Latest / Growing Together in the Gospel / Acts Series Part 9: Every Gift Used: How the Early Church Grew

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Acts Series Part 9: Every Gift Used: How the Early Church Grew · Growing Together in the Gospel

• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: This podcast reflects on Acts chapter 6 and the problem that arose when the early church began to grow.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: Widows are being overlooked, not because people didn't care, but because the church had grown beyond what a handful of leaders could carry on their own.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: The solution wasn't for the apostles to work harder, it was to release more people into the ministries God had entrusted to them.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: That has something to say to us as a church.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: Church life can easily become about trying to make sure every gap is filled.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: But Acts chapter 6 reminds us that it's not just about filling every gap.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: The ultimate goal is that every gift within the body is being used.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: When church becomes primarily about filling gaps, a few people end up carrying more and more.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: We can even begin to hold tightly to our ministries, seeing new gifts as a threat rather than something to celebrate.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: But ministry doesn't belong to us, it belongs to God.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: As people discover and use the gifts God has given them, ministry is shared, needs are met, and the whole body grows stronger.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's when church stops revolving around a few people and becomes what God intended.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: A body where every member is connected to Christ the head and every part does its work.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: Let's listen to Dean.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we're going to be in Acts chapter 6 today, as we continue our journey through this story, this account of the early church and all that took place.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: And we're going to come to a passage that I think has been taken to be about one thing, but I think it's about something else.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so we're going to explore it together.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's called, in my book, The Choosing of the Seven.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to read it together today.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: It says, following on from all the excitement of the last chapter and the persecution and the coming back out and the getting back up again, that bounce back ability we thought about last week, and that carrying on and the mission of God that's overflowing and pouring out all the nations, thousands coming to faith, people turning, houses everywhere, glorifying Jesus, people and families following him.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: And then it says, in those days, when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews, so there are Jewish people who are Greek in their ethnicity, so they're the Hellenistic Jews among the church, among them complained against the Hebraic Jews.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: These are the Jewish Jews, if you like, or the Jews based in Jerusalem.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: They complained against them because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: So remember it said that the church, they lacked nothing, people were supporting one another, things were being distributed, and people will be helped and blessed, but some felt they were being overlooked.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so the twelve, that's the disciples, the apostles, gathered all the disciples together and said, It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the spirit and wisdom.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: We will turn this responsibility over to them.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: And will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: The proposal pleased the whole group.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and also Philip, Procurus, Nicholas Canaor, Timon, Parmenus, and Nicholas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid their hands on them.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: So the word of God spread.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: We have had lots of exciting things.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Lots of exciting things in Acts.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Explosion of the church, people coming to faith, people having their hearts transformed, encountering the risen Jesus by the Holy Spirit and being renewed and changed and set free and hearts transformed by all this goodness and this grace.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then we get something that seems so practical, so so down to earth, so so simple and yet so important.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Most of us we've been in churches, and churches apparently can have problems, things can go wrong.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: But not everything wrong thing is a wrong thing, if that makes sense.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Something times wrong things are simply a growing problem.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we see here, that there are growing pains in the church.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: The church is exploding, 3,000 are added in Acts 2, 5,000 in Acts 4, more and more being added in Acts 5.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's growing and growing.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: The apostles are preaching, people are gathering in homes, meals are being shared, needs are being met, but then there's a new challenge.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Something seems to slip through the cracks.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: It says the number of disciples are increasing, and then it's growing and expanding, but the limits of the apostles is being exposed.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the widows in the group, those who are vulnerable in that culture, those who are unable to provide for themselves, who don't have support or pension or those things that we have today, they are being overlooked in the distribution of food.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so this complaint arises.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so what they do is they go off into a little huddle and they all gossip together and they leave that church and say they're a bunch of hypocrites, we don't want to know anything about them ever again.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's often how it works out in modern churches, sadly.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not what they do.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: The church sees the need and they say, Right, we need to address this.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: And the apostles, as remarkable as they are, they recognize a very simple truth for every leader to recognize.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot do everything.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: They cannot personally preach and pray and disciple and oversee the distribution and resolve the disputes and care for every widow and meet every practical need.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Not because they lack compassion, not because they they lack the heart behind these people, not because they're not pastoral or caring or considerate, they lack it because they are human.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: They are people.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: And there is a limit to people.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: We are made as limited beings.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: We have boundaries, things that we cannot exceed, things that we cannot do.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: That is by design.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: It is not a mistake, it is not a flaw in us.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: There is a capacity that each of us has.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: Now that may be different in different areas.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Some of you may be able to have 20 conversations in a day and still be buzzing.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Some have two and you're worn out for a week.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Some people can do the practical and some people five minutes hard work and you need to sit down for a bit.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: But you can turn your eye to the admin and the process.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: There's different limits that we have.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: There's a principle in leadership, right?
