WEBVTT 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:13.919 Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible teaching ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church. 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:19.359 You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers. 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:21.039 Thank you for listening. 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:22.879 Thank you, Casey, for sharing that. 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:37.920 What an incredible, uh, what an incredible truth for us and an indication that, man, that's why we pray because God's already been there, battle's already won, and he's bringing us in line with that victory he's already lined up. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:58.880 That's a great message for us as a church family as also we pray through uh the presentation and the discussion that we started last week as a church family as I presented a proposal uh for us to uh approve a plan to develop a campus in the Chaffee area. 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:02.479 So let me just remind you of a couple of those points. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:10.400 Next Sunday morning, we are going to vote in the morning service on that strategy. 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:12.480 And this it's the strategy of it. 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:18.560 There's not a building yet, there's not a staff guy yet, there's not, we do not want to get ahead of you as a church. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:21.599 We want you to take this journey with us and be a part of it. 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:28.560 So what we have is a strategy to develop a First Baptist church, Chaffee Campus. 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:33.200 Understand, this is not a church plant, them or us. 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:34.239 That is us. 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:44.719 We are, it's just like if here back in the day when we used to have two services, we just had two First Baptist services in the same building. 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:52.879 Now we're going to have two First Baptist services at roughly the same time in two different locations. 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:56.879 They are us, our DNA, all of that. 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:03.840 And so that is who we are, it is what we do, and we are going to reach our entire community. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:04.879 That's our prayer. 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:10.639 So I had some questions this morning as we went to Sunday school classes, and I was asked to make sure we clarified that. 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:13.120 It is one church, First Baptist Church. 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:22.000 When you go to a website, you're going to go to the First Baptist Church website, and you'll see there you can choose from the downtown campus or the Chaffee campus. 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:23.280 One church. 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:27.360 If you'll run through those bullets for me so I can work through those. 00:02:27.680 --> 00:02:32.800 It is a full-blown church and worship service in that sense out there. 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:41.199 So if you visit the Chappie campus, there'll be live preaching, there'll be live worship, nursery, or what we call extended sessions sometimes. 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:44.879 So when you go to church, families can go to church, you're going to church. 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:58.800 And so we'll have uh two staff people that we'll be looking for as a part of this if we if it is approved, a a pastor to lead worship out there, and someone to carry a lot of the preaching load. 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:14.080 We will also assign uh Jared Farley will be out there as a campus pastor for us there as well, helping us with visitors and uh assimilating new members and people get saved and all of those things that happen uh on a Sunday morning. 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:15.919 He'll be helping us do that as well. 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:21.439 I will also preach in a rotation at that campus as well as here. 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:26.000 So my primary preaching will be here once a month, once every five weeks. 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:29.120 I'll go out there to that campus and preach live. 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:36.240 And uh and that way everyone knows we're one church, and so we're together and it keeps us connected. 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:43.120 And I told one of the Sunday school classes I went to this morning, we have plenty of guys on staff that can preach here if I'm preaching out there. 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:49.280 Every single time Matt Passmore preaches, y'all come and tell me to travel more so Matt can preach more. 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:52.000 So you get your wish, okay? 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:56.240 Um, so that that's but we have great guys that can carry that here. 00:03:56.400 --> 00:03:58.240 We're gonna rent a facility out there. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:01.280 We're not talking about breaking ground on our property yet. 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:03.520 We're still working through the process of that. 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:10.560 We don't want to rush that, we want to do that properly, and we can believe find a rented facility. 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:26.720 We have put together an estimated budget of about$550,000, and that should be covered or the vast majority of that covered through the sale of our mission house and uh through this year's Faith Forward budget offering. 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:30.399 Uh that offering will take place in April after Christmas. 