All right, so on this fall kickoff Sunday, we're
going to do a couple things. First of all, we're
going to see how the scriptures instruct us to
live life together in the body, every single
one of us. Not leaders, not staff, not deacons,
not all of us. What are we called? How are we
called to live life in the body? And then hopefully,
by the end, with a healthy conviction, we're
going to give you some practical ways that you
can respond well. to what you heard in God's
Word this morning. And I'll tell you how that's
going to happen at the end of the service. For
now, grab your Bibles, and we're going this morning
to the book of Romans. Romans chapter 12. There
it is, Romans chapter 12. And as you're turning
there, your first thought when you hear Romans
12 is you might think, ah, I know exactly what
passage he's going to. But you'd be wrong. Romans
12, 1 and 2, one of the most famous passages,
most beloved passages in the New Testament. We
will read it. It is beautiful. It is challenging.
But our focus today is actually on the 11 verses
that come after it, verses which are much less
well -known. So let's read these verses, starting
in verse 1. Let's go back up. We're going to
make sure we read in context. Verse 1, this is
a familiar passage. Paul says, I urge you, brethren,
by the mercies of God, to present your bodies
a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual service of what? Worship.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind so that
you may prove or discern what the will of God
is, that which is good and acceptable. So although
these verses aren't the focus of our time this
morning, I do want you to see that before Paul
gets to the issue of congregational life, he
starts here with an exhortation about personal
worship and personal transformation. He says,
look, in view of the mercy that you have received
from God in Christ, give yourself back to him.
Give yourself back to him as a living and holy
sacrifice. Present your entire life. You picture
that, the idea of presenting something on the
altar before God. Present your entire life before
God, your body, your soul, your mind, what you
love, what you desire, what you seek. Lay it
all before him on the throne of grace as an offering.
What a beautiful picture, right, that he's giving
us here. And then rather than letting the world
and this wild culture out there shape your thinking,
instead let the Holy Spirit transform and renew
your heart and mind from within. And in doing
so, you'll begin to more easily and quickly discern
what the will of God is. That's a great promise,
isn't it? You'll find yourself aligned less and
less with the world and the culture and more
aligned with the way God sees the world. This
is a great promise that we have from the Lord.
If you'll present yourself, if you'll only present
yourself to him each and every day, watch to
see how his spirit will change you from the inside
out. We just need to be faithful to that command,
right? Present yourself. Now, those two verses
are foundational to your Christian walk, but...
They're not the sum total of what God desires
for you. Yes, the ultimate goal of our lives
is to glorify God in all things, but the practical
goal of your personal worship is then applying
your transformed life in service to others. That's
the practical outcome. There's the personal growth,
but then there's the practical outflow in the
lives of others. That's what the next 11 verses
are about. So as we read verses 3 to 13, by the
way, if you've been a member here at Oak Hill
for any period of time, you're going to recognize
some of the language here, some of the phrases,
because we talk about it all the time. But here's
the thing, guys. I put those things on the screen
earlier. We talk about these things all the time.
It's one thing to hear it from a church leader.
It's a whole other stronger thing to hear it
from God himself in the pages of Scripture. Amen?
So let's hear the voice of God as he speaks through
Paul. telling us how we should be functioning
as members of his body. Verse 3. For through
the grace given to me, I say to everyone among
you. How many people? Everyone. Every person
in the body in the church of Rome. To everyone
among you, not to think more highly of himself
than he ought to think, but to think so as to
have sound judgment. as God has allowed it to
each a measure of faith. For just as we have
many members in one body, and all the members
do not have the same function, so we who are
many are one body in Christ and individually
members of one another. Since we have gifts that
differ according to the grace given to us, each
of us is to exercise them accordingly. If prophecy,
according to the proportion of his faith. If
service, in his serving. Or he who teaches in
his teaching. Or he who exhorts in his exhortation.
He who gives with liberality or generosity. He
who leads with diligence. He who shows mercy
with cheerfulness. Verse 9. Not lagging behind
in diligence. Now, that's a mouthful, isn't it?
Did you catch there how deep Paul says our connection
is to one another? Look at the extensive nature
of that list of responsibilities that we have
in relation to each other. In the body of Christ.
