A Home Base for Every Moment

Daniel Conner

Every Moment • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Acts 2:42–47

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A Home Base for Every Moment |

Me: If you weren’t here last week and haven’t heard yet, let me cut through any suspense… Mosaic @ WDW will be moving December 1st to a semi-permanent facility not too far away from here! It is currently being renovated to meet our needs as well as looking shiny and new for when we move in!

Tonight I am excited to unpack what we are believing God will do through this community in our new space that we will get to call our home base.

But to do that well I think we need to be on the same page with what we understand the church to be.

In this room we probably have experienced a mixed bag of what the church can be like. Some have experienced rich learning and relational depth within the church, and some of you may have experienced have had experienced that have left you skeptical and untrusting.

We all grew up and had different experiences with the organized church. Maybe yours was from a distance or your parents were super involved in your local church. Perhaps you saw the drama and church politics that can far too often unfold and it left you skeptical and untrusting.

I don’t blame you. I was raised in the church as well, and unfortunately I saw the brokenness of those who represent Jesus. I saw them respond in ways that were less than loving and understanding. But the most amazing thing happened when I was 19, despite my frustrations with God’s people, I met Jesus and surrendered my life to Him, and He made a way for me to be adopted into the family of God. I belonged. He gave me a purpose and began to transform my heart through His Holy Spirit.

I don’t blame you. I was raised in the church as well, and unfortunately I saw the brokenness of those who represent Jesus. I saw them respond to conflict with zero love or grace. But the most amazing thing happened when I was 19, despite my frustrations with God’s people, I met Jesus and surrendered my life to Him, and He made a way for me to be adopted into the family of God. I belonged. He gave me a purpose and began to transform my heart through His Holy Spirit.

The difficulty for me though was while I was tempted to give up on the church, Jesus wasn’t.

The difficulty for me though was while I was ready in many ways to give up on the church, Jesus wasn’t.

In fact, He explained throughout the Gospels that the local and global church would be His plan A for redeeming Every Moment in spaces across the globe. He never gave us a plan B.

In fact, He explained throughout the Gospels that the church would be His plan A for bringing light into spaces of darkness across the globe. He never gave us a plan B.

He said that the world would know we are His Followers by our LOVE for ONE ANOTHER.

You: What is your story? If you are a Follower of Jesus what part do you believe God has for you within the story He is telling through the Church?

In my life I have seen Jesus use me despite my faults.

You: What is your story? If you are a Follower of Jesus what part do you believe God has for you within the story He is telling through the Church?

In the same way, Jesus continues to use the Church despite it’s faults.

Maybe you are here for the first time and this is like the last chance you are giving God with the church, and you might be believing it would be better and easier to live out your faith on your own. Without the frustrations of Christians.

Why didn’t Jesus know how much we would muddy it up through the generations?

In , Jesus says that HE will build His church, and we discover in this perfect moment when His church stands unblemished dressed in white like a bride before Jesus!

Yet, in , Jesus says that HE will build His church, and we discover in Revelation this perfect moment when His church stands unblemished dressed in white like a bride before Jesus!

How many of you have ever been to a wedding and found it boring when the bride began her journey down the aisle? Never right? The bride is stunning, 10/10. And that moment is special.

Hence why you usually look at the groom and see a face like this!!

How many of you have ever been to a wedding and thought the bride was like a 6 out of 10? NEVER RIGHT?!?!! The bride is stunning!

Hence why you usually look at the groom and see a face like this!!

This future is going to be realized despite the ebb and flow of cultures response to the church. This means our commitment to being the church is a call worth living in because the future is bright regardless of how bleak the present may appear.

So, we have this new space over at IPC, sweet. What would it look like to use this space to be the church and to be redemptive in every moment as the church, using this new space as a tool?

If you ever end up in a conversation about the future of the church, is it losing ground, is it irrelevant… This is the future! Unblemished. Made clean by the work of Jesus on the Cross and the Spirit of God drawing us near to Him in every moment!

Main Idea: The Church was meant to be a Home Base to Redeem Every Moment

God: Go ahead and flip in your bibles to

Let me show you what this looked like in the earliest example of the early New Testament Church as they engaged in THEIR first meetings space to gather together.

