to bring forth the Word of God in such a way that is understandable and glorifying to you. Lord, that you would bless all of us as your people with that gift of hearing, Lord, from the power of your Holy Spirit, to hear what it is that you want to minister to us this morning. And Lord, we just ask that you would fill this place in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated.

And if you would, open up in your Bibles to the book of Acts. Chapter 2.

Acts chapter 2.

With being in between books right now, I thought about going ahead and getting started this week into 2 Corinthians. But I decided perhaps this is really a good week to talk about the vision and the mission of the church. I think it's good to clarify those things so that we know why we're here and why we're doing what we do. When I was fresh out of Bible college there, it seemed like there began to be a lot of controversy about what the church, what the church's role actually was, what the church was supposed to do.

Is the church even doing what the church is supposed to do? I remember there's a book that came out at one point in time that said, they like Jesus, but they hate the church. And the movement that went on with all of that. And so as all of that was taking place, I started really thinking, well, what is the role of the church? What is our job as the church? What are we supposed to be doing?

What does it look like to be healthy? And so as I thought and prayed about it as a young man in my early 20s, I came up with two things. Number one, the church is to build up the body of Christ. We're to build up the believers so that we can come to a mature knowledge and understanding of Jesus, that we can grow in that relationship with him. That is the first main function of the church.

But then there's another part to it as well. The church is to reach out to the world that is around them with this message of hope, with the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We're to go out and get the truth of the word of God into the people who are so desperately in need of hope right now. And, and as I have mentioned lots of times over the past few weeks, the world is definitely in need of that right now.

When you look at the great commission, if you were to look at all of all four gospels at the very end and the great commission, as well as the beginning of the book of Acts, you realize that Jesus said pretty much just the exact same thing when he said that our mission is twofold. Number one, we are to make disciples, but number two, we are to be witnesses. We make disciples by building up the body of Jesus Christ, by building up believers to bring them to a mature knowledge of him. And then we are witnesses, but we are also witnesses to the world around us of what God has done in our lives and what God can do in the lives of the people that are around us.

And so as I have moved on in my maturity and then became the pastor of Calvary chapel of our city, I thought, so what is the vision that God is giving me for the church? And honestly, I've been asked that a bunch of times over the, about the past six months, people have said, so what's, what's your vision for, for Calvary chapel and in my vision is the same that it has been from the time that I began being the pastor here. And I shared this with you guys last year, but I didn't. I don't want to elaborate in detail and that's if I was to give a vision statement for Calvary of our city, it would be Calvary chapel of our city, reaching in and reaching out.

We reach in to build up the body of Jesus Christ, and then we reach out with the truth of the gospel to the people that are around us. And so I want to elaborate on those two points this morning and really talk to us about what it looks like to reach in here at Calvary chapel. And then what it looks like as the body to reach out. So I want to start in acts chapter two, verse 42, it says they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles, teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Now this is one of Luke's, what he calls a summary statement. He sort of summarizes some things that have been taking place up to this point in time and gives a quick summary statement about what it looks like in the church. And so we should look at what brought him to this point in time. Well, you remember Jesus after he rose from the dead, came and appeared to his disciples and was with them for about 40 days.

But then, it was time for him to go back to the father. And so he ascended into heaven right before he ascended into heaven. The disciples who still had this distinct understanding that Jesus was the Messiah wanted to know, is it at this point in time that you're going to establish your kingdom right here on earth? Are you going to do away with this Roman rule?

Are you going to officially take over as ruler of the world at this point in time? And Jesus gave a very interesting statement to the disciples. He said, it's not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the father has set in motion, which the father has put into place. But you should go hang out in Jerusalem. I threw the word hang out in there. It's not in any translation.

You'll read. You should go. I think in the Terry is the word that she used in Jerusalem until the coming of the Holy spirit. And then you will be witnesses of me to Judea, to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria in the uttermost parts of the earth. And so that's what they did. They went back and they hung out in Jerusalem and they waited on the Lord and they prayed and they sought the Lord together.

And as they did, so they did so for about 10 days. And then as they were all gathered in, the upper room, the Holy spirit fell upon them with those various tongues of fire to where they could each give out the wonderful words of God in a language that everybody was understanding. People from all over the world had come for this feast of Pentecost and they could hear the wonderful works of God in their own language. And they said, this is nuts.

What are you guys doing? They must be full of new wine. And Peter says, come on, we're good Jewish boys. It's not even 10 o'clock in the morning. We're not drunk yet. We promise this is what was promised in the book of Joel, that coming of the Holy spirit. And it's coming because Jesus, promised it because of what Jesus did. Now it's time for you all to repent.

And at that point in time, 3000 people got added to the church. Can you imagine what that would have been like? All of a sudden you go from about 200 people to about 3,200 people being in the church, right? Very exciting things. And so that's what God was doing. And so after this wonderful in gathering, after this wonderful evangelistic message that Peter gave,

this is where we come to this summary statement that this is what the church was doing. They were devoting. Themselves to the apostles teaching to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayers. Well, what does that word devoting itself means? Well, literally it says that they were, let me make sure I quote this correctly. I'm going to tell you where I messed up a quote earlier.

They gave constant attention to these things. In other words, this was their lifestyle. Now I made this point in the first service as well, even though I didn't intend to, I felt like the Lord really led me to do it. It's interesting that that's the phrase. That's used about what these guys did with what it meant to be. The church is they made it their lifestyle.

I fear that sometimes in 21st century United States of America, it's very easy for church to be a thing that we do, but not the life that we live. It's very easy for church to be something that we show up at on a Sunday morning, maybe even a Wednesday evening, but have it not really affect the whole rest of our life. But Jesus is calling for us for this to be our lifestyle, to be the life that we lived. Let me give you a little bit of an example.

