The Laborers Are Few

The laborers are few.

The laborers are few.

If you guys know where that comes from,

of the necessity of us to do work,

to build the church that God has given himself for.

And here Jesus is saying that,

although the harvest is plentiful,

the laborers are few.

And so again, it's this call to be laborers,

to be workers.

And are we willing to do the work?

Are we willing to be consistent in doing the work?

And this was a theme that he had to point out.

And with a plentiful harvest,

the last thing you would ever want

with a plentiful harvest would be few workers.

That's a travesty, right?

You're looking out into the fields to say,

oh my goodness, look at this.

We got a great harvest here.

But I don't have anybody to work it, right?

That's not the picture you ever want to see.

And yet this is the picture Jesus is painting.

He's saying this.

He's saying, hey, the harvest,

that's not the issue.

That's not the problem.

And isn't that,

how often do we kind of in our mind frame it that way?

It's just so hard, you know,

just like people aren't getting saved.

You know, it's like we preach the gospel

and just doesn't seem to be a harvest.

But that's not the picture that Jesus paints, right?

He paints a different picture.

He says, actually, the harvest,

that part of it, it's plentiful.

The harvest is plentiful.

The problem is that the workers are few.

The problem is that the workers are few.

And so he says, pray earnestly

into the Lord of the harvest

to send out labors into his harvest field.

And we should be praying,

God, I want to be that labor.

I want to be that worker.

But, you know, we love the concept of harvest.

We don't always love the concept of work, right?

I mean, the harvest being had,

the harvest coming in, that's great.

But the work that it takes to get there,

that's not always something that maybe we're running to.

And that, again, he's saying that that is the case.

You know, it's easy to talk about the harvest,

but who wants to actually do the work?

And it requires work.

It requires sacrifice.

It requires us getting out of our comfort zone.

And this concept of work

is really just one of these kind of rules of life

that you cannot supersede,

no matter how hard you try.

It's the law of reaping and sowing, right?

Galatians 6, 7 to 10 lays this out.

Again, another familiar verse for you guys.

Do not be deceived.

God is not mocked.

For whatever one sows, that he will also reap.

Okay?

And he says, he doesn't just say,

whatever one sows, that he will also reap.

That's that law that I'm talking about.

But before that,

he gives that little important point there.

He says, don't be deceived.

Or don't be tricked.

Don't be fooled.

Don't be fooled into thinking

you can get something

without putting in the work, right?

God cannot be mocked.

It's not like you can trick him

into changing this law of the universe.

Don't be tricked.

Don't be fooled.

Don't be deceived.

God is not mocked.

For whatever one sows, he will also reap.

What you put in,

you're going to get out

when it comes to the work.

For the one who sows to his own flesh

will from the flesh

reap corruption.

But the one who sows to the spirit

will from the spirit reap eternal life.

Okay?

So you can't flip the script.

You can't change this.

This is the way things are.

You, kind of the old adage,

you get what you pay for kind of thing, right?

Like if you sow to your flesh,

you're going to reap corruption, right?

That's the way it goes.

But if you sow to the spirit,

from the spirit you'll reap eternal life.

And then he says,

then he gives a practical

of what this looks like.

He says then in verse 9,

let us not grow weary of doing good.

For in due season,

we will reap.

If,

if,

conditional statement,

if we don't give up.

If we don't give up.

Again,

this is kind of a law of the universe.

This is the way things work.

But it's also a promise as well.

If you don't get weary in doing good,

then you keep going.

In due season,

you will reap if you don't give up.

And then,

so then he gives another practical

right there in verse 10.

It says,

so then,

in light of this fact,

in light of this rule,

in light of this kind of law of the universe,

as we have opportunity,

let us do good to everyone

and especially to those

who are of the household of faith.

Okay?

So in light of this,

we got to keep going.

We got to,

we can't give up.

And as someone

who's been a part of

multiple church plants

and knows that those early years

are the time

when you feel like giving up.

Right?

That those early years

are the times

when you feel like,

man,

it's kind of weary doing good.

It's kind of weary doing the work.

I thought maybe it would be

a little bit more fruitful.

You know,

this whole in due season thing.

What is this in due season?

Can't we just have it now?

Like,

can't I just have the result

of the work now?

