Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] This year I'm doing this headship series. And as we look at headship, right. We remind ourselves this morning that Jesus is the head of his church, which is great, isn't it? It's not man. It's not a man made institution. It is a God ordained institution. Jesus at the head. And God has gone to great lengths to communicate his vision and his mission for the church. And we're going to look at that this morning. I'm going to probably do it in two parts. It's not going to all do today. And we know that God has sent his son Jesus as part of the mission, as part of the vision. God sent Jesus his only son. God has given us his precious scriptures. If you've got a Bible, wave it at me this morning or your mobile phone, okay? These are precious scriptures. Do you know how precious they are?
[00:01:13] They've been given to us, I think, often. You know, when I used to grow up, my mom used to say, when I used to find myself in a real kind of victim mentality, feeling sorry for myself, my mum would say, she'd say, go and read the scriptures. And I used to love the scriptures. And I'd go, yeah, I'll go read the scriptures. She said, I also want you to remember there are people in prison today who love Jesus, who cannot have access to the scriptures.
[00:01:41] Do we realize how precious the scriptures are? And we've been given the wonderful person of the Holy Spirit.
[00:01:47] I love the Holy Spirit. I want to encourage us as a church to grow in relationship with the Holy Spirit because he's wonderful. So we've been given Jesus, we've been given the scriptures, we've been given the Holy Spirit. And over previous weeks when we've been looking at headship, we have seen that God has placed, I'm not going to go over it this morning because of time constraints, but we have seen that God has placed on Jesus all authority, all power, all reign and rule on Jesus the Son. Okay? And in this age and the age to come, and God has placed, and this excite, this should excite us that God has placed everything under his feet.
[00:02:38] So if everything is under the feet of Jesus and we are in Christ, that means everything is under our feet as well.
[00:02:47] Yeah. And we're going to talk about, in a couple of weeks, we talk about the church having authority and power, okay? And there's one reason why God has appointed Jesus as head over everything.
[00:03:03] And I'm going to tell you this morning, because you may not know it is because of you, it is because of the church.
[00:03:13] It is because of the church. And talk about having friends in high places.
[00:03:22] The church is in an exciting position.
[00:03:27] We are in an exciting position because Jesus is the head over everything, and he is the head over the church. And as long as the church in every generation, continues to look to Christ, continues to surrender, continues to submit and yield to his leadership, and it's a leadership of love.
[00:03:55] Okay, then we are in safe hands.
[00:03:59] We're in safe hands. We're going to look at the body this morning. If you've got your bibles where you turn to ephesians four, you know, you can't have a body without a head, and you can't have a head without a body.
[00:04:14] So we're going to look at the body of Christ this morning, and one of our hopes in this series is that we will leave today and over the next couple of weeks. Okay? Really loving what Jesus loves. So turn to ephesians four. It's a bit small. Sorry about that. We'll try and correct that for next week.
[00:04:35] So, ephesians four, we're going to read this this morning from verse one.
[00:04:44] Okay.
[00:04:46] As a prisoner for the Lord, then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
[00:04:54] Be completely humble and gentle.
[00:04:57] Be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all, who is over all and through all and in all, but to each one of us. Grace. Everyone say grace. Grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says, when he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people. What does he ascended mean, except that he also descended to the lower and earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe. Any doubts this morning about the fullness of God? He fills the whole whole universe.
[00:06:05] So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people. In their deceitful scheming, instead speaking the truth. In love, we will grow to become, in every respect, the mature body of him who is the head, that is Christ. From him, the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work.
[00:07:12] You know, in this passage this morning, we'll come back and refer to bits of it. But in this passage this morning, we get glimpses here of Jesus vision for his church, his vision for a deeper life.
[00:07:31] How many of us know this morning I am talking. I'm talking about the church. It is more than a 90 minutes section and service on a Sunday morning.
