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Good morning Garden Church. 
In the name of our Lord Jesus 

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Christ. 
I'm thankful to the Lord and to 

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Pastor Josh for the opportunity 
to be with you today. 

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We're actually doing a pulpit 
swap. 

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So I get to be with you and he 
gets to be with my folks. 

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So I thought I, I think I have 
the better end of the deal, but 

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I'm, I'm, I'm really thankful 
for the chance to do this and 

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congratulations and blessings on
the merger. 

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I know that was a long time in 
coming for the garden church. 

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And I love your name. 
It's very cool. 

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So I, I grew up in the United 
Arab Emirates in the 90s. 

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So my earliest associations with
gardens actually came from books

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and pictures and not actual 
gardens. 

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That's for two reasons. 
One, because it's a desert 

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climate. 
And two, I grew up in a kind of 

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increasingly urban environment. 
So, like, gardens weren't, you 

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know, found very often. 
So I never really thought about 

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them much until I met my 
husband's family. 

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And they are very into 
gardening. 

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He comes from the New England 
area. 

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My husband's grandmother lives, 
well, right now. 

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She lives in a Senior Center out
in, like, the suburbs. 

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And every time we visit, she 
always invites us. 

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I don't know, it's like Bridger 
to ask to, like, walk around the

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grounds, like, walk around the 
gardens. 

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And she's 90, and she can't 
plant anything. 

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But she talks about the gardens 
with this, like, pride and this 

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admiration that you think like, 
oh, that they're her gardens. 

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So that's when I realized that 
there are a few basic things 

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that make a garden a garden. 
OK. 

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So the first thing is that some 
kind of plant needs to be 

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growing. 
And that's like, really obvious 

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because if it was Astroturf or 
like faux plants, you wouldn't 

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say, like, look at my garden. 
So the first attribute is 

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growth. 
The second attribute is 

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intentionality. 
Like someone has planted 

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something, someone has 
cultivated something it didn't 

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like, create itself or sustain 
itself at random. 

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Like there is a gardener. 
Amen. 

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Yeah, thank you. 
There is a gardener involved 

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somewhere. 
They put in thoughts about the 

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plant selection. 
They tended to the water, they 

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tended to the soil. 
They checked in every so often 

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to like prune or to weed. 
So the second attribute is 

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intentionality. 
The third attribute is not as 

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obvious. 
But when you think about a 

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garden, there has to be some 
variety. 

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There has to be some diversity. 
I mean, imagine if imagine a 

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garden where every plant was the
same, Like no variety in height,

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no variety in color, no variety 
in function, just rows and rows 

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and rows of identical plants. 
And that's not exactly what we 

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would call a garden. 
Like you'd say, it's a field, 

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maybe totally legitimate, but 
it's not a garden. 

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It doesn't reflect the 
creativity of our God. 

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Yet sometimes we often try to 
make our churches look exactly 

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like that. 
And I say that as a church 

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pastor. 
Uniform, predictable, maybe a 

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little bit boring even. 
As human beings, we we gravitate

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towards people who are just like
us. 

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Sometimes we even pressure 
people into uniformity without 

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knowing it. 
Maybe we do this in our circles 

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saying like, oh, that's that's 
the only Christian way to think.

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Or like, oh, real Christians 
don't worship like that. 

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One of my secret challenges as a
guest preacher is to determine 

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how far I can push the button 
and still get invited back. 

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So when Pastor Josh asks you 
what the sermon was about, you 

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can say anarchy. 
Like 3 emoji, Like 3 fire 

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emojis. 
Just kidding, don't do that. 

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But because that's not what this
scripture text is about, what 

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the apostle Paul is talking 
about in our scripture for today

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is unity, more specifically, 
unity in Christ. 

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And I, I understand it that you,
you're going through a series on

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the book of Ephesians. 
And so you've seen in the first 

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few chapters, Paul says that 
God's purpose was always to have

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this huge family of restored 
humanity, of new humanity, of 

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restored humans who are unified 
in Jesus, who are unified 

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through Jesus and through 
Jesus's love that was expressed,

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that was embodied on the cross. 
Now anyone can be part of God's 

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family, which includes people of
all ethnicities and cultures and

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social classes and genders. 
It's a unity that that goes 

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beyond barriers and boundaries 
and binaries, unity that goes 

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beyond country and creed and 
constitution. 

