WEBVTT 00:02.521 --> 00:03.921 [SPEAKER_00]: High Praise Podcasts. 00:03.961 --> 00:10.603 [SPEAKER_00]: Hey everybody, this is Pastor Josh. 00:10.623 --> 00:15.625 [SPEAKER_00]: We'll leave Pastor here at High Praise and I want to thank you for downloading today's podcast. 00:16.125 --> 00:20.026 [SPEAKER_00]: We know that this message is going to encourage and bless you. 00:20.426 --> 00:24.327 [SPEAKER_00]: So I want you to open up your heart and receive with the Lord as for you today. 00:25.232 --> 00:28.013 [SPEAKER_00]: your Bible if you will and go to Ephesians chapter four. 00:28.033 --> 00:31.534 [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to be wrapping up this series this morning built to last. 00:32.195 --> 00:41.578 [SPEAKER_00]: We've been talking a lot the past few weeks about what God builds, not just what man can organize, not just about what talent can produce, and we know that men can organize. 00:42.438 --> 00:43.679 [SPEAKER_00]: Women can organize things. 00:44.239 --> 00:45.500 [SPEAKER_00]: Women can organize really well. 00:47.680 --> 00:50.662 [SPEAKER_00]: My wife organized her closet yesterday and I was like, I don't know how you do this. 00:58.290 --> 00:58.510 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 00:58.791 --> 01:00.412 [SPEAKER_00]: And talent can produce something. 01:00.452 --> 01:01.894 [SPEAKER_00]: Talent can produce a following. 01:01.974 --> 01:03.295 [SPEAKER_00]: Talent can bring people in. 01:03.636 --> 01:06.119 [SPEAKER_00]: Talent can feel stadiums and arenas. 01:06.499 --> 01:11.725 [SPEAKER_00]: But God didn't say to build around organization or to build around talent. 01:12.005 --> 01:13.426 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus said, you build around me. 01:14.662 --> 01:16.743 [SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus said, I'm building this, right? 01:16.763 --> 01:20.404 [SPEAKER_00]: That's what he said in Matthew chapter 16, I will build my church. 01:21.004 --> 01:24.865 [SPEAKER_00]: And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 01:25.445 --> 01:27.666 [SPEAKER_00]: I will build my church is what Jesus said. 01:27.746 --> 01:28.806 [SPEAKER_00]: And hell will not win. 01:28.846 --> 01:31.207 [SPEAKER_00]: Hear me, darkness can't overcome the church. 01:32.060 --> 01:33.881 [SPEAKER_00]: Culture cannot cancel the church. 01:34.542 --> 01:36.283 [SPEAKER_00]: Death will not defeat the church. 01:36.863 --> 01:50.292 [SPEAKER_00]: But today, I wanna talk about something really practical because we talked a lot about the big cosmic idea if you will that Jesus builds the church and hell cannot prevail against it. 01:50.592 --> 01:53.334 [SPEAKER_00]: But what does that look like practically? 01:53.414 --> 01:58.037 [SPEAKER_00]: Because if something is built to last, you have to know what carries weight. 01:59.715 --> 02:04.857 [SPEAKER_00]: If we're gonna build to last, we have to know what carries weight. 02:05.778 --> 02:10.780 [SPEAKER_00]: A few years ago, as a matter of fact, probably over a decade ago at this point, maybe even two. 02:11.020 --> 02:14.302 [SPEAKER_00]: HGTV and TLC made everybody think they could renovate a house. 02:16.783 --> 02:17.083 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 02:17.764 --> 02:18.684 [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all remember what I'm talking about? 02:19.284 --> 02:26.468 [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all remember the craze and other, it still goes on, but the house renovation show craze was off the rails. 02:27.842 --> 02:28.882 [SPEAKER_00]: 10, 20 years ago. 02:29.143 --> 02:31.804 [SPEAKER_00]: Some of the things they did to house is they should go to prison for. 02:31.824 --> 02:33.945 [SPEAKER_00]: All right. 02:34.585 --> 02:36.306 [SPEAKER_00]: Why did you put fur on the walls? 02:36.346 --> 02:37.847 [SPEAKER_00]: That was completely unnecessary. 02:39.507 --> 02:41.728 [SPEAKER_00]: Right, but it had everybody think that they could do it. 02:41.768 --> 02:45.930 [SPEAKER_00]: They'd watch 30 minutes of TV and suddenly, they'd feel like they could just completely renovate a space. 02:45.950 --> 02:47.931 [SPEAKER_00]: He walked in place and go, I think we see to open this up. 02:47.951 --> 02:48.772 [SPEAKER_00]: We need an open plan. 02:48.792 --> 02:50.092 [SPEAKER_00]: We need to take that wall out. 02:50.493 --> 02:52.333 [SPEAKER_00]: Somebody oughta laughing because you've done this. 02:54.314 --> 02:55.495 [SPEAKER_00]: We need to window right here. 02:57.255 --> 03:00.522 [SPEAKER_00]: We need to take this room and make like three rooms out of it. 03:00.582 --> 03:02.065 [SPEAKER_00]: It's barely big enough for one room. 03:02.886 --> 03:04.309 [SPEAKER_00]: We need to knock some walls out. 03:04.770 --> 03:08.257 [SPEAKER_00]: We start saying things like, we just need an open concept in this house. 03:09.040 --> 03:09.240 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 03:09.460 --> 03:13.804 [SPEAKER_00]: And we start thinking that we can just do whatever we want. 03:14.325 --> 03:14.485 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 03:14.525 --> 03:23.933 [SPEAKER_00]: And if you've ever done any actual building or remodeling, the one thing that you know is the question is not, do I want that wall there or not? 03:24.714 --> 03:27.236 [SPEAKER_00]: The question is, does that wall have to be there? 03:29.158 --> 03:32.181 [SPEAKER_00]: Is that a wall that carries weight? 03:33.569 --> 03:43.035 [SPEAKER_00]: is it something that is just superficial that we look at that divides a room or is it something that if we try to knock it out, we're gonna have structural problems, right? 03:43.296 --> 03:57.905 [SPEAKER_00]: And there are things in the church, the big sea church, there's things here at High praise, even that we can move, we can change, we can be flexible, we can be fluid, we can knock a wall out, we don't have that, we've built and knocked out literally by 50 million literal walls in the history of the church. 03:58.466 --> 04:01.508 [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't believe me, go back to the back, it is a lab strength. 04:03.408 --> 04:06.589 [SPEAKER_00]: You will get lost in about three seconds if you don't know where you're going, right? 04:06.969 --> 04:12.451 [SPEAKER_00]: But the reality is this, the question is not, is it something that we just want to move? 04:12.791 --> 04:15.412 [SPEAKER_00]: The question is, is it something we don't need to touch? 04:16.433 --> 04:20.894 [SPEAKER_00]: Because there are things when God is building his church that can be moved every time. 04:21.935 --> 04:25.216 [SPEAKER_00]: Things evolve, things change, living things grow. 04:26.256 --> 04:30.478 [SPEAKER_00]: But then there are some things that you can't change because if you remove it, it dies. 04:31.542 --> 04:33.904 [SPEAKER_00]: If you remove it, the structure collapses. 04:34.465 --> 04:41.010 [SPEAKER_00]: There are some things that God does in His church that we don't get to just come in and go, we don't like that anymore. 04:42.512 --> 04:43.072 [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all with me? 04:43.593 --> 04:44.774 [SPEAKER_00]: That's old-fashioned. 04:45.734 --> 04:46.996 [SPEAKER_00]: That's outdated. 