The Grove 10 Years – Week 12

Well, good morning, church. Morning. So great to be with you this morning and to celebrate the goodness and the grace of God. Before we dive into God's word, could I just say something this morning? I just want to recognize one in our body. Erin, would you just stand? Erin, can we just thank Erin for her hard work? She stepped up and said, as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, I want to try to serve him by serving in the political realm. And in God's providence, it was not His plan for her.

But we're trusting that God's got great things for you, and we're so proud of you. And thank you for your time. I have lots to say about what's going on, and we're not going to talk about that right now. If you want to hear more, you can talk to me privately. I'm glad to share. We've been working our way through a DNA series this fall, a little bit different than normal, and not so much verse by verse through a book, but rather looking at some various passages of scripture that support our DNA as a church, the pillars that we hold dear here at this church.

If you recall last week, Pastor Jason was speaking on our purposeful discipleship pillar, and he spoke on the Great Commission and challenged each of us to go therefore and to make disciples. And one of the things that I'm so encouraged by is when Jesus in Matthew 9 looked upon the multitudes. Think about this for a second. When Jesus looked upon the multitudes and he saw that they were like sheep without a shepherd, what did it say? It says he felt compassion.

But then there's this amazing thing that he says. He says that he felt compassion, but then he says, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." Sometimes I think we get so caught up on that second part, the workers are few, though it's true, that we remove the first promise. The harvest is plentiful. This is awesome, church. This is great news. You know why? Because when we are faithful to go therefore and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and lead the life that is an example to the unbelieving, unregenerate world, he says the harvest is plentiful.

But it's incumbent upon us to get out there and to show people and to tell people about Jesus Christ. And God will use that in their lives as you're faithful to carry out the promise that we looked at even last week. So grateful for that teaching, so grateful for the reminder of the challenge that is ours. And this morning, we're going to continue along those lines, if you will, as a responsibility upon us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. This purposeful discipleship pillar, we want to look at this morning as we continue in this.

Now, I just got back, I think, 1:00 a. m. on Saturday morning. I spent the entire week up in Rochester, Minnesota, at the Mayo Clinic. And I was going through multiple tests and an executive physical and checking on some other things, and I probably had 21, 22 different appointments and tests. But one of the things that I would just tell you is that in that situation when you're going through all of that, the thing that you're reminded of is how frail we are, and how desperate we are for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the grace of God and the hope to know that this world is not our home.

And if a test turns out bad or it turns out good, it's really irrelevant because at the end of the day, we're all dying. We're going to die. I got news for you. Unless Jesus returns before, you're going to die. Okay? So you will not. I don't care how many vitamins you take, how many times you work out. I don't care how many fitness, blah, blah, blah. It's not going to change the end game. Last I checked, every one of us, 100% mortality, right? We can't escape that apart from the rapture of Jesus Christ.

And so at the end of the day, I sat down with the doctor, and he gave me the spew about my health and all the things that I need to do and not to do. And the bottom line conclusion, and I'm still waiting on a few things, but the bottom line conclusion was, "I want you to go on a Mediterranean diet." I was like, "Doc, I was just in Italy two weeks ago, and I was on a Mediterranean diet in the Mediterranean. Pizza, pasta, gelato every day. I love the Mediterranean diet.

You don't have to sell me on that. I'm there. I live it. I love it." He goes, "Not that Mediterranean diet. I want you to eat salmon and more fish and more fish and then vegetables." And I said, "That's boring. And what is cholesterol anyway? Something you guys made up so you could sell some drugs." I don't know. It might be. Probably it's legitimate, I'm just saying. So don't go off your cholesterol medicine, okay? I was walking around there, and it's a humbling thing to walk around at the Mayo Clinic because you see all types.

