WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:03.520 Well, it was already stated before but last week 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:06.240 was such a great week with our baptism service 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:10.000 and it's hard to come back from that and and 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:12.800 try to Duplicate what happened last week. So 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:14.640 we're not even gonna try we're not even gonna 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:17.320 do that. We leave that as its own service I even 00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:19.440 heard a couple of you even say how much you enjoyed 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:24.079 that service and has even become Even your your 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:27.460 favorite service of the year and there's great 00:00:27.460 --> 00:00:29.859 reason for that just seeing testimonies of God's 00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:32.619 grace from so many people the way God has worked 00:00:32.619 --> 00:00:35.820 in the lives of safe people and sanctify people 00:00:35.820 --> 00:00:39.700 and Really truly was even from my own heart as 00:00:39.700 --> 00:00:42.200 you know being able to baptize through my own 00:00:42.200 --> 00:00:46.079 children Being fed that way and encouraged that 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:51.100 way such a joy to do that Well, we are outside 00:00:51.100 --> 00:00:54.820 again as you know, and this is our last Sunday, 00:00:55.159 --> 00:01:00.579 and I got to be honest with you. I wish we could 00:01:00.579 --> 00:01:04.480 do this every week. I really do. I enjoy being 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:06.659 outside when planes are flying over and you can't 00:01:06.659 --> 00:01:10.840 hear me. All of it. The rumbling of the base 00:01:10.840 --> 00:01:16.459 right there. I love all of it and just most of 00:01:16.459 --> 00:01:19.170 all just being together. as a church family, 00:01:19.609 --> 00:01:23.030 but all good things must come to an end. And 00:01:23.030 --> 00:01:25.650 so next week we will be inside and we'll be back 00:01:25.650 --> 00:01:28.329 to our two services. You'll find your regular 00:01:28.329 --> 00:01:31.209 seat again. It will be there right where you 00:01:31.209 --> 00:01:34.109 normally sit. And if you're new, if you've come 00:01:34.109 --> 00:01:37.010 over the summer and you're new, man, we're so 00:01:37.010 --> 00:01:39.549 glad you came. We're so glad you're here. Please 00:01:39.549 --> 00:01:42.329 stay with us. Please join us in the fall as we 00:01:42.329 --> 00:01:45.010 go to two services. I don't know if Shay said 00:01:45.010 --> 00:01:46.969 this or not, but we do have a membership class 00:01:46.969 --> 00:01:49.909 next week. If you're thinking about membership 00:01:49.909 --> 00:01:52.109 and joining our church, that class is next week. 00:01:52.129 --> 00:01:55.150 You could hop online and commit to our church 00:01:55.150 --> 00:01:58.290 and see what we do next Sunday and the week after 00:01:58.290 --> 00:02:03.569 that. But yeah, next week we will be back inside 00:02:03.569 --> 00:02:06.689 together. With all that, I thought on this week, 00:02:06.829 --> 00:02:08.849 what I want to do this week is I want to talk 00:02:08.849 --> 00:02:11.930 about our philosophy of ministry. Why do we do 00:02:11.930 --> 00:02:15.370 the things that we do? What motivates us as a 00:02:15.370 --> 00:02:18.289 church? What drives us as a church? What is the 00:02:18.289 --> 00:02:22.729 primary focus of our church? And thankful that 00:02:22.729 --> 00:02:27.550 we don't have to come up with our own motivation, 00:02:27.710 --> 00:02:29.689 we don't have to come up with our own even mission 00:02:29.689 --> 00:02:32.449 statement. The Bible has done that for us. The 00:02:32.449 --> 00:02:35.169 Bible is a blueprint for the local church and 00:02:35.169 --> 00:02:38.289 all we try to do is abide by what it has to say. 00:02:38.590 --> 00:02:40.789 So if you have your Bible in front of you if 00:02:40.789 --> 00:02:42.710 you have a copy of God's Word somewhere around 00:02:42.710 --> 00:02:46.310 you I want you to turn to the book of Colossians 00:02:46.310 --> 00:02:51.289 Colossians chapter 1 there is a passage here 00:02:51.289 --> 00:02:56.409 in verse 28 and 29 of Colossians chapter 1 that 00:02:56.409 --> 00:03:02.629 gives to us our philosophy of ministry And so 00:03:02.629 --> 00:03:06.150 what I want to do is just walk through this passage 00:03:06.150 --> 00:03:10.150 with you and help help you Just gain some understanding 00:03:10.150 --> 00:03:13.909 about our church. Why do we do the things that 00:03:13.909 --> 00:03:17.050 we do? How do we do them? What is important to 00:03:17.050 --> 00:03:20.129 us? All of that is found in these two verses. 00:03:21.750 --> 00:03:22.990 Let me read it for us and I'll pray and we'll 00:03:22.990 --> 00:03:25.930 jump in. Here's what it says, it says, Him, Him 00:03:25.930 --> 00:03:30.789 we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone 00:03:30.789 --> 00:03:35.210 with all wisdom that we may present everyone 00:03:35.210 --> 00:03:40.689 mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling 00:03:40.689 --> 00:03:45.330 with all His energy, that He powerfully works 00:03:45.330 --> 00:03:50.050 within me. Our Heavenly Father, we turn our attention 00:03:50.050 --> 00:03:55.849 to the Word of God. You have spoken to us. You've 00:03:55.849 --> 00:04:00.270 spoken to us through Your Word. It is holy. It 00:04:00.270 --> 00:04:04.210 is inspired. It is authoritative. It is sufficient. 00:04:05.629 --> 00:04:08.669 And I pray, Lord, that Through our time together 00:04:08.669 --> 00:04:11.229 in your word as we study it that you would confront 00:04:11.229 --> 00:04:14.810 us with truth That you would use the Spirit of 00:04:14.810 --> 00:04:17.089 God to work in our hearts to change our thinking 00:04:17.089 --> 00:04:20.410 to change our will to cause us to become more 00:04:20.410 --> 00:04:25.670 like Christ Lord help us to be focused in this 00:04:25.670 --> 00:04:29.810 time help us to Glean as much as we can in this 00:04:29.810 --> 00:04:33.930 time that we have together And I pray that in 00:04:33.930 --> 00:04:39.720 Jesus name Amen As I was preparing for this message, 00:04:40.379 --> 00:04:42.819 I looked up different mission statements and 00:04:42.819 --> 00:04:44.600 vision statements to some companies that are 00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:47.660 even in this area. Maybe you even work for these 00:04:47.660 --> 00:04:49.439 companies and maybe you don't even know what 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:51.920 the mission statement is of your company. But 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:53.579 this is one of them. It is this. The mission 00:04:53.579 --> 00:04:56.339 statement goes like this. To empower every person 00:04:56.339 --> 00:04:59.879 and every organization on the planet to achieve 00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:04.740 more. If you work for