Day By Day Those Who Were Being Saved

So for the next few weeks, we're going to be stepping away from the book of Deuteronomy, and we're going to be focusing on small groups. The purpose and the benefits of small groups are our topic today. This sort of ministry, small group ministry, is not the sort of thing I can point to a chapter and verse and say, see, look right there. They're small group ministry. They called it such. But the substance of what we mean to accomplish in our small groups is all throughout Scripture. Though that work is in the Bible, That does not mean that if we have a small group ministry and you show up and bring your body to a place at a time, you will receive the benefits of it. It's not some sort of mysterious thing or it's not automatic. However, when Christians do spend time together, focusing on God's word and praying and eating together, you'll find a very good context for us to love each other, to pray for one another, to exhort one another, which often causes a little bit of tension at times, and to encourage one another.

It's not that you can't do those things outside of small groups, but you and I often need a context in which to do the things that Scripture calls us to do. And so this morning, we're not going to be focusing on the one and other passages. I did consider preaching on those this morning, and I decided against it. There's so many of them, and I didn't want to be limited to one of them. But rather, we're going to be focusing on the foundational and fundamental unity that a church ought to have. What should bring us together? Every church, every family, every home has an ethos. It has a culture. It has priorities. It has things that they all agree about. It has, not to say they don't have things they disagree about, but there's some basis for their love and their commitment to one another. There are many things that churches rally around and that join them together. But what we ought to be unified by is our worship, our fellowship, breaking bread together in prayer.

There are a lot of other things we talk about and disagree about and prioritize differently, but these things, there should be no question as to our commitment to them and to those we do them with. So in our sermon this morning, I'm not going to dive into each one of these aspects of Christian unity in depth, but we're going to examine why they're so important and the benefits that they produce in our lives. I'm sure there have been times in your life where you've done things without necessarily understanding why you're doing it. Just someone said, go do it, and you said, I'm going to go do it.

Small groups is not that way. We're not having small groups, so go do it. That's not the whole goal. That's not the point. The goal this morning is for you to understand the purposes and the benefits of obedience in this area so that you're better equipped, so that we are better equipped to give ourselves to this work and to one another. Our sermon text this morning is Acts 2, verses 42 through 47. Would you please stand as we read the word of the Lord? It says, were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe, and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common. And they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house.

They were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. This passage is foundational. It's sort of the cornerstone of the New Testament church, the Christian commitments after Jesus' ascension. After Jesus had gone up from heaven, they're there at Pentecost and Peter's preaching and all the people are there and coming to faith. And these are the things we're given as the fundamentals of the Christian faith. We haven't outgrown these things. We haven't matured beyond them. These are the things that make up our Christian life. One of the things I want to draw your attention to at the beginning of the passage in verse 42 is it says they were continually devoting themselves.

This informs the Christian life. We can look at this thing going on here at Acts 2, and there's a lot of things that are extraordinary, right? Extraordinary, meaning uncommon. Signs and wonders, buying and selling, all their stuff. But the passage says that they were continually devoted to these things. And so while they're doing these things at this point, what the passage teaches us is that we ought to be continually devoted. to the things they were doing, not just acutely devoted to them. The Christian life is not so much an event or a particular experience at a time as a commitment to follow Jesus, continually devoting ourself to him and to his word. I think one of the reasons this passage can be overwhelming is that it says that there were 3,000 people added to their number, just the verse before. And there were 3,000 added to their number. And we look around like, why doesn't that happen anymore?

But it's a strange appetite. There's an extraordinary thing going on here in this passage and not the sort of thing that is normative in the Christian life or in the church going on throughout the centuries since then. Were there times of extraordinary conversion and repentance and growth of the church since then? Yes. Was it the norm or was it the exception to the norm? It was the exception. And so I don't want you to get lost in the extraordinary details of this passage. Because if we do, what will happen is we'll get lost. We will lose the things that are most foundational that those people, those 3,000 or that small group were committed to and devoted to. And so these people, large number of them, thousands and thousands were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching, not just here, but for their lives. And if we think about continual commitments, continual devotion, we find that it's a hard thing to do. How many of us know, if we stepped away from the apostles teaching the breaking bread of prayer, if I just said, tell me a good thing to do with that you don't do that you should do. You could think of it. How easy is it for you to commit yourself to it? Well, the real question is,

