WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.460 Thanks for listening. 00:00:45.620 --> 00:00:46.540 Well, good morning. 00:00:47.680 --> 00:00:48.920 I like to hear it. 00:00:48.940 --> 00:00:52.060 If you've got your Bibles, open up to Romans chapter 12. 00:00:52.140 --> 00:00:54.880 If you do not have a Bible, we have a free one we'd like to give to you. 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:57.200 And so after the service, just stop back by here. 00:00:57.320 --> 00:00:58.340 Aaron and I will be back there. 00:00:58.400 --> 00:00:59.140 You can grab a Bible. 00:00:59.500 --> 00:01:02.180 We would love for that to be our gift for you. 00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:05.120 So first week of school is over with. 00:01:05.220 --> 00:01:06.320 We made it through. 00:01:06.460 --> 00:01:07.660 A lot of you guys have been asking. 00:01:07.780 --> 00:01:11.220 I shared a tough process for us around the Bradbury house. 00:01:11.300 --> 00:01:14.300 But on day number one, there were some tears. 00:01:14.540 --> 00:01:17.280 There were some loud noises of grieving. 00:01:17.880 --> 00:01:22.240 But Emma comforted me, and so we were able to get through the day together. 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:23.980 So a wonderful, wonderful week. 00:01:24.500 --> 00:01:28.000 And I know for all the teachers and all the students, I will say this. 00:01:28.060 --> 00:01:28.900 I had a teacher this morning. 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:34.000 Just say to me, she said, if you see me dozing a little bit, it was a long week. 00:01:34.060 --> 00:01:35.100 So I want to say this, all right? 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:37.820 To teachers and teachers only, right? 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:40.320 We will extend that grace to you this week. 00:01:40.420 --> 00:01:42.140 Everybody else, y'all got to stay awake for this. 00:01:42.220 --> 00:01:46.600 All right, this afternoon in Bowling, would love to have you guys out there with us in Bowling. 00:01:47.260 --> 00:01:49.760 You guys know I kind of like competition. 00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:51.720 Dave shared the fellowship aspect. 00:01:52.020 --> 00:01:53.700 But I'm just curious. 00:01:54.980 --> 00:01:57.360 I want to know what we're working with here. 00:01:58.520 --> 00:02:03.380 By a show of hands, raise your hand if you—and leave it up, please. 00:02:03.460 --> 00:02:04.340 Leave it up, leave it up. 00:02:04.780 --> 00:02:08.880 Raise your hand if you've ever bowled over 200. 00:02:08.880 --> 00:02:09.680 Raise your hand. 00:02:09.900 --> 00:02:10.400 Raise your hand. 00:02:10.940 --> 00:02:11.480 Raise your hand. 00:02:11.960 --> 00:02:13.340 Keep them up, keep them up, keep them up. 00:02:14.420 --> 00:02:15.760 All right, this is impressive. 00:02:15.880 --> 00:02:16.900 All right, you can put them down, you can put them down. 00:02:17.780 --> 00:02:21.260 Raise your hand if you've ever bowled over 250. 00:02:21.740 --> 00:02:22.460 Raise your hand. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:24.300 Raise your hand. 00:02:25.020 --> 00:02:28.860 One, two, three, four, five. 00:02:29.420 --> 00:02:31.440 My hand is not going up on any of these, all right? 00:02:32.500 --> 00:02:34.820 Wii Sports doesn't count, by the way, all right? 00:02:36.480 --> 00:02:39.660 Raise your hand if you've ever bowled over 280. 00:02:40.500 --> 00:02:41.280 Raise your hand. 00:02:41.700 --> 00:02:42.200 Raise your hand. 00:02:45.600 --> 00:02:45.960 One. 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:46.660 One, is that what I'm seeing? 00:02:47.940 --> 00:02:48.320 Brent. 00:02:51.600 --> 00:02:52.240 That's great. 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:54.720 Everybody knew who I was talking about with just one name. 00:02:54.760 --> 00:02:56.780 It's like Madonna and Prince. 00:02:56.900 --> 00:03:01.380 Brent, share with us your top score. 00:03:02.760 --> 00:03:03.200 300. 00:03:03.200 --> 00:03:11.620 He promised to bring his 300 ring tonight, all right? 00:03:11.620 --> 00:03:16.460 And so for only a fee of $5, he'll let you wear it for a minute, all right? 00:03:16.460 --> 00:03:19.820 And so we want to be out there, and he'll be doing autographs later too. 00:03:19.820 --> 00:03:23.080 But everybody else that was raising their hands, like, that's impressive, right? 00:03:23.140 --> 00:03:23.320 Right? 00:03:23.380 --> 00:03:26.580 If I hit the triple digits, we count that as a win, you know? 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:29.040 Anything over 99, I'll take that. 00:03:29.040 --> 00:03:31.360 But we'd love to have you out there with us tonight. 00:03:31.660 --> 00:03:35.220 And then also want to remind, family mission trips, September 2nd through the 5th at Black 00:03:35.220 --> 00:03:35.560 Mountain. 00:03:35.920 --> 00:03:37.080 Sign-ups are still going for that. 00:03:37.140 --> 00:03:39.620 We would love to have you join us on that. 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:43.800 So we are going to continue on in our series on discipleship. 00:03:44.140 --> 00:03:45.560 And so this is a five-week series. 00:03:45.700 --> 00:03:47.600 This is week three that we are in. 00:03:47.660 --> 00:03:52.400 And on the first week, we talked about discipleship and church membership and the value of that 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:57.920 to recognizing and seeing the commitment or the level that is there that we recognize 00:03:57.920 --> 00:04:03.200 that we are a unique, a different family of God at Willow Ridge Church. 00:04:03.200 --> 00:04:09.020 And every family that God brings together under the local church finds themselves in a unique 00:04:09.020 --> 00:04:14.220 place with who they are, of how they're wired to be and what they are to be about and what 00:04:14.220 --> 00:04:19.720 they are to do as they fulfill the Great Commission in their context as the Lord leads them. 00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:21.920 And so we talked about that and we looked at that. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:27.460 And then last week, we looked at discipleship and community in Acts chapter 2 of this model, 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:28.740 this piece of what we see. 00:04:28.740 --> 00:04:34.760 And the Bible tells us, Luke writes in Acts 2, of what they devoted themselves to. 00:04:34.940 --> 00:04:41.040 And so we see this level of commitment and involvement and investment that is there amongst 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:44.480 the body, but that it is done in the context of community. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:51.040 And so we are not meant to be these isolated people on our own walk with the Lord that know 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:55.520 that we are called into community as a group of believers. 