1 Corinthians 3:1-9
1 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
Well, I'd like to welcome up Joshua Neil Joshua Neil and give Joshua a hand he's gonna come up. He's gonna read our scripture for the morning It's a man of God Joshua Joshua is gonna read out of first Corinthians 3 for our scripture this morning And then after he's done you said he's gonna say this is God's word and they're gonna say thanks be to God All right Joshua take it away buddy Okay, all right. I first Corinthians 3 1 through 9 Brothers and sisters I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit But as people who are still worldly merely infants in Christ I gave you milk not solid food for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed. You still are not ready You are still worldly for since there is jealousy and quarreling among you Are you not worldly are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says I follow Paul and another I follow Apollo's are you not mere human beings? What after all is Apollo's and what is Paul only servants through whom you came to believe as the Lord has assigned To each his task. I planted the seed Apollo's watered it, but God has been making it grow So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything But only God who makes things grow the one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose And they will each be rewarded according to their own labor For we are co-workers and God's service. You are God's field God's building. This is God's word Thanks be to God and thank you Joshua Well, we have been in a sermon series called becoming good soil for most of the summer and Towards the beginning of the summer we looked at the parable of the sower, which is one of Jesus's famous teachings in fact He's told his disciples that if you don't understand this parable of the sower then you won't be able to understand the rest of my parables and so we have slowed down and Sat in this parable for most of the summer and if you don't know what a parable is It comes from the Greek word parabola Probably and what it means is that you take something and you throw it down on the ground next to something else and so Jesus is Going around saying that the kingdom of God is near repent for its at hand and he is Demonstrating that the kingdom of God is coming near through healing people The blind are receiving their sight The deaf can hear the mute can talk and he's also revealing the kingdom of God through parables And so he is saying you have heard the kingdom of God is going to come like this But let's let me tell you a story about the kingdom of God and let's compare The two and so he's telling the story of this parable So I I just want to recap what the parable is and then we'll jump back into this text that that Joshua Just read so the parable of the sower is Jesus is actually if you can picture it. He's out on on a shore By a lake and there are thousands of people just imagine a mass of people coming around from all different types of villages To see Jesus and Jesus he steps into a boat so he can talk to this crowd And this crowd is filled with people who have come because they've they're curious if this is the Messiah Who's going to become the one who would overthrow Rome and deliver Israel back to its glory There's other people in the crowd who have heard that this Jesus he heals on the Sabbath and he eats with tax collectors and sinners So he's maybe he's a false prophet. Maybe he's leading people astray So in the crowd there are people who have questions about who is Jesus and he stands up and he says let me tell you a story Is it he tells him this story about a farmer who goes out to sow his seed? But this farmer he doesn't till the ground. He just sows the seed broadly He sows it and some of the seed falls on different types of soil. So there's actually four types of soils We've gone through each one of them the one soil That that falls on is called the the the path or the the hard soil That's where the seed hits the the road where people walk on and the birds come up and they eat eat the the seed And then there's another type of soil called the rocky soil which receives a seed But then it doesn't have any root so then when the sun comes then the the roots and the Plant ends up falling away And so Jesus is saying I am the farmer sowing the seed of the of the kingdom of God My word is going out broadly some people are not receiving it some people will receive it But they're going to fall away in times of trouble Some people are going to be like the the thorny soil where the cares of this world the worries are going to choke out that seed It's not going to be fruitful But there's some people who are going to hear the gospel they're going to hear the word of God and they're going to receive it They're going to hold on to it and by persevering they're going to bear good fruit if anyone has ears to hear let him hear is how he ends this parable and then as far as we know he dismisses the crowd and These thousands of people walk away probably with more questions than it answers And he tells his disciples the meaning of this parable So we as a as a church have been saying Lord We want to become good soil and in this parable there are warnings about things that will come out and choke out True life that is within us But just learning about information does not lead to transformation, right? So how do we actually get okay? We're informed that there's four types of soils We know that we want to be ones that bear fruit, right? That's