The Church of Eleven22 - A Disciple Deepens Within the Faith Family - Follow Me - Wk 5

Episode Date: May 25, 2025

The church is not a place to go or an event to attend. The church is a people to belong to. - The Church of Eleven22® is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Eleven22 is led by Pastor Joby Martin and based in Jacksonville, Florida, with multiple campuses throughout Jacksonville and the surrounding areas. To find out more about how God is moving at Eleven22, go to CoE22.com

Amen and amen and amen. How we do the church? Good. You look great. If you got your Bibles and I hope you do, we are going to be in Acts chapter two, Acts chapter two. And I want to say welcome to everybody. Everybody at all of our campuses all over the place.

Welcome to those of you worshiping online. Also welcome to those of you that are worshipping as outposts. I don't know if you know this, but 1122 has grown beyond all the facilities that we even have. So those of you at 30A in Palmodo Bluff and Sarasota and Austin, Texas, and all of you that are 1122 all over the place, we say welcome and happy Memorial Day weekend i know our campus pastors has already said this but i just want to say it too this is not just a long weekend that i think it was john wayne said that the only two people that were willing to lay down their their life for you was jesus christ and the american

soldier amen and jesus himself says greater love has no one than this than one who is willing to lay down his life for his friends and that is what we are and so uh we we just we say thank you to the men and women that would be willing to lay down their life. I'm pumped that you're here. Today we're going to talk about church, and I love to talk about church. And what you have walked into, I don't know if you know this, but you have walked into not a facility, but you have walked into a movement for all people

to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. You see, when Jesus announces this idea called church back in Matthew chapter 16 at this place called Cessaria Philippi, he called it an ecclesia, a movement, not a place that you go, but a people that you belong to. And when Jesus called his very first disciples, these are the words that he used.

He says, follow me. This is what this whole series is about. That what it means to be a Christian is not to just raise your hand in the service, it's not even just to pray a prayer. What it means to be a Christian is to be a follower of Jesus. And Jesus gives this invitation to the disciples,

follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Later in the Bible, he says, if you want to be one of my followers, if you want life, then you've got to take up your cross daily and follow me. And so what it means to be a disciple of Jesus is that we hear the voice of the good shepherd and we take steps of obedience in the direction that he calls us. And in doing so, we get him and that is eternal life. You see, right and wrong will never sustain us. It's more than that.

It's about life and death. When we buy into what this world calls us to and we, and we reject the voice of the good shepherd. It leads to death and destruction. But when we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, we get eternal life, and that's not just one day in the clouds and the sweet by and by. That means we get him and he is eternal life. And so this is what we have been called to to be followers of Jesus.

Today we're going to talk about the reality that a disciple deepens within the fake family. You see, you are not saved by the church. But the moment you get saved, you get saved into a church, into a part of the family of God all over the world. And if you get saved and you're a part of this local expression of 1122, then this is how we do it here. Last weekend was an awesome weekend. Amen. We had 182 people in all of our services professed Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior for the very first time. They raised their hand in the service to say, Lord, save me.

Praise God. which means so far this year we've had 1,124 people get safe. Now, in the flesh, I kind of wish two of you would have waited two weeks so it would have been 1122, but welcome. We're glad you're here too. Put us over the edge. And then as you know, unless you're living under rock or something, about 12,000 of us went out to the beach last weekend and we watch 1,958 people reject the sins of the past, the ways of this world, anything. thing darker demonic and pledge their allegiance to Christ and Christ alone and declare Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Praise God for that, man. But do you know it's more than just that?

That we have prison campuses and we hadn't done our baptism services for them yet. We got prison campuses all the way, all over the place. One of the wardens at one of the campuses at one of our present campuses, he was the assistant warden, he got saved. We'll tell his story soon. So he just started his own at Marion. Correctional Institution. They live stream with us at 722 every Thursday night because he's the warden, he can do what he wants. We have 53 men signed up to be baptized there, so that'll put us well over to the 2000, Mark. Plus, we're at Union, we're at Columbia, we're at Duval Women's Correctional Institute, and then we also have some like outposts at Baker Reentry, Union Work Camp, Columbia Annex, Loyal Women's Correctional Institution.

And what I want you to see here in Acts Chapter 2 that we study today is what you're going to see. see over and over and over is the practice of salvation, then baptism, and then connecting with the church in smaller personal ways. That is the normative activity when you were a first century Christian. Let me just tell you what I want you to do. If you are not in discipleship relationships, then by the time today is over, I want you to take the next step to get plugged into that kind of biblical community. Now, it doesn't have to be one of our disciple groups. If you want to do somewhere else, no problem. But this is what Christians do.

The church is not just an event you attend, but church is a people that you belong to under the glory of God. In Acts chapter 2, we're going to see the birth of the church. So turn there, if you got your Bibles. One of the things people did in the church early is they would bring their Bibles and they would open them. That'd be a great idea. And I know we're going to put it on the screen for you, but that's just to help you out, okay? We've got to cover about 41 verses, just real quick.

