hey it's time to give god the glory that is doing to his name why because he has done a new thing and we ought to bless him today for it we ought to glory by him today forth we ought to thank him for what he's done let's pray today new life and i want you as we pray i want you to believe that a new thing is happening today at this moment in your life father we thank you today for this opportunity to worship you in this new day in this new season as you do a new thing god we've gone through the fire but we've not been burned we've gone through the flood but they've not overtaken us god you have been on our side you've been our redeemer you've been our holy one god you've been the one who's created us god we thank you today we thank you that today is the day in which we experience a new aspect of who you are a new thing today father we ask that you come into our midst wherever we are in this sanctuary in our homes in our cars wherever whatever spaces we're in come into our midst make your presence known give us a new revelation of your presence in the name of jesus god we thank you today we honor you we glorify you for the new thing the new thing that you're revealing in our lives thank you father thank you today let's worship the lord new life in this new day for this new [Music] all that is season in me are you ready to worship the king of kings of the lord of lords come on put your hands together [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] come bless us [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is is [Music] [Music] [Music] uh [Applause] [Music] can i say [Music] is forever [Music] rejoice in the lord always in again i say rejoice let your gentleness be made known unto all men why because the lord is at hand you got to know and trust that god is at hand he says all that men would praise the lord all that men would bless his name now listen when it says men if he's male and female and only the men that know who he is can bless him only the men that's been touched by his grace can bless him only the men and women hallelujah the men and women that know that he is the lord high and lifted up his train fills the temple only those men and women oh the men and women that know no matter what it's been like no matter the fire no matter the trial he is still the lord ah you ought to bless him today it says rejoice in the lord always in other words don't look at your circumstances it doesn't matter what it looks like what it feels like you ought to rejoice in the lord always and again i say rejoice let's go before the lord today and i want us to have a joyful heart today it doesn't matter oh you say i've been through a lot it doesn't matter when you go into the presence of god everything is diminished everything becomes insignificant everything loses its power in the presence of the lord and that's why we can rejoice because of who our god is father we thank you today thank you lord god for the spirit of rejoicing thank you that the joy of the lord is our strength today thank you that you abide on the inside oh and you're working on the outside father thank you today for the spirit of rejoicing father we know that many of us are in many circumstances but you told us to rejoice always and again rejoice he said to just let our gentleness be known until all men remembering this that the lord is at hand god you're at hand today and that's why we can rejoice we thank you today for this gathering today in your presence in our various spaces we're united today in your presence and we're rejoicing and we're going to continue to rejoice in the lord always oh we're going to praise you these men and women of us that have been touched by your grace we're going to praise you in jesus name receive our praise amen amen amen amen give the lord a hand wherever you are give him a shout of praise just thank god for who he is for what he's done for what he's doing what he's going to do just bless the lord it's a new day a new season hallelujah if you would give your attention to minister matt watson and jasmine butler as they share some very important discipleship announcements relative to life groups and life classes [Music] right [Music] from our church family but we get the opportunity to reconnect here at new life through our life groups at our core we crave community because we were made for it and we get to experience that sense of belonging right here so what we want you to do is go online and register newlifeatl.org and we look forward to seeing you in life groups praise god everybody we're so sorry about those technical difficulties we apologize about those um what jasmine was talking about that you could not hear her saying but what she was saying was about life groups that she is our life group's leader and her responsibility is to lead our life groups process and small groups has just gotten started and we are excited about the opportunity to grow together in the things of god it is an honor and a privilege to serve people and to grow together as a community we believe that god's called us to do life together so we're inviting you to be a part of that process she was talking about kovit and how covid has separated so many of us from family friends and loved ones but the ability and the knowledge to know that you can still connect with like-minded believers who have the same heart and the same spirit that you're able to connect with them and menace and be ministered to by them is a powerful thought and so i want to encourage you to get signed up today get signed up today do not wait you need to get registered for life groups and so here's how you do it here's the way in which it's done very simple all you need to do is go to our website when you go to our website you'll simply scroll down to the what's happening at new life section and you'll scroll through and you'll see one of the options is life groups click on that banner and it'll take you to a sign up page you can scroll through all of those different options for classes and groups find the one you want click on it and simply sign up it's just that simple just go to our website to the home page scroll down to what's happening in new life section click on life groups banner go then to that page and scroll down through all the different classes and groups that are offered click on the one that you want and as soon as you do that you can simply put in your name and the information that's being requested there put that information in hit submit and hit done and that is all it takes and you are fully signed up so i'm excited about the opportunity to have you signing up and growing in our experience with god so brother matt is here he is our adult discipleship ministries director and he is going to be speaking a bit more yes so uh my name is matthew watson i'm the adult discipleship minister here at new life um and as uh you have heard from dr beasley as you've heard from pastor harris and as you've heard from jasmine butler as well what we're seeking to do is make sure that you sign up for a life class r for a life group or if you have the availability in your schedule to sign up for both i also wanted to give a special announcement because there are actually three classes that are currently on the website that because of kind of life circumstances are not able to be offered right now by the teachers and so those classes are discerning the voice of god so if you've registered for any of these classes we're going to send you out an email and we're asking if you would please sign up for a either a different class or sign up for a life group so that's discerning the voice of god it's also going to be the essentials of the christian faith and lastly of the philippians class so if you sign up for either of those three classes we're asking if you would please uh sign up for another class and we'll also if you uh don't get a chance to catch this we're actually going to be sending you an email as well so that you can check your be sure to look out for your emails because we're going to be sending you an email as well uh reminding you of this announcement but also i wanted to highlight one of our classes this morning and so the class that i want to highlight this morning is actually being taught by minister terence watts and the class that he's teaching is the colossians class and if you know anything i mean anything it can be a small thing it could be a large thing but anything about the book of colossians uh the book of colossians is filled uh with us understanding our identity with christ us understanding who christ is to us and what he means