Gifting & Equipping | Pastor Drew

What is church success?

What is church success?

How do we measure church success?

There's many different ways that we can look at church success, but Ephesians chapter 4, verses 1 through 16, speak about God's idea for who the church would be.

Ephesians 4:1–16

The first week last week was that unity called to one another is an identifying marker of church success.

Context of Ephesians, political uprising, Jew-Gentile divide amongst people groups who hated each other.

And yet something had happened to where this church now is one in Christ.

And Paul writes this letter to this church that he planted.

He writes this letter to talk about unity.

Unity, this idea of coming together as one, is actually God's idea.

It's not just...

something that Paul wrote.

It was the very thing that Jesus prays about in John chapter 17 when he says, may they be one as you and I are one.

John 17 · chapter mention

He had Jews and Gentiles in mind in that prayer.

But let's extend it beyond Jews and Gentiles to our culture today in the same way that there's a divide amongst the rich and poor, black, white.

As Dr.

Hawkins once said, the idea for one new humanity and what it means to be the new beloved community is that the people who hate each other or at odds in the world are actually one together in Christ.

And he uses even the illustration of extreme leftist...

political people and extreme right MAGA Republicans.

He says that God's idea for the new humanity is that these two opposing groups in the world are one in Christ.

But the reality is we don't see that enough, do we?

So then if we gauge success in churches and we're not seeing people from far ends of the political spectrum together, Is that success according to Jesus' prayer?

And if it's not, it ought to be.

Unity does not mean sameness.

Unity has diversity.

Diversity in thought, diversity in being, diversity in who you are.

Because in all of this, we're able to see the fullness and the vastness and the beauty of who God is.

But we can't do it without each other in a society that writes people off.

categorizes people, as soon as they begin to hear something that sounds like an opposing ideology, Jesus calls us to something different.

Are our churches successful in the world?

Dr.

Martin Luther King said, in the 60s and 70s that the most segregated time in America is Sunday morning.

And I would dare to say that that's true.

And let me say this too.

I'm also not talking about colorful assimilation into the dominant culture.

Diversity without justice is simply window dressing.

There's Christian universities throughout America, right, that put window dressing on their displays, their media, their advertisements.

I know many all across the country, their advertisement.

Man, you see it on TV.

They have these big marketing strategies to reach all these people.

But the reality of what it really is, Yes, it's still very, very colonized.

It's still very, very colonized.

And what's it mean for the people of God to have honest conversations about this?

What's it mean for us to actually be people who say, we're going to trust the spirit of the living God, the one who enters into the world, who in the midst of creation and chaos, hovering over the darkness of the waters.

That same spirit that enters into chaos and brings beauty and unity out of the created order, out of chaos.

the same spirit of the living God that raises Jesus from the dead, the same spirit that on the day of Acts 2 Pentecost falls upon these believers from all around the world, that that same spirit is the same spirit that lives inside of us together as the church, and because that spirit lives in us, there ain't a conversation, there ain't a topic, there's not a pain in history, There's nothing that the church should not be able to talk about.

Is our gospel big enough?

And do we really believe that God is big enough?

This is the context of Ephesians.

Paul is writing this kind of church that's living into this new reality underneath the reign of the Roman rule.

If you have your Bibles, please open your Bibles.

Ephesians chapter 4.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

Ephesians chapter 4, we will read today verses 7 through 12.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

and it reads as follows.

But to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.

Therefore, it says, when he ascended on high, he led the captives, and he gave gifts to the people.

Now, this expression, he ascended, what does it mean except that he also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?

He who descended is himself also he who ascended far above all the heavens so that he might feel all things.

And he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.

Holy Spirit, Would you help us to unite as a church body that you sent Jesus into the world to live, to die, and to resurrect, who currently sits at the right hand of the Father?

in the position of perfect power and authority and dominion.

