From The Temple To The Table - Pastor Brad DeLong

We want to invite every person here to join us as we strive to become a thriving apostolic church and family. And what we mean by those two words, thriving and apostolic, I believe it's encapsulated in the book of Acts, chapter 2, especially at the end of that chapter. We read in verses 37-4, the spirit of God's poured out in the great assembly. Over 3,000 people in Jerusalem are touched and filled with God's spirit. And with that, the church is born, the one you're a part of today.

And what the new church did next is important for us to note especially as we launch connect groups today as we try to follow their apostolic example. Verse 42, turn with me says, "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine." Praise God. And fellowship with donuts and coffee, the breaking of bread and in prayers. It says, "Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles." I love this next sentence. Now all who believe were together. Isn't it awesome when we're not just in the same room, but we're together in our hearts, 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 in the Lord added to the church daily those who are being saved. Isn't it exciting when God adds people to the church? These apostles, the ones we follow in doctrine and in practice, they met regularly in the temple.

And they also made sure to meet in their homes and around the table. And as we'll see, the combination of those two practices along with the spirit of God built and started and sustained a church that continues to this day. One that turned its world upside down. Today, I am so thankful for every person who made it to the temple. Now, I implore you to connect around a table as well, just as apostolics have done from the beginning of this great church. That in mind, I want to preach to you from this title, from the temple to the table.

I believe the Lord wants to unlock just a different level of connection and covenant and community here at APC. I'm so thankful you can feel the unity in this room, the connection in this room, but there's even more that's out there and available. I believe God wants to unlock that in you and in your family, in your life, in your heart. Would you lift your hands right now and pray for that with me? Uh, invite the Lord to do whatever he wants to do. Oh God, we want this to be more than a mission statement on a wall or something we rehearse on Sundays.

But I pray that you would unlock what true connection means. Lord, more than a superficial word, more than a superficial act. Oh Lord, we want true covenant with one another, with others. And more than all that, we want true covenant with you. and we're asking and inviting you into this place, into our hearts and lives and families today in the mighty and precious name of Jesus. You may be seated. Thank you for standing worshiping the Lord. I'm going to start with a little bit of teaching if that's all right.

And I want to start here that in recent years I've run across several studies that have been done about the power of the dinner table in a home and amongst its inhabitants. Has anyone ever heard of any of those studies about the family dinner table? Anyone studied that? Okay, we got a couple throughout the room. In particular, these studies in statistics have shown that families or homes who dine together frequently enjoy tremendous health, social, mental, and relational benefits over those who may forego that practice in that habit.

This may be a different topic or sermon for a different day, but I want all the parents in the room to take special note. Look this up for yourself. Study it for yourself. Uh experience it for yourself. The fact that something uniquely powerful happens when families and especially those with small children and children in general and even teenagers come together to enjoy time conversations and a meal together. In fact, one family therapist who was interviewed by Harvard Medical School uh studied this habit. She said, "I KIND OF HALF JOKE THAT I WOULD BE OUT OF A JOB.

I WOULD BE OUT of business if more families had regular family dinners because so many of the things that I try to accomplish in family therapy actually get accomplished just by being around the dinner table. It's amazing. She said, "There have been more than 20 years, dozens of studies that have documented that family dinners are great for the body, physical health, brain, academic performance, the spirit, and mental health. Kids who grow up having family dinners tend to eat more healthily and have a lower rates of obesity.

And then the mental health benefits, she says, are incredible. Regular family dinners are associated with lower rates of depression and anxiety and substance abuse and eating disorders and tobacco use and early teenage pregnancy and higher rates of resilience and self-esteem. More family dinners, less problems. Less family dinner, more problems. SHE SAID, "SOME studies have linked the power of shared familial meals with lower rates of substance abuse, violent behavior, delinquency, even crimes committed, and prison time." It's amazing. Oh, yeah. Harvard study goes on to say that they've worked with several million families on this project and their results are corroborated across the board.

