The Common Life
Sermon Notes
BIG IDEA: The filling of the Holy Spirit leads to THE COMMONALITY OF ALL PEOPLE.
INTRO: WHY THIS SERIES?
We are slowly making our way through the book of Acts. We are calling this study, EMPOWERED.
The reason we are spending time in Acts is that we believe the Holy Spirit is real. We believe that The Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus in our lives and his role is to empower us to live in our full potential as we seek to follow Jesus with our whole lives.
As we are discovering together… The early church had such a real encounter with the Holy Spirit that their faith, courage, and confidence is at another level.
Jesus has ascended into heaven and his promise of the Holy Spirit falls on his followers and they are filled with the presence of God… Peter then stands up and preaches the Gospel and 3,000 people respond and get baptized AND OUR ADDED TO THE CHURCH.
Luke has started this book with his foot on the gas pedal and the passage we are in this morning allows us to take a deep breath and to take in all that has happened so far.
But more importantly, we are going to see the kind of lifestyle God has designed us for that flows from the outpouring of the holy spirit.
READ ACTS 2:42-47: I AM TITLING THIS MESSAGE THE COMMON LIFE AND I WANT TO speak to you around the thought that the filling of the Holy Spirit leads to THE COMMONALITY OF ALL PEOPLE.
PRAY
THE COMMON LIFE
I want to begin by reading a portion out of the book “Life Together” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
“It is true, of course, that what is an unspeakable gift of God for the lonely individual is easily disregarded and trodden under foot by those who have the gift every day. It is easily forgotten that the fellowship of the Christian brethren is a gift of grace, a gift of the kingdom of God that any day may be taken from us, that the time that still separates us from utter loneliness may be brief indeed. Therefore, let him who until now has had the privilege of living a common Christian life with other Christians praise God's grace from the bottom of his heart. Let him thank God on his knees and declare: It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together:
I think this is such a good thought for us to begin with because like anything else in our lives that we are familiar with it is easy for us to overlook the things in our lives that are blessings from God.
As I look out and see each of you right now I feel so grateful for you. I am honored to call you my friends and family. There is no one I would rather do life with then each of you.
I think it’s important for us to recognize how blessed we already are. That God has already given us so much. He has given us the greatest gift we could ever receive. Community.
I think it’s important for us to stop and pause and thank God for allowing each of us to be a part of this amazing church.
There is no limit to what God wants to do in us. There is no cap on how God might want to grow and expand our community because there are people all around us all the time who are looking for what we have right here.
However, living in community with others doesn’t come without barriers. Right now, 3 million people call Orange County home. We are surrounded by other people all the time.
Studies show that we are connected to people more now than any generation before us and yet we are the most lonely and isolated generation of all time. This study was done before Covid!
What does this tell us? Just because you are surrounded by people all the time doesn’t necessarily mean you are in a life-giving, Jesus centered community.
Just because you come to Canopy on Sundays doesn’t necessarily mean you have relationships and community with others.
As Josh was talking about last week, chances are the kind of community that the early church lived in most likely – you have never experienced.
For me, this is really sad. Somewhere along the way the church made decisions to major on minor things and minor on major things. And it turns out one of those things we have minored on is the one thing the early church majored on. Community.
Does this mean we throw our hands up and surrender to the fact that we will never have this? I hope not. I am a pastor today because I believe that the commonality among believers is everything. That our spiritual formation and discipleship to Jesus comes down to the type of community we are in.
Can you imagine being a part of a community where commonality was a reality? A place where everyone is on the same page moving in the same direction? That no matter what comes our way. No matter what challenges we face. No matter what season we find ourselves in, our first reaction is to link arms and face it together?
To be a community where one grieves. We all grieve. To be a community where one celebrates and we all celebrate.
This is what we are created for. So, my hope for us is that we can be a place that reclaims commonality in our world… but more so in the church.
That we would be a church that is compelling to our neighbors, city, county, and world.
