← ArchiveSunday, January 13, 2019DateJanuary 13, 2019Speaker—TextEphesians 4Passages in this sermonEphesians 41:25Ephesians 4:114:502 Corinthians 5:1714:05Psalms 13329:32Matthew 532:45John 1041:04TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00.0:30I really like that music. That's great intro music. Just listen to the words of this song. Glory, glory, we have no other king but Jesus Lord of all. It's great to see you. My name is Josh Burnham. If you don't know who I am, lead pastor here at Bethel, and we're so glad that you've joined us to worship. We live in a time and a world where you can stay home in your pajamas and watch me. Some of you are, so hello to you.0:59We could do anything. Yet to choose to come and to gather around the people of God who want to learn from the Word of God, who want to hear from our God says something. So praise be the glory of our Savior today. If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, take your phones out, take your Bible out, and turn to Ephesians chapter 4. And we're continuing really a two-part series on what we call misdirection.1:28And that's a really long word to say. Here's direction. We want you to have vision and to do what God wants you to do and how God wants you to do and where our church is going. And so I'm not going to give you a long list of things that we have done and things that we're going to do and stats. I'm just going to say, look, this is what God wants you to do. Let's go to work. I grew up in Mississippi, just a simple boy. This is what the Lord wants us to do.1:56Do it. And so that's just how I think. And so if you think deeper than that, God bless you, but I can't. So in 2017, a 67-year-old woman scheduled for routine cataract surgery thought it was dry eye that was causing her discomfort. And what they found that in her left eye that she had 27 contact lenses that were causing a blue mass.2:18And I'm wearing my contacts today and I'll tell you my story shortly. The eye doctor said the woman had not complained about any visual trouble before the operation. But when the anesthetist at the hospital started to numb her eye for the cataract surgery, he found the first cluster of contacts.2:46And the woman had been wearing monthly disposable lenses like I do for 35 years. But it's unclear how she had put all 27 lenses in her eye or for how long that they were doing. So the doctor had to slowly, one by one, remove them from her eye. 27 lenses. There was a time last year that I put in my contacts and my one eye was blurry. I couldn't figure out what it was.3:15And so I, you know, if you've ever worked on it, you take your contacts out and I put them back in and they were still blurry. Well, found out that one of the contact lenses had merged together with the other one that I had left on my cleaning utensil, whatever it's called. 27. And I think here's the caution for us. If we're not careful as people of God, we hear these sermons where we just want to add, add, add, add. And if we're not careful, we lose our vision for who Jesus is. We add all these programs to our lives and all these Bible studies and all these things that we call church things.3:44And our vision's blurry. And we go to God and we say, God, I can't see. There's a blue mask in my eyes. And he says, well, you, you don't have the right vision. We've lost our, our, our vision on who Christ is and what he wants for us. And so just this morning, very simply, God gives us clear sight.4:09And I want us to have a simple faith where we say, Jesus came, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, that we who believe in him might have forgiveness of our sins, be made righteous. And now we are called to live out our faith. And so today is how are we going to live out our faith as a people of God this year? With that, let's read the word of God.4:37Ephesians chapter four, beginning in verse 11. Ephesians 4:11. Ephesians in the New Testament, about halfway through written by the apostle Paul. And he says this, Jesus, God himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, equipping the saints for the work of the ministry to build up the body of Christ until we all.5:06I'm reading from the CSB. So we all reach unity. So who in here is not covered by that? If you're not part of the we all, stand up. No, just kidding. Everyone, right?5:34Everyone, right? We all reach unity of the faith in verse 13, in the knowledge of God's Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ's fullness. Then we will no longer be little children tossed by the waves and blown away by every wind of teaching by human cunning with cleverness and the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ.6:01From him, the whole body fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament promotes the growth of the body for the building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part. So may we not add, add, add, add into our life this morning. May God just give us a clear vision for who Jesus is.6:30And may we do the work that he desires us to do. Let's pray. Father, we cannot understand your word apart from your spirit. So, Lord, illuminate our minds and our hearts. We know that your word is living and active. This is not any book. It's your word. It is