What A Biblical Church Looks Like | Acts 2:42-47

It's so good to be back together this Sunday. I hope last Sunday was great, but it just wasn't the same not gathering together as the people and the family of God. So welcome back to church. I hope you've had a great week. I am truly so excited about what we're talking about today. Before we jump into studying God's Word, I just want to give you a chance right now to prepare yourself to hear from God.

So, I want to invite you right now, if you're willing…no pressure…to open up your hands. It's one way to take a posture of receptivity, like we're ready to receive from God, as the people of God. I invite you to pray for yourself and just say, "God, would you speak to me today?" Then, would you pray for the people around you, your family, friends, and the other people in this room, and just ask God to speak to them as well? Then, I'm going to ask you to pray for me. Would you pray that God would speak clearly through me to you?

Holy Spirit, one of the things you do is you lead and guide your people into understanding and applying the truth of God's Word. So, Holy Spirit, I do ask and pray that you would work freely in our hearts and in our minds to glorify Christ in our church. I pray, God, that not one person would leave today without having a meaningful encounter with the living God.

If there's anyone here today who does not have a real, saving relationship with Jesus Christ, then I pray that today would be the day of their salvation. God, we thank you that we have your Word. I pray right now that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart will be acceptable in your sight, O God. We give this time to you. In Jesus' name, amen.

Kat and I are coffee people. We love drinking coffee. I've said this before, but there are times at night going to bed where I'm looking forward to waking up just to drink coffee in the morning. Like, I'm already prepared for it. I love drinking coffee. I really enjoy it. A couple of weeks ago, Kat said, "I think we should try a pour-over." Any pour-over people in the room? Yeah, some. Not many.

Kat said we should try a pour-over, and my initial response was to discourage it. The reason I initially discouraged it is I just don't think we're pour-over people. It's not that we wouldn't really appreciate and enjoy the taste of a pour-over; I just don't think we would commit to the process. I think there are two things we would find to be true if we really became pour-over people.

First, I just have this vision of all three of my kids racking up a bunch of tardies at school because I'm just sitting there with a kettle, like, "Hey, guys. Just seven more minutes, and then my coffee will be done. No problem. Just wait on Dad." I don't feel great about that. The second thing I think would be a problem is I genuinely don't think we'd commit to the process.

What you need to know about my personality and Kat's personality is that I am a rigid rule follower of a person. I'm still having to break out of that, but I have this tendency of, like, "Well, if that's what you're supposed to do, you have to do it exactly that way." My wife, which is one of the best things about her… This isn't in every situation, but in a lot of situations, she can take an "It'll be fine" vantage point.

So, she bought a pour-over for us to experiment with during the snow days. The thing about a pour-over is that it requires precision. It does. You need to weigh stuff out. You need to get ratios right. Kat, who experimented first, was like, "No, it'll be fine. We don't have a scale, so why would we try to weigh anything? Let's just rule that part of the pour-over process out."

I actually asked Kat to videotape herself as if she were a social media influencer. I said, "I just want you to record it." I don't have the permission to share it with you today, but it was absolutely excellent. It was so good. Let me just say that if you were to see it, your conclusion would be, "Okay. The Ateeks' method of pour-over is unconventional." The reality is we want great-tasting coffee, but we don't want the commitment and effort it takes to have it.

I tell you that just to say I think our experience with coffee is a lot of people's experience with church. A lot of people want a great church experience; they just don't want to put out the commitment or effort that is necessary to have it. You know what you want? You want pour-over taste with Keurig effort. That's what you want with church. You want pour-over taste, but you want it with Keurig effort.

One survey found that among churched adults in the United States… Do you know what the average weekly attendance per month is in the United States? People who would say, "Yes, church is an important part of my life," find themselves at church 1.6 times per month. Some of y'all are like, "That's pretty good." Wow! That's not good. That's not great. See, we want pour-over taste with Keurig effort.

If you're tracking with us in Join the Journey, we just spent the entire week looking at the first-century church. If you were to go and read Acts 2:42-47 (which we're going to do today), what you see is a community of thousands of people who are all collectively experiencing joy and awe to the deepest parts of their souls, and they're sold out in worship.

