All In, Week 2

Tim Rivers | January 21, 2024

Listen

Transcription

What's up everybody? Can you give Jesus a big praise in this place? Come on, give him some big praise in this place To the King of Keys and Lord of Lords, to the one who was and is to come to the alpha and Omega, to the beginning and the end, to the first and the last. Are you thankful for Jesus today? What a worship service. In moments like this, it's hard to kind of move on,

But for those of you that may be here, and this is the first time you've experienced anything like this, people down at the altar, people praying in tongues, people crying, people weeping. This is what it means to be led of the spirit, meaning that we allow, we make room for the Holy Spirit to intervene in whatever program we have. We may have 30 minutes on the clock, but if the Holy Spirit shows up, we'll go as long as he wants to be here. And so I encourage you to live that type of life. Live the type of life where you are open to hearing from the Holy Spirit. When he says turn left, you may think that you're going right, but if he says, turn left, turn left. If he says, turn right, turn right. So I'm so thankful, anybody thankful for the Holy Spirit, for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

And if you maybe here or you're wondering, you know what? I want to get to the level where I'm praying deep prayers and I'm interceding and I'm touching and I'm agreeing with the Holy Spirit. I encourage you to come to one of our prayer nights. Happens every Sunday, every first Sunday of the month at 6:00 PM Show up. You get to learn how to pray. You get to be with people that know how to pray. And I'm telling you, there's nothing like living a life being led by the Spirit and somebody say Amen. Somebody that's led by the spirit say amen. Amen. Ain't nothing like the Holy Ghost for your old school folks. Alright, well, prayer and fasting. This is our second week. We got seven more days to go. Everybody doing okay? I know there are some people that are probably have ate some weird stuff. I have eaten some strange things in my life. One of the strangest things I've eaten is squirrel stew, squirrel stew. It tastes just like it. What it sounds like. I've had fried mealworms before. I've had a pork blood dish and I survived.

But when this fast is over, it is on like Donkey Kong. Y'all better get ready because come the next Monday. It is a whole nother level of eating. Amen. But I just want to say thank you to all those who've participated. Just know this, that when you pray and fast and you dedicate that time to the Lord, the Lord is doing something in you and he's strengthening. You may be weakening the flesh, which is purposeful. You're weakening the flesh that you can strengthen the spirit and something good's going to come out of that. And everybody say amen. Amen. Alright, if you have your Bibles, grab 'em. We're going to Matthew nine, the book of Matthew chapter nine. Now, last week we kicked off a new series that we're calling All In. Somebody Say, all in, all In All In. And last week we talked about the importance of having vision. You cannot go all in if you don't know where you're going.

You got to have vision. But we're going to continue to unpack this by looking at kind of what the next step is after we talk about vision. So Matthew chapter nine, verse number 35, here it goes. And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers, somebody say the laborers, laborers, the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. We're going to continue reading in chapter 10. And he called to him his 12 disciples and gave them authority. Somebody say authority. Authority over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal every disease and every affliction. The names of the 12 apostles are these first Simon, who is called Peter and Andrew, his brother James, the son of Zied and John, his brother, Philip and Bartholomew Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector James, the son of Alpheus and Fatus, Simon the zealot. And Judas is Scarritt who betrayed him.

I really want to take my topic today from verse number 37. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest that he would send out laborers into his harvest. And then this is what Jesus does, and he called to him his 12 disciples and gave them authority. So for the next little while I want to teach, preach, preach on this subject, all in commission, all in co mission. Heavenly Father, we are so grateful, so thankful to be in your house. I pray that in the next few moments as we dig into your word, you would give us ears to hear, a heart to receive and a mind to understand what the spirit would say to us. Help us to walk out of here different than the way we walked in. Do what only you can do. Move is only you can move. In Jesus' name and everybody say amen. Look at your neighbor, say, neighbor, this is my year, this is my year. I'm going all in. I'm going all in. Look at your other neighbor and say, neighbor, neighbor, this is my year. This is my year. I'm going all in. I'm going all in. And for all the folks that are going all in this year, give God some praise.

