All With One Accord | Sunday, May 31, 2020 (Full Service)

Good morning, Cross Connection Church family, and welcome to Church at Home. This is a very special Sunday in the church calendar. Today is a holiday called Pentecost, and it is an important day, as we're going to talk about from the Scriptures in just a few minutes.

This is also an important day because we're going to partake of communion at the end of our time together. We did this about eight weeks ago, and when we did, I realized just how good it is for us to do this at home together. This is especially true if you are gathered together right now at home with your family. Dads and moms, this is a really great opportunity for you to demonstrate to your kids what the Lord's Supper is all about.

If you haven't already, I want to encourage you to grab some bread or some crackers and some grape juice, if you have it, so that we can partake of communion at the very end of our broadcast.

In just a moment, Pastor Anthony and our worship team are going to lead us in a song for worship. But before he does, please take just a moment to send an invitation to someone to join us for church online this morning. Just send a text to a friend or a group of friends and invite them to the website live.ccchurch.com. I think we're going to have a great service together this morning and an important time of communion, even though we are apart.

So let's invite our Lord to meet us in prayer as Pastor Anthony and the team lead us.

Heavenly Father, we thank You, Lord, for this day. God, we are so excited to come into Your house and praise You, Lord God. We want to give You our worship and our thankfulness. So, Lord, we just ask that You would draw near to us as we draw near to You. We thank You for the cross. We thank You, Lord God, for this new life in You. We love You, God. In Jesus' mighty name, amen.

Bones and sorrows come, but still the joy I own. When brokenness and pain are all I know, I won't be shaken. My fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand. I stand; my fear doesn't stand a chance.

I won't be shaken.

Did your love my field love?

Welcome and thanks for joining us for church online today. I'm Pastor Garrett, and here at Cross Connection Church, we are all about living life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus Christ. I'm glad that you could be with us today.

Part of living life in connection here at Cross Connection Church means that we are spending a lot of time in prayer. We are a church that loves prayer; we love praying for you and lifting you up to the Lord throughout the week, every single day. So go ahead and check out prayer.lifeinconnection.com. That's where you can submit your online prayer requests and know that real people are praying for you right now. We would love to lift up whatever request you have to the Lord. We see Him answer so many prayers here at Cross Connection Church.

For all other ways that you want to get connected here at Cross Connection and to find out any new information, specifically about when we will reopen and that kind of stuff, keep checking out lifeinconnection.com. You'll find all the different ways you can stay connected.

Our mission this week is Camp Joy. Camp Joy is up in Julian, and we've been supporting them for years. Unfortunately, right now, because of COVID-19, they cannot meet and have camps in person. So we're just asking that you would pray for Camp Joy, for the counselors, and for the leadership there, that they would have wisdom in how to proceed.

When to reopen and minister to the kids is a pressing concern. They ministered to all kinds of kids who are displaced, those who have just gone through really rough childhoods. These children go to a beautiful camp in Julian, where they learn about Jesus. It is an amazing camp, but their summer program is currently on hold, tentatively, until they can figure out how and when they will be able to reopen. Please be praying for them; they definitely want to minister to those kids this summer.

In just a moment, Pastor Anthony is going to lead us in a song of worship. This is a time that we, as Cross-Connection Church, set aside for those who call our church their home to worship the Lord with their giving. I want to encourage you today, if you came prepared to give, there are a couple of different ways you can do that.

If you have your cell phone out, you can simply text 84321. You can also go to our website, lifeinconnection.com, where there is a giving portal that is super easy to access. Additionally, you can stop by the church and drop off your offering at the door, or you can send it to 1675 Sevenoaks Road, which is our mailing address here in Escondido. We would love for you to worship the Lord in this way as well.

Let's go ahead and worship the Lord together. God bless you all, and have a great week!

We give you what you deserve.

There are so many reasons to praise. With every breath that is in me, to You belongs the glory.

Victory is in my soul. Yes, praise! You deserve it all; you deserve it all. We give you the highest praise.

Yes, Lord, we just thank you so much that you, God, are worthy of all of our praise. You truly do deserve every breath that's in our lungs and every cry that's in our heart. Lord, we lift it to you, God.

We just ask that You would be the King of our hearts, God. We pray that You would be present, that ever-present help in our time of need. Lord, we thank You, we love You, and we pray this in Your name.

