1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:05,800 Well, we're starting a new series today on community and 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:07,920 I'm super excited about this. It's something that I have been 3 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:09,520 thinking about for quite some time. 4 00:00:10,040 --> 00:00:15,080 I get the unique privilege of being up here, but also being a 5 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:18,720 pastor and overseer, being able to look into our church and 6 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:20,640 people's lives and our relationships. 7 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:23,520 And this is something that I've had on my radar for like 6 8 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:25,120 months to be able to bring to us. 9 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:28,160 And I'm so looking forward to spending some time in this 10 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:31,200 upcoming study. But for you, maybe we could just 11 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:37,400 ask the question, do you have a community or maybe what comes to 12 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:40,160 mind for you when you hear that word? 13 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:44,560 I think there is some kind of comedy TV show also called 14 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,080 Community. I wasn't really into that. 15 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:48,840 I tried it, it didn't, it didn't work for me. 16 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:52,840 But a community is a group of people where we belong. 17 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:57,320 We have common values. We give, we can, we take, we 18 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:02,840 enjoy, we do things together. And that's what the the church 19 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:06,120 ultimately is. It is a community. 20 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,840 So we're going to see in First Corinthians chapter 12 over the 21 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:14,440 next several weeks what it means for us to be a community and how 22 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,400 you can find your fit in this community. 23 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,760 Every person in the church matters, as we will see. 24 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,800 We don't just want the professionals and the show offs 25 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:29,120 to do everything in a community. Everybody matters and we all 26 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:31,080 pitch in and we all come together. 27 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,880 So if you're going to follow along today, you're going to see 28 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,560 in your notes that you have something to contribute. 29 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:45,000 Every person in the community has something that they can 30 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,840 contribute to the community itself. 31 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,560 I'm not sure what you think of when we mentioned the word 32 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,400 contribute. Maybe you think financial, or 33 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:59,000 maybe you think resources or giving or serving. 34 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:01,520 Certainly all of those things are valuable. 35 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:04,680 We will talk a little bit more specifically about what that 36 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:09,080 means as we get into our time together, but we're about to 37 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:14,040 approach the Scriptures. The Word of God and the Bible 38 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:19,520 tells us in Psalm 1/19, 1:30 that this word gives light. 39 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:22,920 The entrance of thy word giveth light. 40 00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:26,080 So as we open the Scriptures, we're allowing God's Word to 41 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:28,920 shine on us. And whatever things we might 42 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:33,200 think about community, however we might feel about it, we know 43 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:36,960 also that the Scriptures, the Bible says, is a discerner of 44 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:39,040 the thoughts and intents of the heart. 45 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:44,640 So as we read and as you hear Romans 10/17, as you're given 46 00:02:44,640 --> 00:02:47,800 faith through the hearing of God's Word, you're probably 47 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,120 going to have some light shed on to some things in your heart. 48 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,760 And I just want you to know that that is how the Word of God and 49 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,560 the Spirit of God direct you as an individual. 50 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:04,240 So before we jump into our time, I want to ask you to just take a 51 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:09,240 moment, about 60 seconds maybe, of silence. 52 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:13,600 You can have your eyes open, you can have your eyes closed, you 53 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:18,440 can pray, you can breathe. But let's just prepare ourselves 54 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:21,760 and maybe try to let our guard down and ask the Lord, would you 55 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:25,160 just speak to me tonight? So let's take just one moment. 56 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:57,240 God, our prayer today is to hear from you. 57 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:02,120 So I pray that you give us the strength to give you that 58 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:07,520 permission to speak to us and to things that are personal and to 59 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:09,920 things that you want to challenge us and call us to. 60 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:12,960 God. I pray that you'd use this time 61 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:16,720 make us better as a church, help us to love each other, make us 62 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:21,920 fruitful in Jesus name, Amen. We're going to learn in our 63 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:26,040 series in First Corinthians chapter 12 what it means to be a 64 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:28,720 community. And really, there's probably no 65 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,160 better place to go than the church at Corinth. 66 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,920 This letter, if you turn there in your Bible, is written from 67 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:37,960 the apostle Paul. He was a missionary, you could 68 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:40,560 say in the 1st century, traveling around, sharing the 69 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:44,000 gospel, that Jesus had died on the cross, was buried and rose 70 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:45,360 again. If you believe in him, you'll be 71 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:47,720 saved. And as a result of his 72 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:52,240 preaching, churches developed. And he writes back to this 73 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:56,000 church, this very long epistle. Not all of the epistles are this 74 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,600 long. And it's a lot of correction. 