If you're half in, don't even worry about it. But for those that are going all in, this is your year. This is your season. This is going to be the year where things change because I'm going all the way and I'm leaving nothing on the table. I'm going both feet in into the deep end. No more playing in the shallow end of the pool. I know how to swim. The shallow end is for babies. Get me where the Olympic deep end is. I'm going all in. Anybody going on win. Amen. Amen. Amen. I want to continue our conversation of being all in by kind of recapping last week because last week we talked about the importance of having vision and we talked about the story of the man who was brought to Jesus who didn't have sight. And Jesus spit in his face, touched his eyes and then asked him the question, do you see anything?

And the man said, I see people but they look like trees walking. In other words, his vision was blurry. And Jesus touched him a second time. And when that happened, the man's eyes were clarified and he said, I see everything clearly. God wants to move you from seeing things blurry to seeing everything clearly. And when we talked about the importance of vision, because vision is the ability to see in the imagination that which cannot yet be seen in reality. Vision is the ability to see an imagination in the future. What cannot yet be seen in reality in the present. This means that some people have sight but have no vision. Some people have eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear. And the reason why vision is important in your life is because God will tell you what he wants to do in and through you. Before he does it,

God will tell you, this is what I want to do in your life. I want to make you the head and not the tail. I want to raise you above and not belief. I want to bless your household. I want to do these. We can go through the Bible and talk about Moses and Abraham and Joseph and Daniel and David and all these characters in the Bible that show us that God will tell you what he wants to do in your life before he does it because he wants to test and see if your yes is attached to his word. Because what you do with the vision that God gives you will be an indication of your present and future reality. And the problem is a lot of people have received vision from God, but because they will not do anything with it, the vision becomes blurry. And when the vision becomes blurry, too often many of us will go back to God and ask God for new vision. Instead, you just need a second touch. You need God just to remind you of the vision that he gave you. Listen, if God says to stop doing that and you keep doing it,

Don't go back to God and say, God, give me something fresh. God's just going to say, I told you to stop doing that.

Whatever God tells you he wants to do in your own life, he's doing it so he can wet your appetite for what is to come now. Now when we talk about vision, it's important for us to ask these two questions. Why does God give us vision and what does he want to do with it? Why does God give us vision and what does he want to do with it? Now, most of us, when we come into the church, when we come into the body of Christ, we deal with a problem of living a life that is a dichotomy, meaning that we tend to live life in two realities, the reality of the flesh and the reality of the spirit. We tend to approach Christianity with this mindset of Sundays. That's the Lord's day. That's when I come to church. That's when I get spiritually fed. That's when I get full of the Holy Spirit. And then Monday, that's my day. Monday through Saturday I live in the flesh and then Sunday I get pumped up on the spirit. Some of y'all are like, that ain't me issue. How do we know that? Because Paul even said that he wrestles with it in Romans chapter seven, he said, there's always a war within me between the flesh and the spirit. And the goal of every Christian is to crucify the flesh and bring it into communion with the spirit so that you live your life always in the spirit. Meaning that your job that you do Monday through Friday is you doing it as unto the Lord, meaning that your vision is submitted to the vision that God has for you. Now

As a believer, God will give you vision, but the vision he gives for you is not for you to build your own kingdom. And a lot of us want to build our own kingdom. I want to build an empire. I got five streams of income. I got 14 doors. I'm an entrepreneur. I'm a serial entrepreneur because we are wired, especially in the American culture, to build our own kingdom, to build our own wealth, to build our own legacy. And so we approach God for a vision to help us build our vision.

Somebody help me, y'all leaving me all by myself up here. But isn't it amazing how many times we go to God requesting him to help us build our kingdom? But God is not interested in you building your kingdom, but God gives you vision because he wants to use the vision he's given you and the vision he's given you and you and me and then in congruence working together, he builds his vision, which is the expansion of his kingdom. So any vision that God gives you is not for you. It's really for him. So the question is what are you doing in your vision planning that is building the kingdom of God? Well, I'm a plumber then put those pipes together in the name of Jesus. Well, I work in concrete, then build a foundation for Jesus. Well, I'm an electrician then rewire that light that won't act right and you're frustrated by it. I'm speaking from personal experience. I rewire it in the name of Jesus,

Right? Because God's plan for your life is to not live your life in isolation, but to live it in community with other people. And this is called a commission. Now, let's define what the word commission is. The word commission is both a verb and a noun. This means there are two definitions of the same word. So a commission as a verb, which is a verb, is an action state or occurrence. The definition of commission, a verb is to give an order or authorize a personal organization to do or produce something. It means to a point. So when you commission, it's like commissioning somebody for a painting, commissioning somebody to make you an article of clothing, commissioning somebody to come together. It is the authorization of someone to do a particular task. But the word commission is also a noun, which is a person, place, or thing.

