Latest / Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast / How to Become the Person You've Always Longed to Be

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How to Become the Person You've Always Longed to Be · Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast

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Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
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Is it possible to become the person you've always
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longed to become? I would submit it's not only
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possible, it's God's will that you become winsome
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and loving and holy, a person of faith and integrity
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that changes from the inside out. And God has
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literally arranged and designed a very special
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place in which this reality takes place. And
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today I want to share with you. where this special
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place is and how you can get connected to it.
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Stay with us. Deep inside each of us is an image
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of the better person we long to become. Question
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is, how do we actually get there? I'm Dave Drewy,
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and this is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
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We're in a series called Free at Last, how to
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break out of a destructive lifestyle. And today,
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Chip reveals how God transforms us from the inside
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out. And as you'll hear, the process he's created
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to do this work is not what you might expect.
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Now here's Chip with today's message titled,
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How to Become the Person You've Always Longed
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to Be. So we start our time in God's Word. I'd
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like you to do something a bit unusual. I want
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you to really lean back. I want you to feel free.
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Even if you want to shut your eyes, I'm going
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to give you three imaginary pictures. And they're
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very important. If you can let your mind, whatever
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helps you, begin to picture this in your mind.
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Imagine driving home after an exhausting and
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stressful day only to get a SOS voicemail from
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a not -so -close friend and immediately experiencing
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a shift of focus off yourself, your stress, and
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what you've got to do, and you find yourself
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filled with compassion and energy to meet this
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person and help them. You fix a quick supper.
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you get back in the car, you meet him at a coffee
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shop, two and a half hours of counseling, you
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pull in your driveway at 11 .35, physically completely
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beat, but an energy and a peace and a sense that
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you were a part of the living God changing a
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person's life forever as you put your head on
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the pillow. Scene number two. Can you imagine
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hearing of the promotion or a financial windfall
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in the life of your ex -husband, your ex -wife,
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the child that betrayed you, your ex -boss who
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fired you unfairly, the business partner who
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ripped you off financially. And as you hear of
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this good thing that happened to that person
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who betrayed or hurt you, Before you have time
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to think, the first thought that comes to your
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mind is joy and gratitude to God for blessing
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their life. Because over a season of time, you
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have so thoroughly forgiven them that like Jesus
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said, you actually love your enemies. Scene number
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three. You may have to lean back a little bit
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deeper. This will take a deeper imagination.
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Imagine hearing the honest conversation of your
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children and your closest friends as they've
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gathered at your house after your funeral. They
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can't see you, but you can see them. And you
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can hear them. And they've gone through little
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lines and grabbed little food that we always
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have after people die. And they're talking about
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you. And your own kids and the people that really
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know you talk about your loyalty, your integrity,
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your love. That you were in fact one of the greatest
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Christians that they ever met. That someday they
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want to be like you. And little stories, not
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those exaggerated kind that people say at funerals,
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but the kind when it's unedited and no one's
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around, the little stories of moments with you,
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many of which you totally forgot or unaware of,
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where your life, your love, your integrity marked
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their life forever. You were actually the kind
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of person that we all long to become. Can you
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imagine that? What each of these three scenarios
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have in common is they're a picture of the miracle
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of life change. And what they also have in common
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is you can't fake them. Those aren't stories
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of behavior modification, cleaning up a few external
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behaviors through a lot of hard work and discipline.
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These are super... natural works of the Spirit
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of God through the Word of God, the community
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of God's people, where the actual life of Christ
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over time, with many ups and many downs, created
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in you a life that we all long for. We're going
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to talk in this series about how that can become
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a reality, if you will, and let's talk about
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how that can actually happen to ordinary regular
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people like you and me. If you have your Bible
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open to Ephesians chapter 4, and as you scan
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Ephesians chapter 4, you'll remember that the
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series started with chapters 1, 2, and 3 talking
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about this is what God has done for you in Christ.
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You've been adopted. You have an inheritance.
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His Spirit lives within you. You have and possess
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eternal life. And then verse 1 said, you're to
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live out this new calling. Your belief and your
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behavior tell the same story. And far from a
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new list of activities, it says it happens in
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deep, other -centered, sacrificial relationships,
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where by his power, you're humble and patient,
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and you bear with the idiosyncrasies, and you
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make every effort, and you move into people's
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lives with a power that you don't possess to
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love them, to maintain the unity of the body,
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the bond of peace. Then in our next session,
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we talked about, well, where do you get that
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kind of power? And we learned that Christ gave
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gifts to men and to women in the church. And
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where did they come from? What does it mean that
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he ascended except that he descended into the
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lower parts of the earth? And we learned that
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everything that is true of you is true of Christ.
