Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] All right, so here's what's neat is one of the things that we get at Grace is we do have a lot of staff, and these are brothers and sisters that are serving alongside of us. And so they're an extension of you there. And so if you get a chance, like on one of these Sundays, just come and introduce yourself. Even after the service, go meet them.
[00:00:18] Grateful for that. We also got our college and young adults pastor back there, Mr. Max Heller, that handsome tall guy right there. That's where Waldo is. Yeah, yeah, there he is.
[00:00:29] What we want to do real quick in way of prayer. If you are here today and you work in the school system, teacher, administrative, doesn't matter what your role is with the school system, if you're with early Ed, any of that, if you would just kind of stand up and stay standing. So if you would do that real quick, that's you about to say, I know we got some teachers in here and coaches. Okay, here we are. Hey, kids. May or may not say it.
[00:00:57] Thank you.
[00:01:00] Thank you for the way that you have given your life to a career that may not be super wealthy, but at the same time the wealth that you're storing up is greater than anything that you could find in your bank account. Thank you for the way that you serve young people and help them, like, launch into life.
[00:01:18] So thank you. And so what I would ask is if you have one of those, like teachers or administrators near you, if you would just, if you want a hand on the shoulder or whatever, we're just going to pray for them right now. So, brothers and sisters, let's pray for these here.
[00:01:32] Father, thank you so much for these men and women who have given their life to serve kids and families.
[00:01:40] And Lord, I pray that your holy spirit, your power and presence would rest on them, Lord God, that you would anoint them and give them what they need in way of wisdom and discernment to so serve these young people.
[00:01:52] Lord, help them do so and do so well.
[00:01:55] Help them be examples of your love.
[00:01:59] Father, I pray too for the kids that are going to school, those that know you and love you, those that are experiencing grace kids and gsm, Father, that the parents are discipling them, may they understand that going to school is not just education, but it's an opportunity to represent you there.
[00:02:17] So Lord God, be with them, be present with them. We thank you for these things. In Jesus name, amen. Thank you so much, you guys.
[00:02:26] So you can clap for those guys.
[00:02:31] Hey, so I got to go to convocation the other day. And they had this real Hal Bowman, this energetic, smaller than me guy, shorter than me guy, which means he was short. But his energy was amazing, and he had me thinking about a couple of my teachers.
[00:02:48] Mr. Kemp, biology teacher, was amazing. This black gentleman that loved me, modeled grace and kindness to me.
[00:02:58] In fact, as an adult. We drove by one time on my way home, got to visit. He lived, like, across the way from us, and I. And I took my kids over there, and we parked in his garage, and I just wanted to say, hey, Mr. Kemp, he's in his 80s. At the time, I said, Mr. Kemp, thank you for modeling Christ in the classroom the way that you love me.
[00:03:18] And he had so many kids, he didn't know who I was from anybody.
[00:03:22] But he says, well, bring your family out. And so he came onto the carport, kids came out, and he prayed over me and my whole family.
[00:03:33] And he was a biology teacher in high school. I'm just telling you, teachers and coaches, you matter.
[00:03:40] It's so good that God has put you where he has, and we're just grateful for that. I'm telling you, one day there's going to be a kid that remembers you like I remember Mr. Kemp. So thank you so much.
[00:03:51] I want to just get our attention with this message. We're going to be in Romans 12, but we're going to look at some other texts right before that.
[00:03:59] Our series that we're building up to is called Mine. And it's just like. Just kidding, because it's all gods we see in the middle there. And the thing I want us to see here is in Christ. This is from last week. In Christ, you belong. Hear this thesis. You belong, not because you're impressive, but because he was broken. And that your belonging is not by your performance.
[00:04:22] It is what makes you an important, deliberate. Listen to this deliberately placed member of his body. It's his work in you.
[00:04:31] In short, because of Christ. And hear this if you didn't hear it last week. Because of Christ, you belong.
[00:04:40] You belong here.
[00:04:43] And with that in mind, because you belong, you need to know that with that, and this is what we're leaning on today, is you have a purpose. You're not an accident.
[00:04:54] You belong here. And with that, you have a purpose here.
[00:04:59] And I'm grateful that I get to share this with you. So I'm going to show you some text in scripture. I'm going to skip around from some of the ones I had earlier, letting Mr. Bean know.
[00:05:09] Romans 1. Let me share this with you. This is Romans 1, 16, 17, for I am not ashamed of the Gospel, Paul says.
