WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.399 Welcome to Gateway Churches Podcast. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:06.639 Wherever you're tuning in from, we hope you're encouraged by today's message. 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:13.599 Okay, uh, we have been in a series called O the Humanity, and we have talked about the humanity of Jesus. 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:16.640 We've talked about the humanity of the community around us. 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:22.640 We've talked about the humanity of marriage and how that relates to our marriage to Christ as the bride of Christ. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:25.679 This week we're gonna talk about the humanity of church. 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:26.079 All right. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:31.120 So we'll be talking about church, and that's uh that's always a fun topic, and uh and we're gonna enjoy it. 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:32.320 We're gonna have a lot of fun with it. 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:42.320 And so uh I grew up um, you know, obviously, my dad being a pastor, I grew up in church um more often than I was not in church. 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:43.840 I was in church all the time. 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:49.280 Uh we we did, you know, church on Sunday mornings and we had quite long services. 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:52.240 My mom would have to pack a snack for me and my brother. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:57.520 Uh, and uh we had to be fed constantly or else we couldn't make it through church, you know. 00:00:57.600 --> 00:00:59.920 And uh so they would pack a little snack for us. 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:14.959 And uh by the time the service was over, we had so much energy that uh we would just we had this game where we would chase each other just sprinting through the aisles of the church until one of us would like catch a leg of a chair and just wipe out completely, take out like two rows of chairs. 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:17.920 And it was great because you could see the group of parents who like, was that mine? 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:20.959 What kid, what kid did that, you know, and uh looking for us. 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:23.040 So I just grew up in church. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:33.599 In fact, I went to uh private school, a Christian school that was a part of the church where we were, and uh it was connected to, it was a building right next to on the same campus as church. 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:40.959 And so when I would finish school, I would go over to where my parents officed and worked there at the church, and I just spent a ton of time there. 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:43.200 And I I I love being in church. 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:46.560 I still uh feel so much love for the church, you know. 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:59.280 And uh so uh, you know, we we in my small group, we uh a couple of us, we have been friends for a lot of us since we were uh since I was two, three years old. 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:00.719 We were, you know, grew up. 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:10.639 We talk about that often how our kids are now, you know, we're working at a church together, many of us, and our kids are around hanging out with each other. 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:21.039 And it wasn't that long ago that it was that way for us, that we were the kids running around the church, and our parents were working in ministry, and we're proud of that legacy, and we're happy to be able to work together. 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:26.639 And uh we also sit around and we joke sometimes about what church was like for us, you know. 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:29.680 Um, and uh, and so I don't mean any of it disparaging. 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:34.080 Like we, you know, we're we're pretty careful with our kids what they're exposed to as well. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:38.560 Um, but you know, we were real strict about it whenever I was a kid. 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:41.520 We were very strict about what we were allowed to be a part of. 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:57.599 I was uh I was in something called kids of the kingdom, and it was this thing where these kids would be, you know, in this uh, I don't know, like it was almost like a small group for kids, but I I was told that I had to mime for Jesus, and so um I had to like do the I don't know, I've lost it. 00:02:57.680 --> 00:02:59.759 I can't, there's supposed to be an invisible wall right here. 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:06.240 I can't remember what I was supposed to do, but I had to mime for Jesus, and uh I it was incredibly embarrassing. 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:11.039 Uh, I was like 14 at that awkward stage, and I was like, I don't want to do this, you know? 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:21.120 And uh uh one time um in in when I was younger, I was um in in a class, and uh the teacher was reading this story about a lady named Mrs. 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:26.639 Robinson, and just jokingly, I just sang that a line from that Simon and Garfungel song, Mrs. 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:28.319 Robinson, and she snapped at me. 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:29.840 No, don't you say that? 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:31.759 She said, Don't you know what that song is about? 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:34.240 And I was like, No, I don't actually. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:35.199 I'm eight years old. 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:36.159 I have no idea. 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:37.759 I don't know what that song is about. 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:38.960 I just heard it one time. 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:40.240 I have no idea. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:44.080 So we were really cautious about what we were exposed to. 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:48.560 I uh I didn't know uh what the Ninja Turtles were until like a year ago. 00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:49.199 No clue. 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:51.280 I wasn't, no clue. 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:53.759 Wasn't allowed to watch it, never seen it before. 