{"id":10872,"date":"2022-09-25T18:50:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-25T22:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/?post_type=message&p=10872"},"modified":"2022-10-31T09:20:12","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T13:20:12","slug":"be-connected","status":"publish","type":"message","link":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/message\/be-connected","title":{"rendered":"Be Connected"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Below is an automated transcript of this message<\/h3>\n\n\n\nGood<\/i><\/span> morning, church! It is good to see all of you here today. We are concluding our series entitled, \u201cBELONG: The Basics of Belonging to God\u2019s Family.\u201d Over the past five weeks, we’ve been answering basic questions about what it means to be part of God’s family; connected to God’s family. That’s the name of the fifth lesson today, \u201cBe Connected.\u201d How can we be connected to God\u2019s family? What does it look like to be really connected and to recognize how we live together in God’s family?

This series has been inspired by the first segment of our discipleship process, which we have entitled, \u201cLife on Life.\u201d If you are not a part of that, we would love for you to sign up. You can do that on your connection card today and we will get in touch with you.

I have just gotten back from vacation. Thank you, church, for allowing your pastor to go on vacation. Sometimes you have to \u201cretreat\u201d to \u201cadvance;\u201d you have to get some rest so that you can get back to work. I \u201cretreated.\u201d Sometimes you actually do a little bit of work <\/i><\/span> in one of the things. We had a family and we try to do that every day with my immediate family. We noticed that after my parents died, we were haphazardly getting together. Somebody had to do something about it. You have to work at it to stay together as a family. So, we decided that every Labor day weekend we would get together. This is our family photo; this is a requirement if you have a family. You must have a family photo. I set up a tripod with my iPhone. This is my family saying \u201ccheese\u201d for 10 seconds while I run back and get my position.

Speaking of the family, did you know that God wants you to be part of the family? Did you know that? Ephesians 1:5 (NLT) \u201cGod decided in advance to adopt us into <\/i><\/span>his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.\u201d This is what He wanted to do. In God\u2019s universe, He wants you to be part of His family. He wants you to be connected. If God has a family photo, He wants to tape it to the fridge. He wants to hang it over His mantle. He wants to tuck it away in His wallet. That’s what He wants from us.

There’s a problem that we all have been born with a sin nature; it separates us in our relationship with God and one another. The first man and his wife hid from the Lord God among the trees in the Garden. The Lord God called to the man, \u201cWhere are you?\u201d Sin was the first thing that caused them to isolate themselves from the God that loved them.

God will ask that question today, \u201cWhere are <\/i><\/span> you?\u201d Where are you this morning? Are you hiding from God? Are you running from God? God will ask that question, \u201cWhere are you?\u201d God confronts Adam about his sin and injustice. Genesis 3:12 (ESV) The man said, \u201cThe woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.\u201d There is evidence that he was separated from God, but there’s already a brokenness between him and his wife. Sin creates broken families and broken relationships.

That\u2019s what sin does to us. It causes us to pull away from God and from one another. Sin tempts us to isolate ourselves, it leads us to blame others for our own loneliness. It leads to broken relationships, broken marriages, broken families and broken lives. Sin separates.\nEven before the COVID lockdowns, our US Surgeon General, Dr. Murthy, was calling loneliness a \u201cnational epidemic\u201d saying, \u201cLoneliness has real consequences to our health and well-being.\u201d Now he warns that the COVID pandemic has only “exacerbated these feelings\u201d of loneliness.\u201d People have suicidal ideation, depression, clinical depression on and on and on. You <\/i><\/span> know what the problem is? We were built for relationships. We were built for relationships, but sin creates a brokenness in us.

Where are you today? God still asks that question. How are you doing? Are you connected or do you have broken relationships in your family or among your friends right now? How is your relationship with God? How are you doing there? God wants you to be part of his family.

