Great Power, Great Grace, Great Fear | Acts 4:32–5:11

Today I want to compare church to steak. The reason I want to do that is because I love steak. Kat loves steak. We really enjoy eating steak. So, I think about times, on very special occasions, when we've gone to some place that is really good at serving steaks. Look. If you're a vegetarian, I'm sorry. Just pretend like I'm talking about tofu for the next three minutes. We're in the same family in Christ, but on this, we're in different places.

I think about some meals we've had on special occasions. It's the type of meal where you don't want to get full because of how good every bite is. Every bite, you find yourself saying, "I think this might be the best steak I have ever had." It's so good you have to tell other people about it. "Oh, you have to go here. It was incredible."

Then I think about a steak I served my family. It was a steak that I sous vide for our family. If you've been on that sous vide journey with me, it's still a work in progress. We're moving along. There was one early on that I just didn't season well. It was good; it just wasn't great. Like, we weren't not going to eat it, because it's steak, but with each bite, it was kind of like, "Okay. There's just not that much taste here."

Then I think about a steak I ate this past Monday. We picked up steak. You're like, "Who picks up steak?" The Ateek family does. We picked it up from a place that is usually cheap and good. That's a great combination when you get to steak…steak that is cheap but good. On Monday night, it was only cheap.

I cut into it, and when I looked in the middle, there were all of these gristle lines, and in the middle…not on the sides but in the middle…there was this big section of fat. I took some bites, and I was like, "I'm just going to power through. It's steak." Then I was like, "Even I cannot power through this." In the end, it was practically inedible, and we ended up throwing out the majority of the steak.

So, if I'm comparing steak and church, my question to you is…What type of church is Watermark Community Church? What type of steak is Watermark? Different people might have different opinions. We want to be a church that you're like, "God is doing something. He is doing something in our midst that we can't help but tell other people about. Like, you have to come and experience the satisfaction in Christ that is happening on a widespread basis among the people of God."

It's possible for us to be a church that is good but not great. It's like, "I'm not going to stop going. I mean, it's church. We're supposed to be at church, and it's fine. It just is what it is. It's church." Some churches get to a point where it's all gristle. It's so tough and so inedible you just want to spit it out and have nothing to do with it. Which one are we? Again, different people might have different opinions.

When we look into the book of Acts and look at the first-century church, the first-century church was the finest cut of steak. When you look in the book of Acts, what you see is people looking at one another like, "I can't believe we get to be a part of this. God is doing something so soul satisfying in our midst." So, what is good and right for us to do is to look at the first-century church and talk about how we can look more like the first-century church.

Some people ask the question, "Is the book of Acts prescriptive or descriptive?" My answer to that question is "Yes, it is." Yes, it is descriptive, and yes, it is prescriptive. Some people go so far to the side of saying it's just descriptive of one time in history. When you do that, I think you cut the legs out from the church, because you start ignoring what God has always wanted the church to be, and you stop seeking to experience it now.

So, what I want to do is look at Acts, chapter 4, and I want to identify three essential ingredients to us being the finest-cut-steak church. That's the title of the message: "The Finest-Cut-Steak Church." That's the message today. I'll tell you the three essential ingredients. This isn't an exhaustive list. There are other things that have to be true of the church, but we can't go without these three things. They are highlighted in the passage by the word great. The word great is repeated four times in the passage, and it highlights the essential ingredients. The essential ingredients are, first, great power; second, great grace; and third, great fear.

So, look with me at Acts, chapter 4. We're going to be in verses 32 through chapter 5, verse 11. We're going to start with great power. That's the first ingredient. We see that show up in verse 33. Look at what it says. "And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all." We're not going to spend much time talking about great power because that's what the message was last Sunday. It was a message all about great power.

What do we find the apostles doing? We find them, in the book of Acts, testifying to the resurrection of Jesus Christ with great power. That's different than what we've seen from the apostles even just a few months before, because fear and failure were part of their story. One of them straight up denied Jesus, and the rest of them deserted Jesus. Yet you turn to the book of Acts, and what are they doing? They are boldly, with power, declaring Christ.

What has changed? Well, the Holy Spirit has come, the Holy Spirit has filled them, and they aren't moving forward with the spirit of fear but of power. Isn't it incredible news that the same Holy Spirit who filled the apostles is the same Holy Spirit who lives inside of you and me? I just want to remind you that great power is available to you. You can have God stories this week. Don't forget the message from last week. You're like, "What was the message from last week again?" Go back and listen to it. God wants to use you.