Even Dr. James Dobson did extensive work in this space. He found very similar results. He found that when families are consistently connecting and engaging, especially at a set time, like a family dinner, similar results followed, even if they were just eating fast food, which we all know probably not every meal, BUT IT STILL WORKED WHEN THEY GATHERED TOGETHER. IT WASN'T THE THE HABIT NECESSARILY. It wasn't that the food itself was magical. IT WAS SIMPLY THE FACT THAT they made time to connect in a familial and safe setting to share time, sustenance, conversation, and connection with one another on a regular basis.

The results are staggering to the point where therapists and psychologists and those in the field regularly recommend this keystone habit as one of the primary practices that healthy homes and families should endorse. all pouring to the power of connection that's hard to replicate in places beyond the home and the table. One of my favorite stats I read and I know you can stack all these stats to make it read what you want to say, but this was good. All right, see if you recognize the verbiage.

American Heart Association, the importance of family dinner statistics is supported by findings and almost 70 uh percent of people say sharing a meal reminds them of the value of connecting with others. You know, I highlighted that. Connect with others. Praise God. All right, there it is. THERE'S JUST SOMETHING POWERFUL ABOUT PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY THE PEOPLE OF GOD, gathering around in the temple and also around the table. And this has been the case from the beginning. Really, this should not shock us uh any of us today, especially if you've experienced it or if you've been around in a connect group or you've heard me preach on Connect Sunday once or twice or if you've studied the Bible for any amount of time.

I want to give you the best stat of all. I read this recently. Some scholars estimate 43% of the recorded scenes in the gospel feature Jesus himself interacting around food, homes, or hospitality in one shape, form, or another. In other words, well before the Harvard Medical School was ever around, Jesus was found connecting in synagogues and on the way and out in fields and and boats, on mountain tops, around campfires, and around tables almost as much as any other place. In fact, his first recorded miracle was at a wedding feast.

And shortly after, we find him in the home of Matthew ministering around a table. In Mark 2, it says it happened as he was dining in Levi's house. tax collectors and sinners sat together with Jesus and his disciples. We don't know if there was an actual table, but go with me for a moment for the sake of analogy. For there were many, and they followed him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, which was not just sharing a meal, there was covenant involved in that.

There was relationship, steep relational involvement in that. They said to his disciples, "How is it that he eats and he drinks with tax collectors and sinners?" Uh this doesn't sidestep or negate the synagogue teachings and his public and formal sermons. But you got to note Jesus spent precious time on earth moments and minutes that were more impactful and more invaluable than the time allotted to any other person. Jesus spent a lot of time around the table connecting with others. All throughout the gospels you see him connecting around meals and tables.

Luke 7, Luke 10, Luke 11-14, Luke 19 at Zakchius's house, Luke 22 at the last se supper. YOU CAN FOLLOW that thread through Luke all the way through the book of Acts. Even after he rises again, he makes sure to find two disciples on the road to Emmas. And he goes and he breaks bread with them at a table. Over 20 times in the Gospels alone, he's found eating with others, visiting with their family in the name of ministry, ministry, and connection and covenant. precious moments on earth.

Many of them spent around a home in a home and around a table. Some of the most impactful famous stories we read about in the Bible happen around a table. At the end of the book in his powerful invitation to the church of Revelation, the churches at Revelation, we find Jesus offering connection and covenant once again. And look at the analogy he uses in Revelation 3. He says, "Behold, I stand at the door and I knock. If anyone hears my voice and they'll open the door, I will come into him and dine with him and he with me.

Now, can that happen in a setting like this? Can that happen at this altar? Absolutely. You can connect with God. You should connect with God here. You should be filled with God's spirit here. It's going to happen in a few moments. None of this is to negate or replace the ministry that Jesus and others did publicly. and when they assemble together in the mountaintop or the synagogue, connection with Jesus and others can happen anywhere. But the point today is simply to show us that we cannot limit that connection to this space and to those wonderful pews.

And the admonition today is that we ought to invite and foster that connection in a space like this one, in a place like your home and mine. the same ones used all throughout scripture as a meeting place between heaven and earth and man uh with God and man with other men and women. The others that are in this room, the others that are on their way, they will connect here. I thank God for that. But they're also going to connect all the more beyond here. In case you're maybe not convinced just yet, I want to share with you as quickly as I can what we might be leaving on the table when we forget or forgo connection around the table and in the home.