I listened to a video first thing this morning. I didn't have time to get it to the, to the people in the back so that they could put it up. But it was this pastor who had gone to do a training for some church leaders in China. And when he showed up, he said, what do we do? He said, and the first question I asked him was, what do I do if we get caught? And they said,

well, you will immediately be deported and we will immediately be imprisoned. I think he said there were 22 of them there altogether church leaders that he was talking to. And he said, um, how many of you have spent time in prison for your faith? He said, 18 of them raised their hands, 18 of them. Well, so he goes on and he gets ready to give the teaching and he only had about 15

Bibles. They didn't all have their own Bible. So he handed out the Bibles that he had to these 22 folks. Seven of them obviously didn't have the word and he told him to open up to first Peter and he started reading. He said, but I noticed that there was one person who was quoting the scripture while I was reading it, even though she didn't have a Bible. And he said,

how are you able to do that? And she said, I memorized it. He goes, how did you memorize it? She was one of the ones that had spent time in prison. She said, well, people would write down the word of God and on a piece of paper and they would sneak it to us in prison. And so we would go as fast as we can to try to memorize the word of God because we knew we only had so much time to do it.

He said, doesn't that get confiscated? And she said, yeah, once they catch you with it, they confiscate it. He said, so what'd you do? She said, memorized really fast. Isn't that amazing? You see my friends, that's a lifestyle that you're living when you realize that, the word of God and knowing God is so important that you'll memorize it in prison because you know,

that's your only shot at getting the word of God into your life. That's how you know that the word of God and following Jesus is a lifestyle, not just something you do as a hobby, not just something that you do to appease a conscience so that you can then go live however you want to the whole rest of the week. That's a lifestyle. And so this is what they did.

They lived this kind of lifestyle of giving out the word of God, a lifestyle of paying attention, to these things. And so they've gave themselves a 10, they gave attention to these things. And these are the four things that I think identify what it looks like to reach in, to build up the body of Jesus Christ. The first thing it says that they devoted themselves to was the apostles teaching the apostles teaching.

Now, what does that mean? Well, literally we can call that the study of the word of God, if you will, the study of the instruction that Jesus gave. Now, remember these apostles did not have the new Testament at this point in time, they were living it, or writing it, which I think is just fascinating. Can you imagine being in that point in time as the Paul wrote that letter?

And it's like, whoa, that's going to get canonized someday in the scripture. They probably didn't even use the word canonized yet at that point in time, I'm just going to get put into the scripture. They were living it and writing it. So what was the teaching that they gave? Well, they gave the teachings of Jesus that combined not only the truth of the old Testament,

but the fulfillment that Jesus gave. They, they studied, if you will, these teachings, because this was what they needed to know. They studied this instruction, it was so key to their lives for them to understand that they needed to know what scripture had to say, because they knew that they were facing a pagan culture that would constantly turn them away from the things of God. If they weren't aware of their need for the truth of the word of God, they gave constant attention to it.

They gave devotion to it. They studied it on a continual basis and they heard it taught on a continual basis because they knew that not only was it the instruction that they needed, but it was the strength that they needed. And it was the, the way that they continued to stay in contact with the Jesus who loved them and gave himself for them. Remember, think about what these apostles had done with the teachings of Jesus.

Can you imagine spending three years of your life constantly hanging out with one person that you not only looked up to, but that you loved and you soaked in everything that he had to say, what would you then do with all those things that he taught you? You would go back and you would remember them to the best of your ability. That's why I shared the things that my good friend, Truman page, the guy that used to live at Lakeview village, the retirement community that I used to work at. That's why I remember those things so well.

I wished I realized then how little time I'd have with him because I would have paid closer attention, right? And I'm sure that that's what the apostles thought, but as they're doing these things, they, they mean so much to them because they realize not only for the apostles, is this their way to stay in contact with this Jesus whom they love so much, but it's the way that they can make him known to the people that are around them. They constantly devoted themselves to these things. And we, we have those same things available to us here.

Now there's three ways that you can take part in the study of the word of God, right? The first way that you can take part in the study of the word of God is to sit in a meeting like this, a lecture style teaching session. This is what we do here on Sunday mornings and we do so on Wednesday nights. It's, it's one of the many ways that you can do it, but it's one of the big ways that we do it at church on Sunday.

And so I give out the word of God. Hopefully you are taking in the word of God, taking notes. If you're a note taker, taking mental notes, if you're a mental note taker, falling asleep, if you're a fall asleep or that's okay, it is what it is. Um, but you're taking in what God's word has to say so that you can then hopefully go and live it out in your life.

And so Sunday morning, you all have, you're already winning right now. You showed up on Sunday morning. What a beautiful thing, right? And I know that there's some of you right now watching your phones and your pajamas right now. And may I say, you can bring your phone in your pajamas to church. I don't care if you show up in your footie jammies show up right here.

You can hold a phone right here and you can join us, right? But you're taking in what God's word has to say. So hopefully you can live that out. We also do that on Wednesday night, Wednesday night, we gather here and we're doing our old Testament study on Wednesday night, Sunday mornings are the new Testament study. Wednesday night is the old Testament study.

That's one of the ways that you can take in the truth of the word of God. The second way that you can study the word of God is in small group meetings, small group Bible studies. Those are such a beneficial thing to do because they usually give us time to share with each other what God has been doing in our lives and what we feel like we're getting out of scripture too. And that's how you bounce ideas off of each other.

That's how you, we discuss difficult passages of scripture. That's how you are able to sharpen each other with what the word of God has to say, because each of us comes to the word of God with a little different thought in mind. And we have to make sure that we're still on track with it. We offer those here as well. On Monday nights you can gather. There's a women's study that is going through in a small group way,

the word of God. And on Monday nights there is a men's study that's going through the word of God together. I believe women's studies in first Peter true. And then the men's study is in Matthew. Tuesday night is when the college group meets. And that's a small group meeting where a specific age group comes together and they can have discussion time. And then Tuesday night as well,

pastor Allen does a home fellowship that you can even get in on zoom because we know that that's an important way that you can get together to discuss the word of God Thursdays. There's another women's study that meets the, so if you can't make it on Monday night to that women's study, there's a Thursday afternoon when they spend even more time in prayer on Thursday afternoon, those are ways that you can get involved in this. And then there's the third way that you can study the word and you can study it on your own. You can get into God's word all by yourself and you can study what it has to say and see what it has to say to you.

