Oasis Church | Acts: Unity is a Must | Ben Swaggerty | Sunday Service 06/09/2024

now [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning church glad to have you here why don't you rise up and worship with us and let's get into some worship music how about [Music] that let everything that has breath praise the Lord praise the Lord let everything that has breath praise the Lord praise the Lord I'll praise in the valley Praise on the [Music] mountain I'll praise when I'm sure praise when I'm doubting I praise when out number praise when surrounded [Music] cuz praise is the water my enemies drowning yeah as long as I'm breathing I've got a reason to praise the Lord oh my soul praise the Lord oh my soul I praise when I feel it and I praise when I don't I praise cuz I know you're still in control cuz praise is a weapon it's more than a sound more than a sound my praise is the shout that brings Jero down as long as I'm breathing I got a reason to praise the Lord oh my soul praise the Lord oh my soul I won't be quiet my God is alive how could I keep it inside PR the Lord oh my soul oh [Music] my here we go I praise cuz you're Sovereign praise cuz you Reign praise cuz you Rose and defeated the grave I praise cuz you're faithful praise cuz you're True Praise cuz there's nobody greater than you I praise praise cuz you're Sovereign praise cuz you Reign praise cuz you Rose and defeated the I praise cuz you're faithful praise cuz you're True Praise cuz there's nobody greater than you praise the Lord oh my soul praise the Lord oh my soul praise the Lord oh my soul praise the Lord oh my soul well I won't be quiet my god is the line how could I keep it inside the I won't be quiet my god is a li how could I keep it it inside but I won't be quiet my God is alive how could I keep it inside praise the Lord oh my soul everything that has bre praise the Lord praise the Lord let everything that Us Praise the Lord praise the Lord yeah amen amen church amen amen I love when it says I praise when I feel it praise when I don't cuz sometimes you just have those mornings where you don't sometimes those mornings you sometimes maybe that was you this morning that might have been me a little bit this morning like God I don't know if I can feel it this morning but Lord I praise you anyways I have breath in my lungs I praise you Jesus amen amen well it's a great day to be in church where excited that you are here if this is your first time we would love to get to know you and we invite you to fill out a connect card we have physical ones that are in the backs of the chairs that you can fill out and place in the connect card box that is on the back wall in the lobby or you can scan the QR code that's on the back of the chairs or that's on the screens at the moment men where my men at where my men at we got our Men's breakfast that's happening again this Saturday 900 a.m. right here uh at the church it's going to be a great time the only thing you got to bring is just yourself maybe a friend and bring your hunger bring your hunger for food and your hunger for the word as well it's going to be a great time and then ladies where the ladies at got the men beat all right ladies Friday June 21st at 5:45 we are having a movie night here for you guys here at the church and for more information you can check it out under the events page on our website or on the church Center app and uh at here at Oasis we're so thankful for your faithful giving uh it's how we're able to do everything that we do how we're able to reach our community and do what God's calling us to do as a church there's three ways you can give you can give online you can give uh in person in the lobby or you can give through the mail let's pray Lord this morning even though we might not feel like it Lord we make room for you Holy Spirit Lord we make room we we we move away from what we are struggling with and we place our mind on what you're doing here in this room Holy Spirit Lord as a church we are choosing to worship you this morning we're choosing to put you first we praise you and in your name Jesus amen amen [Music] here is where I lay it down and every bird every Crown this is my surrender this is my surrender here is where I lay it down every lie and every doubt this is my surrender and I will make room for you to do whatever you want to to do whatever you want to and I will make room for you to do whatever you want to to do whatever you want to [Music] here is where I lay it down every bird every Crown this is my surrender this is my surrender [Music] here is where I lay it down every and every doubt this is my surrender and I will make room for you to do whatever you want to to do whatever you want to and I I will make room for [Music] you to do whatever you want to to do whatever you want to and I will make room for you to do whatever you want to to do whatever you want to and I will make room for [Music] you to do whatever you want to to do whatever you want [Music] to oh oh do what you want to oh oh move how you want [Music] to oh do what you want [Music] to come shake up the ground of all my tradition Break Down The Walls of all My Religion your way is better your way is better come shake up the ground of all my tradition Break Down The Walls of all My Religion yah way is better he your way is better come shake up the ground of all my tradition Break Down The Walls of all My Religion your way is