ACTS 2:42 WHAT YOU SHOULD EXPECT TO DO AT CHURCH2017 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Acts 2:42 What You Should Expect To Do At Church

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2017. Well, this morning as we look at Acts chapter 2, we are looking at the day the church began.

The disciples had been with Jesus for some time, then he was crucified and resurrected and hung out with them for a little bit, but told them to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit. And today, in Acts chapter 2, that event has been fulfilled. The Holy Spirit has been poured out upon the disciples as they were gathered together.

And through that, the Lord gave Peter an opportunity to preach the gospel to thousands of people, and 3,000 people responded, and they joined now the disciples. It's the beginning of life.

the church. And a few verses later here in Acts chapter 2, they'll actually call the gathering the church. And so we see the formation of that. And as we continue to work our way reading through the book of Acts, through the Bible in three years, that we will get to see the establishment of that church and the practices. And we look to the book of Acts as a model for us

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from our culture. You know, we have a particular culture here in Southern California that is, well, it's quite different than even Northern California or other parts of the United States or other parts of the world. And we have certain expectations and we have certain ideas about how things are to be based upon where we live and kind of the society around us and the way that things work. But when it comes to the church,

It's really important that we don't let society tell us

That we don't let our culture and what we just kind of automatically think dictate to us what the church is or is supposed to be or how we are to be engaged with it, but that we look back to the word of God to understand what the church is and what our part in the church is then and not live based on what our culture says. The word church, in the Greek, it's the word ekklesia.

And it literally means a gathering of people. And outside of the context of the New Testament, it can be used to talk about any gathering. So if you want to gather together to, you know, talk about politics, or you want to gather together to play water polo, you want to gather together for whatever purpose, that's the word means a gathering of people. But within the context of the New Testament, the ecclesia, the church,

is a gathering of Christians. It's a gathering of believers in Jesus Christ who move out of their homes into a physical, you know, geographic location next to each other and spend some time together engaging in various activities in each other's presence. It's about gathering together as believers in Jesus Christ. It's not a building, but it's the gathering. It's the people coming together and interacting.

The first mention of the church in the Bible, in the New Testament, is introduced by Jesus in Matthew chapter 16, where he looks at Peter after Peter testifies that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus looks at Peter and says, I say that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

On this foundation that Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, that's the foundation upon which Jesus says, my church, it's his church. That's what it's built on. The belief, the reality that Jesus Christ is the Savior, the Son of God. And we gather together in his name together.

in response to what he has declared and in response to his instruction to us. And so the church is a gathering of people who believe in Jesus. Now, sometimes when we talk about the church, we can be referring to all Christians everywhere. And there is a sense that every believer throughout all history belongs to and is part of the church. But we also see throughout the

throughout the New Testament, that the church is often referred to a particular location where believers gather together. Paul will greet different churches in his letters and he'll say to the church that meets in the home of Priscilla and Aquila, greetings. To the church that meets in this location, to the church that meets in that location, that there is these local gatherings of believers and God has designed us

as a church to be a gathering place for believers, that we would come together, believing in Jesus together and living out our expression of faith together and what that means to be a believer in Jesus and to be part of the church. And so we gather together and we're here this morning in obedience to that and in part of what God has called us to do. But now, now that we've gathered together, we're here in the same place.

We're in the same building. Now, what do we do? And that's what I'd like to spend some time considering with you this morning. The title of the message is, What You Should Expect to Do at Church. What You Should Expect to Do at Church. Now, hopefully it's not that, right? Some people do that at church. You know, all you got to do is look at Carlos over there and see what's going on. But it happens. It's not really the design of the church.

But you know what, I would suggest that part of the reason that happens is because we forget or we don't understand what church is really all about. And again, I would ask you to consider what informs you? What is it that is taught you about what church is? And why do you interact with church the way that you do? Have you learned from our culture some ideas and some really misconceptions about what church is?

Because the reality is church is not a spectator event. I would encourage you to consider that the church is more like a gym than a theater. But I think our culture and our society and a lot of times our expectations as we come to church is it's more of a theater mentality.