[00:05:17] And speaking of the gospel, he says, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. To the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
[00:05:25] For in it, again, speaking of the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith.
[00:05:32] For faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. And then I'm going to Skip to Romans 3, 23, 24.
[00:05:41] Many of us know this, but look at this. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
[00:05:47] And I love this. And.
[00:05:50] And are justified by his grace as a gift through. Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
[00:05:57] And then in chapter five, just read this section here because it's amazing. Look at this with me. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace through God, with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we also have obtained access by faith into the grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
[00:06:22] Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. And our hope does not put us to shame.
[00:06:35] Because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Notice that through the role of the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
[00:06:51] And then he gives some hypotheticals.
[00:06:53] For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would even dare to die.
[00:07:01] But God shows his love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
[00:07:09] And then we know Romans 6. Many of us know this right for the wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God is. Is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. And then in Romans 8, right there at the beginning, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ from the law of sin and death. Great beginning to a chapter. Wouldn't it be great if that chapter ended great?
[00:07:39] It does. Okay, check out these verses. Romans 8, 31, 39. What then shall we say to these things?
[00:07:48] If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
[00:07:58] Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies who is to condemn Christ. Jesus is the one who died more than that, who was raised who is at the right hand of God? Who indeed is interceding for us?
[00:08:12] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? And notice these options.
[00:08:17] Shall it be tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword, as it is written, for your sake, we're being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. And he gives those options. And can these things separate us from the love of God? And his answer resounding in verse 37 says, no, they don't have the ability in all these things.
[00:08:43] We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth. And here's this, like catch all drawer, right? Many of us have got that in our houses. Well, this is the catch all of creation. Nothing he says in all creation. You come up with an idea that he didn't list. He's like, that doesn't do it. Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Chapter nine. So it depends not on human will exertion, but on God who has mercy. And then chapter 10. Whoever calls on the name of Lord shall be saved.
[00:09:25] Chapter 11. It's by God's grace. It's not on the basis of works.
[00:09:31] Eleven chapters of the gospel work that is the power of our transformation. We see that the very first thing the gospel shaped living addresses is how you think about yourself. So 11 chapters. It establishes this foundation of grace.
[00:09:49] Notice this, though grace, the reality of God's grace comes before any command. Does the gospel is never do these things and God will love you. It is.
[00:10:00] It's God who so loved you in Christ.
[00:10:04] Now watch what his love can do through you.
[00:10:09] That is the part of your transformation, the indicative. The truth comes before the imperative, before the command. You can do these things because of what Christ has done for you.
[00:10:22] And with that in mind, we start chapter 12.
[00:10:28] Paul starts it in verse one. He says this, I appeal to you, therefore. Therefore, in light of all 11 chapters of Romans, okay?
[00:10:38] By the mercies of God. So with the mercies of God as our lens, this is what we do. How we should think, how we should see to present your bodies as a living sacrifice and to do this holy and acceptable to God.
[00:10:54] Now, real quick, based on what we've read so far, the only way that you and I can ever give spiritual worship that is holy and acceptable is it's got to be Christ in us through his Spirit doing it because you and I naturally don't have anything holy and acceptable to God. It's the work of Christ in us that makes us holy and acceptable. And this is your spiritual worship. Okay? And what's awesome here is because of this work of God's mercy, the logical response to the mercies of God is to lay down your life as a living sacrifice.
[00:11:32] Then verse 2. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good, what is acceptable, and what is perfect.
[00:11:47] This is part of the transformed gospel work in our lives.
[00:11:53] By the mercies of God accomplished in Christ, you and I can now offer our bodies as a living sacrifice that is wholly acceptable. And it is our reasonable act of worship because of the mercies of God. This means refusing to be conformed to this age and the way they teach, and instead being transformed by the renewal of your mind.
[00:12:16] A renewed mind that we can have in Christ through the work of his Spirit is what lets you test and discern God's will, the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.
[00:12:27] And with that in mind as the backdrop, verse three comes in. And notice this.
[00:12:33] It says, for by the grace given to me, Paul says, I say to everyone among you, not.
[00:12:39] Here's a negative command, all right? Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. One verse four different times. The word here, the Greek word for think is mentioned. We see it not to think of himself this way, okay?
[00:13:02] How he ought to think, but think of himself with sober judgment. That's the word there.
[00:13:07] Each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Four think words are packed into one sentence, all to emphasize sober judgment.