If the only connection we get with God and others happens at 901 barracks, which happens to be this address, we're missing moments with God and others. Moments the Bible paints very clearly. I want you to see that covenant connection which was a sacred kinship bond between two parties often took place around a meal centered around a table all the way back to Isaac and Aimilec Jacob and Laban we see covenant established and sealed over shared I don't even know maybe they had a rock set up in the middle of the desert maybe they just ate on the ground but they're eating a meal together they're in initiating covenant the elders of Israel sat on top of Mount Si where they saw the Lord this was after they affirmed their covenant with him.

AND THE NEXT SCENE IS THEM SHARING a meal together on top of this mountain in this sacred and holy place. And you may think, well, maybe they had nothing else to do or they were hungry. No, no, no. They were doing that intentionally. They were sharing a covenant meal with the Lord. I don't know how much the Lord ate or if he ate at all, but it was significant. the fellowship UH EVEN OF PEACE OFFERINGS UH THE ONES THAT strengthen their covenant with God in the law.

They were centered around a meal in the presence of the Lord and within the context of family. Those are just a couple instances that remind us covenant with God and others often of all a shared moment and even a meal time connection. If you like food, this is a good message for you today. All right. Seems so fitting that Jesus would come and spend a lot of his limited time dining with others and inviting them TO THE TABLE. NO MATTER their condition or their past or their sin, to dine with Jesus is more than just to share a meal.

As you see clearly in the last supper, that moment many like it were true connection moments, full of meaning and covenant implications. And you see his apostles, his disciples get the message. Our text shows them they're in the same pattern. They're doing the same thing in the temple and at the table. I pray we have both. If if your connection, it ought to be centered around Sundays and Wednesdays. We ought to come and and gather together. We ought to do as Hebrews said, "Don't forsake the assembling of ourselves together." But if that's all the connection you're getting with God and others, this is what the Lord's after today.

It was more than just a meal. Acts 2 says they started and they built the church in this fashion. They went to synagogue. They had great moves of the Holy Ghost. Thank God for every gathering in which the spirits poured out. But but they also combined and coupled those gatherings with their connect groups from house to house and around the table. They went FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE AND THEY EVEN STARTED THIS THING in the upper room of a house. Acts two tells us that believers broke bread in their homes daily.

Acts 5 says that they were daily preaching and teaching in the temple and from house to house. Acts 10 finds them again in Cornelius's house. Acts 12 in the home of Mary. Acts 16 in the house of Lydia where they share the word of God together. Acts 17 Jason's house in Thessalonica. Acts 18 Justice's house and you get the picture. Throughout Paul's letters, eight other households and believer groups are mentioned. Priscilla and Aquilla's house in Rome. You can ask a valid question in light of all that list.

Well, didn't they also meet in synagogues and connection shared in public spaces like Lydia's Creek and Solomon's Colony? Yes. Yeah. We don't miss that. Did they have their own church buildings where they could purchase a building and gather? No, probably not. But even still, the home and the table were central to their connection with one another and the Lord on a regular basis to the point where the church and its leaders are told, "You ought to have the gift of hospitality without grumbling." That convicted me a little bit.

Oh, we got to get the house ready. People are coming over. We got to clean it up and we got this real enough. Hey, we got to get those dishes done without grumbling. I think they had the same problems we do. I think they lived in their houses like we do. They're probably stepping on first century wooden blocks and toys like we do. I just took note OF THAT THIS WEEK WITHOUT GRUMBLING. That hit me right here. But even still, regularly you see them in the public space, in the temple, in the house.

They had this both end thing. Point is their homes. They're they're pods. They're private property. They're safe havens. And and I don't say those to condemn anybody. I get it. We've got to exercise wisdom and we've got to have safe environments for our family and and our kids. But those were some of the very places where heaven would meet earth and their connection and covenant were solidified and enacted. In fact, one of their most sacred moments they observed as a church happened around a table likely in a private home.

They think it was probably gas's home. the Lord's supper. And Paul SAYS THIS, I LOVE THIS AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER. 1 Corinthians 11, he says, "Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. Make sure everyone gets a seat at the table. Don't eat all the good stuff before they get there. Don't eat all the dark meat. Oh, our unity is being challenged, right?" It was an expectation. You're going to share a meal together. You're going to come together. You're going to connect.