As we look in the book of Genesis, chapter two, remember how God said that everything was good. He made light and that was good. He made the sun and the stars and it was good. He made the trees and the animals; He’s doing good. When He got to the man, He says, \u201cIt’s not good for man to be alone,\u201d so, He made him a helper. He <\/i><\/span> made him a wife. He made us; He built us for relationships. Do you realize that? But yet, sin creates brokenness in us.

We’re going to be looking at the book of Acts today. In the book of Acts, Luke recorded how the first century church was devoted to being connected to God’s family. I believe today we can be connected to God’s family. How do we do this? What does it look like as we look at the text today? I think we’ll see four devotions on how to be connected to God’s family. Let’s dig in.

Acts 2:42-47 (ESV) 42 \u201cAnd they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking breadin <\/i><\/span> their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.\u201d This is God’s word. Amen.

Today, we’re going to be looking at four devotions. Do you see them there in verse 42? These are devotions on how to be connected as God’s family.

HOW TO BE CONNECTED AS GOD\u2019S FAMILY:\n1. Be devoted to studying God\u2019s Word together.\n \nNow in the first century, when the church first began, there was no New Testament yet. The word, \u201capostle,\u201d literally just means \u201cone sent, one who has been sent by another to be an ambassador or representative.\u201d The apostles had seen the risen Jesus; that was one of the qualifications for being an apostle. They had seen the resurrected Lord and been commissioned by Him. They had been empowered and authorized to record what they had seen and heard and to pass it on to the church <\/i><\/span> and that’s the source of the New Testament. In the first century church, they didn’t have that yet.

They were listening to the preaching and teaching of the apostles and they were devoted to that. Today, we have the New Testament, so we today have the apostle’s teaching. We can be devoted to that and we can study God’s work together. The word, \u201cdevoted,\u201d in the Greek has this idea of \u201chaving your face pointed continually before a thing.\u201d In other words, \u201cfocused on it, devoted to it, steadfastly focused on a thing.\u201d

There’s four devotions here: (1) The apostles teaching (2) The fellowship (3) The breaking of bread and (4) Prayers. Let’s just drill down for a moment on the apostle’s teaching; this is what they were focused on. They loved God’s word; they loved hearing it and teaching it. They loved hearing it preached. They loved sharing it with one another. They kept their faces steadfastly pointed toward it. They loved <\/i><\/span> and it created an environment. You can see the outcome. It begins in verse 43 \u201cAnd awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.\u201d

Remember when you were a little kid and everything new was awesome? As you got older, you kind of lost the awe; you kind of lost the wow factor in your life. For those people that love God’s word, the wow factor never ends. God\u2019s word begins to move in your life because our God is an awesome God. As you learn more about Him through His word. I don’t know if it happened to you today, but as we were gathered in worship today, singing together and as you’re listening to God’s word being preached right now, there’s a transcendence that will happen if you will allow it. It’s like heaven; the veil opens for a little bit and it kind of <\/i><\/span> leaks into our own souls and it’s infinite. There’s never a limit to the amount of awe.

That’s what was happening in the first century church. They sensed God in their presence as they studied His word. The word came alive to them. Does the word live in you? Does it come alive in you? Do you love to hear it preached and taught? Do you love to study it? It’s a mark, it’s a devotion of being a member of God’s family. You’re doing it right now. You’re sitting here right now. You got up this morning, you got in your cars and you came here to see this guy talk to you about God’s word. Why do you do that? Because you’re a member of God’s very own family. This is what we do. We’re God’s family. We love His word. It’s been the mark of the church for 2000 years. It’s a wonderful thing.

It says in Colossians that we are to study the word together and help one another. We are to apply <\/i><\/span> it to our lives. Colossians 3:16 (ESV) \u201cLet the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.\u201d

How do you let God’s word live in you? How do you do that? You hear it and you read it. You chew on it and meditate on it until it becomes part of you. If we were talking about computers, we’d say that you download it into your hard drive and let it rewrite the way you think so that it lives in you to such an extent that you are marked by it. Your language is marked by your thinking; you have wisdom now to know how to teach and admonish (which means to encourage) and <\/i><\/span> correct fellow believers. The command right there is to let it live in you so deeply that you teach and admonish one another.