75 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:01,960 This church had a lot of things that were jacked up. 76 00:05:02,840 --> 00:05:05,120 Maybe you've been in a community like that before. 77 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:06,880 Things were kind of dysfunctional. 78 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:09,280 Well, that's how this church was. 79 00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:12,560 So it's interesting that we get some of our clearest teaching 80 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,280 around the subject today from this book. 81 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,280 They had issues with perversion in the church and relationships 82 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:20,560 that shouldn't have been happening. 83 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,520 They were, they were called carnal or fleshly. 84 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:26,480 They were acting like children. They had divisions. 85 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:29,640 They had favorite teachers. Well, I follow this guy and no, 86 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:32,880 I follow that guy. They had issues with the 87 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:34,720 spiritual gifts. As we will see today. 88 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,440 They were not functioning properly in the worship setting. 89 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,360 So we're going to go here today and learn how to be a community 90 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:44,080 together. Let's read first Corinthians 91 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:46,480 chapter 12 verses one through 11. 92 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:51,680 The Bible says. Now concerning spiritual gifts, 93 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:53,880 brethren, I would not have you ignorant. 94 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:57,960 You know that you were Gentiles carried away unto these dumb 95 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:01,360 idols, even as you were led. Wherefore I give you to 96 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:04,840 understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth 97 00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:09,000 Jesus accursed, and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord 98 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,480 but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of 99 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:16,480 gifts, but the same Spirit, and there are differences of 100 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:18,280 administrations, but the same Lord. 101 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:21,840 There are diversities of operations, but it is the same 102 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:26,120 God which worketh All in all. But the manifestation of the 103 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,360 Spirit is given to every man to profit with all. 104 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:34,040 For to 1 is given by the Spirit, the Word of wisdom to another, 105 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,600 the Word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by 106 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:41,120 the same Spirit, to another, the gifts of healing, by the same 107 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:45,320 spirit to another, the working of miracles to another, prophecy 108 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,800 to another, discerning of spirits, to another, divers 109 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:52,440 kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 110 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:57,040 But all these worketh that one and the same, the self, same 111 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:01,880 Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 112 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:07,120 So let's begin following along with our notes today. 113 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,480 The first 3 verses we see that we need to start where we're 114 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:15,160 going to contribute. Let's start with figuring out 115 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:19,480 who our community is. Who is your community? 116 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:24,920 Today we see a spiritual sense in investing in people, and 117 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:27,400 we're going to get into spiritual gifts that God gives 118 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:31,040 every believer something to contribute to the body as a 119 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:34,000 whole. But this community has a way in 120 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,520 which it needs to function just like other communities. 121 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:42,480 Maybe you are a member at a gym. Maybe there are some rules and 122 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:46,440 regulations around the gym. I used to go to a gym that you 123 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:48,280 were not allowed to work out in blue jeans. 124 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:52,280 I don't know who or why that was a rule. 125 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:55,840 I am from backwoods Ohio, so maybe, you know, we just really 126 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:58,080 needed to be reminded to leave the Wranglers at home. 127 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:02,120 But every community has some kind of guidelines that where we 128 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:05,200 say, if we're going to be here, we function together in this 129 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,640 particular kind of way. Maybe it's a school or some 130 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:12,000 online forum. Maybe maybe you've been kicked 131 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:15,040 out of a group for not adhering to the guidelines. 132 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:18,680 What we all want to contribute and we're all looking for 133 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:22,960 community, but we're talking specifically about the church 134 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:27,200 and finding a way to develop in our Christian relationships one 135 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:28,960 with another. And I think in the first 3 136 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:32,559 verses there are three good things guidelines for us to see 137 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:34,320 how this community needs to function. 138 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:37,000 First, there is a common salvation. 139 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:43,480 The church community should have a common salvation In verse. 