to us and how our lives should be lived in view of that truth uh minister terence watts if you've ever taken a class from him before if you've ever heard him minister uh to you uh you will know that he is very informed on the topic he studies uh he takes a bible studies very seriously a very diligent student of the word of god um and he is going to be teaching this class and so if you are interested in growing in your faith if you're interested in growing your faith if you're not interested in growing your faith don't take this class because this class will challenge you if you've ever looked at the book of colossians the book of colossians challenges you in your faith that challenges you in your walk and that's what minister watts is going to be doing as he teaches through this classes so there is no book that is required for this class this class will be taught strictly from the word of god and so if you could please take this time to please register for those classes for those groups we greatly appreciate that we're going to continue following up with you all asking you guys to register for classes and groups because we understand that this form of discipleship is truly important to our walk with christ and for our walks with one another we thank you so much for your attention to this matter uh we continue with our announcements all god's people said praise the lord all right so i have one final announcement that i want to make sure that you guys are aware of we started goodness it must have been about a month and a half ago talking about financial literacy and spending time with uh getting our money together and we saw literally a hundred folks sign up for that financial literacy class it's a course that is being taught through our church and community center and sister rhonda williams is our teacher and now we need to move to the next stage and that stage is providing personal one-on-one care assistance help and coaching to individual and families who are in need of financial financial literacy and financial management help so we're asking for money mentors these are money coaches individuals and you have done this before or you've gotten a solid handle on your finances and you want to share it with someone else or you're also in the journey and you're learning how to do management and you'd love to come alongside and coach someone else we'll train you in everything that you need to know we just want you to sign up as a money mentor or at least pray about it and attend our orientation meeting so this coming tuesday night this tuesday night at 6 45 it's going to be via zoom at 6 45 we'll have our zoom interest meeting and you'll get information on how you can sign up how you can register how you can be a part simply by going to our website if you go to our website newlife.atl.org and click on the money mentors money coaches banner it'll take you to a landing page and it'll tell you all you need to know in order to be a part of that zoom meeting it's going to be tuesday night 6 45. you got to go to the website get the information on how to connect to that zoom you don't have to share your camera we just want you on the call so you can hear about what we're doing and how you can help us so money mentors and money coaches that's the call we need you to help us coach other individuals and families on how they can manage their finances and all god's people said a man to that all right well it's giving time it's time to honor god with our tithes and our offerings thank you for the opportunity that we have to give to bless people that are in need people that have significant challenges financially those who are in transitional housing people that are struggling just to make ends meet struggling to put food on the table our church is a blessing to those individuals practically and we also minister to families in the area of job search career search employment services ged and the list goes on and on i am asking you to help us continue to do ministry now i need to admit here and i want you to be sure that you hear this the summer has been tough for us the summer has been tough for us and i don't want you to miss that it's been a tough summer we've done well but we've seen a a drop in our giving over the summer and i know it's because families are doing a whole lot of things and life is kind of getting back to normal and here's what i want to ask you to do that you would you would not neglect giving that you would not neglect giving we have just a few more months in the year we want to end the year strong we want to envy your strong so do not neglect to give please your tithe and your offerings it's the lord's it's not ours it's not yours it belongs to god it's what he has blessed us with so i'm asking you to be a blessing to others that as you sow seeds you are opening the windows of heaven to pour out blessings back into your home and into your family and so would you be diligent would you be faithful in the area of giving i know you will and i thank you for it you can do it now there are three ways in which you can give you can give online simply going to our website clicking on the online giving banner and you're able to give that way it's a very easy process you simply click on that giving button and it allows you to give you can also give by text by simply texting the word new life atl to the number 77977 and you can give through that option and you also can give through the postal mail by sending your gifts in to new life church 3592 flat shoals road decatur georgia please be diligent be faithful be committed to honoring god with your substance with your increase with all that comes in to your home and as you do that you know that god will also honor your house your family and your needs if you honor him he will honor you let's ask the lord to bless our giving together as we're all giving today father i thank you that you have called us to serve and support ministry this way that you've called us to be a blessing to people who are in need to share what you've given to us with others to build your kingdom with our financial resources so father we don't take our blessings lightly we're grateful for them thank you for how you love us so much that you have given us so much we don't have everything we want but lord we have everything we need so thank you god receive now the tithe the tenth that comes into our home receive this in your kingdom for your purposes will give you glory in jesus name amen and amen again do me the honor if you would of tabbing over one tab in your browser and going to our website and giving or pull out your smartphones and give now you can do it right now [Music] and all god's people said amen thank you so much for giving thank you for giving will i stand today with uh a broken heart and a heavy heart our team our multimedia as well as our music team um is really reeling from a heavy heart our drummer and our band director minister perry martin perry we all called him perry he went home to be with the lord on this past week on monday and we will deeply miss him we have formed a family here and he's been an intricate part of our family perry has led every significant event that we've had here at our church it's been he's either led it or he has been instrumental in seeing it developed and happened perry has been a friend he's been a brother he's been a mentor to these band members he has given them leadership he's given them direction he's prayed for them he's prayed for all of us my daughter specifically has a very tough time because she was he was his she he was her right hand and she he supported ministry and music in such a great way perry was a man of god who didn't just say it but he lived it he expressed it he was a family man he loved his wife he loved his children and perry is home with god now he is with the lord at a young age but he's with god and he is worshiping and celebrating around the throne of god i don't know if they have drum sets in heaven i'm not sure they should but if they do i promise you perry is on one and he's playing we've seen him here on our services live as well as streaming every sunday sunday after sunday ministering being a blessing to others and we want now to just express our thanks to god in our honor of him around the stage are members of our music team and our multimedia team a team that has supported and loved him so deeply we're just going to have a special tribute and give you an opportunity to get to know someone who was just an amazing person and to worship god in the process [Music] lord i will lift my to the heels no [Music] is [Music] you [Music] [Music] strength [Music] my [Music] me [Music] know [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] the stars [Music] yesterday yes [Music] [Music] so i lit my hands in turn [Music] then [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes hallelujah [Music] worthy [Music] [Music] so father we lift our hands in praise [Music] for god there is no god who comforts us like you there is no god who meets us in the point of our needs like you there's no god who walks with the brokenhearted there's no god who lives up the downtrodden like you you're the god who strengthens us in our weakness you're the god who helps us in our infirmities you wipe every tear from our eyes you give us the ability to know that you are on the throne and when life is broken and clouds are dark that all is still well and there is no challenge no burden no issue that you are not strong enough to resolve so heal our hearts mend mend our sorrows cancel our grief allow us to rejoice allow us to express our love for you make the memories we have of perry sweet but allow us to release him to worship you to live with you to be in glory with you to experience the heights and wonders of heaven with you and will give your name praise be with his wife god be with her children [Music] they miss their dad when it gets hard hold them in your hands and when they cannot bear give them the strength to carry on [Music] walk with them through all the seasons of their grief and their sorrow [Music] may their testimony be that you gave them joy in jesus name [Music] oh god [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] so lord let the words of my mouth the meditations of my heart may they be acceptable in your sight you are our strength and our redeemer in jesus name amen one of the hallmarks of our faith [Music] is that we weep with those who weep and we rejoice with those who rejoice and this experience has taught us a lot about weeping and a lot about rejoicing we weep because we miss perry we miss what he meant to our team we miss the smile the laughter the leadership the strength the settledness in the midst of the storms there have been times that we've been chaotically running around trying to get things together and it was perry gave us a sense of calm it was a rock he was a rock for so many people we've grown to love him [Music] to depend on him because he's always there perry was dedicated faithful dependable so the tears are because we will miss our friend [Music] the rejoicing is because we know where he is he made it home he's with god he is celebrating around the throne of god and he has received his reward this is what he lived for this is what we live for we live for the day that we'll get to meet our savior [Music] and oh what a day that would be oh what a day that will be so cry if you must but rejoice because you must he's with god rest will bro wes rest will amen well i can't find a more fitting subject to minister on than the subject of community because what you just witnessed only happens in the context of community when people share the same burden with each other they share it together we're in a series entitled community and we've just completed the first part of that which is the story of community and today we're going to be talking about the second part of this series and that is living in community living in community and that's what we're doing we are learning how to live in the context of community biblical community living with each other living around each other living and doing life together having a friendship a family and intimacy brothers and sisters connecting together because of our shared faith in jesus christ that as we get closer to christ we get closer to each other that our union is only because of our union with christ and so our union with each other is because of our union with him he is what brings us together it is his cross his blood his redemption his salvation that has torn down this middle wall of division between us jew and gentile black and white rich and poor wealthy and and not it is the blood of christ that has torn down those barriers those divisions and they're not torn down just ideologically they're not torn down in concept but they're torn in practice they're torn in daily living that we find common ground because of jesus christ that i have more in common with someone who is completely the opposite of me because of their relationship with christ than i do with someone who is just like me but does not know the lord jesus christ that christ becomes our unifying factor and it's not just in name only many times this statement that we are one in jesus we're one in christ it gets overlooked and ignored really scoffed at by the world because it doesn't get lived out in our everyday life we don't see it in our politics we don't see it in our business we don't see it in our corporate environment we don't see it in our families we don't see it around our dinner tables we don't see it in our living rooms we don't see it in our neighborhoods we don't see it in our schools we are very very very divided and jesus has not yet been able to bring us together and the world sees that when the world looks at racism on a practical scale when the world looks at divisions of every kind you know what the world says is that their gospel of oneness and unity obviously is not working their gospel is not working that's what the world says when the world sees our disunity and if we're truly in christ if we're truly in him that wall of separation is supposed to be gone gone we're supposed to have the same love one for the other of one mind and one heart and so we're going to talk about today how do you live in community we've discussed artificial community and authentic community artificial community and authentic relationships we have discussed that we've talked in some great detail about uh how the community is built on a biblical foundation and what it means and we've said a few things with regards to the biblical foundation of community first of all we said without any equivocation that the goal of community is transformation the goal of community is transformation the whole intent is to be transformed the reason why we do discipleship the reason why we teach the word of god the reason why we love one another serve one another care for one another the reason why we spend time in the scriptures and in worship together in communion with god and each other is so that we can be spiritually transformed that is the ultimate goal of community that whenever there is no spiritual transformation when that does not take place then that means community has not yet been done and there are many people who go to church all of their life all of their life and they're never transformed they go to church they're in church they know all the songs the hymns the scriptures they know all the sermons but they have not been transformed there is not a newness to their life a newness to the way in which they live and whenever that transformation doesn't happen it's because community was never achieved we are transformed into the image of jesus into the character the nature of jesus that's what our transformation is meant to do that's what transformation does that's the goal that's the end of it that i am to look more like christ in my behavior in my emotions in my thought life in my activity my conduct i am to look like christ in my love in my empathy and compassion for others i am to look like christ in my sacrifice and my selflessness i am to look like christ i am to be willing to lay my life down for my brother my sister i am to look like him and many of us see following jesus as holding up a a flag of creeds many of us see it as belief creeds we we follow jesus from a creedal perspective that i have a belief and a set of beliefs and i'll die for the gospel i'll die for the truth that he died on the cross i'll die for the truth that he rose from the dead i'll die for the truth that the holy spirit came and formed the church i'll die for the truth of the trinity i'll die for the truths of the scriptures and all of that is good all of that is right but following christ is not just holding up the creeds of our faith following christ is mimicking the conduct of our savior following christ is mimicking imitating the conduct of our savior paul said it this way follow me as i follow christ follow me as i follow christ paul said and be ye imitators of christ that we are to imitate him follow him do what jesus did live like jesus lived love like jesus loved give like jesus gave serve like