Um, please turn with me, if you would, to Acts chapter two. Acts chapter two, verse forty two. Now we're turn- as we're turning there, I just want to thank you for the opportunity to be with you. Thank you. Thank you to, uh, Joe and Julie for a delicious lunch this afternoon. We really had a great time of fellowship with them and the Thompsons. And, uh, many thanks to CMML for putting us up or putting up with us, uh, these last few days. We really enjoyed our time there. It's wonderfully quiet at CMML. We got some good rest and just enjoyed our time there. Just thank you too for your prayers for us over the years, for your fellowship and support, which we, we really appreciate. This morning we talked about one of life's most important questions, the question that the Lord Jesus asked Peter when he said, who do you say that I am? And Peter responded, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And, uh, the Lord said to him, uh, Peter, on this rock I will build my church. And we saw that that rock was not Peter himself, but the truth, the revelation divinely given to Peter that the Lord Jesus was indeed the Son of God, and that he is in the process, or was going to begin the process of building his church. And this evening, I'd like us to just think together for a few moments about what kind of church is the Lord building? What are some characteristics of a healthy New Testament church? And I'm sure this passage is familiar to many of us, uh, Acts two, starting in verse forty two. Here we see some characteristics of a healthy local assembly. Let's just read together, Acts two forty two. And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe, and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common. They began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. And day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number, day by day, those who were being saved. Just ask for the Lord's guidance. Father, once again, we come before you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we thank you so much for him who loved us and gave himself for us, and thank you for the great privilege and honor it is for us to know you and to be a part of the greatest building program in the world, that of building your church. This evening, Lord, we pray that you might continue to speak to us through your word, through your Holy Spirit. We pray that he might have, uh, freedom to speak to each one as only he can. And we pray that, uh, we might, uh, that you might open our eyes, that we might behold wonderful things out of your word. We ask these things in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. I remember reading, uh, Cyril Brooks' book, uh, Grace Triumphant, years ago. And if you haven't had a chance to read that, I'd highly recommend it to you. It's a wonderful testimony of God's grace and how the church was built in the Philippines over the years. And there's a passage that Dad Brooks referred to in his book. It was Acts sixteen verse five. He devoted a chapter to this passage. It said in Acts sixteen five, so the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were increasing in number daily. And Dad Brooks had this to say, he said, whether it's in size or number of churches, church growth rests upon their being strengthened in the faith. Physically or spiritually, where there's no strength, there'll be nor- no growth. Undoubtedly, the lack or slowness of church growth is due to weakness in the faith. And when we're thinking about building the Lord's church or church growth, uh, so often we're tempted to think in terms of, um, the latest, uh, church growth seminar or church growth program or committee that has all kinds of ideas to stimulate church growth. But you know, when we look at the book of Acts and we see the amazing growth that took place there, uh, there were no committees, there were no programs. These were just men and women, simple believers like you and I, who were filled with the Spirit and followed his leading. There was no strategy, there was no committee, but they were s- submissive and sensitive to the Lord's leading. Uh, the object of their faith wasn't a particular program, but the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who said, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I like something Bob Morehead said in his, he had a book called Church Growth. He said, church growth is a consequence, not a means to an end. Church growth is a consequence of our faith in Christ. Church growth is the consequence of the church simply being the church. So, like any other living being, uh, growth is something that should come naturally. It's something that just happens. It's a consequence of a normal, healthy body. And when an organism or body doesn't grow, then that's abnormal. So here in Acts chapter two, verses forty two to forty seven, we see a number of characteristics of a healthy church. In verse forty two, it says they were continually devoting themselves, and the King James says continued steadfastly, uh, meeting together. So I think the first characteristics we, we see of a, of a healthy local church was their commitment, their devotion, their steadfast attention and commitment to the Lord. If we look at the tense there, it doesn't, it didn't say, well, someday they'd devote themselves, or years ago they devoted themselves, but they continually continued steadfastly devoting themselves. And there was a commitment to a local church where they considered that their church home, and that's, that's different than what we're seeing, uh, today in the church. Today, there's sort of a, um, McChristian, if I could use the term, mentality toward the church, sort