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Uncommon People: Uncommon Community
October 2, 2024 · 29 min
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Series A Significant Life October 2, 2024 · 29 min · A Significant Life
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Jim Graff is a respected pastor, leader, and author who loves helping people fulfill their unique
potential while finding their significance in Jesus Christ.
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0:01 It's time to ignite faith in a new generation. Youth all across our nation are learning to live their faith in their communities because of people like you. So now, with a new school year upon0:12 us, let's unite to cover our students in prayer, believing for health, protection, wisdom, favor, confidence, and more. To join us in prayer and for more prayer points, visit0:24 asignificantprayerlife dot com.0:30 Welcome to a significant life. We hope you are enjoying our uncommon people series, and we hope you're seeing how you can step into the longings God put within you, 1 lesson at a time.0:40 It's been so good and so helpful. And, of course, we should expect that. The book of Acts was written to equip us to experience special and significant moments we're called to celebrate for all eternity. And today, we'll0:52 learn we can't do that alone. It's why God calls our church families a body. Enjoy the message.1:17 Do you know some people around you who don't like what life looks like? The truth is if we look pretty close, it's easy to find those people. Right? The truth is, some mornings I wake up and I see1:29 that person right in the mirror looking back at me. But the reality is all of us want to have lives that are characterized by peace and productivity and warm relationships.1:41 None of us want to live lives that are characterized by chaos and division and by heartache. And this morning, we're going to see very clearly from God's word what the church can do to change1:53 that condition in people's lives. But before we do, I want to tell you a story that I think is important so we hear today's message through the context of this story, that back in 18
2:04 69, there was a lighthouse built in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It's the tallest lighthouse in our country at 193 feet tall, and when it was originally built, they
2:16 built it a half a mile from the coast. But 30 year 130 years later, because of beach erosion, that lighthouse was only 130 feet from the Atlantic
2:28 Ocean. So the Army Corps of Engineers had to devise a plan, and they had to figure out how they were going to move this big, huge, 4800 ton
2:39 lighthouse into a place where it would provide the kind of safety and the security that our soldiers need. And I say that because as you hear the message this morning, here's what I want you to think.
2:51 I want you to think about the state of the church, and is the church providing the guidance and the safety that people need to live safe and secure lives in the day we're living in? And if not,
3:03 is it time in the church for us to come up with a plan and to be the people who give our society exactly what our society needs? You know, in 19 22, there's a
3:15 guy named GK Chesterton, and he came to the United States. He was a famous British author. And when he was here, he was so moved that he went back home and he wrote a book, What I
3:27 Saw in America. He wasn't a believer at the time, but he got converted in 19 22, and he famously called America a nation that had the soul of a church
3:39 because it was founded upon a creed. Now why would he say such a thing about our country? Well, it's because listen folks, in in 18 32, my great great great
3:50 grandfather, he he endured the perils and the danger of the Atlantic Ocean. And he came to a land called America, and he endured all the difficulty of starting
4:02 over his life because he was tired of what political corruption and what religious corruption in the church had caused Europe to become. And that was common back when our
4:14 nation was founded. If you wonder why in all 13 of the 13 colonies, they had religious test requirements if somebody was going to hold public office. If you
4:26 wonder why there are scriptures engraved in all of our federal buildings. If you wonder why God is mentioned 4 times in our constitution, it's because America
4:37 was a nation that was started with the soul of a church. And many times throughout our history, we've strayed from living with the soul of a church. But this morning, I want us to see that it can
4:49 always come back, and it has come back many times. And I want us to see what kind of people we have to be if we want to see God restore his best to our nation. We can find the
5:01 answer in Acts chapter 2 and verse 42, but we're gonna read in front of it and behind it. We're gonna start in verse 41 where we read that on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit
5:12 gave birth to the New Testament church, the Bible says those who accepted Peter's message were baptized and about 3000 people were added to their number that day. Now, I
5:24 want you to notice they heard Peter's message, but they weren't added to Peter's Facebook, they weren't added to Peter's Instagram, they weren't added to Peter's YouTube channel, they were added to the
5:36 church. Can you say amen? And it's because in every town, some people need to show up, and they need to say we're gonna be the church if God is going to change a community.
