Sunday Service - 2026-09-06

Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast.

If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you.

Thank you for joining us today.

I want to tell you early on, because we have a little bit of an intro, but if you could turn to

Acts chapter 11. As you know, we go through the Bible with an occasional stop for certain

interruptions of holidays and so forth, and Happy Labor Day, if that's a way to say that.

Labor Day is such a truce kind of holiday, isn't it? But we do really want to appreciate people

who are civil servants and who make our lives better and really are servants for the rest of us.

And today, in a sense, I guess it ties in a little bit with that, but today we're going to talk about

Christians. One name, one family, and one mission. In fact, we're going to be reading about the first

time the church is actually called Christians, and we are unified. Why? Because we have the same

Holy Spirit dwelling in us. We are like the same. Isn't that amazing? I know it can seem

strange, like I'm so different than Tony. Tony was a truck driver. I was a mortgage guy.

You know, we're all different of paths we've come from, but in the Spirit, in Christ, we are all

the same. We're unified, and we have the same purpose. We're family. We're on the same mission

in life. Amen. I love the way Ephesians, Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter four, verses four to

six. I mean, there's a lot of ones in these verses right here. There is one body, one Spirit,

just as you are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and what in you all. Isn't that

we are new creations, right? And so we are like, I like to think of ourselves almost like as hybrids

on earth because we are normal flesh, yet we have a heavenly spirit in us. So God is in us,

yet we're normal flesh and blood. I love the way Jesus himself said it in his last

prayer just before he was crucified in the high priestly prayer in John 17. If you haven't read

that chapter in a while, wow, how like moving these words are as he's praying really about you.

He's praying about you and I. He's saying, I don't only pray for these, my disciples,

the one that are with me that I've been leading, but I also pray for those who will believe their

words. And he said that they all may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also

may be one in us and the glory which you gave me, I have given them that they may be one just as we

are one. I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one. That should be a song,

shouldn't it? You know, it almost sounds like it is a song, but it's really, we are all one in Christ.

And so because of that, really, we need to be in tune to each other. Like last week was a lot about

communication, but we really need to know about what's going on in the kingdom of God. You know,

a lot of times we live lives so like soloists, you know, we just do our own thing. But really,

as born again believers, as one body, one family, we need to know what God is doing in the family of

Christ. You know, it's important to know about it and why so that we can participate in it

and that we can also include others into that. We're going to see that in these verses,

because this is such a perfect picture of how God operates through the body of Christ.

So I think we prayed for the message, but maybe not. Let's just pray again.

Father God, we ask you to illuminate the scriptures today.

Open up our minds, Lord God. If we're distracted with things, Lord God, we ask you just to like

bring clarity to our thinking, Lord. We want to be crisp and clear and be able to be dialed into

your word. We ask your Holy Spirit to just cleanse our minds, Lord God, so we can receive

everything from you so that we can walk out of here, not just be a listener of the word,

but an actual doer of the word. So we ask all of this in Jesus' name, amen.

So we're only going to be looking at verses 19 to 30 today. We're going to stop a couple of times

and really glean everything we can out of this. Last two weeks, we've been looking at Peter,

the apostle Peter, and the things he was up to, how he went to Cornelius' house and led the Romans

to salvation, the first full Gentiles to salvation. And then as we spend time on that, now we're

going to shift our focus on Barnabas and then Saul, because remember he's been up at home in Tarsus.

We don't know what he was doing there. I'm sure he was spreading the gospel,

but it doesn't say what he was doing there. He was probably saying, what am I doing here?

Yeah, I thought God was using me and he's just waiting around, but something amazing

is going to happen. So let's dive into verse 19.

And now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen

traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but

the Jews only. But some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who when they had come to Antioch,

spoke to the Hellenists, that's the Greeks, preaching the Lord Jesus and the hand of the

Lord was with them and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

So let's just stop there for a minute. So again, we can really get our minds fully around this.

You remember several weeks ago, we talked about Stephen, how he was stoned to death

because of his testimony. And as a result, then all of a sudden, the officials,

the Jewish leaders started persecuting the church. They were probably called the way at that point.

And so they were persecuting. So many Christians stayed and kind of had their base there

and others, those scattered from Jerusalem, but not to go and hide, but to spread the gospel.