inspired. And Father, may we treat it as such. And as we listen to your word, Father, it's already stirred my heart.6:56And I pray that we would not be hearers only, but that we would do something because you did something when we were in our greatest need. You sent a savior to rescue us. And Lord, may we go and do likewise. I pray this in the only name that we can, our only intermediary, Jesus Christ. Amen. So I have three points this morning. Simply belong.7:25Simply belong. You're going to hear this a lot this year. We want you to belong. We want you to grow. We want you to go. Belong, grow, and go. So our mission as a church, and if you've been here longer than a week, you should have known this. Our mission is to share the whole gospel with the whole person, with the whole world. And this is what we mean when we say that. And it's not something that we just chant like robots. It's something that we believe. I believe that the entire word of God is inspired.7:52Everything. And I believe that the whole counsel of God is good for our souls. I'm not willing to, we're not going to rip out a book of the Bible and say, yeah, that was a long time ago. And we just don't really understand it. So it's not good for us. That is foolishness. That we believe that the whole gospel, the whole word of God is for all of us.8:20And so that gets to the second point. We're going to bring the whole gospel to the whole person. Listen, there's nothing in your life that Jesus cannot redeem. Alcoholism, he'll break it. He'll free you. Murderer, God's used them before. And he's changed your identity. Adulterers, we see God changing them in the scriptures. And the list can go on. There's nothing in your life.8:49And this gives me such hope. There's nothing in my life that is not radically redeemed by the blood of the lamb. Nothing. There's nothing that you can do that God says, man, you're a rough one. That's not what, that's not what God does. He knows us. He knows how depraved we are, how sinful we are. How sinful we are. So we truly believe that the whole gospel changes the whole person. And when that happens, we now have a mandate to go to the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world.9:18And we're praying for the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world. And we're praying for the whole world. And so when we pray for other nations. We're praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Who might one day be worshiping around the throne of God. Other languages.9:46Other languages. Can't speak them. But they're going to be around the throne of God. And so that's our mandate. Is to go. To go share the glory of Christ. To go share the good news to every person. And we'll talk about what that looks like individually shortly. But now really the vision part is how do we go. So some of you are like yes. Whole gospel. Whole person. Whole world. Now what? Now what? How do we go?10:14And that's where the vision comes in. How do we actually accomplish that? And very simply what God's word says. Belong in Christ. Grow in Christ. And then go in Christ. And so let's look. This three mandates for us. Before we do. I need to offer an apology. I want you to hear me very clearly. Because I'm apologizing for myself. I'm apologizing for pastors. And I'm apologizing for church and world life in general. Yeah.10:43Yeah. I believe as a pastor in the tradition of the religious faith. We have unintentionally perpetuated an unbiblical view of pastors. Of laity. And here's what I mean by that. Pastors and elders. Often, sometimes you see pastors as professionals. And when that happens, then you see yourselves as not professionals. And if we're not careful, then if that divide grows, then what church becomes is almost this country club mentality.11:11And I'm not saying it happens intentionally. It could happen unintentionally. But here's what happens, right? You join the church. We ask you to give. And so you pay your dues. And then I just meet your needs. Or, because I'm the professional, you come here and you pay your dues.11:36And then I work on your behalf. And I evangelize on your behalf. And I do these things on your behalf. That's not the biblical view of how the body of Christ works. And so if you think my job is to meet your needs, I'm sorry. One, I can't do that. And two, that's not my job. So if I've given you the impression that my job as a pastor is to just to meet your needs as you think they should be met, when they should be met.12:04That's not my job description by the Lord. So I'm sorry you feel that way. Because I'm going to let you down. But I would rather honor Christ and let you down than honor you and let God down. And so he said, well, pastor, that's the horrible news. But if we're not careful, that's what we think. And there's this laity-clergy divide.12:31And I just want to say this. I love you enough. And I love God enough that I care more than your tangible, temporary needs. And don't get me wrong. When you're in need, I'm going to be there. I mean, I'll be at these funerals. And when your grandchildren and children are born, I want to be there and pray over that child because I want to show you the love of God because he loves me. But that's not my job. I do that because I care.12:59My