Servants Devoted to God - Part 1: Adaptability is the Attitude of the Kingdom | Pastor Pablo Morales

Welcome to ECB's Weekly Sermon Podcast. ECB is an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,

with dozens of nationalities worshipping together. We invite you to connect with us from wherever

you are through our website, ecb.asia, or our mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed

by this week's sermon. Today we begin a new series of studies called Servants Devoted to God that

will take us all the way through the end of March. And Pastor Venana will be sharing the pulpit

throughout this series. But before we actually start the study, please join me as I pray. If

your grace did not find us, if we did not say yes to your calling, our lives will be a whole

different story. Thank you for your grace. And as we begin this new series of studies from your

word, I ask you, Lord, shape our hearts with it and use me in your power and in your grace.

In Jesus' name, amen. The word of God says that the moment we began following Jesus and we declare

that he was our Savior, at that moment when Jesus saved us, we became not just his children,

but we became servants devoted to God. And what we're going to explore in this series

throughout this month is that there's a set of things that we need to learn as we follow Jesus

that is part of the kingdom of God. And the word of God says this very clearly,

so simply in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, this is what the apostle wrote to us, followers of Jesus,

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

would you read it out loud with me? And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live

for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again. The moment God saved me when I

was six years old, God is telling me, Pablo, the moment you asked me to save you, I did not just

save you so that you will die one day and go to heaven. I saved you so now the life I give you,

you will live for me. And not just me, but also you, anyone that says I'm a Christian,

I follow Jesus. Jesus saved you so that the life you have, you will live for him. And that's a shift

that completely transforms the way we live and think and the decisions we make. It's a shift of

mindset. Because now that I am a follower of Jesus, the word of God says that Jesus has given me now

a new citizenship. I am a citizen of heaven. I like to call that a heavenian. That's who we are now.

We have a citizenship that we belong to, that new place. The world is just passing, but we belong to

a new community of God's people. And not only that, but also I have this identity of being one who is

a servant of God. Before, I used to serve my sin, my purposes, and I tried to just please God if I

could so that he could bless my plans. And God says, no, now that you are my child, you are my

servant. Follow my purposes. Live for my vision for you. And then not only that, but also I have

this new purpose that the word of God says he called us to make disciples of all nations. He

wants to use your life and my life as a way of shining his light to the world so that people who

are in darkness will come to know God because of you. That they will come to encounter God because

God's presence was manifested through your obedience to him. And no matter where he placed you,

whether it be your job, your family, a new location, it doesn't matter what circle of people you

involve yourself with, that you can be a channel of that light so that people will come to know

Christ. These are the changes that God did in me, a change of citizenship, a change of purpose,

a change of identity. And all this together, we call this servants devoted to God. We are the

people of God, followers of Jesus, who are driven by a love for God and with the desire to just serve

him. That's why we say servants devoted to God, love God and serve with devotion. That says it all.

But I learned earlier in my life when I had to move the first time from one country to another,

that once you move to a new domain, you need to learn the new culture. And in Chile, we kiss

everybody on the cheek. Hi. It was like that. In Mexico, it wasn't like that. Hi. It will go like

this. I had to learn a new way of greeting, also a new way of eating. I learned that in Mexico,

if you ask the person that invited you to their home, is this food spicy? If they would tell you

no, they were lying to you. They said, no, it's not spicy. That meant it is. If they say a little bit

spicy, that means a lot. If they say, well, it is really spicy, that meant don't eat it. You'll

regret it later. And this way of functioning changed. And if you don't adapt to the new culture

and learn how they work and start functioning in alignment with that culture, then you're not

going to be able to survive in that culture. And now that God saved me, he saved me from the kingdom

of darkness into the kingdom of light. I belong to his kingdom, and in his kingdom, there's a new

culture. And one of the things that changes is that there's a new attitude in the kingdom. And I

need to learn that attitude as I follow Jesus, because if I don't have that attitude, I will be

completely held back from pursuing God fully as he wants us to. And what we will learn in this

first study is that the attitude of the kingdom is adaptability. And if I am going to follow God and

be a servant devoted to God, I have to master this attitude of adaptability. The first Christians,

they were with Jesus. He taught them, then he died, he resurrected, he appeared to them at the

beginning, and before he ascended to heaven, he told them, look, I'm going to give you something

that you will need to follow me. He's about to leave them, he's going to be ascending, he wouldn't

be with them anymore, physically like he was before, but he tells them in Acts 1-8, you will

receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all

Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And this is the beginning of the movement that you

and I joined when we said yes to Jesus. We became part of a movement that started at this time,

where people were making disciples throughout the nations, and it was marked by this power that

