WEBVTT 00:00:03.359 --> 00:00:04.959 So good to be back with you guys. 00:00:04.959 --> 00:00:08.560 We were back last week, but didn't get to see everybody. 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:11.679 Um just came back from uh from India. 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:18.480 Amy and I were in India and Sri Lanka, and thank you so much for your prayers, those of you who prayed for us. 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:23.120 I have a very quick uh update by the numbers. 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:26.399 Uh we were gone 27 days. 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:37.039 We were in three countries, 13 flights, nine hotels, ten and a half time zones, two eight-hour car rides, six wild elephants. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:41.119 Immeasurable gallons of curry. 00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:43.520 Believe me, curry, curry, curry. 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:50.000 I love curry, but man, you can get curried out, I'm telling you. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:52.640 Four sips of the world's worst coffee. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:54.159 I have to say that someday. 00:00:54.159 --> 00:01:05.040 One wedding, three graduations, 41 graduates who had just gone through two years worth of training uh in theology, which is great. 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:11.040 Four conferences, over 400 pastors and leaders trained, and many, many new friends made. 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:14.239 So thank you so much for your prayers for us. 00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:18.319 If you if you want to get more information about this, you can send us your email address. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:31.280 You can you can write it on the back of the an envelope there and put it in the kiosk, or you can contact uh the office here, or you can go to mark at markmedly.org and you can just give us your email address. 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:35.599 We'll put you on the newsletter, and you can get more information about that. 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:37.680 So um thank you again. 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:38.879 We're really grateful. 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:42.239 But I'll tell you, being home is beautiful. 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:45.040 This is a great church to be a part of. 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:52.239 Um, so so last week Neil did a fantastic job of um of what? 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:53.200 What? 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:55.840 Oh, wait. 00:01:55.840 --> 00:02:03.519 This is the morning for beautiful, cute baby pics, I think. 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:11.840 So this is um my granddaughter, Hazel Hope Rocher. 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:17.120 She was born to Emily um on the 11th of January. 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:19.199 So just wanted to share that with you. 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:23.599 Oh wait, oh wait, wait, there's more, there's more. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:28.159 This is my other granddaughter born on the 1st of January. 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:31.520 Just missed that little text thing, didn't you, Zach? 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:32.400 Um sorry. 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:33.840 First of January. 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:38.560 This is Ivy Liel Medley, and she's a doll. 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:40.560 So Brooke, you did really good. 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:47.680 So you know, just had to let you in on a little bit of the joy of the Medley household here today. 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:58.800 So last week, uh Neil did a fantastic job helping us understand the ministry gifts that are you better put that down, take that down because nobody's gonna listen to me if they if that's up there. 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:01.120 Can you can you please just come on? 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:02.400 Ephesians 4. 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:05.039 Put the next put the scripture up or something. 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:05.919 Thank you. 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:07.360 Okay, wow. 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:11.439 Who wants to see me when that's up there? 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:26.319 Last week, Neil did a great job of uh helping us understand a little more about the ministry gifts that are mentioned in Ephesians chapter 4, especially speaking to us about the the way or the role of a pastor in equipping the church, equipping pastors. 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:29.039 And so if you didn't hear that, it's worth hearing. 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:30.080 It's great stuff. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:35.520 Um, but this week, Paul takes us a little bit further in understanding the purpose of those gifts. 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:48.400 So we're gonna take that those scriptures and go a little further down uh in the chapter and see where Paul says God is taking us through these gifts as a body of believers. 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:52.639 So if you'll just read with me, this is Ephesians 4, starting at verse 11. 00:03:52.639 --> 00:04:33.920 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 00:04:33.920 --> 00:05:00.959 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:02.160 Let's pray. 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:06.079 Father, thank you for your word that is alive and powerful. 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:12.720 Thank you for the truth that we are a body and that we are going somewhere. 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:18.319 And we pray, Lord, that you would help us to understand what you want us to see from this passage this morning. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:22.639 Open our eyes, Lord, and let the word of God break forth into our lives. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:27.680 Let there be great fruit from what you have said here, Lord, in these passages. 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:28.800 In Jesus' name. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:29.600 Amen. 