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:33.199 So you guys did an incredible job with that last year. 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:35.199 It's helped us in our renovation. 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:41.519 Next Sunday morning, we'll have three of our Sunday school classes over here in their new Sunday school classes. 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:42.079 Right? 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:42.959 There you go. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:44.160 Praise the Lord for that. 00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:45.199 It's exciting. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:52.959 You see that the exterior construction is well underway and moving forward, and so we're excited about that. 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:57.279 So that is the sort of the structure of that proposal. 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:05.920 We have not filled in details like rent this facility or whatever, because we didn't want to get ahead of the congregation. 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:08.319 It will take all of us to do this project. 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:10.000 We want everyone to be involved. 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:12.720 We want you to know where we're going and what we're doing. 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:24.240 And so we have stopped at the point where we can give you a plan and a strategy, and then we bring everyone in and we start to move forward and begin to fill in the details. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:29.040 One of the questions that I've gotten was how many people are going out there? 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:39.839 Uh we're looking roughly in the neighborhood of 50-ish because whatever facility resent we rent is probably not going to be huge. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:44.160 There are not a lot of huge buildings out there to rent necessarily. 00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:49.839 And so if we sent, you know, 150 of you out there, we wouldn't have room for all the visitors we're trying to reach. 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:56.240 And so we want to make sure we send a strong core that's who we are and can do church very well, and we have a core of that. 00:05:56.399 --> 00:06:00.079 Now it doesn't mean that you can't go visit and stuff like that, but we're doing church right here too. 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:03.920 We're reaching people right here, and so we're moving forward here as well. 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:06.160 And so uh we'll work through that. 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:08.319 How are those 50-ish going to be chosen? 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:11.439 Well, if God has called you to go, we want you to be a part of that. 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:16.319 I've already had a list of people who have said, Pastor, we want to go, we're ready to go. 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:24.319 And so it's exciting to see that kind of response from people in our church that are very excited about being a part of that. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:33.360 And then we'll have we'll work through some details of we need maybe some deacons out there, we need some Sunday school teachers, we need Sunday school teachers to stay here. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:36.879 We'll work through those details and pray through that together. 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:39.920 Then I had a couple of great questions this morning. 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:44.879 And somebody said, Well, are you only wanting young folks to go out there? 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:48.160 And that is a great question, and the answer is no. 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:53.519 That is First Baptist Church, it's going to look like us, and we want it to look like us. 00:06:53.839 --> 00:07:01.040 And so I told somebody we don't want it to look like the aftergame party of a little league baseball team. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:04.560 Even that group has grandparents there, right? 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:08.879 And so not everyone that lives out in the Chaffee area is 30 years old. 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:12.800 There are a lot of people that look just like us and look like the breadth of our church. 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:21.120 And so we want to make sure that we are reflective of our church family and we are reflective of all the people that we're connecting with out there. 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:31.759 And so you are not too young or too old to be a part of that uh of that piece of First Baptist that is out there reaching the people who live in that area. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:40.879 And again, to remind you, there's over 14,000 people that live within a 10-minute drive of the property that we own out there. 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:55.279 Over 14,000 people that are there, and there are hundreds upon hundreds of family dwellings that are currently under construction that that doesn't even that number doesn't even reflect. 00:07:55.519 --> 00:08:07.120 There are neighborhoods and homes and multiple apartment complexes, this complexes that are being built, and so that is only going to continue to grow with the amount of development out there. 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:14.160 And then the other thing I want to remind you is what I want you to get in your mind as you pray this picture. 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:23.439 The first Sunday we get to praise the Lord because we are baptizing here and there on the same Sunday. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:25.759 That's why we do everything. 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:26.560 Amen? 