Transcription
[Music] Coming together is only the beginning. It's keeping together that changes everything.
[Music] Between our best moments and our worst.
[Music] Between our finest hours and our lowest points.
[Music] Between two Sundays, we discover that we're always better together.
[Music] Well, good morning, Bridge fam! How are you this morning? Man, oh man, it is so good to be with you. A very special welcome. You're joining us online or in Columbia, in the room. Can we welcome our online and Columbia family, please? Yes! Can we also give it up for our entire creative team? Anyone got goosebumps already? That was just the sermon. Yes, the amount of content that they create and the excellence with which they create is really, really mind-boggling to me, and I'm so grateful for them. Uh, before we do anything else, why don't we just pray? That's not all right. I'm gonna do it anyway. Um, wherever you're at, wherever you're watching, whatever kind of day or week or month you're having, uh, let's go before the God who knows us and loves us fully and completely. Let's pray to Him. God, thank you for the gift of this moment right now, of Your presence in our midst. God, wherever we're at, physically, emotionally, spiritually, God, that You are near, and You are close, and You are moving. God, open our eyes to the ways that You are working in our midst, in our families, in our own hearts. God, help us to receive not just some words or ideas or instruction today. Holy Spirit, would You do a work in our heart, in our soul, God, that only You can do? That's what we desire. God, we thank You and we love You so much. We pray all this in the beautiful name of Jesus, and all God's people said, Amen.
All right, so, uh, a quick show of hands, and this is for everywhere, online, in Columbia. A quick show of hands, who considers themselves an observant person? Just, yeah. All right. Go ahead, raise those. Saying, yeah, it's not a trick. It's all right. All right, put them down. Now, those of you who came with the people that raised their hands, who would agree with you? Who would agree with their? Okay, here's what I've. Has anyone ever been asked this question before? Um, notice anything different? Anyone ever? I have two go-to's to that question: a new haircut or new outfit. But here's what I've learned: if you're being asked the question, you're already too late, right? If I'm right, and all the ladies said, Amen.
So, here's, I want to, I want to conduct a little bit of an experiment. I want, and again, this is both here in Columbia and online. This might be strange for you, but I'd love for you to do it. Um, this half of the room right now, I want you all to stand to your feet. Right down, we don't have a middle aisle, but right down the, this half over, everyone stand your feet wherever you're at, and I want you to look around the room to the people sitting. Just, just make some observations. Just what do you, what do you note? What do you see? What are you observing? Don't say it out loud. Uh, okay, so keep that mental note. I want you to go ahead and grab a seat. Now, this side of the room, I want you to do the same. This half over, everyone stand to your feet. Stand your feet, and I want you to look, look around at the people that are sitting in front of you, behind you. I want you to make a mental snapshot of what you see, or what you observe, or what you maybe even what you feel, what emotion that creates, okay? So go ahead, go ahead and have a seat. We're actually going to come back to that a little bit later, but I want you, I want you to hold on to the things that maybe you observed in that really brief exercise.
When I stand right here, one, one of the things that I, I notice that I observe, maybe most obviously, is that you all are in rows, right? You're all in rows facing this direction. And I think, to be honest, I think pastors, I think pastors like rows, right? Rows keep us kind of organized. We're all kind of facing the same direction, and then I'll, I'll kind of share some thoughts and some words for about a half hour, and if Ron is probably 35 minutes, and, uh, I think we like rows like this. But here's what I've found to be true in my study of scripture and in my life as a pastor, that when you look at the early church, they spent very little time in spaces like this, sitting in rows, looking at the back of other people's heads, listening to someone lecture for a half hour. In fact, the picture that we get of the early church is actually way less of rows and way more of circles. Rows are great, but I think circles are even better.
So, we're going to be in Acts chapter 2. If you want to turn there, or flip there, or scroll there, or whatever other sorcery you do to get there. Acts chapter 2 is where we're going to be today. And let me give a little bit of context. In Acts chapter 2, Jesus has been crucified, He's died, He's buried, and then He's resurrected and ascended. And now Christ starts something new. Acts 2 actually signifies a really big shift. God had been working through Israel, but now God's going to work through something called the church. He'd been working through the Jews, and now God will work through the nations. In chapter 1, the disciples were waiting for the Holy Spirit, and in chapter 2, He comes. In chapter 1, the disciples were equipped, but in chapter 2, the disciples were empowered. In chapter 1, the disciples were held back, but in chapter 2, they're sent forth. In chapter 1, Jesus ascends, but in chapter 2, the Holy Spirit descends.