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And when he resurrected, he gave gifts to men
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to declare that sin and death and Satan had been
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defeated. And now as we open the text, we're
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in chapter... 4 verse 11, and he describes some
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of those gifts, and now he's going to give you
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the design. He's going to give you the picture
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of that spiritual cocoon, if you will, where
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the community of the Spirit of God and the Word
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of God with this new supernatural community produces
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that kind of radical life change. We pick it
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up in verse 11, and he gave some as apostles
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and some as prophets and some as evangelists
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and some as pastors and teachers. And so he gives
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gifted people to the church. Then the very next
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word is important. You might underlie it. For.
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That's the reason. That's the purpose. Why does
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he give gifted people to the church? For the
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equipping of the saints for the work of service
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to the building up of the body of Christ. And
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put a little line through the word saints because
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that doesn't mean someone's in stained glass.
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That's just a biblical word for a Christian,
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a believer, someone who the Spirit of God lives
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in. And then put a little box around, if you
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would, work of service. And right next to it,
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minister. We get our word for a minister. So
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God gives gifted leaders to the church. They
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equip and put a circle around the word equip.
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It's very important. It was a picture of if there
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was a compound fracture, a doctor resets it so
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it works again. It's the picture of fishermen
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whose nets are broken and they repair them so
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the nets do what they were supposed to do. Leaders
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are given to restore and equip all of us people
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for the ministry or work of service. And when
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we operate together doing what Christ wants us
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to, then notice what occurs and what the ultimate
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goal is. Until we all attain to the unity of
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the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of
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God to a mature man, to the measure of the stature
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which belongs to the fullness of Christ. If you
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would, put a line under knowledge. This isn't
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an intellectual knowledge. In Greek, there's
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two or three different words for knowledge. One
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is sort of an intellectual, two plus two is four.
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Another is a relational knowledge. This has to
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do with knowing someone, not knowing about them.
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And then they even put a little prefix. This
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is a super -powered, intimate knowledge of God.
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Leaders are given to equip God's people to do
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the actual ministry until all of us corporately
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come together and have an intimate knowledge
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of God until we're what? Mature. That's our word
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teleos, telescope. It's when you fulfill the
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design that God longs for you. In essence, the
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goal is to become like Jesus. The measure, the
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stature, the fullness of Christ. And then he
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gives a little test. Well, how do you know if
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you're making progress? What would be the evidence
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of a person that this really occurs as the supernatural
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community of the church works together? Verse
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14, as a result, in other words, the impact is
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we're no longer to be children tossed here and
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there by every wind of doctrine, by trickery
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of men, by craftiness and deceitful scheming.
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In other words, you're no longer manipulated
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by false teachers. You're no longer wandering
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or led astray by people who tell you one thing,
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but it doesn't line up with Scripture. And so
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there's a doctrinal stability. There's people
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that are mature that know the Word of God. But
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it moves from that to a relational dynamic. But
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speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up
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into all aspects into Him who is the head, even
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Christ. And so there's a level of relationship
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in the body of Christ where you just don't speak
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truth, and you're just not nice and loving, but
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there's this authenticity of caring where you
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even share the hard things. You help people grow.
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Then it talks about participation, from whom
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the whole body, speaking of the church, being
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fitted and held together by what every joint
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supplies according to the proper working of each
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individual part that causes the growth of the
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body for the building up of itself in love. Did
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you notice those key little words, fitted and
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joint? The word fitted was in construction. You
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know, you'll see people that you make a cut here
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and you make a cut here and you align them. That's
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this word. And joint has to do with two things
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that actually touch. He's saying that something
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happens when every single member of the body
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of Christ is walking in obedience to him by faith
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and understands your role. There's a coming together.
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A loving and a support and a connection. And
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notice those phrases where each and every, every
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single person matters. And as we function in
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that way, this thing happens. This amazing thing
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happens. You experience God's love through other
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people. And you get loved by other people. And
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God uses you to love other people. And then what
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did Jesus say? Jesus said, the whole world will
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know that the Father sent the Son, not by the
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sizes of your church, not by how intellectual
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you are, not by success of your people, not by
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how cool or hot or wonderful your music is. He
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says, the world's going to know the reality of
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a God who created the world and sent the second
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person of the triune God, His Son, to die in
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people's place and give them new life. and want
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to be with them forever will be how we love one
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another. What you have in verses 11 through 16
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is, if you will, God's design. God's actual design
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for how those who call ourselves followers of
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Christ relate to one another in such a way that
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the life that we long for and the life he destines
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us for actually becomes a reality. There's three
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principles and a proof that flow out of this
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passage. Principle number one tells us what leaders
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are to do. Leaders are gifted to equip God's
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people for service. It's what leaders do. And
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I don't mean just, you know, quote, vocational
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leaders like pastors, but all the leaders of
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the church, the leaders of a small group. Leaders'
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job, gifted leadership is designed to equip God's
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people for service. When there's hurts, compound
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fractures, whether they're physical or emotional
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or spiritual, leaders help restore those things.