You're going to be in covenant. And it's going to be centered around a table. You can argue that this apostolic church, the one that we are representing in our doctrine and and and in our practice, that it was built around their home, their connection, their public gatherings, the synagogue. Yes. But almost every day around their table. Is there anything mystical or or or spiritual about the wood or or the the fabric or or THE FOOD? NO. NOT NECESSARILY. We're not saying that. But is there something apostolic and biblical about connecting with brothers and sisters and others in the home and around the table?

Yes. Both the biblical record and the example of Jesus and the shared personal experiences in this room would tell us that connection and covenant strengthened and solidified at the table. I know in some of these instances we don't see a record of a literal table in scripture, but I hope the point's not missed today. Sacred things happen when we're connecting with God and others in this place and beyond this place. Even when we're simply sharing a meal in a moment devotion together. Well, pastor, it's just a connect group.

It's just it's just us gathering together. It's just us working on some cars together and learning how to change oil. How what's what's spiritual, PASTOR? IT'S JUST ANOTHER NIGHT ON THE CALENDAR. Just another event, just another thing to do. Not to those apostolics and not to these apostolic. To say that or to think it negates the power of God when we gather together. Jesus himself says, "For two or three are gathered together in my connect group leaders, you pray and you gather in the name of the Lord Jesus.

I am there in the midst of them. This is listed in Matthew 18 within a context of handling offenses in the body. But I believe the PRINCIPLE APPLIES IN MOMENTS LIKE THE ones we're going to share this year that when we gather to be in unity, to be in agreement with one another, even to share life's MOMENTS AND INTEREST AND TIME TOGETHER, something powerful HAPPENS IN THE BODY OF CHRIST AND EVEN OTHERS ON THEIR WAY TO THE BODY. PSALM 133 IT SAYS, "BEHOLD, HOW GOOD AND PLEASANT it is when brethren dwell together in unity." They believe that was a familial.

This is a song of a sense and families are gathered together and they're going up and they're they're they're they're climbing the hill to to the the the temple. BUT THEN THEY WOULD GATHER TOGETHER AS FAMILIES and and they'd sit together. And that word dwell sometimes can just MEAN IT'S IT'S GOOD AND PLEASANT WHEN WE JUST SIT TOGETHER. It's more than that. Yeah, there's a lot of weight on that word, but just get together and see what happens. Get together and invite the Lord and see what happens.

So many times we draw a line between the sacred and the secular where a meal together, a shared time in someone's home is just another weekn night experience. It's separate from the activities of the kingdom. And maybe it's even devoid of the presence of God. That is not the case in scripture. That's not the case in the pattern of Jesus and his apostles. Every connect group was an opportunity for connection with God and with others. Every meal was a chance for covenant to be revisited. Every time two or three were gathered together in his name, he was there.

As such, I feel the Lord stirring his church and his bride again. every connect group leader, every connect group member, the ones who haven't yet signed up to erase the line between the sacred and the secular to invite God into every home, every meal, every covenant interaction to truly connect with God and others and not just here. And I'm so thankful. Hear me, please. I'm thankful for the covenant moments we have here every Sunday and Wednesday and days and they are powerful. They're effectual. They're irreplaceable.

We've got to have them. But if we limit to the the Lord to these rows and to this space, we may be less apostolic than we intend to be. It may be less apostolic than he wants us to be. We want to be a thriving apostolic church. Amen. Pattern of scripture shows true apostolic take the power of God home with them and then from house to house. He was in their midst every day because they gathered with family and others within their home every day, intentional about inviting the Lord into their lives, obeying this command, teach these things to their children when they sit in their house, when they walk by the way, when they lie down, when they rise up.

Conversations about the word, interactions with his presence, teaching of his principles, those were not limited to a single Christian education hour on a Sunday. They were happening in homes. They were happening around tables. I believe this is a key part of what it means to connect with God and others. On that note, I know it may beg some added questions when we talk about this in the 21st century. What's that look like? We're not in the first century anymore. HOW DOES THAT FIT IN 2026? We don't don't really have a concept of a true covenant meal and some of those first century values.

