SPEAKER_00: As I was preparing for this sermon, I was reminded of a few things that influence us as Christians living in a culture in a world that obviously is not Christian and does not support our Christian view of the world.
SPEAKER_00: We live in a society that values radical autonomy, radical individualism, pride, envy, and covetousness are normative and some might even say virtuous for some.
SPEAKER_00: But then when you become a Christian, everything changes, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's like the Lord gives you new glasses by which you're supposed to look at the entire world through and live your life in accordance to that.
SPEAKER_00: Two passages of scripture came to mind as I was just even just looking at some of the current events going on around the world, certain narratives that are put in front of us trying to shape how we think and lead our lives.
SPEAKER_00: I was reminded of Paul in Corinthians when he says, referring to Jesus, and he died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.
SPEAKER_00: Just reminds me.
SPEAKER_00: The world says, live for yourself, live for your comfort, live for your happiness, live for you pursuing the American dream.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul says, Jesus died for his church, so that those who now live in him should no longer live for themselves, but live for the one who died for them and was raised.
SPEAKER_00: In 1 Corinthians, he says, a person should think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and managers of the mysteries of God.
SPEAKER_00: In this regard, it is required that managers be found faithful.
SPEAKER_00: In some translations, that word managers is stewards.
SPEAKER_00: Stewards be found faithful.
SPEAKER_00: The biblical narrative for those who are in Christ is Jesus went to great lengths to purchase you on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, you are no longer your own.
SPEAKER_00: You belong to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, you are to live as if that's true.
SPEAKER_00: Your whole life is to be this act of worship to Jesus who died and resurrected on your behalf, and you are to live a life in which you worship him by being a faithful steward of all that he has entrusted to you.
SPEAKER_00: Or another way to summarize that is your life is a gift and an assignment from God.
SPEAKER_00: Your life is a gift and an assignment from God.
SPEAKER_00: Think about it, not a single one of you right now is keeping yourself alive.
SPEAKER_00: You have no idea probably how all the organs in your body are even working in this very moment.
SPEAKER_00: And yet God is the one in his divine providence who is caring for every last one of us, sustaining us because we belong to him.
SPEAKER_00: So as we move through this series on stewardship, as I said last week, I think many, when they hear that word stewardship or generosity, they immediately go to finances.
SPEAKER_00: We'll get to that at some point.
SPEAKER_00: But brothers and sisters, before we get to that, we got to understand what it means to be a steward before the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean that my whole life is one of stewardship, my time, my money, my gifts that the Lord has entrusted to me, every fabric of my being, I am to steward as an act of whole life worship to the Jesus who died and resurrected on my behalf.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's why we're gonna look at Romans 12, verses 1 through 8 and focus on this.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel of God's grace produces total surrender and selfless service.
SPEAKER_00: If you are redeemed by the blood of Jesus this morning, if you are in Christ, a follower of Jesus Christ, well, that same gospel that saved you should produce total surrender and selfless service for a lifetime until the Lord calls you home in glory.
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna look at two things, starting in verses one through two.
SPEAKER_00: And hopefully I'm going to try to cast a vision for you guys.
SPEAKER_00: If you're in Christ, what does whole life stewardship and worship look like for a Christian, according to God's word in Romans 12, 1 through 8?
SPEAKER_00: Looking at verses 1 through 2, I want you to see this.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, your whole life is an act of worship and service.
SPEAKER_00: There's no way around that.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible is explicitly clear.
SPEAKER_00: Your whole life should be an act of worship and service.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verses one and two.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, let's just stop there.
SPEAKER_00: The mercies of God is just referring to all the rich gospel doctrine Paul has been unpacking from chapters one all the way up to chapter 11.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, Hey, after all that beautiful doctrine I have been unpacking, helping you understand your union with Christ, the fact that you were dead in your sins and trespasses and could not save yourself, and Jesus died on your behalf, united him to himself.
SPEAKER_00: You were buried with, you died with him, buried with him, were raised with him.
SPEAKER_00: You receive all those glorious gifts.
SPEAKER_00: So, in light of the mercies of God, therefore, brothers and sisters, live like this.
SPEAKER_00: I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.
SPEAKER_00: This is your true worship.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: So, in light of all of God's saving and sovereign grace and the believers' union with Christ, Paul says, therefore, connecting to what he has said previously, this is how you live as a Christian.
SPEAKER_00: Now, there's Old Testament imagery here.
SPEAKER_00: When he says, offer yourself as a living sacrifice, Paul was a master teacher.
SPEAKER_00: He knew exactly what he was doing.
SPEAKER_00: His audience would have been familiar with the Old Testament sacrificial system, the fact that they would sacrifice animals, uh, or you know, and sometimes a sacrificial lamb.
SPEAKER_00: And they were accustomed with when they would sacrifice an animal, it wasn't like, yeah, get the three-legged sheep and sacrifice that one.
SPEAKER_00: Like, give your lease to God.
SPEAKER_00: No, they understood, no, you give your best.
SPEAKER_00: You find the spotless sheep that had no blemishes.
SPEAKER_00: That is what you offer to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: That is what they were accustomed to.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul is now saying, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: Now you offer yourself as a living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: So here's the distinction.
SPEAKER_00: In the Old Testament system, they had to continuously sacrifice animals, right?
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because the blood of animals never truly atoned for sin.
SPEAKER_00: That's that was some of the purpose.
SPEAKER_00: God's showing them this isn't enough.
SPEAKER_00: You need something greater.
SPEAKER_00: And that one day will be my son, who will be the ultimate sacrificial lamb and high priest, and will offer himself once and for all on your behalf.
SPEAKER_00: So they understand this concept of sacrifices, but Paul is now saying, now you offer yourself as a living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: Now he obviously doesn't mean you're offering yourself as a sacrifice to God to make atonement as the uh Israelites used to do.
SPEAKER_00: We're not offering ourselves to make atonement, we're offering ourselves because atonement has already been made.
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00: We are offering ourselves as a living sacrifice because God has already made atonement for our sins.
SPEAKER_00: And in response to such infinite grace, we offer ourselves as active living sacrifices to the Father for all that he has done on our behalf.
SPEAKER_00: Now, when he says offer your bodies, some think he's referring primarily just to our physical bodies.
SPEAKER_00: But I think he's he's certainly not saying less than that, but he's saying a whole lot more.
