 And today I want to speak to you out of Acts chapter 2 verses 42 through 47. And we're going to be looking at the characteristics, the traits, the marks of the early church that are found here in Acts chapter 2. So let me read to you beginning at verse 42, Acts chapter 2. And I'll read verse 42 through 47. And we'll look at this subject today and just an encouragement for us to be the church. To see what the early church was known for, what are the characteristics? What are the things that you found to be true in that early church? By way of introduction, let me say this before I read the passage that when you think about the church today, a lot of times what we think of when we think of the church is we think in terms of the church as a group of people that gather in the same building and it's a place where we as the church gather together and we invite our friends to come, those who don't know the Lord. And when you begin to look at the early church, I find it interesting to note that the early church was actually equipped for works of service, that when they gathered together, when the early church would gather together, there was a purpose in it. It wasn't simply to invite unsaved people, you might find that interesting as a matter of fact when we look at these verses you're going to see something that may be a little bit different than your perspective may be. They actually would gather together for the purpose of learning. The church gathered together for the purpose of learning. You see as the church was equipped for works of service, the body of Christ would leave that building and take what they had learned and give it to other people. They did the work of evangelism, that's what they did. But when they gathered together, they were there to be taught. In our day it seems to me, and I think many of us who watched the life of the church in the church world today, it seems to me that a lot of people may be confused on that. They look at the church as being something entirely different than it actually it really was at the beginning and that's why I want to spend some time looking to see what did the church actually do? What were they as they gathered together? What are the things that were important in that fellowship that would give to us a sense that this was something that was going to last beyond just a few years? That was going to last until the Lord Jesus Christ came. Because Jesus said that he was going to build his church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. And when he made that statement he was making it clear that he intended the church to pass the first century and to move on until his return. And so what is it that the church was supposed to be and what did the church do? And so here in Acts chapter two we have a chance to look at that together beginning at verse 42 where it says they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostle. Now all who believed were together and had all things in common sold their possessions and goods divided them among all as anyone had need. So 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 and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. So by way of background Jesus had commanded his followers to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. And so they were all in one accord in an upper room in the city of Jerusalem and the day of Pentecost fully arrived. And when the day of Pentecost came upon them as they were praying in this upper room the Holy Spirit fell upon them and the church received what is called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They poured out of that room and as they were mingling outside they were speaking in unlearned languages tongues magnifying God praising God and as they were doing so people who were witnessing that began to think that they were drunk. As a matter of fact they began to accuse them in such a way and the Apostle Peter said these men are not drunk as you suppose since it's not something that has occurred as a matter of fact what this is is a fulfillment of God's promise that he gave to Joel when Joel said your sons and your daughter shall prophesy and he began to share concerning this event that had taken place he explained a spiritual experience with scripture and as he did that as they were there and receiving the word of the Lord many people got saved as a matter of fact it says here in chapter two verse 40 and 41 with many other words he testified and exhorted them saying be saved from this perverse generation than those who gladly received his word were baptized and that day about three thousand souls were added to them so in one message three thousand brand new believers came into existence but the question has to be asked now what do you do what is going to ensure that these new believers actually grow in Christ you see in Colossians in chapter two verses six and seven Paul said now just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord you must continue to live in obedience to him he said let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him so you will grow in faith strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done let your roots sink deeply in him he said and grow in him so what do you do what do you do to encourage a large group of people to grow in spiritual maturity what is going to transform a group of strangers into a community of like-minded Christians and what is it that will keep them from remaining a group of religious strangers because if you're not careful that's exactly what groups just like this become a group of religious strangers a group of people who show up in the same place at the same time but are very much like people on a bus all looking in the same direction but going in different places and not knowing the person next to them and so what is it that's going to happen what is going to keep them from remaining a group of religious strangers you know organizations aren't necessarily built on a requirement for people to actually know one another I was reading just today that as of January 2015 Apple incorporated claims to directly employ 66,000 employees in the United States alone many other jobs are attributed to Apple including 627,000 created to support the iOS ecosystem the company's 