MCC Podcasts
Summer In The Scriptures Together - Ten Chapters We All Gotta Know: Acts 2 - The Spirit-Led Church | Jeff Mazzariello
Isn't it great to be God's church together? I was just curious, you guys. How many of you guys, this is your first church as an adult you've been involved with? I was just curious. Okay, yeah, several of you, yeah. So, I love this church. I always say, I'd go to this church. (audience laughing) I just think it's the best. And we're gonna, you know, I'm Jeff everybody, by the way, and one of the lead pastors and just so grateful to be able to bring the word such a privilege to be with you in worship and to bring the word hello online community. Those of you that are watching live on YouTube live, we're really glad that you were able to join us as well. We're gonna be doing some Bible study today, so I'm gonna love to have you turn in a minute to Acts chapter two because here's what we're gonna talk about. This, where did the church come from, by the way? Where did the church come from? It's so interesting when you think about the church and you think about that, like we're sitting in here on a Sunday morning, like what a weird tradition, right? That we're here, where did MCC come from? MCC came from a group of people who had a Bible study in Terelinda 55 years ago or something like that who were going to the church and the first covenant church in San Francisco and you're like, where'd that come from? Well, the Evangelical church of the Evangelical Covenant church started in America in the 1800s and they came from the Swedish Lutherans who were part of a pyatistic movement in the 1600s and 1700s and where'd they come from? Well, there was a reformation that happened in the 1500s and this is, I mean, like where did the church come from? And then you're like, yeah, then there was like the Holy Roman Empire because like somewhere along the line like an emperor became a Christian. By the way, if you're a history nerd, just join me at the next explorer's class. It's so fun to learn where we came from, but you kind of do all that and then you go back and you're like, well, then what happened? Like after Jesus, a bunch of people who believe just started meeting together on a Sunday morning at 9 a.m., 9.15 for many of you. And just that's how we started. Like, is that the church? Is that the deal? And it's so funny that that's actually not, the churches just go back to a bunch of people who just simply gathered because they believed the same thing. It goes back to a day, 10 days after Jesus' ascension, which was 40 days after his resurrection, hello church, when the Holy Spirit got poured out on and in those believers and the church was born. My friends, the church is not a group of people that historically have been hanging around together on the first day of the week, as it said. The church is a people who have been empowered and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who moves in us and among us. That is real. And we had to wake up to that reality from time to time. And so this is why this is a chapter that we all gotta know is Acts, chapter two, because it tells about the birth of the church. It tells about the coming of the church and how the church fills, I mean, sorry, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and then how the spirit fills and empowers and leads the church to live. So I'm gonna talk a little bit about a couple things that we gotta know about this text, but then I'm gonna dwell on the part toward the end that this is a chapter about the way the church. The way the church lives. And it's gonna be a call in our lives. All right, so first thing we gotta know, we gotta know, we're doing 10 chapters that we gotta know. And have they not been awesome every one of 'em? So fun. And this one is Acts, chapter two. And we gotta know Acts two, because it tells about the coming of the Holy Spirit. That's the first thing that we gotta know that it tells about the coming of the Holy Spirit. I'm gonna try to be brief here. I got about two, two and a half hours of teaching right now in me and Pastor Shelley earlier was like, "Well, I like lunch, so if you could cut it back, that'd be great." I want you to turn with me, you guys, 'cause I'm not gonna look at every verse but I want it in front of you. So let's all turn in our Bibles to Acts chapter two, okay? Can you grab that? Somebody give me a page number in the church Bible? - 1091. - 1091, 1091, 1091. 1091 in those Bibles, I'd love to have everybody have Acts chapter two 'cause we're gonna do a little Bible study. You know, recently I've just been, all I ever wanna do, you guys, I just, I was just in worship with you today. Here's, I was overwhelmed by these thoughts. One, I was overwhelmed with, man, we have good coffee for a church. That was one thought I had. The second thought I had was, I love you. I love you. Well, thank you, it's very nice. Carrie, I love you. I love being here 'cause I love you. And then with these guys' latest in worship, I love Jesus and I love his word. And I can't wait for you to hear what's in his word today. So you with me, we in on Acts chapter two and know that this comes out of love 'cause I'm also gonna say some hard things. That's not why I told you I loved you, but maybe 'cause instinctively I'm like, I'm gonna say some hard things 'cause it's in the, all right, here we go. (audience laughing) So you with me there. So we gotta know this chapter because it tells us about the coming of the Holy Spirit and very first verse, which I don't have on the screen now, but very first verse, right, in Acts chapter two, it says