JUNE 20, 2021 SUNDAY MESSAGE
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Transcription (Please disregard any errors):
There's a well known saying that perception is reality, the idea that our individual perception of something becomes our truth. But if we are honest, this is self limiting. There are blind spots, solutions, and aspects of an event, concept or moment that can only be revealed from the vantage point of a diverse community. If we want to continue to be a learning community, we must make it a habit to invite many voices to speak into our lives and help us to evaluate what we see or what we cannot see on our own.
Even if we don't always agree. This practice helps us to see new opportunities and allows us to grow in a comprehensive way in our journey towards devotion, community and mission as an individual, as a house Church, as a faith community, as the body of Christ. This is perspective shift.
Amen. Well, it's my pleasure to be able to introduce to you our guest speaker today. Ms. Hazel Owen is pastor, the associate pastor at Common Ground Midtown Campus. She is also a marriage and a and she is ready to give us a word from God here today. And I want to say too. I feel like this is just the beginning for Hazel. I love the stuff that she posts if you follow her, and I just feel like God has such an anointing in her life. So if you don't know her, get to know her, maybe sometime afterwards.
But would you welcome to the floor. Ms. Hazel Owens.
Thank you so much. Good morning, Church. It is such a joy and such an honor to be with you in person. And I'm not dressed from the waist up recording a sermon. It feels so good to see you all and to be back at Comic Ground Northeast. It's been a few years since I've been here, and so thank you. Thank you for welcoming me. Thank you. Pastor Eric Ian, y'all got a pastor who preaches ants things, man, you guys are blessed, and so thank you so much for your gracious invitation.
Thank you to Katie, who put up with me and not getting my slides to her on time. Just to tell, I don't have slides.
Two years.
When he was physically present but wasn't emotionally present. And so we just had a really interesting journey. But that journey led to reconciliation. That journey led to redemption and acceptance of who each other is. And so one of the things, though, although our relationship was a little intense at times, we always bonded over sports. I am not the most athletic person, but I come from a family of sports both sides of my family is and particularly football, and we love the Chicago Bears. Did somebody say Boo blasphemy?
Okay, but we do. We love the Chicago Bears. It is bear down country in our family, and that is like literally the only games we will watch. It reminds me of this time where my older brother I think he was trying to impress some girl he was dating at the time. They ended up going to a Green Bay Packer. Thank you. And so they're at this Green Bay Packers game. He's trying to impress her. And he has on Green Bay gear. As if that wasn't enough.
This I almost call him something. This guy ends up taking a picture of himself in the stand, smiling all big, as if he was having some fun. I guess he was. And he posted it on social media on Facebook in particular. And so at that point, I see the picture and I'm a little upset. How are you at the game that our rival team is playing Green Bay? And you got on Green Bay gear? It's like a cult fan showing up to a Patriots game in full blown Patriots gear while the Patriots are playing the cult like it makes no sense.
It's just blast for me to me. And so my brother posts this picture and he has a smell on his face and he puts it out there. And next thing I know, there are comments from family members. They're calling him a traitor. They told him that he can't come to the next family cookout. They said, Take that garbage off. I mean, they are going in on him. Even the most lowtech individuals in my family, the most seasoned folks in my family somehow managed to navigate a tricky Facebook login and miraculously make a comment on his post to tell him to take that mess off.
I kid you not. It gets so bad that I started getting calls from my cousins and other relatives and they're like, Hazel, you really need to talk some sense into your brother. I'm like, I can't tell him what to do. This is weird. So anyway, we end up on the phone later that night and I asked him, I said, Mark, why did you have the Green Bay gear on? He said, Well, on the outside, it looks like I was repping the packers, but on the inside I was really cheering for the Bears.
And so as I was preparing this message on devotion, that story came to mind, and as I got a little bit of a chuckle out and remembering that it reminded me so much of how we, as Christians, do the same thing. We are so easily swayed at times in giving our devotion to other things and other people. When God wants us to be devoted to Him inside and out. God doesn't want us to waiver in our devotion. Remembering this story made me think of just how depending on our circumstances, we can forget all the things that God mean to us in our lives.