5:48 And it's interesting that in the book of Acts, there are a lot of firsts. You see the first people Jesus entrusted the church to. You see the first day of the church on the day of Pentecost. And we also see
6:00 the first message that was preached in the life of the New Testament church. And this message is about 27 verses, I believe, and it's interesting if you read the message because
6:12 it tells us what we should be preaching to the people in our society. You know, on during our people of progress, pastor Matt had a great devotional on how we need to share our story, and we
6:24 do because our our story can show people how Jesus has changed our life. But by the same token, how many of you know our story is not the gospel? Can you say amen? And when we just count
6:36 on our story, somebody could say, well Jesus did that to you, but Buddhist has done this for me, and this this great teacher or this author has done this for me, and pretty soon it just
6:47 becomes a self help experiment instead of somebody really preaching the gospel. And Peter stood before these people and the Bible says that Peter talked to them about 3
6:59 things. Number 1, he talked to them about the inspiration of Scripture that it proves that God has been at work in the world for all time. Number 2, he talked about the miracles of Jesus and
7:11 how nobody could have lived the life he did if God were not with him. Number 3, he talked about prophecies Jesus fulfilled and how they would have been humanly possible to be
7:23 fulfilled if God wasn't with Jesus. And so Peter was making the message very, very clear that you know what? This isn't my message, but this is the message of the gospel.
7:35 And then we come to verse 40 and listen to what Peter said. First of all, it says, with many other words he warned them. So I just want you to know that when I have a hard time holding my words
7:46 back, it's just because I'm anointed of the Holy Spirit. Alright? So with many words he warned them, but listen to his message. He said, he pleaded with him, save yourselves from this corrupt
7:58 generation. That's what was happening when our nation had the soul of a church. There were people who saw what corruption could mean to a society, and they decided we're gonna be the church,
8:10 and we're gonna show people how people really ought to treat their neighbors and how people ought to live. And this nation that had the soul of a church grew in to the greatest nation in the
8:22 history of mankind. And now we come to a crossroads where once again, we're not known for our character, we're known for our duplicity, we're not known
8:33 because of our discipleship for the Lord Jesus Christ, and what are we gonna do about that? Well, it's gonna take great local churches to turn things around. And listen, there's all kind of clubs in
8:45 the world. I was a little bit distracted during this message. I'm a little bit ADD. Can anybody in the house relate today? So I decided I was going to Google what kind of
8:57 clubs are forming on schools in America today. And you know what I found out? I found out there's a pickle crushing club in America today. I don't I don't know what they do, they just come together,
9:09 I guess, and they crush pickles whenever they get together. I I don't think I would have joined that club. And then I read there's an alien appreciation club that is forming across America. And I'm thinking this 1
9:21 started in Roswell, New Mexico. You all know what I'm talking about? I mean, it had to start there, and I'm wondering if if the boogie martian is their theme song, if they play it whenever they open up their club
9:32 meetings. But listen, there's all kinds of clubs. But Jesus didn't start us to be a social club or a group of people who came came to church just to be encouraged a little bit or just
9:44 to, you know, get a little wisdom that maybe we'll use, maybe we won't use, but I'm the 1 who's ultimately in charge of our life. Jesus founded his church for us to be worshipers, who
9:56 showed people that God's way is the way into salvation, and it's the way everybody's looking for. Can you say amen? So how do we become that church? Well, God tells us in just 1 verse, he gives
10:08 us 4 practices of highly effective churches when it says this in verse 42, that they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of
10:20 bread, and to prayer. So he gave them 4 things that they did, and then when you come to verse 47, it says because of those 4 things, the Lord's hand was with them, and God was
10:32 adding to the church. Nobody wondered if God was at work in their church. They were doing the things that caused God to work powerfully in the church. And that's what this text begins to show us, and it
10:43 gives us 4 practices. Here's the first 1, the church believed in God's absolute truth. The Bible says that they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching.
10:55 In other words, they weren't devoted to just thinking about what they thought about the sermon that week. But if it was God's truth and if it was something Jesus
11:07 handed to the apostles, then they were going to obey that in their life. Now why does this have so much power? Because think about it, there can be all kind of clubs, and I don't think there's ever been a
11:19 nation in the history of the world that has had more clubs and organizations to help people in need. But the reality is, if we help somebody but the core of their heart doesn't change,
11:31 then the problem's not gonna go away in their life. That's why it's so important that when we come to church, we let God begin to deal with our stuff because God can't bless us in life unless we let God deal
11:43 with our stuff. Can you say amen? Jesus put it so well in in Matthew chapter 7 when he was talking about the value of God's word. And he says, whoever hears the word and puts it into
11:55 practice is like a wise man. He said, the rains come down and the streams rise and the winds blow and it beats against that house, but it doesn't fall because of the foundation it has.