265 Apple stores employ about 30,000 retail employees I read how General Motors has approximately 280,000 employees worldwide and that Ford has some 213,000 employees so you can be part of any number of large groups and not need to know anybody personally you can be part of a political party or a military division you can be in a union of fraternal organization you can be part of medical teams or athletic teams educational groups and they don't require members to get to know one another and they especially do not make as a requirement that you love one another I think about that for a minute out of the multiple thousands of people that are part of Ford and and GM and and Apple out of the multiple thousands of people there is not a requirement for you to love one another not a single one you don't have us you put your signature on an agreement to work for this company and you don't ever read where it says to be part of General Motors I promise to love one another you just don't have that because to be part of such groups does not require a changed heart and it doesn't require a changed life they mean simply be good groups to be part of but that's as far as it's going to go but the church is different we have been specifically commanded to be different than the world we are a group of people that are intentionally volitionally to love one another because that's how God designed us God designed us to fellowship first with him into fellowship with one another and this love and I know how difficult it is to love it's easy to love those who are lovely let's put it that way it is it's easy to love those who love you isn't it I mean it's pretty easy I mean if you've got somebody that you're you're married to or dating or whatever and they say I love you and they treat you well and it's easy to love them of course they have the good sense to love you after all so naturally it's easy for us to love them in return it's really not that hard to love somebody who loves you but it is difficult to love somebody who who doesn't it is it's difficult to have that general loving attitude towards people but the Bible says very clearly that believers Christians are to love one another I've mentioned this to you before I'll give you a few scriptures just to support this but it's interesting when you do pick up the Bible and you begin to read and you look into you know different Bible helps that you can get there's something called a concordance and I assume most of you would know what that is it's a it's a book that has all of the major words in the New and Old Testament so if you're doing a personal study and you want to know where the word unity how many times it's used how is it used and things like that you can go into the concordance and they're different concordance they have strong concordance and crudence concordance and young's concordance and they're just various concordance you know young is for the young and strong for the strong and crudence is for the crude you know so you can get these concordances you can use them you can look the word unity or love or whatever major word you not only can find out where that word is used and when it's first used all the way from Genesis to Revelation but you can also find the Hebrew definition or in the New Testament you can find the Greek definition and we all know that so if you have a concordance and you look the words one another you do a word search for one another especially in the New Testament it's just an amazing thing that you begin to see that the church is designed as a one another thing there's there's there's no room in the New Testament for for an isolated Christian it's not something that you practice by yourself now of course I must be quick to say there are times that you may be isolated but not by your own will there may be times that you're the only Christian in your family for example you may be the only Christian on the job and and all of that I understand that I'm not saying that it's not possible to be the only one in a certain location at a certain time but God in intents for us as believers to have community and the first thing that he ever says in scripture I've told you there's many times in the in the context of marriage but the first thing that he's ever said that is not good is when he says it's not good that the man should be alone because we have been created to have relationship with God and one another and the church is created now to have that now I realize that that's a threatening concept to a lot of people because a lot of times people will come to larger churches for the specific reason of hiding amongst the people that's why they come it's not because they're so edified so much as it's a great hiding place but in reality what God has called us to is his fellowship in community accountability and and when you read the Bible and and I'm assuming all of us do as you read the Bible you'll find that there are a lot of passages that speak concerning the fact that we are to love one another in John 15 17 Jesus said I command you to love one another Romans chapter 12 verse 10 love each other with genuine affection take delight in honoring each other Hebrews 13 1 continue to love each other with true Christian love 1 Peter 1 22 now you can have sincere love for each other as brothers and sisters because you were cleansed from your sins when you accepted the truth of the good news so see to it that you really do love each other intensely with all of your heart that's the mark of Christianity somebody once said that he got better counsel and fellowship in a bar then he gets in his church think about that for a minute you know bartenders they just serve you the drink I've never been a bar kind of used to come bar flies I've never been a bar fly I've never been one who hangs around in bars I got saved before I 21 I just never went into bars but I've had plenty of friends who have and I heard the stories you go in and person behind the counter you can talk to him I guess after a few drinks you may walk in you say I don't know anybody here I kind of feel creeped out I don't know anybody after a few drinks you probably saying to yourself these are probably my best friends in the world the bartender just listens to you and counsels you