140 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:48,920 Verse #2 the Bible says, you know that ye were Gentiles 141 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:53,400 carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were LED. 142 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:56,800 Now it's kind of a strange time for Paul to mention this 143 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:00,120 particular thing. No doubt he's contrasting the 144 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,400 gifts of the Spirit that God enables us. 145 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:04,800 As we heard last week, when you're born again, when you're 146 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:08,320 saved, God gives you his Holy Spirit to live inside of you. 147 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,920 You now have a power that you did not have before when you 148 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:14,920 were lost. In comparison to idols, idols 149 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:18,040 have no power. They they have ears and eyes and 150 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:22,280 mouths, but none of it works. And so we're contrasting these 151 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:24,400 two things. But notice that there's a past 152 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:27,640 tense. Ye were and ye were. 153 00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:31,720 He also writes, the apostle Paul does to another church in 154 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:34,560 Ephesus. And he says when you were dead 155 00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:38,920 in sins, that God hath quickened us together in Christ. 156 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:42,200 When you believe that Jesus died for you, you are quick and you 157 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:44,320 are made alive. You were given the Holy Spirit 158 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,960 of God in that moment, and by grace are you saved. 159 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:54,920 So our contribution is intended for a local church community. 160 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:59,000 This is the context of this chapter in the subsequent weeks. 161 00:09:59,880 --> 00:10:01,520 And no doubt we can serve others. 162 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:04,120 Man, you should serve in the workplace and do all those 163 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:06,120 things. But today, when we get into a 164 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:10,080 more specific spiritual gifts context, these things are 165 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:14,720 designed for the body. So our community needs to have a 166 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:17,960 common salvation. We also see that it needs to 167 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:23,920 have a common submission verse #3 is an interesting verse. 168 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:28,480 It says no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus 169 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:33,960 accursed and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by 170 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:36,040 the Holy Ghost. I think Austin's wearing that 171 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:39,120 shirt tonight, aren't you? Says Jesus is the Lord. 172 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:42,200 It's one of my favorite. That's a gym shirt of mine, so 173 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:44,880 that we put that on real big on the back so anybody in the room 174 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:49,920 can just see Jesus is the Lord. But this community, the church 175 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:54,280 community comes together around submission, that somebody else 176 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:58,880 is in charge of the church, and I'm not talking about me, that 177 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:02,120 Jesus is the Lord. This is the outcome of people 178 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:03,920 that are following the Spirit of God. 179 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:08,320 So our community needs to be submitted to Christ. 180 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:14,000 We're saved, we're following Jesus and if anybody comes in 181 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:16,960 with some strange and weird messages, especially as we get 182 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:24,240 further into our text today, we're reminded believe not every 183 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:27,200 spirit. There's already the trying of 184 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:30,960 spirits just a few verses into our outline today. 185 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:34,680 Try the spirits, whether they are of God because there are 186 00:11:34,680 --> 00:11:39,760 many false prophets gone out into the world, especially the 187 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:41,720 context is that Jesus is the Lord. 188 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:45,720 Anybody that would say Jesus is not the part of the triune God 189 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:50,480 is not a part of our community, and anybody is welcome to 190 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:52,880 attend. We want lost people to come and 191 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:56,720 hear from the word of God and choose Christ, but our community 192 00:11:56,720 --> 00:12:02,960 has this as a common guideline. Thirdly, we see there's a common 193 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:11,520 standard in verse #1 the Bible says Now concerning spiritual 194 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:15,000 gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. 195 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,280 Now ignorant is a word you maybe you've heard before or you've 196 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:24,240 used as an insult, like you're just an ignoramus or you're just 197 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:26,800 ignorant, but it means to be unlearned. 198 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:29,200 You, you literally don't know about something. 199 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:34,120 Ignorance isn't necessarily a bad thing, as some people would 200 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:37,000 say. Ignorance is bliss, right? 201 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:39,240 I'd rather not know. Just don't tell me. 202 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:40,520 I don't. I'd rather I don't want to know. 203 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:44,560 I want to be dumb. And Paul says, hey, you guys, 204 00:12:44,560 --> 00:12:47,080 this church in Corinth, you guys have this thing jacked up. 205 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:50,320 I you need to not be ignorant. Let's talk about these things 206 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:54,280 and they will verse their chapters 12 through 14 are all 207 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:57,520 very specific in this kind of context. 208 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:02,200 But ignorance means that the church also cannot function in 209 00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:05,200 ignorance to what God says in his work. 210 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:07,560 God does not want us to be ignorant. 211 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:11,760 Paul writes later in chapter 14 of the same book, and he says 212 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:17,120 God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in 213 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:21,560 all churches of the Saints. So we see that Corinth is a 214 00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:24,120 church, Ephesus is a church. There are a bunch of churches 215 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:29,520 planted all over the world. And in all of the churches there 216 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:32,400 should be peace. And we see that there is a 217 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:35,600 standard from the word of God that all churches should 218 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:40,120 function according to. And if it seems confusing, if 219 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:43,280 things are disoriented or out of order, who's talking or what's 220 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:47,680 happening, that is not from the Spirit of God. 221 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:53,720 And so our community is is settled around salvation that 222 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:57,520 were born again, that we're submitted that Jesus is Lord and 223 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:00,640 that we have a standard and that is the word of God. 224 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:07,200 So our contribution to the community must align with the 225 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:12,480 scripture. Man, I hope that you will find 226 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:14,440 creative ways to serve each other. 