In chapter 2, verses 1 through 13, the Spirit of God falls on the church. All right, you're going to love this. This is called the Day of Pentecost, all right? And the Holy Spirit shows up just like Jesus promised that he would. You see, before Jesus is his at the right hand of God, the Father, Jesus comes out of the grave. he appears for 40 days. And he gathers everybody together. And he says, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

And you will be my witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the age. The day of Pentecost is 50 days after the resurrection. So for 10 days, the disciples do what Jesus says to do. They go into this upper room and they pray and they pray and they pray and they don't stop praying for 10 days. And then sure enough, on the day of Pentecost, the Bible says that the Spirit of God falls on the people of God like a rushing wind, like the wind of a hurricane. Come on, we know what this is like. You know, when they come through and you get out there in the yard and it's like, oh, something's happening. Oh, something's happening. The spirit of God was coming. And then it says, and then it says,

divided tongues like fire began to fall on people's heads. What are you going to do with that? You look over at your neighbor and there's a tongue of fire. We go, hey man, you got fire on your head. It's a spirit of God coming. That's what's happening. And then every single believer in Jesus received the Spirit of God. You don't sign up for it. It's like a bogo. When you get Jesus, you get the Spirit.

Except to be theologically accurate. He's the one doing the buy-in because he purchases you. And then we are filled with the Spirit. And then these believers begin to, the Bible says, Glossalalia. Pentecostals, you'll say speaking to tongues here, but it's not what you think that means. Okay. This is a different kind. This means that they were giving testimony to Jesus, and even though they were speaking in their

normal Galilean dialect, people from every tribe, tongue, and nation that had gathered four Pentecosts on that day in Jerusalem, they heard it in their own tongue. And so the wind's blowing like a hurricane, tongues of fire are coming down, people are speaking, but every person is hearing it in their own language. And so this huge crowd gathers up on the southern steps of the temple. and Peter, the Apostle Peter, he sees a whole bunch of people and he thinks this would be a good opportunity for me to say a couple words. And in this moment, before he even starts speaking, there's two types of people that are witnessing what's happening. Some people are spiritually

curious. Some people are seeing what's happening and they're like, oh, this must be of God. And then there's some critics and they're like, ah, these guys are probably just drunk. There's two kind of people in here right now. Like some of you, some of you, you were sitting right here and you're like, glory, this is good. And some of you're like looking at Yelp reviews trying to figure out where you're going to brunch. That's fine. There's always been critics, man. And so Peter steps up. Peter, who, by the way, think about this. Peter, the last time that we've really heard from him, the last time he had an opportunity to give testimony about Jesus Christ, he was so filled with fear that outside of Caiaphas's house,

there was a servant girl and she says aren't you one of his disciples and the bible says he curses he goes blank no i don't even know it and now 52 days later he is standing in front of a crowd of people that could get him killed just like they got jesus killed and he's got to step up and talk about what he has seen and heard well what happened in his life i'll tell you what happened in john chapter 21 peter has breakfast with the resurrected jesus christ and it changed everything about everything about everything. Another thing I love about this is if you've been around here, you know this, but if you study the Gospels, the thing that got Peter in trouble over and over and over and over was his mouth. I mean, he would open his mouth all the time. He didn't have what we like to

call a filter. He just said, you know people like that? They're in your disciple group. You're like, man, why? All the time. And yet God used the very thing that got him in the most trouble. as the mechanism by which the very first Christian sermon was ever, ever, ever, ever preach, all right? Ha! Can I just tell you when I was in school, I got in trouble for talking too much, praise God. And now that's all I do. Here we go. And he is not afraid.

Now here's the thing, man. Peter knows what this sermon has to be about because when he was standing on this rock in Matthew 16 at Cessori of Philippi, when Jesus says, who do you say that I am? And Peter goes, oh, I'll go first. you were the Christ, the son of a living God. And Jesus says, you nailed it, brother, winter, winter, chicken dinner. I'm about to change your name. Your name ain't going to be Seafus anymore.

