WEBVTT 00:00:02.890 --> 00:00:06.290 It's good for us to sing new settings for our 00:00:06.290 --> 00:00:09.109 faith. I don't know if you noticed the words 00:00:09.109 --> 00:00:10.910 carefully as you were trying to learn the tune 00:00:10.910 --> 00:00:19.070 as well, but it's a tremendous hymn. All of us 00:00:19.070 --> 00:00:23.269 have been in much prayer this last week for Mark 00:00:23.269 --> 00:00:27.570 Corman, one of our young men who was injured 00:00:27.570 --> 00:00:31.350 playing softball with one of our teams on Monday 00:00:31.350 --> 00:00:36.600 night. Just as a word of update, he had surgery 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:41.840 midweek on his spine, and as yet there has been 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:48.200 no recovery of mobility below his chest. He has 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:51.340 surgery scheduled again for Tuesday morning, 00:00:51.420 --> 00:00:56.420 and the last time they came in from behind to 00:00:56.420 --> 00:00:59.439 do their work, this time they go through the 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:02.619 front, through his neck. and will strengthen 00:01:02.619 --> 00:01:07.459 the spinal column and remove what they think 00:01:07.459 --> 00:01:10.939 is another piece of bone in the area of the spinal 00:01:10.939 --> 00:01:14.359 cord. But the word that we have from the surgeon 00:01:14.359 --> 00:01:17.319 is that the spinal cord has been very badly crushed, 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:22.280 although not severed. At this point, the surgeon 00:01:22.280 --> 00:01:26.359 does not seem especially hopeful that Mark will 00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:31.609 walk. We want to be praying. and asking God for 00:01:31.609 --> 00:01:36.950 a miracle. Debbie is here this morning, and Betty, 00:01:36.989 --> 00:01:39.010 his mother, and other family members, and we 00:01:39.010 --> 00:01:42.590 just continue to assure you, as your church family, 00:01:42.670 --> 00:01:45.609 of our love, and want you to know that we will 00:01:45.609 --> 00:01:49.829 continue to uphold you in prayer, and Mark as 00:01:49.829 --> 00:01:54.250 well, in these important days and critical days. 00:01:55.109 --> 00:01:57.349 I'd like for us to bow right now and have prayer 00:01:57.349 --> 00:02:00.219 as a church family for Mark. Would you? Join 00:02:00.219 --> 00:02:08.560 me, please. Father, I thank you that whatever 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:12.639 befalls us in this life, that because you have 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:15.199 chosen us and called us as your own children, 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:21.840 nothing happens by accident. Behind even the 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:24.780 dark things, the difficult things that happen, 00:02:24.819 --> 00:02:30.449 we see your providence. And while we cannot always 00:02:30.449 --> 00:02:34.750 understand why things happen as they do, we can 00:02:34.750 --> 00:02:38.210 rest upon the fact that there is a reason known 00:02:38.210 --> 00:02:43.090 in the good, kind, and eternal purposes of God. 00:02:44.990 --> 00:02:49.990 Now, Lord, that is our faith. We rest upon that 00:02:49.990 --> 00:02:54.210 truth. And yet you enable us to come to you and 00:02:54.210 --> 00:03:00.360 offer our petitions. As Mark's church family, 00:03:00.580 --> 00:03:06.560 as those who love him dearly, we intercede on 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:12.620 his behalf. Father, we pray that if it be your 00:03:12.620 --> 00:03:17.659 will, you would cause him to regain the use of 00:03:17.659 --> 00:03:22.259 his limbs. We pray that Mark will be able to 00:03:22.259 --> 00:03:27.169 walk again and will be entirely restored. We 00:03:27.169 --> 00:03:29.949 come confidently to the throne of grace to offer 00:03:29.949 --> 00:03:34.629 this petition because you've invited us to. And 00:03:34.629 --> 00:03:36.969 even Mark has said, the will of God be done, 00:03:37.050 --> 00:03:40.490 and we concur with that. But Lord, that is our 00:03:40.490 --> 00:03:44.169 heart. That is our petition to you. And we pray 00:03:44.169 --> 00:03:47.770 that the surgery on Tuesday will go well. And 00:03:47.770 --> 00:03:49.930 we pray that that will be part of the process 00:03:49.930 --> 00:03:55.539 of him being restored entirely to health. And 00:03:55.539 --> 00:03:57.740 this petition we bring to you in the name and 00:03:57.740 --> 00:04:01.639 authority of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. 00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:08.659 Thank you. And now would you open your Bible 00:04:08.659 --> 00:04:12.740 with me, please, to Ephesians chapter 4, as we 00:04:12.740 --> 00:04:18.920 look again at verses 15 and 16. A song heard 00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:22.220 frequently on radio stations, especially around 00:04:22.220 --> 00:04:28.430 Christmas, is titled Childhood. It's a secular 00:04:28.430 --> 00:04:31.529 song, but its words capture something of the 00:04:31.529 --> 00:04:35.689 joy, freedom, and innocence that belong to the 00:04:35.689 --> 00:04:40.629 early years of life. But it concludes with the 00:04:40.629 --> 00:04:44.850 realization that once you've passed its portals, 00:04:44.850 --> 00:04:50.730 you can never return again. Growing up, whether 00:04:50.730 --> 00:04:54.610 in a physical sense, or in a spiritual sense, 00:04:54.990 --> 00:05:00.290 does not come without cost. As we grow up, there 00:05:00.290 --> 00:05:04.990 are some things that must be laid aside, but 00:05:04.990 --> 00:05:08.069 the result of that is, the positive side is, 00:05:08.350 --> 00:05:12.209 that even better things come as a result of the 00:05:12.209 --> 00:05:17.569 process of growing. Growing up entails a certain 00:05:17.569 --> 00:05:22.269 cost, but the benefits of the process are well 00:05:22.269 --> 00:05:27.529 worth it. I suppose that one could resist paying 00:05:27.529 --> 00:05:31.810 the price of growth, but the result would be 00:05:31.810 --> 00:05:34.610 sad and even tragic. It would be to miss out 00:05:34.610 --> 00:05:37.350 on the deeper, more meaningful issues of life. 00:05:39.250 --> 00:05:42.529 In a spiritual sense, God has not called us to 00:05:42.529 --> 00:05:46.470 remain spiritual children playing ring around 00:05:46.470 --> 00:05:51.540 the rosy while the world goes to hell. He has 00:05:51.540 --> 00:05:55.040 called us to grow up, that we might make the 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:58.139 