 Next chapter 2, beginning at verse 44, Now all who believed were together and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Now as we've been looking at the airmarks of the early church, we've noticed some very basic things, and let me just remind you as I lay an introduction and get into our study today. We know that there are some very basic things that we've been looking at together here in the book of Acts, and some of the more obvious things is obviously to be part of the church you have to be born again. Now I say that, not facetiously, because I know that there are a number of people today who consider themselves Christian because they go to a church building. You know what I've said this so many times that it's probably, you've heard this more than once, just because somebody sleeps in a garage that doesn't make them a car, and just because somebody goes to a church building doesn't make them a Christian. And very often we think, well, I must be a Christian, I'm an American. I must be a Christian because I was baptized. I must be a Christian because my parents are Christians, things of that nature. That is the very typical response of Americans today in the 21st century, and has been for a long time. But in order to be a Christian, it's more than just showing up on a certain day at a certain location. We know that Jesus said in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven, you had to be what? Born again. That's how you enter in. You know, I had somebody say not that long ago, now are you born againers, you know, like we invented the term born again. That came from Jesus' ellipse. He said, unless a man is born again, born of the spirit and born of water, he will not see nor enter into the kingdom of heaven. So it's a matter of regeneration, which is a nice biblical word. It's a matter of receiving a new nature, being born anew, born from on high. We're called born again. That's what Jesus said, and that's how you enter into the body of Christ. By one spirit, have you been baptized into one body? And so we've been looking at that because the church is more than just a group of people who gather together in the same location. A lot of churches are like buses. You have people all seated, looking forward, going in the same direction. Well, the church is not a bus. What we are is we're a family, born again, a community of believers, and that happened because I heard a message called the gospel, and the gospel message, the good news, shared with me how that I am lost, how I am a sinner. These are all things you find in scripture, and that Jesus Christ, a good shepherd, has called me and has saved me as I have put my trust in him. So we've been looking at that. How do you enter into the church? What is the church that Jesus builds? Well, it begins with those who have been born again. Now that you're born again, you begin to do certain things. One of those things that identifies you, and it's always a good spiritual checkup, is that you begin to love certain things and not love other things, and the thing that you begin to love is God's Word. So believers are those who hunger and crave, desire like newborn babies, the milk of the Word. And so we saw that. We saw that they were born again. They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. These are people who wanted to know the ways of God and knew that they would know the ways of God through the Word of God. Now that they are born again and they're loving the Word of God, they learned to love one another. So we've seen that they had fellowship with one another. Fellowship is more than just gathering together on a Sunday and to watch a football game. No, I enjoy that if my favorite team is playing. I wonder what team that might be. I like watching football or having my friends and me hang around like that. I mean, eating pizza for that matter or having coffee. All of that is wonderful. But Christian fellowship is centered on the things that matter. Christian fellowship is more than simply eating pizza and watching a game. Christian fellowship is being centered on Jesus Christ. And that's what they did. They continued in fellowship. There was something important about having relationships with others who were like-minded. The breaking of bread and prayers. These were all elements and facets of the new life they had in Christ. And as all of this is being brought together, they are now experiencing the freshness and the power of the Holy Spirit because God is working in their midst. The Holy Spirit is moving amongst his people. His presence is now being experienced. We saw that in verse 43 when it said, Fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. So God's presence was there and he had produced holiness in the fellowship and he was moving through his apostles. And like we just saw in verse 43, Ah and spiritual power were present continuously amongst the people. Now remember that Jesus had made a promise. He had promised that his activity would continue even when he had departed and gone on to be with his father. And after Pentecost the Holy Spirit began moving mightily through the apostles. And you can see this, all you need to do is read through the book of Acts and you see God doing marvelous things, you know, in chapter 3. We see that Peter and John go to the temple in the hour of prayer and as they're entering into this gate that was called the beautiful gate, as they're about to enter in there's a lame man who's there who was begging and as Peter and John are about to enter in the man, Peter speaks to the man and says, look upon us or look at us. The man looking, expecting to receive something, Peter looking down at him says, silver and gold have I none but such as I have give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I say unto you, rise to your feet and walk. And he reaches down and he takes the man by the hand and Bible tells us that the man supernaturally received strength in his ankles and he has an immediate healing. He has balance. He's able to walk and not only is he able to walk, he's able to leap and now he begins to praise God and he's holding on to the apostles and a marvelous work takes place because God's power and his presence is there amongst