WEBVTT 00:02.461 --> 00:04.236 [SPEAKER_00]: High-braze podcast. 00:09.076 --> 00:16.148 [SPEAKER_00]: Hey everybody, this is Pastor Josh, we'll leave Pastor here at High Praise, and I wanna thank you for downloading today's podcast. 00:16.168 --> 00:20.055 [SPEAKER_00]: We know that this message is going to encourage and bless you. 00:20.456 --> 00:24.383 [SPEAKER_00]: So I want you to open up your heart and receive with the Lord as for you today. 00:26.065 --> 00:31.074 [SPEAKER_00]: First Corinthians 12, we're gonna get there in a minute, but today, with it being several Sunday, we're gonna talk about the championship church. 00:31.094 --> 00:33.919 [SPEAKER_00]: Tell me, believe that God wants the church to be triumphant. 00:35.485 --> 00:41.092 [SPEAKER_00]: four of you said, how many believe that God wants the church to be triumphant, that he wants it to fulfill purpose. 00:41.132 --> 00:42.594 [SPEAKER_00]: He wants it to fulfill destiny. 00:42.954 --> 00:56.511 [SPEAKER_00]: That means for us here at high praise, that God wants us to be a championship church, that he wants us to fulfill destiny and purpose that he has for us, which happens when we all fulfill destiny and purpose that God has for us individually. 00:56.891 --> 01:03.940 [SPEAKER_00]: But tonight when it being the Super Bowl, it really is always a reminder that success 01:04.510 --> 01:04.750 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 01:05.091 --> 01:10.777 [SPEAKER_00]: If the quarterback comes out tonight and plays for either team and plays the best game they've ever played. 01:11.618 --> 01:16.464 [SPEAKER_00]: But the defense play, sorry, they're probably not going to win. 01:17.145 --> 01:20.548 [SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, offense and defense can play pretty well. 01:21.049 --> 01:22.671 [SPEAKER_00]: And the kicker can cost you a game. 01:22.991 --> 01:26.155 [SPEAKER_00]: Never leave a game in the hands of the kicker. 01:27.136 --> 01:28.898 [SPEAKER_00]: And my football people said, 01:29.165 --> 01:33.814 [SPEAKER_00]: Hey man, but I've watched Kickers ruin many games, right? 01:33.834 --> 01:45.756 [SPEAKER_00]: Where somebody plays great and then the special teams comes out and they have some errors and they cost their team the entire game and I've also seen where a team plays middling and the special team saves the day. 01:46.327 --> 01:47.769 [SPEAKER_00]: and wins the game for them. 01:48.030 --> 01:53.298 [SPEAKER_00]: Listen, a championship team is not just one person playing at a high level. 01:54.159 --> 02:02.212 [SPEAKER_00]: It's everybody on the team doing their role, doing their part, doing what they're supposed to do, and that's what brings victory. 02:02.592 --> 02:08.942 [SPEAKER_00]: The same way a church flourish is only when there is a diversity of gifts. 02:08.922 --> 02:19.781 [SPEAKER_00]: where there's unity in the spirit, where there's commitment to one another, and where there's full involvement of each and every believer that makes up that church. 02:19.841 --> 02:32.483 [SPEAKER_00]: So first Corinthians 12 verse 12 says this, for as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. 02:32.682 --> 02:42.116 [SPEAKER_00]: For by one spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews are Greek, whether slaves are free, and all have been made to drink into one spirit. 02:42.737 --> 02:46.643 [SPEAKER_00]: For in fact, the body is not one member, but many. 02:47.464 --> 02:52.432 [SPEAKER_00]: If the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? 02:53.333 --> 02:57.800 [SPEAKER_00]: And if the ears should say, because I am not an eye, I am not the body, is it therefore not of the body? 02:58.481 --> 03:00.985 [SPEAKER_00]: If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? 03:01.471 --> 03:08.181 [SPEAKER_00]: If the whole we're hearing, where would be the smelling, but now God has set the members each one of them in the body just as he pleased. 03:08.982 --> 03:11.365 [SPEAKER_00]: And if they were all one member, where would the body be? 03:12.006 --> 03:16.934 [SPEAKER_00]: But now indeed, there are many members at one body, and I cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you. 03:17.775 --> 03:21.420 [SPEAKER_00]: Nor again, the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 03:21.991 --> 03:34.272 [SPEAKER_00]: Once again, like I was just saying a minute ago, the church is like a championship team, and it thrives with any embraces of a variety of gifts and rolls under one spirit and one Lord. 03:35.034 --> 03:38.059 [SPEAKER_00]: Scripture even teaches us that there are many gifts. 03:38.039 --> 03:42.364 [SPEAKER_00]: All kinds of different spiritual gifts, even wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, prophecy, tongues. 03:42.844 --> 03:45.887 [SPEAKER_00]: But the same Holy Spirit empowers them all. 03:46.268 --> 03:48.550 [SPEAKER_00]: In other words, they are all part of the same team. 03:48.570 --> 03:52.134 [SPEAKER_00]: They're all part of the same game plan, but they function differently. 03:52.554 --> 03:57.860 [SPEAKER_00]: The goal of high praise is not for everybody to function in the way that Pastor Joshua does. 03:58.681 --> 04:07.810 [SPEAKER_00]: Or the way that Pastor Casey does, or the way Pastor Miranda or Pastor Castle, or the way that Willie does, or the way my grandpa does, right? 