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Welcome to ECB's Weekly Sermon Podcast. ECB is an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,

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with dozens of nationalities worshipping together. We invite you to connect with us from wherever

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you are through our website, ecb.asia, or our mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed

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by this week's sermon. Today we begin a new series of studies called Servants Devoted to God that

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will take us all the way through the end of March. And Pastor Venana will be sharing the pulpit

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throughout this series. But before we actually start the study, please join me as I pray. If

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your grace did not find us, if we did not say yes to your calling, our lives will be a whole

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different story. Thank you for your grace. And as we begin this new series of studies from your

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word, I ask you, Lord, shape our hearts with it and use me in your power and in your grace.

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In Jesus' name, amen. The word of God says that the moment we began following Jesus and we declare

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that he was our Savior, at that moment when Jesus saved us, we became not just his children,

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but we became servants devoted to God. And what we're going to explore in this series

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throughout this month is that there's a set of things that we need to learn as we follow Jesus

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that is part of the kingdom of God. And the word of God says this very clearly,

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so simply in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, this is what the apostle wrote to us, followers of Jesus,

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would you read it out loud with me? And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live

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for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again. The moment God saved me when I

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was six years old, God is telling me, Pablo, the moment you asked me to save you, I did not just

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save you so that you will die one day and go to heaven. I saved you so now the life I give you,

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you will live for me. And not just me, but also you, anyone that says I'm a Christian,

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I follow Jesus. Jesus saved you so that the life you have, you will live for him. And that's a shift

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that completely transforms the way we live and think and the decisions we make. It's a shift of

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mindset. Because now that I am a follower of Jesus, the word of God says that Jesus has given me now

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a new citizenship. I am a citizen of heaven. I like to call that a heavenian. That's who we are now.

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We have a citizenship that we belong to, that new place. The world is just passing, but we belong to

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a new community of God's people. And not only that, but also I have this identity of being one who is

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a servant of God. Before, I used to serve my sin, my purposes, and I tried to just please God if I

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could so that he could bless my plans. And God says, no, now that you are my child, you are my

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servant. Follow my purposes. Live for my vision for you. And then not only that, but also I have

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this new purpose that the word of God says he called us to make disciples of all nations. He

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wants to use your life and my life as a way of shining his light to the world so that people who

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are in darkness will come to know God because of you. That they will come to encounter God because

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God's presence was manifested through your obedience to him. And no matter where he placed you,

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whether it be your job, your family, a new location, it doesn't matter what circle of people you

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involve yourself with, that you can be a channel of that light so that people will come to know

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Christ. These are the changes that God did in me, a change of citizenship, a change of purpose,

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a change of identity. And all this together, we call this servants devoted to God. We are the

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people of God, followers of Jesus, who are driven by a love for God and with the desire to just serve

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him. That's why we say servants devoted to God, love God and serve with devotion. That says it all.

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But I learned earlier in my life when I had to move the first time from one country to another,

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that once you move to a new domain, you need to learn the new culture. And in Chile, we kiss

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everybody on the cheek. Hi. It was like that. In Mexico, it wasn't like that. Hi. It will go like

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this. I had to learn a new way of greeting, also a new way of eating. I learned that in Mexico,

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if you ask the person that invited you to their home, is this food spicy? If they would tell you

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no, they were lying to you. They said, no, it's not spicy. That meant it is. If they say a little bit

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spicy, that means a lot. If they say, well, it is really spicy, that meant don't eat it. You'll

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regret it later. And this way of functioning changed. And if you don't adapt to the new culture

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and learn how they work and start functioning in alignment with that culture, then you're not

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going to be able to survive in that culture. And now that God saved me, he saved me from the kingdom

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of darkness into the kingdom of light. I belong to his kingdom, and in his kingdom, there's a new

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culture. And one of the things that changes is that there's a new attitude in the kingdom. And I

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need to learn that attitude as I follow Jesus, because if I don't have that attitude, I will be

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completely held back from pursuing God fully as he wants us to. And what we will learn in this

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first study is that the attitude of the kingdom is adaptability. And if I am going to follow God and

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be a servant devoted to God, I have to master this attitude of adaptability. The first Christians,

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they were with Jesus. He taught them, then he died, he resurrected, he appeared to them at the

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beginning, and before he ascended to heaven, he told them, look, I'm going to give you something

