WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:01.439 My name is Ephraim Smith. 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:04.559 I'm the co-lead, co-senior pastor here at Midtown Church. 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:12.640 So glad to be sharing the service with my sister in the ministry, Pastor Susie, the co-lead, co-senior pastor here at Midtown Church. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:13.599 Welcome, welcome. 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:18.879 I'm gonna get into the message in just a moment, but I want to do two things real quickly. 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:26.000 Uh so we are coming to the uh midterm elections and a number of elections here in the state of California. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:34.799 Here at Midtown Church, we do not tell you who to vote for, we do not tell you uh where to stand on a proposition, but we try to inform you. 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:42.159 We also care about people being registered to vote and participating in the voting process, and this is why. 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:59.039 Because church folks, church folks, people that believed in Jesus, some of them gave their lives, they shed blood, they took bruises, so that all of us in this diverse room would have the right to participate in the democracy here in the United States of America. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:00:59.920 Amen. 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:11.680 So, with that in mind, at our welcome center, at the connection booth out there, we have these uh voter uh pledge cards. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:21.200 And so we believe here at Midtown that it is important that people of faith, based on your faith compass, exercise your right to vote. 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:24.159 And we want to be able to say that that is happening at Midtown. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:26.480 So I I hope that you would do me a favor. 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:30.319 Uh I know it's a lot of people, but there's there's a bunch of cards like this. 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:37.680 If you would fill this out and just let us know that you have made the pledge that as a person of faith that you will participate in the voting process. 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:40.400 This is done by uh Pico California. 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:43.040 I'm not sure if Gabby Trejo from Pico California. 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:44.079 Oh, I see Pauline. 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:46.480 So wave your hands since we've got two staff members. 00:01:46.719 --> 00:02:06.239 Pico California is a statewide organization focused on faith-based community organizing, nonpartisan organization that continues this heritage of people of faith uh getting involved in issues of justice and righteousness in the public square. 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:07.519 So you fill out this card. 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:13.759 Sacramento Act is a part of this as well as well, but you fill this out and then you you just leave that at the connection booth. 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:15.520 We'll connect collect these cards. 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:19.599 But this part you keep because we want to make sure you're registered to vote. 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:29.280 You might think you're already registered, but if you just do this QR code that's on the card, it'll make sure you can confirm that you indeed are registered to vote. 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:30.800 And if you're not, you can do that. 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:36.479 Some people, when you move or when you renew your driver's license, you think you're registered to vote and you're not. 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:39.280 So we want to make sure that you make sure that you confirm that. 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:41.759 So these are at the Connect booth. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:47.680 Also, uh, we have some uh in in this congregation that are that are running for office. 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:58.479 Again, uh we don't endorse any candidates or anything like that, but we pray for them because I'm like, if you're getting involved in politics, you need Jesus, you need the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Spirit. 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:00.560 Like it's the same thing, but you need them both. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:07.680 And you need the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit if you are attempting to be a part of public office in any way in the state of California. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:09.039 Our own Martin Ross. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:11.919 I'm trying to see where where Martin Ross is sitting in the seat somewhere. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:12.479 There he is. 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:14.960 So Martin Ross, uh, our own. 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:17.520 Hey, this is a good thing that you're running for. 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:23.199 He's running to be on the trustee board of Los Rios Community College District Area 2. 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:23.599 Okay. 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:27.360 So uh he's attempting to be a public servant in this way. 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:34.319 And again, he and his family uh have been at our church for years, and we just appreciate the Ross family. 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:38.400 And his community service goes back way before any political thing. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:43.039 He's he's worked with the Salvation Army, he's with the Health Education Council. 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:45.680 See, now it sounds like I'm so I'm doing too much. 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:49.120 So I'm just gonna pray for you because I'm I'm already doing what I'm not supposed to do. 00:03:49.280 --> 00:04:04.159 So I'm just in Jesus' name, we just we we lift up Martin Ross and we pray for you, and we love you, and uh may God use you and speak through you, and we pray God's grace, God's protection, God surrounding you in this process. 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:06.159 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:06.879 Amen. 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:07.599 All right. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:11.919 Okay, we're in a sermon series called Why Church. 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:18.800 We are taking a number of weeks to talk about what it means biblically to be a member of the church. 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:19.839 What does that mean? 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:24.720 What does it specifically mean also to be a member of this church, Midtown Church? 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:38.079 Want you to know that if you're interested in being a member of this church, because I got a lot of ground to cover in this sermon, so I'm not gonna be able to say this at the end, but if you're interested in being a member, there's actually you can't be in it right now because you're in here. 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:52.240 There's a midtown orientation new members class going on right now, but what that lets you know is every first Sunday there is a Midtown orientation class where you can learn how to become a member of this church. 00:04:52.480 --> 00:05:01.040 If you're already a member and you want to know more about how you can serve, uh there live scan is here today. 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:02.720 They're here to 2 p.m. 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:12.079 And so there are certain areas of volunteering of serving where we need to do a background check just for the safety of our children and our youth and our church. 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:16.240 And so live scan is here, and you can do that today. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:17.759 They're here till 2 p.m. 00:05:18.079 --> 00:05:22.879 And that is a way that um you can serve on some of the ministries here at Midtown Church. 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:26.319 So live scan is here, uh, Midtown Orientation. 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:31.839 We also have baptisms, I think at the end of the month, every month, at the end of the month, we have baptisms. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:37.680 So we want you to know all of that in terms of how you can be involved in this church. 00:05:37.920 --> 00:05:42.720 All right, with that in mind, we are gonna continue the sermon series, Why Church? 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:44.480 Why church? 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:51.360 What is the state of the church in the United States of America? 00:05:51.920 --> 00:06:06.240 And the reason why this is important is because if there's any crisis, if there's any struggle, if there's any identity issues going on with the church in the United States of America right now, we would want to know about it. 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:07.439 We should know about this. 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:14.399 Because it by knowing about it, it will help us better understand our identity as a church. 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:18.240 Uh, what is the state of the church in the United States of America? 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:21.680 In 2008, a man named David T. 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:27.279 Olson wrote a book called The American Church in Crisis. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:29.439 The American Church in Crisis. 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:34.399 David Olson used to be the national director of church planting in our denomination. 00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:42.480 He was an executive minister in our denomination, and in 2008, he wrote this book, The American Church in Crisis. 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:52.800 And at the time, he said more churches were closing than starting, more churches were declining than growing. 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:55.839 And so he wrote this book, The American Church in Crisis. 00:06:55.920 --> 00:07:01.519 Now you might say, oh, come on, Pastor Ephraim, that was like 20 years ago almost. 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:17.600 Well, just this very week, CNN of all places put out an article online entitled, A Tsunami of Church Closings is Poised to Remake America. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:19.040 That's the name of the article. 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:23.519 It came out October 1st, this past week, 2026. 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:29.600 A tsunami of church closings is poised to remake America. 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:38.480 In the article, it said, experts project an estimated 100,000 churches in the U.S. 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:44.800 will close or their buildings will be repurposed over the next decade. 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:55.759 100,000 churches will either close andor their church buildings will be repurposed over the next decade. 00:07:56.399 --> 00:08:00.079 Could it be the church is in crisis collectively? 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:03.199 I know we we look around the room and think the church is not in crisis. 00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:04.959 Look at all these people here at Midtown. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:09.439 But we shouldn't judge the church as a whole just by what's going on in our church. 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:12.800 We should care about the broader body of Christ. 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:18.399 Not only in this city, in this state, in this nation, but even around the world, we should care. 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:23.360 The collective church is not doing so well. 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:33.440 And we should ask the question how much does the church collectively in America reflect the descriptions of what the Bible says it should be? 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:34.720 Let me say that again. 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:43.600 How much does the church collectively in America reflect the descriptions of what the Bible says the church should be? 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:49.519 Is the American church collectively committed to transformation and liberation? 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:54.240 Or is it more pressured to be about transaction and assimilation? 00:08:55.039 --> 00:08:59.519 We must wrestle with this, brothers and sisters, the state of the church. 00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:05.519 Is the church lining up with what the Bible says the church could be and should be? 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:10.399 If you're concerned about this, like me, let's go to Ephesians chapter 4. 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:14.000 Here is a description of what the church should look like. 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:19.600 Ephesians chapter 4, beginning with verse 11, says this. 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:33.679 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and teachers to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity. 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:35.919 Oh, this is this sentence keeps going. 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:45.279 In the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:59.120 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people and their deceitful scheming. 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:10.000 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:20.720 From him, the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:27.600 From that text, I want to preach to you on the title, Why Church, Five Reasons Why? 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:30.480 Why church, five reasons why. 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:34.480 Now, those of you that have heard me preach before, I know what you're thinking. 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:38.399 This pastor can barely get through three points, most sermons. 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:40.399 How are you gonna get through five? 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:42.399 Let us pray. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:55.120 God, I pray that this would be your message that you would preach, that you would speak, and I would just be the instrument that you want to speak through, and I want to be obedient to your word. 00:10:55.440 --> 00:10:57.519 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:10:57.919 --> 00:10:58.960 Why church? 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:00.320 Five reasons why. 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:02.720 Can I get this done in the next few minutes? 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:06.000 Pastor Susie preached 42 minutes last Sunday. 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:07.440 I wasn't counting. 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:13.200 It was a great message. 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:13.759 It was awesome. 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:17.120 If you didn't hear it, if you didn't, if you weren't here, you need to go back and watch that one. 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:19.919 That was a good one, as my grandmother would say. 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:21.360 Why church? 00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:23.120 Five reasons why. 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:32.559 In 2024, I was fortunate to release another book with a Presbyterian pastor named Dan Christ. 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:34.320 For me, it was my sixth book. 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:38.639 Uh we had a chance to write this book together called Church for Everyone. 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:40.320 Church for Everyone. 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:47.519 And in this book, we're making the case that we need more multi-ethnic, multi-inclusive churches. 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:56.000 That in this ever-increasing, multicultural, multiracial, yet deeply divided world, we need more churches that look like heaven. 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:01.039 Now, we are not saying that there's not a need for ethnic specific churches. 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:06.720 There's still a need in many cases for the African American church, for the Latino-Latina church. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:10.240 There are still more emerging immigrant groups. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:21.120 And there are times when first generation immigrant groups need ethnic-specific churches that can meet them, not just where they are spiritually, but where they are socially in the world. 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:34.399 But at the same time, in a city as diverse as Sacramento, as diverse as the Sacramento metropolitan area is, there is still a need here and around the country for diverse churches. 