I Have A Dream, Part 2
🗣️ Speaker: Pastor Derrel Strickland
This week, Pastor Tom took us through a powerful message on dreams and visions, centering on Acts 2 and the day of Pentecost. He drew parallels between everyday stories, like a young recruit's dilemma and Jesus' guidance to His disciples, suggesting the need for divine "backup" through the Holy Spirit. Pastor Tom shared how dreaming big involves trusting God and putting people first, as illustrated by the story of Coach Scott Drew. He concluded with a heartfelt desire for our church to cherish God's presence and to serve others with sincere joy and humility. The core message is clear: let's build a community centered on God's Word, genuine worship, and profound respect for God's holiness.
Additional Info
The info below was generated by an AI from the audio recording of the sermon.
Introduction to Dreams and Visions
In today's exploration of dreams and visions, we delve into a well-known narrative from Acts chapter two, reflecting on the essence of divine guidance and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. Drawing inspiration from Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech, this discussion aims to illuminate how we, as a community, can harness our dreams to fulfill God's purpose in our lives.
The Significance of Acts Chapter Two
The story begins in Acts chapter one, where Jesus instructs his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit—what can be likened to calling for backup for a crucial mission. This moment is pivotal as it leads to an outpouring of God’s presence, symbolized by fire, leading to the transformation of Peter, who then preaches to the masses and sees 3,000 souls added to the church.
The Heart of Pentecost
While speaking in tongues is often highlighted as a feature of Pentecost, the focus here is on the importance of community transformation and the salvation of souls. The narrative emphasizes that Pentecost is fundamentally about people coming into the Kingdom of God.
A Vision for Our Community
Consider the story of Scott Drew, the head basketball coach of Baylor University, who prioritized his players’ spiritual well-being over immediate success. His journey reflects a significant truth: when we align our dreams with God’s heart, amazing things can happen—sometimes even more than we initially hope for.
Cherishing God’s Presence
The message transitions to a dream of cherishing God’s presence, with a special emphasis on the reverence required to experience His holiness. Reflecting on Exodus 33:15, we recognize that the ultimate desire should not merely be reaching a promised land without God but having His presence every step of the way.
The Dual Nature of Fear
In Acts 2:43, the text briefly discusses fear: “Then fear came upon every soul.” This complex sentiment raises important questions about the duality of experiencing God’s presence coupled with a healthy fear and reverence for His holiness. Here, we must understand that while God is loving and forgiving, His holiness demands respect and can evoke a necessary apprehension in our hearts.
The Holiness of God
Delving into the nature of God, it becomes crucial to understand that He is both loving and just. Acknowledging the balance between fearing His judgment and embracing His grace reminds us of our responsibility to reflect His holiness in our lives, embodying the principles laid out in His word.
The Importance of Worship
Worship emerges as a central theme, with a call to genuine praise that extends beyond simply singing. Engaging in heartfelt worship fosters a connection with God and recognizes the need for a responsive heart that glorifies Him in truth and spirit. This includes expressions of joy and gratitude as we engage with scripture and community.
Daily Practices of Faith
To cultivate a vibrant faith, the community must seek God daily. This entails spending time in prayer and scripture, serving others, and maintaining a consistent connection through fellowship. The early church practiced these principles, resulting in miraculous occurrences and widespread admiration from the community around them.
Living with Expectation
Being dreamers for the Kingdom means living with expectation. The miracles that followed the early believers remind us that when we fully submit our plans and desires to God, He can perform wonders beyond human comprehension. The assurance that God cares for us individually provides a foundation of faith, encouraging believers to trust in His divine plan.
Closing Thoughts
Ultimately, pursuing our dreams in alignment with God’s heart creates a ripple effect in our community. When believers commit to a daily walk with Jesus, they enter into a life full of purpose and divine potential—essentially living on the right side of the comma in John 10:10, which speaks of abundant life.
Conclusion
As we conclude this discussion, we see the importance of a church that fosters genuine worship, cherishes God’s presence, serves the community, and pursues a vibrant, daily relationship with God. The call to action is clear: Let us embrace our divine dreams, expect the miraculous, and reflect the love and holiness of God in all that we do.
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Use the questions listed below as a launching point to discuss the sermon points together as a family. These are great for dinner table discussions and small groups.
Reflection: Share a time when you needed "backup" in your life. How did you see God's support or guidance during that period?
Connection: What steps can we take as a group to nurture dreams that align with God's desires for us and our church?
Application: Pastor Tom shared about Coach Scott Drew prioritizing the spiritual wellbeing of his team. How can we apply a similar focus in our relationships and daily lives?
Respective Awe: In the sermon, Pastor Tom emphasized cherishing God's presence like a valuable treasure. Discuss ways our group can cultivate a culture of reverence and awe for God's holiness in our gatherings.