most of the opportunities which he has given 00:05:58.139 --> 00:06:02.540 to us in this life. Now, when I say growing up 00:06:02.540 --> 00:06:06.480 has a cost, I'm thinking of growth in two respects, 00:06:06.819 --> 00:06:10.860 in a personal respect and in a body or corporate 00:06:10.860 --> 00:06:15.120 or whole church respect. Our text today mentions 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:20.579 both. He says we are to grow up. in all aspects 00:06:20.579 --> 00:06:24.899 into him who is the head, even Christ, from whom 00:06:24.899 --> 00:06:28.779 the whole body, being fitted and held together 00:06:28.779 --> 00:06:32.699 by that which every joint supplies, according 00:06:32.699 --> 00:06:36.819 to the proper working of each individual part, 00:06:37.139 --> 00:06:43.350 causes the growth of the body. And so you see 00:06:43.350 --> 00:06:45.750 there is a personal aspect in which he speaks 00:06:45.750 --> 00:06:47.910 as well as one that affects all of us in the 00:06:47.910 --> 00:06:51.529 corporate body of Christ. So first understand 00:06:51.529 --> 00:06:57.389 that personal spiritual growth requires a cost. 00:06:58.129 --> 00:07:02.930 It is not without price. I believe that we can 00:07:02.930 --> 00:07:07.089 summarize the price by saying this. The price 00:07:07.089 --> 00:07:11.079 of growing up personally and spiritually is a 00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:14.060 deepening commitment to the Lordship of Jesus 00:07:14.060 --> 00:07:19.079 Christ. For as we grow up, we must also grow 00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:25.259 down deeply into His Lordship to be rooted. As 00:07:25.259 --> 00:07:28.139 you and I determine by the grace of God to pay 00:07:28.139 --> 00:07:32.060 the price to grow up spiritually, it will involve 00:07:32.060 --> 00:07:36.259 several things. It will involve new areas of 00:07:36.259 --> 00:07:39.949 concern. that may be uncovered and which will 00:07:39.949 --> 00:07:44.949 have to be dealt with. These may be habits, attitudes, 00:07:45.269 --> 00:07:49.610 or actions which in our childhood were thought 00:07:49.610 --> 00:07:53.930 acceptable, but which as we grow up into the 00:07:53.930 --> 00:07:58.810 Lord will be called into question by His Lordship 00:07:58.810 --> 00:08:02.790 in our lives. This can be any number of things, 00:08:02.889 --> 00:08:06.250 but let me suggest just a few that are common. 00:08:07.390 --> 00:08:11.930 One would be in the way that we use Sunday, our 00:08:11.930 --> 00:08:16.129 use of the Lord's Day, how we employ these hours 00:08:16.129 --> 00:08:20.009 on the first day of the week. When one is in 00:08:20.009 --> 00:08:22.670 spiritual immaturity in childhood, Sunday is, 00:08:22.769 --> 00:08:26.790 in many ways, just another day of the week. But 00:08:26.790 --> 00:08:30.449 if one is going to grow up spiritually, it means 00:08:30.449 --> 00:08:34.110 facing how Sunday is used for the glory of God. 00:08:35.850 --> 00:08:39.549 For some people, an issue like this would be 00:08:39.549 --> 00:08:43.649 smoking. There are some people who believe that 00:08:43.649 --> 00:08:46.629 a person cannot be saved until he stops smoking. 00:08:47.590 --> 00:08:51.710 Of course, that's ridiculous. But the fact is 00:08:51.710 --> 00:08:55.370 that when one is maturing and growing up in Christ, 00:08:55.710 --> 00:08:58.830 very often one of the first things the Lord will 00:08:58.830 --> 00:09:01.250 put his hand on is an issue like that in the 00:09:01.250 --> 00:09:06.419 life that defiles the body. When I was growing 00:09:06.419 --> 00:09:08.840 up, we said that smoking stunted one's growth. 00:09:08.980 --> 00:09:12.700 Now we know it also shortens one's life. It's 00:09:12.700 --> 00:09:15.799 foolish to do that. But one can be a Christian 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:21.419 and still smoke. But as one grows up, the lordship 00:09:21.419 --> 00:09:23.840 of Jesus Christ will begin to reach into areas 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:26.120 like that. Another issue similar to that would 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:30.659 be social drinking. Can one have a beer with 00:09:30.659 --> 00:09:34.120 his meal and be a Christian? Well, the answer 00:09:34.120 --> 00:09:38.919 is yes, he can. But as a person grows up and 00:09:38.919 --> 00:09:41.440 understands more and more the lordship of Jesus 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:43.799 Christ, there's a price to pay for that growth. 00:09:44.700 --> 00:09:47.320 And the lordship of Jesus Christ will touch things 00:09:47.320 --> 00:09:51.080 like that. I remember we had a man in our church 00:09:51.080 --> 00:09:54.340 who testified to that well over a year ago now, 00:09:54.460 --> 00:09:57.279 before all of us. And there were some who kind 00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:59.700 of gasped when he mentioned having a beer before 00:09:59.700 --> 00:10:01.919 his meal because of the heritage he grew up with. 00:10:02.519 --> 00:10:05.320 but that now he had laid that aside as he understood 00:10:05.320 --> 00:10:09.220 the lordship of Jesus Christ. There is a price 00:10:09.220 --> 00:10:14.919 to be paid to grow spiritually. It is an ever 00:10:14.919 --> 00:10:17.200 -deepening commitment to the lordship of Jesus 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:21.639 Christ. It involves areas like careless speech, 00:10:21.980 --> 00:10:27.240 even the casual ways in which some people use 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:36.820 jargon to speak of God. Like gosh and gee. Now 00:10:36.820 --> 00:10:38.840 there are some people who are not at all offended 00:10:38.840 --> 00:10:44.279 by those terms. And I wasn't either at one point 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:47.480 until I began to understand what those words 00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:51.139 really mean, what they stand for. And my heart 00:10:51.139 --> 00:10:54.779 became sensitive to the use of them. And I do 00:10:54.779 --> 00:10:57.000 not feel comfortable using terms like that any 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:00.320 longer. It was careless speech that the Lord 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:05.320 dealt with in my life. It can involve areas like 00:11:05.320 --> 00:11:07.480 television, the kinds of shows that we watch. 