Your name's going to be rocky. And don't, don't da, da, da, da, da, da, upon this rock, I'm going to build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Here's how we know that the church were not built on the person of Peter, because in the very first sermon, Peter doesn't talk about Peter. Peter points to Jesus. Peter talks about Jesus. He knows that the church is going to be built on the public declaration of who Jesus is and what

he came to do. And so he stands up and he preaches. I'm going to just give you some highlights. Verse 14, but Peter standing with 11 lifted up his voice and address them. Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk as you suppose since it's only the third hour of the day. Now my daddy used to say you can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning, but that's not what Peter's saying, all right? He said, but this is what was. through the prophet Joel. The first thing that Peter is going to do

is he is going to hitch his sermon to the Bible. He's going to say, we're not unhitching from the Old Testament because Jesus is hitched to the Old Testament. That this one Jesus, who lived out and was resurrected, he was the fulfillment of every promise and prophecy of the Old Testament. And he says, he's quoting Joel in verse 17, In the last days it shall be, God declared,

that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, your sons and your daughter shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And now what Peter is going to do is he's going to shift to the gospel. He's going to root it in scripture. Here's what the Bible says was going to happen. And now men and women, you are about to see exactly what's happening. And then Peter again, 52 days ago, he's afraid to even talk about Jesus. And now he is going to give the least seeker-sensitive message of all time. If you think I'm offensive,

you would have hated the first church. Verse 22, Peter says this. Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, the man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know. This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan

and foreknowledge of God. You ready for this? He looks at this crowd and goes, you crucified and killed him. Well, that's not very nice, is it? It's just true. That it was our sins that nailed Jesus to the cross. He said, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men, God raised him up,

loosening the pains of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says, according to him, and now he's going to go back to the Bible. He's going to go back and give witness to David. And everybody knows King David. The King David's awesome. He was the greatest king of Israel. He took out Goliath. He's got a cool series on Prime or whatever about him right now.

You should watch it. And he's like, everybody knows David was legit, but David's dead. He says, I can take you to David's grave right now, but I can't take you to Jesus's grave right now because he is alive. Then he goes to verse 32, and he says, this Jesus, God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Peter wants them to know that we don't have faith in faith. We don't believe in belief.

That our faith is rooted in an actual event that an actual man Jesus claimed to be the son of God, died on the cross, and then three days later was resurrected from the grave. And the reason this matters is because if he can walk out of the tomb, then we can walk out of death and destruction too. This is what he's saying. And by the way, in a Jewish audience, what David was, I mean, what Peter was doing is Peter was giving two witnesses. Because you had to have two witnesses in a Jewish court of law. And he goes, witness number one, the prophets from the Old Testament like Joel and David, and witness number two, me.

I've seen him with my very own eyes. Verse 33. He says, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father, the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. And so that was the message. He didn't give him three steps on how to be a better person. The message did not start with who the, They are, it just starts with Jesus.

And now when they heard this, check this out, they were cut to the heart. If you've ever gotten saved, this is what happened to you. It's kind of hard to explain, isn't it? You hear sermon after sermon after sermon, and all of a sudden one day you were just cut to the heart. And some of these people are cut to the heart. And they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? Peter's like, nah, no, no, no, no, bro. It has been done for you.

And so Peter says to them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sin and you will check this out. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We talked about this last week that salvation is not achieved. Salvation is received. So here's what happens. So those who received his word, they were baptized and were added that day about 3,000 souls. and the church of God was born in that moment.

So it went, listen, if you don't like big church, you'd have hated the first one. A lot of people, it's real popular to bag on megachurch. But God liked it, apparently, because the first service they ever have, they go from 120 to 3,120. The second service they had, they go to 5,000. This is the fastest growing church ever. It was the only one, but still, they were winning, all right? By the way, those of us here in San Pablo, you know how many seats are in this room right here? 3,001. You know why? Day of Pentecost and one more. I had to put my best friend Brad Bowen in a headlock to make it happen. I was not going to settle for anything less, but 3,00. Praise God. That's what we're about. Just one more. Now, what happens in this moment is the church is born. The spirit-filled church. Let me tell you what a lost world needs. A lost world needs a spirit-filled church. Why? Because the spirit-filled church points people to Jesus. That's what the church does. And so what's the church is. And so what is the world.

going to happen on this day here's the normative activity of the first church there was salvation there was baptism and then people got involved in community that's what happened that all the saved people the 3 000 brand new believers they took a next step in what it means to be a follower of jesus they went public with their faith to proclaim jesus christ as lord and savior there was hundreds of what's called mikfas at the bottom of the temple these were like jewish ceremonial baths so they They used those and they had a big old, their version of a beach baptism day. And then the next thing that is going to happen is that people began to gather together in small groups like we would call disciple groups to be about what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Listen, the reason I want you to be in Christian fellowship in biblical community is because it is a reflection of the character and nature of God.

that we are to be conformed into the image and likeness of Jesus, and Jesus is like in his own small group. It's called the Trinity. From the very, very beginning, before the beginning, God has eternally existed in a perfect love relationship with himself. That he didn't make you because he needed you. Do you think God is walking around in heaven going, what am I going to do with all this time and space?

Oh, I know. I'll create some people that will sing me songs on the weekend and then act like they don't know who I am all week. That'll be a good, that'll be fun. No, but out of an overflow of God's love for God's self, God the Father is the Son and the Holy Spirit, out of an overflow of God's love for God's self, he creates image bearers, me and you.