How long do I have to commit myself to it? I could commit myself to it for a week, no problem. I could get maybe two weeks, maybe a month, maybe three months. I could commit myself to it. But continual commitment to a new way of life or a new habit, it's actually quite difficult, isn't it? It's very difficult. Even if the thing we're changing is small. And what that reveals to us is that we have a hard time committing ourselves over the long haul to things. We tend to be unstable. We tend to be shifty, right? How many of you own chickens right now? You own chickens? You're the only people that own chickens? You own chickens? You own chickens? How many of you used to own chickens? You used to own chickens? You used to own chickens? How many of you want to own chickens? Okay, so now you all know who to talk to about why they got rid of them. You can see the people who are in the middle of it. And we can know that all of you who raise your hands later will be selling chickens sometime in the future. Chickens are great.

You know, I saw a skit one time and it described them as little meat footballs that produce extra bonus food every day. Just delightful things that eat the dirt and birds that can't fly. They're just the best thing in the world. And none of us can stick with it. I've joked with Eric about it. And, you know, Aaron, I love it when they, I'm glad you, I want chickens. We can't have them in our neighborhood. But you do know that most people who get chickens get out of having chickens. Why isn't they get out of having chickens? It's a lot of work. Gabe's like, I can tell you what we got out of it. A lot of work, right? They're gross. They stink, right? There's all these things you could have known before you got them, but you decided no. But then you have them, and you're like, wow, if we want to go away for the weekend, we have to make a plan. Oh, there's a fox in the neighborhood. Oh, these stupid things are killing each other. Oh, they stopped laying eggs. Isn't that the whole point? Like, there's all these things.

And what you realize is you weren't that committed to having chickens. You were committed to having eggs in your backyard, but you weren't committed to the work to having eggs in your backyard. We're not, and I'm just using this as an example. I'm not telling you to have chickens or not to want chickens or anything like that. I really don't care. But my point is, we're not real good at sticking with stuff. Once the shine wears off, we're like... We stick with the work a little while longer, and then we're like, you know what? I think I want rabbits. We change, you know? My point is to say these disciples were continually devoted to these things, and not over the short term, but over the long term. Not just when it was easy and exciting to be devoted to these things, but when it was perpetual, when it was costly, they were devoted to these things. It wasn't momentary. It wasn't brief. It had risen.

through their conversion, to become the ordering principle of their lives. And whatever else happened in their life, whatever other troubles came, whatever other sorrows came, wherever they went home to live, they were committed to these things. And so it's quite different than those of us who want chickens. If someone came to you and said, I'll give you chickens and all of the stuff you need for the chickens, but you have to commit to keeping them for seven years. You'd be like, oh, I don't, seven? Seven years. But what if we want to go to Europe or whatever? All of a sudden we're like, I don't know about my commitment level. But when it comes to these things, they were continually devoted to them. Was Peter who preached here at Pentecost continually devoted to these things? How was it that Peter died? He was crucified upside down because he didn't see itself worthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Lord. Was he devoted to these things?

Oh, he was devoted to these things. We ought to be devoted to these things. And so don't get lost in this passage in the extraordinary details of it. Grab a hold of the things they were committed to and say, oh, that's actually the substance. The substance isn't 3,000 people. The substance is the apostles' teaching and fellowship, breaking bread in prayer. It's easy to get lost in these things. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe, it says. Many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. Extraordinary stuff. We presume this is healings, right? People were coming when Jesus was alive for similar reasons. They saw that, oh, the healer is here. So they're bringing their sick out, hoping his shadow would fall on them. The same with the apostles. There was quite a sense of awe, but it wasn't the point. It says all those who had believed were together.

They had all things in common. Here's a question. How much time do you spend with other people voluntarily? In person? Not much. My guess is not much. My guess is you spend more time on your phone than you do with other people on a daily or a weekly basis. These people didn't have phones, but they had believed together. They had all things in common. You just sort of see them. The picture of it, if you can imagine, day to day, they're going about from house to house and into the temple, and that they're just kind of this group, large group, probably in smaller groups, going through life together, doing things, hanging out, eating, having all things in common, even to the point of selling their property and their possessions and sharing them with anyone who might have need. This sort of behavior is the result of their continual devotion.

