Author: Ekko Church

All disciples of Jesus are invited to partake in the common practice of reconciliation and the cultivation of renewal. As God has done for us, we too are invited to show others the way of Jesus and become fully human through the power of God’s Spirit and loving kindness. We see this happen in the early church through Peter’s interactions with the Gentile Cornelius:

The next day Peter started out with them… Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.” While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?” Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.” Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached… While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.” — Acts 10

When God first created humanity, He did so with the intention that they would create, cultivate, and connect with one another and the creation that He had placed them in—but because of sin, humanity has destroyed creation, disconnected from intimacy with God, and sought to dominate one another. And the byproduct of this disobedience would have led to death for us. But it’s through Jesus that we find ourselves with a second chance!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” — 2 Corinthians 5:17

Why is this significant for Peter and Cornelius?

It’s because Peter had still been anchored in the “old” ways of doing things—the law he was familiar with had forbidden him from associating with Gentiles, but here, God was doing a new thing. He was inviting Gentiles to be grafted into the Story that God was writing throughout creation! It was Peter’s “old” views that prevented him from seeing what “new” thing God was doing in their midst—namely, inviting all those who were interested in the Christ-life to become part of the Church!

So how do we practice the common practice of reconciliation and cultivating renewal?

We must do what Peter did and look at the world with God’s eyes,

with redemptive hope,

with prophetic imagination,

with possibilities of joy and love.

It is to look at what we formerly regarded as worthless through the eyes of God and imagine something new.

God sees a world where we can re-create and bring about beauty and wholeness.

God sees a world where we can reconcile people to each other and people to God.

God sees a world where we can re-cultivate and steward the earth. 

So how do we practice this?

We practice this by making, creating, and participating in art, work, relationships that will help decrease death and pain or increase beauty, life, joy.

We practice this by connecting people to God and each other and participating in making art, work, space, and relationships that will help decrease division and death and/or increase unity, harmony, and peace. 

And we practice this by taking responsibility over creation, stewarding the relationships and resources in ways that would please and reflect God. It is to protect human lives and planet, provide care and nurture, and cause things to grow and have life. 

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Jesus gives two commandments related to reconciliation and renewal to his disciples: first, he tells them to “choose the narrow path”:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” — Matthew 7:13-14

So how do we practice this day-to-day?

• What are the “more difficult” choices when it comes to relationships? Who is more difficult to love, forgive, share with, give kindness to in your spheres? Make a commitment to tangibly love them in the coming days.
• Think of someone you’ve had a conflict with in the past or that you’re distant with. What would be the “narrow” path to them? Reaching out with a text message, phone call, delivery?

Jesus also tells his disciples to “be a servant”:

“… Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” — Matthew 20:26-28

• Who in your life can you serve cheerfully and without complaint? Coworkers, family members, brothers and sisters at church? How can you add moments of beauty and joy to their lives?
• How can you serve and steward creation the next time you’re out? Think of where you go to on a daily basis and think about how you can participate in the act of renewal: picking up trash, recycling, conserving water, and so forth.

For more discussion and behind the scenes of this sermon in the Common Series, listen to our new podcast: The Common Podcast. We upload new episodes every Wednesday! Stay tuned as we continue to learn the Common practices that keep us united as Christ-followers.

What made the early church such an amazing witness when they first began was their care for the least of these—those marginalized, oppressed, and frustrated by their culture. And that remains one of the common practice of the church across the world: to give care and attention to those who are least in our culture and society.

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioche. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing wonders and signs among the people… Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabus and Saul. — Acts 6:1-8, 11:27-30

Did you catch that?

A dispute arose because certain widows were being left out of the food distribution—and the early church deemed it necessary to set aside people to ensure that those who were vulnerable were seen and taken care of. Not only that, the church set aside money to send relief to those in a time of famine.

And why does the church do this?

The church does it because it reminds us that we too were the least of these, and in our time of need God reached out to us and spoke to us through his Son Jesus. So how do we do this? We offer ongoing care: we thoughtfully and intentionally plan how we can participate in the art and act of giving and caring for those who are least or underprivileged in our society. But we can also give care as the opportunities, in one-time care—ready to give as needed and as we are able in moments that we may not have planned for, but that God has brought to our attention.

“Christianity is flourishing wonderfully among the poor and persecuted while I atrophy among the rich and secure.”
— Philip Jenkins

The reward for us is that as we partake in this common practice of caring for the least of these, we will encounter and meet Jesus in the unlikeliest of places, in the unlikeliest of moments—and in those times we will find that we, too, are in need of God’s care for us as well.

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So how do we care for the least of these?