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:44.559 But not just for diversity's sake, not just for reaching the emerging generations that are growing up in a diverse yet divided world. 00:12:44.879 --> 00:13:00.559 We need more multi-ethnic, Christ-centered churches because it's one place, one expression of the church where you can experience the convergence, the biblical intersection of righteousness and justice. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:03.360 To not separate those things. 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:19.200 Also, it is an opportunity to experience healing and reconciliation and to experience uh uh what the first century church was like, to be a church that attempts to look like heaven. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:24.960 Uh and this is what Paul is getting at when he's writing uh Ephesians. 00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:45.120 Paul has a number of letters in the New Testament that is focused on urban, multicultural, multi-ethnic churches that are deeply divided in the broader society of the Roman Empire, and they're trying to experience, develop new community in the church. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:14:07.840 In T Wright, New Testament scholar, apostolic leader in England, he he has he has uh written a book on Ephesians, and he says in his book, Ephesians, maps out the question of what the church is and what it's here for. 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:22.399 It does so particularly in terms of what it means to genuinely be human, becoming the new sort of humanity that God created and is creating in and through Christ Jesus. 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:23.120 What N.T. 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:42.480 Wright is saying is the church that Paul is describing in the letter to Ephesus is what it looks like when human beings in Christ become a new humanity in a new community that is called the church. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:49.200 That's what we hope happens by God's grace here at Midtown. 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:59.600 A new experience of human identity, a new experience of community in what is known, what is called God's church. 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:12.240 Now, let me take a detour just for a second because I want to present to you through this whole series, we've been giving you a definition of what it means to be a member at this church, at Midtown Church. 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:15.840 So at Midtown Church, we define a member this way. 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:21.039 A member of Midtown Church is a lover and follower of Christ. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:22.000 That is so important. 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:37.919 Pastor Susie said a few weeks ago that being a part of the church doesn't start with what you do, but it begins with who you are, how you've been made anew in Christ Jesus, your intimate growing relationship with God in Christ Jesus. 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:43.919 And so membership begins with this love affair, this following of Jesus. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:16:13.519 And a member is a lover and follower of Christ who has chosen to covenant or be in relationship with this local body, with this church, by committing to spiritual growth, by committing to serving, committed to generosity financially and tithing, giving, and accountability, which means we allow people into our lives in such a way that they can have a voice in our spiritual maturity, our growth, our development. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:17.679 This is what it means to be a member at Midtown Church. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:27.279 And this series is about taking that definition of membership, looking at what the Bible says about the church, and making sure there's alignment. 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:39.279 So, what I want to do in the next few minutes is I want to build this sermon around this idea, the five E's of healthy church development. 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:45.120 The five E's of what healthy church development or healthy church growth should look like. 00:16:45.279 --> 00:17:01.039 I know this sounds like a commercial for my books, I don't mean it to sound like that, but uh I don't have time to really dive into these five areas like I would want to in just these few minutes, but uh uh there's a book I wrote called The Post-Black and Post-White Church. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:19.200 And in that book, the post-black and post-white church, it dives deeper into these five areas that I believe are biblical and I believe are critical to the life of the church if we're trying to be the church as it's described here in scripture, here specifically in Ephesians. 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:21.519 So we're gonna look at these five E's. 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:22.480 Help me, Lord. 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:24.559 Let me see if let's see if God will do this. 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:26.880 Five points here in just a few minutes. 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:32.000 So, one, what the what should the church be operating in? 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:36.720 What what should be at the core of who we are as a as a healthy growing church? 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:39.680 One, empowerment and advancement. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:42.000 Empowerment and advancement. 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:45.519 Says here in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 11. 00:17:45.920 --> 00:17:54.480 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and teachers. 00:17:54.640 --> 00:18:12.480 It says what Christ did in his public ministry, in going to the cross, in raising from the grave, ascending, what Jesus did as he ushered in these people, these positions, these callings in the church. 