[00:07:40] We're talking about a deeper life, a spiritual fullness, a christian maturity, a spiritual growth, until we see him face to face. It is this continual path of growing that we are on. We never stop growing. We never stop desiring. We never attain it all in this life. But it's this continual process of growing and building and maturing as we become more like Christ. Remind ourselves this morning that the church is not a building.
[00:08:24] We are the church.
[00:08:27] We are the church, the people of God, those who are in Christ. And Jesus absolutely loves his church.
[00:08:37] We should love what he loves, and he absolutely loves his church. Ephesians five says this. It will come up in the back. It says, husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy again. This is the growing process.
[00:09:02] If we're not growing in holiness, there's an issue as the church, as disciples, it's to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present to himself as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle.
[00:09:24] Hallelujah.
[00:09:26] I think maybe they're thinking more than a physical wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. There is this. Can you see that journey of the church becoming holy, the church becoming more like Christ in our journey here it is this stretching, this fullness, this building.
[00:09:52] Jesus loves the church, you know, in revelation.
[00:10:02] We've got time to turn there this morning. There is this wonderful picture of the marriage supper of the lamb.
[00:10:12] And it is this wonderful sense of a new heaven and a new earth that's going to happen one day.
[00:10:19] And it's this lovely picture of the bride is going to meet the bridegroom, a stunning picture where God will come and tabernacle with his people.
[00:10:31] He will come down and tabernacle with them, this oneness of the church being presented to Christ one day. We're going to be presented to him when we see him face to face.
[00:10:45] What a picture of the body of Christ, this beautiful perfection that we will be.
[00:10:58] See, God loves us too much for us to stay as we are.
[00:11:06] We're going to see him.
[00:11:09] Are we prepared to meet him?
[00:11:14] Matthew 16, you know, where do we start being the church?
[00:11:19] This question's often asked, and you can go. We started a series last year, and it lasted for about six months, a whole dissolved series that we took the church through on what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
[00:11:32] And in Matthew 16, I believe it all starts here again. It will come up on the screen.
[00:11:38] But Matthew 16, Jesus says to his disciples, he says, one day, he says, who do people say that I am?
[00:11:45] And then he says to the disciples, he says, who do you say that I am? And this is what they say. We'll pick it up. It says. And Jesus says, who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered, he said, you are the messiah, the son of the living God.
[00:12:01] And Jesus replied, blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my father in heaven.
[00:12:14] So in other words, Jesus is saying to him, who do you say I am?
[00:12:19] And he says to Peter, okay, you say that I'm Jesus. You say that I'm the messiah.
[00:12:26] And in saying it, you're not just saying it because somebody has told you.
[00:12:33] You're saying it because you've had a revelation of who I am.
[00:12:39] You know, discipleship starts, yes, by confessing who Christ is. But we have to be careful with discipleship, that we're not just saying the words that somebody else has put into our mouths.
[00:12:54] When we say those words as a people and we say, I believe that Jesus is who he says he is.
[00:13:02] Have we had that revelation of who he is?
[00:13:07] Because Jesus says to Peter, the father has revealed this to to you.
[00:13:12] Hasn't just been somebody else telling you this has been the father of in. And I want to say to young people or those who have just started their discipleship journey, okay, go back to the Lord and say, has this been revealed to me? I want that revelation. Because the minute you have a revelation of who he is, it is very difficult to go back, because a revelation will then lead into an encounter with him that transforms us.
[00:13:44] Young people, those who have accepted Christ, say, lord, truly, truly, or maybe some people this morning, you've been a Christian maybe a long time, and you feel things are getting a bit stale.
[00:13:58] Go back to the Lord and say, lord, reveal reveal more of who you are to me. Has it been revealed to you? It's a good question, isn't it?
[00:14:10] Don't just live off what mum and dad say.
[00:14:15] Father, I need this revealing to me.
[00:14:19] And that's what Jesus says. And he says, and I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church. This is where it gets exciting. And the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
[00:14:34] And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. This is where the church really starts.