What do we say about the \u201cone anothers?\u201d \u201cYou can’t do the one anothers without one another.\u201d You have to be in fellowship. You have to be in fellowship in order to do the one anothers.

Notice what else they’re doing here. They’re letting the word of God dwell richly in them. But they’re also singing songs, hymns and spiritual songs. There was all kinds of singing\u2013 psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. There was a rhythm to their gathering to study God’s word. If you look at Acts 5:42 (ESV), it says, \u201cAnd every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.\u201d You see this rhythm in large gatherings in the temple and then in smaller gatherings house to house.

We have this practice in our church ; <\/i><\/span> on Sundays, we gather together in a large gathering and then during the week, we have community groups that meet in homes. When you’re studying together like this today, you’re hearing God’s word together, but you don’t get to talk back to me right now as you are thinking through God’s word. Some of you are like me; I’m an \u201cout loud processor.\u201d If I’m in a group of people, I talk out loud about what I’m thinking. Some of your \u201cinternal processors.\u201d I am an external processor; I need to be in a group where we can talk about God’s word. Even people that are internal processors need to be in a group that lasts long enough so they can say something.

There was a rhythm to the early church <\/i><\/span>. They met in large groups like this and then during the week they would meet in smaller groups to study God’s word together.

I want to ask you, are you committed to being a member of God’s family? If you want to be part of God’s family, one of the devotions that you’ll have is that you’ll be devoted to studying God’s word together. Here’s the second devotion:

2. Be devoted to fellowshipping together.

Do you see it in verse 42? That’s the second devotion. They were devoted to the fellowship. Notice those definite articles\u2013the apostle’s teaching. Not just any teaching, the apostle\u2019s teaching. Not just any fellowship. You have heard it said that fellowship is \u201ctwo fellows in a ship,\u201d but fellowship is actually more than that. We’re speaking of Christian fellowship, which is the family of God. You can’t have Christian fellowship without the Holy Spirit being in the room because He’s the unseen member at the table. He’s the one that really makes us <\/i><\/span> one.

I don’t want to overdo it with Greek words today. The New Testament was originally written in Greek, which means common Greek, common everyday language. There’s a Greek word for fellowship; it’s \u201ckoin\u014dnia.\u201d They were devoted to the \u201ckoin\u014dnia;\u201d the fellowship. What makes this unique is that the Holy Spirit was present.

One of the ways that people from the beginning of the church followed the command of Jesus, was that when they received Jesus they would publicly confess Him and be baptized. Baptism is the mark of people that are included in the \u201ckoin\u014dnia,\u201d the fellowship. Baptism represents that you’ve identified with Christ’s death, His burial and His resurrection. Have you ever done that? Have you ever been baptized? That’s how this church started. If <\/i><\/span> you just go back a few verses before verse 42 you will see the context of what’s going on here. It’s on the day of Pentecost. The apostle Peter has stood up to preach. There’s thousands of Jews gathered at Pentecost in Jerusalem. He begins to preach and 3000 people believe in Jesus and are baptized. They went from a small church to a megachurch overnight in Jerusalem.

It says this in Acts 2:38 (ESV) \u201cAnd Peter said to them, \u201cRepent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.\u201d The Holy Spirit makes us have \u201ckoin\u014dnia;\u201d He causes it if we allow it, so that we become one in Him.

Notice further outcomes here. If you look at verse 44, \u201cAnd all who believed were together and had all things in common.\u201d So those <\/i><\/span> words together, \u201cin common,\u201d have the same route of \u201ckoin\u014dnia.\u201d They’re all speaking of oneness and being together; they had everything together.