You know, with a theater or a stadium, perhaps, you can go watch something and be entertained. You can enjoy a concert, some great music. You can enjoy a good message or a good, you know, speaking of some type. You can watch a play or a show or something, or maybe watch some guys throw a ball around a field or something that you can go and watch all kinds of things and huge crowds go to watch.

But there's only a few who are actually doing something in that context. That's not what the church is called to be or meant to be. It's not the way that God has designed the church, but sometimes that is the way that we approach church. It's not supposed to be a spectator event. I would suggest to you that church is, well, much more like a gym. Now, if you go to the gym to be a spectator, you go just to watch, you go to the gym to

You're a creeper, you know. That's not what it's designed to. You're not supposed to just go watch. That's not good. If you go to a gym, it's to work out. Maybe to practice together with others that in some activity you're engaged in. It's to be engaged in what's going on, not just to sit back and watch something unfold. The church is meant to be like a gym. And God is calling you to be engaged in

not just to watch, not to be a creeper, but to interact with the Lord and with one another as we gather together. Looking again at verse 42, it says, And so here it tells us now what these new believers did. 3,000 added to the church that day. Now, what did they do the next day?

They're born again. They're baptized. Awesome celebrations. Now, what's next? What do they do the next day? And so Luke gives us here a summary of the activities of this first church and what it looked like and what they behaved in or what they engaged in. And he lists four things here in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread and in prayers.

But as he lists each one of them, it's a little bit more subtle than we can see in the English. But in the Greek, there's a definite article before each of them. And so it's literally the apostles' doctrine and the fellowship and the breaking of bread and the prayers. That it's referring to something specific, not just talking about general or vague concepts.

You know, there's Christians, you know you're a Christian now, so you're supposed to pray. You know, we kind of accept that as a general concept. But he's referring to very specific activities that the church engaged in. And we look here in the book of Acts to learn for ourselves what this church engaged

is to be like and what we as believers are to be like as we participate in this thing that God has established called the church. There's very specific activities for the church. The church, again, is a gathering of people who believe in Jesus. And so what should you expect as we gather together? Well, there's four points we'll look at here from Acts 2, verse 42, to learn how to do this.

this thing called church. Point number one is to learn, practice, and teach the scriptures. Again, here in verse 42, it says they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. What's the first thing that they did and the priority of things that they did? It was a steadfast continuing in the apostles' doctrine. They began in the apostles' doctrine listening to Peter and

And Peter preached the gospel and called them to repentance. That was the beginning of their relationship with the apostles' doctrine. But that wasn't the end of it. Then they went on to steadfastly continue in that doctrine. The word doctrine simply means teaching. And so what was it that the apostles taught that they were continuing in steadfastly?

Well, we have recorded for us much of the teaching of the apostles in what we refer to as the New Testament. And there you have the Gospels, where the apostles teach us about the life and the ministry of Jesus.

We see his practices. We see his miracles. We see his crucifixion. We see his resurrection. We are taught all about Jesus and who he is and what salvation is. There's incredible doctrine in there. There's incredible examples for us as the apostles recorded for us the life and ministry of Jesus. We also have letters recorded here in the New Testament, like Romans and Corinthians and Ephesians and 1 and 2 Peter and James. And the apostles taught

not only in a local gathering, but they wrote these letters to various groups of people to continue to teach them doctrine, but then also we see in the epistles a lot of application. This is what we believe. This is what God says. And so here's what that's supposed to look like in your life and in the context of the church and in the context of the world that you live. And so they continued steadfastly in what the apostles taught.

in the life and ministry of Jesus, in the application of how to live out the life that God has called us to live. The apostles taught prophecy and introduced the concept of the rapture and reminded people of the second coming of Jesus Christ and foretold those things that were to come. And keep in mind that as the apostles were teaching all of these different things, their texts, their scriptures that they taught from,

was the Old Testament. The New Testament was in the process of being written by the Holy Spirit as they were teaching these things, but they were using and referring to the Old Testament as they were

brought forth the message of Jesus Christ. In fact, here in Acts chapter 2, in this very message that Peter delivers, he has several quotations to the Old Testament, and then you'll see that throughout the book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament, that it is built upon the foundation and the doctrine of the Old Testament. So wrapping all that together, you get the Old Testament and the New Testament, and understand this is the apostles' doctrine.