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they call it the rule of 150.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Some say it's 125, depending who you talk to.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: And it's the idea that any human being around 150 is the limit of relationships of people you can know on a more than acquaintance level.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: So you know their names, you know where they're from, you know what they're doing and their job and what's going on in their life.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: 150 seems to be the limit across cultures and different places.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Beyond that, it becomes too much.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: To really know and to be uh go deeper than just surface level.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: There is a limit to human beings.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: There comes a point where one person cannot maintain that, cannot keep that going.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: We are limited.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot personally know everyone, you can't carry every responsibility.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Which means here, if the church is going to grow, something has to change.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: Not the mission, but the structure.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: Not the vision, but the participation.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: The illustration that I often come back to, and it's a book that you can go and buy, it's called The Trellis and the Vine.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: And it's this wonderful picture that when you have a vine, you try and grow a vine, sometimes they struggle.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: So what you need is a trellis.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: And the trellis is there so that the vine can grow up the trellis.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now the trellis is not the point.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: No one puts a trellis in their garden and says, Isn't that a lovely trellis?
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: You put the trellis there so that you can have a lovely vine growing up it.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: And here what we see is the vine is growing, but it's starting to struggle with the weight, starting to struggle with the growth.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: It can't keep up.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so a trellis is put in place, a new plan is put in place so that the vine can keep growing.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Not so we can all look at it and say, What wonderful trellis, what wonderful systems, what wonderful programs, but that's so the vine can continue to grow.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: People can know Jesus and grow in him.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: And Acts 6 is when that happens.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not the first time.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: You go right back a few hundred years earlier, you find a man called Moses, and you find himself in the same position.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: He's led God's people out of Egypt, he's confronted Pharaoh, he's led them through the Red Sea.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: This man is a man with capacity, ability, a calling from God.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: God himself has blessed him and says, You will be the leader, you will be my voice piece, you will be the one who will set my people free, and they will follow you.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: And there comes a point where he says, Even I can't do this.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, it's his father-in-law.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Bless the fathers again.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: A father-in-law, you can be a good influence.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um you come in and his father-in-law comes in and says, Moses, I love what he says, what you are doing is not good.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's not sinful, it's not wrong, it's not bad-hearted, it's just unsustainable.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: It is not good.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: You are going to wear yourselves out.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so he instructs him.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: He says, What you do is you get groups of ten and fifty and a hundred, and you appoint people to oversee them.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then the cases, if they're too difficult, then they come to you, and as a result, the mission can continue.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: God's people can grow.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Acts 6, that's Exodus 18, and Acts 6 is just an echo of that.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: A different covenant, a different time, but the same principle.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: For God's people to grow, there is a point where his revival, his work needs some structure to it.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: You see the same revivals across the world, the Methodist revival, when it first started with the Wesleys, God breaks in, people were transformed, hearts are renewed.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: But there came a point where John and Charles they have to try and create a system.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: How do we care for these people?
