Those Crazy Christians - Sermon Recap

On May 19th, we celebrated Church Planting Sunday at The Bridge Community Church! Special guest preacher Scott Thomas shared with us Five Reasons for Church Planting. In doing so, he gave an illustration of churches that are pregnant with future pastors and planters in expectancy of birthing new churches. Then, this past Sunday we jumped back into our series in Acts. In Acts 11, we saw a new church birthed in Antioch and its subsequent stages of development in the process. It was a perfect text for us to follow-up Church Planting Sunday with! Antioch was also the first place that we were called "Christians." Why did they call us that? In this week's sermon recap we get a glimpse at why they called us Christians, as well as the stages of development in a young church plant.

Those Crazy Christians
Sermon Recap
Acts 11:19-30

The Big Idea: Disciples are made to make more disciples. Churches are planted to plant more churches.

Antioch (modern Antakya) - the largest city of the area and capital of the Roman province of Syria, with a population of a half million or more. Only Rome and Alexandria were larger in ancient times.

Antioch was known for its business and commerce, for its sophistication and culture, but also for its immorality.

One might say that Jerusalem was all about religion; Rome was all about power; Alexandria was all about intellect, and Athens was all about philosophy. Adding to that, one might say that Antioch was all about business and immorality.

Stages of Development in a Young Church

See Acts 11:19-20

1. Courageous Gospel sharing across boundaries 

What does that look like for you in your context?

• Community boundaries
• Socio-economic boundaries (class)
•  Racial boundaries 
• Special interest boundaries 

Early Missionary Witnesses - took the gospel to the Jews
Early Missionary Pioneers – took the gospel to the Hellenists

See Acts 11:21

2. Movement from God resulting in salvations

The hand of the Lord brought belief, and those who believed turned. When the Gospel came to Antioch, it came to an utterly pagan city.

A ministry can’t turn rebellious people to the Lord unless the hand of the Lord is with them.

• You can turn people to a personality without the hand of the Lord. (tv preachers, comedians and etc..)
• You can turn people to a social club without the hand of the Lord. (bars, country clubs, civic organizations)
• You can turn people to a church or an institution without the hand of the Lord. (mom said this is the right thing to do)
•  But you can’t turn people to the Lord without the hand of the Lord. 

If you are peaking in from the outside in, Christianity is not simply a formula to follow. It is not a man derived list of best practices. It is a supernatural experience with the living God.

Church, when we get out of our comfort zone, we must rely on the hand of the Lord. We must pray and we must ask the Holy Spirit to work. This is supernatural.

See Acts 11:22-23

Barnabas finds evidences of the grace of God among them. It is important that others be able to see the grace of God among us. They should not see an emphasis on self, on man-made rules, on human performance – but on the glorious grace of God.

Have you ever even thought about what we SHOULD look for? We place high importance on so many things (mission, giving, evangelism, service), but these things are vain if not centered, founded in, and boldly proclaiming the GRACE OF GOD. THE GOSPEL must be permeating our lives. Gospel in the pulpit. Gospel in our lives. Gospel in our community.

 So, we have a new young church with new Christians. NOW WHAT?

3. Quick follow-up and investment in new believers.

Babies are not mean to stay babies. New Christians are meant to mature. God gives leaders to equip this process in the direction of the Holy Spirit,  under the authority of Christ, and centered in His holy word.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (Ephesians 4:11-12, ESV)

See Acts 11:24

4. New believers begin sharing the gospel 

Barnabas exhorts and encourages the church and they start sharing the gospel themselves. We see disciples making disciples and the church growing when new believers engage mission, evangelism and ministry…

See Acts 11:25-26

5. Discipleship training and leadership development

Perseverance in the faith is a community project.

What do you have in place to train and develop new leaders and elders in your church? Is it holistic?

At The Bridge there are opportunities to grow deeper in knowledge at this year’s Summer School. You have opportunities to engage in holistic training in community via cell as well. For students and children there is also summer camp. You can read all about what is being offered this summer at The Bridge by clicking here (Leadington Summer Schedule).

 See Acts 11:27-30

 6. The young church begins to serve other believers in crisis and plant new churches 

Notice that one of the first signs of vitality is, again, financial generosity! (cf. Acts 4:31-37). Then later in Acts 13, the church in Antioch sends off their best to plant to new churches. We see churches planting churches.

Those Crazy Christians
The Antioch church was the first place that the gospel had created a truly new Humanity out of many different nationalities. There were people coming to faith across cultural, racial, and class boundaries! They were not only coming to faith but they also began serving and giving to others!