But God says no,

in due season.

The timing is His.

But,

you don't know

when that season's going to be.

You don't know

when it's going to come,

but you do know this.

You will reap.

You will reap.

Not maybe you'll reap.

Not hopefully you'll reap.

You will reap

if you don't give up.

That's a promise.

Okay?

That's a promise from God.

You can count on that.

You can count on that.

Are you counting on that?

Is that informing

your passion?

Your fervor?

Your zeal?

Your work ethic?

Is this promise informing it?

Or,

are we moved

by our eyes seeing

the weariness

of the work

and maybe tempted

to give up a little bit?

But,

I don't sense

that anyone has this,

anyone in this room

that I've met

has this sense of

giving up altogether.

But,

you can kind of give up.

You can give up

on little things.

You can give up

with some of the effort,

some of the work,

some of the work ethic.

And,

that's still a form

of giving up.

It's still a form

of letting up

from the work

that's necessary

to reap a harvest.

And so,

when he says,

don't give up,

I don't think it only includes

like,

don't completely give up.

I think it includes

somewhat giving up,

letting up,

kind of drawing back

from the work

that's necessary.

And so,

I want to look at this concept

a little bit more

and really just,

there's a,

you know,

the Bible talks a lot

about good works

in a more generic sense,

but then there's this

way more specific phrase

that Paul often uses

called

the work.

Okay?

Paul uses this phrase

the work.

And I don't think

he's speaking

in generic terms,

I think he's speaking

very specifically

about a specific

apostolic work

that he was called to,

that he had fellow workers

with to do

to see

God's kingdom come

on earth as he is in heaven

in such a way

that churches were established.

Lost people were saved,

churches were established,

and he was traveling

all over the place,

and he called this thing

that he was doing

the work.

The work.

Okay?

And I think it all started

in Acts chapter 13

Acts 13 · chapter mention

when God himself

called

Paul and Barnabas.

So in Acts chapter 13,

Acts 13:2

verse 2,

we see this language

of the work.

It says,

while they were worshiping

the Lord

and fasting,

the Holy Spirit said,

set apart for me

Barnabas and Saul

for the work

to which I have called them.

Okay?

And then you see

all over,

following that,

you see this phrase

coming up,

we're going to look at

some of these verses.

But,

while they were worshiping

the Lord and fasting,

the Holy Spirit said,

set apart for me

Barnabas and Saul

for the work

to which I have called them.

This,

that phrase,

set apart,

I think is important.

Anytime you're going

to do meaningful work

and you actually want

to get something done,

right?

You have to set apart

time to do it.

You have to set apart

tools to do it.

You have to set apart

time,

energy,

talents,

manpower,

whatever it is.

You have to plan that,

right?

You know,

those,

thinking of Michael now

when he's,

you know,

doing electrical work,

if he gets a job,

that's half,

that's half the thing.

Like,

hey,

I got the job.

They hired us.

He's now got to set apart

certain man,

men to do the job.

He's got to make sure

that the time

that is needed

for that job

is set apart.

He's got to make sure

the materials are there.

He's got to make sure

the right materials are there.

He's got to,

all these things

have to be there.

Those things

have to be done

in order for the work

to be done

and in order for the work

to be done well.

And I think sometimes

when we are functioning

in the work

and specifically the work

of planting a church

and establishing a church,

we can sometimes

have more of a

lackadaisical attitude

that just says,

oh yeah,

you know,

doing the work.

Yeah,

of course,

yeah,

I'm doing the work.

For sure,

yeah.

What does that mean?

Well,

you know,

just ministry.

Well,

no,

it's a little more

specific than that.

Like,

you know,

it's,

in order for you

to catch the fish,

you've got to actually

put some bait on the hook

or throw a net

in the water.

Like,

you've got to get the boat

out into the water

where the fish are.

Like,

if you're on land,

you ain't catching no fish.

Like,

you've got to,

we've got to set apart time.

We've got to set apart

resources.

We've got to set apart people

to do the work.

And,

you know as well as I do

that if you don't plan

to do something,

and this could be anything,

just,

and a great example

is just that house project

that's been still there

for all these weeks,

months,

dare I say years,

that you just think,

man,

I want to get to that.