Here's the sad thing, you guys. And I'm going
to step on a soapbox for just a moment. In so
many corners of the American church today, we
have taught churchgoers that these things that
we just read are sort of optional for the average
believer. They're just optional. What we've done
is this. We've made life in the church as comfortable
and convenient as possible in order to get people
into the door on Sundays. So we've built huge
buildings that resemble malls. And we put luxury
auditoriums inside those buildings that make
you feel like you're in a theater. And we've
created a loungy vibe as if you're now in a Starbucks.
And then we've added big lights and a big show
so that you feel like you're having this concert
-like experience. It's American consumerism.
And here's the thing, no participation required.
What we do, all the critical commands and responsibilities
of the body, the things we just read about, they
get outsourced to paid clergy. and to expansive
staffs and an elite group of ministry directors
who do all the work in the church and keep all
the plates spinning at one time. The average
churchgoer looks at that, is overwhelmed by it,
and is simply told, don't worry about it, just
keep coming back for the experience, stay excited
about everything, and just make sure you bring
your tithes and offerings so we can keep these
programs going. And this way we give them permission
to check the box, to say, yeah, I'm part of a
church. I go to that building. I see it and hear
it all. And by doing that, we haven't adequately
explained how every member is supposed to function
within the life of the body. We've done a poor
job of teaching churchgoers in America what the
church is supposed to look like. I'm telling
you, if Christ doesn't return in the near future,
historians are going to look back on this era
of church history and they're going to write
books about it and it's not going to be flattering.
It really isn't. I remember a story I heard years
ago. I read it on some Christian blog. And this
guy was talking about how there was this church
that grew really quickly. In about a six -month
period, they added about 100 new people to their
church. And this pastor came to this guy who
wrote the article and he said, so I'm thinking
I need to add like two staff members to handle
all of this new work coming our way with these
new people. And the response was, why would you
do that? You just got 100 people. Why would you
add staff? You got 100 people that can minister.
Total paradigm change. Don't go out and just
hire people to do the ministry for these people.
Equip those people. They probably have all kinds
of amazing gifts that God has given them for
your body. And you thought about hiring outside
staff rather than just saying, why don't we equip
these people who are gifted by the Holy Spirit
and let them minister to each other? It's a totally
different way of looking at church life. Every
member is to minister within the body. Now, I
know you know some of this because you're not
here for the consumerism. Otherwise, you probably
wouldn't be at Oak Hill in a... Elementary school
NPR, right? So I get it. I'm sort of preaching
to the choir. But still, it's good and profitable
for us to keep walking through these principles
in this passage so that we can fully understand
what is it that God is calling us to as a member
of the body. And as we walk through this, please
remember this, you guys. The Christian life is
not a works -based, guilt -driven life. This
is not me standing up here and going, look at
this long list of things that you have to get
out there and do. We're not to be driven by works
or by guilt. The Christian life is a life of
sacrifice and service that is motivated by our
union with Christ, motivated by the redemptive
work of grace that he's done in our lives. So
when we look at a list of commands and responsibility
like these in Romans 12, let our response be
motivated by humility, by thankfulness, and yes,
by a healthy conviction from the Holy Spirit,
not guilt. not just I got to get out there and
do something. Think about what motivates the
heart. That is meaningful to God. The goal for
today is simple, to let God's word challenge
us to renew our thinking about how we're living
life in the body and then for us to find great
joy in doing what God says we should be doing.
Make sense? All right, let's go back to our text
in Romans 12. Those first two verses, again,
Paul urges us as Christ followers, to function
as living and holy sacrifices. And the emphasis
there is on the individual believer, his personal
walk and personal worship. But then in verse
3, as we saw, he pivots sharply toward congregational
life, right? Speaking about the nature of the
gathered believers in the local church. And he
speaks of one body of believers. One body. How
many bodies of Christ are there in the world?
There's one. That's it. Now there's two aspects
to that, right? There's the universal body of
Christ, and then there's all of these local manifestations
of that same body. In this case, they're in the
city of Rome for us in Stevenson Ranch, right?
So what he's describing is true of the universal
communion of saints, but it's to be applied and
lived out in particular local churches. Understand
that. One true body of believers. Every true
believer, Paul says, is a member of that one
body of Christ. Now, two Sundays ago, we looked
at that word member. We looked carefully at it.