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:57.599 Uh the Simpsons TV show was the first step to hell. 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:02.000 You were just on your way. 00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:10.000 And and I remember being like, I heard Jeremy in my class watches The Simpsons, and we were all like, can you believe it? 00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:13.439 I mean, we just were really careful about that stuff. 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:15.759 I wasn't allowed to watch The Care Bears. 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:20.079 Um it was uh it was evil, and don't please don't send me an email. 00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:22.399 I'm sure that it has like evil origins or something. 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:23.439 I don't want to hear about it. 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:25.040 I've still never watched the show. 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:26.879 I just was confused as a kid. 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:30.240 I was like, they're teddy bears that walk around caring for people. 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:30.639 Why? 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:32.319 Okay, why can I not watch this? 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:35.519 They sent love out of their heart to people, is my understanding. 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:36.720 Why can't I watch this? 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:37.759 I don't understand. 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:39.920 I just, we were very careful about that stuff. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:40.639 So I get it. 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:42.480 I'm really careful with my kids too. 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:48.639 But we like to talk about, joke about the things that that we uh dealt with as we were growing up in church. 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:51.120 But but I loved church, and I always have. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:59.920 Uh during the the pandemic when when we weren't able to meet and we were watching online, I just missed getting together with my friends and my community. 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:02.160 I missed getting together as a church body. 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:13.680 I missed the energy of a room where everyone from every walk of life with varying, differing opinions and all of those things would join together and in one voice we would worship his name. 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:16.160 And that that stands out to me as being valuable. 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:18.879 It stands out to me as being something that we need. 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:25.920 And so uh we are we've been talking about bearing the image of God, and church is to do the same thing. 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:31.759 And although none of us can perfectly bear the image of God, it applies in the same way to church. 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:34.800 No church can perfectly bear the image of God. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:42.800 But what we're supposed to do is allow Christ and the Holy Spirit to live in us and work through us, and that's what we want for our churches as well. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:46.959 Not living for ourselves, but instead allowing him to live through us. 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:51.040 And that's what we want in church is that God would live through this place. 00:05:51.199 --> 00:06:02.240 That is, his presence would rest in this place, that when we come here, we would have an encounter with him, that we would join together as his body, as his community, and we would have an encounter with him. 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:09.439 So the first thing that I want to talk about today is that the church is humans worshiping a divine God. 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:13.120 The church is humans worshiping a divine God. 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:19.040 Now, this is important to remember because the church is made up of humans, not gods. 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:23.519 That might seem obvious, but a lot of times we forget that. 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:29.199 We hold our church maybe to maybe a slightly higher standard than maybe we ought to. 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:39.040 The church is us as humans, imperfect humans, gathering together to worship the one true God, and we ourselves are not gods. 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:51.279 You may be hurt by someone in the church, you may get your uh your feelings hurt, they may say something rude, they may act in a way that a Christian should not act, but the church is made up of humans. 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:57.360 We're gathering here to worship God, but we, all of us that make up the church are humans. 00:06:57.519 --> 00:06:58.959 And we're faulty in that sense. 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:06.399 And so it's important then to remember that we are human, but we are here to worship a divine and per and perfect God. 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:11.040 The church should bear the image of God, but it isn't God in and of itself. 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:17.439 So the church should do its best to be a reflection or an image of God, but the church itself is not God. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:25.839 And oftentimes, whenever we deal with church wounds or hurts that are real, and we're gonna talk about that in just a moment, we equate that to uh to God. 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:32.079 And so then we distance our relationship from God because of the experiences that we've had in church. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:40.879 We get disappointed when the church uh um is uh is acting in a certain way that we wouldn't expect, and we get confused sometimes and think it's God. 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:47.199 And if we think that the church should be perfect because God is perfect, then we will always be disappointed in the church. 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:55.600 But if we see it as humans working towards bearing the image of God, we will hold it to a human standard and not a divine standard. 00:07:55.920 --> 00:08:03.519 The old saying is that if you ever find the perfect church, you shouldn't join it because it won't be perfect anymore, okay? 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:05.120 It just won't. 