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:38.639 So in the first three chapters of Ephesians, which we talked about last year, we had a little series on those first three chapters. 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:40.560 We heard this phrase over and over. 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:42.879 Do you remember what the phrase was we heard over and over? 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:44.480 What was it? 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:45.839 You got it. 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:46.720 Say it aloud. 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:48.720 In Christ. 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:49.839 In Christ. 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:50.399 Yeah. 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:56.800 And it refers to the position where God has put us because of the finished work of his son. 00:05:56.800 --> 00:05:58.319 We're in Christ. 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:00.240 There's a place where we are. 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:08.160 But here we see a new phrase, and it's growing up into Christ. 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:16.879 So God has saved us and we're secure and we're rooted and we're grounded in the love that he has for us. 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:19.600 But that's not the fullness of his plan for us. 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:29.680 The big picture of Ephesians is we are, we're in a place, there is a place where we are, chapters one through three, and that's in Christ. 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:39.519 But there's a place where we're going or we're growing into, into Christ, by the working of the members of the body of Christ. 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:47.439 Some place we are by the work of God through Christ, but someplace we're going by the work of God through the body of Christ. 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:49.600 That's what we're seeing this morning. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:57.279 So I was thinking about how, how to, uh what kind of a metaphor can you use, or how can you really get a grasp on this? 00:06:57.279 --> 00:07:00.720 That we're we are in a place, but we're also going to a place. 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:02.079 We're growing into a place. 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:08.319 And so the only way I could think of it is by uh thinking about another one of my granddaughters. 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:09.360 Sorry. 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:14.000 Oh, not sorry at all. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:19.040 This is Emily Jade's Sipel, and this is her story. 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:27.360 She was born to a drug-addicted mother, and she was neglected during the first many months of her life. 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:35.680 And eventually, because of the instability of her situation, the state took her away from her mother, her birth mom. 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:43.759 And when she came into Ali and Noah's house, um, she was barely responsive. 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:55.199 And some of you remember that when she was just started coming here, she was just uh really um underdeveloped physically and mentally and emotionally. 00:07:55.199 --> 00:08:01.360 And so, as many of you know, um, the family grew to love her and made a decision to adopt her. 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:03.600 And that ceremony happened last May. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:06.240 She's officially an a disciple now. 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:07.680 But what happens? 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:09.360 I know, and it's great. 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:15.360 And she's blossoming and she's coming, she's just growing, and she's got a little personality. 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:20.480 She walks around like she owns the whole place sometimes. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:44.000 And uh, but you know, in an in an adoption ceremony, oftentimes the judge will say words sort of like this, basically, in effect, the the court hereby divests all the powers of the former parents and invests power into the new parents. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:50.159 It's um the mark of a legal transition of the child from the birth family to the adoptive family. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:09:04.559 And the ties are cut, and something brand new is all the rights and privileges of a daughter as an equal heir, and they'll say these words, as if she had always been a blood member of the family. 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:09.519 Man, that's powerful. 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:16.799 And sometimes the judge will even let the older, if it's an older child, grab the gavel and bang the gavel. 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:20.240 And it's like, that's it. 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:21.600 That's it. 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:24.320 The old is gone, the new has come. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:30.000 It's a beautiful picture of what we've had, what's happened to us in Christ. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:36.159 We've been taken out of the kingdom of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of his dear son. 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:42.480 He's adopted us as sons and daughters, and it's done. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:44.240 It's done. 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:45.360 It's done. 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:49.440 And maybe some of us this morning need to bang the gavel. 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:54.720 Maybe you need to take this truth of the word of God and just bang the gavel and say, hey, you know what? 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:55.440 It's done. 00:09:55.440 --> 00:10:01.360 All this stuff in the past, the power is no longer there of the past. 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:11.279 It's divested and it's invested into your new kingdom that you're in, this new father that you have, a new family that you have. 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:12.320 Everything is new. 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:14.480 If any man is in Christ, he's a new creature. 