Jesus gives two clear commands to his disciples: first, to “bring in the poor”:

Then Jesus said to his host, ‘When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’ (Luke 14:12-14)

So some questions to help guide you as you seek to be obedient to his commandments:

• Who can I love on, serve, and give to without the possibility of receiving anything back? (Perhaps a better question is: who could I care for without any possibility of reimbursement?)
• Keep your eyes open as you go to work, the grocery store, as you go out and about. Who are the ones that no one is making eye contact with? How can you be generous and kind to them without enabling? For instance, those who are experienced with those who live outdoors often recommend stocking up on water, socks, blankets, or other necessities for those who live outdoors.
• Serve somewhere and give freely of your time to efforts that benefit those in society who are the “least of these” in your area.

He also instructs his disciples to not despise the little ones:

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.”

• Pray and ask God to give you the faces of children in your life you can bless. How can you make them feel seen, heard, and appreciated?
• Look into volunteering for Safe Families, an effort facilitated by the Orphan Care team at EKKO—you can either serve as a Host Family and offer respite care for parents who need help, or you can serve as a Family Friend and offer tangible help to Host Families who are hosting children.

For more discussion and behind the scenes of this sermon in the Common Series, listen to our new podcast: The Common Podcast. We upload new episodes every Wednesday! Stay tuned as we continue to learn the Common practices that keep us united as Christ-followers.

All followers of Jesus, all across the world and across cultures, practice the common practice of signs and wonders. Each believer, equipped by the Holy Spirit for supernatural works of ministry, is called to practice their gifts to show the world a glimpse of the kingdom of heaven.

Through the work of the apostles, many God-signs were set up among the people, many wonderful things done. They all met regularly and in remarkable harmony on the Temple porch named after Solomon. But even though people admired them a lot, outsiders were wary about joining them. On the other hand, those who put their trust in the Master were added right and left, men and women both. They even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on stretchers and bedrolls, hoping they would be touched by Peter’s shadow when he walked by. They came from the villages surrounding Jerusalem, throngs of them, bringing the sick and bedeviled. And they all were healed… — Acts 5:12-16

Many of us grow in environments where the signs and wonders weren’t emphasized, much less practiced—and yet, when we read the book of Acts, the apostles and the church are moving in God-signs wherever they are. And it’s important to practice it because the church is meant to function as a local embassy or a colony of the kingdom of heaven.

“… the colony of heaven in the kingdom of death.”
— Eugene Peterson

What does this mean?

It means that when you step into an embassy in a foreign host country, even if it’s one drastically different than the host country, the embassy should reflect the culture of the one back home. And so it is with the church—the church should reflect the culture of the kingdom of heaven, its “home country.” Meaning that when people step into the embassy of the kingdom of heaven, they should see supernatural love, kindness, generosity… and yes, miracles!

What we often forget when we read Acts is that the apostles had been intentionally discipled by Jesus for three years. And it’s only in Acts that we see the culmination of that training come into fruition. So we, as the local, church, must learn that signs and wonders are not always instantaneous—that there is an element of learning and practice in understanding how God flows through each of us in our own unique way.

So how do we intentionally practice to facilitate signs and wonders in our midst? We must…

• Pray with others
• Pray with anticipation
• Pray without ceasing

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Jesus gives two specific commands to his disciples concerning the signs and wonders: first, he instructs them to “Receive God’s Power” (Luke 24:49) and to “Ask in Faith” (Matthew 21:21-22). How do we practice these disciplines well?

Receive God’s Power

• In every day of your devotionals, ask the Holy Spirit to fall afresh on you and receive expectantly. Even if you don’t feel anything differently, trust in faith that you’ve received a measure of his Presence and ask him to reveal people or topics to pray for.
• As you pray, don’t leave until you sense the release of the Holy Spirit. Rather than timing your times of prayer based on the length of time, instead wait until you feel the Lord releasing you from your time of prayer.
• Ask others in your Ekklesia groups or in the church to lay hands on you and pray for an impartation of their gifts and the Spirit. (Please do this safely!)

Ask in Faith

• Pray through the Lord’s Prayer daily. If there’s a portion of the prayer that speaks to you, linger on it and pray with faith that God will move. (For instance, if you find yourself resonating with “give us today our daily bread,” ask the Lord to fulfill your needs.) No need to beg here; simply ask in faith! God desires to meet us where we ask in faith.
• Keep track of your prayer requests and invite others to pray alongside you. We often lose track of what we’ve prayed for and what has been answered, so one of the best ways to remember is to write it down in a secure place.