jesus served that this is the responsibility and the call of the church when you say i am a follower of jesus christ this does not happen outside of community community becomes the acid test for our christianity it becomes the acid test for our faith we ended the last time together teaching and saying that jesus quoted and he said to quote christ and he said by this shall all men know that you are my disciples that you have love one for another that you love each other that's how we'll know that you are and i am a disciple of jesus christ by our love not by our creeds but by our love not by our faith statements but by our love not by our affirmations of faith but by our love it is the practical the practice it is the experiential way in which we love others that says we have committed our lives to jesus christ and so we've said a few things first of all we've said that community is rooted in the nature of god it's rooted in the nature of god secondly we said that community is personified in the incarnation of jesus it is personified in the incarnation of jesus thirdly we say that community is signatured in the ministry of jesus it is signatured in the ministry of jesus and today i want to talk about community is lived out in the new testament church it is lived out in the new testament church community is lived out in the new testament church i want you to find what has become uh the the central passage of community in the new testament this is the heart of new testament community this speaks to the very core of it it's in the book of acts chapter number two it becomes our our quintessential passage about community i want us to read it together in acts chapter 2 and verse number 42. here's what it says and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship the word for fellowship there is the greek word coinonia we'll talk about it in a minute and in breaking of bread which is communion not communion just with god but communion with each other and in prayers and fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles and all that believed were together and had all things common and sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men as every man had need and they continuing daily with one accord in the temple breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart praising god and having favor with all the people and the lord added to the church daily such as should be saved now before we look at this passage expositionally i want to just give some some back some background and historical perspectives to it we're talking about the early church and by early church i really mean just about 120 fledgling disciples who were up in the upper room at the beginning of acts chapter 2. they're in the upper room and they're waiting for the baptism of the holy spirit the spirit of god comes to them in the upper chambers of a house large enough to have 120 people in it so it's uh probably not a home but some multi-purpose space some gathering space where dinners and meals are commonly done and it's in this upper loft that they are seated and they are praying that god would send the promise that he promised them through jesus and that is the holy spirit the spirit of god comes when the spirit of god comes and falls on the day of pentecost which is a great feast day of the jews when there would be jews traveling throughout and from the jewish diaspora back into jerusalem from every nation and corner of the known world around the mediterranean sea and they were there in jerusalem to worship and to celebrate jehovah for this great festival this great feast and as they are there in jerusalem this 120 band of followers of christ who saw him die on a cross have witnessed his resurrection from the dead that paul says he was seen of about 500 souls about 500 people and we would safely imagine that these 120 were a part of that 500 that saw him they're there in the upper room with the 11 disciples judas has already hung himself and while they're there praying the spirit of god falls and it falls in a very unique fashion it falls in the form of wind and cloven tongues the cloven tongues these tongues these tongues of fire that are cloven are split and they rest upon the head of each of the 120 in this upper chamber in this open dining space and as the spirit of god rests upon their heads they're given the ability to speak in languages they have not learned human languages language is not native to their particular birth but languages native to the births of others and so they're speaking in all of these different languages and in acts chapter 2 it tells us what those languages or at least those nations were that they were speaking in their native tongue and they spill out from this upper chamber speaking in these in these languages that they did not learn and they're walking into the streets that are now crowded and bustling because the great feast of pentecost is on and this is the day of that feast which would mean that this is a sabbath day so they're there on the sabbath day the heaviest day of this feast and there are people thronging in the streets and thronging around the temple and they are throwing in the marketplaces and here they are these jewish these jewish believers who are speaking in different languages in different dialects and different tongues not unknown tongues but known languages why why would god do that because this is the very birth of community this is the very birth of our community the christian community the ability to bring people of different persuasions and backgrounds and histories together under one common message under one common truth and so now you have these jews who are able to speak meet in the language of the medias or the language of the parthians or the language of other mesopotamian countries and they're speaking in these different dialects and languages because god is bringing people together under one message and it's almost as if he's saying no longer will you be speaking different words will you be saying different things not verbally but in your heart and in your faults and in your feelings in your emotions in your direction in your passions that your hearts are knit together so much so that you are not communicating but you are in communion with each other the last time that god interrupted language the last time god interrupted language was at the tower of babel you'll remember this at the tower of babel in genesis chapter number 11 god interrupted language because they were in the wrong kind of expressing expressions of community they were expressing community incorrectly they were using community for the purpose of evil they were using community for the purpose of living out their pride and living out their hubris living out their arrogance to defy god they were using community to do evil and what god said is the people are one the people are unified the people have come together and now that they are unified nothing shall be denied them there's nothing that they can't do because they've come together when they set their hearts on evil and you are unified the evil becomes gross so god separated the languages god divided the community and from the division of languages we learn by uh by anthropologists as well as archaeologists that this division of languages sparked the migration patterns of human beings and they migrated to different parts of the world and in the migration patterns of human beings they formed individual tribes so tribalism came from this divisiveness and the tribalism had interbreeding in the tribalism which developed races so the colors and hues of skin and the dna genetic makeup of people were changed because of this disconnection and this disunity so we have races because of disunity we have tribalism because of disunity we even have nationalism because of disunity these different tribes soon form city-states and these city-states soon form nations so these various different nations were formed because of the breaking of the language the breaking of the language the dividing of the people the dividing of the heart the inability to communicate the inability to connect to hear the heart of another to express the heart of one to another this inability to connect is what divided people and it's still dividing us today we don't speak the same language we don't want the same things we don't have the same goals we don't love with the same heart that love is not felt heart to heart there is no commune there is no communion one with another we see it in homes and in families we see it definitely in places of work and business the whole