00:00:54.960 Good morning Freedom Church. Welcome
00:00:57.400 everyone. Can we give God a great big
00:00:59.200 hand? He is so worthy of our worship, of
00:01:02.040 our praise. If I haven't had the
00:01:04.120 privilege of meeting you yet, my name's
00:01:06.120 Pastor Eric. I'm the lead pastor here at
00:01:08.040 Freedom Church. And we're in this series
00:01:10.960 talking about what the church is. So,
00:01:14.120 this week, last week we talked about it
00:01:16.080 the next couple weeks, really trying to
00:01:18.160 unpack the why behind the church. Why do
00:01:21.520 we gather? Why are we all here on Sunday
00:01:24.040 morning? What's the point of the church?
00:01:26.400 But also defining and giving definition
00:01:28.800 to the church. You see, the church is
00:01:30.800 something so much more than just a
00:01:33.120 weekly habit or religious event. The
00:01:36.080 church is so much more than just
00:01:37.360 buildings or things that we go to, but
00:01:40.080 really it's the living, breathing body
00:01:43.040 of Christ. That we, the people, are the
00:01:46.040 body of Christ. As we saw in the video,
00:01:47.960 we are the church. So, really a better
00:01:50.800 question to ask than what is the church
00:01:54.000 is who is is church?
00:01:56.920 We, the people, are the church, make up
00:01:58.960 the church, not just the building, not
00:02:00.960 just the events, not just the
00:02:02.320 activities, but it's the people who are
00:02:04.840 the church. And we're going to talk more
00:02:06.320 about that as we continue to go, but I
00:02:07.840 want to give you a definition uh to
00:02:09.679 start off where we get the word church
00:02:11.560 from. So, the word church, and as we
00:02:13.800 know in the Bible, uh it's translated
00:02:16.160 from the Greek language primarily in the
00:02:17.880 New Testament to church. It comes from
00:02:20.000 the Greek word ekklesia. So, ekklesia,
00:02:23.080 as you read the original manuscripts in
00:02:25.040 Greek, they were saying ekklesia. Every
00:02:27.080 time we see the word church, it's
00:02:29.560 ekklesia. Now, ekklesia is not a
00:02:31.920 religious term in its original context
00:02:34.680 or even in its normal use outside of
00:02:37.360 Christianity, cuz it's just a word that
00:02:39.600 means gathering or assembly or called
00:02:42.880 out ones. So, you're going to have a
00:02:44.680 gathering or assembly of people at the
00:02:47.240 pool, at the gym, at work. It's
00:02:49.680 technically an ekklesia, a gathering or
00:02:52.640 assembly of people and they're called
00:02:55.120 out for something. Within the church
00:02:56.640 context, the Christian context, we are
00:02:59.360 called out of the world, out from the
00:03:01.680 world, gathered together for God's
00:03:04.239 calling and purposes.
00:03:06.600 That there's a specific reason. We're
00:03:08.080 not called out from the world to avoid
00:03:10.440 the world, but to simply not be in in
00:03:12.880 participation with the things of the
00:03:14.360 world. So, the church, the ekklesia,
00:03:17.040 when Jesus used this word, peo- his
00:03:19.959 followers at the time of Jewish
00:03:21.640 background, he they went they went to
00:03:23.880 what we call synagogue. There's Jewish
00:03:25.440 people today that still go to synagogue,
00:03:27.040 what we call our church, our building.
00:03:30.000 When he said ekklesia though, they
00:03:31.600 wouldn't have been thinking he's saying
00:03:33.360 he's going to build a a a new synagogue.
00:03:35.840 Because they didn't recognize that word
00:03:38.160 with a building, like many of us today
00:03:40.720 connect church to the building.
00:03:43.160 Instead, ekklesia is a governmental
00:03:46.040 authority or a governmental rule that
00:03:49.040 Jesus, when Jesus says, "I'm going to
00:03:50.720 build my church," he says, "I'm going to
00:03:53.080 build a new government. I'm going to
00:03:55.400 establish a new authority, a new way of
00:03:58.160 ruling, a new way of doing things that
00:04:00.640 his followers at the time they That's
00:04:03.720 why they thought he was going to
00:04:04.760 overthrow the Roman Empire. They thought
00:04:07.120 he was going to overthrow the political
00:04:08.920 system of the time because he used this
00:04:11.120 word that really does mean a new
00:04:12.920 authority, a new government. But, Jesus
00:04:15.640 had a much bigger plan
00:04:17.600 in mind. He was bringing a new kingdom,
00:04:20.519 a new way of living, a eternal kingdom
00:04:23.520 where he rules and reigns. Not a
00:04:25.760 political party, not a person, but he is
00:04:29.240 the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
00:04:31.760 Now, aside from the church, there's the
00:04:33.200 thing called the universal church. Many
00:04:35.120 people You may hear this word, the
00:04:37.080 universal church, or what's known as the
00:04:39.040 Catholic Church. Now, Catholic Church is
00:04:41.440 different in the context and use of the
00:04:43.840 Roman Catholic Church. Roman Catholic
00:04:46.240 Church is the Latin Church. Many of you
00:04:48.440 are familiar with those the churches
00:04:50.320 that are calling themselves Roman
00:04:51.320 Catholic. But, the Catholic Church, in
00:04:53.320 the word from the Greek katholikos, it
00:04:55.640 actually is a universal means universal,
00:04:58.400 which encompasses all Christians, all
00:05:00.960 believers, everyone who follows Jesus.
00:05:03.760 Their faith and trust is put in Jesus
00:05:05.640 Christ for all span This spans all time.
00:05:09.280 So, all the way back thousands of years
00:05:11.000 to today in all places, all locations,
00:05:14.000 this makes up the universal church. So,
00:05:17.760 the churches in this area, in this
00:05:19.680 state, in our country, all around the
00:05:22.040 globe, the ones who follow Jesus, who
00:05:24.919 preach the gospel of Jesus, the word of
00:05:26.840 God, and and follow him, they are part
00:05:29.240 of the universal church. It signifies a
00:05:32.360 global, inclusive body, rather than just
00:05:36.120 one local congregation.
