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[0:00] well good morning you know always don't be afraid to be open you have some more questions don't be afraid to ask them we might have some time for that so not that I know every answer but I do know the person that does Jesus Christ so it's interesting we were talking about the some of us this morning about churches of the past yeah Mish Mennonites and but this morning we're going to talk about the church I at least have two of that probably back to back here so we got born again so now what do we do with that do we build on that and there are ways to look at it so we're going to start in Ephesians 4 verse 11 through 16 you know the Holy Spirit is now in control you know this is the work of the Spirit a church you know church is not the work of man if it's a work of man it's not legally bivocally it can't be called the church maybe legally but not bivocally salvation is the work of the Spirit and it continues

[1:39] Jesus from that starting point where does he put us he puts us into his body the church and so we want to look at it that way remember this the theme I have through this message humility first humility and others you know humility and others first this is the lifestyle of the church so in Ephesians 4 chapter 11 and he gave some apostles some prophets some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ remember that as my my my title is every joint supply us tell we all come to unity of the faith of the knowledge of the son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure and stature and the fullness of Christ that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro carried about with every winter doctrine by the slay of man and cunning craftiness whereby they lay in wait to deceive but speaking the truths in love may grow up into him in all things which is the head even Christ from which the whole body fitly joint together use compact by which every joint supply it according to the effectual working in the measure of every part making increase of the body until the edifying itself in love maybe that last part was part of the amplified bible so you don't have that that's so we want to talk about every joint supply us we're part of the body of Christ I'm not giving you any exceptions I don't care how old or how young you are if you're born again you're part of the body of Christ every joint you know how many joints you have in the body 350 in yours alone how many blood cells how many cells since they got smart with the computer they finally figured it out 37 true 37 37 was a t 37.2 true themselves god made us that way he compares the church was the body and so every joint is supplying this morning i know this is one this is two this is three but 350 i'm not sure where to start or where to end but if one is stiff it's a nuisance wow that came out pretty quick but but but so not don't be stiff i mean use your joints um be effective be blessing be a blessing and as we see an adult person this is unbelievable but i double checked it on the worldly wisdom and they say we have 60 000 miles of blood veins it would wrap two times around the globe i don't believe it but it says so so i'm stretched so thin i can wrap around the world i mean there's not enough material in me to do that even if i'm big must be a rubber band but hey i'm not going to argue against the smart people

[5:44] 60 000 miles of blood veins wow there must be blood veins within blood veins within blood veins i don't know how that happened so i'm a science teacher for a moment but but this is what the bible compares it to and just to i talked a little bit last night about the leukemia cancer you know a cancer cell i asked the doctor i said are you sure i have cancer he said yes i said maybe this he said any cell in your body that doesn't work with the body is cancer my white blood count you should have five to ten thousand white blood cells there to carry your defense of your body and your red blood cells have four to six million blood cells my white count went up to 250 000 at the peak and so that took away from the red blood cells and so i had a i have struggled with some time with my oxygen levels when i speak a lot i really feel it anyways so if it's not in order it would take away from the other's job they're overdid it but what's interesting about the white blood cells is that our cancers they are a group of their own they do not identify with the rest the real they are created they produce after their own kind identically so when they first took a big blood sample studied it the you know blood cell has like two fingers almost this one has half of them is cut off half of one finger that's why they know it's but they're all the same you know the cancer cells are all the same now that's the foundation of now we're going to go spiritual okay i think i can handle that a little better than science but it's amazing how god created us and then he compares it with our natural body how we should think about the spiritual body the church i'm not talking about we were talking about dress this morning everything else but we're not talking about that we're talking about what is it is your body are you part of the body god put you in when you got born again it wasn't a question do i choose to be part of the church no he put you into his body you were born into a body are you do you have a body that's what i see okay so we see it we know it it's not a question some people say well i want to be part of the global church i don't really commit to a local church wrong because how would you prove that you're part of the global church if you can't prove it locally if you have a better idea than that go ahead but that it doesn't i can't find a way to explain it otherwise anyways so so we're part of this and every joint supply it so what is your joint supply

