Latest / Life Community Church / Sunday | Spiritual Gifts, Real Purpose | 1 Corinthians 12 | Jamey Bridges

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Sunday | Spiritual Gifts, Real Purpose | 1 Corinthians 12 | Jamey Bridges · Life Community Church

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, this is Jamie Bridges, and thank you so much for joining us for this week's podcast.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: All of our services are inspired and built straight from the Bible.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get into this week's message recorded at Life Community Church.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_03: We've been in this book all summer long, the Book of Corinthians.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_03: And uh we do this as a church in the in the summertime because we want to be on the same page knowing that we're traveling a lot of places.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_03: We're out of town.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_03: Life is taking us different places.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_03: So we want to be on the same page.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_03: So we've been in the book of Corinthians for the last three months, and uh we're gonna continue the next couple weeks.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_03: And here's what I want us to to really hone in on and to grasp as we've been doing this together.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_03: And again, I know some of you you you've been all over the place.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_03: Uh the city of Corinth is a a city that is wealthy.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_03: It's a city that that a lot of people come to.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_03: You know, this past summer, you know, 48 countries uh were invited, 47 countries were invited to the United States of America to participate in the World Cup.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_03: Uh there's never been a time where more uh countries have come together and come to our country with the display of diversity, different languages.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_03: This is what is happening in Corinth.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_03: They're a trade community, a lot of people that speak a lot of different languages from a lot of different backgrounds.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_03: They are there.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_03: And we can see that Paul, in the middle of this in Acts chapter 18, and around AD 50, Paul plants a church.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_03: And the biggest thing that Paul is talking about, the whole book of Corinthians, first and second, is Paul is talking about how culture has invaded the church.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_03: And he's constantly talking through what we are to do with that, how we are to live different.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_03: So he's writing to the church.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_03: He's writing to men and women who have said, first and foremost, we have different backgrounds.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, look around the room.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_03: You can see we have so many different backgrounds, not just different names, different parents, different jobs, different cities.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_03: All of these things are well represented in not only the United States of America, but at Corinth.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_03: And because of that background, people are bringing different things to the table.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_03: We've already seen that there is division.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_03: We've already seen that there are people who are rich, who have a lot of money, who are looking down upon the poor.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_03: We see that there are people who are slaves, who are uh indebted to the people that are not just rich but powerful.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like we've seen this all throughout.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_03: And ultimately, what Paul is teaching us on how to live in 2026 is to not fall into the same trap that they did when it comes to division.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_03: Now, I'm gonna be honest with you, first service, they were not awake.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I don't know if it's school starting this week, if they needed to, I don't know what it was, to be honest with you.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_03: I I do know this that chapter 12 is something we're gonna spend more time on in the fall because there's some misconceptions on how a lot of us think and were raised when it comes to 1 Corinthians chapter 12.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_03: There are gonna be some things that I say to you, and I only know this from 8:30 service, that you do not like.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_03: It is going to offend you.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm only saying that from first service because I saw their faces.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_03: It was not great.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_03: There was not a lot of smiles.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_03: So this is a moment where I'm like, you know what?
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_03: I might be okay if you fake smile at me.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_03: Because again, whether it was lack of sleep or I know this.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_03: I know that the enemy does not like 1 Corinthians chapter 12.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_03: Because there are some lies that we have believed that has made the church not grow in the way that it should grow.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_03: And when I'm talking about church, I'm talking about big C church.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_03: So Paul, from the very beginning, he lets everyone know.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_03: Hey, understand this.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_03: We're going to be talking about spiritual gifts.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_03: They begin with Jesus.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_03: First verse.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_03: Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities that the Spirit gives us.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_03: Paul immediately from chapter 11 into chapter 12, he's changing subjects.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_03: And he says this, verse 3 or verse 2.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_03: You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray, swept along in worshiping speechless idols.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_03: The New King James says, dumb idols.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_03: I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_03: Up front, Paul's saying, listen, you guys are asking a lot of questions.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_03: They've written to Paul.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_03: He's answering a lot of their questions in his response to the letter back to him.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_03: And he's saying, you guys understand where you used to live.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_03: Paul's not saying we ignore where we used to be.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_03: There's never a moment where I'm going to tell you to hide your story.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_03: Your story is your story.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_03: And the reason we can dictate how far you've come is because we remember who you used to be.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_03: If you're in this room and you lost 200 pounds, and the new you is who you are now.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_03: We're not going to say, like, hey, do you remember?