Jesus was giving them, the power of the Holy Spirit. So the Word of God says that actually

they did stay there in Jerusalem waiting, they were worshiping God, praying, the apostles, and

some of the early believers, there were about 120 people there gathered when the Holy Spirit

encountered them, and they started receiving this power to speak in these languages they did not

know previously, and it just happened to be the languages of the people that were surrounding the

area where they were meeting. So people from all these different places could understand the wonders

of God that they were declaring. But at one moment, the Apostle Peter stands up and starts

preaching the gospel, and just like Jesus said, you will receive power and you will be my witnesses.

So they become the witnesses at that point, and the Apostle Peter preaches, and this is what the

Word of God says, those who accepted his message were baptized, and about what? About 3,000 were

added to their number just that day. And this is where change became very, very noticeable. And this

is where the struggle began. Because put yourself in the foot of the apostles, or the feet of the

apostles. You know, they had spent all these years with Jesus in a small group. Just Jesus and us.

And I miss those days. And then Jesus started becoming more famous, and now we have to put out

with the crowds, but Jesus was still with us, giving us time alone with him. And then after that,

we just betrayed him. But he resurrected, and he appeared to us, and he assured us of his love,

and it was still just us. And then that day when we encountered the Holy Spirit, it was just 120

people. It was just still intimate enough, and we were all in awe of what God had done. And we missed

Jesus already. But on one day, we became 3,000 people. 3,000. Do you know what it's like to manage

3,000 people? I have to start teaching people about God, and baptizing them, and organizing

this whole thing. 3,000 people like that. Change just found us completely unprepared. We just,

as we say, built the airplane as we were flying it. It was just like a lot of change at once.

Now, if you are like me, there's an aspect of change that is fun, nice, but there's also

some things that we don't like to change so much. I still like the routine of having my black coffee,

no sugar, dark in the morning. And if I'm traveling, I'm going to have some portable coffee maker of

some sort, because I want my routine. Do I sound all that ready to you? And we resist change one

way or the other, because we like that which is familiar. And now the apostles will have to go

through change and realize that this calling that God gave them and us to make disciples was complex

because it meant that we are always becoming, not just us maturing and growing and being transformed,

but also the making of disciples and the communities that are born out of that calling, always changing.

And therefore, I'm never to that place where it's just like, oh, comfortable again. It's like always

having to operate in that space. And that can get to us to the point in which our ability to follow

God becomes compromised. So one of the things that they discover as they engage in this journey of

making disciples is that it was more complex than they had anticipated. They were just thinking of

the front end and they realized that there was a back end that was as important as the front end.

What do I mean by front end and back end? If you have ever accessed a website, you know what the

front end is. You go, you put the address or you click on something, you are there on the website,

you see pictures, you see images, there are things that you click on and it takes you to another

place. You see text, you see images. All your experience is what is called the front end.

The back end is not those pictures and colors and clicking. The back end is a bunch of code. And if

you're a coder, you know what that is. It looks like nothing compared to the front end, but it's

as important as the front end because without back end, there's no front end. But people don't

want to click and see a bunch of codes either. Without a front end, the back end doesn't matter.

They are both important. And when it comes to being involved as a community in making God known and

living for the one who died and resurrected on our behalf and making Him known among the nations,

we will always be operating in these two, front end and back end. And that makes change complex.