I always like to encourage people to get into God's word, study it for yourself and then discuss what you've studied with someone else. One of my favorite times that I ever used to have is I used to meet up with a group of a group of kids on a Friday morning and we would discuss what God's word had to say. And it was amazing what those kids would come to me with. I wrote several sermons just based on the things that they shared with me because there's an amazing aspect of iron sharpening iron when it comes to the study of the word of God.

But the early church in order to reach in and build up the body, they devoted themselves. They made a lifestyle out of studying the word of God together. The second thing that we take note of is that they devoted themselves to fellowship. The word fellowship literally means community, community, joint participation or that which they had in common community, joint participation or that which they had in common.

Now, typically in churches, anytime the word fellowship is used, meal usually follows it. So oftentimes eating is involved, but there's more to it than just getting together for a meal. There's the aspect of the commonality that you and I all share as believers in Jesus Christ. There's this idea that that we all have one thing in common and that's Jesus. Even though we all,

we all look very different. We have very different backgrounds. We have very different ideas. We have very different interests. We have very different likes. We all hold one thing in common, and that's that we have a savior named Jesus Christ. And that commonality gives us a bond that is thicker than blood. It gives us a bond that is deeper than family. I was sharing with the first service when I first showed up to Bible college in California.

I didn't fit in with any of them because I was a kid from Kansas, right? As I've shared with you before, I was not only the only kid from my state, I was the only kid from my region of the nation. And I show up to California where they're all West Coast kids, a few East Coast kids mixed in there, but all West Coast kids. We almost spoke a different language, right?

Because, because Kansans and Californians, we speak differently. I was telling the first service, I remember I showed up and I spoke Kansas. I still do, even though I've mixed a little California culture in there with it. But I remember the first time I used the word dog on it, right? Like, that's a pretty average common vernacular thing. For me, especially growing up in Kansas.

And so I said it and somebody goes, I'm with my friend, Sandra, who is from New Jersey. She goes, what did you just say? I said, dog on it. What, what does that even mean? What does dog on it mean? I'm like, well, things didn't go well, dog on it. Like I had to use it in context. So she knew exactly what it lit up the campus because everybody thought it was such a funny word.

I wasn't the one that did it. But another one of my friends who was incredibly popular was like, I love this. And he spread it to everybody. And I'm walking around here. Somebody say, dog on it. I'm like, yes, bringing Kansas to California. Right? But, but it's like, oh my gosh, I'm not like these guys in any way, shape or form. I remember I had a roommate one time who showed up and,

and he was all tatted up and had huge piercings. His ears were gauged. His nipples were pierced. Everything was different about him. And I was scared when he first walked in my room, I was like, he'll kill me someday. Turned out he loved Jesus with all of his heart. And I loved having him as a roommate, but no matter how different we all were, and there was quite a few that were different.

We all held one thing in common and that was Jesus Christ. That's how a Kansas kid that grew up in a pastor's family, a drug dealer that looked like he was straight out of Miami vice and a short guy that used to be a hit man could all hang out together at a Bible college campus because we all held that one thing in common. We love Jesus. And so that's what we have as believers in Jesus Christ.

We have this fellowship with each other and we should, and we should devote ourselves to this fellowship. We should devote ourselves to leaning on each other because we're who we have. We should devote ourselves to getting to know each other because we are family. I bet you didn't realize when you were born again, when you became a believer in Jesus Christ, you got ushered into a family and we're a really weird family, right?

I mean, you know how I know we're a weird family because I know me and I know you and we're weird, right? Like we do dumb things. We do odd things. My good friend, Jerry Horton in high school used to always tell me you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your family. And that's the way it is in the body of Christ. So you better get to know us because we're going to spend eternity together.

You ever thought about that? Who don't you get along with in the body of Christ? You better look at him and go ready to spend eternity together. Figure it out now. But we need the support that we have for each other. We need to fellowship with each other and grow in the Lord together because we are to, as being the people of God, loving and supporting each other.

How do we do that? Well, first of all, it takes doing more than just showing up to church on a Sunday morning. It takes investing in the lives of the people that are around you on a Sunday morning. We had to change a lot of things with COVID, right? And so I don't like saying online, take a minute and just greet each other, right? But after church, you should take a minute and just greet each other.

You should just talk to each other. But it's the easiest thing in the world to slip into church, sit in the back row, and then slip out as soon as it's done and never talk to anybody and never get to know anybody. And it doesn't mean you're not saved. It doesn't mean you don't know Jesus, but it does mean that you're missing out on the benefit of growing in the body of Christ.

It does mean that you're missing out on the benefit of supporting each other because we're to be here for each other. You know what makes me more sad than anything is when I find out somebody went through something very hard in their life and I wasn't able to be there for them. I'll find out. You know what I had going on? For these three months, I was dealing with this,

but I didn't want to bother you with it. Bother me with it. Bother each other with it. That's what the body of Christ is supposed to do. That's what fellowship is. Fellowship isn't just making sure that we get to eat sweet cupcakes together, even though I love sweet cupcakes and brownies. It's more than that. It means sharing life with each other. My goal is that we will not just be a church that

has a bunch of people attend. My goal is that we will be a family, that we will be a family. That we will be a family. That we will be a family who bears each other's burdens, because that's what fellowship truly is. And so, my friend, I want to challenge you. Now, I'll throw a caveat into this. I understand that some people have to leave as soon as church is done,

because you have things you have to do. You have responsibilities. Today, I can't stay very long after church, because my daughter has a cheer competition down in Oklahoma City. So I'm going to go down, and I'm going to cheer for my daughter while she flips her body all over the mat. And I'm going to be yelling for Kim and Jim's gym, right? So I've got to leave pretty quick after church.