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that you will need to follow me. He's about to leave them, he's going to be ascending, he wouldn't

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be with them anymore, physically like he was before, but he tells them in Acts 1-8, you will

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receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all

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Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And this is the beginning of the movement that you

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and I joined when we said yes to Jesus. We became part of a movement that started at this time,

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where people were making disciples throughout the nations, and it was marked by this power that

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Jesus was giving them, the power of the Holy Spirit. So the Word of God says that actually

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they did stay there in Jerusalem waiting, they were worshiping God, praying, the apostles, and

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some of the early believers, there were about 120 people there gathered when the Holy Spirit

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encountered them, and they started receiving this power to speak in these languages they did not

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know previously, and it just happened to be the languages of the people that were surrounding the

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area where they were meeting. So people from all these different places could understand the wonders

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of God that they were declaring. But at one moment, the Apostle Peter stands up and starts

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preaching the gospel, and just like Jesus said, you will receive power and you will be my witnesses.

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So they become the witnesses at that point, and the Apostle Peter preaches, and this is what the

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Word of God says, those who accepted his message were baptized, and about what? About 3,000 were

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added to their number just that day. And this is where change became very, very noticeable. And this

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is where the struggle began. Because put yourself in the foot of the apostles, or the feet of the

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apostles. You know, they had spent all these years with Jesus in a small group. Just Jesus and us.

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And I miss those days. And then Jesus started becoming more famous, and now we have to put out

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with the crowds, but Jesus was still with us, giving us time alone with him. And then after that,

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we just betrayed him. But he resurrected, and he appeared to us, and he assured us of his love,

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and it was still just us. And then that day when we encountered the Holy Spirit, it was just 120

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people. It was just still intimate enough, and we were all in awe of what God had done. And we missed

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Jesus already. But on one day, we became 3,000 people. 3,000. Do you know what it's like to manage

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3,000 people? I have to start teaching people about God, and baptizing them, and organizing

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this whole thing. 3,000 people like that. Change just found us completely unprepared. We just,

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as we say, built the airplane as we were flying it. It was just like a lot of change at once.

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Now, if you are like me, there's an aspect of change that is fun, nice, but there's also

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some things that we don't like to change so much. I still like the routine of having my black coffee,

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no sugar, dark in the morning. And if I'm traveling, I'm going to have some portable coffee maker of

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some sort, because I want my routine. Do I sound all that ready to you? And we resist change one

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way or the other, because we like that which is familiar. And now the apostles will have to go

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through change and realize that this calling that God gave them and us to make disciples was complex

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because it meant that we are always becoming, not just us maturing and growing and being transformed,

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but also the making of disciples and the communities that are born out of that calling, always changing.

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And therefore, I'm never to that place where it's just like, oh, comfortable again. It's like always

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having to operate in that space. And that can get to us to the point in which our ability to follow

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God becomes compromised. So one of the things that they discover as they engage in this journey of

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making disciples is that it was more complex than they had anticipated. They were just thinking of

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the front end and they realized that there was a back end that was as important as the front end.

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What do I mean by front end and back end? If you have ever accessed a website, you know what the

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front end is. You go, you put the address or you click on something, you are there on the website,

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you see pictures, you see images, there are things that you click on and it takes you to another

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place. You see text, you see images. All your experience is what is called the front end.

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The back end is not those pictures and colors and clicking. The back end is a bunch of code. And if

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you're a coder, you know what that is. It looks like nothing compared to the front end, but it's

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as important as the front end because without back end, there's no front end. But people don't

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want to click and see a bunch of codes either. Without a front end, the back end doesn't matter.

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They are both important. And when it comes to being involved as a community in making God known and

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living for the one who died and resurrected on our behalf and making Him known among the nations,

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we will always be operating in these two, front end and back end. And that makes change complex.