Community Building: How can our small group contribute to a church that's “closer than family,” as Pastor Tom envisions?
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The Historical Context of Acts 2
The Book of Acts, often known as Acts of the Apostles, was written by Luke, a companion of Paul, and serves as a critical link between the Gospels and the Epistles. Acts 2 describes the day of Pentecost, a pivotal moment in the early church when the Holy Spirit descended upon believers. This event took place during the Jewish festival of Shavuot, which celebrated the wheat harvest and commemorated the giving of the Torah at Sinai.
Culturally and politically, this was a time of tension and transformation. Judaism was under the Roman Empire's vast influence, and Jerusalem was a melting pot of Jewish pilgrims from across the Roman world, gathered for the festival. The outpouring of the Spirit enabled the apostles to speak in various languages, symbolizing the universality of God's message and prefiguring the global mission of the church.
Religious leaders, particularly the Pharisees and Sadducees, had strict control over Jewish religious practices. The infusion of the Holy Spirit represented a radical shift from the ritualistic and legalistic tendencies of the time toward a dynamic and personal relationship with God.
Understanding these contexts helps us grasp the significance of the Pentecost event: God was breaking down barriers, empowering disciples to spread the Gospel, and realizing a new covenant where His presence would dwell within believers worldwide.
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We Are Dreamers for God!
Hi kids! Today, Pastor Tom shared a message about dreaming big dreams for God! Let’s learn together about the importance of our dreams and what they can mean for us.
1. What is a Dream?
A dream is something we want to do or achieve. Just like how you may dream of being a superhero, a teacher, or even a professional athlete.
Pastor Tom talked about how God gives us dreams to help others and bring people to Him. We should dream big for God!
2. Waiting for Backup
Just like in the story Pastor Tom told about the police recruit needing backup, sometimes we need to "wait" on God.
In Acts 1, Jesus told His friends to wait, and then He sent them the Holy Spirit! This means God is always with us to help us achieve our dreams!
3. Sharing Our Dreams
Pastor Tom mentioned Coach Drew from Baylor, who realized that God is more important than winning games.
Ask yourself: What can you do to help others? Maybe you can share your toys, help someone in class, or encourage a friend.
4. The Power of God’s Presence
Fear and excitement can go together. When we feel scared, remember God is there to protect and guide us.
If we honor and respect God, we can celebrate His presence in our lives!
5. Every Day is a New Day with God!
Remember, every day is important. We can pray, read our Bibles, and help others! Just like in Acts 2:46, where those early friends of Jesus shared everything with joy.
Let’s practice by smiling at someone today or saying something nice! That’s part of sharing God’s love!
Activity: Dream Wall!
Get a piece of paper and write down or draw a picture of your dreams for God! It could be dreams to help others or even how you want to follow Jesus. Share it with your family or friends!
Closing Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for giving us dreams. Help us to dream big dreams for you and to follow you every day. We want to share your love with everyone around us. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
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This is week three in this series that I've been talking about dreams and visions. And last week I started this sermon that I called I have a Dream. And of course, I was springboarding the sermon off of Martin Luther King's famous speech from so many years ago. And really.
Acts chapter two. Let me tell you a little story. A young police recruit was being drilled by a panel of officers. And the officers were trying to get spontaneous responses from him, like, what would you do if a criminal did this? What would you do if a criminal did that?
And they wanted to see how quick he was on, on his feet. They wanted to see if he could handle the pressure of this constant peppering action that was taking place. And the pressure was building. It really was. The stress was getting to him.
He was starting to sweat a little bit. And all of a sudden one of the officers asked, what would you do if you had to arrest your mother? And he just kind of freaked out a little bit, and he said, call for backup, sir. I'd call for backup.
Well, when I heard that story, I was thinking that's exactly what Jesus was doing in Acts, chapter one, because the disciples were all, you know, gung ho, let's go, let's go, let's go. And Jesus is saying, hold your horses, we gotta wait for backup. And he said, so what I want you to do is I just want you to hang out in Jerusalem for a little bit, and I'm gonna go to the Father and trust me, you want me to go to the Father, because, yeah, we like this little one on 12 thing that's going on, but I've got something better for you. It is a one on one continual dialogue with God every single day. And so the scripture tells us in chapter two, verse one, that when the day of Pentecost was fully come, that they were in one accord, in one place.
And the scripture says. And suddenly, and suddenly backup showed up. And suddenly the fire fell. Suddenly Peter was transformed. And he began to preach this message about the prophet Joel and how everybody, young and old, men, women, the haves and the have nots, everyone, if they desire, can be baptized by the Holy Spirit.