the information. How do we? Translate that and actually transformation and the past two Sundays We've turned the corner from looking at the parable and we've actually looked at Some of the ways of Jesus that he says follow me in this way and I will make you I will help I will make you into my image. I will make you fishers of men. You will become good soil. So last Two weeks ago. We had Matt Fisher preach on practicing the Sabbath Awesome one of the most encouraging practical messages on practicing the Sabbath and how this rest period of 24 hours stopping the lighting worshiping is a way for us to cultivate good soil in our hearts Then last week we had Marshall come up and he preached on break up your fallow ground Which fallow ground is that? Untilled soil in your heart and from always Jose a 10 12 became and preached for a very personal message a very personal scripture of how God is saying it's time to now turn to me and get ready for the reign of refreshment to come get ready for the seed I'm about to sow into you and so it was a word about through confession through repentance through longing for Jesus through Putting ourselves in a position to turn to him that God will till up our soil and so today We're gonna talk about We're gonna talk about community We're gonna talk about community because this is in some ways a Hidden it can be a hidden quality of how we become good soil It's kind of like if you think about you know, maybe a dinner and you have different parts of the meal on the dinner This is kind of like the plate for the actual food to be held on right and you can miss that part because you're thinking about Oh, this steak or you're thinking about this side or think about this warm bread All these are parts of community, but the plate is actually it's the garden in which we grow is community and as I was thinking about Just crossroads in my life or how community has impacted me. It got me thinking about when I was In my early 20s. I was in a fraternity and I had come to the point in my life where I had stopped asking the question What career do I want to do? because that was I Just I was concerned about okay. What is my job? What is my future hold but I began to realize I don't just need a Major or area of study. I need I need someone to follow I need to know who I'm gonna follow because all the messages of the world were saying be you follow your dreams And I realized that I had come to a point where I did not know where I was going. I Was not I'm not a good leader for myself And so if I'm lost I'm not gonna follow me I need to find someone who's gonna lead me into a place of life And so I started praying this prayer God if you're real show me It's a great prayer to pray. Maybe you're here today praying that prayer God if you are real show me and Soon after that prayer, I was in a for I was at a fraternity Halloween party dressed up as a milk carton. I Looked for a picture. I'm sorry. I could not find one But that was my costume. I remember it had a face cut out of like have you seen this man? I was I was on the milk corn and I was sitting around the fire Among other people who were in their costumes Just a bonfire at this party I wasn't at the center of the party. Maybe because my costume was that great? I don't remember why but I remember being in this in this in this Conversation with these group of people that I did not know and one of the guys out of the blue I mean there is like this is a full-on fraternity party out of the blue this guy says I'm going to church tomorrow does anyone want to come with me and I'm like I'll go and We were the only ones who responded and so I started going to church to this guy his his guy his name was Hong He ended up being a friend for the next three years. We started to go into church together what would be like for the next three years, but That that I didn't realize it at the time But that was part of God's answer to the prayer God if you're real show me a few months later. I'm out of fraternity meeting They're cutting it up. Just kind of going through announcements. No one's really paying attention and this one guy Boldly gets up in our fraternity and he says hey, I'm starting a Bible study. It'll be on Tuesday night anyone who wants to come is Welcome and that was a bold thing to do in our fraternity at that point and probably about three other people showed up But I was one of them and it just was a series of it took me a year to realize But there were several moments in my journey where God was answering my prayer If you're real show me not by him striking me with lightning or writing something on a wall or or showing up to me in a dream But it was through invitation into his church Invitation into his community invitation and the people and God was using people To to answer that prayer and those so so often that community is the answer to our prayers that we don't realize Even just more recently when I moved to Dallas. I'd been walking with Jesus. I've decided to follow him But I left my career Finance which was short-lived, but it was a business field is what my major was in to move back in with my Parents to go to seminary because I felt like God had invited me to do full-time ministry Which was not in my life plan at all and I'm back in my room actually sharing a room with my brother I remember in putting up like one of those like hospital curtains just to divide our room just for a symbol as a privacy I'm putting up my Baylor degree on my wall in my parents garage I have a part-time job at the church