I was so encouraged to get messages from some of you this week saying, "God used me this week. I experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in my witness." I think about one story. One of you emailed me. This girl was at Starbucks and saw a woman sitting at a table who was carrying some sadness. This Watermark member went and got in her car, and before she turned the car on, she sensed that the Holy Spirit was jumping up and down inside of her, like, "Let's go! This is it."

So, she got out of the car, went back in, and had an opportunity to engage with the woman and pray with this woman. This is what we all get invited into. You can have your own God stories this week. Great power is available to you. Ask God, and he will give you opportunities. Great power is a key ingredient to being one of the finest-cut-steak churches.

The second ingredient is great grace. Look at verse 33 again. It says, "And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all." Great grace. The picture here is that the church is in a season where God is pouring out his favor and kindness upon the church. This is a season where members in the church are looking at each other, like, "How great is this, and how amazing is God to lavish us with his kindness."

In the four-plus years I've been at Watermark, this is what I've prayed for our church off and on. For those four-plus years, I have found myself at different times praying, "God, may great grace be upon us." If you want to know how to pray for your church, pray that great grace would be upon us.

What was happening in the first-century church that would cause Luke, the author, to say, "Great grace was upon us"? Well, Luke highlights two things that were active in the church. I don't think these were the only two things that made it a season of great grace, but Luke wants to focus us on these two things, at least in this passage.

The first thing that was true of the first-century church that made it a season of great grace was that there was supernatural unity in the church. Back up to verse 32 and look at what it says. "Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul…" Now, good Bible students, when they're reading, and it says, "Now the full number…" A great question to ask is "What number is that? How big is that number?"

Well, if you do some investigation, you find in chapter 4, back in verse 4, the count of the number of men who had believed was 5,000. Here's what that tells us. Five thousand men had trusted Christ. That doesn't account for women and children, though we know women and children were coming to faith as well. So, it is safe to conclude that we are talking about a people that is now more than the roughly 10,000 adults, students, and children who gather at Watermark on Sundays. That's what we're talking about. That's the full number.

That full number of people, over 10,000 people, it says, were of one heart and one soul. Do you know what that is? That is supernatural unity. The reason I think it's important to highlight the number is that if there was a unity among over 10,000 people in the first-century church, it means it is possible for that to happen with the roughly 10,000 adults, students, and children who are coming to Watermark Community Church. When you hear "10,000 people," and you hear the word unity, the natural conclusion is "Unity is going to be a little tough. It's just too many people."

But in the first century, you had over 10,000 people from different backgrounds. If you don't believe me, go read Acts, chapter 2. Different backgrounds, different socioeconomic statuses, different opinions about the music, different preferences when it comes to things you like and don't like in church, different wirings. You had people who were type-A people, people who were type-B people, yet they were unified. How was that possible? It was a supernatural unity. This is what is possible when everyone is filled by and led by the Holy Spirit.

So, my question to us is…Are we unified? Let me bring some clarity, because I've been talking about the Holy Spirit a lot since the beginning of the year. One of the reasons I've been talking about the Holy Spirit a lot is because the book of Acts is all about the works of the Holy Spirit accomplishing the mission of Christ through the people of God.

Some people have been nervous, like, "What's happening? What is he talking about when he's talking about the Holy Spirit?" Well, let me just bring you some clarity. What is the ultimate aim of the Holy Spirit? If you look in the gospel of John, the ultimate aim of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus Christ. Do you know how you know when a church has transitioned into abusing the Holy Spirit? It's when they glorify the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's aim is to glorify Christ.

So, if the Holy Spirit's greatest aim is to glorify Christ in and through us, here's what I want you to think about. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit…meaning, the Holy Spirit truly controls your life…here's what happens: Christ becomes your greatest joy, being ruled by Christ becomes your greatest privilege, pleasing Christ becomes your greatest aim, and displaying Christ to others becomes your greatest contribution, both to the church and to an unbelieving world. When that is true for 10,000-plus people, the result is supernatural unity. It's a church marked by great grace.

So, this is where you have to evaluate. Is Christ being glorified in your life because you are walking by the Spirit, being filled by the Spirit, and led by the Spirit? Let me just ask you to evaluate. Is there any aspect of your involvement here at Watermark that isn't glorifying to Christ? Only you will know. Is every aspect of your involvement here at Watermark submitted to the rule of Christ?