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:19.360 Old things are passed away, all things have become new, and behold, all things are of God. 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:21.759 That's good news. 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:24.879 That's where Emma is. 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:33.919 Emma is already legally adopted, declared to be a legal member of the family with all the rights of a child and an heir. 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:40.399 But now she's learning day by day what it means to be a disciple. 00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:49.759 She's learning that she's loved and secure and she's provided for, and she's expected to act a certain way. 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:53.440 This is what we're going to see in the following chapters. 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:58.080 Here's what God's done for us in Christ, but now we're growing into Christ. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:02.720 There's a certain way we're supposed to act as children. 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:07.840 So she's already in a place, a loved member of the family, but there's a place she's going. 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:11.600 She's growing up into that family, growing up as a follower of Christ. 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:12.320 Does that make sense? 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:13.840 And it's in the same way. 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:17.840 God has adopted us, He's put us securely in Christ. 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:21.840 The gavel has been banged. 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:25.679 And here we are in the kingdom of God. 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:28.480 But now we're growing into a place. 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:31.120 So the question is, how does God get us there? 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:37.279 What's God's plan and provision for getting us from where we are to where he wants us to be? 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:48.720 And the short answer is, as we read in today's passage, he matures us and brings us to our destiny through one another, through the body, it's through community. 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:59.120 And as I read this passage this week, I came to a realization that I think I don't know how generous Jesus is. 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:07.200 And we who are born again understand this generosity because of what we've received. 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:15.919 And and Paul actually has talked about this generosity in the first three chapters and what God has done for us. 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:17.519 Jesus surrendered himself. 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:29.200 And God our Father has chosen us, he's adopted us, he's justified us, he's redeemed us, he's forgiven us, he's included us, he's sealed us. 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:31.200 That's where we are. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:36.960 He's rooted us and grounded us in the love of Christ, safe, secure, stable. 00:12:36.960 --> 00:12:40.720 But Jesus is even more generous than that. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:48.720 In this state where we are now, he gives gifts to the church. 00:12:48.720 --> 00:13:05.600 And the gifts he gives to the church are gifted men and women to be able to equip the church to be able to build itself up to grow into a place of maturity and unity. 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:09.200 So we're rooted in Christ. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:10.159 That's God's work. 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:12.559 And we're growing into Christ. 00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:15.039 That's the work of the body of Christ. 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:18.240 So Jesus is generous. 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:25.200 And these gifted men and women, I saw this little pattern as you've you've you saw it as we read, probably. 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:34.480 Jesus gives gifted men and women to the church for a purpose, so that saints are equipped for the work of the ministry. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:52.799 So that the body of Christ is built up so that we grow in unity in Jesus, so that we increase in the knowledge of Jesus so that we come to full maturity in Jesus. 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:58.399 Together, along with one another. 00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:02.720 So Christ is taking us into unity and maturity. 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:08.480 So how do these gifts that are mentioned here promote unity and maturity in us? 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:17.519 Well, the apostles promote unity and maturity through the authority that they earn through relationships. 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:25.200 An apostle is not just a title, it's an actual function, it's an actual relationship. 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:32.320 There's authority in the apostles, but they their authority doesn't come by just being called an apostle. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:39.840 Their authority comes through the relationship that they build with the people that they're that they gather, gather together. 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:42.559 So in in short, it's it's fathering. 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:44.879 This is what Paul was saying. 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:50.639 He said, you may have 10,000 instructors, but you don't have many fathers. 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:54.240 And he was saying there that I am your father. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:58.320 He was talking to the Corinthians because he started the church there. 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:00.000 And so I am your father. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.879 There is authority here, but the authority that I have comes from relationship. 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:06.480 I started the church. 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:10.159 We've been talking back and forth through these letters. 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:18.879 There's a relationship where he is causing his spiritual children to grow, but it's through this relationship. 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:22.320 It's not through just a hierarchical structure. 