This is what they steadfastly continued in. The commentator Thomas Constable says, the apostles' teaching included the Jewish scriptures as well as the teachings of Christ on earth and the revelations he gave to the apostles from heaven. This means the early Christians gave priority to the revealed word of God. This was a priority for them. They continued steadfastly. They wanted to make sure that

They were immersed in and involved in the word of God. And that is why, as you gather together with us on Sunday mornings or Wednesday evenings or various times throughout the week for different studies and such, it's why we give a significant part of our time to study the Bible. Because we're following the model and the example set for us here in these first verses

batch of converts, these first born-again believers, as they join the church here in Acts chapter 2, they immerse themselves and they continue steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, in the study of the Word of God. Now listen, this is why we also have the practice on Sunday mornings. I ask you to stand and read through the passage together.

There's a togetherness in it, and we'll get to that in the next point. But there's an importance and a great value to the Word of God. And so we spend the time to read through the passage together. And then as I teach the passage, I'm quoting those same verses that we just read throughout the teaching as well, so that hopefully by the end we've heard those verses read

two, three, four, five times that we have the word of God being poured into us. It's an important part of what we do and why we gather together to be steadfast in the word of God. And it's why also I always encourage you and often bring up, hey, we're going through the Bible in three years and this week in our reading and the passage is chosen out of that because, well, it's part of what we are called to do as the church.

to be steadfast and continuing in the word of God, to be learning of God in that way. And so again, I made the point, learn, practice, and teach the scriptures. And learning, I think that that's one that, you know, we can see and understand right off the bat. Now, a lot of responsibility for this falls on me, right? I need to put together a message that

you can understand and that you can follow along with, that you can enjoy and hopefully not sleep through, right? I need, that's a responsibility I have to bring forth the word of God to you. But let me remind you that there's also a lot of responsibility that falls on you for learning the scriptures.

And I don't just mean on your own, in your own devotional life. That obviously is true as well. But in the church context, as we gather together as believers, you have a big responsibility to come to this place expecting to learn the scriptures.

You have a responsibility to come with an anticipation, with an expectation that I'm going to not just sit and let someone talk at me, but I'm going to have the scriptures open in front of me. I'm going to be interacting with the passage and asking God about the passage and maybe looking up some cross references and checking out these things. I'm going to be receiving this proactively, right?

It's one of the reasons why we provide Bibles on the back table in case you don't have one. Now, maybe you use a digital device. Maybe you have your favorite Bible that you take with you everywhere. Maybe you grab one off the back table. Whatever method you prefer, that's fine. That's up to you. But the important thing is for you to not just sit and sit through and survive and endure some long talk of whatever Jerry has to say that week. That

Again, we got to be careful not to let society or culture or just our own misconceptions inform us about what church is meant to be. It's not just a religious thing where you just, you know, you kind of have to suffer through it every week and you just kind of go, you get through it. You're not supposed to, you know, listen or pay attention or get anything out of it. You just kind of got to do it and you put in your time and then God will bless you throughout the week. That's not what the church is. That's not how the church works. It's not how God works.

But as we open up the scriptures together, you have a responsibility to be engaged with the passage just as much as I am, and asking questions, and seeking the Lord about what he wants to say to you through that. And so learning the scriptures, well, we both have a part in that. But then also, as we learn the scriptures, it's not just theories. It's not just theology in the sense that it's stuff we learn. It's stuff that goes into our minds and

That way we can answer questions or, you know, win the Bible trivia contest or things like that. We learn the scriptures so that then we can live the life that God has called us to live. And so it's learn and practice the scriptures. It's not just theory. It's not just theology. It's not just history. But the Lord has given us his word to teach us who he is, that we might know him, that we might draw near to him.

He's given us his word to teach us how to live, that we might take what he says, trust him in it, and actually do what he says in his word. Jesus taught us this in Matthew chapter 7. He said, You might remember that parable. The house is built on the rock, so when the storm comes, it stands.