Microsoft, thank you for 00:05:04.740 --> 00:05:07.839 logging in every day. to make this complete and 00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:12.899 happen. How about this one? Our mission is bold 00:05:12.899 --> 00:05:17.800 to radically reduce the cost of access to space, 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:22.740 harness in space resources, and inspire the next 00:05:22.740 --> 00:05:26.259 generation to enable millions of people to live 00:05:26.259 --> 00:05:32.920 and work in space for the benefit of Earth. Blue 00:05:32.920 --> 00:05:37.480 Origin and Jeff Bezos. And Misa, who logs in 00:05:37.480 --> 00:05:41.139 to Blue Origin as he's at work, is helping make 00:05:41.139 --> 00:05:46.420 it cheaper for us all to go to space. How about 00:05:46.420 --> 00:05:49.480 this one? To be the premier purveyor of the finest 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:53.079 coffee in the world, inspiring and nurturing 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:59.519 the human spirit. One person, one cup, and one 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:03.600 neighborhood at a time. That's that Nashville 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:10.100 Company. called Starbucks. Well, Redemption Hill, 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:12.639 let me read to you the mission statement that 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:15.459 comes straight from the Word of God of this church. 00:06:15.500 --> 00:06:20.699 Ready? Him we proclaim, warning everyone and 00:06:20.699 --> 00:06:23.759 teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:28.980 present everyone mature in Christ. That's why 00:06:28.980 --> 00:06:33.360 we exist. That's why we come together as a church. 00:06:34.030 --> 00:06:37.209 That's why we serve one another. That's why our 00:06:37.209 --> 00:06:39.430 deacons show up for the last 10 weeks and set 00:06:39.430 --> 00:06:43.550 up chairs, set up coffee, have the place ready 00:06:43.550 --> 00:06:46.769 for us to come together so that we can proclaim 00:06:46.769 --> 00:06:51.069 Him, so that we can teach, so that we can admonish, 00:06:51.069 --> 00:06:54.709 so that we can present everyone mature in Christ. 00:06:54.769 --> 00:07:01.069 This is why we labor and do what we do. This 00:07:01.069 --> 00:07:07.240 verse. summarizes for us our vision, our philosophy 00:07:07.240 --> 00:07:11.920 of ministry, our convictions, our values, how 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:16.879 we spend our time, what we focus on. It informs 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:19.439 our Sunday mornings. It informs our kids ministry. 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:22.680 It informs our youth ministry. It informs our 00:07:22.680 --> 00:07:25.300 young adult ministry. It informs our community 00:07:25.300 --> 00:07:28.360 group. All of it flows out of the truths that 00:07:28.360 --> 00:07:32.810 we can find here in these two verses. It all 00:07:32.810 --> 00:07:38.949 flows from here. This short, yet memorable couple 00:07:38.949 --> 00:07:42.449 of verses, I encourage you to even memorize it 00:07:42.449 --> 00:07:46.949 for yourself. Because it really does give to 00:07:46.949 --> 00:07:51.990 us exactly why we exist. There's four things 00:07:51.990 --> 00:07:54.149 I want to show you. You can write these down. 00:07:54.290 --> 00:07:56.870 I want to show you our message. I want to show 00:07:56.870 --> 00:08:00.089 you our method. I want to show you our mission. 00:08:01.280 --> 00:08:05.480 And I wanna give to you our means. Okay, we'll 00:08:05.480 --> 00:08:08.240 just walk through this together. Number one, 00:08:08.699 --> 00:08:12.279 our message. Our message is Christ, you could 00:08:12.279 --> 00:08:16.720 say. Our message is Christ. First few words of 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:22.860 verse 28. Him we proclaim. The Apostle Paul is 00:08:22.860 --> 00:08:25.660 writing this letter here to the church in Colossae. 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:29.389 Now Colossae is a... a small town in what is 00:08:29.389 --> 00:08:33.210 now modern day Turkey. And Paul had actually 00:08:33.210 --> 00:08:36.090 not even been yet to Colossae when he wrote this 00:08:36.090 --> 00:08:40.169 to them, but you can see how much he loves this 00:08:40.169 --> 00:08:42.990 little church there. If you look in verse three, 00:08:43.169 --> 00:08:47.210 he says this, we always thank God, the father 00:08:47.210 --> 00:08:51.029 of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. 00:08:51.710 --> 00:08:53.610 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus 00:08:53.610 --> 00:08:56.950 and the love. that you have for all the saints. 00:08:57.850 --> 00:09:00.570 Look down in verse nine. And so, from when the 00:09:00.570 --> 00:09:03.190 day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for 00:09:03.190 --> 00:09:05.629 you, asking that you would be filled with the 00:09:05.629 --> 00:09:09.269 knowledge and all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 00:09:09.889 --> 00:09:11.730 Verse 10, so that you would walk in a manner 00:09:11.730 --> 00:09:17.169 worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him. And 00:09:17.169 --> 00:09:19.429 Paul has this deep love for this church and this 00:09:19.429 --> 00:09:22.740 deep. Desire to even one day be be part of this 00:09:22.740 --> 00:09:24.860 church and yet he writes this letter to them 00:09:24.860 --> 00:09:26.980 saying to them Hey, I have always thinking about 00:09:26.980 --> 00:09:29.279 you. I'm always praying for you. I have a I have 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:33.100 a love for you and then on from verse 10 down 00:09:33.100 --> 00:09:35.159 through the really through the end of the chapter 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:39.179 he he starts talking about Christ and and how 00:09:39.179 --> 00:09:45.980 Christ is over all things Focus shifts to who 00:09:45.980 --> 00:09:51.220 Christ is Verse 11 being strengthened with power 00:09:51.220 --> 00:09:53.139 according to his glorious might for the endurance 00:09:53.139 --> 00:09:55.919 and patience with joy Giving thanks to the father 00:09:55.919 --> 00:09:58.620 who has qualified us to share and the inheritance 00:09:58.620 --> 00:10:01.799 of the saints in the light verse 13 He Christ 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:03.919 has delivered us from the domain of darkness 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:06.580 He's transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved 00:10:06.580 --> 00:10:09.559 son in whom we have Redemption and the forgiveness 00:10:09.559 --> 00:10:12.559 of sins and he goes on and on verse 15 He is 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:15.320 the image of the invisible God the firstborn 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:18.100 of all creation by him all things were created 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:22.919 Keeps going through that whole section there 00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:26.279 verse 19 in him all the fullness of God was pleased 