The Importance of Unity - Acts 4:32-37

Couple of things before I get rolling here. Number one, we have our Israel and Turkey trips coming up. Israel is in May. And if you want to go on that trip, you can either jump on our website and find the link, or you can email me and I'll send you the link. Here's what I'm going to say. If you ever wanted to go to Israel... It makes me cough drop. Only when I try to swallow it down the wrong pipe.

Now's the time to go to Israel. Here's why, tourism has not bounced back from the pandemic yet. And so the access that we have to things without competition is just unparalleled. And I'm telling you, I've been going over there for almost a decade now, and it's just unbelievable what we get to do, and what we get to experience without as many tourists there. So if you've ever wanted to go, this is the time to go.

And then in June, we'll be going to Turkey, which is, people go, "Why do you want to go to Turkey?" Well, all these places that we're going to be talking about in the book of Acts, it's Turkey. So we're not going to call it the Turkey trip, we're going to call it a walk through the book of Acts. If you want to see the early church and where it happened and how it took root, and what they were up against, and how they wrestled with it and all those things, that's your time to go with that. You can also find that on our website, or you can email me, and we'll get you the link sent.

But I really want to encourage you to go. Right now, if you've ever wanted to go to the holy land, right now is the time to go, because tourism is just not at the level that it will be again. I'm just telling you as somebody who leads those tours, it's unprecedented how awesome the trip is right now. So it would be the most awesomest of all the things. I think that's everything I was supposed to tell you.

Okay, here we go. Acts chapter four, we're going to go to the end of the chapter, 32 to 37. Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul. Before we go any further, how many of them were of one heart and soul?

The full number.

The full number, all of them. This is really important. And no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. And there was not a needy person among them for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid at the apostles feet. And it was distributed to each as any had need.

Thus, Joseph, who was also called by the apostles, Barnabas, which means son of encouragement. Actually, it doesn't mean that, that's a terrible translation, we'll talk about it. A Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet. That's all we got to cover today. Easy peasy.

There is an order of priority here that is actually really significant because one of the things that we want to wrestle with in this series is, what was it that gave the gospel such power? It's like Holy spirit was really present for them. And he kind of shows up once in a while for us. What was it that gave them such power to their message? There's an order of priority here. That is actually significant.

Number one, they were of one heart and soul. It wasn't a bunch of people trying to find their own uniqueness or their own angle or their own interesting spin. Or, "You could have said this, this way," or, "We should have done this, this way." Or, "If I had done it would've been this..." There wasn't any of that. They were one heart and soul. They were unified. They were actually looking at other things other than whether or not I completely agree with you.

Wait, what? Then it says, no one said that any of his possessions was his own, they had everything in common. See socialism. No. So let's talk about it. First of all, one of the problems that we have in the church with trying to wrestle with biblical justice issues in a healthy way is that when we talk about justice issues, we immediately move to the paradigm of execution being governmental systems.

Let me say this, this is not the government we're talking about here. And it's not a, we got to make a country that will do this. They were under Roman oppression, and still called to live this way. Furthermore, then we go, "Okay, well it's not government's job. It's the church's job." No, it's not the church's job to create programs that you can throw money at and feel good about the fact that program went to help somebody. This is the Christian's call. If you call yourself a follower of Jesus, this is who you are. That's what this is. Each individual being... This isn't about systems and governments, and it's not about any of that stuff.

By the way, this is happening within the church. These aren't people that are going out into the community, trying to find places to give money. Membership has its privileges... This is happening, God's people take care of one another this way. The problem for us is that we have... "I want to find out just, what do I have to give?" Here's the deal, I'm just going to... I love you, but hear my heart. If that's your mindset with generosity, you do not have the heart of Jesus. What do I have to give? What's minimum compliance look like? Pick any facet of your life and tell me where minimum compliance works out well. How's that in your marriage? I'm going to do the minimum that I can to stay married to you. Man, I can't wait to be married to that guy.

This is one of those spaces where out of a reality check of who Jesus is and what he's done in their life, it wells up and it looks like a thing. By the way, it always looks like the same thing. So we're going to have to talk about that. Then it says that the apostles gave powerful testimony about Jesus. The message about Jesus being powerful did not happen first. They were unified first. Then they were generous. And then the message had power.