of a fast food mentality where we go, maybe go to one church for their preaching service to hear a dynamic speaker, and then we'll go to another church for their small group, and then another church for the, the youth program. But we don't see that in the New Testament. There was a commitment to a local body. Today we, we have a generation of what I think it was R. Kent Hughes called evangelical hitchhikers, uh, whose thumb is out, and the thumb says, uh, you buy the car, you pay for the gas, you maintain it, you pay for the insurance, and I'll ride with you. But if you have a- an accident or a breakdown, so long. Uh, my th- my thumb is out, and I'm looking for another ride. And so often that can be the, uh, the mentality in the church today. We- we have a generation of churchless Christians, and, and why is that? Well, some might say, well, we believe in the universal body of Christ, or others may say, well, you don't have to go to church to be a Christian, and that's true. Uh, you could say you don't, you don't have to go home to be married, but what kind of a marriage are you going to have if you don't go home to be with your wife? So we see one of the, the characteristics of the early church when it came to a healthy, growing church was commitment to the local assembly. We go on in Acts two forty two, it says, they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching. In this phrase, we see two important principles. One is the word apostles. Uh, there was, there was qualified leadership in the church, and of course we don't have apostles today, but the church was, uh, led by these men who were godly men, who knew the Lord, were sensitive to him. And, uh, we thank the Lord today for our godly elders, men who have known the Lord for years and served him faithfully, and we thank God for these kind of leaders. And of course, leadership is so important. Uh, no church will rise against, rise above its leadership. As the leadership goes, so goes the church. And we know that the New Testament very clearly teaches that the leadership of the local church is in the hands of elders. Uh, nowhere do we see a church led by one man, except for Diotrephes in Third John. And Diotrephes was more of a dictator than he was a church leader. Uh, the New Testament always teaches a plurality of leadership of godly qualified elders, and uh, certainly, uh, we, we recognize some of these elders have a gift of pastoring, but we, we recognize that as a gift and not a title or an office or a position to be held. Uh, sometimes in the Philippines, people will come and, first time visitor, and they'll look around and they'll sort of, especially in the breaking of bread, they'll say, well, who's in charge here? Where's your pastor? And we'll say, well, we have the best pastor you could ever meet. He's the most qualified, the best teacher, the most understanding, the most compassionate, uh, the best pastor you could ever meet. Oh, where is he? I'd like to meet him. Well, he's in heaven now, the Lord Jesus Christ. But he has given under-shepherds to the church, uh, and some of them have the gift of pastoring, uh, and we recognize that as a gift and not as an office or a title. And we thank the Lord for those who have that gift, but we also thank God for other elders and leaders who have different gifts. And praise the Lord for this, this plurality of leaders where there's a richness of gift which each elder brings into that meeting, uh, and con- contributes his gifts to the betterment of the, uh, the local assembly. So we see qualified leadership. A healthy church is a church that has godly, qualified leaders. In the second part of that phrase, the apostles teaching, of course, is the word teaching, and we see the importance of teaching the word of God, and that may sound obvious to us, uh, and we thank the Lord for the tradition, the, the heritage we have in the assemblies of good Bible teaching. But there's, uh, winds of change blowing through the evangelical church today, and even in the assemblies that have, have us greatly concerned that, um, instead of the Word of God being center and central to our teaching, uh, there's other books that are beginning to creep in and take its place. I was at a conference in the Philippines just a few months ago, where I, I heard one brother speak for an hour, and only one Bible verse was mentioned, and the rest of the message had to do with, um, adapt- adaptation versus compromise, and most of the, the message came out of a book and not the book. And so, uh, a healthy local church needs to be a Bible-based church. Another characteristic we see in verse forty two, uh, devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship. Uh, there was a genuine desire to be with God's people. Uh, that's... I- I know before I came to know the Lord, uh, coming to a church meeting was one of the last things I wanted to do. But after I came to know Christ, I just, I longed to be with the people of God, and my best friends became Christians. And, uh, I think one of the greatest treasures we have as believers this side of heaven is the family of God, uh, brothers and sisters in Christ that we can share with. And of course, we know the Lord tells us in Hebrews ten twenty four and twenty five to consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Um, as much as we appreciate the fellowship of the saints, uh, we know at times one of the greatest challenges in the church is to get along with other believers. Um, it's like that poem, to live above with saints we love, that will be glory, but to live below with saints we know, that's another story. Um, there can be a challenge in, in getting along with each other, and