New Life, New Community | 06.07.26 | Pastor Bryan Powe

far that truthfully it's something that we've

avoided talking about but needed to talk about

for a long time. It's felt like a like a group

family meeting right these last few weeks but

I just want to say thank you guys for just leaning

in and really enjoying the journey because here's

the truth that we have to wrestle with is many

of us have experienced losses, have experiences,

challenges, not because there's a big enemy,

but we have the wrong community. That many of

the problems we face and the situations that

become difficult to overcome, it isn't because

there was this big enemy. The enemy is defeated.

He's a defeated foe. We talked about last week

how he has no authority, no rights, no privileges,

that for us as believers that sin has been defeated

and the power with it has been defeated. And

so our job every day is just to choose life.

What can they say? Choose life. But a community,

a wrong community won't. excite you, stir you

up to choose that very life that's before us

every day. And today we're gonna deal with, I

would say, even a harder truth that we gotta

talk about. It's simply because many of us were

brought into the faith and we understand that

we will build things together and we will do

things together. But the truth of the matter

is this, right? The truth is until we can, if

all we can see, is what we can build together.

We haven't fully understood the significance

of why we belong together. And this reigns true

for my own life. I'll tell you all the time,

I grew up in church and oftentimes people are

always talking about what we could build together

and what we can do together. And unfortunately

it loses, we lose our significance of why we

actually belong together. Cause we're always

thinking about what we could build together.

And many of the relationships, strong relationships

become weak relationships because we don't often,

and sometimes we don't get to the thing we were

supposed to build. And we don't get to the thing

we were supposed to do, but we never really spent

time to realize why we belong together. That

there was something greater to why we've been

called the body of Christ than the things that

we would build. and some of the things that we

would do, but there is a community that we need

to walk this life of faith. Y 'all rocking with

me? Oftentimes, right, this kind of feels like

those moments where you've been praying with

a brother or sister in faith and believing with

them in faith and you went through a trial and

a test with them. And then three months later,

they're kind of like, but man, we ain't getting

nothing done. You're trying to like, I thought

we... connected, and they lose sight of the value

of having that person there. They lose sight

of the value of what we actually can bring to

each other because we made such a big deal of

what we could build and what we could do. And

so I want you to turn me to Romans 12, and I

told them first service. It's such a temptation

to read the whole thing. Almost did, but we're

gonna start at verse number three. And y 'all

like, oh, you jumped way in there, huh? All the

way down to verse number three, huh? But there's

a promise that comes with community, and that's

what we started this series with. And that promise

that you see in Acts 2 .42 is that miracles and

signs and wonders, were never experienced, never

meant to be experienced in isolation, but community.

That oftentimes when we see miracles take place

and we see signs and wonders and we see they

talk about how they shared a favor amongst each

other, that those were all experienced in community.

But y 'all there? And Paul starts here, right?

He says, for by the grace given to me, I say

to everyone, not to think of himself more highly

than he ought to think, but to think with sober

judgment. And Paul is here wanting to give us

the how to how we exist together, that we don't

just naturally fold into each other, we don't

just naturally fit together, but there are things

that we must think that keep us together. And

one of the first things that he addresses is

that we must think soberly. We must think humbly.