SPEAKER_00: So, yes, offer your physical selves to Jesus as a living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: But I believe what Paul and the Lord through Paul is trying to capture is offer your whole being to God.
SPEAKER_00: Just how in the scriptures, whenever it refers to the term the heart, it's not referring to the organ in your ribcage, it's referring to every aspect of your being, your will, your beliefs, everything offered to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So this offering your bodies as a living sacrifice is Paul saying your whole being.
SPEAKER_00: Remember when Jesus was asked, what is the greatest commandment?
SPEAKER_00: What was Jesus' response?
SPEAKER_00: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, your mind, and your strength.
SPEAKER_00: What was he saying?
SPEAKER_00: Love God with all of you.
SPEAKER_00: With your whole being, love the Father.
SPEAKER_00: So what Paul is getting at, friends, is if you are in Christ, if you understand all this rich gospel doctrine he's been unpacking for the first 11 chapters, he's saying the only logical response to such grace is to offer your whole self back to God as a living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: That is what he is saying.
SPEAKER_00: Paul uses sacrificial language deliberately.
SPEAKER_00: Because think about it, in the Old Testament, once an animal was placed on the altar as a sacrifice, it stayed there.
SPEAKER_00: It dies.
SPEAKER_00: You got to go get another animal to do it again.
SPEAKER_00: You can't repeat with the same animal.
SPEAKER_00: Paul calls us living sacrifices, which creates a unique problem for some of us if we're honest, if we really examine our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: Because as a living sacrifice, maybe sometimes we put ourselves on the altar but then jump right off.
SPEAKER_00: We keep climbing back off the altar instead of continuously offering ourselves as a living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul's saying in the Old Testament system, you offer one animal one time, then you have to get another one.
SPEAKER_00: But now, for you new covenant Christians, you're a living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: This is an ongoing thing.
SPEAKER_00: You are daily, hourly offering yourself to God because you recognize the only reason why I'm even here is because of his grace.
SPEAKER_00: So we have to ask ourselves an honest question.
SPEAKER_00: When we look at what Paul is saying, so the conclusion for him, therefore, brothers and sisters, in view, this is the backdrop, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.
SPEAKER_00: This is your true worship.
SPEAKER_00: I even love that language, present.
SPEAKER_00: Just like in the Old Testament, you present your sacrifice to God, and if it's acceptable, God is pleased by it.
SPEAKER_00: Same goes for us.
SPEAKER_00: We present ourselves as living sacrifices, pleasing to the Lord, holy, meaning set apart for his service, and that is our true worship.
SPEAKER_00: Now, here's an honest question for all of us to ask ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Because we will read text like this and say, yes, amen.
SPEAKER_00: I agree with that.
SPEAKER_00: But is your to is your devotion to God conditional, unconditional, or conditional?
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Because there's a difference between someone who is devoted to God and someone who offers themselves as a living sacrifice when it's convenient to them.
SPEAKER_00: A convenient, conditional sacrifice looks like this.
SPEAKER_00: I'll offer myself to the Lord and serve the Lord as long as I don't have to make myself uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_00: I'll serve the Lord as long as I don't have to open my home to other people.
SPEAKER_00: I'll attend church as long as it's convenient.
SPEAKER_00: As long as I got enough sleep and you know, I feel good and I have my coffee.
SPEAKER_00: I'll serve the Lord as long as it fits my schedule because I don't want to inconvenience what I got going on this week.
SPEAKER_00: I'll give to the church as long as I still have plenty left over to do all the stuff I want to do.
SPEAKER_00: None of the people who talk like that would ever say I'm not devoted to God.
SPEAKER_00: None of those people would ever say, I don't love the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: But love that only shows up when it's easy is not love at all.
SPEAKER_00: That's a customized Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: I'm devoted to Jesus, I offer him at myself as a living sacrifice only if Jesus asked me to do stuff I already want to do in the first place.
SPEAKER_00: That is not worshiping Jesus, that is worshiping yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine if Jesus offered himself like that on your behalf.
SPEAKER_00: Like, Father, I mean, I guess I'll die for him as long as like if I'm free Wednesday.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'll succumb to the slander and the abuse and the ultimate murder that I'm gonna endure as long as you know I'm gonna get something in return that is worth my time.
SPEAKER_00: If our savior related to us like that, friends, none of us would be in this room worshiping Jesus this morning, would we?
SPEAKER_00: Positive examples of offering ourselves, presenting ourselves as living sacrifices is when Christians talk like this.
SPEAKER_00: It's the member who keeps showing up to serve in obscurity.
SPEAKER_00: No applause, no formal title, because they're not doing it for the audience, they're doing it out of gratitude for what Jesus has done for them over 2,000 years ago.
SPEAKER_00: Or the family that opens their home repeatedly knowing this is increasing my grocery budget, kids are running around, they're breaking stuff in my house.
SPEAKER_00: But I do it because hospitality is an act of worship.
SPEAKER_00: Or the family who makes Sundays like what we're doing this morning, a non-negotiable.
SPEAKER_00: Because they recognize the beauty of gathering with their faith family.
SPEAKER_00: This is why when I stand up every morning I say, Welcome to this gathering of Redeemer Church.
SPEAKER_00: A gathering is what a church fundamentally is.
SPEAKER_00: So the person who treats Sunday as optional, I would suggest lovingly, has misunderstood what a church fundamentally is.
SPEAKER_00: So whenever we as Christians maybe say, I'm devoted to Jesus, I offer myself as a living sacrifice, but you're not committed to gathering with Jesus' people, I think Jesus and the apostles are just confused what you mean when you say you're devoted to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just give some practical examples just to encourage you guys as you lead your lives.
SPEAKER_00: Your career decisions should show that you offer yourself as a living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: So if we willfully as Christians take jobs that we know are gonna take us away from the gathered congregation on Sunday mornings, that's not a wise, God-honoring decision.
SPEAKER_00: You are voluntarily saying, I will not gather with the saints.
SPEAKER_00: Where you choose to live, make sure it's based on how you're gonna offer yourself as a living sacrifice to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: If we choose to live in places that will hinder us worshiping and gathering and ministering to the local flock we've covenanted with, that's a problem.
SPEAKER_00: Or the family activities we pursue.