competitive nature of capitalism the entire idea of competition forces us to fight against our brother and not for our brother and this this breaking of communion this this dividing of communion has caused a ripple effect in families a ripple effect in marriage is a ripple effect with children so deeply and so desperately has this break been that the last verse in the old testament the last verse in malachi 3 the very last verse of the old testament the old testament closes with this thought that god says the breach is so severe that i will have to be the one to repair it that i will bring the hearts of the fathers back to the sons and the hearts of the mothers back to daughters i'll bring families back together the old testament ends with the promise of reunification of the home the family the basic unit towards our entire experience of life the family so if the family is divided and tribes are divided and nations are divided and communities are divided and neighborhoods are divided we live on the north side of the south side we live in the white community or the black community or the asian community or the hispanic community we're divided in so many areas it has also gravely impacted the church the church has not learned how to be transcendent from the division we've become a part of the division we've become a part of the separation we are now victims of the same disunity that brought about evil and brought about worldwide world widespread iniquity on the earth that god needed to divide us and the church has not learned how to come together because we have not learned how to appropriate the power of the holy spirit we don't come together around political lines we don't come together around our political alliances there is no republican christian there is no democrat christian we come together around the cause and sake of jesus christ that all of our other creeds and banners and categories and groups that we belong to they are secondary and even tertiary to the cause of jesus christ that comes first the cause of christ and then the fellowship of the church comes next the fellowship of believers it comes before our politics it comes before our ideas about how we see the world and our individual world views it comes first but when life is driven around our groups when life is driven around our culture and is not driven around our christ we experience this division in real time in everyday life in everyday experiences to the point that we will bash each other scandalize each other protest against each other we will discriminate against each other deny others human and basic rights against another person we'll be superior or inferior to another human being we'll aggrandize ourselves because of our wealth or our money or our status because we have not allowed the spirit of god to permeate our hearts community has to be lived out it has to be lived out and that's what this early church was they came together every sabbath they came together in the temple then throughout the week they would go from house to house and they would worship god listen to the teaching of the apostles fellowship with each other break bread together and this is how our text is formed here are the graces of community that i want you to notice that in acts chapter 2 it is framed by these four graces these this is the grace that comes from community this is the grace it has given to us because we are in community that when you're in community this is what you experience this is what you have the privilege to be a part of number one biblical impartation that's the grace i'm a part of biblical impartation when i'm in community that i'm able to hear the word of god remember faith paul says comes by hearing and hearing by the word of god romans 10 17 it comes by hearing the more i hear it the more faith is developed the more i hear it the more confidence it's developed the more i hear it the more stable i am in my walk with god faith comes by hearing and i get the hearing when i'm in community biblical impartation it says in acts chapter 2 verse 42 that they continued in the apostles doctrine they continued in the apostles here's what they would do they would sit around and they would read the letters that were written to them from paul or from peter or from james or from john these apostles would write these letters that they could not personally come to teach they would write letters because shortly after the church started the church was that the jews were driven away from jerusalem including jewish christians and these christians that fled jerusalem they found a new home in a new in a new world just north of israel is an area called antioch and in antioch in in the grecian asian my asia minor in antioch they formed the second headquarters of the church and the apostles were there under the leadership of james at the time james the lord's brother because james the brother of john he had been executed he had been sung asunder and so james became james became the leader of the church peter as that other leader in jerusalem so peter led the church in jerusalem james led the church in antioch most of the apostles are in antioch paul he gets born again and saved on his road to damascus and he flees into the wilderness of arabia for his life during this period of time god is growing the church as he's growing the church these apostles would send back letters and send back these letters to the church in jerusalem and the church that was in antioch and the churches that paul would soon form in various areas throughout asia minor they would get together and read the doctrines they'd read about the cross they'd read about christ they'd read about what jesus did and what jesus said they'd read his words and his actions and as they would read these letters many of them we don't have record of today several of them we've kept the writings of paul in particular and peter as well as james as well as john but in these letters they would come and they would they would celebrate god through the apostles doctrine that biblical impartation became a part of their norm that they would often have the elders and the apostles come to the local fellowships in person and they would open the old testament scriptures and explain the old testament scriptures how christ is in it and what it means for our life today they would open up the proverbs and explain the proverbs in light of our christian faith they'd open up the psalms and explain the psalms in light of our christian faith they would they would find ways to grow the church through the nurturing and the impartation of the word of god that they had a healthy consistent biblical diet it informed how they loved their children it informed how they loved their spouses it informed how they conduct their business it informed how they led their affairs it informed how they did their commerce it informed how they lived their life a healthy biblical diet that you get this in community in community you don't get that separately you get that in the fellowship of others in the community of the saints now this is critical because for them their lives were at stake they could be killed or martyred the roman government hated christians and hunted them down nero burned them in his in his palisades and gardens he burned them at the stake and used them as night lights he used their bodies as candles so they had to have a solid view of the word of god so they would read when james would say my brother encountered all joy when you fall into divers temptations knowing this the trying of your faith is working patience or peter would say think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you but rejoice in as much as you are partakers of the suffering of christ and paul would say that i want to know him not just in the power of his resurrection but in the fellowship of his suffering that they encouraged each other through the word of god they saw in the scriptures what the bible was teaching they saw their unique position in the community of faith that they were sons and daughters of god that paul remind them that you have the spirit of god in you crying abba father they saw that they were sons and daughters of god they were affirmed in their walk with god and that affirmation followed them in their life you get this in community in our community today in our times of fellowship today the bible has to be taught expressed explain the bible has to be loved and cherished the bible is center to our transformation center to our growth and center to our development it is what gets us through hard times through difficult