There are some things to be completed, and among
those things is the choir area. They won't always
sound like a herd of turtles when they leave,
because nothing personal. It will be carpeted,
and then there will be some additional risers
that should arrive before next Sunday. And so
the choir will be sloped all the way back to
that shelf that you see there where the plants
are. And then in the future... when the Lord
provides the money for our organ enlargement,
there will be revealed pipework there in that
area, right in the center, in the back. The organ
in its present size is being placed into that
chamber, and there will be a grill cloth put
over that when it's finished. And hopefully that
may be done next Sunday as well. That will be
exciting to hear. And then the front, of course,
will be finished, and this will have a vinyl
covering. Hello, John. That was an interesting
doorknob, wasn't it? There will be vinyl here
across the front, which will tie this gray stripe
in so that it will appear to go around the whole
room. Do you notice what the sound is like in
here? There is just a very alive room, a very
terrific room, really, for the choir, for all
music. So we're very excited with what has happened
here and rejoice in God's provision for us. The
Lord has been good, and we give him praise. As
you go down to your small churches later, you
will find that downstairs is a little less finished
than up here. The carpet for downstairs as well
as the carpet for the nursery was shipped out
about Thursday of this week, we were told, and
so it should be here tomorrow, perhaps Tuesday.
And we're glad it didn't come, frankly, before
the weekend. They could not have laid it, and
we would have had about 18 huge rolls laying
around here somewhere. So we're just thankful
it's on the truck this morning and not here.
Hopefully the carpet will be all down by next
week, and the rest of the painting, the... Vinyl
covering on the walls downstairs as well as some
other places will be finished. The bathrooms
downstairs have yet to be finished, although
I think the new lights are up there. So there's
just lots of exciting things yet to happen this
week. But how thrilled we are to be here this
morning. I think you agree with me on that. I
woke up about six times last night wondering
when the night was going to end. Let's take our
Bibles and turn together to the book of Acts.
If you have questions as to what time something
is happening or where this room is or how to
get to another place, check with the information
desk there in the lobby, and they should have
those answers for you. Acts chapter 2. We'll
read our text and begin with verse 37. When they
had heard this, they were pierced to the heart
and said to Peter, and the rest of the apostles,
Brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said to
them, Repent, and let each one of you be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness
of your sins, and you shall receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you
and your children, and for all who are afar off,
as many as the Lord our God shall call to himself.
And with many other words he solemnly testified
and kept on exhorting them, saying, Be saved
from this perverse generation. So then those
who had received his word were baptized, and
there were added that day about 3 ,000 souls,
and they were continually devoting themselves
to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship,
to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. What
a birthday celebration was Pentecost. The birth
of the Church of Jesus Christ was accompanied
by the epical release of the greatest energy
in the universe, the power of the Holy Spirit.
His coming to indwell believers was signified
outwardly by the noise as of a hurricane, by
flame as of a fire, and the miracle of tongues
or languages. With explosive impact, his presence
and power became personal to the newborn body
of believers. The Holy Spirit clothed himself
in their humanity, making them vessels, channels
of his mighty working. They were not merely humans
anymore, but more than that. because they were
indwelt by the Spirit of God himself. They were
indwelt with the supernatural. And we notice
they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
spoke in the native languages of the multitudes
who had gathered together for this Jewish feast
from all over the Roman Empire. But it was Peter
who became the chief spokesman for them. as he
stood up and explained the phenomena which was
taking place. And then he began to expound regarding
Jesus of Nazareth being Lord and Christ. His
message was more an indictment of the nation
than it was an invitation, for it exposed the
crime of the Jewish nation. The power of the
Spirit of God produced dynamic results at Pentecost.
Like an atomic explosion, his special entrance
into the world produced an amazing Pentecostal
fallout. In contrast to atomic fallout, which
is destructive and life -destroying, this Pentecostal
fallout was... constructive, and life -giving.
Will you notice with me, please, the three results
of the coming of the Spirit of God at Pentecost?