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_03: Let's just remember from here on out.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_03: I'm going to tell you, do you remember how you used to look?
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_03: Do you remember how you used to live?
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_03: We're going to point back to why?
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_03: Because it demonstrates, it shows how far we've come.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_03: Paul's not saying ignore the fact that you worshiped pagan gods.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_03: He says, Do you remember when you used to?
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_03: Because when you used to do this, you acted like this.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_03: Paul is trying to get them to understand, like he's trying to get us to understand, that if we follow Jesus, we're going to live differently.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_03: If we're not following Jesus, there's some things we've not surrendered to him.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_03: In fact, I would say this: if you've not surrendered something to Jesus, it's showing where you trust him at all.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_03: If I'm not surrendering something, I'm showing him I don't really trust him with what it is that I'm holding on to.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_03: And some of you, that's that might be a small, minor thing.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_03: Some of you it's huge.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_03: It's forgiveness, it's bitterness.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_03: You're like, you know what?
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_03: I can have all this, but I'm holding on to this thing.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_03: It's showing Jesus, I can trust you with this, but I'm not trusting you with this.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_03: And Paul is telling the church to surrender those things.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_03: Verse 4.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_03: There are, and listen, chapter 12, Paul repeats himself a lot.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_03: He's doing this because we're stubborn people.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_03: He's doing this because sometimes you need to hear it a different way, but also the same language, the same outcome.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_03: I've told my kids a thousand times something, but when one of their friend's parents told them, all of a sudden they heard it.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_03: I don't get it.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_03: We've said the same thing.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_03: You just heard it from someone else differently.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_03: Paul says these things a couple different times to the point where we're like, didn't I read this already?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_03: He's like, Yes, you did.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe this time it'll stick.
• 7:02
  unknown: Right?
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_03: Verse 4 says, There are different kinds of spiritual gifts.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_03: The same spirit is the source of them all.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_03: There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_03: God works in different ways, but is the same God who does the work in all of us.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_03: He said, same God, different gifts.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_03: Unity doesn't require uniformity.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_03: Unity doesn't require uniformity.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_03: Stop asking, what do I get from the church and start asking what has God given me for the church?
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_03: There's a big difference.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_03: If you're coming here to consume, that's not the church Jesus was wanting to build.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_03: Paul's picture is the body of Christ.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_03: Every believer has been given something by the Holy Spirit.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_03: Not for status, not for attention, not for personal fulfillment.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_03: But verse 7, a spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_03: He's saying, listen, I've given you this gift.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_03: This verse changes everything.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_03: It changes everything about church.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_03: Stop putting church in your hour mindset.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_03: Stop saying church is 10 to 11.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_03: Stop saying church is I went to 8:30 to 9:30.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_03: Stop putting it in that mindset.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_03: If that's the case, then we've put God in this box that He can only show up between 10:30 and 11:30.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_03: He doesn't call you to attend church, he calls you to be the church.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_03: That's a lot of responsibility and a lot of accountability.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_03: That means don't just play nice on Sunday mornings.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_03: Play nice with your coworkers on Monday.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_03: What Paul is addressing is if this thing is really stuck, the good news of Jesus, who he is, who he was, what he's doing in my life, if this thing is real, I'm gonna live different.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna talk different, I'm gonna act different.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_03: This is what Paul is constantly addressing.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_03: And verse 7 changes everything.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_03: Spiritual gifts were never about self-promotion, they're for serving others.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_03: God doesn't gift us for applause, he gifts us for people.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_03: Think about this way: a flashlight doesn't shine on itself, it shines so others can see.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_03: The point isn't that the flashlight shines on this, it shines so that you can see in front of you.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_03: It's to help others see what's going on.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_03: Now, I'm not even talking about the fact that they might not receive what is going on, they might not like what you have to say.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_03: That's not that's not the job.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_03: The job is that we speak truth, we show light, we go to dark places to be the light.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_03: How people respond, what people say, that that's this that's that's not my job.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_03: That's not my responsibility.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_03: My responsibility is to shine the light, to show them the way.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_03: That's it.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_03: That's all I'm to do.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_03: You're living in darkness, here's the next step.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_03: The problem is, you and I want to go up here, but it starts right here.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_03: You know why you're missing out up here?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_03: Because you can't step right here.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_03: That's why the gifts exist.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_03: To help others.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_03: Paul is saying, you've made it about one thing.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_03: I'm telling you, it's about more than that.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_03: Look at this.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_03: Verse 8.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_03: To one person, the spirit gives the ability to give wise advice.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_03: To another, the same spirit gives a message of special knowledge.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_03: The same spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the spirit gives the gift of healing.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_03: He gives one person the power to perform miracles, another the ability to prophesy.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_03: He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_03: Still, another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_03: While another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I've sat in a room with people from other countries, and I've watched in this room full of people from Ghana, other places around Africa to Europe.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_03: I've sat in those rooms and I've watched, I've watched, I've experienced the whitest guy in the room from Iowa speak in a language in Ghana that nobody knows the dialect to.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_03: I've watched it happen.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_03: That is the power of the Holy Spirit.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_03: Because there was only one guy in the room that could interpret what was being said by this white guy.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_03: And not only did he interpret it, he said it was perfect dialect.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_03: How does that happen?