How do we follow those apostolic principles in the 21st century? I don't have all the the answers this morning of perfect rhythms and patterns. I I didn't come with a how-to or maybe a perfect guide, but but I've seen and experienced both the power of the temple and the power of the table at APC at that house right down the road. And I believe we should have both. The glory of God meeting with his people in this house and the same glory meeting with us in our house.

It's possible to have both. People of God, don't leave this on the table. What we're really talking about today is connecting with God and others and do it as often as we can wherever we can, especially in our homes. Whether that's a connect group or a family rhythm, probably should be both. And to use Paul's language, he said, "When you come together, make room for the Lord and others." And in the long house, we are not perfected. We are not the epitome of divine connection just yet.

I will give the caveat of all caveats that we've not arrived nor is our arrival in perfection even imminent. So if you're imagining us at home with our three kids giving perfect devotions and the shakina glory hovering over us every night, you're mostly mistaken. Most nights it's a meal that they may or may not want to eat. It's spilled drinks. It's a complaint or two about the vegetables. It's like hurting cats. That's a Midwestern expression. I've never done it, but I can imagine it. I can't imagine it.

It's imperfect and it's beautiful. It anchors our day when we gather at the table. It may not always be perfect, but it always includes glad, mad, sad. What we share about our day, the things that elicited those emotions. Usually, uh, we all get a glad in. And usually our mad is about each other. You made me mad. It's conversations and stories and laughs and Wesley for a period of almost a year wiping his spoon on my shirt every night. I love you, Bub. It's devotions that last 30 seconds sometimes, or if I'm really lucky, five minutes.

It's a rhythm and as much consistency as we can find. It's it's powerful practice. It's an apostolic anchor that both the Bible and her own experience and thousands of studies show will help build a home that's healthy, growing, and full of love. Mila asked me pretty often. She'll come in and say, "Daddy, who's coming over for dinner tonight?" She does that because 12 years ago when I married a wife and moved to the land of South County, the Lord impressed on me strongly that he placed me right where he wanted us to be and that our home would be a holy and a sacred place for family, for neighbors, for others.

We don't always get it right. We are not Jesus. Maybe we don't spend as much intentional time as he did in homes, but we spend a decent percentage of our mission mandate and this mission core value around our large discount dinner table, the one we bought at Planet Overstock for the purpose of inviting as many people to the table as possible. Some of you have sat there. If you haven't yet, we'll have to remedy that at some point. Give me time, okay? It's part of the reason why we bought it.

The investment into that table, the investment, the connection time around that table have enriched our lives more than I could ever express. I say this next part humbly with the earlier caveat in mind that we don't have this worked out. We are not the picture perfect family. But I was headed down to Mississippi a couple weeks ago for a wonderful couple's wedding and I just felt impressed to start counting the amount of people that we've had in our home in the last year. shocked me when I landed on 148 people, most of whom we fed.

It's been wonderful even for my mostly introverted wife, neighbors, families, birthday parties, holidays, connect groups, Bible studies, friends, missionaries, ministers, refugees, lifelong companions, newly invited strangers, people we helped in car wrecks, people whose life has recently experienced car wrecks. Five different generations of others and family and friends, eight plus different nationalities, double as many cultures, dozens of cuisines and dishes, many that I've never tried before. Hundreds of God conversations and covenant moments and connections. And I, as I said, if you haven't been over yet, please don't get offended at us.

We're working our way through the body. We've got limited nights just like y'all. But I hope you see a shepherd who is serious about connecting with God and others. I don't want to just preach it. I don't want to just rehearse it. I want to live it both in the temple and at the table day in and day out, week in and week out. I I hesitate to share those experiences knowing it could come across as maybe some prideful boastful. But I hope you know my heart today.

I want us all to know the Lord and I want us to connect with him in this temple and at the table. And I risk some vulnerability to tell you how wonderful and fulfilling it is to truly connect with God and others even and especially beyond these walls in your home. Mariah and I, our experiences as a family at the table with hundreds of other people, they've been nothing short of amazing and miraculous. Some of us have shed tears over that table. Others have laughed at tears over that table.

