Speaker 1: First strength in Chapter twelve, verse twelve four. As the
Speaker 1: body is one and has many members, but all the
Speaker 1: members of that one body, being member, are one body,
Speaker 1: so also is Christ. So Christ is one. We are
Speaker 1: one with them, we are his body. And of course
Speaker 1: this doesn't exist, so I guess because truly the Bible
Speaker 1: says he is the head of the body. Right, he's
Speaker 1: the head of the body. And so okay, so that's
Speaker 1: a transgression. Already we have sin number one. Because he's happy.
Speaker 1: He's happy, so we'll go. He's happy. He's so happy
Speaker 1: that you're getting your biceps built up. So and soon
Speaker 1: you will look like the equippers with these giant biceps
Speaker 1: and triceps too. Let's go, let's go, let's go. Triceps
Speaker 1: all right. So I mean you're looking so good. Okay.
Speaker 1: So he's the head, right, you're the body. Yes, And
Speaker 1: there's many parts. The Bible says, there's many parts. For
Speaker 1: Scrinthians twelve seventeen. We have it for you too, if
Speaker 1: you want to read it. For if the whole body
Speaker 1: were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the
Speaker 1: whole were the hearing, where would the smelling be? But
Speaker 1: now God has set members, the members each one of
Speaker 1: them in the body, just as he pleased. So you've
Speaker 1: been set in the body. You've been given some kind
Speaker 1: of role, some kind of place, some kind of you've
Speaker 1: been given ability for for what? What is it for him?
Speaker 1: What's it for? It's for serving, it's the title of
Speaker 1: the sermon, People of God. It's for it's for serving. Okay,
Speaker 1: Verse twenty seven. Now you are the body of Christ
Speaker 1: and members individually, members individually. Let's go to Ephesians. I
Speaker 1: don't know if you have you have it, Ephesian, you
Speaker 1: do have it Ephesians four sixteen. Ephesians four sixteen. We
Speaker 1: can go to that one too. I don't know if
Speaker 1: I have it. I have it in my pocket wherever
Speaker 1: my phone is. From him, the whole body joined and
Speaker 1: held together by every supporting ligament. He's calling you. A
Speaker 1: ligament now grows and builds itself up in love, grows
Speaker 1: and builds itself, grows every as they grows, and then
Speaker 1: builds itself up in love as each part does its
Speaker 1: does its work. Okay, So that's my other thing over here.
Speaker 1: Ephesians four, verses eight all the way to sixteen. We're
Speaker 1: not gonna read them all this morning. But Ephesians four
Speaker 1: is the passage where it says that he went into
Speaker 1: the depths, he descended into hades, he triumphed over darkness.
Speaker 1: And then he brought the righteous dead out of captivity
Speaker 1: and took them to heaven. And as he was ascending
Speaker 1: into heaven, he distributed his grace, his ability, his giftings,
Speaker 1: his charisma, his strength. He distributed that to the body.
Speaker 1: And when those gifts were distributed to the body, he
Speaker 1: ordained that those gifts would build the body up, equipped
Speaker 1: the body, strengthen the body for the works of ministry.
Speaker 1: Everybody say the works of ministry, and that work of
Speaker 1: ministry and the building up of the body would continue
Speaker 1: until we all come to the unity of the faith,
Speaker 1: of the full stature of the Sun. Crazy enough, there's
Speaker 1: going to be a generation. There's going to be a
Speaker 1: generation where the church where all churches are going to
Speaker 1: look exactly alike. By the way, it won't matter if
Speaker 1: it says New Horizon or First Assembly or First Baptist
Speaker 1: or Saints of Episcopalian, it won't matter. There's going to
Speaker 1: come a day, according to Ephesian chapter four, where every
Speaker 1: church is going to be flowing in the fullness of
Speaker 1: the sun, the unity of the faith, the fullness of
Speaker 1: the sun. Every church is going to be flowing in that,
Speaker 1: and it's not just going to be the church, but
Speaker 1: it's going to be the people in the church. Because
Speaker 1: the people in the church are the church. We are
Speaker 1: the body of Christ. And so in every church there's
Speaker 1: coming a generation where everybody's going to be building one
Speaker 1: another up. And you'll notice what's crazy here. It doesn't
Speaker 1: say that the preachers build them up. It doesn't say
Speaker 1: the clergy builds them up. It doesn't say that. It
Speaker 1: says that they will build one another up in love
Speaker 1: by supplying what each part supplies. That's the sign of
Speaker 1: a mature church. The sign of a mature church is
Speaker 1: where we are all supplying and this is where we're headed.