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And we will get to see in three instances in the life of the first Christians how this operated

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and what they had to do. The first one of those first challenges that they faced was right here

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at the beginning of the book of Acts chapter four. It says that with great power, the apostles

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continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and God's grace was so powerfully at

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work in them all. Remember, they had received power and through that power they started becoming

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witnesses of Jesus and that power remained. God was using them tremendously. But then it says that

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there were no needy persons among them for from time to time, those who owned land, our houses,

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sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles feet and it was distributed

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to anyone who had need. It was amazing. People were coming to know Christ. Oh, we learned that

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they had certain needs. There's finances that is needed to address that need. I don't have the

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money. Oh, but wait, some people here that are following Jesus have resources. They are selling

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their lands. They are selling property. They are selling things, bringing the money. So now we can

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address those needs and then people are growing and needs are being met. That's awesome. That's

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great. That's front end. Back end. The story continues and it says, now a man named Ananias

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together with his wife, Sapphira, also sold a piece of property and with his wife's full

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knowledge, he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the

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apostles feet. We are told that God, as he is starting this movement of his kingdom through

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the apostles and this is the beginning of the church, he says, I'm not going to put up with

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that because the father of lies is who? Satan. And now you have these people that have compromised

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themselves with Satan by engaging with these lies about their finances. So God's discipline on that

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moment is boom. Both Ananias and Sapphira, they both die right there in the presence of the

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apostle Peter and everybody is just shocked of what has happened. And this is what we called a

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case of financial corruption. Financial corruption is what happens when we haven't thought very well

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about the back end. Imagine for a second that we want to just be a more biblical church here at

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ECB. So starting today at the end of the service, instead of having offerings done traditionally,

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I want to invite Pastor Rene to stand here, Pastor Phil to stand here, and just everybody

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bring your money and put it at our feet. Okay? And then we will take care of the money and we

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will address it and give it to the needs that need to be met. How would you like that? That's

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biblical, isn't it? Ah, now I'm making you uncomfortable. I'm just not serious. You can

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relax. The point is right. Imagine what's happening. Three thousand people, people selling, getting

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money, putting it there. And then it's like, hey, I'm giving you money by keeping some of it. How

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do you make disciples in a way that the financial system is cared for so that there's no corruption,

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so people are not stealing the money or misusing it? How do you do that? Well, the apostles had to

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learn that just this initial beginning requires something that they will have to put in place.

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The text doesn't tell us exactly what that is at the moment. We'll just know much later in the

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development of the church. But I have met some cases of people that were Christians following

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Jesus and they stole money from the church. Sometimes pastors, sometimes people in the

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management of money. In order to make disciples on the front end, we need a solid system behind.

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We need accountants. We need people that are experts in finance. We need softwares. We need

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people that can understand all of this stuff and how it works. And I remember that the years in Dallas,

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we started attending with our leadership team and our elder board, these conferences that were for

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financial health organized by a group of accountants and lawyers in the state of Texas. And there were

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some big names in those conferences like Richard Hammer that was always so fun to listen to. And

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whenever we went to those conferences, it was all about understanding financial systems, legal

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systems within the context of US law. And the very first time we went, we came back and we met with

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a team and we said, you know, we need to make some changes because we did not realize that we

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were managing certain functions in the finances, especially with lab offerings and things like that,

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that were illegal in the state of Texas. They were not unethical, but they were not aligned with the

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law. And we had to change those things. And that's when we started becoming more aware of the phrase

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conflict of interest. And now we have to start drawing certain things in place to make sure that

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the church as an organization had the back end all well put together. And that took time. But I will

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never forget the conversation with this accountant at that conference. She was attending. She was part

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of her financial team at her church, which was a large organization. And she says to me, we tell

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our pastors that our job is to keep them out of jail. And I will never forget that because that was

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true to some degree. Because in the front end, you know, it's like you, you are teaching people,

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you are leading people to cry. You want to do these things. There are resources that need to be

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invested. But we are not the experts on all the finances and law and things. Do you mean that we

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need accountants and lawyers and finance people in the team to make disciples for global impact?

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The answer is yes. And if that is your area of expertise, be involved. But the second

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challenge they had to realize of its complexity was as they started growing and they created this

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system to be able to provide food for the people that needed food. And we are told right here in

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Acts 6, chapter 1, in those days when the number of disciples was increasing, that's awesome, nice,

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more witnessing, more fruit. But it says the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against

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the Hebraic Jews because the widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

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We will study this much later in this in the series, but it's enough to know that at this

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point of the cultural backgrounds that these Christians were coming from started creating

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this conflict. And now this aspect of feeling overlooked and that there's preference and all

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of these things came to the apostles. And it's like, hey, apostles, there's this problem. We

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have all this food, all these things, we're distributing it, but now there's conflict with

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people. Can you help us distribute the food? Okay, 3,000 people. We are preaching, we are teaching,

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we're baptizing the people, we are trying to address these things. And now it's like, you also

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need us to do that. And at that moment it says, so the 12 gather all the disciples together and said,

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it will not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.