We get ourselves sometimes so wrapped up in things and people who don't have a heaven or hell to put us in. Then we are to the one who we say can move mountains and ask to lead us to where our trust is without borders. The one who we say is a Waymaker and a miracle worker and a promise keeper. That is who you are. We sing about these things and we sing these songs and in the moment we are filling it. But can we live out and embody the words that we sing?
God wants our lives to be devoted. God wants our devotion to be unwavering. And unlike my family, who momentarily disowned my brother and put him in a family time out. God is so devoted to us that even when we turn our back on him, he's still waiting with open arms, right where we left. Two. We're going to be in verses 42 through 47. And then I'm going to have another scripture as well that we're going to turn to. And this is going to make up the context of today's message.
So let's start with Acts two. Verse 42 to 47 is on our screen as well. And those of you who are streaming online, thank you for not turning me off just yet. You realize that your past was not preaching and you still hold no. And so I appreciate those who are kind. All right. Act two, I was just trying to give you all time to get there. In a new international version I'm reading. They devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Everyone was filled with awe and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the Apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common, selling their possessions and goods they gave to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere heart, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people and the Lord added to their number daily. Those who were being saved. All right. If you would just flip backwards in your Bible, just go back a few books.
We're going to turn to Matthew, chapter 22, verse 37 through 38. And again, I'm going to read from the NIV. Jesus replied, Love the Lord your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. If you are taking notes this morning. And if I just had to put a title on this message, I would call it Stay devoted. Would you pray with me, Lord? Let the words of my mouth. God, let the meditations of our hearts.
God, let them be accessible in thy sight. Lord, you are our strength and you are our Redeemer. It's in Christ's name. We pray. Amen.
All right.
So the early Church in Acts gives us a model for how we, as Christ followers should not only do Church but should be the Church. We get a picture of how the body of Christ should look when we are devoted to a life with God. To give a little bit of context here. Folks were waiting for an explanation, I should say, and that's when through the Spirit, Peter began to address the crowd, he preaches a sermon of Salvation and what we see in verse 41 that those who accepted the message were baptized and 3000 were added to their number.
Essentially after they accepted the invitation that basically they made an internal commitment. They
were then baptized that was given an outward expression. And the next thing they did was devote themselves. Their devotion began with being devoted to the Apostles teachings, to the fellowship and to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Let me just read that how I hear it in my head. Their devotion began with being devoted to the Apostles teaching to the fellowship and to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Emphasis on the stay with me as we're going to have a mini Bible study in this Sunday message.
Okay. The word the in the Greek denotes a participle that I cannot pronounce because I didn't take Greek and seminary. I'm so sorry, but essentially what this participle in the Greek means is to be constantly diligent to adhere or to give oneself to something in particular in these verses in this text, the first thing the Greek partisip of the notes were the Apostles teachings. There were many false teachers going around at that time, and y'all there are many false teachers in our current day. Be careful who you watching online.
And these new believers. They accepted the Apostles teachings because it was the Apostles who were the ones who received Jesus Commandments through the power of the Holy Spirit. And they were eyewitnesses to the life, death, burial and resurrection of Christ. In their devotion to the Apostles teachings, they were essentially being devoted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then you have here in the text, the fellowship and the breaking of bread. This is not just simply sharing a meal together. You see that later in the verses that they actually do that.
But at this point in the text, it denotes their devotion to participating in Communion and a commitment to intimacy with one another and brotherly love. They were committed to being in community. Their devotion was not just a simple act or a single act. I should say it wasn't something that they just saw as, oh, this is my individual choice with God. It was communal for them as well. It was a both and their devotion to a life with God showed up not only in their lifestyle but how they treated one another.
You see, the closer you get to God, it has no choice but to directly impact how you treat other people, especially those who are different from you, who don't align with what you say, who don't agree with everything you do that you see is different that you see is flawed. Your relationship with God will directly impact how you treat others. So you want to see where you are with God. Check how you treating other people. We see in the latter verses of Acts Two that they came together.