And the definition of commission as a noun is a group of people officially charged with a particular function. Another way that you could say commission is a cooperative mission. A commission is when people with different personal visions come together to accomplish a singular mission. A commission is when people with different visions come together to accomplish a singular mission. Now, when you hear the word commission in the Christian context, most of us automatically think of Matthew 28 19. How many thought about Matthew 28 19 when I said commission? Because we are generally wired to think about commission in the sense of Jesus bringing his disciples together and telling them, go make disciples. Of course, this is the account where Jesus is on the top of a mount. He gathers his 12 disciples and he says to them, go and make disciples. I've got all authority. I've overcome death hell in the grave and now I'm sending you out as a, I'm commissioning you to form a commission to go fulfill the kingdom of God.

But I want to submit to you that this is actually not the first time that there was a great commission. This is actually a reaffirmation of the first great commission which is found in the first chapter of your Bible in Genesis chapter one. Now I'm going to show you the parallels between Genesis chapter one and Matthew chapter 29 because 28, we know that we are all called to fulfill the great commission, but you have to understand the importance of the first great commission which was given to Adam and Eve. Now let's go to the garden. God creates everything in the space of six days, heaven's earth, vegetation, animals, everything. Then he creates Adam and the Bible says that he forms Adam from the dust and ground to be in his image and likeness, and he breathes into man the breath of life and man becomes a living soul.

So now man is created in the image and likeness of God, which means that Adam is the express image. He is the representative. He is the ambassador of God in the earth. Then God plants a garden in the midst of Eden, which appears to be on top of a mountain because the Bible describes Eden or the garden of Eden as having four rivers that flow out of it, that water the garden. And then Ezekiel chapter 28, he gives reference to the mount of God, which appears to be a reference to the Garden of Eden. So God who has all authority over everything looks at Adam in his lonely state. And while Adam is doing the work of God and working his vision, God looks at Adam and says, I know that he has abilities. I know that he has purpose. I know that he has vision. He's naming the animals. He's doing what I want him to do. However, it is not good for man to be alone. Why would God say that it isn't good for Adam to be alone? Because the plan that God has for kingdom expansion could not be done with Adam alone. Okay,

From the very beginning of time, God has determined that Adam's vision for his own life will be limited if he tries to do it in isolation without anybody. So God looks at Adam and says, it's not good for man to be alone. So God brings to Adam Eve. Now I want you to notice something. God did not clone Adam. He didn't bring another version of Adam to the table. You know why? Because in order for Adam and Eve to be fruitful, it required Adam who had a particular skill and Eve who had a particular skill to come together in order to be fruitful. Did you know that Adam could not have children by himself? He wasn't laying eggs and eggs. Hatching and Eve can't have children by herself. God took two individuals who were different than one another who had different eyes, who had different vision, who had different skills, who had different abilities, and God brings them into commission, into community together so that they together can fulfill the plan of God, which is to expand the kingdom of God in the earth. Since the beginning of time, God has determined that you cannot do life by yourself. No matter how great your vision is, you need somebody else.

This is called the Great Commission. So when God, oh, I'm getting excited now. So when God who has all authority looks at Adam and Eve, now he's brought them into commission. Now God says to them, I want you to be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth, subdue it, and have dominion. This is called the first great commission. The first great commission to mankind is to be fruitful and multiply. What does that mean? God says, I want you to perpetuate the image of God in the earth. How's that practically Adam and Eve? Have babies replicate yourself? Because with every baby that they have, with every child that is born, it is a replication of the image of God.

With every baby that's born, God is perpetuating his image in the earth. And then God says, not only do I want you to be fruitful and multiply, which means to replicate yourself, but I want you to fill the earth and subdue it. What does that mean? God says, I want you to ize. Remember God places a garden in Eden, places Adam and Eve in it and says, be fruitful, multiply, replace your earth, subdued and have dominion. What does God mean? God says, the rest of the world is uncultivated. So what I need you to do is that the harvest is pious, but I need laborers. So I want you to multiply yourself, have more laborers, and then I need you to fill it and subdue it, which means that I want you to ize the rest of the uncultivated Word.