In verse 43 earlier, it was talking about wonders and signs; there was transformation happening. Lives were being changed, marriages were being healed and made right, relationships with other people being made right, healing was happening in people’s bodies, souls and relationships. This is the outcome of being a member of God’s family, devoted to His word and devoted to the fellowship.

Notice, it says in verse 45, \u201cAnd they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.\u201d Needs were being met. People were no longer saying \u201cthat’s my house, that’s my car and that’s my stuff.\u201d They were saying that it\u2019s God’s house,God’s car and God’s stuff. They had a new paradigm for thinking; a new way of thinking about who they are and who the members of their family are. They were <\/i><\/span> part of the \u201ckoin\u014dnia,\u201d the fellowship.

Some of you might be thinking, Hey, this sounds great on paper. This sounds great, pastor, but I’ve looked around the room and I’m not sure that I want to be a member of this same people group. I know some of these people. I’m not sure that I want to be in the same family with some of these people. Let’s be honest with each other; there’s some people here that have problems. In fact, all of us have some problems. Just look at the first disciples. Look at Simon the Zealot, always talking about politics and driving everybody crazy. Simon was zealous for politics. Then, you’ve got Judas Iscariot always worried about money; always talking about money. Peter tries to boss everybody around. James and John, the sons of thunder, losing their temper over everything. You know what kept them together? It was Jesus. They circled around Him; He’s the centerpiece <\/i><\/span>.

None of us are perfect, but we need to be devoted to the fellowship. Here’s what it says in Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV) \u201cAnd let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.\u201d Keep on meeting together, keep on fellowshipping. \u201cYou can’t do the one anothers without one another.\u201d

Speaking of the Holy Spirit, listen to this benediction by the apostle Paul in his letter in 2 Corinthians 13:14 (ESV) \u201cThe grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.\u201d This is a great benediction, a great blessing, a trinitarian blessing of the grace of Jesus. The grace of Jesus be with you, the agape love of <\/i><\/span> God be with you and the fellowship, the \u201ckoin\u014dnia\u201d of the Holy Spirit be with you all. You can’t have this kind of fellowship without the Holy Spirit. He’s the unseen member at the table.

Church can kind of be like a salad bar. If you look at each of the containers at the salad bar, there’s some tart tomatoes, there’s some spicy peppers, there’s some ordinary lettuce, some crunchy carrots and maybe even a little smelly cheese, but it’s really not a salad yet until you take your plate and go through the salad bar. You put a little of this and a little of that. It’s still not a salad until you pour that olive oil based dressing over it to bring it all together. Now you have a salad. I don’t know which one you are. I don’t know if you’re a tart tomato or a crunchy carrot. Maybe, <\/i><\/span> you\u2019re a spicy pepper or even some smelly cheese. I don’t know which one you are, but when we put it together, it’s called \u201ckoin\u014dnia.\u201d It’s called the fellowship, but it’s not until you pour the \u201cHoly Spirit” over it. Fellowship is bound not by ethnicity, it’s not bound by social class or color. It’s not based on demographic status. It’s by the redeeming power of Christ at work in us through the \u201coil\u201d of the Holy Spirit. That’s \u201ckoin\u014dnia.\u201d That’s fellowship.

Have you made a public profession of your faith through baptism? Have you joined a local church and said, \u201cI want to be part of that fellowship, that bible believing, bible preaching \u201ckoin\u014dnia.\u201d Will you express your membership in the family by making sure you’re connected to the body of Christ, the family? That’s the second devotion. Here’s the third:\n\n\n3. Be devoted to breaking bread together.

Now, all that some of us have to do is look at me and say, \u201cThat man is devoted to breaking some bread. Not just breaking it <\/i><\/span>, but eating some bread.\u201d So, this one shouldn’t be that hard, right? But the key word is \u201ctogether.\u201d Also, we need to think about what Luke means as he’s writing by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Notice it says \u201cthe breaking of bread.\u201d It’s not just any meal with anyone. They were devoted to the breaking of bread, which is particular.

