The Purpose of the Tools - Pastor Eric Skelton

What if your job, your neighborhood, and your everyday conversations aren’t random… but actually your mission field?

In this episode, we’re flipping the question. Instead of asking what the church can do for you, we’re asking what God has already placed inside of you for the world around you. The gifts you think are “ordinary” might be the exact tools God wants to use in powerful ways.

When you let Him lead, what feels like common grace turns into something uncommon.

So the real question is… are you staying on the sidelines, or are you ready to step in and be part of what God is doing?

At The Neighborhood Church, we believe faith is lived out in everyday rhythms of love, grace, and purpose. Learn more and connect with us at https://theneighborhoodchurch.com/

Transcript

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So this morning we start a brand new series. And that phrase at the very end of the video, let's go, that can be a heavy phrase. For you know, you saw the story, these two men on the road from Emmaus. That phrase, let's go, do you know what it actually meant for them? It meant a seven-mile sprint back to Jerusalem. They were so excited about what they had learned and saw with Jesus in the resurrection that they had to go back and tell. And so they ran seven miles back to Jerusalem. Anybody run seven miles lately? Recently? There we go. Serge, good job. The rest of you all slackers. No, I'm teasing. I'm teasing. I've not ran seven miles either, so. But think about it. As they're running, they're getting back into Jerusalem, their hearts are burning, their feet are probably sore. Their eyes, though, their eyes were finally open. They were finally open to what they saw. And they realized that you cannot, you cannot, let me say it again, you cannot encounter a risen, living Jesus and stay exactly where you are. You can't. It doesn't work. Over the last couple of months, and it's been actually 11 weeks, so uh we've been laying this foundation. And you've you've you've been here, we've talked about it. If you haven't been here, you can actually hop on our church website, which you can access through the blue dot. And you can follow and go back and re-listen to the messages, whether you want to watch it on YouTube, or you can even listen to it on a podcast. Do you know your church has a podcast? Yeah, that's pretty cool. So you're driving, you're like, hey, I missed that Sunday. I want to go back and listen to that message. You can do that, and it's just the message. I'm sorry, it's my voice, but it's just the message. We've been traveling 11 weeks from this series from law to life. Jesus gives life. And we celebrated that last Sunday with an awesome, awesome Easter Sunday. There were so many folks that helped out and served and prepared and planned and worked and set up and cleaned up and all this stuff. Thank you so much. Thank you for your efforts. Last Sunday was phenomenal. It was amazing. And Easter was where we celebrate that victory over death. That victory where we're no longer under the condemnation, the thumb of the law that we could never ever fulfill. Now Jesus fulfilled the law. And we are under relationship of Jesus. Amen? So here's the reality we have to face, though, this morning. As we begin this new series, Common Grace, Uncommon Power, I want you to hear this phrase. If the tomb is empty, is it empty? If the tomb is empty, the pews shouldn't be the only place where God's power is seen. Let that sink in just for a second. If the tomb is empty, which it is, then the church, this place, should not be the only place where God's power is seen. If it's seen at all. Michael, I know you've been to many, many churches. I know a number of you have stepped into other churches and been to other places, maybe on a visit or family or vacation, or where y'all go to church on vacation? My family would do that. They would plan out like where we go on where the good Nazarene church was. Thanks, Mom and Dad. No, I'm teased. We've been to a number of churches, and and and and you can tell when you step in and are among and around those people, whether it's alive or dead. Right? You can sense it, you can feel it. Folks, the church should not be the only place where the power of God is exhibited. For a long time, our Western model, I say Western, this mainly USA, I would say. The church is operated on a common see model. We've built big buildings, we've put on programs here at the property, we have all, and I'm not going to say anything bad again because I love our property. I think we have a fantastic space. And you have invested your time and your money and your efforts into that, and we'll continue to use that space. But here's the thing: we've operated on a model of where you come and see church. Folks, that's not the model that was planted. That's not the bride that Jesus is coming back for. The bride that Jesus is coming back for is a go and be church. But for too long, I