as I find out your admin and I'm just like have I made a horrible mistake It's just how am I crazy is this a bad move and I remember showing up to church at Antioch Dallas is probably about 12 years ago Attended church and who would greet me and welcome me and invite me to go to lunch But Alex and Mary Beth de Brot and I was praying this prayer God would you help me God would you guide me and I didn't realize it at the time But God was answering that prayer through the hospitality of Alex and Mary Brett and Beth to take me out to lunch To ask me questions to draw me out to invite me to their life group Which if you have been in Alex and Mary Beth's life group at some point would you just raise your hand? That's about a quarter of our church I think there's probably more than that they've just been leading life group for over a decade now and there's just simple hospitality They're inviting me in that God uses community to answer prayers But this morning I didn't want even though I just kind of went through a mini highlight reel of community I didn't want to To set us up for unrealistic expectations Because the biggest danger we can have when it comes to church community is that we can idealize it and We can actually love the idea of community more than the actual church itself So Dietrich Bonhoeffer in life together says it this way He says those who love the dream of a Christian community more than they love the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community even though their personal intentions may be ever so honest earnest and sacrificial And so what he's saying is if you have this dream this ideal of This is the way Christian community is going to be but if you're not able to actually love the person right in front of you If you're not able to embrace that local church that Pastors strengths and weaknesses that the then you're not actually entering into what God wants for your life and you're gonna be either you're going to say this isn't it and It doesn't exist and you're going to cut yourself off from the means of grace that God wants to give in your life Or you just become cynical and you end up settling for well I guess this is just the bestest and get I guess we're going to talk about fantasy football a little bit of scripture and That's about it for community and that is not what God's called us to at all so So in a moment, we're going to look at what are some ways that we can become a good soil community And I'll just go ahead and give you my three points right here if you're taking notes How do we become a good soil community? We're going to look back in the scripture and we're going to see that we need to have as a community Jesus centered thinking not man centered thinking Jesus centered service Not competition among ourselves and Jesus centered growth not manufactured results. Okay, so I'll flesh those out But what let's pull up first Corinthians three five to seven and just a little context before we read here There's a lot of scriptures that tell about the they paint a beautiful picture of what the churches made to be and what communities to be I chose this scripture because actually this church and Corinth which God loved said that they did not like any spiritual gift Said that they were enriched in every way for life and godliness that as you read Paul's letter He writes two letters to the church and Corinth that are really long because they are really Indeed of some extra grace. I'll just say that You can almost hear his exasperation of like what are you thinking Corinthian church and so in this church? He says that when I first came to you I could only give you spiritual milk because you were still babies in Christ But he's writing to them again, and he's saying you're still babies after all this time I can't give you real food. I can't give you meat. How do I know you're still babies? It's because there's divisions among you some people are fighting over which Christian leader they follow This should not be You know when when our youngest son just turned two years old bow. He is very cute, and it's cute when babies Just do baby things, you know, they don't understand like That when they're hungry. They're just gonna let you know when they're happy They're gonna let you know, but their world revolves around them and their needs When bow is five years older than now when he's seven is see if he is still operating like an infant There's gonna be problems if when he's ten years older as a 12 year old, you know we love there's a preciousness of Babies and they love the warps in the comfort of milk, but we're made to mature and so he's saying let's pick it up in verse 5 This is what Paul says to them He said what after all is Apollo's he was a teacher in the church of Corinth and what is Paul? They're only servants through whom you came to believe as a Lord has assigned each task I planted the seed Apollo's watered, but God has been making it grow So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything But only God who makes things grow the one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose And they will each be rewarded according to their own labor for we are Co-workers in God's service. You are God's field God's building. So that's the full passage there. So what is going on here? there's the vision among who people follow Apollo's is a a Christian leader in Corinth who's spending a lot of time there Paul is the one who started the church. There's Peter and He's saying he doesn't say Who is Apollo's or who is Paul? He