the people. That's the kind of thing that produced awe. In chapter five in verses 14 through 16 of the book of Acts it says believers were increasingly added to the Lord multitudes of both men and women so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits and they were all healed. So God heals. I think sometimes we have not because we ask not. Sometimes we ask a miss wanting to consume it. James would say upon our own loss. Sometimes we ask the Lord without faith. Sometimes we're asking him for the wrong thing. Sometimes we just don't have because we just don't ask and God does answer prayer and by the way I believe that many of us have gotten gun shy in terms of saying my God is a miracle working God because part of the reason would be because we've seen so many odd things being done in the name of Jesus. All you need to do is turn on certain channels certain stations and the most odd things will be said and attributed to God and it's almost embarrassing in some ways because it's like a carnival sadly but it's true. You have a friend of mine is now is a retired Calvary pastor but before he got saved he used to watch certain television Christian television programs when he was loaded. That was his form of entertainment just to laugh at the Christians and all because he said you were just so weird. You were just so strange. Well some TV programs indeed really are. You don't have to be loaded to think that's kind of crazy because sometimes they are but that clouds you from the reality of what God actually wants to do and we have to be careful that we don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. We have to be careful that we don't walk away and shy away from the power of God simply because some people are misusing or are doing things in Jesus name that really aren't true. When we were in Israel recently a friend of mine named Samuel is a messianic believer. He's a pastor of a congregation in the city of Jerusalem. He's a dear friend of Marie and me and he came to have coffee with us at the hotel and so we're there together and he also owns the travel company there in Israel. It's called Saar Al and he owns that company and so while he was there he was speaking to us and he says oh he says I want you to meet somebody because a man from India, his name was Brother Paul had walked in. He said I want you to meet this man and so Brother Paul comes. Samuel says come on over here and Brother Paul and his wife and his assistant they call him Brother Daniel and I became Brother David but as they came and Sister Marie and as they came to talk with us for a moment real real nice people real nice people and we spoke for a moment there from India and and all and so after visiting for a few minutes he walked away and Samuel turns to me and says you know what he's doing in India what he does I said no I I don't know the man I just know no he has crusades he's a crusade ministry said and God moves in his crusades with miracles he says God uses him he has crusades of 500,000 people showing up 300,000 people they they will come into fields to hear this man preach the gospel and Samuel who is a very credible witness said and God moves amongst him he says in very miraculous ways 500,000 people come to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and he says and God moves amongst them in a very very tangible powerful way he says he's a charismatic he believes in the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit and God is moving amongst the people so listen I do believe and I know all of us in this room agree that God is God and is able to do anything God wants to do and God was doing work and can still do work amongst the people and that was what was taking place there he was doing amazing things through the hands of the apostles now as the Lord is working in all of this way and as we've been looking at this together there are some practical things that we can see practical things that that are the result of an encounter with God I want you to notice verse 44 how it says all who believed were together and had all things in common now when it says that in verse 44 when it says all who believed you might want to note this this is the first time that Luke who was used by the Spirit of God to write the book of Acts this is the first time that Luke refers to Christians as believers all who believed that's the first time that that is mentioned when you look through the scripture obviously that's what we're called in 1st John chapter 5 though it gives us some insight verses 11 through 13 where John said this is the testimony that God has given us eternal life and this life is in his son he who has the son has life he who does not have the son of God does not have life these things I have written to you who believe in the name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the son of God we are believers we believe in God through Jesus Christ and that has resulted in newness of life and so to be part of the community is to be one who believes in God through Jesus Christ but on the other hand those who don't believe in Jesus Christ are not part of that community now in verse 44 it says all who believed were were together and had all things in common now I want to note this with you briefly when it says all who believed were together that doesn't mean that they're together in one location because there are so many people no single house could really hold them so the word together there in context refers to them agreeing together or having unity of heart it's really speaking about the unity of heart and mind that they had as a group they were united in their desire and the thing that he's going to point out right now is they were united in their desire to care for other people briefly just briefly practically speaking if there's anything we the church need to be very careful to guard ourselves against and let me speak to you as a pastor for a moment that's what i'm trying to do the whole bible study but i'll speak in a pastoral sense right now if there's anything that this nation is mired in right now and there are many things that this nation needs to be rescued from but one of the things that we all would agree with I think if we think about