And they can start seeing things and hearing things from God. That used to be elusive in the past, but they're available in the present. And that's the last days that you and I are living in. Then last week, we talked about some of these visions and what they might look like. And we talked about the fact that, really, Pentecost isn't about speaking in tongues, although that's a part of it.
Pentecost is all about people. It's about people getting saved in the kingdom of God. And that's why in verse 41 and 42, he talks about 3,000 people being added to the kingdom. Just like that, after one message. So I read this story about Scott Drew this week.
He was hired as the head basketball coach of Baylor on August 22, 2003. And he was like all the Division 1 basketball coaches. He announced, we're gonna win a national championship. It's my dream to win a national championship for Baylor. And they all say that, okay?
And sure enough, he had some pretty good teams. They improved in his first couple of years. He started making it in the top 10. And in 2014, they were supposed to be this really good team. And they started off 2 and 8.
People started murmuring, asking for his head on a platter, as they say. When after the game, Coach Drew grabbed the team chaplain and said, we may not win another game this year, and I may be a horrible coach, but if any of these guys leave without knowing Christ as their Savior, that will be the real loss. Listen, within one month, five of his players accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and they all got water baptized. Isn't that awesome? He understood that it wasn't about him.
It wasn't about his championships. It was about what was important to the heart of God. And that's the dream that I have for our church, that we really care most about what is at the heart. Heart of God. Now, ironically, just three or four years ago, Coach Drew won a national championship.
And you know what I've discovered that if you give all your dreams to God and really put him first, sometimes he gives dreams back to you in ways that you can never imagine who can say Amen?
So in verse 42, it says that they continued in the apostles doctrine and in the fellowship. So I communicated two more dreams. I dream of a church that's hungry for God's word. And I dream of a church that is closer than family. And last week, we started with.
Ended with a little fun song that I sang to the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies. And I Enjoyed it. But as I started studying this week, I noticed that it seems like some of the celebration seems to be tempered by verse 43. Listen. Listen to what it says.
Then fear came upon every soul. Smack dab in the middle of all this celebration. 3,000 just got saved. And then at the back end it says that they're praising God and thanking God and doing all this praise stuff. But right in the middle it says fear came upon every soul.
Would you bow your heads just for a moment? We need to figure this out. Heavenly Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus and Lord. I appreciate your presence. I feel you.
I sense the Spirit right in our midst. And I need to ask that you would help us to really grasp these scriptures, help us to figure out what they mean for us as individuals and what they mean for us as a church. How can we reconcile the celebration of new birth and the celebration of an excitable family with the fear that these people felt? So I pray, Father God, that as we conclude and wrap up this series, that you'll help us figure this out. Today, in Jesus name we pray.
And together everybody says Amen. So it's really not as mysterious as I'm probably making out, but I find it interesting that that phrase is found in the middle of this synopsis. You know, the last seven verses there are really what the church is supposed to be like for the rest of these last days. It's communicating what actually took place in the book of Acts. So you get a little outline in chapter one about where they're going, and you get a little outline, outline in chapter two of how they're supposed to behave as the church.
And so my fourth dream that I have for Oxford assembly of God is this. I dream of a church that cherishes the presence of God. I want us to cherish the presence of God. I want us to understand how delicate it is. I mean, if you've got an expensive sculpture or an expensive vase or something, we don't handle that lightly.
It's not something that we toss back and forth. It's not something that we fill up with junk. It's not something that we mishandle in any way, shape or form. God's presence is the same way Moses expresses my feelings in Exodus 33:15 when he says this. If your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.
If you're not familiar with the story, Moses is on Mount Sinai. He's getting ready to receive the Ten Commandments. And God is saying, I want the children of Israel to start packing up because we're gonna get ready to go to the promised land. And Moses says no. He says, are you coming with us?
Because I would rather be in the middle of the wilderness with you than in the promised land without you. I would rather experience a desert situation in my life as long as you're there, rather than going to the land of milk and honey if you're not there. A good life without a good God is not good. Who can say amen? We need to have God in our lives.
In the New Testament, Paul teaches that we can cherish the presence of God or we can quench the presence of God. In 1st Thessalonians 5, 19, he says, do not quench the Spirit. That word quench in the Greek language, it literally means to put the fire out. It means to extinguish. And what he's trying to communicate is we have the option many times.
We can quench the spirit, or we can stir the Spirit up. We can extend, extinguish the fire, or we can keep that fire going. In the name of Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit of God is the presence of God in the world today. And we get to participate in bringing him into our services and having him abide with us and manifest here in so many different ways.
So Acts 2:43 says there, then fear came upon every soul. Then I think it's interesting that we need to develop an attitude of fear and respect if we're to entertain the presence of God. We can't think that it's a game. We can't think it's like children think, this is a serious business of God. This doesn't happen, though, through rules.
