"Community is not an option"

These are my notes from the sermon tonight at Apex.
We had the privilege to hear Jason Wing speak and give the sermon.
Worship music led by Isaac was awesome. We sang "Cannons" "Mighty to Save" and "Always Forever" to lead off and a medley ending with "Hosanna" at the end.

Verses are several but are called the "one anothers" of the New Testament

When Apex started house churches in 2005 there were skeptics who:
1 Didn't know the meaning of house church..seen as anti institutional..alternative
2 weren't used to the idea...grew up in "traditional" church
3 didn't have good theology of what "church" is

House church creates a great environment to become a better disciple
A disciple is an individual who is..fully devoted..knowing..loving...obeying the Lord Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Obedience to Jesus commands in being community

Being in community is not optional in the life of the obedient disciple..it is essential
Verses to support this
Matthew 28:19-20
Luke 11:28
John 14:15,21,23
John 15:10
These are Jesus' words

Romans 1:5
1John 2:3
1John 3:24
1John 5:3
2 John 1:6

Obedience is huge in the life of a disciple
Disciples obey Jesus' commands

Examples of His commands

Galatians 5:13
1Thessalonians 5:11
Colossians 3:16..I personally like this verse...it deals with singing worship songs
James 5:16
Ephesians 4:2..this talks about "difficult people"...had some of those in my life
Ephesians 4:32...this talks about forgiveness..had some struggles with this
Romans 12:10,16
Romans 15:7

House churches need to be diverse
Galatians 6:2
Hebrews 3:13
1Peter 1:22
1Peter 4:8,10

"One another" passages aren't suggestions..they're commands.

Jesus commands us to be in community
Ignoring these commands is disobedience
Luke 6:46
John 14:24
James 4:17

Are you being an obedient disciple or not?

Apex went to house churches not to be trendy or unique or to be antiestablishment

The decentralized network of house churches is to foster relationships to become an obedient disciple and be in Christian community. This is beyond a "small group"..it's belonging to a family.

Benefits
1 We have alot of fun
2 We don't have to go through tough times alone
3 We don't miss the things we can give up..ie TV
4 We attract people who long for real relationships
5 We have better families
6 We strengthen the church by using our gifts
7 We express the joy of obedience
8 We let the world know that we are disciples of Jesus..John 13:35

House church is people...not an "it" not an event

"The Discipline of Jazz"

These are my notes from Rob's sermon at Apex this morning.
It's always a heartwarmer when a family of kids are baptized..they were so cute and it was touching to see the 2 grandpas and Mark(dad) baptize all 3 of them.
Worship is always good but this morning it was beyond good...We sang "The Revelation Song" and those girls did an awesome job! It gave me goosebumps with a packed sanctuary singing that song! Even Rob said he couldn't give a sermon that would have that much impact.


Colossians 1:28-29

What is the goal of "the music"?
If you ask house church leaders you will hear different answers..to reach the neighborhood,community,sharing scripture. None of those are the goal
The goal is Christ...to be more like Him
What does it mean to be mature in Christ?
Are you pleased with your growth?

3 questions

What is Christian maturity?
What is the process in Christian maturity?
What is involved in Christian maturity?
If Apex(the building) is destroyed..do we understand that we still have access to Christ

What is Christian Maturity?

1 Pursuit of the perfection of Christ..the key being Pursuit not perfection

2 It's a process by which heart,mind, and actions grow in conformity to the nature of Christ...you can't have just one or two...you need all three

3 It has Christ as the end all be all..the ground motive

What does perfect look like this side of heaven?
For those who place their trust in Christ..we are constantly being cleansed.
Many times we create our own Christ caricatures
Jesus the rock star
Jesus the business CEO
Jesus the sage teacher
Jesus the political revolutionary
Jesus the social worker

There is no more radical Jesus than the one in the Bible

What is the process?

1 Warning(admonishing) others Many of us have friendships we don't want to lose so we don't admonish..warn..hold accountable. We don't want to offend

2 By teaching others...we all lack knowledge
If you are a follower then you have a ministry of teaching. It can be simply by example.

3 By suffering for others..Discipleship is hard work. You will feel like a failure many times. It will change relationships.
Christ got involved in our dirt..that's biblical reality.

4 By dependency on Christ for others

Who is involved?

Everybody...It's not just the "paid ministers" The body of Christ needs to take ownership

Phil Wickham in concert

These are some of the pictures from the concert we went to tonight. It was at the Darke County Fairgrounds. It was a beautiful night. Adam Cappa opened and played for 30 min. He's a local artist. Jason Gray came on next. He has a great voice and is very worshipful. He stutters when he talks but not when he sings..and he has a great sense of humor.
Phil Wickham was the reason I went. I love his music and have for awhile. We sing alot of his worship songs at Apex. He did not disappoint. He started out with "Desire" followed by "Cannons" and "Beautiful". He played 2 new songs from his new album coming out in November.."Eden" and "Heaven's Song" He played "Jesus Lord of Heaven" and "Spirit Fall" He finished with "Divine Romance","True Love", and "Amazing Grace"
He was at his merchandise booth and was so gracious. He gave autographs,took pictures, and even did a brief little video for the wife of one of the drummers who goes to Apex.
I told him I was one of the little pictures on his online album and he loved that..so did his wife..who is very beautiful. He also was very gracious to tell Darrell how to send our worship minister's albums to his management.
Sanctus Real was the last band..we stayed for one song and then went out to the fair food booths and got a great chicken tenderloin sandwich.
And of course...I bought a tshirt! I love concert tshirts!
Definitely the highlight of my weekend :)

The Players

These are my notes from Rob's sermon tonight.
Worship music tonight was great.."How he loves", "God of this City", and "Beautiful"
We are in a series called "The House of Jazz"..referring to how diverse the church can be.