uses this phrase. He says what after all is Apollo's what is Paul and he that's not a grammatical error He's intentionally saying what which is a a neutered version of that of that word it's like if you were to be called into the principal's office or your boss's office and You were to be brought there and the person in charge was like Who like what is this creature you have brought to me or? What is this thing doing in my office? It's like well That's the person that's a child that you know, that's there's it's insulting even to say what instead of who but he's intentionally Saying that we are Nothing compared to God like it's so like we are Here's what he says. Oh, we are only servants through whom you came to believe So Paul one of the most influential Christian leaders in history Apollo's Peter We're just servants and that word servants in the Greek is Chonos and it means that you are a servant of a king or a waiter one who serves food and drink It's the same word they would have for a waiter or waitress. We're servants I met if you wait tables It is a hard job It is often a thankless job But your job is to deliver the food from the kitchen to the guest You don't get a Michelin star for your service That's that's reserved for the chef your job is to help them receive the food and be And get more of it basically if if if they want more to make sure their needs are met it's a very important job, but what he's saying is that The chef the one the source of all goodness is who you should be following We're just we're just the waiters. We're just pointing you to Jesus. He's the king Well, we're ambassadors if an ambassador of another country Thinks that all of a sudden they are the king or they are in charge. Something's gone horribly wrong So you you guys aren't seen this rally you's tracking with me. I Mean Jesus is to go with the chef analogy I was thinking about the great British baking show He's star baker every week I'm telling you. I mean every say it's not even a competition. I mean when Jesus shakes Paul Hollywood's hand he trembles Unbelievable And just think about the another analogy that's maybe Think about a wedding and you have the the groom who's waiting and the bride is about to come down the aisle and then you have the bridal party so you have the groomsmen and you have the the bridesmaids and This moment of the the bride who's been making herself ready for the groom in this moment and the door spin and the bride is coming down the aisle and Then all of a sudden the the groomsmen jumps in the middle of the aisle and Tries to get the bride's attention What do you think would happen in that moment? If I was the groomsmen, I'd be taking someone down. I mean if I was a bridegroom I would like get out of the way. What are you doing? And it's kind of funny, you know to think about that because it's so ridiculous But they're saying you're committing spiritual adultery By putting Apollo's or Paul or Peter in the place of Christ get out of the aisle Clear up your mind So he he is saying guys We're just waiters. We're just waiters We're just branches off the fruit, but the the source of life is from Jesus John the Baptist who is the cousin of Jesus who was the prophet who would prepare the way for Jesus He was the one that was out in the desert and and crowds were coming to him first Before they came to Jesus and he was saying repent for the kingdom of God as a hand Repent said I'm gonna baptize you with water for repentance, but there's gonna be one after me who shoes Whose sandals I'm not even worthy to untie and he is gonna baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire and with power I'm preparing the way for him and so when Jesus comes John the Baptist He baptizes Jesus and then some of his disciples begin to follow Jesus instead of him and his disciples who are still faithful to John Which they probably just didn't get the message John was like what are you still doing here? Jesus is over there? But they say hey Everyone's going to Jesus now and this is what John says in John in John chapter 3. He says You yourselves can testify that I said I am not the Messiah But I'm sitting ahead of him if you can go ahead and go to the next slide You yourselves testify that I said this is John speaking that I am not the Messiah But I'm sitting ahead of him The bride belongs to the bridegroom The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice That joy is mine and is now complete He Jesus must become greater and I must become lesser This is the heart of a Jesus centered community So whether I'm up here on a stage And this is the way that I get to serve this morning or whether you're holding open a door or making coffee or holding a baby It's a Jesus centered or in and he is why we're here He is the one that that we're here for and he is the the source of all life With there are so many different gospel messages that we get every single day from the world There's the gospel of more if I had more time more money more this more that then I would experience the good life if I had The gospel of less if I had less problems less this us that but the only gospel that truly satisfies is the gospel of Jesus It goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 3 that Paul said that I like a map a wise and master masterful builder I build on top of the foundation that has already been laid the only foundation that can be laid is Jesus Christ every other foundation Whether it be a government like Rome We'll come and go whether it be our own dreams will