One of the mistakes that people do, Christians especially, is they think, you know what we've got to do everything perfect. So we can't do this, and we can't do this. And you have to wear a suit and a tie every Sunday, and you have to have your Sunday best, and you can't take coffee into the sanctuary. And we institute all these rules and call it holiness when it's really nothing more than legalism. Be careful, be careful.
That's what the Pharisees did. They took the ten commandments, and before you knew it, there were over 600 different legalistic rules that had absolutely nothing to do with God. That's why the word then is so important. It points back to verse 42. So let me remind you about verse 42.
And they continued steadfastly. They were devoted to the apostles doctrine, the fellowship, the breaking of bread and in prayer. Hmm. So before the fear fell, they heard the word. Before the fear fell, they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Before the fear fell, they were spending large amounts of time in prayer on a regular basis. And they started getting a picture of who God really is as the disciples started teaching them from the Old Testament and what it meant. Today, they heard from Exodus that our God is a consuming fire. Say fire. You got to be careful when it comes to fire, right?
I mean, you just can't light a fire in your living room. You better have it contained somewhere, otherwise you could burn the house down. Moses saw that God was a fire in the bush. The children of Israel saw that he was a guiding, leading fire. And then in Exodus, chapter 20, listen to what it says.
Now. All the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountains smoking. And when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, you speak for us, and we will hear you, but let not God speak with us, lest we die. If you think I'm adding to it, look up the meaning of these Hebrew words.
They were terrified. With all of the light and smoke show that was going on on the top of this mountain and all of the fire that was coming from it, they were completely frightened by this God of power. And Moses says to the people, do not fear. Okay? So they're.
They're quaking in their boots. Moses comes on the scene and says, hey, hey, hey. Don't be afraid. And then he says, for God has come to test you and that his fear may be before you so that you may not sin. So they're scared.
He says, don't be afraid, but be afraid. Are you guys getting this? They are scared. He's saying, I don't want you to be that kind of scared. But there is an honor, a respect, a fear that you need to have for God.
And the only thing that I can liken it to was when I was growing up in my home and I had a mom who was a disciplinarian. My dad, 6ft tall. I'm a little tiny kid like this. My mom, 5ft, 100 pounds. I was not afraid of him.
I was afraid of her.
Why? Because she knew how to wield a belt. She knew how to handle a paddle. Paul tells us In Hebrews, chapter 12, the Lord disciplines those he loves. So when it comes to fearing my mom, I had no fear of provision.
I knew she would provide. I knew my dad would provide. When it came to having clothes on My back and a roof over my head. When it came to the future, I had no fear whatsoever. But I was afraid of discipline.
I was afraid of acting sinfully against my mom's rules and that there would be a consequence to it. Paul or Moses in the Old Testament is saying the exact same same thing here. This kind of fear begins. Listen. With an awareness of God's holiness.
Our God is holy. Say holy. If you want to get religious, you can go holy. Okay. When I was the kid, the pastors, they all had these deep baritone voices.
Mine has never been that way. That's why I thought I can never be a pastor. Cause I can't say holy the same way they do. But what are the images that that conjures up? Because here's what the scripture says.
Number one. God hates sin. Holiness and sin cannot abide together. So when the Israelites were saying, we don't wanna go into his presence, they had a point. They were grumblers and complainers and grumblers and complainers.
And God don't go very well together together because they might be smitten from the face of the earth. The scripture tells us there are six things the Lord hates. Seven that are detestable to haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood.
Lying and murdering the innocent are the same. Are you getting this? God wanted to make sure that you understood how bad lying was. We all agree that murder's wrong. Next it says wickedness.
Next it says evil. And then you know what it says in the next phrase? It brings up lying again. Listen, in chapter five of Acts, Ananias and Sapphira lie to the Holy Spirit. Who knows what happened to them?
They died instantaneously. So if the same standard was applied to our church right now, how many of us would get home today?
I'm just being truthful here. You see, we say we want Pentecost. We say we want, you know, miracles and all of these things. But God starts raising the temperature when that happens. And God starts desiring us to respect his holiness.
Holiness. And hates sin the same way he does. The problem is God hates it. Culture winks at it, and the church accepts it. But through the power of the Holy Spirit and the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we can have victory over sin every time.
Who can say Amen? We can have the victory over sin in Jesus name. What makes this really scary is God says he's going to judge sin. The good news for us Christians is he's not gonna judge us because he already judged his Son, Jesus Christ Jesus died on the cross, so our sin is covered. Say Amen.