It's melos in the Greek. It's a very important
word. We noted that it can literally just mean
a body part, like your eyes, your hands, your
ears, your arms, legs, whatever. It can literally
mean that, but then there's this beautiful, important
allegorical meaning that shows up in Scripture
in two particular ways. First, for the believers
who are in union with Christ, our bodies are
said to be members of Christ or parts of his
body. And then second, we see this in verse five
in your text. Look at it. We're given this very
unusual phrase that has massive implications
for us. We are, Paul says, members of one another.
Let me read verses four and five again today
because they're so, highlight them, underline
them, circle them, whatever. For just as we have
many members in one body and all the members
do not have the same function, so we who are
many. are one body in Christ and individually
members of one another. Now, this requires us
to think beyond material or physical concepts.
Because I don't know about you, but in a material
sense, this is me, right? This is my physical
body, and at least visually, none of you are
part of me. Right? Yet God has declared here
in Romans 12 that if you're a believer in union
with Christ, that you are in some sense a member
of me and I'm a member of you. Now, how can that
be? This is where we have to dig in and draw
out the metaphysical meaning of what Paul's trying
to say here. And then once we get the metaphysical
idea of what he's saying, then apply it in real
life practical ways. So I'm going to try to walk
you through this. By the way, the ancient church
fathers were really good at doing this. In the
West today, we are so intellectual, so concrete,
that we have a hard time understanding these
metaphysical things. But the ancients were really
good at this. Let me try to walk you through
this. I want you to think the one true church
of Christ is a mystical body. It is a universal
communion of disparate people from all nations,
tribes, and tongues brought into being by God's
sovereign grace and through participation in
Christ, in his life, in his death, his resurrection,
and in eternal hope in him. It's a mystical body
from people that you've never met before, from
all kinds of parts of the world, and from all
ages in the past. Think about that. How is that
possible that we're all one? It's a very mystical
idea. Now remember, Jesus is not like Buddha
or Muhammad or Joseph Smith. He's not the founder
of a religion. Jesus is much more than that.
He is the living head of a living mystical organism.
This makes it very different than any other religion
on the earth. And our unity in his body is found
in our union with him. not in the things that
make us different as individuals, our backgrounds,
culture, race, ethnicity, language, or anything
else. It's our union with Christ that binds us
together. In spite of all those differences I
just mentioned that naturally divide us, if we're
united to Christ, we are supernaturally joined
to our living head, which means we're joined
to one another too, because we're all joined
to that living head, which means we're all joined
to one another. And we're all participating in
this one mystical body, each one of us being
a member or part of it. You tracking with me
here? So catch this. Here's what this means.
No true Christian is a spiritually isolated unit.
It's not possible. There's no such thing. No
true Christian can function as a detached spiritual
consumer or spectator. We are not many individuals
that just come together to attend services in
a particular building and somehow cooperate together
so that we can call ourselves a church. That
is literally the modern idea of church. It's
not the New Testament vision for what the church
is. Let me say it again. Many individuals that
come together to attend services in a particular
building and then cooperate to make something
that we can say, this is a church. That's not
it. We've missed the mystical meaning behind
all of this. Here's the practical aspect of all
this. A true Christian's life is necessarily
intertwined with every other member of the body,
especially, particularly, in the local body.
So if you're united to Christ, a newsflash for
you, your life can never be fully private or
self -contained. And I know that challenges this
notion that's out there is that, well, my salvation
is my business. That is not a biblical concept.
We've done way too much of that in the last 50
years, just me and Jesus, and that's all that
matters. First, your life is not your own. Didn't
we just see this two Sundays ago? Jesus has purchased
you at a costly price. You belong to him now,
so your life is not your own. Second, your life,
at least in part, belongs to every other brother
and sister in Christ because you are members
of one another. The best illustration to think
of this is think of a tree with many branches.
And each branch on that tree is very unique in
its size, in its shape, and in what it's supporting.
And if you looked at it from the ground level,
you might think, well, that big, thick branch
here at the bottom has no... connection whatsoever
to all those little branches at the top. They're
completely separate. But because the same life
flows through that tree from the roots up through
the trunk out to that big branch and all the
way to the top to the little branches, yes, they're
all connected. They're all connected. Their life,
their health, their future is bound together.