00:04:55.520 --> 00:05:01.120 We're coming alongside one another, we hold each other accountable, we make each other better as 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:05.560 we devote ourselves to God's Word and the process of maturing in our faith. 00:05:05.860 --> 00:05:09.380 And so this week, what we're going to continue on is we're going to look at discipleship and 00:05:09.380 --> 00:05:09.880 serving. 00:05:10.300 --> 00:05:14.200 So discipleship and serving, that maybe gets us to a different aspect, right? 00:05:14.660 --> 00:05:17.580 And it's not discipleship and serving. 00:05:17.820 --> 00:05:18.760 This is important. 00:05:19.400 --> 00:05:21.140 It's discipleship and serving. 00:05:22.140 --> 00:05:28.080 That as we look at serving, what we see is the role that serving does in discipleship. 00:05:28.180 --> 00:05:32.080 And so let's talk, just to break down, if you weren't able to be with us last week, is 00:05:32.080 --> 00:05:33.820 discipleship is not this. 00:05:33.980 --> 00:05:39.340 We've got to lose the mind frame that discipleship is where I attend this class, I attend this 00:05:39.340 --> 00:05:43.080 small group, the box is checked, I am now a disciple of Jesus. 00:05:43.420 --> 00:05:48.520 Right now, a small group, a class, we've got our small group starting back up, we've got 00:05:48.520 --> 00:05:53.940 classes that are starting back up, it is definitely a powerful piece that God uses, but whether 00:05:53.940 --> 00:05:59.860 it's Sunday school or a group in someone's home or a Bible study at a coffee shop, right? 00:06:00.300 --> 00:06:06.100 Discipleship is not intended to be, I attend this class, I've gone through this, check the 00:06:06.100 --> 00:06:09.660 box, I'm a discipleship or Jesus, and we move away from that. 00:06:09.660 --> 00:06:16.680 And what we find through scripture is that discipleship crosses over into every detail of our life. 00:06:16.760 --> 00:06:25.040 So every moment is a discipleship moment in our lives to respond to it in a way that glorifies 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:30.100 the Lord and builds within us who he longs and desires for us to be. 00:06:30.220 --> 00:06:32.040 That is what discipleship is. 00:06:32.260 --> 00:06:37.960 And it's why we see Jesus and the early disciples always together, always together, right? 00:06:38.300 --> 00:06:42.520 Like Jesus didn't show up, head down to First Baptist, grab a handful of people that have 00:06:42.520 --> 00:06:46.820 been through this process, and now say, hey, meet me on Wednesday night for discipleship. 00:06:46.860 --> 00:06:48.240 That's not what Jesus did. 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:54.300 Jesus comes, Jesus shows up, he calls a group of disciples, and we looked at this, and he says, 00:06:54.300 --> 00:06:59.060 follow me, and then that's what they did all the time. 00:07:00.520 --> 00:07:02.140 So where he ate, they ate. 00:07:02.220 --> 00:07:04.140 Where he slept, they slept, right? 00:07:04.340 --> 00:07:08.160 And we see this core level of discipleship that is there. 00:07:08.260 --> 00:07:10.340 They are always together. 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:15.020 And so what we see is we take the model of that, right? 00:07:15.020 --> 00:07:20.980 Like we can't say from this moment forward, like, you all just quit your jobs and move up 00:07:20.980 --> 00:07:21.580 here at the church. 00:07:21.700 --> 00:07:24.060 We'll have air mattresses, and we'll just figure this thing out, right? 00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:26.280 Like that's not reality for where we are. 00:07:26.500 --> 00:07:30.940 And so when we look at discipleship in our context, in our church, what we talked about 00:07:30.940 --> 00:07:36.880 is that Christian discipleship is both the formal and the informal process, all right? 00:07:36.880 --> 00:07:43.400 So there are formal processes that we come to, Bible studies that we do, classes that we 00:07:43.400 --> 00:07:47.580 take, like mission trips that we go on, areas where we serve. 00:07:47.760 --> 00:07:53.360 It's the formal structure pieces of what the church provides, but it's also the informal 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:54.080 moments, right? 00:07:54.080 --> 00:07:58.300 When we're sitting there having conversations around our dinner table, we're having conversations 00:07:58.300 --> 00:08:00.380 in the lobby before church starts. 00:08:00.500 --> 00:08:04.440 We're having conversations with our friends as we do our social activities, right? 00:08:05.160 --> 00:08:07.740 Conversations while we even bowl, right? 00:08:07.740 --> 00:08:12.240 It's the formal and informal process by which we become more like Christ. 00:08:13.020 --> 00:08:18.360 Not more like a church, not more like a pastor, not more like an author, not more like a leader, 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:20.380 but more like Christ. 00:08:20.380 --> 00:08:25.660 And then as a result of that, we become more invested in his mission, right? 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:26.800 What he calls us to. 00:08:27.140 --> 00:08:32.100 Jesus says to the early disciples, come and follow me and I will make you something. 00:08:32.400 --> 00:08:38.240 So he says he's going to transform them and produce something in them that is not natural 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:39.080 to them. 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:43.560 And he says as a result of that to these guys who were fishermen, that he will make 00:08:43.560 --> 00:08:44.100 them what? 00:08:44.260 --> 00:08:46.240 Fishers of men, right? 00:08:46.260 --> 00:08:50.600 The great commission right there in that moment that you're going to go and you're going to 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:55.960 lead people to the Lord and you're going to see them become disciples of Jesus in every 00:08:55.960 --> 00:08:57.000 aspect of our life. 00:08:57.040 --> 00:08:58.300 And I think this is so important, right? 00:08:58.420 --> 00:09:03.920 You and I, we do not get to function like a spreadsheet or a calendar when it comes to following 00:09:03.920 --> 00:09:05.940 Jesus, right? 00:09:05.980 --> 00:09:12.160 It's not, I go to soccer practice here, I go to work here, and here's where I love the 00:09:12.160 --> 00:09:12.440 Lord. 00:09:13.380 --> 00:09:13.960 No, no, no. 00:09:14.180 --> 00:09:19.700 It penetrates every part of who we are, every aspect of what's there. 00:09:19.960 --> 00:09:23.540 And that's why I think it's so important for us to understand that discipleship does not 00:09:23.540 --> 00:09:29.720 just happen between the four walls of a church, but discipleship happens in every aspect of 00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:31.020 our lives. 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:36.200 We're talking about this a little bit in staff, and I said one of the most exciting things 00:09:36.200 --> 00:09:41.480 that I have right now that I'm going through is there's an individual who has some influence 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:47.100 in the life of my son, and I do not know if he's a believer yet, but here's what I know. 00:09:47.400 --> 00:09:51.960 We keep having more and more conversations about faith. 