So, let's pick this up in Acts chapter 2. We're gonna start in verse 42. It says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give away to anyone who had a need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who are being saved."
Now, if you're not familiar with this passage, the, the 41 verses prior to verse 42 here, describe the coming of the Holy Spirit, and Peter preaches this incredible sermon, and 3,000 people respond with faith and baptism. Now, I want you to look briefly at verse 46 here. Verse 46 says, "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts." So, the early church did meet in rows, right? Very beginning of verse 46, they loved meeting in rows. We love meeting in rows. I love what we get to do together on Sundays. They met in the temple, but the second half of the first, I think, communicates something really, really significant, that they also broke bread and they shared life together in homes. They met daily. They did more than just simply attend an event once a week. They shared life. They broke bread. They lived lives together.
So, I want to really briefly unpack why I think living in circles accomplishes at least four things. I think it actually, uh, living life in circles in four different ways during the early church: spiritual, physical, emotional, and missional. Living in circles in four different ways: spiritual, physical, emotional, missional.
The first is spiritual. "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teachings and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." So, the word "devote" here is really, really significant. In the original language, it's not a one-time verb. It's when we think of like a devotion or a vow, sometimes it's like one decision, one statement, one thing we do one time. But it actually means continued steadfastly or constantly and continually to give unremitting care to something. So, they pursued continually, day after day. But their pursuit was not a solitary one. They sought God not as an individual activity. They learned and prayed and celebrated together. This is why we just read this a couple weeks ago. This is why I think the Apostle Paul wrote things like this to the church in Ephesus: "From Him, the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work."
Now, that passage in Acts also uses the word fellowship. And I don't know how many of you grew up in church, but like for me, there was a place in every church building I'd ever been to called the fellowship hall. Anyone familiar with the fellowship hall? That basically was like Christian code for like, where the snacks are at, right? I was very well acquainted with the fellowship hall. But the word fellowship is way more enigmatic. It's way richer than just simply, oh, that's, that's where socializing happens, that's where the snacks are held, that's where we do luncheons and potlucks. If you grew up in my church, we called them pot blessings because luck wasn't a Christian virtue. [Music] Do with that what you will. But the word fellowship here in the Greek, in the book of Acts, is the word *koinonia*. It's doing life together. 12th-century English monk Arnold called it spiritual friendship. Now, we're doing fellowship. Now, I think when we, when we gather together, and when we do Bible study, and we go on a hike or grab coffee, that's all fellowship. But can we be honest, though? Most of those instances are pretty planned, right? Now, I'm new to the style, so correct me if I'm wrong, but typically when we say, "Hey, stop on by anytime," what do we really mean? Call first. We'll schedule it out. I'll put it on Google Calendar, and I won't know that you're coming until you accept my invite, right? That's typically what we mean by "stop by anytime" fellowship. It's more like welcoming a friend to experience all of life with you, even when there's laundry on the floor, dishes in the sink, and the baby is crying. Fellowship, *koinonia*, is when your parent dies, and you're sick, and your friend comes over to take care of you. It's getting up early for breakfast to pray and confess your sins to each other. It's seeing each other on the good days and the bad days, day in and day out. I love what Pastor Andy Stanley says about friendship, spiritual friendship. He says, "Your friends determine the quality and direction of your life." Your friends. We know this to be true. Look at the five people that are closest to you, and you get a snapshot of the direction that you're headed. Fellowship is not just simply a hall in a church building, and it's not even just exclusively what we do on Sundays, although that's a big part of it. It's inviting someone into our lives. *Koinonia* is like, you see me at best, but you also have seen me at my worst. I don't feel the need to clean the whole house before you come over because we are doing life together. That's fellowship.