227 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:18,840 That would be great. But it all must be aligned with 228 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:23,160 what we see in God's word. So let's we start with your 229 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:25,920 community. Who is my community? 230 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,640 Here are some guidelines around where I want to invest. 231 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:31,640 Everybody wants to be important and have a place and be able to 232 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,600 be a part of something. But now let's let's realize your 233 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:41,160 importance. We probably need to balance 234 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:43,280 this. Some people feel like they are 235 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:48,080 really important and others maybe feel like, well, I could 236 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:50,960 never do that. That's The Who am I? 237 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:55,640 And there certainly is a balance somewhere in between. 238 00:14:56,120 --> 00:15:00,800 But remember, our big idea for today is that you have something 239 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:04,200 to contribute. Like you, not just me, I'm glad 240 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:07,760 to contribute, but each one of you, each one of us, we all 241 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:10,920 contribute. And did you know that you have a 242 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:15,440 gift? You have a gift. 243 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:18,520 Turn to your neighbor and say I'm gifted. 244 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:23,240 That's right. Do you believe it? 245 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:30,200 You are Look at verse #7 in First Corinthians chapter 12. 246 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,960 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man. 247 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:41,680 And verse 84 to 1 is given by the Spirit to to manifest is to 248 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:43,720 be made known. Something is revealed. 249 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:47,840 It is revealed that God is working through people in in 250 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:50,360 such a way that it's not the natural person. 251 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:54,120 It's not how that person would behave, especially when they 252 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:56,040 were dead in their trespasses and sins. 253 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:59,080 Now they're operating under the influence of the Spirit of God. 254 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:05,320 And it says every man is given this kind of gift. 255 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:10,000 This gift, though, is not like a natural talent. 256 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,560 You know, like some people are like like Rain Man, they have 257 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:18,960 like the brilliant IQ thing or some people they have a perfect 258 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:21,280 pitch. They say, what is it like one in 259 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:25,360 10,000 people has perfect pitch and they can just hear music and 260 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:28,600 they know how it all works. I don't identify with any of 261 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:29,800 that. I don't feel like I have a whole 262 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:35,560 lot of skills in my natural man. But spiritual gifts are not 263 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:37,120 something that you had from birth. 264 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:42,000 It's not a personality trait. It's not a working hard at 265 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:44,040 developing something like the instrument. 266 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:47,760 We want to use all of our inclinations, man, whatever God 267 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:50,320 gives us, we want to use all of those things. 268 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,880 But as we'll see, they're very specific and these are things 269 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:55,880 that come at the time that you're saved. 270 00:16:56,200 --> 00:17:00,760 God gives you something that you did not have before you were 271 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:04,800 saved. Peter says it this way, as every 272 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:12,319 man hath received the gift. Even so, minister, so you have 273 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:16,560 something to contribute. Maybe you don't have platform 274 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:22,400 skills, but you have something that God gave you to contribute 275 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:27,280 to the community, so you have a gift. 276 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:31,040 Secondly, what God gives you is for others. 277 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:37,040 It's not about you. You didn't earn it. 278 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:39,120 You didn't deserve it. You might need to go back a 279 00:17:39,120 --> 00:17:44,480 couple weeks and just see in our gospel course series that we're 280 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:47,720 saved by grace through faith. Jesus didn't love you more than 281 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:49,640 other people. You weren't like so good at 282 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,320 something that he said, I need you in my Kingdom. 283 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:56,840 You had no value until you were born again and then you had 284 00:17:56,840 --> 00:17:58,560 Christ's righteousness applied to you. 285 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:03,200 So what God gives you in your spiritual gift, Look at verse 7. 286 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:08,120 It says to profit with all, but the manifestation of the Spirit 287 00:18:08,120 --> 00:18:12,720 is given to every man to profit withal. 288 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:16,960 So turn to your neighbor and say you have something I need. 289 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:20,760 You guys aren't very good at this. 290 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:24,040 We're going to have to try. We'll have to practice talking 291 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:25,760 to each other. You could talk in church when I 292 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:27,160 give you permission. You can talk at church. 