04:47.756 --> 04:49.398 [SPEAKER_00]: I just don't wanna do that. 04:51.215 --> 04:55.736 [SPEAKER_00]: That confronts my flesh, that hurts my feelings. 04:56.297 --> 04:58.357 [SPEAKER_00]: That steps on my toes a little bit. 04:58.597 --> 05:01.058 [SPEAKER_00]: So I don't really want to have anything to do with that. 05:01.458 --> 05:11.361 [SPEAKER_00]: I found oftentimes those are the very things that are carrying weight, that if we try to move them, we begin to harm the church ourselves. 05:11.381 --> 05:11.821 [SPEAKER_00]: Are you with me? 05:13.702 --> 05:17.323 [SPEAKER_00]: Some people think they're making the room prettier, but they're really just weakening the structure. 05:19.154 --> 05:23.916 [SPEAKER_00]: And this doesn't just happen in natural buildings, it happens in churches, it happens in relationships, it happens in marriages. 05:24.816 --> 05:27.276 [SPEAKER_00]: We remove things because they feel inconvenient, right? 05:27.977 --> 05:29.557 [SPEAKER_00]: We remove things because they feel heavy. 05:30.517 --> 05:32.178 [SPEAKER_00]: We remove things because they can front our flesh. 05:32.718 --> 05:35.419 [SPEAKER_00]: But here, you can't remove prayer and expect the house to stand. 05:36.739 --> 05:41.340 [SPEAKER_00]: You can't remove humility and expect relationships to last. 05:42.861 --> 05:44.641 [SPEAKER_00]: It's getting real quiet already in this place. 05:44.901 --> 05:46.122 [SPEAKER_00]: You can't remove truth. 05:47.027 --> 05:48.468 [SPEAKER_00]: and expect people to mature. 05:49.628 --> 05:54.290 [SPEAKER_00]: You can't remove unity and then expect a church to carry the anointing. 05:55.230 --> 06:02.593 [SPEAKER_00]: If you remove what God has made load bearing, the house will never be able to hold what he intends to send. 06:03.033 --> 06:14.098 [SPEAKER_00]: So Ephesians chapter four, verse one, says this either for the prisoner of the Lord, besieged you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all loneliness. 06:15.242 --> 06:22.787 [SPEAKER_00]: And gentleness with long suffering, bearing with one another in love. 06:22.847 --> 06:25.328 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what the way Paul says, bearing with one another. 06:25.348 --> 06:26.669 [SPEAKER_00]: You ever really had to bear with somebody? 06:28.510 --> 06:30.492 [SPEAKER_00]: Guess what you were doing whenever you're doing that. 06:31.554 --> 06:39.001 [SPEAKER_00]: you are fulfilling what Paul is called as to do, bearing with one another love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 06:39.501 --> 06:47.569 [SPEAKER_00]: There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, 06:48.129 --> 07:12.297 [SPEAKER_00]: One baptism, one God, and Father of all, who is above all and through all, and in you, oh, now jump to verse 11, and He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, and evangel, some pastors, and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 07:15.638 --> 07:21.383 [SPEAKER_00]: and carried about with every wind of doctrine by trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. 07:21.803 --> 07:41.018 [SPEAKER_00]: But speaking to truth in love, may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part, might say every part, every part does it share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. 07:41.453 --> 07:43.214 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, there are a lot of things. 07:43.255 --> 07:48.919 [SPEAKER_00]: And honestly, we could probably do an entire message just on the load bearing walls of the church. 07:49.319 --> 08:02.270 [SPEAKER_00]: But I want to focus in on a few things that Paul says here in this passage when he's talking to people in the church and instructing them on how to have Christ like behavior and how to be Christians, which is to be part of the body. 08:03.899 --> 08:06.781 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen, being a Christian means to be part of the body. 08:06.801 --> 08:09.864 [SPEAKER_00]: Being a Christian is not a private relationship between you and Jesus. 08:10.684 --> 08:18.410 [SPEAKER_00]: It is being baptized into His body, which means this, you have to be around other people who were part of the body. 08:18.711 --> 08:23.054 [SPEAKER_00]: We said this when you say, you are not the church, you are part of the church. 08:23.494 --> 08:25.436 [SPEAKER_00]: My finger doesn't get to go, it's my body. 08:26.737 --> 08:29.399 [SPEAKER_00]: It's part of my body, but it alone doesn't get to be my body. 08:30.827 --> 08:35.430 [SPEAKER_00]: It is part of the body, you are part of the body, you are part of the church, but you want the totality of it. 08:35.450 --> 08:38.312 [SPEAKER_00]: And as Paul is giving these instructions here, he gives a few things. 08:38.332 --> 08:45.656 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to focus in on a few today that I think the church at large in America right now is we need some strengthening it, right? 08:45.976 --> 08:47.717 [SPEAKER_00]: And I want to focus in on a few of these. 08:47.797 --> 08:50.879 [SPEAKER_00]: And the first thing that Paul starts with is loneliness. 08:51.900 --> 08:55.762 [SPEAKER_00]: That word could literally be translated as humility. 08:55.782 --> 08:56.703 [SPEAKER_00]: Somebody say humility. 08:58.165 --> 09:16.433 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's really interesting because in the writing of church growth manuals and church growth seminars and how to be your best you and how to overcome and that we have today most people don't start here they don't start with humility they start with vision. 09:17.382 --> 09:33.355 [SPEAKER_00]: We start with leadership, we start with strategy, we start with excellence, we start with communication, and by the way, none of those things are bad or wrong, those are good things that the church needs, but if at the root of all of that is not humility, it becomes a problem. 09:34.867 --> 09:41.413 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul starts with humility because if you're going to walk worthy, start with humility. 09:41.533 --> 09:41.853 [SPEAKER_00]: Why? 09:42.093 --> 09:44.535 [SPEAKER_00]: Because humility is load bearing. 09:45.336 --> 09:47.898 [SPEAKER_00]: Humility carries the weight of the church. 09:48.619 --> 09:52.862 [SPEAKER_00]: Humility carries the weight of relationships in the church, right? 09:53.843 --> 10:01.850 [SPEAKER_00]: Humility carries the weight of relationships period because marriage is can survive a lot of things, but it can't survive two people who refuse to humble themselves. 10:05.793 --> 10:08.114 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to say it again for Bruce, because he said, say it again. 10:10.336 --> 10:16.280 [SPEAKER_00]: Marriage just can survive a lot of things, but it cannot survive two people who refuse to humble themselves. 10:17.801 --> 10:18.021 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 10:18.521 --> 10:23.864 [SPEAKER_00]: If someone is trying to constantly dominate and prove that they are the one who's in charge and the other person is inferior. 10:25.405 --> 10:25.866 [SPEAKER_00]: Good luck. 10:27.807 --> 10:28.567 [SPEAKER_00]: Come on, somebody. 