00:10:26.279 --> 00:10:29.860 to dwell Through him we reconcile himself all 00:10:29.860 --> 00:10:32.980 things whether on earth and the cross or in heaven 00:10:32.980 --> 00:10:37.000 making peace by the blood of the cross Verse 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:40.100 22 is he has now reconciled you in the body of 00:10:40.100 --> 00:10:43.779 flesh by his death in order to present you holy 00:10:43.779 --> 00:10:47.139 and blameless and above reproach before him and 00:10:47.139 --> 00:10:50.649 he keeps going on and on into verse Even 27 to 00:10:50.649 --> 00:10:54.330 them God chose to make known the great How great 00:10:54.330 --> 00:10:57.169 among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory 00:10:57.169 --> 00:11:02.210 of this mystery, which is Christ in you the hope 00:11:02.210 --> 00:11:06.870 of the glory I Mean Paul can't get enough of 00:11:06.870 --> 00:11:10.570 telling these people about Christ Who he is what 00:11:10.570 --> 00:11:14.549 he has done for them how he is the hope of the 00:11:14.549 --> 00:11:19.639 glory that is to come and then he says there 00:11:19.639 --> 00:11:22.419 in verse 27 that there is this mystery. And what 00:11:22.419 --> 00:11:24.320 is this mystery? This mystery that he's talking 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:27.500 about is how Christ would one day dwell in the 00:11:27.500 --> 00:11:29.820 believer and how the Old Testament saints couldn't 00:11:29.820 --> 00:11:32.340 understand it. But now this mystery has been 00:11:32.340 --> 00:11:34.740 revealed and there is this understanding how 00:11:34.740 --> 00:11:37.340 Christ has come into our life, how he dwells 00:11:37.340 --> 00:11:40.220 the believer and he radically transforms us from 00:11:40.220 --> 00:11:43.000 darkness into light. And then he says in verse 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:50.899 28, what? Him we proclaim. Christ we proclaim. 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:58.460 He's the hope and the glory that we have. In 00:11:58.460 --> 00:12:06.720 the Greek, verse 28, the word him is at the front 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:09.679 of the sentence. Some of you may have a translation 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:13.279 that says, we proclaim him. If you have the NASB 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:15.620 or maybe the New King James Version, it says, 00:12:15.899 --> 00:12:21.039 we proclaim him. In the Greek, the hymn comes 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:25.320 first to point out emphasis that it is only Christ 00:12:25.320 --> 00:12:30.740 that we proclaim. You could say that this is 00:12:30.740 --> 00:12:33.679 talking about him being Jesus, so Jesus is the 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:36.539 original hymn, okay? He's the original hymn, 00:12:36.740 --> 00:12:39.399 young adults. All right, he's him. All right, 00:12:39.480 --> 00:12:41.519 literally, he is him. It's right here in the 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:49.309 text. And it's him we proclaim. Why? Because 00:12:49.309 --> 00:12:53.070 he is the essence of the gospel. He is the hope 00:12:53.070 --> 00:12:59.070 that gives all sinners eternal life. Pastor J. 00:12:59.110 --> 00:13:02.409 Vernon McGee says this, the gospel is not what 00:13:02.409 --> 00:13:08.129 we preach, but it is whom we preach. No man ever 00:13:08.129 --> 00:13:10.909 preached the gospel who hasn't proclaimed Christ. 00:13:11.789 --> 00:13:16.149 Jesus Christ is the gospel. He is eternal life. 00:13:16.409 --> 00:13:18.929 John wrote that he was going to show us eternal 00:13:18.929 --> 00:13:21.789 life and that he had seen eternal life. And who 00:13:21.789 --> 00:13:26.429 had John seen? He'd seen Christ. So when you 00:13:26.429 --> 00:13:28.529 proclaim Christ, you're proclaiming the gospel. 00:13:28.970 --> 00:13:31.809 And you cannot proclaim the gospel apart from 00:13:31.809 --> 00:13:37.330 proclaiming Christ. This is the emphasis of the 00:13:37.330 --> 00:13:41.649 church. The word proclaim, it simply means this, 00:13:41.669 --> 00:13:46.529 to publicly declare. and in this case to declare 00:13:46.529 --> 00:13:51.129 plainly and openly the Christ the focus of all 00:13:51.129 --> 00:13:54.210 ministry. It's in the present tense which means 00:13:54.210 --> 00:13:58.809 you are continually and always proclaiming Jesus 00:13:58.809 --> 00:14:03.450 Christ. This was Paul's heart. Let me show you 00:14:03.450 --> 00:14:05.789 this. If you turn back to 1st Corinthians with 00:14:05.789 --> 00:14:07.830 me, I'll show you just a couple other places 00:14:07.830 --> 00:14:10.950 in 1st Corinthians where the Apostle Paul does 00:14:10.950 --> 00:14:17.230 this. Where this was the The soul thing, the 00:14:17.230 --> 00:14:19.710 singular thing that Paul would proclaim in 1 00:14:19.710 --> 00:14:31.169 Corinthians 1 verse 23 says this, but we preach 00:14:31.169 --> 00:14:36.870 Christ crucified. A stumbling block to the Jews 00:14:36.870 --> 00:14:38.929 and folly to the Gentiles, but to those who are 00:14:38.929 --> 00:14:43.509 called both Jew and Greeks, Christ The power 00:14:43.509 --> 00:14:49.929 of God in the wisdom of God Look over in 2 verse 00:14:49.929 --> 00:14:53.750 chapter 2 verse 1 and 2 and I When I came to 00:14:53.750 --> 00:14:56.289 you brothers did not come proclaiming to you 00:14:56.289 --> 00:14:59.250 the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom 00:14:59.250 --> 00:15:03.809 verse 2 For I decided to know nothing among you 00:15:03.809 --> 00:15:09.929 except what Jesus Christ and him crucified Look 00:15:09.929 --> 00:15:14.039 over in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 Second Corinthians 00:15:14.039 --> 00:15:20.940 chapter 4 and verse 5 He says this For what we 00:15:20.940 --> 00:15:26.360 proclaim is not ourselves But Jesus Christ as 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:31.220 Lord with ourselves as your servants for Jesus 00:15:31.220 --> 00:15:35.200 sake for God said Let light shine out of darkness 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:37.159 has shown in our hearts to give the light of 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:39.019 the knowledge of the glory of God in the face 00:15:39.019 --> 00:15:42.259 of Jesus Christ Who does he proclaim he proclaims 00:15:42.259 --> 00:15:49.649 Christ? He doesn't proclaim anybody else. He 00:15:49.649 --> 00:15:52.129 only proclaims Jesus Christ. He says there that 00:15:52.129 --> 00:15:55.289 we proclaim Him, talking about Timothy. There 00:15:55.289 --> 00:15:56.970 in Colossians 3, He's talking about Timothy. 00:15:57.389 --> 00:16:00.409 He's talking about Apaphras. But I want you to 00:16:00.409 --> 00:16:02.929 notice this and go back to Colossians chapter 00:16:02.929 --> 00:16:07.710 1. It says, Him we proclaim. But look over in 00:16:07.710 --> 00:16:13.409 chapter 3, in verse 16. He says, let the word 00:16:13.409 --> 00:16:17.570 of Christ dwell in you richly. Now you take up 00:16:17.570 --> 00:16:20.409 what? Teaching and admonishing one another in 00:16:20.409 --> 00:16:22.730 all wisdom. So this isn't something that just 00:16:22.730 --> 00:16:25.309 the leaders of the church do. This is something 00:16:25.309 --> 00:16:28.629 that the entire church rallies around. Our focus 00:16:28.629 --> 00:16:35.490 is Jesus Christ. That's who we teach. This is 00:16:35.490 --> 00:16:38.710 a church ride proclamation. A Christ -centered 00:16:38.710 --> 00:16:43.820 church. Jesus gets all the attention. Not our 00:16:43.820 --> 00:16:51.200 style. Not our music. Not the culture. Not psychology. 