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And it's this unity that is 
rooted and established in the 

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love of Jesus Christ. 
So in chapter 4, where we find 

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our text for today, Paul makes a
move from talking about God's 

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story to connecting it to our 
story, how we live our lives. 

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And so Paul begins with this 
passionate plea that sets our 

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foundation. 
And I, I encourage you to follow

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along in your text, whether in 
your Bibles or in the liturgy, 

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he says, I urge you to live a 
life worthy of the calling you 

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have received in this calling 
that he's talking about is unity

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in the spirit, the peace of 
Christ. 

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We don't create that unity on 
our own that has to 1st come 

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from God, but we are called to 
cultivate it, to keep it, to 

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preserve it. 
And Paul wants to make sure that

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we get the picture. 
So he talks like he's spitting 

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bars. 
He's like there's one body and 

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one spirit, just as you were 
called to 1 hope and you were 

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called 1 Lord, 1 faith, one 
baptism, one God and Father of 

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all who is over all and through 
all and in all. 

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Apostle on the beat, yo. 
But you might be saying like, 

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Hey, wait, P cat, weren't you 
just giving churches the side 

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eye for uniformity? 
But yes, I was, and Paul would 

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be too, because unity is not 
uniformity. 

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I'll say it again, Unity is not 
uniformity. 

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Being one in Christ means that 
we are to be united in Christ, 

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but in all of our diversity. 
And Paul uses the analogy of a 

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human body. 
He says from Jesus Christ, the 

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whole body. 
This is verse 16, joined and 

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held together by every 
supporting ligament grows and 

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builds itself up in love as each
part does its work. 

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The first thing about preserving
unity while also embrace 

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embracing diversity is that we 
are connected to each other and 

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we are connected to grow this 
worthy life that Paul is talking

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about. 
It isn't about individual 

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achievement or elevating one 
person or one personality over 

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the others. 
It's about bearing with one 

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another in love, where we're 
each called to play a vital 

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part, a necessary part. 
We're called to be an ecosystem,

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not an ego system. 
So I need to call out the lie of

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worthlessness that maybe some of
us feel when we compare 

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ourselves to others. 
Maybe you looked at someone that

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you admired at church. 
Maybe it was because they had a 

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skill or a gift that you didn't 
have. 

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Maybe they seemed like so 
spiritually like up there and 

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you felt like, oh man, I have 
nothing to give. 

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When was the last time you 
questioned your worth in the 

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body of Christ? 
Who do you know today that is 

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questioning their worth in the 
body of Christ? 

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Can we affirm their worth in the
body of Christ? 

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Because in this new family, this
new family of God, this we are 

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all part of one body, That means
each of us has a profound is of 

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profound value. 
We can't do this without you. 

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We need to get used to saying 
this to one another. 

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We can't do this without you. 
We need you, I need you. 

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Being one in Christ means that I
am incomplete in my knowledge 

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and in my love of God without 
you. 

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And that's what Paul envisions 
for the church, that every part 

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of the body matters for the 
whole body to grow. 

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In verses 11 into 12, Paul 
outlines 5 vital functions in 

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the body of Christ. 
We often summarize in this in 

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the church culture as the 
acronym Apest. 

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APEST, Like the muscular 
skeletal system, apostles 

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provide structure. 
They pioneer new paths forward. 

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Like nerve endings in our 
nervous system, profits sense 

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God's heart and God's call for 
alignment. 

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Like the circulatory system, 
evangelists spread life giving 

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truth. 
Like the immune system, 

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shepherds protect and nurture 
growth. 

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Like the digestive system, 
teachers help us absorb and 

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apply God's Word. 
And each of these functions can 

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operate in healthy ways and in 
unhealthy ways. 

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Apostles can become reckless 
pioneers who leave wreckage 

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behind. 
Prophets can become harsh 

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critics who tear down without 
building up. 

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Evangelists can prioritize 
numbers over the depth of 

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discipleship. 
Shepherds can create unhealthy 

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emotional dependencies. 
Teachers can become prideful in 

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knowledge without application 
that's functioning unhealthily. 