What affects one affects all. And it's the same
thing with the church. So much so that we heard
in our call to worship passage earlier, if one
member suffers, all suffer. And if one member
is honored, all rejoice. Think about the depths
of that mystical connection there. And if you
haven't felt that kind of shared suffering or
shared joy with others in the body, you're missing
the full picture of who Christ says you are in
Him. You're not feeling the depth of who Christ
says you are in Him. That is a stunning statement,
is it not? I cannot say to the hand, I have no
need of you, nor the head say to the feet, I
have no need of you. In the same way, no Christian
can say, okay, I need Christ, but I don't need
a church. Or I'll loosely connect to a local
church and just pop in every once in a while
to get what I need to get. That's not the picture.
Everything that we do or fail to do affects everyone
else in the church because we are joined together
in Christ. We're all parts of his body. So things
like fellowship and love and service and care
and generosity and forgiveness, those are not
just nice things we should do because we're Christians
or we're trying to maintain the image of this
is what a Christian does. All of those things
are vital aspects of how a church body stays
healthy. And we diligently strive to practice
them because they benefit the overall life and
health of the same one body that we share together.
I'm going to use a big theological word here.
Our obligations to each other arise from an underlying
ontological communion. Meaning, you shouldn't
care for a brother or sister in the body just
because it's a commendable act of external goodness.
You should care for that person because it glorifies
God and because his or her good is bound up with
the health of the body that you both belong to.
You belong to an ontological communion together.
Your health is his health. His health is your
health. So we have these obligations. We live
out Romans 12 because we are concerned about
the overall health of our body and your body
together. This is sort of the mystical idea that
Paul is driving at here. And it requires humility,
doesn't it? To be able to say my life is your
life and vice versa requires us to humble ourselves
because it requires mutual belonging and mutual
concern for the other. We can't just operate
selfishly in the body as we please. We have to
make unity the priority. And unity requires dying
to self. This is why Paul warns against pride.
Look at verse 3. I say to everyone among you
not to think more highly of himself than he ought
to think, but to think so as to have sound judgment.
Think rightly about this, he says, because if
you think more highly of yourself than you should,
you are going to undermine the oneness of the
body. You are going to harm the health of the
body that you belong to. You're going to end
up, if you're prideful, insisting on your own
way, insisting that you're always right. You're
going to end up looking down on others. You're
going to be constantly criticizing and complaining
because pride always compares and pride competes
and pride seeks its own recognition and therefore
undermines the health of a body. Humility does
the opposite. It enables believers to put others
in the body first and rightly consider others
more important than self. Humility encourages.
It builds up. It facilitates love. This is the
picture Paul's drawing for us here, and it's
intense. In America today, we've made it really
casual. Well, do what you want, come when you
want, don't have to work, just enjoy. We've made
it so casual, what Paul is describing is intense.
Man, I wish the church would get it. Here's why
the number one promise we make to each other
in our covenant simply says, we will work and
pray for unity, the spirit within the body. It's
the number one thing on our covenant. Because
if we have unity, we have oneness, we have health,
we're all so much better for it. Amen? All right,
let's look at verses six through eight now. Here
we're told that each believer receives from God
certain gifts. Thank you, Lord. Everybody here
has been given gifts. And so if you've been given
gifts, you're to exercise them as a functioning
part of this one body that we share. And these
gifts can be many things. This is going to be
a little bit controversial. I don't think the
lists of spiritual gifts in the New Testament
are exhaustive. I think they're examples of the
types of gifts that the Spirit gives, but I think
there's many more than are listed for us in Scripture.
But here in Romans 12, Paul lists seven of these
things, seven unique functions. Each designed
to contribute to the overall health of this living
body that we're a part of. That is the point
of the gifts, right? They're given to you and
I for the sake of strengthening the body as a
whole. They are not, listen now, they are not
given to us as trophies of our own personal success
in spiritual things. Right? I hate to say it.
You've probably known people. I've known people
that hold it up. This is my trophy. Look how
great I am. They're not given to us so that we
can impress other people or to garner admiration
from people. The whole idea of look at me is
contrary to the nature of the body. Look how
well I do things. Look how much I know. These
things are destructive to the unity of our body
together. So once again, humility is required
of every part of the body as we pull together
our various gifts that the Spirit of God has
given us. to practice them in the local church.
As we heard in our call to worship passage earlier,
God has arranged the members of the body. God
has arranged this body. Isn't that cool? He's
put it together. Each one of them, each member
that he has sovereignly chose. Do you believe
big concepts like this, that God has sovereignly
arranged Oak Hill Bible Church as he desires?
