 It's chapter four, verses 23 through 37. That's what we'll be looking at today. I chose to entitle this installment of our study through Acts, prayer, power, and possessions. You'll see that in just a moment as to why I chose to entitle it that way. So we'll begin reading at verse 23 together. I'll read to verse 31, then we'll begin our study. Then I'll move on into the conclusion of our study, but let's begin reading together at chapter four at verse 23 and move to verse 31 and then get into our study, prayer, power, and possessions. And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them, so when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, you are God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them, who by the mouth of your servant David have said, why did the nations rage and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. For truly against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done. Now Lord, look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God with boldness. And so as we've been going through Acts, we've been in chapter three, moved into chapter four. We know that in chapter three that the apostles Peter and John had entered into the temple area through a gate that was called the beautiful gate. And as they had entered into this particular gate, there had been a man who had was lain there who had been crippled for over 40 years and as he was there and had seen the apostles entering in actually had received far more than he had asked for because he wanted to receive some kind of financial benefit from them which is called an alms or a charitable gift. He hoped to and expected to receive something from them and got much more than he had bargained for. He was healed. And as we've been going through this, we have seen how that the apostle Peter said, look upon us, the man looked expecting to receive something. Peter reached down and he said to him, silver and gold have I none but such as I have give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ. And as with I say, rise to your feet and walk. Reaching down, he took them by the hand. He received strength in his ankle bones and in his legs and began to walk and he began to leap and he began to praise God. It was a marvelous miracle. And then people who knew who he was were amazed and they saw this man holding on to the apostles and all. And they said, this is the man who'd been here all this time, what happened? And that's when Peter took the opportunity to preach the beautiful gate sermon. And in doing so, and we've gone through this, he began to speak concerning how this man had been made able to walk. He said, you look upon us as if there's some goodness inherent within us. And let me tell you, it's not us at all. It's Jesus Christ who did this. And they told him, he said, that's the one that you took and that you had killed. And you're responsible for that. And he preached to them and in doing so, they pointed out that Jesus not only had died but he had been resurrected. Well, when that takes place, the Sanhedrin, which was made up, there were many Sadducees who didn't believe in resurrection, began to investigate them and took them into protective custody and wanted to speak to them concerning this notable miracle and all. And so once again, the apostle Peter filled with the spirit, began to minister to them and spoke to them and he very faithfully confronted their guilt concerning the death of Christ. He said in verse 10 of chapter four, he said, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. And so he pointed out that they had, as the Sanhedrin had made the statement that Jesus should be put to death. They had said in Matthew 26 verse 66 that Jesus is worthy of death. And so they were responsible in terms from the judicial perspective of finalizing that which was moving towards Pilate who would make the determination that Jesus Christ would die on a cross. Now, as they were speaking concerning that, they didn't know what to do and we saw in verses 16 through 18 that their only solution was to command them to be quiet but it wasn't possible that they would be quiet. That's why in verse 20, we saw how they said, we cannot but speak the things which you have seen and heard. You see their obedience to Jesus and their gratitude provoked them to faithfulness to the Lord. So they had to let them go. They couldn't find any way to punish them. You see the apostles were more concerned with being faithful than any punishment that they would endure. Also, these people couldn't punish them without provoking the people to anger because the people had seen an amazing miracle and they would be greatly agitated concerning the treatment of these apostles. And so that was the church's first response to the assault of the world and obeying God was preferred over bowing down to the demands of those who reject Him. With that said, we begin at verse 23 where it simply says, and being let go, they went to their own companions and reported what had been done. So they returned to their companions. It's probably the original 120 that is being spoken of here. You see, they spent a night in jail. They had been boldly preaching. They had to be drained. They needed encouragement. They needed comfort and they would receive it not only from the Lord, but it is also provided very often to fellow believers. You see, persecution has a way of drawing believers into unity as well as supporting one another because I've discovered that when you