You see those that are healthy or appear healthy on the outside. And you see those that you just know they are not healthy, and probably in their last final hours. And you see the desperation. You see the concern. You see people crying. I saw a gal, young gal, just uncontrollably crying on the phone in the hallway. And it challenged me again to what God has called us to in this community, and that is to be disciple makers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so we need to go therefore, and we need to be faithful, and we need to honor Christ, and we need to serve him in this community of faith for the glory of his name because in the end, that's all that matters. It's all that matters. And everybody walking around there, sometimes you don't know. You don't know if they're well, if they're sick, or they're just here for a physical, or they got cancer. You don't know what they're dealing with. Because you can't always tell on the outside is the reason why they're there to figure out what's going on on the inside.

Did you know the church is the same way? The church of Jesus Christ is the same way. How can you tell a healthy church? You can't tell by the appearance of the church. You can't tell by driving by. I mean, the room could be packed. The parking lot might be filled. It could be filled with all kinds of different programs to meet this need and that need and all this, that, and the other. And it might be a huge building or multiple buildings and regular attenders that give resources regularly to the church with a huge staff or really great entertaining communicators.

But at the end of the day, none of that defines a healthy church. So what does? What does define a healthy church? Well, I would just say it's time for us to go into the examination room this morning and see what defines a healthy church, both as a church and as individuals. You up for that? All right. So this is what we're going to do. Because here's the deal. If the great physician himself was watching, and by the way, he is. He's observing. He's watching everything.

What kind of results would he see at the Grove Bible Chapel, both as a church and as individual members in the body of Christ? Would you see the diagnostic of our faithfulness, and would it show up in a report that said The Grove Bible Chapel was a faithful, fruitful followers of the Lord Jesus Christ and ministered the gospel of Jesus Christ to the community around them? Or would the diagnostic say something else? The Grove Bible Chapel is filled with people who are fired up on Sunday.

But you can't light a candle Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. I would just say, church, the challenge is incumbent upon us. And so let us go and dive into the examination room. Open your Bibles to Ephesians chapter four. Ephesians chapter four is going to be a little bit different this morning. Ephesians chapter four is a focal point, if you will, but I'm going to dive around. There's about four passages that are going to deal with the spiritual gifts that we want to discuss this morning that are to be deployed within the body of Christ, that are recognizable for a healthy church.

And so Ephesians chapter four. When you're there, why don't you just go ahead and stand with me and honor the word of God and we'll read together. He says in Ephesians 4:1, "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, exhort you to walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called." Wouldn't you love to be somebody that God would define as someone who walked worthy of the calling with which you've been called? I would be. I would love that. How?

How do we do that? Well, he starts out, "With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, one Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." So, there's one church. Multiple local expressions throughout the country and in our state and in our county, but one church.

Look what he says, verse seven, "But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore," it says, "when he ascended on high, he led captive a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." He ascended, what does that mean? "Except that he also descended into the lower part of the earth. He who descended is himself also he who ascended far above the heavens, and so that he might fill all things." And verse 11, "And he himself gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ, until we attain to the unity of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ, so that we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness and deceitful scheming."

Stop there for a second. That's a pretty unhealthy church, isn't it? They're carried about by every wind of doctrine, the trickery of men, the craftiness of deceitful scheming. There are plenty of churches across this country like that. But verse 15, "But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head, that is, Christ, from whom the whole body, being joined and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the properly measured working of individual parts, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself."

There ends the reading of God's Word. Let us have a word of prayer. Father, we are humbled as we examine your truth, and it examines us. And so this morning, may we look at the spiritual diagnostics of our lives and of this church, and may you reveal to us, both corporately and individually, the charge that we would walk worthy of the calling of which we have been called. In Jesus' name, amen. Go ahead and have a seat. Our big idea is simple. It's let's get healthy, Church.

Let us get healthy. We're going to center everything around verse 12 of this text. "For the equipping of the saints, for the work of the service, to the building up of the body of Christ." Three major things that we want to look at and talk about and discuss. We want to equip the saints. We want those saints to exercise their giftedness, having been equipped, and thereby contribute to the enlargement of the church of Jesus Christ. See, Christ gives leaders, leaders equip saints, saints perform works of ministry, and then the body of Christ is built up, and that's the goal.