Father, would you communicate through the Spirit today that right now as believers from different parts of the world, different backgrounds, different ideologies, different political views, that our identity right now is seated in Jesus who is at the right hand of the Father?

As we hear this word today, God, may we know we're already seated there.

We're not working to get seated there.

Our identity is in you, and because it's in you, we are now liberated to live freely for you.

Help us to shed off anything that is not of you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Big buildings, polished programs, and a small team of professionals doing all the ministry while the rest of us watch.

But Paul says that a healthy church doesn't run on a few-do-the-work model.

It's immobilized.

Every believer is gifted and equipped for ministry.

Let me ask you, what if you are the gift?

Jesus wants to give to this church.

And for those of you on the football team who may go to other churches and probably will find some other churches, what is the gift that God has given you for that church that you will belong to or be part of while you're here?

What if your presence and participation are essential to the body's health?

In this passage, we begin to see that Paul writes this letter in verse 7, chapter 4, and he says, he starts off by saying that grace was given to each one of us.

This word, grace, translated into Greek, charis, the word for charity.

In the Greco-Roman world, charis wasn't just a spiritual word.

It wasn't just a word that sounded good.

It was a social word.

This word was a social word, meaning it relates to us all together.

It relates to the society in which we live in together.

It's just not a spiritual word.

It's a word that's also social in nature.

Charity?

Same word.

It's social in nature, how we care for the vulnerable.

Charity.

It meant favor or gift, especially in the context of a benefactor, giving something of value to someone in need.

But in that culture, charis, it implied obligation.

If someone gave you a gift, you were socially bound to return the favor or give honor back to the giver.

Many of us went to Kenya not too long ago and some of us, our paradigms were shifted a little bit because we were in a culture that values honor not individualism.

What's best for the people?

And if somebody offers you something to eat You eat it.

If somebody offers you a gift, you take it.

Here in our culture, individualism, somebody offers us something to eat, nah, I'm good.

I don't want that thing.

Or somebody offers you a gift, you're like, oh, your pride sometimes gets in the way.

It's like, oh, I'm good.

That's not the Scripture.

That is not the culture in which the Bible was written.

In the first century Mediterranean culture, honor was a huge thing.

It was connected to the way in which people treated each other.

It wasn't just me and mine, and I did my thing, and this idea that we have in our culture of personal Savior, and I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, that's very foreign to the scriptures.

saying.

You don't need a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Hear me clearly.

But the personal relationship with Jesus Christ was never disconnected from public witness.

Ever.

That is a very westernized way of thinking individualism and what the enlightenment did to our Christianity.

It compartmentalized this holistic faith in thinking about what it means to be a person.

Well, I'm a person.

Well, I have a head.

I have a body.

Or I have a soul.

I have a body.

I have a spirit.

And what happens is Descartes, Rene Descartes, the Enlightenment, he begins to define what a body is by separating the important parts of the body, right?

But the thing about Rene is he never puts it back together.

And that's part of what's the problem with our faith and our Christianity in the Western culture.

It's never been put back together.

It's never been integrated to understand the wholeness of our connection to one another.

So, my brother, if you are struggling in the first century culture.

You're my brother in Christ.

I'm struggling too.

It ain't you're just doing your thing on that side of the tracks and I'm on this side of the tracks doing my thing and I'm going to pray for you.

No, that's not how that worked.

My peace is directly bound up in your peace and in your peace and in your peace and in your peace.

This is the first century culture in which the Bible was written in.

So we can't sit back and see people suffer and say that's their problem.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

no, no, no, no.

If you don't want to be a biblical Christian, say that.

But if you want to be a biblical Christian, we need to understand the context of the biblical times in which the scriptures were written.

So here we are.

You were socially bound to return the favor or give honor back to the giver.

And so the giver gives the Paul takes that cultural idea and supercharges it.

God gives charis, not because we can pay him back.

Well, because Christ paid it all.

And unlike Roman benefactors who gave gifts to enhance their own reputation, God gives gifts for our transformation.