job is to, as we see in the Word of God shortly, to equip, to pray. And so with that, I think there's a graphic behind us. You know, what does God want us all to become? So we're going to put that discipleship pathway there eventually for you guys. How can we really change the world for Jesus Christ? And how can I do what I'm supposed to do and you do what you're supposed to do? And God looked down and be pleased. I said, man, they get it.13:28So let's look at the Word of God again. So he himself gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers in verse 11. So I'm in that group, right? Pastor, teacher. And so God's speaking to me. So he gave some of us, some of us are called specifically by God to do these things. So now what does that look like? Verse 12, for equipping the saints for the work of the ministry.13:53So let's start there. How do you live out what Christ wants you to live out this year? First, you need to belong. 2 Corinthians 5:17. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away and behold, the new has come. So what does that mean in Scripture? Over and over and over again, the greatest descriptor for the people of God is that it is in Christ.14:20It's not Christian. It's not born again. It's not evangelical. It's not Democrat. It's not Republican. It's not whatever you label yourself. over and over and over and over again in the word of God. The people of God are called this, in Christ. So we cannot invite anyone to church because only Jesus can do that.14:48You are either in Christ, in the church, or you are not. And so this is what we need to understand. We can go to a worship service and be in a church building and not be in the church. And the reality is that might be you this morning. Some of you might be here and you're in a worship gathering and you think that you're in the church. You're not. You are seeing the church gather to glorify Christ,15:18but you are not in the church. But here's the good news. You can be. Jesus wants to, he wants you to know him. That's why he died. He died that you might be in Christ. And if you are, you have a new identity and you have a new name. This is how you belong. Some of you, I'm going to freak out, but that's okay. You need it. It's a new year. If you are in Christ, very clearly you have a new identity and a new label.15:46And it's right here in verse 12. My job is to equip the saints. If you are in Christ, that's you. If you're in Christ, you're a saint. And I know some of you are thinking, hey, you have your St. Clair High School school system. Some of you might be thinking of the New Orleans saints. Who dat? Right? We play tonight at three o'clock. Some of you might be thinking of the guys with the funny shaped head and the rim of hair around them.16:15Some of you are thinking of the old ancient paintings with the halos. And you think, well, I'm not that person, am I? No, you are. The word saint is simply the word agios or hagios, which just means the holy ones. If you are in Christ, you are the holy one because God has already made you holy. Because if he has it, you cannot be in the presence of God.16:44So that is your identity. That is belonging in Jesus Christ. And the word was used for the temple. The word we use for the tabernacle is the place where God dwelled. And what Paul is saying, look, if you are in Christ, God dwells in you. Wake up. That is your identity. And for me to live out what Christ wants me to do, we need to belong in Christ. And we need to understand that.17:14And listen, Satan, if you can hear us, I don't know if he can. Or if he has a demon listening. You cannot take us away from the grip of the Savior. You can't. I don't know where you are. You thought you could when you killed the Messiah. And three days later, he rose again and said, death, where is your sting? Hell, where is your victory? That is belonging in Jesus Christ.17:42So what does it mean to belong? And if you have grown up in church, listen, you need to understand that you belong in Christ. Radically and fundamentally. One Yale student said it this way. It breaks my heart just to read this. One young Yale student said, I don't know the word for the opposite of loneliness, but that is what I want. She said, I don't know the word for the opposite of loneliness, but that is what I want.18:10I don't know sign language, but I cheated. The sign language for belonging is this. It's like rungs on a chain or it's putting your hand in this motion and bringing it to your chest. I'm going to say, man, whatever that is, it is mine and I am its. Do you know that you belong in Christ this morning? That is only a question that you can answer. Do you belong to Christ?18:40If you have confessed Christ as Lord and if you are living that out, you do. You are a saint. Wake up. This is your identity. And what if we live? Think about this. What if we lived as people who we knew we belonged to Jesus? How differently would your life look? If we woke up every day of 2019 and said, and we looked in the mirror and we said, I have confessed. I believe in my heart.19:09I've confessed Jesus as Lord and I am his and he is mine. How differently would our days look knowing that that is the belonging that we need? You don't need to go to church for your