You know,

I know I need to do it.

And,

if you don't set apart time

for that

or resources for that,

does it just happen?

No,

it never does.

Like,

you don't drift into work.

It's not like,

oh,

I had no plan to do this work

and it just got done.

Like,

that doesn't happen.

And it's no different

for the work of the kingdom.

Like,

especially when it comes

to the difficulty

of soul winning.

Especially when it comes

to the difficulty

of building

and establishing

a family

that is called the church.

That's hard work.

And especially when you're building

something out of nothing.

You know,

it's one thing

to do the work

of advancing God's kingdom

and preaching to the lost

in an established church

where everything's

kind of dialed in.

There's a rhythm.

There's an established culture.

There's an established group

of people.

That's one thing.

When we're starting

at that lower ground level,

it requires

a lot more intentionality.

It requires a lot more

being set apart,

so to speak.

So,

basically,

I guess the question

I have for you,

do you have

specific time

set apart for the work

or are you just giving

spare time leftovers

to the church

and to the establishing

of the church

and to the mission

of Christ's church

to seek out lost people

and get on mission

to people?

Is it time set apart

or is it spare time

leftover?

Spare time leftover

is not going to do the trick.

It's not.

And,

if some people

are giving their

spare time leftovers

and some people

are giving their

first fruit

set apart time,

you know what that's

going to do?

That's going to bring

division.

There's not unity in that.

There's not a cohesive

moving forward

and you could subtly,

I hope this doesn't happen,

you could subtly even

stir up a little animosity

in the sense like

kind of the Mary Martha

kind of thing.

Like,

hey Jesus,

you want to tell my sister

to get to work?

Can't you see

I'm doing all this

and they're not

doing anything?

You can start to be

tempted to that

kind of thinking,

right?

It takes work.

It takes work.

And,

this language

that's used

by the Holy Spirit

is set apart.

Well,

God,

you believe

you became part

of this church plant

from the beginning

or maybe some of you

knew come here

and you're thinking,

what did I get

my stuff into?

What have I signed up for?

Well,

I hope you're thinking,

what?

God set us apart

for the work

of establishing a church

and seeing some people

get saved.

That means we have

to set apart time.

That means we have

to set apart resources.

That means we have

to be flexible

and not just give God

our leftovers.

And certainly,

Paul didn't do that.

Certainly,

Barnabas didn't do that.

It's not like they were like,

well,

that's kind of cool,

God.

That's a cool thing.

You know?

He just said we're set apart.

I wonder what that could mean.

Hey,

you guys want to come over

and watch a show?

You know?

I don't think that was

like his response.

He got out there.

He got after it

and showed a kind of

work ethic that

is fairly exemplary,

right?

As we see in the

following scriptures

and such in the book of Acts.

Okay?

So,

are you set apart?

Not just set apart

in the sense you believe

that God's called you,

but in the practical sense.

Are you set apart

for the work

in the sense

that you're setting apart time?

You're setting apart

resources.

You're setting apart

intentional,

strategic time

to reach lost people,

to build family

with one another,

and to create a context

for God's kingdom

to come on earth

as it is in heaven.

Okay?

Later in the book of Acts,

in Acts chapter 15,

Acts 15 · chapter mention

we see this phrase again,

the work,

but here it's in a,

we have more of a negative

context here.

Acts chapter 15,

Acts 15:37

verse 37,

Paul and Barnabas

are kind of at this

intersection of decision,

like how they're going

to continue the work,

and Barnabas wants

to take his cousin,

John Mark,

with,

and the fact that

he's his cousin,

you see that in some

other part,

maybe gives you a little

insight as to why

Barnabas was after him,

or maybe it's just

because Barnabas

is the son of encouragement

and he just really

has a lot of hope

for people,

and he's just one

of those guys,

you know,

the kind of guy

that is always

cheerleading you

and has hope for guys,

but Paul's not,

not really having it,

right?

It says,

verse 37,

Barnabas wanted

to take with them

John called Mark,

and then verse 38,

Paul thought best

not to take with them

one who had withdrawn

from them in Pamphylia

and had not gone

with them to the work.

Uh-oh.

So,

Paul's like,

hey,

wait a second,

we already took

John Mark with us

and he didn't,

he didn't follow through.

