Denver Community Church

December 1, 2013: Advent Week One: Hope – Michael Hidalgo

Hope may be an elusive thing, and can often give way to the opposite of it, which is despair. This is why we need to be reminded: “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper and I will not be afraid.’” This is the place hope grows from; God as source.

 

But sometimes, even those words don’t work. We can say them, but we still find it difficult to, at times to believe them. But hope doesn’t just come from these words – it can also come through people, because sometimes, the best we can do is to borrow hope from someone else. This is the foundational story of Christmas. Those who were there were longing for redemption, restoration and salvation. But the future was bleak. So what did God do? He came as a person. As one who could lend hope to others.

November 24, 2013: Walking Dead – Nick Elio

One of the most mysterious – and even bizarre – stories in the book of Acts is the one in which Ananias and Sapphira are both struck down dead for holding back some money. The story rings with familiarity however. In Joshua 7, we are told that “the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things …” The word for “unfaithful” in the Greek translation of the OT (which would have been the translation Luke understood) is a rare word – enosphisanto. From the root, nosphizō which means “to embezzle.”

This is what Ananias and Sapphira did, and then proceeded to lie about the whole thing. This prompted Peter remind them they lied to the Spirit – for it was the Spirit that gave life to the church. With this they then died. One piece in this is crucial. Satan had filled the heart of Ananias. With all of the talk about the Spirit – who gives life – filling people it’s no wonder that when one is filled by the power of darkness, their death would be imminent. 

November 17, 2013: It Could Change Everything – Scott Oppliger

One of the central aspects that we see in the church is giving. Last week we dwelled on supporting each other – but what does it mean to “give to the church.” What does it look like to be those who give generously, from a cheerful heart? If sharing, possessing and giving were part of the early church, then how should it continue to define us?

Are their rules for giving? How much? How often? All of these questions are easily answered. The greater struggle for us is to recognize that giving is a central part in the life of a Jesus follower. Perhaps it’s best to think together about what may cause us not to give at all.

November 10, 2013: Little Raccoon Learns to Share – Michael Hidalgo

The way Luke describes this is a subtle reference to Deuteronomy 15. He writes, “there were no needy persons among them …” This was the vision that God had for his people when he told them, “there need be no poor people among you …” This came from an ethic of people giving as their was need. For those who could not feed themselves, food was provided.

This is the picture of the first church. It changed the way they lived, thought, and spent their hard earned cash. In fact, of all the ways Luke could describe their life, he chose to point to the aspect of giving, sharing and generosity. Which raises the question: how should we care for each other financially today?

November 3, 2013: Rules of the House – Michael Hidalgo

The term koinonia was popular for a time in the church. It is translated in our Bibles as “fellowship.” It was a term, and an idea, that was espoused in the world at that time beyond the Christian community. In fact, it spoke of everything belonging to everyone else. All people, having the same rights to the same things. Socrates kicked this idea around, even going so far as to suggest sharing spouses. 

As utopian as this idea seemed, for the first believers it was there reality. What belonged to one belonged to all. It was more than sharing, it was releasing the rights of ownership. Which raises the question for us – how do we release what we possess to be owned by all people?

October 27, 2013: Where Have You Been All This Time? – Michael Hidalgo and Dave Terpstra

There is a group of people who are Jesus followers, dedicated to God and yet they do not even know the Holy Spirit exists. So much so when asked about the Spirit they say, “What? There’s a Holy Spirit?” How is it that people can follow Jesus, love God, love others and somehow not have the Holy Spirit?

A couple of things to remember. First, let’s not forget that Luke is telling a story of how God moved in the first century church. A movement that started with the Jews. It then went to the Samaritans – a group that the Jews did not like at all. But when Luke tells this particular story it sounds strangely like the story that unfolded in Jerusalem. A story that happened at the temple – now it happened in Samaria. The day that Jesus spoke of had come. God is spirit … and we need not worship on this mountain or that one. We worship in spirit of truth.

October 20, 2013: The Voice of God – Michael Hidalgo

Over and over again we read the words “the Spirit said …” How is it that the voice of the spirit was so obvious to so many? Moreover, why does it seem to have fallen so silent in our day? What does it mean to even hear the voice of the spirit? Is it an audible voice? Is he always talking? Is it just that we are not listening? And what if we try to listen and do not hear anything?

When it comes to hearing the voice of God we need to recognize that this was something the community always heard. It was not isolated individuals who heard God speaking. More than this, there was a sense of participation in and with the Spirit of God. They heard God, but also made decisions based on what they heard. Sometimes the best they could come up with was to say “it seemed good to us …”

October 13, 2013: Fifty – Scott Oppliger

The celebration of Pentecost was one of the high holy days for the Jewish people. In celebration of it the people would gather and would read from Exodus and remember the giving of the Law to Moses and the people who were gathered at Sinai. It was in this context that the Holy Spirit came upon the followers of Jesus - they spoke to all people. And the connections are endless.

What they experienced was, once again, the giving of the Word of God to his people. This time however, it was not a one that was written but one that gave life and breath and everything else. It was his new covenant with his people – filled with echoes of the covenant he made with his people. It was a gospel – good news – which is why those who heard were cut to the heart.

October 6, 2013: Filled With Life – Michael Hidalgo

The Holy Spirit can seem like a shifty, hard-to-pin-down member of the Tri-Une God. I mean, how do you capture the wind and store it for a later date? What is a breath that is here and gone? Honestly, this is how it seems much of the time with the Spirit of God. Here and there and gone and again. However, what we have to remember is that the Spirit was there at the beginning. And he has been with us ever since.

He has appeared as the voice of God, the Glory of God, the Wisdom of God … and still is all those things. However, instead of being outside of us, he is now within us and on us so that we can accomplish the task to which God has called us. Perhaps it would do us well to know that as the Spirit is in us we also are invited to be in the Spirit. It is an invitation to experience deep, lasting union with the Triune God. 

September 29, 2013: The Power of Power – Michael Hidalgo

The disciples are more than aware of the fact that they are going to need help in the days to come. While they are not entirely sure of what will face them – they know they will face insurmountable situations in which they need supernatural strength. Remember, we were not given a spirit of timidity …

And this is exactly what Jesus promises them. He says they “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes” to them. This is not just a promise for them, but for all of us. For throughout the book of Acts we see the Holy Spirit does bring power for the people of God to do what God has called us to. Which means, that we really have all the power we need – rather than ask God for it then, we need to ask him to wake us up to the fact that it is already here.