00:11:08.759 --> 00:11:11.360 My point is this, and I'm only being suggestive 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:13.059 because there could be so many applications, 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:17.320 that if you and I wish to grow spiritually, there 00:11:17.320 --> 00:11:21.220 is a cost with growth. It does not happen without 00:11:21.220 --> 00:11:24.740 a price being paid. The price in general can 00:11:24.740 --> 00:11:27.539 be said to be this, a deepening commitment to 00:11:27.539 --> 00:11:31.139 the lordship of Jesus Christ over our lives. 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:35.480 And he will begin to touch areas of life that 00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:37.799 before we did not have any sensitivity about. 00:11:38.059 --> 00:11:41.440 But now as we begin to grow, as he enforces his 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:44.980 lordship more widely, we begin to see that some 00:11:44.980 --> 00:11:49.200 things have to fall away, that we may grow. A 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:52.419 new understanding of sin in our lives. It means 00:11:52.419 --> 00:11:54.620 that we must deal with those things, for Christ 00:11:54.620 --> 00:11:59.940 will not lead us onward until we put off those 00:11:59.940 --> 00:12:05.759 sins in our lives which grieve him. My point 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:08.600 is this, that the walk that leads to higher ground 00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:14.860 is a narrow one, and it becomes increasingly 00:12:14.860 --> 00:12:20.049 narrow the further along one gets. That walk 00:12:20.049 --> 00:12:23.710 to higher ground has less and less room for excess 00:12:23.710 --> 00:12:29.509 baggage. The extraneous, the extravagant, the 00:12:29.509 --> 00:12:35.370 urgent, even the good will gradually be squeezed 00:12:35.370 --> 00:12:39.370 out of our lives so that we can experience God's 00:12:39.370 --> 00:12:47.289 best. There is a cost to growing up. This has 00:12:47.289 --> 00:12:51.480 been reflected. In an anonymous tract that has 00:12:51.480 --> 00:12:53.960 been written and widely circulated, perhaps you 00:12:53.960 --> 00:12:57.639 have seen it, it's entitled, Others May, You 00:12:57.639 --> 00:13:01.879 Cannot. Listen to the provoking words of the 00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:05.360 author. If God has called you to be really like 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:09.519 Jesus, he will draw you into a life of crucifixion 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:13.059 and humility. and put upon you such demands of 00:13:13.059 --> 00:13:15.279 obedience that you will not be able to follow 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:18.059 other people or measure yourself by other Christians, 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:21.419 and in many ways he will seem to let other people 00:13:21.419 --> 00:13:25.720 do things which he will not let you do. Other 00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:28.320 Christians who seem very religious and useful 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:33.100 may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes 00:13:33.100 --> 00:13:37.039 to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it. 00:13:37.370 --> 00:13:39.389 And if you attempt it, you will meet with such 00:13:39.389 --> 00:13:41.929 failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you 00:13:41.929 --> 00:13:46.370 sorely penitent. Others may boast of themselves, 00:13:46.730 --> 00:13:50.590 of their work, of their successes, but the Holy 00:13:50.590 --> 00:13:52.990 Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing. 00:13:53.049 --> 00:13:55.450 And if you begin it, he will lead you into some 00:13:55.450 --> 00:13:58.809 deep mortification that will make you despise 00:13:58.809 --> 00:14:02.490 yourself and all your good works. Others may 00:14:02.490 --> 00:14:05.610 be allowed to succeed in making money. or may 00:14:05.610 --> 00:14:09.129 have a legacy left to them. But it is likely 00:14:09.129 --> 00:14:12.190 God will keep you poor because he wants you to 00:14:12.190 --> 00:14:15.250 have something far better than gold, namely a 00:14:15.250 --> 00:14:18.370 helpless dependence upon him, that he may have 00:14:18.370 --> 00:14:21.269 the privilege of supplying your needs day by 00:14:21.269 --> 00:14:25.090 day out of an unseen treasury. The Lord may let 00:14:25.090 --> 00:14:28.549 others be honored and put forward and keep you 00:14:28.549 --> 00:14:32.299 hidden in obscurity. because he wants to produce 00:14:32.299 --> 00:14:35.340 some choice fragrant fruit for his coming glory, 00:14:35.620 --> 00:14:40.000 which can only be produced in the shade. He may 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.259 let others be great and keep you small. He may 00:14:44.259 --> 00:14:46.700 let others do a work for him and get the credit 00:14:46.700 --> 00:14:49.840 for it, but he will make you work and toil on 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:53.480 without knowing how much you are doing. And then 00:14:53.480 --> 00:14:56.179 to make your work still more precious, he may 00:14:56.179 --> 00:14:58.360 let others get credit for the work you have done. 00:14:59.500 --> 00:15:02.779 and thus make your reward ten times greater when 00:15:02.779 --> 00:15:06.580 Jesus comes. The Holy Spirit will put a strict 00:15:06.580 --> 00:15:09.360 watch over you with a jealous love and will rebuke 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:12.580 you for little words and feelings and for wasting 00:15:12.580 --> 00:15:15.879 your time, which other Christians never feel 00:15:15.879 --> 00:15:20.220 distressed over. So make up your mind that God 00:15:20.220 --> 00:15:23.580 is an infinite sovereign and has a right to do 00:15:23.580 --> 00:15:27.220 as he pleases with his own. He may not explain 00:15:27.220 --> 00:15:30.879 to you a thousand things which puzzle your reason 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:34.179 in his dealings with you, but if you absolutely 00:15:34.179 --> 00:15:38.340 sell yourself to be his love slave, he will wrap 00:15:38.340 --> 00:15:41.240 you in a jealous love and bestow upon you many 00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:44.820 blessings which come only to those who are in 00:15:44.820 --> 00:15:49.019 the inner circle. Settle it forever, then, that 00:15:49.019 --> 00:15:51.340 you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit 00:15:51.340 --> 00:15:54.120 and that he is to have the privilege of tying 00:15:54.120 --> 00:15:58.200 your tongue or chaining your hand, or closing 00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:01.980 