it together for a moment I don't think I'm saying anything revolutionary something we all see if there's anything that who need to be aware of it is the growing and the word that's being used and it's a good word to describe it is narcissism the growing narcissism in our society where it's all about me not not about you that attitude every parent in this room knows exactly what narcissism is is be raised a kid it's all about them right I mean from the beginning what's one of the first things that they say mine me I mean that's that's it's a fact I mean that's a fact you know it's me it's all about me it's always been about me and and what what do we as parents attempt to do we attempt to train them to think about what to think about others to learn that it's more blessed to give than to receive to teach them that that Christmas isn't all about them and that they shouldn't get mad at us when we don't keep supplying presents for them when they had an actual limit of presents that they were going to get you guys if your parents know this you know this your kid will get a present and and they rip the paper open and ah then they get the other one ah just what I wanted I'm excited let's go to grandma's I know she's got some more for me right I mean that's right right it's about and and when our kids were were small we wanted to train them to understand something and by the way they don't learn this unless you train them in it they will not learn it if you do not train them in it and what we tried to do from the time they were small and I think successfully because we did it every year when they were small on Christmas Eve they got the one present they could open on Christmas Eve that was our tradition in the family but before they opened a present I read the gospel of Luke chapter 2 we prayed and I said okay one present and you can open it one at a time and the other three look at the one as they're opening it and at least enjoy with them what they're attempting to enjoy as they get their present we did that every year every year because if we didn't do that Christmas was going to be about them because that's how human nature is bent it's about me it's about what I want that's called narcissism life revolves around me it takes the holy spirit and a decision of the will for us to learn Jesus's words when he said it's more blessed to give than to receive that is an evidence that God is moving amongst you when God begins to speak to hearts and other people's concerns become even more important than your own that's God that's the work of God and that's what we're seeing take place here concern for those with genuine need has always been the trait of a believer in 1st John chapter 3 verse 17 whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him how does the love of God abide in him so there has always been this this expectation that if the Lord really moves in us that we would care about others so their actions reveal that the faith that they are professing is genuine now that this generosity that we're seeing in the early church because that's what we're going to see here it's a result of their willingness to obey what God's word had taught them they have the biblical knowledge in the background and they've been learning from the apostles God's word means something to them they know God's word and now they're going to apply it because their knowledge of God's word is moving them into action you see care for others who are in a genuine need is something that God has commanded his people to have we're to we're to actually care about other people and it's something that the Lord has called us to is to have concern in Galatians chapter 6 verse 10 it says as we have therefore opportunity let us do good unto all men especially unto those who are of the household of faith may we be good to all men but especially may we be concerned about our brothers and sisters you see for them helping others in their time of need was not a problem it was an expression of faith now what's taking place well we need to remember that there are many new believers and they're from various parts of the world when you see in Acts chapter 2 verses 9 through 11 when it begins to speak concerning the day of Pentecost and how that the Holy Spirit began to move and all of that it also makes reference to the fact that there were some 16 or so regions and countries that were there present at that time and and some of these people from these various countries became believers and they remained in Jerusalem and so that meant that they needed a place to to live and it meant that they needed food to eat and so the the believers now see that there's a need and and they're going to do what they can to meet their needs now you'll see this if we were going through the book of Acts verse by verse you'd see this but the apostles initially oversaw a kind of benevolence fund if you will for those who were in need you see that in and I'll read it to you it's it's found in chapter 4 verses 36 and 37 whereas says joseph 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 the there was like a a benevolence fund if you will that the the apostles had a responsibility to oversee and the money would be collected and was put into what we would today refer to as a general fund you actually see that in acts chapter 6 verse 1 what was taking place here and and I want you to see this again it says in verse 44 and 45 all who believe were together had all things in common sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all as anyone had need what was taking place was on a voluntary basis they would if they had some land property that that really was not something they were using at that moment they many of them were actually selling their properties so that they could get some finances so that they could donate those finances for those who are in genuine need and and they would bring the money that they received and they would give it to the apostles and the apostles would oversee the distribution of these funds there was no rule and there was no pressure nobody was being forced to give at all as a matter of fact if we were going through acts we'd look at chapter 5 and we would see a statement found at verse 4 