are in a spiritual war and you know that, when you know you're in battle, petty things have a tendency of disappearing and you begin to focus on the enemy. You know, when we're not in battle, it's easy for us to nitpick one another. It's not hard to do. You know, when I went into the military, the military is made up of a variety of people from a variety of areas. You know, I came from California. So I thought everybody thought like Californians. Only people in insane asylum sink like Californians. But on the East Coast, I am telling you, they called us names. How many military guys do I have released for that matter? Okay, you remember some of the things they call Californians? Yes, you do. They didn't like us. And I don't even wanna repeat what they said to us, but they didn't like us. You know, and so I started encountering people from different persuasions, different backgrounds. You know, this is gonna sound weird to you. I don't even know why I'm gonna tell you this, but I just want to. But it's true. See, I grew up in Norwalk, and in the time I grew up in Norwalk, I had never met anybody. I don't know how to put this because it's gonna sound weird, but I'll say it anyway. I knew white people and I knew brown people. That's all I knew. And the brown people, I called them all Mexicans. I didn't know. I'd never met a Puerto Rican in my life. And now I regret it. But anyway, I'd never. I'd never met a Cuban in my life. I'd never met anybody from any, I only see so because their last name was Hispanic. I figured they're all Mexicans. And they weren't. I just didn't know that. I'll tell you this, even in this church from 81 on, when I met somebody with a Hispanic last name, I assumed they're all Mexicans. No, I have Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Guatemalans. I mean, this is the Hispanic United Nations in this church as a fact. But when you're on the East Coast, you start becoming aware that there are differences between your upbringing, your cultural understanding, and what is from New York or South Carolina or Montana. And you start realizing that there are a whole lot of things that are different. Listen, my welcome into Fort Bragg, North Carolina. My welcome to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. When we came from Fort Benning, Georgia, we got on buses and went up to North Carolina. My welcome to Fort Bragg was a billboard with a man wearing a sheet that said, join the clan. That was my welcome. But they didn't welcome me into that. See, so this is new to me. I had never spoken to an African American in my life till I went in the army. And I sat next to a brother from, his name was Griffin, and he was from Washington, D.C. And for hours, he and I visited, but I'd never met an African American. See, so I was so sheltered. So you get into the military and before you know it, these people think this and this person thinks that and this is the way it is. And you guys are from this state and you find all this division and it's there. We used to have what they called racial reconciliation meetings, where we would sit around and talk to each other and try to reconcile, right? So from the time I was 20, I became aware of the fact that there are differences. But I also became aware of the fact that what made us one was gonna be deeper than my color of my skin or the language or the music that I like is gonna be something deeper. And that reinforced in me the need to be in love with brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. That's the church, you see? And it's made up of all kinds of different quote, unquote, ethnicities. We're all by one blood. We're all descendants of Adam and Eve. And so he has made all humanity out of one blood. And so we need to understand that. And the church is what is supposed to bring us together. But see, there's something you discover and that is in conflict, in any kind of conflict. If you even didn't have something going with this person that you don't really like him that much, I am certain that if you are in battle and there are bullets flying at you, you're not worried about his accent. And you're not worrying about color of his skin. You don't worry about anything. Why? Because someone's firing at me and this person next to me, I'm gonna push him in front of that bullet so I can, no, that person next to me is gonna help me and I'm gonna help them. And I really do believe, I know this for a fact, I shouldn't say I believe, but this is true, that when you're in the midst of spiritual warfare, you stop being nitpicky and you start appreciating. And when you have persecution that's occurring where people are rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ and angry at you and you encounter somebody on the job or in the class or whatever in the neighborhood who loves the same Lord you do, doesn't matter if they go to Calvary Chapel, doesn't matter if they go to First Baptist Church, doesn't matter. This is my brother, this is my sister, this is what matters. And so under persecution, they're being drawn together and they need to get together with their companions and they wanna report and share with them what has happened. And what happens is in verse 24 is they lift up their voices in prayer. They lift up their voices in prayer. So I wanna share a few things about prayer because we're gonna be looking at prayer power and possessions. So let's look at prayer for a moment. Notice first that they united their hearts in prayer. They raised up their