Speaker 1: This is what God's trying to develop ns He's trying
Speaker 1: to develop a mature church, and he matured churches where
Speaker 1: we come up in faith. Everybody say faith, We grow
Speaker 1: up in faith. When you grow up in faith, you
Speaker 1: can embrace more responsibility, you can embrace the work of
Speaker 1: building one another up because you've grown up in faith.
Speaker 1: When you grow up in faith, that means you're a partaker.
Speaker 1: Of Him, and so you've realized it's not all about you,
Speaker 1: It's about building up one another. Hallelujah, somebody, now here's
Speaker 1: what's happening. Sometimes we are growing up in faith and
Speaker 1: we don't know it. Sometimes the faith we have is
Speaker 1: pretty good and we don't realize it. Sometimes our faith
Speaker 1: is already developed a little bit, but we don't know
Speaker 1: it because we're being told a lie. And this is
Speaker 1: why I want to talk today about digging or redigging
Speaker 1: the well of divine service. Redigging the well today, I
Speaker 1: want to talk a little bit about uncovering the well
Speaker 1: of serving. Could it be that the well of serving
Speaker 1: is what many of us in charismatic circles are missing.
Speaker 1: You see, we have the fullness of the spirit, we
Speaker 1: have the Pentecostal experience, we have the visitation of God,
Speaker 1: we have presence, we have anointing, we have goosebumps, we
Speaker 1: have the kindness of the spirit in our midst. We
Speaker 1: have healings and the gifts and the wonders of God
Speaker 1: in our midst. But do we have this one thing?
Speaker 1: Do we have this one thing that through it a
Speaker 1: grace is released that cannot ends, not must have been
Speaker 1: a good word, a grace is released that cannot and
Speaker 1: is not released any other way. Now there's a grace
Speaker 1: at the altars, there's a grace in receiving, there's a
Speaker 1: grace in the anointing. There's a grace in all of
Speaker 1: these things. But what if all of what we receive
Speaker 1: in the Lord is not for the purpose of soakings,
Speaker 1: for the purpose of distribution. And what happens is the
Speaker 1: enemy comes along and he tries to clog that well.
Speaker 1: Remember what happened with Abraham, the Father of faith. With Abraham,
Speaker 1: the Philistines had come along and clogged up the wells.
Speaker 1: They threw dirt in the well of provision that was
Speaker 1: already dug. But by throwing dirt in it, and by
Speaker 1: covering it over, by hiding it, by making it obscure,
Speaker 1: by causing it to be unseen and unfound, they couldn't
Speaker 1: draw water out of that well. Now, I want to
Speaker 1: talk to you a little bit about That's what I
Speaker 1: think religion has done in the beginning. In the beginning,
Speaker 1: with first atom, we were all we will all image
Speaker 1: bearers with first atom. First atom was born of the spirit,
Speaker 1: he had a walk with God. First atom was righteous.
Speaker 1: It wasn't imputed righteousness before he fell. He had end
Speaker 1: dwelling righteousness, he had the glory of God. He had
Speaker 1: all this going on. He was one with God. And
Speaker 1: so they were given the assignment to go from the
Speaker 1: mountain of God. And they even had the Mountain of God.
Speaker 1: The Mountain of God or Zion, the mountain of God
Speaker 1: was at the center of the garden. And so they
Speaker 1: were to go into the world and into what would
Speaker 1: be developed as culture, education, economy, family, government, media, entertainment,
Speaker 1: whatever it was. They were to go in and they
Speaker 1: were to heavenize the planet as anointed ones, as image bearers.
Speaker 1: God said, let us make man in our image. They
Speaker 1: were image bearers. But then that was entirely lost. Then
Speaker 1: God puts a placeholder in if you can entertain this
Speaker 1: with me a little bit. In Galatians for because of
Speaker 1: transgressions and the increase of transgressions. In Galatians For, it
Speaker 1: says that the law was added until the seed, the
Speaker 1: promised seed of Abraham would come. And so the law
Speaker 1: was added. And when the law was added, then though
Speaker 1: we had a placeholder, that placeholder wasn't what God desired.