SPEAKER_00: If you pursue activities that you know, well, that's gonna make us super tired on a Saturday, we're gonna be burnt down, we're probably just gonna sleep in, not go to church, or do we'll just watch church online, well, then that's not really being devoted to offering yourself as a living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: It's getting quieter and quieter.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know why.
SPEAKER_00: These things are important.
SPEAKER_00: They are important because it shows here's the thing as Christians, we can be guilty of two things saying right things about the Bible and God, but in practice contradicting what we say.
SPEAKER_00: We can say we love God, but then when God clearly in his divine providence places ministry opportunities in front of us and we just turn the other direction, that shows what we truly believe.
SPEAKER_00: If we say, I really love God, but I'm willing to pursue sin, knowing it's sinful, I'm gonna live with my significant other, and we're gonna live in sexual sin.
SPEAKER_00: Or I'm gonna say I'm a God-on Christian, I'm gonna lie on my taxes.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, that shows what you really believe, not what you say you believe.
SPEAKER_00: The gathered body of Christ is not optional because it's where the body functions as a body.
SPEAKER_00: So missing the Sunday gathering with your family isn't just missing a service, it's it's the body missing a member, so to speak.
SPEAKER_00: So the person who treats Sunday as optional, I would say lovingly, has misunderstood what a church actually is.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, you're just a pastor, you're biased, you're just trying to get everyone to show up on Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, because the Bible mandates it.
SPEAKER_00: Not because God is just trying to get you to check boxes and we're trying to be legalistic, because God says, I love my children so much that I created this beautiful institution called the local church where you can live as an offering to me using your gifts for the edification of the saints you have covenanted with.
SPEAKER_00: So the church is God's best for his people.
SPEAKER_00: Turn over, a lot of people love to quote this verse, but turn over to Hebrews chapter 10 real quick, to the right of Romans.
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews chapter 10, 23 through 25.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of people like to use this verse to hit people over the head and say, This is why you shouldn't skip Sunday service.
SPEAKER_00: But I want to give the context here so you see why this is significant to God and the author of Hebrews.
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews chapter 10, beginning in verse 22.
SPEAKER_00: And as I read this, keep in mind that the author of Hebrews is giving this exhortation to a local church family, not to the universal church just broadly primarily, but primarily to a local church.
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews chapter 10, verse 22.
SPEAKER_00: Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.
SPEAKER_00: Let us, corporate exhortation, let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful, and let us corporate language consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other and all the more as you see the day approaching.
SPEAKER_00: According to God's word, the Sunday gathering is like training ground to help protect you from sin.
SPEAKER_00: But the way God designed church family is we help sharpen each other to resist temptation and sin and to spur one another on towards love and good deeds.
SPEAKER_00: Why am I camping out on this right now?
SPEAKER_00: Because I want to encourage you guys to offer yourselves as a living sacrifice means we have to ask the question, okay, what does that look like?
SPEAKER_00: Because the exhortations we're looking at in Romans 12, 1 through 8 are all uh exhortations Paul is giving to a local church congregation and how they are to live out their Christian lives in community with one another.
SPEAKER_00: So, brothers, if you ever see a member who is going astray, go after them.
SPEAKER_00: If you ever talk with a member who you love and you hear they're considering a job that you know is gonna take them away from the Sunday gathering, talk to them.
SPEAKER_00: Brother or sister, that is not a wise decision.
SPEAKER_00: If you know someone making decisions that is going to do that, that's gonna bring spiritual harm to their sanctification, love them enough to pursue them, to counsel them and exhort them, no matter what it may be.
SPEAKER_00: All right, I'm off that soapbox.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul goes on.
SPEAKER_00: He says, so yes, offer your present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.
SPEAKER_00: This is your true worship.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 2, do not be conform to this age.
SPEAKER_00: Do you notice that that is a command?
SPEAKER_00: Do not be conform to this age.
SPEAKER_00: But then there's a positive command.
SPEAKER_00: But be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
SPEAKER_00: That word conform carries the idea of being fashioned after or molded after something externally, shaped from the outside in.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, Christian, don't let that happen to you.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let that happen to you, which implies the world is trying to do that to you, Christian.
SPEAKER_00: No one in this room is neutral from the effects of the world.
SPEAKER_00: Let's just be honest.
SPEAKER_00: We still have a sin nature.
SPEAKER_00: We are inclined at times to be enticed by the things of the world.
SPEAKER_00: None of us is exempt from that temptation.
SPEAKER_00: We have to put up an ongoing battle against the conditioning of the world.
SPEAKER_00: And let's just be honest.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we all have different testimonies in here.
SPEAKER_00: So I got saved when I was an adult, I can vividly still remember my life before Christ.
SPEAKER_00: There are things with God's help I have to keep unlearning.
SPEAKER_00: And the same is true for everybody in this room.
SPEAKER_00: So think about it.
SPEAKER_00: If you lived as the devil for 21 years and God saved you, that is 21 years of you building ungodly ways of thinking, behaving, reacting, and so on and so forth.
SPEAKER_00: And now that you are in Christ, you have to renew your mind through God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Now, praise be to God.
SPEAKER_00: When we were living in sin, being heathens, God was opposed to our life.
SPEAKER_00: But now that you're in Christ and you're seeking your mind being renewed through God's word, God is for you in that process and helping you bless your efforts as you pursue sanctification, and he is maturing you into the image of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So, BC, you, you had Satan helping you do what you were doing.
SPEAKER_00: Now that you're in Christ, you have the Father helping you renew your mind and build a godly worldview, so to speak, so that you think how God thinks about the world and how you think about yourself.
SPEAKER_00: So if you have been redeemed, then a process at your regeneration of sanctification has begun.
SPEAKER_00: And it is going to continue.
SPEAKER_00: And that renewing of your mind implies an ongoing progressive activity in which you, Christian, play a role.
SPEAKER_00: You are to pursue this.
SPEAKER_00: Notice Paul does not say sit on your hands and wait for God to renew your mind.
SPEAKER_00: He is part act, he is calling us to participate.
SPEAKER_00: He says actively to thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Things do not be conformed to this age.
SPEAKER_00: That is rather general, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: It's a clear assignment, but we are all called to figure out what does that mean for me?
SPEAKER_00: How do I guard my heart and mind to not be conformed by this age?