[00:13:17] Not deflated, not inflated, but accurate.
[00:13:23] Pride overestimates. I'm above servant in the nursery.
[00:13:27] Insecurity underestimates. I don't have anything to offer.
[00:13:31] Neither is sober judgment measured by your standing in Christ, assigned by God, not by anything that you and I could ever achieve on our own.
[00:13:43] The same metaphor we're going to get into is the body. So notice this in verses 4 and 5.
[00:13:50] For as in one body, we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function. So we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually members one of another.
[00:14:02] This should sound very familiar if you've been with us for a few months. We've been saying this at the end of each of our services, as our benediction is a blessing over one another. Because we want us to understand what it means to be part of this body together.
[00:14:16] I love this too. The stunning phrase individually members, one of another. Not just members of Christ. We're members of one another. Your gift is not your possession. It's the provision that body needs when you come and serve. It's the provision that we as brothers and sisters need.
[00:14:34] Your gift is not yours. So here's the deal. It's not just a different function. Maybe, but it doesn't have a different value.
[00:14:42] It's not just members of the church. It's members of one another. Our spiritual health is bound up in one another.
[00:14:48] We don't just share a room, we share a body.
[00:14:53] Check at this excites me nearly 60 times. The one another commands are in the New Testament. Love one another, forgive one another, bear with one another, encourage one another, forgive. Like it's all there.
[00:15:06] Going back to the idea from last week, think about this. The function of my elbow is way different than the function of my wrist.
[00:15:14] But both of them are part of my arm, which is part of my body.
[00:15:19] Each of you have a part, but together we're the body of Christ.
[00:15:24] That's the picture. Our function flows from our belonging. You don't serve to belong. You serve because you belong. And I shared this last week, the world's economy. If you behave and act and look a certain way, then you have value with me. But that value can give you belonging. But that belonging is conditional.
[00:15:47] Whereas in Christ you belong and as a result of you belonging, I have value in Christ. And because of that, I respond and behave differently.
[00:15:58] Not to get God's favor, but because I have it.
[00:16:01] And then chapter 12, verse 6 through 8.
[00:16:05] Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, according to the grace given us, let us use them. If it's prophecy in proportion to our faith, if service in our serving. The one who teaches in his teaching, the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who leads with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness.
[00:16:31] Here's the thing that most of us get lost in. The grace of God doesn't just save us, it shapes us.
[00:16:40] God has given every believer what's called here in the text, grace gifts to be spent on the body.
[00:16:48] And sober self assessment frees you to serve the body of Christ without pride and without shame.
[00:16:57] Think about how Jesus handled his gifts. He's the only Person who ever had every gift in perfect measure, the greatest teacher. And. And he knelt and washed feet, the truest prophet. And he wept over the city that would kill him, the richest giver. And though he was rich, it says this in Second Corinthians, for your sake he became poor.
[00:17:18] Jesus did not hoard or be stingy with his gifts. He gave them all the way to his death for the good of his body.
[00:17:26] Jesus exercised every gift on this list perfectly.
[00:17:31] In his greatest gift of all was himself.
[00:17:36] So again, to restate it a different way. You don't serve the body of Christ to earn your place in the body. You serve the body of Christ because Christ earned you a place in this body.
[00:17:47] He provided it.
[00:17:49] There are two wrong ways to think about giftings.
[00:17:53] They're not wages that you earn these gifts, and they're not trophies that you get glory from.
[00:18:00] They're an opportunity for you to make the giver of those gifts known in your life.
[00:18:06] Let's just go through each of these particular gifts and I want to make sure that you understand this isn't an exhaustive, all encompassing list of the gifts of God's spirit for the body of Christ, but a few things. I want you to see a brief definition. How it builds the body and how it points to Christ. The first one, prophecy. Speaking God's truth.
[00:18:27] It builds the body. It keeps the church tethered to reality instead of drifting by feelings or culture. It's how the body hears from God directly. It points to Christ.
[00:18:39] Jesus is the Word made flesh. Every true word spoken in his name echoes the ultimate word that he's already spoke.
[00:18:48] Service.
[00:18:49] Seeing needs that are there and meeting those needs.
[00:18:52] It builds the body. The unglamorous, unseen labor. Moving chairs, providing meals, giving someone a ride, repairing their car. The whole body functioning. It's all working. The body cannot run on visible gifts alone.