He didn't,

he didn't,

he didn't keep going.

In fact,

the language here

is that he withdrew.

He withdrew from us.

When we're in the thick

of the work,

we're doing the work.

John Mark,

when the going got tough,

John Mark got going.

You know,

he was gone.

And,

um,

I think that phrase

just even withdrawn

and thinking of being,

this concept of being

withdrawn from the work,

I want to ask us too,

especially to those

who've been with us

since the beginning

of Christ Church,

uh,

when you start a church,

there's this sense

of excitement,

sense of,

um,

expectation,

right?

Enthusiasm.

And then,

over time,

one thing that can

subtly happen is

we can subtly

withdraw from the work.

And I want to ask

any of you,

have any of you

withdrawn from the work?

I'm not,

this isn't,

you don't need to raise

your hand or anything.

I mean,

uh,

have any of you,

um,

withdrawn from the work?

And I'm not talking

about completely.

I mean,

John Mark didn't

withdraw from completely

because he was willing

to go back with them

out in this particular

place.

But,

in this,

in this one season,

he did withdraw.

And,

again,

no condemnation.

Some of this is hard.

Gene and I remember

many lonely times

doing church planning

with little kids.

I want to even speak

specifically to some

of you moms

of little kids

who are just tired

because you're a mom

and you're doing the work

and you're trying to

help do church planning,

you know,

maybe with your husband

and a bunch of littles

and you're just thinking,

yeah,

you know,

I,

I don't know.

I'm a little tired.

Maybe,

maybe I've withdrawn

a little bit.

Maybe I've hid behind

the kids

or hid behind the sickness

or hid behind this

or that.

That happens sometimes,

right?

But I'm asking you

to consider John Mark

here and to consider

this here.

And Paul was,

Paul was pretty emphatic

about this and said,

hey,

Barnabas,

I,

I don't think,

I think it's best

not to take him with us

because he had withdrawn

from us in Pamphylia

and had not gone

with us to the work.

And,

um,

Paul knows how

to build churches,

right?

Paul has apostolic wisdom

to do this

in the sense

that he's concerned

about the danger

of a withdrawing

that can happen

and the effect

that it has

on the work.

And,

uh,

I think it's

an important point.

I think it's important

for us to ask

and do a,

a good just kind of

looking at ourselves

and said,

hey,

if I,

if I withdrawn

a little bit,

if I withdrawn

literally from the work,

if I withdrawn

just in my heart,

if I withdrawn

with my enthusiasm,

if I,

you know,

uh,

maybe had the sniffles

and,

you know,

said I was really sick

and maybe I wasn't

really sick,

I just kind of was,

you know,

checked out a little bit.

If I,

if I like just

withdrawn from the effort,

if I showed up to meetings

but not really showed up

to meetings,

you understand what I'm saying?

Like,

I'm there,

I'm physically there,

but I'm not there,

engaged at the heart

and really going at it

with the work.

Maybe I was more enthusiastic

on the front end

of this thing

and now,

you know,

uh,

almost two years into it,

maybe the enthusiasm

has waned a little bit.

Maybe I'd hope

the things were going

to be a little different.

Maybe I'd hope

that we'd see

more souls come to Christ

and,

you know,

maybe,

maybe I'm a little bit

more withdrawn,

okay?

And he,

he,

he criticizes this

and it's a,

it's a thing for us

to ask the question of,

okay?

First Corinthians 1558

says,

and he says,

therefore,

so the part,

the part before this

is describing the return

of the Lord,

it's describing the time

when death will be

swallowed up in victory

and he says,

basically,

therefore,

so in light of this

return of the Lord

and death being swallowed

up in victory,

he says,

my dear brothers

and sisters,

stand firm,

let nothing move you,

always give yourselves

fully to the work

of the Lord

because you know

that your labor

in the Lord

is not in vain.

So again,

speaking of the work,

he says,

always give yourselves

fully to the work

of the Lord,

okay?

So it's a sense of like,

I'm going to give myself

fully.

I'm going to give myself

always.

That's the kind of commitment

that is necessary

to do the work

of the Lord.

Always and fully

in the work of the Lord.

Now,

you can't do that

on your own.