04:10.085 --> 04:14.475 [SPEAKER_00]: And the church says, all the men of God are like, praise God, grail, we're in. 04:15.670 --> 04:16.171 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 04:16.191 --> 04:18.053 [SPEAKER_00]: We all need different gifts. 04:18.794 --> 04:37.101 [SPEAKER_00]: The church is not out to clone people who've all function the same way, who have the same haircut, who wear the same clothes, who have all the same thoughts, who have all these same expressions of ministry, the only person that we're called to be conformed to the image of is Jesus. 04:37.521 --> 04:40.125 [SPEAKER_00]: You are not called to be conformed to my image. 04:40.510 --> 04:43.133 [SPEAKER_00]: You are called to be conformed to the image of Christ. 04:43.673 --> 04:52.363 [SPEAKER_00]: And in that, in the body, there is always this different expression from all of us that God has given us, right? 04:53.144 --> 04:55.066 [SPEAKER_00]: We all function differently. 04:55.506 --> 04:58.249 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's what makes a team work. 04:59.371 --> 05:06.578 [SPEAKER_00]: Tonight, there will be running backs who can run an incredible speed and receivers who can run an incredible speed. 05:06.618 --> 05:08.020 [SPEAKER_00]: And then there will be linemen. 05:08.725 --> 05:20.985 [SPEAKER_00]: who do not run at incredible speeds and everybody wears the jerseys of the running backs and of the receivers and of the quarterback. 05:22.467 --> 05:27.956 [SPEAKER_00]: But if the left tackle ain't doing his job, the quarterback's going to be in trouble. 05:29.499 --> 05:29.940 [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all with me? 05:30.761 --> 05:33.265 [SPEAKER_00]: If the center doesn't snap the ball properly. 05:33.751 --> 05:35.735 [SPEAKER_00]: The quarterback is going to be in a lot of trouble. 05:36.477 --> 05:42.710 [SPEAKER_00]: If the guards don't pull whenever they need to pull on certain plays, there isn't going to be a hole for the running back to run through. 05:43.332 --> 05:53.734 [SPEAKER_00]: And in my opinion, somebody who's watched football for years, if you aren't good in the trenches, ain't you ain't going to be a good team? 05:54.119 --> 06:16.718 [SPEAKER_00]: You can have the best quarterback imaginable, but if somebody isn't blocking for him and nobody's probably not a soul in here today wearing a jersey that has a jersey that's in the 60s or 70s range of jerseys because we don't necessarily think about and a steam always the lineman, but they are just as important to winning culture. 06:18.352 --> 06:19.796 [SPEAKER_00]: as the quarterback. 06:19.816 --> 06:27.617 [SPEAKER_00]: In the church, oftentimes we think about the person who preaches and we think about the people who lead worship because we see them all the time. 06:28.018 --> 06:28.579 [SPEAKER_00]: But you know what? 06:28.599 --> 06:31.467 [SPEAKER_00]: There are people back in the back in the trenches. 06:33.083 --> 06:44.742 [SPEAKER_00]: that are just as important as the people who are up here, as the people who are leading worship, as the people who are prophesying, as the people who are preaching, as the people who are laying hands on people. 06:45.043 --> 06:55.641 [SPEAKER_00]: This morning, basically every first service, there's probably, and I haven't seen the count yet, but almost every first service, there's generally 122, 150 between kids and nursery. 06:56.662 --> 06:59.547 [SPEAKER_00]: One, we wouldn't have room for them if we brought them all in here. 06:59.678 --> 07:00.499 [SPEAKER_00]: We would be in trouble. 07:00.619 --> 07:03.083 [SPEAKER_00]: And secondly, we wouldn't be able to hear anything. 07:05.005 --> 07:06.587 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't know what I'm talking about, right? 07:06.928 --> 07:09.651 [SPEAKER_00]: I've got two of mine that are in kids' search. 07:09.671 --> 07:13.176 [SPEAKER_00]: And one of them is just in kindergarten, and she never stops talking. 07:17.382 --> 07:20.266 [SPEAKER_00]: Never, even never stops talking. 07:20.806 --> 07:22.609 [SPEAKER_00]: She has always got something to say. 07:22.929 --> 07:25.212 [SPEAKER_00]: And I love her so, so much. 07:25.653 --> 07:28.757 [SPEAKER_00]: And I am thankful she is not sitting on the front right right now. 07:30.813 --> 07:39.203 [SPEAKER_00]: because she would be trying to talk to me and to my wife and would be trolling Casey all at the same time. 07:41.714 --> 07:51.006 [SPEAKER_00]: I am thankful that Pastor Bechus in kids today, teaching those kids, you may not see it, but she's in the trenches, getting the word done. 07:51.086 --> 07:59.817 [SPEAKER_00]: All people who they're helping her are in the trenches, getting the word done, and we can't be successful as a body if they aren't doing what they're called to do. 08:00.177 --> 08:06.405 [SPEAKER_00]: I am thankful for the people this morning that are helping people find seats and it wasn't just mask chaos. 08:07.887 --> 08:13.354 [SPEAKER_00]: I am thankful and some of y'all are real thankful for the people in the cafe that put out the donuts this morning. 08:15.617 --> 08:18.721 [SPEAKER_00]: You may not see them, they're the real MPPs getting it done. 08:22.185 --> 08:34.401 [SPEAKER_00]: One body, many functions, and we only are successful when we all are doing our assignment, when you're doing what you're called to do. 08:34.853 --> 08:41.144 [SPEAKER_00]: and no one gift and no one position is more important than the other. 