But I don't try to do that very often. You know why? Because I want to talk to as many of you as I possibly can, because I want to share life with you, and I want you to share your life with me. And so I want to challenge you. Don't just leave as soon as church is done. Find somebody to talk to. And if you want bonus points, find somebody you've never met to talk to, right?

And then Jesus will be like, happy face on their little life. It'll be awesome. But we're to fellowship with each other. They devoted themselves to that. You know why? Because nobody else liked the church at that point in time. So they knew they better fellowship with each other. Number three, they devoted themselves to the breaking of bread. Now we're talking.

So now there's two different ways that you can take this phrase, the breaking of bread. One is just the simple, basic translation of this is the sharing of meals. Now there's another way that we can interpret this, and that's the Lord's Supper, but we'll get there. But this aspect of the sharing of meals, I think, is a really big key when it comes to the body of Christ working together and reaching in and pouring into each other.

Now my goal is for us to get back to having cover dish dinners again. We got way away from it during COVID. It was my goal to, but it was kind of like, well, I don't want anyone to get the COVID because we ate baked beans together, right? So maybe we'll hold off on that. But now I think it's time for that to begin to happen again. And my goal is for a whole church,

when the problem is we don't have a really good spot here to do a whole church cover dish dinner. So pray for a warm March, not only because winter is straight from the devil, but because then we can go outside and have our fellowship meal outside, and we can break bread together. But you know what? Somebody last year said, you know, it doesn't seem like we do fellowship meals together anymore.

And I challenge them with this question. You're probably right. When's the last time you invited someone over for dinner? And they went, I don't know. And I said, you could start it. You could just have somebody over. And that's a fellowship meal. Because now the body of Christ is getting together. You see, we as believers have to make sure that we don't put everything off and say,

well, you don't understand. The church never gave me this option. Listen, the church is people, right? The church is not an organization. The church is not a building. The church is the people that attend. So I'm telling you. Invite somebody over for lunch. Invite somebody over for dinner. You know what happens when we eat together? All the barriers start coming down.

Have you ever noticed that? Right? You first show up to a meal that you're going to go to with someone for the first time, and you try to be formal. I've never once tucked a napkin in, but I'm going to do it this time, because it seems like the right thing to do. Right? You try to be really careful. And then what's the first thing that happens? You spill something, right?

I can guarantee you one thing. If I eat dinner with you, I'm going to spill something. Because that's just what I do. I live my life with stains on my shirt. And so does the rest of my family. But you know what happens? As soon as you spill something, the barriers come down. Oh, I'm so sorry. I spilled that all over you right now. Don't worry about it. We can replace it.

We'll have to replace it. But don't worry about it. We can get a new one.

But now the barriers are down. Now you can be the real you. And you're no longer trying to put up a pretense. And then you see each other in church on Sunday, and you're like, oh, I can't pretend with them. I can't pretend anymore, because they know what I look like when I eat. There's something about that. But the other interpretation of this is that breaking of bread together.

And that's the aspect of taking the Lord's Supper together, taking communion together, which is something we do here once a month. We take communion. It'll be next week. We take that communion once a month to celebrate the Lord's death. But you know what happens not only when we eat together, apart from taking the Lord's Supper, but when we eat together and partake of communion,

is we celebrate unity. We celebrate the fact that we are unified in Christ, and we are unified with Christ. Have you ever viewed eating a meal with someone like that? You see, in ancient cultures, when people ate together, it was like saying, you're a part of my family. We're unified with each other, because we're willing to share together. They would even have a communal dipping bowl.

And I mean to tell you, if you want to become family, go eat tacos somewhere together where you share a salsa bowl. Not any of this individual bowl stuff like we have today, right? Everybody gets their own little bowl of salsa. I remember the days where they put the one big bowl in front of you, and you had to say, no double dipping, right? You had to make sure.

And then someone's three-year-old would be at the table, and you'd be like, all bets are off. I can dip that thing as many times as I want to, because I'm pretty sure they just stuck their whole hand in there. That was what eating together was like at that point in time. There was unity involved in it. And so when we not only celebrate the Lord's Supper, but share meals together, we share and we celebrate

that unity. In number four, part of building up the body, reaching in as the body of Christ, is they devoted themselves to prayer. In the Greek, literally it says, they devoted themselves to the prayer. And I appreciate that, because I throw the in front of everything. And so I'm just quoting the original Greek when I say the Walmart, or whatever. It says they devoted themselves to the prayer.

That carries with it the idea that these were formal prayer meetings, prayer gatherings, that they were devoted to. They were devoted to gather together to pray. It was their lifestyle. lifestyle. Now, I absolutely think you should be praying on your own. Your prayer life is one of the strongest aspects of you growing in your own personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

But I also think you should take advantage of every opportunity that you can to take part in prayer meetings with the body of Christ. Because again, you're able to bear one another's burdens that way. You're able to bear the things that are going on in someone else's life in a very intercessory sort of way when you gather together for prayer meetings. That's why we offer the prayer times that we offer here. Because I believe wholeheartedly

that the gathering together of the body of Christ to pray is one of the most powerful things we can do. That's why we have now two options for prayer on Sunday mornings, because we weren't getting enough beforehand. That's why we have this monthly intercessory prayer meeting. That's why hopefully every small group that meets at our church, which I'm sure you've heard of, I'm pretty sure it does, takes the time to not only discuss what's going on in people's lives, but then to have prayer together to pray for those things. Because we as the body of Christ

need to be praying together. They devoted themselves to it. And if we're to build each other up, we need to be in prayer. You know what the one thing that people say why they don't want to go to a group prayer meeting is? I don't want to pray out loud. But do I have to pray out loud? And I'm like, well, I mean, you don't have to, but you should. Because it's kind of nice to do so.