Let me just ask you… When did that describe you? When was the last time your life was marked by joy and awe in worship? What you need to understand is God has rigged the game. If you want to be a follower of Jesus Christ who is truly marked by joy and awe to the deepest part of your soul in worship, it is connected to an all-out commitment to his people known as the church. That's what you see in Acts, chapter 2.

No one was saying, "You know what? My walk with Jesus is private. It's just Jesus and me. We'll just kind of do our thing. I don't need other people. I don't need organized religion. I don't need the church." To take that mentality is to take God's Word, throw it in the trash, and say, "I know a better way, God."

So, I'm just telling you today we are people here at Watermark… And this is where you can evaluate if Watermark is really the place for you to be. We want pour-over taste, and we're willing to give pour-over effort and commitment. That's it. This is not a place to be comfortable in casual Christianity. If you don't know Jesus, keep coming back. You're always welcome.

But if you're looking for a country club, let me ask you to just watch online so you're not taking up space, because here at church, we're not going to be a church that looks like the American church; we're going to be a church that looks like the first-century church. We want to be a biblical church. Period.

So, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to show you what the church looked like in the Scriptures, and then I'm going to call us to live out what we see and to settle for nothing less. If you have a Bible, turn with me to Acts 2:42-47. (I am taking a steroid right now for some sickness, so if I'm extra amped today, I apologize.) Let me just read you the whole section. This is biblical church. Throw out your conclusions, your opinions, and your preferences. Just look at what the Scripture says the church is to look like, and you decide: Are you in or not?

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common.

And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."

Here's what I want you to be clear on. The first-century church was a God-glorifying, Christ-exalting, Spirit-empowered church. Are we? God the Father's sovereign plan is to rescue a people. How did he do that? Through Christ the Son. God, the eternal Son, put on flesh, Jesus Christ. And how does he do it? It's the Spirit of the living God who comes and moves in God's people.

But it will require a wholehearted commitment from every member. Here's why I say that. Look back at verse 42. It says, "And they…" It says, "And" because this is a continuation of what just happened before. What happened right before this? Well, Peter crushes a sermon and 3,000 people trust in Christ. The church goes from 120 people to 3,120 people. It says, "And they…" Who are the they? All 3,120 people. It says, "And they devoted themselves…"

When you read that word devote, it means continuously, constantly, steadfastly, relentlessly. It's the idea of putting the throttle down and never letting up. This is what marked not just a few crazy Christians; this is what marked the people of God. If you were a Christian, this was your reality. All 3,120 people saying, "I'm all in. Continuously, relentlessly, I am all in."

Do you remember group projects in high school? Some high school students, you experience it now, but do you remember group projects? You either loved them or hated them. You loved them if you were kind of like, "I'm going to get with a smart person and let them do the work, and I'm just going to kind of enjoy all of the benefits." Was that anyone here? No one wants to admit to that. Then there were the people who hated group projects. You hated them because you were the person who carried your group.

Watermark is a big group project. Which role are you playing right now? Just think really quickly. Which role are you playing? Are you the one who's just drafting off and enjoying all of the benefits of other people's work or are you one of the people who is like, "I'm all in. This is the work of God. Of course I'm all in. Of course this isn't a part of my life; this is the point of my life, to be all in on what God is all about"? So, let me just show you what needs to be true of us in order for us to be a biblical church.

1. There must be a radical commitment to God's Word. It says, "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching…" The picture here in Acts, chapter 2, is 3,000-plus people committed to the apostles' teaching, which now makes up the New Testament. They wanted to hear the apostles' teaching. They wanted to understand the apostles' teaching. They took joy in discussing the apostles' teaching in their homes throughout the week. Then, 3,000-plus people were committed to being led by the Holy Spirit in living out the apostles' teaching. It changed the way they looked.

That's what is supposed to be normal for the church. Is that what is normal and widespread here at Watermark? In Acts, chapter 2, you see thousands of people with a radical commitment to God's Word. Is that the reality for Watermark? Are we a people made up of thousands who all have a radical commitment to God's Word, who are committed to hearing it, understanding it, processing it, and then living it out by the power of the Holy Spirit?