Right after Jesus left, the Early Church did not immediately go out on some epic quest. They drew near one another in complete dependence waiting until the Holy Spirit was sent to empower them to love God and love people in ways they could have never imagined before!

Vs 42 – Here we see that this fledgling Biblical Community was gathering together to have worship gatherings.

Then the Spirit came, and they were all of a sudden emboldened in insane ways! Peter, who months early denied knowing Jesus to a child out of fear, stood boldly in front of the same people who persecuted Jesus and shared the Gospel without hesitation. 3,000 people responded to the Gospel.

But what did this new church look like? What was this biblical community about?

Jesus had told His disciples to go and teach them what He taught them. Now we see they immediately started doing that! Teaching about their adoption into the family of God through Jesus, and how they were called to live in light of that reality!

Vs 42 – Jesus had told His disciples to go and teach them what He taught them. Now we see they immediately started doing that! Teaching about the nature of God, how to endure through suffering, how to forgive the unforgivable, what it meant to surrender their lives to Jesus and pick up their crosses to follow Him!

They were devoted to fellowship, they didn’t just come to church and bounce, they saw this as a space to build rich relationships.

They even Entered into Spiritual Disciplines and reflections, like communion and prayer.

They were devoted to fellowship, coming together as a community and doing life together. Entering into Spiritual Disciplines and reflections, like communion and prayer.

I love the word that is used to describe how they did it though, and they reluctantly gave themselves, and they out of being guilted by their friends or out of fear of disappointing their families… No they DEVOTED themselves.

If you have ever been excited as you entered into a new relationship, gotten a new puppy, or perhaps even got a new kitten you probably have an idea of what devotion feels like.

Nobody has to force you. You cant wait! There is excitement and longing to experience that relationship. This was the early church.

I have been so blessed by this kind of community with our Sunday Evening Gatherings over the years, I have learned through teaching, fellowship and challenged toward Spiritual Disciplines on how to live as part of God’s family.

Vs 43 – What did they experience? Incredible signs and wonders! The Spirit of God was moving in powerful ways in this community. People were experiencing physical, spiritual, and relational healings. People were being encouraged and receiving life from one another.

Vs 44 – They were together, and had ALL THINGS in common. Does this mean that all of a sudden they had all things in common as far as politics, hobbies, leadership styles, and personalities? Probably not. At this point the church was filled with Jewish believers who were from across the Roman world. What this does mean is that in the things that are most important they had all things in common. The centrality of Jesus, the priority of biblical community, their new identities within the Family of God.

Vs 43 – What did they experience? Incredible signs and wonders! The Spirit of God was moving in powerful ways in this community. As they lived in love with one another, they were more open to how God would move in and through them.

How did they respond to this new reality?

Vs 45 – Because they were all apart of the family of God, they treated one another like… family. If you are in good relationship with your family, you take care of them when they need it most! If you heard that a sibling or cousin was starving because of their poverty wouldn’t you find a way to provide for them?

How did they respond to this new reality?

This is how the church was responding to their new identities within God’s family!

Vs 46-47 - On a daily basis we discover they did a couple things:

They hung out: So not only were they breaking bread for communion, but they actually wanted to hang out with one another and enjoy a meal together. There is a spiritual component to eating a meal together. I hate eating alone. I can easily forget meals when I am working by myself.

They hung out: So not only were they breaking bread for communion during corporate gatherings, but this whole idea of being the church was overflowing into their everyday lives. They actually wanted to hang out with one another and enjoy a meal together. There is a spiritual component to eating a meal together.

Good food can bring us together in ways that very few things can. For the early church, it led them toward radical gratitude and thanksgiving!

They were going to the temple… Does this mean there was a worship gathering every single day? If that was the case it seems like they were kind of overly focused on themselves.

Good food can bring us together in ways that very few things can. For the early church, it led them toward radical gratitude and thanksgiving!

This temple was hostile territory for the Gospel. This was the Temple in Jerusalem, where the exact same people who recently held the worlds worst trial to crucify Jesus ruled and reigned.

