Discipleship Week 3 • Serving

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Thanks for listening.

Well, good morning.

I like to hear it.

If you've got your Bibles, open up to Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

If you do not have a Bible, we have a free one we'd like to give to you.

And so after the service, just stop back by here.

Aaron and I will be back there.

You can grab a Bible.

We would love for that to be our gift for you.

So first week of school is over with.

We made it through.

A lot of you guys have been asking.

I shared a tough process for us around the Bradbury house.

But on day number one, there were some tears.

There were some loud noises of grieving.

But Emma comforted me, and so we were able to get through the day together.

So a wonderful, wonderful week.

And I know for all the teachers and all the students, I will say this.

I had a teacher this morning.

Just say to me, she said, if you see me dozing a little bit, it was a long week.

So I want to say this, all right?

To teachers and teachers only, right?

We will extend that grace to you this week.

Everybody else, y'all got to stay awake for this.

All right, this afternoon in Bowling, would love to have you guys out there with us in Bowling.

You guys know I kind of like competition.

Dave shared the fellowship aspect.

But I'm just curious.

I want to know what we're working with here.

By a show of hands, raise your hand if you—and leave it up, please.

Leave it up, leave it up.

Raise your hand if you've ever bowled over 200.

Raise your hand.

Raise your hand.

Raise your hand.

Keep them up, keep them up, keep them up.

All right, this is impressive.

All right, you can put them down, you can put them down.

Raise your hand if you've ever bowled over 250.

Raise your hand.

Raise your hand.

One, two, three, four, five.

My hand is not going up on any of these, all right?

Wii Sports doesn't count, by the way, all right?

Raise your hand if you've ever bowled over 280.

Raise your hand.

Raise your hand.

One.

One, is that what I'm seeing?

Brent.

That's great.

Everybody knew who I was talking about with just one name.

It's like Madonna and Prince.

Brent, share with us your top score.

300.

He promised to bring his 300 ring tonight, all right?

And so for only a fee of $5, he'll let you wear it for a minute, all right?

And so we want to be out there, and he'll be doing autographs later too.

But everybody else that was raising their hands, like, that's impressive, right?

Right?

If I hit the triple digits, we count that as a win, you know?

Anything over 99, I'll take that.

But we'd love to have you out there with us tonight.

And then also want to remind, family mission trips, September 2nd through the 5th at Black

Mountain.

Sign-ups are still going for that.

We would love to have you join us on that.

So we are going to continue on in our series on discipleship.

And so this is a five-week series.

This is week three that we are in.

And on the first week, we talked about discipleship and church membership and the value of that

to recognizing and seeing the commitment or the level that is there that we recognize

that we are a unique, a different family of God at Willow Ridge Church.

And every family that God brings together under the local church finds themselves in a unique

place with who they are, of how they're wired to be and what they are to be about and what

they are to do as they fulfill the Great Commission in their context as the Lord leads them.

And so we talked about that and we looked at that.

And then last week, we looked at discipleship and community in Acts chapter 2 of this model,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

this piece of what we see.

And the Bible tells us, Luke writes in Acts 2, of what they devoted themselves to.

And so we see this level of commitment and involvement and investment that is there amongst

the body, but that it is done in the context of community.

And so we are not meant to be these isolated people on our own walk with the Lord that know

that we are called into community as a group of believers.

We're coming alongside one another, we hold each other accountable, we make each other better as

we devote ourselves to God's Word and the process of maturing in our faith.

And so this week, what we're going to continue on is we're going to look at discipleship and

serving.

So discipleship and serving, that maybe gets us to a different aspect, right?

And it's not discipleship and serving.

This is important.

It's discipleship and serving.

That as we look at serving, what we see is the role that serving does in discipleship.

And so let's talk, just to break down, if you weren't able to be with us last week, is

discipleship is not this.

We've got to lose the mind frame that discipleship is where I attend this class, I attend this

small group, the box is checked, I am now a disciple of Jesus.