08:41.825 --> 08:50.700 [SPEAKER_00]: The church can never function as God intends without us having an appreciation for each member and every diverse gift that God graces. 08:51.481 --> 08:56.389 [SPEAKER_00]: You would find yourself a lot less critical of the body 08:56.960 --> 09:07.371 [SPEAKER_00]: and of the church, if you would be thankful for everyone's individual function, if you would be thankful for everybody's role, why aren't they doing this? 09:07.512 --> 09:08.793 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, why don't you do that? 09:13.899 --> 09:18.404 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, praise God, I'm better. 09:18.764 --> 09:21.567 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm trying to be nice this morning, I've been meeting a couple of weeks, I'm trying to be nice. 09:22.880 --> 09:24.361 [SPEAKER_00]: That's what's happening in Corinth. 09:24.381 --> 09:33.089 [SPEAKER_00]: There's some believers are elevating certain gifts, but Paul is trying to tell them, hey, hey, you're just being an arrogant jerk right now. 09:34.550 --> 09:37.672 [SPEAKER_00]: Your role isn't more important than them and you don't get to say they're not part of the body. 09:39.354 --> 09:40.875 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't get to say they're not important. 09:41.676 --> 09:43.477 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't get to say that their function is irrelevant. 09:43.637 --> 09:44.898 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, they're just watching kids. 09:44.918 --> 09:45.599 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, you go do it. 09:50.423 --> 09:52.785 [SPEAKER_00]: Everybody's like, never mind, never mind. 09:55.111 --> 09:57.315 [SPEAKER_00]: They're just entertaining some kids in kids' shirts. 09:57.356 --> 09:58.077 [SPEAKER_00]: What's the big deal? 09:58.137 --> 09:59.760 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know why don't you go volunteer and find out. 10:02.426 --> 10:06.273 [SPEAKER_00]: Those youth leaders, you're just hanging out and they're on Wednesday trying to cling on to their youth. 10:06.334 --> 10:10.923 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know why don't you go sur over there and see how it goes whenever some teenager comes up to you with the problem they got. 10:11.103 --> 10:13.508 [SPEAKER_00]: And you're like, I don't wanna do what this praise God, thank you for Jason. 10:15.732 --> 10:36.111 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, with me, if we would appreciate each other, you would find yourself a whole lot less critical of the church, and why the church isn't doing this or that, and also, if you would function, you'd find yourself a whole lot less critical too, because you would understand the way that comes with serving the body. 10:38.253 --> 10:43.157 [SPEAKER_00]: At the end of the day, a championship football team can't all be quarterbacks and win. 10:43.576 --> 10:51.466 [SPEAKER_00]: You could put the 11 best quarterbacks on the NFL, on the field at the same time as an offense, and they would get blown off the field. 10:53.469 --> 11:01.780 [SPEAKER_00]: The other team would not allow them to score a singular point because it's not about people just being good. 11:02.921 --> 11:09.089 [SPEAKER_00]: It's about people playing the role they're called to play at the level God's called them to play it. 11:09.690 --> 11:12.233 [SPEAKER_00]: Do you know that even the guys who were on the bench 11:13.495 --> 11:14.657 [SPEAKER_00]: They serve a role in practice. 11:15.438 --> 11:17.320 [SPEAKER_00]: They serve a role of encouraging their teammates. 11:17.801 --> 11:23.209 [SPEAKER_00]: And they've also got to be ready to go, because I don't know if you've ever watched the NFL, but at any moment, somebody can go down and you got to be next man up. 11:24.331 --> 11:24.771 [SPEAKER_00]: Are you with me? 11:26.594 --> 11:35.807 [SPEAKER_00]: Each spiritual gift, and we talked about this a little bit on Wednesday night, is given out of an abundance of God's love for the common good, not for personal glory. 11:36.277 --> 11:40.691 [SPEAKER_00]: God did not gift me with an ability to speak and preach and teach. 11:40.711 --> 11:45.004 [SPEAKER_00]: You know that because he wanted to put me on a pedestal and everybody to marvel. 11:45.541 --> 11:50.886 [SPEAKER_00]: He gave me this gift because there are people that God loves who need to receive of it. 11:50.906 --> 11:53.228 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not about me, it's about him. 11:54.009 --> 11:54.870 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's about you. 11:55.310 --> 11:57.132 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's about what God wants to do in you. 11:57.413 --> 12:03.178 [SPEAKER_00]: The same way God didn't make people, I don't, how many people have ever had a child in nursery at high praise. 12:03.218 --> 12:06.381 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going somewhere, y'all just, I didn't just score a lot of promise, right? 12:06.782 --> 12:13.388 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, if you've had a child in nursery at high praise, you are probably very familiar. 12:13.773 --> 12:14.955 [SPEAKER_00]: with Michante Holmes. 