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:10.879 We as humans, we are a part of this body, and we have to hold ourselves to that human standard. 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:21.199 Jesus said that he would build his church and he called us to be a church, a family of people united in spirit and worshiping God together in one voice and one accord. 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:23.600 Now, does this happen without fail all the time? 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:24.560 Of course not. 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:26.079 We're flawed in that way. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:33.600 We do our best that we can, but we can look at the the the even the very first churches in existence and see that they weren't perfect. 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:42.480 We can look at what happens even in the very first churches when Paul wrote to them in the epistles, and we can see that there were issues that would come up in the church. 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:48.639 And oftentimes Paul would commend them on what they were doing right, and then he would tell them what they could improve on. 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:50.480 Let's look at one of those now. 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:55.120 It's in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, and I'm gonna start in verse 17. 00:08:55.440 --> 00:09:00.480 It says, But in the following instructions, I do not commend you. 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:01.120 Uh-oh. 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:03.600 Let's pause here for just a second. 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:12.399 This means that in the previous instructions, there were times where he was commending them, but he says, now in the following instructions, I do not commend you. 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:13.759 That's the uh-oh moment. 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:17.759 I am very aware of it because uh I have had some of those myself. 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:24.639 Um I uh I always uh want the feedback and and and constructive criticism. 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:36.799 And uh and and the importance of this is that Paul, as the planter of the church, remained as an authority over the church, and he was able to speak into and correct them. 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:40.720 A church that is not under authority is a dangerous church. 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:50.799 Show me a church that is experiencing spiritual abuse on a regular basis, and I will show you a church that is not under authority. 00:09:51.200 --> 00:10:01.679 Paul in this letter is their authority speaking on on behalf of the Holy Spirit into the church, and we need authority in our lives. 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:09.039 We're in a in a time and generation where it's uh more frequent and often that we will uh push against authority. 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:25.039 Um Pastor James Robison has called me after every uh service of the message this in this series, and he he's so gracious to me and he's so kind, and he'll tell me all of the things that he loved about the message, and then he'll ask permission, he'll say, Now, can I give you some feedback? 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:27.919 My immediate answer is yes, sir, absolutely. 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:33.919 I have my phone out, I've got notes ready to go because I want to be under authority. 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:40.480 And when he speaks into my life, it is profound in the way that it helps me grow, it helps me learn. 00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:42.720 We want to be under authority. 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:48.960 And so what you ought to be then looking for in a church is a church that understands authority. 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:54.240 Authority, not in abuse in an abusive way, but in a way that submits to one another. 00:10:54.320 --> 00:11:06.960 And Gateway has an amazing government structure, one unlike I've ever seen in any church, where there's a mutual submission between Pastor Robert and the elders, and in that they also have these overseers, James Robison being one of them. 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:14.960 And so we are under authority, and there is that type of mutual submission that keeps us under that type of authority. 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:18.559 And so that's what Paul is doing here in this correction. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:25.120 Now we're getting back to the verse, it says, Because when you come together, it is not for the better, but for the worse. 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:38.879 For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:42.000 So he's calling out that there are factions among them. 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:56.879 This is the passage where he'll go on to say that when they receive communion or the Lord's Supper, that some of them will eat an entire meal, and some of them will go hungry, some of them will uh not get any of the wine, and some of them will be drunk by the end of the service. 00:11:56.960 --> 00:12:00.559 He's correcting them on that type of thing, and he's saying, this isn't right. 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:10.159 But really, this isn't just about how they would receive the Lord's communion, it was that they had they had uh separated themselves into factions. 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:25.600 And when Paul here says that there must be factions in order to see those that are genuine, there's no way for us to know definitively exactly what he was saying, but everywhere that he goes on, he rebukes their having factions within the church. 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:32.159 And so this strange sentence where he says, There are factions among you, and we need that to know who is genuine. 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:34.720 Uh, the the New Testament scholar N. 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:34.960 T. 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:42.480 Wright says, most likely, this is an almost sarcastic statement to say he's pointing out, don't have these types of factions. 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:53.519 The Lord's Supper was that they would bring food and some of them would be in a separate room of the house and they would have an extravagant meal, while others that were poor and needy would go hungry throughout that meal. 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:56.879 What he's saying is, don't have these factions among you. 