SPEAKER_00: But then positively, how do I pursue being transformed by the renewing of my mind?
SPEAKER_00: And look, notice the attachment to that.
SPEAKER_00: So that you may discern what the what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God is.
SPEAKER_00: So if you want to know God's will, brothers and sisters, know your Bibles really well.
SPEAKER_00: Don't do all the weird navel gazing, like I'm waiting for God to just speak to me and tell me what his will is.
SPEAKER_00: Know your Bible.
SPEAKER_00: He inspired an entire book revealing his heart to his people.
SPEAKER_00: Seek to comprehensively understand scripture so that you will know the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
SPEAKER_00: God loves you so much, friends, that he has not decided to send Christians on a spiritual scavenger hunt to figure out his will.
SPEAKER_00: He gave you his spirit, his church, and a book so you can know it.
SPEAKER_00: But we are all jacked up because we are all sinners.
SPEAKER_00: We live in a sinful, broken world, and we have to unlearn stuff.
SPEAKER_00: So as a loving caution to all of us, myself included, we must be careful what we take in.
SPEAKER_00: Because what you take in is shaping you.
SPEAKER_00: What you take in is either helping you renew your mind or it's helping you go back to a debased mind when you were outside of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm not one of those legalists who's gonna say, well, you know, we all got to just live under a rock and never watch TV, read a book, or speak to anyone who's not a Christian, right?
SPEAKER_00: But you need to be wise.
SPEAKER_00: You need to be good stewards of your minds, of your heart, recognizing what I take in is shaping me.
SPEAKER_00: It's shaping my understanding of God, it's shaping my understanding of suffering, of holiness, of the church, of my marriage, of parenting, you name it, whatever you're bringing in is shaping you, and you are what you think.
SPEAKER_00: And connecting this to this topic of stewardship, the world has and is actively discipling us.
SPEAKER_00: And so sometimes we gotta ask ourselves, what is discipling me the most?
SPEAKER_00: Is it the news networks I watch?
SPEAKER_00: Is it the books I read?
SPEAKER_00: The music I listen to, or is it Christ and his word?
SPEAKER_00: Now, a lot of Christians will amen what I just said, but man, I this is where I have a love-hate relationship with social media.
SPEAKER_00: I love it because it lets me just spy on Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: Like I just love seeing Christians, especially some Christian leaders who are famous authors and stuff, where they preach really godly stuff, but how they carry themselves online, I'm just like, mm, I'm concerned.
SPEAKER_00: We don't recognize that we are being conditioned and shaped.
SPEAKER_00: The world is discipling us.
SPEAKER_00: Some people are more discipled by their political party than they are God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Some people are more committed to a donkey or a goat, or what's the other one?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, a donkey, whatever.
SPEAKER_00: A donkey and an elephant rather than the lion and the lamb.
SPEAKER_00: Get that one right.
SPEAKER_00: But they'll never say that.
SPEAKER_00: They say, no, I love the Bible, I love God's word, and then a certain political position comes up, and you're like, hey man, it sounds like you are more passionate about that stance than what God's word says.
SPEAKER_00: I think that shows what you're really devoted to.
SPEAKER_00: We have to guard our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: The world, it has conditioned us to view everything in our lives as ours.
SPEAKER_00: That is definitely one way we are conditioned by the world.
SPEAKER_00: Everything you own is yours, and you can do whatever you want with it.
SPEAKER_00: Your body, it's yours.
SPEAKER_00: Your body, your choice.
SPEAKER_00: You can do whatever you want with it.
SPEAKER_00: Your money, your time, your home, you do what you want to do.
SPEAKER_00: Live your best life now, live it up.
SPEAKER_00: YOLO.
SPEAKER_00: We can go on and on, right?
SPEAKER_00: You only live once.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, but you can die twice.
SPEAKER_00: The gospels, or rather, our culture also says the primary aim of your life should be to pursue your personal happiness.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever that equals for you, pursue it with zero restraints until the day you die.
SPEAKER_00: But as we see in Romans 12, 1 through 8, the gospel says the opposite, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_00: The gospel tells us you are not your own.
SPEAKER_00: You've been purchased by Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing is yours.
SPEAKER_00: Everything you have has been entrusted to you.
SPEAKER_00: Your very health has been entrusted to you by the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: The culture tells us to be consumeristic, self-centered, and to treat personal happiness as the highest achievement of life.
SPEAKER_00: But the gospel says you were not your own, you were bought with a price, therefore, live like it, and that actually brings glory to God.
SPEAKER_00: Now, here's the thing: even if you disagree with me this morning and you're in Christ, man, good luck with your sanctification.
SPEAKER_00: Because at the end of the day, I believe God is absolutely sovereign over every affairs of the universe.
SPEAKER_00: His divine providence is orchestrating everything in accordance to his divine decree that he made before the foundations of the earth.
SPEAKER_00: So even if you disagree with me, you will be sanctified.
SPEAKER_00: You can either submit to God's will for your life and actually enjoy living out your Christian life in accordance with his word, or you can go the rough route where he's still gonna get his way with you.
SPEAKER_00: You just might extend your class a little bit longer than the rest of us.
SPEAKER_00: But hey, some people get held back in the Christian life, and that's okay.
SPEAKER_00: As long as you make it to glory.
SPEAKER_00: But in verses three through eight, he goes on to get into the spiritual gifts.
SPEAKER_00: And I want us to see this.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, your gifts are someone else's need.
SPEAKER_00: Your gifts are someone else's need.
SPEAKER_00: Look down at verse three.
SPEAKER_00: He says, For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Let's let's stop there.
SPEAKER_00: So after laying a foundation, Paul gives this clear exhortation in the remaining verses on how these Christians in Rome are to serve God and build each other up as a local church family.
SPEAKER_00: But notice this according to God's word here, the gospel should always lead to humility in the heart of a Christian.
SPEAKER_00: To be honest with you, I don't understand how it could not.
SPEAKER_00: Like, think about it.
SPEAKER_00: Like the gospel is the most offensive message in the entire universe.
SPEAKER_00: It says, you were not a good person.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care what your mom told you, you're not a good person, you're a sinner, the wrath of God is hanging over you, and you can't do nothing to save yourself.
SPEAKER_00: You have to throw yourself at the feet of Jesus and plead for his forgiveness, confess your sins, and he will forgive you and justify you through the work of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: How on earth can that message make any Christian prideful?