Our sin's covered. But we should care so much for the rest of the world that we try and help them out. Deuteronomy, chapter 9 talks about the fact that God is a consuming fire, and he's gonna help the Israelites defeat the Canaanites. Now, this concept is really hard for Christians. It's hard for people who aren't Christians because God uses the Israelites to destroy nations.
And people say he can't be a loving God if he does that. But listen, we're talking about a holy God. A holy God is loving on the one side, and he has to judge other side. Now, he has a lot of patience, and this should humble every single one of us. He has so much patience that the scripture said he waited over 400 years for the Canaanites to repent.
Don't you think that's waiting enough? I mean, 400 years and they wouldn't repent. And he kept waiting and waiting and waiting. Now we know that God is. Is trustworthy because even when the Israelites kept sinning, he judged their behavior too.
He sent them into bondage. He did all kinds of things. God is great in patience, but he's even greater in his capacity to forgive. Thank you, Lord. Think about it.
We're in Acts chapter one. Acts chapter two. That's where we've been spending our time. 3,000 people just got saved. Who were they?
Who were the 3,000 that got saved? They're the exact same group that two months previous were saying, crucify him. Crucify him. They're the ones that killed Jesus. They murdered Jesus.
They nailed him to a cross. They celebrated his death. And two months later, they get saved and baptized and brought into the kingdom of God. Is that not a great God? I mean, how awesome and unbelievable is that?
And so when I think of God's glory, I think of his great capacity to forgive, his great capacity for patience, his great capacity for love. And I think about his great glory in just the beauty and the power that is displayed. Even in nature itself. Our God is powerful. He created the earth.
He created the universe. Robin and I, we went to Niagara Falls one time and we talked a little bit about this Wednesday night. We've got a picture of Niagara Falls up here on the screen. I think that's not Niagara Falls. There's Niagara Falls.
Okay, who's been there? Let me see your hands. Okay, so a lot of you have been to Niagara Falls. And one of the things that amazes me is when I got up to those banisters or whatever was the railings that were holding me back, I could see rainbows being formed in the splashes of the water. You guys remember that.
You can see the rainbows. Just the beauty. I read this week that there are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of gallons of water that pour over that little ridge every second. Every second. It's in the hundreds of thousands of gallons of water that pour over that.
And what I really remember is the noise. It was like continuous thunder. It was just rumbling. And I'm like, wow, this is. This is amazing.
What I'm feeling, what I'm experiencing. And God barely even had to throw, think about it, to create this. This is just a little snapshot of a little bit of his glory, a little bit of his power. The United States, the state of New York. The falls are the largest supplier of electricity to the entire state.
That one little waterfall. And we've got these all around the world. I think of Mount St. Helens, a volcano. And so we got another picture here.
Has Anyone, anybody remember Mount St. Helens? Man, you're old.
I mean, that was 45 years ago. That's a long time ago. But I also remember it. And here's one of the sad things. Did you know 57 people died in Mount St.
Helens? The explosion? Not because they didn't have warnings. We knew it was gonna explode. We knew that the lid was coming off.
But many of those who died were photographers, and they died because they were trying to get snapshots of the beauty of the volcano. The glowing lava, the fires, the sparkles and all that kind of stuff. And we can't deny it's beautiful, but we also can't deny its powerful, which is a warning that we need to be careful how we handle the things of God. So what's an acceptable way of handling the things of God? We must cultivate an atmosphere of genuine praise and worship.
Genuine praise and worship. I'm done with just singing songs. I'm just telling you I love to sing, but I don't want to just sing for singing's sake. I want to sing about someone. I want to sing to someone.
I want to share how much I love my God. When Jesus was confronted by some guys who said, what's the greatest commandment? He said in Mark 12:30, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength. This is the first say first. It's the first commandment.
So when it comes to what our responsibility is as a church. This is number one. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. It's all about God. It's all about God.
It's all about God. He must be the priority of our lives. And the way that we express our love and admiration for God is through something called worship. Fuchsia Pickett puts it this way. Worship is the art of learning to express our love for God.
When Robin and I first got married, I thought I loved her, okay? But I wasn't very good at showing it. I wasn't. I wanted my way a majority of the time, and I let her know it on a regular basis that she wasn't being very loving to me because I didn't get what I wanted. But over the 40 years of our marriage, I began to understand that love is an action word.
Love is about what we do. It's not only about what we say, it's how we say it. That love is about our action attitudes as much as anything else. And so there is a proper way to praise and worship God. And so I've got a couple of guys that are gonna come up here and help me with this board in the back, and I'm gonna call this our whiteboard moment.
If you don't come on Wednesday nights, maybe this will be a little encouragement to get you to come. On Wednesday nights. We actually use a whiteboard to try and break down down the scriptures a little bit. It's to help us understand how to study. It's to help us understand that God, when he says something or especially when he repeats something, we need to pay attention.