That we must think of ourselves in a way that

we leave space for other people. One of the things

that I tell people all the time is that anytime

you're coming together with people to do something,

you should ask myself, because we're here, how

do I become smaller? That in order for people

to come together to do the thing, then everyone

collectively has to agree to become smaller so

we have a role to play. But oftentimes in this

world or in this culture, the first thing we

want to do amongst coming amongst people is we

want to let them know all we're capable of. I

can do this and I can do that. I've done this

and I've done that. And we start to assume so

much space that there's no actual room for community

to exist. And so Paul's like, listen, we got

to think sober. Look at me and say, you gotta

be sober concerning yourself. That godly community

functions when people are ready and willing to

become smaller so that we can be bigger. That

truthfully many people are taking up far more

room and you're doing way more than what should

be on your shoulders alone. But it also takes

you being willing to be humble about what you

can do to leave space so others can. Like to

say it like this that like prideful people make

pitiful partners That prideful people make pitiful

partners why pastor Brian because they are always

thinking of how they can do it better And here's

the truth, you know church is not a place to

where I know we looking good, but it's not a

fashion show Some y 'all drove up here real nice,

but it's not a car show It's not a place of where

we value the best. It's a place where we value

the chosen and The chosen one doesn't always

mean that you did it the best It just mean it

was yours to do Go ahead. Look your neighbor

says some things You're not the greatest that

but guess what? It's still yours But in order

for this to happen everyone has to think what

sober in mind they have to start thinking you

know stop the thoughts of I would have did it

better it doesn't matter it's not yours to do

that we're not running a talent show we're not

running a best of competition we're running a

chosen race we're running a race that isn't given

to the swift it isn't given to the strong it

is given to who church the one who endures to

the end. And oftentimes the one that God picked

is the one that just wasn't gonna quit. Because

you find out from being in church culture, there's

a lot of quick runners. They're always ready

to go, ready to do, ready to show, ready to,

ready, ready, ready. And then we said, well,

boy, you gotta wait for the power of God to fall.

I feel like some of y 'all would have walked

out the upper room that day like, he said, wait,

I ain't got the type of patience to wait. You

know, he's like, I said, wait for the spirit

to fall. Then you can go out in the power and

speak in tongues and cast out demons. And some

of y 'all like, I can't wait that long. And so

oftentimes we have leaders in the church that

truthfully were just the available one, not the

best one. Amen. So think sober -minded concerning

each other. He's wanting us to grow an appreciation

for one another, to grow a thankfulness for one

another, to not view ourselves in the body as

people outside the body view people that they're

always thinking of. Are they the best? Are they

the most qualified? Inside the body, ain't none

of us qualified. I mean, none of us have the

capabilities. That's why I love what Paul says

here. He says, by the grace given to me. In other

words, an unearned, undeserved, unmerited source

is working through me to speak to you. I have

no means and I had no part in earning the ability

you're witnessing. that a grace was given to

me to do what I'm doing. That I'm being empowered,

not because I earned this power, but because

God bestowed this power upon me. Y 'all rocking

with me. So go ahead, look at your neighbor and

say, hey neighbor, there's a grace upon your

life. Check this out, find somebody that say

you ain't earned it. You didn't deserve it. But

guess what? It flows. through you And he's saying

that's why we think Sober minded because none

of us earned what we are doing None of us deserve

what we are doing but God out of his love out

of his mercy He bestowed a grace upon us so that

we can be who we are So it ain't that I don't

look good. I'm just saying the Holy Spirit keeps

me looking good Y 'all rock you with me It's

not that y 'all ain't put it on, because some

of y 'all put it on this morning. Every once

in a while, I tell everybody if you took more

than 30 minutes getting dressed, just stand up

so everybody can see you. We just give you what

you wanted this morning. We ain't above appreciating

how you put it on. But that's what you come to

learn that there's a grace upon your life and

that grace that is upon your life is what's truly

Shining forth you ever had somebody who was wearing

the same thing as them But then they looked at

you was like but it's how you put it on What

grace is that put it on that it really doesn't

matter how someone may be? Looking like they're

in the same situation doing the same thing all

of y 'all have a unique grace upon your life

that when you put it on It's different. And look

at your neighbor and say, and we need how you

put it on. I wanna say before we go any further,

cause here's the truth. Truth is, humility is

not thinking less of yourself. It's thinking

truthfully about yourself. It's not an over exaggeration

of yourself, but it's also not an insecurity

that leads to you being stagnant. But it's you

flowing according to the grace that was given.

Woo, I get excited when I think about that. And

I love this, right? And it says each according

to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

If there's one place we often violate as a body

is operating according to what has been assigned.