come ago But this is the foundation that will last Jesus is the good news that as you get closer to Jesus. There's a cost, but this is where the good This is where life is so this is the this is the chef that we want to be close to you guys with me So that's how do we become a good soul community? That's number one Jesus centered thinking not man centered Jesus centered the next one is that we want to be a people of Jesus centered service Jesus centered service So he goes on in in 1 Corinthians 3 5 to 9 he says I planted the seed in verse 6 apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow And then it goes on the one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose They will each be rewarded according to their own labor For we are co-workers and God's service you are God's field God's building So I want to highlight this because when I first read this passage I was like, okay, so he's saying basically apollos and him Need to decrease and so it almost made it feel like what he did didn't matter, but that's not what he's saying He's saying that Jesus should be exalted and lifted up, but he's actually saying and The service that we get to do as servants the weighting of tables is actually a really big deal It actually really matters Paul when he planted the seed in the chorus people came to know Jesus. It's through him. They were saved It's through his work that they were able to encounter Jesus when apollos watered it They were nurtured in their faith. They're growing up that matters It really matters the assignment that we have and it's for everybody But to each one grace has been given to us as we're different parts to the body And so if you go to the next slide Your service matters To God and the others it's jesus-centered service And when we have this mentality it says that the lord Assigns us a part of the garden to tend to That assignment might change it often does but every single day In every season of our life. There is an assignment. God's given us and that is an important work Whether it's especially I'll say especially if it's hidden and no one else sees it It is especially important The lord assigns us a part To tend in the garden paul planted so he was the one who invited them to follow jesus He was the seed sower the evangelist Apollos was the pastor that watered it But there are different tasks given but we have one purpose There are different temperaments people have but we're on the same team And there are different talents, but we all have the same desire to see a harvest in god's field So i'm going to say that again. There are different tasks, but we have the same purpose There are different temperaments, but we're on the same team There are different talents, but there's the same desire for us to see the harvest happen in god's field So how do we know when there are jesus centered centered service happening One of the ways when we are jesus centered humility Is a result when he's lifted up Humility so it's saying wow so much of the message in our world is saying You are special you are important You have a voice you have something to contribute and there's truth in that because we're made in the image of god But so much of the gospel is actually god loved you because you will you were actually not lovely You did not seek him. I know for myself. I was Surrounded by christian content by people who love me, but I was hard of hearing I was selfish. I was hurting people. I was insecure. I was Yeah, I was a coward That's where god found me And so yes, god's called me to serve but instead of elevating myself to this high place is actually saying Wow god chose me, but then it's like god chose me Like god would choose me What does that say about god? Wow, you're really A lot more gracious and loving than I thought and I i'm really weak and I actually have a lot of problems But you're saying that I receive your love like while I was still a sinner you died for me And that's that's the good news of the gospel. It's not earned. We can never earn it. It's given It's given to us That's the good news of jesus is given to us and so wow and we get invited to be a part Of what he's doing in the world. He's saying i'm going to give you a job. I'm going to give you an assignment I'm going to give you table five. I want you to go over there. I just want you to invite that person To lunch ask them about their life. I'm going to write table ten Just ask them how you can pray for them table table table seven go give them a casserole You know whatever it is there's simple ways That god's calling us to bring the kingdom and how he's made us And when we do this and we see that he is the one worthy of all praise and that we actually are just Blessed to be a part Honor is the result that happens in this house So romance 12 9 Says let love be genuine abhor What is evil? Hold fast to what is good love one another with brotherly affection and outdo one another and showing honor When there's honor happening and this is actually something that since i've been a part of this church I've seen happen over and over and over again Our full church name is Antioch communally church dallas I was talking with my wife about this yesterday when we name our kids There's intentionality and purpose around it because we want to see this name be prophetic and meaning We want to see this be a trajectory center for their life Antioch communally church dallas, we say Antioch dallas for short But we believe that one of the values one of the prophetic things over Antioch is that we