we need to remember what Paul says in Colossians three about bearing with one another, forgiving each other. Whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you, and beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. A love that bears with one another's, uh, id- idiosyncrasies and, uh, problems and difficulties. Uh, the Lord wants us to be peacemakers in, in the fellowship, uh, not peace breakers or peace fakers, but peace makers with one another. So a healthy local church is a place where there's a genuine love, genuine forgiveness, genuine encouragement of one another. And we see another characteristic there in verse forty two. They devoted themselves to the breaking of bread. I appreciate something that Jack Spender said. He said, the Lord's Day without the Lord's Supper is like a wedding without a bride. And it's sad, there's, there's a number of, uh, churches where remembering the Lord in his death and his resurrection is something that happens maybe once a month, uh, once a quarter. And I, one of the things that attracted me to the assemblies, I, I wasn't raised in the assemblies, uh, was the breaking of bread. The opportunity that we have to come together and worship the Lord, the freedom that brothers have to stand and share. Boy, if we tried doing that in a, in another church down the street, standing up in the middle of the meeting and, uh, giving out a hymn or giving a, a prayer or insight from the word, uh, we'd be ushered out. So, uh, praise the Lord for this, the liberty we have to worship, uh, in this way. And a sad development now is that there, I guess there's some assemblies that have grown tired or disillusioned with the Lord's Supper, and they've, uh, adopted a, a programmed approach where the Lord's Supper is just something that's tacked on the last five or ten mini- minutes minutes of a, of a preaching service. Perhaps one brother is assigned, uh, he, he will give a devotion, maybe something that happened to him at work the last week, uh, say a brief prayer and pass the elements, and that's the Lord's Supper. And it's just, it's sad. It's sad to see giving up that freedom that we've enjoyed for so many years. And we know this is a, it's a denial. It's a denial of the priesthood of believers. It's a denial of the free participation that we saw in the early church. It was Tozer who said, worship is the missing jewel of the twentieth century church. And as time goes on, it becomes even more rare. I appreciated something a sister said at Greenwood Hills. Uh, I think it was last time we were home on furlough. We, we had a breaking of bread together that morning, and this dear older sister came up, and she was just beaming from ear to ear, and she said, you know, Dave, this morning I felt like Jesus was kissed. And I thought, boy, what a wonderful, uh, description of what the Lord's Supper should be. And of course, if we look at the Greek, one of the Greek words for worship is the word, word proskaneo, which means to draw near and to kiss. And, uh, the, just the thought, did the Lord receive a kiss this morning? Was he kissed as we worshipped him together? So a local, a healthy church is a church that really worships the Lord in spirit and truth. Another characteristic we see there in the end of verse forty two is their devotion to prayer. I appreciate something a brother said. He said, trying to begin a work for God without prayer is like trying to launch a space probe with a pea shooter. I think that's true. Uh, we're in, in a spiritual work, and only the Spirit of God can build the church. Someone else said, prayer is the slender nerve that moves the muscles of omnipotence. Uh, sh- our, our prayers are feeble, sometimes, uh, infrequent, but they're the things that, that's what moves the mighty hand of God in our lives. So the local church needs to be a place where we can come and pray together, to commune together, and, uh, praise the Lord for a meeting that's devoted to that. But it's sad, again, that in many churches today, the least attended prayer meeting, uh, least attended meeting is the, the prayer meeting. Uh, I heard about a minister in one church who saw that happening, and he prayed, Lord, what, what can we do to stimulate interest in the prayer meeting? And so the following Sunday, he, he got up and he announced, he told the congregation, said, uh, all those who don't believe in the power of prayer, please don't come to the prayer meeting on Wednesday night. And, uh, he, he challenged them, and praise the Lord, the building was filled the following. So that's something we, we don't want to take for granted. That, that prayer meeting is the heartbeat of the local assembly. It's the nerve center where we're in touch with our, with our Lord, the privilege to commune with him individually and corporately as a body. So a healthy church is a praying church. And so here in verse forty two, we see these essentials to the life of the, of the local church. And sometimes we just look at verse forty two and, and sort of forget about the rest, but if we continue on in this passage, in verse forty three, we see another characteristic of the local church, of a healthy local church. Uh, everyone felt, everyone kept feeling a sense of awe, uh, fear, it says in the King James, fear came upon every soul. There was a reverential fear of God, an awareness of his presence in their midst. Uh, Acts nine thirty one says that the church was being built up and going on in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. It continued to increase. A. W. Tozer says, the first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God. Just this week, uh, I s- I came across a letter from uh, The Berean