Harrison Faith Church
One Body - The Function of a Body | Pastor Scott Brandon | Nov 10, 2024
(audience applauding) Do me a favor this morning. I feel like a couple of things that I need to do, just because the Holy Spirit would just speak into me. I want to pray for two things this morning before I get started. And the first one is I want to pray for just those who are serving currently right now. We don't know, absolutely. You know, when you have a change of platform and policies, we don't know what that looks like, both domestically and in the foreign affairs as well. So I just want to pray God's protection over our servicemen, they need it every day of their life. Not even just serving in terms of warfare, but really just the mental things they have to endure just so we can maintain our freedom. I think it's important for us to pray for that. So would you join with me in praying that first off, Father, we come to you this morning. And God, we're so thankful, Father, for this country. We're thankful, Father, for the men and women, God, who serve God each and every day, who pay a hefty price. God, many of us don't even know. We don't even understand, God, what the requirement is, Lord, to serve this country and the way, God, that she has asked them to do so. And I pray, God, not just a blessing and a protection, God, over these people, but God, their families as well. God, allow them, Lord, to not feel the loss, Lord, whether it be an emotional loss or even a physical loss. God, of those who have given everything, Father, to serve this country, God, and to protect our freedoms. Lord, I ask it in Jesus' name, we pray, amen. And if you don't mind, one more prayer, because I just felt the nudge as well, as I just feel like, in fact, if you don't mind, just raise your hand, but I feel just the need to pray for those who have lost ones. People who just family members and friends that you know are close, you've been praying for them, and it's time for them to come home to the Lord. And so if that's you, can we just pray, you guys remind me of being a little awkward, right? Just calling it audible, all right? Raise your hand if you got someone you need, and these that come to the Lord, you know who it is. Keep them raised, Father, right now, you see our hands. God, you see those people, God who need to come to you. Lord, use us, God, use this church. Use these people, God who have raised our hands, God, and call them sons and them daughters home. Lord, I pray, God, that 20, 25 would be a year. God, you would call the way which sons and daughters got back to the house of God, but most importantly, God, to the relationship that offers freedom, love, identity, and peace, and forgiveness, God, for all things that they have experienced and done in their life, and those things that have been transgressed against them. God, we pray, God, for forgiveness and freedom, and Jesus, name me, pray, Amen. Thank you. I was out sitting there. I just felt that nudge come up, and I was like, you know what, I just need to pray, and so we need to pray together. Boy, here we are in the last sermon series of the year. Can I ask you guys a question? I'm new to this older thing. As the older you get, does it feel like time flies faster? (congregation laughs) Because I feel like that's not real fair, because the older I get, the faster times flies, the older I get, you know what I mean? Like, it just compounds. And so as I was just looking at the calendar of the day, I thought, holy smokes, it's like November, and which means you know it's gonna be Thanksgiving and then Christmas, and then it's all gone, right? And I feel like we just started 20, 24, and 20, 25 was already upon us, so we'd be praying. Hey, let me just say this as well. Regardless of who is in the White House, our prayers are always mandated. Always mandated. We need prayers to not stop ever, ever, ever, because no matter how great a man or woman might be in the White House, only Jesus can fix and heal this nation. And so it is to him that our appeals and our prayers must be made, so by no means is it time for you to relax because the election's over, no. You need to continue to pray and persevere. Do the person you love next to you a favor and commit to pray, amen? To help you refresh your memory this morning, I just wanna remind you that we've been in a series on the one, one this year. We've been talking about one in different respects, and it's not just a group of sermons we've put together, we have an agenda here, why the concept of one is so important, our goal here at Harrison Faith is to really grow spiritually this year in these regards. And so let me just remind you how important the concept of one is. Jesus said in his high priestly prayer to the Father, he says this in John 1721, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world, there's the reason right there, here's the purpose, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. You gotta understand that understanding how we are one is essential to reaching the one. That's why Jesus says the world may believe that you have sent me. In fact, one of the things I feel like is missing in the church and the reason why we're subject to the powers and the strategy of the enemy is because we lack unity. If the church is unified, there ain't nothing that's gonna