Does your continual devotion lead you to desire and to want to be with God's people? Maybe certain of God's people, but certain others we'd prefer not to. The result of their continual devotion was that they spent a lot of time together, had all things in common, even to the point of selling their property and giving to one another. Oftentimes this passage is brought up with reference to the government. It's like socialism in the Bible. You're right. And while this may not be a good model for civil government, it is the principal expression of Christian unity that we find in the church, that we give of ourselves. We give of our things to other people. I remember when I still lived in Chicago and I'd just come to faith years ago, there was this big church, probably theologically a long way away from us. But they had a ministry, not just a one-off, they had a ministry of giving cars to poor people who needed them.

Where did they get those cars? People gave them cars. They heard, oh, you have a ministry of helping poor people who need cars, so we'll give you a car to give to them. I had a friend who got one. And it wasn't a fancy car. It wasn't a new car. But it was better than not having a car, right? They pay the transfer fee, then taxes or whatever, and they pay the registration to get you on your feet, you know? It was a ministry of their church to give cars to people who needed them. Could you imagine how opposed our hearts would be to something like that? Like if I came to you and I said, hey guys, I want to start a ministry next year. I want us to give cars away. Michael's like, yeah. Where are we going to get them though, right? All of a sudden, someone's going to have to figure it out, right? But let's leave that aside. Let's say that maybe that's two years out. Let's come a little closer and say,

Can we help one another? Can we share and give to each other the things that the people around us need? Can we give our time? Can we give our energy? Can we give our skills? Can we give our talents? Can we give the things that we have that are of value to those who are not or who don't have? We can, but should we? That's sort of the question. This idea sort of runs up against the idea of personal responsibility. And I'm not here to deny personal responsibility or that people ought to provide for themselves. In fact, scripture encourages those who steal to steal no more, but rather to work with their hands so that they're able to provide for themselves and to do what? To have something to share, something to give, something to obey and demonstrate their commitment and their unity to this passage. So the idea that we never have enough is simply not true. Do you remember when Peter and I think it was John were leaving the temple and the man was begging alms?

Want any money? What did they say to him? Silver and gold I do not have, but in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, get up and walk. They gave him. What's that? Yeah. They gave what they had. They gave what they had. All of this passage is built on Peter giving what he had, which was a sermon. And God worked mightily through it amongst the people to save them. to establish a church of people who believed together, were baptized together, who ate together, who had all things in common, who were glad to become poorer so that their brothers might become wealthier or provided for. They didn't seem to have the hangup that we have about people providing for themselves. They looked for opportunities to give, and then they gave.

And I don't think we should presume that they gave out of their surplus, but perhaps even their deficit because someone else needed it more. And so the Christian life is not one that's meant to be lived alone or independently of one another. It's something that's quite countercultural these days. It's meant to be lived open and in front of one another. We're supposed to know what's going on in other people's lives. We're supposed to love them through it. Do you get irritated when you hear what other people have going on? I do sometimes. Sometimes I get irritated when I hear what you guys have going on in your house. Why do they do that? Don't they know better? Didn't I teach them not to do that? You ask yourself these questions. Whether I've taught or not isn't the point. We get irritated with each other. We get irritated with each other's kids. We get irritated with the cleanliness of someone else's house. We get irritated with the type of food they serve. We get irritated that they don't show up on time. Or that they stay too late. That our lunch small group

turns into a dinnertime small group. And after all, who's supposed to provide the extra food? I'll tell you who's supposed to provide the extra food, okay? The hostess. If you're agreed to host a small group in your home, you should see it as a victory, a sign of health, if you get to provide a little more food. I'm not saying you can't ask people to chip in and give you 10 bucks. Do that too. But if you're answered to like, it's almost dinnertime, and we don't want to go into our pantry or our deep freeze, it's like, hey, it's time for... That's the wrong answer. Can you imagine these people going from house to house, taking their meals together? Like, just somebody opening up your fridge and just deciding that whatever you were going to have for dinner on Tuesday night was for them right then. Wouldn't it be sweet? Wouldn't we have to cultivate an appetite for that? That's what it means to be continually devoted to these things. If your idea is that small group...