sometimes yeah you think so sells you another drink and they feel accepted so we have to make a choice and I this is what's on my heart that's why I'm sharing it because I really want to make sure that we as a church always have a biblical view of why we get together that's why I'm teaching this tonight just to remind us you see there are 3,000 new believers in Jesus Christ so what can be done to make this group of deciders into maturing disciples what is going to make it possible for them to become all that the Lord wants them to be the early church obviously began in a healthy way and it provides a model for us what was the life of the church centered on what can I learn from it well one I want you to notice in verse 42 how it says they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine first thing that's mentioned they centered their attention on the word of God they continued steadfastly the word steadfastly is a Greek word that means remaining steady under pressure they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine in the teaching of the Apostles and so the first thing I want to point out is the word of God God's word brings together the body of Christ and equips believers for works of service to God so as a Calvary Chapel ministry teaching the Bible is what we would call a distinctive we believe in the systematic teaching of God's word because God's word equips the saints for works of service in Acts chapter 20 verses 26 and 27 Paul said it like this he said therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole council of God that's why when he said whole council of God that's why when we gather topical studies are not my norm that's why we go through the books because the way to have the whole council is to go through the whole council there is a difference between teaching out of the Bible and teaching the Bible you can teach out of the Bible and have a good study but teaching the Bible to something different it's an A to Z kind of proposition you pick up Matthew you start with verse 1 chapter 1 you go to the last verse the chapter 28 you've taught the Bible but if you pick and choose that's called topical studies we do that as you're seeing a series right now but normally we want to take you from the A to the Z from the Alpha to the Omega from the beginning to the end Genesis to Revelation so that you can have a full account of the works of God and so that's what he calls us to do and you see this conviction to teach out of the word of God is what fuels the ministries of many Calvary pastors it's what gives you this strength to be able to speak the truth in 1st Peter 411 it says if anyone speaks he should do it as one speaking the very words of God and so when you go through the word of God you are speaking it with the courage and conviction that this is God's work and that's where all of that strength comes from that's the conviction that fuels ministry so as a church we became we made a decision rather to become a fellowship that takes the Bible seriously because that's how you're gonna not only know and this is important I don't know what the Bible says but that's how you're gonna experience the God of the Bible that's how you're gonna grow here's a verse for you as a beautiful scripture John 14 21 listen to what Jesus said he said he who has my commandments and keeps them he it is the loves me and he that loves me shall be loved of my father and I will love him and will manifest my self to him you want God to reveal himself to you do you want to have a closer a tighter walk with God obey him he said if you have my word and you keep it you love me and when you have my word and you keep my word I will manifest myself I will reveal myself I will openly reveal myself to you so you're reading the Bible one morning for your devotions and a verse sticks in your mind and you go to work and you're talking to somebody and before you know it you see the door is being opened up for you to share a little bit about the Lord and you get scared you know because many of us are shy many of us are reserved and we live in a society that that says I don't mind if you go to church but just don't bring the church to the job I don't mind if you believe the Bible but please don't be pushing that down my throat they are though you're speaking to somebody and and the door is open and you sense the Holy Spirit speaking to you and if you're anything like me or you ever experienced this for me there have been times when my heart begins to rapidly beat and I oh God God you're provoking me or did I just have too much caffeine this morning what's going on you know how and so before you know it you just take a chance you open your mouth and ask the Lord to fill it and you begin to share and and before you know it you know two three four minutes later you've shared the gospel with somebody and you walk away just saying Jesus you manifested yourself to me you manifested yourself to me you showed up you showed up oh what a joy that is I have to tell you what a joy that is when you open your mouth in the name of the Lord and God fills it with his wisdom and you say sometimes to yourself oh that was so good I should have taped it put it on K wave others should hear it this is good stuff you see there's there's such a powerful joy and Jesus shows up it's just so powerful it's so exciting you know and and Jesus promised that he would he said I will show up you see Paul told Timothy that by teaching that by teaching the man of God may be made completely mature and that's how it works that's done through God's word by the Spirit of God you see these new believers were submitted to instruction and they were hungry for the word of God and they constantly were turning to the apostles for instruction their hunger for the word of God demonstrated that they were saved Job 2312 says neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food in Psalm 119 103 how sweet are your words to my taste yes sweeter than honey to my mouth first Peter 2 verse 2 as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow there by you see there's an evidence that you have a relationship with God because you have a hunger for his word one of the ways that you know a child is healthy as the baby wants to eat got two