That God is both the object and subject of his own love, but that love spills out into us. And because God is in and of himself a relationship, you and I have been wired for relationships. So now we get to Acts 242. That was just all introduction. I'm going to start preaching. Get ready.

Verse 42. And they, this is the 3,000 souls that just got saved. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship and to the breaking of bread and prayers. This is what they did. Notice, they devoted themselves. They made it a priority. The people that surrendered their life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Jesus was not

just an add-on to their busy life. They didn't just show up once a week, not even once a week, let's be honest. They didn't show up about once every month or so as long as it was in accordance with the travel T-ball schedule, or if the sun was out and it was, you know, Memorial Day weekend. They devoted themselves to discipleship. It was the big rock in their life, and every other decision bounced off that and steady the other way around. They were devoted. And here's what they were devoted to. The first thing they were devoted to was the Apostles' teaching. That means they got together and they studied the Bible. This is what was central to their formation.

Listen, if you're going to be 1122, let me just be very, very clear. We are going to be devoted to the scriptures. We are going to be devoted to the Bible. We are not going to be devoted to me and my dumb stories about Dillon, South Carolina. Those are just to illustrate what the Bible says. We're not going to be devoted to how everybody feels. This is very, very important that we get together and we study the, those scriptures. And not only do we pour ourselves into this, but we pour the scripture into us. Why?

Because the Bible says that this book is not just a book. It's not even a book. It's 66 books. It's a library written over thousands of years by dozens of different people on multiple continents. And it has one point and purpose that Jesus came on a rescue mission for me and you under the glory of God. And a part of the reason you need to be in a disciple group is because trust me, you need to be around some other people where you can ask questions. And hopefully there's going to be some people smarter than you in your group. And by the looks of it, that's not going to be real hard to find, amen? Let me tell you my least favorite thing to hear when I got the Bible open with a group of people.

When people go, well, I think this means, listen, I don't give it, I don't care what you think it means. It just means what it says. And oftentimes we try to twist this thing to mean what we want it to mean. it doesn't bump up against us too much. Listen, man, if you study the Bible and let it study you, of course there's going to be things in here you don't like. Because the author of life wrote it, and you and me are sinners. I mean, I know you think you're brilliant,

but it only took you two chances at the eighth grade to make it through, and you think you're going to look at God and tell him how to live life? Listen, man, this thing is living and active. You ever been cut with a sword? You ever had your marrow divided? I don't even know what that means. That sounds like it hurts, doesn't it? Well, of course there's going to be times we get.

to this and you're like, uh-oh, you're going to have to call your wife, baby, we're going to have to do stuff different. Why? I read the Bible. Listen, man, if God is a good dad and he loves us, isn't you going to tell us to do some things differently? Anybody have parents, huh? Anybody got a parent? Didn't they tell you to do stuff you didn't want to do? And remember when you quit being an idiot and you got to be about 27 and you're like, oh my God, my parents were smart? Remember that? He's a good father. Have you ever met the kid that always gets to do what they'd want to do? You know what happens to them? They never stopped being a child.

They're just a 50-year-old child that thinks the world revolves around them. These people got together and they were devoted. This is why we call this thing disciple group, by the way. Look, two margaritas and a prayer ain't what we're looking for.

We're trying to get all of us devoted to the Apostles' teaching because he's for us. And he wants the abundant life for us and it will be found when we walk in accord it. with what Jesus said. So they were devoted to the apostles teaching and they were devoted, I love us so much, to fellowship in the breaking of bread. The Greek word there is coinania. It

means common. That they would sit down and they would eat dinner together. Nobody was in a hurry. Nobody was on their phone. They were doing life together so that they can be involved in one another. This wasn't simply a classroom. This was a family. And oftentimes they would do communion together because the centerpiece of the church wasn't just the service that you went to. The centerpiece of the church was the gospel. And communion was to point you to the broken body of Jesus and the shed blood of Christ that we could receive by grace. And so by the way, in disciple group this week, you should do communion together.

And if you're like, I'm not a pastor. Okay, look, I ordain you and commission you. Do communion in your groups together. That's how they did it. and they didn't do it with a little bit of welches and a little Jesus. They didn't do it that way. They had a full meal. They would take their time and break the bread and drink the wine.

They did it. They did it let it too. Sorry, Baptist. They just did it that way. It was a constant reminder of the gospel. This is what they did. And they were devoted to praying. And they prayed for one another.

Part of the reason you need to be in a disciple group where you need discipleship relationships. Because you need people praying for you. Like, who's praying for you? And don't you be like, well, my mama, but you don't tell her the truth. Ain't nobody being honest. And nobody in here is like,

nobody told your mama what you did last weekend. Ain't nobody. You got some stuff planned for this weekend you're trying to hide from your mama. I don't care how old you are. Ain't nobody would like, mom, I got a lust problem. Can you pray for me? No chance, dude.