Even right now, is your attitude toward church pleasing to Christ? You're like, "I don't even like you asking me that." Is your communication with leadership or your communication with your Community Group or your communication with other members pleasing to Christ? Is your commitment to your Community Group or your commitment to giving or serving pleasing to Christ?

You have to remember our privilege. What's our privilege? Jesus hasn't just saved us from our sin; Jesus Christ has saved us into a family. He has made us part of a body, and he has given us his Holy Spirit, and his Holy Spirit gives us both the capacity and the ability to be filled by him for the sake of Christ's body and the betterment of his church. The result of that is supernatural unity.

So, let me just say this. I said this a few weeks ago. The elders and I firmly believe we are in open water. You think about a sailboat. As elders, our sails are up. We want what God wants, and we are asking for the Holy Spirit to fill our sails and carry us forward. So, my ask of you is to not be an anchor when we are in open water.

I just want to be abundantly clear. All 10 elders are so excited about what God is doing and where we're headed. If you don't believe me, go ask them. Every elder is so excited about what God is doing and where we are headed. We have a staff of over 200 people who are working hard to move forward in unison. The elders and I have heard from so many of you who are so excited and encouraged about what God is doing in our church.

So, here's what I want to say. If you're struggling to be unified with us, here's my question to you: How can we help? If you're struggling to be unified with us, if you have questions or concerns, how can we help? Let's get you unstuck. If you're jammed up right now, let's work through it. I can't sit down and have 7,000 one-on-one coffees, but I will stand up here after the service. If I can help, then come down.

If the Lord is saying, "Look. You've been stuck for too long, and it's time to move forward. It's time to shed some stuff. It's time to drop some weights," then let's go, and let's go together. You have to remember the Holy Spirit's goal is to unify God's people. If the Holy Spirit's goal is to unify God's people, then you have to remember Satan, God's enemy, our enemy, will absolutely seek to divide. Do not let yourself be a tool of the Enemy, sowing seeds of division in Christ's church. How can we help? We want to help.

I'll share this with you, and I hope it's an encouragement. I was at a speaking engagement a couple of weeks ago, and I ran into the parents of one of my childhood friends. The way I met this friend was through involvement at the church I grew up at. So, I asked his parents, who I hadn't seen in 18 or 19 years, "Hey, are y'all still at the same church?" They were like, "Yep. We're still there." Which tells me they've been at the same church for probably around 40 years, maybe longer.

I know this church. I grew up at it. So, here's what that means. It means these people have seen and stayed through the church's highest highs and, certainly, the church's lowest lows. I know those lows because I actually lived through them. When I asked the mom if they're still at the church, she said, "Look. I grew up in a small town. You didn't change churches because there wasn't another church to go to. So, your church… You were at that church."

Then they got married, and they were in Dallas. She was like, "Look. We don't change churches. This is our church." That's their church. Do you know what it takes to be at the same church for 40 years when the church goes through really high highs and low lows? It takes a mentality that doesn't say, "What am I getting out of the church?" It takes a mentality of, "What am I giving? What am I giving to the church? How does God want to use me to build up his family?"

The reason I share that with you is not to say you should never change churches. That's not what I'm trying to get at. Here's what I do want to highlight, though. The normalization of church hopping has brought something very ungodly and un-Christlike into the church. It has brought a selfishness and a self-focus that doesn't smell of Christ at all.

Here's what you have to remember. When you always have the option of going somewhere else, church can be all about you. It can be all about your preferences. It can be all about your opinions. You can focus more on what you are getting out of church than what you're giving to it, and you don't ever have to die to yourself at church. I just want to remind you Mark 10:45 says that even the Son of Man (that's Jesus Christ) came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

I hear people express this mentality of "I'm just not getting much out of church." Okay. Well, what are you giving to the church? Ask yourself that. Maybe God has you in a season where he wants you to give. I'm not even talking financially right now. We can talk about that in a minute. I'm just talking about you, giving yourself to him in worship, giving yourself to him in discipling the next generation.

Radical, supernatural unity. The first thing that made this a season of great grace was there was supernatural unity. So, we've talked about great power. We're still talking about great grace. There are two things Luke highlights. The second thing that was active in the church to make it a season of great grace was that there was radical generosity. Look back at verse 32.

"Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common." Verse 34 gives more detail. "There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need."