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: They started off really the small groups idea, the little groups that care for each other, pray for each other, support each other.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Every revival it gets a bit crazy and a bit chaotic as God breaks out, a new life, it bursts out just like a vine or a tree.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, every summer they go a bit crazy, and they have to be trimmed and shaped and guided and guarded so that they can continue to bear fruit.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: And here we see that happening.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: God is growing, God is doing something, and then he calls his people to help make that happen.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: Not because it's wrong, not because it's something's bad, but because it's unsustainable, and the mission needs to continue.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: See, one of the ways we think about church, and what I want to get away from in this passage, is we tend to think about church as sort of an organizational chart.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: So here we go, we've got pastor at the top, then maybe you've got deacons underneath, and then you've got members underneath that, and so there's a top and it comes down, and that's how it is.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's how businesses work, that's how CEOs work, and and all sorts of organizations work, and it's easy to look at church and think of it in that framework.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: That isn't how I see it, and I don't think that's how the Bible pictures it.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: A better way might be to put it this way.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: You might say, Well, we need elders, then we need pastors and elders, we need another layer, another layer to the system to help people.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that's another way, but I still don't quite think that fits.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: I would prefer, I still don't agree with this, but maybe this way around, that actually it's not an organizational chart with a pastor on top, that actually, if anything, a leader is to be the least, is to be the one who supports and holds up others, who bears them up and lifts them before God and isn't the greatest of all but is the least of all.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's how Jesus defined leadership.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a bit better.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Still don't think it's quite there yet.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: You could add Jesus in there, and that's a good idea, I think.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the head of the church.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: But do you see the problem with that?
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: There's only one line between Jesus to the pastor, and it gives the impression that there's a direct line between the man at the front and the man at the top and God, and everyone else has to get it through them, and that isn't how the Bible talks either.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let me show you the organizational chart that the Bible gives us for how church is meant to function.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: There you go.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's a body.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: And in the body, there are many roles and different responsibilities, there are different functions and different things.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: There isn't a hierarchy, though.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: You see, when you come to Corinthians, it says, no, that the hand can't say to the eye, I don't need you, and the eye can't say to the hand, and the hand can't say to the foot, you're no good, and the foot can't say to the hand, I don't need you.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: No, you each do a part, the hand and the eye work together, and the hand and the foot work together, and the the heart and the it's all connected.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: There is one role in this head that isn't taken, though, there's one role that isn't up for grabs, and that's the head.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus is the head of the body.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: He's the one.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: And if you notice, if he's the head of the body, then the whole body is connected to the head.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's not one man who's connected, that the foot is connected to the head, and the hand is connected to the head, and the heart is connected to the head.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Every part is connected to the head.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: The rest of us are the body.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: And in the body there are different responsibilities, but hierarchy is not quite the right word.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: You might say, well, who makes the decisions?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Who, where does the buck stop?
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Who's got the well, that means that there's someone who has a responsibility for overseeing and for caring and to making sure everyone's connected to the head.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: I would see that as the role, perhaps, of the pastor, to make sure the body's connected to the head, make sure the parts are functioning.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: But hierarchy, that you get into all sorts of trouble when you think like that.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's my responsibility in the body, and you have a responsibility.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's how it looks, and that's what's happening in Acts 6.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: See, we often think of Acts 6 as the appointing of deacons.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: But if you notice the word deacons isn't in the passage.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: The point of Acts 6, I think, is the start of the church being the church.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: The start of the church being a body.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: Not just apostles taking responsibility but raising up others.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason is because when you look at it, here's what it says the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: And the word distribution there is diaconos, where we get the word deacon from.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: So in the daily, the word would be serving or ministry.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: So they were being overlooked in the daily ministry of food.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: So there was a ministry of food going on.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: And then it goes on and says, it would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Same word, I don't know why it gets translated different, but it does.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: The ministry of the word in order to wait on tables.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: So we put the words in.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: It says, it would not be right for us to neglect the diaconost of the word of God in order to diaconost on tables.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: See, it's not people saying, you know what, we're very spiritual and we read our Bibles and pray, and waiting on tables, that's a bit beneath us.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's how it can be read in the English.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: But in the original, it's saying, no, we have a ministry of the word, that's our responsibility.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: But there is a ministry of tables and a ministry of feeding the widows.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's not a lesser ministry.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's not beneath us, it's not a hierarchy where we're up here and you're down there.