And we will get to see in three instances in the life of the first Christians how this operated

and what they had to do. The first one of those first challenges that they faced was right here

at the beginning of the book of Acts chapter four. It says that with great power, the apostles

continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and God's grace was so powerfully at

work in them all. Remember, they had received power and through that power they started becoming

witnesses of Jesus and that power remained. God was using them tremendously. But then it says that

there were no needy persons among them for from time to time, those who owned land, our houses,

sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles feet and it was distributed

to anyone who had need. It was amazing. People were coming to know Christ. Oh, we learned that

they had certain needs. There's finances that is needed to address that need. I don't have the

money. Oh, but wait, some people here that are following Jesus have resources. They are selling

their lands. They are selling property. They are selling things, bringing the money. So now we can

address those needs and then people are growing and needs are being met. That's awesome. That's

great. That's front end. Back end. The story continues and it says, now a man named Ananias

together with his wife, Sapphira, also sold a piece of property and with his wife's full

knowledge, he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the

apostles feet. We are told that God, as he is starting this movement of his kingdom through

the apostles and this is the beginning of the church, he says, I'm not going to put up with

that because the father of lies is who? Satan. And now you have these people that have compromised

themselves with Satan by engaging with these lies about their finances. So God's discipline on that

moment is boom. Both Ananias and Sapphira, they both die right there in the presence of the

apostle Peter and everybody is just shocked of what has happened. And this is what we called a

case of financial corruption. Financial corruption is what happens when we haven't thought very well

about the back end. Imagine for a second that we want to just be a more biblical church here at

ECB. So starting today at the end of the service, instead of having offerings done traditionally,

I want to invite Pastor Rene to stand here, Pastor Phil to stand here, and just everybody

bring your money and put it at our feet. Okay? And then we will take care of the money and we

will address it and give it to the needs that need to be met. How would you like that? That's

biblical, isn't it? Ah, now I'm making you uncomfortable. I'm just not serious. You can

relax. The point is right. Imagine what's happening. Three thousand people, people selling, getting

money, putting it there. And then it's like, hey, I'm giving you money by keeping some of it. How

do you make disciples in a way that the financial system is cared for so that there's no corruption,

so people are not stealing the money or misusing it? How do you do that? Well, the apostles had to

learn that just this initial beginning requires something that they will have to put in place.

The text doesn't tell us exactly what that is at the moment. We'll just know much later in the

development of the church. But I have met some cases of people that were Christians following

Jesus and they stole money from the church. Sometimes pastors, sometimes people in the

management of money. In order to make disciples on the front end, we need a solid system behind.

We need accountants. We need people that are experts in finance. We need softwares. We need

people that can understand all of this stuff and how it works. And I remember that the years in Dallas,

we started attending with our leadership team and our elder board, these conferences that were for

financial health organized by a group of accountants and lawyers in the state of Texas. And there were

some big names in those conferences like Richard Hammer that was always so fun to listen to. And

whenever we went to those conferences, it was all about understanding financial systems, legal

systems within the context of US law. And the very first time we went, we came back and we met with

a team and we said, you know, we need to make some changes because we did not realize that we

were managing certain functions in the finances, especially with lab offerings and things like that,

that were illegal in the state of Texas. They were not unethical, but they were not aligned with the

law. And we had to change those things. And that's when we started becoming more aware of the phrase

conflict of interest. And now we have to start drawing certain things in place to make sure that

the church as an organization had the back end all well put together. And that took time. But I will

never forget the conversation with this accountant at that conference. She was attending. She was part

of her financial team at her church, which was a large organization. And she says to me, we tell

our pastors that our job is to keep them out of jail. And I will never forget that because that was

true to some degree. Because in the front end, you know, it's like you, you are teaching people,

you are leading people to cry. You want to do these things. There are resources that need to be

invested. But we are not the experts on all the finances and law and things. Do you mean that we

need accountants and lawyers and finance people in the team to make disciples for global impact?

The answer is yes. And if that is your area of expertise, be involved. But the second

challenge they had to realize of its complexity was as they started growing and they created this

system to be able to provide food for the people that needed food. And we are told right here in

Acts 6, chapter 1, in those days when the number of disciples was increasing, that's awesome, nice,

more witnessing, more fruit. But it says the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against

the Hebraic Jews because the widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

We will study this much later in this in the series, but it's enough to know that at this

point of the cultural backgrounds that these Christians were coming from started creating

this conflict. And now this aspect of feeling overlooked and that there's preference and all

of these things came to the apostles. And it's like, hey, apostles, there's this problem. We

have all this food, all these things, we're distributing it, but now there's conflict with

people. Can you help us distribute the food? Okay, 3,000 people. We are preaching, we are teaching,

we're baptizing the people, we are trying to address these things. And now it's like, you also

need us to do that. And at that moment it says, so the 12 gather all the disciples together and said,

it will not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.