293 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:30,160 It's OK, it's all good. But it's true. 294 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:34,640 Your neighbor has something that they can contribute that you 295 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:40,480 need. The word profit means to benefit 296 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:45,800 or to advantage. So the the gifts that God gives 297 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:51,400 us are really to make other people better to advantage 298 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:53,280 somebody else. But check this out. 299 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:57,280 There's a caveat. You see, you must be in 300 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:00,640 community to be able to contribute well. 301 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:08,360 You have to have relationships. If God gave you a gift and it's 302 00:19:08,360 --> 00:19:11,320 intended to edify others, then that means you have to be with 303 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:14,240 others. We can't just be out doing our 304 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:16,400 own thing. I'm I'm a solo Christian. 305 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:24,560 I mean, I'd, I'd say show me where you see that again, you 306 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:29,000 have something that we need. We need to be together because 307 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:30,920 we need each other. We need what each other brings 308 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:34,360 to the table. Oh yeah, I forgot to put this in 309 00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:39,840 here. So I'm not a LeBron James fan. 310 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:43,840 I just want to let you know. I know they say he set the most 311 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:46,680 records for point scoring and all of the things. 312 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:49,360 They call him King James and all that sort of thing. 313 00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:50,600 I got King James right here, man. 314 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:53,000 I'm not worried about King James up there on the screen. 315 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:57,120 Let me give you some context. I'm from Ohio. 316 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:01,040 LeBron James was born in Akron, OH. 317 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:07,440 He went to play for the Cavs. He spent a lot of time at the 318 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:11,200 Cavs. He got famous there, almost won 319 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:18,080 a championship, didn't pull it off and decided to leave when an 320 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:21,600 assembled a dream team, won a few championships, decided now 321 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:24,800 maybe I guess I'll come back and throw one at the Cavs. 322 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:27,200 And eventually he did. That's fine, whatever. 323 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:32,280 But I lived in Ohio, whenever LeBron was in Cleveland and 324 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:36,560 there were big posters on city buildings with his face and Nike 325 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:38,280 and all the things. King James, you know, he was 326 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:43,160 great. But LeBron wasn't a team player. 327 00:20:45,120 --> 00:20:48,040 He wasn't there for the team or for the community. 328 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:53,520 He went off on his own to be able to win a championship. 329 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:56,160 That's what he wanted to do. And, and he did. 330 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:01,800 He was successful. But I'm forever a little salty 331 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:06,600 because to me it just feels like I'm going to do my thing. 332 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:11,200 And that's how many Christians treat this contribution. 333 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:13,720 If they think they're gifted or if they have something to 334 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:16,880 contribute, they might pick, well, I want a bigger stage. 335 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:19,720 I want a better platform. I don't want to serve in this 336 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:22,080 little thing. I I want to be important. 337 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:26,000 And what we find out with spiritual gifts is that they're 338 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,600 not really about you to begin with. 339 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:33,480 They're for others, Philippians says, Look, not every man on his 340 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:40,120 own things, but every man also on the things of others, Roman 341 00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:44,960 says, and the things wherewith one may edify another. 342 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:49,760 So with this, we could ask questions like, what does the 343 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:53,200 community need? Like if you look around our 344 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:54,840 church, you don't have to look very hard. 345 00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:02,320 What do we need? What would make us better what 346 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:05,960 the individuals need or what is our service missing or what it 347 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:08,480 what do we need to do midweek or how could we grow? 348 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:10,080 Or is there a way you could contribute? 349 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:13,800 How am I gifted? What can I do? 350 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:20,160 And once you do that, let's learn how you can contribute. 351 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:23,840 So we, we start with our community. 352 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:28,640 We define that God's gifted us to do particular things in the 353 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:33,320 church, the community. We realize the importance that 354 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:35,160 everybody has something to offer. 355 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:39,320 And now we need to define what are these gifts? 356 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,640 How does that work? Maybe you've heard things about 357 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:45,200 these. There's a lot of teaching. 358 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:46,960 This is kind of a hot button subject. 359 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:49,480 I just want to let you know right away, I think in your 360 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:54,080 notes, I gave you a link in the bottom of the little. 361 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:55,960 I try to do the notes different this time. 362 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:58,240 So let me know what you think. We're playing around with 363 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:01,800 learning stuff, but to our website, I wrote commentary on 364 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:03,600 the whole book of First Corinthians. 365 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:06,320 So if you have questions about some of the stuff we're talking 366 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:09,320 about, it's a lot more detailed if you want to go read it for 367 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:12,720 yourself online. But let's talk about these 368 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:15,520 gifts. Let's figure out how to discover 369 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:19,640 your unique gift because we need it. 370 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:21,320 You have something to contribute. 