The first result is found in verses 37 to 40,
and it is conviction. It is described here as
their being pierced to the heart. That means
that they were stung sharply. literally. That
is, they were pricked by a sharp point. It is
as though you ladies were to slip as you were
sewing and stick the pin into your finger. Or
you were to have an ice pick that you were working
with and you slipped and hit your leg. There
was pain inwardly involved in what took place.
The same word is used outside of the Bible. in
the literature of that day to describe the sharp
striking of horses' hooves on the ground. They
became aware, as Peter preached, of the terrible
crime that they had committed in rejecting their
Messiah and crucifying him. What we have here
in their statement in response to conviction
is but the fulfillment of what Jesus said in
John... chapter 16 for there in that chapter
he prophesied regarding the coming of the holy
spirit and he says and he when he comes will
convict the world concerning sin and righteousness
and judgment concerning sin because they do not
believe in me And so the Spirit of God in His
coming on that day of Pentecost produced a powerful
conviction in the lives of those hearers. Now
the reason that they were convicted is because
they did hear the Word of God. You will notice
that it says, and hearing they were convicted.
That is, they heard a relevant proclamation regarding
Jesus. of Nazareth, being both Lord and Christ.
They heard it. And that hearing of the Word of
God produced the conviction inwardly. Without
that hearing, there cannot be the inward convicting
work of the Holy Spirit unto saving faith. Where
Romans 10, 17 says that faith comes by hearing,
and hearing the Word of Jesus Christ. That is
what happened on that day and still today as
the word of Jesus Christ is proclaimed or shared
by us. It does a work in the lives of those who
hear. The Spirit of God takes that word and produces
conviction. It is not always apparent, nor is
it always yielded to, but the Spirit of God nonetheless
uses it. So you and I have a great responsibility.
It is the same responsibility that Peter and
those apostles had on that first Pentecostal
Sunday. It is to declare the Word of God about
Jesus Christ so that people can be brought under
conviction. Now the response of Peter to their
conviction was that he solemnly testified and
he kept on exhorting them. And so what we have
here is a condensation of, the total sermon that
Peter preached. Luke takes the essential elements
of it, records those for us, but there were many
other words that Peter spoke. And essentially
there's a three -fold command in his response
to them. And it's sort of progressive. The first
thing that he says to them in verse 38 is, repent.
That wasn't the first time they'd heard this
word because that was the word that John the
Baptist had used. Peter said in response to their
question, what must we do? Number one, repent.
The word repent means to change the mind. But
it's more than just intellectual. It involves
a change of conduct and action as well. He commands
them to repent of their rejection of their Messiah.
To repent of their rejection of what he did and
who he was. They needed to change their mind
about Jesus of Nazareth and to receive him. This
idea of repentance is emphasized in the book
of Acts. The word is used at least ten times
in the preaching of the book. And by the way,
repentance should not be separated from faith.
There are those who make repentance a separate
work from faith. I believe that's incorrect.
For there is not true saving faith that does
not involve repentance. And repentance, genuine
repentance, always brings to true faith. They're
like two sides to one coin. In this particular
place, Peter emphasizes the repentance, their
changing of their mind, their turning from their
former attitudes about Jesus of Nazareth. Repent,
he says. May I say to you that I believe that
is a missing element in too much evangelism today.
We talk a lot about faith, believing on Jesus
Christ, and that is absolutely true. But somehow
we need to recover an emphasis on repentance
so that people understand that believing on Jesus
Christ is more than intellectually receiving
Him. It is more than adding Him into the life.
It also involves getting some things out of the
life. It involves changing the mind about some
things to receive him. The second thing that
he told them was, be baptized. Now the Greek
word baptizo means to immerse or to dip. I have
personally never read a Greek scholar who differed
from that. It was familiar to the hearers because
they had seen baptism, not only by John's baptism
out in the wilderness, but it was their custom
to practice immersion of Gentile proselytes into
Judaism. They too were immersed. And so this
was not a strange word or concept to them. But
he goes on to say, be baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ. And that's what gives this baptism
its significance. In other words, he's saying
be baptized with respect to Jesus Christ and
what he taught. He is not giving here the formula
that we're to use for this age when baptizing.