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_03: That happens by the power of the Holy Spirit.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_03: It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all of these gifts.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_03: He alone decides which gift He should give each person or each person should have.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_03: So again, the port at Corinth has people from every nation, every tribe.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_03: They're coming.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_03: And he's saying, when these people show up to church, they don't know your language.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_03: And because they don't know your language, the Holy Spirit needs to give not only the language, but the interpretation of that language.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_03: This is what's just happening at Corinth.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_03: The Holy Spirit is the one who distributes them as he chooses, not as we demand.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_03: Hear me?
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_03: Hear what he's saying.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_03: This is an important point.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_03: The miracle isn't that every person has the same gifts.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_03: The miracle is that God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_03: He's pointing back to what they used to be so that they understand, despite what they used to be, God can still use them.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_03: You may not understand that in Columbia, Illinois, where we live with such American privilege.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_03: But for the bound person in the back who had zero money, who is here in the hope that the gospel is for him, changed everything.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_03: Because up to that moment, his past disqualified him.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_03: Jesus comes in and says, You're not disqualified.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_03: I'm the one that decides that, not people.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_03: This is what Paul is addressing.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_03: And he says, the human body has many parts, verse 12, but the many parts make up one whole body.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_03: So it is with the body of Christ.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_03: Some of us are Jews, some of us are Gentiles, some of us are slaves, some of us are free, but we all have been baptized into one body by one spirit, and we all share the same spirit.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_03: Here is what Paul is addressing.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_03: He's saying our identity in Christ is bigger than our differences.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_03: Our identity as sons and daughters in Christ is bigger than the fact that you're a Jew and I'm a Gentile.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_03: It's bigger than the fact that you're rich and I'm poor.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_03: This is what he's addressing.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_03: These were massive social divisions that were happening.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_03: And yet Paul says the Spirit brings us into one body.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_03: Can you imagine this message to the American church?
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_03: Hey Republican.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_03: Hey Democrat.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_03: Hey white guy.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_03: Hey black guy.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_03: Hey rich dude.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_03: We are in this together.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_03: Our identity in Jesus is bigger than how we were raised.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's bigger than who your mommy and your daddy are.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_03: It's bigger than our differences.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_03: The gospel doesn't erase every difference.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_03: It gives us an identity greater than our differences.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_03: Jesus must unite us more deeply than our culture divides us.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_03: It must happen that way.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_03: Verse 14.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_03: Body doesn't consist of one part.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_03: This is intentional.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_03: Here's what he's saying.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_03: He's saying God doesn't want everybody thinking, talking, serving, leading exactly the same.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_03: Unity does not mean everybody becomes like me.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_03: Unity means everybody becomes more like Jesus.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_03: Three of you?
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_03: Really?
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_03: If the goal in discipleship is to get people to look and to act and to dress like me, we've missed the point.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_03: There's nothing to do with that.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_03: I don't need a carbon copy of Jamie Bridges.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_03: I need a carbon copy of someone who wants and desires to follow Jesus.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_03: Your personality, your experiences, what has happened to you, those are yours.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_03: And they should be yours.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_03: Verse 15.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_03: If the foot says I'm not a part of the body because I'm not a hand, that does not make it any less part of the body.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_03: I love this.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_03: You know why?