That is so important, because we want to... Why can't the world come be a part of the church? Why can't they get it figured out? Let me tell you why, because we're mean to each other. Then it says, grace was upon them all. And then it says, no one among them was needy, because people were extravagantly generous. And, again, that's not everybody in Jerusalem, that's everybody in the church. They took care of one another, not as a church program. We have benevolence programs. Not as a church, but as a lifestyle of following Jesus.

So there's a couple of lessons that I want to talk about today. And then I want to talk about Barnabas and who he is, because he's going to be really important in the rest of the story of Acts. The first lesson that I want to talk about is I want to talk about the importance of unity. Unity is important because it's the precursor to giving the message of the gospel weight. How many of you have been standing in a line to go to a concert or something like that, and there's a bull horn guy or a megaphone that screaming at you, "You're a sinner, and God's wrath is on."

If this is your testimony, don't be upset, but how many people know someone that their testimony is, "I was standing in line at a concert and this guy was screaming on a street corner. And I was like, oh, I want to be a part of that guy's God." Here's the deal, if you're called to do that, do it. I'm just telling you, I don't know anybody that's ever come to Christ that way. And maybe there are some, maybe there are, but there are much more effective ways to reach people for Jesus than to begin... When your gospel ends with, "Hey, did you know you're in abomination?" And that's your good news. I'd hate to hear your bad news. We got to understand that what gives the gospel power, in part, is our capacity to be unified.

I want to read a section out of John 17. This is Jesus' prayer between the upper room and him being arrested. So this is the night that he's arrested. Here's what he says, "I've manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world, yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you've given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me and they've received them and I've come to know the truth. And I have came from you."

Now, by the way, before you get too far into this, this is going to be like a you and me and them and us and we and a and thou and them and that, it's so confusing. What I want you to just pay attention to the rhythm of it. There's this rhythm of breathing that goes into Jesus' prayer. This life of you and me, and me and you, and them and us, like this breathing rhythm and his prayer, that Jesus is bringing life to the prayer in this rhythm of, there's this way that the energy of the Holy Spirit flows from the Father threw me to people then back and forth. There's this rhythm of breathings. This is why the Holy Spirit one of the metaphors for the Holy Spirit is the breath of God. There's this rhythm of it, and it's in Jesus' prayer.

"And they believe that you have sent me, and I'm praying for them. I'm not praying for the world, but for those whom you've given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours and yours are mine and I'm glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world. I am coming to you Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you've given me, that they may be one, even as we are one." This is Jesus' prayer for his disciples, that they would be one.

"While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you've given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost, except for the son of destruction, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I'm coming to you, and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of this world. Just as I am not of this world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one."

So I just want to say this, Jesus' prayer for his disciples, isn't ease, it's unity. That's his prayer for his disciples. Not that you get pulled out of the world. And the church, for some people, the philosophy of the church is, this is a place where we insulate from the world. Almost like we come here and we wrap ourselves in spiritual bubble wrap, so that we can go out and not really be affected by the world. No, you should go out and engage the world. And here's the truth, if you're going to do that well, you can't do it by yourself. None of us can, which is why we need one another. That's why we have to be one, because it's in the power of us doing this together that the message doesn't get compromised.

We want to be independent. Look at me, I'm independent. That's 'Merica, that's who we are as a nation and that's not evil, it's just kind of anti-kingdom. If you're going to live out the kingdom, we do it in community. We have to. We have to do it unified.

"They are not of the world, just as I'm not of the world, sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. And as you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake, I consecrate myself that they also may be sanctified in the truth. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word." Who's that?

Us.

That's us. So good news. Jesus prayed for you. You want to know what he for you? That they may all be one. "Just as you Father in me and I am in you, they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me."

The way that the world's going to know that God sent Jesus is by our capacity to stay unified. Not, by our convincing apologetic arguments, which are not evil. There's nothing wrong with that. We should be thinking. We should be stealing our mind. We should be wrestling with issues of faith. We should be doing that, but just know that's not what's going to prove to the world who Jesus is. Our ability to get along with one another is going to be what shows the world who Jesus is.