But then the next guy builds a house on the sand, and when the storm comes, it falls apart. And the difference, Jesus says, is both guys hear what Jesus says, but the one who builds his house upon the rock is the one who hears these sayings of mine and does them. Not just learns the scriptures, not just can quote the scriptures, not can just repeat or say or study the scriptures, but the one who does sayings

the scriptures and puts into practice. It takes some effort. It takes some work to learn the scriptures and then to put it into practice in our lives. But then I would also remind you that as you gather together to participate in this thing that the Lord calls church, you learn the scriptures, you practice the scriptures, you seek to apply it to your life. But then also there's a responsibility that you have to teach the

the scriptures. And you might think, well, Jerry, you know, that's your job. That's not my job. I don't have to teach the scriptures. That's not my calling. That's not my gifting. But I would ask you to consider something with me. Here in verse 42, it says, "...they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine." They continued faithfully. To continue steadfastly, it means to persevere or to be constantly diligent.

This is speaking about, they didn't just pick up the word of God a couple times or just sit through service once a week, but they were involved in an ongoing, regular, disciplined study of the scriptures. And you know what happens when you are constantly being diligent to study the scriptures? It produces maturity. This is the way that we as believers become mature and we grow as we are faithfully engaged in

With God in his word. The author of Hebrews talks about this in Hebrews chapter 5. And there in Hebrews chapter 5 he says, look, that's how you grow. By reason of use you become mature. By reason of use of the scriptures. And he actually rebukes

his recipients in Hebrews chapter 5. In Hebrews 5.12, the author of Hebrews says, for though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. There the author of Hebrews corrects the Hebrews, and he says, listen guys, you've been around for a long time.

But you are not mature in your faith. You are not mature as a believer in Jesus Christ. You ought to be a teacher because that's the natural process. That as you continue steadfastly, you mature, and by reason of use, then you are able to teach others the things of the word of God. But he says, even though you've been around, you prayed that sinner's prayer, you've attended church services,

Perhaps faithfully or on and off for years and years, he says, you still need someone to teach you. Now, in a lot of ways, we're always going to need someone to teach us. That's part of the way that God has designed us to need that gift of teaching and that ministry in that way. But he's saying, you need to be taught the basics again. And you're being taught the basics over and over and over again because, well, you're not practicing. They're missing that middle one. They're hearing, but they're not engaged on their own. They're not living out

But here he's highlighting, here's the natural process. By this time, if you continue steadfastly in the word of God, understand, you're going to be called to teach that. Now, that doesn't mean that you have to be scheduled to be up here on a Sunday morning, but you've learned by experience how to apply God's word to the situations that you faced in life. And now you're going to have a responsibility and an opportunity from the Lord to teach others around you.

how to apply God's word to their situations and to the things that they're going through. You learned how to put God's word into practice in your workplace. And you've learned that, and that's great. But you know, there's some other people who are really struggling to figure out, I don't know how to be a Christian at work.

And so you have an opportunity and a responsibility then to then, well, help others recognize how does this work? What does this look like in the workplace or in the home or in this context or in this situation? How do I resolve these things that there is a responsibility and an opportunity for us to teach the things that God is teaching us through his word?

And so this is what you should expect to do at church. As we gather together as people who believe in Jesus, you should expect to learn the scriptures, to come expecting to have your Bibles open, have your notepads out or your notepad app open and ready to type and to be engaged with what God has for us as we gather together and what he's called us to do, but then to practice and

looking not just for information, but looking for what does God want me to do? How does this impact the week ahead? And how does God want me to behave then as a result of these truths that he is presenting? But then also coming with that expectation that there is the need for others to be taught. And it's not just up to myself or other pastors or other church leaders that God has designed it so that we all have a part to play in

in the growth and development of the people around us in the body of Christ. Well, moving on to point number two, as we continue to look at this example of the church, what should you expect to do at church? Looking at the first church as a model, as an example. Point number two, share life with other believers. Here's what you should expect as you come on a Sunday morning. You should expect to share life. That is, share your life with

and share their life. That we would share together our lives as believers in Jesus Christ. In Acts chapter 2 verse 42, it says, That word fellowship is the focus here for this point. That sharing our lives with one another is a matter of fellowship.

That word fellowship, it's an interesting word. It comes from the Greek word koinonia, and it's a little bit difficult to translate because it's packed full of meaning, but here's one definition of it. The Greek word koinonia has the idea of association, communion, fellowship, and participation. In summary, it means to share in something.