00:05:39.400 Now, anybody who says they're part of
00:05:40.800 the universal church, but they don't go
00:05:42.480 to a local church, I don't believe
00:05:44.520 they're fully obeying what God has
00:05:46.640 commanded them to do. That as followers
00:05:48.920 of Jesus, we must be a part of a local
00:05:51.680 congregation. That the spirit of God
00:05:53.760 leads us and guides us and builds
00:05:56.160 builds up his local church, which is in
00:05:58.960 essence building up the universal
00:06:00.640 church. It this in this concept doesn't
00:06:03.240 apply anywhere else in life. I mean,
00:06:04.680 think about the United Nations. It's
00:06:06.960 like, I'm going to be a part of the
00:06:07.920 United Nations, but I don't want to
00:06:09.360 belong to any one nation. You couldn't
00:06:11.520 be accepted. That wouldn't make sense.
00:06:13.600 Or I'm going to be a part of the army,
00:06:15.560 but I'm not going to be in a battalion.
00:06:16.800 I'm not going to be in platoon. I'm not
00:06:18.040 going to be a part of a company. That's
00:06:19.760 called being rogue or going AWOL or
00:06:22.080 being completely in disobedience to what
00:06:24.240 the confines of what the organization is
00:06:26.640 doing. So, technically, you can be part
00:06:29.800 of the universal church. Meaning, you
00:06:31.400 can be saved. You can be going to
00:06:33.880 heaven. You can have your sins forgiven.
00:06:35.760 You can be a follower of Jesus in in
00:06:38.080 salvation effort without ever stepping
00:06:40.800 foot in a local church. However, I don't
00:06:43.800 believe we follow the commands of Jesus
00:06:46.360 or can really obey what he's called us
00:06:49.080 to do when we don't get ourselves
00:06:51.320 involved in a local church. Now, there's
00:06:53.520 times, there's seasons. You're checking
00:06:55.200 churches out. Maybe you're here checking
00:06:57.160 out Freedom Church for the first time
00:06:58.919 and you're trying to test the waters.
00:07:00.440 That's okay, but at some point, you have
00:07:02.600 to get connected to a local church. You
00:07:04.640 need to be involved with a local body to
00:07:07.640 really obey. And I want to show you
00:07:09.960 there's so many benefits to being a part
00:07:12.120 of a local church. One of them that
00:07:14.760 Paul talks about in the book of Hebrews,
00:07:16.160 the writer of Hebrews,
00:07:17.360 in verse chapter 10,
00:07:19.520 he says, "Let us consider how to stir up
00:07:22.480 one another to love and good works."
00:07:25.000 Now, we're pretty good at stirring each
00:07:26.360 other up, but it's supposed to be
00:07:28.160 stirring each other up to love and good
00:07:30.240 works. You know how how else you stir
00:07:32.320 each other up? Just make a political
00:07:33.840 post. Doesn't even matter what side.
00:07:35.640 Just pick something. Make a comment
00:07:37.640 about politics. You're going to stir up
00:07:39.480 half the people. Right? We stir one
00:07:41.360 another up, but it's supposed to be
00:07:43.720 stirring up one another to love and to
00:07:47.000 good works, not neglecting to meet
00:07:49.840 together.
00:07:51.080 Meeting together is not an option. He
00:07:54.040 says, "As is the habit of some." Some
00:07:56.720 people stop meeting there. Some don't
00:07:58.840 They don't put a priority on gathering
00:08:01.200 together. He says, "But encouraging one
00:08:04.440 another and all the more as you see the
00:08:07.160 day drawing near." Now, he uses two
00:08:11.040 times just in these two verses this
00:08:13.120 phrase of one another. Stir up one
00:08:15.360 another and encouraging one another.
00:08:18.240 There're over 50 verses that use that
00:08:21.040 phrase one another as instructions or
00:08:23.880 commands to us. He says, "Encourage one
00:08:26.480 another. Love one another. Pray for one
00:08:28.480 another. Forgive one another. Help one
00:08:30.760 another. Serve one another." All these
00:08:33.159 verses that How do we have the one
00:08:34.960 another verses? How do we obey those
00:08:37.200 without other people? So, being a rogue
00:08:40.360 Christian is not really a Christian.
00:08:42.520 It's something that we're being selfish,
00:08:44.120 or being focused on ourselves, rather
00:08:46.040 than doing what the word of God clearly
00:08:47.920 says dozens of times to serve, to love,
00:08:50.960 to be involved, to commit to one
00:08:53.800 another.
00:08:55.560 The church really does exist beyond
00:08:58.160 Sunday mornings. It It takes more than
00:09:01.200 just the Sunday gathering. This is the
00:09:02.680 main gathering, our corporate gatherings
00:09:04.440 on Sundays, but ultimately, if we're not
00:09:06.680 meeting outside of Sunday with other
00:09:08.400 people, we're not serving one another,
00:09:10.600 sharing meals with one another, we're
00:09:12.360 really missing out on so much more that
00:09:15.200 is to that's offered to Jesus's church.
00:09:18.440 So, what is the church?
00:09:20.440 We are the church, right? Who is the
00:09:21.680 church? We are the church. And just
00:09:23.920 throwing Any of Anybody out there Penn
00:09:25.480 State fans? Sorry, Pitt fans. Anybody
00:09:27.720 Penn State fans, right? My wife went to
00:09:29.400 Penn State, so we're a little bit of
00:09:30.839 Penn State fans. But what do they say at
00:09:32.680 Penn State? They say, "We are Penn
00:09:34.720 State." Right? The chant is, "We are
00:09:37.160 Penn State." Well, instead of Penn
00:09:38.560 State, cuz something way better than
00:09:39.720 Penn State is the church, right? So, we
00:09:41.840 can say, we are the church. So, we're
00:09:44.680 going to practice this. I want some
00:09:45.960 participation, all right? So, I'm going
00:09:47.680 to say we are, you say the church. We
00:09:49.960 are
00:09:51.640 We are
00:09:53.440 We are
00:09:55.080 That was a lot easier than I thought it
00:09:56.000 would be. So, good job. You guys are so
00:09:57.880 good at this. I'm going to just
00:09:58.840 encourage you. You're so smart. You're
00:10:00.760 so good. Thank you for participating in
00:10:02.640 my
00:10:03.600 um
00:10:04.320 fun. Uh Jesus said
00:10:06.760 it's more blessed to give than to
00:10:08.920 receive, but he also said, give as
00:10:11.480 freely as you have been given. What have
00:10:14.680 we been given? What have we received?