00:09:53.320 --> 00:09:55.080 And so I look forward to that moment. 00:09:56.460 --> 00:10:03.760 Now, if it's happening at 6.30 at night, is it still discipleship? 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:09.580 If it's happening away from the church, is it still discipleship? 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:12.700 Absolutely it is, right? 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:15.600 Because that's what God's called us to. 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:21.940 So this morning we're going to look at serving and discipleship, and they're not removed, but 00:10:21.940 --> 00:10:23.380 they're linked together, right? 00:10:23.640 --> 00:10:24.940 And here's why they're linked together. 00:10:25.060 --> 00:10:31.420 If discipleship is becoming more like Jesus, right, Jesus says himself in Matthew 20, verse 00:10:31.420 --> 00:10:35.840 28, that he came not to be served, but to serve, right? 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:43.400 So if Jesus says, like, the aspect of my life is to serve and to give his life as a ransom 00:10:43.400 --> 00:10:48.500 for many, if that's what he comes to model and to show, and if that at his very core is who 00:10:48.500 --> 00:10:52.060 he is, then if you and I are going to be like Jesus, guess what we need to do? 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:54.580 We need to serve. 00:10:55.060 --> 00:11:00.780 Now, today we're going to largely look at the context of serving in the body of Christ, right? 00:11:00.820 --> 00:11:03.380 That's the passage that we're going to look at at Romans 12. 00:11:03.540 --> 00:11:05.180 That's the context in what we get. 00:11:05.400 --> 00:11:07.620 But I want to go ahead and start off with this. 00:11:07.940 --> 00:11:12.520 That does not mean, just like the other parts of discipleship, that we leave the serving at 00:11:12.520 --> 00:11:16.960 the door and we pick them up the next time that we're on the rotation at our church. 00:11:17.060 --> 00:11:22.260 That's not what that means, that we bring this of who we are and that it penetrates every, 00:11:22.360 --> 00:11:25.720 every aspect of our lives of who we are. 00:11:25.720 --> 00:11:32.120 So as someone who serves, it is my, even though it is my, my financial job of what I do here as 00:11:32.120 --> 00:11:38.820 the pastor, it's my responsibility as a brother of Christ to also serve amongst the body. 00:11:38.900 --> 00:11:42.580 But it is also my responsibility to serve in my home. 00:11:42.760 --> 00:11:45.720 It's also my responsibility to serve in my neighborhood. 00:11:46.040 --> 00:11:52.500 It's my responsibility to serve in every context of what Jesus gives me and allows that I'm thinking 00:11:52.500 --> 00:11:57.760 through how can I serve this man, this woman, this child that God has presented before me 00:11:57.760 --> 00:11:58.400 in this moment. 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:03.100 It's a lessening of self and a focus on him. 00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:05.340 And we see this. 00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:08.080 Jesus served his mom. 00:12:10.220 --> 00:12:11.520 Jesus served Peter. 00:12:13.220 --> 00:12:14.340 Jesus served Judas. 00:12:15.980 --> 00:12:16.840 Get that. 00:12:18.140 --> 00:12:19.980 That's been the reminder for me. 00:12:21.380 --> 00:12:22.440 Jesus served his mom. 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:25.380 Jesus served Peter. 00:12:27.180 --> 00:12:28.180 Jesus served Judas. 00:12:29.780 --> 00:12:36.400 Jesus served his mom, the person who, who knew him in an earthly fashion, the way that no 00:12:36.400 --> 00:12:36.900 one else could. 00:12:37.900 --> 00:12:38.800 Jesus served his mom. 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:44.380 Jesus served Peter, the one who became the truth of who Jesus was. 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:47.640 And he says on your, on that rock, I will build my church. 00:12:48.300 --> 00:12:48.740 Right? 00:12:49.620 --> 00:12:50.540 He served Peter. 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:53.040 And he served Judas. 00:12:54.300 --> 00:12:59.620 The one who would betray him for a few pieces of silver through a kiss. 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:01.980 Jesus served them all. 00:13:02.740 --> 00:13:04.200 So we can't just isolate. 00:13:04.360 --> 00:13:08.400 We have to understand that this is who God's called us to be, but we acknowledge that we're 00:13:08.400 --> 00:13:09.920 going to look at it in the context of the church. 00:13:10.040 --> 00:13:10.320 So let's look. 00:13:10.580 --> 00:13:12.200 Romans 12, verses 3 through 8. 00:13:12.260 --> 00:13:15.760 We're going to read all the way through and then come back and look at some things from 00:13:15.760 --> 00:13:15.960 this. 00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:18.680 So Paul writes, and he says, 00:13:18.680 --> 00:13:23.960 For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you, not to think of himself more highly 00:13:23.960 --> 00:13:29.200 than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:30.680 faith that God has assigned. 00:13:31.020 --> 00:13:36.200 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function. 00:13:36.580 --> 00:13:42.940 So we, the many, are one body in Christ and individually members one of another, having 00:13:42.940 --> 00:13:47.720 gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them. 00:13:47.980 --> 00:13:54.500 If prophecy in proportion to our faith, if service in our serving, the one who teaches in his 00:13:54.500 --> 00:14:01.240 teaching, the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who 00:14:01.240 --> 00:14:05.900 leads with zeal, the one who acts of mercy with cheerfulness. 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:09.580 And so Paul writes this to the church, right? 00:14:09.760 --> 00:14:14.780 Right after the passages Paul writes in Romans 12, 1, I apologize, it's not on the screen, 00:14:14.840 --> 00:14:15.820 but if you want to jump there, right? 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:16.900 Look back in your Bible. 00:14:17.020 --> 00:14:23.640 I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by mercies of God, to present your bodies as living sacrifices, 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:27.280 holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 00:14:27.540 --> 00:14:32.660 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing, 00:14:32.980 --> 00:14:36.420 you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and perfect and acceptable. 00:14:36.420 --> 00:14:40.900 So he takes this, these first two verses that I just read, and he says, this is what's going 00:14:40.900 --> 00:14:44.060 to be happening within the context of your life. 00:14:44.200 --> 00:14:47.940 And then he takes these verses that we just looked at together, and he says, and this is 00:14:47.940 --> 00:14:51.740 how this plays out as a body, as a group of people. 