The second way I believe that they're living in circles is physical. Acts 2, verse 44: "All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need." So, by obeying the apostles' teachings, the, the church was mimicking the most generous man in the world. Just as Jesus would share all that He had in common with them, the first-century church lived in such a way where no one had a need. It wasn't forced on them. It was a response to God's love to them. Any generosity that we ever live is a reflex to God's generosity to us. John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave." God is a generous God. He's a giving God. So, any generosity is a reflex. It's a response to God's love and generosity to us. What could that look like today? It might look like running errands for someone in need. It might look like raking leaves for someone who can't. Do we have leaves down here? Great. Raking leaves. I put a question mark next to that when I was like, "Don't know if we have leaves." Um, it could be making a meal for a family in crisis. It could be driving someone to a doctor's appointment. But circles allow us not only to meet the needs of those around us but to have our needs met as well. Now, last week, as we wrapped up our series in Ephesians, we also talked about how we're all in a battle, right? Everyone's fighting a battle that you know nothing about. And that this armor that Paul describes is an armor that we can't put on ourselves. So, it's not just simply a meeting of need. Circles actually allow us to do battle together. Can anyone think of a name or a face or a story where you were in the midst of a battle, and it was somebody that you would like, done life with, that entered into that pain with you, that stood arm-in-arm with you, that linked their shield to your shield and says, "We're gonna get through this together"? That doesn't happen in rows. That happens in circles. Between the Sundays, between the thing that we come to together, and thank God that we can, but life and ministry and purpose, that stuff happens in the trenches, when you're on top of the mountain or in the valley. We live life in circles. It's easy to miss each other's needs when we only stare at each other's the back of each other's heads.
And number three, emotional. "With glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people." Years ago, PBS commissioned a study to better understand the relationship between relational connectedness and happiness. And out of their research, they produced a documentary called "This Emotional Life." And here's a quote from that documentary: "Researchers have found that people are happier when they are with other people than when they are alone. And the boost is the same for introverts and extroverts. They are also finding that happy people are more pleasant, helpful, and sociable. Being around other people makes us feel happier, and when we are happier, we are more fun to be around, creating ready an upward spiral of happiness." I love that image, an upward spiral of happiness. I've heard depression described as like a downward spiral of discouragement. And when we do life together, and if this last year and a half has taught us anything, is that we were made for each other. We are made for connection, for one another. And researchers actually finding that biologically, physiologically, it affects who we are. It affects our neuroplasticity. It changes our biochemical makeup when we're actually together with people. And if we're honest, some of us run from our air-conditioned house to our air-conditioned car to our air-conditioned office and then back again, right? And we attend an event once a week and we wonder why we don't feel this relational connection. Which brings me to number four, missional. Verse 47: "And the Lord added to their number daily those who are being saved." Circles actually help us live on mission together. It's not just simply for our benefit or our formation. They actually help us live on mission together. Last week was one of my favorite weeks when we have Baptism Sunday. And, uh, here's just a couple of those faces. I love Baptism Sunday so much. And more often than not, when I talk to people, our staff talk to people following baptisms, and we ask them about their journey, or what brought you to this point, more often than not, they talk about the community of people that had walked with them for weeks and months and sometimes years and decades that led them to that point. In fact, two quick stories. Uh, just last weekend, there was a little second grader named Cadence. And Cadence showed up, uh, in her baptism shirt. They were in Bridge Kids, and she was wearing her shirt. And just in her little group, because she was wearing her shirt, it created such excitement with the other students that were in her group that now two of them are having baptism conversations to be baptized the next time that we have a baptism service. Like, just simply by being in community together. Another quick story: Tristan and Raymond. Raymond has a friend named Drew. And Drew saw firsthand the transformation that took place in Raymond's life when he surrendered his heart and life to Jesus. And she began asking questions. And not just questions like in a really kind of formal kind of a setting, but like, you know, those like tough conversations in