00:10:17.360 And I believe there's so many things
00:10:19.000 that we receive, that we get as benefits
00:10:21.840 of being a part of a local church. Now,
00:10:24.920 whenever we start to think about what do
00:10:26.920 I get from it, it really gets the focus
00:10:29.360 on ourselves rather than the bigger
00:10:30.960 picture. Like, think about any
00:10:32.680 relationship you've been in, whether
00:10:33.960 you're married dating, family, work when
00:10:37.160 we start we take the posture of what can
00:10:39.839 I get out of this? What can I get from
00:10:42.200 this person? What can that person do for
00:10:44.440 me? That's a toxic relationship. That's
00:10:47.640 selfish. That's self-fulfilling. That's
00:10:49.560 self-satisfying. But yet, so often we
00:10:52.839 have that same posture with the church.
00:10:55.160 What can the church give me? What can I
00:10:57.240 get from the church? How do I get
00:10:59.600 something from the church? Rather than
00:11:01.600 saying, how do I bless that person? How
00:11:04.000 do I add value to that my family
00:11:06.360 members? How do I help the church? How
00:11:08.560 do I serve the church? How do I
00:11:10.240 contribute in some way? And that makes a
00:11:13.000 healthy, strong, and stable
00:11:15.200 relationship. But we do receive many
00:11:18.000 things from being a part of the church.
00:11:19.960 Four of those that I want to bring up
00:11:22.000 for today, and as we go into these next
00:11:24.480 couple verses, we talked about Acts
00:11:26.440 chapter 1 in the first part of Acts 2
00:11:28.640 last Sunday. Today, we're going to look
00:11:30.680 at Acts chapter 2 and to Acts chapter 3.
00:11:33.720 Uh I didn't have to think or pray too
00:11:34.920 hard about it. I just read the next
00:11:36.520 text. But we're going to follow through
00:11:38.360 cuz we're really looking at what is the
00:11:40.240 church, who is the church, and the
00:11:42.160 church provides for These are four of
00:11:44.480 the things you it provides.
00:11:46.200 This is provides salvation through
00:11:48.000 Jesus, provides family,
00:11:50.760 provides community,
00:11:52.560 and provides healing.
00:11:54.480 And that's what we see in these next
00:11:55.840 couple passages.
00:11:57.480 And just to recap a little bit, in Acts
00:11:59.240 chapter 2 verse 37, last week we talked
00:12:02.200 about how Pentecost, the Holy Spirit
00:12:04.440 came and and filled the believers of
00:12:07.000 Jesus. They were waiting for the Holy
00:12:08.360 Spirit to come. Holy Spirit comes and
00:12:10.440 fills the believers. There's like
00:12:12.240 tongues of fire resting above their
00:12:14.040 heads. They're speaking in unknown
00:12:16.000 languages, preaching the gospel, sharing
00:12:17.960 with people that they didn't know these
00:12:19.640 languages. Thousands of people are
00:12:21.640 coming to know Jesus. And the people And
00:12:23.760 Peter gets up and he starts preaching to
00:12:25.160 them. He starts explaining this to them
00:12:27.160 what's going to what's happening. And
00:12:28.760 the people respond with, "Brothers, what
00:12:31.280 shall we do?" They hear the good news.
00:12:33.840 They hear a good teaching. They hear
00:12:35.560 truth. And their response is, "Well, now
00:12:38.240 what? What are we going to do?" And
00:12:40.360 Peter says to them, "Repent and be
00:12:42.240 baptized, every one of you, in the name
00:12:44.320 of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of
00:12:47.000 your sins, and you will receive the gift
00:12:49.880 of the Holy Spirit."
00:12:51.680 See, the church, the people, you, are
00:12:54.280 God's plan A for the world.
00:12:56.760 The work that Jesus did for salvation is
00:12:59.200 already done. Jesus did the work. We
00:13:01.400 don't work for salvation. We can't do
00:13:03.920 anything to make somebody be saved.
00:13:06.120 Jesus already did the salvation work on
00:13:08.640 the cross. He was nailed to the cross,
00:13:10.640 lived a perfect sinless life, was buried
00:13:13.000 and rose from the dead. He already did
00:13:15.680 the work, but he does call us as the
00:13:17.680 church to help other people encounter
00:13:20.640 him, to know him, to point people to
00:13:23.440 him. And people say often that there's
00:13:25.920 no way that there's only one way to
00:13:27.280 heaven. There's no way that only Jesus
00:13:29.560 is the is the way to heaven. And guess
00:13:31.240 what? If you have a problem with that,
00:13:32.680 you think that's too exclusive, take it
00:13:34.640 up with Jesus. Because Jesus says, "I am
00:13:37.120 the way, I am the truth, and I am the
00:13:38.800 life, that no one comes to the Father
00:13:41.520 except through me." I simply agree with
00:13:44.240 Jesus. Any of you agree with Jesus? If
00:13:46.920 you agree with Jesus, then you believe
00:13:48.800 that the only way to heaven is through
00:13:51.000 him. He said it, not me. I disagree with
00:13:53.760 him. So, if you disagree with that, take
00:13:55.760 it up with him. But the church is the
00:13:57.920 best place, I believe the best place to
00:14:00.400 learn about God, to grow in your faith,
00:14:03.320 and to truly take steps within your
00:14:06.200 salvation. Not to earn salvation, but
00:14:09.640 because of your salvation. As a result
00:14:12.560 of you being saved, your sins are
00:14:14.520 forgiven. God's redeemed you. He's
00:14:16.600 restored you. He's paid the debt that
00:14:18.840 you could never pay. Now, you take
00:14:21.080 steps. How you take those steps, I
00:14:23.520 believe they're best done within the
00:14:25.800 church.
00:14:28.960 Second thing church provides is family.
00:14:31.560 Acts 2:42
00:14:33.440 All the believers devoted themselves to
00:14:35.320 the apostles' teaching, to fellowship,
00:14:37.760 and to sharing in meals, including the
00:14:40.360 Lord's Supper, and to prayer.
00:14:43.360 Now, I grew up in a home that was just
00:14:45.440 chaotic. Anybody else have a chaotic
00:14:47.120 home life? If your parents are in the
00:14:48.240 room, you don't have to raise your hand.