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But when they're functioning 
healthily, when they're 

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functioning for the good of the 
body, apostles build sustainable

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foundations for growth. 
Prophets speak truth with love 

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and hope. 
Evangelists invite others into 

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genuine relationship with our 
Lord Jesus Christ. 

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Shepherds empower others towards
maturity. 

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Teachers connect truth to 
transformation. 

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Here's the thing, we might hear 
the different categories of 

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giftings in Apest and think, 
wow, so cool. 

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Like who am I? 
And yeah, it is super cool if 

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you take an online test and 
learn about your particular 

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gifting. 
Definitely cool to e-mail Josh 

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at josh@thegardenboston.com 
right now in the middle of 

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church and say, hey, I think I'm
an E on the apest. 

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How can I learn more and put 
that to use? 

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In fact, like he would love it 
if 10 of you emailed him and was

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like, I think I'm a how can I 
put that to use? 

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It would be a gift, but this 
isn't like Myers Briggs or the 

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Enneagram where we kind of learn
deeper aspects about ourselves 

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and then call it a day. 
Paul mentions a PES not for the 

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purpose of self-awareness, but 
for the purpose of service. 

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These gifts aren't for building 
platforms, they're for building 

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people. 
They're not about power, but 

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they're about empowerment 
because Paul says each function 

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exists to equip, to equip the 
Saints for the work of ministry.

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So I want you to identify and 
think about the gift that God 

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has given you. 
How has God uniquely equipped 

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you to serve? 
How has God uniquely equipped 

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you to equip others to serve? 
When we say unity in Christ in 

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all our diversity, we're not 
talking about having the perfect

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multicultural picture for our 
website. 

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Diversity isn't saying hey, 
everyone's welcome to the table 

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when all you'll allow on the 
menu is white rice. 

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The diversity pollen visions 
goes much deeper. 

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It's about recognizing that this
full image of Jesus Christ 

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cannot be reflected through any 
singular cultural lens or single

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generation or single set of 
gifts. 

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So if you say everyone is 
welcome to this table, awesome. 

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And also show me who gets to be 
in the kitchen. 

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Just as the body needs all of 
these different systems to 

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function, the church needs 
diverse perspectives, 

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experiences, gifts to all come 
together to function together as

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God intended. 
Because when we limit leadership

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and influence to 1 demographic 
or cultural expression, we're 

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like a garden trying to grow 
only one type of plant. 

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And so I know that many people 
might be out for the summer, but

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I want you to look around. 
Just turn, turn. 

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Whose presence are you missing 
in this body of Christ? 

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Whose giftings tend to be 
overlooked? 

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Whose voices haven't been heard 
yet? 

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Whose input hasn't been sought? 
Who is undervalued? 

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Who is overlooked? 
Maybe who is missing or who is 

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excluded? 
And I get that that's not an 

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easy question to ask of 
ourselves. 

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Gosh, the audacity of a guest 
preacher to ask that of you. 

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For half of my life, I grew up 
in an environment that said that

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women could not be true 
spiritual leaders. 

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As a little girl, I never saw a 
woman preach. 

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I never saw a woman teach. 
I never saw a woman pray over 

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the congregation or serve on a 
board or even lead a worship 

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song unless it was solely in the
company of other women or kids 

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under the age of 12 and much 
less even a woman of color. 

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I grew up thinking that that was
normal for the 1st 18 years of 

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my life. 
Now, whatever you believe about 

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women in pastoral ministry in 
particular, imagine if only half

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of the human body were allowed 
to move around, to think, to 

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function. 
News flash, it wouldn't work too

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well. 
At least it wouldn't be healthy.

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It wouldn't go as far as maybe 
God intended. 

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Every part of the body matters 
for the whole body to grow. 

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Sometimes I hear people say I 
care about discipleship and 

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that's more important than 
justice. 

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Church when something is keeping
a chunk of the body back from 

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expressing their gifts or 
equipping others to serve. 

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When something is preventing or 
devaluing parts of the body from

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sharing their gifts for the 
great good of the greater body, 

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that is a justice issue in your 
discipleship and it ends up 

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hurting not just part of the 
body, but all of the body. 

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And that's why in verse 15, Paul
pears speaking the truth in love

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with growing up in Christ. 
Because unity isn't just 

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glossing over things. 
Unity can't exist where 

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injustice is ignored or when 
truth is compromised. 

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When one part of the body hurts,
the whole body must respond. 

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If I trip over my skirt and I 
stub my toe, my whole body will 

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respond. 
My eyes will look down, my hands

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will reach out. 
My other leg will be like, whoa,

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what just happened? 
My body doesn't just say, oh, 

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that's the toe's problem. 
Clumsy toe. 

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No, that's a whole body problem.
I mean, by church community in 

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Brookline, there's a young man 
who who's an international 

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student. 
He has no family in the United 

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States. 
So our church has kind of become

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like his family. 
He's humble, he's kind, he's 

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thoughtful, he's prayerful. 
He's a musical genius. 

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He doesn't, like, read notes, 
but he hears the most 

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complicated chords and he gets 
it. 

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And his whole face lights up 
when he's jamming out on the 

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keys to like a legit gospel 
song. 

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Those chords are complicated and
he gets it. 

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And he is a gift to our church, 
but recently he can't share the 

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gift of his music, his 
gentleness or his presence 

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because of what's happening in 
the country with with ICE 

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arrests, the curtailing of 
visas, etcetera. 

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No matter what you tell him to 
comfort him, he is terrified to 

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leave his house. 
He is terrified to go to the 

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grocery store. 
He is terrified to go to work. 

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He is terrified to go to school.
He is terrified to go to church.

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So for US, immigration justice 
is not just a hymn problem, it's

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a whole body problem. 
And so when statistics come out 

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from Gordon Conwell from the 
National Association of 

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00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:47,960
Evangelicals, from World Relief,
when they released findings 

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about how 10 million Christian 
immigrants present in the United

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States are vulnerable to 
deportation for any number of 

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reasons, that's a whole nother 
thing. 

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These people are are Christian 
siblings. 

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So it's not just a them problem,
it's a whole body problem. 

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In 2014, after the news at the 
time that Michael Brown and Eric

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Garner, who are two unarmed 
black men, were killed by 

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police, I was on staff at Inter 
Varsity Campus Ministries and I 

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remember leading a Bible study 
on Jesus parable of the Good 

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Samaritan with a diverse group 
of students. 

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I posed a standard question like
who are you most like in the 

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story? 
Like are you the Levite? 

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Are you the priest? 
I was trying to get my students 

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to consider, like, what it means
to be a neighbor to those who 

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are hurting. 
And I'll never forget that. 

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One of my black students looked 
me in the eye, and she said I am

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neither. 
I'm the man who was left dead on

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the side of the road, who 
everybody is passing without so 

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much as a glance. 
My people are hurting and I 

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don't know who is doing anything
about it. 

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And that's when I that was my 
point where I realized that when

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one part of the body hurts, the 
whole body hurts. 

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Church, every part of the body 
matters for the whole to grow. 

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And I'm going to start to wrap 
it up here. 

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The end goal that Paul talks 
about is beautiful. 

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It's a body joined and knitted 
together by every ligament, each

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part working properly, building 
itself up in love, going from a 

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00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:52,120
me attitude to a we attitude to 
finding our place. 

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Is it going to be hard? 
Yes. 

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Is it going to be complicated? 
Yes. 

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I'm not saying it's easy, but 
it's finding our place in 

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something bigger than ourselves.
So here are a few growth 

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checkpoints that I humbly offer 
as the Garden Church. 

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One, Are you connected? 
Are you connected in Christ? 

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00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:30,720
2 Are you contributing, using 
your gifts to equip others to 

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00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:36,360
serve in ministry? 
And lastly, are you caring? 

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00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:41,920
Are you caring? 
Do you care about the other 

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00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:46,360
parts of the body? 
In Christ's body, every member 

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00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:49,360
matters. 
In God's garden, every plant 

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00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:50,480
matters. 
You matter. 

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00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:52,520
You have a purpose. 
You are needed. 

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00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:57,800
The church is not primarily an 
organization. 

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00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:03,560
It's an Organism. 
We're called to be this living, 

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breathing body growing together 
into the fullness of Christ for 

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00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:17,360
all the world to see. 
Every part of the body matters 

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00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:18,800
for the whole to grow.