your eyes in ways that he does not seem to use 00:16:01.980 --> 00:16:05.460 with others. Now when you are possessed with 00:16:05.460 --> 00:16:08.100 the living God, so possessed with the living 00:16:08.100 --> 00:16:12.399 God, that you are in your secret heart, pleased 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:16.159 and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, 00:16:16.379 --> 00:16:19.159 jealous guardianship and management of the Holy 00:16:19.159 --> 00:16:22.100 Spirit over your life, you will have found the 00:16:22.100 --> 00:16:28.019 vestibule of heaven. I believe the author has 00:16:28.019 --> 00:16:30.179 found the secret that we're talking about this 00:16:30.179 --> 00:16:34.980 morning. God's plan for us is to grow up. But 00:16:34.980 --> 00:16:37.080 beloved, for us to grow up personally, there 00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:42.019 is a cost that is extracted from us. Are you 00:16:42.019 --> 00:16:45.220 willing to pay that price, whatever it may be? 00:16:46.840 --> 00:16:50.279 Are you willing to lay down the price to grow, 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:57.450 however dear that price may seem to you? There 00:16:57.450 --> 00:17:03.429 is no growth without paying a cost. Not only 00:17:03.429 --> 00:17:06.029 does personal growth involve a cost, but so does 00:17:06.029 --> 00:17:10.529 church growth or corporate growth. As we grow 00:17:10.529 --> 00:17:14.349 up and grow out as a church, it means that there 00:17:14.349 --> 00:17:18.210 is a price that must be paid. Our Lord's plan 00:17:18.210 --> 00:17:21.450 is for the church to grow up in verse 15. It 00:17:21.450 --> 00:17:24.410 mentions that. And in verse 16, the implication 00:17:24.410 --> 00:17:31.109 is the growing out of the body. One of the prices 00:17:31.109 --> 00:17:34.150 that has to be paid, and it's one of the most 00:17:34.150 --> 00:17:37.690 difficult, is changing our way of thinking about 00:17:37.690 --> 00:17:42.369 our church. Do you know that the reason that 00:17:42.369 --> 00:17:46.029 most churches stop growing is not lack of space 00:17:46.029 --> 00:17:51.579 or the change of the neighborhood? or the change 00:17:51.579 --> 00:17:56.160 of leadership. The reason that most churches 00:17:56.160 --> 00:18:01.119 stop growing is because the people have not been 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:03.799 able to change their way of thinking to adjust 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:07.880 to the church as it grows. In other words, the 00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:11.660 limitation to growth is psychological and not 00:18:11.660 --> 00:18:17.200 spiritual. There is no spiritual reason why a 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:20.480 church could not grow to be 10 ,000 or 50 ,000. 00:18:21.940 --> 00:18:24.599 Indeed, there is one church in South Korea that 00:18:24.599 --> 00:18:30.079 is said to be over half a million in size. Now 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:33.099 how is that? How can a church grow like that? 00:18:33.319 --> 00:18:36.619 Because, for one reason, the people are able 00:18:36.619 --> 00:18:39.319 to adjust their thinking in some cases to allow 00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:44.009 for additional church growth. Did you realize 00:18:44.009 --> 00:18:45.930 that more than three -fourths of the churches 00:18:45.930 --> 00:18:48.950 in the United States of America are 100 or below? 00:18:51.089 --> 00:18:53.490 Part of the reason for that is that many of those 00:18:53.490 --> 00:18:57.990 churches are in small communities. And in some 00:18:57.990 --> 00:19:00.609 cases, the growth has reached its maximum simply 00:19:00.609 --> 00:19:04.210 because of the limitations of population in an 00:19:04.210 --> 00:19:08.869 area. But even in this metro area, with almost 00:19:08.869 --> 00:19:11.829 an unlimited population of people, some two million 00:19:11.829 --> 00:19:14.710 strong, Think of all of the small churches that 00:19:14.710 --> 00:19:18.490 you pass by on your way to Grace Church from 00:19:18.490 --> 00:19:22.690 your home to here. Why is it that churches stop 00:19:22.690 --> 00:19:25.829 growing? Because of the thinking of the people. 00:19:26.509 --> 00:19:28.829 There are certain thresholds that churches get 00:19:28.829 --> 00:19:31.450 to. One of them is about 100. It's the first 00:19:31.450 --> 00:19:36.170 challenge. If a church can get by 100, then it 00:19:36.170 --> 00:19:39.289 can grow to several hundred. But normally, when 00:19:39.289 --> 00:19:41.809 you reach 1 ,000, you reach another threshold. 00:19:43.500 --> 00:19:46.420 Most churches never get beyond a thousand people 00:19:46.420 --> 00:19:52.619 because the congregation is unable to think in 00:19:52.619 --> 00:19:57.339 terms of a church that large. Once a church gets 00:19:57.339 --> 00:20:00.299 past a thousand, it can often go on to between 00:20:00.299 --> 00:20:02.980 two and three thousand. But then again, there 00:20:02.980 --> 00:20:05.440 is another plateau, there is another threshold 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:08.319 that requires another adjustment in the thinking 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:12.230 of the congregation. So what I'm saying to you 00:20:12.230 --> 00:20:15.069 this morning is this, that one of the prices 00:20:15.069 --> 00:20:17.730 that must be paid if a church is going to continue 00:20:17.730 --> 00:20:20.789 to grow is an adjustment in our way of thinking 00:20:20.789 --> 00:20:24.950 about a church. It perhaps is the most challenging 00:20:24.950 --> 00:20:28.549 aspect of church growth. The fact is that most 00:20:28.549 --> 00:20:30.730 of us in this congregation this morning have 00:20:30.730 --> 00:20:35.549 come from smaller churches. How many of you have 00:20:35.549 --> 00:20:37.829 come from churches of 100 or below? Would you 00:20:37.829 --> 00:20:42.420 lift your hand? All right, 150 to 200 or below. 