And all he says is, be faithful to the gifts
I've given you because I have a design for that
local church. It's beautiful. Now, obviously,
we don't all serve in the same way. And not all
of our gifts are equally obvious. Some are done
out front and visible, like me flapping my gums
every Sunday, right? Just obvious and visible.
But far more of the gifts that the Spirit gives
are done quietly and behind the scenes. And they're
just as valuable. Think about the thoughtful
believer who goes out of his way to greet somebody
who's new or is just being overlooked and they
see it and they just, they run to that person
and they greet them warmly. That's so subtle,
but so important for a body, right? Think about
the believer who's sensitive enough to notice
when somebody's been absent recently. And so
they reach out, not to wag a finger at them,
but just to say, are you okay? Are you okay?
Is there something you need? Think about the
prayer warrior who spends hours each day lifting
up leaders in the church and those in the body
who have needs. You would never even see it.
Think about the church member who suddenly watches
to see who God is using. They're discerning how
God is working, and then they reach out during
the week to just say, well done. God is at work
in you, just encouraging people. It doesn't take
much. It's a quick text or an email, right? Think
about the believer who completely unbeknownst
to any of us gives well beyond his financial
means to the ministry, either here or to some
mission across the world. Giftedness. Or simply
think about that very quiet person who flies
under the radar, but is the one who's always
volunteering to do the type of labor that nobody
else wants to do. We have a bunch of those in
this church. I see it. Do you see it? It's amazing.
These kinds of faithful service are precious
to God, even when it's not recognized by people.
In fact, Paul wrote about this. Again, back to
our call to worship passage. Adam read it earlier.
The parts of the body that seem to be weaker
are indispensable. This church does not operate
without them. And on those parts of the body
that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater
honor. What a beautiful picture. God has so composed
the body, giving greater honor to the part that
lacked it that there may be no division in the
body, but that the members may have the same
care for one another. Listen, guys, your uniqueness
matters to this church. Whether you realize it
or not, your presence matters, your prayers matter,
your helping hands matter, your spiritual gifts
matter. Go back to the church I talked about
earlier where the staff does everything, the
professionals do everything. No, all of your
gifts, all of these subtle things that you do
in the body, they make a difference. Your participation
in body life is essential to our life together.
By the way, on the flip side, this matters too.
When you're absent from us, it makes a difference.
When you pull back from the body life, when you
stop serving altogether, it makes a difference.
This is how God has designed the functioning
of his body. We need each other, every part,
every part. Let me ask you a question. Have you
ever stopped and looked around on a Sunday like
today and thought, how many people have already
loved me? You walked in the door back there,
or you walked in the gate, and you stop and think,
how many people have already loved me? Can I
count the ways? Somebody brought that coffee,
right? And that, do you see the spread on the
pastries today? It was extra special for you
guys. That got shopped for and purchased and
transported. There are dozens of church members
right now serving your kids in our acorn ministry.
Yeah, they're gifted in their desire to care
for our kids. There's a whole bunch of folks
who got here at 7 .30 this morning. To unload
a shed, sweating. And they'll do it after the
service, loading the shed, sweating even more.
They did it for you. They've already loved you
this morning. The men and women who just put
up these curtains and hung these lights. The
AV team who set up that sound table and all this
equipment you see. Tested it, ran it. They loved
you already today. You just wandered in and it
was there. Do you know somebody creates all those
visuals you see on the screen? They use their
creative gifts to put beauty on the screen. How
gifted are the members of our praise team, using
their talents and skills to glorify God, to bring
us to the throne of grace in song? That doesn't
happen by accident. They loved you already this
week and this morning. The volunteers who greeted
you, the ushers who watch over our seating. There's
a rover outside right now providing security
for this campus. And he sacrifices. He's not
in here. He's not able to worship with you. He's
sacrificing his time and energy to watch over
your kids in this campus. He's loving you right
now. That's just Sundays. That's just Sundays.
How about all the host homes that get used during
the week? Hospitality. How about all the planning
of the various events we have? All the communication
that goes on. The men who sacrifice so many long
hours to oversee this church as elders. The many,
many tasks that our deacon team performs every
month. Our ministry leaders who plan and execute
their work with love and care. One body, many
gifts, all carried out for one reason, the overall
health of our church. Corporate body. And if
you say to me, well, Jeff, I didn't drink any
coffee this morning. Or I don't have any children.