would be a church that would commune with god And commune with one another and be a place of community We're making taste and see the goodness of god and that happens to honor So i just want to honor some people that i've experienced Uh, and i have on the next slide. Here's just instead of going through a spiritual gifts list Here's the list that i came up with I just want to invite i want to honor all the invaders in the room All the people I mean to talk about alex and mary breath the broad just saying hey you want to come to lunch with us Hey, you want to come to our life group the invaders the people who open the doors You know on sunday and the people who uh invite people in to commune I think about jennifer jenniferl looking bill. I think about marie has san Uh, I think about some of these uh ladies who are opening up their homes thinking about kevin and britcho I think about just the hospitality this radically simple hospitality Um that i've experienced um from people in this church We could go around and around around but uh just thinking about Uh christen katley louis thinking about uh josh and sera growth just thinking about that life group with the chans And thinking about that group and how they have really had just radical simple hospitality malissa and michael My it just it's just amazing to see that they just open up in simple ways But any every time they open up their home or open up their calendar Like the glory of god shows up because they are present and they're there and they're serving whatever meal that is And the kingdom of god shows up And we don't need to like look and be like, oh, am I going to be if I going to be uh acknowledged or not We get to celebrate because there's no competition. We're all in the same team Their win is our win I think about um Mark crippin and mark ziggler and some guys are saying hey, how are you really doing? How are you really doing just the shepherds in our midst just people are like saying How are you really doing or when they're asked that question? They actually think back and they answer that with an honest answer and you're like, uh, I just was you know Want to know what you did this weekend Um, but yes, I can pray for you, you know, it's like okay I love that Because they really care let love be genuine in this house. We get to honor people like that Uh this thing about people who have prayed for me had Uh just someone before just right before I got up here matt was just like hey I was praying for you gave me a word or a picture if you've received a word a picture and encouragement Just that's from the holy spirit and said hey, I was praying for you And I felt like god just put this on my heart. I just want to share it with you and I hope it blesses you You know those moments Have changed my life not because of a lightning strike like changed everything, but it was an encounter It was I was hungry or I was thirsty in a dry place and they brought me a cup of water just by praying for me No, with hatchers someone who does that regularly thankful for him You know, and then there's just the anonymous and not so anonymous givers in our midst. That's when uh, man My car that I drive right now is uh Over a hundred thousand miles. It's a gray camry. It's one of thousands out there But it was provided by the church years ago before you know I didn't have a car and the life group rallied around us as a family and said we want to give you Money for this. There's generosity that we've received. There's generosity of time. There's generosity of gifts I think about Jim and Adeline the lewis. I'm thinking about um, man just uh Amy and david mars so thinking about um just carry high note just thinking about people who have said I want to go out of my way Just to bless and be generous because this is something that um That we see in the kingdom and we go on and on and on just people who say I want to I want to help Where can I help? Where can I serve if people who fight for unity of the holy spirit? This is something I want to highlight just as we're coming to a close here Is that when we talk about community The people who stick in it whenever we don't see eye to eye Whenever things get hard whenever it's like I just don't feel like I click with this person Or I don't I don't know if if I say this to that person. I think this might ruin the relationship If i'm really honest with this person, I'm afraid of what will happen But people who fight for true unity who lean in who receive feedback And they take it in and say I want to Get the log out of my own eye before I take the spec out of yours like that right there when that happens It is a it is a taste of heaven people who fight for unity of the holy spirit And his book when church was a family joseph Dr joseph hellerman has this quote. He says long-term interpersonal relationships Are the crucible of genuine progress in the christian life? People who stay also grow people who leave do not grow It's pretty bold statement But I think that's the way god's designed it We were made for him as godfather in in a family and he is repairing us Through community it's imperfect and there are weeds and there are thorns and people have to put up With me and with people that are in process and with you I'm just saying You got to be honest it's self-aware But I'm just saying like this is the way god's designed for us. Jesus has saved us He is saving us in this process of community and he will completely heal us or save us in the end So this gets to the last point. How do we become good