It's association, communion, fellowship, and participation. There's a lot of aspects, but sharing together, I think, describes it pretty well. That we are participating, that it's not just my life, but my life is also partially our life.

And my ministry is not just my ministry, but my ministry is also our ministry. And the same goes for each one of us, that we are together, that as God has called us together, it's why he uses the illustration of a body. And he describes each of us being members of that body and how each of us has an important part to play and is essential for the health and growth and continuing of the body.

Now, we often use the word fellowship to describe any kind of hanging out together. You might find on our flyers, this phrase repeated over and over again, food, fellowship, fun. And it's like, yes, sign me up.

Fellowship, that's great. I love food and fun. And certainly that is part of fellowship. And not to take away from that, it doesn't mean that, you know, whenever we get together, it's supposed to be somber and serious and nobody smile and we can't have a good time. No, no, no. We can. And sharing good times together is part of fellowship. It's an important part of fellowship even. But it's also meant to be much more than that. And we don't just share the pews.

That is, you know, we sit next to each other, we share the same chairs, and that's what fellowship is. No, there's much more to fellowship beyond those things. That is, we are to share in each other's spiritual lives and contributing in meaningful ways to each other's spiritual growth.

And as we consider these things, I would ask you to think about this. And what kind of impact are you having upon other people's spiritual growth here in this body? Because that is part of your fellowship, your participation, your sharing in the work that God wants to do as we gather together as the church. And there's a lot of things that we can look at. In fact, I'll be giving some examples. But as we walk through some of these examples, I want you to think about it individually.

and think about it outside of the home. So it's easy to kind of excuse yourself from fellowship because, well, you know, accountability or, you know, those things like that. Well, I have my spouse, my husband, my wife, you know, and so I have that kind of activity going on. But I would suggest to you that when the Lord talks about fellowship, obviously you need to have fellowship at home, and you need to be, you know, engaged with your spouse and with the Lord in these things. But

But it's not enough for just you and your spouse to be in fellowship. There needs to be a broader sharing of your life with others around you in this gathering of believers that God has called you to. And if he's called you to somewhere else, well, then, you know, then it applies to there, wherever God's called you. But the point is, wherever he's called us, that we have to be engaged and meaningful, have meaningful relationships.

interaction and contribution to each other's spiritual growth and well-being. John tells us in 1 John 3, verse 14, we know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. I always love how John makes things really crystal clear. He says it one way and then he says the opposite just so you make sure you get it. It's very clear. Here's how you know that you've passed from death to life.

Here's how you know that you've been born again, in other words. He says, because we love the brethren. Loving the brethren, loving other believers and those that God has called us to gather together with, that is one of the primary evidences that we've really been born again, that we really have had a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ. And when we love Jesus Christ, well, it's natural, right?

For us to then love the brethren. But then he says the opposite. He who does not love his brother abides in death. If you don't have a love for the brethren and you don't desire to gather together, if you don't have that going on, John says, you're abiding in death. You're not walking in life. You're walking in death. You're not experiencing the life that God has for you.

But if you really want to experience the full Christian life that God has for you, then, well, then you need to love the brethren. It's the natural outflow of a born-again relationship with Jesus Christ. But it takes some effort on our part. It takes some obedience. Love is a command. It's not a feeling. There's feelings associated with it, but it's not primarily a feeling. It's a command that we are to love one another. And it's

obedience to that command, John says, that is a primary evidence that you really are born again. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God. The second greatest commandment is to love one another, to love your neighbor as yourself. That is top of God's list. Now, love is not just some, you know, kind of remote thing, like I don't hate you, so that means I love you, or I don't wish you harm, so that means I love you.

I like to summarize love as doing what is best for people. That's what love is. It's doing what's best for people. And that requires for us to be engaged and involved in the lives of the brethren. That's what fellowship is about. Again, let me remind you that church is not a spectator event.

not in God's design anyway. Maybe that's what you want church to be. Maybe that's what you think church is or that you expect church to be, but that's not what God has designed. It's not a theater where you just come and observe, but it's a gym. And you are gathered together here not to just sit and listen, not to hear something, but to be loving the people around you.

to be involved and actively engaged in doing what is best for the people that God has gathered around you here in this place. We included in the bulletin this morning a little handout that has a bunch of one another commands on it. These are commands that are found in the New Testament, throughout the New Testament. It's about 50 or so verses long.