And these folks are bearing their souls with one another and praying for one another. Who's praying for you? And if you're the kind of guy, I was like, I don't need anybody praying for you. Well, that might be the most arrogant thing I've ever heard in my life. Why? Well, I don't know, maybe because Jesus Christ, the son of God, the second person of the Trinity, the one that spoke all things into existence, the one who created all things. All things were made by him for him, through him, and to him.

and even his power right now holds all things together. That means the reason that the earth sits on its axis and does what it's supposed to do and doesn't float off into space somewhere is because the power of Christ, the one who every single time he was tempted, he chose the will of God over the way of this world, and yet he got to a point in his life where he needed some friends to pray for him. Like in the Garden of Gassimony, the night that he would be betrayed, the night that he knows tomorrow I'm going to the cross,

he goes to this place called the place of crushing and he gets his disciples and he's like all right boys I need you to watch and pray and then he picks three more Peter James and John he's like you come over here a little bit closer and will you stay up and pray for me some people think those three were his favorite

I think he just knew they couldn't be trusted alone so he's like come here the Bible says he felt such pressure of the weight of the sin of the world that he fell down on the ground and he felt like he was going to die, and he was sweating like drops of blood. And he's like, boys, will you just pray for me? So if Jesus, the Christ, needed somebody to pray for him,

then who the heck do you think you are to think you got this? Brother, you ain't got this. So if that's you, I'm just telling you, you're too dumb to talk to or possessed by a demon? One of those two, all right? And I can't disciple a demon and I can't cast out dumb, so I don't know what to do with you. We need people praying for us.

You see, they were devoted. they were devoted to the word of God. They were devoted to one another. They were devoted to prayer. And then, man, watch what happens when the people of God are devoted to the things of God. Look at verse 43. And all came upon every soul. And many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

Man, when's the last time you were in awe of God? I mean, listen, when I would go to church, when I was a kid, there was all. but it was more like, oh, you know, it wasn't like, oh. Man, I've been in awe of God. I mean, very, very recent. This week, we did a cross-raising at what will be our new St. Augustine campus down in, yeah, praise God, man. I love it, too. It's in an old save-a-lite.

And I'm like, Lord, I pray, that's what you do. You save a lot of people down here. It ain't all the same-awcine. Let's go. But I think about it, man. I think when me and G were standing in this parking lot out here raising up first cross and we sat at my kitchen table and we prayed. Gratjean was like, I think we should do this and then we did it.

Never ended in my wildest dreams that I think this would be happening. Last Sunday I was in awe. I mean, get out there in that ocean and I look north and south and there are Jesus followers as far as you can see man. Listen, man, Thursday comes with an amazing regularity. I know you don't think about it this much, but I preach it. every four days. And so I rarely get time to like stop and evaluate what's happening. And standing out there in that ocean and seeing all these folks, 1,958 people. And it's not

necessarily the numbers, though, praise God, for every single one of them. I was in awe of some the individual stories. Like a couple of months ago, I was going to this gun store to pick up a gun because I'm a Christian and an American, praise God. So we put those together. I go to gun source. And if that offends you, you should say thank you to people like me that you outsource your protection to me. Anyway, that's a different sermon. So I'd want this gun to the glory of God. And I'm going to pick it up. And I walk into this gun store. And I hadn't been to that one before. And I walk in and this girl at the counter. And she goes, we go to church together. And I go, sweet. And you listen. Praise God. So what campus? I think it was Orange Park.

And then this is just a trick I do. Okay. This is what I do. But I'm the pastor. I can do this. if I meet somebody in public and they said, we go to church together. So immediately that girl says, we go to church together. And I look at the other girl, I go, where do you go to church? And she's like, I don't have a church. I go, she'll take you. That other girl got baptized this Sunday, praise God. Right?

And I'm in all. I didn't do a thing. That other girl, the counter did it all, man. We're standing in the water this week. And six girls in a row who were survivors of sex trafficking through the ministry, her song, walk out into the water and renounce all the demonic and dark things that ever happened to them and proclaim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And I was in awe.

There was a girl who a few weeks ago was really, really struggling with suicidal thoughts. And somebody hands her a copy of Grace Train. She reads through it. She thinks, this is it. She sends me a DM on Instagram. We have a whole social media team. and one of our people reaches out to her. She showed up last Sunday, surrendered her life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ,

and that girl is not thinking about what she's going to do to herself anymore. Now that girl is thinking about what Christ has done for her, and she renounced those demonic ideas, and she claimed Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and I'm in all. Listen, man, some people got there late. I don't know if you know 1122, but we're good at many things. Being on time is not one of them. Listen, man, things happen, right?

Scuba Lund happens. You plan to come get baptized and stuff happens since this lady shows up? I mean, it was like three hours, four hours after the thing got there. And she was pregnant, very pregnant. Not that you can be kind of pregnant, but she was visibly pregnant. She rode her bike. She gets out there and she's just in tears. Her and her husband's struggling with infertility for 10 years.