the living room where you're kind of getting grilled. And over the course, this wasn't a quick conversation or a quick series of conversations. And Raymond and Drew continued to meet and do life together and share meals together. And friends, last weekend, Drew got baptized. Drew got baptized because of Tristan and Raymond's willingness to open up their home and to be in relationship and just be present with them. We get to celebrate that together. And that happens in circles, not, not in rows. Being in rows helps a lot, but being in circles is better. And I love our building. Praise God for this incredible building, for the space we have in Columbia. The stories that I've heard even that got us to this point are such a miraculous indication of God's provision for us. But as we've often said, those Sundays are the push, not the point. Sundays are the push, not the point. It's a battleship, not a cruise ship, that it's here that we actually get equipped to then live on mission in our neighborhoods, in our communities, at our jobs, to our families. You are placed where you're at on purpose for a purpose. And we do that together in circles. Being on mission is far more than simply attending something once a week. In fact, did you notice the numbers were added to the early church? How often? Daily. How would they know that numbers are being added daily if they weren't in some capacity meeting daily? Think about it like this: if Jesus spent 12 hours a day for three years with His disciples, how many hours is that? I already did the math. It's a lot. You're right. Praise Jesus. Uh, it's 13,000 hours together. Even after all that time with Jesus Himself, uh, they still had some major gaps, didn't they? His disciples still had a lot of growing to do. One hour, one time a week is not enough to truly apprentice Jesus. It needs to be a whole life endeavor. In fact, at the end of this month, you're gonna have a great opportunity to both see and join a Bridge Group. And I cannot encourage you enough to at least dip a toe in those waters. Give it a shot. And here's, maybe you don't expect me to say this from the stage. Um, some groups are weird, okay? Don't point. Can we all admit that we're all friends, right? Anyone ever been to a weird group before? You're like, "This is not for me." Try another one, then. That's okay. Listen, I realize that it's terrifying to like show up at a stranger's house with people you don't know. But I'm telling you, circles are better than rows. It's about what happens between the Sundays. And here's one more critical reason why what we do between Sundays matters so much. Jesus Himself said this: "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another." If you love one another. There's a lot of love on Sunday mornings at the Bridge. It's one of the things that I hear most often from people when asked, like, "Why, why did you make this your church home?" Like, "Oh, you could just, you could just feel the love. You could feel the welcome home." There's something to it. There's a lot of love that happens on Sunday mornings. But to love one another the way that Jesus Himself commands us to, can't just simply happen one day a week. In fact, in the New Testament, there are 59 "one anothers" that are instructed to us as the church. 59 "one anothers" of life in circles, of what this looks like. Here's what they are: The New Testament tells us to serve one another, to accept one another, to strengthen one another, to help one another, to encourage one another, to care for one another, to forgive one another, to submit to one another, to commit to one another, to build trust with one another, to be devoted to one another, to be patient with one another, to be interested in one another, to be accountable to one another, to confess to one another, to live in harmony with one another, don't be conceited with one another, don't pass judgment with one another, don't slander one another, instruct one another, greet one another, admonish one another, spur one another on, meet with one another, agree with one another, be concerned with one another, be humble with one another, be of the same mind with one another, be compassionate with one another, do not be consumed with one another, do not be angry with one another, do not lie to one another, live at peace with one another, do not grumble with one another, give preference to one another, be at peace with one another, sing to one another, comfort one another, be kind to one another, carry one another's burdens, and love one another. Imagine trying to accomplish all of that in one hour, one time a week. Does that seem feasible to accomplish what's been instructed to us as Christ's bride, to accomplish all of that in one hour, once a week? It's just not possible. We are better together. We were made for each other. Mother Teresa once said, "If we have no peace, it's because we've forgotten that we belong to one another." There's a lot of brokenness in this world. There's a lot of pain. And I love what we do together. I love gathering on Sundays and singing and learning and and just being a part of life together. But this is the push, not the point. It's the push, not the point. It's the push to then live on mission in a world so desperately in need of God's grace and the good news of the resurrection. We do this together.