And so as Philip was going out and remember leading the Samaritans to Christ and leading

the Ethiopian eunuch to Christ, and as Peter was going down the Caesarea and leading Cornelius

and his household to Christ, there were other believers, anonymous. We don't even know who

they are, but they're from Cyrene and they're from Cyprus. They too were in Jerusalem

during this whole period of time. In fact, when we read about Pentecost, there was a lot of

people from all around the Mediterranean world in Jerusalem during the Pentecost,

Cyrenians and many others. So people were saved from all around the area. And so as a result,

they probably stayed in Jerusalem as long as they could until that persecution began.

And then they started to spread out and share the gospel. And so let's see this map here

so we can get a kind of a mind around everything that was happening. Okay. Again, this is the

epicenter of the early church, right? And so what we just heard about is that there was,

people had left Jerusalem and they were sharing the gospel and they just kept on going, kept on

going north and sharing the gospel and people were getting saved. What I love about this

is that we know who Peter was, right? We know who Saul and Barnabas were. We know who Philip was,

but I still don't know who this Cyreneian was or his friends or the people from Cyprus.

We don't know who they are. They're anonymous to us. And yet guess what? The Lord knows exactly

who they are. In fact, they're in heaven now with him, celebrating all the things they've

done for the Lord. And someday we're going to get to meet them and say, so Tommy,

were you the guy that led those Hellenists, those Greeks to the Lord after they had been

worshiping all kinds of foreign Gods? Now they were bringing the gospel. That's you and I,

we don't have to be recognized in this world to be special to God. He knows everything you're

doing. He's keeping a record and thank God, not of your wrong things, but of the right things.

He has an accounting of everything we've done for him. And we won't be penalized

when we mess up. He just appreciates that we are serving him in that way. And so they are

leading people to Christ. And I was thinking, can you imagine if one of these Cyreneians

was the guy who was carrying the cross for Christ? Think about that. I mean,

you know, imagine, do you think he was transformed after that day?

You know, I'm sure he wanted to get that cross off his back, but after that,

I'm sure he lingered along and just to watch and to see what was happening,

because he could just see in the eyes of Christ, this man is innocent. Why are they doing this

to this guy? You know, or Cyprus, you know, Barnabas was from Cyprus, probably some of his

friends were the ones who led these Greeks to Christ. But so we see this is a lot of exciting

things are going on. So let's read on. And then news of these things came to the ears of the

church in Jerusalem. And they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. And when he had came and

had seen the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart,

they should continue with the Lord. For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.

And a great many people were added to the Lord. So here, Barnabas is sent by probably James,

the half-brother of Jesus and Peter and others to go up and say, check this out. There's

people, we don't even know who these Cyrenians and Cypriots, they're called Cypriots. I haven't

used that word like ever before. But anyway, but they're all up there. Who are these guys?

Do we know them? What are they doing? Go check this out. And then Barnabas goes, this is, man,

this is like awesome. Like, like they don't even have any of the leaders here. And they're just

doing the thing because the Holy Spirit is leading them. And it says Barnabas was glad and overjoyed.

Why? Because he had the same spirit in him as the Cyrenians and Cypriots had in them,

right? He was overwhelmed with joy and excitement and he was encouraging them. Now you think,

well, of course he would. Well, you know what? Sometimes, okay, even in Christianity,

people can get a little competitive, right? Envious, jealous, you know? How many times have you seen

somebody come in and say, yeah, you know, I wouldn't do it that way. Like, you know,

I was trained properly. I'm just saying, and I have a better way to do that. But I'm just,

I'm just staying out of it, you know, or, you know, you've been around people who have a better idea.

They should be doing better things, you know? And that's why God bless you. When we have new

people coming in, we have a six month rule and that's so that you can get to know us.

We can get to know you. And sometimes it's still not long enough, right? But it's awesome because

really, sometimes you come in, you think something's needed, but really something else is needed,

you know? Or maybe you think you fit in here, but you realize, actually,

I fit in better over there. It's good to really just to learn and grow with each other.

And so Barnabas didn't go and say, oh gosh, would I go back and tell Peter and the gang what you

guys are up to here? No, he was happy for them and encouraged them and motivated them, right?

You know what it reminds me of? Instead of being competitive and well, you're not like one of the

in people, so you can't be doing it right, was Jesus himself. I mean, Jesus himself, remember

when he was walking along with his disciples and John came up to him and said, Jesus,

we saw somebody casting out demons in your name, but he's not with us. Should I stop him?

In fact, we have that verse. It probably says exactly what I just said. But do you have that

verse in, yeah, Mark 940, teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us, casting out demons in your

name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us. We forbade him, right? But Jesus said,

do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in my name can soon afterwards speak evil of me,

for he who is not against us is on our side. It's a big harvest field, and there's few workers.

Why do we want to crush the workers that are out there doing the thing, right? Just encourage

and embrace and celebrate them and motivate and pray for them. Why point out the things that

are messing up? We all mess up, don't we? There's always things like, all right, I wish I could have

that chance again. Well, he'll give you another one. Just stick with it. You'll get more chances,

right? But that's the idea. Another time, Jesus cast out a demon of a blind and mute guy.

And remember the Pharisee said, oh, he's doing that by the power of Beelzebub. Okay. And then

Jesus goes through this whole thing, no one who can cast, you know, if somebody's casting out,

if Satan's casting out demons in Satan's name, his kingdom would crumble, but it's obviously not,

right? So whose name am I casting out demons? How do your sons cast out demons? Well, then

it's the same thing with them, right? So he goes, no. And then he said, anyone who is

with us is not against us. Whoever gathers with me, whoever does not gather with me,

scatters abroad. So if we are with Christ, we need to encourage one another because we're not each

other's competitors, you know? Christians don't compete against each other. We compete against who?

The enemy, the devil, right? The anti-Christ. We are in Christ. He is anti-Christ, right?

And so we really need to encourage. So this is Barnabas's heart. He's just celebrating. He's

picking up on the next verse. Oh, one other comparison, just because I love this scenario,

always pops up whenever this kind of idea is there. Do you remember when Moses, okay,

the people were complaining about the manna and they wanted quail and they wanted meat and all

this stuff. And so the Lord sent down fire around the camp just to scare them a bit, you know?

And then Moses is like, I can't take these people anymore. They're always complaining.

They're always whining. Why did you commit me to this? You know, just kill me now.

I can't be their leader anymore. Remember that? And he's like, really just overwhelmed, right?

And then I need some help down here, God. That's what Moses was saying. And so Moses said, okay,

call the 70 elders together and I will give to them the same Holy Spirit that's upon you.

And so they grabbed the 70 leaders of the people, okay, and the Holy Spirit came upon them.

And so they're all prophesied. We don't know exactly what they're prophesying,

but they're all prophesying except two people, El Dadd and May Dadd. They stayed at their own

tents. They didn't come to the center of the whole encampment at the tent of Tabernacle,

where the most holy place was, where the glory of the Lord would come down upon the

ark and so forth. They just stayed home at their tent. But the Lord still blessed them and gave them

the Holy Spirit, which I always thought, well, isn't that an act of rebellion? We don't know

what was going on inside their heads, okay? Why they would not do what the Lord told them to do,

but He still met them where they were at. Isn't that interesting? Like maybe they were afraid.

They just saw fire around the whole camp. Maybe they're thinking, maybe I can't be an

elder. Like I don't want this responsibility. Like that's some fire that comes down from

heaven. Like maybe they were afraid. They just didn't want to approach in that way. We don't know

their hearts, but God knows their hearts and He still anointed them with the Holy Spirit.

And they were prophesying. And then we read about this in Numbers 11, 27 to 29.

And a young man ran and told Moses and said, El'dad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.

So Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said,

Moses, my Lord, forbid them. And then Moses said to him, are you zealous for my sake?

Oh, that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them all.

I mean, that's the heart of Moses. That's the heart of Barnabas. Don't we want every Christian

to be living phenomenal lives, walking on water, healing the sick, raising the dead. Maybe that

sounds ridiculous to you, but don't we want it? Don't we want the power of God upon everyone to

really be moving in power and might? That's what we should want for each other. We should want

the greatest things, the Lord to live powerfully in each one of us, to use all of our gifts.

And so that's the idea. Barnabas desperately wanted that for them. Moses wanted it for them.

Jesus wanted it for anyone who would call upon His name to be moving in power and might.

I think we can do the same, right? So let's read the next couple of verses. Verse 25.

Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him

to Antioch. And so it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a

great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. So think about this.

So Saul, Paul, was in Tarsus at his house. Who knows what he was doing? Probably sowing some

tents together, right? I don't know. Maybe he took a fishing, too. But it's not recorded

what he was doing. But here Barnabas is in Antioch and seeing miracles, seeing people getting

saved, seeing these amazing things. And he's like, wow, this is awesome, right?

But something's missing. Paul. Paul would love it here. Paul would thrive in this environment.

Paul would be able to minister. And he would be ministered, too. We're missing Paul. I just love

it. Think about that. He's the son of encouragement, right? Barnabas cared about who was missing out.

Isn't that amazing? Remember, Barnabas was the one who introduced Paul to Peter and all the others

in the church saying, no, you could trust him. He's no longer that guy who wants to kill Christians.

He's one of us now. I love that Barnabas was so inclusive, thinking so much outside of himself,

saying, I know who needs to be here with us right now. And he traveled all the way to Tarsus

just to look for Saul, find him, and bring him back. Isn't that awesome? That inclusive mindset.

Because, you know, Paul couldn't serve in Jerusalem. Remember that? They wanted to kill him,

and he had to leave. He had to escape so that they couldn't kill him because he represented

a rebellion against Yahweh and blasphemy and the law, Mosaic law and all that. He was the rebel.

He couldn't serve there, but he could serve an Antioch because it was a mixed population.

He could serve there. I mean, that's Barnabas, this idea of him wanting to be inclusive

and bring him in. And now let's finish up the verses in 27 to 30.

And in these days, prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. And then one of them named Agabus

stood up and showed by the spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout

all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. And then the disciples,

each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea.

This they also did and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

So there's Barnabas and Saul back together, delivering this needed gift. And you know,

this prophecy actually did happen. It's been recorded by many different scribes and historians

between one and three years after this Agabus had this prophecy, there was actually a severe

famine. And it's especially hit in Judea, primarily, but also around the other parts.

But it was most severe in Judea. And they actually, here they are new believers,

okay? They don't know anybody in Jerusalem or Judea. They live in Antioch. And suddenly,

they hear, so there's going to be a famine, a crisis, all the way back in Judea. Well,

what do we have to do with them? We don't even know them. No, they're one name,

right? They're one family and they have one mission. No, we got to help them out. We got

to take a collection. We got to give. And we could see this whole picture of the early church,

always seeing a need in the church and in the family of God and saying, no, we got to participate.

We got to give. That's what we have to do. We have to give. They were always pouring into each other

to make sure everyone is healthy. You know, the whole picture and metaphor of a body,

you know, all you need is one thing to be hurting, you know? And the rest of your body,

like my back's a little out of whack after all that surgery and then the sling and all of a

sudden my neck hurts and everything else, because one little part of my body was having a problem.

You know, that's what happens. Well, in the body of Christ, we're all one body. When one thing is

hurting, like, did you ever have a sore tooth? Like, that affects everything, doesn't it? Like,

oh, my head. Oh, I think it's even traveling down to my big toe. I don't know. But it hurts,

right? Because that's all you could think about is what hurts. Well, really, we need to be

ministering to each other and pouring into each other and really bless each other because we love

each other, you know? I love what Jesus said at the Last Supper, reminding people in John 13.

He said, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another is I have loved you,

that you also love one another. By this, all will know that you are my disciples if you have

love for one another. You know, we really have to just remember what is God doing around the world,

and how can we participate in that? I was just speaking to a dear friend of mine,

Steve Simpson. He has been here speaking many years ago, probably will be again,

but he has a ministry called Puma, Pennsylvania United Medical Association,

and they've founded 52 churches in Nepal. And so, as soon as I heard about these floods, you saw

those floods? I mean, that was like some devastating stuff, wasn't it? And so, as soon as I heard about

them, I'm like, I call them and I'm like, so what's going on? How's your churches and everything?

Well, thank God all that happened about, you know, 80 miles east of where they are.

You're just above Kathmandu. And so, I was, you know, hearing it was brand new, it was fresh,

all of this stuff. And as I'm learning, I'm hearing about like, there's actually finding

people alive. Did you hear that? In tunnels, 10, 9, 10 days later, they're probably going to find

more. One house was somehow like the water came down and just buried the house. And they found

one person about 300 and some feet up this tunnel that was covered with mud. Someone else about 700

feet up this tunnel, totally covered with mud. Some 60, I think she's 65 years old lady,

somebody just heard this little crying out and they're like, someone's down there. And so,

so they dug her out and she's been rescued. But there are so far, I forget, I think like

1400 people dead and like 5500 people still missing, you know? And so, I reached out to

Steve, I said, so what's going on? Like, how can we help? If you recall, when they had that

great earthquake, I think about 10, 11 years ago, our church on one Sunday mustered up $11,000

to send to Nepal for that earthquake relief. And so, I know I want to participate in that if you

want to, I'll let you know about it soon. But at this point, they can't even get anywhere near it.

You know, it's kind of like North Carolina, you know, except they didn't have FEMA blocking

everybody. That's another story. But they, no one can even get there. Because imagine this,

you're at the bottom of Mount Everest, right? So like, roads are tough to drive on on a good day.

And I think, you know, let alone when there's been like 100 feet of mud and rock piled on

top of the roads, right? So people can't even get there to help. But they're going to be in

the next couple of weeks, they've already secured three trucks, they're starting to gather rice and

all these other things, because that's what the church does, it rises to the occasion to just

bless. And but guess what, these people are probably 99% Hindu, and then Islam and, and

Buddha, you know, so this is just to reach out and to save people, right? And so anyway,

so what is our takeaway from that, from this passage today, before we take communion today,

which we're going to do, what is the takeaway? What can we, what can we take away? Now,

you probably have other ones too. But my main thing was, I need to be educated. I need to

participate. And I need to integrate. Think about this, you know, the church in Jerusalem,

what's happening in Antioch? Barnabas, go check that out. We need to learn what is God doing

in Antioch. And is it true, even the Greeks are coming to Christ? Like we got to find more things

out. We need to be educated on what's happening in the kingdom of God. And if we can, it all

in all ways, participate somehow, all of you really rose up, we and wanted to participate

in serving in North Carolina, you know. And again, it was just difficult to get there,

difficult to stay ahead of the supplies needed and so forth. But some of you did go. And then

finally, you know, when Barnabas got there, he just served. How can I serve you? I'm not going

to teach you anything. The Holy Spirit's doing all the heavy lifting here. How can I help?

How can I encourage you? You know, just let me be one of you serving. And then integrate,

I got to go get Saul. You know, Saul needs this place. So let's break this down just a little

bit more. What's on that next slide is takeaways again from this passage. Care about the kingdom of

God on earth. We need to care. You know, you don't learn about things that you don't care about,

right? I mean, you had to in school sometimes, but you probably didn't learn too much, right?

You're just kind of like, I know I just sort of like, no, no, I'm just kidding. I never did that

Zach, don't believe me. But you don't learn when you don't care, right? We need to care. And I think

sometimes maybe we have too many cares, right? But when we care, what is God doing? What is he doing?

Where's he doing it? And who's he using to do it? Because I want to get involved. That's the next

step, of course, is getting involved. But we need to first and foremost care. You know,

we are the body of Christ. Where you go, the kingdom goes, right? We need to care about the

kingdom of God. What's our mission statement? Anybody know? Bring the kingdom. Bring the kingdom.

Well, how's that going to happen? Well, Jesus said, pray like this, your kingdom come,

your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And then he also said, don't ask when the kingdom's

coming, the kingdom of God is within you. You bring the kingdom wherever you go. Think about that.

We are kingdom bringers, right? We bring the kingdom wherever we go, because we are

the temples of the Holy Spirit, right? So we need to care though. That's the first thing.

And the church in Jerusalem cared, and Barnabas cared, and they went and learned

what's happening. And what's the next thing we can learn is how can I help? How do I participate in

this? What can I do? Again, Barnabas just said, let me just do whatever I can do to be here

and participate. When we learn about needs in the churches, we can pray for them, of course.

In fact, we were just praying about all the devastation that's going on around the planet

in the prayer room earlier. We can pray about them, pray about what's happening in Nepal.

How about Iran? I mean, Iran, that was like the most quickly expanding church in the Middle East.

Remember that? Just a few years ago, I don't know what's happening now,

but the church was really rising up. We could be praying about them. There's so much

many things happening around the world. We can really purpose to pray, you know,

like get a map out. Not a little map, you know, look up the map, right? And just see where it is,

and just picture yourselves there, and just start praying and so forth. And resources we can give.

We can give not only, you know, money, we can give supplies, we can give a lot of things.

And then finally, go. Maybe we can participate. Maybe we can actually go. Steve keeps saying,

you got to come to Nepal. I'm like, no, I don't. He one time explained to me how long

the trip is, the buses, the planes, trains, and automobiles, and mules. And I'm like,

I don't know. It doesn't sound too appetizing. But, you know, maybe if the Lord guides. But like,

go when you can, just go. You know, the first Fridays was a blast this past Friday night.

It was so much fun, you know, just connecting with people, praying for people, praying for

a guy. I was hoping I'd see him here today with a sore knee, you know, and he was so appreciative,

you know, and, you know, meeting other churches that were on the town there, and praying with

them, you know, talking to unbelievers, and just encouraging them, you know, so forth.

But we could just, we could just participate, get involved somehow, right? I mean, that's the

best thing for us. In fact, you know, well, next thing, let's, let's finish this up.

The next, the final thing, really, is to, to include. How can I include someone?

You know, how can I incorporate someone else that needs this? You know, as Barnabas was watching,

suddenly he realized there's something missing here.

Somebody needs to be here with me. Who was? You know, Paul. Yeah, so it was Paul, right?

So just making sure you're not not in North. So it was Paul, right? We need, I need to go get Paul

and bring him here. He needs this. They need him. Like, he is needed here to incorporate him

into what was happening, to involve him. You know, we can invite other people into this

to really share the same enjoyment of the kingdom of God. I put a blank there. What if so and so

were here? You ever, have you ever been there? Like, you know who would love this right now?

You know who would love experiencing this right now? And, and just inviting them to be there.

You know, it's, it's so, so important to invite people. Another, did you just,

Jill just showed me this thing about Burning Man. I don't know if you saw some of that news that,

you know, hopefully you don't know about Burning Man. And if you were there,

I'll pray for you after the service and we'll cast that demon right out of you.

Okay. But Burning Man is just like modern day desert, Woodstock where anything goes and it's

crazy insanity, right? Whatever. But there's been a guy going there with a team ministering

in Burning Man year after year after year. And so this year amidst sandstorms and everything else,

what they go through just to get some erotic, crazy partying season. I just can't believe what

they put themselves through these, these burning people, right? And hopefully they don't literally

burn, but, but this guy goes with this whole team. And last year, 22 people got sick,

which is awesome. And even more of that got baptized. Okay. Well, this year,

according to the ministry and other things being spread 600 people accepted Christ.

Can you imagine? And I forget how many baptisms I knew, but I forget now, but tons of baptisms

until they were told to leave. Yep. They were told to leave from some false report of something

or other. And the guy was saying, well, just bring the person here so we can discuss it.

And no, no, no, no. You just have to pack your bags and go. So there they were in the middle

of a sandstorm, trying to catch the things that are blown away. And they have this

set up this compound with a tent and so many other things that they are like,

this is a whole set up that they have. It costs, I can't imagine the tens of thousands of dollars.

It costs them to invest to set this whole thing up. And here they are in the middle

of the night told to leave. They had to leave in three hours. I mean, can you imagine?

But anyway, we're watching this, but it still inspires like, well, how can I, what can I do?

Well, how can I be involved? How can I do something like that? Because it's so important.

So we're going to have communion. But before we do, you guys can at least start getting ready

for those things. Um, last week we had a men's breakfast, right? And there a dear friend of

mine, I had been telling you about him. Mike Foti was sharing about his experiences

in sharing the gospel. Okay. And Mike is just outside the box. He just thinks of, you know,

different ideas. He learns from other people, everything. By the way, we don't own anything.

Everything shared down here. If the guy, if God gives you a good idea, share it, say, hey,

try this out, right? And see what happens. And so this idea of we're all one body. And so Mike was

sharing about a good idea. Okay. And so our buddy David here actually tried it. And he's going

to tell you the rest of the story. So David, why don't you come on up here and share. And

why don't we start to give out the elements as David shares what took place.

Um, yeah. So, uh, last Saturday, Mike Foti had, was talking about a, uh, how he, uh, basically

going into a store and where I go was Wawa all the time. And you go up to the counter with whatever

you have. And I simply say, Oh man, I can't believe I forgot my wallet, my money, my card.

Oh man. What am I going to, Oh, would you like me to suspend the order? Then I'm looking around.