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_03: Because there are some things that people say as if they're truth.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_03: You saying something along cultural lines is this way does not make it true.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_03: He's saying this sounds ridiculous, right?
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_03: What sounds ridiculous is the fact that the foot cannot say, I'm not part of the body, and that be truth.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_03: This is kindergarten.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_03: I should have left him up here.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_03: And if the ear says, I'm not part of the body because I'm not an eye, would that make it any less part of the body?
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_03: If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear?
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_03: If your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_03: But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_03: How strange a body would be if it only had one part.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_03: Now hear me on this one.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_03: This is a message to the church.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_03: I love the fact that my now senior daughter has been home all summer long.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_03: But you know what that means?
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_03: She brings a cat.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's no longer just Libby coming home.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_03: It's this fat orange Garfield-looking cat.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_03: And I get why people are cat people.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_03: Because they don't smell.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_03: I don't gotta take that fat thing for a walk.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_03: But listen, if you came into my house and that cat was barking, you're gonna look at it a little weird.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_03: You're gonna look at it and go, what the heck is going on here?
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_03: Do you know human beings are the only people that when we're left without purpose, we copy the behavior of somebody else?
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_03: Because when purpose is unknown, first and foremost, abuse is inevitable.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_03: But when purpose is unknown, confusion is no doubt inevitable.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_03: Listen to me.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_03: There are many times we're being portrayed as the body of Christ, and people come into the church and they're looking at us like we only have one eye.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_03: They're looking at us like we have a deformed body.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_03: And you know what?
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_03: They're right.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_03: Because we're trying to be something that we're not.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_03: And when they look at us, they go, Why is the eye trying to be the ear?
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_03: Why is the hand trying to be the foot?
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_03: That looks funny.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_03: And you get that.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_03: It would look funny if my hand was on my foot.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_03: It would look funny if my ear was right here.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_03: It would look funny if my nose is back of my head.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_03: It would look funny if all those things.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_03: You would look at me quite weird.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_03: So don't be confused as to why some people come in hoping, wanting, something to have hope for, and they're looking at us like we should be complete, but we're not.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_03: What Paul is addressing, what Paul is saying up front is we've confused something.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_03: I know.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_03: You're like, where's this going?
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_03: You're the eye, you're the ear, you're the hand, you're the you're the foot, I'm the mouth.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_03: Here's what we've done in the American Church.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_03: You sit down.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_03: You sit down.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_03: You sit down.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_03: You sit down.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_03: We've resorted the American church to the guy with the microphone.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_03: And we said, we don't need these.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_03: Let's just build the personality around the guy with the microphone.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_03: And so here's what we do.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_03: Hey, guy with the microphone, you could do all these things.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_03: Come here, do this, do that.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_03: Listen, I got one, maybe two giftings.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe two.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_03: I surround myself with people where I don't have a gifting.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_03: So when you fill out a coffee with a pastor, I'll meet up with you.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_03: But listen, I might say as the mouth, I might be the guy that goes, you know what, this is a great time.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_03: I enjoy coffee, but I just want you to know it would be better fitted for you to meet with so-and-so because they're going to be better resource for you moving forward.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_03: That doesn't mean I don't like you.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_03: That doesn't mean, oh, the pastor can't meet with people.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_03: He must be so popular now.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_03: No, it is impossible to meet with every single one of you and then have the pressure put on me like I can fix whatever is going on.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_03: I know a story, and if if you've lost a spouse, you've lost a child, you've lost a job, I may not be able to fix you, but I know someone who's been through that five years ago, ten years ago, and they can sit down with you and they could be a resource, they can help you be set free, they could be the one that helps you.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_03: Why are we so afraid for that to happen?
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_03: That's the church, that's the body, that's the role, that's the giftings that have to happen.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_03: If we continue to put pressure on people to be all things, I'm just telling you, the people are gonna look at you and go, Why is that church an ear?
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_03: Why is that church just an eye?