Speaker 1: It was only a placeholder until the seed of Abraham
Speaker 1: would come. The seed of Abraham would restore what God
Speaker 1: started with. That everyone is an image bearer, that everyone
Speaker 1: is anointed, that everyone has the indwelling spirit of God,
Speaker 1: that everyone is sent to heavenize, and everyone has an
Speaker 1: assignment to build up, to love, to build up, to love,
Speaker 1: to build up. Now, here's what's happening, and here's how
Speaker 1: dirt has gotten thrown into the well of serving. Is
Speaker 1: that during this period the ministry was given to the
Speaker 1: livitical community, to erin and to the levitical community. The
Speaker 1: ministry was given to that livitical community, and so for
Speaker 1: them they watched over the ministry of God to the people.
Speaker 1: And under that tabernacle system where they would dispense the sacraments,
Speaker 1: they would watch over the sacrifices, and there was atonement
Speaker 1: for the people. And the Levites would set up and
Speaker 1: break down anybody in the New Testament Church ever done that.
Speaker 1: They would set up and break down the tent of meeting.
Speaker 1: They would care for the sacrifices. Also, they would watch
Speaker 1: over the Torah, the teaching of the law. All of
Speaker 1: that was given to the levitical community, and the levitical
Speaker 1: community alone. This is where we developed a clergy model.
Speaker 1: They also were paid for their service. But God has
Speaker 1: shifted everything in the New Testament model. But what happens
Speaker 1: is is that this model here, the enemy likes this model.
Speaker 1: God didn't like this model. This was only a place.
Speaker 1: God didn't like this model. God wanted every person to
Speaker 1: be born of the spirit, filled with the spirit, and
Speaker 1: to be even a seer. Remember Jeel chapter two, verse
Speaker 1: twenty eight, I will pour out my spirit on all
Speaker 1: flesh in the last days. And then Acts chapter one,
Speaker 1: verse eight. Oh, this is what was prophesied. He's pouring
Speaker 1: out his spirit Acts chapter two. So this was just
Speaker 1: a placeholder. But the problem is the enemy knows that
Speaker 1: this system is not redemptive enough to undo the work
Speaker 1: of Satan. But if we keep focused on that system, Hello, somebody,
Speaker 1: if we keep focused on this system, and this is
Speaker 1: I think in some ways the church is still struggling
Speaker 1: with that system. And I think not long after the
Speaker 1: birth of the church, it wasn't too many years after
Speaker 1: the birth of the church. Then you see what happened
Speaker 1: is the church went from wild expressions of new wine.
Speaker 1: Jesus said, let's not put what I'm about to do
Speaker 1: in an old wine skin. If we put what I'm
Speaker 1: about to do in an old wine skin, It's gonna
Speaker 1: blow the wine skin up. The only way we can
Speaker 1: do what I'm about to do is we have to
Speaker 1: put it in a brand new wine skin. But we're
Speaker 1: only about three or four or five hundred years into
Speaker 1: the new Church, and all at once the enemy is
Speaker 1: bringing us back to an old wine skin. And so
Speaker 1: you see this in church. You see this, and this
Speaker 1: wine skin is that if I'm going to be involved
Speaker 1: in ministry, I should get paid. Only the clergy do minister,
Speaker 1: and only they have the real power of ministry. My role.
Speaker 1: I don't even have a responsibility of ministry. I have
Speaker 1: no responsibility for ministry because I'm not a part of
Speaker 1: this clergy system. You hear what I'm saying, And so
Speaker 1: we were You know, we're only three, four or five
Speaker 1: hundred years into the church, and we see a priesthood
Speaker 1: being restored. You feel what I'm saying, and we see
Speaker 1: this clergy led model being in that influence brought back
Speaker 1: into the church and therefore the limitation of it. One
Speaker 1: of the things that Martin Luther said in was fifteen eleven,
Speaker 1: fifteen twenty one what wasn't you have to talk really loud?
Speaker 1: Seventeen So one of the things that Martin Luther said
Speaker 1: with the Protestant movement, Martin Luther said that first the
Speaker 1: Word of God must be restored to the people, but
Speaker 1: then the ministry of God must be restored to the people.