Luke focuses on one person to give an example of what this looked like. "Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement)…" How would you like to be known as "Son of encouragement"? What are you the son of? Son of drama. Son of gossip. Son of criticism. Son of negativity. I want to be the son of encouragement too. That's a good example.

"…Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet." We've talked about this before, but I want to say it again, and I'll probably keep saying it until it actually begins to sink in for all of us. When Christ is King, everything changes. One of the things that changes is our view of our stuff. It changes the way we view our stuff, because we are no longer owners of our stuff; we are actually stewards of his stuff.

We begin to view everything in our lives as belonging to him. So, it is his body. It is his house. If you have a lake house, it's actually his lake house. If you have a ski house, it's actually his ski house. If you have a car, it's actually his car. If you're like, "I have a bike," it's his bike. Your bank accounts are not your bank accounts; they're actually his bank accounts. Your portfolio is actually his portfolio. It's his money. It's his talent. It's his time. It's his gifting. It is all his.

Imagine what happens when 10,000-plus people are all in agreement, "We don't own anything. We steward everything." Imagine what happens when 10,000 people stop asking the question, "How much am I supposed to give of what is mine?" Instead, imagine what happens when 10,000 people all ask the question, "How much do I keep of what is his?" Those are two totally different realities. Just imagine what would be true of the church.

So, let me just observe a couple of things of what's happening, and let's try to apply them here. The first thing I want to observe is that there was a collective desire in the church to make sure everyone's needs were met. People gave sacrificially, which means no one was self-focused. Everyone was looking out for the needs of others and wanting to make sure that everyone had what they needed.

I just want to encourage you. This is true of so many people in our church, and this has been true in every year of Watermark's existence since the beginning. Watermark has always had people who have always viewed their stuff as actually God's stuff, and they've always wanted to make sure the church is being built up.

I just want to make sure you know that your giving goes toward meeting people's physical needs. To encourage you, just recently, because of your generosity, we were able to release on your behalf \$10,000 to the ministry OurCalling to support the cold weather shelter just weeks ago, and we were able to release \$5,500 to Watermark Health to support the care they provided at the shelter during the ice storm. That's because of your generosity and what God released through our church.

Then, I just think about the regular stories we hear about what's happening in Community Groups. I think about a Community Group that, not too long ago, had a member whose car was totaled in an accident, and she couldn't afford a new car. Her group took the lead in raising money to meet her needs of groceries, rent, and a car. They ended up buying her a new car. Yeah. Let's pause and celebrate that. That's incredible. That's just Acts, chapter 4, at play. That's just regular Watermark members saying, "This is what we do. We care for one another's needs."

Another Community Group just recently decided that together they're going to cover the monthly costs of rent, utilities, Internet, and food while one of their members faithfully seeks employment. That's just the norm around here, which is incredible. I want to connect a dot for you. This is why membership is really important at Watermark.

The elders have a conviction that no Watermark member should ever go without food, shelter, or clothing, the most basic of needs. That's why we have our Charis ministry, which means we have money budgeted every year to ensure that no Watermark member goes without the most basic needs. That's one of the reasons membership is important: so the elders know who we're responsible for.

If everyone in the city was like, "You know what? Watermark is giving out handouts. Just go and ask them. They'll give it to you. You don't have to go there. You don't have to believe what they believe. You don't need any of that. They'll just give you stuff…" We can't do that. What we can do… We have a strong conviction that the people who are under our care… We have to make sure everyone's needs are met.

So, the first thing I want to observe is you had a collective commitment to ensuring everyone's needs were met. The second thing I want to highlight… Some of you are not going to like this, but I at least want to point it out to you, and you just have to wrestle with the text yourself. Do you see? It was repeated. What were the people doing? They were selling their property, and then it says they were bringing the contributions and laying them at the apostles' feet, and then it was the apostles who were distributing them.

So, there was a trust in the apostles. People sold property, gave the money to the apostles, and the apostles distributed it. Here's what's interesting. It means people gave their money not knowing exactly who their money would go to specifically. That is the opposite mentality of what many of us take.

Many of us take the mentality of "I'm just going to give to what I feel most passionate about" or "I'm just going to give to what seems most strategic to me. And you elders aren't apostles." You're right. We're not. Yet I would just say there's something in this worth evaluating. Is it possible that part of generosity is not always getting to control exactly what it goes toward? Some of you are like, "But I don't trust you." Okay. Well, let me give you a little window into the elders, just so you know how we operate.