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm just curious, how does that even happen in us?
SPEAKER_00: Because we're all guilty of it.
SPEAKER_00: It's almost like we're going back and saying, Yes, Jesus, you saved me, but don't forget, like, I helped out just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus like just laughs at us.
SPEAKER_00: Like, are you serious, bro?
SPEAKER_00: You wouldn't even know which way is up.
SPEAKER_00: Right now I'm watching with our kids, the chosen, and we were just laughing last night, just like, you know, just seeing, obviously in the gospels, but in the show, just how they captured the disciples, they just did not get it.
SPEAKER_00: Like constantly, Jesus is teaching, he's giving parables, he's performing miracles, and sometimes they say the right things, but then they show they don't they don't really get it.
SPEAKER_00: That can be us quite often.
SPEAKER_00: But according to Paul, the gospel leads to humility.
SPEAKER_00: Rather, it should, if you truly comprehend the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, Augustine of Hippo once said, it was pride that changed angels into devils.
SPEAKER_00: It is humility that makes men as angels.
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
SPEAKER_00: It was pride that changed angels into devils.
SPEAKER_00: Satan wasn't always Satan.
SPEAKER_00: He was a glorious angel serving God just like the rest of the angels.
SPEAKER_00: Pride made him what he is.
SPEAKER_00: I would even go as far as to say, I don't know if I would say, as some do, like pride is the main root of every sin, but it certainly is in the DNA of every sin.
SPEAKER_00: Because fundamentally, behind every sin that we voluntarily choose, friends, we're saying, God, you're, you're, you don't know what's best.
SPEAKER_00: Like I know you say that this is sinful and it's bad for me, but I I disagree.
SPEAKER_00: I think I know better.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna go ahead and do this thing.
SPEAKER_00: That is fundamentally what pride does in our sin.
SPEAKER_00: It teaches us to say, I know better than God.
SPEAKER_00: And if the enemy in your flesh gets you to think that, you're also saying subtly, I am God.
SPEAKER_00: I am God.
SPEAKER_00: If you think you know better than God, that means you are greater than God.
SPEAKER_00: This is why the Bible takes pride very seriously, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 11, verse 2 says, When arrogance comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: Or Jesus himself said, Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
SPEAKER_00: Pride is a disgusting thing in the heart of a professing Christian.
SPEAKER_00: Humility should be a mark of every disciple of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I love how Paul uses this body metaphor.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Paul and the other writers often use various metaphors to describe the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So there's the body language, there's uh the bride of Christ, the household of God, and so on and so forth.
SPEAKER_00: But notice how Paul talks about the church being a body in verse four.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: He's using a striking metaphor here.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying the church is a body, not a collection of individuals who happen to just show up on the same and in the same place in the same time on a Sunday morning.
SPEAKER_00: He says we're a body.
SPEAKER_00: We are literally members of one another.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't believe Paul is referring primarily to the universal church.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking about local churches.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're a member of Redeemer Church this morning, we are all members of one organism.
SPEAKER_00: We are all members of one body.
SPEAKER_00: And like anybody, every member is necessary.
SPEAKER_00: Don't believe me?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Which members of your body would you be willing to give up this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Uh, Colin's a physician, he can probably help you find a surgeon.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to get rid of any organ, if you had a choice, which one you want to get rid of?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: None of us is gonna volunteer to give up anything because you cherish your body, don't you?
SPEAKER_00: There's a reason why we have terminology that describes someone who maybe is disabled or has a handicap because that's not the normative pattern.
SPEAKER_00: We are members of one another.
SPEAKER_00: And like anybody, every member is necessary.
SPEAKER_00: Have you thought about that?
SPEAKER_00: If you're a member of Redeemer Church, you are necessary.
SPEAKER_00: You are necessary for this church body to be healthy, to glorify God, to advance the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Every single one of you is necessary in God's design.
SPEAKER_00: Lose a finger, you'll feel it.
SPEAKER_00: Lose a kidney, you'll really feel it.
SPEAKER_00: No part exists for itself.
SPEAKER_00: It exists as a part of a whole.
SPEAKER_00: This is the beauty and the benefit of church membership.
SPEAKER_00: Paul isn't describing the universal church in the abstract, he's talking about a local body of people who know each other, who serve each other, who need each other, who carry one another's burdens, who walk with each other through the joys of life, who walk alongside, brothers and sisters, to deep suffering in life.
SPEAKER_00: This is what it means to be one body.
SPEAKER_00: Think about it.
SPEAKER_00: If you got something going on with one of your organs, it affects your whole body.
SPEAKER_00: And you are going to take grave concern for that organ getting healthy again because it affects the whole body.
SPEAKER_00: That's how we should think about church life.
SPEAKER_00: If one saint, I don't care if this is a church of a thousand members, if one saint is suffering and struggling with sin or brokenness or in an extended season of unwanted suffering, that is all of our business.
SPEAKER_00: And it is all of our joy and privilege to hold their arms up, so to speak, until the Lord does what he's going to do to help them in their sanctification.
SPEAKER_00: That is the beauty of God's design.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: This is why I understand why Paul would say, do not be conformed to this world.
SPEAKER_00: Because the world would say, hold up, man, like don't trouble yourself with problematic people, quote unquote.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says all y'all are problematic.
SPEAKER_00: All of you got issues, all of you are works in progress, and that's why Jesus died for you.
SPEAKER_00: So love each other because that person who is problematic is probably thinking the same thing about you.
SPEAKER_00: Love one another.
SPEAKER_00: Think about this.
SPEAKER_00: If you join a local church, every single member is your gospel inheritance.
SPEAKER_00: They are your brothers and sisters in Christ that you literally are going to spend an eternity with.
SPEAKER_00: So you might as well get to know them and serve them now on this side of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: This is the beauty of church membership.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking about a local body of people who know each other, serve each other, and who need each other.
SPEAKER_00: Who would want to be on the outside of that?
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm not talking about those who maybe you're in between churches or looking to transfer their membership, but I say this in love, but for those who regularly worship with us or any church and they just choose not to join a local church, I think number one, you could be in sin because you're just disregarding God's clear command in scripture.
SPEAKER_00: And number two, my heart breaks to know you are choosing voluntarily to settle for less of what God has for you.