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:26.720 The apostle, the apostle is one uh that doesn't just pastor a church or a congregation, but plants churches and raises up pastors and releases those that will pastor and teach and be evangelists. 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:28.400 These are the apostles. 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:32.400 Some denominations say the bishops or the overseers. 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:38.880 And some people just limit the apostles to the original men and women that started the first churches. 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:56.720 They planted them, they raised up leaders, apostles, the prophets, those those those prophetic voices that cry out for justice and righteousness, that through their calling, they they they are speaking what thus says the Lord. 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:13.920 The evangelists, those that are outside of this kind of gathering of the church, and they are in the culture, bringing the good news, the gospel, the declarations and demonstrations of Jesus to places where they've never heard of the gospel before. 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:39.279 The pastors, those that steward congregations, that that are pastoring people in the community, teachers, those that are not preaching necessarily, but they may be, but they spend a lot of time teaching, making sure that people understand the core elements of the gospel, the core understanding of the nature of God, teaching. 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:43.359 Now, the thing is, some people might have a mix of some of these things. 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:46.799 You know, there are times when I feel like I'm an apostolic pastor. 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:52.559 Some people might be a prophetic evangelist, uh, some people might be a pastoral teacher. 00:19:52.720 --> 00:20:09.440 But but the point that I really want to make here when I talk about empowerment is I want you to understand these people that Christ gave as apostles and prophets and pastors and teachers and evangelists. 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:17.200 These were not the highly educated that Jesus originally gave into these callings, these positions. 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:21.519 These were the oppressed, these were the disinherited. 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:41.279 Jesus in his public ministry called fishermen and tax collectors, he he called Samaritan women, he called the despised, he called the the those that had disabilities, he called those that were left for dead, he called the unnamed. 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:49.920 Jesus called into these positions those that were on the bottom of the social shoe of society. 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:57.440 He gave voice to the voiceless, he gave full humanity and flourishing to the despised. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:06.160 These are the kinds of people that Jesus empowers to be prophets and evangelists and pastors. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:07.440 Don't get it twisted. 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:13.920 I'm not against education, I'm seminary trained, I'm not against credentialing, I'm ordained twice. 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:32.720 But the problem is we can get so caught up in training and degrees and certifications that we lose sense of the kind of people that Jesus empowered, the kind of people that the apostles empowered in the first century. 00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:38.480 Consider the book of Philemon, another letter written by Paul. 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:43.759 He writes to Philemon, who's a Christian and a slave owner. 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:46.160 Now, slavery was a little different back then. 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:59.759 You could be enslaved because you were in debt to somebody, you could be a slave because being a slave of a wealthy person was better than being homeless in the streets, it was better than being unemployed. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:02.880 It was better than begging for bread. 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:05.920 And so you would become a slave of somebody wealthy. 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:08.559 Maybe you were in debt, or maybe it was a better life. 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:15.279 And Paul's writing this letter to Philemon, who he's led to Christ, about his slave Onesimus. 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:23.519 And he says, I want you to receive Onesimus back, not as your slave, but as your brother. 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:31.119 There are scholars who believe that Onesimus became a bishop in a place called Ephesus. 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:34.960 The very place that Paul is writing in this letter I'm preaching to you. 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:38.160 That's what the power of God looks like in the church. 00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:41.920 Somebody can go from slavery to a bishop. 00:23:39.799 --> 00:23:45.079 That's the kind of power we want flowing through Midtown church. 00:23:45.319 --> 00:23:50.519 We don't want unhoused people just sleeping under the banner, health, hope, and healing. 00:23:50.680 --> 00:23:56.599 We want the homeless in this church being empowered and liberated and transformed. 00:23:56.759 --> 00:23:58.359 They might be an evangelist. 00:23:58.519 --> 00:24:00.200 They might be a church planter. 00:24:00.359 --> 00:24:06.359 You don't know who you're passing by on the street or on the side of this building. 00:24:06.759 --> 00:24:12.359 Power! Two, equipping information. 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:14.359 Equipping information. 00:24:14.839 --> 00:24:17.480 Ephesians 4, beginning with verse 12. 