think we've put on the model of who has the best services, who has the music that fits my style, who has the better coffee or the best cafe. We do. And we invite people to come and see. Am I wrong? And look, I'll be the first one to say, I love what happens here. I love this church. I love what you are doing and how welcoming and kind you are. I love our children's ministry and our youth ministry and next generations and young adults and small groups and senior adults and all that takes place here. I love it. I think you're doing a great job. But here's the issue. Come and see that model is never, was never intended to be the finish line. This is the training ground. This is the practice gym. I had the luxury of going to a high school that that uh had that put some emphasis in sports. Some do, some don't. I get it, that's right. But we had a we had our big basketball gym, which our boys played and uh and girls played volleyball at Treveca's gym. Fantastic floor, by the way. I love your floor. Those of you who are in sport, you you can tell a good floor. Treveca's got a great basketball floor. TCC, not so much. But Treveca's got a great floor. At my high school, we had we had a fantastic basketball floor. But then right next door, we also had the practice gym. And oftentimes, because there was men's basketball, varsity, junior varsity, women's basketball, varsity, junior varsity, cheerleading, not really a sport, that's fine. Um teasing. Um we'd have to share gym space. And you know what? I would much rather play on the big real gym floor than the practice gym floor. Folks, I want you to know that as church goes, this is the practice gym. This is the practice gem. What we learn here and what we do here is not meant to stay here. The resurrection of Jesus wasn't just an invitation to a place called heaven. I want you to know that. It was a commissioning for a mission on earth. So, folks, listen, if you have the Holy Spirit inside of you, if you've allowed him to come in and take control of who you are, if you've surrendered to him, then you're no longer just a spectator. You're no longer just a member sitting in a seat. You're no longer just an audience. You are a carrier of a common grace that is meant to manifest itself in an uncommon power. Let's jump in this morning if you're ready. We're gonna be seven weeks in this series, so buckle up. Get ready. Seven is better than eleven, though, so it's a little bit shorter. So hopefully we can stay plugged in for seven weeks. But whether you've been following Jesus for 40 years, or you're just just still trying to figure out what all this is about, or even if it's all real, I believe this series, this time is for you. I really do. And so during this time, we're gonna stop asking. I want you to hear me. We're gonna stop asking, what can the church do for me? And instead, we're gonna start asking, what has God put in me for the world? That's what we're gonna start asking. This is a mindset shift. It might be difficult for some. If you're struggling, come and talk to me. Talk to someone. Let's figure this out together. Part of my role as pastor isn't just to preach and run my mouth on a Sunday morning. It's to help help give you guidance and direction as we as we figure out this spiritual journey together. So if you're struggling, and some of the stuff that we talk about, you're like, Pastor, I just don't buy it. I don't get it. It makes let's let's talk. Let me buy you a coffee. All right? Let's figure it out. Today we're gonna start talking about uh your gifts. Everyone is gifted. Yes? Everyone's gifted. We're gonna talk about your talents. Uh, we're gonna talk about your common everyday strengths, like your ability to organize a mess. Anyone have any organizers in here? We have a couple organizers. That's good. Yeah, yeah. Come see me at the parsonage later. I'm teasing. We we homeschool, so we live in constant, right? Yeah? Homeschool parents, you know what I'm talking about. Some of you have a have a knack for encouraging people. We have some encouragers in here. Yeah. Some of you have skills in business and marketing. You understand the economy. We're gonna learn how to unwrap the tools that God has placed in our hands, and then we're gonna learn how to sharpen those tools, and then we're gonna realize that when we step out these walls, we leave this place that we don't leave God's power behind. This is the practice, Jim. This is the training ground. We're gonna take it with us, and we're gonna go and be. Are you with me? Folks, the world does not need churches that say come and see anymore. With the click of a button on your computer, with a couple of taps on your phone screen, you can go to any church you want to go to. You can listen to any podcast, any TED talk, you can find information, anything that you want to. The world does not need another church that says, come and see us. The world needs a church that goes and shows them how good God is. Do you agree with me? Open your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Bibles, phones, tablets, whatever you want to use this morning. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, and we're gonna jump in. As you're turning there, uh, this is the Apostle Paul writing to a church in Corinth, Corinthians, that was messy. I I like messy churches. I like now hold on, don't take that, don't be offended by that. Um if Jody was in here, she'd be offended by that. Um but I that's not what I'm saying. This is not messy, but sort of, sort of. I like I like messy churches because I think you can have one of two things. You can either have everything clean and organized and put together nice and neat and stable, or you can have a little bit messy organ organized and experience a lot of fun and growth. Does that make sense? I'm not talking about clutter. I'm not talking about stuff. I'm not talking about things like that. By the way, don't go back there because it's no, no, I'm teasing. I'm talking about working through all the things of life. Because let's be honest. What we present on a Sunday morning looks nice, neat, clean, organized, put together. But folks, how many of us had arguments in the car on the way here? How many of us struggled getting our kids ready this morning? How many of us were up late last night because we were stewing about what took place the week prior? We're a mess inside. And that's okay because we serve the one who knows how to manage that mess and still use his people, yeah? Paul writes to a church in Corinth that was messy. They were gifted, but yet they were kind of confused. They were trying to figure out this life in the new, this new church in Jesus versus digging around and trying to navigate the old law that they thought they were held under. See, before Christ, religion was all about the law. It was all about keeping the rules. Uh uh, this uh a set of mirrors, and we stand in front of it, it shows us how dirty our face is and what we need to clean up and what we need to fix. But we don't have any water or utilities or things to wash it. See, in their world, it was all about containment. But what took place after the resurrection was life. In the old covenant, God had a temple for his people. In the new covenant, God has a people for his temple. That is you. I want you to know that you're not just a member of a social club. Uh you are now a carrier, an active participant in the life of the kingdom. And so Paul starts this chapter in 1 Corinthians 12. And he's he says it in this sort of way. He says, I I do not want you to be uninformed. That's that's good, right? I don't I don't want you to be uninformed. I don't want you to be ignorant. Don't be a billionaire living like a beggar because you forgot to check your spiritual bank account. I wonder how many churches operate that way. But they have no idea the resources that are available. But yet we operate like somebody on the street begging. Listen to me, when I say resource, I'm not talking about bank account. I'm not talking about any of that stuff, physical stuff. I'm talking about the actual power of God in his people right now. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 1 through 3. Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to mute idols. However, you were led. Therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says, Jesus is cursed, and no one can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit. Let's dig into this a little bit for a second. Paul reminds them that they used to be led towards these mute idols, that phrase. That's kind of weird. But I'm going to explain what he's talking about. You know, idols, idols are takers. Idols give nothing. Idols take. They demand your time, your money, your anxiety, your stress, and they give absolutely nothing back. But the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, and he's going to get to this later on, the Holy Spirit is a giver. That's good news, wouldn't you agree? He makes a distinction. No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. This is our, this should be, hopefully it becomes, we're going to work on it. This should be our regular operating system. Or in Mac phrases, this is our OS. Right? You like that? I'm learning. Gus is teaching me some stuff. So before we use the tools or the gifts that God has blessed his people with, we have to learn the right power source. Yeah? Spiritual gifts. I want you to know that they're not they're not badges of merit. Remember the days of caravan in the Church of the Nazarene? We had our sash and we had our our uh the what was the thing around the neck? That was the scarf and the sash. There we go. Thank you. And man, you we'd go to caravan classes and and we'd we'd we'd do this, and we'd earn our badges, and then the the stars and the pens, and then, and then finally you get to the end and you get the Phineas F. Brazille Award. Man, I always wanted that, but I never wanted to put in the work, so I didn't get it. I always felt awkward