The formula that we use, as you probably are
aware, is I baptize you in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. That is
the customary formula. And we use that because
of the command in the Great Commission. In Matthew
chapter 28, verses 19 and 20, Jesus said that
we were to baptize in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And I
don't believe that Peter here is contradicting
what Jesus has said. He is not giving the formula
that they would be baptized with. He is simply
saying with respect to the teachings of Jesus
Christ, you need to be baptized. Every one of
you. Every one of you. Baptism is not just for
a few or for those who really are obedient, but
it's talking about everyone who believes to be
baptized. And he says that they are to do this
for the forgiveness of their sins. And that is
undoubtedly the most difficult part of this verse
and the most controversial in church history.
What does it mean to be baptized for the forgiveness
of sins? It all hinges upon one three -letter
Greek preposition, which is a three -letter preposition
in the English translation. It is for. Be baptized
for the forgiveness of your sins. That little
word, ice, as it is in the Greek, can have one
of two meanings primarily. It can mean for the
purpose of. And so this could be translated,
be baptized for the purpose of the forgiveness
of your sins. And there are those who take it
that way. But there are a couple of problems
that we have with that particular translation
of that preposition. One is that it therefore
makes baptism essential for salvation, for sins
to be forgiven. In other words, if you're not
baptized... You cannot be forgiven of your sins.
That would stand in contradiction to other clear
statements in the Scripture where baptism is
not a part of the picture, where faith alone
is mentioned. And so the first problem we have
if we translate this little preposition for the
purpose of is that it contradicts other clear
statements of Scripture. The second problem we
have is that it adds works to faith. So that
instead of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ
only to be saved, one must believe but also perform
a work himself of being baptized. And again,
I say we reject this particular translation because
it adds works to faith. Now there is another
translation. which is just as prominent in the
Scripture and just as legitimate here. And it
is the translation, on account of. In other words,
he is saying, be baptized on account of the forgiveness
of your sins. It seems to me that that particular
translation is consistent with Scripture in other
places, and it does not add baptism as a condition
for salvation. And therefore, I believe that
the way that this should be translated is that
way. Be baptized on account of the forgiveness
of your sins. That is, as a proclamation of,
as a testimony of, as a witness of the forgiveness
of your sins. I am glad for this word, forgiveness.
I think so often we get tied up in knots over
that particular controversy that we forget. The
wonderful promise that is here. That is the forgiveness
of sins. That is the great message that we have
to offer. There is not another faith in the world
that offers that particular hope. One has to
work and somehow to overcome his sins. Somehow
to accumulate enough good things so that his
bad things not weigh the good. But in biblical
Christianity, there is this offer that no other
faith makes. And that is when we come to Jesus
Christ, our sins are forgiven by God. They are
not any longer held against us. They are removed
from the record. They are remitted. And it involves
all sins, those that we think of as great or
as small. The forgiveness of our sins. No condition
there. Not a few, not big ones only, but our
sins. All of them. Furthermore, it does not say
all of the sins in your life up to that point.
When God forgives us of sins, He forgives us
of all of them, past, present, and future. You
say, wait a minute, you mean... God has forgiven
me already for all the sins I'm going to commit
in the future. That is absolutely true. In Colossians
it says He has forgiven us all of our trespasses
and sins. You say, but how does God know what
I'm going to do in the future? I don't even know
that. Well, I think the answer to that is obvious.
God's bigger than we are. And God is eternal.
You see, as God views your life, He sees the
whole thing laid out before him. He doesn't see
you as having an unknown future. He knows what
your future is. So when God forgives sins, he
forgives the whole life of sins. That's a wonderful
security that we have. You say, well, then why
does it say in 1 John 1, 9 that we're to confess
them and then he'll forgive and he cleanses?