grandbabies right now one of them is nine month I actually have seven grandchildren now but I have one that's nine months old just turned nine months old yesterday Zoe and then we have little David you know the youngest and little David's about three three months old now and I can tell you we know they're healthy because they scream when they're hungry they make some noise when they're hungry because babies when they're healthy are normally hungry when babies are sick that's when mama notices something's wrong with baby because she didn't want to eat he's not hungry and that's how you can test your own spiritual life are you hungry are you hungry for the word of God not just on Wednesday or Sunday are you hungry on Tuesday and Thursday and Friday and Saturday also on Monday are you hungry for the word of God when you get in your car and you're driving somewhere now what is your number one pick for whatever station you listen to and why do you pick that station is it a teaching station is it a station where you can hear some teaching to grow in your knowledge of Jesus Christ just what's it all about because that's how you can test your hunger for the Lord no I'm not saying that there aren't other things to read if you want to read sports magazines or books and yeah I'm not saying that at all please don't misunderstand what I am saying is there's just a hungry in your heart for God's word and you feel yourself first thing in the morning the way that you eat breakfast if you have an opportunity later on during the day you get into the word if you're driving you by yourself you're capable of listening to the radio and you want to hear something find yourself listening to praise music worshiping the Lord or turning on a station where we're teaching of the word of God is and that just is how you feed yourself and that's what he says as a newborn babe desires sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby have a hunger for it because that's how you demonstrate that you truly have been saved it's that hunger and that's what they did they continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching or doctrine secondly they continued steadfastly in fellowship now fellowship point in a the gathering together in community when I was first saved fellowship gathering together was a new concept to me and many of you are the same way so I can say it like this very independent I was very independent very self-sufficient gotten to the point in my own life where there were very few people that I actually cared to hang around with I had friends and I'm not saying I was Mr. lonely or anything like that but it just wasn't you know one of those things and so I could have one or two friends and all and I still by and large still have a similar personality in terms of that kind of thing like that's why I told Maria says good thing I'm a one woman man you know I've never been one who wanted to have four or five girlfriends at the same time they have always just I'm a one person person that's where I am and that's just how I'm made up and so when I when I got saved I'm starting to see that if I don't have friendships if I don't have people around me who are like-minded then it's easy for me to move in the wrong direction because what they want to do is pretty much what we'll all do I was talking to somebody just this weekend one of the ladies who went to the retreat and she was saying to me I was talking to her just yesterday and she said that she was so blessed to be at the retreat she said you know I'm making Christian friends she goes because in the past she says all I've had are our non-Christian friends and and non-Christian friends well they don't want things of the things of the Spirit of God they don't want those kinds of things and so she said whatever they were doing I would generally just go along with it she says but to be at the retreat this this weekend was such a blessing because I was around women who loved Jesus and want to want to grow in him and she was telling me she said and that provoked me that that made me want to have more friends who love the Lord and just like we heard just a moment ago with one of our little ones you know I have to let go of some so I can cling to others the ones who love the Lord you know what I did a long time ago as I began to divide my relationships up into mentally in my own heart ministry and friendship ministry and friendship I didn't abandon those whom I loved they were still people I loved but I saw him as ministry I didn't see him as friendship because friendship is two people standing shoulder to shoulder looking in the same direction but ministry for me was looking at them trying to get them to glance to something greater than themselves and so what I learned to do was to divide that up and so my friends became those who encouraged me in the things of the Lord and my other ones whom I at one time saw as my dear friends became a ministry so I could pray that God would open their eyes that they would have relationship with Jesus also and so God has called us to have relationship with those who love him you see again I had to learn that when I first got saved we would go to Calvary Chapel and we go to a friend's home to pray afterwards and worship and fellowship and our spiritual life was all centered on Jesus's word and fellowshiping with one another and as I mentioned a moment ago the Bible makes it clear that we've been created to have community Jesus designed the church in that way as matter of fact he modeled that if you look at Mark 3 14 it says Jesus appointed 12 designating them apostles that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach that they might be with him so the Bible makes it clear that we're to fellowship with one another that's why we have the different things like retreats and conferences and and things of that nature so that we can be together John 13 34 says a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I've loved you Romans 12 10 says be devoted to one another and brotherly love honor one another above yourselves Romans 15 7 accept one another then just as Christ accepted you Romans 16 16 greet one another with a holy kiss Galatians 5 13 you my brothers were called to be free but