This is the first attempt to write a job description for Pasarone ministry. It will not be right for us

to be doing all of that other stuff and then run out of time to do this. Brothers, sisters,

choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the spirit and wisdom. We will

turn this responsibility over to them and we'll give our attention to prayer and the ministry of

the word. And that is what they did. They chose a group of godly men who are also very much people

with high levels of cultural intelligence. And then they were able to address that need. It was

not just waiting on tables, it was really serving the people and addressing the conflicts. And this

group of leaders that eventually became known as deacons, because the Greek word deacons means

servant. So these servants started helping and the apostles were able to focus on what mattered most

to their role. And this is the first time that now they realize the structure that we've had so far

is unsustainable. This changing that we are experiencing constantly being in this becoming

state requires that now we look at the structure we have and reason is this sustainable or not.

And this is the first attempt to create an HR department in the church. Because these are the

people that specialize on creating job descriptions and salaries and figuring out that the whole system

has fair compensation. Wait, do we also need HR people? People that are experts on this field?

The answer is yes, we do. Front end, but also back end. And then they start preaching the gospel,

more people, the structure is good so they grow more, and then persecution comes and they face

another challenge. Because now as they start going throughout the Roman Empire, fleeing from

Jerusalem, now new churches become established throughout the empire. And the apostle Paul starts

going to different parts of the empire and they have new churches established, so new communities

of Christians. And then later as God established the apostle Paul writes to the church in Corinth,

and he tells them this, my brothers and sisters, some from Chloe's household have informed me that

there are quarrels among you. It's like really? From the very beginning the church has been like

this? Yeah, it has never changed. Never. Because the church is full of sinners saved by grace,

and we're still being sanctified by grace. So yeah, sometimes we act immature, we get offended,

we get hurt, and then divisions happen, and now the apostle Paul has to write to them to help them,

okay, you need to think biblically about these things. And this is what he tells them. What I

mean is this, one of you says, I follow Paul. Another, well I follow Apollos. And another,

well I follow Cephas. And another still says, the smarter one, I follow Christ. And now they have

these divisions among the community. It's like imagining people here at ECB saying, well I follow

Pastor David. Who is she? It's like, yeah, the pastor that was before you and before Pastor Renee,

I was here then, I follow Pastor David. And other people say, no, but I follow Pastor Renee,

I like him better. And other people say, I like Pastor Pablo better. I follow Pastor Pablo. And

the community is like that, and it's like what? What are you guys doing? Paul says. What after all

is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants. Because that's what we are, servants devoted to

God, isn't it? We're only servants through whom you came to believe as the Lord has assigned to each

his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the

one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow. Follow God.

Don't follow us. Give glory to God, not to us. We are just servants. The one who plants and the

one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.

Each one at a different stage called by God, positioned by God for a different season,

for a different purpose. Yet each one working on the same calling of making disciples, some water,

some planted, some work the ground. But who's the only one that can make really a disciple? Not me,

not you, only God. He's the only one that can convert a heart. So at the end, this challenge

taught them that unless we have a common vision that is clear, that is uniting us all, we're going

to end up with a divided community. Front end, make disciples, we have leaders, that's great. But

what good is that if we become people that are following leaders rather than a common vision?

And in organizational health, this is something that has become very clear. Healthy organizations,

if you are leading a church, if you're leading a business, if you have your own company, if you

are part of an NGO, it doesn't matter what organization it is, this is going to be the same

thing. A healthy organization is an organization that is united behind a common vision. We are

there, that's the glue. And leaders come and go to help us achieve that vision, but they themselves

are not the glue. Now if you are part of an organization that is centered in an individual,

that's a sign that you are not healthy as an organization. And this is typically something

that happens in organizations that are at the beginning. You start with the founder. The founder

came, the founder did, the thing grew. Now the founder has not just an initiative, an organization.

And now because he or she called all the shots initially, now it's centering that person alone.

But now you start feeling the growing pains. There's a change that needs to happen. We need

to move in a different season where it's no longer centered on the person, but centered on the vision.