because I was the kid that had like 17 holes missing on the sash. Like, oh, didn't do that one. Nope, didn't do that one. It's alright. But folks, spiritual gifts aren't badges of merit. Spiritual gifts are tools of grace. They're tools of grace. You did not earn the talents that you have. You didn't. You didn't you didn't earn your temperament. You didn't earn your spiritual knack for helping people. It's a gift. Everything that you have is a gift. God does not give you tools to make you look important. And just so you know, that this is preaching to me right now. God does not give you tools to make you look important or to have status. He gives you tools to make him visible. Because guess what, Eric? It's not about you. Guess what, Eric? It's not about your accomplishments. It's not about what you can say or what you can do or how you can lead. It's about how are we pointing people back to him. That's why he gives us gifts. It's not about status, it's not about titles. It's about what we can do to point others back to Jesus. Now, verses 4 to 6 begin to talk about the different types of gifts. Now, there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord. And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all. Listen to this, in everyone. You know, another Greek translation for that word everyone is all. And if you remember, I've done a deep dive in the Greek study on that word all. Do you know what it means? All. Yeah. Yeah. Nobody's left out. It's all. That's good news, right? I don't know, but I don't like to be left out. So this is good news because we're not left out. Pretty cool, right? Look at the language here. Paul's describing this massive divine toolbox. I thought about bringing a toolbox over and setting it up, but I didn't want to lift up the stairs. So he's describing this massive divine toolbox. He's talking about gifts. There's different kinds of gifts. These are the power tools. Power tools are fun, aren't they? As long as you know how to use them and don't hurt yourself. These are the power tools. Gifts are supernatural enablers. We need those. Then he talks about service. These are the job sites. These are the job sites, the places where the tools are used. And then he talks about the working, the activities, the working. These are the blueprints, the results that God brings about. But here's the, I think the ouch moment. Maybe it's just for me. It probably is just for me. But God is a creator, not a franchise owner. He isn't looking for clones. He isn't looking for clones. He's looking for folks to collaborate with. He designed you to be in relationship with you, which means he's going to partner with you in ministry. He's going to equip people with exactly what they need to accomplish the mission that he has. Folks, we have everything we need. He is gifted, he is given. Now it's our job to unpack it, plug it in, and use it. We often fail to go and be because we're too busy trying to be someone else. Social media has only exasperated this. Because in order to be popular, we have to look like this person or act like this person or use that product or whatever. We think if I say we, I think. I think if if I can't preach like a pastor, like this pastor, or or or maybe uh I can't sing like that worship leader, or or I don't have this tool, then I'm not good enough. I might as well just take a seat in the back row and watch everyone else. Folks, I want you to know the kingdom doesn't just need hammers. Because if all we're doing is hammering away, it's just going to be a bunch of noise and a bunch of dents. It needs architects, it needs electricians, it needs plumbers, it needs landscapers, it needs decorators, it needs every single piece. See, your common grace, your your natural ability to organize or to empathize or to lead or to serve, it will become an uncommon power when you hand the handle of that tool to the Holy Spirit. Verse 7 of chapter twelve says this to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. I love that word, that phrase, the common good. Some of you might that might have triggered, no, we're not talking about socialism. All right? Don't even let that be in your mind. It's not socialism. This really is the hinge of the entire series. We're gonna begin to learn why do you have the gift? Why am I more inclined to this? Is it for your self accusation? Or is it so you can maybe can feel feel fulfilled? Is it about me? I can pretty clearly tell you the answer is no to all those questions. See, the Holy Spirit doesn't give you a gift so you can admire it in the mirror. So you can share it with others. The common good doesn't just happen within these four walls right here. It can. And it should. Because we're one body, we're one family, right? It should happen here. But it should happen more out there. If you have the gift of administration, the common good needs you in that local nonprofit. Right? If you have the gift of encouragement, the common good needs you in that toxic break room