Take a Moment to Stretch

Acts 4:32-37 “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need. And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated ‘Son of Encouragement’), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”

Last Sunday, Pastor Rick was tagged by Pastor Kyle to preach on the above Scripture passage in our Sermon series though the book of Acts (The full title being “the Acts of the Apostles”, but could easily be titled “The Acts of the Holy Spirit” by the context. Pastor Rick points out that when we are lying in the same position for a long period of time, we get stiff and need to stretch. Pray that God stretches us in our walk with the Holy Spirit. We are called to “fullness” in the spirit, but we (being finite) are not enough like Jesus to reach that fullness without the process of sanctification (the growing into the likeness of Christ). He gave us four characteristics of “Gospel Community” to guide the way; (1) Being of one heart and soul (mind, will and emotion). Philippians 2:2 “Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. To be will to sacrificially give is an ideal that would be lived out in the Christian community by the body of Christ, His church. (2) Sharing blessings and meeting needs – not socialism, but an offering to the high call of God to know the needs, struggles and hurts, then respond practically; not keeping it to or for ourselves, Gratefully gracious for our salvation through Christ with whom we have assurance that all of our sin has been covered by His atoning blood and wiped away and we are reconciled unto God, invited back into His favor, into fellowship of His communion, adopted into His family, given His name, invited to His table, and made His heir everlasting, citizen of the kingdom of heaven .

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”

(3) By preaching and proclaiming Christ to a lost and dying world. We fulfill the Great commission by gathering around the cross and speaking the truth in love; witnessing for the Lord and the Gospel of Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. 1 John 4:10 “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” God’s forgiveness is astounding. Our inheritance in Christ cannot possibly be measured. We change from death to life; that is what Christ has done for us on the cross. We can all tell our personal story of redemption, reconciliation and love of God. (4) By great grace. To find Christ, we need grace. We try all the things of this fallen and sin-sick world, but they just won’t work because we are just throw everything into a bottomless Jesus-shaped hole. We are all slaves to sin and need to work through our bondage because only through our Lord Jesus Christ can we know the truth, and the truth shall set us free - John 8:31-32 and that means taking a moment to stretch, walking in the Spirit and stepping into gospel communion. I want to walk this road with you guys.

In Christ, Brian