00:14:52.880 --> 00:14:54.940 And so let's look at these handful of verses. 00:14:55.320 --> 00:15:00.140 And so what we want to see of things that matter, what we need to consider through all this 00:15:00.140 --> 00:15:04.800 is, number one, how you view yourself matters, right? 00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:08.620 An accurate view of yourself matters. 00:15:09.140 --> 00:15:11.920 Know who you are and know who you are not, right? 00:15:12.840 --> 00:15:15.600 That's just a good piece of advice for life. 00:15:16.740 --> 00:15:19.860 Know who you are and know who you are not. 00:15:20.620 --> 00:15:28.900 Romans 12, 3, for by the grace given to me, I say to everyone, everyone among you, not to 00:15:28.900 --> 00:15:33.320 think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, 00:15:33.880 --> 00:15:37.760 each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 00:15:37.940 --> 00:15:39.760 So here's what Paul does three times. 00:15:39.900 --> 00:15:40.340 Here's what he says. 00:15:40.400 --> 00:15:41.960 He says, think of himself. 00:15:43.260 --> 00:15:43.720 Think. 00:15:44.620 --> 00:15:45.880 Think with sober judgment. 00:15:46.760 --> 00:15:52.740 And what Paul is saying is this, think about who you are. 00:15:53.420 --> 00:16:00.560 The question that is raised in this statement, when we look at the word to think or to think 00:16:00.560 --> 00:16:10.820 with sober judgment is how do you, when you look in the spiritual mirror of your life, how 00:16:10.820 --> 00:16:12.300 do you view yourself? 00:16:13.400 --> 00:16:15.500 What do you see? 00:16:16.400 --> 00:16:22.880 And I've been thinking about this is a really good question to ask yourself, but this is 00:16:22.880 --> 00:16:29.200 also a really good question to ask those that you're closest with about you and share with 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:29.860 them your answer. 00:16:30.220 --> 00:16:36.780 Tell you what, at lunch today, right, families gather up and say this, say who you are, right, 00:16:36.880 --> 00:16:39.460 and be interested to see the conversations, right? 00:16:39.760 --> 00:16:42.320 So I want to ask this question, how do you view yourself? 00:16:42.900 --> 00:16:48.740 Now, many of us oftentimes think of ourselves in an inaccurate way. 00:16:50.340 --> 00:16:51.660 I find myself there. 00:16:52.800 --> 00:16:56.980 Sometimes this inaccurate way could be in a positive light, right? 00:16:57.120 --> 00:16:58.820 We do not have a view of ourselves. 00:16:59.060 --> 00:17:03.540 I'm sorry, we have a view of ourselves that is too high and does not match reality. 00:17:04.380 --> 00:17:12.520 So I've become, maybe addicted is a strong word, but a TV show that I really, really love. 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:14.120 A TV show called Alone. 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:16.880 How many of you ever watch that, the TV show Alone, right? 00:17:17.260 --> 00:17:23.460 So here's the premise, it takes 10 men and women who are survivalists, now my watch is talking 00:17:23.460 --> 00:17:30.580 to me, 10 men and women who are survivalists, and it drops them off in an isolated area with 00:17:30.580 --> 00:17:37.600 10 items of their choosing that have been approved by the people, and they say, survive, right? 00:17:38.420 --> 00:17:38.980 Survive. 00:17:39.100 --> 00:17:44.940 Now, if you've never watched it, things you cannot bring, refrigerator, like air conditioner, 00:17:45.220 --> 00:17:45.360 right? 00:17:45.380 --> 00:17:48.620 You can't bring those things, so sign me off already. 00:17:48.980 --> 00:17:55.440 And you watch them survive independently of one another, and the winner of it gets $500,000, 00:17:55.920 --> 00:17:56.100 right? 00:17:56.260 --> 00:18:02.220 And so it's amazing watching the show, you know only one's going to win, but all 10 of 00:18:02.220 --> 00:18:04.000 them think that they can win. 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:09.920 And it becomes really evident, even for somebody like me, from day one, you begin to pick out 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:14.220 like, these three stand a chance, the rest of these, no, no, no, no, no, no, not going 00:18:14.220 --> 00:18:14.860 to happen, right? 00:18:15.800 --> 00:18:16.200 Why? 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:19.980 Because they have an inaccurate view of themselves. 00:18:21.340 --> 00:18:29.220 They think they're the best, and they may be in their context, but compared to higher standard, 00:18:29.760 --> 00:18:31.040 not so much. 00:18:32.040 --> 00:18:40.200 Now, sometimes, though, we also see ourselves in an inaccurate, negative light, and we view 00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:45.620 ourselves in a manner that is too low, and it doesn't match reality, right? 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:48.820 You go back to watching the cartoons with your kids. 00:18:48.820 --> 00:18:52.820 I think of this all the time, I can find myself headed in this direction, right? 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:54.880 It's the Eeyore personality, right? 00:18:55.540 --> 00:18:56.500 I'm not good enough. 00:18:56.580 --> 00:18:57.580 I don't see the good. 00:18:57.680 --> 00:19:03.120 I don't see what can happen, and we see this struggle of life that is there. 00:19:03.400 --> 00:19:09.240 So what can take place in our life is we can see an inaccurate, positive aspects of 00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:13.860 ourselves, or we can see an inaccurate, negative aspect of ourselves. 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:20.780 And so Paul says, though, that how you view yourself matters, but he gives a standard, 00:19:21.020 --> 00:19:26.080 and his standard is according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 00:19:26.280 --> 00:19:27.240 Now, this is powerful. 00:19:28.140 --> 00:19:28.940 This is powerful. 00:19:30.020 --> 00:19:33.440 It's not how do you view yourself compared to your neighbor. 00:19:34.800 --> 00:19:38.940 It's not how do you view yourself compared to your spouse. 00:19:40.100 --> 00:19:42.880 How do you view yourself compared to your coworker? 00:19:43.660 --> 00:19:49.040 The standard in which we are given is in light of the faith that we have. 00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:56.960 So we're to view ourselves in light of the gospel of Jesus, so that when I see myself in the 00:19:56.960 --> 00:19:59.020 light of the gospel, it's that. 00:19:59.020 --> 00:20:05.880 And what we find is there's encouragement of the reality, right, and then there's the 00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:08.000 reminder of the reality. 00:20:08.540 --> 00:20:13.820 So when I see myself in the light of the gospel, right, I praise the Lord, I see where I'm growing. 00:20:14.660 --> 00:20:16.780 I praise the Lord, I see where I'm gifted. 