That has to do with our fellowship and our walk
with God. But it does not have to do with our
essential, basic relationship to Him. For in
that respect, we are already forgiven of all
of our sins. That does not give us license to
go out and sin the way we want to. But what it
does do is assure us that God, through Jesus
Christ, has forgiven us for a lifelong pattern
of sin. and has already in his mind seen us in
heaven. You remember in Romans 8, we studied
those series of verbs that talks about our salvation.
And God sees us in Jesus Christ as already glorified,
even though in time where we're living, we're
not yet glorified. But God sees us in Christ
as forgiven totally of all of our sins. past,
present, future, great and small, and is already
glorified in Jesus Christ. It is a marvelous,
marvelous truth. Their baptism was symbolic of
that. It was symbolic of their new beginning.
It was symbolic of their repentance and their
faith. It was symbolic of the fact that their
old ways and their old religion was behind. By
the way, it was and still is baptism today, which
separates a Jew from his nation. It is that final
line of demarcation as far as one leaving the
Jewish faith. When a Jew is baptized at that
moment by his family, his friends, and so on,
if they're Orthodox, they are considered dead.
And they will sometimes even have a funeral for
that person who has been baptized. And so Peter
is saying to them, repent and be baptized. Make
a break with the past. And symbolize that by
your baptism. And then he says, thirdly to them,
be saved. That's passive. It's not something
they could accomplish, but he's saying, Be saved.
And here it seems to have not only the idea of
initial salvation, but being saved in their lifestyle.
For he says, be saved from this perverse generation.
Perverse means crooked or bent generation. So
he is saying to them, be saved from the perverseness
of those around you. Now the assurance they would
have if they would follow through would be not
only the forgiveness of all their sins, but they
would also receive the Holy Spirit. Notice in
the last part of verse 38, And you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit, for the promise
is for you, your children, and all who are afar
off. The free gift of the Holy Spirit. Notice
not the gifts of the Spirit. That's not His subject
here. It's the gift of the Spirit Himself. He
is not promising them that they will experience
the phenomena of the fire over the head or the
ability to speak in the languages, but He is
saying to them, you too will receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit. And notice for whom this
promise is. He is speaking to Jews, and he says,
it's for you and your children, your descendants,
in other words. But thank God, he goes on to
say, and Peter probably said more here than he
realized. He says, and for all who are afar off.
Now, it could be that Peter had in mind here
those Jews who were not in Jerusalem. who were
still scattered in the diaspora throughout the
Roman Empire. It's possible. But spiritually
speaking, we have this wonderful truth that those
who are far off are the whom? The Gentiles, right?
In Ephesians chapter 2, we are declared to be
far off and separated from the commonwealth of
Israel and the promises of God. But by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ, it says, we have been
brought near. And so we have an intimation at
least that Gentiles too are included. Even here
on the day of Pentecost, they were included in
the promise that Gentiles who believe would receive
the Holy Spirit. And then he goes on to qualify
it. He says, as many as the Lord our God shall
call to himself. That is an interesting phrase.
It speaks to the point of the sovereignty of
God. and to the effectual call of the Holy Spirit.
That same word that we saw in Romans 9, chapter
8, verses 29 and 30, where it speaks about the
fact that we are summoned to salvation. We are
called to salvation. You say, well, I found Jesus
Christ five years ago. That is the truth from
your side, but from God's side, he found you
long before that. For in his mind, in his purposes,
before the creation of the world, he called you
to be his own in Jesus Christ. So there's an
interesting balance here, it seems to me. They
say, Peter, what shall we do? And he says to
all of them, legitimately, repent! And then as
he balances it out at the end, he says, as many
as the Lord our God shall call. And that is the
balance, mysterious though it is, that is found
throughout the New Testament. And so there was
on this first Pentecost Sunday the result of
conviction. And only the Holy Spirit can produce
conviction. You and I can manipulate people.
We can do a sales job on them. We can win an
argument occasionally. We can lay on a guilt
trip. But only the Holy Spirit can produce conviction
in the heart. So don't try to do the work of
the Holy Spirit, will you? Will you leave that
up to Him? Our part is to declare the gospel
lovingly, with an appeal, but it's up to Him.
To bring it home to the heart and produce the
conviction so that people say, what must I do?