better he always is better come shake up the ground of all my tradition Break Down The Walls of all my religion your way is better your way is better and I will make room for [Music] you to do whatever you want to to do whatever you want to and I will make gr for you [Music] to do whatever you want to to do whatever you want [Music] to for you to do whatever you want to to do whatever you want to and I will make room for you to do whatever you want to to do whatever you want to here is where I lay it down you are all I'm chasing now this is my surrender this is my surrender here is where I lay it down you are all I'm chasing now this is my surrender this is my [Music] surrender yes Jesus we surrender to you this morning we lay down our preferences we lay down what we sometimes think is right Lord we surrender to you this morning we make room for what you want to do Holy Spirit In This Place in our hearts in our lives we make room Lord we lay it down we lay it down just as you did Jesus just as you did Jesus we're going to be moving into a time of communion at this point and then we will continue to worship um if you don't have communion we have just raise your hand we have someone in the back that'll bring to you but I want to share this is 2 Corinthians chapter 5 uh starting in verse 17 it reads therefore if anyone is in Christ the new creation has come the old has gone the new is here all this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ not counting people's sins against them and he has committed to us the message of reconciliation we are therefore Christ's ambassadors as though God were making his appeal through us we implore you on Christ's behalf be reconciled to God God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God God reconciled us to him through what Jesus did on the cross and as we remember as as we will be taking communion that it is what Jesus did on the cross to reconcile us and now God is calling us to be the ones to reconcile the world back to him Jesus you sacrificed it all you sacrificed it all Jesus you gave your body you gave your blood for our sin you became sin for us and we remember that this morning let's take of the bread you gave of your body and Jesus you gave your blood as well as a sacrifice for us Lord take of the [Music] juice yes Jesus church there is power in reconciliation Church there's power when we as a church do something in unity like taking communion when we remember together when we remember in unity and church there's power when we worship together and there's power when we sing together as one voice and so this morning we're just going to sing again as a church as one voice just the piano play and all of our voices we're going to sing nothing but the blood together as a church won you sing this with me in the worship team what can nothing but the blood of Jesus what can make me whole again nothing but the blood of Jes oh precious oh preious is the that makes me white as snow no other found I know nothing but the blood of Jes sing oh precious [Music] oh preious is the that makes me white as snow NOS I know nothing but the blood of Jesus sing nothing nothing but the blood of [Music] Jesus nothing but the blood of [Music] [Music] Jesus I'm caught up in your Pres I just want to here at your feet I'm got up in this holy [Music] moment I never want to leave oh I'm not here for blessing Jesus you don't know me anything more than anything that you can do I just want you I'm [Music] sorry when I've just gone through the motions I'm sorry when I just sing another song take me back to where we started I open up my heart to you I'm caught up in your presence [Music] I just want to S here at your feet I'm caught up in this holy [Music] moment I never want to leave oh I'm not here for blessing Jesus you don't know call me anything more than anything that you can do I just want you I just you nothing else nothing else nothing else else will do I just want you nothing else nothing else nothing else will do I just want you nothing else nothing else nothing else will do I just want you nothing [Music] else nothing else nothing else will do I just are you nothing else nothing else nothing else will do I just so are you nothing else nothing else nothing else will do I just want you nothing else nothing else nothing else will do I just want you and nothing else and nothing else nothing else will do I just need you and nothing else and nothing else nothing else will do we just need you and nothing else and nothing else nothing else will do we just need you and nothing else nothing else nothing else will do let's sing it one more time we just need you and nothing else nothing else nothing else will [Music] do we just need you else do I'm CAU up in your presence [Music] I just want to sit here at your feet I'm got up in this holy moment I never want to [Music] leave we just need you God we need you we just need you Lord we need you nothing else nothing else Jesus not not that relationship nothing else that relationship won't do I just need you [Music] Jesus that addiction it won't do anymore I just need you Jesus that quick fix it's not doing it anymore I just need you Jesus yes yes Lord those physical possessions it just won't do anymore I just need you the things I'm looking to to remove my fear to cope to distract it just won't do anymore Jesus it just won't do anymore nothing else nothing else we look to