10:29.528 --> 10:30.108 [SPEAKER_00]: Good luck. 10:31.009 --> 10:32.390 [SPEAKER_00]: You are not going to have a good time. 10:33.896 --> 10:34.096 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 10:34.436 --> 10:36.257 [SPEAKER_00]: And also, that's not what we're taught in marriage anyways. 10:36.277 --> 10:36.777 [SPEAKER_00]: This is my marriage. 10:36.797 --> 10:39.198 [SPEAKER_00]: That's not what we're taught in Scripture in marriage. 10:39.218 --> 10:41.659 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, Pastor, I'm going to, I'm going to, we're already off. 10:42.159 --> 10:47.461 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, Pastor, don't you know the Scripture says that my wife wants to submit to me. 10:47.841 --> 10:48.201 [SPEAKER_00]: It does. 10:48.961 --> 10:49.241 [SPEAKER_00]: It does. 10:49.401 --> 10:49.781 [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely. 10:50.181 --> 10:52.602 [SPEAKER_00]: And it also says that you're supposed to love her like Christ love the church. 10:55.043 --> 10:56.403 [SPEAKER_00]: And gave himself for her. 10:57.644 --> 10:57.864 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, 11:02.232 --> 11:04.494 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus willingly gave himself for his wife. 11:04.874 --> 11:06.355 [SPEAKER_00]: That doesn't sound like domination. 11:06.996 --> 11:09.998 [SPEAKER_00]: That sounds like giving of his entireness for his bride. 11:10.679 --> 11:12.040 [SPEAKER_00]: This is one of the problems we have. 11:12.180 --> 11:14.202 [SPEAKER_00]: I gotta keep going. 11:14.222 --> 11:15.823 [SPEAKER_00]: I can't, I can't, thank you, Bruce. 11:17.204 --> 11:18.966 [SPEAKER_00]: Hear me, Pride's not just a bad attitude. 11:19.626 --> 11:25.111 [SPEAKER_00]: Pride is structural damage in the lives of people and it will weaken the house. 11:25.591 --> 11:27.293 [SPEAKER_00]: Pride makes people untiturable. 11:28.388 --> 11:28.548 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 11:28.848 --> 11:30.229 [SPEAKER_00]: It makes people unteachable. 11:30.589 --> 11:33.750 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if you've realized this yet, but you don't have it all figured out. 11:34.731 --> 11:35.591 [SPEAKER_00]: And neither do I. 11:36.252 --> 11:38.312 [SPEAKER_00]: And none of us in here have it all figured out. 11:38.553 --> 11:42.714 [SPEAKER_00]: And one of the worst things you can do is become puffed up people, though I'm not prideful. 11:42.935 --> 11:43.715 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't listen. 11:46.438 --> 11:48.740 [SPEAKER_00]: That is the prime manifestation of pride. 11:49.160 --> 11:53.083 [SPEAKER_00]: Whenever you won't listen, that is pride in action. 11:53.383 --> 11:59.068 [SPEAKER_00]: When you constantly think you know better than everybody else, that is pride in action. 11:59.328 --> 12:03.891 [SPEAKER_00]: Whenever you say, I know the scripture says this, but I think I know something better. 12:04.192 --> 12:06.373 [SPEAKER_00]: That is pride to my friend. 12:13.647 --> 12:15.149 [SPEAKER_00]: Pride can make a house impressive. 12:15.269 --> 12:25.962 [SPEAKER_00]: I've seen prideful people leave churches and they look impressive, but they're structurally weak, and as quick as it shoots up, it'll come right back now. 12:27.127 --> 12:32.830 [SPEAKER_00]: because the structure is not sound, because pride has pervaded everything. 12:33.030 --> 12:41.075 [SPEAKER_00]: And I've seen this time in time again, I've seen people build mega churches and mega churches become completely nothing overnight because of pride. 12:41.115 --> 12:44.196 [SPEAKER_00]: And on to be clear, I'm not saying every large church is full of pride. 12:44.236 --> 12:45.637 [SPEAKER_00]: That's not what I'm saying, okay? 12:46.057 --> 12:47.898 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying that, so don't hear that. 12:48.199 --> 12:52.361 [SPEAKER_00]: What I am saying is if you are gonna build something that's going to last, 12:53.840 --> 13:02.342 [SPEAKER_00]: Regardless of how big or how small it is, it has to be built and weighed in humility. 13:03.122 --> 13:04.342 [SPEAKER_00]: Humility carries weight. 13:04.602 --> 13:06.722 [SPEAKER_00]: Humility says, I don't have to be the center. 13:10.283 --> 13:20.205 [SPEAKER_00]: Humility says, and by the way, when we talk about pride, and I'll be all the thing, well, that means people want a microphone or they want this and the church, they can be this, I didn't get nothing this week. 13:23.985 --> 13:27.209 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't get anything, I don't know what, I didn't get nothing. 13:28.450 --> 13:29.972 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't get anything out of that service. 13:30.012 --> 13:31.474 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, maybe somebody else did. 13:33.076 --> 13:42.567 [SPEAKER_00]: And maybe not every week has to be about you, but it can be about somebody else in the body being built up. 13:44.097 --> 13:49.039 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the type of consumeristic culture that the church has to get rid of, right? 13:49.479 --> 13:55.521 [SPEAKER_00]: We go somewhere, and if it isn't exactly what we want every time, we don't go back, I know this, because I've done this before, not at churches, but at restaurants. 13:58.721 --> 14:06.664 [SPEAKER_00]: Come on, go somewhere and get a good meal, three times in a row, you go somewhere and get something bad one time, like, I'm never going back. 14:08.923 --> 14:20.931 [SPEAKER_00]: Again, in my life, I know it's been good, again and again, but it was bad one time, done over, come on, y'all are laughing, because y'all've done it yourselves. 14:22.312 --> 14:23.653 [SPEAKER_00]: We do that with the church, though. 14:25.014 --> 14:25.835 [SPEAKER_00]: Come on, somebody. 14:26.889 --> 14:31.512 [SPEAKER_00]: You get to the church and it's the best thing in the world and it's changing your life. 14:31.552 --> 14:35.434 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's just absolutely transforming everything and you just can't believe it. 14:35.634 --> 14:39.877 [SPEAKER_00]: And then somebody walks past you one week and doesn't say hello to you, so I'm never going back again. 14:42.899 --> 14:45.620 [SPEAKER_00]: We have one message that confronts something in our life. 14:45.800 --> 14:50.203 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm done, pastor knew what was going on in my life. 14:50.223 --> 14:53.205 [SPEAKER_00]: He saw it on Facebook and built his entire message. 14:56.083 --> 15:05.351 [SPEAKER_00]: to confront me, you know we're dealing with pride, right? 15:05.791 --> 15:15.940 [SPEAKER_00]: And in our social media world, this is more of a problem than ever, because we're all celebrities of our own sphere, right? 15:17.561 --> 15:20.643 [SPEAKER_00]: We think it's us and the world. 15:22.445 --> 15:24.687 [SPEAKER_00]: And just to be honest with you, most people don't care. 15:29.202 --> 15:31.042 [SPEAKER_00]: We're trying to keep our own noses clean. 15:32.043 --> 15:33.743 [SPEAKER_00]: We're trying to raise our own families. 15:35.323 --> 15:40.024 [SPEAKER_00]: All right, pride can make a house impressive, but humility will make a house strong. 15:41.064 --> 15:43.525 [SPEAKER_00]: And Paul doesn't stop with humility, he goes on to say, gentleness here. 15:44.345 --> 15:47.706 [SPEAKER_00]: That word doesn't mean weakness, gentleness really is strength under control. 