stop her, not a lick, not nothing. The only thing that prevents her from moving forward is herself. And so that's why it's important for us to understand as a church, and I don't mean just us in this room, but I mean in other churches too, I've really been doing my best to make connections with other pastors, I believe one day in the future that the church in Harrison will do great and mighty things for God, the capital's sea church. I just wanna make sure Harrison faith is in place and being who we need to be. So when the road gets called, we're right there, working and striving side by side with our brothers and sisters in our community. And so for us to do that, we have to understand the importance of unity. We have to understand the importance of one. Here's what we said just to remind you that these are not just real statements that we have said over the year, but really they become a value to us. The first one we said is this, we follow one. Book. See, now we got to go back and do this all over again. You realize that, right? Y'all remember how Tess worked in the, we follow one book. That means there's no other book, y'all. There's no other book, no other philosophy, no other political platform. None of those things matter. We follow one book. When your kids say, why mom and dad, you should be able to say, let me tell you why. Right here, let me tell you why, right here. When the ball says, well, here's what you're gonna have to do. You're gonna say, well, I know that, but here's what the word tells me I'm gonna have to do. Or if your president tells you what you're gonna do, you're gonna say, no, no, no, I must obey God rather than men. You need to know your word because there is coming a day. There is coming a day. God says that the very elite, the very elite, I don't know how you consider yourself, but the very elite will be led astray. You got to know your word. This one book answers everything else from philosophy, to policy, from the White House, to the church house, makes no difference. We look for one book to follow. The second thing is, is we share in one life. Hold your hand up. You got this on? You got this on? There's only a few of you got it on, man. I'm so proud of y'all. You know what? Free water on me after service, all right? (congregation laughing) It's on me. It's on me, free water right there. When you go out the back, it's free. Y'all take care of that. Well, when we share in one life, what does that mean? That means this. That the life that you used to live, you lived unto yourself. But now Jesus, who died and rose again, has given you his life, and you don't live unto yourself anymore. You live unto him. You share in his life. And thank God, not just his life, but he also gave you a death, the free you from all of that stuff. You were tied to, you were depressed by, you were chained to all those relationships and addictions. All those things have been buried in his one death. And in exchange, he gave you one life. And you don't just share one life with him, right? Paul says that it's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And if Christ is in you, then Christ is in me. Now you and I, we share the same life. That means when you go through hardships, I do too. Just let me know about it. When you go through successes, I do too. Let me celebrate them with you. You and I, we have this one life that we share. And then we also stand in one spirit, meaning we embrace God's original purpose for our life, that the chief in of man is to have a lifestyle of worship. Worship is how you serve, how you give, how you praise. That's our lifestyle, that we only exist for one thing. And that is to worship God, and we do so. We stand in one spirit to do so. We also build one another. What does that mean? It means we embrace distinctions. I'm sorry, it means we reject the culture of this world. Because the culture of this world would have you fighting against yourself, hating yourself. And you guys realize the number of groups that have grown in the last four or five years, all these different factions and sex, all these different things that are happening. And that is the enemy knows that a house divided against itself will not stand. And so what we're supposed to do is to reject the culture of this world and embrace kingdom culture. Kingdom culture, but whereas kingdom culture at Pastor Scott, it's found in the one another command of scripture. To love one another, forgive one another, serve one another, honor one another, welcome one another. Those types of commands are telling us that if we are the people of God, we should act like the people of God. And that helps us understand what he desires for us in this church here. And then last thing we'll start today is we function as one body. We function as one body. It's not that you do your best and you're doing great, but I need to come along with you. We need to understand that we're going to embrace distinction. That means there's different people here. Have you ever looked around and realized how many different folk are in here? I mean, honestly, now if I'm just being honest, y'all all look about the same complexity to me. But there's different backgrounds, different histories, different stories, different statuses in life, different cultures, different family, all those things create differences. And we have to understand that that's a beautiful thing. And so we embrace those distinctions. We reject divisions. We function as one body. We reject divisions. And we agree in direction. And we say we function as one body. That's what we're saying. Amen? You clap and you clap. I don't want to, you don't have to clap either, you know? Jesus saved us today. So we do all this for the one so we can reach the one, but it can only be done if we are one, right? So today I want to talk to you about what it means to function as one body. Let me just go with these with you real fast. If you're taking notes. We follow one book. We share in one life. We stand in one spirit. We build one another and we function as one body, one body. Have you ever noticed that when you watch a person walking or running, the body tends to be in disagreement with each other? Have you realized that? When you're walking, right? You're walking, there's all these offsets happening. You have a left arm going forward and a right foot going forward, but at the same time you have a left foot going back and this way, this way, this way. I'm just trying to preach. I don't know all that stuff. You know what I mean? It's just simple logic. But what I know is this is that this one's going forward, but all of a sudden this was going back. But we're still making progress. My left foot goes forward, my right foot goes back, but we're still making progress. You realize how the body seems to contradict itself, but still yet it finds a way to move forward. There's differences in the body sometimes. Legs are pushing and pulling at the same time. Matter of fact, we were at Fall on the Farm. I was watching all these kids do the tug of war, right? And if they were doing tug of war, what I saw was this, their arms were pulling, right? Their abs are pulling, but their feet were pushing away. And it doesn't make sense. That two opposing forces are happening at the same time. Still yet, there's a goal being achieved. In fact, who are my leapers in here? Who can jump? Who can jump? If you can jump, Michael, if you can jump, you know how it is. Everything gets real relaxed except this back here and these right here. We get real tight and we explode, but everything is pushing down while simultaneously everything is reaching forward. Isn't it crazy that the body is always in an appearance disagreeing with itself, but still accomplishing a goal? And I think it's important for us to understand because Paul says that we are like a body. There is something for us to learn as we look at these different things because if you think about it, again, the body seems to be counterproductive in his action. But really what it's doing is counterbalancing. It knows when and when not to insert itself. And so the whole functioning of the body is what makes each one of these things successful. I wanna bring to you today three things, three things that I think are essential for function in the body. The first one is the maturity of the body, the maturation of the body. The second one is the distinction in the body. The third one is the direction of the body. Look at Romans chapter 12 verse three through eight. No doubt you've probably read that before. Romans chapter three, 12, three through eight. If you dare say amen, amen, you should be there, right? Is that good? Yeah. Paul says, "For by the grace given to me, "I say to everyone among you to not think of himself "more highly than he ought to think, "but to think with sober judgment, "each according to the measurement of faith "that God has a sign. "For as in one body, we have many members, "and the members do not all have the same function. "So we, though many, are one body in Christ "and individually members of one another, "having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. "Let us use them if prophecy in proportion to our faith, "if service in our serving, "the one who teaches in his teaching, "the one who exhorts in his exhortation, "the one who contributes in generosity, "and the one who leads with zeal, "the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness." God, I pray this morning, but you would show us your design for the body. God, it is beautiful. When we come together, Lord, and we understand who we are, we understand the gifts, we understand the function, we understand the priority of the gift, Lord. It's a beautiful thing. I pray, God, you would make Harrison faith, Lord, your body. I pray, God, that she continues to grow, continues to strengthen, so that you would use her, God, to add other people to this body. And ultimately, God, to the bride of Christ, Lord, that's our heart, God, to see those who are lost. Father, we raised our hands while ago, and you saw those we were asking for. We pray, God, use this body to reach them. Make us a strong people. Make us a loving people. Make us an understanding people, an acceptable people, a people God who will call you out when you're wrong, because we're worried about people living below their standard, below their calling in life. But also, God, give us the grace, God, that comes with that truth to do so. But make us, Lord, most importantly, Lord, Lord like you. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. When Paul wrote the book of Romans, now you've no doubt probably studied to some degree. If you've never read scripture before, I don't recommend you starting in Romans. John's a great book. But Romans is a great book to understand the word, to understand the Bible. In fact, Romans is often called the Bible within a book. And so when we look at Romans, we're trying to understand why it's important, how it's applied to our life, and what you should know right off is somebody that says that Paul is talking to a very, very diverse culture when he writes to Rome. There's quite a few differences here, but let me just highlight some things so you understand when he's writing, why he's writing. So there's not just different ethnicities because Rome was a melting pot to some degree. But most importantly, he was talking to Rome in terms of the Jews/Gentile relationship. Now, if you don't know, a Gentile is everything that's not a Jew. If you're a Jew, you're a Jew, if you're not a Jew, you're a Gentile. And so he's writing to these differences, these disparities. And so Jews have a culture and they have a tradition. And they hang on to that tightly because it's what God gave them. God came down and gave them a culture. He came down and gave them a tradition. It wasn't something they inherited from times past. And so they believe with all their might that this is a culture and a tradition, we must maintain. And when you put that against other pagan cultures and traditions, you have some conflict, not just traditions, but also just the mindset, their disposition, and how they approach everything in life was either Jewish or pagan. Along with the idea of being pagan and Jewish, you also have different levels of status. That was an economical status, a political status, even in status of education. And then you had free and you had slaves. And then you have different loyalties to the state of Rome. So when Paul is writing, he's understanding that there are a lot of challenges that are happening right here. So he's trying to get us to understand that even though we have all these differences, we're all the same. He says in Romans 3, 23, "For all have sinned." Regardless of what you've been gone through or what you've experienced in your life and who you are, he says all of us are same because all have sinned. Romans 1, 16, he says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel. "It is the power of God for salvation too. "Everyone who believes is the only qualifier. "Everyone who believes to the Jew first "and also to the Greek." And so Paul knows this and all of us know disgrace. All of us need grace. All of us have fallen short. All of us need saving. We may be different in our own eyes, but we're all the same in God's eyes. And that is simply this. You're either forgiven or you're not. There's no other, there's no other categories for the Lord. You're either forgiven or you're not. And so it's because it's that Paul is addressing the need for us to understand how it is for us to be one body and how we can fulfill the purpose that God has for us, the church, the bride of Christ. So let me begin here with the maturity of the body. First off, know this, is that when we speak about the functioning of the body, functioning the body is simply this. It's where every active person or every member is actively contributing to the church's mission. And in order to do so, you gotta be mature. Let me say it a little differently. To unlock each one of our gifts, we need to first unlock our view of ourself. Because if you don't truly understand who you are and how you see yourself, you're gonna minimize your gift or miss it all together. We could think of it to be more than it actually is or we could not think of ourself highly enough to actually be used of it. He says in verse three, for by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure or the standard of faith God has assigned. Here's what Paul is saying in a nutshell. He's saying spiritual giftedness does not equal spiritual maturity. Spiritual giftedness does not equal spiritual maturity. In fact, I read this illustration was a pretty good one. It says just because you're a candle in the room you're putting off light doesn't mean you can warm the whole room. You need to know what your gift can do. But you also need to know you have a gift. And so if we're gifted and somebody else, I don't even know, Pastor Scott, if I have a gift, well, you have a gift. You probably don't know what that is. You've not activated, you're not serving in it. In fact, next week we're gonna talk about, I'm gonna help you identify your gift because here's why. If you don't understand your gift, then you don't understand your place in the body. If you don't understand your place in the body, you will perpetually feel disconnected. If maybe you're not even a part of the body. But if you don't understand your gift, you don't understand how you serve the body. You don't understand your function in the body. You know, there was a time where I didn't even know I hurt my shoulder, but I woke up one morning and I couldn't just raise it. No, I didn't, I don't know what it was, it was a weird thing. I just could not, like I could not tell myself, Scott, raise your shoulder. It was just dead, you know? And I eventually learned that it was a pinched nerve, but it was not functioning. And I was just walking around, it was just swinging. And the bad thing was I had this, a huge stage bill we had to do at church the following week. And I'm doing good, I'm having to walk around, I'm like just, you know, walking up my arm, you know? And go, oh, I've been needing to scratch that nose for a bit. It took me a while to understand how to use a part of the body because it wasn't operating in its function. And the longer the doctor told me the longer I did not use it, eventually I would lose that ability to function properly. Do you hear what I'm saying this morning? If you don't know your gift, then you won't know your function. And it's possible that you'll lose your function all together. For that you're not used your gift at all, you'll lose your connectedness to the body of Christ. And so Paul is saying here, make sure you know your gift, but also make sure that you don't define yourself by your gift. If the body is going to function properly, it must possess the maturity that allows its gifts to be priority in season. That means there's times when a certain gift is front and center. And there are times when it is not. There are some gifts that never seem the spotlight. There are some gifts that never make it to the stage or make it on the board or there are sometimes where gifts don't ever show up in the public eye. But you and I have to understand if you're walking in your gift, you're going to have to understand when it's time for you to step out and lean and when it's time to help somebody else so looking at it like this, if you possess the gift of generosity, Paul is here about seven different gifts. If you possess the gift of generosity, but you struggle, the gift of generosity is your ability to give to the kingdom financially or maybe get some other resourceful way. But if you possess the gift of generosity, what the enemy wants you to do is simply this. It's to feel guilty because you don't have the time to serve like those who have the ability to serve. And so what he'll come in and say is this is this great, but you can't pay your relationship off of God. You can't give your way out of responsibility and duty. And we look at other people and say, "Well, I'm given, but I don't feel like I'm a part of the body because I'm not serving like this person." Can I tell you that the reason why people can serve in great capacities is God has given them a gift of time, that ministry. But if you don't understand God's gift for you, then you're gonna be a limp part of the body. You have to understand your function. Or maybe you have the gift of teaching. You have the ability to communicate God's word and to teach people. But if all of a sudden you feel less than because you don't have the ability to lead, then you're gonna minimize not only your own gift, but somebody else's gift that you're trying to strive with. That's why Paul says you need to understand who you are and making sure that when you serve and function in your gift that you're not minimizing yourself by comparing it against a false standard. Now, what is a false standard? A false standard is anything that you would use to look at outside of Christ to say, "Am I doing a great job?" And we do this in America really good because we have social media to help us with these things, right? That I'm not as good as so-and-so. I don't have it like so-and-so. And so that's the mentality that we have in America, that I have a gift that I can function in, but really it's so easy for me because I'm gifted in it, that I want to operate in this gift. And then what you do is find yourself trying to be more, when really you can be more if you'll just be less. If you can just be less, if you can understand that God has given you a specific gift and operating that gift, you will help this body and the bride of Christ be greater. Let me just say this. I wonder if the reason why that the church is hindered so much is because we're all trying to operate in everybody's gift. Because we all want to do. We all want to be known. We all want to be recognized. And Paul is saying this, you will benefit the body more if you'll just be content with less. Just know what he's called you to do and do that very thing. At the same time, can I just say this? Passion of Scott would not tell you this, but Scott Brandon will. If you're operating in an area, that's not your gift. And you realize it, find another place. Don't burn yourself out. I am thankful that you're serving. I'm thankful that you're serving. But please, please do not burn that candle out. Find a place that when you serve, you become passionate. One of the things I love to do most is when I listen to people and I learn about what their heart is. I love to know what they love to do. And then it's my personal assignment to find them and marry them to something that allows their passion to breathe. I'm going to use this as an example because I know he doesn't like to be talked about. But every time I'm ready to use a grill, I always call Stephen Hudson. Because I know he loves the grill. I love the grill too. Just put me in front of the grill and leave me alone. I would be a happy camper. And you may think sometimes that's not really a gift, but yes it is because you're not having to do it, right? You're able to go about whatever we're doing and not have to give time and attendance to something that requires a lot of attention. And so what is it in your life right now that you're able to do and to do faithfully and do consistently and do it in a gifted way that you may not be doing it because you don't feel like this is what God's really given me or I'm not satisfied enough in it because my eyes are on other things. Go back to the things that God has blessed you with, allow your heart to really self-assess and say, "Lord, what is it in my hand?" Because the Scripture says that he gives the gifts, he gives the gifts. And I can tell you right now that the Holy Spirit is about building the body of Christ. He is going to give you a gift if you ask for it. I've seen unsaved men, unholy men and operate in the gift. I think that's not right, that's not good. There's still a gift upon them, they just twisted it. They measured it in a different way. So I know you have a gift. Really the question is simply this, are we obeying the calling that God has put upon us? Are you walking in that gift in that way? Because if we're not walking in a way that is true to Christ's nature, then we begin to develop attitudes, such as a critical spirit. We look at somebody else and we say, "That's not a good enough gift, that's not a great gift." And we begin to rob the body because we're criticizing the body by depreciating other gifts, or we'll develop a defeated spirit. A defeated spirit says this, that because we feel like we offer the gift that God should have given us, we minimize the gift that God truly has given us. If God has called you to teach, then teach. If God has called you to give and give. If God has called you to serve and serve. If God has called you to lead, then lead. Can I ask you just a question that you may not want to entertain, but I'm sure you're asking right now. What are you doing for the body? How are you serving? How are you functioning? In fact, I would say, are you crippling us? Because you're not operating in the gift that we desperately need. You see, your gift is not something that just makes us better. It's a necessity. It's a necessity. There's no part of my body that I just say, "Well, it'd be great if I could have it." I need every single aspect of Scott's body to work and function properly. Because you guys know how it is when things start working in your body, right? Whether you thought you needed or not, it's important. What I'm trying to tell you today is this, is that do not allow the light of the enemy to say you're not important. You are a necessity to this body and to the body at large. So how do we know if we're walking in a way that honors God in our gift? Let me tell you this. When we exhibit the mind of Christ, that is humility, selflessness, and obedience, we support the body of Christ. That's how we're supposed to exercise our gifts. When I see someone who is exercising their gift and I can see those things, that we see in Philippians 2, 5-8, he says this, "Having this mind amongst yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped." That's humility. But he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant. That's selflessness. Being born in the likeness of men and being found in a human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient, humility, selflessness, and obedience. It's the point of death, even death on a cross. You will find the most fulfillment in the body of Christ when your gift is operating in humility, in selflessness, and obedience. Can I tell you that really we all struggle to some degree in the area of obedience? I can measure your Christian walk by how obedient you are with the Lord. I know where you're at. I can understand your relationship. I can even tell you how well you hear the Lord. By how obedient you are to him when he says don't do that. You guys know you've been there before and the Lord prompts you to say, "Hey, speak to this person or give that to this person or go do this thing." And you think something else, right? You just move on. You've got that unction. You've got that little nudge to do something. And you know it's the right thing. It's not the wrong thing. It's the right thing. And you contemplate it for a second. You go, "It might be odd. It might be weird. I don't know if I should. I don't think deserve it." And you find it. Let me just say this. Any time, any time you find yourself justifying an action for the benefit of man, you're more than likely being disobedient. You're more than likely being disobedient. Because as humans, we're really good at justifying against the Holy Spirit why we can't or why we shouldn't. Are y'all with me today? Okay. All right. I don't know if I'm stepping on your toes or your sleep. Either way, we're going to go. All right. Next one up is the distinction of the body. Paul says in Romans 12-4, "For as in one body, we have many members. And the members do not all have the same function. Have you ever been to a high school football game and half time comes out and the band comes out? And what are you here?" It's the muddiest sound ever, right? And if your child's in the band, you're like, "This my baby, this is so good." But you know it sounds horrible, right? You know it sounds horrible. I mean, there's been times, I'm at the football game. And I'm just thinking, "Dear Jesus, if we can just, if the rapture will happen right now, because my smile is fading off, I can't smile no more. It's just horrible music." Because the reason why it sounds bad is there's no distinction, right? It's just moneys, notes, slamming into each other like bumper cars. And we only love it because we're parents. That's the only reason why. But if you've ever been to a symphony orchestra, who's been there one of those before? Man, the clarity, the clarity, and the difference is what? Distinction, distinction. Same notes, same instruments. Someone knows how to play with distinction and someone does not. And when you and I are in the body, we begin to understand and value distinction. Our lives, our worship, is like that of a symphony. I pray God let me know if my life is like a high school band. You know, I don't want my worship to sound like that to the Lord. Lord, I'm like, "Oh, bless him, he's so, that sounds horrible." But I know it's hard, I know it's hard, I know it's hard. I pray God, don't look at Harrison, faith and go, I know they're hard, I know they're hard. No, Lord, give us distinction. Distinguish us, Lord. Set us apart, not just from this world, but also let us understand our differences here. Show us how we truly are different, but let us embrace those distinctions. In fact, that analogy reminds me of Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 14. He says, "Even if lifeless instruments such as the flute or the harp do not give distinct notes, how would anybody know what is played?" It's important for us to be distinct. In fact, I would say this, that distinction within the body of Christ is fundamental for its function. Whenever you have a church that is all of the same things, all of the same grounds, all of the same people, usually it's a dying church because they're weeding off anybody else that's not like them. And they're narrowing the funnel to say, "Oh, this is my tribe." But you don't want, that's a tribe, that's not a church. That's not a church. A church is the multiplicity of personalities and experience and complexities and cultures and all of those things such as Rome was. And we want to be a church of distinction. We want to have a church that says, "You know what? We may be different, but we all share the same essence. We all share the same nature." And that's what John speaks to in John 15.5. Jesus says, "I am the vine and you are the branches." So you may look different, but you got the same nature inside. You got the same life inside because we share in one life. Second Peter says this, "By which he has granted to us, his presence in very great promises so that through them, you may become partakers of the divine nature." The nature that is in you is different than the nature in me. And can I tell you that most likely you and I are widely different people, widely different people. But there's still something that makes us the same. Something that makes us the same. Let me just go on and say this. The art of distinction, especially in a church, the art of distinction is being different while still being connected. We can be distinct, but we can't be different unless we're connected. Because if we're not connected, then that difference separates us. It separates us. So how do we stay connected? Well, first you need to know your gift. You can know your function in the body. You need to serve in the body and you need to know the people you labor with. That's how you stay connected. Making sure that you're somewhere applying your gift. Why is that important? Because see, your hands are different, but they're connected. Your feet are different, but they're connected. Your eyes are different, but they're connected. Your experiences are different, but they're connected. Your pain is different, but they're connected. Your victory in life is different, but they're connected. And your freedom is different, but they're connected. And you can be wildly different in the body of Christ. And so long as you're connected to the vine, that's what makes us one. So you see, we can be different in design, so long as we're united in purpose. And as long as we're united in purpose, we can go anywhere. We can do anything. In fact, if we look at Nehemiah chapter three, we see that. As the worship team comes up, Nehemiah chapter three, what's happening is Israel has lost the city, right? They've been in exile for 70 years, they're coming out. And as they're coming out, they're coming to a place where they've rebuilt the temple, but they're supposed to be rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem to bring back the glory of God. And what happens is, is over 100 years goes by and nobody is rebuilding the wall. And so all of it is a reproach against God's character, because he called those people to a covenant. He has promises that they will have a reign and an endurance. But the walls speak a reproach against his covenant. And so Nehemiah says, we've got to fix that. And so when we fast forward to Nehemiah chapter three, what we see is this, is that as they're rebuilding this wall, we find 42 different men and women and tribes in their clans, but they're all working on the wall. You've got rulers, you've got priests, you've got perfume makers working on a wall. Can I tell you perfume makers got soft hands? Is there any man that's a perfume maker? I would not raise your hand, you know, soft. But you got perfume makers working on the wall. You've got goldsmiths working on the wall. That's a delicacy. So what we see is this, is that as they're all coming together, they're working on different sections of the wall, we find is the reason why they're unified is because they have one direction. Direction matters to the body. Just like when I'm swinging my hands backwards and forwards and I'm moving my legs, what matters is, is the direction I'm going. I can be doing opposite things. I can know that I'll be prioritizing this arm at this one time, and prioritizing this arm at another time, but what matters is simply this. It's not who's in front, but are we all moving the same direction? But I want to ask you churches this. If you're at this church, are you moving the same direction? Are you contributing to the body? There's something else that I don't think I want to be in this sermon series, pastor Scott. I need you to understand. I need you. This church needs you. We cannot reach the city or anyone else in this area if you're not playing a part. We don't need you to be here just so we can say, look how great the church looks. That means nothing, but we need to come together and function as the body of Christ. And to do so means we have to move towards the direction. Nehemiah says this because they move to this direction, all the same direction of building the wall. He says, so we built a wall and all the wall was joined together at half its height for the people had a mind to work. Do you have a mind to serve? Do you have a mind to function? Do you have a mind to use your gift? Because we need that desperately. Amos 33 says, this can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction? You've got to know the direction. You've got to be in agreement. Lastly, direction provides focus. Focus builds unity and unity fulfills purpose. Maybe the reason why church is not as important to you or maybe it's not as satisfying to you is because you're just coming here out of routine. It's just a road exercise for you, but you've not really connected purpose to lifestyle. You've got to connect purpose to lifestyle. Because if you disconnect the purpose of God to your lifestyle, that means you have to find other things in this world to satiate the desire that you have and to feeling like you're worth something. And can I tell you that everything that the enemy has for you that makes you feel like you have purpose is empty and vain and eventually will cost you more than what you pay to get it in the first place. But there is a purpose if you belong to the body of Christ. There is a purpose that you'll find as you exercise your gift, there is a purpose that says you can be diametrically different than Scott Brandon and still yet be just as contributed to the body of Christ. Do you know your direction? Are you mature in your gift? And have you embraced the distinctions of this body? Because if we do, we do those things, we can function as the body. Will you stand with me today? I want to end service a little bit differently today. We did this before a while back. But I want us to, I want us to join hands in prayer. I want you to join hands in prayer. So stretch those aisles, find somebody next to you, we're going to pray. We're the body, we're the body. If this is uncomfortable to you, then eventually what happens is you die. Any part of the body that gets cut off dies. We want you to know where you belong. Here's how I want us to pray. Lord, awaken the gifts in your body. Awaken the gifts in your body. Lord, multiply the gifts in the body. Multiply the gifts in the body. And then God, give us strength. Give us anointing to make those gifts work. Father in heaven, I pray. You see your body before you, God. Lord, you know the days ahead. You know the needs ahead, God, for this city, for this country, even for our families and our marriages, God. I pray, God, unite us and make us one. Lord, like you pray, the Father, Lord, make us one. Make us one in you, make us one like you, Lord, that we might be able to be used by you. And so Father, to do that, we pray. Awaken the gifts in our life. God, many of us, Father, may not even know what those gifts look like. They don't even know that we all have gifts of some sort. But I pray today, God, you would awaken those gifts. And then multiply them in our body, God. We don't need just one person with one monopoly on a gift. God, we need many people operating in the same gift, strengthen us, God, multiplying that gift. And then I pray, God, for you're anointing upon those gifts. Lord, allow us Lord to operate in strength and power and in confidence, Lord, knowing God that our gifts, Father, are special to us. Help us Lord not to compare them against anybody else's life or anybody else's lifestyle. But Lord, allow the gift, God, to thrive in us. Give us the confidence and the strength, Lord, to bless you with our function, to bless you with our servitude, Lord. And I pray, God, as you do it, Lord, that you will use this church to come alongside other churches, God, to come alongside the rest of the bride of Christ to accomplish the purposes of God. That is Father, to reach the one, to find the one, to seek and save the lost Lord. I pray, God, you would do it. I ask it in Jesus' name, and all God's people said, amen, amen, amen. Hey, thank you. [BLANK_AUDIO]