371 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:26,200 Let's discover what that is. See we look at First Corinthians 372 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:29,880 chapter 12 and verses 4 to 6 and it says that there are 373 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:34,840 diversities and there are differences of administrations 374 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:40,520 and operations. In verse 8 it says to 1 is given 375 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:44,840 by the Spirit a gift, and then it goes on to say to another is 376 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:49,640 given by the Spirit another gift in that word to another. 377 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:54,400 That phrase, rather, is used eight times to another, to 378 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:59,720 another, to another, all describing different functions 379 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,280 that when we come together, as we'll see in the following 380 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:08,360 weeks, as a body we need all the components functioning together 381 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:10,400 in the way that they're supposed to. 382 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:15,600 Romans 12 says, having been gifts differing according to the 383 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:17,880 grace that it's given us. See, our gifts are about God's 384 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:20,320 grace. It's not about our deserving. 385 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:26,280 He gives them to us. So there's there's a list there. 386 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:29,120 There are actually three places in the Bible that lists 387 00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:33,560 spiritual gifts here in First Corinthians chapter 12, Romans 388 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:36,000 chapter 12, and Ephesians chapter 4. 389 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:40,360 And when you put those lists together, we get about 19 or so 390 00:24:40,360 --> 00:24:44,440 unique gifts. And I have simplified them for 391 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:49,200 you because maybe you would ask which ones are for today. 392 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,120 There are a lot of miraculous ones lifted here. 393 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:56,080 Maybe you've seen some pretty strange things, or maybe you've 394 00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:59,040 seen people fake some pretty strange things. 395 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,880 So I have listed the ones for you for today. 396 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:05,200 I don't know if they're in your, I don't know. 397 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:06,600 I didn't give you any blanks today. 398 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:12,480 But Peter in first Peter chapter 4 kind of identifies them in two 399 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:16,440 columns as serving gifts and as speaking gifts. 400 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:20,280 So on the serving end, we have, did you know faith is a 401 00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:23,880 spiritual gift? Like some people have the 402 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:26,680 ability to just trust God for really big things, to just 403 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:30,200 believe him. Some people are supernaturally 404 00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:33,600 gifted to give and be benevolent and just love it and just love 405 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:36,440 giving stuff away. Maybe that's my wife. 406 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:39,840 She's always, if you know my wife, she's always like looking 407 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:41,400 at my closet. Like, what are you not wearing? 408 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:43,320 Let's give that away. I don't know if that's the same 409 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:45,680 kind of giving, but it seems like it's always happening. 410 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:49,760 Helps in in ministry or like behind the scenes. 411 00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:52,800 People that just want to slug it out, man, I just love setting up 412 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:56,640 and just doing stuff. Governments and ruling or people 413 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:00,000 that are going to oversee, They love spreadsheets and tasks and 414 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,040 keeping things organized. I think Lauren Mccaig is really 415 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:04,520 good at keeping things organized. 416 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:07,680 Mercy, man. I think my pastor in Georgia, he 417 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,080 doesn't love hearing this, but I think he has the spiritual gift 418 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:13,240 of mercy because he's just so gracious and just so 419 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:15,520 long-suffering with people. It's just incredible. 420 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:19,440 Then we have the speaking gifts, the ones that get the limelight 421 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:22,760 out upfront. What most people probably want 422 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:28,200 is prophecy, teaching, being a pastor, being an evangelist. 423 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:31,400 Exhortation is really similar to preaching. 424 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:34,360 It is a coming alongside with the truth and encouragement. 425 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:37,720 Barnabas is a good example of that. 426 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:40,280 Philip is a good example of an evangelist. 427 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:45,200 So here at this church, we we believe that some of those gifts 428 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,960 are no longer operable today. If you have questions, I'd love 429 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:51,640 to talk to you about why we believe that. 430 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:55,000 I mean, just two things briefly and then go read. 431 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:59,080 My commentary is in chapter 13 of this book. 432 00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:01,320 The Bible says that tongues will cease. 