These are commands where the Lord has said, this is how you are to relate to one another, to interact with one another. This is instruction for us as the church for what our relationships are to look like. And again, as you consider these things, I would encourage you to spend some time later on to read through, to consider and seek the Lord about these things and do so from the perspective that, well, aside from this,

the home. Aside from my spouse, do I have these kinds of relationships with other people, with other believers here in the church that God has gathered us to? Let me give you some examples. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. There, Paul tells us that God has composed the body, having given greater honor to the part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.

There in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, we have that passage where Paul uses that illustration to a great degree to show us the church as the body of Christ. And he says, look, God has designed, he's composed the body very strategically and in a specific way so that, well, who's the most important person at church? Is it me? Paul says, no.

Not the pastor, whether you call him reverend or senior pastor or whatever you want to call him, not the most important person at church. Who's the most important person at church? The one who holds the money? Is it Dave Mert? You're the most important person at church? He likes to think so, but it's not the truth. Who's the most important person at church? Paul says this, Jesus. Everybody else, all the rest of us, we have equal importance.

It's just as important that I show up for Sunday morning service as it is that you show up for Sunday morning service. God has designed the body so that we would have the same care for one another, that there's no schism, there's no difference. We're all essential and important and vital as a gathering of believers. And he says God has designed it so that we care for one another the same way. See, if God designed it differently, he knows us really well.

So then someone that we think is lesser, well, that guy just cleans the toilets. He's hurting. No problem, you know. It's fine. We'll get another guy to clean the toilets. Not a big deal. Oh, the pastor's hurting? Oh, we got to do something about that. Let's have a prayer meeting because the pastor's hurting. That's not God's design. God's design is one suffers, all suffer with it. One rejoices, all rejoice with it.

God has designed it so that we love one another in such a way that we're all important, we're all part of what God is doing here, and we're to have the same care for one another. That it's not limited to, there's, you know, really the special people, and those are the important ones, and we care for them. But no, everybody that God has called together here is vital, and important, and necessary, and we are to care for one another, well, just as we care for ourselves.

That's the second greatest commandment Jesus said. Love God and love your neighbor. That's how we're called to relate to one another. Now, that can be difficult, and that can provide some difficult situations because, well, we are still sinful. And caring for one another sometimes also means that we are vulnerable to being hurt. And, well, it means that we will get hurt as we interact with each other

the body of Christ. And so we have Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32, where there Paul tells us, be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. So here's another instruction and command about how we're to relate to one another. He says, be kind to one another. Now, it's easy to be kind when you want to be kind. And

It's easy to be kind to the people that you want to be kind to. You don't need a command to be kind to the people that you want to be kind to. You know when you need a command to be kind? Well, sometimes we don't fully understand God's plan. Sometimes we wish, perhaps, that some of the people that God has called to be gathered together here with us at the church, that I don't like to be kind to them. They're hard to be kind to. Lord, it'd be easier if you just gathered them somewhere else.

But you know, part of your growth, part of their growth happens in the interaction that God has commanded you to be kind to one another, to be gentle and generous, even around those that are difficult to be gentle and generous to. And then he says, forgiving one another. And you know why he commands us to forgive one another? Because we're going to sin against each other, because we're going to mess up and hurt each other. We're going to offend each other. That's going to happen. And so we're commanded to forgive. Love covers a multitude of sins, right?

But that's, you know, a little bit more difficult than sometimes we want. But this is what fellowship is really about. It's about getting close enough to get hurt. And then in getting hurt, it's about being willing to forgive and overlook and demonstrate the grace and mercy that we've received from God and passing that on to others around us.

Colossians 3, verse 16 has some more. It says,

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. That is, continue steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. Be immersed in the word of God, but then let that flow out of you so that you're teaching and admonishing one another. Again, it's not just for you that you read the scriptures. You need it, but it's not just for you. It's not just for you that you engage in the message this morning or any other service. You need it, but it's also so that...