[00:14:42] And this is, and Jesus points out, he says, there's some things here. He says discipleship starts with that confession of who Christ is.
[00:14:52] Jesus, you are, this has been revealed to me. You are the son of the living God. The second thing, the church is invincible.
[00:15:01] I love this. Jesus says, even the gates of hell don't stand a chance.
[00:15:07] Some of you this morning are going through some really difficult moments. I want to encourage you this morning that if you are in Christ, hell does not stand a chance.
[00:15:22] Things might come fast and furious.
[00:15:26] The enemy may want to go and throw some things at you, but I want you to go out and stand firm today. And you say, Jesus, I know who you are. You are the son of the living God. And because I belong to you, I know that you love me. And hell does not stand a chance because I am part of the church of Jesus Christ.
[00:15:52] Amen. And Jesus said, he said on this rock, on this bedrock of truth of who Jesus Christ is, he's the one way, he's the life. He's the truth that I'm going to build my church.
[00:16:11] If we preach anything else, then Jesus being the way, the truth, the life, and you run out of here because Jesus is the only way. He's the only way to the father. There's no other way.
[00:16:27] It is Jesus.
[00:16:31] Amen.
[00:16:33] And then the final thing, Jesus says, I'm going to pick up this in a couple of weeks. That Jesus has given the keys of the kingdom to us, to us, the keys of power and authority to go and preach and teach and demonstrate the kingdom.
[00:16:54] They're the keys that are going to open doors to set people free.
[00:17:01] People need setting free and Jesus has given the church the authority and the power to do that. Okay, we're going to look really quickly this morning about the, what does it mean to us, the body this morning? The church is often compared to a bride or the body. Okay. Romans twelve says this. For just as each of us has one body with many members and these members do not all have the same function okay, so Paul's talking there about, well, your eye's different to your foot, isn't it? Your arm's different to your leg. You can't kick a ball with your arm, can you? I mean, you could try, but you'd be like a orangutan.
[00:17:45] So it has different functions. Sorry, it does not have all the same function. So in Christ, though many form one body and each member belongs to all the others, we have different gifts according to the grace given to us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith. If it is serving, then serve. If it is teaching, then teach. If it's to encourage, then give encouragement. If it is giving, then give generously. If it is to lead, then do it diligently. If it is showing mercy, do it cheerfully. And there are many other passages in scripture where different gifts and various graces are mentioned. Like in corinthians, there's gifts of healings and gift of miracles. Do you believe that God wants to use those gifts in the church today?
[00:18:48] And there's a gift of administration.
[00:18:50] We're so thankful for that one. And there are individuals also. Okay, I know some of you know this, but we're just going over it for the sake of where we're going with this. And there are also individuals in the body of Christ that God has graced to hold specific offices. Okay, let me just mention them. Sometimes they're called the fivefold gift in apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and shepherds and teachers. And these people, they are not some elite special force that are better than anybody else, but they are a gift to the church.
[00:19:27] And I thank God for, for that kind of gifting in the body of Christ. And these roles are given to the church specifically for the building up of the local church and the building up of the church in the region. And it's the way God has designed this part of his vision and mission, okay? This is the way God has designed his church to grow, to grow up in fullness, to grow up in knowledge of who he is, to grow up in unity, to grow up in maturity. And he has lavished these graces on the church.
[00:20:04] It'd be wonderful, wouldn't it, in Newton Abbott, if we start seeing these graces and these giftings come out for the edification of the church. You know, tragically, in recent times in the church, we've heard that the church has been almost likened to football match, which is really sad.
[00:20:28] Now, in a football match, maybe not if you're going to Exeter City, but if you're going to Leeds United or Man United. There will be maybe 40, 50,000 spectators all turning up to a football match. And so the spectators all come. I mean, I've probably been to one football match in my entire life. I don't like football. Don't like it at all. Okay, God bless you. If you do, I'll be praying for you. But, yeah, so. But let's say 50,000 spectators turn up to a football match. And I don't know what you buy at a football match. Burger, coke, pasty. I think they go to Exeter and they get a pasty or something. So the spectators all turn up and they are there. They sit down to watch the show happen. 50,000 people. They're watching 20 people on a pitch, running around, putting a shift in, doing the work, okay? Now, depending on how well this team have done.