Who can say amen? I mean, and this beautiful psalm, it seems to have a lot of repetition in it, but there's a purpose behind the repetition. And I wanna help you understand this. So what does proper praise look like? We go to Psalm 100, one of the most famous psalms that the world knows.
You probably are very familiar with it. It begins by calling this a psalm for giving grateful praise. Do you know that is not introductory comments. That is a part of the Scripture itself. Now, in your Bible, there might be a title above here, okay?
But this is not part of the title. It is a part of the inspired word of God. So it's there for a purpose. And so when it says psalm, we need to know what that means. It's more than just a book.
In the Bible, a psalm means a poem, or more literally, a song put to music. That's what it means. So it's talking about singing. This is Something that should be sung to the Lord. But it doesn't stop right there.
It repeats by saying, when you come before God, you should do it with joyful songs. Now, does anybody have a King James or a new King James Bible? Raise your hands. Okay, so I usually preach out of the King James or new King James. This is Niv.
But I wanted to show everybody something that this phrase come before him literally says, come into his presence. If you want to come into the presence of God, one of the sure fire ways is to sing a joyful song. In other words, there's a difference between coming to church half asleep and singing through the praise and worship songs over embracing those songs as if you wrote them yourselves. As if these words literally are coming from your heart to God. God, I'm singing this to you today, and it's making me happy.
Who can say Amen? That's what it's really all about. And then in this verse four, it says, enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. This is another song that can be interpreted praise or singing once again. So three times in four verses, it says that we should sing to God.
Now you might say, pastor, I don't read music. I didn't say you have to read music. You might say, pastor, I can't carry a tune. I didn't say you need to carry a tune. All the scripture says is sing.
And so little Chandler was a five year old boy. He was sitting in church one day with his mom and the lady next to him could not carry a tune. And he kept trying to get his mom's attention and she said, shh, shh, shh. After church, after church, after church. Finally after church, they're walking out and he goes, mom, that lady next to us, she couldn't sing very well, could she?
And the mom corrected him and said, son, she was singing from her heart. And the boy goes, oh, okay, Mommy, you sing from your heart, don't you?
If you sing from the heart, you sit out there. If you sing with tune, you come up here. All right? That's the difference. But we're all the choir of God who can say Amen.
We're all the choir of God. Number two is the idea of thanksgiving. This word right here, this word right here, and this phrase right here, they all come from the same root word in the Hebrew language. Y A D yad, it means hand. So I want you to think about this.
A grateful praise oftentimes includes the hands clapping. Everybody clap.
When you appreciate an artist, what do you do? You clap. Don't you? When you appreciate God, you give him a round of applause because he's worthy of it. The word for one of these two, I can't remember which one it is.
It means to shoot the hands up. Okay, so this is a response to this greatness and glory of God. We just shoot the hands up. It's almost spontaneous. It's almost like we're not completely in control.
It's like, you know what? You're so great. I can't believe it. You're so awesome. I want to show you my hands.
I'm surrendering my life completely and totally to the king of Kings. That's the idea behind this thankfulness. He's done so much. We gotta let the world know who can say amen. Now, I know some of you are a little hesitant here, but the next thing is this word shout.
That's your cue, by the way.
There you go.
You know, Robin and I have had four children, and there was not a single time when somebody said, hey, has the baby been born? I never responded with, yeah, we had a boy. Yeah, we had a girl. No big deal. Do you know how I responded?
I was like, yeah, I'm a father. This is awesome. I mean, I let people know I was coaching my oldest son in basketball. We made it all the way to the state finals, and we won the state championship. I didn't go.
Good job, Thomas.
I mean, we all met at half court. We're banging chess high fives. We're laughing, we're giggling, we're piling on top of each other. We're yelling and screaming. There is a demon.
Demonstrative experience of joy in the midst of this. That's how praise and worship is supposed to look in the church. Amen.
But Pastor, Pastor, what if I don't feel like it? Hey, I understand. I didn't feel like preaching this morning.
I didn't. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I don't know how that happens. I don't even know why. It's like God.
I mean, for an hour this morning, I'm saying, are you there? Hello, God, I can't feel you. I can't sense you right now. And God's saying, well, maybe you should worship. Maybe in the literal Hebrew, they this means serve.
Maybe we should go down to this word right here, which means kneel. Maybe if I hear a sacrifice of praise, I'll show up on your behalf in Jesus name.
Sacrifice. I wish I had the attitude of little Mikey. Mikey was the next door neighbor of an Older couple who had a, a goldendoodle, just this big mountain of dog, beautiful animal. And Mikey, a little 8 year old boy next door had taken a liking to the dog and so they wanted to go on a two week cruise and they didn't want to pay the boarding fees and all that kind of stuff. And so they went to Mikey, they go, Mikey, and they got the parents permission and everything.