You can teach and admonish one another. That you can help others grow. That you can help others overcome and be victorious. And that you can protect them from deception.

and wandering away from the things of God. That's what Hebrews tells us in Hebrews chapter 3, in verse 12, it says, So here, the author of Hebrews says, look, we need to be on alert, helping our brethren out,

by exhorting them daily, because there is the danger of departing from the living God with an evil heart of unbelief. And we might say, am I my brother's keeper? And the Lord would say, yes, you have a responsibility. He says, exhort one another daily. That's pretty regular. That's pretty frequent, that we are to interact and have relationships with one another to that degree that we're able to exhort. That's to build up and encourage one

on a regular, on an ongoing, even on a daily basis. And he says that's protection so that you are not hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. So you interacting with someone else in that way is protection for them. It helps them that you, in love for your brethren, reach out and express and encourage and connect to help protect them from the hardness of heart, from the deceitfulness of sin. It's

It's part of what God has called us to in fellowship, that he's called us to have deep and meaningful interactions and relationships with one another. It's not just for their benefit, though. James tells us in James 5, verse 16, So not only are we to be exhorting one another and reaching out and helping each other to protect each other,

But we also have to open ourselves up to this type of ministry to receive this type of exhortation and encouragement from others. And so the instruction is to confess your trespasses to one another. Now, I'll point out, it doesn't say confess your trespasses to everyone. Okay, so that's not necessarily the requirement. But do you have those kinds of relationships within the gathering of believers here? Now, again, I would encourage you to think outside of your spouse relationship.

I'm sure that you have. I hope that you have that kind of relationship there. But here in the church, do you have those kinds of relationships that are deep, that are meaningful, that are impactful, that you can confess, you can pray for each other, be real and honest and open with each other about what's happening in your lives? That is part of fellowship. And if you don't have that

You're not experiencing church the way that the Lord intends. And honestly, that might be part of why you're having such a hard time having a real walk with God and staying faithful and consistent in that. Because God's not designed you to be all by yourself. He's designed you to be part of this gathering of believers. Well, the last example I'll share is 1 Peter 4, verse 10. Peter says, "'As each one has received a gift, "'minister it to one another as good stewards "'of the manifold grace of God.'"

We each have been given spiritual gifts and a role within the body of Christ. And Peter says it's a matter of stewardship. Minister that gift to one another. It can be easy to neglect those gifts. Paul warns Timothy about not neglecting the gift and to stir up. And it takes some faith. It takes some obedience to live out what God has called you to. But it's a matter of stewardship. You need to be faithful to God.

And minister to others with what he has given to you. And so those are some examples of the one another commands and some of the instruction that we have for us as believers and how we're to interact in a local gathering of believers. But let me sum all of that up by saying this. Block out a big chunk of time on Sundays for fellowship. I want to encourage you.

This is not a message of condemnation, okay? And I don't usually give this kind of exhortation, but let me just do that. Listen, you should not let church become one of the 17 things that you need to do on a Sunday. It should not be one of the things that you just got to get through it. It's your weekly thing. It's your duty. You know you're supposed to. And then now, okay, good. Got that done. Check that box off. Now, on to all the other things.

that I couldn't do during the week because I was working and had other things going on. So now I got to do these other 17 things. Listen, I know what it's like to be busy. We all know what it's like to be busy. But God would remind us this morning that church is a priority. And it's up to us to protect that priority. And we need to make sure that we

well we're ordering our lives based on what god says again don't let society or culture or even just your own misunderstandings inform you about what church is supposed to be we do that sometimes and then well we neglect this aspect of fellowship this connections with one another that god has called us to i would encourage you you need to come early

And I don't mean just, you know, at the time when worship starts because usually you come 15 minutes into worship. I mean, you need to be here before worship starts. Again, sometimes we treat this just like a theater. Like we can come in and, you know, it's like, oh man, I missed the first couple minutes of the movie, but that's okay. You know, I'll catch the rest. And then, okay, movie's almost over. Movie's right done. Okay, credits aren't over. I got to go, man. I got 17 other things to do. And we relate to the church that way sometimes. And it's robbing people.

that God has gathered here of the gifts, of the influence, of the relationship that God wants to bless them with, but it's also robbing you of the relationships that you need. This is an important part of our Christian walk.