00:16:52.179 --> 00:16:57.100 Not self -help. Not a focus on politics. Not 00:16:57.100 --> 00:17:01.659 a focus on philosophy. We don't focus on emotionalism. 00:17:02.759 --> 00:17:07.140 We don't focus on adapting to cultural norms. 00:17:09.190 --> 00:17:12.250 We don't change our message to stay relevant. 00:17:13.869 --> 00:17:16.950 Christ and His power and the message of Jesus 00:17:16.950 --> 00:17:20.109 Christ will always be relevant in a sin -filled 00:17:20.109 --> 00:17:25.130 evil world. He's still the hope of eternal life. 00:17:27.109 --> 00:17:28.630 I want to show you this. One more thing I want 00:17:28.630 --> 00:17:31.130 to show you. Sorry, I'm not sorry. Turn to John 00:17:31.130 --> 00:17:34.029 chapter 7. I'm not sorry about anything. Why 00:17:34.029 --> 00:17:36.890 would I be sorry about this? We got to stay an 00:17:36.890 --> 00:17:39.599 extra couple minutes, okay? Coffee will be warm 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:43.099 for you in the back on your way out in John chapter 00:17:43.099 --> 00:17:47.440 6 John chapter 6 an interesting time. There's 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:50.160 20 some thousand people that Jesus feeds even 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:54.440 more Jesus then walks on water. He's had these 00:17:54.440 --> 00:17:57.299 two incredible miracles He then says to them 00:17:57.299 --> 00:17:59.559 I am the bread of life and he he tells him in 00:17:59.559 --> 00:18:02.259 verse 35 Whoever believes in me shall never thirst 00:18:02.259 --> 00:18:03.980 he starts pouring out his heart to all these 00:18:03.980 --> 00:18:08.640 people is this massive crowd of people He says 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:11.500 these things, and then he says some really hard 00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:15.359 things. Look at verse 60, when many of the disciples 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:17.559 heard this, they said, this is a hard saying 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:19.839 who can listen to it, but Jesus, knowing it himself, 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:21.859 the disciples were grumbling about this, said 00:18:21.859 --> 00:18:25.799 to them, do you take offense of this? Then what, 00:18:25.980 --> 00:18:28.220 what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending 00:18:28.220 --> 00:18:31.299 to go where he was before, if the Spirit who 00:18:31.299 --> 00:18:34.279 gives life, the flesh is no help at all, the 00:18:34.279 --> 00:18:35.980 words that I have spoken to you are the Spirit 00:18:35.980 --> 00:18:38.490 and life, but, There are some of you who do not 00:18:38.490 --> 00:18:42.589 believe, for Jesus knew from the beginning who 00:18:42.589 --> 00:18:45.009 those were who did not believe, who it was who 00:18:45.009 --> 00:18:47.369 would betray him. And he said, This is why I 00:18:47.369 --> 00:18:52.190 told you that no one can come to me unless it 00:18:52.190 --> 00:18:54.490 is granted to him by the Father. Look at verse 00:18:54.490 --> 00:18:58.450 66. And after this, many of his disciples turned 00:18:58.450 --> 00:19:01.970 away and no longer walked with him. So here's 00:19:01.970 --> 00:19:04.230 the image. These twenty thousand people. Jesus 00:19:04.230 --> 00:19:06.890 says this about eternal life and who he is. And 00:19:06.890 --> 00:19:10.150 all of them turn and walk away. Thousands and 00:19:10.150 --> 00:19:12.809 thousands of people turn away and walk away. 00:19:16.170 --> 00:19:21.150 Except for 12. Look at verse 67. So Jesus said 00:19:21.150 --> 00:19:24.930 to the 12th, do you want to go away as well? 00:19:25.849 --> 00:19:28.890 Do you want to leave as well? Here's your opportunity. 00:19:28.950 --> 00:19:30.589 You're going to either follow Christ or not. 00:19:31.630 --> 00:19:33.690 I love this. Simon Peter answered him and said 00:19:33.690 --> 00:19:40.230 this, Lord, To whom shall we go? You have the 00:19:40.230 --> 00:19:45.430 words of eternal life. You have the words of 00:19:45.430 --> 00:19:49.549 eternal life, Jesus. Where else should we go? 00:19:51.630 --> 00:19:54.390 And this is so good for us, and even to the church. 00:19:54.390 --> 00:19:58.069 Church, where else would you go but to proclaim 00:19:58.069 --> 00:20:03.910 Jesus? To the culture? You start preaching the 00:20:03.910 --> 00:20:06.940 culture in the church? You start pulling Santa 00:20:06.940 --> 00:20:12.960 Claus into the church and the Easter Bunny We 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:16.220 start talking about politics in the church as 00:20:16.220 --> 00:20:20.819 if politics can help us as Peter says where else 00:20:20.819 --> 00:20:26.460 would we go? Why would we go anywhere else? Jesus 00:20:26.460 --> 00:20:30.400 you have the words of eternal life Just proclaim 00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:36.579 Jesus Spend your time focused on Christ Tell 00:20:36.579 --> 00:20:39.900 us more about who Christ is. Listen, Christ is 00:20:39.900 --> 00:20:44.259 the only hope that we have. He's the hope for 00:20:44.259 --> 00:20:47.559 a broken marriage. He's the hope for the drug 00:20:47.559 --> 00:20:50.539 addict and the alcoholic. He's the hope for the 00:20:50.539 --> 00:20:53.559 discouraged and the anxious. He's the hope for 00:20:53.559 --> 00:20:55.400 the parents who are parenting their children. 00:20:55.460 --> 00:20:59.880 He is the hope for our failures. Why would we 00:20:59.880 --> 00:21:02.940 ever pivot away from Christ and ask the world 00:21:02.940 --> 00:21:07.339 how to do church? Why would we ever do that? 00:21:08.680 --> 00:21:10.799 We have the answer. It's just him that we need 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:17.380 to proclaim Our message is Christ I Had lunch 00:21:17.380 --> 00:21:20.500 with a friend who's a pastor and another church 00:21:20.500 --> 00:21:23.039 and we were talking and this church has been 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:26.500 struggling numerically and About five years ago. 00:21:26.500 --> 00:21:28.359 They started pulling in some cultural things 00:21:28.359 --> 00:21:31.440 and started doing some hires DEI type hires and 00:21:32.539 --> 00:21:34.680 Trying to take some cues from the culture as 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:41.279 to how to run their church. Try to take on some 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:45.579 more community type programs and at lunch he 00:21:45.579 --> 00:21:49.119 just looks at me and he goes, he puts his hand 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:52.400 up like this, he goes, I can't quite put my finger 00:21:52.400 --> 00:22:03.389 on it, but people are going to your church. and 00:22:03.389 --> 00:22:08.910 I I I don't know exactly you guys haven't told 00:22:08.910 --> 00:22:14.869 me why you keep coming back exactly but other 00:22:14.869 --> 00:22:17.750 than the grace of God and the fact that we just 00:22:17.750 --> 00:22:19.970 open up our Bibles and teach the Bible and you 00:22:19.970 --> 00:22:26.430 guys get fed the Word of God we have no silver 00:22:26.430 --> 00:22:31.170 bullet your pastor has one arrow in his quiver 00:22:33.930 --> 00:22:38.730 And we shoot that every week. We just proclaim 00:22:38.730 --> 00:22:45.069 Him. We preach Christ. And God has honored that. 00:22:45.109 --> 00:22:47.670 For whatever reason, God has decided to honor 00:22:47.670 --> 00:22:52.309 that. And to bless that. But there is no secret 00:22:52.309 --> 00:22:55.769 sauce. I had another guy ask me that. Literally, 00:22:55.930 --> 00:22:59.509 what's your secret sauce? And I was like, like 00:22:59.509 --> 00:23:01.369 the sauce on this burger we're about to eat? 00:23:01.430 --> 00:23:04.730 Like is that what... There's no secret sauce. 