That truthfully until we start operating according

to where and how we have been assigned it's hard

for us to see the value and the uniqueness of

each one of us individually. What does that look

like, Pastor Brian? Well, that looks like being

in community, hearing what somebody else did,

hearing what God called them to do, and deciding,

I'll just take that too. Sound good? The church

turned up. They gave their testimony. Folks fell

out. Folks cried. I gave my testimony. Nobody

did anything. So in the future, I'll drag a few

of they points into my story because I want to

see that same move. I want to see and experience

that same impact. And what is that doing? You're

not. operating according to the measure assigned

to you. That you have to be comfortable. You

have to be excited about what God has assigned

to you. And regardless of how people may respond

in excitement or disappointment, you have to

rock you. Look at your neighbor and say, hey,

you must rock you. And I hear this all the time,

and one of the worst things I hear from people,

and sometimes they can be in church for a very

long time, but they'll say something like, I

just don't fit in. Or they'll say something like,

I don't feel like I belong. And I look at them,

I was like, cause you don't. You arriving here,

let us know that there's new that's supposed

to happen. Like we aren't looking for duplicates.

We're looking for originals. You are authentic.

You have something to offer that we have yet

to experience. And I hear people say, man, but

I just, they become quiet. They don't say nothing.

Why? Because you're waiting to fit in. And I'm

telling you, you've been called to stand out.

And I hear people say this thing and it's it's

actually very toxic y 'all ready for this They

say man. We just need to get on the same page.

I said no we don't No, we don't We all are a

different page in one book We in the same book,

but we all a different page. I Just need to know

where your page fits. Is it before my page or

after my page? But the same page is not who we

are We all belong and guess what the same book

But you are a different page look you never say

hey What's the number on the bottom of your page?

Because man there's something unique about you

something special about you. There's a grace

on your life that no one here has, no one here

can duplicate, that you have an authenticity.

And y 'all, this is where I had to work on saying

it right. I tell people all the time, my mama

from Georgia, my daddy from Alabama, so big words

are hard. Didn't get checked growing up Boy y

'all should have seen me at home. I was like

oh thin thin thin thin authenticity We shall

overcome Boy and I said that they were boldness

What are you saying? That's right. I'm saying

that the Bible describes us as the salt of the

earth and If this salt loses its flavor, it becomes

of no use. And what I've come to find out, y

'all know where the salt destroying factory is?

Many churches. Because we come in here and we

all try to be the same. I wanna sing like them,

dance like them, praise like them, holler like

them, because they look like they got it. And

then we end up losing our flavor in the place

that was supposed to develop our flavor. We're

supposed to sound and get our flavor in here

and sound very strange out there. So look at

me, say, hey neighbor. You got that loris. Some

of y 'all calling out y 'all Caesars right now.

I got that, I'm that lorries boy. You can put

me on anything pastor. You can, you can just

spread me out. I walked in the kitchen the other

day. I seen Rashida putting lorries on grits.

I said, lorries on the grits? They changed a

little orange. I said, it's a little Creole if

you. Think so for I got caught in the store the

other day This is just yesterday the lady of

I went I was looking for some coffee stuff and

I picked up they had some they had some I'll

just be looking for the New stuff the loop the

new stuff, right? And so they had some toasted

marshmallow flavored coffee like syrup, right?

I know The lady was like have you had it before

I said no I grabbed it because it was unique

It stood out because it was different. I didn't

come here to buy it. I didn't come here to purchase

it. But when something different is put before

your eyes, it's hard not to want to involve yourself

with it. I got to the cash register. She said,

you know, this is sugar free. I said, I grabbed

the wrong one. I said, I need the flavor. I need.

I need all the flavor. I said, oh, I still bought

it, y 'all, because I didn't want to look crazy

in front of her. She was... Why are you saying

this, Pastor? Because here, truth is, the void

you're often filling isn't an emptiness inside

you, but the who that's missing beside you. That

oftentimes we... feel like something is missing.

It's because we are what the Bible call parts

in particular. And it's very hard for you to

understand your significance when you're not

represented in your uniqueness. But your uniqueness

apart from the body seems strange. It's almost

like taking my finger and my finger deciding

to separate itself from my body. It had full

purpose and meaning connected, but it was useless

disconnected. And we are all parts in particular,

but you got to be sober minded to think this

way. That it takes a prideful person to think

that you have all that it takes. And no, brother,

calm down. Think a little less of yourself. Because

you might just be a toe And the toe apart from

the foot Y 'all preach for me What's a toe apart

from the foot Nothing it's nothing and so oftentimes

the emptiness we're feeling isn't because of

what's lacking inside of us, it's because of

who's missing beside you. He says, for as in

one body, we have many members and the members

do not all have, check this out, the same function.