So, let me give you 4 thoughts on COMMONALITY that I see in this passage that I hope will point us in the right direction and help us to be a community that is known for our COMMONALITY.
4 THOUGHTS ON COMMONALITY…
COMMONALITY BRINGS HEAVEN TO EARTH. (READ 42-43)
Verses 42-43 give us a picture of the perfect church. This is what church is meant to be.
The teaching of scripture, living generously, sharing meals together, praying for one another, signs and wonders. These 5 things are central to the way of Jesus and as a result these are the things that are the foundation for a church to thrive.
Isn’t this what we all want? Isn’t this what we are all looking for? Can you imagine how different this world would look if all the churches looked like this?
If you follow Jesus… This is what you are called to bring to the world. This is the Lord’s prayer in action isn’t it?
I think when Jesus prayed, “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven I think this is what he meant. So, when we pray this prayer after every Sunday gathering this is what we are asking for!
What I find most powerful about heaven and earth coming together is the fact that I get to participate in it! We don’t sit back and watch it happen.
Jesus followers are supposed to be heaven on earth people. We are NOT called to be people who wait for heaven… THERE ARE GLIMPSES OF HEAVEN ALL AROUND US!
Prayer, generosity, sharing meals together, the teaching of scripture, and signs and wonders make absolutely no sense unless heaven and earth are supposed to be joined together.
We get glimpses of heaven today when we share in these 5 practices.
COMMONALITY PROPELS RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH EACHOTHER (READ 44)
VERSE 44 describes the very first church as “having everything in common.” Commaniality is essentially equality.
(EX). Commonality is what we are all looking for in a relationship. Whenever I meet someone new - the very first thing I do is try to find common ground with that person.
Whether it’s a shared hobby, same interest, or knowing the same people.
Commonality draws people together unlike anything I have ever seen.
Who wants to be in a relationship with someone where the other person believes that they are better than you? Anyone?
For this very first church, they were redefining a word that had a negative understanding… To be common meant that you were less than. So to say that they had everything in common implied that they approach relationships with humility.
The question that was on their mind all the time when it came to relationships with each other was, “who benefits”? If I benefit then it is not good for this community. But if you benefit then I know we are moving in the right direction.
I think it’s important to make a clarification. To have everything in common doesn’t mean uniformity.
Commonality doesn’t mean everyone needs to look, act, talk, and dress the same.
Uniformity is exclusive in nature and rejects individualization. Uniformity suggests the same thoughts, beliefs, and practices. If you have different thoughts, convictions, or live differently… you are out!
Unfortunately, there are churches and religions that have this kind of culture.
I believe that commonality celebrates diversity.
Commonality fights to understand before being understood. Commonality has a listen first mentality and then speaks the truth in love.
Commonality believes we are all equal. We are all sinners in need of a Savior. So, we can all live life together even when we disagree on things.
This doesn’t mean that commonality doesn’t have any convictions or shouldn’t speak the truth.
The very first church put their stake in the ground on core convictions… Like the death and resurrection of Jesus. That’s the banner in which they operated under. Everything else was a conversation. They never let their differences divide them. That all came later with the more churches they planted.
But we have to fight for relationships with each other. Often the easy thing to do is to walk away when it gets hard. Opposition will come against us. People will disagree with us… that’s ok!
Many of those who were a part of the first church plants during the first century were killed by the very same people they preached Christ to!
Not everyone will accept the common life. But some will. And our passion is rooted in seeing the ONE says yes to Jesus and to choose the Common life.
COMMONALITY FUELS GENEROSITY (READ 45)
Living a generous life is one of our values as a community because scripture makes it clear that if you are in Christ… You are called to be a generous person.
I love that the word used in this passage is the word “share” and the image I get is a healthy family living under the same roof.
For example, in my house the couch, the food in the refrigerator, and the TV are not just mine… For Jessi and my 3 kids everything in the house is ours. We share everything. Even though our kids have a difficult time understanding this sometimes.