Right now, a small group, a class, we've got our small group starting back up, we've got

classes that are starting back up, it is definitely a powerful piece that God uses, but whether

it's Sunday school or a group in someone's home or a Bible study at a coffee shop, right?

Discipleship is not intended to be, I attend this class, I've gone through this, check the

box, I'm a discipleship or Jesus, and we move away from that.

And what we find through scripture is that discipleship crosses over into every detail of our life.

So every moment is a discipleship moment in our lives to respond to it in a way that glorifies

the Lord and builds within us who he longs and desires for us to be.

That is what discipleship is.

And it's why we see Jesus and the early disciples always together, always together, right?

Like Jesus didn't show up, head down to First Baptist, grab a handful of people that have

been through this process, and now say, hey, meet me on Wednesday night for discipleship.

That's not what Jesus did.

Jesus comes, Jesus shows up, he calls a group of disciples, and we looked at this, and he says,

follow me, and then that's what they did all the time.

So where he ate, they ate.

Where he slept, they slept, right?

And we see this core level of discipleship that is there.

They are always together.

And so what we see is we take the model of that, right?

Like we can't say from this moment forward, like, you all just quit your jobs and move up

here at the church.

We'll have air mattresses, and we'll just figure this thing out, right?

Like that's not reality for where we are.

And so when we look at discipleship in our context, in our church, what we talked about

is that Christian discipleship is both the formal and the informal process, all right?

So there are formal processes that we come to, Bible studies that we do, classes that we

take, like mission trips that we go on, areas where we serve.

It's the formal structure pieces of what the church provides, but it's also the informal

moments, right?

When we're sitting there having conversations around our dinner table, we're having conversations

in the lobby before church starts.

We're having conversations with our friends as we do our social activities, right?

Conversations while we even bowl, right?

It's the formal and informal process by which we become more like Christ.

Not more like a church, not more like a pastor, not more like an author, not more like a leader,

but more like Christ.

And then as a result of that, we become more invested in his mission, right?

What he calls us to.

Jesus says to the early disciples, come and follow me and I will make you something.

So he says he's going to transform them and produce something in them that is not natural

to them.

And he says as a result of that to these guys who were fishermen, that he will make

them what?

Fishers of men, right?

The great commission right there in that moment that you're going to go and you're going to

lead people to the Lord and you're going to see them become disciples of Jesus in every

aspect of our life.

And I think this is so important, right?

You and I, we do not get to function like a spreadsheet or a calendar when it comes to following

Jesus, right?

It's not, I go to soccer practice here, I go to work here, and here's where I love the

Lord.

No, no, no.

It penetrates every part of who we are, every aspect of what's there.

And that's why I think it's so important for us to understand that discipleship does not

just happen between the four walls of a church, but discipleship happens in every aspect of

our lives.

We're talking about this a little bit in staff, and I said one of the most exciting things

that I have right now that I'm going through is there's an individual who has some influence

in the life of my son, and I do not know if he's a believer yet, but here's what I know.

We keep having more and more conversations about faith.

And so I look forward to that moment.

Now, if it's happening at 6.30 at night, is it still discipleship?

If it's happening away from the church, is it still discipleship?

Absolutely it is, right?

Because that's what God's called us to.

So this morning we're going to look at serving and discipleship, and they're not removed, but

they're linked together, right?

And here's why they're linked together.

If discipleship is becoming more like Jesus, right, Jesus says himself in Matthew 20, verse

Matthew 20:28

28, that he came not to be served, but to serve, right?

So if Jesus says, like, the aspect of my life is to serve and to give his life as a ransom

for many, if that's what he comes to model and to show, and if that at his very core is who

he is, then if you and I are going to be like Jesus, guess what we need to do?

We need to serve.

Now, today we're going to largely look at the context of serving in the body of Christ, right?

That's the passage that we're going to look at at Romans 12.

That's the context in what we get.

But I want to go ahead and start off with this.