And I love this, I love this. If no one ever

told you this before, The church is complex by

design. And many people try to make it simple.

No, it's diverse. It's complex. We are probably

one of the most sophisticated organisms that

exist. Why? Because we are all parts in particular.

We're actually all unique, but yet connected.

that there is something special about each one

of us that so much none of us are the same. And

so we are not simple to get. We are actually

complex. We're actually extremely diverse. Y

'all rocking with me? He said, So we, though

many are one body in Christ and individually

members one to another. What are you saying?

That truth is isolation doesn't just disconnect

you from people, it disconnects your gift from

its purpose. That we are members one to another.

that we belong together. Look at your neighbor

say, we belong together. I was gonna sing a Mariah

Carey song here, but I saw this meme online,

it was talking about pastors that sing songs

during church and I was like, is that who I become?

I don't wanna be that, but we belong together.

It's right there. It is right there, but we do,

we belong together. We belong together and it's

okay. It's okay, look at them say it's okay.

What do you mean what's okay, Pastor Brian? No

one shows up to church hurt by church. But as

Paul explains, you were running so well, who

did hinder you? And oftentimes it takes humility

to admit it was a who. And we don't want to admit

that it was a who. We don't want to confess that

it was a person. And so because we don't want

to confess that it was a person, Out of pride,

we construct a false reality that we can somehow

be a valuable part alone. Because we don't want

to deal with the people no more. But here's the

problem. You're just a part. You belong to people.

Y 'all all right? This is just freelance commenting

over on the right hand side You know like pastor

Brad we already did first service there's a good

one on tape She is unique But truth is you'll

always have trouble fitting in When you're trying

to be a duplicate And God doesn't just save you

by grace, he assigns you by grace. First success,

I did it again, y 'all saw that? My mom, when

you say yes, way too loud. I've noticed in the

last two weeks that I have to get much closer

to read the words in my Bible. I know I'm just

40, but the lines is... They say that's when

it starts. I rebuke you in the name of Jesus

that this whole front row y 'all ain't a man

nothing But soon as I mentioned the lines are

coming together. That's that's what it's thought.

That's that's that's that this whole Y 'all heard

of was like popcorn pop pop pop pop pop. That's

that's when it's that's what you to you to you

to I rebuke the whole front row That's when it's

thought, pastor. You ain't lying. Having gifts

that differ according to the, I told him I said

in first service, now I see, you know, I need

one of the people, I just be like, read. Read,

any readers in the room, anybody wanna read for

your brother? Just read. Having gifts that differ

according to the grace to us, let us use them.

I love this, listen to this. 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, the one who leads with zeal, the

one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness.

What is Paul describing to us? That there is

an attitude for every grace. There's an attitude.

There is an attitude. for every grace Matter

of fact, you'll come to find out that your attitude

will determine your altitude and I know many

people hear that word attitude and you're thinking

about you need an attitude adjustment That's

what your mama told you this attitude is speaking

of the flavor the way in which you do what you

do right that there should be an understanding

or a respect of your Authenticity our uniqueness

that comes through the attitude If I were to

describe it to you, right, that oftentimes I

hear believers, they hear something like, hey

man, God told me to start a business like this.

And then they'll hear someone next to them say

the same thing. And they'll think because they

are doing it, we don't wanna be competition.

And because we don't want no competition, I must

not have heard what I heard. I'm not gonna do

what I heard. Not realizing that you have an

attitude. Look at them say, you have an attitude.

To break this down to you, right? Right, right,

right. Chick -fil -A sells what? Chicken. Popeye

sells what? Chicken. Churches sells what? Chicken.

PDQ has what? Chicken. Keynes has what? Chicken.

But guess what? They all have their own attitude.