That's what we're trying to get after. And so here's what I would say: let us not just be a church of people who show up, but rather let us be a church of people who grow up together. Grow up together. And so we want to look at four diagnostics, if you will, necessary to examine a healthy church. Four diagnostics to examine a healthy church. The first one is this, a spiritual X-ray. We want to take a spiritual X-ray of the people at The Grove Bible Chapel and ask the question, am I rightly connected to the body of Christ?

Am I rightly connected to the body of Christ? Clearly, there's one body with many members. Just look around. There's one body with many members. You're all distinctly different. You're all unique. You all have special gifts. You're all gifted by God. If indeed you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and you have embraced him by faith, you have a unique gift. And we're here together with one purpose, to walk worthy of the calling with which we have been called, and doing so, grow up together.

That's the goal. This means that we are totally dependent on each other. And trust me, when you take an X-ray and you see one little tiny bone that's out of sync, the rest of the body is just like, "Ah! This stinking toe. Little toe. How can this be so bad?" Right? The whole thing gets thrown out of whack because one little tiny little bone that big. The same thing happens in the body of Christ. When one person goes astray, when one person causes division, when one person causes strife, when one person gossips, when one person doesn't obey and trust the Lord, there's conflicts that arise and appear.

What is the reason? Why are so many people-- Let's ask this question. Why are so many people in churches today physically present but spiritually absent? Why? Why are so many people physically present but spiritually absent? I would just say they don't understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. Their motivation is lacking because they really don't get the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let's ask this question. Some are absent because they're spiritually blinded.

They have not been saved. They have not come to a place where they've recognized that God is holy, that they're a sinner, that they fall short, that he died for their sin, that they could have eternal life. They have never repented of their sin. They have never embraced him by faith. They've never become a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, I can understand how you would be physically present and spiritually absent then in the body life. But what about the person who has embraced Jesus Christ by faith?

They have repented of their sin. They have turned to Christ. They do have salvation. I can't understand how you can be physically present and spiritually absent from the service in the body of Christ. So what are a couple reasons why we might do that? Well, I can think of some obvious ones like selfishness, laziness, undiscipline, lack of motivation. You could probably name a bunch. Busy, whatever. Let me just talk about a couple from a biblical perspective.

Reasons why some people never connect into the body. Look at 1 Corinthians. And I didn't purposely put slides with verses today because I want you to turn to the text, okay? Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 12 for a second. We're going to be looking at four passages today. 1 Corinthians 12. Nobody in this church, in this room, who's a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, in any way, shape, or form is inferior to anybody else. Okay? What does it say? 1 Corinthians 12:12, "For even as the body is one and yet has many members," okay, we talked about that, right?

"And all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For also by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we are all made to drink of one Spirit." Now, he says this, "For also the body is not one member, but many members. If the foot says, 'Because I am not a hand, I am not part of the body,' it is not for this reason any less a part of the body? And if the ear says, 'Because I am not an eye, I am not part of the body,' it is not for this reason any less part of the body?"

Just stop there for a second. Or let's go to 17. "If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? And if the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?" So first thing we see is we got a foot and an ear that are talking, and that's a problem, right? They might need some counseling. We got a lot of counselors. We're raising an army of counselors in this church. Amen? They might need some counseling. But no, in all seriousness, there's no inferiority in the church of Jesus Christ.

We come to the cross the same. Sinners, sinners, sinners, saved by the grace of God. Nobody is inferior here. But why then, Pastor, do some people feel that way? Well, I wrote these down. Number one, I didn't grow up in the church, so I therefore feel inferior. I got saved later in life, and I come into church, and I really don't get everything going on. I'm still learning. Pastor Jason's leading communion. I'm not even sure. I'm still struggling to figure out how to open those cups.