you Jesus nothing else brings Unity Lord but you Jesus nothing else could reconcile me with the father just you Jesus Just You Jesus nothing else could take my sin just you Jesus just you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus that nothing else will do and you are available that nothing else will do and you made yourself available Jesus that you are there for us Jesus we pray that your will be done this morning Jesus in this place we open up our hearts we open up our minds to what you want to do in this place Holy Spirit we praise you we praise you with everything and in your name we pray amen amen church amen thank you for worshiping with us this morning on your way to your seat turn to someone and just say you're glad they're here turn to someone well good morning everyone good morning you ready what's up fam how was that was that a good EJ impression what's up fam I'm getting there that's good someone's booing okay that's good it's all good it's all good I'm not called To Be EJ I'm called to be me right so how's it going family how is that is that better cool well uh my name is Ben I'm the worship Pastor here at Oasis Church and as always I am honored that I get to share with you this morning I love being here with church being with my church family I'm excited and and again just honored that I get to be up here and share the word that I get this opportunity Pastor EJ and Rachel they are celebrating their 10-year anniversary and uh yeah we can celebrate them this morning and we're excited that they get to just go and relax and rest and and be refreshed and again I'm happy I'm happy to be here uh we have been in our series on the book of Acts I went back and I counted and we have been in the book of Acts the last nine weeks and it's just been amazing it's it's been awesome and I get to finish the series I've been tasked with that this morning and that we've learned over the last nine weeks how the apostles Jesus's family and the disciples that they received the Holy Spirit the morning of Pentecost uh we learned that after that Peter later that afternoon he went and preached and 3,000 more people uh joined the church that day and that more and more were joining uh daily EJ shared a couple weeks ago how Peter and John they were put in jail for preaching that Jesus had risen from the dead uh they were commanded to stop preaching that by the Sanhedrin and Peter and John their response was what is right to listen to God or listen to you what is right to listen to God or to listen to you in their response they say we can't help but speak about what we have seen and what we heard and in your life when you have had an encounter with Jesus you can't help but tell people about it when you have experienced the goodness of God you can't help but speak about it with the people around you when you have experienced his peace you can't help but share that with people when he's healed your body you can't help but share that with people when you have given your life to Jesus your story is now intertwined and you just can't help but speak about how good he is in your life they share we can't help but speak about what we have seen and heard and then they were threatened again and then they were released and last week Pastor Dave he shared a prayer worth praying and he shared where Peter and John after their release from pray they return to the Believers and they share what happened they say we were threatened and we were told not to speak the name of Jesus again and the response of the people to the threats the response of the early church was to pray and Pastor Dave he highlighted that their prayer was not a selfish prayer their prayer was not to remove them from the threats to remove them from the danger but their prayer was that God would enable them to go boldly and preach the gospel and at the time of our text this morning as we're about to read we are we're picking it up there are at least 5,000 men as well as women and children that are now a part of the early Church in Jerusalem and we're picking it up at Acts chapter 4 verse 32-35 verse 32-35 it's just three verses turn to your neighbor say it's just three verses you got it you got it it's just three verses maybe four we'll see verse 32 all the Believers say all the Believers all the Believers were one in heart and mind no one claimed that any of their possessions was their own but they shared everything they had now take the pen from your neighbor no I'm just kidding don't do that verse verse 33 with great power say power great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them for from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles feet and it was distributed to anyone who had need this morning I'm going to close out our Series in Acts uh with the message title Unity is a must Unity is a must let's pray Jesus I just pray that your word is spoken this morning Lord that our hearts and Minds my own heart and mind is open to what you want to do this morning Holy Spirit we praise you for the breath in our lungs and that we get to be here and in your name Jesus we pray amen amen Unity is a must uh this past week my son he's four years old he was going uh we we signed him up for a soccer practice tryy out it was going to be his first Like official organized Sports thing and it ended up getting cancelled because of the weather and uh well it's actually it's rescheduled for this