Speaker 1: Because the Bible teaches the priesthood of all believers, and
Speaker 1: the Bible the New Covenant is teaching that we've all
Speaker 1: become kings and priests unto God. So over here, not
Speaker 1: only are we restored as sons and daughters of God.
Speaker 1: John one twelve says that to us who believe, He
Speaker 1: gives us the power to become the sons and daughters
Speaker 1: of God. Not only that, but we also are called
Speaker 1: of God. We're anointed of God, and we are we're
Speaker 1: all called into ministry. And this is God completely reversing
Speaker 1: what happened in the garden. God has to completely reverse
Speaker 1: the New Creation model and the power of the New
Speaker 1: Creation and the power of the people of God and
Speaker 1: the Church. It has to be as effective as the
Speaker 1: curse was. The curse touched every person, and the restoration
Speaker 1: through Jesus restores every person. And that restoration is a
Speaker 1: restoration of reimaging. We image God, we heavenize the planet,
Speaker 1: and it gives birth again to the truth of the
Speaker 1: Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not a small,
Speaker 1: little tabernacle thing where just leevites serve in ministry, and
Speaker 1: in that environment they would come mainly to receive. The
Speaker 1: whole thrust of the tabernacle model was that you come
Speaker 1: really as a spectator, you come to receive, You come
Speaker 1: under the ministry of the levitical system. That isn't the
Speaker 1: New Testament model. The New Testament model is that we
Speaker 1: come to build up, we come to serve, we come
Speaker 1: to give, We come and over here, over here. In
Speaker 1: Ephesians four eight, where it talks about the apostles and
Speaker 1: the prophets and the teachers, it just says that they
Speaker 1: aren't priests, right, the apostles and the prophets, and the
Speaker 1: pastors and the teachers, they aren't priests. They are equippers.
Speaker 1: We have nine people on the preaching team right now.
Speaker 1: I think that's wonderful. I love it when Roman preaches,
Speaker 1: Angela preaches, Joel preaches, Dennis preaches, Rank preaches, Craig preaches,
Speaker 1: Joe preaches. I love it. I love it, love it,
Speaker 1: love it, love it, love it. But there's no greater
Speaker 1: They have no greater anointing than you, They have no
Speaker 1: greater calling than you. Hello in the New Testament model.
Speaker 1: These are not priests. These are equippers. These are like
Speaker 1: trainers if you if you go to the gym. I
Speaker 1: don't know, you know, I grew up watching a lot
Speaker 1: of boxing. My dad loved boxing, and when we were
Speaker 1: literally got us boxing gloves, and and uh he would
Speaker 1: teach us how to box, and we'd go out in
Speaker 1: the yard and he'd, you know, teach us how to box.
Speaker 1: And he'd loved Mohammad Aldi, you know, Cassius Clay, and
Speaker 1: he loved George Foreman, and he loved Mike Tyson, and
Speaker 1: he loved all these boxers. And he boxed in the Navy,
Speaker 1: and you know, and he just he just loved that
Speaker 1: boxing thing. And and uh so we'd have friends over,
Speaker 1: you know, and once in a while we'd get to
Speaker 1: beat him up, and he'd put boxing gloves on our friends.
Speaker 1: We'd have boxing gloves, and then he'd be like, okay,
Speaker 1: you guys, go ahead, you know. And so I'd watched
Speaker 1: a lot of these, you know, I'd set with dad
Speaker 1: and watch a lot of these fights, right, and you've
Speaker 1: got you've got a trainer that and you've got you know,
Speaker 1: and you know they send them out, you know, send
Speaker 1: them out. Okay, you go, you go, right, And if
Speaker 1: it's George forum Under, you know, Muhammad Ali or whatever
Speaker 1: whoever it is, right, Mike Tyson, you know they're out
Speaker 1: in the middle and they're out there doing the work. Right,
Speaker 1: They're out there doing the work. The trainer isn't doing
Speaker 1: the work. The trainer is helping them grow and then
Speaker 1: sending them out and when they come back with victories, wow. Right.
Speaker 1: Or you go to the gym. You got a personal trainer.