There's a story that I heard of a pastor named Juan Ortiz. And he was a pastor of one of the largest churches in South America. And years ago, he was preparing to give a message that he had spent a lot of time working on. It was a message about loving one another. And like most pastors, he spent grueling hours praying and preparing and organizing his thoughts and trying to think through illustrations and takeaways and all the things that that pastors attempt to try to incorporate into a sermon. And so Sunday came. [Music] And they were singing, and they were celebrating. And then came time for him to approach the podium. And halfway from his seat to his podium, he heard a voice in his spirit ask this question: "Juan, how many times have you preached this passage in this church?" And he thought to himself, "I don't know, maybe, maybe a dozen." And the voice responded, "Did any of those sermons do any good?" So, imagine your Juan. He kind of stood frozen. Now he's now made his way to the podium. He's had what he believes to be an interaction with God. And so he stood, maybe at a podium kind of like this, and he stood kind of frozen, just looking at this church, this church that he loved, realizing, man, I think I have the wrong message. I think I have the wrong sermon. He's looking out and saw people that he had counseled, that he led to the Lord, that he'd married, that he'd visited in the hospital. He's also looking at people that he saw who struggled to actually live this out, to love one another. So, so now a lot of time has passed, and Juan has stood frozen at the podium for quite some time until finally he just simply says, "Love one another," then walked off the stage. Now, you can imagine, no one knows what to do at this point. Like, the whole room is sort of like looking at each other like, "Is he okay?" And after a couple of minutes, takes the stage again. He grabs the podium. He looks at his church and says, "Love one another." And then he walks off the stage. Now, there's like commotion. Now you can hear like murmuring and a lot of raised eyebrows and a lot of questions, a lot of concern. And finally, a third time, this pastor takes the stage, and he lovingly looks at his church and he says, "Love one another." And then he sits down. After a couple of minutes, one man stood up and said, "I think I understand what our pastor is saying, but how can I love you if I don't even know your name?" And he turns to the person in the row behind him and he introduces himself, and they begin to have a conversation. Another man stood up and says, "I think I understand what the pastor is saying. He wants me to love Carlos, but how can I love him when I've been holding a grudge against him?" And he got up out of his chair and he walked to Carlos and asked for his forgiveness, and they were reconciled. And with that, the floodgates were opened. People got up all over the room and started circling together, having conversations, asking forgiveness, and praying with when they were asking what they could do for another, how they could serve one another. And crazy stuff began to happen. [Music] There was one husband and wife that had come to the city for medical treatment for the little girl, and they didn't have enough money to return home. So, someone in that circle bought them a bus ticket. There was another young man who was looking for a job, and he was introduced to a man who owned his own business, and he desperately needed to hire somebody, and he gave that man a job. This pastor said, "While all this was going on, I sat in my chair praying and watching one of the most powerful messages I've ever delivered in that church." He said, "Our church was never the same from that day forward." I'm absolutely convinced that we were better together. That we were made for each other. Rows are great, but circles are better.
I love that Pastor Rob, when strategizing and thinking through Bridge Groups, there's a quote that he loves to refer to by Eugene Peterson that says, "There can be no maturity in the spiritual life, no obedience in following Jesus, no wholeness in the Christian life apart from an immersion in and embrace of community." I am not myself by myself. I am not myself by myself. So, let me just be crystal clear: I desperately want all of us to be in a Bridge Group, to do life together, to experience the beautiful, messy aspects of being in community. This church started because of a small group, because a small group of men and women who were willing to pray bold prayers and actually go where God led them to. So, let me go back to our very opening question then: Are you an observant person? When, when you looked around the other half of the room, what did you notice? Maybe a new haircut, maybe a new outfit. But maybe, maybe you didn't notice anything at all. And as great as rows are, circles are better. We all need people who will walk with us by the power of the Holy Spirit. What if, what if, what if we didn't just simply invite people to church, but we invited them into our lives? I wholeheartedly believe that can change the world. I wholeheartedly believe that when we recognize and realize and live as if it's true that Sundays are great, but they're the push, not the point, that we are better together, that God cares about what we do between Sundays too, that could change the world. Would you pray with me, please?
God, I, um, it is quite frankly easy to stand on a stage and to say that we should be living this outcome that You desire for us to live it out. It's something else entirely to do it. And so, God, I'm so grateful for the gift of grace given to us in Jesus Christ, the new resurrected life that You invite us into. That we don't do any of these things to impress You, to earn Your favor or affection. God, that in Christ, You already love us fully and completely. God, and yet You desire for us not just simply an eternal destination, but the fullness of life here and now. God, and that is found in community, in circles together. God, help us to have the boldness to step out, to fill out a card, to make a phone call, to send an email, God, to do the difficult community life, God, You have called us to. In a world obsessed with individualism, God, remind us again and again that we're better together. Thank You, God, for the gift of Your Holy Spirit, moving and redeeming and convicting and restoring. God, may we be a people who truly love one another. And we pray all this in the beautiful, and the healing, and reconciling name of Jesus. And all God's people said, Amen.
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