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:02.399 We're not trying to uh to snuff out who is genuine within the church. 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:18.639 We're trying to be the only place where people can come, and it won't matter what class they're in, what society they're in, what race or gender they are, any of those things where they can come, and they are invited to sit at the Lord's table and receive communion just as we all did. 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:26.000 No one at any campus or or gathering was excluded from receiving communion based on who they are. 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:41.120 This is the type of thing that Paul is calling the church to be: one united family, one body that would come together and they would join together and they would be able to receive his body and his blood, and they would worship a divine God. 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:43.440 And so that's what Paul is speaking about here. 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:48.000 Now, within the church, there has become a level of uh consumerism. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:56.000 Consumerism in the way where uh people often will maybe shop around for churches. 00:13:56.240 --> 00:14:06.960 And there's nothing wrong with looking to see if you like the kids' program or the youth program or the way that you uh choose a church, some of those things will factor into that. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:15.919 But let me just remind you: the biggest priority and the highest thing that should be on your list is is God calling me to this church or not? 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:21.200 And instead, we've made it more about does this church provide the program that I want? 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:24.799 Do they have a charismatic preacher that I would like to hear from? 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:27.440 Do they have the worship style that I prefer? 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:31.360 And it's become very consumeristic, and the church is partly at fault for that. 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:56.320 We've created uh uh ways where we design every service around the person, and maybe sometimes we've gone too far in creating programs that will be uh as as wide open as possible, and and maybe in some of those times we've created this idea that we will change whatever it is that we need to change in order to have people come to the service. 00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:17.200 Now, obviously we want to make the door as wide as possible, but the consumerism that has crept in makes it to where if I choose the church that I go to based on the program that they like, or uh I agreed with what the pastor said that day or not, then as soon as one of those things is gone or different, then people leave the church. 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:19.039 There's no commitment in that. 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:20.639 We talked last week about marriage. 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:25.759 There is an idea, obviously, we will not all be at the same church for our entire lives. 00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:26.720 That isn't possible. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:29.200 We move, we relocate, we go through different things. 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:31.120 God even calls us to a different church. 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:37.840 But there's something about saying, God, you brought me here, and I'm staying put until you tell me to move. 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:48.080 But instead, nearly every time I speak, I get at least one email of, I can't be here anymore because I didn't agree with something that you said. 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:51.279 Now I'm happy to continue in a dialogue. 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:58.399 Every time I do my best to try to respond and be compassionate and understanding and have some sort of dialogue, that's what we're all about. 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:02.879 The church should be ready to have dialogue about the different beliefs that we have. 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:10.480 But what we do is we've got a lot of people who are sitting in the chairs going, if one wrong thing to goes wrong, I'm out of here. 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:14.799 Because of that, will you be committed to the people around you? 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:24.720 Because of that, will you be faithful to attend, to serve, to be there for those around you, to see this as your community, as your family, and the way that God designed it? 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:33.200 When we come to a church, we decide to commit to that place and to dig in and to dive deep into what God has called us to do. 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:40.399 This sets us up for disappointment and movement from church to church because we've based it based on what we like or don't like. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:46.000 And the only question in choosing a church is God, is this where you're calling me? 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:53.120 Obviously, if there is spiritual abuse or heretical teaching or something like that, that's an obvious reason to leave that church. 00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:54.799 But do it prayerfully. 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:57.440 Do every move that you make prayerfully. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:04.160 I remember a time in a day where when someone new showed up at a church and they were coming from another church, we would ask questions. 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:06.319 How did you leave your previous church? 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:08.799 Can we call and speak to the pastor there? 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:14.640 There was an idea that like we needed to be planted within a body and a community. 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:30.079 And now oftentimes we want to walk in uh uh unknown and unseen and sit in the back and be entertained by great worship and a great message, and then slip out and not be known by the community and the family that God has called us to be a part of. 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:37.440 This consumerism that has that has uh made its way into the church is it's difficult. 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:39.759 It makes it difficult for church plants even today. 