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: No, this is our responsibility, and because this is our responsibility, we can't do that responsibility.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: So let's find those who can do that.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Let's find parts of the body that can do that so we can do our part of the body and the whole body will work together.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: And suddenly you realize this is actually an incredibly beautiful picture, a mindset that the early church had.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: Not we are better than this or we're above, we're serving others in practical ways, that's beneath us.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: No, that is a ministry that is beautiful and valuable, so valuable, in fact, that we're going to appoint people to carry on that ministry so we can do our ministry and they will do ours and God's people will be blessed.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: But deacon isn't a title.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: I know we have deacons, and so it's I'm not trying to put that down, but it's diaconost.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's not so much appointing deacons, it's recognizing servants.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's allowing each person to use their gift and their ability, not one above the other, but each one doing their part.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: The one thing we've learned in scripture is that hierarchy, it might be efficient, it might be clear, it might be a nice structure, but God is less interested with efficiency and more interested in what is right, what expresses his heart.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: And his heart is he is the head, and we are the body.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: I wonder if the rate of burnout among ministers and pastors leaving positions would be slightly different if we recognize this: that it isn't one man from whom everything descends, or one man who's holding everything up, it is a body where each part does its role.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: And there are many roles up for grabs: hands, feet, eyes, ears, different people serving in different ways in different seasons.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: There's one position that doesn't change the head, but the rest has different body parts, different functions, different responsibilities, all connected to the head and all getting their energy and their strength from it.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: Not a church built around one person or even twelve people, even the apostles.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: This fascinating statement.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: We will not neglect our ministry, but we also don't want their ministry to be overlooked.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: So let us come together that we might serve in this wonderful ministry, this big ministry that we call church.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: And the issue isn't importance or calling or status, it's the church flourishing as each part does its part.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: One ministers the word and one ministers at tables.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so the question becomes not do I have a ministry, because you do.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: If you are connected to the head, you have a ministry.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: The question becomes, am I expressing my ministry?
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: What ministry has God entrusted to me?
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Serving tables is a ministry, preaching is a ministry.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: And the issue isn't importance, it's the calling that God has for you.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: We can't do everything.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: But if each part does its part, then the church flourishes.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: One of the great dangers, and we see it here, is that there can be a belief, if there's a need, the leaders will sort it.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: But that isn't how the early church functioned.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: The leaders identified the needs, but the people recognized the servants and appointed them that they might go out and serve.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: It means that we need to move, and here's one of the big things.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: We tend to function in church on this motive.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: If you say it with me, every gap filled.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: So that tends to be how we've got gaps in our church, we've got gaps in ministry, and there are gaps in acts, and there are gaps in our church.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: Let me give you some of them.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we would like some more people to lead some small groups, uh, we'd like some people to help out in some of the youth activities.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: We recognized that yesterday.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: I've got a pile of wood in our shed that I want sanded down and shaped for a project that I've got.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I need people who could, that's it.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's another gap that we've got if you can help with that.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we've got the sound desk if you want to come and help and join joining the sound gap.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's setting up and moving the chairs.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: Keith was away the other week and I did this by myself, which Keith normally does.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's embarrassing him, but there's a lot of chairs here to move.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: We need people help setting up and moving this room around and getting things organized for different activities that take place.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: There are gaps, and I could go on and on.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: We need people help visiting people, people who are sick or absent, going and having teas and coffees and catching up.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: If you can plug any of those gaps, please come have a chat with us because we have gaps all over the place.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: Places that you could fill up.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: But if we make every gap filled our goal, then what we do is we fill the gaps and then we tell everyone else, don't worry, we don't need you, because the gaps are filled.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: No room at the inn.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, no space for you here.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: But the idea of every gap filled isn't how the Bible talks.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: So let's get rid of that.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the one we want.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Say it with me.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Every gift used, not every gap filled, but every gift used.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: We can plug the gaps and that would be good.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: But if someone then comes along and says, Well, I feel like I have a gift for this, we either say, No, no, sorry, there's no gap for you, or we say, Wonderful, we will make a gap for you.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: We will make a gap so that your gift can be used because that is what the church is, that is why it's beautiful.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: If we don't do this, then there are two things that can happen.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: One is that people forget the message, you're not needed, you're not wanted, God has nothing for you, and so see you later, off you go.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: But we've got things covered.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: And the other side of it is those who are doing the ministry, it it does something to them.