15:49.046 --> 15:52.507 [SPEAKER_00]: Gentleness is power that doesn't have to prove itself. 15:54.267 --> 15:57.828 [SPEAKER_00]: Gentleness is being able to win the argument 15:58.757 --> 16:13.443 [SPEAKER_00]: But choosing to win the person instead, come on somebody, we so want to be right that we don't care who gets hurt, they're going to know. 16:13.943 --> 16:14.943 [SPEAKER_00]: That's not gentleness. 16:15.824 --> 16:23.627 [SPEAKER_00]: Gentleness is you might be able to win the fight, but you'd rather impact the person in a positive way than prove how right you are. 16:27.045 --> 16:30.468 [SPEAKER_00]: Gentleness is to be able to crush somebody with the truth, but choosing to restore them would love. 16:32.590 --> 16:34.651 [SPEAKER_00]: Some people think strength is being harsh. 16:35.652 --> 16:36.993 [SPEAKER_00]: Nothing can be further from the truth. 16:37.814 --> 16:39.215 [SPEAKER_00]: Real strong people aren't harsh. 16:40.816 --> 16:43.078 [SPEAKER_00]: Speak the truth in love. 16:44.199 --> 16:49.483 [SPEAKER_00]: If the truth is always harsh, and by the way, I'm not saying there's never a time to confront. 16:50.184 --> 16:54.748 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying there's never a time where you just gotta kind of put it on the line, but if that's all you ever do, 16:56.013 --> 17:00.034 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's never bathed in love, and it's never covered in mercy. 17:00.414 --> 17:03.055 [SPEAKER_00]: Then you're not strong, you're just unstable. 17:06.837 --> 17:08.477 [SPEAKER_00]: You're not strong, you're just unstable. 17:08.617 --> 17:09.798 [SPEAKER_00]: You just have no self-control? 17:10.738 --> 17:11.258 [SPEAKER_00]: Are you all with me? 17:12.178 --> 17:12.919 [SPEAKER_00]: I know it's on the morning. 17:12.939 --> 17:13.259 [SPEAKER_00]: It's all right. 17:15.219 --> 17:15.660 [SPEAKER_00]: Think about this. 17:16.380 --> 17:18.120 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus was the strongest man who ever lived. 17:19.421 --> 17:20.081 [SPEAKER_00]: Would we agree? 17:21.441 --> 17:22.782 [SPEAKER_00]: All right, if you don't agree, 17:23.857 --> 17:26.020 [SPEAKER_00]: We are going to have an altar call at the end of the service. 17:27.481 --> 17:29.383 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus was the strongest man, would we agree? 17:30.224 --> 17:43.760 [SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus said in Matthew 1129, I am gentle and lowly in heart, if anybody could have been puffed up, it was Jesus, if anybody could have said, you, jokers are bunch of idiots. 17:46.800 --> 17:50.742 [SPEAKER_00]: It was Jesus, but he says, I'm gentle and lowly in heart. 17:50.802 --> 17:53.664 [SPEAKER_00]: If Jesus is gentle, then gentleness is not weakness. 17:53.824 --> 17:55.285 [SPEAKER_00]: Gentleness is Christ likeness. 17:56.225 --> 17:58.206 [SPEAKER_00]: Gentleness is being conformed to His image. 17:58.807 --> 18:02.389 [SPEAKER_00]: A church built to last needs gentle people. 18:03.029 --> 18:05.430 [SPEAKER_00]: People who can carry weight without crushing others. 18:05.930 --> 18:08.692 [SPEAKER_00]: People who can tell the truth without using truth as a weapon. 18:09.112 --> 18:12.254 [SPEAKER_00]: People who can restore the fallen without acting superior. 18:17.395 --> 18:20.918 [SPEAKER_00]: Then Paul says, long suffering, we love that one. 18:22.059 --> 18:22.980 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's patience. 18:24.121 --> 18:25.862 [SPEAKER_00]: Not long suffering with easy people. 18:25.922 --> 18:27.964 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to be long suffering with easy people. 18:30.626 --> 18:31.046 [SPEAKER_00]: Got with me? 18:32.147 --> 18:34.489 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't have to be long suffering with some of you in this room. 18:35.490 --> 18:35.950 [SPEAKER_00]: And some of you. 18:39.293 --> 18:39.694 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm playing. 18:40.835 --> 18:41.075 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm playing. 18:41.455 --> 18:43.417 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't have to be long suffering with castle. 18:44.210 --> 18:47.111 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to be long-suffering with my dad, maybe. 18:47.131 --> 18:47.431 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know. 18:48.531 --> 18:48.951 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm playing. 18:49.572 --> 18:50.012 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm playing. 18:50.032 --> 18:50.432 [SPEAKER_00]: That's a joke. 18:51.052 --> 18:51.232 [SPEAKER_00]: Right. 18:51.572 --> 18:52.152 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just joking. 18:53.353 --> 18:54.333 [SPEAKER_00]: That's how he lines it. 18:54.633 --> 18:57.634 [SPEAKER_00]: There are people in this room that I've never had a problem with. 18:58.494 --> 18:59.355 [SPEAKER_00]: Never had an issue. 19:00.035 --> 19:02.756 [SPEAKER_00]: They serve, they're faithful, they're committed. 19:03.196 --> 19:06.057 [SPEAKER_00]: They do anything for this church and the people in it. 19:06.637 --> 19:08.337 [SPEAKER_00]: And then there's other people in our lives. 19:08.437 --> 19:09.078 [SPEAKER_00]: Come on, somebody. 19:09.098 --> 19:10.078 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't know who I'm talking about. 19:10.338 --> 19:13.559 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to say who you're thinking of someone in your brain right now. 19:16.357 --> 19:21.901 [SPEAKER_00]: that rubs you the wrong way, and you're like, I wish they would just go to a different church. 19:23.722 --> 19:25.583 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna offend them so they will leave. 19:27.304 --> 19:28.845 [SPEAKER_00]: Not me, y'all do that, not me. 19:28.865 --> 19:32.828 [SPEAKER_00]: All right, y'all don't know what I'm talking about. 19:33.548 --> 19:36.550 [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all don't look at me in that tone of a way, y'all know exactly what I'm talking about. 19:37.130 --> 19:42.013 [SPEAKER_00]: And you know what Paul tells us to do with those people to be long, suffering, and patient. 19:42.454 --> 19:44.295 [SPEAKER_00]: They're developing the fruit of the Spirit in your life. 19:45.675 --> 19:47.958 [SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, Jesus died for them just like he died for you. 19:49.580 --> 19:57.029 [SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, the way that they annoy you, there's somebody in this world that you're that to them. 20:00.255 --> 20:16.727 [SPEAKER_00]: So get over yourself, and love people, and be long-suffering, and endure with patients, patients with their process, patients with their growth, patients with maturity, you can never build community without patients. 20:17.367 --> 20:19.068 [SPEAKER_00]: You can't build a marriage without patients. 