00:17:39.839 --> 00:18:00.240 I'm still connected to church planters, and as someone who has planted before, I understand that it's hard when other churches have dedicated buildings and huge uh students' programs and kids' programs and things like that for church plants to start and for people to have to go and dedicate time to setting up chairs, helping to roll cables at the end of the service. 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:09.279 It's in it's a day and age where it's really hard to do that because people are choosing their church based on how the church serves them and not how they can serve the church. 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:12.079 So there's a requirement on us. 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:15.440 When Gateway started, we didn't have all the things that we have now. 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:29.200 All the programs that you see and the amazing kids ministry that we have, people who came before you, and many of them are still here today, some of them are sitting in this room, people who came before you were setting up chairs, were growing programs, were doing everything that they could. 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:34.480 People were starting ministries because they saw a need and they were giving of their time and resources. 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:45.359 And so everything that we experience when we arrive at Gateway Church at a campus or otherwise, everything that we experience was helped to be built by the members of Gateway Church. 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:50.319 So, what will we do to make sure Gateway Church goes to the next generation? 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:52.480 How will we serve? 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:53.839 How will we be the ones? 00:18:54.000 --> 00:19:05.680 It may not be in the way that it was before, where we were setting up chairs and and rolling cables and doing all that stuff, but how will we serve to make sure that the legacy of Christ lives on through the church? 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:08.880 That's what is being called or asked of us. 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:20.240 And so when you're uh tempted to look around at all these great programs, just remember that we follow in the footsteps of the people who came before us who worked so hard to make this place what it is. 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:34.640 Being in church for so long, I've seen the ugly side of church, I've seen the moral failures of leaders, but I've also seen countless lives changed and people having an encounter with a living God on a weekly basis. 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:45.680 And so when we place the leader or the pastor of the church into a divine position, he or she cannot bear the weight of being God because no human can. 00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:48.480 And at that point, that's when they let us down. 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:56.720 You see, the mind sometimes does want fame or notoriety, but the soul can't carry the weight of it. 00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:12.400 We've come to a place where churches have grown much larger than they were years ago, and there is a temptation to follow a person, a leader, or a pastor more than to follow Christ. 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:15.519 And I love, I love dad's messages. 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:18.400 I love being here and sitting under his teaching. 00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:26.240 But as his son, I'm begging you, don't put him into a divine position because that's what crushes pastors and leaders. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:37.039 Let me just uh let me brag on my dad for just a second. 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:44.000 Um and you might say, well, that would be like you to do that because you're his son. 00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:56.960 What I would say to you is after being in the church world for a really long time, if you look at a lot of pastors' relationships with their kids, you could also say that I would be the least likely to brag on him. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:08.720 But I have seen him over and over and over again turn down opportunities that nobody else in the world would turn down. 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:11.119 Dad, why are you doing that? 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:12.640 Why wouldn't you go speak at this place? 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:13.839 Why wouldn't you do that thing? 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:16.559 Why wouldn't you go and take this opportunity? 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:18.960 And every time his answer is the same. 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:21.200 I do what God tells me to do. 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:24.480 That's the kind of pastor you want to be under. 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:35.759 You see that throughout the New Testament when Jesus was a large crowd was gathering and they would say, Come back, people want to hear you teach and speak. 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:40.400 And he would say, I've got to be about my father's business and move on to the next place. 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:47.039 Constantly, people were gathering around and they would be so ready to hear Jesus, and they would be like, Yeah, but where is he? 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:49.279 He'd run off, he'd disappeared. 00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:51.599 He was pushing it away constantly. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:55.440 He was remembering that all he could do was be about his father's business. 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:59.599 There's this great instance where they ask him to come back into a town, and they were like, tons of. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.839 People have gathered to hear you preach. 00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:04.240 And he was like, nah, I gotta, I gotta move on. 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:05.519 I gotta go to the next town. 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:11.279 They weren't like asking him to rob a liquor store, they're asking him to preach, and that's what he had been doing. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:13.759 No, I gotta head out, guys. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:14.880 I gotta go. 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:21.759 I've heard people complain, like, well, I haven't had enough time with Pastor Robert to meet him or greet him or whatever. 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:27.839 He knows that his job and his calling is to go up on the mountain and hear from God and come down and deliver the word. 