Still others have shared biblical truths of mad, glad, sad. If you come over to the house, you're probably going to have to do mad, glad, sad at the table. I learned all about the Messiah tribe at that table. Brother Wickliffe taught me why they wear red. He said, "We're the only people the lions fear." That was a fun night. We sat at brother Gideon's table and he shared the beautiful music from Ghana and what the Lord's doing in that nation. Shared his heart for music. Jesus meets with us at that table.

Even over a game of uno life is done at the table. Connection happens and begins at the dong house usually around the table. It doesn't just involve the table. I use it as a metaphor and a symbol for the home and houseto house model of the apostles, but it's around and maybe maybe today you've already disqualified yourself. I hear him. I've heard him, but I don't have the space or my home or my life is too hectic or I I don't have maybe your philosophy, maybe your personal beliefs about your home don't allow for this.

Maybe you don't want a lot of people. I get that. I understand it. I understand it all. But please don't disqualify yourself because if you got two chairs, you can connect with somebody. You got a Starbucks nearby. You can Jesus met with them in boats and on mountain tops. He met with them anywhere he could on the way, walking along the way. If you've got two people in a God, you can do this. You don't even have to have a table. It's recommended though you can connect with somebody in a way that matters.

You'd be amazed at the connection that happens in a church parking lot. Anyone ever had a God moment in the church parking lot? Anybody? Oh, yeah. So, it's possible. Shaking bowl down the road, Taylor shop, or just driving the car sitting around a fire. two people, an intentional invitation to the presence of the Lord. Two chairs, one table, and a God who has invited us to dine with him in covenant connection from the garden to Revelation. While the musicians come and get ready, well, I'm thankful for every moment of connection with God and others in a pew or an altar.

You know my heart. I've said it five times already. Is is not to say don't show up to church. All right? We need to be faithful to the house of the Lord. What I'm advocating today is for an apostolic approach that sees connection from the temple all the way to the table, which biblically can actually be one and the same. As much as I see a distinction in scripture in the 21st century between the synagogue and the house, the temple, the table, the church building, the home, as I close this morning, I remind us those can be one and the same.

Our core text for our value of truth says now therefore you're no longer strangers and foreigners is Ephesians 2. But your fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. What's that mean? in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God and the spirit. But Pete, would you come up here for a moment?

You know what all it takes to have Pentecost is us and the Lord. I just got to get to the house of God. Yes, you do. You do. But if all you can do is find a brother or a sister and link up and invite the Lord. I've experienced it in our home. Maybe something happened, pastor. Something took place. We're heading to the hospital. Thank you. Say, Mila, Wesley, Selena, Ryan, come here. We got to pray. Pentecost. Here's what the Lord told me recently. He said, "I am ready to visit homes in this room like I visit you in this room." Oh, I pray and you go home and you open that door wide.

You say, "Come on in, Jesus." And bring any other that you want. Even the ones I don't understand, even that neighbor called the HOA on my lawn, he's ready to come in and dine with you at your table. The table may maybe chaos is raining at your home like it is at mine at that table, trying to wrangle everybody. Or maybe there's unhealth at that table. God's ready to come and sit with you and your family. Or maybe you're by yourself at that table. God's ready to come and dine with you.

I just feel the Lord's turn. I know you may not spend 10 hours at this altar. I don't want to negate what the Lord's doing in your heart and life. Really, the most of this most of this message is going to happen out there. It's going to happen when we put that QR code up on the screen. You say, "You know what? I'm gonna take a chance and I'm gonna I'm gonna join a group because I I want to be with the people of God. I really want to connect with God and others." I'm going to TAKE THE LORD UP ON THAT promise to dine with me.

Just stand together right now. I wonder if you just start to open your heart and life knowing that you are the temple of the Holy Ghost. That God's ready to dwell and live in you and in your home. Would you lift your hands right now? And would you just start to invite the Lord into your life and into your home more than ever before? Lord, you can take up residence in every place, oh God. You can occupy every room. Your glory has no bounds in our house.