I'm not saying it doesn't have a start time, it doesn't have an end time, and that there's no such thing as a bad guest in your home or that you can't have boundaries. I'm not saying that stuff. I'm talking about what goes on in your heart, not what you actually do with the people. Your attitude's probably, your behavior's probably actually better than what goes on in your heart. And the way you can know is what you say to your spouse once everyone leaves. Can we have next week off? You need to take me on a date. What do you say? I don't know what you say.

Day by day, they were continuing with one mind in the temple, breaking bread from house to house, taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart. It sounds sweet, and it's what we ought to aim for. But joy in those things is the fruit of us being continually devoted to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to hearing the sorts of things I'm saying right now. I'm realizing the problem's not with what I'm saying, but with what goes on in your heart. And it's not just your heart it goes on in. It goes on in my heart, too. This is a battle for all of us to be continually devoted to the things that these believers were devoted to. Here's another way of thinking at it, coming at it the other direction. When you need something, when you need help, what do you do? When you have a question, where do you turn? Some of you think, I don't ask for help. I offer help, but I don't ask for help. And that's a failure. If you're buried under a project or you're too old to do it yourself, you got nothing to prove except that you need the body of Christ.

And the way you demonstrate that is by asking for their help. The story that always sticks out to me, it's sweet to me, is Daniel. He knows it's coming. Are we going to talk about the shed or the roof? Either one, right? Daniel built a shed. Daniel re-roofed his house. And the way Daniel did it was by asking people who had any clue how to do that to come and help him. And we gladly did it. And it was our nights and our weekends for weeks in the hot summer sun. And poor Marianne, I don't know how much extra food you had to come up with for your new roof or for your two-story shed with hand-built trusses. Oh man, it was sweet. It was so sweet. It was such hard work. And there were times I was like, Daniel, why did you do this? Like, why do you get in so far over your head and then somebody else has to come bail you out? But it was a privilege. Flashing in your chimney.

in the rain on your steep roof with brand new shingles. You remember, Dan? Oh, yeah. Because Daniel doesn't know how to do that stuff. He's just like, I need a new roof, guys. Hey, how about I bought the shingles and they're here. You want to come? It was really a sweet thing. And it was a sweet time building the shed on the roof with people in our way, with all the shingle rows going like this because nobody knows how to chalk the line. And it doesn't leak. We all put a roof on my house years ago, my old house. Early, early days. These are just examples. These are just examples of living life together. But you're like, oh, I can't call and ask them. I already asked them. Oh, no. Well, why not? Probably just because of your pride. That's something to repent of. Give people the opportunity to serve you. Ask for help when you need it. What I'm really talking about is a way of life. What was established in this passage was not a list of tasks, but a way of life.

What I'm setting before you, and small groups just a part of it, is really a way of life, a set of devotions, a set of commitments that govern everything you do, okay? Here's an example. I've never been to the Indy 500. And the reason I've never been to the Indy 500 is because I don't like car racing, okay? If it was on a Wednesday, whatever, if I had nothing else to do but sit at home by myself, or I could go to the Indy 500, I would sit at home by myself. I have that much desire in the Indy 500, okay? So, but the thing is, the Indy 500, which is a big deal, greatest spectacle and whatever, every year, Memorial Day weekend here in Indianapolis, right? The reason I'm opposed to it, it's not because I don't like car racing. Some of you like car racing and that's fine. The reason I'm opposed to it is because it interferes with worship. It's just that simple.

You can't come to worship at this church and be at the Indy 500 on time. And if you hustle, you can make it part of the way through, but then you have to miss small group. And I think your priorities should be settled such that you never make it to the Indy 500. That's what I mean by being continually devoted to these things. You ought to see other things rising up in your life, vying for your time as threats to, affronts to, attacks upon your devotion to Jesus Christ. I don't think you should look at worship or at men's and women's groups or small groups as we'll make it if we can. I think you should be at those things. I feel more strongly about worship than I do about those other things, but only just a bit. So these things ought to govern our lives, our devotion to these things. It ought to be evident where we're at and what we're about.

On the Lord's Day especially. I know that Sundays are a long day. You all know I have 11 kids. If you think you've got schedules and conflicts and nap times and hungry and brother and sister, I get it. I get it. And those things are not what govern your life. Your kids are going to be cranky on Monday. They're just going to be cranky on Monday. Mom, I'm sorry. Dad, you should know that. Your kids are going to be cranky because right now they're missing their nap. Their schedule's all messed up. They're supposed to sit still and be quiet. Or they're getting all stirred up in the nursery. But then they're going to go outside and they're going to play and they're going to run and they're going to have fun and they're going to feed them sugar and all this good, good stuff. It's going to mess them up. So why do it? The reason to do it is because you're committed to fellowship in the breaking of bread. That's why. Does it have a cost?

Yes, it does. I get the nap times. I get it. I get potty training. I get it. I know they're not going to go to sleep at the right time tonight. And you're going to be really tired because if you're here at Sunday school and you stay through small group or the picnic or whatever, you're like at church from 9.30 in the morning until like 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon. And that's if you're not on the set-up or tear-down crew. There are people that were here at 8 o'clock this morning preparing for worship. And there will be people here. cleaning up from our meals and making sure the church is ready, they'll probably be here till four o'clock today. And sometimes it's the same people on both ends. Like they were here at eight and they didn't leave till four. And it's their privilege. I hope that if I'm describing you, you see that work as a privilege and a blessing to us because it is. Have I been clear? These things are important. They should govern your life. Other things should be like, I'm sorry, we can't make that. I remember years ago, I had a guy come to me and he's like, hey, we got family in town.

We were thinking about not coming to small group. What should I say? What should we say? Bring them to small group. Well, they don't know anybody. That's okay. We're a friendly group of people. We'll get to know them. We'll feed them, right? Bring them to small group. Why? Because of these priorities. They're important. This is a way of life. So how do you prioritize your time? You and I all have things we make sure don't slip through the cracks, which is another way of saying we have things that are our top priorities. We get them done. We make sure it happens because it's important to us. And if we have to say no, we say no to something else. None of us does everything. Those priorities show us what's important to us. And I want to say to you very clearly, those things are a choice. Those things are a choice.

Nothing you're doing in life is because there is no other choice. When your kid takes a nap is a choice. But they're tired. I know they're tired. I know they're tired, but here's the thing. I've seen kids fall asleep on a floor. I've seen kids fall asleep in a stranger's bedroom. I've seen kids fall asleep on their mom's or their dad's shoulders. They'll sleep, but where and under what circumstances they take their nap, that's a choice. My kid can't fall asleep anywhere else. Fair enough. Will you train them to fall asleep somewhere else? It's possible so that you can participate. Why are you putting so much pressure on me? Because these things are important. That's why I'm putting so much pressure on you. Because it's easy for us to say, oh yeah, yeah, these things are important. Yes, yes, I'll do those things. But then as soon as something small comes along, I can't do it. And I'm just saying, why not? I know it's hard. Remember, we've got 11 kids. I've only got...

seven of them here, seven? Seven of them here today. My wife's home not feeling well, and she's got an older kid home to help her with some of the younger kids. But we have choices, guys. And as we make those choices, we reveal what the non-negotiables are. So don't be upset if as you make your choices, you realize what's actually important to you. These people at this time... were continually devoted to the apostles, teaching to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer. They were going around, having all things in common, eating in one another's house day and night with gladness and sincerity of heart. It was their way of life. Everything else fell in its place behind it. Remember I told you at the beginning that the point of the sermon was not just to say, you have to do this thing, but to explain to it why, right? Do you think these people were happy doing this, living this way?

I think they were very happy living this way. Now, are you happy living the way you live? Does it make you happy? Do you go, I couldn't imagine things being better. No, I imagine that you get grumpy and you get frustrated and you get tired and you have things you change. But these disciples loved God, loved his people, and were happy for it. So if our devotion is continual and is deep, we should expect to reap. the blessing of that in our lives. If, on the other hand, our commitment is sporadic and shallow, we should also expect to reap the fruit of that. In 2 Corinthians 9, verse 6, Paul says, Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. And so if we apply that verse, this idea of sowing sparingly versus bountifully and reaping sparingly versus reaping bountifully, If we apply that logic to our topic, we can conclude that you should expect to receive out of small groups and devotion to these things what you put into them. And so if we have reasons to miss small group, it shouldn't surprise us that we will have a hard time finding space throughout the week to get the reading and the questions done. I have no doubt that you have time to read a psalm and answer half a dozen or a dozen questions about it throughout the week. I have no doubt.