that when the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. This is now, again, I mentioned it before, this is now 50 days after Jesus' death on the cross. Okay, and his resurrection. And so this is, that's what Pentecost means, it's means 50th or 50. And it's a, it means 50th, but it signifies 50 days after Passover. It was a Jewish festival. It was also called the Feast of Weeks or there's always different names for it, but it was about, it was one of the three big festivals where all the people came to Jerusalem to worship God. And you know how I know that? Because my Bible with color on every page told me. It's just right in the footnote and it's just, this is such an incredible, like this thing, really seriously, back row? Okay, somebody, Annie, go run that to the back row for me. Would you, somebody's got their hand up back there. Awesome, thank you, Laurel. That's your free gift, color on every page. That is the best 35 bucks our church has ever spent on anyone. It's so good. And so this is the, this is the Passover. The reason why I mentioned that, the reason why I wanted you to know that context is that by this time in the Christian 1st century, this festival, this feast, was considered the anniversary of the giving of the law to the people of Israel. And it began to commemorate so that they could recommit to the law, to the Torah, to that which was given to the people of Israel. Now listen how beautiful is this. And God, in his wisdom and mercy and love for us chose, on the day that the Jewish people were celebrating renewing their acceptance of the law, he goes, and now here's a new thing. I'm gonna send you the spirit. Come on now, is that not awesome? And the spirit has come and it became that marker. It was the, it was the, he's like, this is now how the world will live. That Judaism was centered on Torah and directed by Torah, by law, and he said, and now it will be centered on the resurrected savior and directed by the Holy Spirit. And so where there was law which brought frustration and separation from God, there is now spirit, which is the presence of God among us. That's probably all I need to preach today. You gotta know this chapter because it talks about the coming of the Holy Spirit, and it came on the day when they were celebrating the law of all things and God's like, yep, the law was good and Jesus came to fulfill it, and now you have the spirit. And it is game on. So that's a good news about this. So the spirit's coming signals this new era where God's presence will be with us through his spirit. Now, let's look at the text, Acts chapter two, where we said that you gotta know this because it tells about the coming of the Holy Spirit, then just verse two and following. So I'm gonna look at here at the beginning, suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire separated and came to rest, separated and came to rest on each of them, all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues or other languages as the spirit enabled them. Now you gotta go study that, we'll study it in the app together this week, but you gotta go study that passage of only you had like a study Bible to help you, like one that had like pictures and commentary on it. You gotta get one of these. It's so good, but you're gonna learn a ton about this. It is such a fascinating reality, but what you need to know is the Holy Spirit came like a wind, the Holy Spirit came with these tongues of fire and the Holy Spirit came with this prophetic utterances, with inspired speech, all three of those what you need to know were signs to the Jewish believers, to pious Jewish people, all three of those wind, fire prophetic words were signs that God was in our midst. That's what this is about. And the Holy Spirit was God coming into their midst. You're like, whoa, let's talk about tongues. Let's go into the next section. People are speaking languages of all these other people and people came and they heard the wind probably and they came to this house and they're like, what's happening? And then they heard all these guys speaking in their languages, it was a miraculous outpouring of the presence of God proclaiming the good news of God in all the languages, of all the people in all the world so that everybody could know the salvation of God. Come on now, so good. And you're like, I went to church once and they were all speaking in tongues, is that it? No, but you could study, that's a different thing. That's an ecstatic prayer language. It's a different thing. These guys were speaking in creation. Like you just go through, they were speaking other languages. And people heard the good news in their midst, in their midst. So this is the spirit being poured out. You see, what's amazing about this you guys is that Jesus promised that this was happening. If you're taking notes, you write it down. John chapter seven, he promised the spirit would come. John chapter 14, he promised the spirit would come. The comforter would come after he left. John 15, he talks about it. John 16, he talks about it. He promised that this would happen and he told them before his ascension in Acts chapter one. Look at this verse, it's on the screen. Acts one, or split over a page in your Bible. Acts one, four and five. On one occasion while he was eating with them, he gave this command. And don't you love that detail by the way, the resurrected Christ, he's munching on a pita. While he was eating with them, he's like, oh, and? And I can see like mouthful, wife and... I don't know why that's just such a funny, like he just was with them. Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised, which you have heard me speak about in John seven, John 14, John 16. For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. So Jesus has promised the spirit would come and why this is so epic is because what he said was, I will no longer be here, I'm gonna go leave you, but I will not leave you alone. I will leave you one who will be in you. The comforter or the counselor or the advocate, one who will walk with you, one who will be alongside you and who will give you power and will give you leading and will guide you into all truth. This is all teaching from John 14, 15, 16. Like I'm gonna leave and I must go so he can come. So the spirit, the Holy Spirit was the spirit of Jesus. So when Jesus physically, who is in one place at one time departed to go back to be with the Father, the Holy Spirit came who could be in all the places at all the times. Specifically, as the text says, in each believer, don't miss that detail, when the Holy Spirit poured out, he saw tons of fire over each believer. Jewish life was always corporate. It was part of being born into the right group of people. And now this comes down to each person getting right with God and being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Isn't that beautiful? So you gotta know this chapter because this chapter teaches us about the coming of the Holy Spirit. So, huge, right? Epic, giant. And that would be enough. And that's probably all I gotta preach on. Let's go have that lunch that Shelley was talking about. (congregation laughing) That's huge. But we also gotta know this chapter because it tells us, calls us to repentance in Jesus. You see, it tells us about the coming of the Holy Spirit, but it's gonna go on. This chapter actually builds in its importance and in its significance and in its impact on our lives because it not only tells us, oh, the Holy Spirit has come to be in every believer, to indwell us and to be God's presence with us, but now it's gonna tell us how we get to receive the Spirit. And the word that's being used there is repentance in the scriptures. Now, I can't preach about this whole giant section that's coming next in here. You gotta go look at it. But here's the summary of this whole thing. Peter stands up to give a speech. And basically he goes, you've seen the wondrous works that have been happening by Jesus, by his followers. And you've seen that Jesus was raised from the dead. And you've seen that the scriptures have said that the Lord's servant would not see the decay, would not stay in the grave. That's Jesus. And now look at verse 36. He summarizes his sermon in verse 36. Wow, we went all the way through the chapter all of a sudden. Verse 36, let all Israel, everybody see it? Everybody looking at it? Let all Israel be assured of this. God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Messiah. So in hearing this now, and he has this powerful message, people have been in awe. They have seen these miracles happening. And so now they're like, so what? Look at verse 37. When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and they said to Peter and the other apostles, brothers, what shall we do? If this is all true, what shall we do? Church, this is a question that you have to ask every day even once you become a believer. And if you are still trying to figure it out, I'm telling you right now, you cannot avoid this question. It is the most important question you will ask. If this is true, what shall I do? If this is all true, if God has loved the world so much that he sent Jesus, if he has offered me life at its fullest, if he has offered to restore me into a relationship with himself, if there is a Messiah and a Savior who will bring forgiveness and connect me to God and pour out his Holy Spirit in my life, what shall I do? What do I do? What do I gotta do then? 'Cause this is the most important thing. And this is what these guys said in verse 37. What shall we do? Verse 38, Peter replied, repent and be baptized. Every one of you. In the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. You guys, this call, we gotta know this chapter because we gotta know what is teaching that the Holy Spirit has come and that each of us can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. If, and look again at what Peter says, we repent and are baptized. In the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. This goes back to my sermon last week. Anybody hear my sermon last week? Thank you, but yeah, I just wanna, you must be born again. Repentance is about starting over spiritually. Repentance means a change of heart and a genuine confession of sin. A genuine confession of, I don't wanna live without him. What am I doing living without him? I don't want that, I wanna give my life to Jesus. And I wanna let Jesus be my Lord and my Savior. That's what being born again is about. And so this is a fresh start with God. That's what repentance means. It's a fresh start with God. And then if he goes on to add, I just love it. I'm glad you're leaving this text up there. Look, when the people heard this, what do we do? Peter replied, repent and then be baptized. Every one of you, there's the individualized thing again. Every one of you, every one of you. In the name of Jesus, every one of us has a decision whether we're gonna turn away from being the Lord of our own lives to let him be the Lord of our life. That's last week's sermon. In the name of Jesus Christ will be baptized. There's a baptism thing there as well. And what that means, and I love that it's baptized in the name of Jesus, it's that someone is saying, I have turned away from