Who is Caring For Your Soul?
Notes
Transcript
Background
Background
If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John Colunga and I have the privilige of serving as lead pastor here at New Day Pasadena
I also have the privilige of bringing this weeks sermon
So if you have your Bibles, please turn to Acts 2:42-47
If you forgot your Bible please use the one in front of you and if you dont have a Bible at all, please take home the one in front of you as a free gift to you
We are excited today as we are strting a new sermon series called Soul Care
There is an emphasis in our world today about mental health and physcial health
These definitely need to be talked about, learned about, and cared for
But what seems to be overlooked, even sometimes in the church, is the caring of the soul
While some may not believe in a soul - as a church we believe that God has given us a soul and that it is to be cared for
Last week we looked at the fact that our soul is sepearte from the body
Our soul is given by God and it is the soul that God wants unified with him
And because we are born spiritually dead, God, in his pursuit of us, redeems our soul through Christ
And so Peter gives the first Christian sermon here in Acts 2 where he is magnifying Jesus as the Christ
Jesus was the promised Messiah for our souls
And once our hearts are changed and we put our faith and trust in him - the Holy Spirit dwells within us and we repent of our old ways, we are obedient in the beautiful ordinance of baptism, and we live a life in which we are to steward our souls
Theologian R.C. Sproul writes - Not only do we have souls, but the nurture and care of our souls is a top priority for the Christian life.
And so I ask the question - Who is caring for your soul And how should it be cared for?
To care for something is to nutrure and keep safe - How do you feed your soul and protect it?
How often do you feed your soul and protect it?
What are you nurturing your soul with? What safegaurds do you have in place to protect it?
My cousins are starting to have babies (Dont ask when we are having one)
But my cousins are having them and I am seeing first hand how they are intentional in having regularly scheduled naps
I’m not sure if the one year old knows what a french fry is yet - I only seem him eat spinach and green things
And they buy these huge, expensive, carseats and cameras to make sure that they can see them and that they are safe
And when we go out on date nights - I do love holding them and playing with them but the babies definitely know who their mom and dad is
And if I am holding them, no matter how much I tell them to be good and not to cry
They know who feeds them and takes care of them - so they turn around looking for mom and start to fuss when they are in need
And what we find in scripture is that our Heavenly Father loves us, and he knows what we need as his children
And so, in his love for us, he has set in place instructions, directions, and rules, for us to follow in order for our souls to be nurtured and protected
In order for our souls to be continuously in a posture that is unified with Him
That is unified with His will and purpose for us
And this what we are going to look at today - The people at pentacost have had hearts that were changed - over 3,000 souls were added the family of God
And they repented and were baptized - but whats the next step?
How are they to steward their souls day in and day out until their death?
How are we to do this?
If you are able to stand, I ask that you please do so for the reading of God’s word. I’ll read it as you follow along,
42 And 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 bread in 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.
This is the Word of the Lord, you may now be seated
Word of God
Word of God
Devotion
Our text says that “they devoted”
And the greek word for this phrase means to be in a state of being
Their entire being - both physically and spiritually were devoted to learning how to follow Jesus and to continuously gather
Teaching of the disciples
It was to their benefit - it was for the best care of their souls that people dedicated themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship
They did not have the Holy Bible - but what they did have were the apostles who walked and talked and learned from Jesus himself
He taught them how they are to live as followers of Jesus
And so these poeple who are now followers of Christ - are learning from those who have first hand experience and teachings from Jesus
And so the apostles were simply teaching the people Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven
They were teaching what Jesus meant when he said I am the vine, you are the branches
And they were teaching them what The Lords Supper is and how Jesus prayed
Generally, when we read the breaking of bread - in context it is often used as a physical meal that people partook in together
But the breaking of bread here is the literal breaking of bread that Jesus did as the disciples communed with him at the Last Supper
So the diciples are to teach the people - Here is the bread and here is the cup - this what they symbolize and this why we take it
And then we do know that Jesus often withdrew and prayed - he would wake up early and pray
We will talk about this further in the upcoming sermons
But it is evident that prayer was of great importance
Fellowship
So the people learned from the apostles and then they regularly gathered
They gathered to meet in fellowship and uplift one another and encourage one another
And because they were in a posture of repentance - there had to of been constant accountability -
A constant posture of staying right with God
And because they individually had this state of being - they collectively had all things in common
Signs and Wonders
Now, lets address verse 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
And so the primary way in wich the people learned to live and steward their soul was the apostles teaching and the gathering with one another
And then in the secondary - at the same time that they were primarily devoted to the apostles teaching and the gathering
They were witnessing the signs and wonders that were being done by the apostles
The people themselves were not doing the signs and wonders even though they had the same Holy Spirit
Rather - it is clear that the signs and wonders given to the apostles through the Holy Spirit as a secondary means to grow the church at that time
And so I want to submit to you 2 things -
3,000 souls did not come to Christ because of signs and wonders - 3,000 souls came to Christ because of the piercing of the heart and the gospel of Jesus being preached
Our text states does state though that the believers were in a position of awe
This posture of awe and seeing the Holy Spirit at work through the apostles had to of been a great confidence booster to their faith
And - at the same time that the believers were in awe - it is likely that that that awe did not translate to the unbleilievers
Rather - there would be a fear as to how these miraculous things were occuring
It would cause someone to second guess their unbelief
Second - the signs and wonders that occurred were acts of mercy or a primary way to reach the lost as Jesus performed
Listen, I agree that every miracle Jesus performed was for his own glory and magnified him as the Christ
And if we look at Jesus’ miracles - they magnify Jesus as the Christ as he displays having mercy on another
And even though Jesus did do miracles - the miracles were not his primary way for witnessing
The miracles that Jesus performed were affirmations of Jesus’ teaching and proclaiming that He is the way, the truth, and the life
Apostolic teaching
So now we have the apostles supporting the teachings of Jesus and carrying out acts of mercy
Their teaching were the very breath and word of God and the signs and wonders were supporting the teachings by showing the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit that that now dwells within every believer
And seeing the Acts of mercy that support the teachings of Jesus
The natural and only response to that is that we must love, and care, and bear, and uplift each other as Jesus would
And having this in common - the believers lept into action
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 bread in 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.