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:37.279 So, like good parents with their children, through admonition, warning, and encouragement and instruction and where needed correction, we're growing them up into responsible, Jesus-loving adults. 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:39.120 That's our goal, right? 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:44.320 And so the apostles are doing the same thing with their spiritual children. 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:53.440 The prophets promote unity and maturity by casting vision and correcting the course. 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:57.039 They see things, they see where we need to go. 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:02.000 And they are zealous over God's purpose and over holiness. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:05.519 And so when we get off of it, they kind of recalibrate us. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:07.279 That's part of what prophets do. 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:10.320 They keep the vision before the people and recalibrate us. 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:18.559 Evangelists provide unity and maturity by imparting a burden for those who are not yet in the fold. 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:23.279 Their eye is not just here, their eye is outside the circle. 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:25.679 Those people who are not inside yet. 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:30.000 And so they help us have a vision for what's outside. 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:36.240 And that's important for maturity because if you're not others-oriented, you can't become mature. 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:39.200 If you're always focused on yourself, you're immature. 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:43.679 And so evangelists help us to focus outward, not merely inward. 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:51.759 Pastors promote unity and maturity by bringing the sheep together into a protected fold and by making a safe place. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:55.200 And they encourage the flock to care for the flock. 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:58.480 That's what an equipping pastor is supposed to do. 00:16:58.480 --> 00:17:05.440 And then teachers promote unity and maturity by bringing the truth of Scripture to bear on practical situations. 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:07.759 And they so they make us hungry for the Word of God. 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:11.200 And they they help fight error in the church. 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:25.839 So what's happening is Jesus, who is the consummate apostle and prophet and evangelist and pastor and teacher, is placing a piece of himself inside of each of these gifts in the body. 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:37.279 And each of these gifts in the body, representing and expressing Jesus, is helping the body grow so that the body takes care of itself. 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:40.640 Every joint supplies, brings maturity, brings unity. 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:45.359 So these gifts help bring unity and maturity, but they actually equip the body. 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:50.559 If you read what it actually says there, is that they equip the body of Christ. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:57.599 It's all of us are believed, the believers in Jesus for the purpose of bringing unity and maturity. 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:01.519 So we are all part of this bringing of unity and maturity. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:07.839 So there's a purpose for the gifts, and there's a particular way God accomplishes his purpose. 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:18.640 And the surprising thing that we see in the passage is it's not merely through those gifted people, but it's through the community of believers where this unity and this maturity happens. 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:22.000 So this happens in the context of community. 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:24.559 The body functioning together. 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:33.200 So it says this as the body functions together and we're in community, we're no longer children, but we're mature. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:37.200 We grow into what it says is perfect men. 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:39.519 Doesn't mean we never make mistakes. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:19:17.680 We're solid doctrinally. 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:21.519 And also as we function together in community, we're united together. 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:24.000 Every joint is supplying every need. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:29.680 And it says when each part is working properly, he makes the body grow so that it builds itself up. 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:34.160 Okay, so you see what's happening here is we are building each other up. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:38.079 We're coming together as a body to a place. 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:40.480 We're growing into a place together. 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:48.960 The body of believers, when it works correctly, it's like a physical physical manifestation of Christ on the earth. 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:53.680 That we might grow in Jesus and we might show Jesus to the world. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:58.319 Now, now last week Neil introduced us to this word, equip. 00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:05.680 The Greek word is katartismos, and it means to fit together or to frame or to mend or to restore. 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:09.680 It has a lot of uh pictures, this word, equip. 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:15.440 And one is a medical picture, it's like to set a broken bone. 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:22.480 So to equip is to fix what is broken, and one is a construction metaphor. 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:24.880 So it's like there's something being built. 00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:44.240 To equip is to build something, and one is athletic, and so it's uh basically the church is is uh gym where you're trained and you're working out, and there's someplace you're going, and so you're being trained to win, you're trained for a purpose. 