voices together to God. So that's what made the early church powerful, their unity in Christ. It's interesting how being in one accord has been mentioned several times already. Being in one accord has been mentioned in chapter one verse 14 and chapter two verse one as well as chapter two verse 46. So one, they unite their hearts in prayer. Second, they raised their voice to God. See, they took the threat that they had received and fervently prayed to the Lord. They raised their voices with great fervor. It has been said, a prayer that is not felt is seldom heard. And they were praying with this great fervor. That's what it means that they raised up their voice. They cried out to the Lord. Now we also cry out to the Lord. We cry out to God with our needs, our concerns. We cry out to God with our sorrows. We cry out to God with our hurts. And God hears us. James 5.16 says the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. And so we go to the Lord in prayer. We raise our voices up to him. Like it says in Psalm 130 verses one and two, out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. Have you ever been going through something that is so tough, so hard, so such a struggle, such a pain that you actually raise your voice as if you were shouting, as if you were just crying out. I have on many occasions, I'm certain that there are many in this room who have been found and found yourself in a certain position where you're so concerned about something or perhaps so hurt about something or maybe even so afraid about something. Now you raise your voice. Well, they did this, they raised their voice. Persecution has occurred, threats have been made. So the first thing they do is unite their hearts and then they raise their voices and cry out to the Lord. Again, some things can drive us to our knees and some things can compel us to cry out with great emotion. They can cause us to suffer sleepless nights, nights of sorrow and tears, but they also drive us to God. In Psalm 77, verses one through four, it's a psalm, a psalm of Asaph. It reads, I cried out to God with my voice, to God with my voice, and he gave ear to me. In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord. My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing. My soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God, it was troubled. I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed. He goes on to say, you hold my eyelids open. I'm so troubled, I cannot speak. Have you ever been there? You hold my, I can't sleep is what he's saying. You hold my eyelids open. I'm so troubled, I can't even speak. You know, there are times when I can't, I don't know how to pray, but I thank God for what Paul writes in the book of Romans chapter eight. He says, because the spirit intercedes, making groanings that are unutterable. There are times when the Lord is interceded even within us on our behalf. What do we do? What do we do when we're overwhelmed? In Psalm 61, verse two, it says, from the end of the earth, I will cry to you when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. And that's what we do, right? We pray. So one, there was a unity of spirit. Two, there was a fervency in their prayers. And three, they knew who to speak to. Verse 24 says, they appealed to the God who was able. Lord, you are God who made heaven in earth and the sea. He's saying, God, you are all powerful. Now when it says Lord, you are God, that word Lord is a Greek word that speaks of absolute master. So the point he's making is everything, including our suffering, is controlled and overseen by you. As it says in Jeremiah 32, 17, Lord God, behold, you have made the heaven and the earth by your great power and stretched out arm. There is nothing too hard for you. Again, in prayer, do you believe that? I do, I do. That doesn't mean that every time I pray that exactly what I thought would be granted is, but I come to God with this attitude, there is nothing too hard for you. And I will take scriptures like that and I quote them to him. Not that he needs a reminder, but it's a way of reminding myself. Listen, if you raise Jesus from the dead, I'm sure you can help me now. If you did, and I know you did. And there is nothing too hard for you. Listen, some of you received news from the doctor and it's not good. Some of you have gotten certain things, bills in the mail and you don't even want to open those bills up. You want to pretend that you didn't get them. You take them and you place them before the Lord in prayer. And you say, God, in Jesus' name, you know my heart. I want to do the right thing. I want to have honor. I will do what you say to do. I remember on one occasion when I've said this before, forgive me for repeating myself, but our church had just begun. I didn't have a steady income. Bills don't stop coming simply because you don't have a job, right? They're still there. Marie has always been the person who makes the checks and that's when they used to have things called checks. There are pieces of paper and you write a number on it. She always made out the bills, made the bills and I came walking in, had been looking for work and I wasn't able to find it. This church had already begun, but there was no way that the fellowship was capable of setting me free to be able to serve full time. I was looking for work in order to feed my children and to pay our bills. And so I walked into the kitchen where Marie was there at the kitchen table and she was crying. She was