Integrated Life
The believers had an integrated life with one another - they took care of one another
They went tot the temple
They ate in their homes and had glad and generous hearts
And ultimately everything they were doing was to praise God
And in their praise, in their following of Christ, in their helping of each other - other people saw what was going on
It is a beautiful thing that the first century church was all about gathering and ministering
And in their actions, other people see and experience what was happening
And the Holy Spirit draws the unbelievers in - And just by simply ministering to people they found favor with believer and non believers
And then the Lord supernaturally changes their hearts
and more souls are added to the Kingdom of God
This here is a blueprint and a model for us - Who is caring for your soul?
We first submit that Jesus has saved our soul and holds us eternally
This is the hope and promise of Christ
John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Jesus has done the hard part of giving his life for you and reconciling you to God
You can live life knowing and resting that you are secure in Christ
But that does not mean you can live however you want
We have responsibility to steward our soul in the rest and security of Christ
We are to become more like Christ as we continue to rest and find security in him
Read Your Bible!
Now I am going to say something that you may get tired of me saying every Sunday
If you grew up in the church - youve probably heard it every Sunday
But this has to be the number one way to nurture and protect your soul
That is to read your Bible!!!
Didn’t see that one comming -
But we have to understand that we are not a congrgation led church
We are not an elder led church
we are not a pastor led church
We are a scripture led church
And that is because we believe that this book is God’s very word for us
The reason why we do not believe in modern day apostles
They were necessary because they learned and followed and shared Jesus’ teachings directly
They did not have the full cannon of scripture that we have today
We have the entire and complete word of God right here
The early church devoted! - Is your state of being longing to know God’s word
Devote yourselves to Christ - Devote yourselves to the reading of scripture for it is the word of God that your soul needs
And look, as a shepherd of this church, as one who is held accountable and will be judged stricter - I have to be continuously pointing to God’s word for it’s his word that is final - not mine
You do not want to solely rely on the John Colunga commentary
But you can rely solely on the infallability and the sufficiency of scripture
So you will continue to hear me encourage and exhort you to be in God’s word
And maybe you might roll your eyes because you were a perfect 7 for 7 in reading last week
But there could be a fellow brother or sister in this room who really needs the encouragement
Who the Holy Spirit will convict and move to lead them closer to being in God’s word
And if we are to hold to the Word of God first, as the primary way in which God speaks to us - then the signs and wonders will appear
Sign and Wonders are second
But we must be careful how we approach the signs and wonders conversation
As we read and understood before, the apostles were the ones doing the signs and wonders
And the signs and wonders were acts of mercy that pointed to Christ or preached Christ
And now that the apostles are no longer with us - how is it that signs and wonders still appear for us?
This is where I stand on the shoulders of Dr. James Montgomery Boice who taught on this and set me on a trajectory to enable me to articulate what I believe
And in his teaching - he taught as I believe that I do not like to put God in a box
And so I do believe that supernatural healings occur where the Dr. gave a diagnosis and somehow a patient is supernaturally healed
I do believe that God called me to be the Pastor here - That is supernatural
He didnt explicitely tell me - he didnt show up in a dream - but as I prayed and as I sought his guidence - he made a way for it to happen and for me to recognize and be open to saying yes
I believe that every conversion story is a miracle - I hope you are in awe every time someone comes to Christ
We must be careful that we do not claim to perform signs and wonders nor should we expect them regularly as if its a thus sayeth the Lord
If someone has cancer - and I pray with them that their cancer be healed, that the Lrod grants them mercy and healing - and God chooses to miraculously heal that person -
That does not mean that I have the gift of healing
That does not mean that I have more faith than countless others who had prayed for that person
Rather, in God’s soverignty, divine glory, power, and mercy - at that moment in which the person was healed - God saw fit and decided to heal that person. It had nothing to do with me and everything to do with God
Because at the same time, there will be people that I pray for - and he chooses to not physically heal them and to call them home
They dont die because I was lacking in faith or that they were lacking in faith
I believe that if God wants to communicate to you clearly in a dream - he can
But we cant be expecting that as a sign every time we lay our head down at night
To expect that and to elevate that as a primary way that God speaks is dangerous
I had a dream some time ago that I was back in High School
And in my dream, Mrs. Brenda Marsaillis was my High School teacher
Why? I dont know.......
But can you imagine if I was expecting God to speak to me in my dreams and then I woke up from that and then I went to Mrs. Brenda and said Mrs. Brenda, God gave me a dream and I believe he wants you to go back into teaching
I can tell you the look that she would give me
And I’m sure the response she will give me is that GOd can tell me that himself!
In relation to our soul - It will do our souls well to be concerned with what God’s word says
That we pray and ask God to reveal himself to us and to go to scripture for his truths and answers
And if he so chooses to give a sign and wonder - for us to be in awe - to give him glory
And then to go right back to his word and teachings
And we also get his word and teachings every Sunday
Go to Church
I will not stay here long as we just had a sermon over going to church but notice how our text said that the people were devoted to the apostles teachings and the fellowship
And they met in the temple and in each others homes
So I exhort you not to minize the Sunday gathering in the nurturing and protecting of your soul
To come along side fellow brothers and sisters to sing God’s word, to hear God’s word, to pray God’s word
That we do The Lord’s Supper together and pray with one another
That we do baptize and encourage one another
That you first submit your soul to God’s word and then trusting others to help you in the shepherding of your soul
That is where your leadership and my role comes into play in your soul care
That I am tasked as as an earthly Shepherd called by God to help shepherd the souls at New Day Church Pasadena
That I submit to Christ first is my primary calling and then my secondary calling is to preach the word of God here
Fixing lights are important but your soul is my priority
Door Knocking is important but your soul is my priority
Casting a vision is great but your soul is my priority
You come to church to worship and glorify God - And it is my hope and prayer that in that worship - That the Lord would use me to help shepherd your sould to have a deeper love for Christ
To have a deeper understanding of who He is
And to be equipped to go out and do the work of ministry
Trust Community
And then as you come on Sundays - we hope and pray that you want to continuously meet and grow with each other
In the early church there is just as much an emphasis in gathering outside of the temple as there is gathering inside the temple
We say it all the time that the church is not a building and yet we sometimes try to only meet in the building
But the early church was meeting regularly in homes and at the temple
They were regularly meeting and serving - and the watching world was seeing what was going on and was attracted to what was happening through the power of the Holy Spirit
And in our time today - we too should be meeting inside and outside the church building
We should be eating meals together
We should be trusting each other in helping to steward our souls
Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”
And it is no coinscidence that in the full armor of God the sword is the word of God
Ephesians 6:17 “and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,”
Are we helping each other in the understanding and obeying of scripture
We just talked about legalism - how do we help each other not fall into legalsim and learn how to bear with one another
Do we ask scriptural questions with one another?
And so that is what we do in our community groups - we go deeper into God’s word to sharpen each other
We ask how each other are doing? (not superficially)
We ask what is God teaching you right now?
Groups are important for us
Responsibility in Living the Christian Life
In answering the question - Who is caring for your soul?
We have first noted that God cares for us through his word
We have noted the caring of your soul by local shepherd
We have noted the caring of your soul by fellow believers
And now we are going to end with personal responsibility to live as a changed soul
You are responsible for nurturing and protecting your soul by living out the Christian life
Being a Christian is a daily denying of yourself to walk in obedience of Christ
Philippians 4:8–9 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
We will circle back to this later in our sermon series but the overarching theme is this
Jesus Christ has given us peace
And the appropriate response to that is obedience
When you are drained, when you are weak, when you are tempted, when you are stressed, when you are overwhelmed, when your fleshly desire is at its peak - obedience to Christ is what is necessary for your soul
In life, we develop habits - we develop postures - we develop natural responses
And when we are obedient - even in crazy circumstances - there is still peace because you are still God’s will
But when you give into the weaknes, the tempation, into the flesh - the separation is there and must be made right by asking for forgiveness
Growing up I did watch veggietales and I remember watching Larry Boy and the fib from outerspace
And in the story one tiny fib given lead this young asparagus to tell another fib and it got easier and waier to lie until the fib grew so big that it became a problem for everyone
But we are called to squash all of that - dont let yourself develop a pattern of sin - but set your gaze on obedience to what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable,
And a pttern of righteousness and peace for your soul, will follow
Announcements
Announcements
Connect Card - Please fill out, we want to connect with you
We want to be Kingdom Minded what is your response? - giving, serving, response to Christ
Next Sunday Aug. 27th we will be ordaining Dillon we are excited about that
Community Group Sign Ups - (Sept.) Meet Every Wednesday (1st Wednesday Midweek gathering)
September 6th is the first Mid-Week gathering
September 13th is the first community Group gathering individually
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Sign Up out in the foyer or Online
New Guests Connect Class - Starting Sept. 3rd 9:15am
New Day Reading Plan - Mon-Fri - 2 Corinthians 7-11
Ephesians 3:17-19
“May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”