00:20:42.519 --> 00:20:46.059 Would you lift your hands? It's a good half of 00:20:46.059 --> 00:20:51.619 us. When we come out of smaller situations, in 00:20:51.619 --> 00:20:54.440 the kind of situation that I grew up in, there's 00:20:54.440 --> 00:20:56.680 a tremendous challenge in coming into a church 00:20:56.680 --> 00:21:00.119 that has several hundred people in it. It requires 00:21:00.119 --> 00:21:03.779 an adjustment in our way of thinking. Because 00:21:03.779 --> 00:21:07.039 you see, there's a basic fact of life that many 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:10.089 people have not... come to understand, and that 00:21:10.089 --> 00:21:14.730 is that a larger church is not a small church 00:21:14.730 --> 00:21:19.990 that has grown larger. I want to repeat that. 00:21:20.470 --> 00:21:25.990 A large church is not a small church that has 00:21:25.990 --> 00:21:30.890 grown larger. A large church is a completely 00:21:30.890 --> 00:21:38.599 different kind of a church. It's a different 00:21:38.599 --> 00:21:42.279 kind of animal when you begin to deal with a 00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:46.680 large church. We have to understand that. There's 00:21:46.680 --> 00:21:49.299 a gentleman by the name of Lyle Schaller who 00:21:49.299 --> 00:21:51.980 has written a great deal about church growth, 00:21:52.200 --> 00:21:57.420 who would not be of our doctrinal position probably, 00:21:57.500 --> 00:22:00.240 but who nonetheless has some tremendous insights 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:04.420 as to the growth patterns and principles in churches. 00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:07.480 I'd like to share with you just briefly, and 00:22:07.480 --> 00:22:09.940 I don't have time to comment on them, but I would 00:22:09.940 --> 00:22:12.039 like to share with you briefly what he observes 00:22:12.039 --> 00:22:14.420 as some of the distinctives of a larger church. 00:22:14.680 --> 00:22:18.220 I think some of these may surprise you. This 00:22:18.220 --> 00:22:22.019 comes after decades, literally, of study of churches. 00:22:22.900 --> 00:22:25.059 So he's not writing down just some thoughts. 00:22:25.160 --> 00:22:28.519 He's writing down what he has found true over 00:22:28.519 --> 00:22:32.940 and over and over again in churches. He says, 00:22:32.980 --> 00:22:36.130 the larger the church, the more difficult it 00:22:36.130 --> 00:22:40.990 is to enlist lay volunteers. Did you hear that? 00:22:42.170 --> 00:22:44.609 I've heard it said by some people in our congregation, 00:22:44.890 --> 00:22:47.269 understandably so, why is it that when we have 00:22:47.269 --> 00:22:49.950 something that requires volunteers, we get a 00:22:49.950 --> 00:22:52.309 meager response from our church? Look at all 00:22:52.309 --> 00:22:57.029 of those people. The fact is that the larger 00:22:57.029 --> 00:23:00.170 a church becomes, the more difficult it is to 00:23:00.170 --> 00:23:03.029 get volunteers to do something. And there are 00:23:03.029 --> 00:23:05.150 some very logical reasons for that that I don't 00:23:05.150 --> 00:23:07.589 have time to go into, but one of them is the 00:23:07.589 --> 00:23:10.650 fact that volunteering often is based upon relationships. 00:23:12.190 --> 00:23:14.569 And in a larger church, there aren't a lot of 00:23:14.569 --> 00:23:16.849 those close kinds of relationships among all 00:23:16.849 --> 00:23:19.430 of the members. There are deep relationships 00:23:19.430 --> 00:23:23.250 among groups within the church, but not among 00:23:23.250 --> 00:23:27.150 the congregation as a whole. He says the larger 00:23:27.150 --> 00:23:29.369 the church, the more conflict there is over the 00:23:29.369 --> 00:23:34.119 use of rooms. I have seen that true. I have not 00:23:34.119 --> 00:23:36.000 sensed it true here in this church particularly, 00:23:36.599 --> 00:23:40.039 but there has been some of that, because you 00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:41.960 see in a larger church, often there are rooms 00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:45.599 set aside for specific purposes. In a smaller 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:50.819 church, you have three rooms, and everybody understands 00:23:50.819 --> 00:23:53.200 you've got to share those three rooms. In a larger 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:55.920 church, you have sometimes a room set aside for 00:23:55.920 --> 00:23:58.259 the choir, and a room set aside for the toddlers, 00:23:58.299 --> 00:24:01.069 and a room set aside for this. And then when 00:24:01.069 --> 00:24:03.589 people began to use those rooms for other purposes, 00:24:03.630 --> 00:24:06.769 problems developed. He says the larger the church, 00:24:06.890 --> 00:24:09.690 the more important it is to have off -street, 00:24:09.690 --> 00:24:14.690 convenient parking. Now, we have people who park 00:24:14.690 --> 00:24:20.130 all the way down B2, as well as across the street 00:24:20.130 --> 00:24:22.569 in that parking lot, and even down in the high 00:24:22.569 --> 00:24:26.049 school parking lot. One of our great needs at 00:24:26.049 --> 00:24:28.190 the present time is to increase our parking, 00:24:28.269 --> 00:24:30.849 to get people off the street. so that the parking 00:24:30.849 --> 00:24:34.569 is convenient as well. We say people should be 00:24:34.569 --> 00:24:40.289 willing to ride a shuttle, but they aren't, and 00:24:40.289 --> 00:24:44.990 particularly newcomers are not. I wish I had 00:24:44.990 --> 00:24:46.789 more time to talk about that, but I have to go 00:24:46.789 --> 00:24:48.829 on. The larger the church, the more vulnerable 00:24:48.829 --> 00:24:52.750 the church is to unexpected changes. We often 00:24:52.750 --> 00:24:55.589 think of a large church as being like a fortress, 00:24:55.829 --> 00:24:59.119 and nothing can shake it. But the fact is that 00:24:59.119 --> 00:25:01.460 the larger the church, the more fragile it is, 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:06.279 and the more unstable, potentially, it is. An 00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:08.680 unexpected change would be like the leaving of 00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:13.599 the pastor. A larger church is much more susceptible 00:25:13.599 --> 00:25:16.180 to problems when that happens than a smaller 00:25:16.180 --> 00:25:20.220 church. The larger the church, the more important 00:25:20.220 --> 00:25:22.279 it is to accept the fact that the senior minister 00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:26.269 cannot be the shepherd to every member. That 00:25:26.269 --> 00:25:28.410 should be obvious to us, but sometimes it's not. 00:25:29.690 --> 00:25:33.390 The larger the church, the more likely it is 00:25:33.390 --> 00:25:35.269 that a member who attends at a different hour 00:25:35.269 --> 00:25:39.230 will feel like a stranger in his own church. 