She walks out into this water and she's like, two miracles. I met Jesus and he has put life in me. I baptized that mama, and I am in all of what's happening. Over and over and over. I baptized seven dudes from my, well, six dudes and a girl from my gym right next door right over here. You saw them people look like the X-Men walking around. That's why I work out over here. I'm like the third biggest girl over there.

It's great. I baptized three kids that I used to coach in either Little League Baseball or high school football. And I'm in awe of this. And it's not just that moment. How about last week during the service? Our worship leaders at every service, they sang it live. Michael Olson sang it right here. When that brother's saying, blown away, I was blown away.

How about you? I was in awe of what God has done for us. And then the biggest thing, this young man that I've been praying for for a long time, I mean, he believes in Jesus, but he worships like a mannequin, he shows up and he's just like, and after that song, blown away, man. Because remember I said this, I don't want you to just believe. it. I needed to feel it. And that young man walked up to me with tears in his eyes and said, will you pray for me?

And I've been praying for a long time. And I was in all of what God has been doing. You want to see signs and wonders? You know what the greatest sign and wonder is? Salvation. It's the only eternal miracle. I pray you get healed from cancer. But guess what?

You still going to die. But not eternally. You put your faith in Jesus Christ and you will live forever and ever and ever and ever. and that's what happens, okay? Praise God, praise God. And all came through every soul and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

Verse 44. And all who believed were together. All who believed were together. And if you look in Acts chapter two, like beginning in verse, I can't see the verse is that good from here. Like eight or nine. It lists all these different tribes

and all these different people. They were even Gentiles among them. And all these different people from all these different places, this is one of the greatest miracles of all time. They came together and what they had in common was more important than what made them different. All different colors, all different sizes, all different customs, the kind of people where their mom and daddy said, you better watch out for those people.

Those people became their brothers and sisters in Christ and all who believed in Jesus, they came together. They were not divided. They were unified by the blood of Jesus Christ. Listen, man, I ride a Harley because I'm also, because I'm a Christian, you know, so that's what you do. We had a great ride yesterday here. We had 200 bikers and 300 total people show up just to ride. And I don't know if you know this, you might not know this, but in like, biker world, honestly, it's real judgy. I ain't going to lie, it's real judgy. And because I'm going to lie, it's real judgy. and because I ride a Harley, I'm the worst. All right, I'm the worst.

If you're riding down the road, motorcycle people wave to each other. Did you know that? Jeep people, you do it too, but you also have a little ducky, so it's kind of, this might make it be a cult. We just wait. And here's what happens, man, if you ride, you know, I got a, mine's sweet, all right? And so I'm riding like this. And if I see another Harley, you know what you do?

You throw that low ball down there, that peace sign from down there because you're like, you my brother, what's up? And they give it to you too. Praise God. And then you see other people, but they're not on a Harley, and they try to wave. And they're like, huh, right? And you're like, I mean, you know, you'd be like, all right, but you ain't giving them the piece of Christ down there. No, man, you just be like, what's up?

And then them people, they're like, you know what, them people? And they come all dressed like a ninja, you know, like this. And they're like, you're like, you're just giving a finger, not the finger, just one finger. Like, yep, there you are. but you ain't this man and then lately I've been having people on scooters just and I'm like nope I ain't waving to you we ain't the same man we ain't the same we ain't the same all right and if you think biker world's judging I'm telling you the first century was worse bro they were divided over everything but when the spirit of God fell they were united they were they were unified

it wasn't uniformity they didn't quit being who they were they just let the most important thing about them was who Jesus told them they were. It wasn't their political division. It wasn't their ethnicity. It wasn't who they were married to. The most important thing about them was who Jesus said that they were, and they all who believed they were together and checked this egg out and had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any who had need. Did they cared for one another? Listen, man, we care for you much. We have a care team. It's the largest serve staff group that we have. It's the most well-trained served staff group that we have. You see anybody with the blue badge, that person has been trained

and ordained to care for you. But the primary point of care for you in our church is going to be disciple groups. Because before you ever fill out a card that you need something, you've already got 10 or 12 people that are meeting every week that are devoted to prayer and care and the Bible and you and it is their it is the front lines of care and so they just did what it took they were happy to sell some stuff they had to meet the need now this is not communism or socialism this is generosity this is not the government coming and taking from you to give to somebody else this is you and obedience to christ being generous with what you have and everybody didn't sell their house because we're going to find out they met house to house the church was just generous

so let me ask you who's caring for you who's caring for you? Peter says this in 1 Peter 5. He says, be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. I told you this a thousand times

that isolation is one of the primary tactics of the enemy. If you've ever watched the animal planet, the lion doesn't ever get the impala that's in the middle of the herd. It gets that gimpy one that's off to the side. And I'll be honest, confession time, if you've ever been hurt by the church,

it's because the church is full of center. and the church did not get together to hurt you, I promise. There's some people in the church that hurt you. And if that happens to you, I'm so sorry. And if you hang around here long enough, I'm going to hurt you too because I'm a sinner. I'm sorry, I don't mean to. But what we need is to be the kind of church that when the people are beaten up and battered and wounded, we say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, it's very dangerous out here.