There's no way

you're going to always

give yourself fully

to the work of the Lord

unless you're always

thinking about

the consistent,

steadfast love

of the Father

in Christ Jesus.

1 John 4,

19 says,

we love because

he first loved us,

right?

We love because

God first loved us.

You have to be fueled

by the things

we were saying

this morning

that no one's ever

loved us

the way he's loved us.

No one has pursued us

the way he's pursued us.

When you live

in that awareness,

it puts a fire

in your belly.

It puts a persistence

and a steadfastness

in you to say,

I know that my labor

in the Lord

is not in vain

because the Lamb

who was slain

is worthy.

The Lamb who was slain

is worthy

and to receive

the reward

of his suffering.

And,

you know,

by God's grace,

I am to be that man

who gives myself

to this work.

By God's grace,

I am to be that woman

who gives myself fully.

And yeah,

I'm going to be tired.

I'm going to be worn out.

Most certainly,

these people

in the scriptures

were as well.

But I'm going to

fulfill God's command

to always give myself

fully to the work of the Lord.

Why?

He says,

because you know

that your labor

in the Lord

is not in vain.

Brothers and sisters,

do you know this?

Do you know this today?

Like,

do you know it in your gut?

Do you know it

in the sense that

I'm not going to give up?

I know that my labor

in the Lord

is not in vain.

Do you know this?

When you know it,

then you persist.

You persevere.

You strategize.

You set apart.

You get equipped

for the work.

Ephesians 4,

11 to 12

says he gave

the apostles,

the prophets,

the evangelists,

the shepherds,

and teachers

to equip the saints

for the work of ministry,

for building up

of the body of Christ.

Okay?

And it's not just

generic ministry.

It's specifically

the building up

of the body of Christ.

are we utilizing

and experiencing

the benefit

of the different gifts

that we've been given

in the church?

Are we utilizing them

in the sense

that we're equipped?

Or are we maybe

taking for granted

certain gifts

that are among us?

Are we taking granted

some of what's given to us?

Do we have a sense of

maybe a little bit

of arrogant independence

that says,

you know what?

I don't need these other gifts.

I don't need

these other people.

Like,

I got it figured out.

I don't need

to be equipped

in these things.

God specifically

gave these gifts

to the church.

Apostles,

prophets,

pastors,

teachers,

and evangelists.

He gave them to us

so that we can be equipped.

Are we leaning into them?

Are we taking advantage of them?

Are we taking advantage

of those that we know

in our life

that we see

that these people,

these people

who are gifts

to the church,

are we taking advantage

of what has been given to us?

Or are we saying,

no,

I got this.

I'm fine.

I don't need that.

And then we're trying

to do the work

of ministry unequipped.

We're equipped

to do that work

with these gifts.

Okay?

And essentially

what he was saying,

again,

in that verse

we started with

at the beginning,

he says,

send out laborers

into the harvest field.

You know,

Paul told to Timothy

in 2 Timothy 4, 5,

he says,

it's for you,

always be sober-minded,

endure suffering,

and do the work

of an evangelist.

Fulfill your ministry.

Okay?

Do the work

of an evangelist.

Paul also said

in Philippians 4, 3,

yes,

I ask you also,

true companion,

help these women

who have labored

side by side

with me

in the gospel

together

with comment

and the rest

of my fellow workers

whose names

are in the book

of life.

Okay?

The laborers are few.

We've got to get

strategically

into the harvest field

together.

He said,

who've labored

side by side

with me

in the gospel

together,

doing the work

of an evangelist.

Our missional communities

can't be communities

with just a side

of mission.

Like,

that's never going

to work.

That's never going

to be what God

wanted us to be

as a people.

A people

who are living

for his glory

by doing what

Jesus did,

seeking and saving

those who were lost.

Seeking out lost people

and saying,

hey,

it's not okay

that we just have

our life together

and then sprinkle

in just a little

bit of mission.

Like,

oh,

that'd be cool.

Hey,

look,

there's an unbeliever.

We should,

you know,

preach the gospel

to them.

Missional communities,

those missional communities,

the groups that we,

those of you who don't

know what I'm talking

about,

our church,

pretty much the only

thing we have

as a church

is we organize

the people

in our church

together in what

we call missional

communities.