salvation. Listen to what I'm saying, right? You need to belong in Christ for your redemption. That is what we need. We need the belonging in Jesus Christ. And so what does that look like for you? What if we committed not to be part of the crowd? Not just an attender, but to belong.19:39Some of you might be on the fringes this morning. And some of you say, well, I want to belong here. I want to belong. I'm in Christ, but I want to belong to this particular body of Christ. Our next membership covenant class, we call it our next steps class, is next week, January 20th, right before service at 9 o'clock or right after the service at 1130-ish. If that's you, if you want to become a part of this, we encourage you.20:06Listen, here's what we've seen God do in this small group in the last three years. There have been people that have put their trust in Jesus Christ. There have been people that realize I've never been baptized and followed in obedience. There have been people that are in their 60s, 70s, and 80s that have never shared their testimony about what Jesus has done. And for the first time, they have shared that they belong in Christ and they want others to do that. And so if that's you, join us next week.20:34Bring a friend. If you know someone that might be needing to hear about the good news, bring them with you. Bring them to that class. We're going to provide lunch and share with them what Jesus has done in you. But can we commit to be people this year that we don't just do church, we belong? That's what God wants for us. Belong in Jesus Christ. Secondly, how can we accomplish this vision? Grow. Grow.21:05Grow. Look at what the Word of God says. Equipping y'all, the saints, for the work of the ministry to build up the body of Christ. And so if you are in Christ, who does the work of the ministry? We do. Right? I'm in that. I don't say y'all work. I watch. No, we. We work together. And so how do we grow? We've already looked at it, but look at what the Word of God says. Equipping the saints for the work of the ministry to build up the body of Christ.21:34Verse 13, until who reaches unity? There is not a single person here that God does not want to grow in their faith. So if you're not growing right now, it's not because God doesn't want you to. He wants us all to grow and to reach unity in that. Listen to the words that he uses right here. Verse 12, equip the saints. That includes people who go to Moody, right?22:04I know y'all are blue devils, but you're included in that. The saints for the work of the ministry to build up the body of Christ. Verse 13, until we reach unity and the knowledge of God growing into maturity with a statue measured by who? Christ's fullness. I don't know how large the measuring stick that Jesus has for you and for me, but I can only imagine that God wants you to grow.22:28Verse 16, the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for the building up itself in love by proper teaching of each individual part. Did you hear that? God wants you to grow. He wants you to be equipped.22:58He wants you to be knit together. He wants you to mature in your faith into the measure that Jesus has for you. So are you growing? Are you growing? Right? I mean, that's what God wants for us. There's never a point in my life where God says, okay, you can coast now. You're done. You've reached the fullness of what Jesus wants and who Jesus is. Are you growing? I think of it like this. I will never grow up until my roots of faith grow deep.23:27Because if your roots in Jesus are not deep and the storms of life, that's what he says, right? The storms of life, the deceit of men, the things that you might find appealing, they're going to blow you this way and that way. Are you growing? So how do you do that? First, God wants to equip you. In verse 12, equip you. What does equipping mean? This word in the Greek is used several ways.23:56It's the word that means that a bone was broken and it resets. This kind of gives me the shakes. I've had at least two of those in my life reset. And praise God for people who do that. It resets that which was broken. It's the same word that they would use to say that fishing nets who had a hole in them, they were unuseful. So they would knit together and equip the fishing net again so that they could actually use it for fishing. And it's the same word that they would use to refit ships that had lost their sails, which were of no use in the ocean if they didn't have the proper tackle, the proper sailing equipment.24:25And it's also the same word, and I love this, right? It's the same word they would use for chickens who had grown large enough to be taken to market. I don't know which category you fit into, a bone, a ship, or a chicken. But God wants us to grow, plump up, right? He wants us to feast on what he has for him.24:54And so just very simply, all these words say this. Are you being useful? Are you useful for the kingdom? We can do a lot of things in our lives. And I want to be useful for God. I want to be used by God. I want God to, I want to see where God is working and join him in that work. I don't know about you, but I want to grow. I want to be equipped. And this is not equipping to say, look at me. It is equipping to say, Lord, I want