Let me say it again.

Unlike Roman benefactors and some American benefactors, some people who like to give.

I've been around them.

I've seen them.

They like to give to enhance their reputation.

Many of our non-profits in our communities, they're not because people are just giving giving generous gifts to the nonprofit.

No, no, no, no, no.

The person with a lot of money sometimes, not all the time, there's some good people out here who are generous and give and don't expect anything in return.

But sometimes what happens is they're buying their influence by donating to a nonprofit and then they get to make decisions on where that money goes.

So folks in Marion, Indiana, there's some big nonprofits here with lots of money here in Marion.

And if you want to know why the money typically does not go to black and brown communities, it's because the benefactors don't want it to go there or they'll stop giving Amen.

not a priority.

They don't see the value in it.

Unlike this, benefactors who give gifts to enhance their own reputation, God gives for our transformation.

This grace, it refers to spiritual empowerment, gifts given by Jesus, and it's not just for the talented and the educated or experienced.

No one is left out.

If you belong to Jesus, you are gifted for ministry.

It's the grace of God, that God has given you a gift.

In the context of Ephesians, it's like a football team.

It's like a football team here, right?

And there's much like there's diversity in people that make up the unity in the church.

In the first sermon I preached last week, there's also a diversity of gifts, and there's many gifts, too many to name.

There's a diversity of gifts.

Why?

It's because it takes all of this for the kingdom of God to flourish in the world.

There are many gifts.

And so on the football team, who is a wide receiver?

I was talking to the wide receiver earlier.

My man right there.

My man, wide receiver at the Iowa football team.

Now, what happens if we have a whole defense full of wide receivers?

Now, I'm not saying that some of these brothers and sisters and whoever else is out here playing can't go two ways.

Now, I'm not saying that they might not.

Bro might be like, hold up, dog.

Hold up.

I'll line up on the other side, too.

I get with it, too.

I'm not saying you can't.

But Mostly, if we line up all wide receivers, who's going to throw the ball?

Who's going to block?

Who's the center?

Where's the center?

Man, big fellas, huh?

I mean, my man, you get a big nose tap in front of you coming across you, brother, you might be in trouble, you know what I mean?

We got to have some big fellas here who, you know, doing their thing, you know what I mean?

They doing their thing, they doing their thing.

And so ultimately what I'm saying is it takes all of the gifts on the football team, all of the different positions to play the game.

And in the church, it takes all of the gifts, all of the diverse gifts.

In order for a church to be healthy, we need the diversity of gifts because what happens is we end up leaning on one side or the other and we don't open up to the fullness of who God is.

And so with that, many churches function like that where the pastor preaches, the worship team sings Everyone else watches.

Paul says that's not the church.

He says the church for believers, that grace is tied to God's covenant faithfulness.

For Gentiles, it was more of a social generosity.

In Christ, both groups experience grace as the empowering presence of God flowing into their lives.

This grace is not just a pardon for sin, it's power for service.

The same God who saved you is also the same God that's now enlisting you into service or ministry.

It's not just we get saved and we sit.

No, we get saved, grow in our maturity in Jesus, and we serve.

We can't just do one or the other.

It's all of these things.

Grace flows from God to you so it can flow through you to others.

It doesn't end with you.

It must be extended.

And God gives us grace so that we have gifts to serve others.

You may feel even invisible or unqualified, but if you are in Christ Jesus, you have been graced with something that the body of Christ needs.

So wherever you go, fellas, That church needs you.

Don't just pop in and out when you want to.

I know you got a busy schedule, but wherever you go, there's somehow some way that you can be used in that church.

And not only that, but you need that church.

For some of the folks who've been coming here for a while, coming here hanging out, we want you to hang out.

We want you to learn.

We want you to get to know who we are.

But let me say this.

This church needs you.

It needs your presence.

It needs your gifting.

It needs your love.