12:15.776 --> 12:17.217 [SPEAKER_00]: How many of you appreciate Michante? 12:17.237 --> 12:18.018 [SPEAKER_00]: Isn't she incredible? 12:21.202 --> 12:21.303 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. 12:21.323 --> 12:30.735 [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't know, Shante, Shante has worked in nursery long enough that my son, who is 16, she kept him in nursery whenever he was a newborn. 12:31.295 --> 12:36.202 [SPEAKER_00]: And she has been back there almost every single week for even longer than that. 12:36.702 --> 12:42.750 [SPEAKER_00]: And she is faithful and she is consistent and she is better with babies 12:44.789 --> 12:46.031 [SPEAKER_00]: Am I telling the truth people? 12:46.852 --> 12:49.095 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what Shantay just looks at the kids as you're going to stop. 12:49.135 --> 12:50.337 [SPEAKER_00]: You're okay, and they're like, you're good. 12:53.401 --> 12:54.282 [SPEAKER_00]: You're all thinking I'm playing. 12:54.823 --> 12:56.726 [SPEAKER_00]: She's not a mic, he's like, I can't get him to do anything. 12:57.607 --> 13:00.111 [SPEAKER_00]: Pastor Becker was telling me they couldn't, this is a year or so ago. 13:00.131 --> 13:03.135 [SPEAKER_00]: They couldn't get MJ to do something, and they'd give her to Shantay and she's be like, 13:05.765 --> 13:08.973 [SPEAKER_00]: She's incredible, and she's served for years and years and years. 13:09.314 --> 13:12.963 [SPEAKER_00]: And she is just as important as me up here preaching today. 13:13.424 --> 13:15.669 [SPEAKER_00]: And God gave her a gifting and an ability. 13:15.990 --> 13:20.922 [SPEAKER_00]: And one of the reasons he gave that is because he knew there was going to be Mama's who needed to come to church. 13:21.610 --> 13:28.199 [SPEAKER_00]: and needed to receive something from the Lord, and that they didn't need to be concerned with what their baby was doing, and feel safe and secure. 13:28.740 --> 13:41.177 [SPEAKER_00]: So God gave her a gifting and an ability to be able to be great with these children, not just so she can be, I'm really great with kids, but through her ministry, people would be ministered too. 13:41.498 --> 13:43.761 [SPEAKER_00]: You need to look at everything differently. 13:44.181 --> 13:48.808 [SPEAKER_00]: Everything that somebody does in the body is to minister to one another. 13:48.948 --> 13:49.609 [SPEAKER_00]: Are you with me? 13:50.180 --> 13:50.961 [SPEAKER_00]: I got a hurry. 13:50.981 --> 13:53.444 [SPEAKER_00]: At the end of the day, so we all have to play our role, right? 13:54.325 --> 13:57.469 [SPEAKER_00]: Also a team that is a divided team will never win. 13:58.351 --> 14:01.154 [SPEAKER_00]: So we have to endeavor for the unity of the spirit. 14:02.276 --> 14:06.141 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not just being diverse, but it's operating in unity. 14:06.661 --> 14:12.228 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not just a diversification of gifts, but it's those gifts operating in unity together. 14:12.589 --> 14:15.833 [SPEAKER_00]: A fractured locker room will never be a winning team. 14:16.218 --> 14:19.644 [SPEAKER_00]: There have been teams do about history and football and basketball, right? 14:20.025 --> 14:33.991 [SPEAKER_00]: In all sorts of sports that are filled with stars, but there's no team players, and they can't get along, and the individual parts, whenever they're added together, don't come up to the sum of what they should be, because there isn't unity. 14:34.713 --> 14:38.580 [SPEAKER_00]: And I want to be clear, unity is not uniformity. 14:39.893 --> 14:43.658 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity doesn't mean that we all have to be the same act the same, think the same, look the same. 14:44.419 --> 14:51.589 [SPEAKER_00]: As I remember, if I preaches before, Unity can actually only exist inside of the confines of diversity. 14:52.750 --> 14:54.793 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity cannot exist where we're all the same. 14:56.716 --> 14:57.837 [SPEAKER_00]: That's just conformity. 14:58.758 --> 15:03.425 [SPEAKER_00]: And we weren't called to conform, but we were called to operate in Unity. 15:04.206 --> 15:09.613 [SPEAKER_00]: And Unity means even though we're different, our common goal is bigger than our differences. 15:10.572 --> 15:18.001 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity means, even though they might function differently than me, I know that they add to me to reach the common goal. 15:18.762 --> 15:21.405 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity means they might look different than me. 15:23.007 --> 15:23.889 [SPEAKER_00]: You got real quiet. 15:25.310 --> 15:40.309 [SPEAKER_00]: That they might look different than me, but whatever separates us even cosmetically, culturally, in gifting in the way that we might talk, you know, 15:41.150 --> 15:43.813 [SPEAKER_00]: Right, you may come in to church, you go, I don't know that fast song they did today. 15:43.854 --> 15:45.796 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, somebody else, it was their favorite song. 15:45.816 --> 15:49.401 [SPEAKER_00]: And Unity means you will allow them to be ministered too, and you worship anyway. 15:51.183 --> 15:51.383 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 15:52.244 --> 15:56.330 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity means you're not gonna come to Pastor Castle or Pastor C. Be like, why y'all doing that song again? 