First, I want to make sure you know it's our conviction that generosity should always be a response to God, never a reaction to us. It's our conviction not to coerce you. That's one of the reasons we don't pass a plate here at the church. People are like, "Well, you're missing out on a bunch of money from not passing a plate." Okay. There's a reason we don't pass a plate. We don't want anyone seeing the plate on their aisle and being like, "Oh, shoot! Didn't think about this." You're reacting. No one carries cash anymore anyway. We don't want anyone just reacting to us.

That's why when we talked about CDC, I said, "You should ask God, and if he tells you no, then you shouldn't give." Generosity is always a response to God. Giving of your time, talent, and money is meant to be an act of worship. God has been so generous to us. What does the most famous verse in the Bible say? "For God so loved the world that he gave…" When we give of our time, talent, and money, we're getting to tap into Christ himself and what he is like. God has given us his Spirit, who can lead us in worship through generosity. There's joy waiting for us in generosity.

When you give financially to Watermark or give of your time or talents in serving, you're not just giving to keep the lights on; you're giving to make sure people's spiritual needs are met. You're giving to make sure that the 2,000 kids who will be on our campus today have their spiritual needs met and the hundreds of students who are on our campus will have their needs met and the thousands of young adults who will come onto our campus on Tuesday have their spiritual needs met.

Another thing you need to know about the elders is we refuse to show favoritism to any individuals. What do I mean by that? Well, here's what you need to know. The elders actually don't know what anyone in the church gives. I've heard someone say before, "You know I give a lot of money to this place." We actually don't know. We literally don't know. We don't get reports. We don't know who the top givers are. We don't know who's not giving. We don't know.

That's intentional, because we're not going to show favoritism to people. No one is getting their name on something. You're not going to walk outside and be like, "Have you seen the Ateek pond? Oh man. That new [so-and-so] Town Center. Wow! You should go sit down on the [so-and-so] bench." No one is getting their name on anything. Why? Because it's not about us.

Next, you need to know the elders lead by example. We will not ask you to do anything that we aren't already doing. We each are seeking, and we ask in the elder meeting at times, "God, how would you have us steward your time, talent, and money?" Then, just so you know processes… Every single year, every ministry in the church must present their budget and have their budget reviewed by a team of senior leaders and, ultimately, the elders to ensure that every dollar being spent is to accomplish our vision and that no money is being spent carelessly.

We also seek to live by what we call the newspaper rule, which is that we don't want any of our expenses to make great headlines on the front page of the paper. That's just so you know. If we're going to be a church that experiences great grace from the Lord, I do believe it's going to involve supernatural unity and radical generosity.

So, we've talked about the ingredient of great power. We've talked about the ingredient of great grace. Then, finally, great fear. This is the toughest one. First, chapter 5 starts out and says, "But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet."

Do you see what's happening here? Luke gives an example of one person, Barnabas, and then he gives examples of Ananias and Sapphira. They're doing the same thing. They both sell property. They both bring their money and lay it at the apostles' feet. What's different about Ananias and Sapphira? Verse 3:

"But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.'"

What was Ananias' sin? His sin was that when he gave the proceeds, he acted like he gave all of the proceeds when he only gave some of them. He was living a lie. He's a great example of hypocrisy in the church. He's a great example of playing church. Don't miss what I'm telling you right now. His goal was to appear more godly than he actually was. What we find out in this story is God is not okay with that. He's not okay with hypocrisy in his church. Watch how things play out. Verse 5:

"When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, 'Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.' And she said, 'Yes, for so much.'

But Peter said to her, 'How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.' Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things."

This shows us that God will not tolerate Christians living lies, Christians pretending to be godlier than they actually are. Let's just get really practical. This is going to be weighty, but I need to do it. Let me flesh out practically what this could look like here at Watermark. Here's what it could look like at Watermark to pretend to be godlier than you actually are.

It could be what you're doing right now. You've come to church. You've put a smile on your face. You shake hands. You sing all of the songs. You listen to the message. You serve faithfully. You know the right answers. You give the right answers. People know you as a strong Christian. Some people know you as a strong Christian leader, but the reality is, in secret, you're addicted to pornography or having an extramarital affair, and you're lying about it. You're covering it up.

It can be coming here on Sundays, coming to The Porch on Tuesdays, raising your hands, talking about how amazing God is and what podcasts you're listening to, but then you're going out, getting drunk at happy hours, hooking up on the weekends, leading people on, sending inappropriate pics, or manipulating your boyfriend or girlfriend into doing things physically they don't feel comfortable with.