Or I don't really care how nice the slides look.
I slip past the greeters anyway on the way in.
If that's you, grumpy pants, you missed the whole
point. You've missed the body concept. This is
the point here, right? Because we're members
of one another. Every hand lifted for the good
of the body has lifted you. Has lifted you. It's
just a matter of recognizing that truth and then
standing back and going, this is beautiful. Thank
you, Jesus, for the way you've designed your
church. And I have to tell you, every single
week, I am blown away at the many hands that
make this church go. It's your faithful love
that motivates me. every week to press forward
and to do the best I can in my preaching and
shepherding because I wanna love and serve you
as well as you've loved and served me. That's
the body that Paul is describing here. It's beautiful.
Okay, let's finish quickly. We gotta look at
these last few verses. Look at verse nine. Ooh,
I'm actually in the right slide today. This is
good. Let your love be genuine without hypocrisy.
In other words, guys, listen, don't say you love
others and then not actually love. This is an
easy trap for every Christian. Oh, of course
I love the body, but I'm not actually loving
it. Let your love for others in the body be humble
and sincere. Let it be not selfish. Don't let
it be selective. Well, there's some people I
want to love and other people I want to ignore.
If you understand that Christ has loved you,
then be diligent to love his people. And to me,
one of the key ways that we can do this is this
beautiful concept in Scripture of bearing one
another's burdens, which is another part of our
covenant. In fact, I'll put it on the screen.
In our covenant, it says, with tenderness and
empathy, we promise to bear one another's burdens
and sorrows. This is when we come alongside a
fellow member who's struggling to carry something
alone. And that's really the issue. They're trying
to carry it alone, whether it's grief or it's
financial trouble or illness or physical weakness
or family conflict. Maybe it's loneliness or
discouragement. We step in with whatever that
moment requires and we lend practical help. Maybe
it's just a listening ear. Maybe it's a visitation
or a phone call, a financial gift. It's bringing
a meal, offering transportation. Maybe it's just
sitting there with them. And just being present
as they go through something difficult. The reality
is sometimes we can't remove a burden, but we
can refuse to let a brother or sister carry it
alone. Let your love be genuine. Don't say you
love and then not love. Then look at the amazing
list in verses 10 through 13, starting with this
one. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.
Develop a deep affection for those you call brothers
and sisters. Cultivate a deep affection for your
brothers and sisters. When we use the term church
family here at Oak Hill, we're not messing around.
We actually mean it. We're connected as a family,
as a body. It's commanded right here in the text.
It is a core part of living life in the spirit.
You've been brought into this union with Christ.
You've been ushered into his mystical body. You've
been given the spirit who then changes your affections,
moving us away from loving self to loving others.
If that's not happening, you should seek counsel
as to why that's not happening. Because this
is the work that God promises to do in us. Listen
to this great quote from John Piper. I love this.
He says, when a person has been plucked from
a burning building, or from a sinking ship, or
from a dreaded disease, everything looks precious
to him, especially people. How affectionate we
are to the people on the shore where we've just
been saved. That's our true condition. We just
need to wake up to it. That's a beautiful quote.
People, people, fellow members of the body, members
of one another. Continuing in verses 10 and 11.
In other words, guys, defer to others. Become
less. Become less in your eyes. Downplay yourself.
Whatever praise or attention you think you deserve,
set out to honor and encourage others. Lift up
their contributions and their efforts. Prefer
to honor rather than be honored. And Paul says,
don't lag behind in this. Don't get lazy in it.
Don't get sluggish. Don't get weary in doing
these things. Stay fervent and diligent. One
author puts it this way, keep stoking the fire
of your love for your fellow church members.
Stoking that fire. Don't let it go out. It requires
intentionality. Stoke that fire. Keep loving.
The health of our body depends on us stoking
that fire for each other. And by the way, if
you're listening to all this, you're like, man,
this sounds like a lot, and I'm tired. Aren't
we all? I'm so busy. I'm so tired. Everybody
says that. It all comes down to this. What do
you love? Right? Because we all make choices.
What do you love? And there's a very simple illustration.
I used this, I don't know how many years ago.
And this is especially for parents with young
kids. Kids get in the car. We're going shopping
for school supplies. Ten minutes in, they're
exhausted. They're so bored, I don't want any
more. They can't go another step. Now, same kids.