Now the second result on this Pentecostal Sunday
was that of converts, verse 41. Who were they?
Well, they were those who received his word.
To receive here is a special word that means
to welcome. It's the idea of throwing open the
doors and saying, welcome. It means to appropriate
the word. There's more involved here than just
the transmission of a message to those people.
All of them had a message transmitted to them,
but there were some who said, welcome. They opened
their heart to the word and received it. They
are the ones who were converted. And how were
they known? They were baptized. They were baptized.
We have no indication that there were some who
held back, or some who said, that's not for me,
or I'll wait till later. The indication is that
when they received the word, they were all baptized,
and that indicated that they were genuine about
their receiving of the word. That baptism symbolized...
their identification or their association with
Jesus Christ. And there were 3 ,000 of them.
3 ,000. Now when we have a baptism and have 20,
it takes a whole service. And it's a wonderful
service. And we're going to do that this month
over there in that place right there as soon
as they get the rubber in there. We'll put the
water in and we'll be ready to go. I hope you'll
be here for that service. But how do they do
3 ,000 in one day? Well, you've got to remember
in the first place there were 12 apostles, and
beyond that there were 100 -plus other disciples
who were there in that upper room when the Holy
Spirit came. And so we have to think that there
were 100 -plus people who were doing the baptizing.
It was not just Peter. Or just the twelve, probably.
And there were pools all over Jerusalem. And
there was nothing wrong with going into the pool
for this kind of a purpose. And so the 3 ,000
were baptized, and that indicated their sincerity.
Every genuine believer ought to be baptized in
obedience to the Word of God. And what happened
to them? Well, it says they were added. that
day to the church. They were added. That word
means they were joined to, and it's an interesting
word. It's where we get our word prosthesis,
which refers to an artificial limb that is added
to the body. When I grew up as a child, I had
a friend who was involved in a farm accident
and had his leg taken off just below the hip.
And that was my first introduction to a prosthesis,
to an artificial leg that he wore. It became
the extension of his body so that he could walk.
It was added to him. And that's the word here.
It is the extension of the body. It is adding
to the body. They were joined to it. And there
is a suggestion here that it was more than just
a membership role. In fact, it doesn't even indicate
there was a membership role present. It's the
idea that they were assimilated into the body.
Whose responsibility is it to see that new people
are assimilated into the body, that they're made
to feel a part, made to feel welcome? It's my
job and yours. It's the job of all of us. to
reach out to new people who are brought into
the church by the Lord so that they feel that
they're a part of what we're all about. If you
see someone standing around who you do not know,
I'll get these words out in a moment here, whom
you do not know and they look like they're strangers,
be sure to go to them and greet them. Last Sunday
there was a couple over at the Maranatha Auditorium
that way, and one of our staff members said that
he saw them standing there, and he was on his
way to greet them, and someone, a member of the
church, beat him to it. And that's great. We
want that to happen. Never allow anyone to stand
around looking lonely. Now, it may be that they've
come here longer than you have. Don't worry about
that. That's the least of our concerns. But,
you know, it's more than just that. You want
to find out who they are and shake their hand
and make sure they feel welcome. But it's finding
out that they're involved in small church. It's
encouraging them to get involved in the church.
We want to assimilate the people the Lord adds
to the body. Well, only the Holy Spirit can produce
converts. We can twist people's arms. We can
get them to say a prayer. But only the Holy Spirit
can produce converts, those who receive the Word.
And then there's a third and final result, and
that is commitment, verse 42. Their whole lives
were affected by what they were doing. There
was a new commitment on the part of these new
converts, and it was revealed in the priorities
which they established. All of them surrounded
the church in some way. There's the priority
of teaching. It says they were continually devoting
themselves. There's priority there, folks. That
means that this was the number one concern they
had, what was going on at the church. And that's
not the building here either. It's the fellowship.
And the first priority they established was the
apostles' teaching. The apostles taught them
about the life of Jesus. His death, His resurrection,
His ministry in heaven, as much as they understood
it at that point. These new converts decided
that was a priority. They had to get the teaching.