my own way of living. I've turned away from living without God. And I am in the symbol of baptism, in the sacrament of baptism. I am demonstrating that I am no longer my own, but I'm his. And that is, I am claiming the name of Jesus. I wanna be part of Jesus' community. I wanna receive Jesus' salvation. I wanna testify that I'm a Jesus person. I wanna follow Jesus every day. I'm about Jesus. I'm a Jesus person. And this is what this text is getting at. This is how, and then he says, and then you see what it says, and then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And the gift of the Holy Spirit, just another way of describing the coming of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus talked about, or the baptism of the Holy Spirit, all those expressions are the same. And they're connected to God, promises they are connected with God's promise to his people. And they're used interchangeably in Acts. Baptism of the Holy Spirit, coming of the Holy Spirit, gift of the Holy Spirit. And here's the summary, that if we turn away from our own lives of sin and separation from God, that's repentance. And we identify with Christ, and we do that in baptism. Then we'll receive the Holy Spirit, who will now indwell us. There's Spirit filled people. Spirit of Jesus, Spirit of God, inside. And that is a great truth. By the way, it occurs to me that every time we talk about baptism, some of you are saying, they're like, "I don't think baptized." "I don't need to be baptized." Yeah, you do, you do. And so let's talk about that. So reach out, we'll talk about being baptized. But take your time, we can process that together. But it's in there as part of the cementing this decision, the name of Jesus, I'm a Jesus person. And this is what I'm doing. Okay, that's all we have to preach about. We should quit, and then just go to lunch. That's it. Except now we're just getting somewhere, because what happens now is that when it would be a hard stop, except it's not a hard stop, because it's like, the Holy Spirit has come. Yes, that's awesome. And fills believers when we're born again. Yes, that's awesome. But now we're gonna get to the place where then the Holy Spirit empowers his church. And this is crazy exciting, that the Holy Spirit empowers his church. So think about what I said. This is a passage we're all gonna know, because it talks about the coming of the Holy Spirit. And it talks about how we get the Holy Spirit, which is turning away from our own lives and asking Jesus to come into our lives through repentance and baptism to receive the gift. That's amazing. But now it's gonna go on to say in this last paragraph of the chapter. And this is how the church gets empowered to live, the spirit-filled church. I'm gonna skip that next slide and just go right into, I just wanna lead us into teaching on this passage. You got a few more minutes with me? We'll teach on this. I wanna go verse by verse. So song, I mean, Acts 2, 42, let's go through this last chapter, part of the chapter. Acts 2, 42. We'll do a quick walkthrough of the picture that it paints. Again, what's the point I'm making right now? The point I'm making is this is a chapter you gotta know because it tells us about being the spirit-empowered, spirit-led, spirit-infused people of God church. What's that gonna look like? And a very famous passage, verse 42 through 47, the first thing it says is, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and to the breaking of bread and to prayer, oh, that's so good. This is a whole series and it's a whole sermon and I'm just now fitting in at the end of this sermon. So you gotta go study it, but look what they did. Those who were filled with the Holy Spirit then devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. Are you devoted to the apostles' teaching? Are you devoted to the teaching of Scripture? Are you devoted to the truth about who Jesus is? This is what happened. Have you met one of those people who has been so soaked in the Word and you realize, how did you learn so much about God's Word? Like, how do you know so much about it? And when they're in it and they talk about it, you're like, that's not the Bible I read. Like, that's amazing. It's because they've soaked in it and learned it and connected the dots and put it all together and have let it saturate their soul. They've listened to great preaching. They've read great books and they've become people who are wise to the things of God and the kingdom of God. So they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. Secondly, they devoted themselves to fellowship or to the fellowship it says in the Greek. The fellowship, like, this is a group. This isn't like, yeah, I belong to a bowling league. Like, that's cool if you like bowling, but this is the fellowship. This is the believers. Later, it's gonna say they continued to meet in the temple courts. They were under Solomon's colonnade and they got together there. And like, it was, people knew it as the fellowship. Like, the Jesus people. And they devoted themselves to being a part of it. It was what defined them. Now, listen, there's a lot of great churches. So this is not a cult to ask, okay? Like, we're not weird. But if the Holy Spirit has come and filled you, you devote yourself to the fellowship. Whether it's this one or another one. But it's what believers do for all the right reasons. Talk about that more this week in the app. 30 goes on to say that, and to fellowship. And that's part of it, I said that, fellowship. And to the breaking of bread. And to the breaking of bread. This term here, the breaking of bread really probably does mean the Lord's table. Isn't that interesting? It's one of the four things. Later, it's gonna say, and they broke bread together and ate in their homes. And it's a whole different way of saying they had a meal. This says they have the meal, the breaking of bread. They got together in worship, liturgically, gathering around a table, rehearsing the truth that Jesus died for them and they're all about it. That's what we do every Sunday here. We don't always have the table in front of us. We do that once a month. Why? 