Unity and Generosity in the Early Church

1. "And that is the first thing that we need to remember today, is that Jesus's kingdom is not a kingdom of this world. He said so in John 18, when he was on trial, he said, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews, but my kingdom is not from the world. So the kingdom that Jesus is talking about, the kingdom of heaven, isn't a matter of political power or military might, but it is a kingdom that is rooted and grounded in the steadfast love of God." [00:22:45] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "It's already here because the king has come, and he has begun his reign in glory over his creation. He has been victorious over sin and victorious over death itself. And he calls people, he calls us to participate in his kingdom as kingdom citizens living in exile in this world, with the church as the embassy where kingdom values are lived down. And so his kingdom is already here, and yet it is not here yet. It has not yet been consummated." [00:23:44] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "And in the passage that we just read for today, we see the kingdom breaking through in the unity of the believers. So one of the clearest demonstrations, one of the clearest declarations of the coming of the kingdom is the unity of the church. It says in verse 32 that they were of one heart and soul. So there was a unity among the members of that church. And the sort of unity, the oneness that they experienced, was a unity of hope, of faith, a unity of intention." [00:28:13] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "And Jesus said that this sort of unity would be one of the key pieces of our witness to the nations. In John 17, we read what's commonly known as the high priestly prayer. And this is Jesus praying over his disciples before he is arrested. And he prays and he says, I do not ask for these only, talking about his disciples, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. That's the people that the disciples taught. And that's us too." [00:30:28] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "When we believe in Jesus, when we believe what it was that he said about himself, that he was the Messiah, the Son of God, who has come to save his people from sin and death, then the language that Jesus uses there in John says that we become one with him. And because you are one with him and I am one with him, then we are one with each other. The church, the gathered body of those who have repented of their sins and trusted in Jesus has been made into one, with one heart, with one soul, with one set of motivations, with one set of desires." [00:32:25] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "But what we are called to as the church of Jesus Christ is a greater unity that is built on a greater unity. A greater foundation. Because we are united and we are made one with one another through our faith in Jesus. And that unity is intended to be a testimony. It's supposed to be something that is without precedent anywhere else in the world. It's supposed to be a strange thing." [00:34:04] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "In living our lives together in unity, we are testifying. We are living out, we are bearing witness to what it is that Jesus has done for us. And that sort of unity that Jesus called us to has to be lived out. Unity isn't just a nice feeling or an abstract idea that we talk about, but unity is something that we have to live out in our day-by-day, hour-by-hour lives." [00:35:14] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "And through our faith in him, through believing in this gospel, we receive forgiveness from our sins. We are born again as new creations and we receive the sure and certain hope that one day he is coming again to restore all things. And this salvation, the way that he has saved us is motivated by love." [00:45:05] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9. "In the good news about Jesus, we hear of a Savior who loves us, who saw us in our suffering, who didn't have to save us, but he did. He did so through an act ultimately of extreme generosity. He gave up his life so that we could have life. And if we are going to claim to be followers of his, then we must do the same. We must, as individuals and as a body, be prepared to love and to serve others through our generosity, especially those who are our brothers and sisters." [00:54:45] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10. "Because to the extent that we are loving and trusting money to provide for us, to keep us safe, to meet our needs, we're not going to be able to do that. We're not going to be able to be generous the way that the Bible tells us to be. And so Paul reminds Timothy, in 1 Timothy 6, to remind us, '...as for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty,' that's prideful, high and mighty, '...nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.'" [00:58:23] (52 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)