to be useful for the kingdom.25:24And man, what a sad day it would be if I stand before the Lord and he says, Josh, I equipped you and you were not useful. You were a beautiful ship, but you were, you just want to stay in the safety of the harbor. And I couldn't, and I didn't use you because you were unwilling to have the faith to trust me. Are you being equipped? Why do we have life groups? And you should be in a life group because that's where we, I grow tremendously in a life group, small groups of people.25:51But why were you equipped, some of you this morning in life group, you might call it Sunday school, not to plump up like a chicken to go to market, but to be useful for God. Say, God, use us, change the world. You've changed me, now change others by me. Lord, I want all nations to be before your throne and I want to be a part of that. Are you useful and where are you serving? Where are you serving in the kingdom? At the end of the service, I think you might have actually been handed that.26:21We gave you a list of places that you could serve in the church. And that's not an exhaustive list, but we want you to serve one place. Look, worship once a week, get in one life group and serve once a week and God will tremendously use you. I guarantee you. And we can all be used for the glory of Christ. Secondly, not only equipped for the purpose of being used, and let me say this, youth, those of you who are not asleep right now, you're not too young for God to use you.26:51You're not too young. And if anyone comes to you and says you are too young, you can't do that, please let me know. I would love to have that discussion. Because God used all sorts of people. And I just want you to know there's a place for you to serve here. Don't wait to serve God. If he has redeemed you, he has given you the Holy Spirit, and you are fully righteous, you are a saint, be used for the glory of Christ.27:14So with that, secondly, God wants to build us up. So God uses, he mixes these metaphors, right? Building up of the body. So we are one body, but he wants us to be built up. So who better to use these words than God inspiring them, in verse 12, than the master carpenter. Jesus was a carpenter because he was trained by a carpenter.27:43Can you imagine having a house, an earthly house built by Jesus and Joseph? How awesome. Can you imagine the resale value on that thing? Like calling your real estate agent up and saying, hey, I had an architect design this, but a guy named Jesus built it. And Joseph helped. But Jesus is mixing these building metaphors, right? Building up the body of Christ. And so who have you built up today? I had one of our dear friend in Christ grab me today, and we were just talking about some things.28:12And he said, hey, can I pray for you? He's like, you're always praying for me. That's what he's saying to me. He said, can I pray for you? It's just a time where I was built up in Christ. Because someone took the time to say, I'm going to be the Haggias. I'm going to be the saint. I'm going to build up the body of Christ. And you know who you are? What a great time. Thank you for that. Who have you built up today? And so that's weird, Pastor.28:42I can't just stop and pray. Why not? Why not? The same Holy Spirit that lived in Christ and lives in everyone who believes is the same Holy Spirit that lives in you if you are in Christ. Who cares if it's weird? The world's going to tell us, don't do these things because we don't understand it. And Jesus is going to say, get to work. Who have you built up in Christ? The thinking of we, not me. Be built up. Be equipped.29:12Be equipped. Reach unity in verse 13. You know, the Lord wants us to be unified. When you grow, we grow. And when I grow, you grow. So are we growing towards unity? You think about the words that come throughout Scripture. Psalm 133. How beautiful, how pleasant it is when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity. It's like the dew of Hermon.29:42And it's like the oil that's dripping down the beard of Aaron. This beautiful picture of God anointing by His Spirit the priest. Think about one of the last prayers that Jesus prays for His disciples, for the church before He dies on the cross. He's in the garden. Some of you have been there in Israel with me in that garden. And Jesus prays, Lord, glorify me as I will glorify you. And then may they be one as God, you and I are one. God wants us to be unified.30:10And as we grow in maturity of the faith, as we grow individually, we grow together. And let me just say this, you cannot grow only by yourself. If Jesus thought it was important to have 12 men with Him, how much more important is it for us to have others around us? You're not Jesus. I don't know if there's anyone told you that lately. You are not Jesus. And how much more important is it for us to have people around that can love us and pray30:40for us and encourage us and say, look, I'm growing here. Let's grow together. Are you growing in unity? Why? I said, why does this even matter? Look at verse 13. Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God's Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ's fullness.31:07That word, until you reach, really means this. Better translated, until you reach your destination. We are all going where God wants us to go. And until you reach your destination, are you growing? Are you equipping? Are you unifying? That is what God wants us to do. And that's why life groups are so crucial to your faith. You can't do it alone.31:37And there have been times where our life group has loved us and cared for us. So I can't encourage you enough. Find a place. Find a life group. And you say, well, there's nothing that I feel comfortable in. Well, let's start a new one. Maybe that's God raising you up to be a leader. But we grow and we serve in these groups. Are you growing? God wants you to grow. Third part of the vision. Everyone belonging. Everyone growing. Here's where it gets real.32:07Everyone going. Very simple. Just go. Kind of like we tell our kids when they drive us crazy. I don't care where you go. Just go. Outside, upstairs, go. Here's the keys of the car. You're six. Just go. I'm about to go crazy. Maybe that's just our house. But some of you understand how that feels. And I think that's our dilemma. We say, well, God, where do you want me to go? And this and this. And Lord, how about here? How about there? And God just says, go. How difficult is it?32:38Just go for the glory of Christ. Why are we equipped? We're equipped to go. And when we take ownership, we see what Matthew 5, 16 says. In each of our lives. That we would, in the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and what? Glorify your Father in heaven. So that we go. We are equipped not to sit here in our holy huddles and tap each other on the back and say, man, what a great service. Good sermon. Man, I can't wait to get back next week.33:07No, we do this to say, let's go do something great for the kingdom this week. And it's not us really doing it. We're just going because God has mandated that in our life. And God, Jesus did not give us a great suggestion. He didn't say, if you get around to it. Right, Noah? If you get around to it. If you have time, it would be really nice if you would go. You don't have to, but when you reach saint status, then you can go.33:34That's not what Jesus says. He says, go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And then he says, and lo, I will be with you. Jesus is with us. Are you going? Will you commit to serve within the body of Christ this year? Will you commit to serve in the body?34:02That's what Jesus wants you to do. He wants you to be equipped to serve, to go. If you are not serving somewhere, you have a gift that this body is missing out on. You, each of us who are in Christ have a gift. Are you serving in that capacity? He says, well, I don't know, Pastor. Go. Try something and watch the Holy Spirit work. He'll lead you to where he wants you to serve. It's not a question of if, it's a question of where.34:30Maybe you're a greeter and you're shaking hands. And you will never know, and I will never know what someone's going through. And maybe you opening the door. And maybe for the first time you shaking their hand and encouraging them broke down a wall that for the first time someone got to hear the word of God and that Jesus loves them. And maybe someone comes to faith in Jesus right now because of your handshake. Maybe you serve with the little bitties in the nursery and you change diapers and you rock those babies.35:00And who knows? Maybe when this child is 12 or 18 or 30 and you're in heaven, God's going to look at you and say, all those prayers when you were rocking that child. I heard, I heard, and this child came to faith because you served, because you went. Where are you going?35:26What would the world look like if we committed, if you committed, if I committed to have one gospel conversation a month? One. 12 per year. You know that most people never share their faith in their lifetime? What would it look like if you committed to say, God, every day I'm going to pray, give me an opportunity. And Lord, let me have the wisdom to see the opportunity and the grace to share the hope that is within me. And here is the dilemma that we have.35:56And here is the relief I'm going to give you. You do not save and you cannot save anyone. So if you are paralyzed, that you don't know every word in the Bible, if you don't have this evangelism plan memorized, look, even if you have the eloquence of Billy Graham, you cannot save anyone by your words. Jesus does that. And so may we, with humble heart, say, God, give us a passion for those who are far from Christ.36:24And, Lord, let me be ready, in season and out of season, to share the hope that is within you. If the grace of God has come to you, it has come to you because it's going to someone else. May you commit, just, would you, in our time of response shortly, would you just pray and say, God, I'm committing today to share my faith once a month, 10 times, 12 times this year.36:49Lord, if you give me more chances, but let me be praying for everyone I see that their heart would change and they would come to faith in Jesus Christ. So where do we go from here? So let me start with our people who know Christ and I'll end with people who do not know Christ. Just from my heart, don't be content to be a spectator. Don't be content to be a spectator.37:20I'm not that great of a preacher for