'Cause it's, I don't know, 'cause we do. It doesn't say every Sunday, it doesn't say every Saturday, it doesn't say once a month, but it's part of a bigger picture that we gather together for worship. And go through the truths and rehearse them so that we don't forget. And then last to prayer. It also, then the Greek you guys, this says, and the prayers, meaning all the ways to pray and all the ways people have taught us to pray, including the Lord's prayer and prayers that people have written and prayers that Christina wrote to bring for us up here and we pray the prayers. And so we're committed to these things. They devoted themselves to these things. Why is this important? Because all of it go back. This is at the end of a chapter that talked about the coming of the Holy Spirit to empower God's people. These are the way that the Spirit fills them, empowers them, and then manifests them out into one another's lives and into the world. It's spiritual power, these things. These aren't just things you do. These are ways in which we interact with the Spirit and engage the Spirit's power. And so let me just run through the rest of the verse really quick and we'll just pick one of the things that you're gonna have to be convicted about this morning. Is it devoted to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, to prayer? Some of you were like, yeah, you know what? I try to come to church. We get here about every three months and God bless you, we're so glad that you're here. Seriously. And by joke about being here at 915, like if you got here at 915 because you were like, it was either that or not come. Like you don't know what was happening in my house today and it was chaos and I'm never a late person. But we got behind, like we're like, yes. But if you came at 915 because you were lazy, am I right? And we were communing on the first Sunday of the month and if you're like, yeah, we decided not to go to church today because bagels were calling our name. Like I'm like, we gotta be here and not because you're part of a cult or because we take attendance and you're getting a grade but because the Spirit empowers those things to change your life and through you to change the world. That's why we do it. That's why we're serious about it. This is 43. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. Oh my gosh, what do we do with this? Listen, this is what this is all about. You guys, everybody was filled with awe. The apostles did miracles because it confirmed that they spoke with authority. That's what was happening then. Why did Jeff and Ben and Shelley and Michael not do it miracles? Well, I don't know. We pray for miracles and sometimes God does really crazy things but mostly doesn't happen the same way it happened then because at that time they were establishing the authenticity and the authority and the power of this movement among the Jewish believers. You with me? It's a special time, special thing that was going on. Everybody was filled with awe but for us, we can magnify. Every one of us can magnify when we see God at work. We tell that story in our lives. That's what we've given testimonies about and it strengthens the faith of all of those around us. So people are filled with awe when they see that. Verse 44, all the believers were together and had everything in common. What is this about? Oh, I love this. All right, capitalists, here we go. Let's talk. Know what it really is. What this verse is at least first talking about is there was a unity, a shared vision of goals and purpose. And so we were all about that shared goals and purpose. And so there wasn't about me and my life and I'm gonna dabble in this purpose. It was a shared experience and verse 45 really gets down to the craziness. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. So now we really are talking about they were selling stuff in order to support the ministry of the gathered church. They were sacrificially giving to the ministry of the gathered church. When we talk to you about stewardship, when we talk to you about giving, when we talk to you about finances, that everybody gets weird about it. But it is rooted in the spirit empowered, spirit led people of God who are doing God's ministry in this community, in this community, in your life, in your life and in your children's lives and in your teenager's lives and in your teenager's friends lives and in the community at large among the poor and among those who are looking for Jesus like it's the ministry of the church of Jesus. And people gave generously to make it happen. So that is our unapologetic call to be a part of giving to the church that you love and that you're a part of so that we can do that work. We'll talk more about that this fall as we talk about money a little bit. Verse 46, "Dan, why don't you guys come out? I'm just wrapping up. Like, trust me. I really am." Every day they continue to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. I'd love this every day. They continue to meet in the temple courts. Why? Because they continue to be part of the Jewish community in Jerusalem. They