Amen. Yeah. We got to go back to the rip and dip, right? Yeah. Just throw a big loaf of bread up there and everybody grab and dip, right? Amen? No, just kidding. There's another reason people feel inferior is they don't know the spiritual lingo. They just don't know it. They don't understand ins and outs and all the things going on in the church and what's happening, and they just haven't been around it long enough to really get it, so they feel inferior, and they really don't want to get involved and roll up their sleeves because they're just embarrassed because they just seem like they might be considered foolish or whatever.

They don't want to do that. Same with I lack biblical knowledge. You know something? Everybody starts somewhere, right? And the beauty of this church, and what I'm so grateful about in this church, is that we're serious about the teaching and preaching of God's word. We're in the word of God. We're not telling you nine ways to be better son-in-law to your mother-in-law. Okay? We're serious about teaching. By the way, I'm a good son-in-law. I am. I love you, Judy.

I miss you, though. But here's what I would say. Oh, I just lost my train of thought. Yeah, right. I'm not there yet, but close. I would say this. Oh, yeah. I lack biblical knowledge, right? And so here's the situation. One great way to learn some biblical knowledge is to serve. Go start teaching Sunday school. Carl's always said that to people. Go sit in Sunday school because then you've got to read the lesson before you learn a little bit to teach a little bit.

And be faithful in attending here in the other service so you're learning all the time. If you lack knowledge, you seek knowledge, and knowledge comes because you learn. And when you learn, you take that as a conduit, and you give that to somebody else. How about this one? I feel a sense of inferiority because I'm haunted by my past. Well, who isn't? Who's perfect? Anybody? I didn't think so. So we have no position to put any sense of guilt upon anybody for anything they've done.

There is nothing that anybody has ever done that is going to keep them too far from the grace of God in their life if they repent. And if you don't believe that, you're self-righteous and get on your knees and repent yourself because you're not superior to the person who has sinned more than you have sinned. And we should never make somebody who's attempting to repent and trust Christ feel inferior for their past that's repented of. Now, there might be certain consequences they have to live with, so be it.

But if they repent, repented, God says he's removed their sin as far as the east is from the west. You and I can't see that far. And the older I get, I can't see that far to see that, okay? I can see the time. Yeah. Thanks. Here's another one. I don't know very many people in the church. Well, get to know them. Get plugged into a small group. Get to know some people. Come serve alongside of them. No one needs to feel inferior here at the Grove Bible Chapel.

You are not inferior if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Plug in. Second one, there's nobody is superior to another. Nobody is superior to another. While we're still in 1 Corinthians 12, look at verse 18. He says, "But now God has appointed the members, each one of them in the body, just as He desired. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now that they are many members, but one body, and the eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' or again, the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.'

On the contrary, how much more is it that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary?" I would just say that pride is a massive health killer in the church of Jesus Christ. Your gift, if you have one, is not for your self-glorification. It is for your neighbor's edification. That's it. That's it. 1 Peter 4:10. It says this, "As each one has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."

If you have a gift, then you are not to be self-glorifying yourself. You are to be edifying your neighbor. Use the gift to build one another up. That's what we're to do. So go ahead, like in the spirit of Pastor Jason, just say it right now. Look at your neighbor and say, "Neighbor!" Neighbor! "My gift's for you." No, you guys just did that really bad. Come on, come on. Just do it. Just do it. I got to hear this. Neighbor! That's better. Make Jason proud here.

My gift is for you. My gift is for you. Amen. Amen. Some people just cherish their exaggerated idea of their own ability Not in the Church of Jesus Christ. You say, "Well, how does somebody in the church appear superior?" I wrote this down. This is a good one. "I know more doctrine than you." Good. I'm proud of you. That's great. I'm not trying to minimize doctrine at all. Doctrine is what we're teaching. We believe that doctrine leads to a spiritual life that is fruitful.

But to walk around and claim that you're more intellectually doctrinally trained or taught than anybody else in this room is ridiculous. How about this one? "I have the degrees." I have the degree. Not a big deal. That just means you just sat in the table longer than I did studying. I'm proud of you. How about this one? "I've been in Christ for 40 years." I know a lot of people who have been in Christ for 40 years that are less mature than somebody that's been in Christ for 40 days.