And you know what the one thing, I was just talking to a group of junior high kids about this earlier this week, because they have to give a speech. And I said, why are you all scared to give a speech? And one little brave soul raised her hand and said, I'm afraid I'm going to say something stupid. Right? And I was like, here's what you need to know. You will. Okay? Why don't

I pray out loud? Because I'm afraid I'm going to say something stupid. God doesn't care. I don't care. We might all laugh, but I would expect you to do the same thing to me. Right? Like, I think the best thing in the world is to hear a brand new believer who doesn't know Christianese yet. I love listening to them pray. Because there's no pretense in anything they have to say. They

haven't learned King James yet. Right? Right? They're not praying with the these and the thous yet. They're like, dear God, my friend's life sucks right now. And I need you to work in them. And God, man, what was I saying? What was your name? I remember sitting in a prayer meeting one time. It was a group of teenagers. And this kid couldn't hear me. And I was like,

not remember somebody's prayer requests. And so they were like, hey, what was your name? And what'd you need prayer for again? Just right in the middle of it. It just stopped. And they said, my name is this. And this is what I need prayer for. They're like, sweet. Thanks, bro. And then they continued on with the prayer. I love that. Because that's the body of Christ. Being the body

of Christ, we've got to start putting away the pretense and start being who we really are. God doesn't care about your pretense, and neither do I. And you shouldn't either. He cares about genuine truth. He cares about the truth. He cares about the truth. He cares about the truth. And if we are to reach in as the body of Jesus Christ, everything that we do should be fitting into these categories.

It should somehow be giving out the word of God, fellowshipping together, breaking of bread together, and praying together. Because that is how the body of Christ in the early church was being built. They had 3,000 brand new believers. How are we going to train them? Well, we'll start showing them to live a lifestyle that involved those four things. My vision for Calvary Chapel is that we reach in in these ways and build each other up.

Now, the second aspect of this vision is that we learn to reach out. That we not only become a holy club that sticks to ourselves and never gets out amongst the public. And may I say that's the real concern that sometimes we can face as believers in Jesus Christ, is we can face this danger of not wanting to get out among the people. We're like, oh no, those people out there, they're sinners. Let's not be among them. Let's make sure that we keep ourselves free from sin and

so we'll never go out amongst the people. And may I say, if we do that, we have completely missed the point of being witnesses. And so as we look at chapter three, oddly enough, we see what these apostles did to reach out. So I'm going to read kind of a long section, so settle in and just allow yourself to soak in what the word of God has to say. Now, Peter and John were going up to

the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. And a man who had been lame from his mother's womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple, which is called beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms or money. But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, look at us. He began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something.

Peter said, I don't possess silver and gold, but what I do have, I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, walk. And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up, and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. With a leap, he stood upright and began to walk. And he entered the temple with him, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking

and praising God, and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the beautiful gate of the temple to beg alms. And he said, I don't possess silver and gold, but what I do have, I give to you. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened. While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to meet them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement. But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, men of Israel, why are you amazed at

this? Or why do you gaze at us as if by our own power or piety we've made him walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned. And he said, I don't possess silver and gold, but what I do have, I give to you. And he said, I don't possess silver and gold, but what I do have, I give to you. And he said, I don't possess silver and gold, but what I do have, I give to you.

in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But if you disowned the holy and righteous one and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but you put to death the prince of life and the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses. And on the basis of faith in his name, it is the man whom you see, excuse me, it is the name of Jesus, which has strengthened this man whom you see and know. And the faith which comes through him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all. And now, brethren, I know that you acted in

ignorance, just as your rulers did also. But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ would suffer, he has thus fulfilled. Therefore, repent and return so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. I love this story. I'm not going to make you all sing the song. I don't

remember if I made you sing it when we did the book of Acts together, but I made my Bible class sing it one year, and they didn't like it very much. So I won't make you sing the song. But it's a great story. You know, these guys, they're just doing their thing. They're doing what they normally do, going to the temple to pray. And as they're there, they see a guy who Jesus would have passed

by a ton of times. I need you to think about that. This guy laid at the temple gate. He'd been there for 40 years. Well, Jesus has only been gone for about six months. And so, Jesus would have walked by this guy. It just wasn't time for the healing yet. And so finally, he says, hey, I need some money. And they're like, I ain't got no cash. I love that the apostles didn't have cash. I can relate to that. So we don't have any money, but what I do

have, I'll give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ, rise and walk. Boom. I think Peter was as shocked as anyone. And so he grabs his hand, raises him up, and that dude goes running around like crazy. And everybody's like, whoa, what'd they do? And Peter's like, whoa, hold the phone. This wasn't me. This was Jesus. Isn't that a cool story? But it's what we see the disciples doing. These apostles did not just

reach in and build up their own body. They reached out with the hope of the gospel to the world that was around them. And from this story, I pulled out five principles for reaching out. Number one, they lived a lifestyle of prayer. Notice what it says in chapter three, verse one. Now, when Peter and John were going up to the temple, at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer, the indication that's given to us from the Greek language is that

this was their common practice. As they live this lifestyle of prayer, I realize that's an overlap point from the last one, but just understand it's important. Why is it important for me to have a prayer life in order to become someone who reaches out? Because when we pray, our hearts get aligned with the will of God. And God desires that none would perish,

but that all would come to eternal life. That doesn't mean everybody's going to be willing to do so, but it means that that's God's heart. And so when we spend time praying, when we are in prayer with God, it aligns our hearts with God's will and God's desires. We need to understand something about prayer. Prayer is never to accomplish my will on earth. I think that that's an important point that needs to be