In the same way, I am praying that as we gather in our new space, that we wouldn’t think that we would only BE THE CHURCH when we gather on Sundays, but that would overflow into the way we do life together… probably starting by grabbing dinner.

They were going to the temple… A place of worship, sure, but this was not necessarily a safe place.

They were going to the temple as a Gospel Presence and a Gospel Voice. They were going and sharing the insane news of Jesus’ rescue to the same people who spat on Him!

This temple was hostile territory for the Gospel. This was the Temple in Jerusalem, where the exact same people who recently held the worlds worst trial to crucify Jesus ruled and reigned.

Their love for one another… it didn’t lead them to being self-focused. It led them to living out Jesus words, “they will know you are my followers by your love for ONE ANOTHER.”

They were going to the temple as a Gospel Presence and a Gospel Voice. They were going and sharing the insane news of Jesus’ rescue to the same people who spat on Him!

What was the result? They praised God and had favor with others, and God added to their numbers daily.

They went to gather, to love each other, and to demonstrate the Gospel, as they were sent from the safety of their community into hostile spaces. So we to get to do this as we are sent from our new space into our breakrooms, our apartments, and in our relationships.

So to recap, they devoted themselves to worship and learning together within worship gatherings, which led them toward experiencing the Spirit of God moving in powerful ways, which reinforced their identities within the family of God, which led them toward radical generosity toward one another, which led them toward hanging out with one another because they truly loved one another, which led them to being a Gospel Presence and a Gospel Voice in places that were hostile to the Gospel and through them Jesus drew those who were far from Him into the family of God!

Their love for one another… it didn’t lead them to being self-focused. It led them to living out Jesus words, “they will know you are my followers by your love for ONE ANOTHER.”

I want to be a part of that! I want to experience this type of Biblical Community each and every week. I want people who are far from Jesus to experience something different within this community, the life, light, and freedom that is only possible by, through, and for Jesus.

What was the result? They praised God and had favor with others, and God added to their numbers daily.

Main Idea: The Church was meant to be a Home Base to Redeem Every Moment

Most of us in here are young adults and it can feel often that with a vision that compelling we have no ability to help make this a reality. Maybe when we are older we can call the shots and help give direction.

In recap, let’s be the church in our new space, let’s invite others into the story of this Biblical Community. Let’s have this love spill out into our homes and our breakrooms. Let’s be the church in our new space!

You: Our goal should be like that of the Early Church, who was filled with a bunch of young adults who sought the Spirit of God to redeem them so that they might redeem Every Moment.

Main Idea: The Church was meant to be a Home Base to Redeem Every Moment

You: The Early Church was filled with a beautiful diversity of gifting. We see throughout the NT that we are all like a Mosaic bringing our broken shards to the artisan and watch him use our uniqueness to build up this family and create a beautiful work of art through it!

The Early Church was filled with beautiful diversity, across racial lines, and across generations. Part of what it meant to be devoted to the Apostles teaching was the ongoing process of Discipleship. Learning from one another how to love God, love people, and serve the world.

One of the things I have loved about being a part of the Mosaic Church story over the last five years is I have been able to see both here at the Disney Campus and at the Winter Garden Campus there is a genuine appreciation for the incredible gifts that each generation can bring to the building up of the body.

One of the things I have loved about being a part of the Mosaic Church story over the last five years is I have been able to see both here at the Disney Campus and at the Winter Garden Campus the celebration of the diversity of giftings within this family.

In fact, we have a video with a few stories of how this is being lived out within the Mosaic Story.

[Play Video]

In fact, we have a video with a few stories of how this is being lived out within the Mosaic Story, even across generational lines.

This campus is made of a ton of incredible individuals and families who uniquely display the love of God within this community.

[Play Video]

This is what it means to be the church, to serve one another, to make Jesus known, and to redeem every moment.

I think of, as the video showed, some of the older couples and families who have entered into the Disney Campus with a heart to impact the Emerging Generation of Disney Cast Members with the Gospel.

Families like the Dahlin’s, the Hsu’s, the Griffiths, the Rowan’s, and of course as the video showed, the Taubensee’s. Please forgive me if I forgot your name! I appreciate you.

I think of, as the video showed, some of the older couples and families who have entered into the Disney Campus with the unique gifting of their experience and love for impacting the emerging generations of Disney Cast Members with the Gospel.

Families like the Dahlin’s, the Hsu’s, the Griffiths, the Rowan’s, and of course as the video showed, the Taubensee’s. But I also think of the younger individuals and families who have been apart of this journey for a while since their early days of being Disney CMs but have stuck around to impact the next generation of CMs, who show up here every six months or so!

This campus is also made of young adults with hopefully audacious faith, where we want to live out the same kind of Biblical Community that we saw in the Early Church.

It is a vision of seeing each of us redeeming Every Moment, not in some future reality but today and next week and in twenty years from now!

This is us being the church and living out the vision of seeing each of us redeeming Every Moment, not in some future reality but today and next week and in twenty years from now!

This is what my hope is for our community as we move into our new space over at the India Pentecostal Church, that it would be a space that would continue to facilitate this kind of empowerment for each of us for however long God has us in this community.

As we saw last week, it is going to be a beautiful space, and in it we are going to get to experience many of the things that meeting in a hotel ballroom never afforded us, coffee and donuts, a guaranteed meeting space for both weekly gatherings and for Weekly Community Events, easier parking, and a place that feels much less temporary.

This was a space we have rented from time to time so we knew some of the pros and cons of the building. One of the biggest difficulties was a small lobby environment, so we are adding a second set of double doors so the Gathering Space will also serve as an expansion into the lobby before and after Gatherings. We are also renovating three rooms to serve as meeting spaces for D Groups, Equipping Classes, and a Cry Room for the newest and youngest members of Mosaic @ WDW.

It also gave us an opportunity to both streamline and bring simplicity to our weekly schedule. We will have the building every Sunday and Tuesday Evening. Which means we will begin have the majority of our Weekly Community Events on Tuesday Nights at this consistent location, which is a bit better than trying to keep up with the app, calendar, or Facebook event to find out what time, date, and location this weeks event will be at. We will also move Uncommon Love to Tuesday Nights as well (which typically happens the first Monday of the Month to the First Tuesday of the month) to further streamline the schedule.

So let me show you how our new space facilitates us being the church and redeeming every moment.

As you take your first steps in, this is meant to be a space that encourages conversations and a place to be known. So we added a second set of doors into the Gathering Space. This allowed us to increase the capacity of the lobby to overflow into the back of the Gathering Space. In the back of the Gathering Space, you will be able to find, snacks like Donuts and Coffee, because breaking bread together can be tasty!

One of the things that has never been able to be changed in the past was our Gathering time, because of meeting in a hotel and having to do so much set up work, we have never been able to consider making our Gathering time any earlier. But now we have been able to reevaluate this, and beginning December 1st, we will be moving our Gatherings to 7:02pm on Sunday Nights and will use that same time for the majority of our Tuesday Events as well. This means you get to have more time to hang out with friends after the gathering in our expanded lobby, maybe grab a meal together at Ale House or Earl of Sandwich, or just get an extra hour of precious sleep.

This place will feel much more permanent and much more like home since we are able to build it out with intentional community in mind. This not only includes our décor, but even the refurb of three class rooms that will be new meeting and hangout spaces, with couches and tables. In these spaces we will have equipping classes, D Groups can meet in these places, and even a Cry Room to care for our young and growing families! All of this equipping us to BE THE CHURCH.

While we are going to be less than five minutes away from Disney Springs, my biggest concern about moving off Disney Property was accessibility to CPs who don’t have their own vehicles. Thankfully, a year ago some of my friends started a Shuttle Squad to help provide consistent transportation from the four different housing complexes to our Gatherings… We want to double down on this important investment of providing safe and consistent transportation for CPs and in addition to the use of personal vehicles, we will be purchasing a Mosaic @ WDW Van that will hopefully a great asset in helping CPs experience Biblical Community.

But it will not just be a place for us to Gather on Sunday Nights, but we will also be able to create deeper community with the majority of our Weekly Community Events happening there on Tuesday Nights. The hope is by creating an intentional and consistent time, space, and date on the week we would be able to hang out and filled up so that we can be sent out and serve the world.

Like I said earlier, this also means less set up and tear down. But there will be an increased need for if you call Mosaic @ WDW home to step in and serve on any of the new serve teams that this new space will require.

Also, you know what else helps facilitate community? Not being exhausted by getting out of our Gatherings at 9:30. Since we aren’t meeting in a place that requires as much set up and tear down we were able to rethink our Gathering time so we will be moving our Gatherings to 7:02pm, as well our events will also be moved to taking place at 7:02. This means more time to hang out after or even an extra hour of sleep!

(Safety Team, Connect Team, Shuttle Squad, Hospitality Team, Set Up/Tear Down)

The Holiday Inn has been so good to us, it was in this place nearly six years ago that I experienced the love of this community and I have never been the same. If you have been around for any length of time I am sure you do as well.

For the last year, we have had incredible volunteers running a CP Shuttle Squad. Meeting off Disney property makes their efforts even more crucial since we would hate lack of transportation to be the reason why a CP couldn’t experience community. So we are investing even more in their efforts and purchasing a van to become the Mosaic @ WDW Shuttle to help even more CPs experience biblical community.

Earlier I mentioned the beauty of the diversity of the unique gifts we each bring to this family. As we move into this new space, there are even more opportunities for each of us who call Mosaic @ WDW home to serve and be the church.

I am also genuinely excited about this new space for all the reasons I just mentioned. But if all we do is, now have a more comfortable place for us and eat donuts together every week, then I believe we are basically a social donut club not a place for CMs to experience Biblical Community and Jesus.

I am praying that God would use this new space to be a home base. As in a place, where we gather together, invite others in, so that we can be sent out to redeem Every Moment by, through, and for Jesus.

(Safety Team, Connect Team, Shuttle Squad, Hospitality Team, Set Up/Tear Down)

I think about all that has happened within this community in this building over the last six years. My life has been forever changed by the community I experienced in this space, but I dream of the potential of our new space.

When I have been visiting the building through the construction process, I have been dreaming of the lives transformed in this new place, the discipleship relationships that will begin, the new roommates who will find one another, the power of the Spirit moving us into deeper spaces of whatever gifts He would desire to give our community. I see people encouraged, forgiven, set free, and sent out to transform the world on mission both here at WDW and beyond!

But I was wondering if all of you would want to come with me tonight to go do the same… What I mean to say is would you want to take a quick drive over to IPC, We have some Cookies and Punch over there and you will get a chance to see the building and pray over it while it is still under construction! I would just ask that you take prayer seriously and sincerely pray that God would use this space to draw people nearer to Himself and Biblical Community.

Main Idea: The Church was meant to be a Home Base to Redeem Every Moment

I am praying that God would use this new space to be a home base. To be a place where we learn how to redeem every moment. Where future generations of CMs will experience the Gospel and learn how to make Jesus known.

Main Idea: The Church was meant to be a Home Base to Redeem Every Moment

This new building though is not the Church, no more than the Holiday Inn has been. The Church is not a building, it is God’s adopted children gathering together to be sent out.

Us: The Church has never been perfect, but our future is secure. It is literally already written down, and it looks beautiful and ultimately victorious through Jesus.

Us: It is easy to look at that passage though of the early church and thinking that they were perfect, the truth is they weren’t . This was like an ESPN highlight play. It was the author writing down a snapshot when they were living on mission. But just a few chapter later we see their frustrations with one another coming out.

Are you with me? Are you ready to go be the church in a space that lends itself to this calling and endeavor? Then let’s pray.

The Church has never been perfect, and we won’t be on this side of eternity because it is filled with imperfect people. Maybe that is why over 50 different times we are instructed in the NT on how to love one another, because we were bound to get it wrong most of the time.

But imagine if we lived as a community that refused to throw up our hands and give up on the church, instead we lived as the church… that the world might see through us the love of Jesus and be drawn near to Him.

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