00:25:39.890 --> 00:25:42.849 That's because a larger church literally becomes, 00:25:43.190 --> 00:25:46.970 in its celebration, in its worship, a congregation 00:25:46.970 --> 00:25:50.609 of congregations. That's what we are here in 00:25:50.609 --> 00:25:53.470 this service this morning. We are several congregations 00:25:53.470 --> 00:25:57.670 here in this congregation. We have to be able 00:25:57.670 --> 00:26:00.230 to adjust to that and understand that that's 00:26:00.230 --> 00:26:02.990 the way it is. He says the larger the church, 00:26:03.130 --> 00:26:05.670 the more expectation there is of high quality 00:26:05.670 --> 00:26:08.849 and planning of events in materials that are 00:26:08.849 --> 00:26:11.650 produced and in appearance of the facilities. 00:26:11.970 --> 00:26:15.650 And that's true. People expect more out of a 00:26:15.650 --> 00:26:18.829 larger church. The larger the church, the more 00:26:18.829 --> 00:26:21.769 important that name tags be used, he says, to 00:26:21.769 --> 00:26:25.490 identify people. Now, we do that in most of our 00:26:25.490 --> 00:26:29.670 small churches. Schaller says that it's important 00:26:29.670 --> 00:26:33.069 to do that as people come into worship because 00:26:33.069 --> 00:26:35.490 it's only possible for most of us to know 100 00:26:35.490 --> 00:26:40.069 people or a maximum of 150 people by name. Now, 00:26:40.069 --> 00:26:42.309 we don't even know that many people deeply, but 00:26:42.309 --> 00:26:45.170 we can know them by name. So when we come to 00:26:45.170 --> 00:26:48.410 meet with 500 people as we do here in this auditorium 00:26:48.410 --> 00:26:51.539 in this hour, You can only know one -fifth of 00:26:51.539 --> 00:26:53.880 these people unless you are an exceptional person. 00:26:55.140 --> 00:26:58.400 Therefore, in order to greet people, in order 00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:01.759 for there to be that sense of acquaintance, it 00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:03.519 would be good for all of us to wear name tags 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:06.480 even in worship. He says the larger the church, 00:27:06.579 --> 00:27:09.099 the more important smaller groups become to a 00:27:09.099 --> 00:27:13.960 healthy whole. The maximum size that is suggested 00:27:13.960 --> 00:27:18.940 for smaller groups by most people is 70. They 00:27:18.940 --> 00:27:21.160 say once it gets beyond 70, you're back into 00:27:21.160 --> 00:27:25.119 a larger situation and you lose dynamics. Some 00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:27.680 of our small churches have gotten beyond that 00:27:27.680 --> 00:27:32.819 point, and that's not good for us. The larger 00:27:32.819 --> 00:27:34.920 the church, the more important that the smaller 00:27:34.920 --> 00:27:37.259 groups, in our case as we would call that small 00:27:37.259 --> 00:27:44.960 churches, become to the healthy whole body. Now 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:46.799 those are some distinctives of a larger church. 00:27:46.920 --> 00:27:49.759 There are others that I could go into. But just 00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:53.900 understand what my point is. Now one of the prices 00:27:53.900 --> 00:27:56.960 that we must pay in order for our church to continue 00:27:56.960 --> 00:28:00.319 growing beyond the point where we are now is 00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:02.759 that all of us will have to change our way of 00:28:02.759 --> 00:28:05.119 thinking about our church. We are not a small 00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:08.160 church that has grown larger. We are a different 00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:16.160 kind of thing. We are a larger church. There 00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:18.660 are some costs that come when one is involved 00:28:18.660 --> 00:28:22.480 in a larger church. I've listed but three of 00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:27.140 them here. In a larger, growing church, increasingly 00:28:27.140 --> 00:28:30.420 major decisions must be delegated to appointed 00:28:30.420 --> 00:28:34.619 groups of leaders. In other words, the larger 00:28:34.619 --> 00:28:37.579 the church becomes, the more impossible it is 00:28:37.579 --> 00:28:40.940 for the whole congregation to have enough facts 00:28:40.940 --> 00:28:44.799 to make good decisions. Therefore, the cost is 00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:48.299 this, that most of us give our decision -making 00:28:48.299 --> 00:28:51.299 ability to smaller groups of people within the 00:28:51.299 --> 00:28:53.900 church who make the decisions on our behalf. 00:28:55.599 --> 00:28:58.220 So there is a cost that is involved. Some people 00:28:58.220 --> 00:29:00.920 have a very difficult time with that because 00:29:00.920 --> 00:29:02.920 they come out of church backgrounds where there 00:29:02.920 --> 00:29:06.579 were 60 or 100 people and everything that was 00:29:06.579 --> 00:29:09.079 going on everybody knew about and everybody could 00:29:09.079 --> 00:29:11.680 vote and make an intelligent decision. But the 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:14.000 larger the church, the more impossible that becomes. 00:29:14.700 --> 00:29:17.420 Each person will have less knowledge of all that's 00:29:17.420 --> 00:29:20.799 going on and will have less personal input into 00:29:20.799 --> 00:29:23.740 the decision -making process. That's a cost that 00:29:23.740 --> 00:29:26.200 we must be willing to pay if we're going to grow. 00:29:27.740 --> 00:29:30.160 Then in a growing and larger church, the second 00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:32.539 cost is this, that no one can be expected to 00:29:32.539 --> 00:29:36.920 be involved in everything, nor should one expect 00:29:36.920 --> 00:29:39.519 to find that everything will meet his or her 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:43.450 personal need. The reason for that is that there 00:29:43.450 --> 00:29:46.509 will develop, as a church grows, a variety of 00:29:46.509 --> 00:29:50.809 ministries. A church will become more like a 00:29:50.809 --> 00:29:54.569 smorgasbord rather than a home -cooked meal. 00:29:55.769 --> 00:29:57.910 With a home -cooked meal, you sit down, you take 00:29:57.910 --> 00:30:00.269 a little bit of everything, and you enjoy the 00:30:00.269 --> 00:30:03.789 meal that way. But there are times when we enjoy 00:30:03.789 --> 00:30:07.009 going to a buffet, and we take some of this, 00:30:07.089 --> 00:30:08.849 and we leave that, and we take some of this, 00:30:08.849 --> 00:30:13.480 and we leave that. and we enjoy that meal. Well, 00:30:13.539 --> 00:30:17.119 a larger church is more like the buffet. We all 00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:19.500 can't be involved in everything that's going 00:30:19.500 --> 00:30:22.900 on, and everything isn't for us personally, but 00:30:22.900 --> 00:30:26.220 it's ministering to somebody here, and that's 00:30:26.220 --> 00:30:31.440 why it's happening. So there's a cost. Some people 00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:34.440 are used to being involved in everything. And 00:30:34.440 --> 00:30:36.519 they feel very frustrated when they can't be 00:30:36.519 --> 00:30:38.839 in everything that's going on because they come 00:30:38.839 --> 00:30:42.079 from smaller situations. Realize that you have 00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:45.319 to adjust your thinking. You can't be involved 00:30:45.319 --> 00:30:47.779 in everything that's going on in a larger church. 