Flavor for how they cook the chicken. So even

though they're sourcing the same main ingredient,

how they handle that ingredient is what brings

the diversity that they can all be on the same

street. Yet because they are operating according

to their authenticity according to their flavor

There is no competition that you can go to Chick

-fil -a one day churches the next day. They got

different sauces They got different sides. They

have different seasonings and guess what they

are not competing because they are all walking

in their authenticity So I'm here to let you

know say hey neighbor next time bring Your attitude

And y 'all know I know it's a little early for

Thanksgiving but y 'all know I love to talk about

cooking right and There's a thing about this

that you got to understand and it's too late

for me It's too late It's too late. What you

mean? It's too late. I've already had too many

people Tell me my turkey was the best It's too

late. You know what that means? That means I

got an attitude about my turkey. That if you

were to come to me and say, Pastor Brian, I tried,

I don't know why people are doing the other person

in the voice like this, Pastor Brian, I tried

your turkey and I didn't like, I don't think

it's the best. You know what I'ma say? Do you

have any left that you can give back to me? So

I can give it to somebody who appreciates it,

but let me help you out here. I don't need any

validation because I've already been verified.

I don't care what you think. about my turkey.

Well, that sounds a little attitude -ish. Exactly,

exactly. I don't care how you feel about my turkey.

I have already had enough verifiable, trustworthy

people tell me it's the best, hands down. So

I don't need your opinion. I don't actually need

your consideration. Nothing. is going to change

my attitude concerning my turkey. You know what

I just figured out? You're the wrong audience.

Maybe you don't have the palette to understand

the layer of flavoring. that my turkey actually

has. You don't even know how to handle the palette

that it takes to be able to distinguish all the

unique flavors in my turkey. You didn't even

taste the lemon zest. Did you even feel the lemon

zest? You put lemon on it? Lemon is a strange

thing to put on turkey. That's because you are

unlearned. You need to go and... go experience

some things because you can you can take the

the the lemon and you can zest it and it gives

it a little brightness so it it takes the heaviness

and heaviness of the grease and brings a brightness

to your tongue so that when you're eating it

it's just a burst of flavors but you don't know

nothing about that but there are some people

that know everything about that and i'ma go ahead

and find them The Bible would say what do they

do? What do you do if they reject you? You know

what you do you dust off your feet But we we

can't keep killing our flavor We have to start

our uniqueness, celebrating our little sauce.

How you did it does matter. Just that little

flair made a difference. It was how you put it

on. We got the same, y 'all wearing the same

community shirt, but it looked different. Everybody's

shirt don't look the same on everybody. Same

shirt. Y 'all don't want me to do it, but I'm

about to do it. From the moment y 'all put it

on the shirt took on unique shapes It was a one

shape on the table Then you put on the shirt,

I don't know what shape as I thought we ordered

a crew name It looked like a v -neck on you it

looked like a Tell your neighbors how you put

it on What you supposed to be putting on right

now that you done took off cuz you saw somebody

else Say the same thing. We didn't get a chance

to see how you was gonna spice it up Oh, they

writing a children's book. So why should I write

a children's book? Because you gonna put something

on it. They can't you gonna do something to it

They not that that stop conforming That's what

versus one and two were that become do not be

conformed to this world But be transformed by

the renewal of your mind Paul already knew you

gonna have to transform your thinking in order

for us to operate how we supposed to operate

but we're so busy conforming to what people say

this is the best today I don't care Look at him

and say, God did not just save you by grace.

He assigns you by grace. That you didn't earn

this uniqueness, you ain't deserve this uniqueness,

but you are unique. And we need it. I told him

I didn't. read the rest of this, but if I were

to summarize it, right, that Paul then goes on

beyond that verse to not only get us to start

celebrating our uniqueness, but check this out

church, but to honor each other's uniqueness.

That we should be honoring our uniqueness. I

tell people all the time, I know you want to

show some love, but we always got to be careful

how we touch God's product. And each person in

here, you're God's product. I may have suggestions,

but I'm not the manufacturer. You're God's product.

I tell parents this all the time, be mindful.

You birthed them. But God made them. Be careful.

We need that page. We might be missing the story.

We're trying to figure it all out because we're

missing your flavor. Y 'all all right? But God

never designed your uniqueness. to separate you

from the body. He designed the body to reveal

the purpose of your uniqueness. Y 'all hearing

me? That we should be helping each other through

honoring one another, understand why we were

created this way and see it that way. We're not

trying to get on the same page. We're just trying

to get our pages in order. The Bible tells us

that they will know us by our love for one another.