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_03: We can't do it.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_03: We can't do it because here's what I know about pastors at an alarming rate.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: Right, most of them are leaving the mystery, then are coming in.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_03: You know the average age of a pastor 20 years ago was 45 years old, you know what it is now?
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_03: 70.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_03: They're not coming in.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_03: Listen, it's not because they're not called, it's not because God's not able.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_03: It's because we say things like, we don't like a celebrity pastor.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_03: Who the heck do you think who made them a celebrity?
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, we don't want to blame that.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want to blame that.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: Comparison, you guys just always comparison always creates security.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_03: Listen every one of us in this room or different.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_03: And different does not mean less important.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_03: We don't measure up.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_03: It would be ridiculous.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_03: I wouldn't backstage.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_03: And I grabbed a guitar and I said, Let me lead us in this time of worship.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_03: Y'all were leaving.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_03: But I saw this beautiful picture yesterday.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_03: We have a woman in the church 63 years married her husband and he passed away.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_03: 63 years.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_03: Beautiful picture.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_03: And here's what I saw yesterday.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_03: I saw ladies working in the kitchen preparing me off.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_03: I saw people leave and go get pick up the chicken.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_03: I saw people working the sound booth, people welcoming people in, some people getting up saying something about the people.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_03: It was this beautiful picture.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_03: If everyone was just getting the chicken, and that's all you're eating.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_03: And there was nobody to do a service.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_03: There's nobody to run the sound.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_03: We understand it, right?
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_03: We get it right.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_03: So then why are we stuck in this place of like wish I could do something else?
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_03: Here's the four words that I think we need to leave our vocabulary.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_03: And listen, listen, if you're in this place and you say, I don't, I don't know why you're saying this to me, I don't even go to this church.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_03: Here's how you know whether you go to this church or not.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_03: Here's how you know.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_03: If you're talking about this church, I'm talking about Life Community Church.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_03: As us, then you attend here.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_03: But the moment you say you guys, hey, what are you guys doing up on that property?
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_03: Us guys are trying to figure some things out.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_03: I need you guys to be part of us guys.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_03: Right?
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_03: Please, please, please.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_03: I don't want to be rude, but you start saying us and them, a checkout.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_03: A checkout.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_03: And I get it, it's hard.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, the first six months, Sean was here.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_03: What do you guys do here?
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_03: What do you guys do here?
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_03: And I finally look to Sean like, dude, I hired you.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_03: It's us.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_03: It's us.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_03: And you know the difference?
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_03: Like, Paul is saying, we're gonna live different.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_03: So hear me when I'm talking about these four words.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_03: The I can never say, verse 20, the I can never say to the hand, I don't need you.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I don't need you is not an option.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_03: It's not an option.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_03: There's never a moment when someone says, like, well, I don't, you don't need me there.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_03: You got 10 drummers.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_03: Actually, not true.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_03: Two of them are leaving next two weeks.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, there he goes all.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_03: I love fall, but that also means people leave.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_03: You go away to college.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_03: You don't know what you don't know.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_03: I don't need you is not an option.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_03: It's not what we're talking about.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_03: Hear me.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_03: This confronts the American culture when it comes to church.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_03: Because the American, our culture is very independent.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_03: But the kingdom teaches interdependence.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_03: Here's what I mean by this: the Bible, there's no version, there's no scripture in the Bible where it's just me and Jesus.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, it's just me and Jesus.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_03: Allow yourself to need other believers.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_03: Allow yourself to need other people in the body.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_03: You can follow Jesus personally, but you are never meant to follow Jesus alone.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_03: Take that out of your vocabulary.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, that's how Paul starts off, verse 22.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_03: Some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the highest or the greatest care.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen while the more honorable parts do not require this special care.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_03: Listen, there are people who seem weaker.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_03: There are people that this world's cultural system will tell you is upside down.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_03: Culture values influence, it values appearance, it values money and power and talent and all those.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_03: But God says some people who appear weakest are actually indispensable.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_03: They're the real MVPs.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_03: You know, statistically, when people come to a church, they've made a decision within the first seven minutes whether they're going to come back.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_03: Seven minutes.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_03: That tells me whoever greeted them is the greatest person.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_03: That means whoever opened the door, they're the MVP.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_03: Because before anybody strums a guitar or opens the Bible, they've already made a decision.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_03: What does this feel like?
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_03: Is this family?