God's plan from the beginning is to teach us that regardless of what your skillset is and regardless of what your individual vision is and regardless of what your purpose is, God has determined since the very beginning of time that the way he expands his kingdom is when you and you and I come together and we submit our own individual vision to his vision so that we can accomplish the greater vision of expanding the kingdom. Then God says, after you've done that, I want you to have dominion. What does that mean? It means to rule with God on earth now.

Is this the last time that God gave the great commission? No. Every time you see God get ready to do something throughout the scripture, he never does it with somebody alone.

We could talk about Noah and his sons built the ark. We can talk. Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, Joshua and Caleb were spies. Naomi and Ruth redeemed the story. Elijah and Elijah worked miracles. Jonathan had his armor buried. They killed the Philistines. David had his monument and they conquered armies, Daniel and had the three Hebrew boys and they refused to bow. What God is trying to teach us is that you cannot do the will of God in isolation. You have to be in community. So now let's rewind. Let's forward the clock 4,000 years. And now we see Jesus, Jesus, who is the second man Adam, he's coming to redeem what the first man, Adam lost the first man. Adam lost the plan of God by allowing sin to come into the camp, and now Jesus is coming to redeem it. So now Jesus is about to start his ministry and at the onset of his ministry, Jesus begins to tell him in Luke chapter four, this is what I'm here to do.

I'm here to preach the kingdom of God. I'm here to expand the kingdom of God. I'm here to heal the sick. I'm here to give sight to the blind. I'm here to do all this stuff. And everybody in the crowd is thinking, how in the world are you going to do it? And Jesus could have done all of this by himself. Why? Because he was God in flesh. And yet Jesus decided I am not going to fulfill my vision alone. But immediately he goes and begins to pick for himself 12 disciples who were all different. He first of all walks by the Sea of Galilee and he sees some fishermen. He says, yo, y'all catching any fish? I don't know if you ever fish, but there's nothing worse than catching no fish than somebody asking you if you caught any fish because if you're a fisherman and you don't catch fish and somebody asks you, are you catching fish? What do we normally do as fishermen? Well, the weather ain't right today, bro. Or I'm just here for leisure. I'm not even trying to catch fish. I'm just trying to get a boat ride. Any fishermen in the house, they're like, Hey, we've already been there. We've done that. And Jesus says, go out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. And Peter is like, we done been there,

Done that. I got my own vision. I already tried it. I tried it. It didn't work. Jesus says, you look through your eyes, but if you get my vision, you'll see things that you missed the first time.

How many of us have tried to work out our vision and come up empty and Jesus rolls up and says, do the same thing, but with my eyes?

This is what happens when Jesus touches your vision because you don't see the things that he sees. You see nothing but blockage and walls and Jesus sees an opportunity on the other side of the wall. You see all kinds of obstacles. You see pressure in Jesus see's strength. You see hindrance in Jesus see's opportunity. If you can see through the eyes of Jesus, I promise you you'll go back out there. I wonder how many people God is asking you to go back out. Well, I've tried ministry, but yet, but you tried it on your own. So now I'm going to touch your eyes so you can see clearly go back out there and do it again. Well, I already try to apply for that job, but you applied in your own strength. Let me touch your vision and then you go apply again. I already tried to start that business, but you tried to start it with your own strategy. Now let me touch your eyes and go back out there and try it again. That's a word for somebody right there. So Peter says, Hey, listen, I don't understand it, but at your word, I'll go back out. And he goes back out and he casts out. And guess what he does? He begins to pull in all types of fish. His business is flourishing, his vision is expanding. He's experiencing growth and what does he do? He calls to the other guys, yo business is going crazy. Y'all come get a piece of this. Business is crazy when you're sharing it. Yo, I don't even have the boats to handle all the blessings that God, God gave me vision. We about to make this money. We about to make this chatter. Hey honey, go look at rings. Go look at that new house. Business is going crazy. And you would think that that was the end of the story that God gave Peter new vision about his life and that that vision was culminated in him catching more fish. And yet when he comes back in, Jesus says to him, I'm glad that you experienced success in your life.