Number two was fellowship. They devoted themselves
to fellowship. The word means to share in common,
a matter of interest. To be a partner with someone
else. It's the idea of being a partner in business
or a player on the same team. It's a broad term
with a wide range of New Testament uses. It talks
in the New Testament about the blood of Christ,
the fellowship of the work of the gospel, the
fellowship of contributing to the poor saints,
the fellowship of oneness of spirit, the fellowship
in the Lord's Supper. It means to be a sharer.
These new converts had come from all over the
world and were prepared to stay in Jerusalem
for the feast. But something happened there they
had not anticipated. And they were going to be
around there for a little while anyway. And so
those who were believers took in others who were
new converts, and they shared. No longer were
they all strangers, though Jews, coming to the
city to celebrate a feast, but they were now
a part of a family. And so they began to share
burdens and practical needs. That was a priority
to them. Priority number three was communion,
the breaking of bread. Now this may refer to
the meals because in those days they celebrated
the Lord's Supper in connection with their meals.
It was usually the last part of the meal, the
breaking of bread, remembering the Lord's body
and His shed blood. But that was a priority to
them as they... Fellowship together, it involved
meals apparently, and there was part of that
meal when they worshipped the Lord by communion,
by the Lord's Supper. You know, the Lord's Supper
is more than just something that we do. It is
a command of Jesus Christ as much as baptism
is. When was the last time you were in the Lord's
Supper? It is a marvelous, worshipful experience.
As we partake of those elements, Jesus is not
in the elements or with them. But nonetheless,
he ministers to us in a very special way as we
observe communion together. Then the fourth priority
was that of prayers. These were apparently formal
services when they, as a body of people, prayed
together. In chapter 4, verse 23, it suggests
also they had home prayer meetings. But they
established prayer with other believers as a
priority in their lives. Only the Holy Spirit
can produce this kind of commitment. Only the
Holy Spirit can do it. Now there are several
observations that I want to make and we'll be
gone. Number one, when the Word is preached in
the power of the Holy Spirit, there will be conviction.
When the Word is preached or shared in the power
of the Holy Spirit, there will be conviction
in the hearts of the hearers. And that conviction
is not always measured by the immediate response.
I remind our staff that the response to a message
that is proclaimed here from the pulpit is not
measured accurately ever. by what happens during
the invitation time. The Holy Spirit always produces
conviction, and when there is not even one who
comes forward, the God has nonetheless done a
work in many lives. How can we see conviction
increase? By prayer. For power in the pulpit,
there must be prayer in the pews. The more that
we are a praying people, the more powerful the
conviction of God will be in our services. Someone
has said, where there's no prayer, there's no
power. Where there's little prayer, there's little
power. Where there is much prayer, there's much
power. And we have a ways to go. Observation
number two, we offer a message that deals with
a person's greatest need. His guilt before God.
You and I proclaim a message that involves the
forgiveness of sins, which removes that offense
against a holy God. That's the greatest need
in the world. The greatest need there is. What
a privilege we have then to be sharers of it.
Number three, I believe the Holy Spirit wants
to deepen your commitment to the same Four priorities,
as those early believers had. Number one, a commitment
to teaching. How concerned are you to receive
the instruction of the Word in our church? How
concerned are you about it? Are you concerned
enough that you're involved in a Sunday school
class or in small church where it's offered?
Is that a priority in your life? Are you concerned
enough that you come back on Sunday evening for
the teaching of the Word? The Spirit of God produced
commitment in the lives of those early converts.
And I believe He wants to produce a commitment
to teaching, to the teaching of the Word of God
in our lives as well. So that when the Word of
God is being taught, We're there. Whether it
be small church, Sunday school, morning worship,
evening service, a special service. One of the
reasons that we have had very few mid -week kinds
of things other than Wednesday night is because,
frankly, I don't know what the commitment of
some of our people is. In fact, many of our people
to the Word. And we're going to find out in about
four weeks. On January the 4th, Dr. Earl Rodmacher
is going to be here for a Friday night service.