When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Those are the words that open Acts chapter 2. It is a little disheartening that this morning, on the day of Pentecost 2020, we are not with one accord in one place. The obvious way in which we are not with one accord is that you are watching online, and we are not gathered together as a church body.

However, to me, the more disheartening way—perhaps the less obvious way—in which this is not accurate is that the church, the larger body of Christ, is divided on this Pentecost Sunday. We are divided over the issue of gathering or not gathering.

Let me begin by stating the obvious: there is not a pastor I know, and I know a lot of pastors, who wouldn't want to gather his church today if given the choice. I do not know a single pastor who would choose to preach to a camera over preaching to his church. Of course, I am preaching to a camera like most churches this morning. Some of my friends are preaching in their sanctuaries this morning with a socially distanced congregation. This has caused division within the body of Christ.

Please don't misunderstand me; I sympathize with the desire to gather together. I would absolutely choose to gather for a regular service if given the option over preaching to this camera. I have developed a new respect for the people who stand or sit in front of a camera like this day after day for their job. It is way more challenging than I would have assumed.

So, being that I would rather preach to a gathered congregation in our church facility, you may ask yourself why we aren't gathering like others today. I know some of you are asking that because I've received your emails, so I want to speak to this for a moment this morning.

On Pentecost twenty-twenty, some nineteen hundred and ninety years ago, the church was all with one accord in one place. Today, we are neither together in body nor in mind and heart, and for me, this is distressing. Why? Because the Scriptures exhort us to let our conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. Those are the words of the Apostle Paul at the end of Philippians chapter one.

He goes on a few verses later in chapter two and writes, "Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind." When Paul writes, "Fulfill my joy by being like-minded," it is as if he is saying, "You want to know how to make me really happy? Work together to be of one mind and one purpose." He follows that up by saying, "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others."

Trust me, I am not going to try to read the minds or infer the motives of other leaders, but I think it is clear that some have aims in all of this that are not wholly sincere. A little more than a month ago, my friend David Guzik dealt with the question of when church meetings should start again on his YouTube channel. One of his points in answering this question was that any pastor who goes against governmental ordinance or recommendation should diligently search his heart to see that he isn't doing it out of a spirit of vainglory or a desire to attract attention. He went on to say, "Let me tell you, that is never of the Lord."

Now listen, I have some very good friends who have decided to hold socially distant services at their churches, and I believe they are completely sincere in doing so. They are doing this because they feel that it is an issue of obedience to the Scripture or they believe that it is time. I totally rejoice with them, and I pray for them. I look forward to hearing the report.

Of how things go this morning, let's be very honest: there are some leaders in all of this who at least appear to be grandstanding. Their grandstanding is, in a big way, contributing to the division that I spoke of earlier. It is not helpful, and it's not good.

That aside, you may still ask the question, "Pastor Myles, why is Cross Connection not gathering yet?" Let me give you three reasons why we are not gathering together yet.

First, there has been a lot of rhetoric about the church and Christians being singled out and discriminated against. However, I haven't yet seen good evidence that this is what's going on here. I do not see professional sporting events happening or movie theaters being opened. There do not appear to be concerts or other large gatherings going on, so the church does not appear to be singled out here. If it were, I would have a bigger issue with this.

Second, I don't have a theological conviction that says we, the church, need to be in the church building to have church. Don't misunderstand me; I love gathering together every single week, and I miss gathering with you every Sunday. But theologically speaking, this building is not sacred. A well-known Southern California pastor recently called upon churches and pastors to reopen, stating that this is God's house. I'm sure that if I spoke with him, he would agree that that's neither theologically nor historically accurate. It is a wonderful privilege to have a place like this building that I'm recording in, but this isn't the church; this isn't God's house. You are the church; you are God's house.

As much as I'm grateful to God that He has provided for us to have a place and a space to gather in, I don't have a theological conviction that says this space is sacred.

A third reason that we're not gathering today, and probably not next week either, is that when we gather together at Cross Connection Church, we gather for a number of very important reasons. Those reasons are articulated in our mission and vision, which we talk about frequently. Our mission and vision at Cross Connection Church is life in connection with God and one another.

The world connects through Jesus. When we gather together, we do so to connect with God and worship one another in fellowship, as well as to reach out to the world. Our gatherings should facilitate connection with God in worship, connection with one another in fellowship, and connection with the world through outreach.