[9:55] okay i'm asking you that question but you asked yourself that question okay you were all looking back at me like i don't know you know you know there's nothing worse than to have something out of order in your body if it's if you have a if i would tweak my angle why would my whole body have to cater to that thing it does you know i'm limbing i'm careful i don't want to fall again but so the whole body works together and we'll see more of that today and so what i want to tell you have you allowed christ to work this in you because what good would i be if my body doesn't do anything for anybody else but that is not how it works this is how it works this body takes care of itself now this body if i could get you all on a bear hug i'm big but not that big but if i would take you on a hug that's the body i'm talking to this morning it's not just how you feel it is collectively this how the body works it's interesting that god this example is in the bible so anyways so every joint supplies to effectual working in the measure of every part so we all come to that effectual working and everything works together to make an increase in incense when we read it in another other translation is the body increasing is it effective is it fruitful is it producing reproducing you know it looks like we have some babies here a church also produces so keep that in mind if a joint is out of joint we know it hurts it affects the whole body and hinders the balance and the ability of the whole body when you hurt your toe the single goes to your head and the head sends out orders to the other members to help do i know when that signal is sent out some some people get a big joy and out of emt work and i'm not saying anybody's here that does that but i don't know know when that be pager goes off they take off where's that pager in your heart are we that close or are we withholding ourselves that we're not that close you need a local church to operate in the body of christ and you know for me i wouldn't need to believe in any of the gifts of the holy ghost if i wouldn't believe in a local church because i wouldn't need it since i believe in the in the gifts of the holy ghost

[13:58] where would i use them if i live out here in montana by myself i could go and preach to the trees would they receive it no they're not part of that body it is his plan for us to operate in the gifts and accountability it must be personal and relational in accountability some people say well i have accountability partners that don't know them i'm just going to throw this in as accountability part not that i have it in my notes but if i'm accountable somebody that can ask me anything and see how i'm doing they got to know me not what i tell them but what they know you know there are people in the general church world that have been restored by people that never saw them how does that work it doesn't and so let's so always remember that you you open up to somebody and they can help you are you willing to be helped do you see that that's in it's not in you even to direct your own footsteps your own own path you know so it's interesting how to are you refresh do you know that the skin will regenerate approximately every 27 days from 27 days ago to today i have totally new skin i wonder why the ring goes come with it and every three months if i take blood work today four months ago and i would take it today there would be no same blood in my body it regenerates every three months so before i go for my blood work for my sugar for the physical i try to be really good for three months so the doctor doesn't see that i violated it because your blood test gives you history of three months every day we're changing renewing ourselves the body does that what are you doing in the spirit are you renewing that is there a difference you know from three months ago are you growing new but i can't see that in my i don't know this skin looked the same as it did for years but i'm glad to know it's new but it sure doesn't change i'm still the same image the same way but our body works to keep itself fresh new renewed and that's what the church body is for so together you work to renew each other that is the call that you have in first corinthians chapter 12 12 through 26 quite a bit of reading here for the body is one and has many members all members of that one body being many or one body so also is christ

[18:02] for by one spirit we are baptized into one body whether we're jews or gentiles whether we be bound or free we had all be made to drink into one spirit for the body is not one member but many if the foot shall say because i'm not the hand i'm not of the body if it is therefore is not of the body is it therefore is not of the body if the whole body were an eye where were the hearing if the whole body were smelling if the whole body were hearing where were the smelling but now god has said members in every members in every one of them in the body as as please him remember this is his decision and if they were all one member where were the body but now there are many members yet but one body and the eye cannot say unto the hand i have no need of thee nor again the hand to the feet i have no need of you may much more these members which seem to be more feeble are necessary and these members of the body which we think to be less honorable upon those will restore more abundant honor and are a comely part have much more abundant common nonetheless okay i'm too common for that i mean not common enough maybe for our commonly parts have no need for christ have tempered a body together having given much more abundant honor to the parts which lack that there should be no schism in the body but that the members should have the same care one for another and whether one member suffers all members suffer with it or one member be honored all the members rejoice with it this is detailed in the bible how do i look at it am i that important i am important evaporating my given precision but if i go rogue independent of the body it's called cancer so we're not focusing that we're focused on on what is right so are you all yours no you're not you have two years anyways just kidding sorry but sometimes i'm glad you're all yours okay i'm preaching to you i accept that uh but you know if my if my ear would decide i'd rather be this speaker my mouth would that work if i switch them no they have their place and we have our place when god called me to preach the gospel i was bashful i was shy i tried when i was with the youth sometimes i knew some true story that happened they were talking about it