Which is why. When we talk about the fruit of the spirit last week, it's why that's so important. And hear me, you don't get the fruit by pursuing fruit. Like, "Oh, I need to be more loving, so I'm going to work on loving." That's you doing it in your own power. You can get the fruit by pursuing Christ, and the fruit becomes true of you. You can't to avoid it, because people who pursue Christ, it looks like a thing. And the Bible defines that.

John 13, and I've quoted this verse a lot and I will keep quoting it. Here's what Jesus says, "Little children, yet, a little while I am with you. You will seek me just as I said to the Jews, so now also I say to you, where I am, you cannot come. A new commandment I give you that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this will all people know that you are my disciples, by your convincing apologetic arguments."

Listen, I'm all for truth. I'm all for of that stuff, but the problem is it doesn't change the world. Love does. That's why as people of faith, we need to lead with compassion. That's not compromising truth. That's not giving up on truth, but I have to know they're wrong. That's Holy Spirit's job.

Yes.Yes.

My job is to reflect the heart of God in the world. We got to lead with compassion. We got to lead with compassion. Doesn't mean we don't have truth conversations, because we do. But we got to lead with compassion. Be compassionate for a while, then beat them over the head with truth, that's what works. Listen, unity is what gives the gospel power. That's what Acts 4 says. There's a reason why it's listed that way.

Now the second thing that I want to talk about is the significance of generosity. And this is one of those touchy subjects. And the older I get, and I'm pretty old at this point, I care a lot less about how this hits people, not from an uncompassionate way, but it just, this is actually a really important conversation. And for years I would never even teach on giving. I was like, "I'm scared of it." And then we do a giving series every year, every January, we would do a giving series. We're not doing one this year, because we're doing the Acts, and there's plenty of opportunities to talk about this.

So when we talk about tithing, it's always the funnest series of the year. People love it. Our life group leaders are like, "I literally cannot wait until the tithing series, because that's the funnest of conversations." And there's a reason why, because you know that there's people in your group that are not tithing and there's people that are, and this is going to be a big like, "Hey, you should go one direction or the other." Everybody's going to have to justify why it's okay for them to stand where they stand.

Here's the thing, the Bible uses tithing as the standard, and I've had questions, let me just deal with some of the questions here quickly. Did Jesus tithe? Mic drop. Jesus pulled coins out of fish's mouth. I don't know if you know that. Which, by the way, was for the purpose of giving to the temple, I'll offer that. It wasn't for his own pocket. But here's the problem, if you're like, "I just kind of read the gospels. Just what Jesus, I just follow Jesus. It's just all about Jesus." The problem with that is that the Bible says all scripture is God briefed. And it's useful for teaching, for correcting, reproving, rebuking it. All of it from beginning to end, not just the gospel. So, yes, the gospels are important. I don't know if you know this, but Jesus is a fairly significant care character in our faith.

The gospels are really important, but they're not the whole of scripture. So here's what we've got to do. What we've got to do is that hermeneutics is the rules by which we interpret scripture, you don't get to interpret it any way you want. You have to use the rules of interpreting scripture. The synthesis principle says you take everything that the Bible says from beginning to end on a topic, then you make your conclusion. But you got to weigh all the evidence. You can't just sliver, go, "I don't want to do that. I would do it my way."

So if you're not going to use tithing as a standard for biblical giving, fine, but show me another standard from the Bible. Show me another. "Well, I..." Because what we're wrestling with isn't how generous can I be? We're wrestling with, how much do I absolutely have to do? What can I get away with and still call myself a Christian? Minimum compliance is not how we live our faith. And it's certainly not an awareness of the sacrifice that was made for us to be able to sit in this room and say we have a relationship with God.

I have some people that are like, "Hey, I just want to be a New Testament giver." Okay. Let me read a passage for you, this is 2 Corinthians chapter eight, here's what it says. We want you to know brothers about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia. For in severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means as I can testify and beyond their means of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints.

Please, if you want to give yourself into extreme poverty, be my guest. But that's the New Testament standard for giving. Let's keep going, and this not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord. And then by the will of God, to us. Accordingly, we urged Titus that he had started that, as he had started, he should complete among you this act of grace. So generosity is an act, a result of grace in your life. When you choose not to be generous, it's because you don't understand grace.