Every person in here who can read has time for that. It is not too much. But if it's not a priority to you, you will struggle to find that 30 or 60 minutes in a week's time to do it. If you can't find your way to small group every week, you should expect to find the prayer time less helpful. Do you ever not want to go to small group because somebody else's kids are naughty? Do you ever not want to go to a small group because your kids are naughty and you know that everybody else knows your kids are naughty? The wrong answer is to stay away, right? Everything you want to do is pull away. What you need to do is lean in because there's a problem and staying away from it's not going to fix it. You're not going to fix it at home, parent. You've produced a grumpy child so far. Maybe they're just teething. Maybe we're working on nap schedules. I don't know what it is. But there's an issue that's probably showing its face all throughout the week, not just on Sunday afternoon, right?

And you're like, well, we don't want to, I don't get anything out of small group anyway because I just have babies just to fuss. So we're just not going to go. It's just the wrong answer. It's wrong-headed. It reveals to you that this ministry is not important to you. And you think you're loving the people. Well, they'll just have a better time without me. They may in the short term, but you will be harmed by it in the long term because there's a hurdle you're not getting over with the child. in the training. And it may take a few months for you to get the trajectory sufficiently noticeably changed. But if you back away from that work, it's going to take way longer than a couple of months, a couple years. You'll end up being the family that just like, well, our kids are just awful until they're three. They just scream their head off and cry all the time until they're three. It doesn't have to be that way. It doesn't have to be that way in your house. It doesn't have to be that way at church. It doesn't have to be that way at small group or anywhere else you go.

where they do that stuff. So if someone comes and they seem to be struggling with their kids in your small group, don't tell them they have to leave by your attitude. Tell them you'll help them. Help them with their kids. Bring them a plate of food while they're caring for their children or whatever. A continual devotion to these things is a way of life. When it gets difficult, you don't shy away from it. You lean into it. You will reap what you sow. And what I hope is that our small group ministry is a fruitful ministry, that it bears good fruit in your life, that you get stuck together with people that you wouldn't have naturally gotten stuck together with and that you'd grow to love them. As a result of you spending time together, breaking bread, studying the word, praying for one another over an extended period of time, over years. And so the real issue isn't time or the lack of it. It's not energy or being tired. It's not the kids' nap schedules or their food sensitivities.

It's a matter of what your commitments are in the midst of a busy and changing life. Many of you have young children. You have changing responsibilities. It's overwhelming. I get it. Remember, loving kids, we understand. The older parents, we understand. You will come out the other side of it, and the things that you are committed to while you're walking through it will bear fruit later in your life. Let me come at this a different way. Do you want your children? To be committed to and to raise your grandchildren in the church. Many of you have such small children, it's hard to think about grandchildren. There's only a few grandparents here. But if you were to spend time thinking about your children and what you'd want to be important to them and what you'd want them to teach your grandchildren that aren't here yet perhaps or are still very young but you already love, what would you want them to do? Would you want them to go to small group? Or would you want them to be like, oh man, the Colts are playing at noon.

I think you'd want them to be like, well, you can catch the highlights later or whatever if that's really what you want to do. But first things first, son. How is it you expect your children to learn that for the benefit of your grandchildren if you don't model it for them? It's funny. Have you ever asked yourself this? How would you want your kids to treat your grandchildren if they were in the same situation you are? What if your kids said, hey, We can't come over on Saturday afternoon for the birthday party because the kids got naps. I bet every grandparent would be like, that's fine and we understand. Don't worry. Said no grandparent ever, right? Like that would not be an acceptable answer. You'd be sad. You'd be kind of irritated. You'd be like, why don't you figure it out, son? Like, come on. Like, can we help? Like, you'd offer us, well, they can take a nap over here in this thing. And like, you'd want them to go through it, right? So.