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: The ministry becomes more than a ministry, it becomes an identity.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: It becomes this is not God's ministry that I am being used, my gift is being used in.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: It becomes this is my ministry that I'm needed in.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: And the idea of every gift used means other people have a gift, and that's good for God's ministry.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't my ministry.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: And even though I've put out things recently, even the pulpit, this isn't my this is God's ministry, and if others are gifted, we want to make a gap for them to be used.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's every gift used, it's not my ministry.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not protecting it, which is why I I know it's become a bit of a joke, but I don't refer to myself as pastor.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a there is a reason, it's not just me trying to be cool and trendy, there is a theological, deep, profound grounding to it.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: Marie, a few years ago, she got an email apparently from me, saying, Dear Marie, I want to encourage some of our volunteers.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: Could you buy£300 worth of Apple iTunes vouchers for for our ministers and transfer me the money or something like that?
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, it was a scam trying to get money from Marie to pay for things, buying these cards online.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason she knew it was a scam was because it was signed at the end from Pastor Dean Burgess.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: She knew I'd never refer to myself as pastor, and they didn't get away with it.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: But there is a reason why I do that.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Because my my role is not my identity.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: I I am not a pastor.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: Pastor is my responsibility, my identity is I am a child of God.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: Because if I ever step out of this or if it ever falls flat or I say the wrong thing, which every week is a danger, and I lose my job, that identity never changes.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: But my role in the body, my role now at the moment is pastor.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's what God I believe has given me and calling me to, and the others have recognized, and that is my role.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not something that I have to protect because it's not my identity, it's something God has given me.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: And if there are others who God is called to that, then I want to recognize that.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: If it's my identity, then when someone else comes along, it becomes a threat.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: Hang on a minute, I'm the pastor here, actually.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm the and you're now a threat to my ministry.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: Do you see how that could happen?
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: But if this is God's ministry and I'm just called to it, this is my responsibility, and I take that seriously, it's a thing I carry and I receive from God and I ask for his strength and help with, but it's not my ministry.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's God's ministry and it's my gift that he's using in that ministry.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: And if there is a gift for me to use elsewhere, then he can use it.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: But that's true of all of us.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: You are your identity is child of God, your identity is beloved, your identity is his and his alone.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: That is who you are.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: But because of that, you have a gift.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: In God's great ministry and all its variety and colour and beauty, you have a gift that can be used.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: And we want to, as a church, be a church that doesn't say we filled the gaps.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: No, thank you.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: But every gift is used.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Everything that God has put in you.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: And you might say, Well, I don't know what my role is.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: When we talk about gifts, there are formal gifts, there are ministry teams that we have.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: You've heard about some.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: We have youth teams, we have outreach teams, we have sound teams, we have music teams, we have leadership teams, we have all sorts of teams, and there is a formality to that that we recognize and we do in the church.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: But gift doesn't mean just a formal role.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: A gift is something God has given you that you alone do.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: Your role may be chief encourager.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's not a title we give people, it's not a role, but that that may be your role in this church.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: You are the one who encourages people when they are down.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: Your role may be chief welcomer, the one who notices the person sat quietly by themselves when no one else does.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: There's no formal title to that, but that is a wonderful ministry that God might have.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Given you.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Your role might be as as as we've already heard, your role may be praying for young people.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: That is my role.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: I adopt these young people and I pray for them and I commit them to God.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody appointed you, there's no badge you wear, but God has brought this into your heart and He stirred you up in this way.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: Your role may be hospitality.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: It may be baking the best cakes and making the best sausage rolls or whatever it is you do.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: Your role may be practical service.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: Your role may be generosity.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: Your role may be noticing needs before anyone else.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: These gifts, there are formal roles and gaps that we fill, but there is a ministry beyond all of that.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: Some roles become formal and there's volunteers and things like that.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: Some are recognized as leadership roles, but many never do.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: But every single one matters.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: Every gift used.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: And the church needs all of them.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's where the New Testament starts.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: It starts with Jesus, the body.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: We don't look at the hand and say, well, done for finding a role.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: No, the hand already has a role.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: And because it's connected to the body, it does that role well.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: You have a role.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: Don't ask, what is my role?