"I have attended the church longer than any other." That's great. I'm glad you're here. I really am. I'm not saying that sarcastically, but if that's your thing that you're proud of, that you're going to brag about in this community, get over it. What are you doing for the cause of Christ in this community? Or how about this one? "I have a personal relationship with the pastor." Love you. I do. I love all of you. But I desire for you more. I desire for each of us more.

How about this one? "I give more money than anybody else in my small group." That's great. Hey, listen, the church needs money. We don't keep the lights on and employ people for free, and we're grateful for the generosity of the people in this congregation that enables us to do that. But if that's your thing, and that's how you're building yourself up spiritually in front of others, shame on you. That's not biblical. How about this one? "I do XYZ in the church."

I always run into people that their identity is how much they do. How much they do in the church, how much they do for Christ, how much they do in the community for Christ. How about allow another person's lips to praise you? I think that's in the scripture somewhere. Amen. So two massive health killers, inferiority and superiority. Those are health killers in the church, and we got to get over it. And I would just say that where humility lives, unity resides.

And if we can get to a place where we're humble, where you before me rules every interaction in this community of faith, then unity in this body of Christ will reside, and it will ring bells in the community. Amen. So are you disconnected? Is it time to connect? Don't just be connected by attendance. Look at, here's the doctor's orders. The doctor's order is this: Let's get past attendance to active participation. Okay? Can you do that? Can you get past attendance and get active in your participation?

You say, "Well, how do I do that?" Well, you get equipped. You get equipped. You first come into the community of faith here. It says that God gave some as teachers and pastors for the equipping of the saints. You get equipped. How do I know if I'm being equipped? I'm being fed. How do I know if what I'm eating is healthy? That's our second point. The biblical blood test. Am I being nourished by the word of God? We have to ask ourselves often, what does this mean?

We have to pay attention to what we're being fed. We have to pay attention to what we eat. Why? Because we are what we eat. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11, right? "And He Himself gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers," What? "For the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, for the building up of the body." What happens to a church that doesn't rightly divide the word of God?

It's a congregation that is filled with biblically malnourished individuals. And I'm just going to tell you, I do this for free. I'm not paid by the church. This is an offering that I give to this church because I am more concerned about the Church of Jesus Christ not being biblically malnourished than anything else. And I believe the reason why we suffer in the community and in the state and in this country is because too many people sit in the pew, and they never really understand what it means to be nourished by the Word of God in such a way that it causes them to live righteously.

And so we have to know what we're eating. You have to know what you're eating. You see, we eat, and our bodies absorb what we eat. And guess what? The blood test, it doesn't lie. So what does the biblical blood work look like for you, and what does the biblical blood work look like for our church? Is there maximum biblical absorption? We need to be taught the word of God, and we must study the word of God because this nourishment is needed to be equipped.

And to be equipped means that you are putting something right. You are setting that broken bone. You are making it perfect. You say how? The word of God. The word of God makes it right. And so our doctor's orders on this one are pretty easy. Return to the word of God, teach it rightly, receive it humbly, and obey it always. And so here at The Grove, we are going to continually return to the word of God. We're going to teach it rightly as best as we know how.

We're going to receive it as a people of God humbly, and we're going to go out in the community, and we're going to obey it always. And when we do that, guess what happens? You're on display. And when you're on display, that means you're actively exercising the gifts that God has given you. And when you actively exercise, sometimes stress causes things to show up. And so our third thought this morning is the saint's stress test. The question we want to ask is: Am I exercising my spiritual gifts?

The saint's stress test. Am I exercising my spiritual gifts? Ephesians 4:12 says, "For the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ." Saints, God has not saved you to sit in the pew. He has saved you to serve in this body. And so who are the saints? We got to ask that question. First, who are the saints? That's a critical question. Are you a saint? What is a saint? If the saints are to be equipped, we got to know what the saints are.