00:30:49.119 --> 00:30:51.420 Then in the larger and growing church, there 00:30:51.420 --> 00:30:53.940 are some traditions that must be set aside to 00:30:53.940 --> 00:30:57.839 allow meaningful change. I am not talking about 00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:01.380 doctrine, but I am talking about methods that 00:31:01.380 --> 00:31:05.630 are used. As a church grows, it has to develop 00:31:05.630 --> 00:31:13.109 new wineskins to hold its new wine. If a church 00:31:13.109 --> 00:31:15.589 will not allow that to happen, then it will be 00:31:15.589 --> 00:31:21.410 stagnated at some point. I know of a church which 00:31:21.410 --> 00:31:28.109 has used the same adult curriculum in their Sunday 00:31:28.109 --> 00:31:34.240 school since back in the 1930s. Now, for the 00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:36.920 first, it's a seven -year program of going through 00:31:36.920 --> 00:31:41.119 the Bible. And for the first two or three times 00:31:41.119 --> 00:31:44.140 going through that, that is up until the 50s, 00:31:44.140 --> 00:31:48.200 maybe even into the 60s, that was really a pretty 00:31:48.200 --> 00:31:52.900 dynamic part of that church. But today, I'm sorry 00:31:52.900 --> 00:31:57.539 to say that that very methodology that was such 00:31:57.539 --> 00:32:00.000 an important part of the foundation of that church 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.769 has become a stranglehold on the church. And 00:32:04.769 --> 00:32:07.609 the church a number of years ago peaked and is 00:32:07.609 --> 00:32:10.670 in decline. And one of the reasons is that the 00:32:10.670 --> 00:32:13.589 congregation is unable to lay aside a tradition 00:32:13.589 --> 00:32:17.410 that was once used of God and blessed of God, 00:32:17.450 --> 00:32:21.289 but which isn't effective today. And because 00:32:21.289 --> 00:32:24.009 they're unwilling to pay the cost, they're not 00:32:24.009 --> 00:32:27.630 growing. And the fact is that a church never 00:32:27.630 --> 00:32:34.029 plateaus for very long. A church only plateaus 00:32:34.029 --> 00:32:39.470 briefly before it begins its descent. There is 00:32:39.470 --> 00:32:42.170 really no such thing as status quo in a church. 00:32:43.029 --> 00:32:45.390 There is not such a thing as just holding your 00:32:45.390 --> 00:32:49.369 own. A church is either in growth or it's in 00:32:49.369 --> 00:32:53.549 decline, except for brief periods in between. 00:32:56.329 --> 00:32:58.569 But having talked about some of the distinctives 00:32:58.569 --> 00:33:00.930 of a larger church as well as the costs of being 00:33:00.930 --> 00:33:02.950 involved in a larger church, I would like to 00:33:02.950 --> 00:33:05.529 remind all of us that there are some tremendous 00:33:05.529 --> 00:33:08.910 benefits in a larger church. Again, I'd like 00:33:08.910 --> 00:33:12.250 to mention three just quickly. One is that in 00:33:12.250 --> 00:33:16.130 a larger church we are able to participate in 00:33:16.130 --> 00:33:20.009 a higher quality of ministry. In other words, 00:33:20.029 --> 00:33:22.930 an example of that would be Music ministry in 00:33:22.930 --> 00:33:25.210 a larger church is often of a better quality 00:33:25.210 --> 00:33:29.349 than a smaller church. I go home to visit the 00:33:29.349 --> 00:33:34.369 church where I grew up in Kansas. Over the years, 00:33:34.410 --> 00:33:37.269 the church has changed quite a bit. Some of the 00:33:37.269 --> 00:33:39.609 people there have grown older. I don't understand 00:33:39.609 --> 00:33:43.069 that. And other people have come in that I don't 00:33:43.069 --> 00:33:46.329 recognize at all. I appreciate that congregation 00:33:46.329 --> 00:33:50.190 so much. Some of my family is in the choir there. 00:33:51.079 --> 00:33:55.400 And they're so sincere. And they do the very 00:33:55.400 --> 00:33:58.059 best they can, and I thank God for that. I thank 00:33:58.059 --> 00:34:01.299 God for that. But after hearing the choir that 00:34:01.299 --> 00:34:03.980 God has gifted us with, it sometimes is a little 00:34:03.980 --> 00:34:08.000 hard. And there are other illustrations of that 00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:10.960 sort. The point is this, that in a larger church, 00:34:11.039 --> 00:34:12.739 you and I have the privilege of participating 00:34:12.739 --> 00:34:15.480 in a higher quality of ministry. And frankly, 00:34:15.579 --> 00:34:17.239 there are a lot of people who are expecting that 00:34:17.239 --> 00:34:20.340 these days. because of so much Christian broadcasting 00:34:20.340 --> 00:34:23.500 and the availability of recordings and tapes 00:34:23.500 --> 00:34:27.260 and cassettes and so on. People are used to better 00:34:27.260 --> 00:34:30.159 quality than they were used to 30 years ago. 00:34:31.420 --> 00:34:33.820 A second benefit of a larger church is that we 00:34:33.820 --> 00:34:36.960 can enjoy a broader range of ministry, where 00:34:36.960 --> 00:34:39.780 a larger church is able to specialize in areas. 00:34:40.960 --> 00:34:43.280 For example, a larger church is able to have 00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:46.469 a better defined youth ministry. The reason that 00:34:46.469 --> 00:34:48.469 some of you have come to Grace Church is because 00:34:48.469 --> 00:34:51.130 there is a youth ministry here that can be effective 00:34:51.130 --> 00:34:56.289 for your family. In a larger church, there are 00:34:56.289 --> 00:34:59.429 support groups that are developed for people 00:34:59.429 --> 00:35:02.409 who have various kinds of need, everything from 00:35:02.409 --> 00:35:09.190 single parents to recovering alcoholics. In a 00:35:09.190 --> 00:35:11.050 larger church, there are opportunities to use 00:35:11.050 --> 00:35:14.590 a wider variety of gifts often and abilities. 