And God, we might call that person to step down, to even move to another location altogether,

to give the organization a new season of growth. Change is hard. Front end, make disciples. Back

end, figure out how to bring a common vision together. And that is also difficult. Because

we connect emotionally, we cannot avoid that. I cannot say you need to like all the pastors

the same. That's not how it works. We connect better with one than the other. And I remember

that when I was in Texas this past summer, I got to talk to one of our friends. I had

the privilege of leading him to Christ. I met him as an unbeliever. God used me to lead

him to Christ. Then I mentor him. I disciple him. Then he was growing, maturing. Then he

got engaged. Then I did his marriage counseling and preparing him for his wedding. And then

I saw his children being born. I was there when they were born at the hospital. So I

had a very close relationship, a pastoral relationship with him. And as I was talking

to him this time, he said, it has been hard for us ever since you left. You left the bar

very high, and it's very hard. I've been visiting churches, going through places, but I cannot

find another pastor like you. And as he's telling me that, I did not go like, oh, tell

me more. I would like to hear more about that. So what else has been hard about, and what

else do you think about me? It wasn't like that, of course. Because like the apostle

Paul said, once you're grounded in Christ, that doesn't stick to you. You know you're

just a servant. Only God is the one that is something. But I had that opportunity to tell

him, look, you have to understand something. I am your spiritual father. I led you to

Christ. I mentored you. I walked with you at the beginning of your Christian walk. That

role no one else will have. So as you go to other places looking for other pastors, don't

think that you can replace that, because that was a unique stage in your life. And it's

okay to feel closer because of those experiences. But it's not okay to put those standards on

other relationships, because it will never be the same. It's like the widower that got

remarried, and now he's comparing his new wife to the old one. It's like, no, it was

a whole different marriage. It's a different season. It's just, that's not how it works.

And because this is part of transitions and challenges that we face when we face change,

it is very important to acknowledge the emotional dimensions that we have relationally with

people. But also it is very important not to let that reality hold us back from embracing

the future that God is calling us to. Change is part of following Jesus, because making

disciples is complex, front end, back end, and we need both. And the apostles learned

that soon enough, to the point that the apostle Paul writes to the Christians later, the whole

community, and he says this to them, we have different gifts, front end gifts, back end

gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy

in accordance with your faith. If it is serving, then serve. If it is teaching, then teach.

If it is to encourage, then give encouragement. If it is giving, then give generously. If

it is to lead, do it diligently. If it is to show mercy, then do it cheerfully. Whatever

your role is, do it knowing that we need both front end and back end roles as we are working

together. And at different seasons of our lives, some of those functions are more important.

And as we follow God together as a community, and as we follow God individually, we have

to master the attitude of adaptability. Because adaptability is the attitude of the kingdom.

We are always becoming, we are always following, and therefore the call to embrace change is

always around the corner. But to be adaptable can come in very different ways. What kind

of adaptability are you? There is the rock, the clay, and then there is the water. The

rock is adaptable. The person will take the chisel and go, pow, pow, pow, and then again,

pow, pow, pow, and suddenly the rock becomes something different. It changed. But that

kind of adaptability is very painful, and let me warn you about it. When God says, okay,

I need you to change, we are going to move your countries, we are going to change positions,

I have a new calling for you, and he has to take the chisel and go, pow, pow, pow, pow,

it hurts. And you feel like you are dying to self all the time, and it hurts. And you

say, God, no, really, God, no, please, please, no, don't call me to do that, not me, send

someone else, and God says, pow, pow, boom, okay, I'll do it, okay. And God says, I'm

not done yet, let's start again, pow, pow, pow. You can change like that if you want,

but that's not recommended. Now clay is a little bit easier, it's moldable. God says,

let's shape you this way, let's do that, and you say, okay, that's good, it's fine, you

take different shapes, and God molds you and says, okay, that's good, you are clay. But

the problem with clay is that it dries and becomes solid. It's only adaptable for a period

of time, and then you get so used to what God called you to do already before, that

when God says, another change, you say, come on, you must be joking. No, I'm not moving

again. You know how much work it is to box everything? No, no, no, I'm not moving again,

and that's the first reaction. It's because you have gotten so used to the shape you are,

and now you are resisting God, and that is not recommendable either. Now there's water.