433 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:05,480 So we have that pretty clearly. When that happens is a second 434 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:08,920 question as well. But secondly, also the Bible 435 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:11,240 says that there is a foundational time. 436 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,120 The church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and 437 00:27:14,120 --> 00:27:17,840 the prophets, and they laid a groundwork for us that we do not 438 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:21,360 have to continue unto this day. So there are several other 439 00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:22,840 reasons, but that's where we are. 440 00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:25,760 But let's talk about which ones are for today and then you 441 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:29,560 stewarding the gift that God has given you. 442 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:34,960 If I truly believe maybe you don't understand which one they 443 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:37,560 are. Maybe about me talking about 444 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:39,480 spiritual gifts. You can't hear anything else 445 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:41,520 because I didn't say it the way you would want it to be said. 446 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:46,000 But let's just say for sure you definitely have one. 447 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:53,960 Verse 11 says dividing to every man severally as he will. 448 00:27:55,840 --> 00:28:00,000 So we are responsible then with what God has given us. 449 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,640 But also check this out as he will. 450 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:08,520 This isn't a la carte like I'm going to go pick out the ones. 451 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,280 Oh, I like that one. I'm going to do that. 452 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:15,360 Oh, maybe I want to do that one. It says that God's the one that 453 00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:18,760 gave it to you and it wasn't your deserving. 454 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:21,640 I can tell you when I trusted Christ, I wasn't worthy of being 455 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:24,520 a pastor. It wasn't a thought in my mind. 456 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:28,080 I just wanted to not go to hell. I believe that Jesus died for 457 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:31,280 me. I wanted in on that and it took 458 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:35,600 me some time to develop into how has God wired me and what what 459 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:38,240 should I do to serve him. It's OK if you don't know that 460 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:42,480 right away. But Peter says as every man hath 461 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:47,840 received the gift, Even so minister the same one to another 462 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:52,000 as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 463 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:55,720 So if we're going to come together in our community, we're 464 00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:58,600 going to believe that everybody has something to contribute. 465 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:03,160 We want you to steward well. We maybe don't fully know what 466 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:06,360 that looks like, but I'm down to try to figure out how to help 467 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:08,880 you steward the way God has gifted you. 468 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:17,040 There's a proverb in Proverbs 17 that says as a gift, a gift is 469 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:20,680 as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it. 470 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:25,360 This is what good stewardship says, I have something valuable 471 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:30,840 I can contribute, man I I have God has given me something 472 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:33,640 precious, and it says in the eyes of him that hath it 473 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:36,320 whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth. 474 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,880 When you know that you have something valuable, you want to 475 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:45,560 see it succeed and thrive and use your gift to the profit and 476 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:49,400 benefit of others. But I do want to give just a 477 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:57,040 brief warning that the community needs to function together and 478 00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:59,280 we're not all just going to get to do whatever we want to do. 479 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:07,040 Psalm 75 says that promotion cometh neither from the east or 480 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:09,120 the West. It goes on to say, but God is 481 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:12,440 the judge who setteth up 1 and putteth down another. 482 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:17,320 So as it concerns speaking gifts or, or some kind of prominence 483 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:19,720 or hey, I'm, I'm gifted in a certain way. 484 00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:21,960 I want to contribute. Just know that you cannot 485 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:24,960 promote yourself in this particular way. 486 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:28,920 I'm I'm up here saying I want to work with you and work together 487 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:30,640 for us to figure out how to do that. 488 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:33,440 But I don't want you to just get up in the front of the room and 489 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,120 start talking. Let's discuss, let's meet, let's 490 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:38,800 talk. Let's figure that out. 491 00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:43,960 For me to become a pastor, I think it was about 10 years or 492 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:47,280 so before I was ordained that I had figured out I want to do 493 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:48,600 that. I want to start training. 494 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:53,000 I want to minister. I ministered for free for a long 495 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:57,280 time before I was ever like sent to plant a church. 496 00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:01,320 So some of the things that God, if God's called you truly called 497 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:07,080 you to them, they might require some figuring out specifically 498 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:10,560 for the pastor at first Timothy chapter 3 says a requirement to 499 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:14,320 being a pastor is not a novice. So this isn't something that we 500 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:16,320 can just step up and say I'm in charge. 501 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:17,720 I got a gift, I'm going to do it. 502 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:21,160 We prove these things. Remember, we go back to the the 503 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:25,120 guidelines in the beginning. We try the spirits, we test, we 504 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:29,880 function together, and we'll see as we continue in our series in 505 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:33,840 our 4th week that there is a structure in the church. 506 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:36,600 God has given us an order to follow. 507 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:41,880 An order is good. So let's wrap up our time. 508 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:46,680 Do you feel like you're contributing? 509 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:50,840 Well, I don't mean by the way, I don't mean any of this about any 510 00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:54,360 of you in any kind of way. This is just for all of us. 511 00:31:57,400 --> 00:31:59,280 I'm going to give you some examples in a moment, in 512 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:01,400 practical ways and how you can contribute. 