Well, what does 1 Corinthians 1 say? 1 Corinthians 1 says, "To the church of God," which is at Corinth, "To those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints." Okay. "To the church of God," which is at Corinth, "To those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints." So I need to be sanctified in Christ Jesus to be called a saint, right? What else? Ephesians 1:1. "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints," okay, "who are at Ephesus," who what?

Who are faithful in Christ Jesus. You want to know if you're a saint? Ask yourself the question, am I sanctified in Christ Jesus? Am I faithful in Christ Jesus? Those are some great blood markers. Those are some great stress markers to show, are you a saint? And I would just say this, if you've never come to a place in your life where you repented of your sin, first, that you recognize you're a sinner. See, the Bible says that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God.

That's what sin means. It means you fall short. You can't get there on your own. You don't know how to. You can't get there on your own, so we fall short. It says you get to a place where all you can do is cry out and beg for grace and mercy at the foot of the cross. That's it. You have to recognize you're a sinner. You got to come to the cross. You got to say, "God, I've sinned, and I see that my sin and the cause of my sin is because by nature, I was a child of wrath.

I was born a sinner." You're not a sinner because you sin. You sin because you're a sinner. You're born that way, and each of us needs a savior. And so maybe this morning, your opportunity is to repent of your sin. Say, "Jesus, I'm a sinner. God, I have fallen short. I need you. I need you. I repent. I repent. I believe, God, that you sent Jesus to this earth. He left all that he had in the heavenlies, his communion with you, and he came here to minister to us, and he gave his life on the cross, and he died, and he was thrown into the tomb.

But that tomb is not empty, God. And you, by your power, raised him up out of that tomb. And you say that all who believe in you will do the same." So this morning, your opportunity is to believe in Christ. Trust Christ with your life because this world is not very long. But man, how sweet it is to know the Lord Jesus Christ because when you're sitting there and you think that something's going on physically, to have the hope spiritually is the only thing that brings peace.

And you sit here now, and you don't have anything going on physically, just wait. It will. It'll come. Sorry, but it will. But if you have that spiritual peace and it's growing, and you're trusting Christ, that'll give you peace. That'll give you peace. So trust Christ this morning. Anyway, back to the stress test. Sometimes conditions only become apparent when the body's exercised, when it's stressed. I actually had to go through one of these when I was up at Mayo.

It was brutal. And they had me on a treadmill, and they started raising it. And I'm almost like 50 degrees. And I'm like, and then they got this mask on you. You're trying to breathe, and that's just miserable. And they're like, "Can you go longer?" "Yeah, I can go longer." That's why I'm walking around like I can hardly walk. Okay? But I want you to know, I beat my time from four years ago by four minutes. Yeah. I'm proud. How arrogant, Pastor. Just kidding.

And I would say this. Sometimes you have to stress yourself to see what's coming out of you, and it's apparent. And we're being equipped as saints for what? For the work of the service. For the work of the service. That's where things exude from you. When you are engaged in the work of the service, not the observation of the service of others, not the appreciation of the service of others, not the recommendation of the service of others, but for the active participation within the body of Christ in the service of others.

That's how you recognize whether you've been equipped. So how can I do that? You do it with the gift that God's given you. You do it with the gifts God's given you. Where did he say anything about gifts? Back in Ephesians 4, he said something. He said, "But to each one," verse 7, "of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gifts." Turn with me to 1 Peter 4. 1 Peter 4:10. Get your eyes on this for a second. 1 Peter 4, it says this: "As each one has received a gift."

You see it? If you're a follower of Christ, you've received a gift. You have a gift. He says this, "Employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." Spiritual gifts are not a trophy for your trophy case to display. Spiritual gifts are instruments to deploy. That's what they are. They're instruments to deploy. So take it out of the trophy case, get it into your heart, and start deploying it into the people around you.