were continue to be part of what was happening there. For us, it's a very different dynamic because we're not a religious centered Jewish context, but for us, the same message can be applied. They continue to live their lives in the community, you guys. They continue to be out there with people rubbing shoulders. This is their community. And they live the Jesus conversation in the midst of everybody who they was part of their normal lives. And then they also broke bread in their homes together and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. That was their small groups. They found their people to support walking together in the journey. So they're out there in the community and they're in their Christian groups supporting and strengthening one another. The last art of having people in our homes. The last art of sharing meals, of being in fellows, the fellowship they talked about in verse 42, they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. This is about being in relationship with one another, being known, knowing others, verse 47, and praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. This is one of my favorite ones, you know why? Because it just could have said in the Greek. Basically, it should have just said in the Greek. And they weren't just such weirdos that nobody liked them because they were Christians. Why did they have the favor of everyone around them? Why did they have the favor? Because they served their community and they loved everybody so well with the love of Jesus that was empowering them. And so they had favor of all the people around them. And the result, the Lord added daily to the numbers of those who were being saved. Okay, lightning round as I close, questions to ask myself regarding the church. Ready, here we go, Micah, let's put them up there. One, am I devoted to the things that God's people have always done? Devoted is a good word. Devoted is a hard word. We're not so good at devoted. We do things when it's easiest for us. And we try hard things and he's like, I'm gonna read the Bible this year and then we don't. I'm gonna join the, and then we don't. And I don't know what to say about that. It's a hard word to say, except that we gotta, we gotta develop some muscles friends to be devoted to some things that are right for us to be devoted to. I'm gonna start giving, I'm gonna figure out how to, and then we don't. What does God poke in on you about in this text about being God's empowered, full-hearted church, fully in? What's the next step for you? It might take some devotion. By the way, if you're like, yep, I gotta figure out what that is. I'm gonna invite you to the rule of life seminar that's coming up on August 4th, because we're like, mmm, what's important that needs to be in my life that I need to live by? I'm gonna invite you to be involved in small groups because that's how you get accountability for those things. You're like, this is what I wanna be about people. Help me, wanna be devoted to these things. So questions we have to ask ourselves, am I devoted to the things God's people have always done? Second, am I generous? You see generosity through this whole text about what the spirit-filled church is about? Finances, time, and why is that? Because people who have settled the issue that Jesus is Lord, how many times have you heard me say this? Are 100% in? 100% of our dollars are Jesus' and we just have to ask him how we're supposed to spend him. 100% of our hours are Jesus' and we have to ask him how I'm supposed to spend it. 100% of my attitudes are for Jesus and I gotta ask are they what they should be? Like I'm all in and this generosity of time and money and attitude were Jesus' people. And so we submit them to him and is that me? Am I generous in all those ways and related? Am I available and hospitable to the body? Am I available and hospitable to the body? That last slide, Micah. We gotta be known and we gotta know other people. And if you're so embarrassed because you haven't vacuumed, you gotta have people in your home anyway. Or take them to me, Pueblo. And tell them Jeff sent you. But this is about knowing people and knowing their stories and hearing them, praying for them, whether they're on the journey toward Christ or in fellowship with Jesus. This is about you being known by them and being encouraged and them being known by you. And if you're the kind of person who's like, "Gosh, I wanna live like that, "but I'm constantly overwhelmed by my schedule "and my house and then let's be devoted "to the things that God's people have always been devoted to "and make some changes." Now, I just literally saw somebody go like this in conviction. I pray that the joy of this message fills you. And then we're gonna worship and joy here now and close up. I pray that the joy of this message of being God's people where the spirit has been poured out has come to each of us and that empowers us getting to live as his church. I pray that the good news of all of these things where there's generosity and living in community and living in fellowship and doing the liturgy of worship together, I pray that the joy of that fills you and through that moves you to take the next steps in being fully devoted, lifelong followers of Jesus because the Holy Spirit is in you and we'll continue to do that together as a church. Friends, as always, if you want some help on that journey, you reach out to us because we wanna keep walking and taking the next steps together. Well, let's celebrate all of this good news and God's incredible word to us by worshiping together. Let's stand together. [BLANK_AUDIO]