First of all, I think it is the Lord’s Supper. You’ll see that we have four tables down front for your time of response, after the sermon, you might come to the table and be devoted to the breaking of bread. Particularly here, they might be meaning that, first of all, that whenever they gathered together as the family of God, that they would do the Lord’s supper. They would do communion together.

That word, \u201ccommunion,\u201d by the way is the Greek word \u201ckoin\u014dnia.\u201d They would have fellowship around that and they would <\/i><\/span> say that whenever they would eat of the bread, they were thinking about Christ’s body crucified. Whenever they would drink, they would think about His blood shed for our sins. They would have this in their mind. Not only that, in the first century church, they had what was called \u201cagape feasts,\u201d where they would have a great big meal together and they might conclude it with the Lord’s Supper or they might begin it with the Lord’s Supper. They would have a full meal. It brings families together and it brings the family of God together. The family of God comes around the table together and there’s something about eating together and drinking together that lowers inhibitions and brings us closer together. We already know this, but we were called to be devoted to sharing these meals together.

Notice what it says in verse 46, \u201cAnd day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.\u201d Doesn’t it make you happy to eat together with glad and generous hearts <\/i><\/span>? They were happy, they were glad to be eating together.

Now, I remember when I first went to college. At the last minute, my planned roommate backed out. He fell in love with a girl and she was a year behind us. He was afraid to leave town, so he stayed back. All of a sudden, I’m going to college by myself with no roommate. I really didn’t know anybody at the college I was going to. I remember the first time I went to the cafeteria; I got my tray and started walking to the tables. I didn’t know anybody. I didn’t know which table to sit at. I just went and sat at an empty table. People would walk by and look at me. Nobody chose to sit at my table. I had that meal at my table by myself. That was not a \u201cglad\u201d meal, that was a sad meal. Do you know what I did? I bought a refrigerator. . If you want to see it , <\/i><\/span> you can go into my office. I still have it. That is one amazing refrigerator. That thing has been to several colleges with some of my kids and it’s still keeping things cold. I went and bought that and I started having meals in my room by myself. Can you say depression? That’s what happened to me in my freshman year. Then I realized, Man, I gotta get out of here. This is not me. I’m not like this. So, I started making friends. I got involved with other people, I got involved with the Christian ministry and things changed. All of a sudden I had my own table, I had a fellowship and I had a place I could eat together with other people. We need that; we’re made for it.

It says in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 (ESV) 16 \u201cThe cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.\u201d The word participation is translated <\/i><\/span>from the Greek word, \u201ckoin\u014dnia.\u201d The bread that we break \u2013 is it not a participation? \u201cKoin\u014dnia\u201d in the body of Christ; a fellowship in the body of Christ, because there is one bread, we who are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. We’re one; we’re a family, because we have the same entrance through Jesus and breaking bread together. We recognize the provision of Christ. \nLook what it says in Luke chapter 24. This speaks of the two fellows that were walking on the road to Emmaus, if you remember. They were so sad. They were walking along and, all of a sudden, Jesus started walking with them. They’re telling Him how Jesus was crucified; they don’t recognize Him. Then, here’s what happens. They invited Him in to eat with them and it says, Luke 24:30-31 (ESV) \u201cWhen he [Jesus) was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and <\/i><\/span>broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.\u201d Jesus had been talking to them and walking with them. They didn’t recognize Him until He broke the bread. Then, they recognized Him. I don’t know if they recognized the way He did it, the way He said the Hebrew blessing over the bread. Jesus lifted it up and looked to the heavens, saying, \u201cBlessed art thou o Lord, our God, king of the universe who bringeth forth bread from the earth. Amen.\u201d They recognized Him in the blessing of the breaking of the bread.

I don’t know if you’ve been breaking bread with other believers, but you need to be devoted to that. That’s how we lower barriers. We see Jesus at the table; He’s the unseen member at the table through His spirit.