That does not mean, just like the other parts of discipleship, that we leave the serving at

the door and we pick them up the next time that we're on the rotation at our church.

That's not what that means, that we bring this of who we are and that it penetrates every,

every aspect of our lives of who we are.

So as someone who serves, it is my, even though it is my, my financial job of what I do here as

the pastor, it's my responsibility as a brother of Christ to also serve amongst the body.

But it is also my responsibility to serve in my home.

It's also my responsibility to serve in my neighborhood.

It's my responsibility to serve in every context of what Jesus gives me and allows that I'm thinking

through how can I serve this man, this woman, this child that God has presented before me

in this moment.

It's a lessening of self and a focus on him.

And we see this.

Jesus served his mom.

Jesus served Peter.

Jesus served Judas.

Get that.

That's been the reminder for me.

Jesus served his mom.

Jesus served Peter.

Jesus served Judas.

Jesus served his mom, the person who, who knew him in an earthly fashion, the way that no

one else could.

Jesus served his mom.

Jesus served Peter, the one who became the truth of who Jesus was.

And he says on your, on that rock, I will build my church.

Right?

He served Peter.

And he served Judas.

The one who would betray him for a few pieces of silver through a kiss.

Jesus served them all.

So we can't just isolate.

We have to understand that this is who God's called us to be, but we acknowledge that we're

going to look at it in the context of the church.

So let's look.

Romans 12, verses 3 through 8.

Romans 12:3–8

We're going to read all the way through and then come back and look at some things from

this.

So Paul writes, and he says,

For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you, not to think of himself more highly

than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of

faith that God has assigned.

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function.

So we, the many, are one body in Christ and individually members one of another, having

gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.

If prophecy in proportion to our faith, if service in our serving, the one who teaches in his

teaching, the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who

leads with zeal, the one who acts of mercy with cheerfulness.

And so Paul writes this to the church, right?

Right after the passages Paul writes in Romans 12, 1, I apologize, it's not on the screen,

but if you want to jump there, right?

Look back in your Bible.

I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by mercies of God, to present your bodies as living sacrifices,

holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing,

you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and perfect and acceptable.

So he takes this, these first two verses that I just read, and he says, this is what's going

to be happening within the context of your life.

And then he takes these verses that we just looked at together, and he says, and this is

how this plays out as a body, as a group of people.

And so let's look at these handful of verses.

And so what we want to see of things that matter, what we need to consider through all this

is, number one, how you view yourself matters, right?

An accurate view of yourself matters.

Know who you are and know who you are not, right?

That's just a good piece of advice for life.

Know who you are and know who you are not.

Romans 12, 3, for by the grace given to me, I say to everyone, everyone among you, not to

think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment,

each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

So here's what Paul does three times.

Here's what he says.

He says, think of himself.

Think.

Think with sober judgment.

And what Paul is saying is this, think about who you are.

The question that is raised in this statement, when we look at the word to think or to think

with sober judgment is how do you, when you look in the spiritual mirror of your life, how

do you view yourself?

What do you see?

And I've been thinking about this is a really good question to ask yourself, but this is

also a really good question to ask those that you're closest with about you and share with

them your answer.

Tell you what, at lunch today, right, families gather up and say this, say who you are, right,

and be interested to see the conversations, right?

So I want to ask this question, how do you view yourself?

Now, many of us oftentimes think of ourselves in an inaccurate way.

I find myself there.

Sometimes this inaccurate way could be in a positive light, right?

We do not have a view of ourselves.

I'm sorry, we have a view of ourselves that is too high and does not match reality.

So I've become, maybe addicted is a strong word, but a TV show that I really, really love.

A TV show called Alone.

How many of you ever watch that, the TV show Alone, right?

So here's the premise, it takes 10 men and women who are survivalists, now my watch is talking

to me, 10 men and women who are survivalists, and it drops them off in an isolated area with

10 items of their choosing that have been approved by the people, and they say, survive, right?