00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:23.840 I praise the Lord, I see where I'm overcoming battles and trials and circumstances in my life. 00:20:23.840 --> 00:20:29.000 And I look at that, and I thank God for what God is doing in my life. 00:20:29.100 --> 00:20:36.160 But also, when I see myself in the light of the gospel, I also see where I'm not growing 00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:39.980 and where I've become stale and stagnant. 00:20:40.760 --> 00:20:49.300 I see where God has not gifted me or where I'm gifted but not using those gifts. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:51.500 And I see where I'm struggling. 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:57.580 And because of grace, I don't respond to that with poor, pitiful me. 00:20:58.660 --> 00:21:00.180 It's with the same excitement. 00:21:01.260 --> 00:21:03.560 But I bring him before the Lord in repentance. 00:21:05.040 --> 00:21:11.720 And so Paul says how you see yourself matters, but the standard is before the Lord in the light 00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:12.760 of the gospel. 00:21:13.020 --> 00:21:15.020 So I want to ask you this question. 00:21:16.100 --> 00:21:20.200 In the light of the gospel, how do you see yourself? 00:21:22.060 --> 00:21:28.340 In the light of who Jesus is, and how Jesus has saved you, and what Jesus has called you 00:21:28.340 --> 00:21:30.940 to, how do you see yourself? 00:21:32.540 --> 00:21:37.040 Not how do you see yourself in comparison with any other person. 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:42.200 How do you see yourself in the light of the gospel? 00:21:44.120 --> 00:21:48.200 Where are you growing, and where do you need to grow? 00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:55.760 Where are you gifted and serving, and where are you gifted and not serving? 00:21:56.960 --> 00:22:04.520 Where are you overcoming, and experiencing the growth in Christ that he has, and where are you 00:22:04.520 --> 00:22:06.680 struggling and need to repent? 00:22:08.220 --> 00:22:13.460 When we look at discipleship in the body, in the context of serving, in every aspect that 00:22:13.460 --> 00:22:17.000 we're going to go through, this is an important part for us, right? 00:22:18.040 --> 00:22:22.800 Who are you in the light of the gospel? 00:22:23.620 --> 00:22:29.760 But Paul continues on, and so he says, we're going to have a view of ourselves that is good, 00:22:30.660 --> 00:22:30.880 right? 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:34.400 We need to have, but now we're going to view ourselves in light of the body of Christ. 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:39.300 So we're going to see in the next couple of verses is how the body of Christ works. 00:22:39.420 --> 00:22:44.900 Now, as Paul does other places in scripture, he's going to use a picture, an imagery of 00:22:44.900 --> 00:22:48.260 the human body to describe this local group of believers. 00:22:48.660 --> 00:22:54.840 So verse 12, verses 4 and 5, he says this, for as in one body we have many members, and 00:22:54.840 --> 00:22:57.020 the members do not have all the same function. 00:22:57.400 --> 00:23:05.580 So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 00:23:06.140 --> 00:23:14.080 So what we see is this, that there is one body, right, filled with many different members, 00:23:14.440 --> 00:23:15.860 many different parts, right? 00:23:16.020 --> 00:23:20.340 So one body, so I am one body, I am one person, right? 00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:24.820 And this body has different parts, my body does. 00:23:25.720 --> 00:23:31.000 My arms are different than my legs, my lungs are different than my heart, my eyes are different 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:33.540 than my ears, even the ones that are similar, right? 00:23:33.540 --> 00:23:39.640 Like, my toes are different than my fingers, my left hand is different than my right hand, 00:23:40.360 --> 00:23:40.660 right? 00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:47.260 We see this, and we see that from this, the parts have different functions. 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:49.420 It's pretty interesting. 00:23:50.300 --> 00:23:56.480 I saw a video where it said that a person gave up eating with their hands so that they could 00:23:56.480 --> 00:23:57.680 learn to eat with their feet. 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:00.760 And so I watched it, right? 00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:08.680 Like, deep dive day, you know? 00:24:09.900 --> 00:24:10.900 Deep dive. 00:24:12.300 --> 00:24:16.320 And I asked myself this question, why? 00:24:17.600 --> 00:24:18.080 Why? 00:24:18.080 --> 00:24:20.120 Why would you do that? 00:24:20.580 --> 00:24:23.420 Like, that's not first date material, you know? 00:24:24.140 --> 00:24:28.820 That's not resume material, that's weird material, you know? 00:24:29.940 --> 00:24:31.400 Like, that's why God gave you these. 00:24:31.520 --> 00:24:33.520 Why would you do that? 00:24:33.760 --> 00:24:39.240 But God gives us the different parts to function differently. 00:24:40.060 --> 00:24:45.820 And that in our body, so I need my feet, I need my hands, they function differently. 00:24:45.820 --> 00:24:53.500 And in order for my body to function in the way that God caused it to function, I need all 00:24:53.500 --> 00:24:55.260 of them, right? 00:24:56.480 --> 00:25:01.140 Get in an awkward position and let your foot fall asleep and hop up and try to run, like, 00:25:01.340 --> 00:25:02.880 we'll learn this life lesson real quick. 00:25:03.560 --> 00:25:04.500 Doesn't work well. 00:25:05.320 --> 00:25:13.900 So God, as he designs the body, says everything is given in a way to be used in the correct 00:25:13.900 --> 00:25:19.040 form in the body so that the body can function the way that it needs to. 00:25:20.320 --> 00:25:24.820 And God designed the body, and so he gets the say-so. 00:25:26.280 --> 00:25:30.880 And then Paul says, and this is how we're to view one another. 00:25:32.120 --> 00:25:33.880 And this is how we're to view ourselves. 00:25:34.740 --> 00:25:37.680 And he writes it to the local church context. 00:25:38.420 --> 00:25:42.400 And so here's some things that I want us to draw from in this. 00:25:42.500 --> 00:25:47.560 When we look at how the body of Christ works, number one, we see the unity of the body, right? 00:25:47.600 --> 00:25:50.140 We are called to be one. 00:25:51.380 --> 00:25:55.300 It's important that the unity, and this is why we started with the membership. 00:25:56.280 --> 00:25:58.920 That, yes, we're different. 00:25:59.880 --> 00:26:01.380 Yes, we have different backgrounds. 00:26:01.720 --> 00:26:02.820 Yes, we have different gifts. 00:26:03.220 --> 00:26:04.500 Yes, we have different passions. 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:06.180 Yes, we have different thoughts. 00:26:06.520 --> 00:26:07.920 Yes, we have different perspectives. 00:26:08.460 --> 00:26:09.560 Yes, we are different. 