15:56.350 --> 15:59.434 [SPEAKER_00]: I think my song, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 15:59.454 --> 16:00.615 [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all don't look at me in that tone of voice. 16:00.635 --> 16:02.618 [SPEAKER_00]: Somebody was thinking at this morning, obviously. 16:03.155 --> 16:06.239 [SPEAKER_00]: unity means we endeavor together. 16:07.021 --> 16:20.720 [SPEAKER_00]: It means whenever I see something that I don't like or something that doesn't appeal to me or why they do in this, that we come together in unity because unity only exists inside of the confines of diversity. 16:21.001 --> 16:25.027 [SPEAKER_00]: The early church exemplifies this unity beyond natural barriers. 16:25.527 --> 16:27.390 [SPEAKER_00]: Jews and Gentiles. 16:27.742 --> 16:42.797 [SPEAKER_00]: slaves and free were made one in Christ we don't understand how counter-cultural that really was that slaves and free men set down at tables together. 16:43.199 --> 16:52.207 [SPEAKER_00]: We don't understand, because we just read, we all made one a cry, so neither is either June or Greek, there's either slave and a free, we're all part of God's family, we go, amen, praise God, we've heard it since we were four years old. 16:53.008 --> 16:54.450 [SPEAKER_00]: And we don't understand what that meant. 16:54.770 --> 17:03.478 [SPEAKER_00]: It meant that people who were once slave masters, set down with people who were once slaves at tables, and it was a level playing field. 17:04.799 --> 17:06.901 [SPEAKER_00]: That Jesus leveled the playing field. 17:07.502 --> 17:10.945 [SPEAKER_00]: That Jesus shows him, because there's no June or Greek, there's no slave and a free. 17:11.363 --> 17:39.750 [SPEAKER_00]: We put it this way, there's no black or white, there's no rich or poor, there's no elite and downtrodden, there's no political differences that we are all one and we are all part of God's family and part of unity means that whenever that gets uncomfortable, that we put 17:40.456 --> 17:52.323 [SPEAKER_00]: The church is a team, let me say this real quick, because there is, I'm just gonna stick my foot and things, it's all right, that there is a move right now even in our nation that people say diversity is actually not a good thing. 17:53.445 --> 17:57.655 [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't like diversity, you are really going to hate heaven. 17:59.693 --> 18:00.774 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just gonna be honest with you. 18:00.795 --> 18:03.278 [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't like diversity, you are really going to hate heaven. 18:04.019 --> 18:15.074 [SPEAKER_00]: Because the picture that John paints of heaven is every kindred, every tribe, every tongue, and every nation, and they aren't sequestered by kindred tribe tongue and nation, he sees them all worshiping together. 18:15.475 --> 18:24.126 [SPEAKER_00]: And he sees them all with a commonality to them, but there is still an individualistic difference to the point that John can tell, there's different people, different tribes, different tongues. 18:24.427 --> 18:26.209 [SPEAKER_00]: That, I don't know what that fully means. 18:26.469 --> 18:27.591 [SPEAKER_00]: But that means if there was different 18:27.571 --> 18:30.579 [SPEAKER_00]: tongues, it means somehow, John heard them speaking different languages. 18:31.662 --> 18:34.932 [SPEAKER_00]: The God didn't make them all speak English, whenever they got to heaven. 18:35.553 --> 18:36.436 [SPEAKER_00]: You're going to be disappointed. 18:39.504 --> 18:41.530 [SPEAKER_00]: There was different languages. 18:41.678 --> 18:46.606 [SPEAKER_00]: There was different things that made them distinct and diverse. 18:46.746 --> 18:48.549 [SPEAKER_00]: And the church, we've said this for years. 18:49.050 --> 18:52.015 [SPEAKER_00]: Whenever this church started 30 years ago, Dad talks about this couple of weeks ago. 18:52.035 --> 19:04.075 [SPEAKER_00]: When this church started 30 years ago, one of the things that the Lord really spoke to my dad's heart, my mom and dad's heart, that they were going to target was a spirit of sectarianism and division that had been in this region for a long time. 19:04.055 --> 19:28.054 [SPEAKER_00]: Racism, sexism, classism are all rooted in that and you can look around this room today and you can see that We have effectively been able to do that and we're going to continue to do that which means this We will continue to stand against anything that marginalizes anybody who was created in the image and the likeness of God from the unborn to 19:28.034 --> 19:41.858 [SPEAKER_00]: to the elderly, to the middle age, from the whites, and the blacks, and Hispanics, and whatever it is, we are all created in God's image and likeness, we are all image bears, and we are all made to worship Jesus together. 19:46.040 --> 19:54.650 [SPEAKER_00]: The reason we have a Hispanic ministry was not to tell all the people who are Hispanic to go to that service because we didn't want you around. 19:54.950 --> 20:00.697 [SPEAKER_00]: We have a Hispanic service because we have a portion of our community that doesn't speak English well. 20:01.578 --> 20:07.825 [SPEAKER_00]: So what we are doing is making ministry available to them in a way that they can understand the purpose is not segregation. 