20:19.488 --> 20:25.753 [SPEAKER_00]: You'll never build anything worth building without patients in your life, because growth takes time. 20:27.333 --> 20:30.394 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to say again, growth takes time. 20:31.134 --> 20:37.295 [SPEAKER_00]: I've known some of you a long time, and I've seen what God has done in your life over time. 20:37.575 --> 20:47.897 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm so grateful we didn't get fed up with you after three months or six months, or a year, come on somebody. 20:48.697 --> 20:54.238 [SPEAKER_00]: And now what you need to do, and what we all need to do, is turn around and give that same patience to someone else. 20:55.034 --> 21:01.441 [SPEAKER_00]: What's been extended to you, you turn around and extend to someone else because that's what we're called to do is to church. 21:02.181 --> 21:08.187 [SPEAKER_00]: If we're gonna be a church built to last, we cannot be people who give up on everybody the moment they frustrate us. 21:10.189 --> 21:16.135 [SPEAKER_00]: The next one of the next things Paul says I really wanted to dig into, as he says this, Paul says endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirits may say unity. 21:17.136 --> 21:18.598 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, as he says endeavoring, 21:19.969 --> 21:21.470 [SPEAKER_00]: to keep the unity of the Spirit. 21:21.490 --> 21:22.070 [SPEAKER_00]: You know what that means? 21:22.330 --> 21:23.751 [SPEAKER_00]: You have to work at it. 21:24.731 --> 21:26.092 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity is not natural. 21:26.112 --> 21:29.814 [SPEAKER_00]: The fact that unity is completely unnatural to our flesh. 21:30.914 --> 21:32.875 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity doesn't happen automatically. 21:33.736 --> 21:35.837 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity is created in his work. 21:35.857 --> 21:37.998 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, keep the unity of the Spirit. 21:38.338 --> 21:42.260 [SPEAKER_00]: That means the Spirit creates unity, but then it is our job to keep it. 21:43.300 --> 21:46.082 [SPEAKER_00]: The Spirit baptizes us into one body. 21:47.222 --> 21:47.743 [SPEAKER_00]: One Lord. 21:48.682 --> 21:50.942 [SPEAKER_00]: One baptism, one Savior. 21:51.343 --> 21:58.004 [SPEAKER_00]: And now all of us are tasked with not separating ourselves from people the Spirit has united us with. 21:58.864 --> 22:02.405 [SPEAKER_00]: So Paul says, keep it, guard it, protect it, fight for it. 22:03.205 --> 22:04.305 [SPEAKER_00]: And I want to make sure I'm clear. 22:05.005 --> 22:06.366 [SPEAKER_00]: I've talked this in length before. 22:06.386 --> 22:07.706 [SPEAKER_00]: It's been a while since I've talked about it. 22:08.106 --> 22:12.907 [SPEAKER_00]: But unity and conformity are not the same thing. 22:14.187 --> 22:20.810 [SPEAKER_00]: Right, unity can only exist inside of the confines of diversity. 22:22.491 --> 22:25.672 [SPEAKER_00]: Otherwise, it's just conformity and conformity and unity are different, right? 22:26.353 --> 22:31.495 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity means you may not think exactly like I think, but we unite under something bigger. 22:32.552 --> 22:32.752 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 22:33.412 --> 22:42.276 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity means we may have different opinions and perspectives, but we're going to unite around Jesus who is bigger than any of our differences. 22:42.596 --> 22:44.978 [SPEAKER_00]: We should be very familiar with this in marriage. 22:46.338 --> 22:46.558 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 22:46.878 --> 22:51.921 [SPEAKER_00]: We should be very familiar with this because I don't know if you've realized this yet, your spouse does not think like you. 22:55.902 --> 22:59.204 [SPEAKER_00]: And if you think they do, somebody's lying. 23:02.383 --> 23:03.926 [SPEAKER_00]: They don't think just like you. 23:03.946 --> 23:08.153 [SPEAKER_00]: You may think a lot of things, but there's always gonna be differences. 23:08.954 --> 23:10.316 [SPEAKER_00]: There's always gonna be differences. 23:11.050 --> 23:15.373 [SPEAKER_00]: And at the end of the day, you know what you have to choose to do if you were going to have a healthy marriage. 23:16.114 --> 23:20.857 [SPEAKER_00]: You have to go, we may think differently about things, but we're uniting under something bigger. 23:20.877 --> 23:22.658 [SPEAKER_00]: First of all, we're uniting as believers. 23:22.918 --> 23:26.841 [SPEAKER_00]: And then secondly, we're uniting around our marriage and our family to make it last. 23:26.941 --> 23:30.544 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's going to bring unity, not necessarily conformity. 23:31.104 --> 23:31.224 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 23:31.524 --> 23:34.867 [SPEAKER_00]: Some of you all been trying for 30 years to make them think like you give up. 23:37.008 --> 23:37.669 [SPEAKER_00]: It ain't going to happen. 23:38.513 --> 23:40.455 [SPEAKER_00]: But we unite around something bigger. 23:40.475 --> 23:45.079 [SPEAKER_00]: Why is Paul, why is he drilling this to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit? 23:45.360 --> 23:48.042 [SPEAKER_00]: Because unity carries weight and it carries glory. 23:48.302 --> 23:49.924 [SPEAKER_00]: So on 133 is very familiar. 23:50.084 --> 23:54.648 [SPEAKER_00]: Now behold, how pleasant it is for the brethren to dwell together in what? 23:55.930 --> 24:00.974 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity, it is like the precious oil upon the head right down the beard of Aaron. 24:02.212 --> 24:02.392 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 24:02.452 --> 24:03.314 [SPEAKER_00]: What's oil speaking of? 24:03.354 --> 24:10.143 [SPEAKER_00]: It's anointing and it goes on to say, because they're where the place where there's unity, God commands the blessing. 24:11.145 --> 24:11.365 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 24:11.706 --> 24:14.169 [SPEAKER_00]: You want blessing on your life, live in unity. 24:15.351 --> 24:17.854 [SPEAKER_00]: You want blessing on your life, stop fighting! 24:18.924 --> 24:26.231 [SPEAKER_00]: Stop bickering, stop complaining, and start living in unity and God will command blessing there. 24:26.471 --> 24:27.993 [SPEAKER_00]: There is blessing attached to unity. 24:28.013 --> 24:29.434 [SPEAKER_00]: There's oil attached to unity. 24:29.614 --> 24:31.997 [SPEAKER_00]: There is life that is attached to unity. 24:32.357 --> 24:35.039 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't wanna be a church that God visits occasionally. 24:36.541 --> 24:41.225 [SPEAKER_00]: I wanna be a place where His presence is commanded because there is unity. 24:42.101 --> 24:43.202 [SPEAKER_00]: It's what I love about our staff. 24:43.222 --> 24:50.005 [SPEAKER_00]: We have all kinds of different people, different backgrounds, different histories, different thoughts and ideas at times on things. 24:50.225 --> 24:52.846 [SPEAKER_00]: But you know what, we are all united. 24:53.607 --> 24:55.508 [SPEAKER_00]: And we're all on the same page. 24:55.548 --> 24:58.649 [SPEAKER_00]: And we're all pushing together for the cause of Christ. 24:58.949 --> 25:00.110 [SPEAKER_00]: It is unity. 25:01.071 --> 25:02.671 [SPEAKER_00]: Oil flows where unity lives. 