00:23:05.470 --> 00:23:07.750 We just do what the Bible asks us to do. We try 00:23:07.750 --> 00:23:12.769 to do that. We keep teaching about the hope of 00:23:12.769 --> 00:23:14.990 eternal life, and that's Jesus Christ, and that 00:23:14.990 --> 00:23:17.789 is exactly what Paul is saying to this church. 00:23:18.150 --> 00:23:21.609 Him we proclaim. Secondly, let me give you the 00:23:21.609 --> 00:23:25.769 method, lest we are here till noon. Our method, 00:23:26.130 --> 00:23:31.829 it is this. Our method is admonition and teaching. 00:23:32.980 --> 00:23:36.279 Says they're warning and we'll talk about that 00:23:36.279 --> 00:23:38.259 Says him we proclaim and he tells you how to 00:23:38.259 --> 00:23:40.259 do that. How are we to proclaim him? Well, we're 00:23:40.259 --> 00:23:42.819 warning everyone and we're teaching everyone 00:23:42.819 --> 00:23:45.279 with all wisdom notice there the word everyone 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:48.839 it's twice there and use it again For a third 00:23:48.839 --> 00:23:51.000 time to present everyone mature in Christ He's 00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:53.259 not talking about everyone in a worldwide sense 00:23:53.259 --> 00:23:55.740 or every person or every creature rather He is 00:23:55.740 --> 00:23:58.559 talking about everyone that we would encounter 00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:02.019 in our ministry Everyone was in the scope of 00:24:02.019 --> 00:24:04.380 our ministry. Everyone, we would say, that is 00:24:04.380 --> 00:24:07.680 a part of Redemption Hill Bible Church, they 00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:10.200 need to be warned and they need to be taught. 00:24:13.960 --> 00:24:17.359 Everyone. Everyone who is a part of your church 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:19.359 under the care of the elders and the leadership 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:21.880 team, they need to be warned, they need to be 00:24:21.880 --> 00:24:24.220 admonished, and they need to be taught. Now some 00:24:24.220 --> 00:24:26.400 of your Bibles, if you're using the ESB, says 00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:30.579 warning. If you are using the NASB or or another 00:24:30.579 --> 00:24:34.359 version, it may say admonishing. Let's do some 00:24:34.359 --> 00:24:36.779 work here. Let's get technical here to find out 00:24:36.779 --> 00:24:38.500 and get to the bottom of this and what this actually 00:24:38.500 --> 00:24:41.380 means. In the Greek, the word there, the Greek 00:24:41.380 --> 00:24:43.220 word in the original language, which we get our 00:24:43.220 --> 00:24:49.279 Bibles, is the word nuseto. Nuseto. It's the 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:52.019 English word where we get the word nusetic. When 00:24:52.019 --> 00:24:53.779 was the last time you used the word nusetic? 00:24:54.140 --> 00:24:55.920 Probably not very often, right? Because it was 00:24:55.920 --> 00:24:57.859 the first time I ever heard of this word. It's 00:24:57.859 --> 00:24:59.720 not a word that we use, it's not a very common 00:24:59.720 --> 00:25:03.619 word, but it is one, listen, that has to do with 00:25:03.619 --> 00:25:07.480 comforting. It's a word that the church has picked 00:25:07.480 --> 00:25:10.380 up and is used for counseling, nucetic counseling. 00:25:11.740 --> 00:25:13.779 The word literally means this, write this down, 00:25:13.859 --> 00:25:17.799 it means to place in the mind and to so warn 00:25:17.799 --> 00:25:27.650 or give notice before danger happens. The idea 00:25:27.650 --> 00:25:30.130 is to lay it on your mind and in the heart of 00:25:30.130 --> 00:25:34.029 a person with the stress being on influencing 00:25:34.029 --> 00:25:36.670 not only the intellect but the will, emotions, 00:25:36.910 --> 00:25:40.589 and the disposition. The idea is to counsel about 00:25:40.589 --> 00:25:44.130 avoidance of an improper course of conduct. So 00:25:44.130 --> 00:25:46.529 that's where the ESV has said part of your job 00:25:46.529 --> 00:25:50.710 is to warn. You gotta warn them. You gotta warn 00:25:50.710 --> 00:25:52.930 the church of false doctrine. You gotta warn 00:25:52.930 --> 00:26:01.500 the church about bad practice, about sin. One 00:26:01.500 --> 00:26:05.319 of the dictionaries that I look at says this, 00:26:05.660 --> 00:26:10.500 admonition is not condemnation. And when it presents 00:26:10.500 --> 00:26:12.740 the biblical principles for Christian living, 00:26:12.980 --> 00:26:17.960 it forms a valuable element in spiritual discipline. 00:26:20.900 --> 00:26:23.779 It's counsel that says, if you heed this counsel, 00:26:24.200 --> 00:26:26.880 prosperity comes. It's counsel that says, if 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:30.059 you ignore this counsel, then... Destruction 00:26:30.059 --> 00:26:32.700 will happen. That's what this word, nuicetic, 00:26:32.700 --> 00:26:40.200 means. And this is how we counsel here at Redemption 00:26:40.200 --> 00:26:47.740 Hill Bible Church. We counsel that oftentimes 00:26:47.740 --> 00:26:53.019 includes a warning. If you go down this path 00:26:53.019 --> 00:26:55.559 and continue in this sin, I want to let you know 00:26:55.559 --> 00:26:57.500 what the Bible says, and the Bible says that 00:26:57.500 --> 00:27:00.619 destruction will come. I want to let you know 00:27:00.619 --> 00:27:04.440 before the destruction happens. Married couple, 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:06.839 I want you to know if you don't learn to forgive 00:27:06.839 --> 00:27:09.880 one another and love one another, I'm warning 00:27:09.880 --> 00:27:12.380 you what the Bible says, this will happen in 00:27:12.380 --> 00:27:19.660 your marriage. Young people, if you continue 00:27:19.660 --> 00:27:22.680 down this path of sin, this is what's going to 00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:24.759 happen. That's what this word means that Paul 00:27:24.759 --> 00:27:26.799 is saying. We need to... We need to warn them, 00:27:26.900 --> 00:27:29.619 we need to counsel them, we need to admonish 00:27:29.619 --> 00:27:31.920 them, admonish the church, counsel the church, 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:34.720 give them biblical counseling that includes a 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:39.480 warning, not just self -help. Hey, just pull 00:27:39.480 --> 00:27:41.680 up your bootstraps, you got this. Look tomorrow 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:44.140 in the mirror and tell yourself, I've got this. 