Survive.

Now, if you've never watched it, things you cannot bring, refrigerator, like air conditioner,

right?

You can't bring those things, so sign me off already.

And you watch them survive independently of one another, and the winner of it gets $500,000,

right?

And so it's amazing watching the show, you know only one's going to win, but all 10 of

them think that they can win.

And it becomes really evident, even for somebody like me, from day one, you begin to pick out

like, these three stand a chance, the rest of these, no, no, no, no, no, no, not going

to happen, right?

Why?

Because they have an inaccurate view of themselves.

They think they're the best, and they may be in their context, but compared to higher standard,

not so much.

Now, sometimes, though, we also see ourselves in an inaccurate, negative light, and we view

ourselves in a manner that is too low, and it doesn't match reality, right?

You go back to watching the cartoons with your kids.

I think of this all the time, I can find myself headed in this direction, right?

It's the Eeyore personality, right?

I'm not good enough.

I don't see the good.

I don't see what can happen, and we see this struggle of life that is there.

So what can take place in our life is we can see an inaccurate, positive aspects of

ourselves, or we can see an inaccurate, negative aspect of ourselves.

And so Paul says, though, that how you view yourself matters, but he gives a standard,

and his standard is according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Now, this is powerful.

This is powerful.

It's not how do you view yourself compared to your neighbor.

It's not how do you view yourself compared to your spouse.

How do you view yourself compared to your coworker?

The standard in which we are given is in light of the faith that we have.

So we're to view ourselves in light of the gospel of Jesus, so that when I see myself in the

light of the gospel, it's that.

And what we find is there's encouragement of the reality, right, and then there's the

reminder of the reality.

So when I see myself in the light of the gospel, right, I praise the Lord, I see where I'm growing.

I praise the Lord, I see where I'm gifted.

I praise the Lord, I see where I'm overcoming battles and trials and circumstances in my life.

And I look at that, and I thank God for what God is doing in my life.

But also, when I see myself in the light of the gospel, I also see where I'm not growing

and where I've become stale and stagnant.

I see where God has not gifted me or where I'm gifted but not using those gifts.

And I see where I'm struggling.

And because of grace, I don't respond to that with poor, pitiful me.

It's with the same excitement.

But I bring him before the Lord in repentance.

And so Paul says how you see yourself matters, but the standard is before the Lord in the light

of the gospel.

So I want to ask you this question.

In the light of the gospel, how do you see yourself?

In the light of who Jesus is, and how Jesus has saved you, and what Jesus has called you

to, how do you see yourself?

Not how do you see yourself in comparison with any other person.

How do you see yourself in the light of the gospel?

Where are you growing, and where do you need to grow?

Where are you gifted and serving, and where are you gifted and not serving?

Where are you overcoming, and experiencing the growth in Christ that he has, and where are you

struggling and need to repent?

When we look at discipleship in the body, in the context of serving, in every aspect that

we're going to go through, this is an important part for us, right?

Who are you in the light of the gospel?

But Paul continues on, and so he says, we're going to have a view of ourselves that is good,

right?

We need to have, but now we're going to view ourselves in light of the body of Christ.

So we're going to see in the next couple of verses is how the body of Christ works.

Now, as Paul does other places in scripture, he's going to use a picture, an imagery of

the human body to describe this local group of believers.

So verse 12, verses 4 and 5, he says this, for as in one body we have many members, and

the members do not have all the same function.

So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

So what we see is this, that there is one body, right, filled with many different members,

many different parts, right?

So one body, so I am one body, I am one person, right?

And this body has different parts, my body does.

My arms are different than my legs, my lungs are different than my heart, my eyes are different

than my ears, even the ones that are similar, right?

Like, my toes are different than my fingers, my left hand is different than my right hand,

right?

We see this, and we see that from this, the parts have different functions.

It's pretty interesting.

I saw a video where it said that a person gave up eating with their hands so that they could

learn to eat with their feet.