It needs your wisdom.

This church needs you.

It ain't just me and a few people on staff.

No, no, no.

We believe that every Christian is called into ministry.

We believe in the priesthood of all believers.

are a Christian, the Holy Spirit has empowered you and has given you gifts to serve.

You're not just saved or sent.

You're not just forgiven.

You are gifted.

The second point here is we got to keep something in mind, that the giver is the king.

The one who gives gifts is the king.

Psalm 68 here is quoted in this passage.

There's this thing that happens.

It says, when he ascended on high, he led captive the captives, and he gave gifts to the people, right?

It's changed a little bit.

This is a psalm that's written by King David, much like another psalm where he talks about himself, right?

And yet it also is looking at Jesus, the suffering servant.

Christology is being read into Paul's life.

Paul is looking back through the lens of Christ and seeing history through Christ as the true king, as the true Messiah, as the true Savior.

See, there's these things, even we can connect this to Moses even.

Moses goes up to the mountain, he receives the law, right?

He's given a gift to take back to the people.

But let's be clear here, the true king is one who is greater than David and also greater than Moses, and his name is Jesus.

He is King Jesus He's the one that gives the gifts.

Psalm 68 is a victory psalm where the conquering king takes the spoils of war and then shares them with his people.

In ancient culture, when a king won a battle, he would lead a victory parade into the city displaying the treasures taken from the enemy and distributing some of those treasures to his subjects.

Paul says that Jesus is that king.

He descended into our broken world, took on our sin, defeated death, and then ascended to heaven, not to hoard his victory, but to share it through spiritual gifts.

Your gift isn't random, church.

It's part of the...

Victory package.

You know, some packages they give out when you go to school or you go to work.

Some of y'all got a job, you got to work, you move somewhere, you took a job, and you're like, what's my compensation package, right?

Some of y'all on scholarship or got some money, or some of y'all might have to advocate and say, hey, y'all, this package ain't going to work.

Admissions, we got to get this money right.

Coach Rhodey, hey, Coach Rhodey, I need them dollars.

I need them dollars, bro.

I'm already going to be in debt.

I understand what's going on, Coach, but I need some more dollars.

Some of y'all quiet like, yeah, I just had this conversation with you last week.

Coach Brady was like, shut up, pastor.

Don't stop.

Stop right now.

Just stop talking right now.

I don't even want to think about it, pastor.

But that package, your gifts are part of of King Jesus' victory package.

The picture is of a victorious king returning from battle, distributing the spoils to his people.

He descended.

Jesus came down into our brokenness, lived among us, suffered and died.

He ascended.

He rose in victory, conquering death and sin and hell.

He sits at the right hand of God, sends his Holy Spirit down to the disciples.

He shares his victory with his people through spiritual gifts.

This means that your gift is not just a tool, it's a sign of the resurrection.

When you use your gift, you are participating in Christ's victory over darkness.

In the same way last week that I said that when we can't unite as people from different backgrounds, it's a lie on God.

It's so bad you know why it's so bad because it lies on the power of the gospel when we get caught up in some of these things that we can't move towards one another in what happens is is it makes God out to be a liar and we stay divided and we don't move towards things and we don't talk about difficult things because we have too small of a gospel in the same way when we don't serve and use our spiritual gifts we're saying that Jesus ain't won the victory yet And sometimes what happens is we begin to live defeated lives.

We live defeated lives sometimes.

And then it's like we don't know what to do.

But the reality is, serving with the gifts that God has given us is evidence that King Jesus has won it all.

Christ gives his gifts, gives people as his gifts.

The next point, verse 11 here it says, and he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers.

These are not celebrity titles, y'all.

They are equipping roles for the church, church leadership.

There are people who have particular gifts to equip church, and there's more gifts than this.

But these gifts are unique in the way in which they function, and they're needed in the church.

And so he gave some apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors.

I grew up in a Pentecostal church where everybody was an evangelist that came to the church.