Speaker 1: You know, you got a trainer. You go, you go
Speaker 1: to the gym. They show you where you don't have biceps,
Speaker 1: you know, you know where your legs look like spaghetti.
Speaker 1: You know, they're trying to show you how to develop that.
Speaker 1: And and a lot of us need that when we
Speaker 1: go to the gym. We need a trainer, right, we
Speaker 1: need that. Well, the church model is a lot more
Speaker 1: like that than it is like this, because we're all
Speaker 1: called the ministry, we're all called to be built up
Speaker 1: to And if my part is the bicep. I want
Speaker 1: to be a really strong one. Right. If my part
Speaker 1: in the body of Christ is the abs, then let's
Speaker 1: have a six pack. Right, I got a one pack
Speaker 1: right now? Well let's you know, let's have a sick pack.
Speaker 1: Let's let's if whatever my part is in the body,
Speaker 1: let's be strengthened through the equipping, through the trainer, so
Speaker 1: that then I can be building the body up so
Speaker 1: that I can be engaged. The enemy is trying to
Speaker 1: keep this model active because he knows this model is
Speaker 1: suppressing to the kingdom and what God knows by restoring
Speaker 1: the body to the fullness of what He intended in
Speaker 1: the garden, that when we all bear the image and
Speaker 1: we build up one another, when we function in this way,
Speaker 1: we're tapping into the grace that we couldn't otherwise tap into.
Speaker 1: There's a revival in your serving that you won't get
Speaker 1: at a Mario Morilla meeting. There's a revival in your
Speaker 1: serving that you can't get at a Morris Sorilla meeting.
Speaker 1: There's a revival and you're serving that you can't get
Speaker 1: at a TBN meeting. There's a revival and you're serving
Speaker 1: that you can't get at a Binny hen conference. I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna keep talking till you believe me. Yea, let
Speaker 1: me prove it to him. First, Peter, Let's go to
Speaker 1: first Peter. First, Peter four ten and eleven. First Peter
Speaker 1: four ten and eleven. See if I've got to hear
Speaker 1: somewhere Hallolia. We get it up there first, Peter four
Speaker 1: ten and eleven. Lolory to God, Harlolujah. I don't want
Speaker 1: to read it up there. I want to read it
Speaker 1: right here, but I can't find it here. It is
Speaker 1: maybe as each one of you have received a gift.
Speaker 1: This is charisma, a gift, a gracing from God. Grace.
Speaker 1: We know it as unmerited favor, but grace is much
Speaker 1: more than unmerited favor. Grace is the power to accomplish
Speaker 1: God's will, the power to bring forth something out of
Speaker 1: Heaven through you that is in alignment with Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: It's in alignment with Jesus, and it's beyond you. When
Speaker 1: you were born of the Spirit, you received a grace, gift,
Speaker 1: a graceing, a charisma, which is a grace gift from
Speaker 1: God that is beyond you and is of Him to
Speaker 1: empower you. As each one has received a gift, minister
Speaker 1: it to one another, minister it to one another. Now
Speaker 1: this means, and this is exhortation. Peter, who's a under shepherd,
Speaker 1: a shepherd and elder to the church, He's riding to
Speaker 1: the church. And this means proximity is important. Right. I
Speaker 1: need to be I need to be with you to
Speaker 1: minister to you. I need to be around you to
Speaker 1: minister to you. So I esteem you in the body.
Speaker 1: And when we come together, I'm coming together not just
Speaker 1: to get fed. We can do two things at one time.
Speaker 1: I'm not coming together just to get fed. I'm coming
Speaker 1: together to feed minister it to one another as good
Speaker 1: stewards of the manifold grace of God. So there's this
Speaker 1: abundant manifold massive grace of God that's poured out on me,
Speaker 1: poured out on you, poured out on each one of us.
Speaker 1: And to steward it, I need to minister it. I
Speaker 1: need to I need to distribute it, and I distribute
Speaker 1: it to you to one another. So in other words,
Speaker 1: all of this, I'm the boxer in the ring, and
Speaker 1: my boxing to overcome the enemy and to win and
Speaker 1: to walk in what God's called me to walk out
Speaker 1: comes through serving you. When I serve you, the enemy
Speaker 1: is defeated. When I care for you, the enemy is defeated.
Speaker 1: When I build you up in the Word. There's a
Speaker 1: victory accomplished in God when I love you, when I
Speaker 1: care for you, when I when I tune in to you,
Speaker 1: when I pay attention to your needs. And this is
Speaker 1: the New Testament model. If anyone speaks, if your gift
Speaker 1: is a speaking gift, then speak as if it were
Speaker 1: the oracles of God. If anyone ministers or serves, if
Speaker 1: your gift is a serving gift. So he's saying, there's
Speaker 1: two kinds of expressions. He's making it real simple. There's
Speaker 1: two primarily two kinds of expressions. There are speaking expressions
Speaker 1: and there are hand expressions serving expressions. If your expression
Speaker 1: is speaking, or at this moment you're speaking, then do
Speaker 1: it as if it were the oracles of God. If
Speaker 1: it is a serving expression, then do it with the
Speaker 1: ability which God supplies, that in all things God may
Speaker 1: be glorified through Jesus Christ. Do it with the ability
Speaker 1: that God supplies. So he's saying, there's a grace on you.
Speaker 1: And here's one of the big things I want you
Speaker 1: to get today. This grace doesn't flow until you use it.
Speaker 1: This grace, this grace does not flow when you're sitting
Speaker 1: on it. The only thing happening here is I'm feeling
Speaker 1: I'm not feeling lead, but I have led lead in
Speaker 1: my bottom. Oh yeah, this is this is so many
Speaker 1: Christians don't feel lead, but there's something holding them down.
Speaker 1: They got to get up off that serving. I got
Speaker 1: to get the lead out. We got to get the
Speaker 1: lead out because every one of us are lead and deserving.
Speaker 1: There is no body in the body of Christ that
Speaker 1: is not called to serving. Every one of us are
Speaker 1: called deserving. Hello, somebody listen to what the Lord said.
Speaker 1: The Lord said, I'm going to bind up the strong man.
Speaker 1: He's talking about the New Testament Church. This is our
Speaker 1: big passage, our big passage for deliverance, ministry, and freedom,
Speaker 1: right Matthew twelve. He says, I'm going to bind up
Speaker 1: the strong man. Verse twenty nine. We're again. How can
Speaker 1: anyone who enter a strong man's house and carry off
Speaker 1: his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man?
Speaker 1: This is the Lord. Actually, this is the Lord prophesying
Speaker 1: over what would be the New Testament Church. He's saying
Speaker 1: I've come first, John three to eight. I've come to
Speaker 1: overcome the works of darkness. So this is the beginning
Speaker 1: of something great. Right, So first he binds up the
Speaker 1: strong man. Then the whole of the New Testament Church
Speaker 1: is plundering the strong man's house. But listen to the
Speaker 1: next verse. Then he can plunder his house. And verse thirty.
Speaker 1: Whoever is not with me is against me. Whoever isn't
Speaker 1: in agreement, whoever isn't plundering, whoever isn't partnering with this
Speaker 1: assignment is actually against me. And whoever does not gather
Speaker 1: with me is actually scattering. Are you hearing that? In
Speaker 1: other words, we are anointed, we are called, we are gifted,
Speaker 1: we are the new creation in Christ, so that we
Speaker 1: can gather with them, so that we can partner with him.
Speaker 1: And if we aren't, then the enemy is winning. The
Speaker 1: enemy is winning. People are being harmed. It's not happening
Speaker 1: because the Lord is calling every one of us to
Speaker 1: the forefront in this battle to overcome darkness. I want
Speaker 1: to go so far as to say this, you're ready
Speaker 1: for this. This is heavy. Everybody say heavy. Excuses to
Speaker 1: serving in the New Testament Church are inspired by the
Speaker 1: enemy now he is the god of reasoning, though he's
Speaker 1: also the father of lives. So we have to really
Speaker 1: watch our reasoning. We have to guard our thoughts because
Speaker 1: because some of the reasoning that we end up having
Speaker 1: is related to helping the enemy plug up the well
Speaker 1: of serving. And if the well of serving is plugged
Speaker 1: up because of whatever we're looking at. Ministry is not
Speaker 1: my responsibility. I don't get paid around here. We have
Speaker 1: pastored away. And he shouldn't complain. He's got a whole
Speaker 1: host of preachers, he's got a whole staff, he's got
Speaker 1: a whole staff. My goodness, gracious, what more would he need?
Speaker 1: What more does Jesus need? Jesus needs every one of
Speaker 1: us fully engulfed. And it's not either or. But I
Speaker 1: thought I was sent to education. I thought I was
Speaker 1: meant to sent to entertainment. I thought I was meant. Yes,
Speaker 1: you are sent like an arrow to one of those.
Speaker 1: But it's not either or. You're still You're still divinely
Speaker 1: connected to the House of the Lord. And to the
Speaker 1: degree that we build this house and partner with Jesus
Speaker 1: to that degree, we transform the mountains of culture. So
Speaker 1: reasons for serving, many times they're justified by our view
Speaker 1: of religion that is skewed with the old model. Or
Speaker 1: we say it's not my gifting, or we say I
Speaker 1: need time for me, or we say I'm not prepared,
Speaker 1: or we say it's not my calling. You know, I
Speaker 1: bet we could go around the room today and come
Speaker 1: up with fifty more excuses. But I want you to
Speaker 1: think about this today because God already determined that he
Speaker 1: brought you into the Kingdom in this time, season, and era,
Speaker 1: that every excuse you can come up with for serving
Speaker 1: is actually of the devil, it's actually of the enemy.
Speaker 1: That God will release a grace through you that will
Speaker 1: enable you beyond your understanding. Until you get off of
Speaker 1: your hands. You can't even experience it. You can't even
Speaker 1: understand it. You just have to believe. And when you
Speaker 1: jump up off of your hands and you dive into
Speaker 1: something in God, all at once, the grace begins to flow,
Speaker 1: a grace that's different than any other grace you've experienced.
Speaker 1: And it's also a grace that makes you rejoice because
Speaker 1: the Lord said something very true. He said, it's always
Speaker 1: better to give than it is to receive. He said,
Speaker 1: do you want to attain to something great? Matthew twenty
Speaker 1: Then become the servantable, he said in Matthew twenty five.
Speaker 1: Do you aspire for more, then invest what I've given you.
Speaker 1: Invest what I've given you into others. He said through
Speaker 1: Elisha to the little woman, remember that if you need
Speaker 1: debts paid, if you need things taken care of, if
Speaker 1: you need problems solved in your life, he said to her,
Speaker 1: gather as many empty vessels as you can. Why don't
Speaker 1: you gather them out of the apartment buildings, Why don't
Speaker 1: you get them out of the streets. Why don't you
Speaker 1: gether them out of your neighborhood. Gather as many empty
Speaker 1: vessels as you can and start pouring your oil into
Speaker 1: those vessels. If you'll pour your oil into empty vessels,
Speaker 1: every need you have will be met. See this model
Speaker 1: makes us forget all of that, and we start thinking
Speaker 1: church is all about me. But the new model tells
Speaker 1: us that everything he's pouring into us is so we
Speaker 1: could pour into others. Everything he's pouring into us is
Speaker 1: so we could pour I think we ought to have
Speaker 1: a slogan here. I don't know, I just feel like
Speaker 1: we ought to have a slogan here. We should have
Speaker 1: a slogan, because we have two opportunities every Sunday to
Speaker 1: care for this body and to care for the children.
Speaker 1: Right now, there's about fifteen people in the back of
Speaker 1: the building. They're just serving the children. You know what
Speaker 1: this model said. At the end of this model, the
Speaker 1: apex of this model, they said, move the children away.
Speaker 1: But Jesus said, hey, hey, hey, hang on a second.
Speaker 1: Suffer the children to be brought to me. Don't you
Speaker 1: dare close out the children's ministry. Jesus said, bring the
Speaker 1: children to me and set them right up front. For
Speaker 1: such is the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus. This model esteems
Speaker 1: the children. This model despises the children. We got to
Speaker 1: be careful what model we're following. We got to be
Speaker 1: careful what model we're thinking about. Because this model that
Speaker 1: we're called to loves the children and esteems the children.
Speaker 1: And that's the new wine skin of the kingdom. Stand
Speaker 1: with me this morning. Satan has a plan. This system
Speaker 1: was not working redemptively for the nations. This system will
Speaker 1: work redemptively for the nations. This system caused the ministers
Speaker 1: to wear out. Moses says. Moses cried out for help.
Speaker 1: Moses cried out he said, God, the burden is so heavy?
Speaker 1: Are you trying to kill me? Exodus eighteen numbers eleven
Speaker 1: and Exodus eighteen, Moses is crying out, the burden was
Speaker 1: so heavy. This model will always wear the ministers. Whenever
Speaker 1: we come under and allow this model to dominate the church,
Speaker 1: where a few are doing the ministry, those few will
Speaker 1: wear out. But God's ordained that each of us take
Speaker 1: a little load. And as we each take a little load,
Speaker 1: then what happens is nobody wears out. Everybody rejoices, everybody's
Speaker 1: built up, everybody's cared for. Right now, there's about fifteen
Speaker 1: adults in the back, teenagers, adults serving. Probably they're serving
Speaker 1: many of our families, and in doing so, they're able
Speaker 1: to impart the word of God to them with the
Speaker 1: dietary acceptance so that they'll be able to receive it.
Speaker 1: So they're learning the word of God. They're learning a
Speaker 1: Christian worldview. They're learning how to think about gender. They're
Speaker 1: learning how to think about perversity and evil. They're learning
Speaker 1: how to pray. They're learning how to oppose darkness, learning
Speaker 1: how to prophesy over one another. They're learning what dreams are.
Speaker 1: They're learning that stuff. But some adult is back there
Speaker 1: missing out on church. Now, if we're in here and
Speaker 1: we're not serving back there, or we never have, we're thinking, man,
Speaker 1: we feel sorry for them. That's a bummer. I'm glad
Speaker 1: I never served back That not my responsibility. But what
Speaker 1: you don't realize is that you're missing out on a
Speaker 1: release of a grace. You're missing out on a different
Speaker 1: kind of revival. There's actually a different kind of revival
Speaker 1: happening in the hearts of those who serve back there,
Speaker 1: a revival that you can't get with an ointing oil
Speaker 1: up here, because as they serve, there's a grace being
Speaker 1: released over them and through them, and they're participating there,
Speaker 1: they're receiving that grace, and that grace is not only
Speaker 1: feeding others, but it's feeding them. And so they're not
Speaker 1: gonna leave depressed today. They're gonna leave built up. They're
Speaker 1: not gonna leave bummed out today. They're gonna leave strengthened
Speaker 1: because God was able to pour through them and on
Speaker 1: them and through them, and they were able to tap
Speaker 1: into the grace of God given to them. They could
Speaker 1: only be tapped into by serving. I think the Lords
Speaker 1: show showing us something today that part of his plan
Speaker 1: and the plan of revival in every one of our lives,
Speaker 1: and the plan of anointing, and the plan of increase
Speaker 1: and the plan of quickening is to make sure we're
Speaker 1: engaged in serving the body of Christ, to make sure
Speaker 1: that we have found a place. Tonight, we're going to
Speaker 1: talk about that over pizza and salad, and we want
Speaker 1: you to come. And if you've never served, if you
Speaker 1: haven't been a part of a department, if you haven't
Speaker 1: been engaged in some way, we want you to come
Speaker 1: and be with us tonight. Have fun with us tonight.
Speaker 1: Learn more. Learn about our teams. Find out more about
Speaker 1: the teams. Today is your day, believe it or not,
Speaker 1: to no longer let anything disqualify you from serving. Today
Speaker 1: is your day to tap into an anointing integrace you
Speaker 1: didn't even know existed and never received through any other impartation,
Speaker 1: because you tap into the grace that is yours for
Speaker 1: the purpose of giving. Put up our hands this morning, Father,
Speaker 1: we just thank you for this crazy and amazing morning.
Speaker 1: We thank you for this revelation of the grace of serving.
Speaker 1: And even right now we just dig the dirt off
Speaker 1: of that well. We uncover that well. It's been buried,
Speaker 1: it's been hidden, it's been unseen, it's been lied about
Speaker 1: by the enemy. We dig the dirt off of that thing,
Speaker 1: and we embrace our place in the Body of Christ
Speaker 1: in this new era, this new season of anointing and grace.
Speaker 1: We thank you for it today in Jesus' name, and
Speaker 1: everybody shouted God, bless you Church. We love you, love you,
Speaker 1: love you.