Coleton continued the series on the cultures needed in the church to see “the fame and deeds of God repeated in our time.” After exploring the **culture of the Gospel**, the **culture of pursuit**, and the **culture of blessing**, this message focused on creating a **culture of belonging**. Drawing from **Acts 2:42–47**, Coleton showed how the early church lived in deep community—devoted to teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, prayer, and meeting one another’s needs. This kind of belonging allowed people to experience healing, not just through miracles, but through love, acceptance, and connection. Coleton contrasted the transformative encounters people had with Jesus—like Zacchaeus, Matthew, and the Samaritan woman. None of them were healed by dramatic miracles, but by an encounter with Jesus’ love that removed shame, restored dignity, and changed their lives completely. That’s what he longs for the church to embody: a place so full of love and welcome that people are healed inwardly. He explained that belonging is not passive; it requires **time, intentionality, and words of life**. Real connection happens when people are deeply known, when hospitality is practiced, and when members invest in each other with encouragement and truth. Belonging heals wounds of isolation, anxiety, addiction, shame, and self-doubt. Practically, Coleton shared how the church is aiming at this: building men’s, women’s, and youth connection teams and events, pursuing membership, hiring a Women’s Pastor, and intentionally committing to practices like prayer, communion, and caring for needs. He challenged the church to participate by: 1. **Getting to know people** (not just surface friendliness). 2. **Doing for others what you want them to do for you** (practicing hospitality). 3. **Investing time** (because deep relationships require showing up and consistency). 4. **Using words of life** (speaking encouragement and truth that bring healing). Coleton closed with stories and research showing how **connection heals**—from addiction recovery research, to relational studies, to stories of transformation through affirming words. He called the church to embody belonging so that entering the community feels like encountering Jesus Himself. --- ## **Discussion Questions** ### **Understanding the Message** 1. Why do you think Acts 2:42–47 highlights fellowship, breaking bread, and meeting needs alongside prayer and teaching? 2. What do the stories of Zacchaeus, Matthew, and the Samaritan woman reveal about the power of simply being welcomed by Jesus? ### **Personal Reflection** 3. When have you personally experienced deep belonging in a church, family, or friendship? How did it impact you? 4. Where do you feel the greatest temptation to hide—shame, weakness, or struggles? How might belonging in community bring healing there? ### **Living it Out** 5. What’s one step you can take this week to get to know someone beyond surface-level friendliness? 6. Who in your life needs to hear words of life and encouragement from you this week? What might you say to them? 7. How could you invest more intentional time into building relationships within the church? --- ## **Quotes from Authors in the Sermon** * **David Bradford, Ph.D. & Carole Robin, Ph.D.** – *Connect* > “In exceptional relationships, you feel seen, known, and appreciated for who you really are, not an edited version of yourself… Someone you’re in an exceptional relationship with knows what’s really going on with you because that someone really knows you.” * **Max Lucado** > “Something holy happens around a table that will never happen in a sanctuary… Hospitality opens the door to uncommon community. It's no accident that hospitality and hospital come from the same Latin word, for they both lead to the same result: healing.” * **Jeffrey Hall (University of Kansas study, 2018)** > “It takes about 40–60 hours of time spent together to form a casual friendship, it takes 80–100 hours to transition to calling each other a friend, and more than 200 hours to become ‘close’ friends.” * **Brennan Manning** (Story of Larry Mulaney) > “It would be hard to describe in words the transformation that took place in Larry Malaney after that interaction… In the face of cursing and taunts his father affirmed him with a furious love, and changed the whole direction of his son’s life.” * **Peter Scazzero** > “When we look for goodness and beauty in one another and speak honest words of life over one another, we become God with skin on for the other. Affirmations heal wounds, cover shame, and communicate how God sees us — as infinitely valuable and lovable.”