SPEAKER_00: God does not know, please hear me, fact check, disagree with me from the Bible if you want.
SPEAKER_00: There is no category in the Bible of someone who says they're a Christian, but they are not attached to a local church.
SPEAKER_00: There's zero category for that at all.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not talking about those who might say, because I mean we're we're in the Baptist world, right?
SPEAKER_00: So some Baptists will say, well, technically I'm a member of a church because I was baptized at my grandma's church, but I haven't been there in like 20 years.
SPEAKER_00: You're not a member of that church.
SPEAKER_00: They don't know you, you're not doing life with them, you're not fulfilling the spirit of the New Testament to them.
SPEAKER_00: You were not a member of that church.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible knows nothing.
SPEAKER_00: And again, this isn't to bash anybody, is to invite you lovingly to say, why would you look at the biblical data and see the beauty of being a covenant member of a local church, having pastors who have a responsibility to shepherd you, members who have a responsibility to care for you in a way that we don't have a responsibility for the whole universal church?
SPEAKER_00: Why would you look at that and say, that is glorious, but I don't want it?
SPEAKER_00: That is a discipleship issue.
SPEAKER_00: This is the beauty of the local church.
SPEAKER_00: Every gift God has placed in this room in each member exists for God's glory and for the good of this congregation.
SPEAKER_00: On that note, let's look at the spiritual gifts, beginning in verse uh verse eight.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, verse six.
SPEAKER_00: He says, according to the grace given to us, we have different gifts.
SPEAKER_00: If prophecy, use it in according to the proportion of one's faith, if service, use it in service, if teaching in teaching, if exhorting and exhortation, giving with generosity, leading with diligence, showing mercy with cheerfulness.
SPEAKER_00: Let's let's look at these gifts.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna I'm gonna go through each one here, starting with prophecy.
SPEAKER_00: Now, a better translation of our English Bibles would actually be uh in agreement to the faith.
SPEAKER_00: So just to be clear, prophecy is speaking and proclaiming God's word truthfully and in alignment with scripture.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't about predicting the future.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't some supernatural gift that only a select few have to see the future.
SPEAKER_00: It's about declaring what God has revealed in his word for the strengthening, encouragement, and comfort of his church.
SPEAKER_00: So when we think about prophecy in the New Testament, don't think of the Old Testament where God gave divine revelation to a prophet and they spoke on his behalf.
SPEAKER_00: Prophecy now would be equivalent to what we think of as a pastor preaching God's word.
SPEAKER_00: A pastor shouldn't be preaching his own message, he's preaching God's revealed word, which is why some translations uh translate that verse as in agreement to the faith.
SPEAKER_00: So he says, those who have the gift of prophecy, proclaiming God's truth faithfully to God's people for their edification, they should utilize that gift.
SPEAKER_00: As a matter of fact, in 1 Corinthians 12, where Paul talks about spiritual gifts, he says, I wish that more people would prophesy, because Paul understood the value of God's word being faithfully proclaimed for the edification of the saints, which also brings people to conversion.
SPEAKER_00: In 1 Peter chapter 4, uh he also talks about this, saying, If anyone speaks, is the term he uses, let it be as one who speaks God's words.
SPEAKER_00: If anyone serves, let it be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ and everything.
SPEAKER_00: To him be the glory and the power forever and ever.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Even there, Peter makes it clear: those who do prophesy, they do it for the glory of God and the edification of God's people.
SPEAKER_00: But then he says, service.
SPEAKER_00: Those who serve who have the gift of service, serve.
SPEAKER_00: This is simply meeting practical needs, maybe behind the scenes of a church family with faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: If you're the person who just shows up and gets things done without needing recognition, this might be your gift.
SPEAKER_00: And teaching, he says, if you have the gift of teach, teach.
SPEAKER_00: Notice how like matter-of-fact Paul is, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like, this isn't rocket science.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, hey, if you can teach, teach.
SPEAKER_00: If you serve, serve, like, do the thing that you think you're equipped to do.
SPEAKER_00: Teaching is simply communicating, this is different than prophesying, different than preaching.
SPEAKER_00: I would say teaching is communicating God's word in ways that produce understanding and growth in others.
SPEAKER_00: The teacher takes what is true in God's word and makes it clear to God's people.
SPEAKER_00: So this isn't someone who primarily leads a Sunday school class or a pastor.
SPEAKER_00: We are all teaching in different fashions, aren't we?
SPEAKER_00: If you're a husband or if you're a spouse, you teach.
SPEAKER_00: If you're a parent, you teach.
SPEAKER_00: If you're a member of a church, you teach.
SPEAKER_00: There's an expectation where every Christian should be able to teach.
SPEAKER_00: However, some will have a gift of teaching where they're just gifted more than others and communicating God's word in understandable ways so that others understand it.
SPEAKER_00: However, to add a caution, James 3 makes it very clear, not many should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Teaching is a wonderful gift.
SPEAKER_00: Zane and I pray, Lord, raise up teachers in this church besides ourselves who can communicate your word in understandable ways to help equip the saints for the work of the ministry.
SPEAKER_00: Well, we will also be very strategic about training, assessing, and putting forward people as teachers, because if we ever put someone up to teach God's word, we're saying to the whole church, go to that person and benefit.
SPEAKER_00: And we want to make sure that they can rightly handle the word of truth.
SPEAKER_00: But he also, the next gift he says is exhortation.
SPEAKER_00: This is coming alongside Christians to strengthen them, those or challenge those or encourage others towards faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: Exhorters don't just comfort the afflicted, they also afflict the comfortable in love.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe a modern equivalent of this would be maybe someone who's like a biblical counselor in the church, someone who can persuasively and lovingly handle God's word and apply it to people's lives to encourage them in their walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So we're all called to do that to a degree, right?
SPEAKER_00: But some might be especially gifted by the Lord to do that in excellent ways.
SPEAKER_00: Now, here's an interesting one.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says there's a spiritual gift of giving.
SPEAKER_00: All of us are commanded to give.
SPEAKER_00: We'll get into that in a few weeks, but some are blessed by God as a spiritual gift to give in ways that are maybe more extraordinary than others.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't think this is just financial.
SPEAKER_00: This could mean their time, their resources, their wealth, their home, whatever it may be.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is a funny one because if you survey a church family, most people would say, I think I have this gift, I have this gift, I have this gift.