[00:19:09] How does this point to Christ? Well, Christ Jesus took a towel and washed feet. He even said the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give Himself as a ransom. For many. Every act of service that this gift does right imitates the true servant, King Jesus teaching, making the truth clear and applicable. It builds the body. It turns information into obedience. Without it, the body knows facts but doesn't grow. Teaching is how truth becomes transferable enough to actually live points to Christ because Jesus is called teacher more than any other title in the Gospels. And every faithful teacher is simply handling and handing forward what Jesus first taught.
[00:19:57] And then exhortation.
[00:19:59] This is one who gives courage to Others. It builds the body. It keeps those who are discouraged, deflated members from quitting. Right? It's the Barnabas gift, Right? Barnabas in Acts 4 holds people in the race when they want to walk off the track.
[00:20:17] It points to Christ because he is our advocate, our comforter. The spirit of God that he sends is literally called Paraclete. One who is working alongside to encourage every word of courage borrows God's voice for us.
[00:20:33] And then giving. This is one who gives with generosity. Single minded, open handed, no strings attached. It builds the body. It meets real material needs and breaks the grip of self preservation in the giver, freeing resources to flow where the body actually needs them.
[00:20:51] How does it point to Christ again? He became poor. For us, open handed gift is a small echo every time we give generously. It's a small echo of the ultimate giving that Christ gave on the cross and then leading. I love this one. With zeal. That's enthusiasm, right?
[00:21:13] Builds the body. It provides direction and protection. A body without leadership drifts. And sheep pay the price for a shepherd's laziness.
[00:21:22] Zeal is what keeps leaders present and engaged rather than checked out.
[00:21:27] It points to Christ. He's the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. Every faithful leader is an under shepherd on behalf of Christ.
[00:21:36] And then mercy.
[00:21:38] We're to give mercy with cheerfulness. It builds the body, cares for the hurting in a way that actually heals rather than wounds.
[00:21:48] Cheerful mercy communicates to the person they're caring for. You're not a burden, which is often what they need to hear as much as the help itself.
[00:22:00] It points to Christ, he who had compassion on them. It runs through the Gospels like a refrain. Every cheerful act of mercy reflects the heart of God.
[00:22:11] Also. I want you to notice too, in this text that we've been reading over the past few months together, adverbs like generously, zealously, cheerfully. Right.
[00:22:21] God cares not just that you serve, but how you serve.
[00:22:28] Notice these adverbs like the reality is that you need to know that when you give half heartedly, you starve the body of what it needs.
[00:22:37] And this is an inexhaustive list.
[00:22:41] The point is identifying the category. It's activating your grace given gift and giving it as a gift to the body.
[00:22:48] And here's what's true.
[00:22:51] And some of you will celebrate this.
[00:22:53] None of these gifts that we're calling the church to be part of, none of them, like demand a stage to use them.
[00:23:02] They can happen in hallways, they can happen in living rooms, in hospital rooms.
[00:23:09] They can happen in grace kids, they can happen in gsm, they can happen in parking lots, they can happen anywhere.
[00:23:17] The reality is that we just need to steward them for God's glory and being practical for a second.
[00:23:23] This is where we're bringing it down to our level. And what legs can we put on this? How do we find out our gift? How do we know where to plug in?
[00:23:33] Your gift is often hiding in one of these three things. The first one is affinity, right?
[00:23:40] What needs do you see that other people walk by?
[00:23:45] You come here on Sunday, you see some needs. Man, I wish somebody would do something about that.
[00:23:50] And that person should say, you should do something about that, right? I wish somebody washed these dishes. Well, why don't you wash the dishes, right?
[00:24:01] If you see a need that may be God's way of giving you holy frustration, you say the second one, your ability.
[00:24:10] Where in your life does fruit follow you, right? Where do people say, hey, what you did there, that helped me, the way that you did that thing, I needed that and you didn't know.
[00:24:23] Thank you for that. So affinity, ability, the third one is affirmation.
[00:24:28] What does the body confirm about that gift?
[00:24:32] Where do people say, hey, I see this in you gifts. These grace gifts are discovered in the community of faith for me. So a couple weeks ago I got to go to my home church, that building that we got to worship in as a kid. That room that the old sanctuary is now the fellowship hall if you know what those are.
[00:24:53] But I remember in that room with the pews lined up, it was the second row like right here where the lendigs are.