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_03: Man, that lady at front, she did not smile at me.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: That is not the joy of the Lord.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: This is what this is what Paul is saying.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna end with this just because it's flashing at me.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_02: Verse 31.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_02: And this is a setup.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_02: It's a setup for next week.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_03: Verse 31 says, So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_03: So my prayer, God, where can I where can I be?
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_03: Where do you want me to be?
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_03: Right?
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_03: And then it continues, but now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_03: This is chapter 13, where he says, Listen, if we don't love in the way that we do things, what's he say?
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_03: You're like a clanging symbol that sounds awful.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_03: He's saying, Listen, you can have all the gifts in the world, but if you don't do it with a heart of love, you're missing the whole point.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_03: It's a setup.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_03: Chapter 12 is a setup.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_03: He's setting you up to go, listen, you think you are so special.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_03: You think you've got it all together.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_03: And you might, but if you're doing it for the wrong reason, nobody's listening.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_03: Nobody hears you.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_03: Because this is a wake-up for us as the church.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_03: To be the church, to be the church, to fulfill what he's asking of us to do.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_03: And hear me.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_03: The church, the body of Christ needs you.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_03: Stop looking across the room and saying they got it.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_03: And tomorrow morning, be the church at work.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_03: Tonight, when you meet the local law enforcement at the block party, with a smile on your face, say welcome to our annual block party.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_03: The meet and greet of the local law enforcement.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_03: With a smile on our face.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_03: Why?
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_03: Because the church needs to be the church.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_03: Just during this time frame.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_03: But everywhere that we go.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_03: Everywhere we go.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_03: Amen.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_03: Jesus, right now.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_03: God, we acknowledge we need you in this room.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_03: God, you're the giver.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_03: God, I pray as a church we would lean in.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_03: Whether it's discover life or whether it's discovering what our gifts are.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_03: No longer just wondering.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_03: No longer just walking in confusion.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_03: God, I pray that there would be clarity.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_03: God, that you would speak.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_03: God, that we would be a church that says, listen, I know what I'm called to do, I know what I'm called to be.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_03: I'm going to do it with everything that's within me.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_03: God, I pray that you'd help us.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_03: Pray that you'd help us.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_03: No, four weeks ago, listen, four weeks ago, I did something, it's not because I'm 50.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_03: Okay?
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_03: Don't be that person.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_03: But four weeks ago I got on my one-wheel.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_03: I've driven this for three years now, and I fell off of it.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_03: Okay?
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_03: I fell off of it.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_03: Going about 25 miles an hour.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_03: And only my wife saw it.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_03: And once she knew that I was good, she was mad that it wasn't on camera.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_03: And then she said, Maybe the ring got it.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_03: But just I drove by and the ring missed it.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_03: And my neighbor came out, kid, heard it.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_03: And I'll be honest with you, it freaked me out.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_03: It freaked me out because I never wrecked like that.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_03: It stopped, I did not.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_03: And uh it freaked me out.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_03: I knew I had some wounds that that were probably gonna take this body a little bit to heal.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_03: And most of them, they're unknown to you.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_03: You don't see them.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_03: There will be people when I've looked at shorts, and this is literally what's been said, my God, what happened to your leg?
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_03: It's disgusting.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's pus, buddy.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_03: It's coming out, right?
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_03: It's not supposed to look pretty.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_03: But right now they're covered up.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_03: But you know, of all the injuries, okay, and I can name them, but of all the injuries, the road rash on my hands were the worst.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_03: They weren't the worst injury, but they affected me the most because of how much I do with my hands.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_03: And I quickly realized because of what happened to me in my body, it changed everything else.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_03: If you've ever cracked a tooth, if you've ever had an earache, you go, this is so minor, but it affects your whole day.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_03: Listen to me, as the body of Christ, our job is to take care of whatever it is that has wounded us.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_03: And sometimes that means going to the dentist.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes that means going in for a scan.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_03: Whatever the case, the point is to get you healthy so that you could be effective wherever it is that you go.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_03: Some of you in this room, you're wounded.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_03: You've been wounded.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_03: You're hurting.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_03: I'm inviting you.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_03: I'm begging you.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_03: Can we take care of those injuries so that we could be the effective body of Christ that this community needs?
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_03: Amen.