And a missional

community is a small

family of believers

on mission

to specific people

and places.

Now,

nobody drifts

towards mission.

Nobody,

no church drifts

towards mission.

And any church

that's not on mission

is a church

that's dying.

That's a fact.

That is a fact.

Mission has to be pushed.

Mission has to be reminded.

Mission has to be organized.

Mission has to be

not just something

we do out of obligation,

but it has to be

a passion of ours

because of our love

for Jesus

and our knowledge

of who Jesus is.

We have to be

a missional people

because God

is a missional God.

Right?

And when we know that,

we don't just

organize ourselves

into communities

of people

and that are just

communities

and then,

oh yeah,

we'll do a little

mission here and there.

Mission must be

at the forefront.

Okay?

And if we don't

build that into

the culture of our church,

the church isn't

going to drift that way

over the years.

Please listen to me

when I say that.

It will not do that.

Right?

If there's any

apostolic wisdom in me,

I'm asking you

to listen to this.

We must have

a pressed into,

intentional,

at the forefront

of these communities

that aren't just

communities,

but missional communities

that we are on

mission together.

And it can't just be

a group of people

who are on mission

to individual people

in their lives

with no cohesive

togetherness.

That's not a missional

community.

That's just Christianity.

Every Christian needs

to be on mission

to people.

But the church

is more than that.

The church gets

on mission together.

If you look at

the New Testament,

you look at

the book of Acts.

Were they just doing

these little communities

and then mission

was a sprinkle

on the side?

No.

You don't see that.

You won't see that.

This was at the forefront.

This was the tip

of the arrow.

Where the church went

was where mission went.

They were constantly

expanding.

Paul's like,

I gotta go

to where Christ

hasn't been preached.

I have to go

to lands

where Christ

hasn't been preached.

We have to seek

and save people

who are lost.

We're gonna send

people and equip

people into

different cities,

into different places,

and they were

constantly pressing

into seeking

lost people

to hear the gospel,

to give people

a hearing.

And we must also.

Okay?

That has to happen.

And so,

those of you

in missional communities,

whether you're

leading them

or you're partners,

members inside

those missional communities,

there has to be

a planning together

of how are we

gonna get on mission

and who are we

gonna get on mission to.

That question

cannot go unanswered

if we're to be

a healthy church.

It just can't.

And I know you've

heard me say this before

and you say,

well, Josh,

you keep saying this.

Yes, I am.

And I will continue.

It would be

apostolic malpractice

not to.

Do you understand that?

It would be

church planting

malpractice

not to.

It would be

unloving

and unglorifying

to God

to have

in any way,

shape,

or form

the thought

of building

a church

that isn't

primarily

orientated

towards mission

for the glory

of God.

You cannot

have a church

be healthy

if it is not

one that is

orientated

towards lost people.

Because if it's not,

it's inward

and ingrown

and selfish.

And that will

rot from the core.

It will

rot from the core.

There's no

healthy church

that ever thinks

or acts

that way.

And so,

that takes all

of us together

to do that.

We all have to say,

this is not optional.

The work that

needs to be done,

one of the main

aspects of the work

that needs to be done

is good old-fashioned

evangelism.

And some of you

might say,

well, I'm not very

comfortable with evangelism.

Well, I have a word

for you

from the Lord.

Get comfortable.

Because you're a Christian.

For Christ's sake,

get comfortable

with preaching

to the lost.

Like, this is what

Christians do.

If you've been,

if you've lived

some form of Christianity

that didn't have

evangelism a part of it,

you were sold

a bill of goods.

You were sold

an experience

that is not

consistent

with the New Testament.

You have been sold

a church experience

that is not

apostolic in nature

in the truest sense

of what the Bible

says about it.

We must be

a missional people

and a missional people

gets to work.

It takes work.

It takes time.

It takes failure

and then persistence

to push through

the failure.

Like the quote

attributed to

Winston Churchill

that true success

is going from failure

to failure

without loss

of enthusiasm.

Okay?

That's church planting.

That is church planting.

Okay?

I love that quote.

That's part of the reason

I know I'm probably

called to church planting

because I'm a glutton

for that punishment.

But I also get weary

in that

and I know you guys

do too sometimes.