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:30.480 It's because we are wanting to reach people with the gospel. 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:37.440 And so we are going full on in both campuses to reach as many people as we can. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:49.840 Again, multi-site churches are a very uh appropriate, common, um, developed strategy that show great fruit, and they're very confident in how to do that. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:09:00.240 And one of the most important factors when you begin to move into a multi-site deal is that your church knows who you are and your DNA is established and set. 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:04.720 And that's a blessing that we have and a strength that we have as a church. 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:11.840 We have a very clear and strong heritage, foundation, root system, and DNA. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:22.080 And so we are in a great place to be able to expand our reach in the River Valley and to reach more people as First Baptist Church. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:24.879 I want to encourage you again, continue to pray. 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:28.320 I want to encourage you, continue to ask questions. 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:32.399 If we can help you with any of that information, we are here. 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:34.080 We are ready to answer. 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:36.639 We'll walk through any of that with you. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:42.639 The only bad question, as you've heard it said, is an unasked question. 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:47.120 And so ask and talk through it with us, pray through it with us. 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:51.200 Next Sunday morning in the morning service, we'll be voting. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:53.360 Now there's another trick to that. 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:56.159 It's time change Sunday next week. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:09:59.759 So you need to be here to vote. 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:01.840 And so we want you to be a part. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:14.879 You want to be here that day, and so make sure you set your clock, make sure you get to Sunday school, make sure you get here because you're going to want to be a part of this church family moment next week as we take that boat. 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:15.519 Is that good? 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:17.519 We'll give you some more information about that next week. 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:19.360 But we want to make sure you're on track. 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:21.279 We want to make sure we're answering questions. 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:24.960 We want you to be a part of that conversation, and so please ask us if you do. 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:30.080 Now, one of the things that I talked about last week was our three challenges. 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:35.039 Uh, one of the questions is how quickly will we start doing things? 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:39.120 How quickly will we see a service begin out there? 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:47.759 And there are three things I talked about, three ways that will stretch our triangles as a church, our faith journey as we grow to be like Jesus. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:52.720 And those relate to three timing factors that will be important. 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:58.480 The first timing factor is that we are all involved as a church family. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:06.639 That means we're giving, that means we're signing up for organizational meetings and we're praying through am I going to be a part of the core team? 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:09.440 That means we're all jumping in this together. 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:19.200 It also means that we're a part of things like in April when we have a meeting with our folks that live in Oklahoma, like I talked about last week, because we want to reach more folks and find out ways to do that. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:23.759 You're coming, you're a part of that, you're helping us learn how to reach folks. 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:26.399 So a lot of those, a lot of those types of things. 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:28.559 It determines on how involved we are. 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:31.360 It determines on how much we're giving. 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:32.799 Are we giving faithfully? 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:39.440 So we talked about last week, 80% of our church family gives in person when they come, which is great. 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:40.799 That's fantastic. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:47.519 But we have a lot of times, if because of weather or something, people don't come, they don't send their tithe, they don't make up. 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:49.840 And so we had some of that at the beginning of the year. 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:55.039 So I'm gonna ask you in the month of March to catch up in your tithing. 00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:57.679 Don't get too far behind for this year. 00:11:57.840 --> 00:11:59.919 So I'm just gonna ask you to catch up. 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:03.360 So money will determine that to some degree. 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:11.120 And then the third thing is finding a place and finding these staff guys, especially the second worship pastor. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:13.919 So that's the timing how that will work. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:15.840 And so we can't determine those things. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:18.080 God's in charge of a lot of those. 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:23.919 But we will, after the vote, begin to start looking, especially right after Easter. 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:25.679 We'll start looking for a place. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:29.200 We'll start praying through, finding some of those staff guys. 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:38.799 We will begin having organizational meetings where you can come together and find out what it means to be a part of the core team and how to get involved in those strategies and all of that. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:48.240 So those things will begin very quickly after Easter, but it will be some time before those things begin to take hold. 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:54.879 And so that leaves us back to that area of three ways it's going to challenge us as a church. 00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:58.159 We talked about prayer, and you guys are doing incredible. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:00.639 Man, folks have stepped into our prayer force. 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:02.720 They're still stepping in to pray. 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:05.200 Man, we are galvanizing prayers. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:22.960 Last week in our triangle podcast, I interviewed uh Jared Farley and Brad Richardson and Jake Zludicki, and they talked a little bit about the impact already that they're feeling of when they're in these key evangelism moments to know that there is a specific prayer cover over them. 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:24.240 You ought to listen to that here. 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:25.120 It's incredible. 00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:28.639 So thank y'all for being a praying church and being a part of that. 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:33.200 Um we talked about giving just a minute a moment, but the third part is serving. 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:34.480 Serving. 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:41.360 It is being a part of making us the army of God, if you want to use that illustration. 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:44.320 It takes everyone to reach people. 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:49.279 It takes everyone to reach an area the size of the river valley. 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:55.919 It takes everyone to grow Sunday school classes and to disciple new members and new believers. 00:13:56.080 --> 00:14:00.639 It takes everyone to reach young families because they bring kids and all of that. 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:03.039 It takes all of us to do that. 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:10.000 But here's the thing: God has made the church to be supernaturally powerful. 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:21.279 And so I want you to turn with me to Romans chapter 12, and today we're going to talk about how God uses you to make the body strong. 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:25.519 How he empowers us as a church. 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:29.679 Now, this is what makes a dynamic church. 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:39.360 It's everyone using their spiritual giftedness under the empowering work of the Holy Spirit. 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:54.639 And when we are all allowing God to work through us, and people everywhere are bearing spiritual fruit, God has a freedom to do incredibly powerful things. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:15:00.000 The church does not grow because of the preaching. 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:02.480 Let me say that again. 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:07.440 The church does not grow because of the preaching. 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:13.919 Everything that is good that happens in the church, it happens because Jesus did it. 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:16.240 He is the one. 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:22.399 Jesus said, I, I, Jesus, will build my church. 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:38.879 And so the activity of a church that grows, the activity of a church that sees people saved, it happens because Jesus is at work in that church, and there are multiple ways that He has created that He works in the church. 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:47.519 And one of those is supernaturally empowering the people in the church with spiritual giftedness. 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:52.960 And so I want to talk to you this morning about what we talk about when we say spiritual gifts. 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:56.879 If you've been in church any amount of time, you've heard that term spiritual gifts. 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:02.399 Read with me here in Romans chapter 12, beginning in verse 1. 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:05.679 Here's what the Bible tells us. 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:13.279 Now there are multiple passages of Scripture that deal with spiritual gifts or spiritual giftedness. 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:23.600 And I've chosen this one because it is a solid base foundation and it allows us to understand and make clear these principles that we're talking about today. 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:30.720 Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:49.840 And he's using the picture of the Old Testament Jewish faith when they would literally sacrifice animals, kill them on the altar, and their blood, that blood sacrifice would represent, for example, Jesus who would come as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:53.440 So he's literally talking about sacrifice. 00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:59.840 Not sacrifice, we use it in American culture, where we'd say, Oh, I really sacrificed for that, you know. 