What’s your favorite food? I know it’s a little early for <\/i><\/span> me to bring it up and now it’s going to cause your stomach to growl, but hang on. What’s your favorite food? Is it Chinese? Is it Mexican? How about Italian? You see how I can just say that. Food is often acquainted or related to people groups, tribes or families. If we say \u201cChinese,\u201d we know exactly what it is. If we say \u201cMexican, we know what it is. Maybe you’ve got some family recipes. I’ve been told that the best recipes are our church family recipes, if you can get one of those recipe books from a church where a bunch of little old ladies have put it together. Those are some good recipes; they come from their family traditions. Food and family just go together.

I can find out what part of the state of North Carolina you’re from if I ask, \u201cIs your barbecue vinegar based or tomato based?\u201d I will know if you’re <\/i><\/span> from the hills or from this area. Some of you might be from South Carolina. I don’t understand mustard-based barbeque. I’ve been told that I was born in Tennessee, so I grew up on Tennessee barbecue versus Carolina barbecue. We could go on. I don’t want to create division when I’m preaching about koin\u014dnia, but if I talk about food, I can learn something about you. It says something about your background. Food and family goes together. Shared meals matter. Who are you eating with? Are you eating alone? Come to the table; be part of God’s family. There’s something special about it, sitting \u201cknee to knee\u201d and \u201cface to face\u201d eating food together and recognizing that the Lord is at the table.

4. Be devoted to praying together. \nNotice in verse 42, \u201cAnd they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.\u201d In other words, all kinds of prayers. It’s plural. They <\/i><\/span> were devoted to all kinds of prayers and they were praising God.

This praying group was talking to God. In verse 47, it says, \u201cpraising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.\u201d It turned into praise and they had favor. In other words, relationships were being healed. They had favor with all the people. They were getting right with God and right with each other; the Lord added to their number day by day, those who were being saved. In other words, the Lord was building the church. The Lord was building the church. You see, \u201cIf we will BE the church. Christ will BUILD the church.\u201d He never told us to build the church. That’s His job.

He said that if you’ll be the church, if you’ll be devoted to my word, if you’ll be devoted to the family and to the fellowship, if you’ll be devoted to the breaking of bread together and devoted to praying for each other together, He will build the church. The Lord added to their number.

Remember what he told Peter? Peter <\/i><\/span>had said to him, \u201cThou art the christ, the son of the living God.\u201d Jesus said to Peter, \u201cBlessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.\u201d He said, \u201cI will build my church.\u201d \u201cIf we will BE the church. He will BUILD the church.\u201d If we’ll be the fellowship, He’ll build the fellowship. That’s what we’re called to, to pray for each other and to be devoted to this prayer.

It says in Ephesians 6:18 (NIV) \u201cAnd pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord\u2019s people.\u201d I’ve noticed that as I’ve gotten older, I pray more. I think it’s because, as you get older, you realize you’re not in charge. When you’re young, you’re kind of under the illusion that you can accomplish something. You kind of <\/i><\/span> think that you might be in control of something. But, as you get older, you start thinking, \u201cI’m not in charge. You’re God and I’m not. He’s in charge. I’m not.\u201d That causes you to pray more. It moves you to a childlike faith, so that you pray for God’s people on all occasions with all kinds of prayers.

It says in James 5:16 (ESV) \u201cTherefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.\u201d We pray authentic prayers. We tell each other the truth about what’s going on inside of us and there’s something special that happens in prayer. It knits you together. You’re already one in the spirit, but when you pray together, you hear each other’s heart. I’ll just say something about the way I pray. I don’t know <\/i><\/span> what happens to me, but when I’m in a prayer circle with others and I am praying, when I first open my eyes, there’s always tears in my eyes. It’s not because I’m a crybaby. Well,most of the time I’m not a crybaby, but it is something about praying that causes my eyes to \u201cleak.\u201d Then, I look up, I look around and I’ll see some of you and your eyes are \u201cleaking\u201d too. We were talking to God, weren’t we? It messed with our hearts and it caused our eyes to \u201cleak.\u201d

You’re already one with each other, but in prayer you’re really one because you’re all talking to the same God and you’re being authentic about it. You’re not putting on something hypocritical. You’re saying what’s really there; you get closer in prayer. It really makes us one and shows that we’re one.