Water is a little bit different. Water is truly adaptable. You put it in a cube, it

takes the shape of the cube. You put it in something that is flat, it takes the shape

of the flat. It doesn't matter where it goes, it just becomes what it needs to become. And

God wants us to be like water, because He is the living water, and what people need

is to know the living water. And God says, be like the living water. I'm calling you

to go, please just go. Sure, adapt. I'm asking you to step down from the position you are

in. Are you willing? Okay, I'll adapt. You know, I'm asking you to wait a little bit

longer before the move. Are you going to wait? Yeah, I adapt. You see? You can be either

like rock, like clay, or like water. But adaptability requires that we are like water. That's a servant

devoted to God. We live for Him, not for us. And when our plants and His plants collide,

His plants take priority. Because the life, I live, I live for the one who died and resurrected

for me. Now, because change is something that happens often for those of you who are in

leadership, and here at ECB we have the blessing of having many in our families that are part

of people that God is using to shape and influence the world through their leadership roles.

I would like to share a couple of insights on that since leadership is my area of study

and just like insert this a little bit for you. If you are going through any transitions

in your organization, in your leadership role, first, if you have been called to fulfill

a new role in a new organization, and now you are transitioning there, the book, The

First 90 Days is a helpful resource to tell you how do you need to be thinking about the

first 90 days of your organizational change as you are leading this new place. Secondly,

what got you here won't get you there. It's a book that talks about the transitions that

you need to be thinking about now as an organization. Just because this function before doesn't

mean that this is what this new place needs. And you need to be discerning all those changes.

And then the third one is called The Leadership Pipeline. I particularly enjoy that book a

lot because it tells you, look, as you are moving from one role to another, hiring your

organization, what made you succeed here that perhaps called the promotion on you is not

the set of skills and the priorities that you need to have as you move. Those change.

And to understand how those change, you need to understand the leadership pipeline. These

resources have been written by people that have done research on organizational transformation

and things like that. So look at those if you are in any time of going through these

kind of transitions, they will help you. They will give you wisdom. Now they are not Christian

books, but they are still books that have truth. And all truth is ultimately from God.

But there is a book that we read and we had studied with the elders during this past year

as well that is talking about the transitions that we go as a community, as a church. You

want me to tell you a little bit about the back end? It's fascinating. The book is called

Taking Your Church to the Next Level. And it's written by a professor in Biola University

in California. And what he does is help you understand that a church is like people. It

goes through stages. Now if you had kids that became teenagers, did you ever go through

that experience where you look down at their pants and you realize, wait, those pants are

short on you now. It's like they were what you needed last year, but they are not what

you need anymore because you are changing. And just as we change, you go through human

stages of development, churches also go through stages of development. And what determines

those stages of development is the size of the church's end. Because imagine like the

apostles from 120 to now 3,000 in one day, lots of things change and the priorities of

what matter most changed. Because size brings with it the need for new structures, new ways

of doing things. And as you look at those changes, I just want to test you here. What

do you think that ECB is? If you have been here a long time, you can relate to the different

stages because if we start when ECB was 200 people. Anybody here was here when ECB was

200 people? Raise your hand. Okay. So a few of the oldest here. Okay. That's great. Yeah.

You remember that. What it was like, you know, the other building. This used to be perhaps

a parking lot or whatever and you have those memories and it was intimate. Everybody knew

everybody. The pastor knew everybody. He would come to our homes. It was like we were living

life together. But then that changed. Suddenly the church doubled. How many of you were here

when the church was about 400 people? Okay. Same. That changed. And now suddenly you have

to start creating new ministries. And then it doubles again. Now you're about 800 people.

And at that point it's like obvious that you know what? I cannot be preaching and praying

and serving the tables at the same time. We need other positions here. And people start

hiring new roles and things like that. But as they face that, they realize, wait, but

how do we know how much to pay the person? How much is the first salary? And we don't

have an HR department. I'm not an HR person. So how do we do this? And things are developed

as you go because you have to just figure out something. And often during that time,

the hiring goes with an apology. Sorry, we cannot pay you more. Because everything is

just being done in things that you, you're just trying to keep things afloat with the

changes. And then the next stage, and this is the stage we are at ECB. It's called the

centralized church. If you want to learn more about this and what that takes and what are

the priorities during this season, you can read the book. There's a whole chapter just

about that. But did you realize that even us as a community go through those transitions?