But as you excel in everything in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you see that you excel in this act of grace, also. What act of grace? Generosity. Generosity is a result of understanding God's grace. When you realize, when you come to terms with how much we need God's grace, the natural result of that is generosity. Which you can go, "Well, that doesn't mean it's 10%." Okay, fine. But it all also doesn't mean how much can I get away with and still call myself a Christian. Pick your number, but I can tell you this, the Bible says what it says.

And so the Holy Spirit's going to keep noodling your heart. He's just going to. It's not like he's going to let you go for less than his... He'll be like, "Oh, well, I know I said 10%, but eight percent's fine for you. You and you alone. You're the one exception to the rule." "I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others, that your love also is genuine." Here's what he's saying. I'm not trying to spank you. I'm not going to punish you. But if you say you love other people, it looks like a thing. You can't, he goes, "I love you in my heart." That's not love. It's not love. I love you here. I don't love you out here. I love you here. Try that in your marriage see how that goes.

"I don't want to actually love you out here. I just want you to know. I love you in here. Okay? I'm going to the garage." "I told you I loved you on the day we were married. If something changes, I'll let you know." Try it, see how it goes. That's not love. Love looks like a thing. Now that doesn't mean love is always airy, fairy, and unicorns, butterflies. That's not love either. Love looks like a thing.

And according to Paul and 2 Corinthians, love looks like generosity. Love for God, looks like generosity to people. For you know that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich yet for your sake, he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. And in this matter, or I give my judgment, this benefits you who a year ago started not only to do this work, but also to desire to do it. Oh, here's a good one. People are like, "Well, Bible says," by the way, it's the same book, "God loves a cheerful giver. Don't give grudgingly under compulsion. So because I would grudgingly under compulsion, I don't have to give."

No, that's not what he says. What he says there is, you're going to give something, you might as well do it with a joyful heart. If you are doing it with grudge or compulsion, that's a problem. But what he says here is, he says, "A year ago you started to be generous, and then you started the desire to do it." At first you obeyed, then you desired. Why? Because in our obedience we find out the blessings of God make it far more worth it. "So now finish doing it as well, so that you're readiness and desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have."

So when you begin the conversation on tithing with... "Well, I don't have enough." That's not how tithing works. That's not the conversation around tithing. That's a fleshly conversation where you're trying to pad your own kingdom. Isn't it fun when we have time to dissect the scriptures further. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness, your abundance at the present time should supply their needs so that their abundance may supply your need. That there may be fairness. As it is written, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little, had no lack.

Here's the thing, three lessons about generosity quickly. Number one, generosity reminds us that nothing that we have is ours. The only way for you to remember that is to be generous. Number two, generosity gives us an opportunity to see God at work, the does. And those of you that have been long time faithful tithers to the Lord, you have stories of God's like, I don't know how that worked out, but it was God math. And there's always stories of God's faithfulness to people who are generous. I double dog dare you to try to out give God. You can't. You can't.

My wife and I, when we first got married, we lived on $683 a month, combined. We were both working full time for that. I was making like big money, 4.25 an hour. Our bills each month were $715 every month. Now, I don't know if you know that, but it's a negative sum. Our first check every month was to the Lord, and we never went into debt. I had a legitimate, on paper, mathematical reason to say, "I don't have enough money to tithe." And we did it and we never went hungry and we never went into debt. That's God math. The problem for some of us is that we want to make God prove it, but you don't want to step into a space where he has to. If you want God to prove it, do what he asks you to do.

Third reason why generosity is important. Generosity shows the world what God's like. And again, we're not here to prove to the world that they're wrong, we're here to reflect the heart and the character of God in the world. It shows the world what God's like.

Third piece here that I want to talk about, who's Barnabas? Who is he? Now, his real name is Joses or Joseph. He lives in the island of Cyprus and he is a Levite. Now, here is a bit of a speculative leap on my part, and I can't really nail this down own. And Brad Gray disagrees with me. So he and I have gone round and round about this. I just was like, "Dude, this just proves how wrong a good person can be, sometimes." Here's the thing. Here's my question. And this is a big, like, ah, interesting, can't like put my flag in the ground on it, but it's interesting to think about.