Call, Dave Hunt's newsletter, where he mentioned a uh, a Lutheran minist- a Lutheran minister, I guess he's in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark, who publicly got up and said, there is no heavenly God, there is no eternal life, there is no resurrection. And here is a minister in an evangelical Lutheran church who could stand and say something like that in the pulpit. Uh, it just, uh, amazed me. And uh, this, of course, this minister has been uh, disciplined, but in Denmark, where he is a minister, that discipline has to go through the government because it's a state church, and the church has to submit the situation to the government, and the government makes the final decision as to whether or not he continues on to minister. Actually, this man said this uh, the year before, and he was disciplined, and he uh, issued a, a statement, an apology saying, uh, I'm sorry for the provocative remarks that I made, but here he is just a year later saying the very same thing. Uh, Eighty five percent of Danes belong to the state evangelical church, but only five percent attend. Why? Well, if you have ministers saying things like that, it's no wonder. Uh, let's just close the building and go. To, to repeat what Tozer said, the first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God. We know it's the fear of the Lord that's the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs ten says, the fear of the Lord prolongs life. Proverbs fourteen, the fear of the Lord, in the fear of the Lord there's strong confidence. Something else that the, uh, the early believers experienced here in verse forty three, uh, another reason perhaps why they were feeling a sense of awe and fear of God was that many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. Uh, does this mean that this is something we need to seek today, especially if we're, we're wanting to see our churches grow? Uh, do we need to start, uh, having a healing service or have, uh, wonders and signs? Should we, uh, seek to have holy laughter? Are people, uh, barking like dogs or rolling in the aisles, uh, salivating? Uh, is that what we need to see the church grow? Uh, I, I believe all these, this type of thing is, uh, specious, spurious. This isn't the holy. It may be some other spirit, but it isn't the Lord's spirit. Uh, can we expect to see signs and wonders in our midst today? Uh, I praise the Lord that he is a God of miracles, that he still works the same miracles today as he has forever. He's the same yesterday and forever, but to expect those to be normative for today and as- or to expect certain people to have those type of gifts, I believe is no longer normative. Why? We have the answer for that in Hebrews chapter two. If we look at Hebrews chapter two verse three and four, we see the reason why those sign gifts, those supernatural signs and wonders were given to the church. Uh, Hebrews two verse three says, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard. God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles, and by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will. So we see that these signs, the signs and wonders that took place in the first century, were there as a, a sign of authenticity or confirmation that these men were truly sent of God. Well, what's our, what are our credentials today? Uh, back then, we know the scriptures weren't yet completed. Uh, they did, the canon of scripture hadn't been finished. Uh, today we have the canon of scripture with us. We have the privilege of having God's complete revelation. And so, how do we tell of someone's sent of God today? Uh, not by signs and wonders, but, uh, by comparing what he teaches with what the scripture teaches. And in that way we can tell if they are truly sent from the Lord. So we see another characteristic of a, of a healthy church is one that has a reverential awe for God and a sense of his presence. Another characteristic we see in verse forty four, it says, all those who had believed were together and had all things in common. Uh, there was total participation. Uh, each believer felt a part of the fellowship. Uh, there wasn't, uh, a spectator mentality, which is so frequently seen in the church today. Uh, each person felt that they had a contribution to make to the assembly. And, uh, I believe one of- that was one of the reasons we saw such explosive growth in the, uh, early church, was the conviction that each believer was a minister. Each believer was a servant of the Lord. And, um, I praise the Lord for the opportunities we have in the assemblies for our young men and women to serve the Lord in various, uh, capacities. I was just talking with Joe this afternoon, and he mentioned, uh, how a number of young men now are, are teaching on Wednesday night. And, uh, it's interesting because we're doing the very same thing in the Philippines. Uh, for years it was just the elders and I who spoke on Wednesday evenings, and now we have half a dozen young men who've been through some training classes and are now speaking on Wednesday night, and it's exciting to see them using their gifts in that way. And that's not to say that speaking is the only way we serve the Lord. There's so many avenues for serving the Lord in the local church. So a healthy church is one in which each person participates. Another characteristic we have is in, um, the end of forty four. it says all, they had all things in common. They began to selling their prop- they began selling their property, their possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. So here we see there was a spirit of giving, there was a spirit of sharing. Uh, when someone saw a need, they responded to