[00:21:28] The spectators will either leave the football match that day on a real high or a real low. I know when the boys have come through. They've been to a football match and they come through the door. I can tell you whether that team has lost or won.
[00:21:45] I can tell you by the look on their faces if they've lost, it looks something like this.
[00:21:53] If they've won, it's like, what's for tea? Yeah. Cut you like this. And if they've lost, it's not long before I say, right, come on, let's have a meal. Let's come around the table. It's not long before they start going, well, Bamford was rubbish, wasn't he?
[00:22:11] In fact, I don't know any other football player, so I'm just going, Bamford was rubbish. Why did the manager pick him?
[00:22:17] What a disaster.
[00:22:19] It was rubbish. Okay? And it's human nature, isn't it, with a football. With a football game. And so they start. The boys start critiquing what has happened.
[00:22:32] Now, I don't like football at all, but I have some sympathy for the players.
[00:22:40] If we can just put aside for a moment their lavish lifestyle and their ridiculous amounts of money that they earn for kind of pushing around a football, whatever. Yeah. However, how long and the idol worship that goes on. If we could just leave that to one side for a moment. I do actually feel sorry for footballers because if they performed really bad, their name is splattered all over the news the next day.
[00:23:07] They're real people with lives and families.
[00:23:13] You don't hear commentators or spectators coming out of the stadium going, well, we lost. But you know what? I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful that they turned up and gave us some wonderful football this afternoon. You don't hear that, do you?
[00:23:30] You don't hear people going, I'm just so thankful that we were able to bring our family this afternoon and enjoy this time out. And it's okay. Things will be better next week. We just got to keep going. You don't hear that encouragement.
[00:23:45] We're very quick to pull the teams down when they don't perform.
[00:23:52] And there's no doubt if you've been following the last decades of the church that there is a similar mentality of we come in, we spectate, we get our coffee, and then depending whether this certain church meets our needs or not, kind of go, well, I'm just going to see what's going on up the road.
[00:24:21] That is not Christ's vision for his church. I'm not saying there's never not a time to leave a church. I think sometimes there is, but it's this whole consumer driven culture that is killing society and it's killing our churches.
[00:24:46] Jesus vision for the church, he gave his life.
[00:24:52] Graham has mentioned that this morning.
[00:24:55] He gave his life for the church.
[00:25:00] See, God's vision for his church is supernatural. He wants us to be a supernatural people, not to think in the natural, a supernatural people where we can't and we present our lives to him, not people. You see what consumer driven culture will do when we turn up and go right. How can the church serve me?
[00:25:28] What will happen is we will just jump ship time and time again without any accountability, without any iron sharpening iron relationships.
[00:25:39] And we will be like what Paul says tost backwards and forwards, coming under all sorts of teachings and ideas.
[00:25:53] You know what's been wonderful about Newton Abbott? We started last year. We planted.
[00:25:57] It's been wonderful to see an army of people saying, how can we be involved in the vision?
[00:26:04] What can we do?
[00:26:06] How can we build up? How can we add to this a dimension of the spirit, not the flesh.
[00:26:17] And it's been stunning, stunning to watch. I've seen people take hold of looking after people.
[00:26:24] It's just been beautiful. And God's vision for his church is that all members find their place, all people serving. And can I just say as well that this often happens when we actually step out and we grab hold of opportunities.
[00:26:45] We say, hey, I'm not sure if I'm going to be good at this, but I'm going to step out by faith and in this season, take hold of this. And often as we step out and grab hold of the opportunities to serve and build up the body of Christ. It's at that point that we suddenly discover, this is what I was made for.
