Pastor Richard Waialeale
July 4, 2021 - W2127

When You’re Yearning for Freedom, Fellowship, & Friends

What Do You Do...

Pastor Richard Waialeale

July 3 & 4, 2021 

Aloha and Welcome, New Hope Oahu! It's an honor to have you worshipping with us online and in person, today! We are continuing our series What Do You Do...the topic is "When You're Yearning for Freedom, Fellowship, & Friends." 

Any good farmer or rancher knows that to keep their cattle or horses from wandering off, they build fences; but in Australia ranches are so vast that a fence won't work, so they have water pockets all over the place for animals to drink and they don't wander--they stay close by.

Along the same lines in the Bible, the Good Shepherd doesn't build a fence around us to keep us close to Him; instead, He provides a positive way to keeps us close to Him--by love.  Love is also the culture that we have used to build New Hope!  

We gather in churches to worship God; however, since the COVID pandemic invaded our nation last year, all the churches closed their doors! So, we found an alternative way to do church online and the attendance grew astronomically--more than five times! Let me transition to...

In the Old Testament the temple in Jerusalem was the place where the people worshipped God; but when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, most of the Jews were taken into captivity--and they lost their freedom! But they were creative and built pockets of small churches, called synagogues for fellowship and study of the Word of God. Even after the temple was rebuilt, the people continued to meet in synagogues--we call them small groups. 

Small groups are powerful--it exists to give people a place for spiritual growth, freedom, fellowship, and meeting friends. It made a big church smaller, and people grew exponentially! There is power in the small!  

We have been conditioned to believe that power is in big things--the bigger things are, the more powerful; but that's not necessarily true with God! For instance, in the book of Judges chapter 7, Gideon's army was facing an opposing force that outnumbered his army by four to one, but God told Gideon that he had too many soldiers in his army!  God's strategy for victory was to reduce Gideon's army from 32,000 to 300 and show him and the world the power of the small!

Another story of God using the small is in 1 Samuel 17 about David and Goliath; Goliath stood 9?foot tall, and David was half his size!  David carried just five small stones of which he only needed one to kill Goliath--the battle belongs to the Lord and the power is seen in the small!

And in the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, God used just five small loaves of bread and two fish to show the power in the small!

The Book of Acts records the amazing growth of a small church in Jerusalem that grew from 120 to over 50,000 people!  Where did they put all the people?  In small groups.  It started with the power of the small, and the power and transformation that happens in a small group! 

Acts 2:42-47 NIV says: "⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ⁴⁴ All the believers were together.... ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet... They broke bread and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

The early church fellowshipped, broke bread, and prayed in small groups.  There are three principles of powerful growth in small groups as illustrated in the Book of Acts to learn the power of small: 

1. SMALL GROUPS ARE A POWERFUL WAY TO GROW SPIRITUALLY 

Can you grow spiritually without being in a small group?  I suppose you can.  But how can you know that you're growing spiritually if you're not in a small group?  It's like this:  How do you know that you're good at basketball, baseball, or volleyball unless you're playing with other people?  How can others know that you're growing spiritually unless you're in a small group?

When there's a healthy balance of Bible study, fellowship, ministry, outreach, and worship (this all go on in a small group) there is power to grow spiritually. Going to a small group is like going to a gym to exercise your spiritual muscle.  

When it comes to growing spiritually, the moment we come to faith, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us, and even though we don't always detect it at first, the influence of the Holy Spirit in our life grows, and it becomes obvious to those around us that He is in them! Here's the application:

1 Timothy 4:8-10 NIV says: "⁸ ...physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.⁹ This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. ¹⁰ That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe."

Paul is saying to Timothy if you must choose between Bible study and physical training, always choose Bible study. Paul wishes that people would put the same emphasis on Bible study as they do on physical training: memorizing scriptures, bending their knees in prayer, bench pressing in on their faith, bicep curls with a good book, like the Bible.  Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things--for the present life and the life to come.