And each of us has been given a unique and diverse spiritual gift. You've been called uniquely and spiritually gifted by God to be a valuable piece of the body life here at The Grove Bible Chapel, if you're a member here. And if you're a regular attender, you should be engaged here, too. If you're new, we're just so glad you're with us. If you're seeking a church and you're looking for a church that teaches the word of God, that's serious about the truths of scripture, let me just say, this church is attempting to do that.

And we're attempting to do it in a way that honors Christ, and we would love to see you become a member here and grow in your capacity to edify one another around us. But you've been uniquely gifted with a gift. Romans 12 says this, verse 4. Romans 12:4 says, "For just as we have many members in one body," again, "and all the members do not have the same function, so we, many are one body in Christ and individually members one of another, but having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, whether prophecy in agreement with the faith or service in his service or teaching in his teaching, or he who exhorts in his exhortation, he who gives with generosity, he who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness."

You see, there's a list of gifts here, and every one of us who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ has a unique role to fulfill within the body. Listen. Listen up, church. Here at The Grove, we don't need more spectators impressed by the gifted people ministering and serving around them. We don't need that. But what we do need is we need servants empowered by the gifting of the Savior that's granted to them. So you have a gift. Use it. Use it. Exercise it.

Employ it. You say, "Well, you don't know me, Pastor. I'm very happy being a spectator. I don't really like serving. I much prefer to just kind of be a consumer, not a contributor. That's where I'm comfortable." And I would just say examine your heart, examine your faith, see whether you are a child of God because that's not consistent with the people who profess Jesus Christ. But there's a problem with that mentality as well. God has gifted you, and not only that, he has given you the endowment of grace.

That is strength, wisdom, courage, motivation, love, concern, and the power to empower you to use that gift in the body of Christ. You have not earned the gift. It was given why? For the benefit of your neighbor, you remember? And I think 1 Peter 4:10 is clearly telling us that if we've received a gift, we have to employ it as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. I'm reminded of the parable of the talents when I hear that. Good stewardship.

Good stewardship. You remember the story where the owner leaves, he leaves five talents and two talents and one talent, and the person who had five turns it into 10, the person who had two turns it into four, and he comes back, and he rewards them. He says, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the presence of your savior. Enter into the joy of your savior." But the guy who had one talent did nothing. He buried it. And unfortunately, I think in churches across this land, there are many sitting in the pews today who bury their talent.

They bury their gift. They bury it. They don't deploy it. You've not earned it. It's been given. Deploy it for the benefit of your neighbor. I think many of us hoard our spiritual gifts. We choose not to deploy them out of convenience or lack thereof. Some of us even say, "Pastor, I don't even know what my spiritual gift is. How could I even find that out? Should I take a spiritual gift test?" Which really is nothing more than a glorified personality test without spiritual terms.

I wouldn't say that. Don't go waste your time taking a spiritual gift test because God didn't give us that. He gave us a gift. And He said, "Use it." And if God had wanted to test us to find out what that gift was, He would've made that more clear in His word, and we would've had a test to go through five steps to figure out your spiritual gift so that you would know what to exercise. I don't think that's how it's happened. I think we roll up our sleeves, we start serving this area, that area, this area until some things happen.

Until we see where we find joy. Until we see where it is that others affirm that gift in our lives, in our service, and we see there's evidence of fruitfulness. And so when somebody asks you to serve, serve. Do it willingly. Explore it. See if the exercise in that area is something that brings joy. See if others recognize your giftedness in that and affirm that. See if it's producing fruit in the lives of the people that you happen to be gifted to minister to.

You say, "But I have no experience." That's where His grace comes in. He empowers us. You see, where God's finger points, God's hand provides, and whatever we need, Christ gives us according to the measure of His gifts. He's empowered us. Steward the gift within you. I'm reminded of Paul's exhortation to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1. He says this: "For this reason, I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands."

I love this verse. Why? Because it's an example of somebody who is using their gift of discipleship purposely and reminding the one that they've been discipling to kindle afresh that which is within them as a gift of God to go out and use that gift and deploy it into the lives of others. Somebody may say, "But I really want to do what that guy's doing." I'm sure you do. But to envy somebody else's gift is not a good and healthy thing in the church.