But if you follow me, I will make you a fisher of men. Notice that Jesus didn't change his skillset or purpose. He didn't say, if you follow me, I'll make you a carpenter of men. He said, I'm going to use the vision that I gave you that you thought was for this and I'm going to use that to build my kingdom. How many of us approach our work as this is just success for me and God is coming to you and saying, you know that skillset that you have in tech? Are you using that to expand my kingdom? You know that skillset that you have as a construction worker? How are you using that to build my kingdom? Because God's not going to switch you up just to make you fit. He's going to take the skills that he's given you and the abilities that he's given you, and he's going to integrate you into a commission of other people with different skills to build his kingdom. Jesus picked different people to be in his squad. Four of 'em were fishers. One was a tax collector, one was a politician or a zealot. One was a thief.

Everybody got a thief in their, everyone got a thief in their squad. Did they take the bag? No, they just didn't pay for their meal when y'all went out. I'm kidding. I'm meddling Now. Some of y'all like

Jesus picks 12 individuals from different backgrounds with different skills, with different purpose, with different vision, and he brings them into a community and then God uses their diversity to expand the message of the kingdom. This is a continuation of what God set in motion in Genesis chapter one, because the harvest was plenteous, but the Lord of the harvest needed laborers with different skills to come in the community to expand the kingdom, and Jesus does the same thing. In fact, we see Jesus now later on, he has gone through the cross. He's come back, he's risen, and now he's check this parallel out. Jesus who has all authority is on Mount of Galilee with his disciples. Jesus represents the second man, Adam, and he looks at his disciples and says, I need you to go and make disciples. Now, here's where the parallel is between Genesis one and Matthew chapter 28. Genesis one says, God says, be fruitful and multiply in Matthew 28. Jesus says, go and make disciples, which is what? To go replicate yourself. Just as Adam and Eve were supposed to have children and replicate the image of God. We as the body of Christ are called by Jesus to replicate ourselves and make disciples. Genesis one says, be fruitful. Fill the earth and subdue it, which means to expand the garden. Jesus tells them to preach the gospel beginning in Jerusalem and go to the other ends of the earth. In Genesis chapter one, God says, have dominion. In Matthew chapter 28, Jesus said, Lord, I am with you. You are going to rule with me in a spiritual sense until all of creation comes under the auspices of the kingdom of God. You are not called to live life by yourself, but God is calling you into a community that he calls the church so that you can contribute your vision to his vision of building the church. The question is, are you all in into the body of Christ?

Because Paul begins to explain this and he says, every part of the body has to give and contribute their gifting. The hand can't say to the foot, I ain't got no use for you. Neither can the foot say to the eyes, well, you ain't got an important job. If the eyes don't work, the feet are going to run into something. How many people want to join the body of Christ and then live in isolation? You will have no life in isolation if I cut my finger off from the body, it has no life. But the reason why God brings you into the body of Christ is because he wants you to give something and receive something. My finger works because my body is supplying it with blood and because my body is supplying my finger, I can point at you. I can grab things. Y'all will never look at my finger and say, because my body is supplying blood and nerves to the ends of my finger and my finger is useful, but my body is also benefiting from my finger because my finger is allowing my body to experience things that my other extremities can't.

When you come into the body of Christ as a believer, God brings you into the body of Christ not to live in isolation and live your own little vision by yourself. Over here in the corner, God brings you into the body of Christ because there is something that you have that he wants in this body, but there's something that you need from this body.

How do we know this to be true? Well, when Jesus gets ready to ascend, he tells his disciples, go Terry in Jerusalem, until you're indeed with power from on high, 120 disciples come into community into a commission, and they go to Jerusalem and they wait in the upper room, and as they are waiting together in community seeking God, the Holy Spirit descends upon them, and when he does it is the inception is the beginning of what is called the church. What is the job of the church to be fruitful and multiply, to fill and subdue the earth and to have dominion? You cannot live life in isolation. Why am I talking about this? Because it is just as important for you to be all in and to the body of Christ as it is for you to be all in into your own vision because your vision will suffer if you're not connected to the body. Oh God, you need the feet to guide you. You need the hands to hold you. You need the eyes to see. You need the mouth to speak. My entire body benefits from each member. The body is healthy when every joint that is attached to the body supplies