Lord, I want to feel your glory in my living room as much as I feel it here. And I pray that others would come. Ah, and others would come and when they walk in the house, something would start to stir in THEM AND GOD MOMENTS WOULD HAPPEN. LORD, WOULD YOU GIVE ME THE COURAGE TO OPEN my home to another or you maybe just to meet with another at a restaurant down the road? OH GOD, MAYBE I'M MAYBE I'M SHY TODAY. MAYBE I'm timid. Maybe I feel disqualified.

But I can and should as an apostolic connect with another. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Here's what we're going to do today. I believe the Lord has a moment and a pattern of connection for every person in this place. One that's going to happen beyond these walls. You ought to go home looking for it. It might be this afternoon that the spirit of God comes on you and he meets you in your home. Today's response may not look like all the others, but I want you to come to this altar in a moment and respond to the Lord anyway.

And when you do, I want you to seek the Lord and ask him, "What do you want me to do when I leave this temple? Ask him where he wants to meet with you and who the others are." Invite the Lord to stir your heart and visit with you in your home and at your table and at the job and anywhere you and others decide to meet. And then when God speaks to you, because he will. I believe he will. Write it down. Mark it in your heart and mind.

Share it with somebody and let the Lord lead you beyond the temple to the table. Would you step out of where you are right now? If you want to respond in this apostolic manner, invite the Lord to touch you. Would you step out and if you're wanting to be involved in this mission to connect with God and others, just come right now and begin to seek the Lord. I believe God's going to lead you to somebody. I believe the Lord's going to lead you. He's going to give you moments because you're opening your heart and life right now.

Uh you're inviting the Lord once again. Maybe you've done this a dozen times or more in the last month. But oh God, I invite you to take up residence. I invite you to visit me at my house. I invite you to come in and to dine with me. And I invite you to sit at the table. Whether it's with my family, Lord, maybe it's just by myself. Maybe I'm there on my on my own. And you want me to invite somebody to the table. You want me to invite somebody to connection.

So I open and avail myself right now and I pray that you would speak to all of the precious and wonderful people in this room. Tell them what you want them to do when you want them to do it. Oh God, we pray in the name of Jesus that you would visit with us as we connect with you. Lord make me a house. Make me a house of praise. Lord, make me a house. Make me a house of prayer. A house of prayer. Lord, make me a house.

Make me a house of prayer. Lord, make me a house. Make me a house of prayer. A house of prayer. Lord, make me a house. Make me a house of prayer. Lord, make me a house. Make me a house of prayer, a house of prayer. Lord, make me a house. Make me a house of prayer. Use our phones, God. Lord, make me a house. Make me a house of prayer. A house of prayer. Lord, make me a house. Make me a house of prayer. Lord, make me a house.

Make me a house of prayer. A house of prayer. May the fire of my altar never burn out. The fire of my altar never burn out. May the fire of my altar never burn out. Make me a house of prayer. May the fire of my altar never burn out. The fire of my altar never burn out. May the fire of my altar never burn out. Make me a house of prayer. May the fire on my altar never burn out. The fire on my altar never burn out.

May the fire on my altar never burn out. Make me a house of prayer. Lord, make me a house. Make me a house of prayer. Lord, make me a house. Make me a house of prayer. A house of prayer. Lord, make me a house. Make me a house of prayer. Lord, make me a house. Make me a house of prayer. A house of prayer. The Lord's dealing with families across this place. If you're praying, press on in prayer. All right. As I looked across this room, I can see families and persons who are already living this and already on mission for this.

Some some that would just blow your minds. But I also think one of our struggles is not just our home, but for me and for many, it's our time. It's the time. And maybe that was the thing that came in your mind. Ah, man. The time. And it may be that you're boxed into this. It's got to be every every week, two, three times a week. That's not what we're saying today. But I just felt the Lord stirring me asking somebody, can you give one night in a month?

One night, just one where you That night is connection. I think that's probably the bare minimum we could do if we're really on mission, right? Maybe that's your challenge today. And I just want to help you. We can do it. Even if it's I'm not talking about breaking your family and and uh just being so busy that you don't have time for family. No, no, no. You know my heart better than that. Talking about being intentional, inviting people into your family rhythm. You have to. I wonder if we could just offer the Lord whatever he wants.