00:14:49.800 They probably have both their hands up
00:14:51.320 cuz you were the chaos. But, um
00:14:53.800 I grew up with six six of us, five
00:14:55.520 siblings in a home, separated parents,
00:14:58.080 there's just all kinds of chaos. And and
00:15:00.280 dinner, sitting down for family dinner,
00:15:02.560 just didn't happen. Right? Maybe cuz
00:15:04.560 there were six of us, and we all had
00:15:05.440 different schedules and stuff going on.
00:15:06.800 But, the reality is
00:15:08.480 growing up in an unchurched home or
00:15:10.839 unstable home, I have found that as much
00:15:13.680 as I love my biological family, the
00:15:16.280 church really is my family. You are my
00:15:19.040 family. You're my brothers and sisters
00:15:21.000 and uncles and aunts and cousins and all
00:15:22.920 the above that we are the family of God.
00:15:25.640 That within the church and no matter how
00:15:28.040 bad your biological family was, your
00:15:30.840 upbringing was, or maybe your family
00:15:32.480 life right now is, you can find family
00:15:35.360 within the church. People who love you,
00:15:37.920 care for you, support you, help you
00:15:40.040 follow out all those one anothers.
00:15:42.080 Perfect? Absolutely not. But we love
00:15:45.040 each other and we we're supposed to love
00:15:47.000 each other like a good family loves each
00:15:49.760 other. But we see the believers, they
00:15:51.280 what they did is they devoted themselves
00:15:53.000 to the apostles' teaching. Now, the
00:15:54.760 apostles' teaching, it's the word of
00:15:56.560 God. That the apostles were the ones who
00:15:58.720 walked with Jesus, followed Jesus, were
00:16:00.360 there, they witnessed him, they saw him
00:16:02.840 uh at post-resurrection.
00:16:04.800 Following the teachings, really in our
00:16:06.520 context today means we follow the word
00:16:08.440 of God. We're devoted to the word of
00:16:10.680 God. Devoted to fellowship, of spending
00:16:13.840 time together. Not just for an hour and
00:16:16.360 a half on Sunday, but throughout the
00:16:18.800 week as well. Like I I help people I
00:16:22.160 think it's really we complicate this
00:16:23.640 thing called doing life together. Like
00:16:26.000 if you're going to eat dinner and I'm
00:16:27.440 going to eat dinner about the same time,
00:16:29.560 what if we ate dinner together?
00:16:32.160 It's like
00:16:32.960 we could do that? Yes, you can do that.
00:16:35.760 Like invite your invite people to your
00:16:37.920 home and so what if it's not clean, it's
00:16:40.280 not perfect. Let's just be real. Let's
00:16:42.280 get over the whole pretending our house
00:16:44.360 is perfect, our kids are perfect, our
00:16:46.280 clothes are perfect. Like nobody's
00:16:48.000 perfect, right? So let's just be real. I
00:16:49.720 think we break down some of those
00:16:50.960 barriers to really be devoted to the
00:16:53.520 word of God, to the fellowship, to
00:16:55.560 sharing in meals, including the Lord's
00:16:58.520 Supper, which we call communion, and to
00:17:00.839 prayer. Like if you want to know how to
00:17:04.640 read the Bible, how to pray, how to be
00:17:06.720 more involved, get around people who are
00:17:08.839 doing it and learning as well.
00:17:10.760 I didn't learn what healthy family was
00:17:13.079 until I started coming to church. Until
00:17:15.599 couples started inviting me into their
00:17:17.000 home and I saw how they talked to each
00:17:18.839 other. I said, "That's new. My parents
00:17:20.720 don't talk to each other like that." And
00:17:22.560 wait, you don't yell and hit the kid
00:17:23.839 first? That's what I grew up with,
00:17:26.079 right? Instead, you I got to see healthy
00:17:28.240 family. I got to see healthy
00:17:29.320 relationships, healthy conversations.
00:17:31.520 So, within the church, you you can you
00:17:34.440 see and experience family. In the early
00:17:37.080 church, they didn't just fit God in,
00:17:40.040 they built their lives around God.
00:17:42.560 Everything was built around God. Their
00:17:45.240 devotion to him, their love for him.
00:17:47.240 They were so committed to one another
00:17:50.120 because they were committed to God
00:17:51.360 first. In verse 43, it says, "A deep
00:17:53.960 sense of awe came over them all as they
00:17:56.880 were committed to being together." And
00:17:59.200 then the apostles performed many
00:18:00.840 miraculous signs and wonders, and all
00:18:03.240 the believers met together in one place,
00:18:06.840 shared everything they had, they sold
00:18:09.520 their property and possessions, and
00:18:11.800 shared the money with those in need. The
00:18:14.680 early church was deeply connected.
00:18:17.680 Deeply connected. We're in the most
00:18:19.320 disconnected, isolated, lonely time, I
00:18:22.200 believe, in our culture. Yet, we have
00:18:23.960 all this technology, all the social
00:18:25.880 media platforms, yet loneliness and
00:18:28.280 isolation is at an all-time reported
00:18:30.240 high.
00:18:31.480 What if we got back to some of the
00:18:32.960 basics? What if we got back to
00:18:34.600 prioritizing the church, prioritizing
00:18:36.880 the people that were called to do life
00:18:39.040 together with in a local gathering of
00:18:41.640 people, not just surface level, but
00:18:44.240 deeply connected to each other? See, the
00:18:47.280 early church, they carried each other's
00:18:48.760 burdens. It said that there was no need
00:18:51.600 that they shared and they met needs.
00:18:53.480 They carried each other's financial
00:18:54.920 burdens. They carried each other's
00:18:56.400 commitments. When people have babies,
00:18:58.160 like it takes more effort from people to
00:19:00.320 help out, and I love that our church
00:19:01.920 does meal trains and helps with people
00:19:03.960 and supports people. When someone's
00:19:05.320 sick, it's like, "Hey, can I bring you
00:19:07.000 some food? Can I visit you in the
00:19:08.720 hospital? Can I bring you something to
00:19:10.320 help you out?" That's exactly what the
00:19:12.960 early church did.
00:19:14.880 They were not the same people. They
00:19:16.880 didn't have the same backgrounds, but
00:19:18.880 what they had was a common unity.
00:19:21.600 They pursued unity.
00:19:24.280 They didn't just love one another in
00:19:25.880 word, but in action as well. And when
00:19:28.320 that happens, when unity and action
00:19:30.120 takes place, the church becomes a
00:19:32.520 family, not just a place.