where where we read peter was speaking and he says concerning some money while it remained was it not your own and after it was sold was it not in your own control you had some land you sold it you received some funds but it was your own there was no no forcing anybody to sell the property and to give to the general fund it was on a voluntary basis and they would bring this money they would give it to the apostles the apostles would distribute to those who had need ultimately they set up a board if you will have deacons and the deacons oversaw that so that the apostles could continue in the word of god in prayer so when i when i do my studies i i look for some application let's look at application here for just a moment generosity generosity is the mark of a believer why are you generous you're generous because god is generous that's why you're generous god so loved the world that he want that he gave the god that we have gave he demonstrates generosity if you will in the extreme by giving his son so god uh when he moves on our hearts well he's breaking the narcissism where it's all about me and he's teaching me to care about others to think more highly of others than i think of myself that's part of being a christian and what happens is you actually have something called generosity and and it's a matter of the heart it's it's it's it's something that you do with joy we we know that because in 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 verses 6 and 7 paul said but this i say he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully so let each one give as he purposes in his heart not grudgingly or of necessity for god loves a cheerful giver he doesn't like grumpy givers i don't know if we still have this we used to have a picture of a guy with his hand stuck in his pocket and it had a red circle and lined and it said no grumpy givers i don't even know if we still have that on our on our offering envelopes or not but i i think that i thought it was funny i said ah let's put that there no grumpy givers well it's because the word of god says god loves a cheerful giver he loves a joyful the word is actually hilarious he he loves somebody who who has such a generous spirit that it's a tremendous joy to give and that's what he intends god loves a cheerful giver so believers give as an act of faith because it's one of those demonstrations that that we know that our god takes care of us jesus taught us he said pray in this fashion and in his prayer he said give us this day our daily bread teach us to be day by day dependent on you day by day it's interesting how he didn't say give us this day our yearly bread he said give us this day our daily bread so that we might learn dependence and trust and out of that daily provision may we learn generosity the early church understood this and as a result they gave generously as a matter of fact generosity becomes the trait of the church there's a generous concern for other people and there was sacrificial giving i actually began to learn that lesson not not to say that i've learned it these are lessons you learn a lifetime through a lifetime but i began to learn that lesson when i was a brand new christian i was 20 years old and i had a friend named bill and we would go to bible study at calvary chalpacosta mesa and then we'd go to bill house afterwards we'd have a time of prayer and fellowship worship and and talking about what the lord had done and bill and some of the people who had jobs and i was one who didn't they would they would buy food and things and everybody would have a communal meal and it was you know it was it was so cool i mean it was and i started seeing this and i started thinking so that's what christians do see because the background i had was was because i was into dope and stuff drugs um i i i had this attitude of bartering some of you know what i'm what i'm going to try and say right now bartering i have a car and you have marijuana i'll give you a ride for a joint i bartered you know i've got the car you've got the wine you give me some wine i'll get drunk and i'll drive you anywhere you want to go that's kind that's that's a fact i mean that's so i was used to people expecting something from you anybody here who who was into dope knows that i mean if you've got if you got a stash we used to use the word stash i don't know what the word is now but we had our stash you know we made sure nobody knew where it was because they'd pinch our stash they go and they take and how do i know that because i used to pinch other people's stash i knew we hit it in this corner there and then i pinch a couple joints i mean that's what we did we used each other and i'm saying that because it's a fact and so when i got saved now i'm around people who are the opposite they were the opposite you know i'm used to saying i've got you want let's work together and now you're just giving me a meal and not asking anything in return and i hadn't been around that for a long time i had never really been around that because i'd never been around christians before and now i've got this house full of people who want to give you things i was in heaven man and then i began to learn it's more blessed to give than to receive because god doesn't want me to take an advantage of other people's generosity he wants me to be generous too and it took me a while to get that message but i did and when you get that message then you realize it is more blessed to give than to receive because the joy of giving is tremendous how do we know that going back to christmas again you're a kid you want more gifts at a certain point in your life you start giving gifts and then at a certain point in your life you want to see the smile on the face of the person you gave a gift to so you want to make sure you give them the best thing you can give them and you just wait there for them to smile and say oh thank you so much what a blessing this is and that gives you more joy than anything you got see when i was growing you know my kids were growing up my kids would say to me daddy what do you want me to give you for christmas or your birthday they were little and i would say nothing no daddy really i said let's go really seriously nothing you don't