week and uh he was pretty bummed so we ended up watching a YouTube video of a kid's soccer game and church I just want to ask that you pray for me pray for me church this game it was complete Madness there are kids running everywhere there there's no out of bounds there's just kids everywhere they're going all over the place uh there's no goalie there were just kids that ran in and out of the goal they weren't playing goalie they just wanted to be in the goal and then they would run out and another kid would run in there was a kid running towards the goal no one's in front of him cuz again no goalie and he's go running right for the goal and he just swerves to the left just it's okay what oh my goodness Church there was a kid he was kicking the ball One Direction and The need is stopped balls between his feet turns around starts kicking it the other direction I'm like this is madness and what I recognized watching this soccer game what when I recognized watching the chaos is that Unity does not come naturally un Unity does not come naturally because we live in a broken world because of the sinful nature of ourselves Unity does not come naturally teamwork does not come naturally you can be on the same team as someone and that does not mean that you are in unity you can be co-workers with someone that does not mean that you are in unity with your co-workers all right we can be friends that does not mean that we are one heart and one mind we can be friends we can make each other laugh we can hang out we can have a good time that doesn't mean that we are automatically in unity you can swipe right on someone they can swipe right on you you can match you can go out on a date you can have a good time that doesn't mean that you're automatically in unity with that person church you can go to a church with a group of people and that does not mean that you were in unity with all the people that go to that church church proximity does not mean Unity just because you look like someone just because you dress like someone just because you live in the same neighborhood as someone just because you go to the same church as someone does not automatically mean that you are in unity with those people you Unity does not come naturally Church there were two kids on the team who were wearing the same jerseys and they're fighting over the ball parents are going same team same team Church Unity it does not come naturally and so I I look at the church in Acts chapter 4 and they are a church that is Unified they are a church that is of one heart and one mind they are a church that is moving in the same Direction all the Believers were one in heart and mind no one claimed that any of their possessions was their own they shared everything they had and so if Unity does not come naturally what was it that the early church did or what was it that the early church had that made them unified because if we as a church have the goal of being unified if we as a church are going to be of one heart and one mind we have to look at the early church and see what United them and so what happened turn to your neighbor and ask what happened what happened what happened what happened if we remember last week Pastor Dave he shared that the early church had just experienced its first crisis that Peter and John they were thrown in jail they were threatened they were commanded to never speak the name of Jesus again and instead of fleeing for their lives or separating from their new brothers or sisters in Christ they immediately went and reunited with their church that instead of caving into their fear they made a choice they made a choice to sacrifice their safety they made a choice to sacrifice their comfort they made a choice to sacrifice maybe what they were feeling in that moment of what was the best decision for themselves they made a choice to to go and reunite with their church family Peter and John they made a choice and then the church made a choice to pray to pray as one church and they prayed for boldness to continue to preach the gospel despite the threats that the church had just received and unity it it does not come naturally because Unity comes through sacrifice Unity comes through sacrifice to become unified in any capacity a sacrifice must be made when we were telling our son hey you have a soccer practice it's a soccer try out you're going to be playing with a team you're going to have a coach you're going to have to do drills is what it sounds like and he goes nah I'm just going to run around I'm just going to go run around and we're like no if you want to be a part of this team you're going to have to listen to the coach you can't be in unity and continue to do whatever you want to do here here at the church the worship team is only successful if they are all singing the same song and singing the same part of that song Amen the worship team is only successful when everyone knows their part and I can tell you that the worship team works hard to make sure that they are in unity musically we have a practice on Thursday nights and the vocalists they come an hour early to work on their vocal Parts they make sure that they okay who's leading this song when do I come in what Harmony am I singing they make sure their harmonies are right this morning I'm hearing hey you're you're you're pitchy you're pitchy you're you're you're not quite quite there this morning they work hard on