Take your own advice. Go through it. Model for your children what you want them to do with your grandchildren. And trust that they'll do it better than you if you show them an example. A good example. If you show them a bad example, they'll do it worse than you. They will be less committed to the things you're committed to. Because they'll figure out what's most important to you, and they'll love those things. Whatever it is. If it's the Indy 500, if it's deer hunting, if it's football, if it's the Premier League, if it's whatever. you spend your time doing. Your kids will know what it is, and they'll be as committed to it as you are. So don't want things for your kids that you don't want for yourself. Finally, it says that the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who are being saved. This day by day is a refrain in this passage. We see it at the beginning, in the middle, at the end, well, in the middle and at the end.

Day by day, they were continuing with one mind in the temple. Day by day, the Lord was adding to their number those who are being saved. It's a perpetual thing. It's a marathon. It's not a sprint. Your life is a marathon. And at the end of it, we're going to see what was important to you and what you built and what you neglected. It'll be evident. And so my exhortation to you is build the thing that you want built at the end of it. You won't be able to rush and build it at the end. This is how we build a life on the rock, Jesus Christ. Day by day, week by week.

We build a life. We come to small group. We don't come to small group because it's easy or convenient. It's the easiest, most convenient time of the week to do it. I think it would actually be harder to get you guys to show up for a couple of hours on a Tuesday night than it would be on a Sunday when we know you're not at work and you don't have to work late, though you do have to prepare for the week ahead. Day by day, week by week, year by year, we live our lives and we demonstrate what we're committed to. what's important to us, what we love. It ought to be these things. It ought to be fellowship with one another. It ought to be the breaking of bread with one another. I know it's hard to get there. If it's hard to get there, ask for help. Let me put it this way. If someone's upset at you for asking for help to do a good thing, the problem is not with you, it's with them. So don't be shy about asking. None of us are as independent as we like to think. We feel a lot of pressure to live all by ourselves, figuring it out all alone.

It's not how they did it. It's not how we should do it. Day by day, the Lord was adding to their number those who were being saved. While it was miraculous in that moment, the influx of conversions, of converts. You do have to think honestly about how you claim the promises, God's promises for your children. Do you claim them day by day according to your devotion to the Lord? Or do you just claim them theoretically and as a part of a theological system that you ascend to, but then live your life some other way? The way you claim your promises for your children and the way you can expect God to work in their life is to put before them constantly these things. If you say you claim the promises of God and you baptize your baby and you say your covenant and you want to talk and talk and talk about that, but you can't make it to the things where God has...

He ordained himself to work. You're working against yourself. You're saying one thing and doing another. It's hypocrisy. And so I'm just trying to say, make your life make sense. Make it clear what your priorities are. And the way you make it clear is not by what you necessarily say yes to, but what you say no to when there's a conflict. If you say yes, yes, yes to small groups, yes, yes, yes to small groups, and then when... But you said all these yeses when there was no need to say a no. When there's an opportunity and you have to say yes and no to something, if what happens is you say no to small group at that point, then your prior, your commitment wasn't that high. Now, I'll end with this. I'm not trying to bind your guys' consciences. I expect that there will be weeks that you will miss small group because you've got sick children or there will be weeks that you will be out of town and traveling.

I understand that. I'm not talking about this in terms of like, if you ever miss once that you somehow have sold the farm and all hope is lost, that's not what I'm saying. I'm just trying to deal with your heart and say, do you love this and want this or not? You can come every week and not want to be there. Or you can come half of the time and be way more engaged. If your heart is there, if your love is there, if your priority is there, okay? We'll know because you'll be active on the communication threads. And we'll know because you're involved. At the end of the year, you're more involved with those people involved in their lives than you were at the beginning. The fruit will be evident. And so the goal is not to just say you have to be there every week. That's a really formulaic, wooden, rigid way to say it. I'm just trying to deal with your heart and where your heart wants to be. Is your heart continually devoted to the things that these people's hearts were continually devoted to? Or is it wandering astray somewhere?

If it's wandering astray somewhere, you can have perfect small group attendance and not reap the benefit of it. So give your heart to the things that these people gave their hearts to and expect God to bless you as you do it. Let's pray.