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:32.720 And that is what he does, and he stays faithful and true to that over and over again. 00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:46.319 So when we place the leader or the pastor of a church in a divine position, he or she cannot bear the weight of being God because no human can. 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:54.079 I have a heart for people who have been hurt by the church, and I want to see them be able to love the bride again. 00:22:54.480 --> 00:23:01.680 When we put a divine standard on a human group of people, then we will always be disappointed. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:10.319 The church is not perfect, and I understand people have been through very serious real spiritual abuse, and I understand that. 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:12.960 My heart goes out to them constantly. 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:14.799 I am constantly thinking about it. 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:28.960 There is uh an increasing, growing number of people in my generation that are that are not trust trusting of institutions and the church being one of the main ones that they don't trust. 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:31.680 And I understand the abuses that we've seen, Esther. 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:47.599 We've seen pastors uh fall, have moral failures and different things like that, and we've seen them commit spiritual abuse, and I understand all of those things, but we must find a body of believers that we can be in community with, and we need to be in that community. 00:23:47.839 --> 00:24:02.480 In Romans chapter 12, verse 3, it says, For the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think of with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:08.319 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function. 00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:16.160 So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:19.839 So we we need to be lovers of the church. 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:33.759 And and as I've heard from my generation and and and younger, the criticisms of the church and the things that they've seen as church has grown larger, and with the advent of media, we hear more about all of the failures that are going on. 00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:42.400 And as we hear all about those, it's a new one every day or every week or every month, and our trust begins to dwindle more and more and more. 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:47.200 And what I've seen is people say, forget it, I'm done, I'm out with church. 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:56.559 Paul, when he was correcting the church, he didn't say, uh, because I see these problems in the church, I think you guys should just quit and not do it anymore. 00:24:56.960 --> 00:24:58.880 Instead, he was saying reform. 00:24:59.119 --> 00:25:07.920 So if you are among those people who have distrust of the institution of church, what we really need most is for you to be here. 00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:10.240 Where are the reformers of the church? 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:12.799 Where are the ones that are bringing positive change? 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:19.359 It doesn't help anybody to say, well, I don't like what I've seen out of the church, so I'm just gonna back out and not be a part of it. 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:22.880 You are welcome here, and we will reform and change the church. 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:26.319 There is a righteous reckoning happening in the church right now. 00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:30.640 And we need to be a part of it. 00:25:31.599 --> 00:25:37.119 Which brings me to my next point, which is that you need the church. 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:39.039 You need the church. 00:25:39.359 --> 00:25:50.079 In Hebrews chapter 10, starting in verse 23, it says, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:55.839 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:26:03.119 Remember this, we're stirring up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together. 00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:08.799 Okay, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some. 00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:18.960 He's not calling anybody particularly out, but just as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. 00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:20.799 What happens when we meet together? 00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:25.599 It is that we encourage each other to love and good works. 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:32.160 We encourage each other when we gather together in this place towards love and good works. 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:35.759 I need a lot of encouragement towards love and good works. 00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:37.759 Those don't just come naturally in my life. 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:39.839 In fact, I could use it every week. 00:26:40.079 --> 00:26:45.039 Oh, service every week, that's where I'll be, and it will encourage me towards love and good works. 00:26:45.119 --> 00:27:09.519 And I've always been confused because it says, and all the more as you see that the day is drawing near, and what I believe it means is that we know that the the end of our life or or or or even uh Jesus' second coming or whatever it is that is about to transpire, as I see the end drawing near, what I want for my life is I want to finish well. 00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:17.839 And the way that I will do that is to continue together with the body of saints and be encouraged towards love and good works. 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:26.480 First Corinthians chapter 3, verse 16 says, Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:32.880 Now, some people will use that scripture to say, See, I don't really need the church because I have a personal relationship with God. 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:37.680 I am the temple myself, and so therefore I don't need to be in church. 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:50.880 Well, let me show you how the Bible unpacks that verse in multiple other places, and I'll go through these kind of quickly, but in 2 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 16, it says, What agreement has the temple of God with idols? 00:27:51.200 --> 00:28:03.359 For we are the temple of the living God, as God said, I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:05.680 We are the temple of God. 00:28:05.839 --> 00:28:15.359 In fact, when it says you are the temple of God, in the previous passages that we read, when people quote that to say that they don't need church, that you is not even singular, it's plural. 