What was unique about the tribe of Levite amongst the other 11 tribes, when they went into the promised land? They weren't allowed to own any property. So what the heck is he doing selling a field? That's a question. And what Brad said was, "Well, yeah, but a lot of the Levites owned property in the first century." Right, that doesn't change the rule. Now I'm not making my whole claim on that. I'm just thinking that's interesting. It's possible that one of the reasons why Joseph is selling this land is because when he comes to Jesus, he's like, "This isn't mine."

And it could also help us understand why he gives all the money to the church. Are you with me? And that's going to matter next week when we talk about Ananias and Sapphira. And we have another really cool Sunday school song. I know you're on the edge of your seat for that one.

Here's the other piece. Barnabas is unclear as to its origin. Most likely it's Barnaby, which means son of the prophet. That doesn't mean son of encouragement at all. Son of encouragement is not a great translation. In the Greek, it's huios parakleseos. Huios means son of and parakleseos is more complicated to translate. The King James translates it consolation 14 times, exhortation eight times, comfort six times, and in treaty once. Other ways that this word is used in other Greek literatures is to call near, especially for help. parakleseos would be to call you near because I need help. Importation, comfort that provides refreshment, like I'm weak and I can't move on, you come and provide me comfort and I can take another step. Or persuasive discourse.

But the idea of the parakleseos, by the way, the Holy Spirit is called our Paraclete. Anytime that you can get a word used to describe Holy Spirit in your nickname, that's pretty good. You're pretty awesome. The idea of parakleseos, it's from two Greek root words, para, which means alongside, think parallel, and kleto, which means to call. The idea of it is the one who draws near to you to inspire you to stay on the path and keep going. And that is Barnabas to his core. Someone who... What is a prophet? Think about this, what is a prophet? We think of prophets as they bring the message of God. Yeah, but the prophetic gift, isn't so much about new revelation. It's more about seeing things in a deeper perspective than other people see, revealed to you by God.

So when a person like Barnabas sees a human, they see deeper into you than other people see. They see God at you, and they call it out. And then they refuse to allow you to sell yourself short. That's what a paraclete does. That's what a paraclete does. Somebody who comes alongside and says, "Listen, this is God's work in you." By the way, not somebody that comes alongside and says, "Here's the reasons that you're falling short."

I just want to offer, there's a reason why in the Bible, criticism is not a spiritual gift and encouragement is. What we have to do is become people who see the potential in others and call it out. And then don't just go, "That's you. Have a nice day." But, "This is what God's doing in you. Come on, I refuse to allow you to sell yourself short. I'll do this with you. We're going to do this together."

Listen, the world needs more Barnabi, Barnabases. The world needs more of them. We need to be those people. Certainly for the family of God, but the world needs those people.

Why does the early church, the church in Jerusalem, why do they send Barnabas to Antioch? Why? Because this is a guy who at a very deep level, can see God at work, even when it's not what he's used to. See, here's what happened. There's this big persecution that breaks in the church in Jerusalem, we're going to talk about it in a couple of weeks, and all the Christians scatter. Why? Because this guy named Saul, who's going to become Paul, is knocking on doors and killing people. And so they scatter and they go everywhere. They go talking about Jesus. Well a group of them land in Antioch, and all these Gentiles start coming to Jesus. And the church in Jerusalem catches wind of it. Like, "oh, mm-hmm (negative). We are the corner market on the business of Jesus. We got to go check out these guys and see if they're too legit to quit."

And they choose Barnabas, and Barnabas goes up there and he is like, "Oh my gosh, God is at work here," so he stays. And the first thing he does is he goes and gets Paul and brings him to Antioch. Why are those people in Antioch? Because Paul was killing their families. And Barnabas goes and gets him and says, "Hey, let's go restore relationship." That's Paul's first year of ministry. That's hard. That's hard. But with a guy like Barnabas, you can do hard things. And that's why we need, everybody needs a Barnabas. Everybody needs one, because they refuse to allow you to quit.