do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature rather serve one another in love Ephesians 4 2 be completely humble and gentle be patient bearing with one another in love Ephesians 4 32 be kind and compassionate to one another forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you Hebrews 10 24 25 let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the day approaching first on 1 7 if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another the blood of Jesus has sent cleanses us from all sin one another one another one another it's an intentional thing you can you can forsake the assembly of yourselves together or you can attend to have relationship I made the choice to have fellowship why because I need it because it's not good when I'm alone I need accountability no I'm not going to run off and sin tonight don't worry about it you're not going to find me in a bar and if you found me in the bar what are you doing there no it's just that for the last many years of my life I've realized how deeply I need people deeply I need people I need people because they can encourage me from that perspective and I need people because I can be an encouragement to them so we encourage one another we need one another again that's something you decide to do and it's something you work at and no it's not always easy sometimes it's tough a third thing and I'll touch this briefly they continued step-fastly in the breaking of bread this can carry with it the connotation of keeping what are called the foundational ordinances of the church they celebrated communion but they also celebrated baptism so when it speaks concerning the Apostles Doctor and Fellowship breaking of bread it was more than just a meal that they had but they actually celebrated the reality of what made them one and that would have been the body of Christ that would include the idea of baptism because those are sac what they call sacramental elements of the church and then they continued step-fastly in prayer they were a praying church let me ask you a question here if this ought to catch off guard hope it does didn't hit me until just half hour ago how many of you have somebody praying for you right now right now raise your hand that's good all of you can raise your hands do you know why because we have men right now in the sanctuary right now who are praying for you right now every time you come to church on Sunday morning all three services we have men who are in the prayer room every Sunday morning all three services praying for you when you're in church did you know that if you didn't you know it now they're praying for you right now it was a praying church we have women who have women's prayer during the week we have prayer meetings often in this church every day of the week there's someone praying for me every day of the week there's someone praying for this church every day you may not know it but now you do as a praying church they would take the petitions before the Lord and they would ask God to move it's an interesting story Peter and John the apostles had been taken into custody by the religious leaders the Jewish religious leaders they had been preaching and they had been asked the question and what gives you the right to preach the message that you're preaching and so in response to that question Peter actually preaches a very powerful message to them and as a result of it you as he's sharing with them they have to let them go and so in the apostle Peter and John are released they go back to their fellow believers and and they report what happened and I want you to turn your Bible to chapter 4 for just a moment and I want you to see what happened because in chapter 4 verses 23 through 31 well that passage records what they did so in Acts 4 23 listen to what happened 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 heard that they 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 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 now notice first 31 and when they prayed when they had prayed the place they were assembled together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God with boldness what is the secret of boldness prayer prayer God hear our cry God give us strength God deliver us and that was the key prayer is the backbone and prayers the backbone of every church prayers the backbone of this fellowship this entire church is energized by prayer when we have the national day of prayer observations and various prayer meetings that sometimes we will have or when we call the church let's gather for prayer you ought to put that on your priority list to be somebody who prays what's the result verse 43 says fear came upon every soul many wonders and signs were done here's something else the early church was filled with an expectation for God to move they sought the Lord and God would move in unusual ways in mark 1620 it says the disciples went out and preached everywhere the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that a company did you know it's I I read a survey where people who stated that when they went to church they didn't ever encounter God I really think that you need to come to church with an expectation that you will because God is waiting to encounter us he's waiting to encounter us we just need to come with this attitude and expectation that he's going to and they had that eager expectation and God met them in special ways in verses 44 and 45 it says all who believe were together and had things in common they were a generous church they loved one another and they helped one another in Galatians chapter 6 verse 10 it says as we therefore have opportunity let us do good unto all men especially into them or of the household of faith they were a generous church they saw a brother in need and they would meet the need they had parcels of land that they would sell they gave to the apostles the apostles distributed their finances to take care of the brothers it wasn't a and sisters it wasn't communism it was pure love and they cared for one another the church can do that the church is able to do that and in this fellowship I've seen many people do exactly that they see a need in somebody's life and they meet that need that's the mark of a Christian the mark of a Christian you might want to mark this