crying and she had all the bills in front of her and I said to her, what's wrong? She says, we can't pay our bills. We don't have enough. And I remember being seated across that table from her and I was 31 years old. I was a young man and I was seated across the table from her and I said to her something like, all I know Marie is I'm doing the best that I can to find work. I'm not sitting around this house waiting. I'm out there on pavement, knocking on doors, asking for work before the Lord, I've been honorable. And I know my God shall supply all my need. I know my God shall supply. My God is faithful. And my little girl, I call her my little girl, my little girl, 29 years old. She's sitting there looking at me like she's nuts. She's going, well, you know, I'm glad you have faith. And I went to get more bills out of the mail because the mailman come came. I came and I started opening up and I believe it was the first, there was no address, return address on it, but it had our name, it was handwritten and also it was a check for $200, a cashier's check for $200 and I held it and I looked at it and I put it in front of Marie and I said, my God shall supply all my need according to his riches in Christ Jesus. My God, my God, he does. Now right now $200 may not sound like much to you. We're talking about 1981. There was a whole lot more then than it is now. My monthly, my house payment was $500. So get, you know, I'm telling you $200 was a lot and I was grateful and I put that in front of her and the Lord actually said, I will supply all your need. I will. So you take it to the Lord, you fall in your face before God, you cry out with fervency and you say, Lord, you are able, you are capable. So we need to remember that in prayer. A fourth thing we see in verses 25 and 26 is they appeal to scripture because they say by the mouth of your servant David, you have said, why do the nations rage? So they appeal to scripture. You see, opposition was foreseen in scripture. So it should not come as a surprise to them that they're receiving this opposition. Jesus had taught them that they would be going through persecution. He had said in Matthew 10 verses 17 through 20, be on your guard against men. They will hand you over to the local councils, flog you in their synagogues. On my account, you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what you say or how to say it. At that time, you'll be given what to say for it will not be you speaking, but the spirit of your father speaking through you, opposition was foreseen. And so they take this before the Lord, they appeal to scripture, they say by the mouth of your servant David, you said that this is going to take place. In verses 27 and 28, they said truly against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed both Herod and Pilate conspired against. They joined forces. They joined forces. But in the joining of forces, rather than destroying what they did is they accomplished what God had predetermined because Jesus, according to verse 28, Jesus was given for the sin of the world. This is part of God's plan for salvation. It says in verse 28 to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done. So even though they united, thinking they were killing Jesus and just quenching his voice, silencing him, no, in reality, what they did is they were working in such a way that the plan of salvation unfolded with the death of Jesus Christ. And so what happens in verses 29 and 30, they say, look at their threats and grant your servants that with all boldness, they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal. That signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus. Look at their threats. And so they pray. They pray with bold faith, knowing that God is with them. They're not saying, please give us a place to hide. They're saying grant that we might have courage to continue. You see, they had received the great commission and they want to be faithful. How do you receive boldness? You know, over the years, I have taken it for granted that everybody has done what I've done with my parents to bring into faith in Christ. I took it for granted. Everybody does. When my sister Madeline met a guy, his name's Pat, and Pat asked her to go out. I'm her older brother. She's four years younger than me. So Pat came to pick up my sister for their date, their very first date. And so it was my job to scare him. No, it was my job to interview him. So he came and sat in my parents' den. And I asked him, who are you? And what are you doing in our house? And why you wanted to take my sister out? What are your intentions? I really did, I had that conversation. Nice, it was nice, but it was direct. Who are you? How long have you been saved? Oh, I was, and he gives me his testimony. Then I said, great, so you know the Lord. Yes, absolutely, you love Jesus. Yes, I do, wonderful. Have you led your parents to Christ? No, they're resisting in the back of my mind. I'm thinking, you're not a real Christian. I'm not kidding, that's a fact. I'm thinking, you're not gonna take my sister out. If you haven't won your mom and dad to Christ, you're not a real, I did not know that what happened in my family with my mom and my dad and sisters and all. I did not know that isn't normal, that that doesn't happen in everybody's family. I didn't know that. And so I was in college, I was at a Bible college, and I was going through a crisis of faith, and the professor, he was my favorite, I loved him very much, his