Transcription
Gritty, crime-ridden Allentown's poorest first award is a place where many are forgotten, except by the lore of drugs and Jim Rivera's team of helpers. He taught me how to stand up for myself, to learn to express my feelings. Our passion really isn't just inside what happens in these doors; it's what happens outside. Recovery is a process, not an event.
[Music]
I'm Jimmy Rivera. I'm the senior pastor of City Limits Assembly of God. I wanted to start a church in the inner city, and I've been here for 26 years now. Before trying Acts 2, I was in a very dark place. I was just going through the motions, and I'm just being honest with you because I had lost it. I thought, you know, I'm in my 60s, I'm done now. I guess I should be thinking of retiring, and, you know, I mean seriously, it was that bad. And uh, because I'd lost hope that that this was gonna succeed, that that I'd run my course, I'd done my best, and now it's over, you know, and I'm gonna evaporate and I'll be invisible. So I got really uh, depressed and sad, and, and you know, I wasn't reading the word as much anymore. I would do my sermons, but it would be so I could have a good sermon. I wasn't really taking taking the time to care for myself. You know, I didn't really care for me anymore.
[Music]
And I got an invitation. I got it from uh, from the superintendent to the Acts 2 journey, and I went to the first one and I listened to Dr. Ron McManus, and and after that I just realized, like, wow, there's some really cool stuff here. Because he started talking about change, and he started talking about team, he started talking about worshiping and how to grow and connecting and transformation, and and I thought, wow, that was fresh, and it kind of put some wind in my sails again. The Acts 2 brought a new life to us in that in that it wasn't just how can we get people into the church, but how can we really get this church out of this building and get them into people's kitchens and get them into their living rooms, and and do people at the food bank and share a bag of food and pray for somebody and check their sugar and pray for somebody and go on streetwalks and give out food. So it really got us on how to take it out there. But then it was a challenge of not only to make a believer out of them but a disciple. So the Acts 2 helped me in the fact that it showed me I needed a group of people who would be the disciples, and that they would know that their main focus is to reproduce this.
I would say if you found that you're frustrated, have tried to read some new books, have tried some new things, have tried some new sermon series in that, and you're still feeling frustrated, if you want to get some new fresh wind, come and join together and find an Acts group as they're starting. Get right in. Find some people who are committed to it. Tell them up front, say, "Listen, I need you for a year. I love you, and I need you to be involved with this. I need your commitment," and you get them involved, and you read the book with them, and you go through it with them, and you make friends and people that will be loyal to you and who trust you, and you'll trust them. God has given me a vision that that I'm going to see some great things happen. I'm going to see some beaters rise up, and that in my listening I've also listened to some people who are very gifted who I feel that I can I can pour myself into, a little more scared to do that for a while, but pour myself into, so that when the day comes that I have to leave this place, it's going to be healthy and strong. You know, I can leave and it's going to be healthy; it's not going to fall apart because it's been following Jimmy, but because it's been following Jesus; it's going to thrive.