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This is the first attempt to write a job description for Pasarone ministry. It will not be right for us

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to be doing all of that other stuff and then run out of time to do this. Brothers, sisters,

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choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the spirit and wisdom. We will

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turn this responsibility over to them and we'll give our attention to prayer and the ministry of

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the word. And that is what they did. They chose a group of godly men who are also very much people

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with high levels of cultural intelligence. And then they were able to address that need. It was

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not just waiting on tables, it was really serving the people and addressing the conflicts. And this

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group of leaders that eventually became known as deacons, because the Greek word deacons means

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servant. So these servants started helping and the apostles were able to focus on what mattered most

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to their role. And this is the first time that now they realize the structure that we've had so far

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is unsustainable. This changing that we are experiencing constantly being in this becoming

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state requires that now we look at the structure we have and reason is this sustainable or not.

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And this is the first attempt to create an HR department in the church. Because these are the

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people that specialize on creating job descriptions and salaries and figuring out that the whole system

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has fair compensation. Wait, do we also need HR people? People that are experts on this field?

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The answer is yes, we do. Front end, but also back end. And then they start preaching the gospel,

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more people, the structure is good so they grow more, and then persecution comes and they face

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another challenge. Because now as they start going throughout the Roman Empire, fleeing from

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Jerusalem, now new churches become established throughout the empire. And the apostle Paul starts

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going to different parts of the empire and they have new churches established, so new communities

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of Christians. And then later as God established the apostle Paul writes to the church in Corinth,

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and he tells them this, my brothers and sisters, some from Chloe's household have informed me that

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there are quarrels among you. It's like really? From the very beginning the church has been like

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this? Yeah, it has never changed. Never. Because the church is full of sinners saved by grace,

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and we're still being sanctified by grace. So yeah, sometimes we act immature, we get offended,

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we get hurt, and then divisions happen, and now the apostle Paul has to write to them to help them,

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okay, you need to think biblically about these things. And this is what he tells them. What I

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mean is this, one of you says, I follow Paul. Another, well I follow Apollos. And another,

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well I follow Cephas. And another still says, the smarter one, I follow Christ. And now they have

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these divisions among the community. It's like imagining people here at ECB saying, well I follow

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Pastor David. Who is she? It's like, yeah, the pastor that was before you and before Pastor Renee,

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I was here then, I follow Pastor David. And other people say, no, but I follow Pastor Renee,

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I like him better. And other people say, I like Pastor Pablo better. I follow Pastor Pablo. And

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the community is like that, and it's like what? What are you guys doing? Paul says. What after all

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is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants. Because that's what we are, servants devoted to

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God, isn't it? We're only servants through whom you came to believe as the Lord has assigned to each

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his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the

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one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow. Follow God.

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Don't follow us. Give glory to God, not to us. We are just servants. The one who plants and the

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one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.

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Each one at a different stage called by God, positioned by God for a different season,

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for a different purpose. Yet each one working on the same calling of making disciples, some water,

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some planted, some work the ground. But who's the only one that can make really a disciple? Not me,

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not you, only God. He's the only one that can convert a heart. So at the end, this challenge

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taught them that unless we have a common vision that is clear, that is uniting us all, we're going

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to end up with a divided community. Front end, make disciples, we have leaders, that's great. But

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what good is that if we become people that are following leaders rather than a common vision?

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And in organizational health, this is something that has become very clear. Healthy organizations,

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if you are leading a church, if you're leading a business, if you have your own company, if you

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are part of an NGO, it doesn't matter what organization it is, this is going to be the same

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thing. A healthy organization is an organization that is united behind a common vision. We are

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there, that's the glue. And leaders come and go to help us achieve that vision, but they themselves

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are not the glue. Now if you are part of an organization that is centered in an individual,

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that's a sign that you are not healthy as an organization. And this is typically something

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that happens in organizations that are at the beginning. You start with the founder. The founder

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came, the founder did, the thing grew. Now the founder has not just an initiative, an organization.

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And now because he or she called all the shots initially, now it's centering that person alone.

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But now you start feeling the growing pains. There's a change that needs to happen. We need

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to move in a different season where it's no longer centered on the person, but centered on the vision.