Let me get my arm around you and say, come on, come on in here. Get in the center of the herd so that you can hear. heal up so you don't be gimpy for the rest of your life. And then when you do heal up, you don't just sit in there and soak in it. You're on the lookout for anybody that's isolated, beaten up, that's hurting. And then you can put your arm around and go, I know, darling, me too. I have been right where you are. Let me help you get into community for your own good and protection.

Do you have these people in your life? Mark chapter two says it this way. And they came bringing to Jesus a paralytic care. by four men. And when they cannot get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him. And when they made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their fate, he said to the paralytic, sons, your sins are forgiven. Do you have four people in your life that would pick up the mat that you were laying on and carry you to Jesus? Because at some point in your life, every single one of us is going to be on that mat.

financially, emotionally, spiritually, that you were going to be on that mat. Do you have four people that when you needed it most at great expense to themselves would lay it all down and pick up a corner of your mat and towed you to Jesus? And if you don't, you're not doing it right. And if you do, you can't just assume upon them. You need to deputize them. Tell them, you four, you were my mat carriers. What does that mean?

Give them this sermon. I need you to do that for me because I promise. I will do that for you. Do you have those kind of people in your life? And I've told you before, man, Christian community is like a retirement account. If you wait until you need it, to build it, it's too late. So a part of what you need to do is begin to build that right now.

Right now. This is what the early church was devoted to. They were devoted to the Word of God. They were devoted to one another. They were devoted to praying for one another. They were devoted to caring for one another. and all those things are incredible man those things are incredible now there's a lot of preachers and they'll say man we want to be in acts two kind of church this might trouble you i don't want to be

an acts two kind of church because we're not in acts two like we're in 2025 in fact acts two didn't stay in acts two kind of church it began maturing over the days and months and years in fact by the time you get to Acts 4, the disciples are not just selling what they have and taking care of each other's needs. At that point, they're selling what they have and they're bringing it to the apostles. And they're like, hey, we need some kind of system here because it's hard to take care of 3,120 people. And then by the time you get to Acts 6, there's a division of labor and the Hellenistic widows aren't getting their food. And the pastors are like, well, we're saying, man, we've got sermons to write and prayers to pray. So how about this? How about we divide and conquer?

How about you guys hand out the food and we'll keep preaching and teaching? Why don't we do that? And then the one big glaring thing that the Acts 2 church missed is exactly what Jesus said to do. The last thing Jesus said to do in Acts 1 8 is, and you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, into the ends of the earth. And the Acts 2 church said, got it. And they received the power when the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they were God's witness. In Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. They didn't go anywhere.

And so by the time you get to Acts 8, God allows persecution to come to disperse the church, so the Christians go running all over the world, and wherever the Christians went, there went the gospel. You see, we just want to be the kind of church that's a maturing church, focused on Christ that is about the business of our king. We want to be devoted to the Word of God. We want to be devoted to one another. We want to care for one another. We want to pray for one another. And we want to be about the mission of God to take the Word of God to every tribe, tongue, and nation,

every four corners of the world. this is what we want to be about. And then verse 46. And even though they didn't leave town, they weren't only focused on themselves. They were still focused on their one more. Check this out. And day by day, this is what their early church did,

attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes. I hope you see a pattern there. They did two things. They'd get together in real big groups. They do worship together. And they'd get together in small groups. They'd study the Bible. pray for one another. Is that pattern sound familiar? We didn't make it up. We got it right

of Acts chapter two. One of my favorite things about it is the temple in which they gather is the place where the accusation about Jesus came that got him killed. Now 52 days later, they're gathering in that same place and they're worshiping the resurrected Jesus Christ. And so they got together in big old groups. It grows about 8,000 people in just a few weeks, but they also knew that it was important for them to get in really, really small groups together and be devoted to one another to care for one another. And they receive their food with glad and generous hearts. A spiritual church is more concerned about what you give than what you receive. That they had an attitude of gratitude. Verse 47, praising God and having favor with all the

people and the Lord added to their number day by day, those who are being safe. People ask this all the time. How do you church get so big? Because the Lord added every single person. It's not people. It's not programs. It's the Spirit of God that saves men and women. That's what it is, man. You see, the Church of God, the Spirit-filled Church is devoted to studying the Word of God, is devoted to meeting together, to carry for one another, to praying, and then the last two things is to worship God and love one another, which is important. Why? Because Jesus says the greatest commandment is to love God and to love one another. Here's the point. The church is not a place to go or an event to attend. The church is a people to belong to.