The barriers came down and this shocked onlookers. No other religion had produced it. How could this religion, then, be seen as simply the power-grab move of a particular culture or strata of society? It could not. That is why only in Antioch were believers called “Christians” and only there did the world realized something remarkable had been unleashed in the empire.

Those crazy Christians were giving to other believers and serving beyond themselves. Is this still what we are known for today? Brad Paisley's new song "Those Crazy Christians" talks about Christians who are willing to jump on an airplane and go to Africa and Haiti and risk their lives in Jesus' name. If that is considered crazy, I'll take that label. May we never lose the drive the serve others in our own communities and abroad because we have been served by Christ. And if that's crazy, so be it.

Listen to past sermons at http://www.bridgepodcast.com . Watch past sermons at http://www.bridgechurchonline.tv

Jesus Has a Family - Sermon Recap

This week's sermon recap is:
Jesus Has a Family
Acts 10:30 – 11:18

Jesus has a family! And Jesus still adopts people into the family of God -- the church -- and together, as a family, they grow to be more like him. So, who is the family of God? How can I be part of that family?

Note: We began this sermon with baby dedications. 

Sunday's Big Question: How do I become a part of the family of God?
Acts 10:30-33

1. The Call of God
A running theme through the book of acts is that this is God's story and he is leading, guiding, and directing from all sides. In this specific story God is very sovereignly lining things up to bring the Gentiles in. We have seen him do this already with the Ethiopian Eunuch and Saul. God initiates.

2. The Message of God
If you remember from last week Cornelius needed to hear the message of God to be saved (cf. Romans 1:16). So what is it? Peter shares the good news!

Acts 10:34-343
a. Jesus, bringer of peace (36)
b. Jesus, Lord of all (36)
c. Jesus, a man among us (37)
d. Jesus, anointed with the Holy Spirit and Power (38)
e. Jesus, stronger than Satan and sin’s effects (38)
f. Jesus, killed on the tree (39)
g. Jesus, raised to life forevermore (40-41)
h. Jesus, the head of the church (42)
i. Jesus, the final judge of all people (42)
j. Jesus, the one the prophets foretold (43)

3. The Response of Man
a. Supernaturally driven
b. Empty Handed, but willing

Acts 11:18
Two empty hands...
i. Repentance – to see your need
Screen Acts 10:43
ii. Faith – to cling to the only one who can help

4. The New Family of God
Acts 10:44-48
c. All who are in Jesus Christ
This is quite a moment as Gentiles and Jews have never been allowed together unless a Gentile converted into the family of Judaism first.

Early in the Bible in texts such as Leviticus 20:22-26, God himself put separation into practice to keep Israel free from sin and from being tempted to follow after their false gods. But now, this family has new cousins, but because of long history and Roman occupation, this is going to feel strange. God needs to communicate.

Acts 10 is described as another Pentecost type event. This description is not typical for every experience. The speaking in tongues here happens to show that the Gentiles received the same Gospel, the same spirit, in the same way as the Jews. This whole thing is very divine and God-driven. It shows beyond a doubt that the gentiles will be included in the family of God.

Acts 11:1-18

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13, ESV)

See also Ephesians 2:11-22, Galatians 3:28

You may be thinking, but you don't know me and my family. You don't know my past! I can't possibly be adopted into the family of God?

Does your family include incest? Does it include adultery? Does it include prostitution? Does it include murder? Jesus' family does. The Bible is honest about it and invites you to be honest as well, so that you can see the sins of your family and know that you all need a Savior. Jesus welcomes you to be adopted into the family of God -- the church -- and together, as a family, grow to be more like him.

The Ladies in Jesus’ Family Tree from Matthew
• Tamar – Slept with her father-in-law
• Rahab – A Canaanite prostitute famous for lying
• Ruth – Her entire race of people was the result of incest
• Bathsheba – Committed adultery with King David
• Mary – others questioned her reputation

Some of the Men
Abraham - Pimped out his wife twice
Judah - Thought he slept with a prostitute, turned out to be daughter-in-law
David - Committed adultery and murder; son tried to murder him
Solomon - Wisest man ever made dumb choices due to sexual deviancy

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, ESV)

Two empty hands by which you grab the gospel
1. Repentance- to see your need.
a. The way I have been living my life has not been working
2. Faith - to cling to the only one who can give you what you need
a. I need more than better thinking. I have real sin. I need a real savior

Listen to past sermons at http://www.bridgepodcast.com Watch past sermons at http://www.bridgechurchonline.tv

The Gospel > Moralism & Racism - Sermon Recap

I am often asked two questions by those peering in or hanging out around our faith community. They are:

1. "Do people who are sincere and do good go to heaven?" 
2. "Why does The Bridge invest resources and send people to take the gospel to the nations?"