1 Corinthians 12: 12-26

Our gathering at Apex is diverse but a big gathering has limits
When we talk about the players we are talking about you and I
Philip Yancey wrote a book called "The Jesus I Never Knew" which is a great book and has alot of impact.
Many of us say we want a church "like Acts 2 church" The truth is we like the glory but we don't like to talk about "the manure" that occurred in churches of Corinthians,Galatians,and Philippi.
The Acts 2 church isn't what we need to strive to be. We need to strive to be the Revelation 7 church.
Just because you have a house church doesn't mean it's Christ Centered.

Four threats to Christ Centered community

1. When there is little or no dependency on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a who not an it. You are dealing with the direct nature of God.
The trinity = unity
We limit ourselves by looking for others who are "common" i.e. singleness,age,etc.
We should have the spirit as our commonality.
In house church we drink of the Holy Spirit. We drink in his word. We spur each other on.

2. When members do not themselves as a deliberate part of the whole
In traditional churches we don't feel part unless we can teach or perform music.
Are you OK if you're part of the body is unseen?
If not then it leads to jealousy and bitterness. God has sovereignly placed us where we are in the church. There are no "little parts" in the kingdom of God.
In house church, we all need to contribute...in prayer, in sharing scripture.

3. When members are concerned about receiving honor instead of giving honor.
Go to the house church with the attitude of giving not what you are getting from it.
We are all a "needy person" to someone.

4. When there is no mutual hurting and rejoicing
If you want to see what's inside of you, you need to hurt with other people
Love cannot exist in isolation.

Stray Affectiions

In Stray Affections, the last thing that Cassandra expects out of her Sunday is to be mesmerized at a collectors’ convention by a snow globe. She’s enjoying some shopping time, with husband Ken at home tending their brood of four young boys, when she’s utterly charmed by the one-of-a kind globe containing figures of three dogs and a little girl with hair the color of her own. She can’t resist taking the unique globe home—even if means wrestling another shopper for it!
The beautiful snow globe sparks long-dormant memories for Cassie, of her beloved Grandpa Wonky, the stray she rescued as a child, and the painful roots of her combative relationship with her mother, “Bad Betty” Kamrowski. Life in Wanonishaw, Minnesota is never dull, though, and Cassie keeps the recollections at bay, busy balancing her boys, her home daycare operation, and being a good friend to best pal Margret. But after a strange—flurrious, as Cassie deems it—moment happens with the remarkable snow globe, Cassie and the people she loves are swirled into a tumultuous, yet grace-filled, and life-changing journey.
“As a believer, I know the power of forgiveness and new beginnings, and of a God, and family and friends, who love me the way I am,” Charlene Ann Baumbich says. “The heartbeat of change flows through those wonderful gifts.”
With the quirky, close-knit Midwestern small-town feel that made Charlene Ann Baumbich’s acclaimed Dearest Dorothy novels so popular, Stray Affections invites readers to experience the laughter and the healing of second chances.

I really enjoyed reading this book because of the characters and also the mystery. I also have loved snow globes so that's what attracted me to the story.

To purchase a copy this is a link :


Below is a video of Charlene Baumbich reading from the book:

"Where the Music Starts"

These are my notes from Apex this morning. Rob is starting a new series called House of Jazz. With jazz music it's not just melody,bridge, chorus..it's a mixture of instruments and a mix of everything...not predictable.
Church life is the same way..You have to learn to"play jazz"

Matthew 16:13-20

What are the basic note of church?
Church...the word means assembly. It's not a "religious" world
There are many models of church. We can't be "committed" to a model.

1. Note of confession
We confess Christ. We are a community of confessors. We declare something under duress..it's something you bank your whole life on.
Different from profess. Profess is to talk about it but have no relationship.
The most important question..."Who do you say that I am?"

2. The note of revelation
The way God reveals who he is is through the church. God is real and he makes himself known through His church.
You can tell this in house church by how they go at things through prayer. They seek God's wisdom. The blueprint of the church is in heaven.

3. The not of advancement
" I will build my church" At Apex there is no senior pastor. Jesus is our senior pastor. There will always be a church now and in 1000 yrs. When he talks about Peter in this passage..it's a metaphor..it's not literal that he is building His church on Peter. Catholicism uses this passage to support the pope as the mediator between here and heaven. There is only one mediator..Jesus. Peter and the church are fallible.
"gates of hell" you are locked behind gates of death.
If you are a Christ follower the gates of hell(death) won't prevail.

4. Note of victorious influence
Keys of the kingdom gives you authority and access.
Keys are:
gospel
spiritul warfare
church discipline..we need to get in each other's lives to make the bride more beautiful.