12:07 But he says, whoever hears these words, and of course the person that doesn't hear them is in great danger. Right? But even if you hear the words but you don't do them, Jesus said when the rains come
12:19 and the streams rise and wind beats on that house, it falls with a great crash. So here's the question, why are lives destroyed? It's not because of the wind in
12:30 society, it's not because of the storms in society, it's because we need to build our life on an unfailing foundation in life. Can you can you say amen? I was
12:42 talking to somebody who was raised in poverty and they thought there was no way, and I looked him in the eye and I said, you listen to me and you never forget this. You are a creation of God, he made you gifted,
12:54 and when you quit buying into the lie that you're no good and somebody has to give you a handout to survive, when you quit buying into that lie and you start saying, I'm made in the image of God and I'm gonna work and
13:05 develop my potential, you know what? You're gonna prosper beyond your wildest imagination. Can you say amen? See, the church, it's the message that changes our life. We don't get handouts, we get a new
13:17 heart that causes God to do amazing things in our life. So first of all, it was the apostles' teaching. Second, they had faithful fellowship. It goes on to say that not only
13:29 were they devoted to the apostles' teaching, but they were devoted to the fellowship. And then in the next verses, we have the most beautiful picture of what true Christian fellowship is. It says, They sold
13:40 property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts, and they broke bread in their homes, and they ate together with glad and
13:52 sincere hearts. Now listen, in the American church unfortunately, and I'm not saying it's true about this church because it's not true of our best members, that this church wouldn't be here. But
14:03 listen, I'm gonna reread that verse based on what I see in many American churches that need rebuilt, and you could say all the believers were together for an hour, and then they got mad if the
14:15 preacher preached 5 minutes long, especially if the Cowboys had an important football game that day. Can you say amen? So when we come together, what are we coming together to do? They
14:27 came together and they had everything in common. They realized, you know what? Our families need the word of God. Our community needs the word of God. And then it says every day, they continued to meet together.
14:39 They had such a hunger for God's word because they understood that if God changes my heart, he's gonna change my life. If He changes my heart, He's gonna change my family. If He changes
14:51 my heart, He's gonna change the community. So they were people who every day wanted the Word of God in their life. And then it said, they continued to meet together and they broke bread in 1
15:02 another's homes. And this was written about the 20 first century churches say, and every day, and I'm gonna assume this is Luke seeing into the future, okay? Every day they went home, they had these little clickers
15:14 they hit, and these little doors went up, and then they pulled these little vehicles into their homes, and then they hit their little clicker again, and the door went down, and the people never spent any time together.
15:26 See, you may say to me today, well pastor, that verse sounds a lot like socialism. No, it's not socialism because listen folks, when we get to Acts chapter 5, we're gonna see that
15:38 Ananias and Sapphira sold their goods because they wanted to help God's work. And you notice when they sold them, it was their goods, it was their money. Nobody asked them to sign all their
15:49 stuff over to a church. The truth is, look at history. When you start putting trust in the people who are distant from you that you don't trust in the first place, something bad is going to go down in that
16:01 country if we put trust in the wrong people. But this was a church that it wasn't socialism folks, it was survival. I talked to people like this in Muslim countries where
16:13 when they get saved, they can't even stay in their towns anymore because the persecution's gonna be so great. And they know some of them would have their own family members kill them for becoming Christians.
16:25 So you know what they do? They pull all their stuff together, and they go try to find another place in the world where they can live and where they can be in safety. That's what's happening in the church. Now with
16:37 that said, this isn't socialism, but the church needs to be more social. Can you say amen? That this church survived because listen, everybody's brother was my brother.