in your own heart is generosity it is more blessed to give than to receive and I have discovered something I'm sure you have to you can never out give God you can never out give God when you're generous that is one of the evidences that God is working in your heart because my heart and my wallet have a chain attached and God doesn't have me give so he can do anything other than to train me to be like him giving isn't how God raises money giving is how God raises his children to learn to be generous to be givers my wife Marie is very generous with my stuff she really is my little David any of you know him you may not know this me if you don't know this you really don't know him that well then I'll tell you like this he is probably one of the most generous men I know by far he's always been he's like his mama Marie is very generous and I've seen his generosity from the time he was a little boy a little little boy when his friends would come over the first thing he would do is he'd come up to me and say dad can we give him some soda can we give him this and it wasn't just because Dave liked soda it was like he wanted to entertain his friends daddy can we give him this can we give him that he was very much that way I've shared this with you before and he was he was just a few years old we're in Mexico we walk by a lady as we walk by a lady and her child I was looking at my son frankly you know be honest with you I I really wasn't noticing the lady to the degree that I should have but as we walked by I noticed my son looking down at this lady and she was she was seated with the baby and her hand was out or she had a cup or something and we walked past her and I looked down at David and he got real quiet and David was real talkative he still is real talkative and we crossed the street and now I'm watching him closely and we're walking and looking and I can see him looking across the lady that we had just passed and so I stopped and I said son what's wrong and he didn't say nothing daddy I said something's wrong I said you're sad why you said and he says I'm not sad I said no you're sad I said are you sad because you saw that lady and that baby and that baby doesn't have any food you said about that yes daddy I said would you like to give that lady some money he said yeah I said get a job no I said shouldn't have said that break in the moment would you like to give her some money son yes daddy so I gave him some money and I said go give it to her he ran to the corner I watched him he crossed safely across the street he ran back up the street put money in this lady's little little coffee can or whatever he came running back up to me with a smile in his face and the Lord taught me something through that little boy be generous be generous we are so blessed by God be generous to others that's the mark of the church and then finally they witnessed they were witnessing verse 46 continuing daily with one accord in the temple breaking bread from house to house they ate the food with gladness and simplicity of heart praising God having favor with all the people the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved they were together not simply weekly by the way but daily their fire was increased and they became joyful and they became satisfied and they became filled with praises to God and that kind of group of people desire they desire to serve and to evangelize things that occurred in the early church they serve the Lord the fellowship they had joy they had simplicity they had a rich worship experience and an effective outreach to the community I'll close by saying this and this is true if there's I gained nothing from saying this so please I might have some cynics in this room that's okay but I mean this sincerely I love this church because for a lot of reasons I love our church but there are so many people I know in this church who are just such good people they're just loving people they're just caring people they're praying people the generous people they're serving people I love this church I love this church because the evidences of God's spirit is upon so many we have our stinkers yeah that's true but who hasn't been a stinker once in a while all of us go through our ups and downs and all of us can be less than we want to be but I have to tell you you know I've had opportunity in the past to consider leaving this fellowship and pastor in other churches and I've never given it a second thought you know I've never no I had one person asked me a long time ago have you ever considered trading churches and and I smiled no I've had other opportunities where I could get up and move on it's not because I love Chino so much but I have to tell you I do I love the city of Chino it's a great city it's a good city I love I love Chino very much but it's not because it's my favorite place on the face of the earth it's because Marie and I could never consider being anywhere else because we love our church we love our people the church is people we love you guys very very very deeply fully committed to you because I see these things in you I do prayers generous givers people who love people who are hungry for fellowship people who love God's word you couldn't ask for a better church I have a friend David Guzik he was here recently very good teacher excellent teacher the Word of God just a couple weeks ago I was talking to him when he was here and he said and I'm saying this to encourage you he said David he goes you've got a great great church he said they're so loving they're so hungry for the Word of God he said it's a great church and I said yeah it is it's a reflection of me no I said yeah and they're humble too so I just wanted to commend you I've had that so many times I've heard that many many times many times guest speakers friends of mine they'll tell me that we love your church love speaking there it's a pleasure I want to come back again I hear that all the time that's a combination to you may God bless you guys may we be the church may we be the church may we hunger for God's word for the breaking of bread for prayers for fellowship may we be generous may we take his word out this world's in need of Jesus Christ may we have a heart for evangelism see the lost saved and watch God transform lives