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And God, we might call that person to step down, to even move to another location altogether,

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to give the organization a new season of growth. Change is hard. Front end, make disciples. Back

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end, figure out how to bring a common vision together. And that is also difficult. Because

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we connect emotionally, we cannot avoid that. I cannot say you need to like all the pastors

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the same. That's not how it works. We connect better with one than the other. And I remember

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that when I was in Texas this past summer, I got to talk to one of our friends. I had

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the privilege of leading him to Christ. I met him as an unbeliever. God used me to lead

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him to Christ. Then I mentor him. I disciple him. Then he was growing, maturing. Then he

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got engaged. Then I did his marriage counseling and preparing him for his wedding. And then

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I saw his children being born. I was there when they were born at the hospital. So I

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had a very close relationship, a pastoral relationship with him. And as I was talking

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to him this time, he said, it has been hard for us ever since you left. You left the bar

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very high, and it's very hard. I've been visiting churches, going through places, but I cannot

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find another pastor like you. And as he's telling me that, I did not go like, oh, tell

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me more. I would like to hear more about that. So what else has been hard about, and what

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else do you think about me? It wasn't like that, of course. Because like the apostle

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Paul said, once you're grounded in Christ, that doesn't stick to you. You know you're

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just a servant. Only God is the one that is something. But I had that opportunity to tell

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him, look, you have to understand something. I am your spiritual father. I led you to

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Christ. I mentored you. I walked with you at the beginning of your Christian walk. That

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role no one else will have. So as you go to other places looking for other pastors, don't

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think that you can replace that, because that was a unique stage in your life. And it's

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okay to feel closer because of those experiences. But it's not okay to put those standards on

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other relationships, because it will never be the same. It's like the widower that got

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remarried, and now he's comparing his new wife to the old one. It's like, no, it was

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a whole different marriage. It's a different season. It's just, that's not how it works.

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And because this is part of transitions and challenges that we face when we face change,

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it is very important to acknowledge the emotional dimensions that we have relationally with

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people. But also it is very important not to let that reality hold us back from embracing

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the future that God is calling us to. Change is part of following Jesus, because making

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disciples is complex, front end, back end, and we need both. And the apostles learned

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that soon enough, to the point that the apostle Paul writes to the Christians later, the whole

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community, and he says this to them, we have different gifts, front end gifts, back end

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gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy

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in accordance with your faith. If it is serving, then serve. If it is teaching, then teach.

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If it is to encourage, then give encouragement. If it is giving, then give generously. If

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it is to lead, do it diligently. If it is to show mercy, then do it cheerfully. Whatever

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your role is, do it knowing that we need both front end and back end roles as we are working

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together. And at different seasons of our lives, some of those functions are more important.

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And as we follow God together as a community, and as we follow God individually, we have

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to master the attitude of adaptability. Because adaptability is the attitude of the kingdom.

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We are always becoming, we are always following, and therefore the call to embrace change is

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always around the corner. But to be adaptable can come in very different ways. What kind

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of adaptability are you? There is the rock, the clay, and then there is the water. The

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rock is adaptable. The person will take the chisel and go, pow, pow, pow, and then again,

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pow, pow, pow, and suddenly the rock becomes something different. It changed. But that

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kind of adaptability is very painful, and let me warn you about it. When God says, okay,

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I need you to change, we are going to move your countries, we are going to change positions,

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I have a new calling for you, and he has to take the chisel and go, pow, pow, pow, pow,

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it hurts. And you feel like you are dying to self all the time, and it hurts. And you

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say, God, no, really, God, no, please, please, no, don't call me to do that, not me, send

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someone else, and God says, pow, pow, boom, okay, I'll do it, okay. And God says, I'm

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not done yet, let's start again, pow, pow, pow. You can change like that if you want,

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but that's not recommended. Now clay is a little bit easier, it's moldable. God says,

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let's shape you this way, let's do that, and you say, okay, that's good, it's fine, you

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take different shapes, and God molds you and says, okay, that's good, you are clay. But

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the problem with clay is that it dries and becomes solid. It's only adaptable for a period

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of time, and then you get so used to what God called you to do already before, that

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when God says, another change, you say, come on, you must be joking. No, I'm not moving

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again. You know how much work it is to box everything? No, no, no, I'm not moving again,

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and that's the first reaction. It's because you have gotten so used to the shape you are,

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and now you are resisting God, and that is not recommendable either. Now there's water.