One of my favorite stories about prayer comes from <\/i><\/span> Tony Campolo. Tony Campolo was at a prayer meeting being held right before he spoke at a Pentecostal College chapel service. Eight of the pastors that were gathered there, took Tony to a back room to pray for him before he spoke. According to Tony, they took him into the back room and had him kneel down. All eight of them put their hands on his head and began to pray for him. It was a good thing that they were praying for him, but after a while, the eight men prayed for a long time and they started getting tired. It’s not a good thing when eight men are pressing down on your head because they’re tired. He said then, to boot, one of these men started praying for somebody that wasn’t even Tony; he had his hand pressed down on his head. To make matters worse, these eight guys are leaning on my head and this guy starts praying, \u201cDear Lord, you know Charlie Stoltzfus; he lives in <\/i><\/span> that silver trailer down the road a mile. You know the trailer, Lord; just down the road on the right side.\u201d Tony says he was thinking to himself, You don’t need to give the Lord directions, brother. Just finish the prayer. The preacher keeps praying, \u201cLord, Charlie told me this morning he’s going to leave his wife and his three kids. Step in and do something, Lord. God, bring that family back together.\u201d He finally got those Pentecostal preachers to get their hands off his head so he could go speak. He delivered his sermon and afterwards, he got in his car and he drove out on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to head home. As he was driving down the road he saw someone there on the side of the road with his thumb out and he pulled over to pick him up and he said to him. \u201cHi, my name is Tony Campolo. What’s your name?\u201d The fellow says to him, \u201cMy name is Charlie Stoltzfus.\u201d He couldn’t believe it. He said, \u201cI got off at the next exit <\/i><\/span> and turned my car around and headed back. Charlie got a bit of an uneasy look in his face and said, \u2018Hey mister, where are you taking me?\u2019 and I said, \u201cI’m taking you back home.\u201d Charlie narrowed his eyes and said, \u201cWhat?\u201d Tony said to him, \u201cbecause you just left your wife and three kids, brother.\u201d Charlie just hugged the side door and bugged his eyes out looking at him and didn’t say another word. Then he says, with shock written all over his face and his eyes bugged out, as I pulled up in front of a silver trailer, \u201cHow did you know that I lived here?\u201d I said to him, \u201cGod told me.\u201d He jumped out of the car and he ran up to his wife, who flung open the door of the trailer and she said, \u201cYou’re back, you’re back, what’s going on?\u201d He hugged her in close and whispered something into her ear to explain what had happened. Now her eyes are bugged out, looking at me. Then <\/i><\/span> Tony says, \u201cI said with real authority, the two of you sit down and I’m going to talk to you and you two are going to listen.\u201d Man, did they ever listen. He said that day, that afternoon, that he led those two young people to Jesus Christ and they became one like they’ve never been before.

Sometimes when you’re praying and somebody else is praying, you want to know what he is praying about and why he is praying about that. When you pray together, the Holy Spirit is in the fellowship. He’s in the koin\u014dnia. Sometimes he’s telling you something that you didn’t even know you needed to know until later.

They were devoted to the prayers. They were devoted to the apostle’s teaching. They were devoted to the fellowship. They were devoted to the breaking of bread and to the prayers. This is the mark, these four devotions of God’s family.