[00:27:08] This is what I was made for. I can see now this grace, this gift upon my life. In ephesians two, it says, we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.
[00:27:26] Just quickly this morning, let me just talk about this work of service, right? Because God has given to his church, his beautiful church.
[00:27:38] And I'm going to talk about this in a minute, but I believe we're in an equipping stage for us as a church. I think we've got to start equipping the body of Christ.
[00:27:47] And we've got the apostles, the prophets, all this kind of stuff. They are there to build up the body of Christ.
[00:27:56] Okay, now, works for. Works of service. Now, in the original Greek, work of service was singular, not plural. Okay? So it was work of service, a work to do for God. And God wants us to use and function in service at a higher level. This isn't just turning up to serve like the world serves. This is, there is a reason behind why we do what we do as the body of Christ.
[00:28:29] This is more than just a natural level. This is a higher level.
[00:28:35] You know, thank you, Lord, for those who do charitable works, but we're here to do kingdom works for the kingdom of God. And the primary benefit of the work of service is for the building up of the church.
[00:28:57] For the building up of the church.
[00:29:00] Work of service. Let me include some for us this morning. The work of service will include things like gifts of the spirit, sharing the word of God with each other. I love the fact our women are starting to open up the scriptures with one another. I love the fact on prayer hubs, the word of God is being read.
[00:29:22] That's a work of service. That's a building up of the local church where we are opening up the word of God with one another. Another work of service is ministering with sensitivity and compassion to one another. Another work of service. Are you ready for this one? Correcting and watching out for each other.
[00:29:44] Are we open to let people correct us?
[00:29:49] That's a difficult one, isn't it, in this day and age?
[00:29:53] Another work of service is evidence of a servant heart that goes the extra mile. I love the people in this room right now. I won't embarrass you or mention names, but going the extra mile in their service. I love the fact that people have converted downstairs lounges into bedrooms to house people for months because they've needed accommodation.
[00:30:18] That is going the extra mile. I love it how people are turning up with bags of food for people who are just in the church, by the way, in the church.
[00:30:29] People who are just really desperate, who are going through some difficulty and they're turning up at doorsteps with bags of food for their brother and sister. It's an extravagant love. It's what work of service is.
[00:30:45] Another one is encouragement.
[00:30:48] We had some people come and join us a couple of months ago, and they've led church and they've been brilliant, you know, done so well in church ministry. And they said to Phil and I, they said, hey, we are here to be your cheerleaders. We know how hard the work can be. We know the seasons that there are. We're here to be your cheer leaders.
[00:31:10] That is a work of service.
[00:31:13] Another work of service is to go all out and volunteer in God's house.
[00:31:20] I've got a feeling, you know, just a feeling that if we do things God's way, if we do things his way, if we go all out in our work of service for him, if we build up one another, because it's always his way. You know that, don't you?
[00:31:45] It's never our way. And our clever ideas, either we read the word and we follow it or we don't.
[00:31:55] But as we build up one another, as we encourage and minister to one another, I believe there's going to be a mighty harvest coming, because even the gift of evangelism, you say, well, Esther, what about mission? And we're going to come on that in a couple of weeks. What about mission and reaching out? But even somebody with a gift of evangelism, a grace, is to, you know, teach us how we can win the lost.
[00:32:27] I'm so thankful for, you know, those who have real great evangelistic gifts on their lives. I'm so thankful for those who have a real teaching gift on their lives.
[00:32:38] I believe we're going to see a mighty harvest of when the kingdom of God reigns and rules in a body of people who are saying, I'm going to do work of service for God.
[00:32:55] I'm going to go the extra mile to see the body of Christ built up.
[00:33:06] We want every single person here to find their unique gift in.
[00:33:10] You are so uniquely created and fashioned by God, all of us, and God wants all of us, all members in. I think of some of you in this room. I'm going to close in a couple of minutes. Some of you in this room are phenomenal with it and tech and all of these areas, I believe you're going to use it in the months ahead to creatively with an edge of the spot spirit, to creatively create websites and other things that are going to inspire and point people to Christ.