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Where people's lives are broken, leaders help
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mend those things. As one commentator said, this
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word equip has the idea of something being restored
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to its original usefulness. Leaders equip people,
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help them, restore them. And then he gives four
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examples of leaders in the early church. And
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you'll notice he literally gives the foundation.
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He says, first there's apostles. The word apostle
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literally means one who is sent with a commission.
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Jesus had many disciples, but he chose 12 apostles.
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The qualifications for being an apostle is you
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had to be actually with the risen Christ from
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his baptism on through the rest of his ministry.
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Now, there's the office of apostle. You have
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these 12. And then you have the function of apostle.
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These are people that aren't original apostles
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because there's no one living today that actually,
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right, was back when Jesus was resurrected. But
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this function of starting new things, the idea
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of missionaries, people who start ministries,
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there's a function of apostleship. And then after
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he had the apostles, there's the prophets. And
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the early church didn't have a New Testament.
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And so they got revelation from God. Prophecy
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primarily is the foretelling of God's truth.
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We tend to think of it as foretelling or telling
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the future. But the foundation, when there wasn't
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any New Testament, was they got revelation from
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God, they gave it from the church, and then those
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with prophetic gifts today, we teach God's Word
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in a culturally relevant way to say, this is
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the truth of God for today from His Word. There
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is no chapter 23 of Revelation. So there's not
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new truth coming from God. He reveals the truth
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He's given us. And then after the apostles are
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sent and the truth is laid out, then you have
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evangelists. These are people gifted with an
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extraordinary gift and a winsomeness that lead
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lost people into an understanding of a saving
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knowledge of Christ. And when you're around them,
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they motivate the rest of us to do the work of
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an evangelist, to really care about people outside
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of Christ. And then once they're sent, and once
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there's truth, and once people come to Christ,
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then pastor teachers. The word pastor literally
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just means a shepherd. It's someone who comes
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along someone and says, I want to help you through
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the valleys and the ups and the downs and the
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struggles, and I'm going to teach you the truth
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so that you understand this is how God wants
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your marriage to work. This is what God says
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in terms of living a single life. This is how
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his instruction about your finances, your dreams,
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or ambition. Here's how you deal with these kind
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of temptations. And the goal of apostles and
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prophets and evangelists, and pastors and teachers,
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is to equip God's people for the work of service
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so that literally we become the body of Christ.
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Jesus, when he was on the earth, would walk around,
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and if someone needed a cup of cold water, with
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his hands, he would give them a cup of cold water.
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Or if they needed food, he would break some bread
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and pray over it and give them food. But today,
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Jesus' body is us. But what you've got to understand
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is the role of leaders are to equip. By and large,
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the design of God has been shanghaied by the
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enemy and by our own sort of dysfunctional way
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that we look at relationships. In the average
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church in America and around the world, the average
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size is about 75 to 100 people. Over 90 % of
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all the churches in the world are under 100 people.
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Most of them under about 80. Because that's,
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if you turn the model of God upside down and
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do it completely wrong, that's about how many
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people one person, if you work like crazy, can
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shepherd. And so many of us have grown up in
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a world where the idea is the pastor is the spiritual
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person and we're the regular people and our job
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is to come and listen to him. And then if we
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have someone in the hospital, we say, pastor,
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go visit them in the hospital because they're
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in need. Or maybe we have someone who needs to
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hear about Christ. We say, well, pastor, you
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know, why don't you come over and share the gospel
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with one of my friends? And so they do everything.