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:04.480 I mean, I I spent money that I would have spent on something else. 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:09.359 Or we think, well, I really I really sacrificed uh for my family. 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:14.799 You know, I bought the lower level of Mustang, not the GT Mustang. 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:16.160 I sacrificed. 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:17.839 Right? 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:25.279 I sacrifice by letting my wife cook Brussels sprouts in the house and stink up the house and all. 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:29.119 It's a sacrifice because I'm dying on the cross for my wife, right? 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:30.240 Like sacrifice. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:32.079 We got this word sacrifice. 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:39.599 This is scripture, and the word sacrifice picture the high priest killing the lamb on the altar. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:47.359 It dies to show the death that Jesus died to pay the price for our sins. 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:52.160 I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice. 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:53.759 It's not your life anymore. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:56.960 It's Jesus' life because he died for it and paid for it. 00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:59.200 Holy, that means set apart. 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:00.480 Pleasing to God. 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:04.079 This is your spiritual worship. 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:08.960 You cannot worship without worshiping from a sacrificed life. 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:15.279 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:20.240 In other words, we don't look like the people that we're walking around in life with. 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:23.440 We look different from them. 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:26.400 By definition, we are different. 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:34.559 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:36.240 And what does that will look like? 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:41.839 For by the grace given to me, I tell every one among you. 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:48.400 Raise your hand if you think you're not a part of every one among you. 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:49.599 Right? 00:18:49.920 --> 00:19:02.240 Every one among you, not to think of himself more highly than he should think, instead think sensibly as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:06.640 That's every single person being singled out. 00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:22.720 Now, as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way, we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:25.279 In other words, there is one body. 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:41.359 There's a big toe, and there's a ring finger, and there's an ear, and there's a nose, and there's an MCL and an ACL and an ankle bone and a backbone and a vertebra, and there's all that stuff, but it's one body and it functions as one. 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:51.200 And so when we talk about the body of Christ, we talk about Jesus reaching the river valley, it's Jesus through his body, and it is the body that is doing that. 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:53.920 And so he's saying we are empowered this way. 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:58.079 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:01.920 If prophecy, use it according to the standard of one's faith. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:04.400 If service, in service. 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:06.960 If teaching is your gift, then you teach. 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:10.400 If exhorting is your gift, then you use it in exhortation. 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:13.200 If giving is your gift, you give with generosity. 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:16.079 If leading is your gift, you do it with diligence. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:19.680 If showing mercy is your gift, with cheerfulness. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:27.839 And then he goes on over the next several verses to talk about how we are to love one another, and we do that through these gifts. 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:47.440 And so this spiritual giftedness, what he's saying is every one of you were given one of these gifts, and it flows out of the Holy Spirit in your life from a sacrificed life, and the body of Christ is empowered through all of these parts, doing this supernaturally impassioned a gift. 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:52.559 This is a this is an integral part of who we are as a church, and it's a part of our DNA. 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:56.240 It is a part of our foundational thought theology as a church. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:58.000 Let me give you two statements. 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:03.920 There's a wonderful document that we have as a church that I think is incredible, and we need to refer to it on occasion. 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:05.279 Today's a good opportunity. 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:08.480 This is, if you go on our website, it says what we teach. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:14.559 This is lifted straight out of what we teach, how it describes this spiritual giftedness. 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:22.079 The first comment is this the Holy Spirit, this comes from the section on the Holy Spirit, administers spiritual gifts to the church. 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:32.079 The Holy Spirit, he's the actor in this, glorifies neither himself nor the gifts by ostentatious displays. 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:37.920 In other words, you're not showing out how good you are as a teacher, so everybody goes, Oh, you're a wonderful teacher. 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:44.559 The Holy Spirit is empowering you in the setting that he's put in for you to elevate Jesus, and that's what happens. 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:53.759 But he does glorify Christ by implementing his work of redeeming the lost and building up believers in the most holy faith. 00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:55.599 And you see the scriptural foundations. 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:58.079 Now, here's a statement from the church. 00:21:58.960 --> 00:22:00.960 This again is From what we teach. 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:09.920 The church is to cooperate with God as he accomplishes his purpose in the world in reaching the river valley. 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:13.680 That's why Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, and that's what we're doing. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:17.920 To that end, he gives the church spiritual gifts. 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:24.640 One type of gift, he gives men chosen for the purpose of equipping the saints for the work of the ministry. 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:28.400 And then he talks about the people and the saints and how they're equipped. 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:35.119 He also gives unique and special spiritual abilities to each member of the body of Christ. 00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:36.240 That's who we are. 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:37.759 That's our DNA. 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:41.039 And so how are we going to reach the river valley? 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:55.200 We're going to do it through the empowering of the body of Christ through all of us learning to let the Holy Spirit flow through us and express that giftedness so that the body is equipped and gifted to do all those things. 00:22:55.440 --> 00:23:01.599 Sometimes folks will ask in this conversation of the last two weeks, Pastor, do we have enough people to do this? 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:07.759 That right there says, absolutely we have enough people to do this. 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:14.960 Because when we're functioning that way, I mean, Jesus can accomplish anything and everything He came to accomplish. 00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:20.880 So let me give you a couple of truths here to help you process what this means. 00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:27.119 We've been talking over the last few weeks about our identity and our spiritual triangle. 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:28.720 We refer to that often here. 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:32.880 It's a shorthand illustration of how we grow to be like Christ. 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:38.640 It's made up of those three components and it grows as an equilateral triangle. 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:58.960 We talked about our identity in Christ for a couple of weeks, and I want you to see as that identity leg and that ministry leg meet, if it grows as an equilateral triangle, then your identity in Jesus and your Jesus-empowered ministry are inextricably linked and grow together. 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:06.240 Ministry is not ministry if it's not rooted in our identity in Christ and pointing other people to Jesus. 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:11.839 It is his empowering in us and our being obedient to what he does. 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:31.039 Also, your identity as a believer is rooted in the ministry that you do, and it is, you cannot get away from that because the Holy Spirit literally built an ability in you to do that that you cannot get away from. 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:34.640 And so I want you to see these principles again in this passage of Scripture. 00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:44.799 First of all, he says this brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, for this is your spiritual worship. 00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:46.640 Why is that our spiritual worship? 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:48.160 Because it is who we are. 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:49.599 Jesus died for us. 00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:51.200 The gospel is very simple. 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:52.559 I was a sinner. 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:54.400 I did wrong. 00:24:54.640 --> 00:25:01.519 Everybody in the room, for the most part, you're old enough to know you've done things wrong, that there's guilt in your life, things you have to be forgiven for. 00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:04.480 We can't forgive ourselves, we can't fix ourselves. 00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:09.039 The Bible says that that guilt has a cost to it. 00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:11.039 For the wages of sin is death. 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:13.599 That is eternal separation from God. 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:20.160 Your sin, there is a price to be paid for that sin, and we all pay that price. 00:25:20.400 --> 00:25:24.480 Because God is holy, he has to judge that sin. 00:25:24.720 --> 00:25:28.400 But because he is also loving and merciful, he sent Jesus out of heaven. 00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:38.240 Jesus as that sacrifice, that Lamb of God that had been pointed to all throughout the Old Testament time, Jesus became that once and for all Lamb of God. 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:48.079 He went to the cross, he died in our place, he shed his blood for us, he paid the price for our sins, he took the full wrath and punishment of God for that sin. 00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:54.079 And then on what we call Easter, we'll be celebrating in a few weeks, he rose again, conquering death and sin. 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:59.680 And when we come and we give our life to him, literally, I take all of my life and I give it to him. 00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:04.880 Everything I've been, I am, and everything I ever will be, I give it all to Jesus. 00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:06.000 It is all his. 00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:13.200 Sometimes you have an invitation or somebody will catch me after service and they'll say, Pastor Man, I need to get it spiritually right. 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:14.799 God's working, I'm ready to go. 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:18.240 I'm gonna give 98% of my life to the Lord. 00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:21.759 What's the first question that Jesus asks? 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:23.200 Where's the other 2%? 00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:28.319 Living sacrifice. 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:31.599 Then we are in the process of being transformed. 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:38.960 Once we're saved and he's removed that sin and he's stepped into our life and the presence of the Holy Spirit comes and lives in us, then what happens? 00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:40.240 He begins to transform us. 00:26:40.319 --> 00:26:48.880 So he says, don't be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:51.359 So you're being transformed in the image of Jesus. 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:58.559 That's as your identity in Christ grows, as your relationship with him grows, as you begin to serve the way he serves, your triangle grows. 00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:02.400 That's just a way to illustrate, you're being transformed in the image of Jesus. 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:08.640 You cannot be transformed to the image of Jesus without being a servant the way Jesus was a servant. 00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:11.279 It's just impossible. 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:16.319 If you're going to look like Jesus, then you have to look like Jesus. 00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:18.880 And Jesus served. 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:20.720 That's what he came to do. 00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:22.799 Philippians chapter 2. 00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:26.799 He did not think it robbery to be equal with God. 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:29.279 He knew he was, he knows he's God. 00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:34.160 But he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death on the cross. 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:35.680 He served. 00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:37.920 Jesus described himself in Luke. 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:41.039 I've come to seek and to save the lost. 00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:46.640 We saw the example of Jesus when he washed the feet of his disciples. 00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:53.279 And then he said, You I command that you love one another as I've loved you. 00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:55.680 It is our identity. 00:27:55.839 --> 00:27:56.720 We have to serve. 00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:01.200 If we're being transformed to the image of Jesus, then we have to be involved in ministry. 00:28:01.359 --> 00:28:02.400 It is our identity. 00:28:02.559 --> 00:28:04.240 It is his empowering gift. 00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:12.880 Again, he says, I tell every one of you, don't think about yourself more special than you ought to think, but you need to think wisely and spiritually. 00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:16.640 God has distributed to each one of you a gift of faith. 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:20.880 Verse 6, according to grace given to us, we have different gifts. 00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:26.559 You have a gift that came into your life the moment the Holy Spirit came into your life. 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:27.759 Now listen to me. 00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:32.079 Here's what the Bible teaches it teaches it in Romans chapter 8. 00:28:32.240 --> 00:28:34.079 You'll see it over there in a few moments. 00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:43.519 In the moment that you get saved, you got all of the Jesus and the presence of God and the power of God in your life that there is. 00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:53.599 When you give your life to Christ, the indwelling presence of God in the form of the Holy Spirit comes in, lives in your life, and He is now seeking to direct your life. 00:28:53.759 --> 00:29:06.079 There is no moment later on you get saved, and at some point down the road somewhere, oh, you get baptized with the Holy Spirit, or you find the Holy Spirit, or you get the Holy Spirit, or some kind of a deal. 00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:12.240 When you got saved, the Holy Spirit came and he became an indwelling presence of God in your life. 00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:15.599 He sees everything, he knows who you are, he knows what you're doing. 00:29:15.759 --> 00:29:30.640 He brought all of who he was in there, he brought his wisdom in there, he brought his leadership in there, he brought his comfort in there, he brought his presence in there, and he brought a gift in there that he is going to employ through us, each and every one of us. 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:40.799 And so ministry is a part of our identity because it literally came into your life in the moment that the Holy Spirit came into your life when you gave your life to Jesus. 00:29:41.119 --> 00:29:45.279 And it is also part of our life because we are inextricably linked. 