need to give me anything you want to give me a gift yes obey your mother do something practical you know but i want to give you listen you can't afford to give me what i'd like so why don't you just be good just do something good at a certain point and you know what i'm trying to say at a certain point it becomes more about the joy that you're able to give to somebody else because have you yet discovered that there's not a single thing you've ever gotten not a single thing you have ever gotten materially that made you happy forever not a single thing you've ever gotten i don't care if you saved up for 10 12 years to buy that one thing and then you go and buy it oh i got it now what my daughter korean when she was round 10 or so i don't remember wanted a cabbage patch doll ugly ones do you remember those ugly dolls ugly dolls and she worked her chores and she saved for i don't remember how long a long time and she's she's real frugal my little girl she to this day she puts money away she's very frugal finally the day came where she was able to get the and she got twins two ugly dolls she brings them home cabbage patch twins ugly and uglier and and then she's all upset she got mad because she says i bought these things and i i wish i had the money that i spent on these dolls she learned that lesson when she was 10 11 years old nothing you know this don't you i hope you do nothing that anybody ever gives you will satisfy you spiritually nothing nothing that's why we owe no one anything but to love one another because love satisfies love satisfies but the car the house the boat you name it whatever it may be you like that never does satisfy it can't the junkyard is filled with people's treasures filled with treasures filled with treasures had to have it but what lasts is the love of god and generosity that's a fact and that's what we're taught to be we're to be cheerful givers and so this was voluntary 2nd Corinthians 9 7 let each one give as he purposes in his heart not grudgingly or of necessity god loves a cheerful giver now they weren't holding on to things trying to keep them they were given away because it would benefit and bless somebody else and that's the mark of generosity and that's part of the church and so verse 46 continuing daily with one accord in the temple breaking bread from house to house they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart praising god having favor with all the people and the lord added to the church daily those who were being saved so god was moving the church was a great group of people they were enjoying the presence of the lord my early memories of walking with christ have imprinted me for all of my 40 plus years of being a christian now the hanging around with other believers and fellowshiping with them praying with them singing with them having meals with them talking and sharing things with them all of those things that that's what my life consists of to this day that's what that's what that's what excites me is having fellowship having relationship having friends who love god having people who will pray for you people who say are you okay how's it going with your soul and then you can look at them and you can say you know what be honest with you i need some prayer i was talking to somebody just the other day on the phone i called up how you doing i'm doing fine i'm doing fine came the reply and then it was silent for a moment and then they said i'm going to be honest with you i'm not doing well at all and i said goodbye bummer rain of my joy parade that's life that's real man we put on the holy face don't we we come to church with a smile it's a sanctified smile how we're sharing with the pastors at a pastors conference i said you know i was walking through an empty sanctuary one time i'm walking through the empty sanctuary and i've got a smile on my face and and and i'm asking myself what are you smiling about why are you smiling and to be honest with you it wasn't the joy of the lord it's that i had i had learned to have a phony smile because people expect me pastor david always be smiling you know sometimes i don't feel like smiling sometimes it's just not there but i'm telling you just like you we all need one another and i'm telling you that when you've got fellowship when you've got honesty you can really grow god was moving through them and interestingly enough the fruit of the fellowship is producing joy in psalm 30 to 11 it says be glad in the lord and rejoice you righteous shout for joy all you upright in heart psalm 122 verse 1 i was glad when they said to me let us go into the house of the lord now joy is not the same thing as happiness because happiness relies on outward circumstances joy is something god gives no matter what the circumstances and it originates from within us jesus and john 15 11 said it like this these things i have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full and acts 13 verse 52 it says the disciples were filled with joy and with the holy spirit so the church was overflowing with the joy of the lord it was the kind of place that that people wanted to be and when they when when they gather together with these people it was very real but the presence of god was there and they are now in one accord and they are one heart they have unity and how do you have unity with others their eyes remain firmly on the lord the holy spirit had baptized them into the one body they're now one in him and this unity of spirit was so important that they cultivated it as a new christian once again as a young believer i was encouraged to do my best to enjoy the unity of the holy spirit and this unity in jesus made their walk smooth they were undisturbed and uncluttered because they they lived with simplicity of heart their eyes run the lord and that helped them to keep their desires simple and spiritual and the simplicity made it possible for them to continually praise the lord notice how it says in verse 47 praising god and having favor with all the people the word praising means to lift up or extol it means to glorify to honor they were i don't know they were so blessed to be saved that they continuously just thank god for it do you do that think about it think about it they were