name was Dr. Moore, Dr. George Moore. He and I had a conversation, and I told him, you know, I'm considering just stepping away from the Lord. I said, I'm thinking about just walking away. And he looks at me, he says, you know, David, he said, let me tell you something, he goes, God wants to use you. And I said, what makes you say that? He said, do you realize that not everybody leads their parents to Christ? And the way that that happened with you reveals an anointing in your life. So you have to get over this pain that you're going through and you have to press on. Because if you don't overcome in Christ this pain, you will never help anybody else to do the same. You must heal in the name of Jesus, you must move forward, you've got to press on. You know, and how did I get the boldness to speak to my mom and my dad? The Holy Spirit and the word of God. It is so basic. Listen, it comes down to, do you really believe in heaven? And do you believe in eternal punishment in a place called hell? Do you know that the average Christian today doesn't believe in eternal punishment? They think that they're just, you know, God's going to let them in, they'll slide on in. I didn't believe in taking chances. I didn't believe in saying, well we'll see, you know, no big deal. I was, I was, you got a picture of this man. I was 20 years old, I was a crazy hippie. I was a crazy hippie, you know, a doper for years and a drunken. Now I'm saved and I was wild eyed. And you know, and dad, you need the Lord. I don't want to go to heaven without you. You're going to die. You'll be the best man in hell if you don't give your heart to Jesus Christ. I told my dad that. You will be the best man in hell if you don't give your heart to Jesus Christ. I believe that then, I believe it now. That you need the Lord Jesus. Where's the boldness come from? The power of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit. Ask God, even tonight, Lord, fill me, fill me with your spirit. And Lord, your word, may I actually act on the things that you say. Lord, even as Jesus once said, why do you call me a Lord, Lord? And do not do the things that I say. If you love me, keep my commandments. If you keep my commandments, I will manifest myself to you. My father and I, we will make our home in you. And so those are promises that the Lord gives to us. And so, where did this boldness come from? The power of the Holy Spirit and the word of God. And that's how it works. It's the gospel of truth that sets men free. And so as this is taking place in verse 31, when they had prayed the place where they were assembled together began to shake. It says it was shaken and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God with boldness. And so, prayer and God visits them. And now power, verse 32, the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul, neither did anyone say that any of the things who possessed was his own. They had all things in common. With great power, the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all. And so unity and prayer, God's word, obedience it's all answered by the presence of God and the power of the spirit. You see, when we're filled with the spirit we can be bold in our witness. And they were filled with the spirit and the result is speaking God's word boldly. In Daniel 11, verse 32, it says the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits. You'll do some amazing things by the power of the Lord. You see, God's word is true, God's judgment is real. And I had asked the Lord, baptize me in your power, baptize me that I might have that boldness and strength. You said that if I but ask, you will give to me it's my desire to be obedient to you. So fill me with your Holy spirit. And so this is what's taking place in verse 32 as it says the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. It's interesting to note by the way how they're not using numbers at the moment. They're simply talking about how rapidly the church has grown. It's now simply referred to as a multitude. And again, that's the direct result of the spirit of God. It wasn't by any carnal efforts of men. They were, as it says, of one heart and one soul. Wherever the spirit of God moves His presence will be marked by unity. Unity is pretty important because Jesus himself prayed for it in John 17. At verse 21, he prayed that all of them may be one father just as you are in me and I am in you. He says, may they also be one in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. So this unity wasn't mad made, man made it wasn't compromising the word of God for the sake of simply getting along. This unity is the result of a shared life that was evidenced by the mutual faith in Jesus Christ. They were worshiping God. They were living in peace. They served one another. They were reaching a lost world. And as this is taking place, we now see another earmark. What did they do with their possessions? Verse 34, nor was there anyone among them who lacked for all those who were possessors of lands or houses, sold them, brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, laid them at the apostles feet. They distributed to each as anyone had need. So you have prayer, you have power and now he speaks concerning their possessions and what they did with that. Now notice how it says in verse 34, nor was there anyone among them who lacked. Some had remained in Jerusalem after Pentecost. It is possible that others had lost employment due to their following Christ. But they remained in that area so that they might grow spiritually. And now some of them are encountering financial needs. And the new community took care of one another because in Christ they loved one another. The church still responds to urgent and genuine needs. In first John 3, 17 and 18, John said, if anyone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help, how can God love, God's love be in that person? Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other. Let us really show it by our actions. Talk is cheap, right? It's easy to say, I love you. But he says, so let's stop doing that and let's demonstrate it. So let me share a couple of things that are personal to me that I think might build us up and kind of help us to grab hold of what was taking place in the early church. Our fellowship here, and I'm gonna kind of brag about you if you don't mind. You say, oh, please do. But it's true. It's true. Our fellowship has been a very, a very compassionately caring church for as long as I can remember. And our church from the very beginning was a very generous church. It's simply part of our ministry DNA to try to help others when we can. And I started writing some things down to remind myself for this study. Throughout our history, we have helped single mamas. We've provided meals through food boxes. We provide meals here on Thanksgiving for hundreds of people. We've provided meals and gifts for people for Christmas. We have people who help homeless even to this day in Pomona. We've sent multiple hundreds of gifts for outreaches in our daughter church in Mexicali and for other things like that. You see, generosity has always been an airmark of a believer. And it is the airmark of many people in this fellowship. One of my special memories of this church's loving, caring, generous spirit is back in 83, Pastor Chuck put together a what is called a FAM tour, a familiarization tour of the nation of Israel. We had a church at that time of probably 100, 150 people or so. Our midweek Bible study was held in a small classroom that held about 30 to 50. I think we put over 50 chairs in there, but that was really crowded. That was our Wednesday night. And I shared with the church. I said, you know, I really have, I've been given an opportunity to go to Israel. I really feel to go to Israel is something that would benefit this church as well as my personal walk with the Lord. And it's at a reduced price. It was $1,050 for 10 days. With Pastor Chuck and pastors. And so I said, I really feel that I should go. And, you know, again, it's just a small family. And so, I mean, you're in a classroom. They're right there, right in front of you. And so I said, I really think I should go. And they're always been kind of like vocal, you know? Shut up, David. No, they were very vocal. And so, you know, you could sense that, yeah, we agree with you because we've always had conversations like that in this church, right? And as I was speaking, and this was, you know, I'm not a manipulator just so that, you know, I don't, I'm just open. And so when I was speaking, I said, you know, the one thing that's difficult for me is I've never been away from Marie. I don't go anywhere without her. And I said, it's gonna be a little tough to go without her, but I really feel that I should go. And then I went into the study. About two or three weeks later now, somebody walks up to me from this small Bible study and they gave me an envelope and they said, we believe that you need to take your wife. And these people put together $1,050 on their own. And $200 extra in case we wanted to buy something for them. No, for ourselves while we're in Israel. This church has always, always been carrying like that. You know, over the years, we've had cars donated to this fellowship. We've had trucks donated for people that we've given cars and things away and for trucks have been given so we could use it for the church. For the first 12 years of the history of this ministry, we never received a single offering. We would hire employees, we rented schools, we purchased land, but I didn't receive offerings. We never received offerings. We had our copy boxes. We moved into this building here in 92 and we didn't receive offerings. And the people in this church just believed that God wanted to do something. And we were able without offerings to buy this property back in 92 for over $3 million. And the people got behind it. We didn't pay it off. We're still working on it because we've built for so many years. But we didn't even receive offerings. I didn't start receiving offerings until sometime after that, after moving in here because the people have always seen that there are needs and they always knew the needs would be met by the Lord as the Lord touched them. And so that's been a mark of the church from the very beginning. I only needed to mention a need and people would immediately respond. All the way back in 2004, there was a tsunami that hit Thailand. Some of you may have been alive at that time and aware of that. All of you were alive at that time but some of you may remember that. Do you know, I said to this church, I said, you know what? We need to do something to help these people. A great disaster has hit them. And if you want to help, if you want to help, then mark tsunami relief in every penny, every penny that comes in, we will make sure it goes to an organization that's doing a good work. Over $160,000 came in. I never received an offering for it within two weeks. Over $160,000. Without me doing anything other than mentioning to the church, we ought to help these people. And then the next year, when Katrina hit, I remember walking up and saying, you know what? We're concerned for the people there. Katrina's just demolished New Orleans and $67,000 to $70,000 came in almost immediately. That's what churches do. See, that's how it worked in the early church. I had mentioned the ministry. We have a daughter church in the Philippines. And I mentioned to the church, I said, you know, we need to help them to get some property because they're in need. And $30,000 came in like that. One person gave that. Bang, let's buy them some property. That's the Bible. That's what God did through the children of Israel, through the church. They're saying, there's a need here. There are people who are in need and that's what you do. Generosity is a mark of a believer. We have teams that have gone to Mexico for years. They help to build buildings. They bring donations. They perform ministry and outreaches. Do you know that we have had teams who have, they bring their own materials. They'll purchase it themselves. These teams will buy their own materials to help them. And we've had teams that have gone out to build other church buildings. You won't know this, but I'll tell you this. We had people just in their, from their own hearts. They said, you know, Calvary Chapel, Ohio Valley, which is a daughter church of this fellowship. Dan, Pastor Dan out there, he needed help. And you know what they did on their own. They put together a work crew. They took money and they helped and they built his church. That's what they do. We've done that with Calvary Chapel South Alley with Dave Trujillo, where people just, they just do that because that's what Christians do. We've had that happen in various places in, in, you won't know this, but I'll say this, that when Jack, my friend Jack Hibbs, he's the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Cheney Hills, when he got his first building, that was, it's not where the beautiful building they have now over here, but it was another building. Members of our church went over there on their own and joined the work crews to help to build out that church. That's what happens when the, when brethren are united, when we see something bigger, a greater need. And that's what happened in the early, early church. Even right now, I'll be leaving when I finish this Bible study. I go home, I'm already packed, and I'm going to Cuba. Go get you some cigars from Raul. We'll sell them in the bookstore. But do you know that the team, there's already a team that's waiting in Miami. I leave, Marie and I are going, Marie's ministering to the women, I'm ministering to a lot of pastors and all, and we have a team that's joining. There's over 60 people who are going into Cuba and we're part of that team. And the team from our church put together 600 pounds of supplies for churches and church needs in Cuba. That's what the church is supposed to do. That's what the body of Christ does. If there was a need, they met the need. You see, that's not something, by the way, that is natural for people to do. We actually have to be reminded and even taught to do that. Titus 314, Paul said it like this. He said, let our people also learn to maintain good works to meet urgent needs that they may not be unfruitful. You see, they had real needs and a love for Jesus and for people moved them to help. One of the things that has saddened my heart is I wanted you to know as a church that your gifts that you give are used to help people. I wanted you to know that. And so I told our creative team, why don't you just let them know where their gifts are going? Let them know, because some people would like to know. So we'll say, you know, the gifts you give in your tithes and offerings, they pay for the bills here, you know, they still receive payments in money and not works. You have to make a payment. So we have to pay for this building and those billions, of course, you know that. But maybe you don't. It's not paid off, so we still pay. And with that, the bottom line is, I wanted you to know that we aren't using your money for wrong reasons. I wanted you to know that. I don't think I have to do that. I hope that I don't have to, but in this suspicious society that we live in, why not be open and say, look at this is what we do? So I did, I said, listen, put some things on. You know, some people, this sounds mean spirited. Forgive me, forgive the tone. It sounds like I'm being mean spirited. I don't want to be, but it's true. There were some who believed that I was trying to manipulate you to give. And there was nothing further than the truth. I thought you needed to know. So I did that. And then when we help the homeless, we have people in this church on their own who help the homeless in Pomona. We have, you know, that's what we do. And we pointed out, listen, there are homeless people and your gifts help to feed and clothe these families. Isn't, listen, I get emotional. Forgive me, here we go. I gotta stop. That's what we're supposed to do, right? That's what we're supposed to do. And I had someone say, I'm not gonna give to this church anymore because I don't believe in helping people who don't work for a living. That's a bad heart. Have you ever been in need? Have you ever not been able to make your payments? Have you ever had a house payment you couldn't pay? I have. I have. One, one time in all these years that