that need. Uh, some in the Philippines have looked at this verse and said, oh look, uh, this is communism. This is the, uh, early roots of communism. Well, no. We know that communism is an atheistic system that has no recognition whatsoever for God. It forces socialism on people. It doesn't encourage volunteerism or giving or initiative. Uh, everything is, uh, forced upon you from a socialistic government. Here we see there was private ownership, but people, the believers, held things lightly and were ready to share. When they saw someone in need, they voluntarily sold what they had in order to meet that need. Someone said that the early Christians could not bear to have too much when they saw others with too little. So there was a spirit of sharing. A healthy church is a giving church. And then in verse forty six, it says, day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple. Uh, they had one mind. There was a unity of mind, not uniformity, not a union, but a unity around the Lord Jesus Christ. Uh, he was the focus of their fellowship. Uh, not like a lot of groups today where, um, there's a union around, uh, some four-legged creature, whether it be a lion, lion's club, or, um, moose lodge or elk's club. Praise the Lord, our fellowship isn't around a creature, but the Creator, the Lord Jesus himself. And we want to have one mind as we meet, uh, in his name. Like it says in Psalm one thirty three, behold how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity. I appreciate a verse that, uh, Bill McDonald gave Shelly and I when we were married. Uh, I hadn't really thought about it too much prior to receiving that verse, but it's Romans fifteen five and six, and it's a verse that's really helped us in our marriage. If you, if you look at that verse, it says, now, now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's been a, a good verse for our marriage, and I think it's a good verse for the local assembly as well, to have one mind, uh, in desiring to glorify the Lord as we meet. So a healthy church is a unified church, and that unity exists with diversity. That's not to mean that we're, that we're all the same, we all have the same taste or the same background, the same color of skin, the same culture. That, that, that unity is based on our union with the Lord Jesus. Another characteristic we see was, uh, in verse forty six, breaking bread from house to house. Uh, they practiced hospitality. The early church wasn't centered, uh, in a big, uh, building that was built, but, uh, they started meeting in homes. There was a real relationship between family and the local church. Uh, so often we can get hung up on, uh, on buildings and projects and that kind of thing, but, uh, the, in many, in many countries, the beginning of a local church, I think every assembly we have worked with in the Philippines started as a house church, meeting in, uh, one of the believers' homes. And, uh, I've learned so much about hospitality from our Filipino brethren. I remember when I was still in the Navy, uh, visiting with Milton Hack to a small rural assembly just about an hour away from, uh, the naval base where I was stationed. And we came out on a Friday night, and Milt put me to work, uh, giving my testimony, and, uh, afterwards, uh, I ended up staying overnight with that family because we had another place to go in the morning. And they were so gracious. Uh, this poor family gave up their own bed and insisted that I sleep there. And I found out in the morning, I, I said, well, where did you folks sleep? And I assumed that they would ha- they slept in another room or maybe with a relative or something. They ended up sleeping on the ping pong table that night to give me their bed. And I was just, I felt humbled by that kind of hospitality. Yet that's the kind of thing that contributed so powerfully to the, the growth that we see in the early church. So there's an intimate connection between people opening their homes and the, the growth of the local church. So a healthy church is a hospitable church. Now we, as we read on, it says, with gladness, taking their meals together with sincerity of heart. Um, these believers were characterized by true joy, and whatever they had, even though they may be poor, they were willing to share. Like the church in Macedonia, we read in two Corinthians eight, uh, Paul said, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. Uh, I have learned so many lessons about joy in the midst of suffering, joy in the midst of adversity from our brethren overseas. Uh, I- I'm amazed at their faith and their joy. Uh, the other night, Thursday night, I mentioned an assembly up north that, um, had their chapel wiped out by a hurricane, and we were able to go up and visit them a few days later. And, um, I remember one of the ladies there whose house had also been affected by this storm, as, uh, as as we were getting ready to leave, she was insisting that we stay for dinner, and she brought out a chicken, which I'm sure was her last chicken after this huge storm, and and wanted to cook this for us. And we just said, no, we we can't, thank you. But she she meant it sincerely, and she was overjoyed at the prospect of offering hospitality to us. So what a testimony that these early believers had in Macedonia, despite their poverty, their ordeal of affliction, they overflowed with joy. And that kind of joy, we know, isn't natural. Uh, it's a supernatural joy that comes from fellowshipping with the Lord. Then in verse forty seven, we read, uh, they were praising God and having favor with the people. Uh, there was a spirit of praise and worship, and I think that's one of the things that draws people to congregations