20:08.086 --> 20:12.711 [SPEAKER_00]: The purpose is inclusion of them in a way that they can worship with us. 20:13.752 --> 20:14.393 [SPEAKER_00]: Are you with me? 20:15.706 --> 20:29.409 [SPEAKER_00]: every country, every tribe, every tongue, every nation, high praise is always stood for that, which means this, if you're uncomfortable around people that are a different race than you, then you need to get comfortable. 20:33.335 --> 20:34.297 [SPEAKER_00]: Praise God. 20:36.581 --> 20:37.823 [SPEAKER_00]: Listen, unity, I gotta hurry. 20:37.963 --> 20:42.270 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity is so critical that on the eve of his sacrifice, 20:43.567 --> 20:50.497 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus said, of His disciples, May they all be one so that the world may believe, and then God sends them. 20:51.338 --> 20:57.347 [SPEAKER_00]: I've already said it, but a divided team will lose championships, but in likewise a divided church will lose. 20:58.228 --> 21:04.737 [SPEAKER_00]: It'll lose credibility, it'll lose spiritual battles, but a unified church full of the spirit cannot be easily defeated. 21:05.619 --> 21:11.447 [SPEAKER_00]: Camping, unity and mutual commitment are the team chemistry of the church. 21:11.765 --> 21:14.511 [SPEAKER_00]: And without it, great individual talent will falter. 21:14.832 --> 21:16.956 [SPEAKER_00]: We can have the greatest worship team on the face of the planet. 21:16.976 --> 21:18.500 [SPEAKER_00]: We got an incredible worship team. 21:18.520 --> 21:20.263 [SPEAKER_00]: But if we aren't a church of unity, it doesn't matter. 21:21.346 --> 21:24.533 [SPEAKER_00]: We can have great preaching, and we've got people who can preach in this church. 21:24.673 --> 21:25.755 [SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, I'm able to preach. 21:26.196 --> 21:28.722 [SPEAKER_00]: My dad's able to preach, Pastor Casey's able to preach really well. 21:29.042 --> 21:30.145 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes praise God. 21:30.225 --> 21:31.327 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry. 21:31.347 --> 21:31.748 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm afraid. 21:33.112 --> 21:34.153 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm messing. 21:34.173 --> 21:35.054 [SPEAKER_00]: I can play with Pastor Gates. 21:35.074 --> 21:35.975 [SPEAKER_00]: I live in Francer 20 years. 21:36.195 --> 21:37.096 [SPEAKER_00]: Pastor Garrett, I live in Francer 20 years. 21:37.116 --> 21:38.817 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm a preacher, pastor, pastor, pastor, pastor, pastor, pastor. 21:38.837 --> 21:39.258 [SPEAKER_00]: My mom can preach. 21:39.278 --> 21:39.638 [SPEAKER_00]: My mom can preach. 21:39.658 --> 21:40.859 [SPEAKER_00]: We have plenty of people who can preach. 21:41.339 --> 21:43.662 [SPEAKER_00]: But if we're all great preachers, but we don't have the unity of the spirit. 21:43.682 --> 21:44.062 [SPEAKER_00]: Who cares? 21:46.024 --> 21:46.404 [SPEAKER_00]: Who cares? 21:48.406 --> 21:50.628 [SPEAKER_00]: And at the end of the day, this is, I'm going to stop here. 21:51.829 --> 21:52.830 [SPEAKER_00]: So this is what we're going to have. 21:52.850 --> 21:53.370 [SPEAKER_00]: We understand. 21:53.851 --> 21:54.812 [SPEAKER_00]: We have individual purposes. 21:55.552 --> 21:57.034 [SPEAKER_00]: We understand that we have to live in unity. 21:57.574 --> 22:01.718 [SPEAKER_00]: And the last thing I want to hit is this that we all have to be fully involved and committed. 22:03.200 --> 22:07.144 [SPEAKER_00]: a successful team is when everybody goes all in. 22:08.486 --> 22:15.554 [SPEAKER_00]: No championship team will win when people decide that they're just not going to do their role and be spectators on the sideline. 22:15.574 --> 22:17.456 [SPEAKER_00]: Every player is expected to contribute. 22:18.457 --> 22:25.365 [SPEAKER_00]: And in the same way God's design is that every Christian is actively involved in the work of ministry. 22:25.886 --> 22:31.452 [SPEAKER_00]: God gave you gifting talents and abilities 22:32.748 --> 22:35.173 [SPEAKER_00]: but you are called to bless someone else. 22:36.055 --> 22:37.799 [SPEAKER_00]: You are called to bless the body. 22:38.259 --> 22:42.769 [SPEAKER_00]: First Peter 4 says, as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another. 22:44.052 --> 22:45.334 [SPEAKER_00]: Use it to serve one another. 22:45.374 --> 22:47.619 [SPEAKER_00]: I said it before, and I'll say it again. 22:47.960 --> 22:50.325 [SPEAKER_00]: God didn't give you a gift for you to be great. 22:51.267 --> 22:53.912 [SPEAKER_00]: He gave you a gift to serve someone else. 22:54.820 --> 23:00.530 [SPEAKER_00]: God didn't give you a gift, so you could have a bunch of followers on Instagram and TikTok and Facebook. 23:00.550 --> 23:03.695 [SPEAKER_00]: God gave you a gift to minister to someone else. 23:04.657 --> 23:11.468 [SPEAKER_00]: And God's intent is that every member of the body is effective in their sphere. 23:12.390 --> 23:16.677 [SPEAKER_00]: For some, that's going to look like serving on the worship team or being an usher. 23:17.804 --> 23:20.688 [SPEAKER_00]: Some it's going to look like working in a cafe. 23:21.389 --> 23:26.936 [SPEAKER_00]: Some it's going to look like preaching or teaching or leading a small group or organizing people and gathering. 