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And can you imagine if someone came from like
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the Amazon and And they never had seen the design
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of a car. And maybe, you know, their parents
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were doing Bible translation, and they came to
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a city. And the name of the city would be called
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Backward City. And they wanted to learn how to
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drive a car. And if they got in the car, and
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everyone who drove a car did it like this. They
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put it in, and they went like, and they would
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actually either turn their head like this, but
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they always drove the car backwards. And the
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cars always made this funny sound when it got
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going really fast. And people couldn't go very
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fast. I mean, you had to go about 20 miles an
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hour. But if that's all you ever saw, and you
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would always wonder, why do the people who drive
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cars, why do their necks hurt so much? And why
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do the cars make such funny sounds? Now, engineers
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would tell you the car was designed with a big
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windshield, an engine, and gears one, two, three,
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and four to go forward. But if that's all you
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ever saw, you would learn to drive a car like
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that and think it's normal. That's how most pastors
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have grown up. I'm supposed to do it all, and
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most churches believe you're supposed to do it
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all, and we'll come and watch you do this. And
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when you get really, really tired, we'll give
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you a little pat on the back and say, good boy,
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keep going. And we know that there's too many
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things going on, but if we're in the hospital,
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pastor, you have to be there. Or if there's a
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need, you have to be there. And what happens
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is, is that The leader isn't equipping. It destroys
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the pastor, and all those gifts in the church
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don't get used, and people don't grow, and their
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lives don't change. I will tell you, this is
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a known fact. The people that go to football
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games and simply watch people on the field do
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not get tired, and they don't get in shape, and
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they never score. No matter how loud they cheer,
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they never score. And that's a picture of the
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church. I could give you a very long, sad story.
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My first two or three years as a pastor, that's
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all I knew. That's what I did. I worked 80, 85
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hours a week. I grew this magnificent church
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from 35 to almost 100 people and just about landed
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in the hospital. I mean, my wife typed the bulletin.
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We did the mimeograph. My kids helped me cut
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the grass. I cleaned the toilets. I did all the
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counseling. I did all the preaching. I actually
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even helped lead the music, which was scary.
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And then this passage became a reality, and we
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flipped everything around in that church, and
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we helped everyone discover what God made them
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to do. And we removed the pastoral care from
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a person. to a system of small groups the way
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Jesus did. And they started loving one another.
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And in that little town of about 3 ,000 people,
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pretty soon we had about 500 people. And pretty
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soon we were connecting with the black church
20:40
in town and the Hispanic kids. And ministries
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were being launched by people because I finally
20:45
got my job was to help. Leaders equip. They drive
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the car forward. They help people like you, all
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of us regular people, discover how God's made
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us. Grow to maturity, use our gifts so that,
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notice the second principle. Second principles
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are every member is a minister. Remember that
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little phrase I said, work of service? That's
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our word for minister. Every member is a minister.
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When someone would ask me, well, how many ministers
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do you have at the church that you get to pastor?
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You know what my answer is? Well, we have between
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3 ,000 to 3 ,500 that come on the weekends. And
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I know about a third of them or 40 % of them
21:28
are out doing something and, you know, for lots
21:30
of good legitimate reasons are off a Sunday or
21:32
weekend here or there. And some of them for not
21:35
so legitimate reasons are off a Sunday here and
21:37
there. And so I would say we have about 3 ,000
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ministers. Now, some of them pose like secret
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agents, as stay -at -home moms or software engineers
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or CEOs or plumbers or construction workers.
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And other people are on college campuses posing
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as students. But actually, underneath of it,
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underneath the robe of their clothes, it says,
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full -time minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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That's who you are. So you minister. You are
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the hope of your neighborhood, the hope of your
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family, the hope of where you work. You are a
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full -time minister of the gospel. Leaders' job
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is to help equip you personally, spiritually,
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relationally. So you can be an effective minister
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in your home and at your school and your work,
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in your neighborhood. And I remember the story.
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I always liked the old westerns. We still kind
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of watch them. My wife has an amazing ability.
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I wish I had this. I can't sleep during the day.
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But she takes these 15 -minute naps and wakes
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up refreshed. And I started doing some reading
22:44
on it. It's supposed to be really good for you.
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I can take a two -hour nap, I think. or nothing.
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And so, I don't do anything. But it's real funny,
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like on the weekends, it's sort of time for her
22:54
15 -minute nap. And like, she likes to nap to
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Bonanza, Gunsmoke. You know, these old things,
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because she falls asleep quickly. And so, I'm
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sitting there, you know, thinking, what are we
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going to do when her 15 minutes are up? And I
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always love the part on the old, you know, westerns
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where the bank's been robbed. What are you going
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to do? Oh, what are we going to do? What are
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we going to do? Boom, ba -boom, boom, ba -boom.
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And then the marshal comes up. All right, fellas.
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We're going to form a posse. And then what's
23:23
he do? All right, Marshall Dillon, I'm going
23:28
to deputize all you people. Fred, you're now
23:31
deputy. Bob, you're deputy. And right, they deputize
23:34
them. And then what do they do? They all get
23:35
on their horses and they have their guns. They
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now have the power to go do exactly what the
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sheriff does. Can I tell you when you came to
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Christ? God gave gifted leaders to equip you.