SPEAKER_00: You rarely hear someone say, I have the gift of giving.
SPEAKER_00: If you do, come talk to me after the service.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul says, if you have the gift of giving, use it generously, not reluctantly for recognition, but freely use your gift of generosity to bless.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
SPEAKER_00: I've seen this since I've been a Christian.
SPEAKER_00: It is a beautiful thing.
SPEAKER_00: I have known Christians who are fairly wealthy.
SPEAKER_00: God has blessed them in business or whatever they they pursue, and they steward that to be a source of blessing to people in their church and even in their community of unbelievers.
SPEAKER_00: I've been on the receiving end of that.
SPEAKER_00: I remember when my wife and I were newly married, first child, and my car broke down, and a dear brother who I still know to this day somehow found out about that, went to the mechanic shop and just paid my whole bill for me.
SPEAKER_00: Like that just, to this day, that just rocks my world.
SPEAKER_00: Like, why was someone I didn't even have a close relationship with this man?
SPEAKER_00: I've been to a Bible study or two with him.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't, I didn't even know his full name.
SPEAKER_00: And that brother used his gift of giving to bless my family.
SPEAKER_00: He says the gift of leading.
SPEAKER_00: Now, in context, it seems with the the, and we're not going to get into all the Greek, but it seems that maybe Paul is more referring here to uh the office of pastor, seeing this is where like pastors are called to lead the congregation.
SPEAKER_00: But there are also other brothers and sisters who just naturally seem to have a gift from the Lord to lead.
SPEAKER_00: They mentor others, they disciple, and people tend to gravitate towards them and want to follow their discipleship.
SPEAKER_00: I think of Colossians uh 1, 28 through 29, where Paul says he wants to present everyone mature in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I think that's an aspect of leadership, those who with zeal take the initiative to lead in discipling others.
SPEAKER_00: But then he says there's a gift of showing mercy.
SPEAKER_00: This is like ministering with compassion to the hurting in the life of a church.
SPEAKER_00: Those who are struggling are in need.
SPEAKER_00: Or those who are just struggling with sin and sanctification is a little rough for them.
SPEAKER_00: And they just seem to be gifted by the Lord to be more merciful and patient with them.
SPEAKER_00: They're not quick to say, you know what, ah, I'm done, your problem is.
SPEAKER_00: They're the ones saying, no, no, no, I'm willing to go the extra mile to help that person love Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Paul's one instruction for that person is do it cheerfully.
SPEAKER_00: Not begrudgingly.
SPEAKER_00: Not a oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00: This one again.
SPEAKER_00: But do it cheerfully.
SPEAKER_00: Now, let me give a few thoughts on this list of gifts.
SPEAKER_00: First, keep in mind that this list is not exhaustive.
SPEAKER_00: So there's more gifts mentioned in Corinthians and 1 Peter.
SPEAKER_00: God's goal in these passages is not to give Christians an exhaustive list of every single spiritual gift.
SPEAKER_00: That is not his intent.
SPEAKER_00: Second, everyone, according to what we see here and what we see in Corinthians, every member of the local church has a gift.
SPEAKER_00: Or gifts, plural.
SPEAKER_00: At least one.
SPEAKER_00: Some may have several.
SPEAKER_00: But notice, nobody is excluded.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't matter if you're a new Christian.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't mean if you've been a Christian for 20 years or 10 minutes.
SPEAKER_00: Every Christian has been entrusted with a gift, which means no one is excluded.
SPEAKER_00: And notice God is the distributor of the gifts.
SPEAKER_00: Which means you didn't earn these gifts, therefore they are not yours.
SPEAKER_00: So then we should be humble.
SPEAKER_00: But also the purpose of the gifts is the edification of your local church.
SPEAKER_00: The purpose of the gifts, the reason, one of the reasons why God has entrusted you with a spiritual gift or spiritual gifts is so that you would use that gift for the edification, the building up of your local church to the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: That should humble us.
SPEAKER_00: That should also remind us of this.
SPEAKER_00: No one in a local church is unnecessary, and no one is ultimate.
SPEAKER_00: No one in a local church is unnecessary.
SPEAKER_00: We're like, uh, you know, Zane, you're great, bro, but like we really don't need you, right?
SPEAKER_00: We can't say that of any Christian, no one is unnecessary, but on the other side, no one is ultimate.
SPEAKER_00: We should look at no one and say, they are the epitome of Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God, we got them because of their gift.
SPEAKER_00: We are better than that church, or they're better than this group of Christians.
SPEAKER_00: No one is unnecessary, and no one is ultimate.
SPEAKER_00: Also, then no Christian can say, I don't need the church.
SPEAKER_00: Or the church doesn't need me.
SPEAKER_00: No Christian can ever say, with the Bible backing them, I don't need the church.
SPEAKER_00: Or the church doesn't need me.
SPEAKER_00: That's like uh Tony Evans once coined the phrase, that's like saying, I'm married to my wife, but I don't have to go home.
SPEAKER_00: It's like that makes no sense.
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's how a lot of Christians sound to me when they say, I'm a Christian, but I don't need to join a local church.
SPEAKER_00: I don't need the church.
SPEAKER_00: We can't say that, and we can't say the church doesn't need me.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Local churches need you.
SPEAKER_00: Like if you're a member of this church, I am deficient in my Christianity without you.
SPEAKER_00: Your walk with Jesus has a direct impact on my walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: My walk with Jesus has a direct impact on your walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That is how interconnected God has designed churches to be.
SPEAKER_00: We quite literally, like a body, need every member of our body.
SPEAKER_00: This is why we keep driving home the message.
SPEAKER_00: Every person in this church's sanctification, if you're a member of this church, is your personal responsibility to help them follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Because if everyone's doing well following Jesus, not perfect being perfect, but as we're helping others follow Jesus, it directly affects our walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I love God's wisdom and how he's designed the church.
SPEAKER_00: Now, with all that being said, if God, according to his word, has entrusted every Christian with at least one gift that they are to use to glorify God by seeking the building up of their church, well then that means a few things.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, it means there's something very wrong with some churches that are like museums, where it's like members on a shelf with gifts, but they're just on the shelf.
SPEAKER_00: And we're all just kind of like staring at them.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, look at look at how beautiful that is, but we can't use it because now it's a relic.