For more discussion and behind the scenes of this sermon in the Common Series, listen to our new podcast: The Common Podcast. We upload new episodes every Wednesday! Stay tuned as we continue to learn the Common practices that keep us united as Christ-followers.

As the famous saying goes: “Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.”

When we look at the example of the early church, we find that the task of preaching was not only reserved for the apostles or leaders, but that everyone was given the responsibility and privilege of preaching the good news to the world. In Acts 8, we see Philip preaching:

That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did, for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralyzed or lame were cured. So there was great joy in that city. Now a certain man named Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone great. All of them, from the least to the greatest, listened to him eagerly, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” And they listened eagerly to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip, who was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed. After being baptized, he stayed constantly with Philip and was amazed when he saw the signs and great miracles that took place.

Many of us shy away from the task of preaching because we feel unqualified to do so. But Philip wasn’t “qualified” in terms of education or experience—what we know about Philip is that he was willing to serve, in good standing, full of the Spirit and wisdom, and affirmed by his community.

And perhaps most importantly, he was courageous and adaptive.

He went from waiting tables to proclaiming the gospel to all who would listen. And his preaching was accompanied by signs and wonders, of God’s power being seen in that very moment!

We may find ourselves out of our element when we preach,

Or overwhelmed by fear,

But if we obey in the art of preaching,

We find that it’s precisely in those moments when God gets the glory!

“Christians should… lament the loss of those whose courageous voices pointed toward life and in doing so were the friends of God.” — Willie Jennings

Philip found himself in Samaria—a historically difficult city for a Jew like himself to be in. And he had just witnessed someone being killed for the sake of the gospel. And yet, it’s in those moments of difficulty in that city that God’s Light shone the brightest. Yes, we may be uncomfortable, but the beauty of the Spirit is that he is the one at work changing hearts, not us. All we need to do is be courageous and obey.

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So how do we practice this common discipline of preaching?

Jesus gives his disciples one of the clearest commandments: to keep your word. In Matthew 5:37, he instructs his disciples:

“All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”

So how do we practice the practice of preaching with this commandment?

• Who has God placed in my life to love on, care for, and represent Christ well to? How can you say “yes” to God’s placement of this person in your life?
• Think about all you are responsible for: what opportunities is God giving you to say “yes” and preach the good news of the Kingdom?
• Being a good preacher means embodying the truth of what God has given to us. Are there areas in your life that are not aligning with God’s truth that may compromise your witness to him? Ask others to edit your life and to take their suggestions humbly and without offense.

For more discussion and behind the scenes of this sermon in the Common Series, listen to our new podcast: The Common Podcast. We upload new episodes every Wednesday! Stay tuned as we continue to learn the Common practices that keep us united as Christ-followers.

All of God’s People, whether in the Old Testament or New, have always been practicing and participating in the common practice of praying. We see the early church, after the ascension of Jesus, precipitating the great event of Pentecost with fervent prayer:

Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. — Acts 1:12-14

And soon afterwards, the Holy Spirit descends on the early church and they receive the tongues of fire.

In fact, we often find that the early church,

whenever there was a need,

whenever there was provision necessary,

whenever they needed wisdom,

whenever they commissioned someone to preach,

whenever there was signs and wonders,

they were found in deep and passionate prayer.

“Prayer is the way that the life of God in us is nourished.” — Oswald Chambers

To pray is to commune in intimacy with God and to converse with him regularly. But often, we may find ourselves struggling to find the words to pray or creating space to pray. As the People of God, we have been gifted with three methods to connect constantly with Him:

• Praying in the Language of Scripture
• Praying in the Language of the Soul (Our Own Words)
• Praying in the Language of the Spirit

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So how are some ways we can practice this?

Jesus gives two commandments to his disciples: Watch & Pray (Matthew 26:41) and to Practice Secret Disciplines (Matthew 6:1-18). Both commandments instruct his disciples to pray in trying circumstances (in the Garden of Gethsemane) and in secret. So how do we practice praying?

• Set aside each day to pray intentionally to God, as freely as you can, using one of the three methods—with Scripture, in your own words, or in the Spirit. If you find yourself struggling, try to figure out which time of the day works best for a rhythm.
• Pray through the Psalms, one for each day.
• Try writing your own prayers using the Kindling Prayer or Closure Prayer.
• If you have the gift of tongues, trying praying in the Spirit wherever you are—whether you’re driving, walking, washing the dishes. Ask God to increase your awareness of him and to speak to you clearly as you pray.

For more discussion and behind the scenes of this sermon in the Common Series, listen to our new podcast: The Common Podcast. We upload new episodes every Wednesday! Stay tuned as we continue to learn the Common practices that keep us united as Christ-followers.