23:27.316 --> 23:30.841 [SPEAKER_00]: And for other people, this can be going and praying for somebody at the hospital and nobody knows about it. 23:33.485 --> 23:34.466 [SPEAKER_00]: And you're just as vital. 23:35.207 --> 23:39.192 [SPEAKER_00]: For some people, God's just giving you the ability to be able to be an encourager of people. 23:40.153 --> 23:43.137 [SPEAKER_00]: And nobody may know about your encouragement, except the person that you speak to. 23:44.279 --> 23:45.280 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's OK. 23:46.036 --> 23:49.321 [SPEAKER_00]: Because our giftings are not about us being known. 23:50.442 --> 23:52.725 [SPEAKER_00]: Our giftings are about ministering to one another. 23:53.346 --> 23:59.394 [SPEAKER_00]: And whenever we start making it about us, is whenever we fall and we falter every single time. 23:59.935 --> 24:03.740 [SPEAKER_00]: I think I said it on Wednesday, but there's a lot of scandal going on right now in the church. 24:04.141 --> 24:06.845 [SPEAKER_00]: And well, be careful. 24:07.526 --> 24:10.710 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of scandal going on in the church. 24:10.977 --> 24:26.387 [SPEAKER_00]: And in the situations that I do have some knowledge of beyond what's just public, I know this for a fact that almost every single one of those people at a certain point got off of ministering to the body and made it about them. 24:27.515 --> 24:35.267 [SPEAKER_00]: And when you make it about yourself, you get prideful, you get arrogant, and pride comes before or fall, and a hotly spirit before destruction. 24:35.787 --> 24:43.219 [SPEAKER_00]: And if we want to minister faithfully, then we understand my job is to minister to somebody else in the body. 24:43.259 --> 24:45.422 [SPEAKER_00]: And if it stops there, fine. 24:45.402 --> 24:46.343 [SPEAKER_00]: I've said this before. 24:46.443 --> 24:57.817 [SPEAKER_00]: If I preach and nobody ever knows my name and nobody ever likes a Facebook post, and nobody ever shares a video and whatever, as long as I'm faithful to what he told me to do, that's all the matters. 24:59.199 --> 25:01.061 [SPEAKER_00]: Faithfulness is all that matters. 25:01.762 --> 25:07.829 [SPEAKER_00]: My goal is in anything other than hearing, well done, good and faithful servant. 25:08.430 --> 25:11.814 [SPEAKER_00]: If he knows what I did and nobody else does, that's enough. 25:12.895 --> 25:13.536 [SPEAKER_00]: Are you with me? 25:14.596 --> 25:18.504 [SPEAKER_00]: The body of Christ only functions properly when each part is working properly. 25:19.206 --> 25:21.972 [SPEAKER_00]: That's what makes the body grow so it builds itself up in love. 25:22.894 --> 25:24.718 [SPEAKER_00]: It says an Ephesians 4. 25:26.542 --> 25:30.951 [SPEAKER_00]: And if one part of the body refuses to act, the whole body limbs. 25:33.057 --> 25:39.628 [SPEAKER_00]: And if one member withholds their gifts or their calling, the church is hampered from full health and full growth. 25:40.409 --> 25:45.557 [SPEAKER_00]: When each part does its work, the church edifies itself, it advances and it grows. 25:46.980 --> 25:50.145 [SPEAKER_00]: It's oftentimes, and I'm gonna come on with, I'm gonna close with this thought. 25:50.686 --> 25:58.238 [SPEAKER_00]: It's oftentimes even in the Super Bowl that the most unlikely person can make a crucial play in the championship. 26:00.243 --> 26:18.010 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it was Super Bowl 49, I believe that the Patriots and Seahawks met in a Super Bowl Super Bowl 49 last time they met, and there was a dramatic interception at the end of the game that sealed the game for the Patriots, because the Seahawks wouldn't just give the ball to Marshall on the one yard line. 26:20.513 --> 26:25.221 [SPEAKER_00]: But the guy who made the interception was an undrafted rookie. 26:27.644 --> 26:29.507 [SPEAKER_00]: He was an undrafted rookie. 26:30.213 --> 26:35.478 [SPEAKER_00]: who made the biggest play of the game and sealed the game for his team. 26:36.659 --> 26:42.185 [SPEAKER_00]: There was probably nobody but his mama that was wearing his jersey in the stands at the Super Bowl. 26:44.347 --> 26:50.893 [SPEAKER_00]: But he's the one, everybody's wearing Brady jerseys and grunk jerseys, and nobody was wearing his jersey. 26:51.614 --> 26:53.997 [SPEAKER_00]: But he was the one that made the play that sealed it. 26:54.857 --> 26:57.520 [SPEAKER_00]: It is often the unseen people. 26:57.871 --> 27:09.545 [SPEAKER_00]: that make the biggest plays in critical moments, that turn things around, likewise in a church, it is often the people in the unseen places that can make the biggest impact. 27:10.407 --> 27:13.095 [SPEAKER_00]: It's the greater who meets somebody at the door. 27:13.295 --> 27:14.698 [SPEAKER_00]: and says, how's your week been doing? 27:15.199 --> 27:17.163 [SPEAKER_00]: How's everything going on in your family? 27:17.484 --> 27:19.047 [SPEAKER_00]: We're so glad you're here today. 27:19.348 --> 27:23.657 [SPEAKER_00]: They can tear down the walls and somebody's life to prepare them to receive what God has for them. 27:24.038 --> 27:33.177 [SPEAKER_00]: It's the person on a ministry team that hangs over longer that somebody comes up and gets prayer and they see their situation turn around and change. 