00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:24.000 It is as if he's speaking to a crowd and says, You, the way I would say you now, including all of you, you are the temple. 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:28.160 It goes on uh in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 27. 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:42.720 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it, and God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping and ministrating and various kinds of tongues. 00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:43.920 Are all apostles? 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:45.200 Are all prophets? 00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:46.240 Are all teachers? 00:28:46.400 --> 00:28:47.519 Do all work miracles? 00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:49.680 Do all possess gifts of healing? 00:28:49.839 --> 00:28:51.039 Do all speak in tongues? 00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:52.240 Do all interpret? 00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:57.200 But earnestly desire the higher gifts, and I will show you still a more excellent way. 00:28:57.440 --> 00:28:58.799 Here's what he's saying. 00:28:59.039 --> 00:29:05.440 Each of us that attend church, whenever we come and we gather in church, we all bring different gifts to the table. 00:29:05.759 --> 00:29:17.519 So if your church is you alone, in your room, in your house, you alone, you are missing out on all the other gifts that you don't have. 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:21.759 You need the church because you need the gifts of prophecy. 00:29:21.839 --> 00:29:28.640 If you're at a campus, you you didn't see this, but as Pastor David Moore was ending worship, he just gave a prophetic word to a gentleman over here. 00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:31.359 That's the types of things that happen in church. 00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:36.160 And they don't happen when we're alone, they happen when we bring all of our gifts together. 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:37.200 We need that. 00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:38.400 You need the church. 00:29:38.559 --> 00:29:42.559 You need all the gifts in order to experience the full body of Christ. 00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:50.640 The third thing I want to tell you is that the church needs you. 00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:53.359 The church needs you. 00:29:54.240 --> 00:30:06.480 If you stay home and you watch online, I hope and pray that it's because you're a member of the church and that you're on assignment or away for work or sick or susceptible, and all of that is fine. 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:10.400 That's why we've created the opportunity for you to stream the services online. 00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:17.359 But if you are watching online because you live in a different area, that's why we've created something called gatherings. 00:30:17.599 --> 00:30:26.079 And so uh you can then start a gathering and you're gonna have people around you, people that will join you in going to church with you. 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:28.799 And and so that's why gatherings exist. 00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:44.559 So if you live somewhere where there's not a gateway campus around you, and you say, Well, I don't know anybody else that watches Gateway online, um, you will soon, as soon as you start a gateway gathering and you invite people to join you in watching the service. 00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:46.960 You need people and they need you. 00:30:47.359 --> 00:30:49.279 We need to be together in this. 00:30:51.599 --> 00:30:58.240 It's really, really self-centered to say, you know what, I watch online and I get everything that I need. 00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:03.519 Because the church then doesn't get everything it needs from you. 00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:10.960 You are special, you are individual, you are part of the body of Christ, and we need you. 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:13.920 We need everything that you bring to this place. 00:31:14.079 --> 00:31:22.559 Even if you never volunteer a day in your life, we need your attendance because your presence is there to witness to people. 00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:33.279 Your presence is there to be kind to them, to be around community, to see a need, to place your hand on someone and pray for them, or to be there for them in a time of need. 00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:36.799 We need you in the body of Christ. 00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:43.359 We need your gifts and we need your presence because you bring your own unique calling and gifting to this body. 00:31:43.599 --> 00:31:47.759 First Corinthians 12, starting in verse 14, describes it this way. 00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:52.160 For the body does not consist of one member, but of many. 00:31:52.319 --> 00:31:58.799 If the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less part of the body. 00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:05.119 And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. 00:32:05.279 --> 00:32:08.720 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? 00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:11.920 If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 00:32:12.079 --> 00:32:17.920 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 00:32:18.400 --> 00:32:22.079 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:25.200 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 00:32:25.359 --> 00:32:34.640 Now listen to this the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 00:32:35.200 --> 00:32:42.880 A person cannot say to the church, I have no need of you, and the church cannot say to a person, I have no need of you. 00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:47.200 It is only together that we make the body of Christ. 00:32:47.759 --> 00:32:53.920 His physical body in human form is not here anymore, and that's why he uses that metaphor. 00:32:54.240 --> 00:32:56.319 Will you be my body? 00:32:56.799 --> 00:33:01.680 Will you be my arms that will wrap around the ones who are suffering and hurting? 00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:05.359 Will you be my feet that will go to the people that have never heard the gospel? 00:33:05.680 --> 00:33:09.200 Will you be the embodied love of Christ? 00:33:09.279 --> 00:33:12.319 And we can only accomplish that together. 00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:14.319 You are a gift to the church. 00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:38.400 Ephesians chapter 4, verse 15 says, 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 in which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. 