00:19:36.360 The church becomes a family.
00:19:39.280 But this only happens with
00:19:40.640 intentionality.
00:19:42.320 You never drift into unity. In fact, I
00:19:44.480 believe that the fallen state of our
00:19:46.280 world, you drift into division. You
00:19:48.160 drift into fighting and arguing and
00:19:49.880 disagreeing with people. Maybe it's part
00:19:51.680 of our human nature. We just want to
00:19:52.760 disagree with people. So, you have to be
00:19:54.720 intentionally focused to make time to
00:19:57.480 meet with people, to take time to be at
00:19:99.560 church, to take time to get your kids to
00:20:02.040 have a playdate with other people's
00:20:03.360 kids, right? Make sure to ask the
00:20:04.640 parents first. But having time together
00:20:07.280 takes intentionality. Unity takes
00:20:10.560 intentionality. And when we start to do
00:20:12.840 that, that's when church becomes a
00:20:15.120 family. Not looking at what do I get
00:20:17.240 from it, but how can I help somebody
00:20:19.200 else?
00:20:20.400 Third thing the church provides,
00:20:22.120 community.
00:20:23.520 Very similar to family, but a little bit
00:20:25.720 different variation here in verse 46, it
00:20:28.360 says they, the believers of Jesus, they
00:20:30.280 worshiped together at the temple each
00:20:33.120 day.
00:20:34.240 Every day they said they were going to
00:20:35.720 the temple. They were worshiping
00:20:37.040 together. They met in homes for the
00:20:39.280 Lord's Supper, that's communion, and
00:20:41.320 they shared their meals with great joy
00:20:43.880 and generosity.
00:20:45.760 They spent time together. They worshiped
00:20:48.480 together. You know what happens on
00:20:49.640 Sunday when we worship together is God's
00:20:52.400 word says that he inhabits the praises
00:20:54.560 of his people. I believe his presence is
00:20:57.320 more noticeable. It's more felt. He's
00:20:59.400 more It's not that he's suddenly more
00:21:01.080 present, but he is more noticeably
00:21:02.960 present. He's more tangibly present.
00:21:04.960 That there's a blessing that comes when
00:21:07.560 God's people are worshipping him
00:21:09.680 together. They met in homes, they shared
00:21:11.880 meals, and they did it with great joy
00:21:14.120 and generosity.
00:21:15.840 I was just at a a birthday party last
00:21:17.680 yesterday, and there was just such joy
00:21:19.720 in the house. There was such life,
00:21:21.320 right? When you go to a birthday party,
00:21:22.520 there's usually a lot of laughter,
00:21:23.680 there's a lot of joy, there's
00:21:24.960 celebration, there's gifts that are
00:21:27.560 given as well. There's a generosity
00:21:29.800 that's involved when people gather
00:21:31.800 together. Not saying we have to have a
00:21:33.440 birthday party every day, but what if we
00:21:35.480 gathered together with joy and
00:21:37.320 generosity, sharing with one another?
00:21:41.560 You know, worship is one of those one of
00:21:43.040 the best things you can do for your
00:21:45.480 mental uh health because
00:21:48.760 we get so focused on all of our problems
00:21:51.000 and our circumstances,
00:21:52.840 and they're valid. You may have very
00:21:54.760 real challenges, very real hardships.
00:21:59.280 But when we worship, what it does is
00:22:01.440 reminds us how big God is and how small
00:22:04.320 our problems are in comparison to how
00:22:06.680 big our God is. Worship changes our our
00:22:09.800 mindset, it changes our heart, it
00:22:11.640 changes our it can change our posture of
00:22:13.640 how we look at and view the rest of the
00:22:16.360 world. Because God is so good, he's so
00:22:18.880 faithful, he's so trusting, why do I
00:22:21.040 worry? Why do I stress? That last song
00:22:23.960 we sang that peace, be still, right?
00:22:27.280 Speaking to yourself, it's like that's a
00:22:28.800 that's a self song, right? Be still,
00:22:30.720 calm the rage inside me, calm the sea,
00:22:33.240 calm the storm. I believe God wants to
00:22:35.240 calm some storms inside of your minds
00:22:37.680 today.
00:22:38.680 To bring some peace to you.
00:22:40.920 So they worshipped together, they met in
00:22:42.320 homes, they shared meals, praising God
00:22:45.280 all together.
00:22:46.960 There was no time for negativity. There
00:22:48.760 was no time for talks of politics. They
00:22:50.840 were so focused on God and spending time
00:22:53.080 together, they could not fight with one
00:22:55.520 another.
00:22:56.640 I mean,
00:22:57.880 the devil would say
00:22:59.480 that we should be competing with one
00:23:00.640 another.
00:23:01.640 Right? Like Freedom Church, we we eight
00:23:03.520 weeks old uh as it's our eighth Sunday
00:23:06.040 services, we should be competing with
00:23:08.280 every other church, right?
00:23:10.040 That's what the devil would want us to
00:23:11.280 do. He wants Christians to fight
00:23:12.960 Christians. And unfortunately, he's been
00:23:14.680 winning in many environments. But I want
00:23:17.040 to let you know, we are so committed to
00:23:18.680 unity of Freedom Church with other
00:23:20.600 churches, ones who are preaching the
00:23:22.240 gospel, who are speaking Jesus, who are
00:23:24.560 really trying to reach people, that even
00:23:26.400 this past week on Monday, I went to
00:23:28.200 Amplify Church for their staff meeting
00:23:30.160 and executive team meeting. Met with
00:23:32.080 Pastor Ed, talked to him and said, "Hey,
00:23:34.320 what's Can we just work together? Can we
00:23:35.800 talk together? What can that look like?"
00:23:37.840 And we don't know what it looks like. We
00:23:39.040 said, "Let's just be intentional on
00:23:41.240 building relationships." I was messaging
00:23:44.000 Pastor Dan at Murrysville Lions Church.
00:23:46.080 They have their blessing of the bikes
00:23:47.120 today. With bad weather, I don't know if
00:23:48.920 it's still raining. I've been outside in
00:23:50.040 a couple hours, but blessing of the
00:23:51.440 bikes. I was like, "We're praying for
00:23:52.680 you. We're praying that that God God
00:23:54.120 would open the skies, that it'll be dry,
00:23:55.720 they'd have a great turnout, people
00:23:57.200 would get saved." And praying for them.