made. When we start telling God what he should do, God starts telling us what he will do. And we line up. Prayer is instead used to line our hearts up with what God wants to do. Because you ever noticed in the Psalms how many times David starts off a Psalm by praying that God will like destroy somebody. And by the end, he's just really thankful for who God is and that God's going to be his protector

because eventually his heart gets lined up with that will of God. That's what prayer does in our lives. And as we do so, we begin viewing people the way God views them, not the way we view them. We begin viewing people through the lens of a loving God who loved them and gave himself for them. And we start to want to do the same thing for them. And we start to want to do the same thing for

people. And so in order to reach out, we must first of all, live a lifestyle of prayer. The second thing I take note of is this. In order to be someone who reaches out, we must have a love for people. Notice what it says in verse four. But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him. Why? Because he cared. Because as this guy was crying out for something to get him through another

day, Peter realized he needed something that would not just get him through another day, but something that would enliven his life. And so he started to pray. And he started to pray. And he started to pray. Something that would really bring life to him. He needed the truth of Jesus Christ. And he had a love for him. And I got a question for you. Do you love people? I fear sometimes that in the 21st

century church, we were way too okay with pandemic. That quarantine was actually for some of us living our best life because we didn't have to be around people. Because we didn't have to be around all of the people. And some of you may say, I don't even really like people. You know what? If you don't like people, it's time to start praying to God. I would give you a love for people. Because that's what God wants to do in your life. And that's what

God is able to do in your life, is he's able to give you that love for people. I use this first service. I'm going to use it again. I'm going to throw Lewis out there. One of the greatest examples of somebody who reaches out with a love for people that I know is Lewis. And I love being with him when we like go to lunch or get coffee or something, because he's willing to reach out

and pray for anybody. He doesn't care who it is. He just wants to do so. And I love being with him and he has shared several times in the college Bible study that when he was not walking with Jesus, apart from Jesus Christ, he really doesn't like people that much. He would really just as soon be all by himself. But because of the work that God has done in his heart, he has gained a love

for people. And now he wants to show that love by praying for anybody that he possibly can. You see, that's what God wants to do in us. You say, I don't like people. That's fine. It's time to start loving them. There's a difference. And praying that God would give you that love for people, what we're going to see is these principles for being someone who reaches out, they actually build upon each other. You see,

if I'm not living a lifestyle of prayer, I'll never have a love for people. And if I don't have a love for people, I can't do this next thing. Because number three is this. We need to have an attitude of availability. An attitude of availability. What were Peter and John doing? Were they going out to do a missions trip? Were they like, hey, let's see who all we

can street witness to? No, they were going to the temple. It was almost time for prayer. And if I know anything about Peter, I'm guessing he was running late. He seems like he'd be running late to me, right? Because he's a lot like us. And as he's running late, he could have easily said, I don't have time for you right now. I've got somewhere that I've got to be. But he didn't do that. He was willing to be available for God's service.

John Corson, in his commentary, put it like this. He said, it was a true work of God that he no longer viewed it as an interruption. He viewed it as a divine inspiration. And I think sometimes that's what we need to start doing in our own lives. We talked about this last week, two weeks in a row, right? Of learning to appreciate those interruptions as divine inspirations. I quoted this song earlier,

because it seems like right now the world that we live in is in a hurry. We're just, we want to hurry up and get to the next thing. And I find myself going, why? You ever sit back and go, why am I in a hurry? I do this all the time. I drove out on the Summit Street, and I was really frustrated with the slow person that I was driving behind, so I passed them. And then I got passed with somebody going

about 50 miles an hour down Summit Street. And I was like, why are they in such a hurry? Well, why was I in such a hurry? What are we all trying to get to, right? Like, oh my gosh, somebody's going to be mad if I'm late. Listen, I live a life where I make people mad, okay? Were you here last week? I made a lot of people mad, I guarantee, with what I had to say last week.

And so why am I worried? Somebody's going to be mad at me because I'm late. I don't know, but I struggle with that. Anyway, I quoted this song, and I misquoted who it was from. I don't know if Jake's still here or not. There he is. Yeah, good. It was a song, I said it was by Brooks and Dunn. It's by Alabama. I'm not a country music person. I actually don't like country music at all. But I grew up in Ark

City Wrestling. And in Ark City Wrestling, when you rode in a Suburban with Coach Wayne Jackson, you listened to country music. That was what you did, right? Yeah, Wainer made sure that happened. And so there was this song, and it's by Alabama, not Brooks and Dunn. And it goes, I'm in a hurry to get things done. I rush and rush until life's no fun. All I really got to do is live and die, but I'm in a hurry and don't

know why. My hips want to swivel so bad right now, but I know it's the wrong thing to do, right? I want to air guitar like nothing else in the world. Why are we like that? Why are we in such a hurry? We need to have that attitude of availability. But you know what? If I'm not living a lifestyle of prayer, I don't have any love for people. And so I don't have an attitude of availability. Number four, we're to have a willingness to serve,

a willingness to serve. I want you to take note of what these guys do. It says in verse six, Peter said, I don't possess silver and gold, but what I do have, I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, walk. And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up. Immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. With a leap, he stood and began to walk. Notice that at no point in

time, he didn't walk. He didn't walk. He didn't walk. He didn't walk. He didn't walk. He didn't walk. He didn't walk. He didn't walk. He didn't walk. He didn't walk. He didn't walk. He didn't walk. He didn't walk. So far, has Peter done anything to preach the truth of the word of God? Now he's just willing to do something very basic to serve his fellow man.