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:52.079 So you and I get healed and built together and trained through each other. 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:54.319 This is what Paul is saying. 00:20:54.319 --> 00:21:05.759 Our generous Jesus gives these gifts to equip or enable and prepare us to minister to each other and to the world. 00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:08.480 And ministry is everything we do, okay? 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:10.960 Ministry is not just what I'm doing up here right now. 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:13.920 Ministry is everything that we do. 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:27.839 The proper biblical New Testament understanding of ministry is what you do at your home, in your family, in your marriage, in your parenting, on your job, in your school, in your community, and in the church. 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:28.720 All of it. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:29.440 Ministry. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:34.319 He's equipping us skills, you know, from each other. 00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:44.640 We get life skills for parenting, for marriage, for coping with challenges in life, for making a positive impact wherever God puts us. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:49.119 So the body of Christ comes to the aid of the body of Christ. 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:51.039 That's really what he's saying here. 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:56.400 It's a brilliant metaphor that's all throughout the New Testament, this idea of a body. 00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:59.759 And we can understand how the body of Jesus. 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:04.799 Jesus works by understanding how the body that Jesus created works. 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:06.960 Our physical bodies. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:18.400 When your physical body suffers a trauma, every system in your body will alter itself to focus on that trauma. 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:22.720 It does whatever is needed to get help to the injured part. 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:26.319 Your heart beats differently. 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:30.880 Your brain sends different signals, different commands. 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:36.559 Your circulatory system changes the flow of blood to the injured area. 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:41.759 There's a rush of healing blood cells to fight off infection. 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:46.079 And if it becomes necessary, certain organs will begin to shut down. 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:50.640 So the body can focus healing on the injured part. 00:22:50.640 --> 00:23:06.559 Even you may even lose consciousness because the healing process needs to be focused on the area that is injured so that it can rebuild and repair itself. 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:09.359 This is what happens in our human body. 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:14.319 We have this body, but different parts are ministering to the parts. 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:25.759 You know, you can you can stub your toe, and tomorrow morning you wake up and your calves hurt because you've been compensating. 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:28.880 Your calves have been compensating for your toe. 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:39.759 Your body is an intricate web of parts all working together in ways that you can see and sometimes you can't see. 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:44.480 To help itself, to build itself up, to heal itself. 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:46.640 This is how God designed our bodies. 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:49.920 This is how God designs the body of Christ, too. 00:23:49.920 --> 00:24:03.680 And you know, I and my family can certainly testify of this because when we lost Melissa over four years ago now, um it was a trauma. 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:15.119 And we saw the body of Christ and different members in particular come to our our rescue in so many ways. 00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:27.519 Uh, as we're connected to the body, we were supplied with what we needed and practically and emotionally and spiritually and pastorally, the body of Christ came to our aid. 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:30.160 And it's a beautiful thing. 00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:37.119 You know, you can everything changes when you know you're cared for. 00:24:37.119 --> 00:24:39.039 Everything changes. 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:51.599 If you know you're loved and you're secure, and when you can't you can't do it in yourself, but you got people around you who are covering you, who are carrying you. 00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:52.960 It's beautiful. 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:55.279 The body of Christ is beautiful. 00:24:55.279 --> 00:24:58.400 So this is this is what Paul's talking about here. 00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:00.240 The body is building itself up. 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:02.799 So how is the body working together? 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:06.400 Well, he's got a few things that he that he says here. 00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:10.400 Uh, it works together for the work of service or the ministry. 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:15.759 That's that word, same word that's used for deacon, the deacon who serves the body of Christ. 00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:20.880 The body, the members of the body, all of us are deacons to one another. 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:23.119 We are serving one another. 00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:26.880 It works together for building up one another. 00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:37.359 Okadome is this just literally means to build a house, to build a dwelling place, to build a place for the Holy Spirit to dwell. 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:58.880 It works together for agreement in our convictions and for precise and correct knowledge of Jesus, actual knowing who Jesus is in our everyday life, for growth into a perfect man and maturity, and for arrival at the measure and the standard and the stature of the fullness of Jesus Christ. 