He said, Mikey, would you take care of our dog while we're gone? And the boy said of course I'll take care of your dog, I'll do it. And they said no, no, you need to understand what this is going to entail. If you really love our dog, you're going to have to get up at 5am every morning and take him for a walk. Boy said I'll do it, I'll do it.
Well then when you get done with the walk, you're going to have to feed him and water him. I'll do it. I'll do it. Every other day you have to brush out his coat because it can get knotted and you have to. I'll do it, I'll do it.
Then at night you have to feed and water him again. He's a big dog so he eats two meals a day. I'll do it, I'll do it. And then you have to play with him and make sure he gets enough exercise too. And the boy said I'll do it.
And they said okay, what do you think a job like that is worth? And he thought for a minute and he said, I'll pay you dollar.
Wow. That should be our attitude. I'm not coming because I have to. I would pay to be here. I would pay to worship God.
I would pay to make him happy. The scripture says. Then fear came upon every soul. The response is I'm afraid, but I'm going to worship. And then the miracles will come in Jesus name.
Then FE came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Listen, church, Godly dreamers don't build their dreams on the landscape of certainty. But their dreams are forged in the fire of faith. We're gonna have to be a believing church. We must bring an expectation of the supernatural every single Sunday, every single Wednesday, every single, every time.
You're here for a Bible study, if you're here for a fellowship group, if you're here even to work, expect God to be here and something supernatural might happen in Jesus name. How many are convinced that God can do anything? We know he can do anything. He did it in the Old Testament. Jesus did it in the New Testament, the apostles did it in the New Testament.
And then to my excitement, an ordinary guy by the name of Philip was doing miracles in the New Testament. But for many of us it's not a matter of believing that God has the power to do it. It's does he really care about us as individuals? Yes, he does. Sometimes we think we're too sin stained, sometimes we think we've made too many mistakes.
Sometimes we think that, yeah, I know God does that for other people, but I don't deserve it. Listen to me, church, none of us deserve it. This is all about grace. This is all about his great love for you, for me, for all of the world. He wants everyone in on this.
He wants everyone a part of this. And the key is just to stick with it day in and day out. Because listen, I dream of a church that is a day to day reality, not a once a week routine. Oh listen, if you're bored with church, something's wrong with your walk with God. If you feel you have to go to church, you're missing out on the excitement of knowing a living God who has given us a living word.
There's nothing stale, boring, obligatory about any of this. This is all about life and life more abundantly. See I've taught this in many churches before, but John chapter 10, verse 10 has a comma in it. This is what the scripture says. He came that you might have life and have it more abundantly.
Too much of the church is living on the left side of the comma and they haven't yet experienced the right side of the comma. I'm here to say we can live on the right side in Jesus name. Amen.
So again, the key is steadfastness, not giving up, hanging in there every step of the way. So I'm reading verse 46. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their bread with gladness and simplicity of heart. And then it says in verse 47 that they had the favor of all. So I'm going to finish up here in just a few minutes with just a couple of thoughts for you when it comes to a daily walk with God rather than a routine.
Okay, number one, we need to seek God every single day in prayer, reading our Bibles, going to church.
Please understand that the Bible, the Bible's more than a moral document. See, I grew up in a very legalistic church and it was all about the rules. So because of that, everyone pretended to be holy. Anybody Know what I'm talking about? Nobody confessed their sins one to another, like it says to do in James chapter five, because they were embarrassed that they were the only one.
They didn't realize that everyone was battling sin. Everybody was in the midst of spiritual warfare. And so the Bible is, yeah, it has moral commandments. It wants you to be honest, it wants you to love people. It wants you to do all of these things.
But the Bible's primarily a story about Jesus. In John chapter 5, the scripture actually says to the Pharisees, you guys know the Scriptures, but you don't know me. And the Old Testament's all about me. The New Testament is all about Jesus. The Bible's an explanation of who he is and how that God so loved the world that he gave Jesus so that we could be reunited with God someday.
Who can say Amen? That's what the Bible's all about. Number two, we should serve daily. We should serve our families, our friends, our neighbors, our churches, you know, 44 and 45. Now, all who believed were together and had all things in common and sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all as everyone had need.
So I'm not advocating we sell everything and give it to the church and we live under some socialistic system. This was a unique time in church history. What I'm advocating for is that we care about the people in our church. Do you know what I'm saying? Galatians chapter 6 actually says that we should take care of them first.
