As we near the end of this 5G series, I want to make a series of appeals.
* First, is that like God, we make it our practice to be overflowing with GRACE.
* Second, is that we become rich in GENEROSITY like God.
* Third, that we’d leverage our GIFTS to serve others—putting the kaleidoscopic array of God’s grace on display. Now last Sunday we introduced the concept of GROUPS.
* Fourth, that like the Father-Son-and Holy Spirit, we’d make it our practice to be rooted together in community.
If ever there were a GROUP in which GRACE overflowed, rich GENEROSITY was shown, and GIFTS were freely expressed it would be within the Triune Fellowship of our God. And this isn’t an exclusive GROUP. God has opened himself to freely receive all who would believe! And on those who believe God has showered even greater grace, generosity, and spiritual gifts! He has sprinkled the blood of his Son, and his Holy Spirit.
I think one of the most powerful passages on small groups is 1 John 1:1-3. John says, “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—that life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us. And indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”
If you’ve heard, seen, observed, touched, tasted that the Lord is good… if you’ve enjoyed rich fellowship with the Father-Son-Spirit in your Christian life… wouldn’t you want to open that same experience up to as many people as possible? John is saying, “we have fellowship…” but we want you also to have fellowship with us.
If the essence of the Kingdom of Heaven is life with the Father, life in Christ, life by the Spirit of God… then what we’re doing as God’s people is creating little pockets of fellowship, everywhere two or more are gathered, where heaven can touch earth, where the Kingdom of God can be welcomed, and felt, and extended.
There were a series of verses I was mulling over this week. They are quite familiar and express how LOVE ought be the defining mark of our Christian faith. First, all of the Law and Prophets…everything God ever asked, expected, or commanded of humankind… can be boiled down to two commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” And, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Out of the overflow of our vertical Love for God, comes infinitely broad horizon human relationships. In John 13:35, Jesus declares, “By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” And 1 John 4:7-8: “Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love...”
These past few days I was listening to the news, about the stabbings in New York. As these victims we’re attacked, their attacker screamed, “Allahu Akbar” which means “God is great…greater…the greatest.” I’m not saying this to be cute or clever. But our rallying cry as Christians is “Ho theos agape estin.” That’s Greek for “God is love.” If you think about it, the first century middle eastern world already knew the Greatness of God. What they didn’t know was the Father. And what most perplexed them was God’s great grace, great generosity and kindness, great gifts, especially the gift of His own Spirit. God’s great love that he’d welcome even his enemies into eternal fellowship with himself. Ho theos agape estin! God is love! By Ho theos agape estin all men will know you are my disciples.
We live in a “digital” 5G world. Think about how much time and energy is spent manicuring our social media profiles. What is it that we want people to most know about us? What do we want them to most see? Here is my new tattoo. Here is what I’m eating for lunch. Here is some cool thing I’ve been doing, or place I’m visiting, or hobby, or interest, or meme, or clip, or thought I’m having, or mood I’m in. Is God’s love what we most want people to know, see, encounter through us? Ho theos agape estin
This quickens my conscience as much as any text of Scripture. In 1 Corinthians 13:13 Paul explains how nothing is more central to all of Christianity than faith, hope, and love. But then he says that the greatest of these by far is “love!” And… You can speak in the tongue of angels, prophecy, understand all mysteries, possess all knowledge, have a faith that moves mountains, you could go and give away all your possessions to the poor, you could give up your body to be burned in flames… but if you do not have love, it was all for nothing. NOTHING! If our church experience isn’t about love, it’s nothing.
Imagine the shock so many churchgoers will have on that day Christ returns—the millions who were deceived into thinking the defining mark of Christianity was personal peace, prosperity, self-fulfillment, loving self… God will say, “show me who, show me how deeply you loved. Show me your family. Show me your two, your three, your people, your church, your community, your small group… Show me who you’ve loved!” At the death of his close friend Lazarus Jesus wept. Even Jesus’ chief antagonists exclaimed, “See how he loved him!” What do people most see in you and me?
Now did I just go on a tangent about love after talking about groups? Nope. For love to matter (and not be nada)… it needs a community, a context. Love doesn’t take root, much less bear fruit and flourish, in a vacuum. Ho theos agape estin. For Theos so agaped the world, he sent his one and only son in the world. God sent Jesus to bring heaven to earth… and the first act of Jesus’ ministry after his baptism was to build a small group first of 2 then 3, then eventually 12. And the 12 grew into community of men and women… then 50, then 120, then 500 believers, then thousands upon thousands on the Day of Pentecost. If God’s love needed context how much more does ours?
Do you know what the first practice of the Early Church was? Well, after their baptism on Pentecost, what do we read? You know! Acts 2:42-46, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.” (NIV)
Fellowship. Together, Together, Together. Their impulse was to create spaces where the Loving Trinitarian Fellowship of the Father-Son-Holy Spirit could be known, felt, tasted, experienced and then extended outward to include all who believe! Their love for God necessitated they create a context and space to love one another. 1 John 4:7-8: “Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God…”
The most natural (spiritual) impulse we should have should be to want to gather, to make God’s love tangible, real, and seen. The world doesn’t believe when they hear us sing about love in our church sanctuary. They believe when they see it in our marriages, our families, house to house, home to home. The rest of the story of Acts 2:42-46 is verse Acts 2:47…“They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (NIV)
Its Acts 5:14, 6:7, 9:31, 16:5. When love is rooted in fellowship, when love is given a place to show up, a home, a living room, an address… when its given priority… the Lord causes his church to grow, multiply, flourish! How is that GROUPS are so central to God’s Nature, and so central in the ministry of Jesus, and central to Church from Pentecost forward… and yet have become so peripheral, optional, unnecessary to believers today? It’s not a priority. We’re too busy. We think, “It’s good that man…that families be alone.”
Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching." (CSB) In a world provoking hate, violence, and evil… Ho theos agape estin. Let’s make our mark. Let’s provoke one another to love! Let’s start a new habit while today is still called today.
Appeal: Three of our greatest needs.
Greatest Need is for Men & Women who can facilitate Acts 2:42-47 Groups.
Greatest Need is for Men & Women who can offer hospitality, place for others.
Greatest Need is for Men & Women to “Group”… to “Gather” for sake of Love.