00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:02.240 That's that's a that's a goal. 00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:04.400 That's a really high goal. 00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:10.400 That's a high bar that we could actually come into the measure and the stature of the fullness of Christ. 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:11.039 That's the goal. 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:12.480 That's what we're going toward. 00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:15.200 We can't get there, though, without each other. 00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:17.680 It only happens through each other. 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:21.839 And he uses these two phrases, fitted together and joined together. 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:25.359 And they're really similar, but they're different words. 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:29.519 And one of them means to speak the same thing, fitted together. 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:32.400 The Greek word there means to speak the same thing. 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:35.839 So we're speaking the same things in agreement. 00:26:35.839 --> 00:26:39.440 And the other one means to walk together. 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:43.200 So we're stepping together in the same direction. 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:45.359 We're speaking together, we're walking together. 00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:49.039 And by doing this, the body is joined together. 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:53.440 So, so joined together, you know, you understand joints, right? 00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:56.160 This is like an elbow joint. 00:26:56.160 --> 00:26:58.559 You know, it's a pretty complex joint. 00:26:58.559 --> 00:27:00.640 You got one bone coming in and two coming out. 00:27:00.640 --> 00:27:04.000 It's a heavy, it's a heavy piece of engineering right here. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:06.079 But it's things coming together. 00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:11.920 The joint is the place where it comes together so that function can happen. 00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:15.119 So together is the whole point. 00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:17.279 You you but you have to be connected. 00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:19.839 Joint is a connecting space. 00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:26.319 So joined together and built up implies we're together with each other. 00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:30.160 So in order for this to happen, we have to cooperate. 00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:34.559 I mean, we have to be with each other. 00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:38.480 We have to put ourselves in proximity of each other. 00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:47.839 We have to value being together and prioritize our busy lives around being with one another. 00:27:47.839 --> 00:27:50.240 So I have a question for you this morning. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:55.279 How much do you prioritize your connection to the body? 00:27:55.279 --> 00:27:58.000 It's really, really important. 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:05.920 I mean, if you want to just stay where you are, it's not important. 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:16.400 But if you want to grow as a person, as a member of the body of Christ, into what God is destined you to be, you have to be connected. 00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:18.880 Where are your connecting points? 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:21.680 How are you supplying other people? 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:26.079 How are you receiving supply from other joints? 00:28:26.079 --> 00:28:32.079 How do you see, do you see yourself as having something valuable you can supply the needs of others? 00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:34.559 Can you do you have something to give to other people? 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:43.759 So later in this letter, uh we're gonna read where Paul speaks about Christ loving his church. 00:28:43.759 --> 00:28:50.240 He talks about it this in the context of husbands loving your wives, just as Christ loved the church. 00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:52.640 And here's how Christ loved the church. 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:55.440 He gave himself over for it. 00:28:55.440 --> 00:28:59.279 And he washes it with the water of his word. 00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:09.440 And he talks about nourishing it and cherishing, creating an atmosphere for growth and presenting it clean and spotless. 00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:16.480 So the idea is you're loving it toward perfection, toward maturity. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:21.680 You're loving it from where it is, you're loving it into a place where you know it could be. 00:29:21.680 --> 00:29:28.559 And he he uses this word Christ gave himself over for the church. 00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:32.720 And he gave himself up for the church or gave himself over. 00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:38.079 It's actually the same word that's used when it says Judas betrayed Jesus. 00:29:38.079 --> 00:29:45.119 Jesus, Judas handed Jesus over to the centurions or the soldiers and the priests. 00:29:45.119 --> 00:29:52.960 And it's also used where it says that the chief priests handed Jesus over to Pilate. 00:29:52.960 --> 00:29:54.160 Same word. 00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:59.839 Handed him over, gave him over, betrayed him to Pilate. 00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:05.440 And then we see the same word when it says Pilate handed him over to be crucified. 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:09.200 He gave him up to be crucified. 00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:15.920 But then we see it here, and Jesus, it says that Jesus gave himself up for the church. 00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:26.799 He betrayed himself, he put his own desires or his own personal gain aside, and he betrayed himself for the sake of the church. 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:36.960 And we also see it in Romans where it says that God um loved us and he gave up his son for us. 00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:40.480 He gave up his son, he gave him over. 