moments and through rough seasons it is the word of god that strengthens us in our weaknesses it is the word of god that points our eyes north and upward when they would look down in gloom and despair it is the word of god that we grow by and it's the word of god that we live by this is what they saw and experienced in community number two in community this passage in acts chapter 2 and verse 42 here's what it teaches us they had life level intimacy life level intimacy the bible says they continued in the apostles doctrine and that next phrase is and fellowship and fellowship now the word fellowship in english is somewhat deceptive because the word fellowship has been so watered down it's been so watered down to us today that we think fellowship is hanging out going to get pizza going to starbucks we think fellowship is having a basketball game with the fellas or fellowship is hanging out at somebody's house watching watching the game or watching the fight we think fellowship is just doing normative things and it is it is that's that's fellowship that's just the open door that's not the biblical meaning of fellowship not at all not at all the word for fellowship is the word koinonia coinonia and here's what that word means here's what koinonia means cornelia means to have a strong close bond of relationship that's what it means close association is the actual definition given to us in several greek lexicons close bonded association close bonded relationships it's not just to hang out but there has to be a connection from heart to heart that there is a connection from the core of me to the core of you that we do life together we coinonia in our marriage we coinonia with our families we coinonia in our business we do life together we express the life of christ through our interactions with each other that now if i'm a department leader and i lead a department at work i guide my department in the coinonia of believers i guide my department as loving the saints as living life with the saints expressing christ to the saints on any level that i am involved and engaged with them on i express christ to them that's koinonia if i am in a marriage with my wife i am expressing christ to my wife that's koinonia i am on a life level with her expressing price in our bond of association with cornelia there has to be a tie there has to be a bond we've heard we've heard the saying bless the ties that bond there has to be a tie that bonds us to have cornelia what is that tie that bonding tie between two people that bonding tie is our expression of jesus christ his love and his sacrifice for us that is the heart of koinonia that's what john said in first john chapter one when he said that our fellowship is with the father and with his son and if your fellowship is with us then you are in fellowship with us as we are in fellowship with the father and the son we are in fellowship one with each other it says our life bond is with god through christ and your life bond is with us through christ so as we do life together we do life expressing jesus christ like here's what it looks like here's what it looks like not at starbucks not at the pizza hut not at the basketball game that's just the open door life hadn't coined nia hadn't started yet cornelia begins whenever i start expressing jesus to the person that i am in interaction with in whatever context of that interaction if i am at work i'm expressing jesus if i am employer their employee i'm expressing jesus if i am in a lateral co-worker relationship i am expressing jesus if i am a neighbor who lives at the next house over i am expressing jesus if i am a husband or a wife i am expressing jesus to my spouse if i'm a parent i'm expressing jesus to my children if i'm a friend i'm expressing jesus to my friend if our families are connected together i'm expressing jesus to my family so in every scenario of life i'm expressing christ whenever there is a pain i express christ to that person when there is a need i express christ to that person whenever there is a hurt i express christ that person and insult i express christ to that person when i have something they don't have but need i share of what i have expressing christ that person i leverage my ability in the areas of their inability because i'm expressing christ to that person that's koinonia that's koinonia and it doesn't happen outside of community here's the sad part here's the sad part when the world gets this right and the church gets it wrong when the world who has no spiritual tie that bonds that binds them there's no spiritual bond or spiritual tie that binds them together the world has no such creed no such faith no such spirit no such grace but yet they are loving each other black and white republican democrat rich poor educated and liberated they're loving each other they're living in peace they're living in harmony here's why that happens are you listening to me because satan's job is to be the great his job is to be the great counterfeiter did you hear me his job is to counterfeit the truth he's he he fakes what we know is real so he discredits the real by gold plating the phony he ex he he discredits the reel by gold-plating the counterfeit and that's exactly what koinonia in the world looks like we come together around our different communities and there are tons of communities there is political communities there is the lgbtq community there is a straight community the gay community there are communities of singleness there's communities of married folks there are family communities there are teams there are different clubs and cliques all of these communities and the communities in the world are preaching peace love and harmony where they get it from where they get it from they get it from the word of god but satan has taken the word of god and he has gold-plated truth in a counterfeit culture are you guys hearing this so that the culture will do the counterfeit better than the church does the real and the moment that happens the church becomes becomes irrelevant the church becomes useless the church serves no purpose because the world has figured out how to do community in a way that the church has not figured out how to do are you hearing me all right here's the third thing that happens in community number three spiritual communion spiritual communion this is when the bible says and in breaking of bread now i got to explain this real quick spirit spiritual communion is it looks like this it is it is when they came together and as they came together they would sit around the table and this was how they did church so they did church they didn't do church on sundays they did church any day of the week they did they did the temple on sabbath they went to the temple and on monday and tuesday and wednesday and thursday they would go to different houses and they would sit down to eat and to hear the scriptures read or taught they would listen to paul or one of the apostles or read one of the letters from the apostles this is what they did sitting at the table that the meal was central in jewish life and jewish culture that the meal in hospitality was central so in one house they would have several people from one community coming to that house they would greet each other with a holy kiss greeting each other in the name of christ sitting down laughing and talking and then hearing the word of god recanting the stories of old of moses and david and daniel and hearing them in the context of jesus christ as they ate their bread together then at every meal at every meal they would stop eating the bread and stop eating stop eating the food and they would recognize the presence of christ in the room at the table the presence of jesus is there so as the presence of christ is present they would then take the bread as he instructed and they would break the bread on his behalf recognizing his presence in the room that this is the body of christ they would break the bread then they would pass it out to each one and they would say let us let us be one with christ who is seated at the table with us he is absent in his physical nature but he's here in his spiritual nature he is within us so they would remember him by breaking the bread passing it around and they would eat the bread remembering his death on the cross then they would come together they would take the cup and as they would take the cup they would pass the cup around remembering that he spilled his blood for their lives that they ate the communion in communion with christ but they also ate bread in communion with each other it started off with each other