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You're deputized. You can counsel. You can lead
23:51
people to Christ. You can share your faith. You
23:54
can open your home. You have a unique DNA in
23:58
terms of relationships, spiritual gifts, backgrounds,
24:00
opportunities, and often your deepest hurts.
24:04
Often the things that you have been through that
24:06
you feel like, oh, will be the very things that
24:09
will help the people in this valley understand
24:11
who Christ is. And I want you to know you've
24:14
been deputized. I remember a really interesting
24:19
experience because we talk about life change
24:22
and sometimes when we talk about authentic community,
24:24
if you're not careful, you can get authentic
24:27
community to mean I'm in a great small group.
24:30
I'm privately reading the Bible. We share deeply.
24:34
It's a great time together. We are having these
24:36
wonderful relationships and I guess this is authentic
24:39
community. No, no, no, no. That's part of authentic
24:42
community. See, authentic community isn't just
24:45
about what you get or deep relationships or accountability.
24:49
Authentic community has to do with being fitted
24:51
in the right spot so that those kind of relationships
24:53
are on mission to fulfill what Jesus said when
24:57
he said, go therefore and make disciples. And
24:59
if you're not involved in not just receiving
25:02
and loving and caring and the word, but serving
25:05
out of the supernatural deposit of gifts, your
25:08
life doesn't change and you don't experience
25:10
his power. I had a weird experience with this.
25:15
I didn't grow up as a Christian and I came to
25:18
Christ and then I coached. And when I coached,
25:20
I did Bible studies with my players. And then
25:22
after Teresa and I got married, we both were
25:24
in a college ministry. She was working and I
25:27
was coaching and working. And then like on Tuesday
25:30
and Thursday morning, I meet with a group of
25:32
guys and she met one evening with a group of
25:34
gals that she was discipling. And then once a
25:36
week, we'd have all these people over and our
25:38
lives were filled. with caring and loving and
25:41
discipling. And I mean, it was very fulfilling.
25:44
In fact, that's why I actually thought, I think
25:46
God wants me, Chip, regular ordinary person,
25:49
to actually be a pastor. And I thought, you've
25:52
got to be kidding, God. Certainly, you have to
25:54
be smarter than me and a lot more holy than me.
25:58
And God said, no, actually, you'll do. So I said,
26:01
okay. And so we go to seminary. And, you know,
26:05
in West Virginia, like a huge church is 200 people.
26:09
I mean, there's only a million people in the
26:10
whole state. A mega, mega church is like 300
26:13
people. And we were in a church of about 200
26:15
people. And when we get to Dallas, and it was
26:18
like, oh, my lands. And people invited us. So
26:20
we ended up at this church of about 2 ,500 people.
26:22
And the pastor was awesome. And had all these
26:25
seminary professors teaching Sunday school classes.
26:27
I went to a Sunday school class on the Psalms.
26:30
And the editor of the NIV Bible, when it was
26:33
being developed, he taught the class. And then
26:36
you've got, you know, this guy who wrote seven
26:37
books. And so, I mean, it was like. I mean, it
26:40
was like going to a conference every weekend.
26:42
You go to a class over here and amazing things
26:44
for your kids. And so it was like, wow, wow.
26:47
Week one, week two, week three, week four, week
26:49
five, week six, week seven. And you know, I'm
26:50
getting all this stuff at seminary and we're
26:52
trying to figure out life. And I'll never forget,
26:55
had an interesting experience because I mean,
26:57
great, great, great teaching. And I can still
27:00
remember getting right to the door of where you
27:02
went in this big church. And I turned to my wife
27:05
and I said, do you feel like going to church
27:07
today? And please don't make too heavy an application
27:10
on this. She said, no. I said, me neither. You
27:14
want to go to Wendy's? She goes, sure. Sorry.
27:19
So we did. And so, you know, they're doing this
27:21
great stuff with our kids, so we go to Wendy's.
27:23
And we get in Wendy's, and I said, honey, something's
27:25
wrong. I mean, I've never been in a church with
27:28
such good teaching. I've never been in a church
27:29
with such great programs. But, man, I just feel,
27:32
I think that was the word I used. And she said,
27:38
I feel exactly the same way. I said, well, what
27:39
could be wrong? We're here preparing for the
27:42
ministry. And she said, well, why did we come?
27:47
And we begin to talk about what a normal week
27:49
was like in West Virginia. And you know what
27:52
I realized? I realized that all I was doing was
27:55
eating spiritually, but there was no exercise.