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: Or do I have a role?
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: You have one.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: The question is discovering what it is and then living it out.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: What has he put in me?
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: What has he placed in front of me?
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: We're back to our stick.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: The question God asked Moses.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: There we go, I managed to get there in the end.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: What is in your hand?
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: What has God given you?
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: And in your hand is what Dave was saying to us yesterday.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: In your hand, you look at that and go, well, that looks a bit ordinary, actually.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's what Moses said, it's a stick.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: And it's interesting.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: In the chapter, it starts off it's a staff, it's a stick, it's a staff, it's a stick, it's a staff, it's a stick.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then by the end of the chapter, it's this is the staff of God.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's almost got a new, a new, a new role.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's almost been given something because you took something ordinary and you combined it with God, and suddenly that ordinary thing became something special.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what your gifts are.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: Your gift may look incredibly ordinary, but you combine it with God's spirit in you, and God's calling on you.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: Suddenly it becomes it becomes the cakes of God.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just the case, it's the cakes of God.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just that hospitality, it's the table of God.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just the encouragement, it's the encouragement of God.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just the leading a team, it's the team of it, all becomes something God is using and blessing.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: And here we see it starting in seed form in Acts chapter 6.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: These people who are appointed, if you notice, they are appointed because they have the Holy Spirit.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: Wasn't that everyone?
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's the idea.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: There's actually nothing particularly uh elevated about these people.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: They're not above others, they're simply doing what everyone is meant to be doing, walking by the Spirit, displaying the fruit, and they're recognized for that.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's why I don't think deacon is the right thing to it's not appointing deacons, it's the church being the church, servants being servants.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's why it's so powerful because they're not appointing another leadership role, putting another layer in.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: It is the church being the church, it is releasing gifts, and because of that, what it says is that the word of God spread, the number of disciples increased rapidly.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: When each part does its role, the word of God spread, and the number of disciples increased rapidly.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: Once the trellis was there, the vine grew and grew.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a wonderful thing.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's what we're always called to do.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's why it says in Ephesians, God gave apostles and prophets and evangelists, shepherds and teachers.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: They're all these roles.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: But what's their job?
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: To equip the saints for the work of ministry, to enable the church to grow.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: Acts 6 is not a story about leaders doing more, it's a story about the church becoming the church.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: More people carrying the responsibility God has given them, more people using their gifts, more people stepping into what God has placed in them.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: And because they do that, God's word increases.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't want to give you a title today, or if you want a title, you're more than welcome to find one.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: I just want you to ask the question: what role has God given me?
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: What part do I play?
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want to chat, as I said, I know that's not always easy, and perhaps you need help, we're happy to sit and talk with you.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: We aren't going to give you a role and say, here's something to do, because that's not how it works.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: God bubbles it up in you.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: Every ministry, I've said this before, but I think nearly every ministry that we run in this church, from coffee mornings to lunch clubs to market outreach to the youth groups, they start with something bubbling up in the church.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: It isn't the leadership going, you know, we've got really good ideas, let's find people to fill the roles.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's always been, no, this person's got a heart.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: This person senses something.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: This person feels like there's something bubbling up and the spirit is stirring them, and we want to then equip them for the work that God has for them.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: So, what is God bubbling up in your heart?
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: What is the burden that he has placed on you?