I know that many of you already prayed and maybe the Lord's already given you direction, but would you just tell the Lord right now, Lord, whatever you want me to give, whether it's a night, whether it's a meal, whe whatever it is that will foster connection, would you just lift your hand right now and offer that to the Lord? Oh Jesus, ah we offer ourselves to you all of we owe you everything, Lord. If you were to call for every night, oh God, I know you wouldn't because you love our families, Lord.

Uh but if you to call for it, but we we we give it to you. We present our whole selves as an offering to you which is our reasonable service. And we offer you our time and we offer you our attention. We offer you our focus, Lord. We offer you our homes and those blessings that they are. And whatever resources we have, we offer them to you for the sake of this mission that's changing lives and changing families and changing homes. We offer it to you today.

Oh God, thank you Lord for every person who's been willing to do it. Jesus name.

Something powerful happens when we leave the temple and bring the spirit of God with us to a table. That's what the Haven team endeavoring to do. They're already seeing the fruit of it. In fact, there's a there's a church that's going to meet today at the Corinthian house because someone brought pizza and the spirit of God to a connect group table. It turned into a move of the Holy Ghost. Over a dozen people baptized and filled with the gift of the Holy Ghost. What can happen when you leave the temple and you go sit at a table and share the word of God with somebody?

I want the entire Haven team to come. If you all wouldn't mind just giving them some room right now. The entire Haven team, brother Jeff, Sister Nicole, that also includes brother Mike and sister Annen Phil Singer, brother and sister Brewer as well. They're going to come and we've already got to pray for Jeff and Nicole. This team is going to plant. You all can step right in front of that table there. Going to plant a thriving apostolic work in Richmond Heights and we are behind them all the way.

We're going to give you a chance in the future to contribute towards this work like we did for Hope Community. But before that time, we're going to pray over them as they plan to start pre-launch services this next week at the Richmond Heights Community Center. If you're in that area, if you're driving by or if you just want to drive by there and say a prayer, uh we're going to cover them this week. In fact, if you're willing to take a meal or two to fast for them this week, would you lift your hand right now and fast and pray for this team?

Amen. We're going to bless them. So almost three years ago this month I preached a message from brother Branding's notebook. The title was help wanted and the Lord called the Dales had been stirring them around that time. They left the temple found the lodge and to pair connected with God and others. We send these labors with our blessing with our prayers. I want you to gather around them right now if you would. Would you lay hands on them in the name of Jesus? And let's pray a covering over them, over these precious families in the name of Jesus.

I thank you, Lord, for people that are willing to leave the comfort of the temple and go and find a place and find a table and find another building, Lord, and find a home and find others to connect with. And we know that you're sending them, oh God. You're calling these wonderful families. We pray a blessing over them. We pray a covering over them. We ask for provisions for them. Oh God, that you would lead them to others and lead others straight to them. Lord, we're praying and believing uh that there's going to be a thriving apostolic work in Richmond Heisen.

And I thank you, Lord, for their heart to go and for the people's heart to send. Oh God, that's what we're endeavoring to do today. And we know just like you did with Paul and Barnabas, you're going to bless their efforts. You're going to lead them to hungry people. You're going to lead them to the lost, oh God. Uh there's going to be a haven in Richmond Heights and in that area for people who are hurting. For people who need help, for people who need the truth of God's word, we pray a prayer of protection over them.

We plead the blood of Jesus over them. WE PRAY THE HOLY GHOST WOULD go ahead of them into every home, into every suburb, into every street. Oh God, lead and guide them. We pray in the name of Jesus. In the precious name of Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. We're going to connect with God and others, people of God. Amen. We're connecting with God and others even when it means sending our best. These are our best and we're so thankful that they're willing to go.

You you'll see them. They'll stay connected to Mother Church and uh see them around, but we want to pray over them. Thank you for taking those meals time to cover them. I wonder if we just take a moment and thank God for what he's doing both at APC and what he's going to do in Richmond Heights. Can you join me, Jesus? We love you so much, Lord. We're so thankful, oh God, what you're going to do. Uh we bless you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Uh for the mission being fulfilled, oh God.

We honor you and praise you in Jesus name. Jesus name. Amen. Amen.