16:48 Everybody's mama was my mama. Everybody in need was somebody I cared about. I didn't just slip into church and slip on with my life. I realized that if I don't save
17:00 my city, I'm gonna have a horrible place to live. And how many of you think it's time right now for the world to see what Jesus said is true? The gates of hell cannot prevail against the church
17:12 Jesus is building. Amen? See, they were committed to God's absolute truth, and they were faithful in their fellowship. They loved each other. They cared about the
17:24 outcomes of each other's lives. Then here's the third thing, and I love it. They were they were devoted to Christ centered living. It says they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to
17:35 fellowship and to the breaking of bread. Now, you know, you could see this and and you could think, well, does that mean they were having like potluck fellowships whenever they came together? And I'll be the
17:47 first to tell you, I'm a big believer in potluck fellowships. I believe fellowship is always enhanced with good food. Can you say amen? But that isn't what this was talking about. It was talking about the fact that when
17:58 they took the Lord's Supper, it meant something. It meant they were gonna live Christ centered lives. And listen, if when you take the Lord's Supper, it's just a wafer or it's
18:10 just some juice, it's not gonna do anything to change your life. But if when we take the Lord's Supper, it reminds us that the bread means that God has given his word to
18:22 us. And because God because God has given his word to me, I'm not gonna be hungry for success. I'm not gonna be hungry for safety. You know what? God sent his word to
18:33 heal me and to deliver me from all my destruction. So Jesus, thank you for coming into this world so the curse of sin was broken and the blessing of God was established in my life. Can you
18:45 say amen? They had a Christ centered life and they reinforced a Christ centered life every day when they took communion. And this is what God's calling us back to as his church
18:57 today. We we have to come to church for absolute truth, not not come to church and then do whatever I want to do after I hear the message. And and we need to develop some faithful fellowship.
19:09 We all we all need friends that bring out the best in us. You say, why are friends so important? 3 reasons. Number 1, how many of you know good friends show you your blind spots? Can you say amen? Good friends also
19:20 build us up. They show us things. They care about our success. So they help us see things that we should be seeing but we don't. And then they teach us things we need to know to build our best lives.
19:32 And then good friends, keep us accountable. But with that said, listen this morning to first Corinthians chapter 11 what Paul says we should experience when we take the Lord's Supper. He
19:44 said, every 1 of us ought to examine ourselves before we eat of the bread and we drink of the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.
19:56 And that's why many of you are weak and sick, and a number of you have even fallen asleep. Paul's saying, do you know why people end up getting sick in their bodies, in their marriages,
20:08 in their families? Do you know why societies end up getting sick? Because the truth of God doesn't matter much to them anymore, and the love of God isn't living strong in communities
20:19 anymore. And there's a reason these are in the order they're in, that if you have fellowship with people but you don't honor truth, lives aren't gonna change. But if we honor truth first, then
20:31 it's hard to live the truth. I'm not I'm not a perfect person. I need help to live the truth. And so God wants me to honor truth, and then he wants me to have faithful people around me who will
20:43 support me so I live a life God can bless. Can you give me a good amen? But but even that, we can have faithful friends, but if we don't honor Christ in our hearts, if we don't live a Christ centered life, then
20:55 we're gonna miss out on the blessing of God. And that brings me to the final thing, that they were devoted to absolute truth and faithful fellowship and Christ centered living, and then they were
21:07 devoted to live in spirit empowered lives. Listen to how this text goes next. It says, they were praying and because of that everyone was filled
21:17 with awe at the many wonders and signs that were being performed by the apostles. In other words, the Holy Spirit was just working like crazy because people were following God so well
21:29 in their life. And then you come to verse 47, it says, they praise God. How many of you wanna be in church each week with genuine praise for God in your heart? Can say amen? They praise God. They enjoyed
21:41 favor with people because they were loving so well. And it says, and the Lord added to their number daily the people who were being saved. In other words, why was the church being added
21:53 to? Was it because, you know, they had this and they had that? It was just 1 thing y'all, the church had the Lord. And how many of you know if God's for us, we can see great things
22:05 happen no matter who's against us or what's against us in the days ahead. Amen? And here's the truth, when you honor Christ, the Holy Spirit's work will be strong in
22:17 your life. In whatever area you honor Christ, God's gonna bless that part of your life. It's why years ago when I started praying about big decisions, I never pray about them
22:28 alone because I know I'm capable of being deceived. So I get good people around me and I say, hey, I'm getting ready to make a big decision, it's out on the horizon, I want you to
22:40 pray with me because I really want to hear the Holy Spirit about this decision. And I've been amazed over the years. I remember in 19 87, just about 18 months before I came to take
22:52 this church, I was offered what seemed like an opportunity of a lifetime. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the man who built some of our dorms at the university I attended wanted to start a church
23:04 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And he said, Listen, I'll pay, I'll buy the church, I'll furnish the church. Will you come pastor the church because I wanna hire ORU students to come?