They had everything in common. They sold their possessions and goods in order to give to anyone who had need. They worship together. They fellowship together. They praised and reverence God, and they took joy in the favor of God for all people. So that basically means that they weren't secretly hating on each other. It reminds me that that last part reminds me of the teachings of Paul in Romans Twelve. When Paul says rejoice with those who are rejoicing and mourn with those who are mourning and weep with those who are weeping.
We can't do that. Apart from a devoted life with God, it is through our devotion to God where we can actually sit in the whole space for those who are weeping without centering. Curated photo of our devotional space, our devotional reading our notebook and our cute little cup of coffee that says this girl runs on Jesus and we post that on social media with the hashtag Jesus and coffee. But then we spend the rest of our day doing the very opposite of what we notice from our Jesus and coffee time.
Oceans shouldn't be limited to reading a scripture, a day to keep the devil away, but rather we are instructed to meditate on the Word of God day and night. We are to hide God's word in our hearts. We are to internalize the Word of God because what we take in tends to show up in what we put out. It is out of the heart. That what the mouth speaks. What are you internalizing? Staying devoted to God moves beyond a single act of worship beyond a 15 minutes prayer time, studying and adhering to teaching and the breaking of bread.
It's all those things. Yes. And it's our consistency in doing them. Yes. And it's also reflective in the way that we live. Because devotion is a lifestyle. Devotion is a state of mind. It is giving our whole life over to God and joining in God's work here on Earth. We love the passage from Paul in Galatians that we
are not citizens here in heaven. There's no Greek or Jew, no man or woman, no slave. No. What have you? We love that. But there's work as Christians that we need to do here.
We can't wait for the buy and buy thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Devotion is a lifestyle. It is leaning on God through good times and bad, and staying devoted is not easy. Let me just keep it real with y'all. I am not up here because I'm perfect. Lord knows I am his biggest hot mess. I don't have this thing down all the time. My devotion can get a little shaky at times too I can find myself at times being more devoted to my work.
Being devoted to other people, or even my own selfish ambitions. Staying devoted means staying dedicated, and sometimes I am more dedicated to things that are outside of God's will than I am to the God who is dedicated and devoted to me, and his dedication and his devotion towards me is unwavering and yet I leave him hanging. Sometimes y'all could quit looking at me crazy because I know for a fact that I'm not the only one who feels that way. Our devotion and dedication to a life with God should not depend on our circumstances when your back is up against the wall when the bottom feels like it's going to fall out when you can't outthink your way, pay your way, co op your way, steal your way, appropriate your way or use your education or financial status or community status.
Our devotion to God must be the thing that anchors us in the midst of all trials, all tribulations and all things that are good coming our way. The early Christians were a great example of this because they were still in great games. They remained devoted to the liberating. God staying devoted is not easy, but it's necessary when my devotion to God gets a little challenging at times because it does. Yes, I'm a therapist and yes, I'm a pastor and I'm also human. When it gets a little challenging, I tend to find and draw inspiration from many biblical characters like Daniel and his three home boys, Shad Rat, Me, Shaq, and a bit Indigo.
You see, they maintained their devotion to God through Babylonian captivity. Regardless of the consequences, they wouldn't bow down to the King. They didn't give into anything that was outside of God's. Will they remain faithful to God in spite of their condition and in spite of anything that was thrown their way. I'm inspired by Queen Esther and her devotion that put her at risk of death but resulted in saving an entire nation of people. I'm inspired by Job, who is an upright man in the sight of God and others.
When he was struck with illnesses and having everything down to his own children taken from him. Having his wife and his day was his friends start talking all kinds of crazy to him. He was so devoted to God to the point that in his crying out and in his worship to God, he says, though he slayed me yet will I hope in him yet? Will I trust him? He did not say, Lord, if you get me out of this, then I'm going to trust you. He said, Lord, you get me in this mess, and yet I'm going to trust you.