27:58
The grace of God wasn't flowing through me to
28:00
help other people. And so, I mean, I was in a
28:03
small group and I was getting all this great
28:05
teaching. Becoming the person you long to become
28:10
cannot happen by being simply a spectator and
28:14
a receiver of great spiritual food in a great
28:17
spiritual environment. It's by that which every
28:19
joint supplies according to the proper working
28:22
of each individual part. And I remember riding
28:25
on a napkin. I said, okay. We've got to fix this.
28:28
So, you know, I'm working full -time. I'm going
28:30
to school full -time. I don't have any time,
28:32
but I'm thinking, my spiritual life is, I'm doing
28:36
a dive. There's no power. There's no energy.
28:38
There's no life. And so I got an appointment
28:41
with the pastor, and we sat down at this booth
28:44
in this little restaurant, and on a three -by
28:46
-five card, I had my name, my phone number, what
28:49
I thought my spiritual gifts were, ministry experience
28:51
I've had in college ministries, and then I pretended
28:53
I had to go to the bathroom. Excuse me. I can
28:55
go to the bathroom. I'll be right back. And I
28:57
handed him the card. And on the back of it said,
29:00
you tell me any place in this church you need
29:02
help, I'm in. And so I went to the bathroom,
29:05
two and a half minutes. Maybe he needs three,
29:08
you know. I want to make sure he reads the card
29:10
well. And I came back and we sat down and Don
29:13
says, well, hey, it seems like you've had some
29:16
ministry experience. I said, you can check me
29:17
out however you want. I got to get back in the
29:19
game. We ended up doing the high school ministry.
29:22
Six or eight months later, we ended up doing
29:24
the college ministry. and life. Leaders are gifted
29:31
to equip. Every member is a minister. And if
29:38
you aren't ministering, you know those little
29:41
things where I said, can you imagine what it
29:43
would be like to forgive someone so deeply that
29:46
your first reaction would be you rejoice? That's
29:51
supernatural. That doesn't happen by reading
29:54
your Bible alone and trying real hard to change
29:57
some habits. See, there is a design. There is
30:02
a spiritual cocoon. There is a master creator.
30:07
And he says the way it works is when leaders
30:11
equip and every member is a minister, then amazing
30:16
things happen. And in verse 13, it's that ministries
30:20
are developed to help every believer To live
30:22
every day in every way just as Jesus would live
30:26
if he were living out his life in their physical
30:29
body. All I want you to know is that I now have
30:32
the ability to say, this is a new one. I can
30:36
say in even more words what Paul was saying in
30:39
verse 13. And he uses a lot of words. By that,
30:44
notice what he says. He talks about until you
30:47
become a mature man to the fullness of the stature.
30:52
To the body of Christ. And what I want you to
30:55
know is that in God's design, when leaders equip
30:58
instead of do all the ministry and rob people
31:00
of it, when every member realizes, you know something?
31:03
Okay, I'm in school, or I'm a stay -at -home
31:06
mom, or I'm working in this company, but I am
31:09
his representative. I am the living Christ inside
31:13
of me. The hope for this whole department may
31:16
be me. I may be the only Christian. How I live,
31:19
how I talk, how I love, when and how I communicate
31:21
is the hope of the world. I'm a minister. I don't
31:25
have a little collar, but I'm a minister. And
31:28
then what happens is when this occurs, ministries,
31:32
in other words, outreaches to people are developed
31:34
so that every single believer lives every day
31:39
in every way. So it's not like it starts at work,
31:41
but it's at home. It's with your roommate. It's
31:44
in your neighborhood. It's realizing, you know,
31:48
just step outside your door or your apartment
31:50
and look around and realize nine out of 10 of
31:53
most all the people in this part of the country
31:55
where I live do not have a personal relationship
31:58
with God. And there is great need and there's
32:02
a God who loves them. And then after they die,
32:04
because I spent yesterday with a guy that they
32:06
told had about six or nine months to live. And
32:08
when you look in the eyes of very powerful people
32:10
with all kind of background and they know they
32:12
have six or nine months to live, they act very
32:15
differently. He said, you know, when it's theory,
32:18
you know you die, but it gets real different
32:20
when it's up close. And he was sitting across
32:23
his bed, and I asked him, I was amazed at how
32:26
bold I was. So, what are they telling you? Less
32:30
than a year. What are you most afraid of? You
32:35
know why I was so bold? He's going to die. He's
32:39
going to die. And right now, all indications
32:43
are that he's going to die apart from Christ.
32:45
I said, I don't know all about your past life
32:47
and how many regrets you might have, but you
32:50
don't want to have eternal regrets. I want you
32:52
to know there's a Jesus, there's a God who cares,
32:54
and he's prepared a place for you if you'll receive
32:57
his gift. And you know, he looked at me, and
33:01
you know what hit me this morning? Everyone I
33:03
meet's going to die. Is this true or not? You
33:08
know your neighbors? I got news for you. flash.