He will be here also for Sunday, but he will
be coming from Portland to preach to our church
on that Friday night. And that will be one measurement
of our commitment to the Word and to the teaching
of it. Do we only come when it's convenient?
And then I believe the Lord wants a commitment
from us in the area of fellowship. Do you avail
yourself of the fellowship opportunities that
there are? There are many of them. Do you sense
a need for fellowship? If not, then there is
a greater need that you have, and that is to
realize your need of fellowship. Because you
see, we need each other. None of us is created
to be a little member out there by himself. We
are made to be a part of the whole. What is your
commitment to fellowship? Do you seek that out,
if not here at church with some people at work,
so that somewhere there is a group that you are
involved with on a dynamic level sharing with
them? We are building this into our church, and
there are those in our fellowship who are committed
to see that strengthened and deepened. Listen,
there's not a one of us who can mature spiritually
without this commitment, without this commitment
right here. And then there is a commitment I
believe that God wants to work in us toward the
Lord's Supper. I asked you when was the last
time you attended. Sometimes I think we see it
as just one of those things that we do if we
desire it. It's not really mandatory. Listen,
a command is mandatory. And Jesus commanded us
to observe the Lord's Supper. It is not an option.
And we have not had the Lord's Supper in our
church for a couple of months because of our
difficulty there with the logistics of it. But
now being back in our own place, we're going
to have that. We've decided the first time we're
going to have it will be on Christmas Eve in
our service at 4 .30. Now, that may be a tough
time for some people to be here for. We recognize
that. It will be offered again shortly thereafter.
But I want to encourage you, indeed, to exhort
you to consider this command and obey it. Make
that a priority. And then the priority of prayer.
Is that a commitment in your life to pray? You
say, sure, before every meal. Wonderful. But
does it go beyond that? Let me ask you a question.
If every person in our church prayed just as
much as you pray, what kind of a church would
we have? If everyone's commitment to prayer matched
yours, what kind of a ministry, what kind of
an impact, what kind of a fruit would we see
from what God is doing here? How much power would
we have? In some ways, I look upon this Sunday
as a new beginning for Grace Church Roseville.
We are now back. by the grace of God in a facility
that's going to allow us to minister to people
and to grow for some time to come, we believe.
Now, as we as a church have a new beginning of
sorts, I think it's appropriate that each of
us individually look upon this day as a time
of new beginning. That we say to ourselves, to
our families, and to the Lord today, Lord, I
am beginning anew to have the right priorities
in my life, to make those commitments. I am committed,
Lord, to serve you in some capacity in the local
church. I am committed to give faithfully as
I ought to give, as you've prospered me. There
may be some who would need to say, Lord, I've
been here for months. Some would have to say
for years. And today I'm making the commitment
to join. I believe this needs to be a day of
commitment for all of us, a day of new beginning.
I came across a poem that's a little bit humorous,
but maybe only a little bit. It's based on some
of the hymns that we sing as a church, hymns
of commitment. I don't know the author, but it
goes like this. I love thy church, O God, her
walls before thee stand. But please excuse my
absence, Lord, this bed is simply grand. A charge
to keep I have, a God to glorify. But Lord, expect
no cash from me, thy glory comes too high. Am
I a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb?
Yes. Though I seldom pray, I still insist I am.
Must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world
go free? No. Others, Lord, should do their part,
but please don't count on me. ...him, all creatures
here below. Loud my hymns of praise I bring.
because it doesn't cost a thing. Let's make this
a Sunday of new beginning for us, folks. And
we can say to the Lord, I love you, and you can
count on me. Heavenly Father, I pray that today
all that we are and all that we have will be
given to you in a fresh new commitment. There
are some who may need to come for baptism, Lord.
We've been putting that off. May they come for
that purpose and the invitation. And others for
membership. They've thought about it and prayed
about it and are ready for it. And others of
us have other areas of commitment, of prayer,
of giving, of attendance. where we need to give
ourselves afresh to you. Lord, make this today
the time of new beginning that it needs to be.
In Jesus' name I pray.