00:33:39.519 --> 00:33:49.920 The way that we will grow is that all of us will join together, and the joints and the individual pieces of the body will be joined together, and then we will grow in what? 00:33:50.400 --> 00:33:51.039 Love. 00:33:52.400 --> 00:33:56.000 That's the true mission of the church is love. 00:33:56.400 --> 00:34:02.720 That's what we're called to do, that's what we're asked of Jesus to do, that's what we're here for is to love. 00:34:03.200 --> 00:34:05.359 Jesus loved the church. 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:07.359 Jesus went to church. 00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:13.440 In fact, it even says in the Bible that he went into the synagogue as was his custom. 00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:23.679 When I pass away, I wonder if my kids will say, He went to church as was his custom. 00:34:24.159 --> 00:34:28.320 Or if they'll say, Yes, we sporadically attended a few services. 00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:36.559 It was known that Jesus was there and in attendance because it was his custom. 00:34:37.199 --> 00:34:44.960 If you ask your kids, if you still have young kids, this is a really good barometer to say, what are the customs that we have as a family? 00:34:45.119 --> 00:34:55.280 And if they talk about where you go out to eat every week or what you do on Saturdays, or this or that, and they don't mention church, then that ought to be a point of self-reflection. 00:34:55.679 --> 00:34:56.960 I want to be known. 00:34:57.119 --> 00:35:02.880 If aliens look down on the earth and they're like, what does this dude, Josh Morse, do? 00:35:03.039 --> 00:35:13.440 They'll be like, I know he worships God because he goes all the time and he's there and he's present, and I see his behavior, and it reflects someone that worships someone bigger than him. 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:24.559 Jesus called at his father's house, and when he snuck away from his parents and they asked where he was, he said, I was in my father's house. 00:35:24.800 --> 00:35:29.280 Jesus loved the church, and then he asked us to love also. 00:35:29.760 --> 00:35:33.039 We just read it last week, and let's just go through it one more time. 00:35:33.199 --> 00:35:42.719 Ephesians 5, 25 says, Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:47.519 He loves, loves, loves the church. 00:35:48.320 --> 00:35:58.159 He loves when we gather together, when we call out to him, when we set all of our differences aside and we join together in one voice to worship him. 00:35:58.400 --> 00:35:59.599 He loves it. 00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:07.920 And he really, really, really loves it when we act as his body and we show love to those around us. 00:36:09.119 --> 00:36:11.840 It's the entire calling of the church. 00:36:12.719 --> 00:36:16.480 There's this uh great book called Help Her Be Brave. 00:36:16.719 --> 00:36:49.679 And uh in in the last chapter of the book, there's a story in there, and it's a story of a pastor, senior pastor of a church, and his daughter had gone away and gotten into a fairly uh wild or sinful life, and she ended up being with a man who was in and out of jail, and she ended up getting pregnant, and when she got pregnant, she came back to the church and back to her family, and the church was very welcoming and receiving of her, even though the father of the child was not in the picture at all. 00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.880 And uh she came back and and and they welcomed her back in, and the baby was born. 00:36:55.039 --> 00:37:02.800 She asked her dad, she said, I would like to dedicate my baby on the Sunday where we we do baby dedications. 00:37:03.039 --> 00:37:05.599 So her dad said, Of course, yes, we'll we'll do that. 00:37:05.840 --> 00:37:13.679 They were doing baby dedications, and they had maybe three or four families up there that they were going to dedicate those babies. 00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:19.199 And the way that this pastor would do it is that he would say, you know, this is so-and-so family. 00:37:19.440 --> 00:37:28.960 And would all the family members that represent this, these parents and this child stand up as we pray to dedicate this child? 00:37:29.119 --> 00:37:36.400 And the family members or close friends who had gathered together for the baby dedication would stand up, and then the church would pray over that child. 00:37:36.559 --> 00:37:40.079 So he went down the line and he said, Would the family members of this family stand up? 00:37:40.159 --> 00:37:43.840 And then the next one, would the family members of this family stand up? 00:37:43.920 --> 00:37:54.559 And then he gets to his daughter, and he says, Uh, would the family members who love and support this mother and her child please stand up? 00:37:55.760 --> 00:37:57.519 And the whole church stood up. 00:38:05.119 --> 00:38:11.920 There's people all around us that are hurting, that are broken. 00:38:12.480 --> 00:38:32.880 Within this body and within our community around us, there are widows, widowers, orphans, there are marriages that are hurting, there are relationships that are broken, there are people that are hungry, there are families that can't pay their electric bill, they're all around us, there is a need. 00:38:34.320 --> 00:38:41.280 So in every campus and at every gathering, I want to ask you a question. 00:38:42.079 --> 00:38:47.679 For those people that I just described, as if they're standing right here on the platform. 00:38:49.840 --> 00:39:01.440 If you want to be a family that will help love and support those that are lost, hurting, and broken, would you stand up? 00:39:14.719 --> 00:39:18.800 Take a moment in here and at every campus to look around for just a second. 00:39:20.800 --> 00:39:22.159 This is your community. 00:39:23.760 --> 00:39:29.119 These are the people who are family, and you belong here. 00:39:30.880 --> 00:39:35.199 You are loved and you are well received in this place. 00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:39.039 Would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me if you will? 00:39:41.519 --> 00:39:46.000 Lord, you asked us to love and you asked us to love unconditionally. 00:39:48.079 --> 00:39:50.320 And Lord, we want to be just like you. 00:39:52.480 --> 00:40:10.159 So, Lord, I pray a blessing over Gateway Church that you would cause this house, every campus and every gathering to be a beacon of light and hope and truth to every community that surrounds it. 00:40:11.280 --> 00:40:24.639 And Lord, may the lost, the hurting, the broken, the destitute come running to this place because they know that this family will welcome them and embrace them. 00:40:26.639 --> 00:40:36.880 Lord, teach us to sow love everywhere that there's hatred, teach us to bring joy everywhere where there is sadness. 00:40:40.079 --> 00:40:45.039 Lord, teach us to bring hope in every place where hope has been lost. 00:40:46.320 --> 00:40:50.719 Teach us to bring healing in every place where people are hurting. 00:40:52.320 --> 00:41:00.239