It could be telling your Community Group your marriage is fine when it's actually burning to the ground. It could be yelling at your spouse on the way to church, then coming in here smiling, shaking hands, singing, and taking notes, just to get back in the car and pick up where you left off.

It could be building your business on Christian principles. People even choose to work with you because you market yourself as a Christian. Or you get connected to one another through the church. People trust you because of your involvement with the church, but then you overpromise and under-deliver, or you lie or exaggerate or misuse money or cheat them or you're condescending, harsh, or easily angered or manipulative with your employees.

All of this is the sin of Ananias and Sapphira. It's seeking to appear more godly than you actually are. It is living a lie. What I need to say to you I want to say clearly and firmly, but I want you to know it is with love toward you. Just because no one else knows doesn't mean God doesn't know, and just because no one else sees doesn't mean God doesn't see. You need to know God does know and God will take action.

So, let me be clear about what this might look like. I just want to be clear. If you persist in living a lie, if you're bent on it, if you're committed to living the lie… It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but if you persist in living a lie, at some point God will expose you. He will. Why will he expose you? Because he loves you, and he loves his church, and he loves his name and his reputation. That's what he did with Ananias and Sapphira. He exposed them.

You just need to know if you persist in living a lie, you might experience health issues. You might. I think about James 5:16, which says, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed." At times, such persistent sin, I believe, could even result in a physical illness that leads to death.

I think it's important to realize that in Acts, chapter 5, we see God accomplishing his discipline in people's lives through the leaders of the church. It's just good for you to know one of the responsibilities we have as elders here at Watermark is to exercise church discipline in severe cases of unrepentant sin, which, in the most severe cases, can include being removed from church membership and being asked not to come onto our campus.

If you hear that as just a punishment, it's not a punishment; it's protection. Our job as elders is to protect the church. Protect the church from whom? To protect the church from you if you're bent on living a lie and walking in unrepentant sin. So, let me just say this. If this talk feels so ungracious, let me just be clear. The church is always meant to be a hospital.

Watermark Community Church is meant to be a hospital. Please don't wait to get well and then come to Watermark. Come here to get well. We want to be a place, consistently, where people find hope, healing, reconciliation, and restoration in the beautiful, powerful, miraculous, healing name of Jesus Christ. But if you refuse to get well, then you become a danger to other people, and we have a responsibility to protect.

So, when we look, the church's response was great fear. Let me just tell you what we have to hold in tension. Is God loving? Absolutely. More loving than you'll ever know. Is he gracious? Full of grace. More gracious than you'll ever be able to experience. Is he forgiving? More forgiving than you'll ever understand. Is Jesus Savior? Yes. Is Jesus friend? Absolutely. But he's also the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is holy, holy, holy.

The only way we unholy people can have a relationship with a holy God is because the Holy God himself stepped out of heaven and into earth and lived the holy life we couldn't live, offered himself as a holy sacrifice for our sin, and conquered death so that, through faith, unholy people could be declared holy by a holy God. That's what it took. That's what it cost. So, let's be clear. Jesus didn't just save us so we could continue freely living in sin. He saved us and freed us from sin, and when we do sin, he saved us so we could repent and walk in freedom.

So, I want to invite you right now to respond. Let me invite you to respond right now to however the Spirit would work in your life. If you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, Jesus lived perfectly for you. He died for your sin. He rose from the dead. If you'll trust him with your life, he'll forgive you today. He'll wash you clean and make you new. That can be yours today.

If you're here today and you've been living a lie, if you've been seeking to appear more godly than you really are, I just want to invite you to repent. Repent. Turn from your sin. Confess it to God. Don't wait until he exposes you. Ask the Spirit to reveal any aspects of your involvement at Watermark that aren't glorifying to Christ, any attitudes, any communication, any gossip, any actions that aren't pleasing to the Lord that might even be divisive. Repent.

You might even ask God to show you if there are any ways he wants you to be more generous with your time, your talents, or your money here with your church family. Carson shared that there's a need with Watermark CDC. You might even ask God now if he would have you give there.

Just do business with the Lord. We're going to sing a song, and as we sing, you're welcome to just sit and respond. You can get on your knees if you need to. You can stand and sing with us. We're just going to sing for a moment, and then we'll be done. We just want the Lord to have his way in our midst right now.