00:26:09.860 --> 00:26:16.740 But in that, the miracle that God does is he takes a bunch of broken, messed up, jacked up 00:26:16.740 --> 00:26:22.080 people, he saves them, he brings them together, and then he says, live as one. 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:24.520 By the way, it's what he does in marriage, too. 00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:28.380 And you know, that ain't easy. 00:26:29.880 --> 00:26:31.380 But he calls us to unity. 00:26:32.460 --> 00:26:33.220 It's who we're to be. 00:26:33.700 --> 00:26:35.700 So we see the unity of the body. 00:26:35.860 --> 00:26:40.760 But as we just talked about, we see the diversity of the body as well, right? 00:26:40.760 --> 00:26:44.060 We are different, and we celebrate that. 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:52.220 We celebrate the diversity in the person and diversity in the giftedness that we're going 00:26:52.220 --> 00:26:54.500 to see in each individual, right? 00:26:55.180 --> 00:27:00.940 So we celebrate that this group of people could just come up here and do what they did earlier, 00:27:01.400 --> 00:27:04.920 and that a large group of us don't need to be anywhere near this, right? 00:27:05.300 --> 00:27:06.080 Myself included. 00:27:06.340 --> 00:27:07.520 We celebrate that. 00:27:08.520 --> 00:27:13.920 We celebrate the diversity that there's a group of people right now sitting down with our little 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:17.700 kids and talking to them and displaying the gospel and showing that. 00:27:17.900 --> 00:27:18.960 We celebrate that. 00:27:19.620 --> 00:27:22.340 We celebrate the diversity of the body. 00:27:22.660 --> 00:27:25.200 We celebrate the diversity of backgrounds. 00:27:25.460 --> 00:27:27.780 We celebrate the diversity of perspectives. 00:27:27.780 --> 00:27:30.760 We celebrate the diversity of experiences. 00:27:31.220 --> 00:27:33.660 We celebrate the diversity, right? 00:27:35.980 --> 00:27:41.180 But then we also begin to see the mutuality of the body. 00:27:42.140 --> 00:27:49.820 That when we are one and we embrace the differences is when we thrive. 00:27:51.080 --> 00:27:54.380 It's not just, oh, they're cute over there doing their stuff. 00:27:55.240 --> 00:28:04.980 It's that when we embrace the diversity is when the body thrives, that we understand that the 00:28:04.980 --> 00:28:11.680 one who teaches needs the one who greets, and the one who greets needs the one who teaches. 00:28:12.800 --> 00:28:19.800 And in every aspect of where we're called, and this is how the body works. 00:28:20.880 --> 00:28:24.080 Think about your own house and how that works, right? 00:28:24.320 --> 00:28:30.160 Think about how each one of you play your particular role and the comfort that you have in that, 00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:35.280 and then what begins to happen as a result of that is your home thrives, right? 00:28:36.120 --> 00:28:43.320 What God did when he put Aaron and I together, whoo, we got some differences. 00:28:45.380 --> 00:28:50.280 But what happens in that is the effectiveness of the home. 00:28:51.020 --> 00:28:56.040 Because my differences don't make me wrong, and her differences make her right, 00:28:56.140 --> 00:29:01.120 but our differences make us one, and in that we thrive, right? 00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:07.800 So the members of the body cannot work independently of one another in profit. 00:29:09.900 --> 00:29:14.480 The next thing I want us to look at is how to view your gifting. 00:29:15.400 --> 00:29:21.200 As you are a part of the body, you have been gifted to be a part of the body, 00:29:21.540 --> 00:29:25.220 and so based off of what we're seeing, that you are vital to the body. 00:29:26.280 --> 00:29:29.820 There's not a one of you that are insignificant. 00:29:31.120 --> 00:29:34.320 God does not create insignificant people. 00:29:35.480 --> 00:29:37.260 You are significant. 00:29:37.820 --> 00:29:38.960 You matter. 00:29:39.400 --> 00:29:40.500 You have a part. 00:29:40.860 --> 00:29:46.140 You have a place that is key and that is vital to the fulfillment of the Great Commission. 00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:54.180 God wired you intentionally to be who you are, to do what you do. 00:29:54.760 --> 00:29:59.160 But what matters is how we view our gifting. 00:29:59.160 --> 00:30:03.640 Now, what was common in the church then is common in the church today. 00:30:03.640 --> 00:30:09.560 That there were people who thought that their gifts elevated them and made them more important. 00:30:10.500 --> 00:30:14.520 There were other groups of people who looked at the gifting that others had, 00:30:14.640 --> 00:30:19.860 and they began to create within themselves jealousy, which led to anger within them. 00:30:19.860 --> 00:30:22.220 Because if I could just be like them. 00:30:22.220 --> 00:30:30.760 But what we begin to understand is you're a vital part of the body and how God has gifted you. 00:30:31.020 --> 00:30:33.640 So look at the first half of chapter 12, verse 6. 00:30:34.280 --> 00:30:40.880 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them. 00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:47.420 So again, we reiterate, we have gifts that differ. 00:30:48.580 --> 00:30:50.420 That's not bad. 00:30:51.320 --> 00:30:52.400 Let me say this. 00:30:52.560 --> 00:30:53.820 That's not even good. 00:30:54.260 --> 00:30:55.400 It's beyond that. 00:30:55.700 --> 00:30:56.500 That's essential. 00:30:57.620 --> 00:30:58.740 It's essential. 00:30:59.580 --> 00:31:03.740 It's essential that we are gifted differently. 00:31:04.180 --> 00:31:10.840 But then Paul also says that these gifts are given according to the grace given to us. 00:31:11.080 --> 00:31:14.780 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. 00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:16.780 So let's understand the gifts this. 00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:19.680 Anytime we hear grace, here's a couple things we can draw from that. 00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:23.100 Number one, you and I, we do not deserve the gifts that are given to us. 00:31:23.340 --> 00:31:24.640 That's what grace points us to. 00:31:25.460 --> 00:31:31.640 We are not deserving of the gifts that God has given us in this life. 00:31:31.640 --> 00:31:36.760 It's a part of our surrender of who we are and our submission to him that, 00:31:36.900 --> 00:31:38.120 God, you have gifted me. 00:31:38.340 --> 00:31:40.080 I do not deserve this. 00:31:40.300 --> 00:31:43.040 And so I use them for your name and for your glory. 00:31:44.080 --> 00:31:52.340 But also that then these gifts are given and grown through a spiritual means and process. 00:31:53.080 --> 00:31:53.160 Right? 