00:24:18.839 --> 00:24:21.400 Let me just back up so that it can connect real good. 00:24:21.559 --> 00:24:43.000 Verse 11 says, So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and teachers to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 00:24:43.319 --> 00:25:07.720 So Christ gives these marginalized, oppressed, suffering people, these disinherited people who have now become apostles, evangelists, pastors, teachers, prophets, to equip people for works of ministry to help people get clarity of their call. 00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:21.319 Yes, you're a teacher, yes, you're a principal, yes, you're a social worker, yes, you work in the marketplace, yes, you got a good government job, yes, you're a grandparent, yes, you're a parent, yes, you're a single, yes, you're a student, but you are more than this. 00:25:21.480 --> 00:25:43.319 There is a call on your life, and the church is supposed to be a place that equips people to know why you're at Sack State right now, why you're at UC Davis right now, why you're working at Intel right now, why you're at an elementary school right now, why you're a lawyer, why you're a nurse, why you're an attorney, why you're in community organizing. 00:25:43.480 --> 00:25:45.879 You are there as God's instrument. 00:25:46.119 --> 00:25:49.240 God is doing his handiwork through you. 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:58.039 And the church is supposed to be a place where people discover who they really are and get equipped. 00:25:58.359 --> 00:26:11.400 Part of my job, Pastor Susie's job, Pastor Otis's job, Pastor Tyrone's job, Pastor Christa's job, Levi's job in youth ministry is to equip people to discover who they really are. 00:26:11.559 --> 00:26:16.440 But I can't build people up if I'm spending too much time building my own platform up. 00:26:19.720 --> 00:26:23.720 I can't be in service to you if I'm trying to be a celebrity in the world. 00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:27.240 Let me put it this way. 00:26:27.400 --> 00:26:34.680 Um, Danisha and I were in Minneapolis a few weeks ago, and I had a chance to preach at the church that we planted. 00:26:34.839 --> 00:26:38.519 And it was so beautiful because a whole bunch of people didn't even know who I was. 00:26:38.759 --> 00:26:39.799 And that was awesome. 00:26:40.200 --> 00:26:41.160 That was awesome. 00:26:41.400 --> 00:26:55.079 I I remember when I was pastoring sanctuary in Minneapolis, and this I used to have some tension when I would go someplace and and there would be people that went to sanctuary that didn't know I was there. 00:26:55.240 --> 00:26:57.480 Like I'm at the barbershop, but they don't see me. 00:26:57.640 --> 00:26:59.640 And so somebody goes, What church you go to? 00:26:59.720 --> 00:27:02.119 And they go, I go to Ephraim Smith's church. 00:27:02.279 --> 00:27:03.160 Have you heard him? 00:27:03.319 --> 00:27:05.000 Oh, wait, have you heard him preach? 00:27:05.160 --> 00:27:07.480 And there's a little part of me was going, really? 00:27:08.920 --> 00:27:09.960 Y'all think I'm good? 00:27:10.119 --> 00:27:10.519 For real? 00:27:11.319 --> 00:27:15.879 Okay, okay, but there was another part of me that was like, but it's not my church. 00:27:16.839 --> 00:27:24.680 I don't know if that was me saying that or the Holy Spirit trying to correct my mind and my emotions to remind me that sanctuary was his church. 00:27:24.839 --> 00:27:32.599 That's why it's still going today without me, because it's his, it's his, and and but I I can't lie to you. 00:27:32.759 --> 00:27:37.400 There are times that I was like, but but this is what I'm trying to say. 00:27:38.680 --> 00:27:50.680 This church can never be about you discovering your calling and discovering your ministry and discovering your power if it's just about me building myself up. 00:27:50.920 --> 00:27:51.720 It's got to. 00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:53.879 How are you being equipped? 00:27:54.039 --> 00:27:56.119 How are you being released from ministry? 00:27:56.279 --> 00:28:05.640 I hope there's something I'm saying, Pastor Susie's saying, Pastor Otis is saying, that is inspiring you and challenging you and convicting you to be who God's created you to be. 00:28:10.039 --> 00:28:11.000 Look at God. 00:28:13.400 --> 00:28:15.000 Engagement and care. 00:28:15.559 --> 00:28:18.279 Ephesians chapter 4, verse 15. 00:28:18.759 --> 00:28:21.879 It says, Well, let me back up to verse 14. 00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:32.519 Then we will no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 00:28:32.759 --> 00:28:40.200 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head. 00:28:40.359 --> 00:28:41.400 That is Christ. 00:28:41.640 --> 00:28:51.079 From him, the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work. 00:28:51.879 --> 00:28:54.279 Now, engagement and care. 00:28:54.519 --> 00:28:56.599 I love that line in verse 15. 00:28:56.920 --> 00:29:14.920 Instead, instead of being deceived by lies, instead of being deceived by versions of Christianity that aren't really about Christ, instead of that, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become, in every respect, the mature body of Him who is the head. 00:29:15.079 --> 00:29:16.680 That means we need each other. 00:29:17.400 --> 00:29:20.039 There used to be this song, I need you. 00:29:20.599 --> 00:29:21.720 You need me. 00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:23.640 I can't remember the words. 00:29:23.879 --> 00:29:25.000 I need you to. 00:29:25.240 --> 00:29:29.319 You know when you just hum it, then some of y'all like, what song is that? 00:29:29.480 --> 00:29:31.240 I don't know all the words, I just know it's about. 00:29:31.319 --> 00:29:33.000 We need each other in the church. 00:29:33.319 --> 00:29:39.240 To truly be who God has created us to be, we need to lean on each other. 00:29:39.480 --> 00:29:41.160 We need to get to know each other. 00:29:41.319 --> 00:29:42.839 We need to grow together. 00:29:43.000 --> 00:29:45.000 We need to bear one another's burdens. 00:29:45.160 --> 00:29:48.519 Galatians 6, verse 1 and 2 say it better than I just did. 00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:57.079 It says, brothers and sisters, if anyone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. 