We had apostles all the time coming in.

We had prophets so and so that came in and prophesied.

Now what I don't understand in the church I grew up in is the prophet never spoke truth against power.

It was always trying to make somebody feel good so then the pastor could come forward with a fundraiser.

I just didn't understand what was going on.

I'm just saying that was just some of my experience.

It's more than that though.

It's not about having a title.

It's the fact that God has given gifts to people, to real human beings and bodies, that God gives you a gift.

You're a person who has a gift for a reason.

And so they're equipping roles to help strengthen the church.

And so go to the next slide while you're there.

Consider this.

Here's an acronym for this.

A means apostle, prophet, teacher, evangelist, shepherd.

And if you're Baptist, if you have Baptist...

background, you would know then that you got to put teacher and shepherd together, right?

You got to put pastor and teacher together if you're from the Baptist background.

So it's actually four, but for the sake of what we're doing today, we're going to talk about all five.

Here they are.

So what do these things do?

What do these people do or these gifts?

How do these gifts function in the church?

Now, there's more gifts, but for the sake of this, this is about leadership and people being in the church using these gifts to help strengthen the body.

Go to the next slide.

So So apostles, let's start there.

They're pioneers.

They kind of start something, start a new movement, a new mission, or a new ministry that doesn't currently exist.

They kind of, they'll just go do it, right?

They'll go start something, right?

Sometimes they're church planters who break new ground for particular reasons.

But it's not just church planters.

There's people who have an inkling to start ministry.

I sometimes wonder if that's not the apostleship gift working through people.

I believe it is.

But that's an apostle.

People that you see that start new things, they have a heart for something, for a particular purpose, and they want to start it.

That's part of the apostle gift, and you don't get churches without apostles.

Paul was an apostle.

Next one.

Prophets.

These are the people who are truth-tellers, right?

Now, you read the biblical prophets.

When they come to town, they come to handle the Lord's business.

And it's because of love.

It's actually because of God's heart and God's covenant with His people that prophets have this thing within them that they can't just be sitting around living in lies, living in play.

They don't just sit around and just live in delusional state.

They say things that are truthful, and they do it because they love God and they desire to see the people of God whole.

But as long as we keep living in lies, we can't be whole.

And so that's what you have.

You got to have the prophets in the church.

There's been moments where there's people in this congregation I think about right now that have said some things when we needed to hear it.

And some of us didn't like it.

They're keeping the church aligned with God's heart.

There's more to it than this, but this is basic.

The next one, evangelists, bold sharers of the gospel who invite others in.

They're about proclaiming and demonstrating the gospel.

They don't want to just tell you about it.

They want to show you.

They talk about it, and they also do it, right?

Or there are people who are thinking about others.

people, and they're always trying to invite more people in.

I think about some people in this church right now.

It's like if we were to start something tomorrow, I got a sister in the church right now.

She'd be like, can we invite some other people?

I know it's always about more.

Now, I'm like that too.

I think that more is marrying.

Some of y'all are like, hold up.

That ain't good.

That ain't good now.

Too much.

It's got to be, you know, we got to have a focus now.

We got to just, you know.

I admire evangelists because you don't grow without these people.

There's evangelists in this congregation.

Some of you all are evangelists.

And you're so much more than the gift, but the gift is part of who you are.

You have a heart for people, and you want to include them, right?

Next one, shepherds.

Now, shepherds, they care.

They're soul care leaders who protect and nurture.

They think about pathways of growth, pathways of discipleship, how to help people learn, right, how to help people grow.

They care for people, care for the welfare of people they want to see people whole and well so the evangelist is trying to bring people in and the pastor might be like hey in this situation we need to kind of keep this with just a few of us because there's some things that we need to address and we don't want to have other people to hurt the witness of the church and we want people to open up right there's times for that and that's a pastor pastor ronnie called me yesterday he's a pastor he called in just to check on my well-being Melissa Sprock, she has the gift of a pastor.