[22:05] it was they were a little bit off so i wanted to correct it and i was so intimidated and so shy that when i would speak actually there were times it came out literally backwards i would over i would think about it in a way that when i would finally have the nerve to talk about it i was starting to wrong end of the sentence embarrassing that would shut me down again i would rather stand in a corner and listen i learned a lot of things in life by listening i love listen to stories i love that but in 1991 i was about feeling the holy ghost it changed everything because it's not that the holy ghost gave me a voice it is he called me i was down in the country in honduras i was seeking god and he filled me i was alone in the mission station that day and i prayed and asked god to fill me and i was alone first time we were separated after marriage and we were i was only gone for a week but it so i was alone out there and and i and i sought god and on the way home as i traveled alone i traveled down was a young person but they weren't coming home right away so i headed home got to texas and i thought i almost missed my flight i ran to the gate and they're standing there ready to close it and they left me on i wanted to see my wife i couldn't wait three more hours you know something or delay or i was first time flying but as i sat sat down in my seat on the plane i just sank down and so thankful i made it i closed my eyes and i had a vision of me traveling and preaching and i sat bold upright and i think i might have said it out loud no it was that real then i sank down and said yes yes yes lord and i did a lot of that it's not a hobby for me to travel so much but but so i didn't know how this is going to work out because how would god work this out i left them have it i laid it on this altar from that point to nine years later i was ordained started preaching you can never push your way regardless what issues he has a place for you and he will use you when he is ready because he has placed you there at that time for that moment so if that means anything to anybody thank god because he has given us these places and as he's we see here even the more people that we don't think are worthy of that i don't know i didn't feel worthy in myself i was really much a man of condemnation in my life and in school i think of a little lack of concern but

[26:08] i had to do fifth grade two times and it really didn't teach me anything more but so but all that to say i've had enough of stuff in my life i knew i didn't measure up sometimes but one thing i did from the age of 12 on i prayed for my wife my mom asked me one time are you praying for your marriage partner me mom didn't get it along so good i didn't want not to look spiritual so i made sure if she ever asked me again i'm going to be praying and i it it wasn't revenge anymore i prayed for my wife every day for many years and one day i was biking no i was coming home in a vehicle and my wife was biking home from work and as soon as i passed we passed her i knew that's her and she also felt something that day we never talked before and don't carry this out of proportion that was our experience so i did get enough of courage as a shy young man and asked her and she said yes but what i'm saying is this sometimes we don't feel worthy but you are in your place find that place that you have the authority you know this body has the authority to grab you and shake you maybe it doesn't have the authority but the ability and so as a church body we have authority to increase to work what did he create us for to reproduce to show the world christ to show him that christ is alive and well today he's living he manifests himself in his presence which is real it's not a made-up thing it's not hyped up by emotions it's real i don't care how you feel this morning physically all of you that are here you are a human being i can prove that you are i see you so when we see christ when we see the church it should be seeing like that this is the church this is the body of christ you know what are you maybe you're the foot maybe you're the ears hear well maybe you have a voice use it well in humility how could you use every part anyways we have all this all this your hand are you a helping hand so let's look at that this morning that way because that's what the church is it's not what our past experience might have been never mix the two we can have fun looking back sometimes like this morning with brother mike it was interesting but we're not mixing the two we're not they came out of that i came out of my setting and we're not going to mix the two

[30:09] we're looking for the real if one member suffers all members suffer but that is easy sometimes when we go to a funeral we all weep with those that we it's not hard it's sad but to rejoice with those that are honored hello i thought it was my time you remember what i just told you about it took nine years from the moment i know god called me until i was actually literally called how many times did i feel passed up often but could i rejoice with those that were honored hopefully i did i don't remember those details so much but i do know there were many times are we doing that are we helping you know it belongs to the body my foot belongs to my body so on sunday morning when your foot decides not to come to church because he had a hard week i see your imaginations are working so so so my foot is too tired to come to church i'm not going to come to church how much of the church is missing on a giving sunday you're all there but what is missing you know is it functioning if i would take a 500 piece puzzle and put it up here chick saw puzzle interlocking everything every piece is different it doesn't fit somewhere else the pictures are different there's nothing worse in my lifetime of my wife loves to put puzzles together but when we get done and there's a piece missing all the whole picture of that puzzle there's one piece missing and that's all we see are you missing because you got a part to do if my hand wouldn't show up it'd be very complicated today because i preach with bows okay but it would be hard for some our bodies starts to shut down and hurt and we got all aches and pains somewhere probably most of us and but the body the spirit the spirit the baptism of the holy spirit i believe the the spirit makes you part of the body of christ to put you into operation to put the oil where it belongs like your car without oil it burns up unless you have a liquor i don't know what they have but so the keeps it from burning up if your car is always if you have a problem of skipping the oil and you're burning up your vehicles i mean if that's how it works in our personal life in the church if i'm always getting overheated because i got not enough of the holy ghost oil i mean there's effects for that