And so I watched it, right?

Like, deep dive day, you know?

Deep dive.

And I asked myself this question, why?

Why?

Why would you do that?

Like, that's not first date material, you know?

That's not resume material, that's weird material, you know?

Like, that's why God gave you these.

Why would you do that?

But God gives us the different parts to function differently.

And that in our body, so I need my feet, I need my hands, they function differently.

And in order for my body to function in the way that God caused it to function, I need all

of them, right?

Get in an awkward position and let your foot fall asleep and hop up and try to run, like,

we'll learn this life lesson real quick.

Doesn't work well.

So God, as he designs the body, says everything is given in a way to be used in the correct

form in the body so that the body can function the way that it needs to.

And God designed the body, and so he gets the say-so.

And then Paul says, and this is how we're to view one another.

And this is how we're to view ourselves.

And he writes it to the local church context.

And so here's some things that I want us to draw from in this.

When we look at how the body of Christ works, number one, we see the unity of the body, right?

We are called to be one.

It's important that the unity, and this is why we started with the membership.

That, yes, we're different.

Yes, we have different backgrounds.

Yes, we have different gifts.

Yes, we have different passions.

Yes, we have different thoughts.

Yes, we have different perspectives.

Yes, we are different.

But in that, the miracle that God does is he takes a bunch of broken, messed up, jacked up

people, he saves them, he brings them together, and then he says, live as one.

By the way, it's what he does in marriage, too.

And you know, that ain't easy.

But he calls us to unity.

It's who we're to be.

So we see the unity of the body.

But as we just talked about, we see the diversity of the body as well, right?

We are different, and we celebrate that.

We celebrate the diversity in the person and diversity in the giftedness that we're going

to see in each individual, right?

So we celebrate that this group of people could just come up here and do what they did earlier,

and that a large group of us don't need to be anywhere near this, right?

Myself included.

We celebrate that.

We celebrate the diversity that there's a group of people right now sitting down with our little

kids and talking to them and displaying the gospel and showing that.

We celebrate that.

We celebrate the diversity of the body.

We celebrate the diversity of backgrounds.

We celebrate the diversity of perspectives.

We celebrate the diversity of experiences.

We celebrate the diversity, right?

But then we also begin to see the mutuality of the body.

That when we are one and we embrace the differences is when we thrive.

It's not just, oh, they're cute over there doing their stuff.

It's that when we embrace the diversity is when the body thrives, that we understand that the

one who teaches needs the one who greets, and the one who greets needs the one who teaches.

And in every aspect of where we're called, and this is how the body works.

Think about your own house and how that works, right?

Think about how each one of you play your particular role and the comfort that you have in that,

and then what begins to happen as a result of that is your home thrives, right?

What God did when he put Aaron and I together, whoo, we got some differences.

But what happens in that is the effectiveness of the home.

Because my differences don't make me wrong, and her differences make her right,

but our differences make us one, and in that we thrive, right?

So the members of the body cannot work independently of one another in profit.

The next thing I want us to look at is how to view your gifting.

As you are a part of the body, you have been gifted to be a part of the body,

and so based off of what we're seeing, that you are vital to the body.

There's not a one of you that are insignificant.

God does not create insignificant people.

You are significant.

You matter.

You have a part.

You have a place that is key and that is vital to the fulfillment of the Great Commission.

God wired you intentionally to be who you are, to do what you do.

But what matters is how we view our gifting.

Now, what was common in the church then is common in the church today.

That there were people who thought that their gifts elevated them and made them more important.

There were other groups of people who looked at the gifting that others had,

and they began to create within themselves jealousy, which led to anger within them.

Because if I could just be like them.

But what we begin to understand is you're a vital part of the body and how God has gifted you.

So look at the first half of chapter 12, verse 6.

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.

So again, we reiterate, we have gifts that differ.

That's not bad.

Let me say this.

That's not even good.

It's beyond that.

That's essential.

It's essential.

It's essential that we are gifted differently.

But then Paul also says that these gifts are given according to the grace given to us.

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us.

So let's understand the gifts this.

Anytime we hear grace, here's a couple things we can draw from that.

Number one, you and I, we do not deserve the gifts that are given to us.

That's what grace points us to.

We are not deserving of the gifts that God has given us in this life.

It's a part of our surrender of who we are and our submission to him that,

God, you have gifted me.

I do not deserve this.

And so I use them for your name and for your glory.

But also that then these gifts are given and grown through a spiritual means and process.

Right?

It's not just there to say, well, then I do this well and this is who I am.

What we want to see from one another of what is evident is as we go through this discipleship

process and we learn more and more about who we are in our giftedness and we begin to grow

in that, what we understand in that is that's a spiritual work of what God is doing in us.

So at the end of the day, we don't celebrate the fact that we think that we've arrived, but

we celebrate the fact that we celebrate the fact of what God is doing in our life.

Because it's a spiritual process.

But then third, and this may be the most simple thing that I say,

have you ever gotten a gift and then you, you like the gift, you wanted the gift, but in the shuffle,

whether it was Christmas morning or your birthday or a wedding gift, you thought the best place

that I can store this, that I'll always remember where it's at, is in the top of this closet that

I never go into.

Right?

And so you store it away.

And you say, I will always remember that that is there.

And then five years later, you move.

And you go back into that closet to pack up everything that's there.

And that gift that you loved, that gift that you were grateful for, that gift that was given

to you by someone else, not because you deserved it, but because they chose to give it to you,

you go, oh, that's where that gift is.

Let me take it with me.

And then you go to your next house and you think on the way there, I'm going to use this all the time.

And then it goes back up into that closet that you're never going to use,

that's going to get moved at another day in time.

Unfortunately, that's how so many of us approach our gifts when it comes to the church.

Right?

God, you've given this to me.

God, you've called me to this.

God, you've grown me in this.

But I'm just going to continue to store it away.

And store it away.

And store it away.

Look at when Paul continues on through the end of this chapter, how gifting works in discipleship.

Now, I want to say this.

Paul is going to give a list of gifts, but this list does not include all gifts.

Okay?

I think most of us, as I'm going to talk through these, can find in this something that we're gifted,

but this isn't all.

So let's look at the last part of verse 6, I'll give you verse 8.

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, and the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness.

And so Paul gives this list.

I want to kind of explain a little bit what these gifts are so that maybe the Lord begins to do something in your heart.

But I'm going to go through these, and then we'll see how these fit in the context of discipleship.

So he says, he's prophecy.

So what is meant by prophecy, what we understand, it's the communication of truth.

It's, I've heard from the Lord, and let me share with you.

That's the first gift that Paul lists.

And then he says, serving.

Now we're talking a lot about serving, but this is serving in the context of ministering or caring for others.

Those of you who are wired to be a caregiver to individuals, that's what this word means.

The next word that he says is teaching.

And so you think, well, communication of truth is that teaching.

Well, this is more communication of knowledge.

And a way to look at this is a life application of biblical truth.

And so you know these men and women who are like this, right?

They're usually in my life a little bit older, a little bit more seasoned.

And as I walk through journeys of life, they say, let me tell you how I've walked through this

and how God has used this in my life.

Those are wonderful, wonderful teachers.

Right?

Paul lists exhortation, right?

And this is encouraging, but it's a specific form of encouraging where you're encouraging someone to do something, right?

And so it's not just, oh, you're great, right?

No, it's no, no, no.

God has called you and God has gifted you.

So I'm going to challenge you to use that, right?

Oftentimes I view this as like someone that gives great counsel of encouragement into your life.

He talks about the one who contributes and this isn't like the one who's gifted in this.

That's the one who gives the offering.

No, that's not what Paul's talking about.

When we talk about contributes, it means that's the benevolent giving of others, right?

That the person who sees and who is wired with that and that person needs and I give and I give and I give.

He says the one who leads.

Now, this word is the same word that you think in governing, all right?

And so think of people with administrative gifts, the people who look at situations and they say in order for this to happen,

these people need to function here, these people need to function here, these people need to function here.

He talks about the gift of mercy, which is ministering to the sick and the needy.

So Paul says in the context of the church, if you want to find this to be a well-oiled machine for the gospel,

then the people with mercy go serve in that context.

The people with teaching go serve in that context, right?

And what we see are you using your gifts with how God has gifted you in a hand is not trying to be a foot.

And an eye isn't trying to be an ear.

Now, I want to say this.

Sometimes we walk in situations.

Have you ever been in a room that's pitch black dark, right?

I mean, pitch black dark, no light is in there whatsoever.

And you're told to move through something and you can't see.

Do you know what you use?

You use your hands.

Me, I use my shins, right?

Right?

And you use those so you can feel your way through a room.

Sometimes that happens spiritually within context of the body.

Sometimes we see situations where those that are gifted need to step up and to rise because no one else has stepped up.

But the hands and the shin aren't meant to be the eyes.

And so Paul displays this for us, right?

And so this is what we are to do.

So I want to ask you this question.

How are you using your gifts?

How are you using your gifts?

Do you know where you're gifted?

I think one of the failures of the church, I'm talking about the whole church, is that we fail oftentimes in helping men, women, and children find where they're gifted.

So I want to tell you this, if you're sitting here this morning and you're like, Beau, I'm ready to go, but I don't know where God has gifted me.

Come by, get with us.

It's our job to help you find that.

It's our job to help you find where you are gifted and then how you can serve in the context of the body, but also how you can serve in the context of the world in which God has created you.

But I have found that there's three questions that I will typically ask.

And in conclusion, I want to ask these questions to you to help you find where you are gifted.

Number one, what are you passionate about?

What are you passionate about?

God has given you also your passions.

And so there's the things that wake you up in the morning and you can't wait to go and do them, to experience them, to read about them, right?

And that's what you are passionate about.

Ask yourself that question and write down on a piece of paper all of the things that you're passionate about.

But then ask yourself this other question, right?

What are you good at?

What are you good at?

What are those things that just come easy to you and so you're good at doing them?

What are those things that you're passionate about so you work really hard at and you can see improvement and growth in your life?

And when we find what are we passionate about and what are we good at and what are we good at and we can ask ourselves this third question is this, how can God use that?

And what you'll find is this, we have an extremely wonderfully creative God who can take all of the things of this world that we're passionate about, that we're good at, and he can use them for his name and for his glory.

And then we grow in them.

And we come alongside other men and women and we see what discipleship through serving looks like.

Amen?

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

God, Lord, I thank you so much for your word.

Lord, I thank you that you've called us to be a body.

Lord, a body that is connected.

A body that is thriving.

Lord, I think sometimes we think the positioning of our heart listens to the lie of Satan that says, you're not needed.

You're not significant.

They can just do this without you.

But the truth, Lord, of what you have for us is that we are many members called to be one body.

Gifted and given purpose and given passions and given pursuits, Lord, by you.

So that we can use them for your name and for your renown.

And for the sharing of the gospel and the drawing of others near to you.

Lord, for those who have received that gift and they're using it, Lord, thank you, thank you, thank you.

But for those of us, Lord, who have filed it away to the top of a closet to collect dust and be forgotten about.

Lord, I pray that you would wrestle with our hearts.

And that today would not be the day of shame because what we haven't done.

But, Lord, that today would be the day of joy.

Because we're going to go to that spiritual closet and take it out and say, God, how can you use this?

God, how can you use me?

So, Lord, I thank you for your grace and your goodness and your kindness and your mercy.

Lord, I thank you that all of this begins with the command to follow you.

And that, Lord, we would begin in that.

And it's in Jesus' name we pray.

Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.

We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message.

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