She's someone who cares for people.

There's these gifts, and you don't have to be pastor so-and-so.

You can just be Austin, who happens to be an evangelist, right?

It doesn't have to be this, right?

I also, in this time, particularly as it relates to women, don't want to deny that.

I think that's important.

Next one.

Here's the last one.

Teachers.

Instructors who ground the church in truth.

People who want to communicate truth to the people so that they learn.

Now, I think one of the things that's distinctive for me is I think about teachers in the church versus teachers in the academic world or in other places.

Teachers are like rabbis in the church They communicate truth.

But rabbis spend time with you.

Rabbis let you walk with them.

They let you into your life.

They let you into their life, right?

Teachers in the world, sometimes they teach in the classroom and they go home and that's it, right?

They're not letting anybody into their life.

Well, a rabbi walks with people, spends time with people, teaches them truth, but also allows you to see them live it out.

I think that's important as we think about teachers.

And so with that, church, these are leaders, and these leaders are not here to do all the ministry.

But these particular functions are actually here to equip the church, to empower, to encourage, to strengthen others to walk out in their gifting.

But if we're not present with each other, how come this doesn't happen?

Right?

Next slide.

Next point.

Go back.

The goal.

The goal here is equipping.

It's bodybuilding.

Anybody do some bodybuilding in here?

Anybody doing working out in here?

I ain't pointing nobody out.

But it ain't just men either, y'all.

I just want to say that.

I know some women who are strong.

I know some women who, I got some of my family who are bodybuilders now.

Might slam one of y'all over here, you know what I'm saying?

And so with that, the goal of all of this is bodybuilding.

Bodybuilding by equipping every believer for the work of ministry.

Ministry is just not for a few.

It's not just for those who have titles.

Every person in the church has a gift and calling.

And we've got to have these people actually operating in the church to actually mobilize the church.

And so with that, the purpose is to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

Equip, restore, prepare, or even make fully functional is the original meaning.

It was used to describe bending fishing nets, setting broken bones, or outfitting a ship for a voyage.

In order for our church to be healthy, we've got to have people in the church who are equipping us and helping us to become healthier.

This means that leaders are not called to entertain, but to prepare the people of God to function fully in their God-given roles.

This is the heart of the passage in the hinge between week two and three of our series.

Equip, to train, to restore, to usefulness.

It's the same word used for mending fishing nets.

The saints are all believers.

You are a saint not because you're perfect, but because you're set apart by God and Jesus Christ.

If we had to be perfect, you wouldn't see me here.

I promise you that.

Some of y'all, I'll tell y'all, I'll share my story with you sometime.

You'd be like, man, what?

You're a pastor.

I'm just Andrew that just happens to pastor, right?

That's it.

I'm just Andrew that just happens to pastor, but it's not for the perfect because we're set apart for God.

The work of ministry is not just preaching or mission work.

It's any spirit-led service that builds others up.

Paul says a church is successful when the leaders are equipping, the saints are ministering, and the whole body is being built up.

Many American churches measure success by how many people watch a few work.

Paul measures success by how many people are doing the work together.

Church, my hope is that everyone in here would feel called, would be equipped, and would be empowered to do ministry.

Now, let me say this because next week we're going to go there.

We also want to be healthy.

We want to mature, which is next week.

I'm talking about maturity and fullness.

We don't want to operate out of an unhealthy place.

And there's some times I've been in ministry, I had to sit down for a little while, wasn't in a good place, early on particularly.

And you know what?

It helped me out later to do that then.

I had to work through some things, and God also wants us to be healthy and mature.

And so because of that, the church is not a cruise ship where a small crew serves a bunch of passengers.

It's a battleship, and everyone has a station.

Imagine a church where former inmates mentor youth.

Retired folks teach young families how to budget.

I don't know about you.

I grew up poor.

I still don't know how to budget today.