those things right Church a bad a Bad Harmony breaks Unity Church write that down the instruments the instruments they're working hard on their parts too they're making sure that not only they know their instrument but they know where their instrument fits into the song they make sure that their instrument is working in the right spot where do they come in where do they not come in how does my instrument fit into this the worship team they work hard to make sure that they are in unity and not just musically they're also unified in creating an atmosphere where people can connect with their creator where they can worship Jesus and where they can hear from the Holy Spirit they're in unity that that is their goal everyone on the worship team recognizes that it's not about them but what would happen just imagine this with me that the worship team is is going I will make room for you the worship team is moving in the right direction and someone on the worship team let's just say the electric guitar player we don't have one this morning so no one's pointed out uh but let's just say that the electrical guitar player is like man this is going well we're going in the right direction you know to make it even better if I play a guitar solo that I practiced and no one told me to practice but I'm going to do it anyway and we're going shake up the ground and it just and that was kind of fire I'm not going to lie but it would ruin the unity it would ruin the unity of what the team is trying to accomplish can we have some real talk can I be real with you as a church for a minute can I be real uh about a year ago at this time we were in our search for our lead pastor we were in our search search and during that time um I was the only full-time employee and I was tasked with running the day-to-day here at the church uh and again real talk I kind of liked it it was nice it was nice making the decisions um I got pretty comfortable with my schedule I got pretty comfortable with my routine and and and I don't get me wrong in this time we were desperately praying for the right Pastor I I believed we needed a lead Pastor I and we were desperately in prayer for the right lead pastor and I believe that God provided the right lead Pastor absolutely but being in unity with God's plan when he did provide it didn't make the sacrifice of the day-to-day decisions easy it didn't make the sacrifice of my schedule easy even though we were moving in the right direction and I believed in what God was it didn't make the sacrifice of my routine easy and church I want to share that being in unity with what God wants to do it it takes sacrifice and it takes more than just sacrificing your schedule being in unity with with God's plan it takes sacrificing your worldview church it takes sacrificing my preferences for someone else's preferences or what God wants to do it it takes it takes sacrifice it takes sacrifice of our money it takes sacrifice of our possessions it takes sacrifice of my understanding so I can understand someone else's culture it takes sacrifice of my priorities no no no that's that's a priority no not if God says it isn't and I have to be willing to lay that down it takes sacrifice of what I think church should look like no this is how this is how we've always done it I have to be willing to lay that down church I've had I've gone to my wife and I've said this is recent I feel like I'm relearning what Ministry looks like I feel like I'm having to relearn what church looks like holy spirit show me what church looks like as I'm having to lay this down it's hard church it's hard the sacrifice for Unity is a heavy sacrifice it's a heavy sacrifice but Church the beauty is that we don't have to carry that weight of that heavy sacrifice in fact Church we're not called to carry that weight you're not called to carry that weight verse 33 it says with great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all that's the beauty of of sacrifice that when the the Holy Spirit calls us to sacrifice he will enable us to do it it wasn't by their own power that they were of one heart and one mind it wasn't by their own power that everyone's needs were met it doesn't say that they were so powerful that everyone's needs were met no it says that God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all it was the power of the holy spirit that made the Church of one heart and one mind it was the power of the holy spirit that empowered them all the Believers were one in heart and mind the the the phrase one in mind in the Greek it means to breathe or to breathe spiritually together this wasn't a group of people who just chose to agree on everything this wasn't a group of people that just got together and said we're just going to agree on everything no this was a church that chose to be spiritually one together to as one they submitted to the holy spirit's Direction and calling and God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them and God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all so powerfully at work in them all it doesn't say God's grace was so powerfully at work in just Peter and John it doesn't say God's grace was so powerfully at work in just the disciples it says in them all it doesn't say God's grace was so powerfully at work and just the the staff at Oasis Church it doesn't say that God's grace was so powerfully at work in just the elders just the top