Look. I want to be abundantly clear. We love the Word of God here at Watermark. We believe God has gone to incredible lengths to get the Bible to us. We believe that the Bible is the inspired, authoritative Word of God, so we submit our lives to all that the Scripture has to say, and we believe that when we open it and understand it, we can hear from God. The way we become more like Jesus is by the Holy Spirit taking the Word of God and causing us, empowering us to live it out.

We love the Bible here. That's why we have men's Bible study and women's Bible study that are just getting going. You should jump in. That's why we have a ministry called Equipped Disciple, which exists to help you better understand how to navigate and enjoy God's Word. That's why we have a ministry called Great Questions, which meets every Monday night. It's an opportunity where if you have questions or skepticisms about understanding the Bible and how we can trust it, you should come and ask any questions so you can understand it.

This is why we have Join the Journey where every day of the week… If you've been tracking, then you know what we're trying to help you do is study the Bible on your own, and we're also trying to help you better live it out. The question is…Do we look more like the first-century church or the American church? Let's just see. Okay? One survey… I just want you to guess. You can call out a number. What percentage of the Sunday sermon is forgotten by Wednesday? It's 95 percent.

Do you know how crazy that makes me feel? I am going on 20 hours of preparation for this, just to share with you and you be like, "That was cute. Thanks a lot. Don't need it anymore. It's Wednesday. Done with that." It's crazy. This is where we need to have a DTR. Do you remember DTRs? What does DTR stand for? Define the relationship. I'm not breaking up with you. Some of y'all are like, "I'm breaking up with you. I didn't renew my membership." Okay. I get it. It's fine. But look. This is a DTR so we can experience greater intimacy with God together.

Let's just make sure we're all clear on responsibilities, because when we come together to study God's Word, I have a responsibility and you have a responsibility. I think a lot of people live like their responsibility is just to show up. It's like, "Okay, I'm here. Now, TA, it's your responsibility to inspire me and move me. If I leave here and don't feel stirred up, if I don't feel moved, then I'm not responsible to do anything with what was shared." I would just say we need to have a DTR.

Let me tell you my responsibility. Here's my responsibility. Starting on Monday of every week, my responsibility is to confess any sin or impure motives that would hinder me from hearing from God in my preparation. Then it's to pray throughout the week for God's movement in my life and in our church.

Then it's to faithfully study God's Word and read scholars and study it to make sure I have understood God's intended purpose for the text. Then my responsibility is to preach a message that will help you both understand God's Word and believe that it should be lived out. That process takes 15 to 20 hours a week. That's my responsibility.

What's your responsibility? It's to be devoted to the teaching. That's your responsibility. That's what the Christians in Acts 2… It says they were devoted to the apostles' teaching. Your responsibility is to put away distractions. It's to ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you. It's to lean in and actively listen.

It's to find the way for you that best captures the truth that's being shared, whether it's taking notes or listening and then leaving and writing down notes. Then it's to have a routine of reviewing that truth and discussing it with others during the week. Then…here's the most important part…it's for you to ask the Holy Spirit how you are to live it out, and then you need to have practical steps you are taking to actively live out the truth.

Otherwise… Just think. You're a steward of your time. If you come here and sit and listen and forget everything you have gotten to experience, in a country where we can freely gather and open up God's Word, when there are people all around the world who don't have this luxury, and then you get to Wednesday and don't remember anything, you're responsible for that. You're accountable to God for that.

Look. I'm not here to inspire you; I'm here to equip you. If you're waiting to be inspired to do something, that's on you. Lean in. Equip yourself and go out and live it. We're not the American church here. We're not going to engorge ourselves on content that we never apply. We'll be held accountable for that.

2. We have to have a radical commitment to life together. Some of y'all are going to be like, "But I'm so busy." Okay. You might have to completely wipe your schedule clean and rebuild it. It says they were devoted to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship. That word fellowship is the Greek word koinonia. It's used 19 times in the New Testament. It carries the idea of participation with, partnership with God and with others. No one was saying, "It's just me and Jesus. I don't need church."