at your office. You have the gift of mercy. That common good needs you in a hospital waiting room. See, a tool that stays in the tool shed is just a piece of metal and wood. That's it. But a tool in the hand of the master, that's when it gets exciting. That's when it gets exciting. I love to watch master techni or uh masters at their craft, whether it's a an auto technician or uh a carver or a sculptor, uh a glass blower. Have you ever looked at the tools they use? The tools are so extremely simple. They're so simple. In fact, I've got some of the same tools in my toolbox that some of these master craftsmen have, but there is no way I can accomplish what they do. Because they've learned to harness the power of that tool. And they've made beautiful things. Folks, if you'll just let the master have control of the tool, he will do amazing and beautiful things through you. As we move through this series, we're gonna we're gonna identify some specific tools. We're gonna test them, we're gonna sharpen them, and then the most important part, we're gonna deploy them. That's the most important part. Next week, you're gonna get to see a living example of this. You may have heard it in the announcement video. We're so excited to have the Radis, our missionaries from Argentina with us next week, next Sunday, right here in service. If you have friends that speak Spanish, bring them because they'll speak in Spanish and translate it into English. They are wonderful people. They are wonderful folks. Following service, so mark this on your calendar. Go ahead and mark it down. Get your phone out, mark it down. Following service, we're gonna have a fellowship together because I want you to be able to just be around one another, but also if you have an opportunity to talk to the Roddies. Uh we'll have a fellowship down in the Family Life Center after service. Everyone's invited. You all come. Bring with you, please, if you would, a side and a dessert. Can you do that? So, side and dessert. I like coconut cream pie. I like a good mac and cheese. Uh no, I'm I could go on and on for what I like. Next Sunday, we're gonna see this in action. You're gonna see a living example of folks that have said, okay, God, I'm gonna surrender absolutely everything to you. I'll even move across the globe and do whatever you want me to. I'm excited for you to see them and to hear them. They realized that the common good was a global mandate. And they surrendered every ounce of who they were to go. But for you, today we have a simple challenge. Each week as we go through this, there's gonna be an activity/slash challenge for us to hone and sharpen our skills, to figure out the manual for the tools that God has given us, and then to deploy them. So here's our challenge today. Stop treating your faith like a spectator sport. And ask the question, Lord, what tool do you want to use today? What tool do you want to use today? Stop treating your faith like a spectator sport. Folks, we're not here to watch a performance. If you come here just to listen to me preach, there are so many better preachers on there. I believe that you're here to receive your equipment, be encouraged, and then sent to be the church. Folks, the world does not need more people who come and see how good our church is, even though you guys are awesome. What the world needs is a church that goes and bees how good our God is. That's what the world needs. And I believe that's the path that God has called the neighborhood church to. The neighborhood church shouldn't be contained in a building, it should be in the neighborhood. Yes? So this week, look at your life. Look at your job, look at your family, look at your relationships, look at your hobbies. Not as a secular obligation, but look at it as a job site. Look at it as a mission field and ask God, Lord, which tool do you want to use today? I'm in the office. What do you want to do today? I gotta go to the grocery store and then I have a medical appointment. What do you want to do today? I've got to wait for an hour and a half and the kids pick up line at school. What do you want to do today? I'm going to church. I'm going to small group. What do you want to do today? Folks, don't leave your tools in the tool shed. Don't leave your tools in the practice gym. I believe that the master is primed and ready to work. I also believe this: he's chosen you. You are here on purpose for a reason. It's not an accident. I've never met someone who tripped and stumbled out of their house, fell into their car, it turned on, it went into drive, and they safely arrived in the parking lot, and then barrel rolled out of the car and landed in a pew. I've never met someone like that. If you have, let me know. I want to talk to them. You made a conscious decision, you are here on purpose. God has a plan for you. And through that amazing ride and journey, God will fulfill his mission through you, his creation. So, Lord, what tool do you want to use today? He's chosen to use your hands.