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Water is a little bit different. Water is truly adaptable. You put it in a cube, it

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takes the shape of the cube. You put it in something that is flat, it takes the shape

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of the flat. It doesn't matter where it goes, it just becomes what it needs to become. And

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God wants us to be like water, because He is the living water, and what people need

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is to know the living water. And God says, be like the living water. I'm calling you

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to go, please just go. Sure, adapt. I'm asking you to step down from the position you are

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in. Are you willing? Okay, I'll adapt. You know, I'm asking you to wait a little bit

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longer before the move. Are you going to wait? Yeah, I adapt. You see? You can be either

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like rock, like clay, or like water. But adaptability requires that we are like water. That's a servant

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devoted to God. We live for Him, not for us. And when our plants and His plants collide,

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His plants take priority. Because the life, I live, I live for the one who died and resurrected

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for me. Now, because change is something that happens often for those of you who are in

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leadership, and here at ECB we have the blessing of having many in our families that are part

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of people that God is using to shape and influence the world through their leadership roles.

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I would like to share a couple of insights on that since leadership is my area of study

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and just like insert this a little bit for you. If you are going through any transitions

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in your organization, in your leadership role, first, if you have been called to fulfill

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a new role in a new organization, and now you are transitioning there, the book, The

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First 90 Days is a helpful resource to tell you how do you need to be thinking about the

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first 90 days of your organizational change as you are leading this new place. Secondly,

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what got you here won't get you there. It's a book that talks about the transitions that

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you need to be thinking about now as an organization. Just because this function before doesn't

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mean that this is what this new place needs. And you need to be discerning all those changes.

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And then the third one is called The Leadership Pipeline. I particularly enjoy that book a

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lot because it tells you, look, as you are moving from one role to another, hiring your

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organization, what made you succeed here that perhaps called the promotion on you is not

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the set of skills and the priorities that you need to have as you move. Those change.

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And to understand how those change, you need to understand the leadership pipeline. These

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resources have been written by people that have done research on organizational transformation

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and things like that. So look at those if you are in any time of going through these

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kind of transitions, they will help you. They will give you wisdom. Now they are not Christian

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books, but they are still books that have truth. And all truth is ultimately from God.

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But there is a book that we read and we had studied with the elders during this past year

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as well that is talking about the transitions that we go as a community, as a church. You

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want me to tell you a little bit about the back end? It's fascinating. The book is called

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Taking Your Church to the Next Level. And it's written by a professor in Biola University

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in California. And what he does is help you understand that a church is like people. It

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goes through stages. Now if you had kids that became teenagers, did you ever go through

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that experience where you look down at their pants and you realize, wait, those pants are

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short on you now. It's like they were what you needed last year, but they are not what

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you need anymore because you are changing. And just as we change, you go through human

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stages of development, churches also go through stages of development. And what determines

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those stages of development is the size of the church's end. Because imagine like the

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apostles from 120 to now 3,000 in one day, lots of things change and the priorities of

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what matter most changed. Because size brings with it the need for new structures, new ways

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of doing things. And as you look at those changes, I just want to test you here. What

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do you think that ECB is? If you have been here a long time, you can relate to the different

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stages because if we start when ECB was 200 people. Anybody here was here when ECB was

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200 people? Raise your hand. Okay. So a few of the oldest here. Okay. That's great. Yeah.

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You remember that. What it was like, you know, the other building. This used to be perhaps

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a parking lot or whatever and you have those memories and it was intimate. Everybody knew

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everybody. The pastor knew everybody. He would come to our homes. It was like we were living

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life together. But then that changed. Suddenly the church doubled. How many of you were here

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when the church was about 400 people? Okay. Same. That changed. And now suddenly you have

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to start creating new ministries. And then it doubles again. Now you're about 800 people.

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And at that point it's like obvious that you know what? I cannot be preaching and praying

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and serving the tables at the same time. We need other positions here. And people start

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hiring new roles and things like that. But as they face that, they realize, wait, but

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how do we know how much to pay the person? How much is the first salary? And we don't

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have an HR department. I'm not an HR person. So how do we do this? And things are developed

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as you go because you have to just figure out something. And often during that time,

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the hiring goes with an apology. Sorry, we cannot pay you more. Because everything is

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just being done in things that you, you're just trying to keep things afloat with the

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changes. And then the next stage, and this is the stage we are at ECB. It's called the

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centralized church. If you want to learn more about this and what that takes and what are

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the priorities during this season, you can read the book. There's a whole chapter just

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about that. But did you realize that even us as a community go through those transitions?