But that,

we have to go

from failure to failure

without loss of enthusiasm.

We're going to fail.

But man,

if we fail

because we're trying

to reach lost people,

praise God,

that's the best

kind of failure.

And Winston Churchill,

if it was him,

some people say it wasn't.

I don't care.

It sounds like him.

Okay?

He said,

success is not final.

And failure is not fatal.

It's the courage

to continue that counts.

Okay?

Success is not final.

And failure is not fatal.

We just got to keep going.

We got to keep going.

And so,

I get fired up

when I see you guys

just getting out there

and trying to do evangelism.

I get fired up

when I see you guys

doing that together.

I get fired up

when it goes bad

and you guys

don't lose heart.

I'm like,

yes,

this is apostolic.

This is how churches

get planted.

This is how healthy

church culture gets built

with this grit

that says,

hey,

I'm not stopping.

I didn't come here

for some little

bless me club

with a bunch of people

who I could be close to

and be friends with

and our kids

could be friends with

for the rest of our life

where we wouldn't have to be

burdened by some big church

where it's too overwhelming.

I didn't have to do

that much work.

That's not what I signed up for.

I signed up for a nimble,

apostolic team of people

that would go into the world

and seek and save

lost people to get saved.

I signed up for earnest prayer

for God to send workers

into his harvest field.

I signed up for my schedule

to be inconvenienced.

I signed up for me

to be losing sleep sometimes

because it's required

to stay up late

to do the work.

I signed up

to do things

where I have to sacrifice hobbies

and things that I want to do

because that's what God's calling me into

to establish the church.

And that's what God's called

everyone into

who's ever established a church.

This isn't some newfangled thing

for Christ's church.

This is just good old fashioned

apostolic work

that God has called us to do.

My question is,

are we up for the work?

Will we put in the work?

And any church

that you've experienced

in the past

or seen

that has been established,

that was built on the backs

of people like,

look around like you and me

who do the work.

It's those kind of people.

And there's never,

there's never been any shortcuts.

Now,

I know that there's all kinds

of marketing shortcuts

that people do.

I'm not talking about

that kind of church.

I'm talking about

real grassroots

doing the work of evangelism,

doing the work of discipleship,

doing the work of earnest prayer

to see lost people saved

and to see workers be sent out.

That's the work

God's called us to.

And you know why it's exciting?

Because

you will

reap a harvest

if you don't give up.

Not you might,

not hope I will,

not,

oh,

I hope this isn't for nothing.

No,

you will

reap a harvest

if you don't give up.

And so you know

that your labor in the Lord

is not in vain.

You know what's disheartening?

Thinking,

oh,

my labor that I'm doing,

it's in vain.

It's not worth it.

It's not accomplishing

what it was set out to do.

You don't have to worry about that.

If you are always

giving yourself

fully to the work of the Lord,

you know

that your labor in the Lord

is not in vain.

That's what it says.

That's what it says.

And I want to ask you,

do you know that?

Do you know that

and believe that?

If you don't know that

in the depths of your soul,

if you don't believe that,

you're going to pull back.

You're going to withdraw.

You're going to,

you're not going to,

you're not going to persevere

when the,

when stuff gets tough.

You won't.

That's why you got to believe this.

That's why it requires faith

for us to be able to do

this kind of work.

But the faith that's required

is just believing

that God is who he says he is.

But it costs.

It costs for sure.

Paul describes this kind of cost

in Philippians chapter two,

verse 25,

on to verse 30,

when he talks about

a fellow worker of his name,

Epaphroditus.

He says,

I thought it necessary

to send you Epaphroditus,

my brother

and fellow worker

and fellow soldier

and your messenger

and minister to my need.

Epaphroditus has one of the coolest

resumes in the Bible.

Okay.

I don't know of anybody else

who's got those kind of,

you know,

titles behind his name.

Epaphroditus,

he's my brother.

He's my fellow worker.

He's a fellow soldier.

He's a,

your messenger

and minister to my need.

I mean,

this dude's a legit dude,

right?

This guy's,

but he's got

a title that we could all have

and that's fellow worker.