00:29:57.879 --> 00:29:59.640 We bear one another's burdens. 00:29:59.720 --> 00:30:01.480 We grow together in love. 00:30:02.680 --> 00:30:21.640 When sanctuary first started, and we were much smaller in Minneapolis, it's like, man, over 20 years ago, uh we we were diverse, but but we would have these potluck meals, and I would tell people to bring something that represents your upbringing, your culture, your ethnicity. 00:30:21.879 --> 00:30:27.240 So we had like the collard greens next to the fried rice, next to the lasagna. 00:30:27.319 --> 00:30:28.920 We had kimchi, Pastor Susie. 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:30.039 I promise you it was it was there. 00:30:30.119 --> 00:30:31.079 It was the first time I tried it. 00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:33.879 This was such a reconciling thing. 00:30:33.960 --> 00:30:36.279 We had sweet potato pie and pumpkin pie. 00:30:36.359 --> 00:30:38.359 You know them two things don't get along. 00:30:40.200 --> 00:30:44.519 Now we did say there was two things people couldn't bring, Ludafisk and Chitlins. 00:30:44.680 --> 00:30:46.599 We said, no, that's not of God. 00:30:46.920 --> 00:30:48.680 Them two smells in the same room. 00:30:48.759 --> 00:30:50.519 That's that's demonic. 00:30:50.599 --> 00:30:52.119 You can't do them not at the same time. 00:30:52.359 --> 00:30:53.720 Not at the same time. 00:30:55.079 --> 00:31:03.000 I remember this this uh this this Asian sister, Andrea Lee, brought cornbread. 00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:05.240 And I didn't know how to say this to her. 00:31:06.519 --> 00:31:09.879 This Asian sister, Chinese sister brought cornbread. 00:31:09.960 --> 00:31:18.200 So I went over to her, I was like, hey, I know you mean well, but we're supposed to bring something from our culture or our upbringing. 00:31:18.279 --> 00:31:27.160 Uh you know, so anyway, I then I tried the cornbread, and I was like, man, she must be from the Oakland side of Asia. 00:31:28.039 --> 00:31:29.319 There's some good cornbread. 00:31:29.559 --> 00:31:34.440 Wow! Woo! I said, so you can bring cornbread every time. 00:31:34.680 --> 00:31:39.240 So so anyway, uh Andrea Jackson Lee. 00:31:39.799 --> 00:31:49.879 But anyway, uh what I said to people is unless you have an allergy to something, try a little bit of everything. 00:31:50.200 --> 00:31:59.799 Because as we digest one another's food, we digest one another's pain, one another's stories, one another's celebrations, one another's testimonies. 00:31:59.960 --> 00:32:22.839 That's what it means to be a part of the church, to walk with one another and bear one another's burdens and digest our stories, not to judge because your ethnic cultural story isn't the same as mine, that not to deny my story or or reject it because it's not your journey, but to digest enough of it to know that we are the same family in Christ Jesus. 00:32:23.160 --> 00:32:24.359 Engagement and care. 00:32:24.519 --> 00:32:35.480 This is why we have small groups, this is why we offer therapy and spiritual direction and counseling so that we truly can point to hope, health, and healing. 00:32:36.279 --> 00:32:40.119 Number four, wow! Evangelism and outreach. 00:32:40.359 --> 00:32:50.440 Ephesians 4, verse 17 says, So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do in the futility of their thinking. 00:32:50.680 --> 00:32:58.279 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:06.920 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity that are full of greed. 00:33:07.079 --> 00:33:14.839 In this culture in the Roman Empire, there were times when economics and idolatry and sexual immorality were mixed together. 00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:28.359 It it was it because it the truth is, and there's grown enough people in the room, I think I can say this, that that sexuality and sensuality is such a vulnerable place for human beings. 00:33:28.680 --> 00:33:41.480 And and and there can be trauma and pain and heartache connect to sexuality and sensuality, that it's a place where if you're not careful, someone or something can get a foothold in your life. 00:33:41.799 --> 00:33:49.640 Because it's the place where we're the most vulnerable in sensuality and sexuality, and wondering if I can give myself to this person. 00:33:49.879 --> 00:33:51.559 Can I trust myself with this person? 00:33:51.720 --> 00:33:53.799 Should I be engaged in this kind of relationship? 00:33:53.960 --> 00:34:06.680 It's the very place where if you're not careful because you're vulnerable and there's trauma and your heart's been broken before, and maybe you were abused, that it's the place where where Satan can get a foothold in your life if you're not careful. 00:34:06.839 --> 00:34:09.160 I don't care where you are in life, this is true. 00:34:09.320 --> 00:34:11.400 You can be married, and this is true. 00:34:12.360 --> 00:34:24.119 And so, and so Paul is saying in this new life, there's got to be enough safety and care and concern for people that that their life has been controlled in this way. 00:34:24.360 --> 00:34:28.200 He says, that, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ. 00:34:28.360 --> 00:34:31.480 And we're taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 00:34:31.720 --> 00:34:45.559 You were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, and to be made new in the attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. 00:34:45.640 --> 00:34:46.920 That's salvation. 00:34:47.079 --> 00:34:49.480 That's the good news of Christ Jesus. 00:34:49.800 --> 00:34:53.800 And this church is only as healthy as the next baptism. 00:34:54.119 --> 00:34:58.840 We're only as healthy as the next person that says yes to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. 00:34:59.000 --> 00:35:03.640 This that this church is that we can't just grow wide, we have to grow deep. 00:35:03.800 --> 00:35:11.960 Our growth has to be predicated not just on recycling from church to church to church, but in that baptismal pool, this church has to grow. 00:35:12.840 --> 00:35:16.280 And people saying yes to salvation, this church has to grow. 00:35:16.440 --> 00:35:24.200 I'm not mad at you if you came from another church, but ultimately, healthy growth is predicated on lost people being found. 