00:23:59.920 Yet last night, went to Cornerstone for
00:24:01.640 their 6:00 p.m. Saturday night service
00:24:03.160 and watched dozens of people get
00:24:04.400 baptized and just celebrate the kingdom
00:24:07.280 of God and what God is doing through
00:24:08.600 their church as well.
00:24:10.000 Why is that not normal for more of us to
00:24:12.480 say like, "We're going to build the
00:24:14.000 kingdom of God. God's going to build the
00:24:15.680 kingdom using us. I want to be in unity,
00:24:18.880 focused on the kingdom, not just the
00:24:20.960 name of Freedom Church or my name." I
00:24:23.360 believe God's going to bless that
00:24:24.880 because there's unity. And as Pastor
00:24:27.160 Paul at Cornerstone and Dan and Ed, and
00:24:29.000 we consistently intentionally put our
00:24:31.320 time together, we say, "Let's be in
00:24:33.080 unity. Let's pray for one another."
00:24:34.680 Imagine what God could do if dozens of
00:24:37.320 churches in this region really stopped
00:24:39.520 competing and start working together.
00:24:41.680 We'd see tens of thousands of people
00:24:43.320 come to know Jesus. I believe it. I
00:24:45.160 believe people would start finding
00:24:46.080 freedom from drug addiction, from
00:24:47.800 suicide. We'd see people's lives change
00:24:50.200 and transformed. But it takes an
00:24:52.000 intentionality not just on the pastors,
00:24:54.040 but on all of us to really be Let's
00:24:56.520 start with those right in this room. How
00:24:58.640 do we grow closer together? How do we
00:25:00.560 spend time together? Really be in unity
00:25:03.640 cuz there's so many people's lives at
00:25:05.640 stake.
00:25:07.760 Fourth thing the church provides is
00:25:09.440 healing.
00:25:10.680 And I give you a little context here.
00:25:12.760 So, we just read the end of chapter 2
00:25:15.120 right into chapter 3 in the book of
00:25:16.640 Acts. Peter and John, they're going to
00:25:18.960 the temple as they typically do. And
00:25:21.160 outside the temple, there's this man
00:25:22.840 who's lame. He He can't work. He's been
00:25:24.960 there for about 40 years and he's
00:25:27.080 begging for money.
00:25:28.920 Which was common in that time. So, Peter
00:25:30.640 and John, they're walking by and this
00:25:31.800 man, he starts to beg them beg for them.
00:25:33.760 He says, "Hey, can you give me
00:25:34.560 something?" And Peter says this in verse
00:25:36.880 6. Acts 3:6, Peter said, "I have no
00:25:40.680 silver and gold. But what I do have, I
00:25:43.800 give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ
00:25:46.800 of Nazareth, rise up and walk." And he
00:25:49.520 took him by the right hand and raised
00:25:51.520 him up and immediately his feet and
00:25:54.480 ankles were made strong. Now, this was
00:25:57.960 something that we read that Jesus did
00:26:00.320 often. Everywhere Jesus went, he touched
00:26:02.480 people. He healed people. He spoke a
00:26:04.160 word and people were physically healed.
00:26:06.800 He rose Lazarus from the dead. That
00:26:08.880 people were healed. That the Not just in
00:26:11.800 Jesus when he walked, but his apostles,
00:26:14.200 his disciples, they would walk and Jesus
00:26:16.840 would heal people through them. That God
00:26:19.160 is a healer. God isn't just something
00:26:22.120 That's not something he does, it's who
00:26:23.720 he is. It's part of his nature. And
00:26:26.320 these guys, Peter and John, they walk by
00:26:28.600 and they tell this man to get up and
00:26:30.560 walk. Now, what's interesting is they
00:26:33.040 didn't give him what he was asking for.
00:26:35.480 What was he asking for? He was asking
00:26:37.120 for money. He said, "Will you give me
00:26:38.800 some silver or gold?" And they said, "We
00:26:40.040 don't have that to give you, but we have
00:26:41.720 something so much more valuable.
00:26:43.520 Something so much better."
00:26:45.360 And I believe there's some of you today,
00:26:47.200 you're asking God for the wrong thing.
00:26:49.800 Maybe you're asking God for more money.
00:26:51.440 Maybe you're asking God for some
00:26:52.680 breakthrough. Maybe you're asking him
00:26:54.120 for somebody to be your spouse. And And
00:26:56.160 maybe God's saying, "That's not the
00:26:57.800 right thing to ask for. I got something
00:26:59.480 better for you. I have something so much
00:27:01.720 more valuable." All you have to do, I
00:27:03.640 think, is shift our focus, shift our
00:27:05.360 prayer to not telling God yes or no
00:27:08.080 request, but say, "God, what do you have
00:27:10.360 for me?
00:27:11.440 God, do you have a healing work for me?"
00:27:13.240 I believe God still heals.
00:27:16.000 There's no reason why God would have
00:27:17.560 stopped healing because simply because
00:27:20.440 some date change or something happened.
00:27:22.760 God's word is true today as it was
00:27:25.560 before. He's the same God now as he was
00:27:27.880 thousands of years ago.
00:27:29.760 And what's the result of this man
00:27:30.840 getting healed? In verse 8, it says,
00:27:33.080 "Leaping up, he stood and began to walk.
00:27:36.800 He entered the temple with them walking
00:27:39.000 and leaping and praising God, and all
00:27:42.280 the people saw him walking and praising
00:27:43.880 God." Now,
00:27:45.320 when it wasn't like they stood him up
00:27:47.400 and people say, "Oh, they're probably
00:27:48.640 like carrying him." Like, read the next
00:27:50.600 couple verses. He You don't leap and
00:27:53.200 jump on ankles and feet that are not
00:27:55.120 able to hold you. He's proving and
00:27:57.120 showing that he has been healed. And all
00:28:00.040 the people saw him, and the people were
00:28:01.760 actually amazed. The next couple verses
00:28:04.120 said they're astonished. And Peter says,
00:28:06.280 "Why are you so surprised? Why are you
00:28:08.880 surprised that God healed this man?"
00:28:11.760 Now,
00:28:12.920 in my own life, I remember the very
00:28:14.440 first time that I believed in healing.
00:28:17.080 And it was because I received a physical
00:28:18.800 healing. I had a really bad accident. I
00:28:20.840 fell on a ladder and
00:28:22.280 bent my ankle really bad. It was a bad
00:28:24.000 sprain. Doctor said, "It would have been
00:28:25.520 better if I broke it. It would have
00:28:26.640 healed better." So, it didn't heal
00:28:28.360 right. I didn't get proper treatment. I
00:28:30.200 had this massive ball on the side of my
00:28:31.800 ankle, and for years, like 5 years, I
00:28:33.680 limped. I walked with a limp. And it
00:28:36.480 wasn't until I was in worship service
00:28:38.840 where I was worshiping God, and I
00:28:40.280 actually at the time, I'll be honest, I
00:28:41.720 was like kind of hesitant and less
00:28:44.120 demonstrative in worship, and I felt
00:28:46.440 like a ball of fire went through my foot
00:28:48.640 and all the way up my leg. And my ankle
00:28:51.120 movement movement came back and there
00:28:52.760 was no pain, no discomfort, and I could
00:28:54.840 walk fine. I actually walked up on this
00:28:56.960 very stage and jumped off because I was
00:28:58.960 testing it. And thankfully, God healed
00:29:01.200 it, and that was years ago. I've had
00:29:03.720 gallstones. I was having gallstone
00:29:05.360 attacks that were just debilitating me.
00:29:07.480 If you've ever had gallstone attacks,
00:29:08.840 you know how horribly painful that can
00:29:10.640 be. You can't do anything or function
00:29:12.160 for like 30, 45 minutes. I went, got
00:29:14.400 scans, and found two stones in there.
00:29:16.080 They said, "The only option you got to
00:29:17.120 cut them out." So, I scheduled the
00:29:18.640 surgery, went and did all the pre-op
00:29:20.640 stuff, got my esophagus checked, got all
00:29:22.680 that stuff, and right before the the
00:29:24.680 surgery, I just really felt like God
00:29:26.200 said, "Are you not going to trust me to
00:29:28.000 heal you first?" I said, "Okay." I
00:29:30.040 canceled the surgery. That was years
00:29:32.160 ago. I don't know if I still have a
00:29:33.480 gallbladder or not, but I don't have any
00:29:34.880 attacks, no effects, and I go, "God
00:29:37.560 healed." God still I cannot be convinced
00:29:40.680 God does not heal. There's too much
00:29:42.600 evidence objectively I've seen with my
00:29:45.120 high blood pressure, gone overnight.
00:29:47.760 Went real high, prayed, down to 120 over
00:29:50.240 80. Anybody explain that to me. Multiple
00:29:52.600 times where doctors and nurses check
00:29:54.840 things out. That's just my personal
00:29:56.440 stories. I don't I I hear so many other
00:29:59.080 stories of people being physically
00:30:01.160 healed. Now, sometimes he heals
00:30:04.200 instantly. Sometimes he doesn't heal.
00:30:07.280 Not in that timing, or maybe there's a
00:30:08.760 different way he wants to do it. I did
00:30:10.920 dental work a couple days ago. I'm like,
00:30:12.480 "God, heal me." And he's not doing it I
00:30:14.480 like instantly. I I want him to heal me
00:30:16.480 right now, but maybe he's going to heal
00:30:18.120 me over the next couple weeks, and
00:30:19.120 that's fine. But I've seen too many
00:30:21.200 miraculous healings, hearing story after
00:30:24.160 story, and just met somebody this week.
00:30:26.400 Their child had brain cancer, terminal
00:30:28.360 brain cancer. No hope, probably have a
00:30:30.520 couple weeks to months. He's 29 years
00:30:33.120 old. He wasn't supposed to make it to
00:30:34.520 his first birthday. They didn't have any
00:30:36.880 other explanation than it's a miracle
00:30:38.720 that God healed this kid. Again, there's
00:30:40.880 a story after story, and when I share
00:30:42.560 those, it's not at all to boast about
00:30:44.680 me. I didn't heal anybody. I don't heal
00:30:46.880 myself. God heals. I want to encourage
00:30:50.160 you, inspire you to believe and have a
00:30:52.600 faith that believes God does heal. He
00:30:55.040 wants to heal. And if we give him a
00:30:57.000 chance, even if you prayed a hundred
00:30:58.720 times, believe that God wants to heal.
00:31:01.840 Now,
00:31:02.800 I'm going to share a verse. I want to
00:31:04.400 disclaimer this. It's separate from what
00:31:06.680 we're reading in the book of Acts.
00:31:08.080 They're not connected verses. They're
00:31:09.480 just separate accounts. God heals
00:31:11.720 instantaneously. Sometimes he heals
00:31:13.320 without even praying. God can do it
00:31:15.320 miraculously. This is a separate a
00:31:17.440 separate case and a separate thing that
00:31:19.360 I really believe God wanted me to share
00:31:21.240 in James 5:16.
00:31:23.480 James, the writer
00:31:24.960 of this, is therefore confess your sins
00:31:26.880 to one another and pray for one another
00:31:29.560 that you may be healed. The prayer of a
00:31:32.520 righteous person has great power as it
00:31:35.360 is working. Now,
00:31:37.560 there are times when we are in sin or
00:31:40.400 sinful lifestyles or consistently
00:31:42.640 rebelling against what we know is true
00:31:44.240 to be to what God wants us to do, and I
00:31:46.360 believe there are effects of those sins
00:31:48.200 that can be sickness, that can be
00:31:50.640 problems, that can be bad circumstances.
00:31:53.240 However, just because you have a
00:31:55.160 sickness or an ailment or bad
00:31:57.480 circumstances does not mean that you are
00:32:00.240 in sin. And many times people have
00:32:03.440 churches especially, maybe you've
00:32:05.000 unfortunately experienced this, said
00:32:06.720 because you're you have this bad
00:32:08.240 situation, it must because you're in
00:32:10.240 sin.
00:32:11.280 I don't believe that at all. Now, we all
00:32:13.760 have some level of sin that we need to
00:32:15.280 consistently repent of. We need to
00:32:16.920 consistently turn towards God from. We
00:32:19.000 need to consistently confess.