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:48.720 Tomorrow, I've got this. We don't teach self 00:27:48.720 --> 00:27:52.460 -help. We teach dependence upon Jesus Christ 00:27:52.460 --> 00:27:58.329 for strength and for grace. And we warn and we 00:27:58.329 --> 00:28:01.009 admonish and then secondly not only do we warn 00:28:01.009 --> 00:28:03.230 or admonish biblical counsel Which is also just 00:28:03.230 --> 00:28:05.369 a form of discipleship there, but secondly is 00:28:05.369 --> 00:28:07.309 this we proclaim Christ through what through 00:28:07.309 --> 00:28:11.769 teaching Through teaching the word the word here 00:28:11.769 --> 00:28:14.930 is in the the present tense It's a constant ongoing 00:28:14.930 --> 00:28:16.910 teaching that you have now I'm gonna spend a 00:28:16.910 --> 00:28:20.089 couple weeks here in a couple weeks I've entitled 00:28:20.089 --> 00:28:22.289 a sermon that we're gonna get to here called. 00:28:22.289 --> 00:28:27.220 Why do we preach for 40 minutes ish? every week. 00:28:29.900 --> 00:28:34.359 Why do we preach for 40 minutes -ish every week? 00:28:35.119 --> 00:28:40.700 Why do we preach? This helps us to understand 00:28:40.700 --> 00:28:45.039 that this is what we need. We need truth. We 00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:46.880 need to be reminded of truth. We forget truth 00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:49.519 all the time. We are confronted with people who 00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:52.079 tell us they have the truth and through social 00:28:52.079 --> 00:28:54.359 media and through Reels and through all kinds 00:28:54.359 --> 00:28:56.799 of different news outlets that are thinking that 00:28:56.799 --> 00:28:58.500 it's giving you the truth and we need to come 00:28:58.500 --> 00:29:01.140 back each week to be reminded of the truth and 00:29:01.140 --> 00:29:04.039 that is done through the teaching of God's word 00:29:04.039 --> 00:29:07.160 in this didactic matter. The word is actually 00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:11.240 didasco where we get the word didactic. Instruction 00:29:11.240 --> 00:29:15.400 in a formal or even in an informal setting. And 00:29:15.400 --> 00:29:17.140 these are just the two commands that are given 00:29:17.140 --> 00:29:20.140 to the pastors and teachers in the church to 00:29:20.140 --> 00:29:23.019 biblically counsel your people and to give them 00:29:23.019 --> 00:29:31.480 more truth. build them up, have them come to 00:29:31.480 --> 00:29:34.720 a place where they accept Christ as their Lord 00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:38.319 and Savior and then teach them, shape them, influence 00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:44.559 them, preach the Word to them. And this philosophy 00:29:44.559 --> 00:29:46.819 is carried out not just on Sunday mornings, but 00:29:46.819 --> 00:29:49.960 is also lessons that are being taught even right 00:29:49.960 --> 00:29:52.819 now in our children's ministry on Wednesday night 00:29:52.819 --> 00:29:55.599 at our ambassadors. It's all this teaching time, 00:29:55.720 --> 00:29:58.430 yes. It is important. Yes, as you know, it is 00:29:58.430 --> 00:30:00.849 the highlight of our Sunday mornings. Why? Because 00:30:00.849 --> 00:30:06.769 we are called to do this as a church. Which leads 00:30:06.769 --> 00:30:10.069 then to number three. Our mission, what's our 00:30:10.069 --> 00:30:12.170 mission? Well, it's right there. We're teaching 00:30:12.170 --> 00:30:17.670 everyone with all wisdom why. So that we may 00:30:17.670 --> 00:30:25.269 what? Present everyone mature in Christ. That 00:30:25.269 --> 00:30:30.529 we may present everyone mature in Christ. That 00:30:30.529 --> 00:30:36.529 is the goal. Again, the word everyone is used, 00:30:36.690 --> 00:30:38.650 it's not everyone worldwide, but it is everyone 00:30:38.650 --> 00:30:42.670 who is part of the local church. This is our 00:30:42.670 --> 00:30:44.849 role, this is our goal, this is our aim, that 00:30:44.849 --> 00:30:48.289 you would grow in Christ. That's what we want. 00:30:48.589 --> 00:30:50.349 More than anything else, we want you to come 00:30:50.349 --> 00:30:54.349 to a place of maturity. We want your life to 00:30:54.349 --> 00:30:57.140 see a less sin in your life and more righteousness 00:30:57.140 --> 00:31:00.480 in your life, a deeper commitment to the local 00:31:00.480 --> 00:31:02.720 church, a deeper commitment to Christ. That is 00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:05.160 what we want more than anything else out of your 00:31:05.160 --> 00:31:08.279 life. We want you to become more like Christ. 00:31:10.980 --> 00:31:14.480 In fact, this word even, maturity, it deals with 00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:18.619 this. It has this idea of commitment to Christ. 00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:22.799 A man by the name of Sinclair Ferguson, he says 00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:30.069 this. It says in a word, maturity equals Christlikeness. 00:31:32.730 --> 00:31:35.210 No other standard may be allowed to substitute. 00:31:35.930 --> 00:31:38.710 All other standards would be lesser man -made 00:31:38.710 --> 00:31:40.990 alternatives that disguise the all demanding 00:31:40.990 --> 00:31:43.589 standard God has set before us in scripture. 00:31:45.450 --> 00:31:49.069 We can't say that maturity is zeal or knowledge 00:31:49.069 --> 00:31:53.089 or orthodoxy. or success, those are easier standards 00:31:53.089 --> 00:31:58.630 by far. What would be particularly attractive 00:31:58.630 --> 00:32:01.470 about them, he goes on, he says, of course, is 00:32:01.470 --> 00:32:04.690 that we would measure ourselves against others 00:32:04.690 --> 00:32:08.930 with the same degree of satisfaction in our own 00:32:08.930 --> 00:32:11.190 performance. We might even, in this case, be 00:32:11.190 --> 00:32:19.150 obviously more mature than others. When you set 00:32:19.150 --> 00:32:27.250 your focus on Christ. Maturity happens. Not comparing 00:32:27.250 --> 00:32:29.690 yourself to other people based on qualities that 00:32:29.690 --> 00:32:34.309 are given to you by God, but leaning in and becoming 00:32:34.309 --> 00:32:36.589 more like Christ. That's what the word there 00:32:36.589 --> 00:32:42.170 means. We may present everyone mature in Christ. 00:32:44.430 --> 00:32:47.609 Now you say, how is this in our philosophy of 00:32:47.609 --> 00:32:48.849 ministry? Well, there's a lot of things that 00:32:48.849 --> 00:32:52.769 we can be devoted to. We could be devoted to 00:32:52.769 --> 00:32:56.549 having a multi -campus church. That could be 00:32:56.549 --> 00:33:00.049 our devotion. We could be devoted to having seven 00:33:00.049 --> 00:33:06.930 services and 15 on Christmas Eve and 14 on Easter. 