I'm like, Oh man, what do I do? I say, Oh, you know what? Let me, let me try this. And

you pull out a little Bible and you tap the card reader and it works. And you simply say,

wow, Jesus paid it all. And you have your card in there, you tape it in the back, you cut out

a little hole. So I was, did you catch that in case you want to borrow this too, you cut out

the back of this Bible. So it needs to be a Bible. You don't care a ton about at the moment,

right? Cut out the back and you have the chip able to be read on the, through the cover.

Yeah, exactly. So, uh, fast forward to, um, I did it, uh, eight times. Um,

everybody, they're always working. So it's, it's, it's kind of hard. But if someone did say,

you know, I'll ask him, do you know Jesus? And the one younger girl has said, not personally.

And I wanted to, you know, pray with her right there. Um, but she was working. I said,

I'd love to come back and talk to you. So fast forward to, um, the job that I have

brings me into customer's homes every day. So I was with a customer, um, on Monday,

she was an older woman who had just lost her mom, uh, two weeks ago. And I was, uh,

we were sitting at the, at her kitchen table and, um, I was telling her this story and I said,

and it just hit me. I said, well, I guess I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you, you know,

do you know Jesus? And she said, and she just started crying and, um, it was, it was beautiful.

We were both choked up and, uh, she said, uh, I said, which, you know, would you like to know?

So I just took her hand and just said, you know, just repeat it after me, you know, um,

Lord, I believe you died for me on the cross. I asked the, I simply asked you to come into

my heart and be my Lord, my Lord and savior. And she repeated after me and, uh, we sat there

and cried and prayed a little bit. And, um, so that's basically the whole gist of the story.

Praise God. Praise God.

Thank you. Thank you, David. He just shared that with me about three minutes before the service.

I'm like, Hey, do you mind, uh, can you share that today? I think that would inspire all of us

because you know, everything's borrowed, you know, and we, we serve together. Something is,

is your idea. Share it with others because we're in this together and we want to participate. We want,

you know, we are, we are, we are one name Christians and who are we named after Christ, right? We are

the anointed ones, the Christ worshipers, the Christ followers. That's who we are, right?

So we're, we're like one, we just read, we're like one, Jesus said, father, they're going to be like

one with us, right? So we are one name. We're one family. We have one mission to lead people

into the kingdom of God. It's that simple, isn't it? It's all about Jesus. Amen.

So we're going to have communion together. And, uh, there's something that, you know,

you want to confess to the Lord now. Be a good time to do it. You know, I mean,

we all have things you know, Jesus, um,

talked about his flesh and blood being consumed. And just imagine being the first one to hear

that message. And I'm going to read it to you in John chapter six. And Jesus said to them,

most assuredly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood,

you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. And I will raise

him up at the last day. Again, he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him.

And further on we read from that time, many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more.

And then Jesus said to the 12, do you also want to go away? But Simon Peter answered him and said,

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe

and know that you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And so as we take communion,

it seems like an odd thing that we would be doing this month after month,

but it's to remind us that our spiritual person is nourished by the son of God,

by the Holy Spirit. Our spirit doesn't need food, it needs the Lord. And this is how we continue

to live on earth as we are in heaven. In fact, John 4, 17, as Christ is, so are we in this world.

So as we take communion and remember that it's his life in us,

we can thank the Lord that he has the words of life. Father God, as we take this communion,

you tell us that you are the bread from heaven. As we eat this bread, we're reminding our spirit,

our soul, that our very life exists in you. And you live in us and we are one with you.

So we eat this bread to remember that your body for all of our sin on the cross.

In Jesus' name, amen. Let's eat.

And Lord, you demonstrated through your whole Old Testament that without the shedding of blood,

there's no remission of sins, it requires a sacrifice. And Lord, it's because your spilling

of blood, you shed your blood for us, that all of our sins are washed away.

They no longer cling to us, Lord God, you have forgiven all of our sins. And Lord,

right now we drink this cup and say thank you for redeeming us, for cleansing us of all of

our iniquity, all of our inrighteousness is cast away. And as we drink this cup,

it's your life pouring into us. It's your life that we now live. You became sin on the cross

so that we could become your righteousness. So we thank you, Lord, fill us again. As we drink

this cup, we ask your Holy Spirit to just fill us again, anoint us again to be your people.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Thanks for joining us at Lansdale Life Church as we praise God and discuss His Word. Don't

forget to join us for Worship Lives Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. Eastern on YouTube.

Be blessed and have a great day!