Day One
What is our mission at Grace – to be a community of whole-hearted followers of Jesus, rooted in grace, growing in love, committed to others.
This is a very familiar song from 2004, Boulevard of Broken Dreams that expresses the philosophy of many people in our world today that choose to go alone when God has something so much better for us
‘I Walk Alone’ is the default position for so many people who live all around us. They come home, drive in their garage and close their doors and their lives to the rest of the world. This past summer one of my neighbors decided to build an 8 foot fence to close themselves off from the rest of us. So, how do we draw people out of the shadows and into community of faith with there is health, vitality and life?
It is when a community becomes irresistible. Now, let’s take a moment and define the word in terms of this message. We are talking about becoming alluring, magnetic, relentless in persuasion. The word describes something that you just can’t refuse because it has such a strong draw. It is like a buffet that you can’t just walk by without wanting to sample some of its best offerings.
Now before you think I am talking about being irresistible to others, this is about much more than that. It is my desire that we as a church community would become irresistible not just to those in our world, but heaven as well. It’s a place that the angels rejoice over, it’s a place that God takes great delight in and it’s a place where the LORD adds to their number present there!
It’s a church where you grow spiritually, a place where you feel a strong sense of mission. It’s a place where you just don’t want to miss out on being part of what God is doing. It is a place where you want to invest for the long haul and it’s a place where you want to tell others about. You also know you can also relax here because it’s not about people who have it all together, but who together are growing in faith, hope and love!
And may I also say that it is not just about a place to attend, but a place where Jesus followers gather and then scatter, living out purposeful lives for Him.
1. An Irresistible Community is devoted to spiritual growth and intimacy in Christ v42,43
Let’s talk about being devoted. I have seen devotion in the triathlon world. I read about the bikes, the helmets, the latest wheels that the top athletes use. I have read about the workouts that combine all three disciplines. I have also seen devotion with parents who have children who play on travelling teams in hockey. The 6am practices, 2-3 practices a week, at least 2 games per week, travelling including pregame warm up locking up a 4hr chunk of the day.
Devotion – defined though is religious fervor – strong affection, loyalty.
I would like to say that an irresistible church hungers for God’s presence in their midst more than anything else. We know that unless God moves and works, we have nothing to offer. We need to have a living encounter with the presence of God!
We are all devoted to something, the call is to discern what are the most important things that I want to devote myself too.
You can only be devoted to so much.
Kevin Leman has just authored a new book titled, ‘It’s Your Kid, not a gerbil’ on reminding us how a frantic schedule guarantees stress – not success. I would also even add that the pursuit of our children’s activities when not in balance can strip our families of our devotion to Christ.
We live with so much societal pressure as parents. You know what it is like, ‘So, what is level is your child in?
The harder question is at what cost do we pursue these activities? Do they come at the expense of our walk with the Lord or our family
I want you right now to just take a moment and think about you are devoted to.
So, there are times when really tough decisions have to be made when we devote ourselves and our families to Christ as Joshua did when he said,
As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.
Now, it was more than just going to church.
What were the apostles teaching?
It was radical as we will see.
They were changing the world, they were different as a result of the teaching.
Others said of Peter and John, ordinary guys, but they recognized these men had been with Jesus.
“These all were with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer. Acts 1:14 NASB
What was the fellowship like? Koinonia = to share and partner together – relationships, burdens, blessings, ministry together
2. An Irresistible Community is Unified with one another v44
Acts 4:32 All the believers were one in heart and mind.
Community is a place where people can be broken before each other; where people experience other centeredness, forgiveness, empowering, true intimacy. Stephen Peisner
It is a commitment, a refusal to let bitterness and resentment continue to fester. A biblical functioning community is committed to this. We won’t tolerate this. In the real world, relationships can be discarded… not here. There is an incredible appeal to oneness in the church. Are you devoted to oneness in our church? Let’s bring it home and make it personal. Is there any unresolved conflict? Do you speak negatively about another brother or sister to a third party in the church? Do you have a judgmental or critical spirit toward someone else? Do you ever fail to try to understand people? Do you have bitterness in your heart right now? Oneness is the only way to live because it will not only damage you, but it will also affect your physical health and well being.
The effects of bitterness
Persistent bitterness may result in global feelings of anger and hostility that, when strong enough, could affect a person's physical health,’ says Carsten Wrosch, a professor in Montreal's Concordia University Department of Psychology and a member of the Centre for Research in Human Development. August 2011
It is like a cancer that threatens the life and beauty of the church. Some need to do work on this one today and we need to do it, to pray for the strength and the courage to meet with that person. Unity is the most precious gift of the church.