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:47.759 We are supernaturally linked as a body. 00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:56.079 What he uses this illustration, and almost every time he talks about spiritual gifts, he gives the illustration of a body. 00:29:56.400 --> 00:30:06.559 As we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. 00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:08.880 How in the world are we going to serve the river valley? 00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:11.839 It's going to be all of you that are hands and feet going out to serve. 00:30:11.920 --> 00:30:13.279 That's how it works. 00:30:14.079 --> 00:30:19.039 And it's all these pieces of the body, and he gives all this description, and everybody has a spot. 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:29.519 And the body is a beautiful illustration because there are so many things and so many intricacies in our body, and it all works together in a way that they really don't understand. 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:30.799 They still don't understand. 00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:34.000 I mean, there's a reason that they call it practicing medicine, right? 00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:36.240 Because they're still trying to figure out what they're doing. 00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:37.839 I offended all the doctors. 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:40.400 You guys should have laughed if you're not a doctor, right? 00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:44.400 And so you think about all these incredible pieces in their body. 00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:53.279 There's a muscle right here at the base of your spine in your body that I discovered when I turned 50. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:56.400 I didn't know it was there until then. 00:30:57.119 --> 00:31:02.640 It isn't, it is inextricably linked to everything I do, let me tell you. 00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:06.640 There are times when I get out of a chair that it looks like this. 00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:11.039 And some of y'all know exactly what I'm talking about. 00:31:11.200 --> 00:31:12.319 You feel everything. 00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:15.359 There is a condition called plantar fasciitis. 00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:17.119 I have it in my right foot. 00:31:17.359 --> 00:31:19.279 It's a bizarre little thing. 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:25.680 There's some little muscle that comes right through here, and it's what attaches to your heel, right? 00:31:26.240 --> 00:31:31.519 My entire body is aware of that one little muscle. 00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:33.440 I guarantee you. 00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:35.920 It hurts and it makes the whole thing. 00:31:36.160 --> 00:31:38.960 I mean, I'm walking around, and here's what you do. 00:31:39.119 --> 00:31:42.079 One little muscle affects my whole body. 00:31:43.200 --> 00:31:43.680 Right? 00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:44.640 You're with me? 00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:49.440 I mean, it's you cannot escape this illustration. 00:31:49.680 --> 00:31:52.000 Now, let me also show you what happens. 00:31:52.799 --> 00:32:00.319 My brother the other day, he's a woodworker, he's doing all kinds of woodworking, and he cut off the end of his finger with a saw. 00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:03.119 Now, what happened? 00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:07.039 His entire body knew what happened. 00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:11.119 Now, his body still functions very well. 00:32:11.279 --> 00:32:13.119 He's only missing about that much. 00:32:13.920 --> 00:32:15.920 But what happened to that piece? 00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:17.680 It died. 00:32:18.559 --> 00:32:19.519 It died. 00:32:21.039 --> 00:32:23.519 Because it's no longer attached to the body. 00:32:24.880 --> 00:32:32.720 And we have a lot of Christians who have amputated themselves from the body. 00:32:34.640 --> 00:32:36.720 You hurt the body. 00:32:37.039 --> 00:32:40.400 I mean, that's hurting my whole body. 00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:46.720 It's slowing me down because I can't do what I normally do when I step out to do that. 00:32:48.240 --> 00:32:50.000 So it hurts the whole body. 00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:53.920 If you amputate a thumb, you hurt the body. 00:32:54.319 --> 00:32:57.359 You slow down the body, but the thumb dies. 00:32:59.680 --> 00:33:05.680 And your spiritual life, it dies if you're not attached to the body. 00:33:07.440 --> 00:33:08.720 The body is hurt. 00:33:09.279 --> 00:33:11.119 We're less because of that. 00:33:13.680 --> 00:33:15.920 But you die. 00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:19.519 Why? 00:33:19.680 --> 00:33:21.359 Why am I so strong with that? 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:45.039 If you're being transformed to the image of Jesus and you're not where you can serve the body, when Jesus' command was a new commandment I give you, that you love one another as I've loved you, then your spiritual life is deeply atrophying and going to shrivel because it is detached. 00:33:45.519 --> 00:33:50.880 It's a similar illustration in John chapter 15, if you do the vine and the branches and all of that. 00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:52.640 It's just our identity. 00:33:52.799 --> 00:33:55.039 So now let's talk about what that gift is. 00:33:55.279 --> 00:34:01.599 If our identity is serving and our identity is wrapped up into this gift, how does your giftedness work? 00:34:01.759 --> 00:34:06.480 Well, here's the first thing you see is He designs this gift for you. 00:34:06.640 --> 00:34:10.000 You don't get to pick what gift you have, God picks it. 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:16.639 He says, as God in verse 3 has distributed a measure of faith to each one. 00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:21.920 Verse 6, according to the grace given to us, we have different gifts. 00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:26.800