[34:11] the garage is right here today the church we all do our part to encourage one another in that the spirit makes you part of the body of christ the holy the whole body needs you but you need the whole body christ is the focus not man you are the part you are put into the body of god when you become born again and he puts you where he wants you accepted surrender to it some say you're more gifted or less gifted according to scripture that is not possible you are gifted according to him not according to many other ideas i if you have a gift and that gift is to benefit the body my cancer cells work against my body that's the only thing but the rest of the body is always trying to keep me going along with my wife you know they're always there needs to be that encouragement yes that way too and uh but that's who we are we're not more gifted or less gifted if you are to the wrist and he is the whole hand that's your gift it's not more or less because it was out your wrist he couldn't operate he couldn't do his handwork and so when we see that i am needed i don't care if i'm the little toenail on the little toe if there's you know there's a part for everything i'm not sure the nails are that important but the toes are for balance and so so whatever i am i have a part because if i'm not there if i'm not doing my part i should not be criticizing the church well he's not doing his part well do yours can i do mine if i would have um i used to have a like i have them at home but i build a wall you know you build a block wall you know how it looks and you have a you start you would build in from the ends and let a one block missing here so it would kind of scatter out like this because you're laying a block half block over the other block but if you would miss one in the bottom row and then just build up to that every time so it would get bigger and bigger so how many blocks are missing only that one because you can't do anything unless that bottom block is in place you builders and so sometimes i could say he's not doing his part all the time i'm not doing mine i can easily look around and see he's not doing theirs but they're waiting on me i'm not doing my part

[38:17] then look no further than the altar for yourself operating outside of your gifts is wrong if you think you're so important that you can move beyond what god has made you for you are proud and that is a sin that god doesn't tolerate what i mean by that that oh i would love to have this gift you can try all you want you'll be nothing more than this god will supply to wherever he put you he'll put gives you everything you need to flourish he even had to give me some people call me bold probably when i preach i still feel shy and bashful but when i'm preaching i don't i was talking to an amish bishop i said how i was he said he was that way too i said when i get behind the pulpit i don't have a problem he said he doesn't either so there are more people like that so operating your gift be satisfied with your gift and until you maybe god will make an increase in your life and change some things along the way let him but in the meantime i cannot do what he didn't give me to do or i'm working against him but there's something so how do you figure out what to do sometimes it's like what do you have the grace to do do do it could you sweep the floor okay you would probably have the grace to do that then do it joyfully you know those are things that as sometimes we think well i want to do this i want to be for an example i'm going to give you an example of a man i know he was an evangelist so he said he wanted to preach in the pulpit and some of us struggled with some of the things he had so they decided well i was in africa they decided to go out in this in the town in the city small city there that they call the city and to evangelize the god on the street preach pass out tracks he never showed up i thought he was an evangelist and that's where evangelist is more so on the outside bringing people in so so again it was proven by action that it was not so you are tremendously blessed with a gift the precision is all yours it isn't anyone else's so wherever you belong in this big puzzle there's no other place for you except one but it completes the whole the picture your precision in church completes a beautiful picture of jesus christ that's the picture that's the puzzle picture again

[42:20] and others first is our lifestyle we care about the people because we're not working for ourselves anymore we're working for jesus christ we're doing it according to what he had told us to do he is our boss he's more than that he's our master our savior our helper our enabler our blessing if one person does all the work it does not reflect jesus christ the body is made that we cannot claim it for ourselves but we're just part but you are part the moment you start to compete in church we're not playing a baseball game and here the highest score wins we are in church and you got one duty to fulfill the joint that you are to supply for the whole there's no peace of this body that doesn't work and benefit the rest god will only anoint we want the anointing of christ i always do when i preach i want that anointing to flow not me the anointing but god will only anoint the real you one thing if you're faking anything you can forget about the anointing church grows as much your responsibility as the pastors take that to heart they are responsible to leaders but you are too we can't have a favorite click group in church we must help all those around us to lift them up jesus in all things jesus hated that there's no favoritism here i mean i don't know you but there's no favoritism in the gospel in the church in the church c j c k chesterson was asked the question what is the problem with this world he said i am what is the problem in this world i am and that that we don't we need we have a calling we have a precision and we should look at it that way yes i hopefully i'm not a problem hopefully i'm living the fullness of christ and that's all i'm asked to do but yet it is mostly us darkness is the absence of light and if we don't show the light of christ in the church in the brothers in love together one with another not competing but if the light goes out darkness comes in how do i start watching from the stands we can all go and watch a sports game we could and and criticize everything that went on that didn't go our way and we would be as clean we wouldn't have mud on us we would have no dirt but we sure would have opinions but when get when we get into the action