[00:25:00] Paul Waters and Tabitha Waldrops set me down, 17 year old Lewis and said, hey, I don't know what God's doing, but I see him doing something in your life and you need to pay attention to this.
[00:25:14] I had been able to teach with the students with RAs at our church and this thing with FCA and God was doing this work in me. And it took them on that row on that Sunday night, Paul and Tabitha, to say, I see this in you. And that planted a seed of God's grace, doing a work that I couldn't anticipate. And again in your life, your affinity, what do you see that other people drive by?
[00:25:39] What is the ability that you see fruit from in your life? And what's the affirmation that other brothers and sisters are pointing out in your life?
[00:25:47] If you're a follower of Jesus today, could you answer verse six with your calendar like let us use them these gifts it isn't a suggestion, it's a sacrifice to present this week. Here's the thing. Take application. Take one step prayerfully. Think about a way to sign up for serving on a team, saying yes to a need that you keep noticing, maybe even ask and invite your small group or your family to participate.
[00:26:18] And you could take a gifts assessment. Here's this, just QR code. Here you go in the app. And this is just let me say it, not end all, be all. It is a tool, a way that you can find out kind of the unique shape, not perfect, a unique way to find out your shape in Christ, what the spirit of God has done in you. It'll be up after the service, too. So you can come after the service and check it out so that you can get the QR code. I don't understand how those things communicate, but they do.
[00:26:49] Also on the app, I could figure that out.
[00:26:51] And if you're here today and you're a parent, let me tell you about your superpower as a parent.
[00:27:01] You can speak and bring out what God is already doing in your kids and speak these things to your kid's life.
[00:27:09] Not just, hey, you're smart or hey, great game, but and this is one of my favorite things, because I've done this and you could test some of my kids, hey, I saw the way that on the sideline you were building up your teammate.
[00:27:27] You know, God may be calling you to be an exhorter in the church, one who builds other people up.
[00:27:35] What would it be like? Think about it.
[00:27:38] If some of the shaping that takes place in your kid's life doesn't happen in one of our classrooms, it happens at your kitchen table, in your car, through the pickup line, where you take responsibility for you discipling your kids and helping them see how God has uniquely gifted them.
[00:27:59] If you're a leader, whether at your job or at school, here at local school or in our church, your job in verse eight is zeal, enthusiasm for deployment, for launching them, not for your platform.
[00:28:16] So think about that. This month you can ask the people that you get to lead, hey, what's your gift and how are you using it?
[00:28:24] A leader's success isn't measured and open gifts, right?
[00:28:30] It's this gift of helping them. Take inventory of how many people in your ministry are just watching and how many are actually serving.
[00:28:38] Then if you're here and maybe you lost a bet and so you had to come to church with somebody, right? And you're just exploring faith.
[00:28:51] Notice the order here of the book of Romans 11, chapters of God's mercy. First, before one command to serve.
[00:29:04] You need to know that God is not recruiting your talent.
[00:29:08] He's offering you his grace.
[00:29:10] You need to hear that.
[00:29:13] He wants you to know that he's there for you.
[00:29:19] The first gift isn't a role in the church. The first gift you get is, is the righteousness of Christ, free by faith. So open that one first.
[00:29:33] Last week, again in review, we began 1 Corinthians 12. And we discovered that in Christ you belong.
[00:29:40] God arranged you, each of us, into this body, each one of us as he chose. Not one of you is a spare part.
[00:29:50] But you need to think about your belonging. Raises the question, if that's true of me, what do I do?
[00:29:57] Well, remember, because of Christ you belong.
[00:30:01] And with that in mind, because you belong, what do you do? Know your purpose.
[00:30:08] You have a purpose.
[00:30:12] So what I want to do is pray for us. Pray that God, in His grace, would so help us frame rightly what he's doing in us. In us corporately as a body of believers who are sharing this life together, members of one another, pointing each other back to him with these gifts. So let's pray together over this. Father, in Jesus name, thank you so much for this moment where we get to ask ourselves real questions. Framing rightly what you're doing in us for the sake of the body.
[00:30:48] Help us, like, really understand it, make it clear.
[00:30:52] Help us see whether it's the affinity, the thing that we care about. Help us see whether it's our ability or affirmation from brothers and sisters who know us.
[00:31:02] Lord, help us see. Lord, we place this before you. We trust you. We thank you for your mercies made new. Lord, do a work in us and help us respond in faith to these things.
[00:31:14] Lord, we pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