Staying devoted may not be easy, but it's necessary. I'm inspired by the resiliency of my ancestors who remain devoted to God through their enslavement in this country. I'm inspired by the black Church, though not perfect, because no Church is perfect. The Church stops being perfect the day you and I walked in it. But I'm inspired by the black Church and how she continues to maintain her devotion to Christ and to God's people since the late One 700s, holding secret meetings in the Woods, being a target for domestic terrorist acts and white supremacy and continues to be a target with her building and the bodies who fill it being defaced, bombed, set on fire and even shot up, even during sacred times of worship.
Yet the black Church, she remains devoted to a life with God. So yeah, devotion is not easy. We even see that through the life of Jesus Christ, a man who knew no sin, yet he was tempted. He was betrayed. Jesus was my first and new commandment that we read in Matthew 22, and I'm going to read it again. Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. If this was something that we could do easily, it would not be a commandment.
It just wouldn't is the power of the Holy Spirit to help us in our devotion? In order to stay devoted, we need the Spirit of God to permeate our hearts, to permeate our soul and our mind, and we have to welcome it. Staying devoted becomes difficult because oftentimes we try to take things in our own.
Jesus teaches that we can't serve two Masters. We'll either hate one and love the other will be devoted to one or will despise the other. We can't be devoted to God and the thoughts and opinions of people who don't have a heaven or hell to put us in.
We can't be devoted to God and to the love of money, of power, of status can't be devoted to God and to our own selfish ambitions. So we are commanded to love God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind. Emphasis on the all we can't be divided in that way. So as I close so I can get you all off to Brunch and get you back to your regularly scheduled Sunday plans. I want to remind us that the power of the Spirit that raised the dead Jesus is in the heart of each of us who have accepted the invitation to a life with God.
That Spirit will anchor us in our devotion to live our lives in the way of Jesus. The invitation, if you have not accepted, is here. The question is, will you accept it? And will you stay devoted to it? Can I pray for you all.
God?
We just thank you for the truth of your word that is sharper than any two edged sword that your word can reach the hearts of each and every person here and those who are streaming live and God. We just thank you for the reminder of what it means to be devoted to you. Thank you for the example of the early Christians who through fear and trials and tribulations, set a model for us on a life devoted to you and for Jesus, who is an example of how we should live our lives.
And thank you for your son, God. When we find ourselves wandering around and we move away towards the things that are not pleasing to you, Lord, I just ask that you just help guide us back when our eyes and our hearts and our minds are off of you. Lord, I just pray that your spirit would just guide us back to where you are to where we left you and God, I just praise you for what you will do through us. It's in Christ and we pray.
Amen.
COMMUNION:
(1 COR. 11:23B-26)
“The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
SAVE THE DATE: The 2020 Marriage Retreat is scheduled to be Saturday and Sunday, November 7 and November 8!
PRAYER REQUESTS:
We are hosting prayer team meetings for both the congregation at large and individuals to sign up for individual prayer.
SUGGESTIONS FOR WORSHIP:
“Praise & Worship” Spotify playlist and “Praise & Worship” YouTube playlist (slightly different from each other), both of diverse music that are being constantly updated!
Bethel Music :
Bethel Music’s hours of live music YouTube Playlist, also being constantly updated
Bethel provides chords to most (if not all) of their songs here (just have to register email, but free!)
Live worship moments from the Upper Room YouTube Playlist
Journal writing! (I’m a writer too, so sometimes creative writing and writing my thoughts to God is my form of worship.)
Declare and worship with truth by singing and praying scriptures.
WORSHIP NIGHT! Dedicate a night to worship with friends and family, your house church or neighbors, those who need prayer, love worship, or just enjoy music through a video chat platform like Zoom. You can have one person leading at a time (switching off to whoever else wants to lead) while others sing along, pray, or prophesy, etc.
Serving your community, both online, in person, or both, is a great way to worship God, from spreading encouragement and God’s Word online to physically serving food to others. If you are able to go out and serve, click here for opportunities.
COMMISSIONING:
As Jesus said in John 20:21,
"Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
Go, be the Church!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.