SPEAKER_00: That shouldn't be what churches are like.
SPEAKER_00: We were made to be producers in God's kingdom, not consumers, not relics sitting on a shelf.
SPEAKER_00: We were made to not be in a spectator seat, but a living sacrifice, contributing member of a body, helping other people follow Jesus as we follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That is God's design.
SPEAKER_00: Now, with all that, you might be asking, okay, well, how do I find my gifts?
SPEAKER_00: Like, how do I come to know what gifts the Lord has entrusted to me?
SPEAKER_00: Well, number one, I would encourage you, please do not take a spiritual gifts quiz online.
SPEAKER_00: I hate those things.
SPEAKER_00: They're not helpful.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, like I said, the Bible does not give us an exhaustive list.
SPEAKER_00: So, number one, you're being a little reductionistic.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying they can't be a little bit helpful.
SPEAKER_00: However, I think one of the most strategic ways to find what gifts the Lord has entrusted to you, just love and serve your local church.
SPEAKER_00: Like it's not complicated.
SPEAKER_00: Love and serve your church family.
SPEAKER_00: And as you do, you'll start to see what do I find myself passionate about?
SPEAKER_00: Where do I see the Lord maybe just bringing fruitfulness to the things that I'm applying myself to in the life of my church family?
SPEAKER_00: Do I find joy in having people in my home and asking them meaningful questions to help them walk with Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Do I love teaching children the word of God in ways that I know are understandable at their level?
SPEAKER_00: Do I love pouring into men or women, helping them walk with Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Do I seem to have a heart towards just serving others?
SPEAKER_00: Serve your local church and God in his wisdom will start revealing that to you.
SPEAKER_00: And here's why I think the local church is the best place to do this.
SPEAKER_00: I would say too, you know, avail yourself of your church leaders.
SPEAKER_00: I love it sometimes when people join the church and they just say, Cam, you know, or Zane, like, how can I be a blessing to this church?
SPEAKER_00: Like, what are the needs?
SPEAKER_00: What are the biggest needs?
SPEAKER_00: How can I serve?
SPEAKER_00: And that could be a good place to start.
SPEAKER_00: And hey, this is the beauty of church family, because we can also help each other understand, brother, bless your heart, serve the Lord, but that is not your gift.
SPEAKER_00: Let's redirect you where you are gifted so that you can most fruitfully serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not trying to be funny, but in all honesty, the beauty of a local church is that a local church is essential for equipping, affirming, and releasing people to serve God and his people in the life of a local church.
SPEAKER_00: Let me give a negative example.
SPEAKER_00: I knew a brother who, you know, was a dear friend and he was a gifted Bible teacher.
SPEAKER_00: But due to some character issues, the pastors of our church asked him to no longer lead in a college Bible study we were a part of.
SPEAKER_00: And he was a gifted teacher, and people were drawn to him.
SPEAKER_00: But he decided, you know what, uh, I don't care what the pastor says.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna lead a Bible study in our house.
SPEAKER_00: And people started coming to that.
SPEAKER_00: And a pastor sat him down and said, Brother, I think you're gifted to teach, but your character right now is of concern.
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna ask you not to encourage our members to come to your study because we don't want them to think that we think it's appropriate for you to be teaching God's word when you're clearly living in some sin and sin that we're concerned about.
SPEAKER_00: And his response was, Well, they're not your sheep, they're Jesus' sheep, so I'm gonna lead the Bible study anyways.
SPEAKER_00: So there's an example where a local church can, yes, help people assess whether they have a particular gift, but they can also help them understand should you be practicing that gift to the glory of God, meaning, do you meet the character qualifications for certain ministry opportunities?
SPEAKER_00: Our gifts of service should do three things.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, they should bless and edify others.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're thinking of a spiritual gift as primarily making yourself well known in your church, you're starting with the wrong foundation.
SPEAKER_00: The spiritual gifts entrusted to us are meant to bless and edify others, to sanctify us and to glorify God.
SPEAKER_00: That is the purpose.
SPEAKER_00: To bless and edify others, to sanctify us and to glorify God.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just give one warning here against spirit, spiritual gift envy.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: We often can feel that we are not as gifted as we would like to be, or that our gifts don't receive enough recognition in our church, or that we prefer another set of gifts altogether.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe we see another brother and sister and say, I want that gift, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We gotta guard our hearts against this, guys.
SPEAKER_00: We should be content with the fact that God uses us in his economy to edify his people and to glorify his name.
SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't care if I could just be a janitor for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: That was a spiritual gift.
SPEAKER_00: Like, praise God.
SPEAKER_00: You die to save me, and I get eternity with you.
SPEAKER_00: How can we serve?
SPEAKER_00: Let's guard against spiritual gift envy, thinking other people have impressive gifts that we want to the detriment of the gifts that God has given us that we're not even utilizing.
SPEAKER_00: And let me just close with this thought.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever spiritual gift the Lord has entrusted you with, or you're seeking to discover what gift you have as you serve your local church, serve your church family and the Lord with excellence.
SPEAKER_00: I love how Pastor Mike Bollmer puts this.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Aspire to excellence without making praise for that excellence the goal of your aspirations.
SPEAKER_00: Aspire to excellence without making praise for that excellence the goal of your aspirations.
SPEAKER_00: According to Paul Friends, God has been merciful to us, more merciful than you deserve.
SPEAKER_00: Your life, your gifts, your money, your time, none of it is ever really yours.
SPEAKER_00: It is the Lord's.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul's exhortation to us would be stop living like it is, and start offering yourself fully, freely, and without conditions to the God who gave everything for you.
SPEAKER_00: Don't say you're a living sacrifice, but constantly, week after week, jump off the altar.
SPEAKER_00: Offer yourself as a living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: Let that be your true act of worship until God calls you home.
SPEAKER_00: And find joy in the reality that God would use a broken sinner like you as an instrument for his divine purposes.
SPEAKER_00: And ask yourself, pray, Lord, what gifts have you given me and how can I use them to help my brothers and sisters in my church family?
SPEAKER_00: How can I be an answer to somebody else's prayer in this church right now?
SPEAKER_00: Someone is praying for certain things for God to do in their life.
SPEAKER_00: And the answer to that prayer may be you using your gift to the glory of God for the edification of this flock.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.