And perhaps you come from a church background that was a very specific size and that size

determined the way you experience church. But now that you come here, it's a different

size that you're used to the way you experience church changes. But if God is calling you

to be here, what are you going to be? A rock, clay or water? These things are a reality.

That's why with the leadership team and the elder board, we have been working on evaluating

how we're doing ministries in this new season. And start thinking about our ministries as

ecosystems that we want to group in a way that is congruent so that it can flow much

better and hire people accordingly. So this is the stage in which we are in. But it doesn't

matter whether the changes that you are experiencing are as a church ministry or the changes that

you are experiencing are as individual in your own walk with God. In order to develop

the attitude of adaptability, all of us need to overcome the obstacles that will be common

to all people. Let me take you through those briefly because maybe you are stuck right

now in one of those. And these are holding you back from embracing the changes that the

Holy Spirit is actually calling you to embrace. The first one is resisting change, thinking

that change by definition is bad. And typically you will say, I just don't like change. Period.

You know, that's it. I just don't like change. That's going to hold you back. You need to

embrace the change when the Holy Spirit is calling you into it. Nostalgia. Nostalgia

is when you look back and you say, oh, I remember those old days. I wish we could do that again.

And there's nothing wrong with that. When it becomes an obstacle is when you are stuck

like that. It's like, look at the present, look at the future. No, I just miss those

days. Every time I look at the present, it reminds me what we are not anymore. You know,

and it's like, and you are being held back from seeing the present and the potential

of the future and really embracing what God is doing.

Fatigue is when change has been happening so much that it's like, you know what, another

change, I'm going to have a mental breakdown. It's like, I'm just tired. It's like, I get

attached to this person and now the person is leaving again. I don't want to attach to

anybody else anymore. And you become distant and you are just fatigued for so much change.

So when you hear that there's more change coming, you are ready. It's like, you don't

want to even hear it anymore. That can hold you back from embracing what God is doing.

Territorialism is when you have your kingdom and your way of doing things. And when it's

like, we're talking about changing it, we're going to remove that role. We're going to

create a new one. Or, you know, we're inviting somebody else in the team and the person has

expertise and can help you. It's like, no, no, I don't like that. This is how I've always

done it. It worked in the past. It will work today. And the person becomes like very stiff,

like the dry clay. In the kingdom of God, there's only one kingdom and it's not yours.

It's not my kingdom. God's kingdom. Everything else is a bunch of servants with temporary

assignments. And the last one is ignorance. This is a person that sounds like, you know,

the Holy Spirit will figure out and it will work out at the end. We needn't to worry about

the back end. God will provide, will do everything, everything will be fine. And they think that

dependence on the Holy Spirit means always figuring out as you go. But that's not what

we just read in the words of the apostle Paul. It is the Holy Spirit who gave us gifts. Front

end gifts, back end gifts. And both need to be used. And there are moments in which we

do need a strong HR team, a strong finance team, a strong team of lawyers. We need things

in the back end so that we can do the front end and build it to the next level. That's

how it works. We don't want to be held back by ignorance. So whether it be resisting change,

nostalgia, fatigue, territorialism, or ignorance, are you resisting the change that God is calling

you to? Because if you are, I'm here to remind you, adaptability is the attitude of the Kingdom.

And you have to choose, are you going to be a rock, a clay, or living water? And I just

pray that you will choose to be living water. Father, talking about change, you who were

willing to send your son, and Jesus, you who were willing to take the form of a human like

us, flesh and blood, you know firsthand what is the cost of making disciples. And just

as you were willing, help us embrace that attitude that is not born from us, but born

out of a love for you. And if any of us has been resisting the change in our lives that

you are calling us to, if there's anyone here that is being held back by comfort, by selfishness,

by fear, take this time to break that, Lord, that we may leave this place free like living

water, free to pursue you. In Jesus' name.

Thank you for tuning in to the ECB Sermon Podcast. Whether near or far, if you are looking

for community or are in need of prayer, we welcome you to engage by sending us an email

to office at ECB.asia. If God is calling you to support our ministries, you will find giving

options on our website. And remember to join us next week. God bless you.