25:02.731 --> 25:03.912 [SPEAKER_00]: This is why the enemy hates it. 25:03.952 --> 25:08.634 [SPEAKER_00]: And while he's always trying to bring division, the enemy doesn't want to make people mad to frustrate them. 25:12.847 --> 25:14.388 [SPEAKER_00]: And the enemy is sneaky. 25:14.969 --> 25:16.731 [SPEAKER_00]: He rarely starts with huge division. 25:17.511 --> 25:18.352 [SPEAKER_00]: It starts with whispers. 25:18.372 --> 25:18.892 [SPEAKER_00]: Did you hear? 25:20.714 --> 25:25.438 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I just feel like I'm not trying to gossip. 25:26.439 --> 25:26.780 [SPEAKER_00]: But. 25:30.303 --> 25:35.988 [SPEAKER_00]: If there's always a butt after I'm not trying to butt, then you're doing exactly what you just said you're not trying to do. 25:39.131 --> 25:46.754 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not trying to gossip, but, you know, some people are saying I love them, but no you don't. 25:48.175 --> 25:48.635 [SPEAKER_00]: No you don't. 25:50.336 --> 25:51.437 [SPEAKER_00]: All right, thank you for that everyone. 25:51.577 --> 25:52.757 [SPEAKER_00]: I love them, but no you don't. 25:53.337 --> 25:55.158 [SPEAKER_00]: Because if you really love them, you would stop talking. 25:58.240 --> 26:00.941 [SPEAKER_00]: All right, you're not loving them. 26:01.481 --> 26:03.182 [SPEAKER_00]: You're loading the room with poison. 26:04.968 --> 26:06.269 [SPEAKER_00]: You're not loving well. 26:06.990 --> 26:09.412 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just trying to protect the integrity of the church. 26:09.452 --> 26:10.393 [SPEAKER_00]: That's not your job. 26:13.276 --> 26:14.097 [SPEAKER_00]: All right, praise God. 26:14.997 --> 26:17.860 [SPEAKER_00]: A house could not stay healthy if the atmosphere is poisoned. 26:19.221 --> 26:21.283 [SPEAKER_00]: We have to decide what kind of house are we gonna be? 26:22.044 --> 26:24.626 [SPEAKER_00]: Are we gonna be a house of suspicion or are we gonna be a house of honor? 26:26.949 --> 26:30.432 [SPEAKER_00]: Are we gonna be a house that's always talking about each other? 26:31.792 --> 26:35.493 [SPEAKER_00]: in spreading rumors or we're gonna be a house that promotes the best of each other. 26:35.713 --> 26:37.713 [SPEAKER_00]: And then at the day, if you hear something, it always believed the best. 26:40.234 --> 26:43.915 [SPEAKER_00]: I have people who are going to be like, that's so insultant, that doesn't sound like them, but I'll talk to them. 26:45.515 --> 26:46.336 [SPEAKER_00]: Believe the best. 26:46.796 --> 26:47.256 [SPEAKER_00]: Are you all with me? 26:48.136 --> 26:48.376 [SPEAKER_00]: All right. 26:50.277 --> 26:51.697 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity is not pretending there are no problems. 26:51.717 --> 26:52.097 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna hurry. 26:52.997 --> 26:55.738 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity is choosing to deal with problems in a way that honors Jesus. 26:57.117 --> 26:59.738 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity is not everybody having to have the same personality. 27:00.178 --> 27:02.379 [SPEAKER_00]: If everyone had my personality, this church would be boring. 27:04.660 --> 27:07.361 [SPEAKER_00]: You didn't have to aim in, E.J. 27:10.202 --> 27:11.783 [SPEAKER_00]: That wasn't the spot to yell, E.J. 27:15.204 --> 27:16.424 [SPEAKER_00]: We'll talk later, praise God. 27:20.906 --> 27:21.546 [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all love E.J. 27:23.487 --> 27:24.488 [SPEAKER_00]: All right, some of y'all weren't sure. 27:24.588 --> 27:25.328 [SPEAKER_00]: All right, praise God. 27:28.713 --> 27:29.993 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity is not uniformity. 27:30.113 --> 27:32.654 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity is shared surrender to Jesus. 27:33.294 --> 27:40.315 [SPEAKER_00]: So Paul says there's one body, one spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all, one, one. 27:41.056 --> 27:43.116 [SPEAKER_00]: Because Unity is not based on us all being alike. 27:44.096 --> 27:46.117 [SPEAKER_00]: It's based on us all belonging to the same Lord. 27:46.837 --> 27:48.917 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the foundation that holds the house together. 27:49.997 --> 27:53.078 [SPEAKER_00]: A church that is built around preference will fracture. 27:55.235 --> 27:55.916 [SPEAKER_00]: It'll fracture. 27:56.796 --> 27:57.056 [SPEAKER_00]: Why? 27:57.377 --> 28:02.080 [SPEAKER_00]: Because the moment something changes to something that I don't we never, that you say this all the time. 28:03.401 --> 28:03.601 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 28:04.882 --> 28:06.203 [SPEAKER_00]: The words of a dying church. 28:07.464 --> 28:09.186 [SPEAKER_00]: Last seven words of a dying church. 28:09.366 --> 28:11.728 [SPEAKER_00]: We've never done it that way before. 28:12.428 --> 28:15.190 [SPEAKER_00]: Actually, we never did it that way before, right? 28:15.971 --> 28:16.631 [SPEAKER_00]: That's real Southern. 28:17.012 --> 28:20.414 [SPEAKER_00]: We've never done it that way before. 28:20.695 --> 28:22.796 [SPEAKER_00]: The moment something looks like what it didn't 28:25.320 --> 28:26.140 [SPEAKER_00]: We're like, I don't know. 28:27.281 --> 28:28.121 [SPEAKER_00]: That's not unity. 28:29.601 --> 28:31.402 [SPEAKER_00]: That's your preference being challenged. 28:32.582 --> 28:37.143 [SPEAKER_00]: The moment there's 170 kids running around at color wars and some of them look a little not churchy. 28:41.404 --> 28:42.745 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if that kid knows Jesus. 28:42.765 --> 28:44.525 [SPEAKER_00]: He probably doesn't and we're glad they're here. 28:55.350 --> 29:01.213 [SPEAKER_00]: and there's people that are battling addiction who are standing out of front, out front, puffing on their, their vapes. 29:02.013 --> 29:02.914 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know about this. 29:03.694 --> 29:06.636 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if the church should, they should have more respect than that. 29:07.016 --> 29:08.877 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm glad they're here. 29:14.340 --> 29:18.122 [SPEAKER_00]: Church was never intended to be a museum, perfect, perfect people. 29:18.582 --> 29:22.324 [SPEAKER_00]: It's several things, but one of the things it is a hospital for the broken. 29:24.980 --> 29:35.422 [SPEAKER_00]: And if that affends your preference, your preference needs to be offended, and you need to grow up and get over yourself and realize this is bigger than you. 29:44.044 --> 29:45.544 [SPEAKER_00]: Unity doesn't mean we never disagree. 29:47.085 --> 29:49.005 [SPEAKER_00]: It means Jesus stays bigger than the disagreement. 29:50.579 --> 29:53.622 [SPEAKER_00]: It means the vision of the church stays bigger than any disagreement. 29:54.202 --> 30:01.388 [SPEAKER_00]: It's that we understand things may change, but the mission is always Jesus, right? 30:01.789 --> 30:04.311 [SPEAKER_00]: The last thing I'm gonna do is quick, maturity carries weight. 30:06.033 --> 30:14.480 [SPEAKER_00]: Because he shifts in Ephesians 411, and he himself gave some to be a possible some prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, for the equipping, nothing entertaining. 