school community and that is jesus centered growth it's jesus centered growth he says I planted the seed of polis waterlit but god has been making it grow So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only god makes it grow There's a reason why we call when we start a new church. We call it church planting and not church manufacturing It's not church franchising It's because when you plant a church there are things that you do In your partnership to serve and to prepare the soil But we can't we can't actually change anyone's heart We can't actually Make lasting change on our own. That's something that god alone does That's something god alone does. So I want to take this last portion of our time if we can have the worship band come up And I want to take some time to kind of get out of the aisles so to speak and just to see jesus as the bridegroom and To realize like we are positioning ourselves By coming to church so that we can encounter jesus we position ourselves By praying by taking a sabbath like these are things that are important for us to do But really they're just making ourselves available for god to do only what he can do I was reading a book on parenting by paul trip and he has a lot of good practical advice for raising kids And I think this applies to non-parents and parents alike, but he had this line in there that just Honestly, it's the only thing I remember about the entire book But he says this he said your children They need god's law, but you cannot ask the law to do what only grace can accomplish Your children need god's law But you cannot ask the law to do what only grace can accomplish We serve a living god A living god who speaks who interacts he says if you need wisdom ask me Because he's alive and he speaks to us So there are laws that position us in the boundary lines of his blessing, but if we only have the law Then we are lost and we're self righteous because jesus Is the one who touches your heart of grace. He's the one who transforms us But the other reason why we call it church planting is because this growth takes process over time Jesus when he would around Doing miracles and healing he would say get up and walk to a paralyzed man and pick up your mat and he would do it He would he would say open your eyes to the blind man and it would be opened but I can't think of a of a story in the gospels where jesus said character be changed in jesus name Character be changed in jesus name You're going to go from being a selfish person to all of a sudden being a humble and selfless person Didn't happen with the disciples. You got to see it right there on the pages for everyone sees all throughout history They're confusion They're lostness They're failures God can heal us in a moment and there are times of rapid growth But only in community over a long period of time of sticking with it Will we actually become like jesus? Will we actually be encountering the grace of god because i need it in my life And i and we need it you need it to be plugged in to community glatation six Says this let us not become weary and doing good For at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up Therefore as we have opportunity let us do good to all people Especially to those who belong to the family of believers Let us not grow weary church So we're about to go into a fall semester. It's here. We got school starting. We got life crews to pick him back up So i want to take some time for us to ask the lord Where he's calling us to be servants and where he's calling us to be planted in the garden of of community So i have some reflection questions up here at the very end So the first question as i was praying is just realizing there's people in this Auditorium where people listening to this message who they need their soul watered today You don't need to ask hey, where can i serve? It's like i i need my soul water today. So jesus Where are you wanting to water my soul today? And creating space for jesus to actually answer that question The next question jesus where are you calling me to honor and serve others in the community? And then lastly jesus i'm longing for Fill in the blank I trust you as my source as the one who gives life and the one who actually makes true thing true life grow jesus i'm longing for you in this place I trust you as my source of life and growth. So just to give us about 30 seconds Just to wait on the lord lord i pray that you would come and speak to us right now lord you are the head god we are the church Holy spirit we're asking for wisdom go we're asking for your grace to come and touch us when you come and speak to us We love you You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You God thank you that you love us Thank you that you are good father you're a good farmer That's so in good seed into us god you're not giving up on us And you've put us into a garden into a field God thank you that you are raising up a harvest of people Who would be your farmers your co-farmers god and your field lord would you speak to us would you encourage us today in jesus Amen just encourage you to stand as we close with a worship song and we're going to have our prayer and prophetic team up here If you need someone to pray with you for something maybe you need water in your soul today or just want to Just say hey, I just need prayer this morning. They would love to pray with you We are a little bit over so if you could have one parent go pick up your child and bring them back in We love to close together in worship (upbeat music)