And that's why the author of Hebrews says, do not forsake the assembling of ourselves together in Hebrews chapter 10. It's essential. I would encourage you, block out a good portion of time on Sundays. Come early. Stay late. Make lunch plans together. It used to be kind of a natural thing, but in Southern California, we have a whole different mentality many times than just Northern California, the rest of the U.S., the rest of the world, that

Our approach to church can be sometimes just so like programmatic and systematic in that it's just, I'm on this schedule and I'll just kind of squeeze you in and okay, I gotta get it done, it's important, so I'll endure, I'll get through. But you know what? It really needs to be about connecting with one another. It's not just about hearing a teaching. That's an important part, but it's not limited to that by any means. It's a lot like being a team. If you're on a team...

Well, you're an important part. I'm going to use soccer because nobody really likes soccer except for Michael Ochoa. So if you're on a soccer team, you're an important part of the team. You need to be involved in the meetings and the games, and you need to be participating in that. But I would ask you to consider what team are you on? Are you on the church team? Are you engaged and participating? And perhaps do you have other teams that you're engaged with to a greater degree, to the neglect aspect?

your church team? Do you have more in common with people outside of this church than you do with the people within this church? This gathering of believers that God has called you to, do you have more interaction externally and not internally? We need to have the relationships with one another that God has called us to have. It's an important part. It's what the early church did. It's the model for us. The church is a gathering of people who believe in Jesus and

And it's great to gather for all kinds of other reasons with all kinds of people. And there's good opportunity there and ways to serve the Lord and all of that. But we need to not forsake the assembling of ourselves. We need to not forsake the assembling of this congregation of the people that God has called here. And so I would encourage you to block out some time on Sundays and make it a priority again. Don't let it be something where you sneak in and rush out, but plan to stick around and engage in the work that God is doing.

Well, that's point two of four, and it's 1154. But the last two points are much simpler. Point number three is remember the work of Jesus. We're about to do that in partaking of communion together. One of the things that they kept as a priority is we're going to take time to do what Jesus said when he said, do this in partaking of the bread and the cup, which represent his body and his blood. He said, do this often in remembrance of me. And

And so they continued in that and they remembered the Lord and we'll do that in just a moment as well. And then point number four is to pray with other believers. Not only were they gathering together and ministering to one another and engaged in those different areas of fellowships, but they were faithful to prayer. They continued steadfastly in prayer and it literally is the prayers that

which I would suggest points to corporate times of prayer. Not talking about they had a prayer closet or they generally in their life prayed to God, but that they were engaged and they practiced times of prayer with one another. And I would encourage you regarding this gathering, this church, we have some corporate prayer opportunities for you. I would suggest you need to pick one and be faithful and continue steadfastly in at least one of these.

On Sunday mornings at 9.30, immediately at the conclusion of first service, we spend some time to pray for second service and whatever else the Lord might have upon our hearts. On Monday nights here in the sanctuary, Dave and Jackie host a time of prayer that's open to anybody. And it's an hour of prayer for, again, whatever might be going on and the needs of the body. And then on Wednesdays, we have a time of prayer each Wednesday for our missions and

our missionaries and the missionary of the month. And we also, the first Wednesday of the month, this coming Wednesday, give opportunity to share prayer requests and praise reports. And so we pray with one another in regard to those things that are going on in our lives. This is something that the early church was faithful to continue steadfastly in. Again, it's a model for us to continue steadfastly in all of these things, to learn, practice, and teach the scriptures.

to share our life with one another as believers, to remember the work of Jesus, and to pray together with those that God has gathered around us. Kim's going to come up and lead us in a song as the ushers pass out the communion elements. And as they do, I would encourage you to take some time before the Lord and allow God to speak to your heart about where you're at in relation to his bride, the church.

Whether or not you're engaging and participating in the church in the way that, well, he would have you to. And I would encourage you to take this time before the Lord in remembering the work of Jesus to come back to the grace and the mercy that he offers to you and just accept it once again and receive what God has for you through the cross. He gave us the bread and the cup and said, do this in remembrance of me. And so let's do that. Let's remember the work that he did

And let's also remember the work that he wants to do through his body, this church, that we would participate in that in the way that he's called us to. Let's worship the Lord together. They're going to pass out the bread and the cup. You can partake at any time during the song. Go ahead and partake. And if you don't, Kim will give you an opportunity at the end.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.