I've owned homes. One time I didn't have the $500 to make a payment. It's the first time and only time in my life and I don't ask for help. I trust the Lord. But the Lord put it on my heart. You ought to tell, because I wasn't even pastoring. It wasn't in this church. It was when I was a member of another church, another Calvary where I eventually got ordained. But I spoke to the pastor and I said, I'm so embarrassed. I can't make my payment. My GI bill, they didn't give me the $500, which is my house payment. See, I've been there. How am I gonna pay this bill? How am I gonna do that? Thank God for the body of Christ that loves brothers and sisters and cares for them. Thank God for the generosity of the members of this church that have taken care of so many people. Listen, the book of Acts was 2,000 years ago, but it's continuing to this day. There were still people who say there's a need there and by God's grace, I'm gonna meet it and that's what they were doing. You see, the Lord wants to do works through people. Listen, when you love Jesus and you love people, then you do what you can to help them. It speaks here and I should point this out how it says in verse 34, 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. The way that is phrased, it could appear that everybody was dumping properties when in fact he was speaking about that there was a unanimous spirit within them and those who had some properties that they could sell, they did. Someone said, do not suppose that every individual who became a Christian sold at once all his property. The sense doubtless is this, was done when it was necessary. In other words, they parted with whatever property was needful to supply the needs of their poor brethren. That's what they did and they did it and here you go, ready? So basic because they loved one another. That's why you do it because you love one another. My kids can't buy me meals. They can't. They know that, they take advantage of it too. They know that. If I take my kids somewhere, I'll pay for their meal. I don't like them paying for me, I just don't because father is supposed to lay up for the children, not the children for the father. And so that's just the way I am. We don't go out very often but when we do, I pay. And by the way, it's my pleasure, not my pressure. It's my pleasure, it's my joy to be able to feed my kid. That means something to me. I like that. So is it an obligation? While in the law I'm supposed to take care of children who are minors, these are not minors. No, I do it like you because I love them and it is more blessed to give than to receive. And I receive the joy of caring for my kids. I also have great joy when I'm able to help a brother or sister in need. Do you know who's like that? Very much more so than I, my son David. My son David, some of you know him. My son David was in, he doesn't, now I'm gonna be honest, he doesn't have two nickels rubbed together. He really doesn't. It was his anniversary, I think we gave him a gift. I can't remember how it worked out but Maureen and I gave him a gift and he and his wife went together for two or three days and when these little excursions and he got off and it went to Mexico and you know, just one of those things on this little cruise and he got off and he went into the city and when he was walking in the city he gave all of his gift to people who were poor on the street and he called me crying and he said, dad, they needed things. I don't, they do. That's Christianity, you see. That is I will help you to my own hurt. He said, it was my gift, you gave it to me and I said, whatever is yours, I've taught him, whatever I give you is yours. I'm not in control of that, that's yours and if the Lord lays it on your heart to give that away to somebody else, do it because generosity is the mark of a believer and when you love somebody, you care for them and that's what happened here. That's a bottom line, bless the Lord. Amen and that's how it works and so what did they do? I'll just wrap it up very, very, very briefly here. It says that they sold these things and verse 35 laid them at the apostles feet and they distributed to each as anyone had need and 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. You're gonna see later on as we go through the book of Acts that they actually develop a way to be able to have those who distribute certain funds, benevolence we call it now but at this time they came and he laid the money at the apostles feet. That's another way of simply saying that because they were spirit led and spirit filled men, they were trustworthy and so they were given the responsibility to distribute at first and make those decision and so here we have Barnabas who sold some land and laid it at the feet of the apostles. He was as it says a Levite which speaks of being a member of a priestly tribe. He was from Cyprus but he was also a man who's known as an encourager as well as generous and he was submitted to apostolic leadership. This is a man you're gonna see later on Barnabas, son of encouragement who has a tremendously soft and gentle heart and he's gonna enter into the life of a man by the name of Saul and he's gonna be a help to him and you're gonna see what an encourager is all about and so he was submitted, he was generous and he became a great leader in the church because a submitted and generous individual is very often a very good leader in the body of Christ. We'll stop right here and we'll pick up next time at chapter five.