Likewise, the church is to operate as a family under 1 roof. We are all brothers and sisters.
We share in the same baptism, faith, community, and the breaking of bread. We can also share our resources, finances, and belongings!
No matter how big or small the church is… the church is called to be a place that is known by its generosity so that we can all thrive and have all of our needs met.
Jesus says in Matthew 10:8, “Freely you have received so freely give.”
When we live in a place that understands how generous God has been to us we cannot help but be generous with others… without expecting anything in return.
As we talk about living generously we are not just talking about what we do inside these walls… We are also talking about how God might want to use us outside these walls in our everyday lives and how God might want to use Canopy in this city through each of us?
We see in verse 45 that the commonality between people was sharing what was most valuable to them and selling what was of excess.
So, it’s not a lifestyle that gives away everything just because. It’s a lifestyle that lives simply so that you can give generously.
COMMONALITY LEADS TO REGULARITY. (Read 46-47)
As one of the pastors of this church, I don’t think there is anything I love more than seeing you all spend time together. Not because you have to but because you want to…
Just this past week, one of our tables got together and went for a hike in Joshua tree, and other group of people have been going surfing together. I know this can seem like a small thing but actually this is a sign of a healthy church.
Being a church that enjoys being together MORE THAN 1 DAY A WEEK is so important. Why? Because it’s so rare! I believe this is what makes us different from so many other churches. I believe the church is to be a Monday-Saturday church!
Sadly, the American Church has pinned itself into a corner and that corner is Sunday mornings.
Growing up in the church and hardly ever missing a Sunday… A phrase I have heard more than any other is, “see ya next Sunday.”
When I hear that I just grieve in my soul because there can be so much more life and relationship that happens outside of Sundays.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Sundays! Sundays are essential for our discipleship in Jesus. We must gather together to worship, sit under the word of God as it’s preached, and use the gifts God has given us to serve.
However, when our faith becomes boiled down to just one day a week I think we are operating outside of our strengths as people who are filled with the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead.
BTW: New studies show that the average church goer attends church 1 Sunday a month. Just a couple years ago that number was twice a month. So, the church is not only losing ground during the week, the church is losing ground on Sundays.
I don’t say that to shame you. I say that because I think we need to watch our lives closely (As Paul says in 1 TIM. 4:16) so that Canopy can become the kind of community Jesus wants her to become.
Canopy can only become her full potential when we are together regularly.
The early Church met regularly. Like every day. In other words, they were together more than they weren’t. Not because they had to… but because they wanted to. There was no other place they would rather be!
I think that’s inspiring. Let’s be a church that is known for how regularly we meet up. Let’s be a church where we are together more than we are separate.
We have plenty of opportunities for you to be with other believers regularly during the week.
(EX). Sundays, mid-week tables, seek first is starting back up, Westside Nights every month, Improve lessons every Saturday morning. We have stuff going on, how can you lean in?
Thank you to so many of you who already are. You are a gift to this community and we have made it this far because of your investment.
INVITATIONS
Lean into this beautiful community we call canopy church. Take the next step. Growing in your relationship with Jesus is all about taking next steps. The moment you stop taking steps forward with Jesus is the moment your relationship with Jesus becomes stagnate and boring.
What does the next step look like for you? For some of you it might just mean being more consistent here on Sundays. That’s ok. You have to start somewhere.
Others, it might mean tithing?
For others, it might be serving kids, youth, hospitality, worship, or sound. So yes, I encourage you to step into these things but please don’t fall into the trap and think that this is all there is to your relationship with Jesus and Canopy church. There is so much more potential for you here.
JOIN AN EXISTING TABLE
You can find all the info on our app or on our website. My contact info is on there so you can email me… or just talk to me after the service.
LEAD A TABLE
We have come to learn that leading a table here at canopy works best when you invite others in to join you.
The Witticks did an amazing job at this. I would encourage you to pick their brain on this!
HOST A TABLE