1 Corinthians 1:7-10 An affirmation and challenge.
3. An Irresistible Community is sacrificial because she lays no claim to her possessions. Acts 2:45
You might think this sounds like communism, but communism is so different. It is enforced from the top down whereas in the Christian community it overflows from within
Acts 4:32-35
Acts 4:32 If you thought the last challenge was tough, this one gets really personal. Now, take a deep breath. People still retained some of their stuff. Later, we still see that people opened up their own homes, but here’s the point. People whose lives are gripped by Jesus, they begin to think differently about their stuff. When they look at their stuff, they don’t think of how can I hold on to my stuff, how can I protect my stuff, but how can I use it to advance the cause of Christ and help people in need.
Have you met people like this? I have. They know that everything they have comes from God and so they hold it with open hands and use what they have been given to bless others.
There was not a needy person among them. Acts 4:34. That is what happened in Acts and that is what is supposed to happen now in a biblically functioning community.
We need to champion the cause of those in need.
God needs to wake us up. Am I devoted to the removal of need from our midst?
Am I devoted to using my stuff to bless people around me in our church, in our community, in our world?
Hard questions.
Is it possible that have you gotten a little too attached to your stuff?
I’ll never forget my first new car, a buddy of mine called it the ‘poor man’s sports car. It was a brand new ’96 bright blue Neon. I came out after a hockey game to find the window smashed and the work of a screwdriver completely jamming the ignition. I really sensed God saying to me that night, Jack, don’t get too attached to all of this.
I’ll never forget that night, God also was working on Sharon’s heart…God had clearly been leading us to a new ministry position in BC. Sharon wasn’t thrilled about going and wasn’t thrilled about the offer on our home either. We sometimes think following God will be easy or profitable, that’s not always the case. That same night Sharon could not get to sleep and at about 2am she woke me up to ask me to read John 12. She didn't know what it said, but really sensed God speaking to her almost in an audible voice to read the chapter and so we read about Martha who took a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume, a year’s wages and poured it on Jesus’ feet. The tears started to flow and we knew that we had to put aside our own expectations and sacrifice to follow Him.
Do you need to go through stuff-detox, getting detached to that whole possession thing.
Is it possible that God is telling you to sell some of your stuff and do something heroic for the kingdom of God?
When the church gets charged up, they want to do something tangible.
The Takeaway
When the church is functioning right, she is irresistible!
When these things happen, devotion to the teaching of the Word, to real fellowship and unity, to a place of sacrificial love, the supernatural breaks out and God does what we thought was impossible. It’s also explosive as well. Look how many people were coming to faith! Let’s not forget how it all started. They were moving forward in the power of the Holy Spirit…Acts 1:8
How many churches can be described as bringing joy to the community around them?
It is a place where those on the outside see a people who are truly devoted to God with authentic love, unified with arms wide open and sacrifices its resources to make the lives of those in need rich in Christ. It is a place where God shows up supernaturally and people’s lives are transformed, where broken people are becoming whole people, where spiritual clusters of friends laugh together, pray together and strengthen each other in the midst of pain and difficult times.
Maybe you have heard of the Welsh Revival of 1859 -
Businessman Jeremiah Lanphier was deeply concerned about the prevailing spiritual conditions of the day. He wanted others to join him in a lunch time prayer meeting He handed out some 20,000 fliers advertising the first noonday prayer meeting on September 23, 1857. For the first thirty minutes he sat alone praying. Eventually, steps were heard coming up the staircase and another joined. Then another and another until Lanphier he was joined by five men. The next Wednesday the six increased to twenty. The following week there were 40. Lanphier and the others then decided to meet daily, and within weeks thousands of business leaders were meeting for prayer each day. Before long over 100 churches and public meeting halls were filled with noonday prayer meetings. God moved so powerfully that similar prayer meetings sprang up around the nation.
Lanphier’s Pastor was one James Waddell Alexander. He laid great emphasis on prayer for revival, writing in a tract, Pray for the Spirit, ‘what we especially need is for the whole church to be down on its knees before God.’ The headings give us the gist of his teaching:
- There is such a thing as the outpouring of the Holy Ghost.
2. The influence of the Spirit of God is exceedingly powerful.
3. The Spirit whom we seek is the Author of Regeneration and Sanctification.
4. The Holy Spirit sends those gifts which are necessary for a successful work.
As a result, tens of thousands of people were converted as a result of those prayer meetings.
People were changed in so many ways. It has been documented that the crime rate dropped, alcoholics were reformed, pubs reported losses in trade. Bad language disappeared and never returned to the lips of many –it was reported even football and rugby became uninteresting in the light of new joy and direction received by the converts.
So, let’s keep praying in our homes, in our small groups, at our prayer meeting about what the Spirit wants to do in our midst. What is God’s unique fingerprint for our community of faith because when this happens, we will be irresistible in heaven and on earth!