Rather, we should be on our knees asking God to develop and mature whatever gift he has pleased, he is pleased to give us, because listen, the envy of the gift of another is to despise the grace of God's gift to you and to question the very wisdom of Christ. Remember, our spiritual gift is not for us. It's for those around us. And so our third doctor's orders for the day is this: You have a gift. You have a gift, use it. Figure it out and deploy it.

And our fourth and final exam is the evangelical echocardiogram. Do I allow the love of Christ which freely flows into my heart to freely flow out of my heart? That's the question we want to ask. Do you allow the love of Christ which freely flows into your heart to freely flow out of your heart? Look at verse 15 in Ephesians 4. "But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head, that is, Christ, from whom the whole body, being joined and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper measure working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself."

Ask this question of yourself: Does our love for one another mirror the love of Christ in this community of faith? Does this love that is freely flowing in you flow as freely out to the people around you? Are we content to accept the grace of God in our lives, or are we conflicted when it comes to extending that same grace to others? Listen, the purpose is you've been given a gift. Deploy it into the community of faith. Now, here's the truth. We need help.

And obviously, there's areas of ministry and service within the body that continually being met by the same 20%, 30% of people over and over. There's no reason that we can't spread that across the board a little bit. We need ushers, greeters, parking lot people, cafe, kids, translation ministry. We would love to have a Portuguese-speaking person to translate every Sunday. We'd love that. We already have Spanish translation the second service. We have small groups.

We have leaders. We need participants, youth, student men, biblical counseling, table leaders, worship ministry. I know they need electric guitarists in worship right now. There's an abundance of needs, even in this little community of faith. We need your help. Our aim is to multiply ministers. We're not aiming to monopolize the ministry. We need your help. Are you willing? Verse eight says, "And he gave gifts to men." Ephesians 4:8, "And he gave gifts to men."

I would just say in closing this thought, the church is like a megaphone against the spiritual realm around us. Think about that. The church is like a megaphone that is against the spiritual realm around us, and so when we share in the declaration of the enemy's defeat in how we live and function as a body. We do. We share in the declaration of the enemy's defeat in how we live and function as a body. So every time you serve in the body, every time you deploy your giftedness among the people of God, you are proclaiming Christ's victory.

Every time you extend a warm welcome to somebody at the door, every time you extend a gospel joy, you are proclaiming Jesus Christ as one. Every time you host a small group, go to small group, exercise your gift as a hospitality, you are proclaiming the spiritual realm of Jesus Christ's victory. And every time you rock a baby in the nursery and pray over that little child, then ask God if he would raise he or she up to be a warrior for Christ, you are proclaiming with a loud voice that Jesus has won.

We are heralding the good news in our service here at the church that Jesus Christ has won. He who is in us is greater than he who is in this world, church. And so our doctor's orders are this: Let his love pump through you as you serve others. So let's get healthy. Healthy things will multiply. So let's exercise health. A healthy church is not measured only by the giftedness of its leaders, but by faithful equipping of its members, the active exercise of their spiritual gifts, and the resulting growth of the entire body into the likeness of Christ.

Let's pray. Father, we rejoice in your goodness to us. We're so grateful for the privilege to gather in your house and to gather with your people and to glean truth from your Word. And Father, we recognize and are grateful for the gifts that you have given to the people of this body. So many of which are on display and have been deployed into the lives around them. And the love that has been extended to them by your grace and flowed into their hearts is flowing richly out into the lives of the people around them within this community.

Whether it's taking a meal or praying for, or walking with through difficult days, or exhorting or encouraging, God, we've seen it all, and we're thankful. But our desire, Lord, is that we still have work to do, and we want to get more healthy. And so help us, Lord. Grant us wisdom. Reveal to us, both as a church and individually, what it is you'd like to see us be more effective in. For your glory. In Jesus' name. Amen.