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:44.000 And how will he not also give us all things? 00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:48.240 So this is the idea is there's a giving over of yourself. 00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:49.519 And this is what happened. 00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:51.359 This is what happens with Christ. 00:30:51.359 --> 00:30:54.960 This is what Christ calls us to do as husbands. 00:30:54.960 --> 00:31:06.240 And what it what it what it requires is you see what someone or something can be, and you give yourself to make that happen. 00:31:06.240 --> 00:31:10.160 You give yourself to make that happen. 00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:19.519 So if you think about that, how do how do you get the people that you love from where they are to where you know they could be? 00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:24.319 And this is a this is kind of a thing with leaders. 00:31:24.319 --> 00:31:28.720 And all of us have some sort of influence, and a leader is just somebody with influence. 00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:44.720 And so if you have influence over someone or you love someone and you're leading someone, it could be your marriage, it could be your children, it could be your employees, it could be people uh under uh your influence as a ministry, whatever. 00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:48.400 You see where they could be, but you see where they are. 00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:55.519 And here's the thing about leaders is leaders see the future and they see where we can be, where we ought to be. 00:31:55.519 --> 00:31:58.720 And so they're thinking in terms of where we can be. 00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:02.559 And sometimes they're frustrated with where we are. 00:32:02.559 --> 00:32:06.079 This happens sometimes with pastors. 00:32:06.079 --> 00:32:11.519 They see their church could be there and they get frustrated because their church is here. 00:32:11.519 --> 00:32:21.680 And I heard a very wise person speaking to pastors one time saying, don't let the church you want be the enemy of the church you have. 00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:30.079 Because the only way to get it to where you know it can be is to love it there. 00:32:30.079 --> 00:32:37.039 You can't force it there, and you can't guilt it there, and you can't law it there. 00:32:37.039 --> 00:32:38.640 You have to love it there. 00:32:38.640 --> 00:32:44.160 In order to love it to that place, you have to love it in this place where it is right now. 00:32:44.160 --> 00:32:48.720 Okay, that so that also applies with with other things too. 00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:55.119 With husbands loving your wives, for example, or vice versa. 00:32:55.119 --> 00:33:05.359 Seeing your spouse, you love them so you see what they can be, and sometimes you let what they could be or you want them to be be the enemy of who they are. 00:33:05.359 --> 00:33:07.759 And you forget to love them here. 00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:11.119 And the only way to get them from here to there is to love them here. 00:33:11.119 --> 00:33:19.119 Parents, the only way to get your children to where you know they could be or what you want for them is to love them where they are. 00:33:19.119 --> 00:33:21.200 You gotta love them there. 00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:31.279 Jesus loved the church and gave himself over for it, he betrayed himself over for the purpose of the church. 00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:37.920 So don't let the marriage you want be the enemy of the marriage you have. 00:33:37.920 --> 00:33:42.640 Don't be the child you want, be the enemy of the child you have. 00:33:42.640 --> 00:33:44.640 You have to love right now. 00:33:44.640 --> 00:33:49.599 Don't let the business you want be the enemy of the business that you have or the career. 00:33:49.599 --> 00:33:51.039 You get it, right? 00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:52.720 Love it today. 00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:55.759 Love today. 00:33:55.759 --> 00:33:57.519 This is what we're called to do. 00:33:57.519 --> 00:33:58.640 Love today. 00:33:58.640 --> 00:34:00.000 Love. 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:01.279 Give yourself over for it. 00:34:01.279 --> 00:34:02.640 Wash it with your words. 00:34:02.640 --> 00:34:18.079 By the way, if I could do just a little side note, wasn't necessarily planned, but um, I was reading this very passage uh this week, just in my normal uh study in Ephesians 5, and it says that Jesus washes the church with the water of his word. 00:34:18.079 --> 00:34:22.320 And I saw that that that word there is not logos, that word is rhema. 00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:29.119 And logos is the the the written, established forever word of God. 00:34:29.119 --> 00:34:42.239 Rhema is from that logos the thing that is necessary right at this moment, the specific, the specific words from the logos that will help the moment right now. 00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:46.400 And so Jesus washes us with the rhema of his word. 00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:51.119 Husbands, we're supposed to wash our wives with the rhema of the word. 00:34:51.119 --> 00:35:02.000 We're supposed to, we're supposed to bless our wives with what they need right now, today, in this context, which means we have to be aware of our wives' needs. 00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:06.800 We have to actually think about what's going on with our wives. 00:35:06.800 --> 00:35:13.199 And how could I bless this person with the words of my mouth today? 00:35:13.199 --> 00:35:17.760 What does this person need from my mouth to bless them? 00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:23.039 But you have to be aware of that in order to wash them with the Rhema. 00:35:23.039 --> 00:35:25.519 Okay, so this is what Jesus does for the church. 00:35:25.519 --> 00:35:45.039 It's what he does through his body, through gifted men and women, and as they equip the body, the whole body of Christ blesses each other, builds each other up, washes each other, nourishes each other, creates an atmosphere for growth for each other, cherishes each other. 00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:48.400 This is what Paul is saying here. 00:35:48.400 --> 00:35:52.960 We create an atmosphere where this kind of growth can happen together. 00:35:52.960 --> 00:35:59.679 So let me just end by asking you a question about the apostle Paul who wrote these words. 00:35:59.679 --> 00:36:07.599 If I ask you uh what do you think defined the apostle Paul, what would you say? 00:36:07.599 --> 00:36:11.199