But you can't do that by yourself. We all need that person, we need that accountability in our life. We need it. You will sell yourself short, I will sell myself short, if I don't allow myself to be accountable to somebody, in any number of areas. We need Barnabas. You need to be a Barnabas.

I have some implications for us this morning. Number one, the church must be a place where we can pull for the good in others, rather than trying to show people where they're wrong. We've got to be a place that invites the potential out, and then refuses to allow people to quit. We've got to be that place.

I got to tell you, I'll tell you a funny story. Wednesday, it was nine degrees out in the morning, and I thought it would be a great idea to go for a run. It was when it snowed, turns out it's cold at nine degrees. So I'm coming back from my run and I come around the corner into my neighborhood and two of my neighbors are out shoveling their drive. And one of them had his dog out in the front yard and his dog comes running over to me. So I'm pet his dog. He's like, "I'm so sorry." Like, "That's fine." And they were like, "Man, you're a trooper. It's cold out." The only thing that my frozen brain could think of to say was, "I have too much accountability to say, no."

"If I don't do this, I have too much accountability to say, no. I'm unwilling to say no people." We need one another. We need people in our life to hold us accountable and we need to submit to it. We need to be submitted to accountability.

Number two, generosity is the foundation stone in God's kingdom. We don't get to define generosity, God does. We don't get to define generosity, God does. Number three, we must be people who see the potential in others and refuse to allow them to settle for less. We got to be those people. Listen, how many of you want to be a part of a group of people? Don't put your hand in the air, because you probably forgot deodorant or something, I don't know. How many of us want to be a part of a group of people that is wholly devoted to our best version of ourself? Like I do. What if, what if I said to you guys, "Hey, I know how to hear from the Lord better. I know how to be more aware of his vision and his direction for our church. I know how to be better at understanding God's word, but I don't want to."

If I was sitting in your chair, I'd be like, "I don't want to be part of that." But we sell ourselves short all the time. We need people who are unwilling to allow us to be okay with that. That's why we need life groups. One of the really important reasons for life groups is you don't get to quit. You don't get to sell yourself short. Here's the thing that God's doing in you, we are going to make sure together that you take hold of that. And someday when you're strong, I'm not going to be strong. And so you're going to get to do that for me. That's how relationship goes.

Number four, if the church is going to recover from decline, there must be a reinstitution of God's word, and God's will, God's way. If there's one thread that I'm going to keep pull in the book of Acts, this is it. God's word and God's will, God's way. Can't do it my way. The church has tried God's word and God's will my way for way too long, and it doesn't work. It misses God's power. When I'm trying to live out God's word and his will in my way, I'm doing it under my own power, that doesn't work.

I think that for every one of us, we're going to take communion in a second, one of the reasons why we anchor ourselves to communion every week is because it is so easy to get in the rhythm of life and miss our model... Aren't you thankful that Jesus didn't say, "What's the minimum that I have to do to call myself generous?" It's just not the mindset of a Jesus follower. It's not the mindset of a Jesus follower. How much can I give you to show you that I love you? How much can I give you? And communion is this anchor point for us that's like, "oh yeah, yeah. Yep."

Where are you allowing yourself to get off the rails on being unified, on being generous, on living in the lifestyle that God has called us to? Or are you just trying to make it minimum compliance faith? I'm just hoping I get into heaven. I want you to be in heaven too, but there's so much more in the Christian life here and now, so much more. So much more.

Let's take a minute and talk with the Lord about that. Like, where am I getting off the rails God? And what do you want me to do with that? Let's talk with him.

On the night, Jesus was betrayed, he took bread and he broke it. He said, "This is my body, which is given for you. So whenever you eat this bread, do it in remembrance of me." Let's remember him this morning.

And then after the dinner he took a cup and he said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which is shed for you. So whenever you drink this cup, doing a remembrance of me." Let's pray, Lord, it is simple and not easy to be what you've called us to be. Lord, in my own life, thank you for surrounding me with people who are willing to walk with me in the process of becoming what you've asked. Lord, thank you that your grace extends past our mistakes. And that we don't have to make these changes under our own power. The more that we abide in you, the more that these realities just become true of us. Thank you, God, for your mission, in Jesus' name. Amen.