00:31:53.700 --> 00:31:58.300 It's not just there to say, well, then I do this well and this is who I am. 00:31:58.420 --> 00:32:03.540 What we want to see from one another of what is evident is as we go through this discipleship 00:32:03.540 --> 00:32:09.660 process and we learn more and more about who we are in our giftedness and we begin to grow 00:32:09.660 --> 00:32:15.780 in that, what we understand in that is that's a spiritual work of what God is doing in us. 00:32:16.020 --> 00:32:20.580 So at the end of the day, we don't celebrate the fact that we think that we've arrived, but 00:32:20.580 --> 00:32:23.840 we celebrate the fact that we celebrate the fact of what God is doing in our life. 00:32:24.960 --> 00:32:27.400 Because it's a spiritual process. 00:32:28.660 --> 00:32:33.500 But then third, and this may be the most simple thing that I say, 00:32:34.420 --> 00:32:59.320 have you ever gotten a gift and then you, you like the gift, you wanted the gift, but in the shuffle, 00:32:59.320 --> 00:33:06.160 whether it was Christmas morning or your birthday or a wedding gift, you thought the best place 00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:12.600 that I can store this, that I'll always remember where it's at, is in the top of this closet that 00:33:12.600 --> 00:33:13.500 I never go into. 00:33:13.700 --> 00:33:13.900 Right? 00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:16.160 And so you store it away. 00:33:17.040 --> 00:33:21.460 And you say, I will always remember that that is there. 00:33:22.500 --> 00:33:24.460 And then five years later, you move. 00:33:25.340 --> 00:33:29.880 And you go back into that closet to pack up everything that's there. 00:33:30.180 --> 00:33:36.700 And that gift that you loved, that gift that you were grateful for, that gift that was given 00:33:36.700 --> 00:33:42.820 to you by someone else, not because you deserved it, but because they chose to give it to you, 00:33:42.820 --> 00:33:44.800 you go, oh, that's where that gift is. 00:33:45.640 --> 00:33:46.620 Let me take it with me. 00:33:47.660 --> 00:33:54.180 And then you go to your next house and you think on the way there, I'm going to use this all the time. 00:33:54.920 --> 00:33:58.940 And then it goes back up into that closet that you're never going to use, 00:33:59.400 --> 00:34:01.820 that's going to get moved at another day in time. 00:34:03.880 --> 00:34:10.320 Unfortunately, that's how so many of us approach our gifts when it comes to the church. 00:34:11.620 --> 00:34:12.060 Right? 00:34:13.780 --> 00:34:15.200 God, you've given this to me. 00:34:16.260 --> 00:34:18.700 God, you've called me to this. 00:34:19.640 --> 00:34:22.300 God, you've grown me in this. 00:34:23.380 --> 00:34:25.480 But I'm just going to continue to store it away. 00:34:26.500 --> 00:34:27.540 And store it away. 00:34:28.360 --> 00:34:29.160 And store it away. 00:34:32.020 --> 00:34:38.420 Look at when Paul continues on through the end of this chapter, how gifting works in discipleship. 00:34:39.220 --> 00:34:40.140 Now, I want to say this. 00:34:40.200 --> 00:34:44.500 Paul is going to give a list of gifts, but this list does not include all gifts. 00:34:44.640 --> 00:34:44.820 Okay? 00:34:46.240 --> 00:34:52.900 I think most of us, as I'm going to talk through these, can find in this something that we're gifted, 00:34:53.780 --> 00:34:54.660 but this isn't all. 00:34:55.380 --> 00:34:57.820 So let's look at the last part of verse 6, I'll give you verse 8. 00:34:57.820 --> 00:35:05.440 If prophecy in proportion to our faith, if service in our serving, the one who teaches in his teaching, 00:35:06.180 --> 00:35:11.080 the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, 00:35:11.780 --> 00:35:18.640 the one who leads with zeal, and the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. 00:35:19.420 --> 00:35:20.480 And so Paul gives this list. 00:35:20.540 --> 00:35:27.280 I want to kind of explain a little bit what these gifts are so that maybe the Lord begins to do something in your heart. 00:35:27.580 --> 00:35:31.600 But I'm going to go through these, and then we'll see how these fit in the context of discipleship. 00:35:31.780 --> 00:35:33.200 So he says, he's prophecy. 00:35:33.800 --> 00:35:37.760 So what is meant by prophecy, what we understand, it's the communication of truth. 00:35:38.040 --> 00:35:41.240 It's, I've heard from the Lord, and let me share with you. 00:35:41.700 --> 00:35:43.620 That's the first gift that Paul lists. 00:35:44.220 --> 00:35:45.520 And then he says, serving. 00:35:45.660 --> 00:35:54.380 Now we're talking a lot about serving, but this is serving in the context of ministering or caring for others. 00:35:54.480 --> 00:36:00.020 Those of you who are wired to be a caregiver to individuals, that's what this word means. 00:36:00.520 --> 00:36:03.100 The next word that he says is teaching. 00:36:03.100 --> 00:36:06.180 And so you think, well, communication of truth is that teaching. 00:36:06.560 --> 00:36:09.580 Well, this is more communication of knowledge. 00:36:09.740 --> 00:36:14.400 And a way to look at this is a life application of biblical truth. 00:36:14.480 --> 00:36:17.940 And so you know these men and women who are like this, right? 00:36:18.460 --> 00:36:22.560 They're usually in my life a little bit older, a little bit more seasoned. 00:36:22.800 --> 00:36:28.560 And as I walk through journeys of life, they say, let me tell you how I've walked through this 00:36:28.560 --> 00:36:30.820 and how God has used this in my life. 00:36:30.820 --> 00:36:33.040 Those are wonderful, wonderful teachers. 00:36:33.100 --> 00:36:33.540 Right? 00:36:33.620 --> 00:36:35.420 Paul lists exhortation, right? 00:36:35.520 --> 00:36:44.700 And this is encouraging, but it's a specific form of encouraging where you're encouraging someone to do something, right? 00:36:44.980 --> 00:36:47.520 And so it's not just, oh, you're great, right? 00:36:47.580 --> 00:36:48.180 No, it's no, no, no. 00:36:48.440 --> 00:36:51.580 God has called you and God has gifted you. 00:36:51.760 --> 00:36:53.920 So I'm going to challenge you to use that, right? 00:36:54.540 --> 00:37:00.860 Oftentimes I view this as like someone that gives great counsel of encouragement into your life. 00:37:01.000 --> 00:37:06.060 He talks about the one who contributes and this isn't like the one who's gifted in this. 00:37:06.300 --> 00:37:07.860 That's the one who gives the offering. 00:37:07.980 --> 00:37:10.120 No, that's not what Paul's talking about. 00:37:10.180 --> 00:37:15.320 When we talk about contributes, it means that's the benevolent giving of others, right? 00:37:15.380 --> 00:37:22.500 That the person who sees and who is wired with that and that person needs and I give and I give and I give. 00:37:22.640 --> 00:37:24.040 He says the one who leads. 00:37:24.160 --> 00:37:27.960 Now, this word is the same word that you think in governing, all right? 00:37:28.240 --> 00:37:36.140 And so think of people with administrative gifts, the people who look at situations and they say in order for this to happen, 00:37:36.460 --> 00:37:41.780 these people need to function here, these people need to function here, these people need to function here. 00:37:41.780 --> 00:37:47.780 He talks about the gift of mercy, which is ministering to the sick and the needy. 