Culture of Blessing Sermon Summary (Acts 2:42–47) Coleton continued teaching on the vision of the church: to see the fame and deeds of God repeated in our time by developing followers of Jesus. This vision requires a certain kind of culture. Last week, he emphasized a culture of the Gospel and a culture of pursuit. This week, he focused on cultivating a culture of blessing. Culture of Blessing A culture of blessing is one where followers of Jesus: • Understand their identity as God’s people called to bless the world. • Recognize their unique gifts given by the Spirit to bring flourishing where there is chaos. • Actively live out their calling so that others experience God’s goodness through them. Biblical Foundation • The First Commission (Gen. 1–2): Adam and Eve were commanded to fill the earth, rule it, and bring order and flourishing. • The Promise to Abraham (Gen. 12:3; 22:17–18): God promised Abraham’s descendants would bless all nations. • Fulfillment in Jesus (Gal. 3:16): Jesus is the promised offspring who brings blessing to the nations. • The New Commission (Matt. 28:18–20): Jesus calls His followers to multiply disciples and bring spiritual renewal to the world. • Equipped by the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:7; Eph. 2:10): Every believer is gifted for the common good and created for good works prepared in advance. Historical Examples of Blessing • The Early Church: Outsiders marveled at Christians’ love in caring for the poor, orphans, the sick, and prisoners. Their lives made the gospel visible. • The Clapham Sect (18th century): William Wilberforce, John Newton, and others used their resources and influence to bless society—ending the slave trade, reforming prisons, starting schools, improving labor laws, and even protecting animals. Modern Examples of Blessing • A church member (Colin) comforting someone in the middle of a panic attack, bringing God’s peace. • A Starbucks worker intentionally making coffee to the glory of God, hoping people would “taste” God’s goodness. Application for Today • Blessing is our identity and purpose in the world. • We are called not to wait for someone else to act but to live with expectation that God has positioned us to bring renewal. • Every act—whether teaching, building, counseling, cooking, or studying—can be done to God’s glory so others encounter His presence. • As a church, opportunities to bless include local and international missions, prayer, using spiritual gifts, and serving in ministry teams. Coleton urged the church to embrace their calling as co-heirs with Christ, stepping into the works God has prepared for them, so that the city of Memphis and the nations might experience God’s blessings through His people. ⸻ Discipleship Discussion Questions Understanding the Message 1. How does the biblical story—from Genesis to Jesus—shape your view of what it means to be a person of blessing? 2. Why is it significant that blessing is both our identity and purpose as followers of Jesus? Personal Application 3. What unique gifts, skills, or opportunities has God given you that you could use to bring flourishing into someone else’s life? 4. How might you approach your daily work, tasks, or responsibilities differently if you saw them as ways to display God’s glory? 5. Where in your life right now do you see “chaos” that God might be calling you to step into with His blessing? Community Application 6. What can our church do to strengthen a “culture of blessing” both inside and outside our walls? 7. Which mission or ministry opportunities (local, international, or church-based) could you step into this year to bring God’s blessing to others? ⸻ Quotes from Authors • Alan Kreider, The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: “They looked at the Christians and saw them energetically feeding poor people and giving proper funerals to those who couldn’t afford them, caring for orphans who lacked property and parents, and being attentive to aged slaves and prisoners. They interpreted these actions as works of love. And they said, Vide, (look!) Look how they love. They did not say, ‘Aude, listen to the Christian’s message’; they did not say, ‘Lege, read what they write.’ Hearing and reading were important too. But we must not miss the reality: the pagans said look! Christianity’s truth was visible because it was embodied and enacted by its members.”