so blessed to be saved are you blessed to be saved i am i am i really am i am so blessed to be saved you know my mom's uh anniversary of going home to be with jesus was this last saturday my mama died two years ago this last saturday was her second anniversary and i wrote on my facebook page you know you know my mom taught me a lot of lessons and uh mama used to speak with illustrations my mom was never able to just talk she had to give you an illustration it was always she would say it's like and that's how she would speak to me that's how she spoke to me she said blah blah blah david you know it's like and that's how i learned to teach i learned to teach the way i teach because my mom communicated to me that way that's how she would speak to me it was always a story it was always a joke it was always an illustration or as always her shoe on the top of my head it was always something You know, or a chancla. Mama's last year on the face of the earth was a painful one. A very painful one. She had broken her back. She was bedridden for a year. And so I was writing, you know what, I, in ways, and Marie can tell you this, there are times that I will tell Marie, I was thinking today, I should call mom, see how she's doing. I still do that two years later. You know, you know what I'm saying, some of you know. I had to call mama, see how she, oh, wait a minute. She's with Jesus. And I would not want mama to be on the face of the earth. I wouldn't want her back. People say, you miss your mom? You know what? She doesn't miss me. She doesn't. She doesn't miss me. She is so busy in glory with the Lord. Why would you want to come back here? And why would I want her back here? I've had people ask that. Would you like your dad to come back? No. No. Why would I want him back on this miserable, stinking planet when he's with the Lord, right? Aren't you glad that this isn't your final stopping place as is right now? Aren't you glad? I'm glad. I've got a better place waiting for me. And that gives me joy. That gives me joy. And it causes me to praise God. It opens my heart up to Him. And it gives me an exhilaration, you know, because we're just passing through it. This earth is not my home. I am so blessed to be saved. In Psalm 34 verses 1 through 4, it says, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Don't magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord and He heard me. And He delivered me from all my fears. That's the God that we worship. And they praised God, made the Lord's Holy Spirit move amongst us, so that we have the joy and the unity and the presence of God amongst us, so that when someone who doesn't know the Lord walks in, they'll say, there's something different about these people. What is it? Because I was sharing with some Calvary passers a while back. I said, listen, I said, I walked into Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa at the age of 20. I walked in. I had smoked some pot and drank some beer. I was barefoot. I was a hippie. I walked into the church. I was expecting to get kicked out, because I was raised as a Catholic. I went to St. Pius, the 10th church in Santa Fe Springs. And if I'd have walked in in that condition into St. Pius, they would have had ushers who would have escorted me out and said, you don't come into this church this way, young man. You're dishonoring, you know, that's what I would hurt. And so when I went to Calvary Chapel the first time and I had been smoking pot and I had been drinking, I was barefooted. I was a hippie. And I'm waiting for them to boot me out. And then Lonnie Frisbee gets up and begins to speak. And he's freaker looking than I. I thought this is amazing, amazing. Nobody judged me. I was honest. You guys know what I mean, don't you? I was expecting to be escorted out. Isn't that what churches do to sinners? They welcomed me. I didn't trust them. How can you welcome somebody like me? You know what they saw past the hair? They were going over old songs and they looked straight into the eyes. They said, you need Jesus. This is a place for you. In many ways, churches are like hospitals. Never forget that. And the Holy Spirit is the surgeon. And He removes that which is killing you and He heals you. And that was in the church. And when the people would come into the midst of that, they'd say, truly, God is amongst you. There's something different about you. Now, when I spoke to you last, and I'm going to close in just a moment, I spoke to you last time. I don't know if I told you this. I was jet lagged last Wednesday. I probably told you, but it bears repetition. You didn't listen anyway, so I'll say it a second time. Forgive me if I am repeating myself, because I really don't remember if I told you enough. But we have a guide. Did I mention our guide, Yossi? And Yossi came to faith in Christ. And the reason he did is because he saw the love and generosity of believers. He heard the word of God and he combined it. And he said, this is real. Do not, do not sell short your testimony. People watch you. You're speaking so loudly. Sometimes they can't hear a word you're saying. They're watching your life. You say you love Jesus, but you do this. You say you love Jesus, but you're like this. You say you love Jesus, but I'll tell you something. When people walk in to groups like this and they say, you can actually laugh in church. You can actually enjoy being with people you don't know. You can actually get something out of this. I am telling you, you have something the world doesn't have. You do. You've got the Lord. And you've got His joy. And you've got a heart to have unity. And you praise God because he's worthy. And the reality of that is so strong. And the Lord began to add daily those who were being saved. Now that wasn't what we today call transfer growth where somebody went to one church and now that church is, no. These are new believers. God was doing something fresh. And so as we've looked at this portion of scripture, you're really seeing what the early church was, but it was like, but it also is what I want us to be. What I want us to be. May this congregation, may this congregation have unity, praise, the presence of God, fellowship, a love for His word. May that be us.