tier leadership here or just the worship team it doesn't it doesn't say that it says in them all and church if we are going to be a church that is powerfully at work in this city in this community it's going to take all of us it's going to take all of us to be in unity it's going to take all of us if we're going to be a church that is a heartbeat for this city it's going to take all of us church if we're going to be a church that Bridges the kingdom to the culture it's going to take more than just the staff it's going to take more than just the elders we have to be unified by the Holy Spirit church if we are going to meet the needs of the people we can't do it in our own power we can't do it by ourselves we can't do it just as a staff or just a few of us we need us as a church moving in One Direction there's power in Unity Church there's power in unity and we as a church must choose the guidance of the Holy Spirit which will unify and EMP power us to do what God is calling this church to do in our city and in our community for the kingdom of Jesus worship team you can come back up this morning as you hear me talking about sacrifice I believe in this room there's some people in here that as we're talking about this you you can feel what God's calling you to sacrifice you can feel what God's calling you to lay down maybe it's a relationship maybe it's a job maybe it's moving somewhere maybe it's getting up an hour earlier maybe it's a com maybe it's sacrificing your comfort so could because you need to have a conversation with someone maybe it's sacrificing your Comforts CU you need to ask someone someone for forgiveness and if that's you this morning where you're feeling what God's calling you I want to pray for you I want to pray for you and if this morning maybe you're not sensing anything I just want to challenge you just to in this time of prayer say holy spirit what is it that I need to sacrifice what is it that I need to lay down reveal to me what I need to give up Holy Spirit what I need to give to you what I need to make room for and so Jesus thank you Jesus we just pray that you give us the strength and boldness to lay down what you're calling us to lay down to sacrifice what you're calling us to sacrifice I know what it is and it feels impossible but holy spirit I know that you are going to empower me to do so you are calling me to it and so you will call me through it Lord we lay it down Lord continue to speak to us as a church to lay down our own personal preferences so we can be United by you Holy Spirit We Lay these things down and this morning maybe this is your first time in church maybe maybe this is your first time hearing about Jesus maybe you haven't accepted Jesus into your heart yet I I just want to encourage you that as we're talking about sacrifice as we talked about earlier during communion that Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice for Unity he gave his own life he took on our sin so that we could be unified with the father and he did that for my sin and he did it for your sin too and this morning if you would like to receive Jesus into your heart I want to pray for you and I want to talk with you after service as well and just connect but I want you to pray this with me Jesus thank you for making the ultimate sacrifice for me thank you Jesus for sacrificing your life for taking on my sin so that I could be reunited and in unity with the father and unity with the body of Christ as well Lord I recognize that I'm a sinner and I invite you into my heart forever changed because of you you Jesus Lord I lift up our church lift up this body we can sense that you are calling us to greater things we can sense that you're calling us to the city we can sense that you're calling us to the community we can sense that you're calling us to greater than we even know and Lord I just pray that I'm not the one that holds it back I pray that I'm not the one that gets in the way Lord that my own personal preferences feelings emotions that it doesn't hold this church back lord I pray that you bring us in unity together as a church that you convict us holy spirit of the things that are not of you so that we can align with you Holy Spirit and so that we can be empowered to go and meet the needs not just the physical needs but the spiritual needs of the people in this community and in our city Lord and who you are calling us to reach thank you holy spirit that you're already speaking to us that you're already inviting us [Music] Lord we praise you and in your name Jesus amen amen amen Church let's continue to worship this morning shake up the ground of all my TR Break Down The Walls of all My Religion your way is better your way is better come shake up the ground of all my tradition Break Down The Walls of all My Religion your way is better the way is better shake up the ground of all my tradition Break Down The Walls of all My Religion your way is better he is better shake up the ground of all my J Break Down The Walls of all My Religion your way is he always better and I will make room for you to do whatever you want to to do whatever you want to and I will make room for you to do whatever you want to do whatever you want [Music] to thank you for coming everyone just make sure to make room for him and to let him break everything down so I just pray that you guys have a blessed week and thank you for coming see you [Music]