23:16 And I know if you'll be the pastor, I can hire a lot of ORU students to come. And I thought everything sounds great except how in the world am I gonna ever root for the Philadelphia Eagles, y'all. I thought,
23:28 man, I don't know how I'm gonna do that coming from Pittsburgh. But I still remember getting back to my hotel room, getting on my knees, thinking, God, this is the opportunity of a
23:40 lifetime. And God saying, No, it's not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way. And then I started calling all my friends because I thought
23:52 maybe I missed it and I could still have this great opportunity in my life. Right? And it was amazing how friend after friend said, Jim, it just looks like such a great opportunity, but you know, it just doesn't feel
24:03 right on the inside. And it wasn't right. 20 months later, I come to this little church of 200 people in Victoria, Texas, and I preach. And I think God begins
24:15 to stir me about having a church that will minister to all the needs of this town, minister to people of all ages in this town, where the older people have
24:27 fellowship and the young people have an awesome teen center, and people are loving each other, and they're being the church, and this church is gonna be a model to this nation of what God could do in communities. And
24:38 God's stirring this in me, but I didn't tell anybody. I didn't even tell my wife. Now my wife called the chamber of commerce the day after I preached, And the pastor, yeah, the other pastor didn't even resign.
24:50 So why is she calling the chamber of commerce? Because the Holy Spirit's talking to her heart. And then I started calling my friends. Hey, listen, this opportunity came, Friend after friend. You know
25:02 what? It doesn't look right. It doesn't look like where you ought to go, but I just feel like God's in this. Know, I just Yeah. Feels like the Holy Spirit. And I just want to say to you this
25:14 morning, are you ready to be that church? Are you ready to be that church where the color of your skin doesn't matter, but whether your heart loves Christ matters so much to us?
25:29 Are you ready to be that church where we're brothers and we're sisters? And you know what? We're not here to see through each other. We're gonna see each other through into the best days of our life. Are
25:42 you ready to be that church that when we clap for what Jesus is doing in our city, we know it's because of Christ centered. Life changes everything, and we wanna do this for the rest of our life, and we wanna praise him
25:54 for all eternity? I can tell you, I'm ready to be that too. And how many of you know, church, listen, this is our time. This is our hour. If
26:06 we don't step up in this hour, we're gonna regret for all eternity that we didn't step up because America needs the soul of a church restored back to it. And how many of you are ready
26:18 and you're saying, here am I, God send me. Amen?
26:27 It's time to ignite faith in a new generation. At Faith Family, that's 1 of our goals, to inspire the youth of our area to know God, build godly community, and serve others
26:39 well. The past 5 years have brought incredible growth, not only in number, but also in the hearts of our students as we've sought God together in services, connect groups, and events. We
26:51 recently broke ground on a brand new facility that will offer the opportunity to train more coming generations for Christ. Youth all across our nation are learning to live their faith in their communities because
27:03 of people like you, loving, serving, giving, and praying. So now, with a new school year upon us, let's unite to cover our students in prayer, believing for health, protection,
27:15 wisdom, favor, confidence, and more. To join us in prayer and for more prayer points, visit asignificant prayer life dot com.
27:26 Psalm 1 39 says, we have all been created beautifully and wonderfully, and God wants our souls to experience that fully. That's why we exist at a significant life, to help you discover that and develop it fully.
27:38 There's a unique joy only found through experiencing the reason we were born. We pray you'll make a decision to nurture your significant start to finish today. And we hope you'll take advantage of our teaching on the
27:49 pray dot com app and subscribe to our ASL and Faith Family Church you YouTube channels. Your significance is worth it.
27:57 We'd love to have you as a part of our online community. Simply subscribe to A Significant Life on YouTube and you'll be able to catch up on past teachings as well as watch extra content from the entire team. You
28:09 can follow us on Facebook and Instagram too and on our website, asignificantlife dot com. You can listen to our latest podcasts, sign up for our weekly Step Into Significance devotionals, browse
28:20 helpful resources, and let us know how we can pray with you. God bless you.
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