I want to show you that photo again from my family reunion. Do you see me? You recognize me. On the far end is my little brother, my <\/i><\/span> baby brother, Donnie. He’s on the opposite end from me. He’s laying in an ICU in Bristol, Virginia right now. Two weeks ago, he was fine; we were catching crawdads and showing our grandchildren how to catch them, pulling up rocks in the creek. Last week, Donnie had a stroke. He’s had emergency brain surgery. The neurosurgeon has told the family that they had to remove part of his brain that controls vision. He’s been in a coma since then. They’re supposed to try to wake him up tomorrow to find out what faculties still remain. This Friday will be his birthday; he will be 53. He’s my baby brother. He was fine two weeks ago. Will you pray for me? Will you pray for my brother? He’s a believer. We don’t know if the Lord’s going to call him home, he’s ready, or if the Lord is going to call him to live a different kind of life than the one he was just leading just a few weeks ago, just two weeks ago. I’m praying <\/i><\/span> , \u201cGod, whatever brings You the most glory for my brother, you do that because he is a member of Your family.\u201d The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, but we say, \u201cBlessed be the name of the Lord,\u201d because we’re part of His family. This is my baby brother; Donnie is your brother, too. He’s part of your family, too, because of Jesus. Will you pray?

Remember, that there are over 100 \u201cone anothers\u201d in the New Testament. You can’t do a single one of them without one another. Are you a member of God’s family? How do you get in? How to get into this great family? You get in through Jesus, receiving Him by faith, saying, \u201cI want You to be my Savior and Lord.\u201d Then, we are adopted into God’s family. He wants you, but He won’t make you. You have to say, \u201cYes,\u201d to Jesus and then, when you join the family, you become part of a family that’s devoted to the apostle’s teaching, devoted to the fellowship, devoted to the breaking of bread and prayer . <\/i><\/span> Oh it’s a wonderful thing to be part of God’s family. One day, it’s gonna be a great big photograph, with every member of God’s family up there in heaven. Don’t you want to be part of it?

Let’s pray. \u201cLord, we are Your family and we call on Your name. As Jesus has taught us, \u201cOur father, which art in heaven. Hallowed be your name.\u201d We want Your will. I pray, first of all, for that person that’s here this morning, Lord, that doesn’t know You. They’re not right with you. They’ve been hiding. You’ve been asking, \u201cWhere are you?\u201d But they’ve been running. Today, they’re ready to stop running. They’re ready to stop hiding. Would you answer the Lord right now? He’s tapping you on the shoulder. He’s knocking on your heart’s door. Would you say, \u201cyes,\u201d to Jesus? You can pray like this? \u201cDear Lord Jesus, I repent of my sin. I believe You died on the cross to pay for my sin, that You were raised from <\/i><\/span> the grave and that You live today. I believe that. Come into my life, forgive me of my sins and make me the person You want me to be. Make me a child of God.\u201d If you’re praying that prayer, believing, the word of God says that He will save you and adopt you into His family. Others are here today and you’re a member of the family, but you’ve been isolating yourself. You haven’t been all in, you haven’t been devoted. You’re still a member of the family, but you’re struggling right now. Would you recommit? \u201cI recommit to being active as a member of God’s family. Help me with this Lord Jesus. We pray it all in Your name. Amen.\u201d\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

God wants you in His family photo, taped to His fridge, hanging over His mantle, tucked away in His wallet. God wants you to be connected to His family! But our sin has separated us from Him and causes us to isolate ourselves from Him and from one another.<\/p>\n

God doesn\u2019t want us to be alone. We were made to love God and one another. We were made to be connected to God and His family! In the book of Acts, Luke recorded how the first century church was devoted to being connected as God\u2019s family. We can be devoted to being connected as God\u2019s family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":10801,"template":"","tags":[2401],"series":[2905],"scripture-book":[1311],"scripture-chapter":[1335],"speaker":[2007],"class_list":["post-10872","message","type-message","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-small-groups","series-belong","scripture-book-acts","scripture-chapter-1335","speaker-gary-combs"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message\/10872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/message"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message\/10872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10872"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=10872"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-book","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-book?post=10872"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-chapter","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-chapter?post=10872"},{"taxonomy":"speaker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/speaker?post=10872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}