And in a world that's addicted to conforming

people, we should be a church that helps God

transform people into who he's called them to

be. help you discover why your journey's been

the way it's been and why you had to see the

things you've seen and why you've had to experience

what you've experienced because there's something

God's shaping through all of it to help us all

understand better what He's doing with us. Y

'all rocking with me. We'll stop here then. Before

I gotta thank you for today and. I thank you

for the opportunity to come and to minister your

word. I pray that your people are stirred up

as a result of your word. I pray that they are

excited, have a zeal about walking and their

uniqueness about being. I pray that as we take

this walk, that we become brothers and sisters

to each other, that lifts each other up as we're

taking those bold steps, that we encourage each

other as we are taking those leaps. And I pray

that you're glorified in it all. And we're just

thankful, God. for loving us so much that we

can trust your word. We can stand on this word

and we can truly believe that new life is available.

But if you're here today and you're not saved

and you haven't given your life to Jesus, in

a moment I'm gonna say a prayer and just know

that As you say this prayer in faith, in confidence,

that you become a part of this body, that you're

no longer an outsider to the promises of God,

but you are an insider to the promises of God.

The Bible says, if you confess with your mouth

and believe in your heart that Jesus died and

rose again, you shall be saved. So it takes a

confession and a belief. And so if you are ready,

we're gonna do it together so no one's alone,

but Father God, I thank you. for your son, Jesus.

I believe he died and he rose again. And when

he rose, he rose with my forgiveness. He justified

me. And now I am a son and a daughter of the

King. Amen, church. Let's give it up for people

who said that prayer for the first time. And

if that was you. You can meet us in the first

room on the left as you leave. If you're online,

let us know and we'll tell you all about the

decision you made and just the family you're

part of, amen? Amen. As they are preparing, some

believers to get baptized today. I do want to

take a moment. This week, one of just, I must

call him one of the goats of this house and just

a brother to many, a friend to many. Mike, Mikey,

he called him Mikey, but his name is Mike Begos

Jr. He went home to be with the Lord this week

and. You know, I'm not just asking you guys to

keep the family in prayer, keep each other in

prayer. He was knitly woven into our family.

He wasn't a person you could ever miss, a person

you forget. He made himself known. And truthfully,

there's no way we would be just where we are

and what we're doing without his life, his service

and his sacrifice. He used his grace, the grace

that God has given him to bring many things we

did here to life. Anytime there was something

just fresh that was like, man, we just need some

money who is gonna hear from God on what to do,

this man would do it. Our new logo out front

was designed. called him the brand master and

anybody who ever met with him would know that

man, if you just had jumbled up words, he would

take them words and create an image out of them

to really get you off and running. So we are

thankful for his life and we're thankful for

just the time he spent with us. And January,

June, June, July, June 20th at 10 a .m. We will

be celebrating his life here. I'll invite you

to come out and just celebrate with us. I asked

them first service if you was wondering why they

was taking so long. Just to spend a little bit

more time just with your family and saying hello

to the people around you. You know, one of the

things that just was just in my heart all week

is I just really desire for us to be able to

treat every hello with the same value we give

to the final goodbye. That if we could just learn

to appreciate each other in a greater way in

these moments man healing is available, but keep

the family in prayer and Yeah, he's a friend

a man a man and so Are they ready mama you baptizing

you know y 'all gotta hear this right Uncle G,

where's Uncle G? Oh, there she is. She came from

Atlanta to get baptized today. There goes Uncle

G. You know, I'm not good with the thing. So

who is she to you, Uncle G? Granddaughter? What's

that make her to me? Cousin. That's your daughter

and your granddaughter's getting baptized. Oh,

there we go And that makes them my cousin But

they are here to get baptized and amen y 'all

got it keep us from falling and to present you

faultless before the presence of his glory with

exceeding joy to the only wise God, our savior.

here and no I sat down him just was thinking

about um our brother my friend Mike Begos Jr.

and there was there was options right to come

and talk to people's grief or speak a message

I know he would love we chose to speak a message

we know he would love if you ever met him people's

uniqueness and understanding your flavor understanding

that you were uniquely designed and so um you

know I believe he's shining down