Contributes. Its gifting and calling. Why am I talking about this? Because there's a lot of talk right now against the body of Christ, against the church, against the local church. Covid done jacked us up about our view of the body of Christ. I heard an interview the other day where a guy says he doesn't go to church, and the interviewer asked him, yo, bro, so why don't you go to church? And the guy said, bro, I don't believe in that institutionalized stuff, man. A Bible says When two or three are gathered, man, right now we're having church and I'm going, you missed it. The institution of the church was institutionalized by who? Jesus. Jesus determined that it is through the body of Christ through the church that the expansion of the kingdom would happen. The only way that happens is when you and I go all in. So let me ask you this. Are you all in to the body of Christ? What does it mean to be all in? Are you giving your gifts, your talents, your abilities, your purpose, your vision to the body of Christ? And are you receiving others' gifts, others' abilities, others' purpose, others' vision to strengthen you? Because it requires both. It requires the by Christ. Now I'm preaching to the choir. Why? Because you're here.

You are here and you're here because the spirit of God has drawn you here and you hear because Jesus looked at you from heaven and he said, I want you to come into this local body, which is Embassy City Church. You could have picked out of the 3 trillion churches in Dallas. You came here. Why? Because there is something that you have that this local body needs and there's something that this body has that you need. And the question is, are you all in? Are you going to make this the year where you go, you know what? I'm not standing on a periphery anymore. I'm not going to be hanging out on the edge anymore. I'm not just going to get my word and leave. I'm going to be become a true devoted member of this local body. What does that mean? Have you signed up to serve? Have you signed up? Don't just leave right after service. I know we're trying to beat folks to Lubies and Golden Corral. We trying to get these discounts. You know what I'm saying? But there is something that you miss out on. If you're not in community, shake somebody's hand before you leave here, hug somebody's neck. Well, I'm just not a friendly person. We give you 60 seconds to just stare at somebody and we all are doing it, and I promise you, somebody is going to catch your eye and come for you.

How do we as a local church accomplish the great commission? It's right on our wall. We believe the vision for this house is to come to know God because we believe that the first thing that you need to do is you need to have a relationship with Jesus. What does it mean to come to know God? It means that you experience salvation. If you believe in your heart and confess your mouth, you shall be saved. We believe that the first step before you do anything else is that you come into communion with God, that you come to know God so that the two ways that we believe that you come to know God is number one, is through salvation. Confess with your mouth. Believe in your heart. It's through salvation, and the second is through baptism. Why do we believe baptism is so important? Because baptism is an outward expression of inward faith. Jesus was baptized. In fact, when the inauguration of the church happened in Acts chapter two, Peter said, repent and me baptized. Baptism is a very important part of your spiritual walk because it is a sign to everybody that I'm all in with Jesus. If you have not been water baptized, get signed up. We got water baptism coming next month. We baptized over 300 people last year.

Why is that exciting? Because over 300 people said, I'm going to awkwardly get in water in front of a bunch of people wearing shorts and a T-shirt that I got from this church and go down in water to tell you that I'm all in with Jesus. The first thing we want you to do is we want you to come to know God. Wherever you're from, whatever your background, whatever your story is, come you're welcome here. It doesn't matter if you're black or white or brown or purple or polka dotted, bring yourself here. Come to know God, but we don't want you to stay there. We don't want you just to know God, but we want you to grow in faith. We want you to become a disciple. We want you to become a devoted ambassador of Christ. Too many people sit in churches sipping on baby bottles spiritually. Have you ever seen an adult with a baby bottle?

I might submit to you that you have. It's just a spiritual baby bottle. We want you to grow in faith. How do we do that? Become a member of this church. Well, why is that important? Because when you become a member, you sign up to be a contributor and a consumer, you become a part of the local body. Well, is that biblical? Yes. We find that in the epistles when Paul is writing to the church at Corinth, to the church at Ephesus, to the church at Thessalonica. Why do we know that these are local churches that have members in them? Because Paul makes it plain. Hey, there are some people in your church, so the picture's very perfect, and it's clear that membership is a part of your spiritual walk, but don't just stop there. We want you to grow in faith by going through a foundation of faith series.