00:35:26.760 --> 00:35:32.040 Number five, wow! Experience of worship. 00:35:32.200 --> 00:35:33.080 Won't he do it? 00:35:33.800 --> 00:35:35.800 I'm cheating a little bit, but don't say nothing. 00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:37.080 Verse 25. 00:35:37.640 --> 00:35:44.200 Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 00:35:44.360 --> 00:35:46.040 In your anger, do not sin. 00:35:46.280 --> 00:35:49.080 Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. 00:35:49.240 --> 00:35:51.080 Do not give the devil a foothold. 00:35:51.240 --> 00:35:59.240 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no more, but must work doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. 00:35:59.400 --> 00:36:08.440 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up and according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 00:36:08.600 --> 00:36:10.920 What has that got to do with worship? 00:36:11.240 --> 00:36:12.360 Everything. 00:36:13.080 --> 00:36:31.400 How your tongue changes, how your heart changes, how your mind changes is based on a worship experience one-on-one between you and God, and then the overflow of that is our worship together, which means your worship should not have started at the first worship song in this service. 00:36:31.560 --> 00:36:34.280 Your worship should have started when you woke up this morning. 00:36:34.440 --> 00:36:37.800 Your worship should have got you into the parking lot. 00:36:37.960 --> 00:36:42.760 Your worship should have got you out of your car, off of the light rail, into this room. 00:36:42.920 --> 00:36:45.880 I can worship on a walk on Monday morning. 00:36:46.040 --> 00:36:48.760 I can worship on my face in my own living room. 00:36:48.920 --> 00:36:51.400 I can worship in tears in my own car. 00:36:51.640 --> 00:36:55.080 Worship is intimacy and it's communal. 00:36:55.800 --> 00:36:57.400 An experience of worship. 00:36:57.560 --> 00:36:59.080 I'm coming to my clothes. 00:36:59.240 --> 00:37:01.320 Look at God, won't He do it? 00:37:04.120 --> 00:37:06.680 I did something this week I never should do. 00:37:07.000 --> 00:37:09.080 My dad would not be proud. 00:37:09.880 --> 00:37:11.800 My mama would say something. 00:37:12.520 --> 00:37:21.320 I waited until the yellow light came on on my fuel thing before I went to the gas station. 00:37:21.800 --> 00:37:24.280 I'm so sorry if my mom and dad are listening. 00:37:24.520 --> 00:37:28.040 My dad always filled his car up at half a tank. 00:37:28.280 --> 00:37:35.080 At half a tank, and my dad didn't call it a gas station, he called it a filling station. 00:37:35.880 --> 00:37:37.800 So I messed up this week. 00:37:38.120 --> 00:37:42.600 I waited until my car was almost on empty. 00:37:42.760 --> 00:37:47.960 And now I'm driving around thinking of my father looking for a filling station. 00:37:48.040 --> 00:37:48.600 Y'all don't hear me? 00:37:48.760 --> 00:37:49.480 Y'all don't hear me. 00:37:49.640 --> 00:37:50.840 I was almost on E. 00:37:51.080 --> 00:37:55.320 The yellow thing said I had 24 miles to empty. 00:37:55.480 --> 00:38:01.640 I'm driving around based on what I learned from my father looking for a filling station. 00:38:01.960 --> 00:38:06.600 Because my dad knows what to do before things get on empty. 00:38:06.840 --> 00:38:10.840 But my father in heaven knows what to do with empty. 00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:15.080 Listen, listen, listen, listen. 00:38:16.200 --> 00:38:24.280 Jesus, in his first miracle, took empty jars and told them to fill it up with water and turn water to wine. 00:38:24.600 --> 00:38:30.440 Jesus went into an empty tomb and made it empty again with his resurrection. 00:38:30.600 --> 00:38:36.600 The resurrected Jesus went to some fishermen with empty nets and filled it with fish. 00:38:36.760 --> 00:38:42.440 And then he looked at people with empty souls and he filled them with the Holy Spirit. 00:38:42.680 --> 00:38:54.200 If your life is empty, if your marriage is empty, if your heart is empty, if your finances are empty, I invite you to the filling station of God. 00:38:54.360 --> 00:38:55.880 It's called the church. 00:38:56.040 --> 00:38:58.680 And this church is a filling station. 00:38:58.920 --> 00:39:01.000 Ah, you can get filled up with healing. 00:39:01.160 --> 00:39:03.000 You can get filled up with liberation. 00:39:03.240 --> 00:39:04.920 You can get your mind back. 00:39:05.160 --> 00:39:06.920 You can get your life back. 00:39:07.480 --> 00:39:09.160 Is there anybody on empty? 00:39:09.320 --> 00:39:12.360 Is there anybody 13 miles from death? 00:39:12.520 --> 00:39:16.200 And God called you today into his filling station. 00:39:16.280 --> 00:39:17.080 The altar's open. 00:39:17.160 --> 00:39:18.760 If you need a fill up, come on, come on. 00:39:18.840 --> 00:39:29.640 If something's going on, if you got anxiety, if you got anger, if you got frustration, if you got brokenness in your life, if you don't have an answer for what you're going through right now, the filling station is open. 00:39:29.800 --> 00:39:31.160 The filling station is open. 00:39:31.320 --> 00:39:32.680 The filling station is open. 00:39:32.760 --> 00:39:37.880 If you, if you, if you need a fill-up, the filling station's open. 00:39:38.120 --> 00:39:43.240 This is what the church is supposed to be: a fill-in station. 00:39:44.840 --> 00:39:48.840 I don't know if you young people don't know nothing about what I'm about to say. 00:39:49.160 --> 00:40:01.000 But um, when I used to go to the fill-in station with my dad, you could choose between self-service and full service. 00:40:01.240 --> 00:40:14.760 Anyone remember that when you could go to the gas station and you could either choose to fill up your tank yourself or you could let somebody come out and do it for you. 00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:24.440 But the person that did it for you didn't just fill the gas tank, they would wipe down your windshield, wipe that down. 00:40:25.160 --> 00:40:33.080 They would check your oil, they would check to make sure that you had enough fluids under your hood. 00:40:33.320 --> 00:40:41.320 I'm telling y'all, you need to stop settling for self-service Christianity and let God fill you up. 00:40:41.640 --> 00:40:43.800