This past Sunday I sought to answer both of these questions straight from our text in Acts 10. Below is an overview of the teaching. To listen to it in its entirety visit http://www.bridgelife360.com and grab the podcast  or video on Tuesday. 

Question 1: Do sincere people who do good go to heaven?

I contend that the default religion being taught by our society today is that good people who are sincere in their efforts are those who go to heaven. We are taught this at funerals, on television, on radio, in sports culture, and via social media.What does the Bible say in regards to this teaching? It is important for us to see what Cornelius was as well as what he was not to answer this question.

Text: Acts 10:1-23a
And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” - Acts 10:22 (ESV)

Cornelius was:

• A military man
• A virtuous man
• A generous man
• A spiritual man
• A respected man

Note: He was a god-fearer. He was sympathetic to the Jewish faith but not a proselyte. He had a positive experience with the Jewish faith and respected what he knew. All the Jewish people in turn loved him even though he wasn't a convert. But...

Cornelius was not:

• A saved man

While he had all these admirable qualities, he was still a lost man in need of being found.

Four Passages That Bring Clarity
A. Acts 11:14 - Cornelius needed the Gospel message to be saved.
B. Acts 10:43 - Forgiveness of sins comes via belief in Jesus
C. Acts 2:5,37-38 - Peter didn't tell these devout men to just keep doing what they were doing, but to repent.
D. Acts 11:18 - It takes repentance to have life (salvation)

Answer to #1 = No, our good and sincere work alone does not save us.
Implication = If Cornelius needs salvation via the Gospel, so do you.

However, there will be non-Christians that are very like-able, who do virtuous things, that we should show love and gratitude for. This is due to God's common grace. I prefer to call it God's restraining grace. While humanity is totally affected by sin, we are not as bad as we could be because of God's restraining or common grace. If we do not see this as a possibility, we can become hyper-conservative and very unloving people. We can become very unlike Jesus.

Two types of non-Christians in need of Jesus:

1. There are bad and nasty people who need Jesus. 
2. There are honest, spiritual, and compassionate people who are not Christians and need Jesus.

While we need to see what Cornelius was to guard against hyper-conservatism. We also need to see what Cornelius was not to guard against liberalism. He was not a saved man. And while the default religion in America says if you are sincere and do your best you get in. The Gospel proclaims you must repent and have faith in Jesus to receive salvation. To leave this out is to miss the gospel. We must not miss the GOSPEL.

Question 2: Why do we invest resources & send people to take the gospel to the nations?

Text: Acts 10:23b-29
And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. – Acts 10:28 (ESV)

• Peter’s vision in the text is about food, but his interpretation is about people
• There is no one on the basis of their skin color, ethnic heritage, language, or nationality that is untouchable by God
• Therefore, they must not be untouchable by us.

Answer to #2 = There are people being prepared by God in every ethnic people group to
hear the Gospel message
Implication #1 = Christians must have no part in renewed racism
Implication #2 = Christians must never think any race or ethnic group are unfit to hear the
gospel message from them

May we never think that someone is too unclean for us to go into their house and share the gospel with. May we never think to ourselves, or mumble to others, that "they" are not worth evangelizing. And may we never declare because "they" have offensive habits we will never go near them.

Truth: God has always planned for the nations.

Also see Genesis 22:18 and Psalm 67. 

For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts. – Malachi 1:11

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” - Revelation 5:9-10

God declared persons clean. There is no room for racism in heaven.

Our non-white,  middle eastern looking, Jewish Jesus went to the cross and purchased a people from every race, nation, tribe, and language.

God is saving people from all over the world via the gospel. Maybe it is you today? Maybe you have been like Cornelius and open to God and sympathetic to the faith, but today it makes sense. It makes sense that it wasn't good enough for Cornelius to be decent, compassionate, and generous because you can see the dark places of your own heart that others cannot.   And although you can still pull off "good" work,  you know your sin. You know you cannot merit God's salvation. You know that sin must be cleansed. Repent and turn to Jesus in faith.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7, ESV)

Listen to past sermons at http://www.bridgepodcast.com

Watch past sermons at http://www.bridgechurchonline.tv