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And perhaps you come from a church background that was a very specific size and that size

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determined the way you experience church. But now that you come here, it's a different

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size that you're used to the way you experience church changes. But if God is calling you

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to be here, what are you going to be? A rock, clay or water? These things are a reality.

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That's why with the leadership team and the elder board, we have been working on evaluating

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how we're doing ministries in this new season. And start thinking about our ministries as

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ecosystems that we want to group in a way that is congruent so that it can flow much

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better and hire people accordingly. So this is the stage in which we are in. But it doesn't

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matter whether the changes that you are experiencing are as a church ministry or the changes that

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you are experiencing are as individual in your own walk with God. In order to develop

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the attitude of adaptability, all of us need to overcome the obstacles that will be common

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to all people. Let me take you through those briefly because maybe you are stuck right

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now in one of those. And these are holding you back from embracing the changes that the

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Holy Spirit is actually calling you to embrace. The first one is resisting change, thinking

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that change by definition is bad. And typically you will say, I just don't like change. Period.

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You know, that's it. I just don't like change. That's going to hold you back. You need to

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embrace the change when the Holy Spirit is calling you into it. Nostalgia. Nostalgia

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is when you look back and you say, oh, I remember those old days. I wish we could do that again.

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And there's nothing wrong with that. When it becomes an obstacle is when you are stuck

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like that. It's like, look at the present, look at the future. No, I just miss those

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days. Every time I look at the present, it reminds me what we are not anymore. You know,

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and it's like, and you are being held back from seeing the present and the potential

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of the future and really embracing what God is doing.

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Fatigue is when change has been happening so much that it's like, you know what, another

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change, I'm going to have a mental breakdown. It's like, I'm just tired. It's like, I get

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attached to this person and now the person is leaving again. I don't want to attach to

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anybody else anymore. And you become distant and you are just fatigued for so much change.

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So when you hear that there's more change coming, you are ready. It's like, you don't

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want to even hear it anymore. That can hold you back from embracing what God is doing.

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Territorialism is when you have your kingdom and your way of doing things. And when it's

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like, we're talking about changing it, we're going to remove that role. We're going to

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create a new one. Or, you know, we're inviting somebody else in the team and the person has

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expertise and can help you. It's like, no, no, I don't like that. This is how I've always

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done it. It worked in the past. It will work today. And the person becomes like very stiff,

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like the dry clay. In the kingdom of God, there's only one kingdom and it's not yours.

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It's not my kingdom. God's kingdom. Everything else is a bunch of servants with temporary

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assignments. And the last one is ignorance. This is a person that sounds like, you know,

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the Holy Spirit will figure out and it will work out at the end. We needn't to worry about

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the back end. God will provide, will do everything, everything will be fine. And they think that

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dependence on the Holy Spirit means always figuring out as you go. But that's not what

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we just read in the words of the apostle Paul. It is the Holy Spirit who gave us gifts. Front

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end gifts, back end gifts. And both need to be used. And there are moments in which we

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do need a strong HR team, a strong finance team, a strong team of lawyers. We need things

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in the back end so that we can do the front end and build it to the next level. That's

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how it works. We don't want to be held back by ignorance. So whether it be resisting change,

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nostalgia, fatigue, territorialism, or ignorance, are you resisting the change that God is calling

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you to? Because if you are, I'm here to remind you, adaptability is the attitude of the Kingdom.

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And you have to choose, are you going to be a rock, a clay, or living water? And I just

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pray that you will choose to be living water. Father, talking about change, you who were

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willing to send your son, and Jesus, you who were willing to take the form of a human like

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us, flesh and blood, you know firsthand what is the cost of making disciples. And just

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as you were willing, help us embrace that attitude that is not born from us, but born

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out of a love for you. And if any of us has been resisting the change in our lives that

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you are calling us to, if there's anyone here that is being held back by comfort, by selfishness,

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by fear, take this time to break that, Lord, that we may leave this place free like living

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water, free to pursue you. In Jesus' name.

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Thank you for tuning in to the ECB Sermon Podcast. Whether near or far, if you are looking

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