00:33:06.950 --> 00:33:09.390 We could be devoted to those things and we could 00:33:09.390 --> 00:33:12.670 spend our energies trying to just bring in as 00:33:12.670 --> 00:33:17.130 many people as possible. We could shift our style 00:33:17.130 --> 00:33:19.289 around and we could shift our focus around and 00:33:19.289 --> 00:33:21.920 our attention around. And we could go out and 00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:23.640 we could say, in 10 years, we're going to plant 00:33:23.640 --> 00:33:26.359 1 ,000 churches around the area. And we could 00:33:26.359 --> 00:33:29.319 have that be our mission. But I'm telling you, 00:33:29.579 --> 00:33:32.420 Redemption Hill is about your spiritual maturity 00:33:32.420 --> 00:33:37.680 first and foremost. We care about you. And if 00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:39.380 God wants to bring people in our church, he'll 00:33:39.380 --> 00:33:43.359 bring people into our church. He'll decide how 00:33:43.359 --> 00:33:47.160 big our church is. But our focus as elders, as 00:33:47.160 --> 00:33:50.779 a leadership team, is on your spiritual Maturity. 00:33:51.799 --> 00:33:55.220 Are you growing in Christ? Are you being fed? 00:33:55.500 --> 00:34:04.900 Are you eating what we're feeding you? This is 00:34:04.900 --> 00:34:10.920 the mission that's been given to us. We are concerned 00:34:10.920 --> 00:34:17.559 with your spiritual depth. And as I've learned 00:34:17.559 --> 00:34:20.420 over the years in planting a church, God will 00:34:20.420 --> 00:34:23.900 provide people at the pace at which God wants 00:34:23.900 --> 00:34:29.599 to provide His people to the local church. God 00:34:29.599 --> 00:34:31.320 will grow His church. In fact, that was even 00:34:31.320 --> 00:34:33.980 promised, right? He even said, I will build my 00:34:33.980 --> 00:34:39.960 church. Jesus said, I will build my church. This 00:34:39.960 --> 00:34:42.300 is Christ's church. And He's gonna build it at 00:34:42.300 --> 00:34:43.980 the pace at which He wants to build it and what 00:34:43.980 --> 00:34:45.659 we need to be focused on are the right things. 00:34:45.800 --> 00:34:48.139 and the right things are is your spiritual maturity, 00:34:49.260 --> 00:34:54.460 your spiritual growth. We're united in this. 00:34:55.940 --> 00:35:01.320 This is what we labor over. I have been asked 00:35:01.320 --> 00:35:03.099 over the years, what is the plan? What's your 00:35:03.099 --> 00:35:09.559 five -year plan for the church? How is it that 00:35:09.559 --> 00:35:12.960 your church has grown and other churches haven't? 00:35:15.849 --> 00:35:18.130 And I remember one time a guy asked me that and 00:35:18.130 --> 00:35:20.869 I go, man, I wish I had a better answer than 00:35:20.869 --> 00:35:22.769 the fact that we just open up our Bible and we 00:35:22.769 --> 00:35:26.070 care about the souls of people. And I got done 00:35:26.070 --> 00:35:27.349 with that lunch and Shay looked at me and he 00:35:27.349 --> 00:35:30.510 goes, don't ever apologize for that. And I go, 00:35:30.610 --> 00:35:33.710 you're right, Shay. Why am I apologizing about 00:35:33.710 --> 00:35:42.309 that? We want to concern our things with the 00:35:42.309 --> 00:35:45.849 things that God is concerned about. We want to 00:35:45.849 --> 00:35:47.869 love our people. We want to hold them accountable. 00:35:48.789 --> 00:35:50.550 We want to do all that we can to see them grow 00:35:50.550 --> 00:35:54.650 in Christ, warn them, counsel them, disciple 00:35:54.650 --> 00:36:01.329 them. And God will take care of how big the church 00:36:01.329 --> 00:36:07.250 will get or how small the church will get. And 00:36:07.250 --> 00:36:09.829 we can't get off track on that. Right? Once you 00:36:09.829 --> 00:36:11.429 get off track on that, you start to compromise. 00:36:12.670 --> 00:36:16.559 Always compromising that. Just to remind you 00:36:16.559 --> 00:36:21.480 guys, we are Shepherds Not CEOs. The goal is 00:36:21.480 --> 00:36:23.239 to feed the sheep so they can be healthy and 00:36:23.239 --> 00:36:28.280 strong. We hope that you eat the green grass 00:36:28.280 --> 00:36:30.340 of scripture and discipleship. We hope you take 00:36:30.340 --> 00:36:34.820 all of it in. It's funny, I was listening to 00:36:34.820 --> 00:36:36.420 Alistair Begg and Alistair Begg said, you don't 00:36:36.420 --> 00:36:39.460 see in scripture, you don't read in scripture 00:36:39.460 --> 00:36:42.440 or visualize in scripture a shepherd holding 00:36:42.440 --> 00:36:45.590 a sheep and then spoon feeding it. The grass. 00:36:46.949 --> 00:36:48.409 I thought that was kind of a funny little picture. 00:36:49.349 --> 00:36:52.630 This sheep just holding it and just grabbing 00:36:52.630 --> 00:36:54.869 the grass and shoving it into the sheep's mouth. 00:36:56.130 --> 00:36:57.570 You don't see that in scripture, but what do 00:36:57.570 --> 00:37:02.530 you see? Shepherds leading them to green pastures. 00:37:03.889 --> 00:37:06.829 Leading them in hopes that they will take in 00:37:06.829 --> 00:37:08.909 the truths of God's Word and apply it to their 00:37:08.909 --> 00:37:15.289 lives. We're committed to that. Committed to 00:37:15.289 --> 00:37:17.769 feeding as much green grass as we can give you 00:37:17.769 --> 00:37:19.989 and as much as you can handle in hopes that you 00:37:19.989 --> 00:37:27.869 will mature in Christ. Lastly is the means. The 00:37:27.869 --> 00:37:31.210 means. What is our means? Our means is the power 00:37:31.210 --> 00:37:34.690 of Christ. Our means is the power of Christ. 00:37:34.789 --> 00:37:38.389 Look at verse 29. What does Paul say? He says, 00:37:38.550 --> 00:37:43.079 for this I toil. struggling with all his energy 00:37:43.079 --> 00:37:47.059 that he powerfully works within me. The only 00:37:47.059 --> 00:37:49.360 way the work of ministry gets done in the church 00:37:49.360 --> 00:37:54.599 is by the power of Jesus Christ. The reality 00:37:54.599 --> 00:37:56.960 is this, is pastoral ministry takes work, it 00:37:56.960 --> 00:37:59.699 takes labor, it takes toil, and I don't say that 00:37:59.699 --> 00:38:02.860 for sympathy or for sympathy for our elders and 00:38:02.860 --> 00:38:04.960 our leadership team. I say that just so you understand 00:38:04.960 --> 00:38:06.880 the reality of it. This is just what it takes. 00:38:10.599 --> 00:38:13.159 Around the office we call it the blessed burden 00:38:13.159 --> 00:38:16.320 the blessing of being in ministry But understanding 00:38:16.320 --> 00:38:22.500 the weight of caring for the souls of the people 00:38:22.500 --> 00:38:27.539 And Paul says this I I toil and I struggle with 00:38:27.539 --> 00:38:30.840 all his energy with with his energy and he doubles 00:38:30.840 --> 00:38:34.179 down he says it's his energy and then what that 00:38:34.179 --> 00:38:40.829 he powerfully works within me And that word there 00:38:40.829 --> 00:38:43.369 for labor, it's the word that we get agonized 00:38:43.369 --> 00:38:46.510 with, or we say, we agonize over these things. 