30:17.357 --> 30:27.865 [SPEAKER_00]: Not the showcase, but for the equipping of the saints for the work or the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, Paul talks about leadership gifts and offices, but notice is why they are given. 30:27.925 --> 30:30.047 [SPEAKER_00]: Not so, the saints can be entertained. 30:30.628 --> 30:38.674 [SPEAKER_00]: Not so, you have a good weakened activity because you're from the south, and you've got a little turnt at Gulf Coast Jam, and now you need to feel better by yourself on Sunday morning. 30:43.478 --> 30:43.758 [SPEAKER_00]: All right. 30:46.168 --> 30:53.794 [SPEAKER_00]: not so the saints can clap for gifted people for the equipping of the saints, for the equipping of the saints. 30:53.814 --> 30:58.617 [SPEAKER_00]: This is a huge shift because some people think the church is where they come to be served. 31:00.279 --> 31:03.001 [SPEAKER_00]: So where I come to get something, right? 31:03.321 --> 31:12.368 [SPEAKER_00]: And thankfully, praise God, God does have something for you to receive in the body, but he also brought you in the body so you could be equipped to give something. 31:13.533 --> 31:15.934 [SPEAKER_00]: So you could be equipped to serve the body. 31:16.475 --> 31:21.658 [SPEAKER_00]: Listen, spiritual maturity is more than just knowing Bible facts are praying for somebody once in a while. 31:22.298 --> 31:27.321 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul says maturity is when the body is built up and every part does it's share. 31:27.741 --> 31:31.584 [SPEAKER_00]: That means this, a mature church is not a room full of spectators. 31:32.164 --> 31:33.545 [SPEAKER_00]: It is a body full of servants. 31:35.221 --> 31:44.894 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not a room full of spectators, it's a body full of servants, and this matters because a church built to last cannot be carried by a few people forever. 31:48.880 --> 31:52.465 [SPEAKER_00]: A church built to last cannot be carried by a few people forever. 31:53.457 --> 31:57.138 [SPEAKER_00]: They can't just be carried by a pastor or by a couple or even just by a staff. 31:57.178 --> 31:58.098 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm thankful for our staff. 31:58.338 --> 31:59.498 [SPEAKER_00]: We have an incredible staff. 31:59.518 --> 32:00.518 [SPEAKER_00]: We have a good-sized staff. 32:00.799 --> 32:01.839 [SPEAKER_00]: Our staff is amazing. 32:02.039 --> 32:05.359 [SPEAKER_00]: But everything that goes on in this church can't be carried by the staff. 32:07.300 --> 32:13.021 [SPEAKER_00]: One of our roles is to equip you to do what God has called you to do, to serve the body. 32:13.661 --> 32:17.562 [SPEAKER_00]: A body cannot function if most of the parts are asleep or missing. 32:18.812 --> 32:25.759 [SPEAKER_00]: If my whole arm depended on my left, I should not hold body depended on my left arm to do everything, I would be in trouble. 32:26.720 --> 32:27.601 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm left handed. 32:29.823 --> 32:31.225 [SPEAKER_00]: But my eye has a job. 32:32.346 --> 32:33.627 [SPEAKER_00]: My ear has a job. 32:34.708 --> 32:36.290 [SPEAKER_00]: My big toe has a job. 32:37.623 --> 32:46.890 [SPEAKER_00]: Every part has a job, has a role that it fulfills, and every single part matters. 32:48.011 --> 32:51.393 [SPEAKER_00]: Every member of this body matters. 32:52.074 --> 32:56.177 [SPEAKER_00]: Every place where someone serves matters. 32:57.358 --> 32:59.599 [SPEAKER_00]: You may not think it's a big deal. 32:59.679 --> 33:00.820 [SPEAKER_00]: People back work in nursery. 33:01.321 --> 33:03.142 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's a real big deal. 33:08.250 --> 33:12.893 [SPEAKER_00]: And if you want to see how big of a deal it is, we cannot have nursery once a day. 33:14.995 --> 33:16.996 [SPEAKER_00]: And we will all see what a big deal it is. 33:17.797 --> 33:21.780 [SPEAKER_00]: I think the people serving in kids ministry is a big deal. 33:22.620 --> 33:25.602 [SPEAKER_00]: You walk by, you may see some teenagers aren't there just playing around. 33:25.943 --> 33:30.946 [SPEAKER_00]: No, they're ministering to kids, you know how I know because I have two who are in there. 33:31.226 --> 33:33.488 [SPEAKER_00]: And one of the things that I do is a good parent, 33:36.104 --> 33:37.264 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just all in your grill this morning. 33:37.284 --> 33:37.764 [SPEAKER_00]: Is that all right? 33:38.245 --> 33:45.827 [SPEAKER_00]: What I do is a good parent is whenever we get in the car or whenever we get home, I go, hey, what did y'all learn and talk about in kids' shirts today? 33:46.107 --> 33:51.608 [SPEAKER_00]: And you know how I know they're learning because they can tell me, sometimes it's a little wonky. 33:55.149 --> 33:55.349 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 33:55.369 --> 33:57.830 [SPEAKER_00]: So, in terms of names, get a little sketch. 34:00.168 --> 34:02.849 [SPEAKER_00]: but they can tell me things about what they're learning. 34:03.149 --> 34:15.134 [SPEAKER_00]: So you may see teenagers that are not gonna bow around, but you know what I see, kids who are being trained and equipped, who aren't the church of tomorrow, I hate those phrases, they're the church of tomorrow. 34:15.174 --> 34:16.574 [SPEAKER_00]: No, they're the church right now. 34:17.855 --> 34:18.975 [SPEAKER_00]: They're part of the church. 34:19.476 --> 34:23.037 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, there's tomorrow's leaders, but they're part of the church today. 34:25.790 --> 34:26.730 [SPEAKER_00]: And what's going on matters? 34:27.171 --> 34:28.351 [SPEAKER_00]: Pastor Gill and Ruthie, they're not there. 34:28.831 --> 34:30.412 [SPEAKER_00]: They're being a thing being second service today. 34:30.592 --> 34:31.573 [SPEAKER_00]: They're normally hearing first service. 34:32.053 --> 34:34.914 [SPEAKER_00]: They did kids ministry for a long time in the early days of the church. 34:34.934 --> 34:35.255 [SPEAKER_00]: You know why? 34:35.575 --> 34:40.677 [SPEAKER_00]: Not because they were, they just felt this great call to kids ministry because the church was small and they were leaders. 34:40.697 --> 34:41.798 [SPEAKER_00]: Nobody else was willing to do it. 34:43.519 --> 34:44.239 [SPEAKER_00]: And it was needed. 34:44.879 --> 34:46.540 [SPEAKER_00]: They saw a need and they just did it. 34:48.121 --> 34:49.481 [SPEAKER_00]: Which is what leaders do anyway. 34:49.501 --> 34:50.542 [SPEAKER_00]: That's one of the conversations. 34:52.399 --> 35:03.624 [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, there are people in this room right now that are leading, that guilt in Ruthy poured into when other people weren't willing to. 35:05.525 --> 35:06.846 [SPEAKER_00]: And there are leaders today. 35:06.886 --> 35:12.908 [SPEAKER_00]: People like my sister, who's on the front row, people like my brother-in-law, who's married to my sister, that's how that works. 35:16.630 --> 35:20.852 [SPEAKER_00]: People like Pastor Castle, who leads worship and leads in this church, right? 35:21.545 --> 35:29.608 [SPEAKER_00]: They, he's not here, but people like my brother, who leaves in Crestfield, leaves the church there, and his wife, my sister-in-law, Chelsea, right? 35:29.888 --> 35:31.088 [SPEAKER_00]: And you know where it started? 