where there's genuine praise and adoration and worship, uh, of our Lord. A healthy church is a church that's characterized by praise. And they had favor. Their, their, um, expression of their faith was not just to the Lord, but people around them saw that they were different. They had favor with the people. They had a good testimony in their community. Non-believers saw something different about them. I remember, um, when I first got to the Philippines, uh, the local church that I began to serve with, there were, uh, some visitors who came one day, and they, it th- this little church was located on a little walkway about three hundred meters off the main road, and so it was hard to find. And, um, sometimes people would get lost and have to ask direction, kind of like we have to do at CMML now with the detour. But the, the believers, the, the visitors that were coming to the chapel had to ask a neighbor. They said, do you know where Tuktuukang Christian Church is? And one of the neighbors there said, oh yeah, that's the church where the true Christians worship. And I thought, wow, what a neat testimony. The church where the true believers worship. And uh, hopefully each of our assemblies has that kind of reputation in the community. Then in verse, uh, the last part of verse forty seven, it says the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. And we saw that in verse forty one uh, don't we, when, uh, Peter preached, uh, his first message at Pentecost. Uh, th- those who heard were, uh, believed and were baptized, and says that day three thousand souls were added. Um, so here we have one, one message, three thousand saved. Uh, sometimes nowadays it's the other way around. We have three thousand messages and one person saved. Uh, but we thank the Lord there was growth. Uh, the early church saw, uh, explosive growth because there was genuine, uh, evangelism and a desire to share the faith with those who didn't know him. So I think in this passage, we, if we could just summarize, I think we see three basic, uh, characteristics. We could summarize what we've seen here in three basic things. One, there was upreach, uh, there was a desire to worship the Lord. There was outreach, there was a good testimony and a desire to share their faith in the community, and then there was inreach. There was healthy fellowship and edification, and, and we need to have all three, don't we? We need to have a balance of all three of those, and it's good, I think, as, as we minister in the Philippines, as we're here in the States, to, to stop and think at times, how are those three areas in my life, the, the upreach, the outreach, and the inreach? Uh, is there a balance between those three? If, if we're just concentrating on upreach only, without the other two, then we can sort of develop a, a monastery mentality, where it's just me and the Lord. Or if it's the strictly outreach, uh, without worship and without inreach, then we can, uh, be just stretched and, uh, tired. We end up, uh, exhausted, uh, doing all kinds of evangelism with no soul refreshing. Or if it's just in reach, then of course we become a, we can become a social club with feasting, fellowship, and factions. So we want to have all three of those. Uh, i- it's good to, to stop and think, how is our church? How's our local church? If I compare my church with what we see here in Acts chapter two, uh, in what areas are we doing well? In what areas are we strong? And what areas need improvement? Um, it's amazing to think that the early church grew the way it did without any program, without any strategy, but simply following the pattern that we see in the New Testament. And I think we need to distinguish too between mechanics and, uh, the dynamic of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we think, well, if we just did it the way that church did it, if we copy what Saddleback or one other, some other big church is doing, then, then we'll grow too. But it's not so much mechanics as it is dynamics, being filled with his spirit and sensitive to his leading. As one man said, that the church was ba- excuse me, the church was born in power, the church grew in power, it met opposition in power, it conquered in power, the church grew because of its reliance on God's power. And by God's grace, we hope to do the same. Let's just pray and uh, thank the Lord for his spirit who fills and guides and directs each of us. Gracious Father, we thank you so much for the early church, uh, the things that we saw in the book of Acts that really thrill our hearts as we read and see how your spirit filled these simple believers and their desire to, to worship you, to praise you, to reach out to those around them as they gossiped the gospel to their neighbors and as they had sweet fellowship with one another. Lord, help us to follow that same pattern. Forgive us, Lord, in the areas where we fall short, uh, if we see our own lives, things that we maybe have forgotten or neglected to do, uh, Lord, we pray that you remind us of, of the need to stay close to you and to, uh, be ready to speak a word for those who might give us, um, may ask us to give a reason for the hope that's within us, yet with gentleness and reverence. Lord, again, I thank you for this assembly. Thank you so much for their testimony, for their desire to reach out to those around them. I pray that they'll continue to be a bright and, uh, shining light for you in this place. And we thank you again for our fellowship together around you, and we pray for your, uh, protection as each of us, uh, heads home, and we give you thanks for your blessing and your goodness to us. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.