00:38:46.550 --> 00:38:49.469 It has to do with an athletic competition. It 00:38:49.469 --> 00:38:53.369 means to fight. It means to do battle that can 00:38:53.369 --> 00:38:56.010 be done both physically and mentally. And Paul 00:38:56.010 --> 00:38:59.409 understands that if he is going to advance the 00:38:59.409 --> 00:39:02.230 kingdom of God that is going to take a fight, 00:39:02.389 --> 00:39:05.690 it's gonna take agonizing over the word of God. 00:39:05.789 --> 00:39:08.519 It's gonna take... dealing with people and working 00:39:08.519 --> 00:39:11.719 with people and loving people and all of that. 00:39:12.159 --> 00:39:14.420 And if he does that on his own strength, he will 00:39:14.420 --> 00:39:23.139 burn himself out. So he says, I toil and I labor 00:39:23.139 --> 00:39:27.239 and I struggle with his energy that he powerfully 00:39:27.239 --> 00:39:30.920 works within me. Now this is not just true for 00:39:30.920 --> 00:39:33.179 the leadership team. This is true for all those 00:39:33.179 --> 00:39:42.739 who are part of the ministry. It is work to open 00:39:42.739 --> 00:39:44.679 up your home every single week to bring people 00:39:44.679 --> 00:39:49.780 in. Especially when it's dark at four o 'clock 00:39:49.780 --> 00:39:52.480 and it's rainy and all you want to do is sit 00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:55.820 on your couch with a remote. I get it. It takes 00:39:55.820 --> 00:39:59.280 a sacrifice to do that. It takes a sacrifice 00:39:59.280 --> 00:40:01.340 to wake up early in the morning to go to a men's 00:40:01.340 --> 00:40:04.440 Bible study. I get that. That takes work. It 00:40:04.440 --> 00:40:08.380 takes labor. It takes work and it takes labor 00:40:08.380 --> 00:40:12.260 to sign yourself up to go down and help the three 00:40:12.260 --> 00:40:15.019 year olds learn about Jesus. That takes work. 00:40:16.460 --> 00:40:18.699 It takes work and it takes labor to come early 00:40:18.699 --> 00:40:22.159 and set up and tear down and to be on the welcome 00:40:22.159 --> 00:40:27.179 team and the coffee team and to be serving within 00:40:27.179 --> 00:40:29.579 the church. All of that takes work and all of 00:40:29.579 --> 00:40:33.539 that takes labor. And Paul admits that. And if 00:40:33.539 --> 00:40:35.300 you do it on your own strength, you won't want 00:40:35.300 --> 00:40:42.880 to do it anymore. Your flesh is strong. The force 00:40:42.880 --> 00:40:45.780 of the flesh is strong with you and every other 00:40:45.780 --> 00:40:52.039 human being. But with Christ's power, you can 00:40:52.039 --> 00:40:56.960 serve within the local church. You can commit 00:40:56.960 --> 00:41:02.199 yourself to this. To no other... to know greater 00:41:02.199 --> 00:41:11.500 joy than seeing people walk in the truth. We're 00:41:11.500 --> 00:41:14.340 committed to work hard, and I know you are as 00:41:14.340 --> 00:41:18.300 well. We have so many servants in this church, 00:41:18.340 --> 00:41:20.820 so many people that serve so well every single 00:41:20.820 --> 00:41:24.019 week. I'm always blown away. I always walk through 00:41:24.019 --> 00:41:26.639 right here as my route in. I walk, I tear down 00:41:26.639 --> 00:41:29.989 the bushes here as I walk through. And I walk 00:41:29.989 --> 00:41:32.469 through the coffee section and every week there's 00:41:32.469 --> 00:41:36.530 somebody in there making us coffee. I love that. 00:41:38.610 --> 00:41:42.590 I know you do too. Cause you're drinking. Every 00:41:42.590 --> 00:41:44.510 week somebody brings us doughnut holes and we 00:41:44.510 --> 00:41:51.349 skewer them on a stick. Every week people are 00:41:51.349 --> 00:41:56.289 serving the Lord. Every week people are stepping 00:41:56.289 --> 00:41:59.739 up and doing the work. of the ministry and helping 00:41:59.739 --> 00:42:03.679 out so that we can proclaim Him, so that we can 00:42:03.679 --> 00:42:06.039 teach and admonish with all wisdom, that we can 00:42:06.039 --> 00:42:10.760 present everyone mature in Christ. This is Redemption 00:42:10.760 --> 00:42:18.340 Hill. This is what we do. My last question to 00:42:18.340 --> 00:42:21.940 you is this. Why wouldn't you want to be a part 00:42:21.940 --> 00:42:27.619 of that? Let's hold you back. What's keeping 00:42:27.619 --> 00:42:30.059 you from signing up next week to be a part and 00:42:30.059 --> 00:42:35.239 committing yourself to membership? It's time 00:42:35.239 --> 00:42:37.500 to get off the sidelines. It's time to take up 00:42:37.500 --> 00:42:41.539 the take off the the warm -up Jersey and get 00:42:41.539 --> 00:42:45.119 in the game It's time to deepen your commitment 00:42:45.119 --> 00:42:49.820 to Christ to his church you haven't been serving 00:42:49.820 --> 00:42:53.780 now is the time to serve You haven't been giving 00:42:54.010 --> 00:42:55.989 Faithfully to church, now's the time to be giving 00:42:55.989 --> 00:43:03.210 faithfully to the church of your finances. Now's 00:43:03.210 --> 00:43:07.949 the time to deepen your commitment to Christ 00:43:07.949 --> 00:43:14.230 and to his church. Let's pray. Lord, thank you. 00:43:15.150 --> 00:43:17.829 Thank you so much for what you're doing in our 00:43:17.829 --> 00:43:22.119 church. So many great things are happening. So 00:43:22.119 --> 00:43:26.400 many faithful people who are laboring to see 00:43:26.400 --> 00:43:30.860 others be complete in Christ. People who are 00:43:30.860 --> 00:43:33.860 showing up every week. People who are showing 00:43:33.860 --> 00:43:36.940 up during the week to have coffee with people 00:43:36.940 --> 00:43:39.239 and lunch with people and minister to one another. 00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:42.780 People who are opening up their homes to bring 00:43:42.780 --> 00:43:46.179 others in. People who are leading Bible studies 00:43:46.179 --> 00:43:50.559 in small groups and so many... many people on 00:43:50.559 --> 00:43:53.820 the volunteer list who just want to be a part 00:43:53.820 --> 00:43:56.079 of something that is bigger than themselves. 00:43:59.039 --> 00:44:02.280 And we are the recipients of that hard work and 00:44:02.280 --> 00:44:09.599 that labor. Lord thank you for the fact that 00:44:09.599 --> 00:44:15.800 we don't have to come up on our own with our 00:44:15.800 --> 00:44:21.230 own mission. You've given us the mission. You've 00:44:21.230 --> 00:44:23.329 even given us the method by which we're to do 00:44:23.329 --> 00:44:27.170 that. And you're gonna give us the power and 00:44:27.170 --> 00:44:29.969 the strength to be able to accomplish that. So 00:44:29.969 --> 00:44:34.070 we lean on you and we trust you, Lord. This is 00:44:34.070 --> 00:44:37.130 your church. It's not Joe Penworthy's church. 00:44:37.710 --> 00:44:43.650 Heaven forbid. This is Christ's church. This 00:44:43.650 --> 00:44:48.460 is not the church of the elders. This is your 00:44:48.460 --> 00:44:53.860 church. And I'm reminded, Lord, that you don't 00:44:53.860 --> 00:44:57.179 need us. You're gonna build your church with 00:44:57.179 --> 00:45:01.880 or without us. So what a blessing it is to be 00:45:01.880 --> 00:45:07.260 a part of it. And that you would use us. And 00:45:07.260 --> 00:45:10.300 that we can be part of making and maturing disciples 00:45:10.300 --> 00:45:15.079 of Jesus Christ. Pray for your blessing upon 00:45:15.079 --> 00:45:18.960 all of this is for your glory in Jesus name. 00:45:19.179 --> 00:45:19.440 Amen