35:31.248 --> 35:34.449 [SPEAKER_00]: It didn't start with baby sitting from Gill and Ruthie. 35:34.789 --> 35:40.231 [SPEAKER_00]: It started with them being willing to see a need and simply serve and show up and do it every single week. 35:40.531 --> 35:47.854 [SPEAKER_00]: Weekend, weekend, weekend, weekend, weekend, weekend, weekend, weekend, and Gil put a collander on his head and acted ridiculous. 35:48.834 --> 35:54.359 [SPEAKER_00]: and all kind of why I helped them up there a lot a lot of wild, crazy characters and stuff happened. 35:54.799 --> 35:55.400 [SPEAKER_00]: But you know what? 35:55.440 --> 35:56.321 [SPEAKER_00]: There's fruit now. 35:57.622 --> 35:59.223 [SPEAKER_00]: People I want to legacy serve. 36:00.865 --> 36:01.966 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to have an impact. 36:02.526 --> 36:03.307 [SPEAKER_00]: Change it diaper. 36:05.269 --> 36:05.589 [SPEAKER_00]: All right. 36:08.832 --> 36:09.232 [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all with me? 36:09.472 --> 36:10.113 [SPEAKER_00]: I've got a hurry. 36:12.589 --> 36:28.654 [SPEAKER_00]: goes on to say, according to the effective part, by which every part doesn't share, your part matters, your prayer matters, your encouragement matters, your giving matters, your faithfulness matters, your testimony matters, when every part doesn't share the body gets healthy, a lot of churches lose health because body, every member isn't doing it share. 36:29.734 --> 36:33.835 [SPEAKER_00]: They want to depend on a few gifted people, but they can do it better than me anyways. 36:34.636 --> 36:35.556 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, that's not necessarily true. 36:36.896 --> 36:38.477 [SPEAKER_00]: But even if they can, you're still called to serve. 36:40.057 --> 36:42.038 [SPEAKER_00]: When every part doesn't share the house gets stronger, 36:42.758 --> 36:43.378 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want you to hear me. 36:43.398 --> 37:11.337 [SPEAKER_00]: This is not about feeling volunteer slots, Pastor Castle didn't come to me go, hey, just look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and look and 37:12.073 --> 37:16.635 [SPEAKER_00]: But unless you're willing to carry weight, your voice will never carry weight, right? 37:17.035 --> 37:19.536 [SPEAKER_00]: Unless you're willing to carry weight, your voice will never carry weight. 37:20.236 --> 37:24.918 [SPEAKER_00]: You know the reason I listen to people to like Pastor Castle, you know why his voice resonates with me? 37:25.238 --> 37:27.919 [SPEAKER_00]: Because I've watched him carry weight for 20 years. 37:29.420 --> 37:34.261 [SPEAKER_00]: Because I've watched him whenever he, he just showed up and found stuff to do when he wasn't on staff. 37:35.262 --> 37:41.024 [SPEAKER_00]: You know why people like Pastor Paul, their voice carries weight, because for nearly 30 years, he's been carrying weight. 37:41.976 --> 37:44.737 [SPEAKER_00]: You know why I still listen to the 84-year-old man on the front row? 37:49.920 --> 37:50.780 [SPEAKER_00]: That said, that's not him. 37:51.340 --> 37:51.981 [SPEAKER_00]: He's not 84. 37:52.441 --> 37:53.041 [SPEAKER_00]: My grandfather. 37:53.621 --> 37:54.262 [SPEAKER_00]: You know why listen to him? 37:54.722 --> 37:55.902 [SPEAKER_00]: Because he's carried weight. 37:56.483 --> 37:57.623 [SPEAKER_00]: And he still does. 37:57.683 --> 37:59.584 [SPEAKER_00]: He still cooks for celebrate recovery. 38:00.724 --> 38:02.185 [SPEAKER_00]: That's carrying weight. 38:04.566 --> 38:05.747 [SPEAKER_00]: That's maturity. 38:06.367 --> 38:08.208 [SPEAKER_00]: That's every part doing a share come on with. 38:08.788 --> 38:10.549 [SPEAKER_00]: We're asking Jesus to build his church. 38:11.510 --> 38:15.172 [SPEAKER_00]: And if Jesus is building His church and we have to value what Jesus values. 38:16.113 --> 38:17.394 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus values humility. 38:18.795 --> 38:20.396 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus values unity. 38:21.336 --> 38:22.857 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus values maturity. 38:23.938 --> 38:25.299 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus values love. 38:26.339 --> 38:28.521 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus values every part doing it's share. 38:29.501 --> 38:34.104 [SPEAKER_00]: We can't remove the walls that Jesus installed and then ask why the house is unstable. 38:35.685 --> 38:39.087 [SPEAKER_00]: And some of us in our own lives, we need to let the Holy Spirit repair 38:42.321 --> 38:46.903 [SPEAKER_00]: We need to let him repair the things that we've tried to move that we're never called to be moved. 38:48.263 --> 38:51.384 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe your humility's been weakened and pride seemed in a little bit. 38:52.805 --> 38:57.846 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe Unity's been cracked, and you've went to your preference over the unity of the Spirit. 38:59.147 --> 39:01.628 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe your maturity has been delayed or stifled. 39:03.568 --> 39:05.089 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe your love is grown cold. 39:07.530 --> 39:10.991 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you've withheld forgiveness that God's called you to extend to other people. 39:12.902 --> 39:17.764 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe service has become optional in your life and you just don't think you need to do anything just about what you can receive. 39:18.704 --> 39:20.885 [SPEAKER_00]: Today is not about shame. 39:21.486 --> 39:23.406 [SPEAKER_00]: Today is about repair. 39:24.327 --> 39:26.588 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, dear me, God's not trying to condemn this house. 39:26.788 --> 39:27.208 [SPEAKER_00]: Or you. 39:28.208 --> 39:29.649 [SPEAKER_00]: He's trying to strengthen the house. 39:30.029 --> 39:30.930 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, it's you, Sam, to your feet. 39:32.290 --> 39:33.791 [SPEAKER_00]: If you say this morning, you know what? 39:34.848 --> 39:35.989 [SPEAKER_00]: I've got some areas in me. 39:36.049 --> 39:36.610 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not perfect. 39:36.810 --> 39:46.119 [SPEAKER_00]: And there's some things this morning whenever you were speaking and whenever you were teaching pastor, there's some areas in my life that the Holy Spirit is putting his finger in saying, you need to repair the wall. 39:46.139 --> 39:48.341 [SPEAKER_00]: You need to allow me to come in and do this. 39:48.682 --> 39:51.084 [SPEAKER_00]: If that's you, I want you to lift your hands where you are. 39:51.104 --> 39:53.066 [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks again for downloading this podcast. 39:53.146 --> 39:56.970 [SPEAKER_00]: We trust that this message has blessed encouraged and identified you. 39:57.404 --> 40:01.107 [SPEAKER_00]: Make sure you subscribe so you never miss a message here for a high praise. 40:01.587 --> 40:09.554 [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. 40:10.154 --> 40:12.416 [SPEAKER_00]: We'll be back soon with another incredible message. 40:12.536 --> 40:14.378 [SPEAKER_00]: God bless you and have a great week.