However, the current Cal/OSHA and California Department of Public Health guidance for places of worship and religious services, which was released this last week, is not conducive to worship, fellowship, and outreach. What do I mean? The guidelines recommend no handshakes, no hugs, no corporate singing, and no hospitality—so no donuts and coffee, and no children's outreach. That is not really church as we think of it; it’s not church at all. Gathering together in the way described in the guidance does not support the furtherance of our vision or mission as a church, so it doesn’t make sense to meet in this way.

If I had a theological conviction that we must gather here, or if our leaders felt that we as Christians and as a church were being unduly discriminated against, or if I thought that gathering in the way the guidance describes would more effectively fulfill our mission and vision than we are doing right now, then I would call upon you to be here. But I don’t, and I’m not.

Some of you at this point may not be happy with what I’ve said, and I hope you’ll stick around a little bit longer. I learned a valuable lesson a long time ago as a leader. When I first became a leader, I didn’t make this up—there’s actually debate about who did—but I’ve certainly found it to be true. It says this: you can please some of the people all of the time, and you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.

Here’s another very important lesson: if you’re a follower of God, let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs. Stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, and being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves.

Let each of you look out not only for your own interests but also for the interests of others. This is what it means and looks like to have the mind of Christ and truly to be a Christian; that is, to be Christ-like. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.

When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Suddenly, there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the day of Pentecost. The word means "50th day." It is the fiftieth day after Passover in the Jewish calendar. Seven weeks have passed since Resurrection Sunday. This is ten days after Christ's ascension into heaven, and for all intents and purposes, today is the birthday of the Church. Happy birthday, Church! You are about 1990 years old and looking a little gray.

This is the day, nearly 2000 years ago, that God's Spirit was poured out upon a gathering. The word "church" means gathering—a gathering of a hundred and twenty followers of Jesus as they were in one accord in one place, in an upper room in Jerusalem. Being that this is an important day in church history, a pretty large group of pastors in our nation have been saying that this is the perfect day for the church to get back to gathering in one place. Many of those pastors have been saying that it is essential for us to gather together so that God can do it again, so that He can pour out His Spirit once again.

I have a couple of issues with this point. First, God hasn't stopped pouring out His Spirit. More importantly, for us today, the church is not of one accord and of one mind. I think that the Apostle Paul's exhortation to the church at Ephesus is worthy of our consideration. I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering—that's patience—bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one...

Spirit, just as you were 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 in all. Honestly, I could go on with passages like these; they are truly essential teachings of the Church.

Jesus gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all come to the unity of the faith, to the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. We've got a lot of growing up to do.

When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and the Spirit was poured out. The gospel was preached, the people responded in repentance, faith, and obedience in baptism, and the Church was born. What did the Church, the gathering of believers, do? Well, they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together and had all things in common. They sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So, continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the Church daily those who were being saved.

This is what the gathering of believers and followers of Jesus 1,990 years ago looked like. They were devoted to the teaching of the apostles, to fellowship with one another, to the breaking of bread, and to prayers. Christians have remained committed to these basics for nearly 2,000 years, and we will continue to do them until the Lord returns.

These are the things that we will remain committed to, even while we're unable to gather together in our facility. The Church didn't have its own space to meet in at the beginning, and really, for a very long time, the Church did not have its own space to meet in for many hundreds of years. In fact, in spite of that, the Church grew and flourished because they were focused on the apostles' teaching, fellowship, and the breaking of bread.

Bread and prayers—now, what are these things, and why are they so important? Acts chapter 2 tells us that the early church went from a gathering of 120 to more than three thousand in one day. The overwhelming majority of those new followers of Jesus had never met Him or personally heard His teachings. Now, they were submitting to Him as Lord. The only way for them to know Jesus and His teachings was to hear from those who had heard from and knew Him—His apostles.

So, they remained devoted to hearing their teaching. When and where did that happen? Wherever and whenever they could. Verse 46 tells us that it happened daily when they would gather as one in the temple at Jerusalem and then from house to house. We are still continuing in the teaching of the apostles through the study of their writings. For a long time, we've done that at our church facility or in small groups at home. Right now, we're doing it through YouTube, podcasts, emails, Zoom meetings, and other methods for Bible study. Wherever, whenever, however, by whatever means we can, we're doing that, and we'll continue to do that until the Lord returns.