For us to see a healthy church

established here

at Christ Church,

we've all got to be fellow workers

and we got to put in

a similar level of work

where we're,

there's a shared level

of responsibility,

a shared level

of the weight

to say,

I'm not going to let that,

I'm not going to,

and that's the difference

between just a group

of workers

and a group of workers

that's family.

See,

a group of workers

that is family says,

I'm not going to let

my brother or sister

carry too much,

right?

I'm going to do this

with them.

Not to mention,

if they're my brother

and sister,

I'm not going to let them

hog everything either.

Like,

we're going to share this,

right?

We're going to share

the venues as well.

We're going to do this together.

That's what true brothers

and sisters do.

And that's what we need

to be with one another.

Just say,

listen,

I'm not going to let this weight

fall on other people

because I'm checking out

lazy or being selfish.

I'm not going to let this weight

fall on other people

because I have different priorities

than the rest

of the other people

even though I agreed

to have the same priorities

of seeking first

the kingdom of God.

That's not fair

to everybody else

and it's certainly

not glorifying to God.

God is looking for a people

who are bought in,

sold out,

like Epaphroditus.

And it says,

it goes on to say,

for he has been longing

for you all

and has been distressed

because you heard

that he was ill.

Indeed,

he was ill,

near to death.

But God had mercy on him

and not only on him

but also on me,

lest I should have sorrow

upon sorrow.

I am more eager

to send him therefore

that you may rejoice

at seeing him again

and that I may be less anxious.

So receive him in the Lord

with all joy

and honor such men

for he nearly died

for the work of Christ

risking his life

to complete what was lacking

in your service to me.

The cost of the work

is important.

It requires risk.

It says,

he nearly died

for the work of Christ

risking his life.

Let me ask you,

what are you risking

for this church life?

What are you sacrificing

for this church?

Epaphroditus was sacrificing

even his own life,

willing to risk

even his own life

for the church

in Philippi.

Okay?

And that level

of sacrifice

and risk

and cost

that he offered up

caused them

to have a level

of relationship

where there was longing

for one another.

Do you see the language

that was used there?

That's real church

right there.

That's just not,

you know,

superficial hallelujah

Christianity

or what Mike Knott

calls happy smiles

and half sympathies,

you know,

where everybody's just,

you know,

singing lies

to one another

on a Sunday morning.

This is real deal

love for one another,

longing for one another.

When everyone,

when there's equal buy-in,

when there's equal

sacrifice,

it says,

hey,

the Lamb who was slain

is worthy.

And so,

I'm in.

I'm bought in.

And I have fellowship

with my brothers and sisters

because I know

they're bought into.

They're my fellow workers.

They're my fellow soldiers.

They've risked their life

to complete what was lacking.

There's a cost to the work.

That's why even

when you look at

1 Corinthians 3

when Paul's kind of

laying out this apostolic picture

of church planting

and building the church,

he says in verse 10

that according to the grace

of God given to me

like a skilled master builder,

I laid a foundation

and someone else

is building upon it.

Let each one take care

how he builds upon it.

Let each one take care

how he builds upon it.

Now,

you might have an opinion

of what it looks like

to take care of how you build,

but Paul has a very specific

application of what

that care looks like.

The care involved

with building

has to do with

the materials

that are used.

You ever buy a house

or go look at a house

and maybe on the outside

you saw the pictures online

and you're like,

wow,

this house looks amazing.

Then you get inside

and you're like,

man,

did they use the

bad materials.

It looks like

they're kind of

covering up some stuff here.

It's like,

this is cheap,

man.

That picture

has looked amazing.

But then you get in there

and you're like,

this is a cheaply built house.

The materials matter,

don't they?

Right?

So when he says,

let each one take care

how he builds

in verse 10,

he then goes

in verse 11,

he says,

no one can lay a foundation

other than that

which is laid,

which is Jesus Christ.

And then he talks

about the materials

that are used

to build upon it.

In verse 12,

he says,

if anyone builds

on the foundation

with gold,

silver,

precious stones,

or wood,

hay,

and straw,

okay,

now before I go on,

you notice the difference

between those two?

We've talked about this before,

but I want to remind us again.

What's the difference

between wood,

hay,

and straw

and gold,

silver,

and precious stones?

The cost.

The cost,

right?

Gold,

silver,

and precious stones

are expensive.