Kids get in the car, we're going to Disneyland.
They will go all day long. The zeal in their
little bodies, they just find an extra level,
an extra measure of energy, and they're not tired
anymore. Why? Because that's what they love.
They love Disneyland. And the same should be
true of us in Jesus' church. If you love Jesus,
if you love one another, keep stoking that fire.
You're not going to grow weary. He'll give you
the strength. He will give you the strength to
persevere. Okay, we've got verses 12 and 13.
These don't need a lot of explanation, so we're
going to go really fast through them. There they
are. Rejoicing in hope. Guys, let your joy, the
joy of your salvation, spread all over this body.
Let it be infectious. Let it motivate you to
keep glorifying God and loving others. Number
two, persevering in tribulation. We are called
to endure in times of affliction. Listen to this
now. We do this with the help of our brothers
and sisters. And then when the tide turns, we
help others in their affliction. Listen, there
are seasons of life. I've seen this play out
so many times in the church. Seasons of life
where you get to serve people. And then there's
seasons of life where you need to be served.
And if you haven't served people, when that time
of affliction comes for you, Who's going to serve
you? Seasons change. So while you can, serve
one another, love one another, because that time
may come for you. Number three, devoted to prayer.
Hey, one of the easiest, most practical, most
powerful ways you can love somebody in the body,
and you don't even have to leave your house.
People say all the time, Jeff, how can I serve?
Become a prayer warrior. That's probably the
easiest and number one thing you can do. Set
aside 30 minutes an hour each day to pray. Wow,
what a great service. Contributing to the needs
of the saints. Has God been generous to you?
Be generous to others. Practice hospitality.
Has God been hospitable to you? Be hospitable
to his people. Okay, let me close with this.
The question for all of us today is not simply,
Am I part of a church? Or do I attend a church?
The New Testament question is this. Am I functioning
as a true member of Christ's body and a true
member of one another in that body? That's the
question. Now, when the service is over, after
we sing some more, I'm going to give you guys
several ways that you can immediately apply what
we've learned in God's Word today. There are
opportunities here in this fall season to engage
in the body. Here's the thing. You ready? To
engage in the body requires relationship. There's
no other way. You've got to build a relationship
with people, which means you've got to be together.
So we're going to give you a few chances. A few
ways to do that. I'm going to put some things
on the screen. The first one is today we're talking
about community groups. By the way, if you're
a community group leader, will you stand real
fast? All right, we've got a bunch of them. Very
good. Praise the Lord for you guys, okay? Community
groups, they look like that. Where's Grant? There
he is. Hey, that's Grant's house. Way to go,
man. Community groups, okay? At the end, we're
going to let you, if you want to, sign up for
a community group today. That's number one. Second
thing is called grove groups, okay? This is for
our ladies. This is ladies coming together in
groups of, what is it, six or seven? Seven coming
together to live life in a smaller group where
they can really share life with one another.
We got ladies. Ladies in groves. That's the second
thing. And I'll explain this at the end of the
service. The third thing is, is we have something
called the Ambassador's Well. If you want to
take the gospel into our community, right? If
you want to spread what you've learned in this
body and go out and fan out in the community,
we have something called the Ambassador's Wells
Table. Out in the community at the mall, challenging
people with questions like, how do you know you're
going to heaven? Starting conversations. There
are people here this morning that came to Oak
Hill because of that table. It is an incredible
opportunity to serve. So we're going to talk
about all of that at the end of the service.
But again, as you consider this, can I remind
you again, Christianity is not a works -based,
guilt -driven life. It is a life motivated by
our union with Christ, a life motivated by humility
and thankfulness and healthy conviction based
on God's word and by our responsibilities that
we have towards our brothers and sisters in the
faith. That's what I want to motivate you. as
we talk about these opportunities later. Amen?
Let's bow our heads. Lord Jesus, thank you for
both the high theology, the mystical theology
of this beautiful picture that you've drawn for
us in this body metaphor. Thank you for that,
Lord, but then thank you also for all the practical
applications of how we live that out. Father,
make us more than a gathering of individuals.
Make us a healthy body that is humble in spirit
and faithful in service and tender in our bearing
with one another. Keep us united in truth and
deeply committed to one another for your glory.
Thank you for our time this morning. We love
you. We praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.