[46:21] it looks totally different it looks totally different how can we criticize without bruises when we want to help a person you don't start with your problems with their problems you encourage them with the grace of god you look for grace and start from grace always do that if you can you start look for grace and start from grace to grace and what is needed in a person's life when you operate in your gift it comes naturally it is who you are if you get frustrated and you're not relaxed back off it is not working for you to do this get someone else with that grace that is sometimes hard integrate people into the church this church culture here right here when you bring new people in integrate them into the function of the body to help them find their place help each other find your place everyone that is born again because that puts an outward focus that takes self-pity doesn't operate in the in the positive in the church but if you keep looking outward it will bring fruit a man give proverbs 18 16 a man give makes room for him bring his him before great men the gift will make room for you i had up and downs in life in my 25 years of ministry but just by walking humbly with god admitting to some mistakes i made god always makes room for the gift i'm not any other preacher not trying to be anyone else but what god has called me to be i i make mistakes last night i made one i guess i saw it my notes were even wrong i talk about moses and isaac i think instead of abraham and isaac but one time i decided through some hard times i'm going to get more professional i'm going to become more professional in my preaching and study a little harder and make sure i say everything right god was not impressed he didn't show up i preached that one on my own then i look where is the grace when i speak where is that grace where i go when i talk with people where is that grace i went back to it and i'm not very polished but it's where god is we can all love on people and encourage them if they return the favor it is fine you will receive a promise you know it's not just that we uh encourage people hoping for a blessing in return but god will take care of that for us i want to just finish here this went a little longer than i thought but i'll finish it then we'll take a break here shortly i just have a verse here yet proverbs 20 10 25 i talked about some of this kind of

[50:24] casually not forsaking the assembly ourselves together as a matter of some is but assorting one another so much no more as you see the day approaching see it's not just being in church it is doing your part are you encouraging building up edifying one another in church edify means to build up and that is our purpose if my calling is there for any other purpose that's not for the church your church your calling is here if you don't know anything i don't want to condemn anybody this morning if you don't know for sure where you fit in quite relax you should be safe here but the goal is and your goal is and the others around you is to help you find where you feel your purposes and it does not tear down the church number one it builds it up for the body to work properly each part will only do their part and if you do it's a full-time job if one part is not working the other has no has to do more however that's a handicapped person if i am lame and have two crutches there's my shoulders are carrying some weight that they normally don't i'm not against handicapped people by the way i'm not talking in that term we need to get around them and help them find their place even if they're on a wheelchair that doesn't end your ministry it is not biblical unity that the world wants to see if we don't do these parts if exodus 36 2 and 7 it talks about there was a time in the bible i'm not going to read it that they were asked to bring to the offering and to the to the church work to the building of the temple and they brought so many gifts that the leaders told them to restrain them from bringing i'm waiting for that church everybody's so excited they overdo it i mean you would have to correct that sure but i never had to yet i would love to correct that one so work in your spiritual growth is number one the word of god read it but maybe not number one maybe that's not in the proper order but the covenant relationship serving personal discipline and to make sure you encounter god that you know it's real that was probably my longest one so we'll take a break here shortly but i'm just going to pray yet for us and then however they want to do it from that then we'll come back with a little more different details about the church lord jesus we just come before you this morning and we ask that you help all these people if they're unsure at this moment let them find their place and that there are encouragement to the other parts that's the whole point and make that real in each one here this morning that they look for ways to bless one another

[54:26]  and that they will do so so lord jesus we ask that you take this far beyond me i don't i can't explain it good enough and so lord by your holy spirit minister to every heart to their understandings that they can get a hold of it for real and it will transform their life fill them in the holy spirit we pray this in the name of jesus amen you