Text: Mark 10:32–45 In this message, Coleton draws out three defining qualities Jesus desires in His followers. As Jesus journeys to the cross, He pauses to tell His disciples what He wants them to become. In the same way a father might shape the identity of his child (like Coleton does with “bro trips” for his son), Jesus shapes the identity of His people. 1. He Wants the Cross to Be Central Jesus again reminds His disciples of His coming suffering (v.32–34), but they respond by asking for glory and reward (v.35–37). Coleton points out how easy it is to approach Jesus expecting an easier life, rather than embracing the call to die to self. • If the cross isn’t central, we’ll misinterpret hardship as failure, punishment, or evidence that God has let us down. • But suffering is part of the path. Like Jesus, we too will walk through pain. The cross reminds us that hardship isn’t punishment—it’s purpose. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34) When the cross is central: • We won’t expect an easy life. • We won’t minimize others’ pain. • We’ll learn to suffer well and bring real comfort to others who suffer. 2. He Wants Us to Be Set Apart In verses 42–44, Jesus tells His followers: “Not so with you.” Coleton emphasizes that Jesus isn’t asking for moral superiority or judgment over the world, but difference. Christians should live in contrast to worldly values—not through self-righteousness but through humility, sacrifice, forgiveness, generosity, and peace. Some examples of a “Not so with you” life: • The world seeks credit; Christians serve quietly. • The world holds grudges; Christians forgive. • The world avoids reconciliation; Christians fight for it. • The world fears the future; Christians trust in God. Jesus doesn’t ask us to condemn the world. He asks us to show a better way. 3. He Wants Us to Represent Him In verse 45, Jesus offers Himself as a model: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Coleton urges listeners to ask themselves: If my life is the only picture someone sees of Jesus, what will they think He’s like? Too many people claim Christ but misrepresent Him with hypocrisy, political idolatry, or cruelty. What our broken world needs is not more cultural Christians—it needs transformed people who reflect the real Jesus. People should see in us the compassion, courage, humility, and love of Christ. ⸻ Discussion Questions 1. The Cross & Suffering • How are you currently viewing your hardship or suffering? • Do you tend to see pain as a sign that something has gone wrong—or as something God can use to form you? • What would it look like to keep the cross central in your thinking during hard times? 2. Living Set Apart • Where in your life would Jesus say, “Not so with you”? • Which worldly values or habits are you tempted to follow instead of embodying Jesus’ way? • What is one practical way this week you can live differently—compellingly different—in your relationships, speech, spending, or reactions? 3. Representing Jesus Well • If someone based their view of Jesus solely on how you live, what would they believe He is like? • Do people see in you someone who has been radically changed by Jesus? • How can you more clearly reflect the compassion, humility, and sacrificial love of Jesus in your day-to-day life? ⸻ 📚 Quotes from Authors Charles Spurgeon: “God’s people have their trials. It was never designed by God, that His people should be an untried people. They were chosen in the furnace of affliction; they were never chosen to worldly peace and earthly joy… Trials are a part of our lot… it is the royal mark that distinguishes the King’s honored subjects. But even though hardship is the path of God’s children, they have the comfort of knowing that their Master has traveled it before them.”

In this sermon, Larry speaks from a place of wisdom, experience, and heartfelt concern for relationships. Drawing on decades of pastoral ministry and premarital counseling, he shares one of eight key principles he believes are essential for building, strengthening, or healing relationships: the incredible power of our words.

Larry begins by pointing out how many relationships feel like they control us, dragging us along rather than us leading them. But biblically, especially through Jesus' example, we are meant to lead in our relationships—not by force, but with service and intention. One of the most powerful ways to lead, he says, is through our words.

Larry emphasizes that words have the power to create or destroy. From the opening verses of Genesis, where God speaks creation into being, to Genesis 3, where Satan uses words to usher in destruction, Larry shows how scripture affirms this power. He uses two stories from the book of Judges to contrast wise, humble speech (Gideon’s response to angry tribesmen, which prevented conflict) with rash, defensive speech (Jephthah’s reaction, which led to war and 42,000 deaths). The message is clear: how we speak matters—deeply.

Citing both Paul (Ephesians 4) and Peter (1 Peter 3), Larry teaches that words can either invite the Holy Spirit’s presence and blessing or open the door to evil. He underscores that our speech is never neutral—it brings either life or death (Proverbs 18). Words of comparison, belittling, shaming, lying, and arrogance corrode relationships, while words of encouragement, truth, blessing, and humility bring healing.

Larry shares personal insights about how being a “non-mentioner” (someone who doesn’t naturally share feelings or thoughts) can inadvertently harm loved ones. He urges everyone—especially those who find verbal expression difficult—to speak anyway. Love and trust can only grow when people know each other’s hearts, and hearts are revealed through words.

He closes with practical wisdom: avoid “death words,” don’t tarnish people’s dignity, don’t lie (even in the name of kindness), and intentionally speak life-giving words—words that build, heal, and express love. Even if we struggle to use words well, Larry encourages us to start speaking anyway—clumsily if necessary—because silence cannot communicate love or truth.

1. Reflect: What kinds of words do I most often use in my closest relationships—life-giving or life-taking? How do others experience my speech?

2. Apply: Can I recall a time when someone’s gentle, wise words de-escalated a conflict in my life? What made their words so effective?

3. Repent: Are there “death words” I’ve used recently that need to be confessed and repaired? Who might I need to apologize to this week?

4. Act: What are some specific ways I can be more intentional about speaking life-giving words to my spouse, kids, friends, or coworkers?

5. Grow: If I struggle with verbal communication, what are one or two small steps I can take to begin expressing my heart more openly?