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: What is the concern that he has put within you?
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: What are the people that you notice that others don't?
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: What are the things that he has gifted you in that you are able to do that others go, you know, that's really unique.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't be able to do that.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: What are the ways that God has already blessed you and are using you?
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: Because that will be a hint to what God may be wanting to use you for.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: You have a gift.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: If you're connected to the head, you have a gift.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: And the joy of this is discovering what that is and then unleashing it, allowing it to flow.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: When every member embraces that, the word of God spreads, disciples increase, and the church is blessed.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: So we're just going to pause for a moment.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: Because I can tell you all this, but I just think we just need a bit of time just to sit and reflect.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm actually ahead of time.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: Look at that.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: So we've got time, we've got time to rest, chill, relax, breathe deep.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: Let's just invite God to come and speak to our heart.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we we recognize that that we are part of this body.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: I thank you that all the organizational charts that the world comes up with, all the systems and ways of organizing things.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yours is not only beautiful, but it just speaks of life, a body, a head that is connected, a heart that beats, and every bit connected to one another as we serve you and glorify your name.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you for this passage.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's so it's so practical and so simple, and yet it seems to be unlocking a next step for us as a church.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: This is the season that we are in.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: Where you might be calling us not to fill every gap, but to use every gift so that the word of God might spread.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: So we come now and we bring ourselves, Lord, here I am, connected to you, the head, filled with your spirit, called by you.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: We ask, Lord, that you would lay on our heart the ministry that you have for us.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: We pray that we would see whatever it is, not as a lesser thing.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: There is no lesser ministry in your eyes.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: There is a body with every part doing its work.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: Help us to see our ministry as something that you delight in, that you have given us, that you've placed into our hands.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: I pray for those who do not yet know or are starting to just figure out what that might be.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, would you make it clear to them?
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: Would you show them the burdens you've put on their heart, the gifts and talents you've placed in their life, the things that you've put in their hand, even if they seem ordinary.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: Help them to see them in a new way as a gift that you've given them.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: For those who've perhaps used their gift and been burnt out, those for whom they have served the church and yet it's it's taken too much of a toll, Lord.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: We pray for rest for them, for refreshing, but we also pray for a restoration, Lord, that they would be able to come back, maybe gently and gradually.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps they were bearing too much weight, maybe too much was put on them, but may they come back into a body where it doesn't rest on one person, but that together we bear each other up.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: May you restore those whose gifts seem to have been dampened, whose fire seems to have grown weaker.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: Would you reignite it, Lord?
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: And as we go forward, Father, may this be our new mantra.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: May it be our heartbeats because we are a church.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: We are not an organization, we're not a program with slots to fill.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: We are a body.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: We are yours.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: And every part of that body is precious.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: Every part is valued.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: Every gift wants to be, we want to open it, we want to experience it, we want to enjoy it.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: May no gift go unwrapped, Lord.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: May no blessing be unshared.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: May no talent be unused.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: May we take, may we receive.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: May we enjoy and may we delight in every single gift being used for your glory.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: So that your word may spread, disciples may increase, and this country, this culture, this town will be transformed as that vine grows.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: Give us wisdom, Lord.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: Give us wisdom in how we organize and arrange this and how we go forward.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you for the example of the early church.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: Save us, Lord.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: Those of us who have a ministry, save us from clinging too tightly to it.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: Our identity is in you.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: We give this church to you, Lord.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's already yours, but we place it into your hands.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: You are the head, you are the chief shepherd, you are our king.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: Lead us on that we might grow in all that you have for us.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: We ask it in Jesus' name.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_02: We hope that you've enjoyed listening to Dean's thoughts today.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: If anything that he has said has challenged you or raised questions that you'd like answers to, please don't hesitate to contact us and ask for a chat.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_02: You can find our details on our website, which is leobc.co.uk, as well as on the information that we have posted with this podcast.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_02: Alternatively, if you live in our area, you're very welcome to join us on Sunday morning at 10 30 to hear things first hand.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_02: We'd love to see you there.