He simply reaches out his hand to lift him up. And I wonder sometimes how many opportunities we miss to give out the truth of the word of God because we're not first willing to serve. I guarantee if you stop to change somebody's tire for them, they are willing to listen to what you have to say. If you carry somebody's groceries for them, they are willing to listen to what you have to say. Because you just show that you're a servant

first. That you actually care about them as an individual. I continue to be struck by the fact that I don't have to do amazing things as a pastor. I have to do the basic things as a pastor simply to show that I care. I have to just simply show that I'm willing to serve no matter what it is. And when it comes to reaching out to the world around us, acts of service speak to people. Acts

of service speak to the world around us. And when it comes to reaching out to the world around us, that we're living in because nobody takes time to look at people and serve them anymore. There was that willingness to serve. And so I challenge you, what areas of practical servanthood are you missing out on because you're too busy right now? How can you stop and simply help the

person that's next to you to give you an opportunity, not even necessarily to preach the gospel to them, but just to show them the love of Jesus Christ? There should be that willingness to serve. And then number five, we come to the last one. Take advantage of the open door. I won't read back through verses 11 through 19, but that's exactly what happens in verses 11 through 19, is Peter

takes advantage of that open door. Because he had lived a lifestyle of prayer, he had a love for people. Because he had a love for people, he had that attitude of availability. Because he was available to serve someone, even though it took time out of his day, had that willingness to serve, he now has an opportunity to share the truth of who Jesus Christ is with a huge group of people.

Because take note of what happened. First of all, this guy's amazed, and he's clinging to Peter and John, right? He's so happy about what took place. And so everybody starts going, I can't believe what happened, because other people notice when you serve. You need to be aware of that too. When you serve, it's not just the person that you're serving that takes notice. Other people pay attention too,

and they see the love of Jesus Christ. And so you're always in the process of seeing the love of Jesus Christ flow through you. It has unintended consequences in a very good way. Everybody else took notice. And Peter, instead of taking credit for himself, which is something else we have to be aware of when we serve, instead of taking credit for himself, he says, no, you don't understand. I didn't do anything. Remember Jesus,

the one that you crucified? It is through faith in his name, the living savior, that this man was made well. And now you need to turn your life over to him. And he can make you. There's a strong sense of trust between him and you. And so Peter has a good feeling for him. He's a womanly, well-rounded, and he's and he can make you well too. See, when we give out the word of God,

all we need to do is tell people who Jesus is, tell them that they need him, and offer the opportunity for them to come to know him. Oftentimes, we fail to take the door of opportunity for the same reason that we often fail to take advantage of praying in front of other people. We're afraid we're gonna say something stupid. We're afraid that what I have to say is an earth-shattering enough for someone to really wanna come to know Jesus.

But do you realize that your testimony, the truth of what Jesus has done in your life, is the greatest aspect of witness that you can give? That's what a witness does. They tell the story of what happened to them. And when you tell somebody, I was a sinner, and I needed a savior, and then came Jesus, and I gave my heart to him, and he healed me, sometimes that's all people need.

You're like, Ryan, it's gotta be more difficult than that. It's not. It's not. I shared with the first service, and I know I've told this story before about the first time I ever got to lead somebody to the Lord. I'm not really an evangelist, right? Like, I'm a teacher. This is what I do. I'm not one of those guys, you know, Greg Laurie, Billy Graham, those guys can say,

sunshine and bubbles, and people are coming down front to get saved, right? And you're going, not really, but you know what I'm saying. They can give the most basic message ever, and people are coming forward. I feel like I can present the gospel in the clearest way possible, and people are like, this is not my gift. So I go street witnessing for the first time

in Oceanside, California. I'm, again, a Kansas kid, 19-year-old Kansas kid, going down to Oceanside, California, amongst all of the Marines down there, and they're all getting ready to get on a bus to go down to Tijuana to do things that Jesus does not approve of. And so we're walking around handing out tracts, and you know, I don't know, come here from Sycam about any of this stuff, and I'm super nervous, and so I go up to this one big, burly Marine, and I said, how do I do this? They gave me no training at all.

They're like, let's go street witnessing. I'm like, great idea, how do I do it? You'll figure it out. Hand out these tracts, and I was like, okay. So I've got these tracts, and I go to this guy, and I had this super intense way of street witnessing. I would go, did you get one of these yet? That was it. So I go to this guy, and I hand him this tract, and he's puffing on this cigarette.

I said, did you get one of these yet? And he goes, no, what is it? I said, it's about Jesus. Want me to read it to you? And he said, sure. So I read him this gospel tract, and it got to the point of decision. Now you can put your faith in Jesus, too, and he can come, and he can make his home inside of you. And I looked at him, and I said, do you want to do that?

And he goes, yeah, I do. And I said, wait, you don't understand. I tried to talk him out of it for five minutes, right? It's not supposed to be that easy. You're not supposed to be able to just do that. You're supposed to have to have a debate with him, but you see, the Holy Spirit had prepared his heart. And all he needed to know was that he was a sinner, and Jesus is a savior.

But even though his life is hopeless, he can find hope in Jesus. As soon as he put his cigarette out, I laid hands on him, and we prayed together, and that guy received Jesus. Guys, we just got to take advantage of the opportunities. God will give them to us. If you're living a lifestyle of prayer, if you are loving the people that you're serving, if you're loving the people that are around you,

if you're constantly available, if you're willing to serve, then God will lob them up there for you. Now, they won't all be that easy. I've had lots of times where I've debated with people for a really long time. You know why? Because that's another part of the process. But the important thing is that we continue to reach out. Continue to reach out. Chuck Smith.

The, uh. All right. Thank you. When I was putting this message together, I started to call him the founder of the Calvary Chapel movement. And I knew that if he were here, he'd be mad about that. He didn't want to be called the founder of it. Matter of fact, he didn't want you clapping for him. He would show up every Friday. And here's a guy that is known internationally

as a Bible teacher. Because of the work that God did through him, churches all over the world have been started. And he showed up every Friday and taught a group of us Bible college kids. And they said. Chuck. Before he came the first time, they said, you need to understand something about Chuck. He does not want you to clap for him. Because he doesn't want to acknowledge anybody but Jesus.