2. SMALL GROUPS ARE A POWERFUL WAY TO GROW RELATIONALLY

Acts 2:44-47 NIV says, "⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common.  ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They...ate together with glad and sincere hearts,⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people."

Here we see all the believers were connected to a small group, and everyone's needs were met; so, the best way to get to know other believers in the church is through small groups. 

It's like a person who wants to paddle a canoe.  They can do it in a one?man canoe or in a six?man canoe. In a one?man canoe, you have full control of where you go and how fast you get there; in a six?man canoe, you must work together--as in a small group.

When you're in a canoe with a team, everyone shares in the burden of paddling, and everyone shares in the journey together.  The single life has its advantages, as the person in a one?man canoe: You have full control of where you go, what you do, and you can give your full attention to God.  But you don't have the luxury of others praying and counseling you.  A six?man canoe or a small group requires cooperation and communication with others, but you have a bond of being together, sharing the journey, encouraging each other, rejoicing together, crying together, and working together until you reach your destination--there's nothing like it!  In a one?man canoe, you can get a little lonely! 

Ephesians 5:21 NIV says: "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."

What needs do you have that can only be met in a small group?  

•       Accountability.  We simply need people to ask us:  How are you doing?    
•       Encouragement. We need positive people in our lives to give encouragement.
•       Transparency.  Everybody is concerned about transparency.    

Here's the point:  How many have fears of what others might think if you were transparent? I have! A small group is where you establish trust, fellowship, and friends--it takes time to build transparency, and a small group is where you receive counseling and prayers. 

James 5:16 NIV says: "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."

3. SMALL GROUP IS A POWERFUL WAY TO GROW NUMERICALLY 

Acts 2:47 NIV says: "...praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people...the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." 

Can a church grow numerically without small groups?  I suppose it can.  But let me ask, If God were looking for a church to lead people to, would He lead them to a church with healthy small groups where people experience reconciliation, renewal, and grow numerically? Yes, it's also in small groups that people do outreach to the community; God can often do more through a few people than He could through many. The key to small groups is making a bigchurch smaller--more bite size.   

1 Corinthians 9:22 NIV says: "To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some."

My goal is to bring people closer together, grow them spiritually, relationally, and numerically, as it's in the small that God does incredible works!  Look at this video:

[Video]

>> Ms. Jones. I'm sharing with you my wonderful care or small group called the End Time Warriors and meet some of my friends who have become my family.  

>> Michelle told me about this small group, but it was online, and I'm not too familiar being online.  I'm more familiar being with groups, in a family atmosphere.  But somehow, I grew into this group, and I'm really getting a lot out of it.  Prior to the pandemic, I'd broken my leg and I found myself withdrawing on purpose, and I knew I was starving for connections.  

>> Prior to the pandemic, I found out that I had a health condition, so I needed to pull back from ushering.  Lanu mentioned that she was starting an End Times bible study group. I knew some of the people, but as time went on and we got to know each other better by sharing personal things as it became a safe place to share our fears, doubts, hopes, and dreams--just to be there for one another. I look forward to the group as I'll be with people who support me.

>> Being in this small group has created friendships--we started out as strangers and now we call ourselves the ETW ohana, like we're family! 

>> I think the biggest thing that End Time Warriors has done for me is that it allowed me to realize that not only is our relationship important with God, but also with others.  I didn't really know how to start a friendship or relationship with somebody, but as we continued to meet every week and learned about each other, we grew in fellowship and in spirit--it's taken me out of isolation into wanting to build relationships with others!

>> You've gone from being alone to learning how to deal with issues that you had. We hope that all of you will join a small group and meet people. It's wonderful to be part of this ohana!   

[End video]

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:

1. What are three principles from the book of Acts for powerful growth in small groups?

2. Small groups make a big church smaller for people to grow exponentially. How has being in a small group helped you grow spiritually?  

3. Give your definition of "The power in the small."

4. Share an experience you had when you were transparent.