513 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:04,200 Do you know how God's gifted you? 514 00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:11,480 One of the best ways to find out is to ask somebody who's 515 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:16,000 spiritually mature, that knows you, that cares about you, that 516 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:20,360 reads and studies the Bible. Hey, what qualities do you see 517 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:21,080 in me? How do you think? 518 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:22,400 What do you think God has for me? 519 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:27,160 It's a great idea. There's a bunch of spiritual 520 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:29,880 gifts, tests out there, man, Some of that, it is what it is. 521 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:33,960 But how can you help others in this church? 522 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:41,640 I'm going to give us some just the time to respond to that. 523 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:45,000 I think at the bottom of your notes, there's some take away 524 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,760 lines. If you haven't written anything 525 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:52,280 yet, maybe that's a good way for you to say, what's a next step I 526 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:55,400 can take towards figuring out how I can contribute? 527 00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:01,040 You don't have to like, write I want to be a pastor in the 528 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:03,320 blank. You can just say I want to 529 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:10,160 figure that out, but also I have a few practical ways for you. 530 00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:15,040 Sometimes with these gifts, people get really excited about 531 00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:18,920 them. And every Christian is also 532 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:22,440 called to serve, even in things that we may not be gifted at. 533 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:27,720 We have children's ministry, we have tech team. 534 00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:30,880 There's all kinds of things that happened that you maybe aren't 535 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:33,200 like excellent at, but we need to do. 536 00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:37,080 Sometimes that's the case. So here are a few practical ways 537 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:39,280 right now that you can contribute. 538 00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:43,720 No matter how you're wired, anybody can give. 539 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:48,760 You should start with that. the AV team in the back, if you look 540 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:50,600 in the back, just look in the back of the room right now. 541 00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:54,520 Look back in the computer. No one's at the wheel. 542 00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:58,960 OK, I'm at the wheel right here. OK, so be great if we had 543 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:01,960 somebody at the wheel all the time during this service. 544 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:04,840 We had a camera turn off while we're doing this. 545 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:07,200 David went back and fixed it. There's but there's no one back 546 00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:09,360 there managing any of that stuff. 547 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:12,760 There's 2 ladies serving in children's ministry right now 548 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:15,719 that are about every 3rd week missing a church service. 549 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:19,840 We could have more bodies, you know, more laborers, less work, 550 00:34:20,639 --> 00:34:22,840 some of our web graphic bullets and things. 551 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:25,080 I make a lot of that stuff. I probably need to not do it. 552 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:28,080 Somebody else probably needs to help me do that. 553 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:30,639 What about coffee, food, snacks? Man, if you just think about 554 00:34:30,639 --> 00:34:34,360 what would make this community better, there's so many things 555 00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:37,159 that we could do together that don't have to be big, fancy, 556 00:34:37,159 --> 00:34:41,560 crazy things, practical ways. But secondarily, maybe you want 557 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:44,840 to think about the future, a way that I could grow into something 558 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:46,600 I want to do seriously in ministry. 559 00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:50,280 Maybe you want to disciple somebody one day. 560 00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:53,280 That's a really specific thing for us. 561 00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:55,000 We, we don't just let anybody do that. 562 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:58,400 We have people get discipled and then they can disciple somebody 563 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:01,560 else. We could multiply our Bible 564 00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:05,960 studies if we had enough people. We got University of Portland, 565 00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:08,280 man. We got other places, PCC, 566 00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:11,000 there's we could spread out and have Bible studies all over the 567 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,720 place. But me and David can only do so 568 00:35:13,720 --> 00:35:17,600 many Bible studies. So if we all grow, man, let us 569 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:18,920 know the things you're interested in. 570 00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:21,080 We we want to develop you to be able to do that. 571 00:35:21,240 --> 00:35:24,160 We don't have any Sunday school classes or extra teaching times. 572 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:27,240 Maybe that God will give us teachers that we can have more 573 00:35:27,240 --> 00:35:28,640 than one thing happening at a time. 574 00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:31,280 Maybe you don't even have to like teach. 575 00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:34,360 You could just lead a the tech team or lead some kind of 576 00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:37,200 service. And I leave the bottom one on 577 00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:41,160 there on purpose because God has called some people to serve him 578 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:43,400 in a very specific and serious way. 579 00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:48,440 And I think every male should consider, what does God want to 580 00:35:48,440 --> 00:35:51,400 do with my life and why should I not give it to the gospel? 581 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:54,600 And the Lord will shut you down if you're not called to it. 582 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:57,120 It's OK, Don't worry about it. But those are just some 583 00:35:57,120 --> 00:36:02,200 practical ways for you to figure out how to serve. 584 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:06,560 So what do we need? How has God wired you? 585 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:09,160 Let's take one more moment to pray. 586 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:11,960 I want to give you another minute of silence. 587 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:18,240 I said a lot of things, so let's let you just breathe, take it to 588 00:36:18,240 --> 00:36:21,480 the Lord, and then we're going to sing one more song.