it ended up with christ every time they came together this is how they interacted this is how they instituted the lord's supper it was called a supper because they were sitting at meat sitting at the table but it was the lord's supper because he was present in the room here's the point here's the point not that we have to do communion i'm not teaching that not saying that we have to do communion not legalism guys but here's what i am teaching that there is no communion with christ until there is communion with each other there is no communion with christ until there is communion with each other until we can break bread together with each other we cannot break bread with jesus christ we must learn how to do communion with him paul says this very grave word very grave word paul says what don't you have houses to eat and drink in that when you come together he says you come together with your clamoring you come together with your division you come together with your sec your divisions and your your schisms you come together with your arguments you come together for for social purposes he says you can do that at home but when you come together to the table of the lord let there be unity let there be oneness let there be contrition of heart let there be confession and forgiveness of sin let there be the impartation of the word of god when you come together let there be intimacy among the table so that when you take the lord's bread in the lord's cup you're not taking the lord's bread and the lord's cup not discerning not discerning the lord's body not with a recognition that jesus is here that god is here the fourth thing that they did in community they had biblical impartation life level intimacy spiritual communion and lastly they they receive the grace of the multiplied force of prayer the multiplied force of prayer i want to go back to acts chapter 2. i want to go back to acts chapter 2. look at what it says in verse number 42 and 43 acts 2 42 and 43 and they continue steadfastly the apostles doctrine and fellowship breaking of bread and in prayer so look at what the prayers did and fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles and all they believed were together and fear came upon every soul multiplied force of prayers not just me praying by myself it is me praying with my brother with my sister it is when the church comes together when my group comes together to pray there is power when we pray together there's power whenever you get on a call power when you walk into a room when you sit down in a circle and you say here's what i'm going through here's what i'm wrestling with here are my issues here my concerns here's my pain pray with me pray with me about my family pray with me about my children pray with me about my teenager pray with me about my marriage pray with me about my finances my job is laying people off pray with me my company just downsized greatly pray with me i'm facing a new stage of my life and i'm moving into retirement and i don't think i'm financially ready for it i need you to pray with me i've got an illness and a sickness that doesn't look good at all and i need you to pray with me it is this it is this ability to multiply the force of prayer that when one prays it's strong it's strong it avails much but when two prays it multiplies the force of one when three and four prays it multiplies the force of one hear me clearly hear me very clearly the scriptures teach the bible teaches that one will chase a thousand and two will chase not two thousand but ten thousand one chases if you could take that from the psalms and interpret that into our spiritual context of our new testament world today one prayer chases a thousand demons away a thousand devils from my home my family my mind my fault one prayer one person chases a thousand devils away and two prayers two people can chase ten thousand demons away are you listening to this you need somebody to pray with you you need somebody to pray for you there has to be an intersection in prayer that's what intercession is about when there is an intersection whenever my need meets your heart and your need meets my heart and we intersect with each other i share that need you share yours we come together as a unified force and we speak to god on behalf of each other it multiplies the force of prayer that prayer receives its power when it's done in community when it's done in the community jesus said it like this he said where two or three are gathered together he says i will be in the midst of them don't neglect the power of prayer multiplying the force of it through a community i'm not talking about those simple little nice courtesy of courtesy platitudes that we give to people when we say you know i'm praying for you amen i got you in my prayers hey man you're in my prayers and that's nice and good as mint is meant to give you some some some sense of encouragement and comfort in what you're going through i get why we say it i get it i get it half of the people who say it don't ever do the prayer and that's nice for comfort i understand and i'm not knocking it but here's what i am teaching when you actually come together sit in the same room or in the same space and you literally pray calling the name of your sister the name of your brother that you pray when you do that when you do that you multiply the force of that prayer in its ability to bombard the heavenlies not so that god hears you and i hear people say that all the time that if i pray or you pray or we pray together god hears me just as good as he hears all the rest of us you don't understand prayer you don't understand prayer if you're saying that i love you i understand i get it but that that cynicism doesn't understand prayer i'm not trying to get god to hear me better i am doing battle when i pray i'm in warfare when i pray i'm in a battle and when you're in a battle you need to have a comrade besides you a comrade in arms who is fighting battle with you i'm not battling against god i'm battling against the forces of evil the forces that are opposing what it is i'm asking god for everything you're praying about i promise you everything you're praying about right now there is there is a spiritual force behind it everything you're praying about there's a spiritual force behind it and the moment you tap in to that spiritual force and lock hands with your brother and lock hands with your sister and we pray together you multiply the force of that prayer's ability all right are you hearing it that's the graces of community i want you to look at the results of community look at the results of it number one the results of community it allows us to witness the works of god when i'm in community i witness god's works it says here that they remain in the apostles doctrine they can witness the works of god when you're in community it allows you to have the common meeting of needs that i meet the needs of my brother i'm involved in koinonia i'm involved in fellowship with my brother we are doing life together meeting common needs i meet the needs of those who have needs when i'm in community with people and i'm in community with those who are hurting or broken or lost i can meet their needs we just lost we just lost our band director perry we've had a tribute for him today and we mourn his loss and our hearts are broken we're broken because of it but man when you come together and you're able to cry with another brother you're able to mourn with someone else you're able to have another brother's strength to help you in your weakness and you're able to have someone else come alongside and we grieve together we weep together this is meeting the need of another brother meeting the need of another person that is a powerful expression of community a powerful result that comes from community i can make it i can overcome the mourning and the loss a little bit easier because i'm doing it with you in community thirdly it's the beauty of a single heart the beauty of having a single heart this is this is what i want you to hear the beauty of having singles is that they were able to eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart singleness of heart one heart one soul one mind single heart that we're not fighting and fussing we have a one mind we're a unit we're unified in one calls i want to tell you what a group can do when they come together with one heart what a family can do when they have one heart what husband and wife can accomplish when they have one heart what brother and sister can accomplish when they have one heart what a church can accomplish when it has one