33:10
They're going to die. You know your co -workers?
33:12
They're going to die. You know your family? They're
33:15
going to die. You know what makes you bold? When
33:17
you get it. And we stop worrying about so much
33:21
how people think of us and we start realizing
33:23
I have a supernatural endowment and power inside
33:26
of me. The living God lives inside of me and
33:29
he cares about them and the only issue is me
33:31
getting over me. But the only way I get over
33:34
me is when I get equipped by leaders. And the
33:37
only way I learn to minister is when I take baby
33:38
steps and start doing it. And you know, when
33:40
you start doing it, guess what? You fail a lot.
33:42
Okay. You know, when I see Jesus with the disciples,
33:44
you know what I notice? They fail a lot. You
33:47
find me in the gospels where he yells at them
33:50
for failing. I can't find it. The only time he
33:54
gets upset is, where's your faith? You got to
33:56
be kidding me. You're not even trying. Oh, you
33:59
have little faith. So, leaders equip us. We are
34:07
all the ministers. And then ministries are birthed.
34:11
This is how the church works. Church isn't coming
34:14
and listening and spectating, saying the music
34:17
was okay, the guy kept me awake most of the time,
34:19
now I'm going to go out and try and be a nice
34:21
person. That's not it. It's you getting equipped.
34:27
It's you being a full -time minister. It's you
34:30
watching ministries grow and develop according
34:32
to your hearts and your passions and you begin
34:34
to serve. And as you do, the grace of God comes
34:36
inside of you and he uses you and you have this
34:40
amazing experience where people's eternities
34:43
and families and marriages and kids are completely
34:45
transformed because of an ordinary piece of clay.
34:50
Like you, in whom the living spirit of God lives
34:54
and he gifts you and trains you and you take
34:58
baby steps of faith and you fail and you struggle
35:00
and have ups and downs, but in the midst of all
35:03
your weakness and hurt, the power of God is displayed.
35:07
See, that's what happened in the early church.
35:09
I mean, they didn't even have technology and
35:12
they multiplied. In fact, a young man, I was...
35:17
meeting with a young pastor doing a little mentoring.
35:19
He's planted a church. And so they grew to about
35:23
300 people. And he said, you know, now this group
35:25
is kind of feeling like it's a younger church
35:27
and a lot of college age. And he said, I'm watching.
35:30
Now the church is kind of focused on, hey, we
35:32
really like this and we're kind of different.
35:33
It's kind of working for us. He said, my biggest
35:36
challenge now is to help us remember we planted
35:38
this church to reach another generation. He said,
35:41
here's my goal for this year. We have 300 people.
35:43
My goal is that every single person will lead
35:47
just one person to Christ. I mean, we're going
35:48
to train them. We're going to help them. We're
35:50
going to love them. But just every person, 300
35:52
people, this time next year, we're going to pray
35:54
and dream and ask God that these 300 people would
35:58
lead another 300 people to Christ. And I thought,
36:01
wow, that's a great goal. And how are you going
36:02
to go about that? And he laid it out for me.
36:05
And you know sometimes when you're mentoring
36:06
or you're supposed to be helping people, you
36:08
realize when you're done, I think this is helping
36:10
me way more than him. Leaders are the equippers.
36:15
Ministries will grow and develop. Special ministries
36:20
to special age groups and special needs and special
36:22
backgrounds out of your hurts and your pains
36:24
and your gifts and your passions. And then what
36:27
you'll see is this is what happens. You'll find
36:30
that there'll be doctrinal stability. You'll
36:32
find people, because they're in the Word, you
36:34
know what? They can spot a false teacher. As
36:36
a result, we're no longer children, right? Tossed
36:38
here and there by every wind of doctrine. As
36:41
a result, what you find is people have authentic
36:42
relationships. You do ministry with people, and
36:44
you fail, and you struggle, and you pray together
36:46
pretty soon. You're tight. Not just in a small
36:48
group, but you're tight. And they're loved. And
36:52
there's full participation. It's by that which
36:55
every joint supply. We need you. Here's the deal.
36:58
This isn't like... I hear some people like, well,
37:01
I don't need to go to church because, you know,
37:02
there's nature, and I've got a Bible, and there's
37:04
God, and I don't need the church. Okay, granted.
37:07
We need you, okay? I mean, you know, it's like
37:11
saying, it's like the tight end saying, I don't
37:13
need you. I can toss the ball to myself, and
37:15
I got news for you. There's certain patterns
37:17
and plays we can't run without a tight end, and
37:19
we need both guards, and we need a quarterback,
37:21
and we need a coach, and we need a manager. We
37:23
need everybody. The church can't be the church.