What does that mean? Spiritual formation. You got to get tough spiritually because the enemy is out to get you. Anybody know that he coming for you? You go through a high awesome service like today, Monday's coming, and the devil's sitting there with a pitch fork and a pointy tail and horns. Maybe not, but that's what it feels like. So we want you to grow in your faith by going through our Foundations of Faith series, which is online, my embassy, but don't just stop there. Another way that you grow your faith is you get in community through groups. We want you to join a party. Join a group. Why? Because when you come into communion with somebody else, you get something from their story and they get something from your story. Have you ever gone into a place and feel like you're just isolated until you realize that somebody else has gone through the same situation that you have? It has a way of making you feel normal. Okay, so I'm not the only one with a jack up situation. Everybody, yes, come into fellowship and then we want you to go change the world. What does that mean? Well, one of the best ways you could do it is to mimic Jesus. How did Jesus change the world? He did it by serving.

He came to serve. If you're a member here at Embassy City, I would encourage you, sign up to serve, open a door, working kids, greet somebody, be in guest central. Join a youth department, but contribute your gift. Your gift is too important for us to miss out on. Your gift is too important for us to miss out on serve, and another way that you go change the world is you lead somebody else through come, grow. Go. Why am I telling you this? Because too many of us today are trying to do the will of God on our own, and we're wondering why we're frustrated that it's not working. You need the body of Christ. You need the church in your life and you did the best thing by getting up, brushing your teeth. Please brush your teeth. You put on deodorant. Hopefully you did. You got dressed. You came to church. Why you came to be with other believers. The reason why this worship service was the way it was is because all of us came together into communion, into a commission to expand the kingdom of God. Well, I am a plumber plum for Jesus.

How am I supposed to expand the kingdom by being a plumber? When you're putting those pipes in the house, just pray that the spirit flows like the water does. If you're an electrician, as you're putting the light fixtures up, pray that the spark of the Holy Spirit hits that home. Well, if you are laying foundation, pray that they get a foundation for Christ. I got to keep going. If you're moving dirt, help them move some stuff out of their lives. Help them to excavate their soul. If you're a barber, lead him to the edge with Jesus. Help 'em to get over some waves in their life. You help 'em to pin some stuff down. You know what I mean? If you're a homemaker, raise your children in the fear of the Lord. If you're a business owner, represent Christ and your ethics and your character. If you do taxes, don't cheat the system. Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar. If you're a teacher, teach people how to fear the Lord. If you're in hospitality, serve them as Christ served his disciples. If you're an administration, don't be Judas, be Matthew, but whatever God has skilled you with and gifted you with, God wants to use you in the marketplace

And in the local body to expand the kingdom, and you can't do it by yourself. You need us. Well, I'm just not a needy person. Yes, you are. You just got to admit it. You need the body of Christ. You need the body of Christ. I'm thankful for the church. There's a lot of bad press out there because people out here doing dumb things. Let them do dumb things, but go all in into the body of Christ. Go all in. One of the best ways to do it is right after service. Before you walk out, find two or three people that you don't know or that you do know, shake their hand, hug their necks. Get their name and tell 'em, I'm going to pray for you every day this week, and I'll see you next week and tell me what God did in your life. It works. Ask the Lord to give you a word of encouragement for somebody that came in here discouraged. God will give you a word of encouragement. I'm telling you, this happens all the time. Just tell somebody you love 'em. They may not ever hear it from anybody else. They're going to hear it from you today,

But let's be the body of Christ. Let's go all in to the great commission. Amen.

Father, we thank you so much for allowing us to be in your house. I pray that we would see our lives not just as individuals, but as parts of the overall global body, give us insights into how we ought to use our gifts and our talents and our abilities, our time, our treasures or resources to build and expand your kingdom. If we are the hands, help us to hold as you would hold. If we are the feet, help us to go where you would go. If we are the eyes, help us to see the way you would see

If we are the heart. Help us to feel the way you would feel, but help us to get a revelation that this is not just about ourselves and we're thankful for personal growth, and we're thankful for expansion in our lives, but it's all about your kingdom. At the end of the day, what is it, prophet? If we gain the whole world, lose our soul, and so today we submit ourselves to the great commission, the cooperative mission of the church. We give your name, the praise, the glory, the honor because you're worthy of it. In Jesus' name. Everybody say amen. Amen. One more time, give Jesus some praise in this place.