00:37:49.220 --> 00:37:56.400 So Paul says in the context of the church, if you want to find this to be a well-oiled machine for the gospel, 00:37:57.080 --> 00:38:01.980 then the people with mercy go serve in that context. 00:38:02.840 --> 00:38:07.800 The people with teaching go serve in that context, right? 00:38:07.800 --> 00:38:17.600 And what we see are you using your gifts with how God has gifted you in a hand is not trying to be a foot. 00:38:18.800 --> 00:38:23.660 And an eye isn't trying to be an ear. 00:38:25.200 --> 00:38:26.160 Now, I want to say this. 00:38:27.620 --> 00:38:29.720 Sometimes we walk in situations. 00:38:30.880 --> 00:38:34.460 Have you ever been in a room that's pitch black dark, right? 00:38:34.600 --> 00:38:39.320 I mean, pitch black dark, no light is in there whatsoever. 00:38:39.740 --> 00:38:42.480 And you're told to move through something and you can't see. 00:38:43.460 --> 00:38:44.460 Do you know what you use? 00:38:45.220 --> 00:38:46.340 You use your hands. 00:38:47.760 --> 00:38:49.700 Me, I use my shins, right? 00:38:50.320 --> 00:38:50.760 Right? 00:38:51.300 --> 00:38:55.000 And you use those so you can feel your way through a room. 00:38:56.060 --> 00:38:58.280 Sometimes that happens spiritually within context of the body. 00:38:59.420 --> 00:39:06.160 Sometimes we see situations where those that are gifted need to step up and to rise because no one else has stepped up. 00:39:07.160 --> 00:39:10.520 But the hands and the shin aren't meant to be the eyes. 00:39:10.520 --> 00:39:17.100 And so Paul displays this for us, right? 00:39:17.520 --> 00:39:20.740 And so this is what we are to do. 00:39:21.520 --> 00:39:23.760 So I want to ask you this question. 00:39:25.520 --> 00:39:33.020 How are you using your gifts? 00:39:33.020 --> 00:39:34.040 How are you using your gifts? 00:39:35.420 --> 00:39:36.660 Do you know where you're gifted? 00:39:37.680 --> 00:39:49.000 I think one of the failures of the church, I'm talking about the whole church, is that we fail oftentimes in helping men, women, and children find where they're gifted. 00:39:49.080 --> 00:39:56.960 So I want to tell you this, if you're sitting here this morning and you're like, Beau, I'm ready to go, but I don't know where God has gifted me. 00:39:57.320 --> 00:39:58.880 Come by, get with us. 00:39:58.960 --> 00:40:00.620 It's our job to help you find that. 00:40:01.500 --> 00:40:12.920 It's our job to help you find where you are gifted and then how you can serve in the context of the body, but also how you can serve in the context of the world in which God has created you. 00:40:12.920 --> 00:40:17.840 But I have found that there's three questions that I will typically ask. 00:40:18.780 --> 00:40:23.420 And in conclusion, I want to ask these questions to you to help you find where you are gifted. 00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:26.060 Number one, what are you passionate about? 00:40:27.180 --> 00:40:28.360 What are you passionate about? 00:40:29.640 --> 00:40:31.720 God has given you also your passions. 00:40:32.740 --> 00:40:42.420 And so there's the things that wake you up in the morning and you can't wait to go and do them, to experience them, to read about them, right? 00:40:42.620 --> 00:40:45.280 And that's what you are passionate about. 00:40:45.700 --> 00:40:51.180 Ask yourself that question and write down on a piece of paper all of the things that you're passionate about. 00:40:52.040 --> 00:40:54.840 But then ask yourself this other question, right? 00:40:55.660 --> 00:40:56.780 What are you good at? 00:40:57.800 --> 00:40:58.680 What are you good at? 00:40:58.960 --> 00:41:03.540 What are those things that just come easy to you and so you're good at doing them? 00:41:04.320 --> 00:41:12.920 What are those things that you're passionate about so you work really hard at and you can see improvement and growth in your life? 00:41:13.720 --> 00:41:26.920 And when we find what are we passionate about and what are we good at and what are we good at and we can ask ourselves this third question is this, how can God use that? 00:41:27.480 --> 00:41:50.920 And what you'll find is this, we have an extremely wonderfully creative God who can take all of the things of this world that we're passionate about, that we're good at, and he can use them for his name and for his glory. 00:41:51.960 --> 00:41:52.960 And then we grow in them. 00:41:52.960 --> 00:42:03.080 And we come alongside other men and women and we see what discipleship through serving looks like. 00:42:03.880 --> 00:42:04.140 Amen? 00:42:04.860 --> 00:42:05.380 Let's pray. 00:42:05.380 --> 00:42:05.420 Let's pray. 00:42:12.900 --> 00:42:14.980 God, Lord, I thank you so much for your word. 00:42:17.380 --> 00:42:22.440 Lord, I thank you that you've called us to be a body. 00:42:24.900 --> 00:42:26.800 Lord, a body that is connected. 00:42:28.580 --> 00:42:30.400 A body that is thriving. 00:42:32.480 --> 00:42:51.200 Lord, I think sometimes we think the positioning of our heart listens to the lie of Satan that says, you're not needed. 00:42:52.840 --> 00:42:54.560 You're not significant. 00:42:56.260 --> 00:42:58.280 They can just do this without you. 00:42:59.500 --> 00:43:11.080 But the truth, Lord, of what you have for us is that we are many members called to be one body. 00:43:13.280 --> 00:43:19.040 Gifted and given purpose and given passions and given pursuits, Lord, by you. 00:43:20.960 --> 00:43:27.940 So that we can use them for your name and for your renown. 00:43:30.820 --> 00:43:36.700 And for the sharing of the gospel and the drawing of others near to you. 00:43:38.780 --> 00:43:47.260 Lord, for those who have received that gift and they're using it, Lord, thank you, thank you, thank you. 00:43:49.260 --> 00:44:00.080 But for those of us, Lord, who have filed it away to the top of a closet to collect dust and be forgotten about. 00:44:02.140 --> 00:44:04.660 Lord, I pray that you would wrestle with our hearts. 00:44:06.760 --> 00:44:11.700 And that today would not be the day of shame because what we haven't done. 00:44:13.300 --> 00:44:16.280 But, Lord, that today would be the day of joy. 00:44:17.380 --> 00:44:24.400 Because we're going to go to that spiritual closet and take it out and say, God, how can you use this? 00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:26.440 God, how can you use me? 00:44:30.620 --> 00:44:36.380 So, Lord, I thank you for your grace and your goodness and your kindness and your mercy. 00:44:38.720 --> 00:44:46.140 Lord, I thank you that all of this begins with the command to follow you. 00:44:48.060 --> 00:44:50.760 And that, Lord, we would begin in that. 00:44:52.100 --> 00:44:53.460 And it's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:44:53.460 --> 00:45:12.500 Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:45:13.020 --> 00:45:15.320 We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message. 00:45:15.640 --> 00:45:24.380 If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources, visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com 00:45:24.380 --> 00:45:27.960 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram.