The Kingdom Of God In All Of Life Together

Okay, this morning I'm going to talk to you about the kingdom of God and all of life together.

Kingdom of God and all of life together.

This is the mission of our church.

The mission of our church is the kingdom of God and all of life together.

So for those newbies who are here, you're wondering what our church is about.

I came on the right Sunday.

This is what our church is about.

Take it or leave it.

Kingdom of God and all of life together.

And as I talk about this, the goal part of this is to make sure that we're all on the same page.

Because if we're not on the same page as a church, Mark 3.25 says,

If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

We have to be on the same page.

We have to be in agreement.

We have to be in unity.

Philippians 1.27, it says,

So that's really what I'm talking about here.

Standing firm in one spirit, with one line, and then striving side by side.

Oftentimes it's easy, you know, to be a part of church.

It's just like, well, you've got the paid professionals.

You've got the leaders.

They're doing their thing.

Then we just kind of fall in line.

We're just attenders.

We're just observers.

We're spectators.

But those are the people who are really doing the ministry.

Those are the people who are really doing the stuff, so to speak.

We have no desire to do that.

We have no desire to be that in any way, shape, or form.

We desire to be participants and partners together.

And this visual of striving side by side for the faith of the gospel is what we desire to do.

Because that's what Christ desires for us to do.

Amos 3.3 in the New King James says,

Can two walk together unless they are agreed?

Okay?

Can two walk together unless they are agreed?

It's a rhetorical question.

They can't.

Right?

They have to be agreed in order to walk together.

We call the members of our church partners.

And if you look at the dictionary definition of partner, one of the definitions is one who shares.

Okay?

And so, as a church, we want to share in priorities.

We want to share in vision.

We want to share in responsibility.

Okay?

We want to share priorities, share vision, and share responsibility.

And that's, I think, the sweet spot of where God wants his church.

So, let's look at those three different things.

The first one.

Shared priorities.

Okay?

The kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is the thing that brings us this shared priority.

Jesus taught that we should seek first the kingdom of God and that our hearts follow what we treasure.

Okay?

Matthew 6.33 says, seek first the kingdom of God.

It doesn't say, seek second.

Seek third.

It doesn't say, seek your convenience first.

Make sure that the kingdom is, you know, up there.

It's near the top of your priority list.

It says, seek first the kingdom of God.

And then it says, where your treasure is in Matthew 6.21, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Okay?

So, when we treasure and seek first the kingdom, our hearts end up in the same place when we share the same priorities.

Okay?

You can try to put your heart someplace where your priorities are not, and it'll never work.

Where your treasure is or where your priority is, where you, the things you value, the things you treasure, the things you prioritize, is where your heart goes.

One of the reasons we end up failing at things in life is because we are trying to put our energies into a place where our heart isn't.

Well, why?

Because we have a different priority than the thing that we're trying to do.

Where your treasure is or your priority is, your heart follows.

And when we are trying to be a church that doesn't prioritize the same things, that doesn't treasure the same things, and then be one heart, it's never going to happen.

You can't have a church that has, whose heart is together, if we don't have the same priority.

You follow me there?

Okay, so we have to share the same priority of the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is what he says to seek first.

It's basically treasuring Christ and his rule.

What is the kingdom of God?

I like to define it as what God wants and the way he wants it.

We're on earth as it is in heaven, right?

But he asks us to pray.

What God wants, the way he wants it.

One author said it's God's rule over everything, everywhere, for all time and eternity.

Wilkins Simpson describes it as the realm of God's uncontested rule.

Okay?

That's what we're seeking.

We're seeking the rule of God.

We're seeking God to rule over everything, everywhere, for all time and eternity.

Not just a couple hours on a Sunday morning.

Not just a couple hours on a small group, house, church, missional community, on a Wednesday night or this night or the other.

We're looking for God to rule and reign over every aspect of our life, everywhere, for all time.

And it starts in our households, extends into our churches, and then it goes everywhere else.

We're not content with a little bit here and a little bit there.

We want Jesus to be seen for who he is and to be submitted to him in who he is, that he is the ruler.

He's not content with a part of us.

He doesn't just want a little bit of us.

And he's certainly not content for us to sprinkle a little Jesus into our life and call that Christianity.

He is the Lord and he is the King.

And for you to profess that he is your Savior and not believe that he is your King and Lord is actually hypocrisy.

Because the only way he has the authority to save you is if he's King and Lord.

So to profess saving faith without a faith that believes in his Lordship and his Kingdom rule is not a faith that can save you.

Okay?

He has to be God.

He has to be King.

He has to be Lord in order to have the authority to save you.

Otherwise, he's just a good guy with good intentions.

And that's not what he is.

He is the Lord.

And he is King.

And we cannot separate him into little separate pieces as if he can be dissected into different attributes that we can, like, I'll take that part of you, Jesus, but not so much that part of you.

When you believe he is who he is, you have to believe all of who he is.

And that's what the Kingdom of God is all about.

It's believing and submitting to the rule of God in everything.

Like I said, it starts in your household.

Are we seeking first the Kingdom of God in our own households?

Does Jesus rule over every aspect of our household?

To do that, we have to ask the question, what does God want in my household?

Not what do I want, not what is most convenient to me.

What does God want?

And it's easy to sanctify our own selfish desires and call that what God wants.

And sometimes we just don't even want to ask the question.

We don't want to ask the question sometimes what God wants.

We don't want to ask the question what he wants in our household.

What does God want in my marriage?

What does God want in my single life?

What does God want in my parenting?

What does God want for my kids' bedtime?

What if it's inconvenient for me?

What does God want for your kids' bedtime?

What does God want in my home?

What does God want me to spend my time on in my home?

What does God even want for the home that I live in?

I'm asking the Lord for all these things.

How we do life together.

How we relate as a family.

I want the kingdom of God to come into my household.

I want the kingdom of God to come in my church.

We're not giving God a section of our life a little bit here and there.

We're setting up.

We want to be the vessel that you created that the gates of hell shall not prevail against

to bring the kingdom of God on the earth.

There is no plan B.

People want to build movements?

You can build movements all you want, but there's only one movement that Jesus said that he's committed to.

He said, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

This is the only thing he said he would build.

Are you giving yourself to the thing that God said he would build?

Are we giving ourselves to the movement that God said he would be behind?

Otherwise, we have to sustain it ourselves.

The great thing about the church is we don't have to sustain it ourselves.

We can trust that the thing we are giving ourselves to and sacrificing for is the very thing that Christ is building.

We're seeking his kingdom.

In our household, in the church, and in the world around us, in our job, in our neighborhood.

Seeking to bring the kingdom of God by preaching the gospel to people.

Not just being comfortable with a few Christians.

Not just being comfortable with our friends and the group of people we want our kids to grow up with and to grow old with.

We're constantly getting out of our comfort zone looking for opportunities to seek and save those who are lost, just like Jesus.

And Jesus, he didn't even let himself get comfortable.

In fact, when everybody's starting to come to him and they're looking for healing and they're looking for all the things that Jesus had.

And the disciples are thinking, okay, here it is.

Finally get our ministry.

We finally get our name.

He's like, I'm going to the next town.

Whoa, hold on.

Jesus, we got a good thing going on here.

Where are you going?

Jesus is always pushing out of comfortability.

Always pushing further in and further out.

Saying, I have to preach the gospel.

And us saying that our mission is the kingdom of God means our mission is to preach the gospel.

And to preach the gospel will always be an affront to our pride and our comfort and our selfishness.

It will offend us.

It will jostle us.

It will shake us.

And if that's not happening, you've got to ask, am I really seeking first the kingdom?

If my pride is never offended.

If my world is never shaken.

If things that I've always held and thought that were good, if those things aren't allowed to be put before the furnace of who God is and his word.

Then I've got to ask, am I seeking first the kingdom?

Or am I seeking some superficial hallelujah Christianity?

You know?

But what Mike not called happy smiles and half sympathies.

Where we just kind of go through life experiencing some subpar existence of relationship.

Where I'm free to live my selfish, comfortable life.

Without saying, no Jesus.

I'm not content to do that.

I want your kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.

Not just in my little world.

Not just in my little church, but all the world.

I want to see the kingdom go where we don't see it right now.

I want to see people one to Christ.

I want to get into uncomfortable relationships and situations where the gospel is not so that I can preach it.

And I'm willing to sacrifice to do that.

Are we willing?

What are we withholding?

Does Jesus have everything?

If we're talking about the kingdom, we're talking about Jesus having everything.

That means we can't hold anything back.

Are we fully bought in the priority of the kingdom of God?

Are we fully bought in?

It's easy to say, yeah, that's a good idea.

Yeah, I know what you're talking about.

I've been to church before.

But are you fully bought in that there is no greater priority than the kingdom of God?

That all other things are subservient to this thing.

To seek first the king's rule.

God's rule over everyone everywhere.

Prayer.

That that is the ultimate goal for which I exist.

Is to see his rule extended.

And actuated in the earth.

Am I fully bought into the priority of that?

Or is that too radical?

Is that too extreme?

Is that too much?

We must be fully bought in.

And why do we do that?

It's like, yeah.

Be bought in on something that costs me everything?

No thanks.

I like the everything I have.

Why would I want to give it up?

It would have to be for something really good.

Thankfully, the scriptures speak to that.

We buy in because we're bought.

1 Corinthians 6, 19 to 20 says,

You are not your own.

For you were bought with a price.

So glorify God with your body.

You're not your own.

So glorify God with your body.

You were bought with a price.

When we've been bought, then we buy in.

You buy in to the degree you know that you're bought.

And the implications of what that means.

Jesus describes this in Matthew 13, 44 through 46.

He says,

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field.

Which a man found and covered up.

Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

This is what the kingdom of heaven is like.

We're talking about the kingdom.

We're talking about you sacrificing the little you have for the everything he has.

It's a pretty good deal when it comes down to it.

It's an easy sell when you look at it.

When you look at what you have and you're not looking at who God is

and what our inheritance in him is,

if we forget that part, it looks like a raw deal.

It looks like I've got to hold on to things.

I can't give you everything because then I lose.

We don't understand that the beauty of this parable is in his joy, it says.

Let me ask you the question.

When I talk about the kingdom of God,

when I talk about sacrifice,

when I talk about giving and not withholding,

do you hear that with joy or do you hear that with burden?

Do you hear that and say,

Oh gosh, one of these guys again?

We're going to hear him just hammering on this

and hammering on what God wants.

Is it joy to you?

Is it joy to lose all?

Has it ever been joy to you?

Was it joy at one time and it's become drudgery at some point in time?

Is it joy to you now?

When you look at what you have to give up,

when you look at what you have to sell,

and you look at Jesus and what you receive,

eternal life with him,

is that joy to give everything you have for that?

Is it a joy to do that?

Unless your revelation of the treasure

exceeds your revelation of what you have,

you'll never give altogether.

Unless your revelation of the treasure

exceeds your revelation of what you have,

you'll never give what you have to get it.

This is why he says,

In his joy,

he sells all that he has.

Why?

Because all that he has is worth less than what he's buying.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant

in search of fine pearls.

One finding one pearl of great value

went and sold all that he had

and bought it.

Are you fully bought into the priority of the kingdom of God?

Are you fully bought into the priority of the kingdom of God?

When you look at what you have,

does it pain you?

Or is it your joy?

Is it your joy to give up?

Is it your joy to sacrifice?

Knowing what your inheritance in the Lord is.

Knowing who Jesus is

and what you get in him.

Is it a joy?

If it's not,

we need to repent

and believe the good news.

The Bible says repent

for the kingdom of God is near.

If we're seeking first the kingdom,

we have to repent.

We have to repent.

We have to say,

I am going to change my mind.

I was going this way.

I'm going to go the opposite way.

I'm going to believe what you say

about the supremacy of Christ and his kingdom.

And I'm going to give all together.

I'm going to believe that.

I'm going to trust that.

I'm going to repent

for the kingdom of God is near.

I'm going to repent

from thinking that other things

are more important.

I'm going to repent

for thinking that these things

that I grit,

that I held on to

for identity and worth,

that those things

are account and loss

compared to the surpassing greatness

of knowing you.

I'm letting go of those things.

Secondly,

shared vision.

Okay?

Shared vision.

If we don't have shared priorities,

then we won't have our heart together.

If you have one priority

and I have another priority,

your heart goes that way,

my heart goes this way,

there's no unity.

Okay?

But if we have the same priorities

of the kingdom of God,

we say,

okay,

we have the same priorities

of the kingdom of God,

but we don't have a shared vision

of how those priorities flesh out,

then we're also not going to have unity.

Right?

It's easy to meet Christians

and say,

yes,

we are,

we're kingdom people.

We believe in the priority

of the kingdom of God.

But the vision

of how that gets fleshed out,

if that's not the same,

if we don't have a shared vision

of that,

then we'll have division,

division,

two visions.

Okay?

And a house divided,

like we read before,

can't stand.

We have to have the same vision

of how the kingdom of God

fleshes itself out.

And I want to present to you

that I believe that the way

the Bible teaches

that this vision of the kingdom

of God gets fleshed out

is in all of life.

In all of life.

If our vision,

we each have a vision

of all of life,

then there'll be unity.

If some of us say,

well,

it's part of my life,

and others say,

it's all of my life,

there will always be division.

Okay?

The Bible says

to always give yourselves

fully to the work of the Lord.

And when we share a vision

for kingdom priorities

being fleshed out

in all of life,

rather than just parts of life,

it multiplies our opportunities

for ministry

by removing the limitations

of when and where

we can do the Lord's work.

It takes the pressure

off of meetings

being our main source

of life in church experience.

Okay?

And we love meetings.

We think Sunday mornings

are important.

We think other gatherings

are important.

But we should never be constrained

to meetings

for our life in God.

Our experience

of our life in God together

should be wherever

the people are.

Church is not just

a group of meetings.

Church is a group of people.

Okay?

And when those people

are together,

those people constitute

the church.

It begs the question,

what part of our life

is ours?

What part of our life

is off limits

to Jesus and the church?

You can have this,

you can have this,

but you can't have that.

You can have this part

of my life,

but man,

I'm not giving you that.

It's not,

it's that temptation

to say,

I don't want it to be

an all-life thing.

I'll give you this much,

I'll give you this

many nights a week,

Lord,

but these nights are mine.

I'll give you this much

of my money,

but this part of my money

is mine.

I'll give you this part,

much of my marriage,

but you know,

then this is my me time.

This is me,

this is me.

And we have this kind

of limits sometimes

that we can put.

I'll give you this much,

but not all.

And 1 Corinthians 15,

58 says,

always give yourselves

fully to the work

of the Lord,

knowing that your labor

in the Lord

is not vain.

How often?

Always.

Okay?

How much?

Fully.

Okay?

To what?

To the work of the Lord.

Always and fully

to the work of the Lord.

Always and fully.

Well,

what about this time?

Always.

What about this much?

Fully

to the work of the Lord.

This is the measure

which Paul put here

in 1 Corinthians 15,

58.

Are you always giving

yourselves fully

to the work of the Lord?

Knowing that your labor

in the Lord

is not in vain.

It's not in vain.

It will reap a harvest

if you don't give up.

Mark 8, 35 says,

whoever would save his life

will lose it.

Whatever loses his life

for my sake

and the Gospels

will save it.

Whoever loses his life

for my sake

and the Gospels

will save it.

We're looking for opportunities

to say,

God,

I want to lose my life

for your sake

and for the Gospels.

I love it.

In Mark there,

he says,

not just for your sake,

but also for the Gospels.

To be able to say,

I want to give my life

to Jesus.

Some people say,

I have,

it's all given to you,

Jesus.

When it comes to evangelism,

not so much.

Lord,

you can have everything

in my life,

but evangelizing

to strangers,

no thanks.

You can have all my life

but talking to my neighbors

about Jesus,

no thanks.

Whoever would save

his life will lose it,

but whoever loses

his life for my sake

and the Gospels

will save him.

We lost our life

for the Gospel.

I can't think of any way

that preaching the Gospel

doesn't cause us,

doesn't pull on us

to sacrifice.

It is much more convenient

not to preach the Gospel.

It is much more convenient

to avoid preaching the Gospel,

not talking to our neighbors,

not risking them hating us,

not risking them

not liking us.

It is much more convenient

not to talk to strangers

in grocery stores,

in coffee shops,

and in all other places.

It is much more convenient

not to go out of your way

to preach the Gospel

to someone,

to preach something

that could be offensive

to them.

It is much more convenient.

God causes us

to lose our life

not just for him

but for the Gospel.

And when there is a church

that says,

we want to do that

in all of life.

We want all of life,

not a part of our life.

It looks like

1 Thessalonians 2,

1 Thessalonians 2:8

verse 8.

Paul said of the Thessalonians,

being affectionately

desirous of you,

we were ready to share

with you not only

the Gospel of God

but also our own selves

because you had become

very dear to us.

When was the last time

you described your church

and said,

these people,

I am affectionately

desirous of them.

They had become

very dear to me.

That's the only context

with which you not only

give, share the Gospel

but your very lives.

It's easy to just

share platitudes

or to share good things

or encouragements.

It's difficult

to share your whole life.

The only way you do that

is if you're affectionately

desirous.

It's when people

become very dear to you

and they become

very dear to you

when you realize

how dear they are to Christ.

They become very dear to you

when we have lost our life

for the sake of the Gospel

and realize,

when I think of

how Jesus Christ

welcomed me,

how much more

do I want to welcome others?

How much labor

will I put,

how much effort

will I put into

connecting with people

for them to understand

not just by word

but indeed

that they are

affectionately loved?

That I love them

to the point

of pushing through

their weirdness.

That I love them

to the point

of pushing through

the inconvenience

of a relationship

that feels like

it keeps hitting up

against the wall.

That I love them

to the point

that I will keep

pursuing them

and pursuing relationship

and connecting with them

for the long haul

even if it takes years.

because some relationships

do take years

to win trust.

Some relationships

do take years

to break through.

We want that kind

of church

that could literally

be in for the long haul

that says,

I'm willing to go years

to connect with you

because I see that

you are dear to me

and I want us

to be mutually,

affectionately desirous

of one another

so that we share

not just the Gospel

but our very lives.

We're not looking

to just share

the Gospel of another.

We're not just looking

to hear sermons together.

We're looking

to be a church

that's a church

in all of life

that shares lives

with one another.

The nitty gritty,

the hard things,

the difficult things,

the fun things,

all of those things.

This is what Paul said.

In Acts 20,

chapter 20,

verses 20 and 24,

Paul in verse 20

was teaching in public

and from house to house.

Okay?

He wasn't just teaching

in public,

he was going

from house to house.

Some people say

the house to house

is only valuable.

Some people say,

no, the public,

getting behind this thing

is what's important, right?

Well, what did Paul do?

He taught publicly

and he taught house to house.

We don't want to be

a church that just

teaches publicly

and is a Sunday morning ministry.

We don't want to be

a church that's

just house to house.

We want to be a church

that does public

and does house to house.

We want to be a church

that does all of life together,

just like Jesus did.

In fact,

if you look at the way

Jesus made disciples,

at the end of his life,

did he have 12 disciples

or did he have 144 disciples?

He had 144 disciples.

Well, we know

how he made the 12.

He made the 12

in the context

of really small groups, right?

12 people,

focused even on

three specifically,

right?

In that context

of discipleship,

that was more intense.

But it doesn't say

at the end of his life

that he had 12 disciples.

It said that he had

144 disciples.

How did he make

those other

132?

Did I get the math right?

How did he make

the other 132 disciples

that he wasn't doing

that smaller setting with?

He did it by preaching

in larger settings.

He did it by ministering

in larger settings.

And that same thing

was true in Paul's life.

He not only spoke publicly,

but he went house to house.

He didn't just share

the gospel with him,

but he shared his very life.

And we seek to do

the same thing

because that's what

the Bible teaches.

The Bible teaches

a life-on-life Christianity

that shares all of life.

I don't know how

you could read

the New Testament

and not see that.

1 Corinthians 9, 22,

Paul says,

I have become all things

to all people

that by all means

I might save some.

Well, that's pretty

all-encompassing, right?

How many things

should we become

to reach people?

All things.

How many kind of people

should we reach?

All people.

And what means

should we use?

All means.

All things to all people

that by all means.

This is what Paul did.

There wasn't any part

of his life

that was off-limits

where he's like,

I'm not willing to go there.

He was willing to go there.

He was willing to lose his life

for the sake of the gospel.

Colossians 3, verse 4 says,

Colossians 3:4

Christ who is your life.

The greatest way

to make church weird

is to try to do church

with people

who don't believe

that Christ is their life.

You want to make church weird?

Try to do church

with people

who think that church

is a part of their life.

It's going to get weird

and divisive really quick.

You're not going to have

much in common

if Christ is your life

trying to relate to people

in the context of church

and mission

if other people

don't also believe

that Christ is their life.

Jesus doesn't want

to be treated

like an accessory

to your life

because Jesus

isn't an accessory.

He's Lord

or he's nothing.

He's King

or he's nothing.

You can't take

another version of Jesus.

The Bible calls that

another Jesus

and it doesn't speak

highly of it.

The Jesus of the Bible,

the Jesus who is God

is King and Lord.

He is our life.

And when we try

to do church

with people

where some people

believe is their life

and some people don't,

it gets weird

really fast.

It gets awkward

really fast.

It gets uncomfortable

really fast

because we're trying

to take two visions

and make them one

and it'll never work.

That's the vision.

It doesn't happen.

That's why we seek

to have an open

vulnerable heart,

an open hospitable home,

and an open

flexible schedule.

How can we have

life together

if those things

aren't open?

If I have an open

vulnerable heart,

I let people

into my heart.

If I have an open

hospitable home,

that is where

so much of life happens

around kitchen tables

and living room rugs,

right?

Like those are

where life happens.

Backyard barbecues.

That's where life happens.

If we don't have

an open flexible schedule,

you're not going

to make it

into someone's home

and you're certainly

not going to make

it into anybody's heart.

This is an

all of life thing.

Do you have

a shared vision

of it being

all of life

and how are you

laboring towards

all of life?

Are you laboring

towards this?

Are you exerting

an effort towards

our experience

of church

being all of life?

And thirdly,

so if you've got

shared priorities,

seeking first

the kingdom,

you say yes,

I agree with the vision

of it being

in all of life.

The third thing is,

do we have

shared responsibility

in the togetherness

of how that happens?

The New Testament

is littered

with the language

of togetherness.

We take ownership

and responsibility

for the kingdom

priorities being

fleshed out

in all of life,

specifically in a way

that insists on

doing things together

rather than on our own.

It maximizes

our impact,

increases our joy,

and lightens

our load

because we're

carrying it together.

All this stuff,

when we say this stuff

and we're not

doing it together,

it falls short

of the New Testament

norm.

It falls short

of that which

you would sell

all in your joy

to get.

The togetherness

is key.

Just listen to,

read through

a handful of verses

here and just

listen to this

togetherness vision

of the scriptures.

Acts 2,

44,

and all who believed

were together

and had all things

in common.

1 Corinthians 1,

2,

called to be saints

together.

1 Corinthians 12,

26,

if one member

suffers,

all suffer together.

If one member

is honored,

all suffer together.

I mean,

all rejoice together.

Okay?

All suffer together,

all rejoice together.

2 Corinthians 7,

3,

Paul appealing

to some believers

says,

you are in our hearts

to die together

and to live together.

To die together

and to live together.

Ephesians 2,

22 says,

in him you also

are being built

together into a

dwelling place for God

by the Spirit.

The church should

always be being,

being,

being built

together.

Okay?

It's an active

work of God

that God is working

us to be built

together with people.

That takes,

that takes a high

level of intentionality.

Some people,

you know,

get down on a high

level of intentionality

and church.

Say,

that's too much.

Well,

how can we be built

together if we don't

have a high level

of intentionality?

That requires

coordination.

Have you ever built

a house?

Have you ever rehabbed

a portion of your house

and you have to build

all those things

together?

The wood,

the drywall,

the screws,

the mud,

the tape,

the plumbing,

the electrical,

all that stuff,

the flooring.

How do we do that?

How do we build

that together

without a high level

of intentionality?

There has to be.

Jesus is building

us together

and he asks

that we would be

co-laborers with him.

1 Corinthians,

or I'm sorry,

Hebrews 10.25

says,

not neglecting

to meet together.

1 Corinthians 12.21

says that,

I cannot say to the hand,

I have no need of you,

nor again the head

to the feet,

I have no need of you.

It's a togetherness

that says we need

each and every part.

I don't just need

the parts that I really enjoy

and are really similar

to my personality

and gifting.

I need the people

that I don't enjoy as much

and aren't similar to me

and don't have the same

giftings as me.

I need those

and I need to realize

that those parts

are indispensable.

Can't say I have no need of you.

Proverbs 18.1 says,

whoever isolates himself

seeks his own desire,

he breaks out

against all sound judgment.

When you look

at these scriptures

and you see the togetherness,

that if we're seeking

first his kingdom

and we have a vision

to do it all in life,

there has to be

a shared responsibility

or we get burned out.

We can't have a version

of church

where a couple

of paid professionals

do all the work.

That was never meant

to be that way.

In fact,

the Ephesians 4 gifts,

they don't say

that they're supposed

to do all the ministry,

that the verse

in Ephesians 4 and 11 and 12,

what does it say?

They're supposed

to equip the saints

for the work

of the ministry.

They're not supposed

to be the people

who do all the ministry.

They're supposed

to be equipping the saints

to do all the ministry,

which gives us

an understanding

that the ministry

of the church

should be done together,

which again,

that language

is littered

all throughout

the New Testament.

There has to be

a shared responsibility.

When there's

a shared responsibility

where it says,

when I walk into a room

and I see a brother

or a sister

and I know,

this person has

as much mind

as I do,

there's a deep sense

of connection there.

There's a deep sense

of affection there.

When I walk in,

you know this is

the truth of anything.

When you've had a job

or even in your own family,

when you know

that one other person

that is tasked

to do something with you

that they're not bought in

as much as you,

if you know that,

that they're not bought in

as much as you,

what does your heart

immediately do?

Texan knows that.

Man, I am not motivated

to do this with you.

To do something

with a person

who's bought in

less than me,

I know what's going

to end up happening.

I'm going to do

all the work.

Remember this

when you do science projects

together in school?

Right?

Like, okay,

I know who's going to be,

I got put with that guy?

Yeah, I know who's doing

all the work in this group.

Then when you get picked

with that person

who's passionate about it

like you are,

who has the same vision

as you do and says,

oh, we're going to do

this together,

your heart leaps.

You feel lighter.

You feel like,

I'm excited to do this.

That's the way church

is supposed to be.

We're supposed to look

across the room

as brothers and sisters,

see hard situations,

see the ravages of sin

and the destruction of sin,

and see how people's lives

have been destroyed,

and us being in the business,

so to speak,

of restoration.

And looking across the aisle

to our brother and sister

and saying,

that person's bought in

as much as I am.

That person has the same priorities.

That person has the same vision,

and they have a shared level

of responsibility.

I have every reason to believe

for the restoration

with which we see.

I have every bit of a reason

to believe that their gift

and my gift

and their gift

and their gift

all together,

that God is going

to manifest His grace

in such a way

that He's going to see

this person restored.

He's going to see

this person delivered.

He's going to see

this person set free.

He's going to see

this person saved.

And I don't feel like

there's this huge burden

on me

because I'm carrying it

together with my brothers

and sisters.

And I don't say things like,

I don't want to be

a burden to you

because the Bible says

we're supposed to bear

one another's burdens.

Okay?

We should be able to say,

thank you for letting me

be a burden to you,

and I know darn well

you've been a burden to me,

so let's do it together.

That's what we are.

We are burdens

to one another.

We're burdens to people.

If you have the audacity

and the arrogance

to think that you've never

been a burden to people,

number one,

you've never done

real church before.

Number two,

you're very conceited

in how you view yourself.

You don't really realize

that to somebody,

somewhere,

you are a burden.

And you don't have

to apologize for that.

That's what the church does.

We carry one another's

burdens together.

We realize that

at any given point in time,

we could be a burden.

And that's what everyone

knows and understands

is what our job is to do,

is to carry one another's burdens.

And that we're to bear

with one another in love.

If I'm bearing with one another,

I'm going to carry that.

How are we working

or laboring towards together?

What are we doing together?

How are we working

to make say,

I don't want to get tempted

into my selfish,

individualistic life.

I want to make sure

I'm laboring towards

doing things together.

What if it takes longer?

I'm still laboring

towards doing things together.

Well, what if it's harder?

I'm still laboring

towards doing things together.

There's no such thing

as a version of church

that doesn't labor

towards doing things together.

That's not church

in the sense

that the Bible describes

if we're not actively

laboring towards

working together.

1 Corinthians 15,

10 says,

I worked harder

than any of them,

but it was not I

but the grace of God

that was within me.

Paul was saying,

I worked hard for this.

I was constantly working hard

and laboring

towards these things.

He said in Colossians 1,

28 to 29,

Him we proclaim,

warning everyone

and teaching everyone

with all wisdom

that we may present

everyone mature in Christ.

For this I toil,

struggling with all his energy

that he powerfully works

within me.

So he was toiling this,

struggling with all the energy

of Christ that worked in him.

To do what?

To warn everyone

and teach everyone

so that you could see

people mature in Christ.

That's our goal

is to see people

mature in Christ.

How do we get there?

Struggle,

toil,

in God's power,

with God's energy.

Do we realize that?

If this doesn't drive us

to the cross

and it doesn't drive us

to our need for Christ,

then again,

we're trying something

that's too easy

and that's not

what God has called us to.

God has never called us

to something we could do.

God has never called us

to something we could do

apart from Him.

God has never called us

to do something we could do

apart from His power.

If we're not attempting

to do something

that in the flesh

seems impossible

and grates against us,

we are not attempting

to do the right thing.

The thing we should be

attempting to do

and to accomplish in Christ

should be that

which only Christ can do.

by His power,

by His strength,

by His energy.

But it takes us

striving together.

Romans 15, 30 says,

I appeal to you,

brothers,

by our Lord Jesus Christ

and by the love of the Spirit

to strive together

with me in your prayers

to God on my behalf.

Are we striving together

in our prayers?

Even sometimes in prayers

when we get individualistic.

We can sit in prayer meeting

and we can only think about

what I want to pray.

We can think about

my burdens.

We can think about

the things that are bothering me.

We can think about

the things that I want

from the Lord.

We can ignore

what's going on in the room

and what other people

are praying.

We can ignore

other needs in the room.

We can ignore

what God is saying

and speaking.

You see, Paul here,

he said,

I want to be striving

together with you

in your prayers.

We want to strive together.

He's appealing

that people strive together

with Him in prayers.

Do we have a togetherness

in prayer?

Do we have a labor

side by side

like Philippians 4, 3 says?

I ask you also,

true companion,

help these women

who have labored

side by side

with me in the gospel

together

with Clement

and the rest

of my fellow workers.

Okay?

Who have labored

side by side

with me in the gospel

together.

That's the kind of labor

that we're looking for.

In closing,

I'm asking that we consider

exerting maximum effort

to seek first

the kingdom of God

and all life together.

maximum effort exerted

to seek first

the kingdom of God

and all together.

And if we ever think,

oh, we're asking too much,

we just have to think,

am I forgetting the gospel?

Am I forgetting the gospel?

What does it mean

to be in Christ?

Where did He take me from?

Was my sin bad enough

that the only legitimate,

fair, and just punishment

for my sin

was hell?

Or is that too extreme?

Do I sometimes wonder,

is hell too extreme

a punishment for sin?

Is that a little over the top?

Or do I believe

that my sin is so wicked,

so bad,

that the only just

and right punishment

would be a place

where the fire

never goes out

eternally?

Is that the only

just punishment

for my sin?

Until I believe

that that is the only

just punishment

for my sin,

I might feel a little bit

like God's asking too much.

I might feel a little bit

like I'm getting ripped off.

I might feel a little bit

like church is too much

for me.

But when I believe

that my sin,

that I was justly

and rightly

under the wrath of God,

that my sin,

even my sins

of self-righteousness,

not just unrighteousness,

but my thinking

that I'm not as bad

as other people

and maybe I'm good enough

to earn heaven,

that those sins

of self-righteousness

and unrighteousness

justly put me

under the wrath of God.

And my only hope

for salvation

was to believe in

and trust on

a righteousness

that was not mine,

a work that I didn't accomplish,

would be given to me

and credit to me

in Christ

because He lived,

He died,

He was buried,

and He rose again

so that the life

He lived

and the righteousness

He earned

could be credited

to my account

so that my sins

could be washed clean

and that I could be

declared righteous.

And when the enemy

accuses me,

the one who stands

day and night

before me,

making intercession

for us would say,

not guilty.

When the Father

looks on us,

He sees the spotless Lamb

and He declares us

to be righteous.

And He declares us

to be in Him,

cleansed and free

from the dominion of sin

with the promise

of eternal life

to come.

When we know that,

we believe that.

We don't look

at the commands of God.

We don't look

at the requirements of God

and say,

too much, God,

too much.

We look at it

and say,

God, where do I start?

We look at it

and we say,

in my joy, God,

how soon can I,

how quickly can I,

how extravagantly can I

sell everything I have

to get the prize,

to get the treasure?

What you've given me

is infinitely greater

than everything

I could give to you

and it is my joy,

it is my pleasure,

it is my privilege

to give all,

every day,

here on for the end

of the earth

and to do it together

with my brothers

and sisters.

I don't want to just

seek you as an accessory

to my life,

you alone are king

and I will seek you first.

I will do it

in all of my life

and I want to do it

together with the saints.

As hard as it is,

as much perseverance

as it takes,

as much work

as it takes,

I want to do that

and I want to be

a group of people

who is like

a well-oiled army

and platoon

that goes out

and seeks to save,

seek and save

those who are lost,

that they might hear

the same gospel

that I heard,

that they might hear

the same good news

that I heard.

So I'm not living

for my own life

and the next trinket

and the next show

that I'm going to watch.

I'm living to see

people in darkness

go to the light.

I'm living to see

people who are

on their way to hell

be saved

and snatched

from the flames,

even hating the clothing

corrupted by simple desires,

as it says in Jude.

That's the kind of church

I want to be a part of.

That's the kind of church

we want to be.

That's the kind of thing

that Jesus describes

in the scriptures,

the kind of church

that he's building

that the gates of hell

shall not prevail against.

It's those who are

seeking first the kingdom

and all of life together.

That's not even

a Christ church thing.

That's just a Bible thing.

It's just a Bible thing.

My question to us

this morning is,

are we exerting

in joy,

in joy,

a maximum effort

towards that?

And if we're not,

there's only one response.

Joyful repentance.

Joyful repentance.

Thank God for his grace.

I repent.

I turn from these areas

where I'm holding back,

where I'm not believing

you're the priority,

where I'm trying to keep my life,

where I'm not doing it

together with the saints.

I repent from those things.

I turn.

I trust you.

And I move into obedience.

Amen?

Amen.

Let's stand.

Amen.