00:35:15.630 --> 00:35:17.469 One of the things that we're excited about is 00:35:17.469 --> 00:35:20.369 seeing drama increased in our church and used 00:35:20.369 --> 00:35:22.969 with our music in some other ways. There are 00:35:22.969 --> 00:35:24.650 some people who are very excited about that, 00:35:24.670 --> 00:35:26.510 who are part of our church, because they have 00:35:26.510 --> 00:35:29.429 training and talents in the area of drama, and 00:35:29.429 --> 00:35:32.190 this is an opportunity for them to use it. Well, 00:35:32.230 --> 00:35:34.449 often it's the larger church that's able to provide 00:35:34.449 --> 00:35:37.309 that kind of an outlet. A third benefit of a 00:35:37.309 --> 00:35:39.409 larger church is that we can realize a wider 00:35:39.409 --> 00:35:43.710 outreach in ministry. The facts are, normally, 00:35:44.320 --> 00:35:46.820 The larger churches will have a greater impact 00:35:46.820 --> 00:35:51.019 in an area than smaller churches. One larger 00:35:51.019 --> 00:35:54.599 church often has a greater impact than if that 00:35:54.599 --> 00:35:56.920 congregation, let's say, of a thousand were in 00:35:56.920 --> 00:36:01.139 ten churches of a hundred. More people potentially 00:36:01.139 --> 00:36:04.139 can be reached and ministered to, and there is 00:36:04.139 --> 00:36:08.619 greater power in a larger church to impact missions, 00:36:08.980 --> 00:36:14.829 to train, to send, to do special projects. So 00:36:14.829 --> 00:36:16.829 my point is this, that despite the fact that 00:36:16.829 --> 00:36:18.989 there are some costs with a larger church, just 00:36:18.989 --> 00:36:22.389 as there are costs with a smaller church, I think 00:36:22.389 --> 00:36:25.170 that the benefits, the advantages of a larger 00:36:25.170 --> 00:36:33.650 church far outweigh the costs. I would not want 00:36:33.650 --> 00:36:36.550 anyone to think that my point this morning is 00:36:36.550 --> 00:36:39.889 that smaller churches are to be looked down upon 00:36:39.889 --> 00:36:43.489 or condemned. They are not. Each congregation, 00:36:44.349 --> 00:36:47.349 must develop according to God's plan for that 00:36:47.349 --> 00:36:52.190 congregation. It certainly would not be God's 00:36:52.190 --> 00:36:54.230 will, I would think, for all churches to be churches 00:36:54.230 --> 00:37:01.710 of 10 ,000 or 100 ,000 or even 1 ,000. But I 00:37:01.710 --> 00:37:04.590 do believe this, and I believe it without apology 00:37:04.590 --> 00:37:06.730 on the basis of what we're looking at in God's 00:37:06.730 --> 00:37:09.710 Word in Ephesians chapter 4, that it is the will 00:37:09.710 --> 00:37:14.469 of God for every church to keep growing. It may 00:37:14.469 --> 00:37:19.550 be at different speeds. But I see no exception 00:37:19.550 --> 00:37:27.710 in the Word of God to a growing church. One of 00:37:27.710 --> 00:37:29.429 the things, I should say, that can shut it off 00:37:29.429 --> 00:37:33.829 is the thinking of the congregation. There are 00:37:33.829 --> 00:37:36.010 other things as well, of course, but that's such 00:37:36.010 --> 00:37:40.579 a major concern in most churches. If a church 00:37:40.579 --> 00:37:43.320 is to grow, there is a price that must be paid. 00:37:44.500 --> 00:37:47.079 My message today is intended to help all of us 00:37:47.079 --> 00:37:49.820 see that while we look at Ephesians chapter 4 00:37:49.820 --> 00:37:52.199 and we talk about the growing up and the growing 00:37:52.199 --> 00:37:59.000 out of us personally and of us as a group, that 00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:03.239 does not happen automatically. That happens only 00:38:03.239 --> 00:38:06.739 when you and I are willing to pay the price to 00:38:06.739 --> 00:38:11.550 grow. Are you willing to adjust your thinking? 00:38:12.530 --> 00:38:16.389 Are you willing to adjust your expectations of 00:38:16.389 --> 00:38:21.289 our church so that our church can become all 00:38:21.289 --> 00:38:26.110 that God wants it to be as a larger church? Are 00:38:26.110 --> 00:38:31.050 you willing in your walk with God to grow spiritually 00:38:31.050 --> 00:38:35.130 and to pay whatever price God calls you to pay? 00:38:36.809 --> 00:38:39.570 Are you willing for the Lordship of Jesus Christ 00:38:39.570 --> 00:38:43.929 to begin narrowing your walk as you press on 00:38:43.929 --> 00:38:50.369 the upward way to higher ground? With that narrow 00:38:50.369 --> 00:38:54.090 walk, there will come the laying aside of certain 00:38:54.090 --> 00:38:57.170 things that now you're carrying along as excess 00:38:57.170 --> 00:39:06.400 baggage. After Mark had been taken to the hospital 00:39:06.400 --> 00:39:12.360 Monday night, Pastor Sulak was there in the emergency 00:39:12.360 --> 00:39:17.860 room with him. At that point, none of us realized 00:39:17.860 --> 00:39:20.500 the extent of his injuries except the fact that 00:39:20.500 --> 00:39:24.059 he was paralyzed from his chest down with limited 00:39:24.059 --> 00:39:28.599 feeling in his hands. Mark did not know how seriously 00:39:28.599 --> 00:39:33.929 he was injured, but he said, Dave, I just want 00:39:33.929 --> 00:39:39.010 to be God's man. He said, I want the will of 00:39:39.010 --> 00:39:42.269 God. He said, I want God to be glorified in this. 00:39:49.130 --> 00:39:52.010 God doesn't call for a price from all of us like 00:39:52.010 --> 00:39:57.849 that. But there's a price to be paid if we would 00:39:57.849 --> 00:40:04.380 be God's man, God's woman. I reminded Mark yesterday 00:40:04.380 --> 00:40:07.039 of those words that he spoke several days before. 00:40:07.360 --> 00:40:11.119 He looked at me and he said, Pastor, I have to 00:40:11.119 --> 00:40:13.760 tell you that I've come full circle on those 00:40:13.760 --> 00:40:18.780 statements a couple of times since then. I said, 00:40:18.800 --> 00:40:23.219 I know, Mark, that's normal that you would. But 00:40:23.219 --> 00:40:26.300 brother, every time you come full circle, you 00:40:26.300 --> 00:40:28.079 come back to that point of being surrendered 00:40:28.079 --> 00:40:35.730 to the will of God at a deeper level. Is God 00:40:35.730 --> 00:40:37.590 bringing you around the circle this morning? 00:40:39.469 --> 00:40:43.909 Is there some deeper level of lordship that he 00:40:43.909 --> 00:40:48.030 is seeking to enforce in your life? Please do 00:40:48.030 --> 00:40:53.250 not resist him, but continue to grow. Continue 00:40:53.250 --> 00:40:56.150 to grow to be the man, the woman that God has 00:40:56.150 --> 00:40:59.329 called you to be. For my friend, whatever the 00:40:59.329 --> 00:41:04.500 price, it will be worth it. When we stand before 00:41:04.500 --> 00:41:07.539 the Lord. Let's pray together.