That's right, I said it.

The good thing is I ain't over finances.

Teenagers lead worship and pray over adults.

Immigrants teach Bible studies in their heart language.

Survivors of addiction help others find freedom.

That is gifting and equipping, and that is what God calls a healthy church.

In response, I got three things here, three Ds.

Four, actually.

Discover your gift.

Ask, what has Jesus uniquely given me to help the body grow?

And it's not just about numbers.

It's actually maturity.

Sometimes we can grow here, and we ain't nothing but an inch deep.

Can't endure no kind of difficult conversations.

Matter of fact, we stay away from difficult conversations, and we say that's political.

Caring for people is political?

I guess Jesus didn't feed folks.

I guess Jesus didn't heal people.

I guess Jesus didn't step over tables when people were being treated unfairly.

I guess that didn't happen.

No, the politics is Jesus' kingdom, not the earthly kingdoms of the world.

Discover your gift.

What has Jesus uniquely given me to help the body grow?

Develop your gift.

You can throw out a connect card in the lobby and say, I want to grow in my gift.

I want to learn what my gift is.

We have ways that we can do that.

Three, deploy your gifts.

Start serving where you are.

What ministry are you already serving in, and what are the gifts that you have that you want to grow in?

But four, I think this is also important for the sake of this sermon, designate someone else who has apest giftings.

That's the apostle, the prophet, the evangelist, the shepherd, and the teacher.

Shepherd and teaching are the same thing.

In the lobby area, there's a black table, and it just says apest, and it's got a...

What I'm asking our church, oftentimes what we think about is just us and like the gift I have and I need to find out my gifting and go take an assessment.

In the first century, they didn't have these assessments.

What people had the Holy Ghost, they had the Holy Spirit and they began to grow in their gifts and people might say, hey, because it's an honor culture, communal, social, hey, I see this in you, right?

Hey, I see, now sometimes everybody wants to see you as a pastor and that's bad too, right?

I had people do that early on.

Now, it led me there, but I started asking, like, just because I gave my life to Jesus doesn't make me a pastor.

Man, I just want to follow Jesus.

Maybe I want to follow Jesus and be a coach like Coach Rhodey, right?

Coach Rhodey doesn't have to be a pastor in a church, but the work that he's doing, he's caring for the football team.

Amen, Coach Rhodey?

He doesn't have to be a pastor in this setting, but if you care for people, that is the function of a shepherd.

And so what I want you to do is designate someone else that you see has one of those five gifts that I mentioned.

Apostle, start new things.

Prophet, they speak truth.

These people are artists oftentimes, too.

They're creative.

Evangelists, somebody who cares about seeing people come to know Jesus.

Shepherds, people who care for others well, and teachers.

And I'm going to invite the church in the lobby area, in that black table, to just write somebody's first name down.

And we'll begin to pray about this.

And so in this, in closing, I want to invite our prayer team forward.

I want to invite our prayer team forward.

We're going to play a song, and we're going to give people an opportunity to respond today.

Maybe you want prayer around what I said or something else.

Maybe you're saying, hey, Pastor Drew or Drew, you're stepping on my toes, and I need prayer about this.

Because there are some things that God has called me to, right?

I want you to feel invited to come forward for prayer as we listen to music.

Father, we just thank you, God.

We thank you that in Jesus, everything has been conquered.

Sin, death, oppression.

And yet we live in a world where we experience a reality that challenges your reality.

And so right now, God.

Jesus is in heaven right next to the father.

And your word tells us that you feel all things.

And the things that you want to feel in the earth you've already done in Jesus, but you also invite us.

you invite us to be a reflection of the reality that we are part of the way in which you are filling the earth with goodness.

And so right now, God, I pray for each and every person in here that you would move in our hearts, that you would call us to yourself deeper in mission, deeper in Christ, further in mission, and that we would surrender and give you back what's already yours.

In Jesus' name, amen.