[00:33:52] I love seeing the creativity of God in people and we want to awaken that in you today.
[00:34:00] As I'm just speaking as we're going to close up in a moment, we're going to pray into this, start thinking and say, Lord, what are those graces? What are those gifts on my life?
[00:34:09] A couple of years ago, there was a young man and he was thrown into children's ministry.
[00:34:16] And he kind of just volunteered and said, yeah, I'll throw myself into kids ministry. Within five years, this young man was taking teams into primary schools, teaching the gospel.
[00:34:32] He was writing children's worship songs, and he was training a next generation in children's ministry.
[00:34:43] He had got hold of Christ's purpose for the church.
[00:34:47] And so on a weekly basis, not only was he going into schools and doing lessons and assemblies and preaching the gospel, but he was helping and inspiring, inspiring and encouraging christian families as they raise their children.
[00:35:04] He didn't leave his day job initially because, you know, we're all called to minister, don't you, in, in whatever sector we work in.
[00:35:16] But he caught hold of Christ's vision and he said, I'm going to build up the church. I'm not going to be a spectator.
[00:35:27] I'm going to build up the church, Lord, so that you get the glory. And it's amazing what happens when we give our lives. We say, Lord, I want to love the church as you love her.
[00:35:39] But it's difficult because we're all so flawed and we're all so messy and we rub each other up the wrong way.
[00:35:50] No.
[00:35:53] And there's those awkward times and those awkward WhatsApps and the bit of administration that needs to happen and a bit of miscommunication at times.
[00:36:03] But what if, what if we could just get over that, look beyond it and go, but this is the precious body of Christ.
[00:36:14] There will be a dying world watching, going, I want to belong to that.
[00:36:19] I want to belong to that kingdom, culture.
[00:36:23] Let me just ask some questions to finish this morning.
[00:36:29] Am I building people up or am I tearing them down?
[00:36:39] Do I care about the people in this local church?
[00:36:45] I want to ask a question this morning. I mean it sincerely. There's no condemnation.
[00:36:51] But do we pray over one another during the week or do we forget about one another? It's a good question, isn't it?
[00:37:01] Do we leave this place this morning and not think about the faces again?
[00:37:08] Or are we bringing them before the Lord? As the Lord lays people on our hearts, do I regularly bring encouragement? Have we, did we come this morning going, I'm going to encourage my brothers and sisters. I'm going to encourage the people who are serving.
[00:37:26] Here's another good question. Am I a server or am I a spectator?
[00:37:33] Am I serving a minister in this church to build it up?
[00:37:37] Do I realize that involvement in service essential for my growth as a disciple in Christ? It's essential for our growth.
[00:37:50] It's essential for us experiencing the fullness of who Christ is? Am I reflecting Christ in my work of service?
[00:38:03] Let me just read ephesians two. It says, consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers.
[00:38:16] You often hear people who say, do you know what? I don't feel like I belong here.
[00:38:24] I don't feel like I really fit in.
[00:38:28] And the question we kind of turn around and ask people is, where are you serving?
[00:38:37] It says here, you're no longer foreign. We will feel like foreigners and strangers in the body of Christ if we're not serving and building one another up.
[00:38:48] But we are fellow citizens with God's people and members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
[00:39:13] Picture that this morning. The whole building as people is being joined together and rises to become a holy people, a holy temple in the Lord and in him. You too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his spirit.
[00:39:40] Join together a holy temple. I love this picture of rising because one day the church will rise to meet Christ.
[00:39:55] But how do we look before then?
[00:39:59] How are our lives been built up? How are we rising? How are we on this journey to be the people of God? In Newton Abbott, will you just bow your heads this morning?
[00:40:13] Just bow your heads.
[00:40:20] Jesus loves his church so much that he gave his life for the church.