Look at the text. Verse 44: "And all…" Yeah, all. It didn't say, "Some." It didn't say, "A few." It said, "And all…" All 3,120 people. "And all who believed were together and had all things in common." Skip down to verse 46. It says, "And day by day…" This was a daily affair. "…attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts…" I promise you the joy you want to experience is going to come from experiencing life together. There was a radical commitment to life together.

Is that what is true here at Watermark? The American church would say, "You know what? Church is ultimately about just attending on Sunday, and then you go live your life." No. The church is my life. It is connecting with Jesus with God's people all throughout the week. What would that look like for us here? It would mean that everyone who calls this place home has a radical commitment to worship together on Sundays. Your presence in the room actually matters.

Here at Watermark, 1.6 times a month will not be true of us. We believe that gathering together during the week to process God's Word with one another is so important, and we practice it together. We share meals together. We raise kids together. We talk about the Lord with one another. We pray for one another and with one another all throughout the week. We go on mission together. We walk the neighborhoods praying together. We invite unbelievers to experience our community together.

Did you notice how the first-century church went to temple together and then gathered in homes together? For us here at Watermark, that means there is a radical commitment to gathering on Sundays and a radical commitment to Community Groups. No one was like, "You know what? Community Group really is my church." It really isn't. Not if Watermark is your church home. You belong to this body. Okay?

You didn't find people who were all in on community but then bailed on Sunday, and you didn't have people who were all in on Sunday but bailed on community. There was a radical commitment to life together. The reason we have Community Groups here at Watermark is to enjoy life together in a church of thousands.

So, let's just evaluate. Does your Community Group have traction right now? Just answer that question in your head. If the answer is "No," what's the problem, and what's the solution? Don't just keep doing the same thing expecting a different result. Here's what I would encourage you to do. Read this passage and see if what is present in Acts 2 is present in your Community Group. Is the Word of God treasured? Is the Word of God shared? Is there fellowship, sharing meals with gladness? Is there prayer? Is there generosity toward one another? Is there mission with one another?

Maybe the problem is you're so separated geographically it's impossible for y'all to consistently be together and do life. Maybe there's no joy in your Community Group because it has just become about sharpening one another. That's an important aspect of community, but that's not the foundation of community. The foundation of community is what you see in this passage. Maybe it has become stale because you're just focused on yourselves, and what your group is lacking is mission.

I love hearing that there are guys who go together from their Community Group to NorthPark to share the gospel with other people. There's a group that has found another time to be together and to invite unbelievers to jump in with them just so they can experience the joy that comes from life together.

Maybe, for you, your lack of commitment to your group is because your community is different than your Community Group. Like, your community, the people who really know you and you know and you do life with, is different than your Community Group. Look. If that's your reality, where your community is different than your Community Group, can you consolidate the two? We want to have a radical commitment to life together.

3. We have to have a radical commitment to the gospel. It says in verse 42, "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread…" Now, when you read that, it's natural to think, "Okay, that's talking about them gathering in homes to share meals." And that was happening, but this is also a specific reference to taking the Lord's Supper together, which we just did. The Lord's Supper is taken to remember and celebrate the gospel.

That's one way we do it. There are a lot of different ways we remember and celebrate the gospel. We sing the gospel. We take Communion to remember the gospel. We proclaim the gospel in every Sunday message. But that's also why we have ministries like re:generation, re|engage, MENd, Courageous Hope, Grief Recovery, Worth More, Prodigal, Shiloh, Refuge, Divorce Recovery, and so many other ministries. All of these ministries are rooted in the gospel because we believe the gospel transforms our lives. We have to be a church that has a radical commitment to the gospel.

Now, this is where, if you're tuned out, I just want to welcome you back, because this might be the thing some of you need to hear most, and you've been a Christian for 30 years. As I was thinking about this, I remembered that growing up, among boys in elementary school and middle school, there was kind of a fascination with Swiss Army knives. I don't know if any guys ever went through a Swiss Army knife phase.

I was always like, "Man! I want to have that toothpick." How gross and unsanitary is that toothpick in a Swiss Army knife? That's beside the point. I got online and looked at what Swiss Army knife has the most functions, and I found that there's one knife that has 33 different functions. Besides the knife, there are scissors and a screwdriver. There are sewing supplies. There's a magnifying glass. There's a pressurized ballpoint pen. There's the toothpick. There's a nail cleaner. And I'm just naming a few.

What you have to understand is the gospel is the Swiss Army knife of life. So many of us just get the knife, and we're like, "See? I love the gospel. I love the gospel because the gospel is what has saved me so that I'll be in heaven one day." I'm like, "Yes! Isn't that knife blade awesome?" But you understand that you are working with something that is so multifaceted it impacts every area of your life. Every area.

The perfect life, the sacrificial death, the victorious resurrection, the ascension, the current rule and reign of Jesus, the sending of the Spirit…all of that is the good news that changes every aspect of your life. This is where some of you who have been a Christian for a long time really need to listen up, because we think the gospel is just that knife blade. So many Christians, lifelong Christians, live as functional moralists, and you don't even know it.

What's moralism? It's trying to become like Jesus in your own strength. Here's how moralism manifests itself. You'll unearth it in your "need to's." It's in your "need to's." For example, for me, I need to teach my kids about Jesus. I need to pursue Kat. I need to pray more. I need to memorize Scripture more. I need to honor God in the way I work. I need to ask the waiter or waitress if I can pray for them. These are the "need to's."

Now, everything I just said is good and true. Where moralism creeps in is when you answer the question of how you are going to accomplish those things. In what power are you going to accomplish those things? Are you going to do it in your power or are you going to do it in the power that comes as the Holy Spirit applies the perfect life, the sacrificial death, the victorious resurrection, the current reign, and the sending of the Spirit in your life? That's where everything changes.

One of the things I'm trying to work on in my life… The guys in my Community Group and I were actually texting about this this week. I am trying to create more statements to tell myself that start with the words because Christ. Let me give you an example from my life. Just this past week, I had a heavy meeting I needed to be at, and at this heavy meeting, I was going to need to deliver some heavy truth.

As I was preparing for this meeting, everything in me just wanted to tell myself, "Hey, you just need to be courageous. You need to say what you need to say." Do you know what that is? That's moralism. That is trying to be like Jesus in my own strength. So, this is exactly what I prayed. This is what I prayed, informing my heart, preaching the gospel to myself.

I said, "Because Jesus died for me, the 'me' who once needed people's approval is dead. That 'me' has died, and I have been made new. Now I can be rejected because Christ was rejected. I don't need people's approval. He has called me to this." It changed everything about how I walked into that meeting, how I communicated in that meeting, and how I felt coming out of that meeting. Why? Because I was walking in the power of the gospel applied by the Holy Spirit, not in my own strength.

Some of you don't realize it. You're trying to disciple your kids in your own strength. Just watch what we do with the Proverbs. It's crazy. "'As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.' I need to go to Community Group. I need to sharpen you. Let me sharpen you." That's moralism. Do you know what it looks like to apply the gospel to your life?

"Because Christ has come and died, he has not only saved me from my sin; he saved me into a family. Now I have brothers and sisters in the faith. He has given me his Spirit. I can ask the Holy Spirit how he wants me to encourage my brother in Christ, and my brother in Christ has the same Spirit, and ask God to help him be receptive to what I might say so we can move together in Spirit-given unity." That's the gospel. Do you see the difference?

Some of you are like, "I don't know. It just sounds easier to do it my way." Yeah. Moralism is so much more convenient, because it makes you feel more in control. You don't have to do the work of really discerning how the life, death, burial, and resurrection actually change everything. That's why so many people are walking around with a phone in one hand and a power cord in another hand with a dead battery, like, "I don't know what the problem is." Plug it in! All right. That's enough of that.

4. We have to have a radical commitment to prayer. It says, "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." Here's what I need you to understand. In the Jewish worship schedule, Jews would carve out time to pray three times a day, morning, afternoon, and sunset, and they prayed together.

Here's what I need this church to hear. The most biblical churches are churches that aren't just full of Christians who pray individually by themselves in their quiet times; the most biblical churches are filled with people who believe in the importance and power of prayer when we're together. When you look at Acts 2, God actually chooses to bless… God places a priority on his people praying together.

This is a value. I've been here at Watermark now four years. In the four years I've been here, this value is one I'm seeing as the slowest for people to value. I think when I talk about prayer a lot, people are like, "Yeah, yeah, I get it. I pray. I wake up every morning, I read my Bible, and I pray." That's so good. "When we get together as a Community Group, we pray." Keep doing that. That's awesome. But I'm telling you, the picture in Acts 2 is of 3,000 people committed to praying together.

Let me just draw a distinction. We are not a cross-country team; we are a crew team. I ran cross-country in high school. I don't know if I've mentioned that before. (That was a joke.) Cross-country is a team sport that you experience as an individual. You run so much of the race just by yourself, but you're technically on a team.

But you go watch a movie like The Boys in the Boat…crew team… You get in a boat, and everyone is synced up. Everyone is moving in motion together. Nobody is doing their own thing. Everybody is in sync, maximum power to reach the goal. That's who we are. We pray together. We study God's Word together. We listen and are led by the Spirit together. We go on mission together.

I'm telling you, Thursday night at our Night of Prayer and Worship, we were down thousands of team members. I don't know why you weren't able to make it on Thursday. I'm sure some of you couldn't be here because you were at another ministry at the church. That's great. But for those of you who were like, "I'm not going to that," we needed you. Our team needed you. We are a praying church.

J. Edwin Orr is a historian of revivals. He says, "History is silent about revivals that did not begin with prayer." He also went on and said, "No great spiritual awakening has begun anywhere in the world apart from united prayer." I don't know who said this, but someone said, "Every congregation enjoying an outpouring of the Spirit is a congregation revived and alive to the prayer meeting."

R.B. Jones said, "A whole church on its knees is irresistible." I fought back tears this morning at 7:45 as I looked at the number of people who are starting to come and walk this room and heat it up in prayer before you come. It just keeps growing. It's this beautiful sight of people coming together to pray. You're invited. Don't miss out.

5. We have to have a radical commitment to generosity. Verse 44: "And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts…"

Here's what I want you to hear when it comes to generosity. This is where people are like, "Man, the church just wants people's money." Well, let me just tell you, this is not about us getting your money; this is about God having your heart. It's all this is about. When Christ becomes King and begins to reign, you no longer see yourself as an owner of anything; you see yourself as a steward of everything.

Your time, your talents, your money…it's all God's. So, the question you ask yourself changes. The question is no longer, "How much do I give of what is mine?" The question becomes, "How much do I keep of what is his?" Those are two different questions. Which question do you ask yourself? "How much do I give of what is mine?" or "How much do I keep of what is his?" See, the picture in Acts 2 is that there was joy in being generous toward the church with time, talent, and money. The picture is people giving and receiving from the church.

Look. Let me just say a few things. If this is your home church, yet the majority of your giving goes outside of the church, or if there's a resistance in you toward serving in the church or giving financially to God's work here at Watermark, I'm not going to say anything to try to coerce you to change, but I will say it's worth exploring why that is. Like, what's driving that? It would be worth just sitting with the Lord and asking, because when you look in Acts 2, people gave and received from the church.

Maybe the reason you're hesitant to give is because you've told yourself you're a strategic thinker. You've told yourself, "I don't want to just give to keep the lights on." Can you imagine what would happen if everyone took that mentality? The question is…Are you excited about what's happening when the lights are on? Are you excited about 3,000 young adults showing up in this room every Tuesday night to encounter Jesus? Are you excited about the fact that 2,000 children today in our church will hear the gospel and be pointed to Jesus?

Are you excited about the fact that tomorrow night hundreds of people will come here and say, "I want to grow. I want to be changed. I want to be set free from my hurts, my habits, and my hang-ups"? Are you excited about the fact that hundreds of marriages are finding new joy and more freedom? Are you excited about the fact that the elders have this newfound conviction that we're pursuing the discipleship of everyone in our church, which is going to be unpacked?

Are you excited about that? If so, you're not just paying to keep the lights on. But we do need lights in order to do that. Otherwise, you have to go find a church that meets outside every Sunday. Maybe you've told yourself, "I only want to give to what I'm most passionate about." My question for you is…Have you gotten involved enough here to be passionate about what God is doing? Or maybe it's because you don't trust leadership. If that's the case, talk to leadership.

6. There has to be a radical commitment to mission. Did you see how the passage ended? It said, "And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." Why was the Lord adding to their number? Because people were sharing the gospel every single day. I want you to think about this really quickly.

If I were to tell you your homework this week is to go share the gospel with one person this week, what's your initial reaction? Some of y'all are like, "One time? I'm going to share it every day." If that's you, keep going. Go do it. If something in you is like, "Oh geez! Oh man! Are you going to check up on that? Is my Community Group director going to call me and ask me?" Yes. No, just kidding.

But if there's fear, what's driving it? Is it because you don't have much interaction with unbelievers? Okay. Think strategically about how you can get around more unbelievers. If there's fear, what's the fear of? Fear of making things awkward, fear of their response, fear of making them uncomfortable, fear of embarrassment… Name the fear. Then don't jump into moralism where it's like, "Well, I just have to suck it up and be strong." No, you don't. Preach the gospel to yourself. "Because Christ…" What does that free you to do?

"Well, I don't know how to get into the conversation." Okay. Try this. "I believe in the power of prayer. Is there anything you or your family needs that I can ask God to help you with?" I have found, when I've asked that question I don't know how many times over the years, the number of times I've been told "No" I can count on probably three fingers. Try this. "I'm a person of faith. Is faith something that's important to you?" I promise you, you're in the conversation. "Well, I don't know what to share." Practice your 15-second testimony.

Do you know what papier-mâché is? It's a project in elementary school. It's like flimsy, glued-together paper. I think so many of us, when it comes to sharing our faith, think there's this thick brick wall that keeps us from sharing our faith. You just need to know that brick wall is made of papier-mâché. Just press on it, and I promise you you're going to see it fall to the ground. It's not nearly as awkward as you think it's going to be. The jump isn't nearly as big of a jump as you think it's going to be. There's joy waiting for you.

Let me finish by saying this. The reason we ask our members to renew their membership each year is it just gives you an opportunity to tell us if you're all in at Watermark or not. It's your way of saying, "I want to be a part of the work of God here." You want what we see in the first-century church to be true of us here at Watermark. You want pour-over taste, and you're willing to give pour-over effort and commitment.

If that's you, let's go. This year is going to be an incredible year. But if that's not you, don't renew your membership. This might not be the church for you, and that's okay. The elders and I don't find anything exciting about leading a country club of thousands of mediocre followers of Jesus. There is nothing exciting about that, where you pay your dues and our job is to give you the most comfortable and enjoyable experience possible.

People, we are a church. A church is a people who die to themselves and leverage their lives for the sake of being the most God-glorifying, Christ-exalting, Spirit-empowered people of God possible. If you want to be in on that, let's go. If you don't, please don't renew your membership, and let us help you find another place.

I just want to give you an opportunity to respond right now. You've heard the Word of God taught. You're going to forget 95 percent of it by Wednesday. How are you going to take the truth you've heard and live it out? What step do you need to take regarding your Community Group? What step do you need to take with your value for corporate prayer? What's the next step with generosity or the gospel? If you're church hopping, church shopping, I just want to encourage you to ask God, "Where are you calling me to invest?" Just ask him.

If you attend Watermark, but you aren't a member here at Watermark, if you aren't investing your time, talent, and money here, just ask God what is holding you back. Look. If you don't know Jesus, Jesus wants to save you today. He wants to forgive you today. He wants to make you new today. He wants to make you a child of God today. So, right now, you can just invite him into your life. Just say, "Lord Jesus, I want you to be my Lord and Savior. I want to be made new by you today."

Lord, would you have your way in our church? We don't want to look like the American church, God; we want to look like a first-century church. When we open up our Bibles and look at what the church looked like, we want to look at Watermark and say, "Yeah, we're there. We're with you, God." Would you make us a group of thousands of people who are committed to you? We need you and we love you. In Jesus' name, amen.