37:26
Full participation. And when that happens, that's
37:31
when those imaginary things that I described,
37:33
they're not imaginary. They're not imaginary.
37:39
Are you ready? I know this will come as a shock.
37:42
You're gonna die. And there's gonna be people
37:45
at your house or near your house eating those
37:49
little munchy little sandwiches. And they're
37:52
gonna talk about you. And I don't know about
37:55
you, but... I want them to say, by the grace
37:58
of God, you know what? He was one of the most
38:02
loving people I ever met. Oh man, I mean, had
38:06
his idiosyncrasies and they laugh about those.
38:09
But full of integrity. Christ -like. Cared about
38:14
people. Generous. Loving. Authentic. That's not
38:22
going to happen by trying hard. and coming and
38:25
sitting in this building to be a good person.
38:28
That's going to happen when you understand who
38:30
you are in Christ, when you understand the power
38:33
is in Christ's resurrection for you and with
38:37
you to walk in newness of life, and when you
38:40
allow leaders to equip you, and when you minister,
38:43
and ministries are birthed along your gifts and
38:46
passions, and you know the word, and you speak
38:51
the truth in love. And you are connected. And
38:55
God produces it. You're listening to Living on
39:00
the Edge with Chip Ingram and a message titled
39:02
How to Become the Person You've Always Longed
39:05
to Be from Chip's series called Free at Last,
39:08
How to Break Out of a Destructive Lifestyle.
39:10
Well, there's more from Chip coming up in a moment.
39:13
Every message in this series is also available
39:16
anytime on the Living on the Edge podcast. Subscribe
39:19
so you can listen wherever you go. And for Chip's
39:22
complete unedited sermon, look for the Chip Ingram
39:25
Sermon Podcast. Something powerful we heard today.
39:29
You don't need a title or a platform to be a
39:32
minister of the gospel. Wherever you spend your
39:35
days, your home, your job, your neighborhood,
39:38
you're already deputized. Chip's book, Yes, You
39:41
Really Can Change, is written for exactly this
39:44
moment, when you know God wants to use you, but
39:47
you're not sure how the change actually happens.
39:49
And because today's message was all about equipping
39:52
others, right now every order comes with a second
39:55
copy included, so you can pass one along to someone
39:58
you're investing in. Get your copy and one to
40:00
share at livingontheedge .org slash offers. As
40:05
a listener -supported ministry, Living on the
40:07
Edge continues thanks to the generosity of people
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like you. Every dollar you give helps put a message
40:13
like today's into the hands of someone who needed
40:16
to hear it. You can give right now at livingontheedge
40:19
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40:25
mail a check? Here's the address. Living on the
40:28
Edge, P .O. Box 3007, Suwannee, Georgia, 30024.
40:34
Now back to Chip for a closing word. Are you
40:56
using your spiritual gift? And are you using
40:59
it in your local church? Well, maybe the question
41:02
we ought to back up before that one is, do you
41:04
know what your spiritual gift is? And here's
41:07
my experience. I think most of us as Christians,
41:10
you know, you read through the New Testament
41:12
or you hear about spiritual gifts and maybe some
41:14
people are kind of very dramatic about some of
41:19
the gifts. And so I find a lot of Christians
41:20
are like, I don't even want to go there. The
41:23
last time I talked about spiritual gifts, I got
41:24
in an argument. And for others, it's like, yeah,
41:27
I think I have some and I've read some and I
41:30
was in a Bible study. once. And someone told
41:32
me it's probably either leadership or mercy or,
41:35
you know, maybe it's teaching. But and, you know,
41:38
they give you like a list of seven or eight.
41:40
And you just realize in your heart of hearts,
41:42
you don't have a clue. Here's the thing. God
41:45
wants you to know your primary spiritual gift.
41:48
He wants you to use it. And when you use it,
41:51
supernatural things happen in the lives of other
41:54
people and joy happens inside of you because
41:58
he's deposited this gift in you to remind you
42:01
of Christ's work and Christ's victory, but also
42:04
to give you literally a supernatural ability
42:07
to love and help other people. Coming up in our
42:12
next lesson, Chip Ingram uses a surprising picture
42:15
from nature to explain exactly what happens when
42:17
someone becomes a new creation in Christ. Discover
42:21
why an unchanged life is actually incompatible
42:24
with real faith and what it means to genuinely
42:27
become someone new. Next time on Living on the
42:30
Edge. Today's program is produced and sponsored
42:36
by Living on the Edge.