[00:40:38] You've all been given graces and gifts.
[00:40:43] I'm so thankful for the shepherds in this room.
[00:40:47] We have beautiful shepherds in this room.
[00:40:53] I'm so thankful for the great teachers that are going to keep us on track.
[00:41:03] I'm so thankful for those who have the courage to gently correct us when we're, we're not quite hitting the mark.
[00:41:13] So thankful for those who, in the coming weeks and months are going to just equip us on how to win the lost, because some of us need some courage, some of us need to be equipped on how to actually have those conversations.
[00:41:35] So thankful for the apostolic gift in the Church of Jesus Christ.
[00:41:41] Those who just see beyond the today, beyond just a room of people to see beyond that, to see all the beauty of Christ's church and the expansion of the kingdom of God, to equip the saints for work of service.
[00:42:10] Will you just, if you're able to, don't force anybody this morning, just maybe hold your hand out in response.
[00:42:19] Maybe some of you this morning, young people, you don't know what your grace is.
[00:42:29] If you feel to this morning, just hold your hand down and say, lord, I just, I want you to speak to me.
[00:42:40] Speak to me, Lord, this morning. What is the grace? What is the gifting? What is that work of service you have given me to do so I can build up, up the body of Christ?
[00:42:55] I want to play my part.
[00:42:58] I want to grow spiritually. I want to experience the fuller life that you have for me, Lord, I want to be part of this beautiful body. I don't want to be a spectator.
[00:43:14] I want to be a 24/7 throughout the week and minister wherever you've placed me, Lord, wherever you've called me.
[00:43:26] I want to build up your body.
[00:43:29] Yeah, just reveal that to us now, Holy Spirit, and into this new week.
[00:43:47] And then the final thing just this morning, church. You are loved.
[00:43:52] You are loved.
[00:43:57] You are loved.
[00:44:00] You matter. Your life matters.
[00:44:07] In fact, we can't do this without you because it's not some members, it's not an elite group that get up on a Sunday morning on a platform. No, that's not Jesus's vision for his church.
[00:44:23] It's a people who are going to be equipped to change Newton Abbott for Jesus, to change their homes for Jesus.
[00:44:37] Some of you, I'm praying over this, I feel some of you, you're going to have neighbors around your home and you're going to feed them. And it's going to be around that table that conversations are going to happen about who Jesus is.
[00:44:57] There is gift of hospitality in this room.
[00:45:03] You have that gift just to put food on the table and love people around your table.
[00:45:11] And because of that, the Lord is going to bring people to you and you're going to be a soul winner for him in doing that around your table.
[00:45:21] For some of you this morning, there is a gift of shepherd on you. And you're going to start exercising that. You're going to start looking after people, you're going to start watching over them.
[00:45:37] And when you're seeing things and the Holy Spirit will reveal things to you, you're going to come alongside people like a loving father, like a loving mother, and you're going to surround these people with love and encouragement.
[00:45:57] And the Church of Jesus Christ is going to be built up.
[00:46:02] You are loved.
[00:46:05] So, Father, we pray, Lord, this morning that you will give us a bigger vision for the church that you have in your heart.
[00:46:18] Lord, forgive us when we've allowed programs to take over, when we've done the set list, when we've done the to do thing.
[00:46:30] Lord, I pray you would join this church in unity in these coming weeks and months.
[00:46:37] The Father, you would grow us up as we build up one another, as you have told us, Lord, your word has told us that us, Lord, you've given us this work of service to do for the building up of your body.
[00:46:55] And, Father, as we do, Lord, we pray that you will provide the results.
[00:47:01] We will see people encountering you.
[00:47:07] Jesus, we love you.
[00:47:10] We love you, Lord.
[00:47:13] Thank you for giving your life for us.
[00:47:19] And, Lord, for those who minister in this house, pray, Lord, that you'd refresh people over this springtime and summertime.
[00:47:31] Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Amen.