Second, the early Christians were devoted to fellowship. That is, they shared with one another and cared for one another. Acts 2 describes it like this: "Now all who believed were together and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all, as anyone had need." The church has been caring for one another by sharing with one another for 2,000 years. We're doing it today, and we're going to keep doing it until the Lord returns.

Third, the early Christians continued diligently in the breaking of bread. This means two specific things. It definitely speaks of the church partaking of what we call communion or the Lord's Supper together, but it also speaks of early Christians being hospitable among one another and partaking of meals together. I say this because we see it presented in First Corinthians, where Paul talks about the Lord's Supper. We're going to look at that momentarily because we're going to partake of communion today together. If you read through First Corinthians 11, you'll see that the...

A custom among early Christians was to gather from house to house to partake of a meal together. At the close of the meal, they would often commemorate the Lord's Supper. The early church was committed to living life together within the homes of one another and regularly remembering the death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and one day the return of the Lord. They would do this in communion through the Lord's Supper. We are going to partake together in just a few minutes.

Finally, the early Christians were continuing in prayers. Because of the context in this passage, this probably means that groups of believers would gather together for daily prayers in Jerusalem. We continue to make prayer a central focus at Cross Connection, and we invite you to make it a daily focus and discipline of your life. One of the ways that you can do this is by sending us your prayer requests through our website. Another way is by signing up on our website to receive the daily prayer requests so that you can be praying for one another as well. This is what the early Christians were committed to: the teaching of the Scriptures, fellowship, hospitality, including the Lord's Supper, and daily prayers.

What was the result? They ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. It is our desire, even in the midst of present circumstances, to have favor with all the people in our community by our witness as a church. We hope that through that witness, we may see many people added to the Lord's Church through salvation.

Those added to the church through salvation were initiated into the body of Christ by baptism, which we are still hoping to do next month as a church, and through the celebration of communion, which we are going to do this morning.

Here’s what we’re going to do: in just a moment, Pastor Anthony is going to lead us in another song. I ask you, while he leads us, to go and grab what you need to partake of communion. Hopefully, you have some bread and a cup of juice. I know some people used crackers and water last time we did this. Some of you were able to come down to the church last Sunday to get the bread and the cup for communion. I’m sure you have something that you can use after this next song to partake with us.

To remember the body of Jesus that was broken for us and His blood that was shed for us, I would like to share something before Pastor Anthony leads us. Twelve weeks ago, which feels like twelve months ago, we had our last service together here at our facility. If you can remember back that far, you might recall that I shared with you at that time that we were beginning to pray, plan, and prepare to add a fourth service to our Sunday offering here at Cross Connection.

At this point, those plans almost seem funny. Maybe you've heard the old saying, "Man plans and God laughs." That's kind of how it feels at this point. Be that as it may, over the last twelve weeks, we have realized again just how important church online is for our church and really for every church in 2020. We have begun to recognize just how much we need to focus on what we're doing with church online, even after we come back to our church facility here at Seven Oaks Road.

For many years, I have shared with our team that if anything is to grow, it needs to eat. For me, that means it needs energy, assets, and time. Over the last twelve weeks, we have been putting a lot of energy and time into our online strategy, but we also recognize that we need to invest some additional assets into it as well.

God has blessed us with a great team of servants at Cross Connection, and our team has been able to piece together a pretty good broadcast with the tools that we have. However, we need to upgrade a lot of our broadcast equipment, including cameras and lenses. If you know anything about broadcast equipment, then you know that it can be pricey.

I am going to ask you to prayerfully consider helping us develop this ministry going forward by giving to a broadcast fund here at Cross Connection Church. We have a good idea about what we need to upgrade our equipment, but it will require an investment. As a church, that might seem like a lot of money, but I promise you it's not. If you feel led to give to our broadcast fund, you can do so today by going to the website broadcast.lifeinconnection.com.

Something all of us at Cross Connection learned a long time ago is that where God guides, He provides. We trust that God will provide for this as He leads us to reach more people online.

If you feel led, you can give at broadcastlifeinconnection.com. If you have expertise in broadcast technology, please reach out to us. You can send us an email at broadcast@lifeinconnection.com.

I’m going to pray, and then Anthony is going to lead us in a song. As he does, please gather what you need for communion, and we will come right back in a few minutes to partake together.