Even before we go outside, we need to take care of inside. That's what the Bible says. So they cared for physical needs, they cared for emotional needs by having a daily connection. I just want to encourage you that to either contact or be a part of some church person or event every day of the week. That could be through texting, emailing, going to church, could be through a newsletter.
Daily touches are extremely important in this particular area. And so do it if you can. I Love Acts 2:47. It says praising God and having favor with all, all the people. The reason why even the outside loved the church back then was because they were serving the outside.
Did you know there are historians who tell us stories about how the Roman citizenry would take their sick children and slaves and just kick them out of the house and the Christians would take them in, nurse them back to health, and they would become born again Christians. And the historians are rebuking their own culture, saying, yeah, we know the Christians are crazy, but look what they're doing. Look at their acts of love. In the community. And we can do that every single day.
And so let me close with this. We need to shine daily. So that second to the last verse, it says they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart. I want you to focus on a couple of things here. So we're connecting Psalm 100 with Acts, chapter two, how the same things are being asked.
It's a grateful praise. It is joyful songs. It is shout for joy. It is worship the Lord with gladness. Are you recognizing that this is not drudgery?
That when you are filled with the Holy Spirit of God, that literally there is a newfound joy and energy? How many have heard the word enthusiasm? Do you know that means in God? It literally means in God. God fills you so much with himself that you are filled with this, the fruit of the Spirit, Love, joy, peace.
So there's a new attitude. We have a new authenticity, a new altruism that takes place. So let me close with this story. There used to be a man in Cincinnati and Ohio. This is back in the 1990s, okay?
So I don't know if he's still around any longer. And he would go to restaurants, he'd go to gas stations, and he would offer to clean their restrooms for free. And people would take him up on it after thinking he was completely crazy. All right? They were wondering if he wanted something for free or something.
And he said, no. He literally carried around a pail, mops, cleaning solutions, and different things. And he would just go to these truck stops, restaurants. So one day he stopped at a truck stop and he went to the manager and offered his services. And the manager said, well, there are 20 restrooms in the back.
And the man goes, oh. He said, I didn't know you had so many. He said, how about if I clean four of them? And the man said, no, 20 or nothing at all. So the man said, okay, I'll do all of them.
Then the manager responded, I really just have two. I wanted to see what kind of Christian you were. Would you stand with me, please?
The world is wondering what kind of Christians we are. You might even be wondering what kind of Christian you are. As you heard this message, you might be thinking, wow, I don't. I don't get excited like that. I understand there are personality differences, but I know the joy is real, and I know the joy is for everyone.
I know the gladness is real, and I know the gladness is literally for everyone. I know coming to a place of gratitude with God can be such a overwhelming revelation that it Literally changes and transforms you for the rest of your lives. So would you bow your heads with me? And I'm going to pray. As I'm praying, I'm going to ask Gator, I'm going to ask Annetta, I'm going to ask the pastors here to come to the front, because I'm sure you might be thinking, I need to do something that's totally normal.
That's why we have these prayer partners up here. We want you to be able to respond appropriately to the preached word of God. Sometimes the simple response is to shout, but sometimes it's to come forward and have somebody pray with you. So let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we come to you right now in the name of Jesus Christ, the name that is above any other name.
So, Lord, I believe that in a congregation this size, that there are some here that have never even considered the holiness of God. There are some here who. Who never saw God as holy. They've been told that he's a God of love and he loves you just the way he we are. And.
And that is true, but he does require repentance on our part. So if there's anyone here who needs to get their life right before Jesus Christ, would you just kind of raise your hand right now before the Lord, say, pastor, I need to do that? Sure, I see some hands. Sure, I can see that. Yes, sir.
I can see your hand, ma'am. That hand in the back. Sure, I can see it. Yes, I see your hands. You can put those hands down.
I just want to encourage you, when I'm done praying, to solidify that decision by coming up here and praying with one of these people. They would love to just give you some next steps as to what to do. Got one more thought. Is there anyone here whose praise and worship life has just become a little stale? And as you were looking at Psalm 100, probably a Psalm that you've seen a thousand times in your own life, and you would like your worship life, your experience with God, God to be rejuvenated.
Would you raise your hand and say, pastor, that's me. I'm. I'm hungry for more. Yeah. Yeah, I can see that.
Yeah. Oh, Lord God, you see people all across our sanctuary pleading for your forgiveness. And I am convinced that you hand it out liberally in Jesus name, pleading for your presence, Father God, which again, you don't ever withhold your presence. You want each and every one of us to experience you moment by moment throughout the day. So, Father God, I pray that today will be a new day for our lives, a new salvation day for some, a new revival day for others, Father God and that you would bring us together as a unified church, Father God to such a beautiful place that we make an indelible mark on the community in which we live.
I pray this today. I believe this today in Jesus holy and precious name and together everybody says Amen.