Now, you can acknowledge him, but just don't do that. He doesn't want the accolades. So when he shows up, what he'd rather have you do is just point to Jesus. Because that's what he wants his life to do, is to point to Jesus. And so when I say what Chuck says, he's not the founder of Calvary Chapel. The Lord told me to say he was the head servant. So the head servant of Calvary Chapel,

out of every single one of the two church buildings, was the head of the church. And, and until he showed up, he's a real step up for the world. Because, you know, he says, if you're my son, I'm your father. Now, Chuck says, I'm a good son. You're a good son. He's so built in the heart of the church. He's the pastor. And Chuck says, I'm a good son. Hold on, Chuck.

So Chuck Schumacher, he's perfect for this. He's perfect for the church. He's perfect for our church. He's perfect for the church. He's perfect for us. We're perfect for God. to grow you know why because healthy sheep make other healthy sheep so I'll keep giving you the word you keep taking the word to the people that are around you and we'll continue to see the work of God the movement of the Holy Spirit

take place right here at Calvary Chapel now this last point that I want to make is this now it's time for us to live out the vision and the mission it's it's time for us to to do a job and I'll remind you of this of the the statement I made when we first started this the church is not an organization the church is not a building the church is not a club the church is people it is an assembly of the people of God you are the church and so if we are to live out the mission of the church if we're to live out the vision of the church then it takes you doing it now how do we do that well number one you need to pray that you can catch the vision pray that you can catch the vision I don't want you to do something because you feel pressured by me to do

it I don't want you to do something because you feel pressured by me to do it I don't want you to do something because you feel pressured by a church to do it I want you to do something because the Holy Spirit told you to do it I want you to do something because that's what the Holy Spirit's doing in your life and so start praying Lord pastor laid out the vision that we're to reach in and build up the body and that were to reach out to the people that are around us give me the vision show me what that looks like in my life show me what Bible studies I'm supposed to be plugged into a church show me what services I'm supposed to be attending show me show me the things that I need to be doing the

prayer meetings I need to be attending that I'm not right now give me that vision for what that looks like show me what it looks like to reach out to the world around me give me the vision because I can tell you what I feel like the Lord showing me but I would rather the Holy Spirit do it in your heart because if I tell you when you go live it out you'll be living out my vision but if I tell you and you pray about it and the Holy Spirit shows you now you're living out the vision of the Spirit and it's gonna be in the power of the Spirit so start praying that you can catch the vision number two number three number three number three to obediently live out the mission. We got to obediently live it out. Here's where many of us

stall at times, is God will begin to give us the vision, and he will begin to show us what we're supposed to do, but we'll always say the same thing. But I'm going to have to sacrifice something for that. But I'm going to have to give up something that I like for that. And may I say, the sacrifices that God desires from us start with a broken spirit and a broken and a contrite heart, but it flows into the way that we live. You see, my life is a living sacrifice unto the Lord.

The problem with the 21st century church is, we like our Jesus with as little sacrifice as possible, right? Everybody wants revival. Nobody wants brokenness. And what it's going to require from us is, as the Holy Spirit shows you things, again, not because of the Holy Spirit, but because I told you, but because that's what the Holy Spirit shows you to do. He'll empower you to do it.

You begin to make the sacrifices that he calls you to make. Sometimes it'll be a sacrifice of your time to say, I know that I could just sit around and do nothing right now, but what God would really call me to do is to be plugged into the body, because I know that's where my strength comes from, because I know that's where my understanding comes from, and I know that's what I need in my life. For some of you, it's going to be that God is calling you to go to that prayer meeting, and you're going to say, yeah, but you understand that makes me very nervous. We've got to die.

You've got to die to yourself. You've got to die to your flesh and say, I want to make that sacrifice, because that's what God called me to do. For some of you, God is going to call you to start reaching out in your workplace. He's going to start showing you how to be available to the people that are around you. He's going to tell you to quit rushing your way through the store.

Quit rushing your way through life and start taking time to look at people and start being willing to take those steps, even if they're really scary steps. Two or three weeks ago, I took a scary step. I get nervous to reach out to people sometimes, because I'm the pastor, and I don't want them to think I'm trying to grow my church. I also don't want people to think I'm weird. I try to avoid that when I can. Not easy, but I try. And so I reached out to somebody that

I felt like the Lord told me to reach out to, and I felt incredibly stupid when I did it. I was like, oh, that was dumb. They're going to think I'm weird. And then they got back with me and said, thank you. That's what I needed. And then a friend of theirs got a hold of me and said, I've been praying that that would happen. You see, when we are willing to take that step, what we don't realize is who else was praying that you

would take that step. You don't realize who else was praying that that would take place. Take those steps of faith, my friends, because God honors them. Amen? Let's all stand.

I'm excited for what God has for Calvary Chapel over this next year or so, because I can sense the movement of the Holy Spirit here. I can sense the Holy Spirit wanting to do things here, but it's going to require some surrender on our part. Surrendering of the things that we need to to the Lord. But man, I'm so excited for what He's going to do. I'm so excited. I love that people are coming back. This is great. I can feel the

life in the church, and it's a beautiful thing. I can sense, I can just sense that peace of the Holy Spirit, and I love it. So, Father, we come before you, and I just lift up the church to you right now. And Lord, they're your body. They're your people. And so, Lord, I pray that you would move in hearts as you see fit. Lord, I pray that you would move in hearts as you see fit.

I pray that you would lay out the vision from the Word, only what's from you in the hearts of the people. Anything that's from me, I pray that it would just fall away right now. Lord, I pray that you would lay out that vision in their hearts and in their minds. And then, Lord, help us to be the people that live it out. Empower us by your Holy Spirit. Lord, fall on us with the power of your

Holy Spirit right now, so that we can be those witnesses for you in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth, in Arc City, Cali County, Kansas, and as far as you want to take us. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.

Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen. God bless you all. Have a great week.