All kinds of people gathered together for God, by God, to love God and love one another for the glory of God. So let me ask you this. Are you devoted? Is this just the thing you attend every once in a while? That's okay for a minute until you check it out and be like, yep, I'm a follower of Jesus and these are my people. Then I would invite you to take a step. Join a disciple group, go on a mission trip, serve. If you haven't done growth track, do growth track.

here's why by the time you get to first corinthine's chapter 12 the apostle paul describes the church this way he says the church is one body with many parts and jesus is our head that we are like one big body with all kind of different parts and the different parts don't compete against each other or compare themselves to one another that we work together for the glory of god and so if you're a believer in jesus you're supposed to be a part of a body and i know it's very popular these days to be like, I don't need a church because I can just watch a couple YouTube sermons and read my Bible by myself. Well, dude, you're like a baseball player with no team. You're not actually a player. You're just a guy in tight pants with a big bag. Okay, that's what you are.

Now, if the church is the body of Christ and you were a disconnected body part, what do you think that's going to happen to you? And I've told you this before, but if you walked out to your car, when we get done here in a few minutes, and you saw a severed foot in the parking lot, what would you think? You would think something has gone horribly wrong. Nobody would look at that foot and be like, who am I to tell the foot

that it has to have a body? This is 2025. The foot can just watch bodies on YouTube. No, no, no, no, no. Every single one of us. Listen, a connected foot isn't that great? A disconnected foot is nasty. And what is the future of the foot?

It's going to shrivel up, shrink, and die. The disconnected believer, I think heaven looks at the disconnected believer and goes, something has gone horribly wrong. Not just for the foot, but for the one-footed guy hopping around without a foot, that we need each other. And this is what it's like for the person that is disconnected.

Listen, man, you want to be in the awe of God. You want to see signs and wonders. You want to walk in the power that Jesus promises with the coming of the Holy Spirit. can I tell you the number of times that happens in community? You know who I never hear say, oh, I never see God move, is the people that are deeply devoted in community. Because sometimes, you know, you ever pray prayers and God doesn't answer them the way you want to and you have a tendency to think, where are you, God?

Where are you God? You see, when you're connected in biblical community, then what you'll see over and over and over, is maybe not what God is doing to you, but what God is doing through you. And you see him heal a marriage because you're connected. You see him heal somebody physically. You see an addiction broken over there. And you might look at your own life and go, I don't know, God. But you begin to look at evidence of the work of God all around you.

And you go, there you are, and there you are. Church of 1122, may we be a people. that don't just show up every once in a while to be entertained by great music in a very humble but amazing sermon. May we be devoted to what God said we are to be about as a church. May we be devoted to the Word of God, to the people of God, to caring for one another, to praying for one another, to breaking bread in our homes with one another, to worship God and love one another and then watch God day by day, save more souls to be a part of this faith family.

If you're not in a disciple group or in discipleship relationships, I would highly encourage you to take that step in following Jesus. We just stand. Let me pray for you. Our good and gracious heavenly, Father, God, we love you so much. God, we thank you that you have called us into your family. And that's what the church is and that's what this church is. God, I know we're in a bunch of places all over the place, but we are called to one name,

that's your name. We are called to one cross that's your cross. And God, we have been called to this family, which is a life in you. May we be devoted to that. And, God, I thank you that you don't ask us to do this just with begrudging submission. You command us to follow after you because in so doing, we get you, and that's where eternal life is. so God I pray that you would speak clearly and boldly God to all the people that have tried it before Lord and it didn't work I pray they'd try it again I pray this in Jesus name amen so folks we're going to

respond and we're going to sing we're going to sing this song that basically lays out everything that I just said by the time you get to the end of it it is going to talk about the church being born and and the spirit lighting the flame of the church that still burns today that we are still a part of what happened all the way back to Acts 2, so we should sing like save people. So we're going to sing. We're going to bring our ties and our offerings. There's no way we get to baptize all those people, and especially those survivors of human trafficking,

without us worshiping God in our ties and offerings. And we're going to pray, and we're going to pray. And some of you right now, you feel convicted to take a step, but you're a little bit scared. And I want you to know that God did not give you a spirit of fear, but a power and of love and of self-discipline, and you don't have to do this alone. It'd be a really good idea.

If you look down in your row and grab somebody and be like, will you come pray for me? Or maybe some of you know that there are people in here and they've just been too afraid to come pray. And so you, as somebody that loves them and cares for them, you go, come on, I'm going to pray for you. And listen, I would encourage you to do it. And any of you're like, I don't know what to pray.

It's so loud they can't hear anyway. But God hears. You ain't praying to them. You're praying to him. So let's sing, let's bring, let's pray. Let's respond.