you just to watch me for the rest of your life. I'm not. There's no pastor that way. And that's not what God wants for your life. So don't be content just to be on the periphery. Belong. If you belong in Christ, you belong into the church of Christ and you belong to serve and to go. And maybe if you are not belonging right now, maybe this is the opportunity you need to say,37:49God, I've been on the periphery, on the shadows for too long and I need to get where you want me to be. Do not settle for spectating. Belong in Christ. Secondly, would you commit this year to grow? Would you commit to grow? If you've been a Christ follower for 50 years, would you commit to grow?38:16If you've been a Christ follower for five days, would you commit to grow in your faith? And not a grow to say, man, look at this oak tree. I want others to see the oak tree and look at me. But it's a commitment to say, God, I want to be useful. God, put my broken limbs back together, Lord. Put the sails back on this ship. Lord, mend the net. Let's go fishing. Will you commit to do that today? Say, okay, I'm in. I'm going to grow in my faith.38:45If I'm not in a life group, I'm going to get in a life group. Or maybe you want to be a part of the discipleship groups. I have a group of men for the last year and a half that I have poured my life into and they poured their life into me. And maybe that's what you need. Every week we get together and we pray and we read the Word of God and we look at each other and we ask and answer difficult questions. Will you commit to grow, grow, grow? And lastly, will you commit to go? Will you commit and say, God, I don't know where, I don't know how, I don't know when, but it starts today.39:13I am going to go. And if you need help with any of this, I encourage you to fill out that Connect card shortly and we'll put it in the offering plate as we leave. Maybe you want to join a group. Maybe you want to join the church. Maybe you have put your faith in Christ. Whatever growth looks like in your life, you know God wants you to grow. That's what we see. So grow. I grew up in Mississippi. God wants us to grow. Grow. God wants us to go. Go. That's what I love about pastoring and living in Alabama.39:42We're just simple people. Right? If God says, go, we go. God says, grow. If God says, grow, we go. If God says, you belong in me, I'm like, okay, I'm in. Will you commit to have a new vision of Christ this year? Some of you might have 27 contacts in your eyes. And maybe you need to remove some of those things. You're doing too much. You keep adding and adding and adding. And really what it's done is clouded your vision for Christ.40:12And you need this morning to get back to a simple message that God loves you through Jesus Christ. Because if we're not careful as church people, we know that Jesus died to save us. And it's by grace alone. It's nothing that we've done. But we like to still try to work and do it. And that's our natural tendency if you are religious. Just know that. Know that's your bias. And maybe you need to pray right now. Say, God, I've been trying to work for the things that I can't work for.40:40Lord, take the contacts out. I want to see you again like I've never seen you before. And lastly, maybe you're here and you're hung up on that first part. You know that the pastor, I'm here to equip the saints for the ministry. And you checked out because you realize you're not holy. That you don't belong in Christ. Listen to the words of Jesus in John 10. Jesus says, I did tell you about myself and you don't believe.41:08Jesus answered. The works that I do in my Father's name testify about me. But you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. The greatest indicator in your life that you have followed Jesus Christ is that right now you are following Jesus Christ. The greatest indicator of a saving grace in my life is a sustaining grace in my life.41:37Maybe for the first time you have pulled back the veil. Guys, pull back the veil of your eyes and you realize you don't belong in Jesus Christ. Here's the good news that if you would believe in your heart for the first time, confess that Jesus is boss of your life. That's what Lord means. God, I have fully surrendered my life to you. So there's no such thing as a Christian who hasn't surrendered to Jesus. Those are the same thing.42:08It's not like I'm a little Christian and then one day I'll surrender. When I trust in Jesus, I say, God, my life is a blank check and it is yours to cash. Maybe for the first time you need to put your hope and trust in Jesus. If you do not know the voice of the Lord, you can today. By seeing your sins, by seeing the one who forgives you and saying, Lord, today I am yours and you are mine.42:31I want to belong to you. I don't know how the word of the Lord has stirred you. I know how it stirred me and how I need to respond. We're going to have a song of response. You're welcome to come up here and pray. You can pray prayers of mourning and repentance and these can be prayers of celebration. I don't care if you stand here with your hands up and say, God, I belong to you and I want the world to know. But respond to Jesus in the way that he wants you to respond.43:02Let's pray.More sermons on Ephesians →