27:33.157 --> 27:44.550 [SPEAKER_00]: It's the person in the nursery who's willing to serve so that Mama and Dad can receive and God does something in their life and that's not just because of the preaching business because somebody was willing to change a diaper. 27:48.555 --> 28:02.691 [SPEAKER_00]: God works the members who might seem least or ordinary or whatever kind of terminology we would want to put on it to do extraordinary exploits for the kingdom. 28:02.873 --> 28:10.144 [SPEAKER_00]: A teenager like David defeats Goliath, never underestimate what God can do through a believer who's just willing. 28:10.765 --> 28:17.295 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to be a pastor, profanity, evangelist, teacher, minister, leader, deacon. 28:17.916 --> 28:18.577 [SPEAKER_00]: You know what you have to be? 28:19.138 --> 28:21.461 [SPEAKER_00]: Faithful. 28:21.481 --> 28:27.430 [SPEAKER_00]: Just faith, the Holy Spirit empowers us to minister to one another. 28:30.413 --> 28:34.077 [SPEAKER_00]: And I believe this, that we're entering a season where it's time for each of us to step up. 28:35.438 --> 28:37.460 [SPEAKER_00]: His church is growing, it's expanding. 28:38.101 --> 28:39.662 [SPEAKER_00]: God's doing great and mighty things. 28:40.383 --> 28:43.766 [SPEAKER_00]: And if you've been on the sidelines, God's calling you onto the field. 28:45.969 --> 28:51.034 [SPEAKER_00]: If Pastor Castle Ray just shout over there, praise God, he does all the scheduled, he's like, A, man! 28:52.735 --> 28:55.138 [SPEAKER_00]: If you've been on the sidelines, God's calling you onto the field. 28:56.139 --> 28:57.240 [SPEAKER_00]: God has something for you to do. 28:57.961 --> 28:59.222 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm thankful for people. 29:00.890 --> 29:04.033 [SPEAKER_00]: On Wednesday nights, who show up after they've worked all day. 29:05.134 --> 29:16.043 [SPEAKER_00]: And after kids have been in school all day, who take 20, 30 kids split into classrooms, upstairs, and minister to them. 29:16.363 --> 29:17.564 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't, I said, I don't a job. 29:17.624 --> 29:18.565 [SPEAKER_00]: I wouldn't necessarily want to do. 29:19.926 --> 29:23.049 [SPEAKER_00]: But I'm thankful for people like Jason and Tina Lambert. 29:23.069 --> 29:25.391 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm thankful for people like Ryan and Megan Forrest. 29:26.112 --> 29:29.935 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm thankful for people like Malcolm and Andrea Grant. 29:30.134 --> 29:37.142 [SPEAKER_00]: who do this and who minister to people and minister to our kids because it makes a difference. 29:37.703 --> 29:45.792 [SPEAKER_00]: My kids come home and tell me what they learned about Jesus, not necessarily because something that I've told them, but because these people have been faithful to minister to them. 29:46.273 --> 29:48.936 [SPEAKER_00]: They're making a difference. 29:49.857 --> 29:59.668 [SPEAKER_00]: Get off the sideline, get on the field, begin to contribute, and it'll make a difference in your life. 30:00.037 --> 30:00.458 [SPEAKER_00]: in you. 30:01.018 --> 30:03.241 [SPEAKER_00]: And our aim is higher than a Super Bowl ring. 30:05.104 --> 30:06.366 [SPEAKER_00]: Our aim is higher than a Super ring. 30:06.386 --> 30:11.253 [SPEAKER_00]: But I said, our aim is to hear well done, good and faithful servant. 30:11.273 --> 30:14.197 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's because you do more than just say a prayer. 30:14.918 --> 30:16.300 [SPEAKER_00]: It's because we serve on another. 30:18.743 --> 30:20.045 [SPEAKER_00]: It's because we bear with one another. 30:21.006 --> 30:29.318 [SPEAKER_00]: It's because we live in unity even in times where unity is 30:29.534 --> 30:34.623 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not hard to find places we can disagree with each other. 30:35.385 --> 30:42.197 [SPEAKER_00]: I could put 10 people in a room and start talking about any number of issues and we would probably have 10 different solutions or answers or perspectives. 30:42.958 --> 30:46.084 [SPEAKER_00]: That's called human nature, it's just who we are, right? 30:47.086 --> 30:50.111 [SPEAKER_00]: But can we seek unity in the midst of our differences? 30:50.772 --> 30:52.335 [SPEAKER_00]: Because that's what winners do. 30:53.092 --> 31:10.621 [SPEAKER_00]: We find unity in the midst of all of these variants in all the noise that at the end of the day of nothing else, we hear you, we love Jesus, you love Jesus, I love Jesus, we're a part of this body, and we're aiming for something higher, and that's the most important. 31:10.641 --> 31:12.885 [SPEAKER_00]: They said, but you're feet, I gotta stop. 31:12.905 --> 31:14.868 [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks again for downloading this podcast. 31:14.909 --> 31:18.795 [SPEAKER_00]: We trust that this message has blessed and encouraged and identified you. 31:19.113 --> 31:22.900 [SPEAKER_00]: Make sure you subscribe so you never miss a message here for high praise. 31:23.401 --> 31:31.357 [SPEAKER_00]: Also, you can follow us on social media, on Facebook and on Instagram, and don't forget to go subscribe to our YouTube channel. 31:31.958 --> 31:34.203 [SPEAKER_00]: We'll be back soon with another incredible message. 31:34.363 --> 31:36.447 [SPEAKER_00]: God bless you and have a great week.