WEBVTT 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:09.060 We continue the sermon series, Earth, Wind, and 00:00:09.060 --> 00:00:10.779 Fire, where we're looking at the first eight 00:00:10.779 --> 00:00:13.880 chapters of the book of Acts, the start of the 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:17.820 church. And we just sang, again, one of my favorite 00:00:17.820 --> 00:00:21.800 hymns, I'll hail the power of Jesus' name. And 00:00:21.800 --> 00:00:25.589 power. And as I was trying to write this sermon 00:00:25.589 --> 00:00:28.350 this week, that, I almost had the worship team 00:00:28.350 --> 00:00:31.070 and the worship group change the hymn because 00:00:31.070 --> 00:00:35.070 that word power just really, really threw me 00:00:35.070 --> 00:00:38.509 for some reason. As being a lead pastor of a 00:00:38.509 --> 00:00:40.869 church, do I have power and authority? Sure. 00:00:41.030 --> 00:00:44.189 In a position of leadership, we do. Do I have 00:00:44.189 --> 00:00:47.450 that as maybe a husband and a father? Sure. That 00:00:47.450 --> 00:00:49.770 in these positions that the Lord has put me in, 00:00:49.829 --> 00:00:52.590 there is power and authority. You in your job. 00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:55.840 or your families, you may have that, right? Especially 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:57.820 if maybe you're an owner of a company or you've 00:00:57.820 --> 00:01:00.219 climbed that corporate ladder. This understanding 00:01:00.219 --> 00:01:06.620 of power is a great thing, but it can also be 00:01:06.620 --> 00:01:09.900 devastating. That when we think power and authority 00:01:09.900 --> 00:01:13.299 is assumed in of ourselves in a non -believer 00:01:13.299 --> 00:01:15.879 way, I'm just going to call it the way I see 00:01:15.879 --> 00:01:19.420 it. It gets tainted, it gets dark, it gets perverted, 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:22.159 it gets kind of D all of the above when it's 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:26.819 done through kind of sinful man. We just prayed 00:01:26.819 --> 00:01:29.900 that the Lord be the lead of our households, 00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:32.379 the lead of our lives, all of those things. And 00:01:32.379 --> 00:01:35.040 in order to pray that prayer, in order to mean 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:38.060 that, that means we have to check our power, 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:43.040 our authority at the door. And for a lot of us, 00:01:43.060 --> 00:01:46.689 that's hard. But we sing. Hail the power of Jesus' 00:01:46.890 --> 00:01:50.269 name. Let angels prostrate fall. What that means 00:01:50.269 --> 00:01:55.790 is they fall reverent on their face. Let me just 00:01:55.790 --> 00:01:57.969 ask. If you are the breadwinner of your house, 00:01:58.090 --> 00:02:00.810 whether that's male or female in your house, 00:02:00.909 --> 00:02:03.909 that's not the conversation. When you come home, 00:02:04.090 --> 00:02:08.270 do people in your household just fall prostrate 00:02:08.270 --> 00:02:11.759 at home? When you show up, When you get home 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:13.939 from work, right, I'm just, who am I going to 00:02:13.939 --> 00:02:15.960 pick on? A bunch of you are going like this, 00:02:16.039 --> 00:02:19.400 right, and that's totally fine. So Randy, right, 00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:22.159 brand new member of the church as of last week, 00:02:22.219 --> 00:02:25.539 right, when you come home, does Brenda just fall 00:02:25.539 --> 00:02:28.460 prostrate before you? That's the wrong answer. 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:32.000 That's now on the internet. Okay, he shook his 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:34.219 head yes, but it's opposite day. That meant no, 00:02:34.500 --> 00:02:37.060 okay, that we don't do that because that would 00:02:37.060 --> 00:02:40.819 be super weird. That would be an elder call for 00:02:40.819 --> 00:02:44.199 sure if that was the case. Now, the same holds 00:02:44.199 --> 00:02:46.840 true in church, right, when we are in our governance. 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:50.199 When I show up to an elders meeting, do the elders 00:02:50.199 --> 00:02:55.159 do that when I walk into the room? No. That took 00:02:55.159 --> 00:02:58.840 way too long. Way too long. Seven years in, that 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:02.919 has not happened once, right? Or if I show up 00:03:02.919 --> 00:03:07.020 to a room of elders, do I have to fall? Good. 00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:10.900 I'm glad you said no. No. Because that is designed 00:03:10.900 --> 00:03:14.340 and destined and belongs to one person. And that 00:03:14.340 --> 00:03:16.240 is the creator of the world, the savior of our 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:19.599 soul. That is Jesus the Christ. And that is the 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:22.159 church. The center of the church. And then it 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:25.580 got me thinking how... I want to say easy, and 00:03:25.580 --> 00:03:27.699 I know that's not the case, how easy it would 00:03:27.699 --> 00:03:29.419 have been to be the church in this time. And 00:03:29.419 --> 00:03:31.960 I know that that culturally wasn't because you 00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:34.139 had the Romans, right? You had the Pharisees, 00:03:34.139 --> 00:03:36.219 the Sadducees. We learned that they wanted to 00:03:36.219 --> 00:03:38.020 try to, you know, the religious elite wanted 00:03:38.020 --> 00:03:41.259 to kind of hide the story of Jesus' resurrection 00:03:41.259 --> 00:03:45.000 and now his ascension because they were scared 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:48.419 that the power was going to be taken from them. 00:03:48.819 --> 00:03:54.180 Because how can any earthly power beat The death, 00:03:54.199 --> 00:03:57.159 resurrection, and ascension of the Savior of 00:03:57.159 --> 00:04:03.280 the world. It can't. But they were so scared. 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:07.680 They were so paranoid that the church of this 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:10.620 guy, Jesus, was going to spread and it was going 00:04:10.620 --> 00:04:13.599 to take all of their power. All of their power. 00:04:14.439 --> 00:04:16.959 But think about how easy it would have been to 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:20.319 believe back then. And that's where I landed. 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:24.040 It was actually, I think, easier to believe because 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:27.379 if I'm friends or mere acquaintances with, let's 00:04:27.379 --> 00:04:29.660 say, doubting Thomas. Now, I doubt that that's 00:04:29.660 --> 00:04:31.899 probably, that people didn't call him that. It 00:04:31.899 --> 00:04:34.360 was probably just Thomas. But understand that 00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:37.100 if I knew Thomas and Thomas and I were friends 00:04:37.100 --> 00:04:39.980 and he sat down and was like, Jim, I saw him 00:04:39.980 --> 00:04:42.660 with my own eyes. I saw his body dead on the 00:04:42.660 --> 00:04:46.250 cross. I saw them put his body in the tomb. I 00:04:46.250 --> 00:04:50.509 saw him alive. I put my hands in the holes in 00:04:50.509 --> 00:04:52.750 his side, his wrists, his ankles, all of the 00:04:52.750 --> 00:04:57.970 things. Is there any other response but belief? 00:04:59.069 --> 00:05:01.970 Because it's so mind -boggling, even in the first 00:05:01.970 --> 00:05:05.129 century. And remember, many people had claimed 00:05:05.129 --> 00:05:07.589 to be Messiah up to that point, lowercase m. 00:05:07.829 --> 00:05:10.350 That's a whole other history sermon. But many 00:05:10.350 --> 00:05:13.160 people did. But Jesus doubled down on it, went 00:05:13.160 --> 00:05:16.199 to the cross for it, rose again for it, and started 00:05:16.199 --> 00:05:18.779 this movement. Now, it wasn't called Christianity 00:05:18.779 --> 00:05:21.360 then. That was a few hundred years later. It 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:24.459 was called the people of the way. I wonder where 00:05:24.459 --> 00:05:27.160 they got that from. How about John? I am the 00:05:27.160 --> 00:05:30.939 way, the truth, and the life, Jesus says. But 00:05:30.939 --> 00:05:34.100 at Pentecost, the Spirit fell. People were amazed 00:05:34.100 --> 00:05:37.480 and confused. Some mocked. Some were curious. 00:05:37.660 --> 00:05:40.759 Peter stood up and preached. Right? He wasn't 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:42.959 a preacher up to that point. He had foot and 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:45.259 mouth disease up to that point. All he did was 00:05:45.259 --> 00:05:48.879 kind of wreck himself in front of Jesus. He denies 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:52.720 Jesus all of those things. They knew that. But 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:55.439 all he did was preach Christ. Crucified, risen, 00:05:55.720 --> 00:05:59.079 and reigning. And friend, that's the heartbeat 00:05:59.079 --> 00:06:01.660 of the church in its beginning, in its infancy. 00:06:01.699 --> 00:06:05.120 The power of Jesus' name. So what does that look 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:07.610 like? We're going to be in Acts chapter 2, starting 00:06:07.610 --> 00:06:10.269 with verse 22 this morning. So if you have the 00:06:10.269 --> 00:06:11.930 Bible app or you brought a Bible, feel free to 00:06:11.930 --> 00:06:13.430 get it out. It will be on the screen. Again, 00:06:13.509 --> 00:06:16.189 we use the ESV, English Standard Version here. 00:06:16.329 --> 00:06:18.889 Whatever version you have is fine, though it 00:06:18.889 --> 00:06:20.490 may read a little different. We're going to go 00:06:20.490 --> 00:06:22.129 a little verse by verse and then a couple chunks 00:06:22.129 --> 00:06:24.529 here and there. But we're going to first look 00:06:24.529 --> 00:06:30.310 at Jesus' ministry affirmed. Okay? That's a weird 00:06:30.310 --> 00:06:32.410 way to say that, but verse 22 is going to help 00:06:32.410 --> 00:06:36.680 us out. In Acts chapter 2, verse 22. Men of Israel, 00:06:36.759 --> 00:06:40.420 hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested 00:06:40.420 --> 00:06:43.879 to you by God with mighty works and wonders and 00:06:43.879 --> 00:06:46.839 signs that God did through him in your midst 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:51.459 as you yourself know. That was the beginning 00:06:51.459 --> 00:06:54.360 of his sermon. That was the beginning of a message. 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:58.379 It wasn't smoke machines. It wasn't laser light 00:06:58.379 --> 00:07:01.819 shows. It wasn't a building campaign. It wasn't 00:07:01.819 --> 00:07:06.110 anything like that. It was simply... Jesus of 00:07:06.110 --> 00:07:09.550 Nazareth. You all know about him because they 00:07:09.550 --> 00:07:13.750 all did. Died, resurrected. That was what he 00:07:13.750 --> 00:07:17.310 started with. Peter begins with common ground. 00:07:17.970 --> 00:07:21.529 Everybody there would have known this. Jesus 00:07:21.529 --> 00:07:24.269 was known among them. His miracles, his wonders 00:07:24.269 --> 00:07:28.269 were public. Undeniable signs and wonders that 00:07:28.269 --> 00:07:31.329 not only does God exist, but God existed through 00:07:31.329 --> 00:07:36.300 this person of Jesus Christ. What does this emphasize 00:07:36.300 --> 00:07:39.540 as the start of the church? That the gospel is 00:07:39.540 --> 00:07:44.879 rooted in history. It's not myth. It's not fable, 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:47.740 as the world would like you to believe. Or they'd 00:07:47.740 --> 00:07:49.839 like to just put all of the religion, this kind 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:52.959 of, you know, cosmic soup that you could just 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:54.879 kind of pick what you want. Like you go to the 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:58.060 store and pick out what you want. But the gospel 00:07:58.060 --> 00:08:01.120 is rooted in history. As you yourselves know, 00:08:01.379 --> 00:08:05.540 he says, the crowd couldn't deny. what they had 00:08:05.540 --> 00:08:09.040 seen. Again, this is the first layer of people. 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:11.680 These are the first church members, are people 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:15.379 that walked with Jesus or walked really close 00:08:15.379 --> 00:08:19.459 to kind of first -hand accounts. There was trust. 00:08:20.500 --> 00:08:22.500 What would it look like if the church really 00:08:22.500 --> 00:08:25.079 trusted each other? What would it look like if 00:08:25.079 --> 00:08:27.839 churches trusted other churches? Back in the 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:30.139 day, it happened a lot more than it does now. 00:08:30.519 --> 00:08:32.200 That's a whole other rhyme for another time. 00:08:32.539 --> 00:08:35.759 But to start the movement of the church, Jesus' 00:08:35.980 --> 00:08:40.700 ministry is not only affirmed, but the plan is 00:08:40.700 --> 00:08:43.940 laid out in verse 23. God's sovereign plan and 00:08:43.940 --> 00:08:46.879 our human responsibility. I love this. Jesus' 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:48.919 ministry affirmed. Now there's going to be this 00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:52.379 give and take. We need to recognize and we need 00:08:52.379 --> 00:08:57.110 to do something about it. Verse 23. This Jesus 00:08:57.110 --> 00:09:00.490 delivered up according to the definite plan and 00:09:00.490 --> 00:09:03.629 foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed 00:09:03.629 --> 00:09:07.830 by the hands of lawless men. He's working through 00:09:07.830 --> 00:09:11.169 the historical account of what had just happened 00:09:11.169 --> 00:09:14.929 a couple months earlier. Okay? 40 days was the 00:09:14.929 --> 00:09:18.409 ascension after the resurrection. This is a little 00:09:18.409 --> 00:09:21.909 bit of time after that. Peter holds two truths 00:09:21.909 --> 00:09:25.360 together. That Jesus was delivered up. according 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:29.860 to a plan. Not man's, not Rome's, not Sadducees, 00:09:29.899 --> 00:09:33.820 not Pharisees, not Zebulites or Amalekites or 00:09:33.820 --> 00:09:36.899 Babylonians or any of the ites. It was God's 00:09:36.899 --> 00:09:42.679 sovereign plan. But the people were the ones 00:09:42.679 --> 00:09:45.860 responsible for crucifying him. I paused here 00:09:45.860 --> 00:09:48.559 this week and just thought to myself, what would 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:52.980 it have looked like if Jesus decided, no, we 00:09:52.980 --> 00:09:55.700 don't need to do this. Maybe the midst of the 00:09:55.700 --> 00:09:58.019 trial, the mockery, maybe even the flogging. 00:09:58.299 --> 00:10:00.580 What if you were to just pause and be like, no, 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:05.980 I'm out. This is too much. We wouldn't have this. 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:09.899 That Jesus' sacrifice, fully God, fully man, 00:10:10.019 --> 00:10:13.799 perfect sacrifice for your sin, my sin, the sins 00:10:13.799 --> 00:10:15.820 we just prayed for in our congregational prayer, 00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:18.220 the sins we're going to pray for next week in 00:10:18.220 --> 00:10:20.480 our congregational prayer. He died for those 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:25.779 sins so we can do something about it. The cross 00:10:25.779 --> 00:10:30.019 is not a tragic accident, but part of God's redemptive 00:10:30.019 --> 00:10:34.460 design for you and for me. Because we needed 00:10:34.460 --> 00:10:38.340 it. Your sin on the cross, or your death on the 00:10:38.340 --> 00:10:40.299 cross, my death on the cross, would accomplish 00:10:40.299 --> 00:10:44.059 nothing. But it was part of God's redemptive 00:10:44.059 --> 00:10:49.320 plan. And yet, those who rejected him are accountable. 00:10:49.980 --> 00:10:53.240 I find that fascinating. That Paul needed to 00:10:53.240 --> 00:10:58.399 remind. the people. We had a hand in this. We're 00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:01.940 not sinless. I think part of that is to undergird 00:11:01.940 --> 00:11:05.240 and underline that Jesus is the only one sinless. 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:10.879 And the wages of sin are death, but yet death 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:13.480 could not hold him, we're going to hear in verse 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:17.220 24. We sing about it. We love it that death could 00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:20.740 not hold Jesus, and that's the key point. Jesus 00:11:20.740 --> 00:11:23.799 does, and we hear this in Paul later in the epistles, 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:27.460 if he doesn't rise from the dead, right, our 00:11:27.460 --> 00:11:30.139 faith means nothing. Your faith is a joke. My 00:11:30.139 --> 00:11:32.220 faith is a joke. We shouldn't even be here then, 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:37.669 but he does in verse 24. God raised him up. Loosening 00:11:37.669 --> 00:11:40.629 the prangs of death because it was not possible 00:11:40.629 --> 00:11:45.190 for him to be held by it. That is the ultimate 00:11:45.190 --> 00:11:49.649 resurrectional flex I have ever heard. That death 00:11:49.649 --> 00:11:52.289 could not hold him. Oh, death, where is your 00:11:52.289 --> 00:11:54.570 victory? Oh, death, where is your sting? They 00:11:54.570 --> 00:11:58.450 don't have one. It fell. It lost. Jesus won. 00:11:59.649 --> 00:12:02.690 Death could not hold him. This language is vivid. 00:12:02.990 --> 00:12:06.710 It is impossible for death to keep its grip. 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:12.399 on Jesus. And though one thing we all have in 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:16.000 common, we've all been born, and unless Jesus 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:19.279 comes back before our last breath, we will all 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:23.399 die. But death cannot hold us because we are 00:12:23.399 --> 00:12:26.379 bought by the blood of Jesus. Those of us in 00:12:26.379 --> 00:12:30.440 Christ, we have a second act, right? Though our 00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:32.679 physical bodies in the earth today will be gone, 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:37.639 we will be with him in glory. That's why he's 00:12:37.639 --> 00:12:40.080 using such vivid language. And think about it. 00:12:40.100 --> 00:12:42.240 The resurrection was only a couple months old. 00:12:43.720 --> 00:12:47.139 I think about Easter. And I remember my very 00:12:47.139 --> 00:12:51.799 first Easter here. I've never preached an Easter 00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:53.519 sermon before. I was always the associate or 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:55.419 one of the other teaching pastors. And the senior 00:12:55.419 --> 00:12:59.879 guy always got Easter. And I had encouragement 00:12:59.879 --> 00:13:01.899 from pastors that knew that this was my first 00:13:01.899 --> 00:13:05.080 one. And some were hilarious and some not appropriate 00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:07.740 to say from the stage. But understand that I 00:13:07.740 --> 00:13:10.360 was just so excited to preach my first Easter. 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:14.059 And then I got excited for preaching my second 00:13:14.059 --> 00:13:18.100 Easter. And I've done seven of those. And those 00:13:18.100 --> 00:13:20.600 are exciting. And we need to be excited. But 00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:23.399 being in the church now 20 years, sometimes Easter 00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:26.960 can just feel like a regular Sunday. And I just... 00:13:27.259 --> 00:13:30.299 I hate myself for having that mentality at times. 00:13:30.460 --> 00:13:33.080 Or like, oh man, we just got to get through Easter. 00:13:33.500 --> 00:13:40.159 Time out. No. Easter is, Easter's it. We call 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:41.720 it the Super Bowl Sunday and the church staff 00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:43.840 for a reason because that is what everything 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:46.779 we do. Every Sunday, every day of the church 00:13:46.779 --> 00:13:50.019 calendar points towards Easter Resurrection Sunday. 00:13:50.679 --> 00:13:54.600 That's why I think the language here is so vivid. 00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:58.039 That the resurrection is not just a reversal 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:03.039 of death, but a defeat of death itself. You all 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:07.360 in your families have tasted death some way earlier 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:11.080 than you wanted to. Family members, siblings, 00:14:11.580 --> 00:14:15.559 loved ones, spouses. And for some of you, that 00:14:15.559 --> 00:14:20.309 death was a sweet relief to a struggle. A physical 00:14:20.309 --> 00:14:23.149 struggle. An earthly struggle. And though you 00:14:23.149 --> 00:14:25.669 would never want to pray it out loud, you thought 00:14:25.669 --> 00:14:28.049 it in your soul. Lord, if you could just take 00:14:28.049 --> 00:14:30.669 them and relieve them from this pain. There's 00:14:30.669 --> 00:14:34.750 a reason why we pray for that. Let me kind of 00:14:34.750 --> 00:14:37.470 put the opposite in there. If Jesus didn't conquer 00:14:37.470 --> 00:14:39.610 death, would you pray for that for a loved one? 00:14:41.830 --> 00:14:45.090 Probably not. But there's a hope and a comfort, 00:14:45.129 --> 00:14:47.129 as Lord's Day 1 of the Heidelberg Catechism says, 00:14:47.250 --> 00:14:50.370 our only comfort in life and in death is our 00:14:50.370 --> 00:14:54.909 faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. That the resurrection 00:14:54.909 --> 00:14:59.149 is not a reversal of death, but a defeat of death 00:14:59.149 --> 00:15:01.730 itself. Now he's going to go into a little bit 00:15:01.730 --> 00:15:04.250 of history. He's going to go into David. He's 00:15:04.250 --> 00:15:06.049 going to follow that line because there's going 00:15:06.049 --> 00:15:08.029 to be people that want to make sure that the 00:15:08.029 --> 00:15:10.919 Messiah, that's in fact what happened. That needs 00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:13.179 to underline Messiah because that was the language. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:16.840 So we're going to start in verse 25. For David 00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:20.419 said concerning him, I saw the Lord always before 00:15:20.419 --> 00:15:23.539 me, for he is at my right hand, that I may not 00:15:23.539 --> 00:15:26.700 be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my 00:15:26.700 --> 00:15:30.460 tongue rejoiced. My flesh also will dwell in 00:15:30.460 --> 00:15:33.759 hope, for you will not abandon my soul to Hades 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:37.360 or let your Holy One see corruption. You have 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:40.320 made known to me the paths of life. You will 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:42.600 make me full of gladness with your presence. 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:46.299 Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about 00:15:46.299 --> 00:15:49.240 the patriarch David that he both died and was 00:15:49.240 --> 00:15:52.000 buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 00:15:52.620 --> 00:15:55.679 Being therefore a prophet and knowing that God 00:15:55.679 --> 00:15:59.519 had sworn an oath to him that he would set one 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:02.799 of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:06.080 and spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:09.320 he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh 00:16:09.320 --> 00:16:13.879 see corruption. This is messianic texts fulfilled. 00:16:14.620 --> 00:16:19.039 That David knew it. David as prophet. You see, 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:21.299 even one of the very first sermons in the church. 00:16:21.879 --> 00:16:24.840 He's quoting somebody else. Preachers, we do 00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:26.940 that all the time. We just hope we give the right 00:16:26.940 --> 00:16:30.360 credit to them. But he quotes Psalm 16, showing 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:33.580 that David was pointing beyond himself to Christ. 00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:37.639 What I love is he goes to the physical example. 00:16:39.179 --> 00:16:43.679 We have David's tomb. We have it among us. It 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:46.299 is a sacred place at that time for the Jews. 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:49.990 Still is. If you go to Israel, you go to Israel 00:16:49.990 --> 00:16:54.409 and go to the Holy Lands. But I love the contrast. 00:16:55.509 --> 00:16:58.330 David's tomb is still with us. You can go see 00:16:58.330 --> 00:17:00.590 it. Take your shoes off. You can pray. You can 00:17:00.590 --> 00:17:04.210 do all the things. But guess what? Jesus' tomb 00:17:04.210 --> 00:17:08.279 is empty. The contrast here is the power of the 00:17:08.279 --> 00:17:12.059 church proving that Jesus was the promised Messiah, 00:17:12.259 --> 00:17:16.019 is the Lord and Savior of our lives, and is the 00:17:16.019 --> 00:17:21.200 director of the church. But unfortunately for 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:24.359 some of us, we look at history, we look at all 00:17:24.359 --> 00:17:26.740 that stuff, and we can be doubtful, we can be 00:17:26.740 --> 00:17:29.180 cynical, we can be skeptical. And I love that 00:17:29.180 --> 00:17:31.079 because even in the first church, even in one 00:17:31.079 --> 00:17:34.079 of the very first sermons, he calls out the skeptics. 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:41.160 The resurrection witnessed in verse 32. As Jesus 00:17:41.160 --> 00:17:45.839 God raised up and of that we are all witnesses. 00:17:47.259 --> 00:17:50.039 We are all witnesses. That's the truth of the 00:17:50.039 --> 00:17:55.119 church. It wasn't theological. It wasn't I'm 00:17:55.119 --> 00:17:57.960 a Baptist. I'm covenant. I'm kingdom. I'm AG. 00:17:58.180 --> 00:18:01.839 I'm CRC. I'm AT &T. I'm KFC. It's none of those 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:07.799 things. It was all about two things. Three things. 00:18:07.940 --> 00:18:12.279 Jesus alive, Jesus dead, Jesus alive again. Amen? 00:18:12.859 --> 00:18:18.660 That is the church. Yet, we've made it about 00:18:18.660 --> 00:18:23.599 so much more. Peter goes in the New International 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:27.759 Gym version, we've seen this happen. How can 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:30.700 you not believe that? How can you not believe 00:18:30.700 --> 00:18:34.700 someone who has conquered death? Peter declares, 00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:38.400 this Jesus God raised up, and of that we are 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:42.059 witnesses. You see, Christianity, the way, I'm 00:18:42.059 --> 00:18:43.680 not even going to use Christianity, the way at 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:46.099 this point, is what it was called, is grounded 00:18:46.099 --> 00:18:50.279 in eyewitness testimony. The resurrection was 00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:53.880 not private. It was public. It was attested to 00:18:53.880 --> 00:18:59.079 by many. And that's one of those things why we 00:18:59.079 --> 00:19:02.759 see the apostles martyred for their faith. Sitting 00:19:02.759 --> 00:19:05.799 before a Roman emperor, sitting before people 00:19:05.799 --> 00:19:08.259 that wanted to kill them, and they just said, 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:11.660 denounce what you saw and you'll live. We're 00:19:11.660 --> 00:19:14.079 not going to denounce what we saw. We can't. 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:17.779 We're convicted. We saw him alive. We saw him 00:19:17.779 --> 00:19:21.319 dead. We saw him alive again. And they were killed. 00:19:21.900 --> 00:19:27.190 That is a martyr for the faith. And what does 00:19:27.190 --> 00:19:30.970 Jesus do? He exalts. Jesus was exalted and he 00:19:30.970 --> 00:19:34.210 will exalt us. Jesus is exalted at the right 00:19:34.210 --> 00:19:37.529 hand of God. Peter's going to get practical now. 00:19:37.650 --> 00:19:39.869 He's going to tell them what this means in verse 00:19:39.869 --> 00:19:44.069 33. Verse 33 through 35, therefore being exalted 00:19:44.069 --> 00:19:46.890 at the right hand of God and having received 00:19:46.890 --> 00:19:49.650 from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit. 00:19:50.119 --> 00:19:53.059 He has poured out this that you yourselves are 00:19:53.059 --> 00:19:56.819 seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend 00:19:56.819 --> 00:19:59.980 into the heavens, but he himself says, the Lord 00:19:59.980 --> 00:20:03.960 said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I 00:20:03.960 --> 00:20:09.759 make your enemies your footstools. They all praised 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:12.079 David. It was a what would David do culture back 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:15.200 then. It's not anymore. David didn't ascend. 00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:18.500 David was flesh and blood. Was he anointed? Sure. 00:20:19.079 --> 00:20:21.759 Jesus, flesh and blood, but conquers death. Why? 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:27.019 Because he is God. Jesus is not only risen, but 00:20:27.019 --> 00:20:31.519 he's reigning. He has been enthroned. He is sharing 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:35.299 the authority of the Father. He is the one who 00:20:35.299 --> 00:20:39.019 poured out his spirit, and the people saw and 00:20:39.019 --> 00:20:44.809 heard the evidence of his lordship. I was talking 00:20:44.809 --> 00:20:47.069 to a couple pastors about this passage and just 00:20:47.069 --> 00:20:50.069 kind of what it brought out to them. And I think 00:20:50.069 --> 00:20:52.029 you've heard it before where like if Jesus were 00:20:52.029 --> 00:20:54.210 to come again, how would he come again? And there's 00:20:54.210 --> 00:20:56.130 conversation about that. Or if Jesus came to 00:20:56.130 --> 00:20:59.710 your church, would you even recognize him? And 00:20:59.710 --> 00:21:01.349 again, that's kind of a cheap understanding of 00:21:01.349 --> 00:21:03.650 things, but it made for an interesting conversation. 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:07.920 Maybe for some of us, we've gotten so caught 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:10.400 up in our theology, so caught up in our exegesis, 00:21:10.500 --> 00:21:13.160 so caught up in church history, so caught up 00:21:13.160 --> 00:21:16.819 in all of the things that we wouldn't even recognize 00:21:16.819 --> 00:21:18.380 him if he was here. I don't know if I would. 00:21:18.500 --> 00:21:21.700 Maybe I would. Maybe you would. I'm not sure 00:21:21.700 --> 00:21:24.859 if the first day of him on earth, he'd come to 00:21:24.859 --> 00:21:28.759 214 Ridge Road. I have no idea. But he's omnipotent 00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:30.259 and omnipresent, so maybe he'd go everywhere. 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:35.089 But he's the one who poured out his spirit. And 00:21:35.089 --> 00:21:38.630 the people saw and heard the evidence of his 00:21:38.630 --> 00:21:44.029 lordship. The biggest thing is do you recognize 00:21:44.029 --> 00:21:48.690 him as lord of your life today? I don't really 00:21:48.690 --> 00:21:51.630 care about yesterday. I don't really care about 00:21:51.630 --> 00:21:54.329 tomorrow because we're not guaranteed that. But 00:21:54.329 --> 00:21:57.269 today, do you recognize him as the lord of your 00:21:57.269 --> 00:22:01.559 life? Psalm 110 is applied to Jesus. David calls 00:22:01.559 --> 00:22:05.480 him Lord, showing his superiority. And David 00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:09.400 was the top of the top in the Israelite understanding 00:22:09.400 --> 00:22:12.519 of their history. They worship David. They look 00:22:12.519 --> 00:22:16.079 to him as the anointed one. They're now separating. 00:22:16.460 --> 00:22:19.140 Peter is now separating. No, Jesus is higher. 00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:24.339 Jesus is the reason. His life, his death, his 00:22:24.339 --> 00:22:28.420 resurrection. That we all... like we just sang, 00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:32.880 should fall reverent to his authority. And what 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:35.660 does that mean? That means we have to give up 00:22:35.660 --> 00:22:38.400 our own. We have to give up our own authority, 00:22:38.660 --> 00:22:42.299 our own understanding, our own narrative of church 00:22:42.299 --> 00:22:45.339 history, our own narrative of theology, our own 00:22:45.339 --> 00:22:48.039 narrative of interpretation, and fall at the 00:22:48.039 --> 00:22:54.440 foot of Jesus and recognize his lordship. And 00:22:54.440 --> 00:22:56.589 then... Peter starts landing the plane, as I'm 00:22:56.589 --> 00:23:00.569 going to today, with verse 36. What I call the 00:23:00.569 --> 00:23:04.250 punchline of Peter's sermon, verse 36. Let all 00:23:04.250 --> 00:23:06.869 the house of Israel therefore know for certain 00:23:06.869 --> 00:23:11.130 that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this 00:23:11.130 --> 00:23:17.710 Jesus whom you crucified. There's some conviction. 00:23:19.490 --> 00:23:24.579 Let all Israel know this. is that point, right? 00:23:24.700 --> 00:23:27.400 This is where it's turning. This is exactly where 00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:31.700 the Spirit was leading Peter to tell them, Jesus 00:23:31.700 --> 00:23:35.140 is not only Savior and Lord, but he is the forever 00:23:35.140 --> 00:23:39.119 King. What is he saying to the people? And when 00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:41.619 the Spirit uncovered this for me, I read this 00:23:41.619 --> 00:23:50.170 anew. Stop looking for another. He is it. Period. 00:23:50.289 --> 00:23:53.150 End of sentence. End of paragraph. End of that 00:23:53.150 --> 00:23:56.009 part of the book. Now on to the church. Pointing 00:23:56.009 --> 00:23:59.049 to those parts. And the crowd becomes convicted. 00:23:59.690 --> 00:24:03.089 As we should. We should be convicted in our spirit 00:24:03.089 --> 00:24:06.589 every day. That his mercy and his grace convicts 00:24:06.589 --> 00:24:09.609 us of where we fall short. The crowd was convicted. 00:24:09.849 --> 00:24:13.950 Verse 37. Now when they had heard this, they 00:24:13.950 --> 00:24:17.279 were cut to the heart. and said to Peter and 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:20.740 the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall 00:24:20.740 --> 00:24:27.640 we do? This is not human persuasion. They didn't 00:24:27.640 --> 00:24:31.740 come by this conviction on their own. It's by 00:24:31.740 --> 00:24:35.039 the work of the Holy Spirit. I think it's hilarious 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:37.880 that Jesus said, wait for the power of the Holy 00:24:37.880 --> 00:24:40.220 Spirit to come and bring the church forward. 00:24:40.910 --> 00:24:42.609 And what does the church do? It doesn't bring 00:24:42.609 --> 00:24:44.230 him out to all these places right off the bat. 00:24:44.329 --> 00:24:47.569 No, he wrecks them right then and there. We need 00:24:47.569 --> 00:24:50.190 to get some things covered. This is the mission. 00:24:50.329 --> 00:24:53.029 This is the vision. This is what you need to 00:24:53.029 --> 00:24:57.009 believe to be the church. Friends, there's a 00:24:57.009 --> 00:25:01.190 belief system here. Notice the slides that Samuel 00:25:01.190 --> 00:25:03.390 answered, the questions that he answered. It 00:25:03.390 --> 00:25:05.369 wasn't about all these other world religions. 00:25:05.450 --> 00:25:07.990 It wasn't about all these other ideas or theologies. 00:25:08.009 --> 00:25:11.369 Do you profess Christ as Lord and Savior? Everything 00:25:11.369 --> 00:25:14.630 the church believed at this point now, do you 00:25:14.630 --> 00:25:16.650 believe that? Not because being a part of the 00:25:16.650 --> 00:25:18.910 church brings salvation, but that the church 00:25:18.910 --> 00:25:24.369 should be full of saved people pointing to the 00:25:24.369 --> 00:25:27.410 resource, the person of Jesus Christ for that. 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:31.019 Because then from the conviction is the call. 00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:34.960 The call to repent and be baptized, verses 38 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:39.400 and 39. And Peter said to them, Repent and be 00:25:39.400 --> 00:25:42.259 baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus 00:25:42.259 --> 00:25:45.440 Christ, who forgives your sins, and you will 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:47.900 receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the 00:25:47.900 --> 00:25:51.359 promise is for you and for your children and 00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:55.380 for all who are far off. Everyone whom the Lord 00:25:55.380 --> 00:26:05.039 our God calls to himself. Boom! Baptism. Now 00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:07.900 we see baptism. John was doing it. We see Jesus 00:26:07.900 --> 00:26:12.140 even baptized. But now it changes. Repentance 00:26:12.140 --> 00:26:16.359 means turning from sin towards Christ. Why? Because 00:26:16.359 --> 00:26:21.779 we can do it now. If Jesus didn't rise from the 00:26:21.779 --> 00:26:26.730 dead, repenting to him would mean nothing. You'd 00:26:26.730 --> 00:26:28.789 just be tacking it on. It wouldn't give you any 00:26:28.789 --> 00:26:31.289 kind of freedom. You wouldn't be free from your 00:26:31.289 --> 00:26:34.730 sins. Baptism is a visible sign of forgiveness 00:26:34.730 --> 00:26:38.009 and belonging to God's family. We saw the culmination 00:26:38.009 --> 00:26:41.130 of that today. And I would have loved to be able 00:26:41.130 --> 00:26:43.710 to say that the Shankles and I had a hand in 00:26:43.710 --> 00:26:46.210 crafting all this for this sermon. Totally didn't. 00:26:47.509 --> 00:26:50.170 But isn't it great to see the culmination of 00:26:50.170 --> 00:26:53.230 that? Now, some of you are going, well, why wasn't 00:26:53.230 --> 00:26:55.980 he rebaptized? Because we're affirming the baptism 00:26:55.980 --> 00:26:59.039 that Will and Bethany had for him and offered 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:02.339 for him when he was a baby. That's the difference 00:27:02.339 --> 00:27:06.240 of covenant theology. We believe that God has 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:08.579 been working through their good, their bad, and 00:27:08.579 --> 00:27:10.359 their ugly, through the church's good and bad 00:27:10.359 --> 00:27:12.000 and uglies that they've been a part of, through 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:14.880 the life that Samuel has lived, good, bad, and 00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:17.259 ugly. Why? Because he's in good community, because 00:27:17.259 --> 00:27:20.200 we all have that, that we are affirming what 00:27:20.200 --> 00:27:23.410 is being done. Fast forward to Romans. If you 00:27:23.410 --> 00:27:27.750 confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and 00:27:27.750 --> 00:27:31.289 believe in your heart that God raised him from 00:27:31.289 --> 00:27:35.130 the dead, you will be boom. That's what it is. 00:27:35.690 --> 00:27:38.130 That's the church. That's the church message 00:27:38.130 --> 00:27:43.069 at work. I love this. This promise is expansive 00:27:43.069 --> 00:27:46.589 for you and your children and for all who are 00:27:46.589 --> 00:27:51.860 far off. Already. First church sermon. Already 00:27:51.860 --> 00:27:55.019 the gospel is stretching beyond Jerusalem. And 00:27:55.019 --> 00:27:56.700 we're going to see the Gentiles. We're going 00:27:56.700 --> 00:27:59.740 to see every tribe and tongue. Something we also 00:27:59.740 --> 00:28:02.279 sang about. And now we have the birth of the 00:28:02.279 --> 00:28:07.920 church. Verse 40 and 41. And with many other 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:10.920 words he bore witness. That's all he did. Bore 00:28:10.920 --> 00:28:13.279 witness. And continued to exhort them saying, 00:28:13.359 --> 00:28:15.099 save yourselves from this crooked generation. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:18.019 So those who received his word were baptized, 00:28:18.039 --> 00:28:22.279 and there were added that day about 3 ,000 souls. 00:28:23.720 --> 00:28:26.279 Now we could all, oh, 3 ,000 souls, that would 00:28:26.279 --> 00:28:30.799 be great. It's not about the number. It's about 00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:34.099 the start of the church. Because those 3 ,000 00:28:34.099 --> 00:28:36.700 souls, I'm going to say many of them maybe have 00:28:36.700 --> 00:28:40.339 even seen Jesus in his ministry. But some of 00:28:40.339 --> 00:28:42.180 them, it was just the power and the conviction 00:28:42.180 --> 00:28:45.650 of the eyewitness accounts. Well, let's fast 00:28:45.650 --> 00:28:48.230 forward to 2025. How many of you were there when 00:28:48.230 --> 00:28:52.089 Jesus walked the earth? Nope. But it's through 00:28:52.089 --> 00:28:54.390 the eyewitness accounts of those that have gone 00:28:54.390 --> 00:28:56.569 before you, through the power of the Holy Spirit 00:28:56.569 --> 00:28:59.250 at work in your life, that you have come to recognize 00:28:59.250 --> 00:29:02.809 Jesus as Lord and Savior. And that is the church 00:29:02.809 --> 00:29:06.450 at work. That is the Holy Spirit at work. If 00:29:06.450 --> 00:29:08.930 the Holy Spirit is devoid of the church, the 00:29:08.930 --> 00:29:11.269 church means nothing. The church is going to 00:29:11.269 --> 00:29:14.920 do nothing. But it's the power. of the Holy Spirit 00:29:14.920 --> 00:29:19.700 to bring filthy, dirty, no good sinners like 00:29:19.700 --> 00:29:25.420 me and you together. That's the power of the 00:29:25.420 --> 00:29:27.980 Holy Spirit. That is the birth of the church. 00:29:30.380 --> 00:29:35.160 The Spirit's power brought immediate fruit. And 00:29:35.160 --> 00:29:37.200 I think for a lot of churches, we kind of, we 00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:40.960 really want that. Man, we'd love to have an altar 00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:43.599 call and do all that, yet I did that here. It 00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:45.460 makes all of us uncomfortable, right, because 00:29:45.460 --> 00:29:47.200 we're just not used to that. But we're like, 00:29:47.259 --> 00:29:49.859 man, look at the instantaneous power of the Holy 00:29:49.859 --> 00:29:53.700 Spirit at work. Well, think about it. This was 00:29:53.700 --> 00:29:58.259 the start of it. I look at the same awe and wonder 00:29:58.259 --> 00:30:00.440 of that as this church has been around for 155 00:30:00.440 --> 00:30:04.039 years. Not that we should celebrate that in any 00:30:04.039 --> 00:30:06.259 kind of salvatic way, but that is perseverance 00:30:06.259 --> 00:30:10.089 of the saints. 155 years of people being the 00:30:10.089 --> 00:30:13.930 church, of going through all of the things. I 00:30:13.930 --> 00:30:16.609 mean, one of the church struggles here, years, 00:30:16.829 --> 00:30:20.049 decades ago. I don't want to have my church, 00:30:20.130 --> 00:30:25.230 my main service, be in English. Are we having 00:30:25.230 --> 00:30:28.089 that fight now? How many of you actually know 00:30:28.089 --> 00:30:34.690 Dutch? Okay. And I love Max. He's never demanded 00:30:34.690 --> 00:30:37.910 that this has been done in Dutch, right? Evie 00:30:37.910 --> 00:30:41.230 has, but Max is not, right? And so, I mean, that's 00:30:41.230 --> 00:30:43.829 just one person. But think about all the things 00:30:43.829 --> 00:30:46.430 that we, think about all the churches that have 00:30:46.430 --> 00:30:48.890 left each other or schism because of different 00:30:48.890 --> 00:30:51.390 things. Again, I joked about this a couple weeks 00:30:51.390 --> 00:30:54.210 ago, but we just saw the start of the church. 00:30:54.470 --> 00:30:57.849 What was the church worried about? People recognizing 00:30:57.849 --> 00:31:00.109 their sin, believing in the one who conquered 00:31:00.109 --> 00:31:04.250 death to give them new life. In a couple weeks, 00:31:04.410 --> 00:31:06.230 maybe a couple months, we're probably going to 00:31:06.230 --> 00:31:09.170 vote on a building project. Whether we do it 00:31:09.170 --> 00:31:12.009 or whether we not, is what we just read still 00:31:12.009 --> 00:31:16.690 true? Absolutely. Well, if we don't build this 00:31:16.690 --> 00:31:19.269 building, I'm going to leave. Well, friend, then 00:31:19.269 --> 00:31:21.490 your faith is in the brick and mortar, and I 00:31:21.490 --> 00:31:24.549 rebuke it. Well, if we build this building, then 00:31:24.549 --> 00:31:28.690 I'm going to leave. Same thing. The church didn't 00:31:28.690 --> 00:31:31.349 care about that stuff. They met on street corners. 00:31:31.450 --> 00:31:33.750 They met in people's homes. They did all the 00:31:33.750 --> 00:31:36.529 things because it was the start of it. Look what 00:31:36.529 --> 00:31:42.970 we've made it. Some of that's really great. A 00:31:42.970 --> 00:31:47.269 lot of it is not. Because if our mind goes anywhere 00:31:47.269 --> 00:31:51.930 but the church's rhythm of life, what is the 00:31:51.930 --> 00:31:55.700 church's rhythm of life? What should our rhythms 00:31:55.700 --> 00:31:58.240 of the church be? If it's devoid of the Holy 00:31:58.240 --> 00:32:03.099 Spirit, then it's not anything good. Verses 42 00:32:03.099 --> 00:32:06.619 to 47. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' 00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:09.839 teaching, which is witness teaching, and the 00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:12.059 fellowship and to the breaking of bread and of 00:32:12.059 --> 00:32:14.099 prayer. Seafood needs to be a part of it. It's 00:32:14.099 --> 00:32:18.140 biblical. And awe came upon every soul, and many 00:32:18.140 --> 00:32:20.779 wonders and signs were being done through the 00:32:20.779 --> 00:32:23.759 apostles, and all who believed were together 00:32:23.759 --> 00:32:26.680 and had all things in common. And they were selling 00:32:26.680 --> 00:32:29.240 their possessions and belongings and distributing 00:32:29.240 --> 00:32:33.940 the proceeds to all as any had need. And day 00:32:33.940 --> 00:32:36.079 by day, attending the temple together and breaking 00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:38.339 bread in their homes, they received their food 00:32:38.339 --> 00:32:41.359 with glad and generous hearts, praising God and 00:32:41.359 --> 00:32:44.230 having favor with all people. and the Lord added 00:32:44.230 --> 00:32:48.329 to their number, day by day, those who were being 00:32:48.329 --> 00:32:55.430 saved. They devoted themselves. They devoted 00:32:55.430 --> 00:32:59.190 themselves to having the best GEMS and cadet 00:32:59.190 --> 00:33:04.650 program ever. Nope. They devoted themselves to 00:33:04.650 --> 00:33:08.130 having a women's Bible study that meets on Tuesday, 00:33:08.289 --> 00:33:12.299 this Tuesday, 9 .30, in the basement. Well, I'm 00:33:12.299 --> 00:33:14.579 not going because it's not called coffee break. 00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:18.339 Ooh, I'm going to call that out. Friends, I love 00:33:18.339 --> 00:33:21.039 you. That's ridiculous. People that drive down 00:33:21.039 --> 00:33:22.480 the street, they don't know what coffee break 00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:24.440 is if they haven't been in the CRC or the RCA 00:33:24.440 --> 00:33:26.960 church. What are you doing? You're studying the 00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:30.599 Bible. That's what they did. They studied Jesus. 00:33:30.819 --> 00:33:33.859 They studied the eyewitness account of Jesus. 00:33:37.000 --> 00:33:39.940 What do they devote themselves to? The apostles' 00:33:40.220 --> 00:33:43.470 teaching. The doctrine, the scripture, fellowship. 00:33:44.430 --> 00:33:48.269 They devoted themselves to fellowship. The breaking 00:33:48.269 --> 00:33:53.109 of the bread and prayer. The results, awe, generosity, 00:33:53.589 --> 00:33:56.990 gladness, favor with people, and daily growth. 00:33:57.329 --> 00:33:59.690 None of that has to do with our thoughts and 00:33:59.690 --> 00:34:02.150 opinions, our wants and needs of what church 00:34:02.150 --> 00:34:05.809 needs to be. This is the model of spirit -filled 00:34:05.809 --> 00:34:09.550 community, centered on Jesus, grounded on the 00:34:09.550 --> 00:34:13.309 gospel, and lived out in love. Let's be about 00:34:13.309 --> 00:34:17.429 those three things first and foremost. Let us 00:34:17.429 --> 00:34:21.369 be a people centered on Jesus, grounded in the 00:34:21.369 --> 00:34:28.030 gospel, and lived out in love. How are you going 00:34:28.030 --> 00:34:32.909 to do that? How are you going to do that? Through 00:34:32.909 --> 00:34:35.769 the power of the Holy Spirit, you're going to 00:34:35.769 --> 00:34:40.199 do that. All hail the power of Jesus' name. It's 00:34:40.199 --> 00:34:42.980 not just a hymn. It's an anthem of the church. 00:34:43.659 --> 00:34:46.639 Because in his name, sins are forgiven. In his 00:34:46.639 --> 00:34:49.360 name, the spirit is given. In his name, lives 00:34:49.360 --> 00:34:52.599 are transformed. Munster Church, this is our 00:34:52.599 --> 00:34:56.300 calling. To live out, or to live so that everything 00:34:56.300 --> 00:34:59.800 we do points to Jesus, crucified, risen, and 00:34:59.800 --> 00:35:02.920 reigning. To be a community where people are 00:35:02.920 --> 00:35:06.519 cut to the heart, not by our cleverness, but 00:35:06.519 --> 00:35:09.440 by the spirit's conviction. to be a family marked 00:35:09.440 --> 00:35:13.920 by repentance, forgiveness, generosity, and joy. 00:35:14.840 --> 00:35:17.280 And finally, and I swear we're going to be done, 00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:22.179 here is the gospel truth. The Jesus who was crucified 00:35:22.179 --> 00:35:26.139 is alive. He has conquered sin and death. He 00:35:26.139 --> 00:35:28.539 reigns at the right hand of God, and everyone 00:35:28.539 --> 00:35:32.920 who calls on his name will be saved. This is 00:35:32.920 --> 00:35:36.119 our firm foundation. This is the song of the 00:35:36.119 --> 00:35:39.460 church. And that is why we sing, crowned him 00:35:39.460 --> 00:35:43.719 Lord of all. Please stand if you are able. And 00:35:43.719 --> 00:35:47.320 we will close in prayers in unison. Prayer will 00:35:47.320 --> 00:35:51.960 be on the screen. Lord Jesus Christ, you are 00:35:51.960 --> 00:35:55.739 Lord and King. We confess our sins and turn to 00:35:55.739 --> 00:35:59.380 you. We thank you for the cross, for forgiveness, 00:35:59.679 --> 00:36:03.880 and for new life. Fill us with your spirit. Make 00:36:03.880 --> 00:36:07.599 us a community of faith and love. And use us 00:36:07.599 --> 00:36:10.800 to proclaim your name to the world. All hail 00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:14.559 the power of Jesus' name. Amen. And as you go 00:36:14.559 --> 00:36:15.320 out into your week.