heart whenever there's one drive one passion one motive one motivation one vision one dream one heart when i'm able to share mine with you and you share yours with me it it somehow multiplies the confidence and faith in it i don't tell everybody my vision i can't i can't because their hearts are not knit with mine and if your heart is divided from my heart and i tell you what god has told me you will discourage me not by what you say but by your lack of resonating on the same plane as mine there's a resonation it's an unspoken resonation when i ain't got to say it i don't have to say it there's something about your heart and my heart that we speak the same language and we ain't even talking there is great great confidence faith that is built when the hearts are connected this is how satan destroys families he destroys families by dividing their hearts this is how he destroys churches he destroys churches by dividing their hearts i've been a part of one too many church splits one too many church splits we got mad at each other so i left and you left everybody got mad at somebody else and we all quit right i just quit i'm going over y'all and i'm going over there i'm going down there because we have not learned the value and the power of one heart singleness of heart and then lastly there is multiplied growth of the body that the church literally grows the the body of christ literally grows whenever there is this this this oneness this community this experience together that the body of christ literally grows you do your study and read it i don't have the time to review it so you do your study and you read it the bible says that the lord added to the church then the bible says the lord multiplied the believers he added to the church and then it multiplied the believers he added to the church in acts chapter two he multiplied the believers in acts chapters four and five that's what god wants to do he wants to multiply the body there are two ways to grow and then i gotta quit two ways to grow when i'm done are you listening are you listening two ways to grow when i'm done number one you grow inwardly that's spiritual growth multiplied growth of the body inwardly i'm growing in my understanding of god my things my understanding of christ i'm growing in my walk with god i'm getting closer to him i'm understanding him better i'm seeing him more because i see him through the eyes and experiences and context of other believers in the room i'm watching what god is doing in their life i'm gaining strength from this one and faith from that one and i hear that testimony is developing me i grow inwardly when the body comes together in community and then secondly second way is i grow numerically that the the word of god and the witness of the gospel literally does change more people's lives that what happened to me happens to my spouse what happens to my spouse happens to my kids what happens to my kids happens to their friends what happens to their friends happens with their friends parents what happens with their friends parents happens to their co-workers what happened to their co-workers happens at work what happens to those at work happens with those in their clubs and their their social environments what happens in their clubs and social environments happens on their teams and the church begins to grow numerically because we got involved in community and when that doesn't happen when we are all about ourselves and all into ourselves and all for ourselves the sad reality is you don't grow spiritually and you don't grow numerically many of you many of you listening to me right now you're in the same place that you have been same place spiritually that you were last year and the year before last many of you are in a worser place spiritually you're doing things you know you shouldn't you're developing little habits that you don't need in your life you're experiencing little little little little things in your character and your emotions and your behavior and in your mindset it doesn't honor god you're not seeing the spiritual growth because you're not connected with the people that god's put you in connection with i'll talk more about that on next week father i thank you that you have given us the ability to grow in our walk with you and our experience you've given us the ability to grow you put people in our path that we can grow with you've put them in our homes you've connected us to them in covenant [Music] and they're there for our growth help us help us to live it out help us to live it out to grow with them through you i will give your name praise thank you for jesus [Music] in jesus name amen and a man again all right i hope you heard me today if you did here's your next step here's your next step join a life group or a life class today right now that's your next step that's your next step right now you know you need to be in community you know you need to be connected with another person so your next step is to find someone in your life and in your experience that you can do life with and do it in the context of the same house and the same church so all you need do is go to our website click on that life groups banner sign up right now it's just that easy secondly here's your next step give your life to jesus christ come into the faith accept him as lord and savior give your heart to him if you're not saved you are not in the right community i promise you if you're not born again you're in the wrong community good friends good fellowship good folks but when you need god when you need to connect with god that community can never usher you into his presence that community can never build you in your spirit life you need a relationship with the lord jesus christ get in the body of christ in the family of god i'm not talking about joining the church talking about joining the kingdom getting into the body of christ so right now in the chat space there is a link that is being posted all you have to do is click on that link or copy it and put it in the uh into the web browser on your web browser and go to that page it's a zoom link it's connecting to a zoom link where there are live leaders and live ministers waiting to minister to you waiting to speak to you they're live on zoom right now and if you're going you don't have to reveal your screen or show your camera i know that you didn't come prepared to see nobody today and i get it that's fine leave your camera off just leave your camera off click on that link go to that page in the chat space go to that zoom link and share with them that you would like to give your life to jesus christ or you would like to connect with this local church if you're watching us through our internet through our web page on the internet through our live streaming site then there is a continue button that's in the chat space to connect with a leader it says continue just click on that button it'll take you right there right there i pray that you get in community i pray that you give your life to christ i pray that you don't neglect this opportunity to accept jesus or this opportunity to connect with a local church if you don't live in the city of atlanta we'd love to have you connect with our church until you find a local church there or maybe your church is not gathering and you'd love to be able to minister to and love don through the word of god and you can do that through this through this portal and through this option but don't neglect community do whatever you got to do to get involved father i love you i thank you and i praise you i honor you because lord your word is true [Music] you bless us you keep us father your word is true you strengthen us you hold us up you are the power behind our prayers you are the god who gives us strength be with us now as we do life with our brother and sister enable us to get into the muck in the mire and do life together in jesus name we pray the lord bless you the lord keep you the lord make his face to shine upon you the lord be gracious to you the lord grant you his peace today and forever in jesus name a man and a man again listen i want to see you in tonight we're going to start teaching about ruth and it's going to be a blessing on wednesday right here same spot you're watching now tune back in on wednesday it's going to be a blessing i love you guys so much see you then i need you to survive god bless bye [Music] so [Music] you [Music] [Music] you

Channel: New Life Decatur

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Id: P7GmUY-xj-A

Length: 106min 37sec (6397 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021