So let's pray together. Father God, I thank you so much for the work that you are doing in and through your church, not just at Cross Connection, but your church nationwide and worldwide. We are seeing you reach many new people through technology in a way that we hadn't seen prior to all this. We have been forced to reach out in this mission field on the Internet.

I thank you so much for the technology that we have through YouTube, podcasts, and our own website to be able to reach people. We pray, God, that this would only be the beginning. I look forward, as the pastor, to the opportunity when we can gather together to worship you as a body here again within our facility. Until then, I pray, God, that you would use the message that's going out, and even after that, as we continue to produce more content to try to reach more people.

Lord, I thank you that the words we are giving every single week from your Scriptures are going to places like India and Indonesia. There are people all around the world listening, throughout Europe and even in Africa. What an awesome privilege it is to be able to reach people in this way.

In the same way that you promised the early church when you spoke to them in Acts chapter 1, you said, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses of me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts." God, we pray for a fresh outpouring of your Spirit upon your church. Even though we are not gathered together in one place today, I pray that you would pour out your Spirit upon us, your church at Cross Connection, and cause us to be a greater witness here in North County, Southern California, the United States, and to the uttermost parts.

God, use your church in a powerful way, because, Lord, you gave everything so that people could know the truth of your love, grace, and forgiveness. We pray, God, that you would use us to extend that message to the world. Remind us again, as we prepare our hearts for communion this morning.

Just what You did for us on the cross, and Your body being broken and Your blood being shed. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

I would be hopeless without Your goodness. I would be desperate without Your love, a slave to the darkness if it wasn't for the cross. You have me with Your kindness. I was lost; where would I be if it wasn't for You?

Hallelujah! Thank You, Jesus. I was a prisoner, but now, with Your blood, I am free. Oh, the cross! My shame is gone. Your mercy will be my song. Thank You.

I was angry. Thank you, Jesus. I was a prisoner, but now I'm not. With Your blood, I am free. Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus.

I was a prisoner, but now I'm not. With Your blood, You bought my freedom. Hallelujah for the crime! Paul the Apostle, in the book of Romans, tells us that we were slaves to sin; we were in bondage. Then Jesus came and died on the cross. His body was broken for us, and His blood was shed for us so that we could be free. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.

To help us keep this truth at the forefront of our minds, Jesus, on the night before He was crucified, took the bread and the cup to partake of communion with His disciples. He instituted for them what we call a sacrament, the Lord's Supper, so that we could remember what He did for us on the cross.

This last week, a number of you came through our parking lot, and we gave you these little things for communion. Either you have these or you have something else to partake with us this morning. As I mentioned at the very beginning of our service, when we did this about eight weeks ago, I realized, somewhat to my own embarrassment as a pastor, that my own four kids, even though they are a part of this church and have grown up in our children's ministry, didn't really know what communion was all about. I think that's really unfortunate.

In one sense, what we are doing right now at home, especially for families that have their kids gathered with them, is really important. One of the most important things for us to pass on to our children is the significance of what Jesus did on the cross. We have such a visible, tangible way to remind us, with all of our senses, of what Jesus did for us. I think that's why He gave this to us 2,000 years ago and said, "As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, we do proclaim the Lord's death until He comes again."

The Apostle Paul, in First Corinthians chapter 11, as he talks about the Lord's Supper, says this: "Before I received from the Lord..."

That which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread. When He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you." Would you partake of the bread with me now as we remember His body that was broken for us? Let's partake together.

Jesus, we do thank You that You went to the cross on our behalf, that Your body was broken for us so that by Your stripes we could be healed from sin and forgiven. We remember Your body broken for us today.

In the same manner, He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This is the cup of the New Covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." Let's partake together.

Lord, the bitter cup that You drank for us is sweet to us, sweet because through Your shed blood we are forgiven. The book of Hebrews says, "Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission, no removal, no forgiveness of sins." But Jesus, by Your blood shed for us, we are forgiven, and we rejoice in the salvation that we have in You because of Your grace.

Lord, we pray that You would keep this in our hearts and minds as we continue to go forward from this point. Jesus, we know that as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we do proclaim Your death until You come. We say this morning, "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come, Lord Jesus, come!'" Come and pour out Your Spirit upon Your church, but come and rescue Your church.

We look forward to the day when You rule and reign with righteousness. Until then, Lord, we rejoice in Your body broken for us and in Your blood shed for us. Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with us.

You all, amen. Help! I have fallen, and I can't get up. Don't worry; help is on the way.