00:32:21.440 But I don't believe that God says,
00:32:22.760 "Well, you've been bad, so here's a
00:32:23.880 sickness." Because there are people who
00:32:25.800 are genuinely seeking God,
00:32:27.680 wholeheartedly trying to live right,
00:32:29.240 doing their best, and they still get
00:32:31.120 cancer. They still get diseases. They
00:32:33.120 still die.
00:32:34.440 Why is that? We live in a fallen world.
00:32:37.400 We live in a world that's corrupt. The
00:32:39.120 devil is active, and there's consequences
00:32:41.240 just because of humanity's sin, not
00:32:43.120 necessarily because of your sin.
00:32:45.360 However,
00:32:46.880 if you are in sin, if you're stuck in a
00:32:49.000 sin cycle, you're constantly repeating the
00:32:51.040 same things over and over again, James
00:32:53.640 gives us some guidance on what to do.
00:32:56.280 In those situations, he says confess your
00:32:58.320 sins to one another, pray for one
00:33:00.600 another, that you may be healed. That God,
00:33:03.200 when we confess our sins to God, when
00:33:05.120 we go to God and say, "God, I messed up,
00:33:06.680 forgive me," he promises that he is
00:33:09.120 faithful, he can he forgives us of all of
00:33:11.440 our unrighteousness, he washes us clean,
00:33:13.680 and he cleanses us.
00:33:15.760 However, there's this there's this thing
00:33:17.320 about confessing to one another that is,
00:33:19.400 I think, brings healing. That when you
00:33:21.840 have a trusted Christian, a trusted
00:33:23.760 mentor, a pastor, a friend, a group,
00:33:26.160 a a group leader that you can confess
00:33:28.160 like, "Hey, I've really been struggling
00:33:29.680 with anger. Hey, I've really been
00:33:31.040 struggling with pornography. Hey, I'm
00:33:32.480 struggling with my language. Hey, I've
00:33:33.880 been disqualified from my job," whatever
00:33:35.560 that that that real thing is for you,
00:33:37.760 there is freedom when we confess those
00:33:39.880 things. When you get those dark secrets out
00:33:42.240 into the light, it loses its power.
00:33:45.320 The enemy relies on your secrets. He
00:33:47.880 relies on keeping those hidden things in
00:33:49.600 the dark because as long as they're in
00:33:51.120 the dark, he can hold shame over you,
00:33:53.360 guilt over you, condemn you, make you
00:33:55.320 feel like you're not good enough, you're
00:33:56.880 not worthy, God can't use you, God doesn't
00:33:58.720 love you, why do you go to church, you're
00:34:00.640 a hypocrite, and all these other lies that
00:34:02.800 he speaks. But when you get it out into the
00:34:05.160 light with somebody you trust, who loves
00:34:07.120 you, who will walk with you, who won't
00:34:09.000 judge you, who won't condemn you, but say
00:34:11.240 "I love you, let me pray with you, let me
00:34:12.800 help you," that brings healing. That
00:34:15.560 brings freedom.
00:34:17.320 That brings a peace that you can't get
00:34:19.480 anywhere else.
00:34:21.080 It breaks the hold of the enemy on your
00:34:23.000 life.
00:34:24.080 That's why community and family in the
00:34:26.360 church is so important.
00:34:28.160 You know, this past week, I was reading
00:34:30.360 a story about a tragedy, an absolute
00:34:31.879 injustice was was true, and somebody made
00:34:34.000 a choice to forgive the person who committed
00:34:36.560 the crime against their family. And as I was
00:34:39.520 reading this story, I was so moved by the
00:34:41.840 forgiveness that this person offered. It
00:34:44.200 wasn't easy. It wasn't simple. It took
00:34:46.400 time, but they chose to forgive.
00:34:48.880 And I thought to myself, "How many of
00:34:50.400 us are holding on to hurts, holding on
00:34:52.480 to bitterness, holding on to resentment,
00:34:55.080 because somebody wronged us?"
00:34:57.480 And because of that hurt, we isolate. We
00:35:00.080 pull away from community, we pull away
00:35:01.480 from family, we pull away from the
00:35:03.040 church. That not Satan would want nothing
00:35:05.120 more than for you to be isolated, alone,
00:35:08.080 wounded, and bitter. I'm I'm so it saddens
00:35:10.560 me.
00:35:11.760 But what if you chose forgiveness? What
00:35:14.280 if you chose to confess that hurt to a
00:35:16.840 trusted friend, to pray together, so that
00:35:19.440 you could be healed?
00:35:21.160 The church is meant to be a place of
00:35:22.840 healing. A hospital for the broken, for
00:35:25.800 the hurting, for those who are struggling.
00:35:28.240 Not a museum for saints who have it all
00:35:30.240 together, but a place where broken people
00:35:32.480 come to meet a whole and holy God who can
00:35:34.600 heal them.
00:35:36.200 And as we close today, I want us to really
00:35:38.280 reflect on what the church is and who we
00:35:40.640 are as the church.
00:35:42.200 We are the church.
00:35:43.680 We're called to offer salvation through
00:35:45.680 Jesus, to be a family, to build a
00:35:48.160 community, and to bring healing to a
00:35:50.360 hurting world.
00:35:51.680 So, I want to ask you today: Are you
00:35:53.640 fully engaged in a local body? Are you
00:35:56.280 stepping up to be part of the family, or
00:35:58.360 are you just watching from the sidelines?
00:36:00.600 Because God has called you to be an active
00:36:02.800 part of his ekklesia, his called-out
00:36:05.160 ones, to make a difference in this world.
00:36:07.800 Let's pray together.
00:36:09.640 Father, we thank you so much for your
00:36:11.840 church. We thank you that you didn't
00:36:13.680 just leave us as individuals to figure
00:36:15.520 this life out on our own, but you gave
00:36:17.680 us a body, a family, a community.
00:36:20.160 God, I pray for anyone here today who is
00:36:22.360 feeling isolated, feeling alone, or
00:36:24.480 carrying deep wounds. I pray that you would
00:36:26.880 bring healing to their hearts today.
00:36:29.080 Give them the courage to reach out, to
00:36:31.040 connect with others, to confess their
00:36:33.000 struggles, and to experience the true
00:36:35.160 freedom and healing that comes through
00:36:37.000 your church.
00:36:38.280 Lord, help us to be a people who love
00:36:40.320 one another, who serve one another, and
00:36:42.360 who build your kingdom together in unity.
00:36:45.000 In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.