March 23, 2025 • 30 mins
The local church works best when each member uses their gifts for the glory of God and the good of others. When people aren't playing their part in the church, something will inevitably fall through the cracks.
• Growth often exposes areas of our church that need attention
• Challenges should be viewed as opportunities to strengthen our community and service
• The apostles prioritized prayer and preaching while delegating other important tasks
• Leadership isn't about doing all the work but equipping others to serve effectively
• Everyone has a gift to use, though not everyone is called to preach
• When people do their jobs faithfully, the Word of God increases and disciples multiply
• No job is too little - each role carries eternal significance
• The church is not a spectator sport but a place where everyone participates
If you're not currently serving, we have a place for you!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And so this morning Hunter's going to bring the word
.
But I will say you know, youtry to train up, you know these
younger pastors and stuff, and Ijust want you to notice, today
I've got my UK tie on andHunter's shirt looks shockingly
close to Arkansas color.
So, brother Bill, what are wegoing to do with you?
(00:20):
Acts, chapter 6, we're makingour way, verse by or section by
section, I should say, throughthe book of Acts, and the word
of the Lord says this.
Now, in these days when thedisciples were increasing in
number, a complaint by theHellenists arose against the
(00:40):
Hebrews because their widowswere being neglected in the
daily distribution.
And the 12 summoned the fullnumber of the disciples and said
it is not right that we shouldgive up preaching the word of
God to serve tables.
And therefore, brothers, pickout from among you seven men of
(01:01):
good repute, full of the spiritand wisdom, whom we will appoint
to this duty.
But we will devote ourselves toprayer and to the ministry of
the word.
And what they said pleased thewhole gathering.
And they chose Stephen, a manfull of faith and of the Holy
Spirit, and Philip and Procorusand Nicanor and Timon and
(01:24):
Parmenas and Nicholas, aproselyte from Antioch, and
these they set before theapostles and they prayed and
laid their hands on them and theword of God continued to
increase and the number of thedisciples multitude greatly in
Jerusalem and a great many ofthe priests became obedient to
(01:45):
the faith.
It's the word of God for thepeople of God.
You may be seated.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
First words that come out of Pastor Chris's mouth and
he's trying to cause trouble Iwill say this that I may have
Arkansas colors on, but he isdressed up just like John
Calipari today.
Alright, enough of that, let'spray.
(02:21):
Heavenly Father, god, I come toyou today as a man who is not
worthy to preach your word.
But, god, I ask for your graceand your mercy, and I pray that
the Holy Spirit resonates withour heart today.
In Jesus' name, we pray amen.
(02:42):
So, out of texting back andforth with Josh last night, I
titled this sermon Growing Pains, and if you're apparently from
the 80s, there's a show calledthe Growing Pains.
Well, I am not from the 80s, soI did not know that, so sorry.
And Pastor Chris said thatobviously I know a lot about
growing pains as being 6'8".
So here we are.
(03:04):
A lot about growing pains asbeing six foot eight.
So here we are.
But you have a notepad or a notesheet or something like that.
I want you to do me a favor.
I want you to write down howyou serve in your local church
If you're not from this church,hopefully you have a local
church that you do go to andwhat ministry do you serve in?
What gifts from God do you useto help build up the body of
(03:25):
Christ?
Now, if you can't think of any,I want to encourage you today
that hopefully, this messagewill move you to be able to
serve.
And if you're like, well, Ijust don't know what my gifts
are, pastor Ron has a greatlittle worksheet that helps you
(03:46):
figure out what your gifts are,and it's very practical and easy
to go through.
But I will say this that ourchurch will never reach its
maximum potential unless thebody serves.
God has gifted every person inthis church with a gift For the
church to maximize theirpotential.
(04:07):
Every member must play theirpart and use that gift.
I want you to imagine this I'ma football guy, it's basketball
season, so I just get through.
But I want you to imagine thisthat a church is a football team
and every player has a specificposition and a role to play
(04:27):
during the game.
However, if one player fails tofulfill their duties or is in
the wrong position or doesn'tshow up altogether, I want you
to think how it disrupts theentire play.
I want you to think how itdisrupts the entire play.
(04:47):
For instance, a wide receiverrunning the wrong route or a
running back not taking thehandoff or the quarterback just
miscommunicates the playaltogether.
All of these things will leadto loss of yards.
As a former football coach anda player, I can assure you this
that if a single player fails toperform, then the entire play
(05:11):
is affected.
The loss can be negative if theteam lacks unity.
Unity and collaboration areessential for a football team's
success, and the same principleapplies to the church.
Imagine what we could do if wewould unite and work together
(05:33):
towards a common goal.
To be clear, the main point ofthe sermon today is that the
local church works best wheneach member uses their gift for
the glory of God and the good ofothers.
Inside this text we see thesame principle, namely, when
(05:55):
people are not playing theirpart in the church, it's out of
limp.
Someone or something is goingto fall through the cracks One
day.
We do all want to hear welldone, good and faithful servant,
and if you are serving now,then I do want to say thank you,
and our church cannot operatewithout you, and if you are not
(06:16):
using your gifts, then you aretruly missing out, and I want to
encourage you today to be apart of the success that God is
doing here.
Starting with Acts 6.1, it saysNow, in these days, when the
disciples were increasing innumber, a complaint by the
Hellenist arose against theHebrews because their widows
were being neglected in thedaily distribution.
(06:39):
Point one for today is going tobe the challenge of growth.
The early church was expandingat a rapid pace.
I would go back through and I'dread all the occasions, but I
do feel like Pastor Chris hasdone a satisfactory job going
through the book of Acts so far.
You're welcome.
The early church was growing ata rapid pace.
(07:04):
3,000 people were saved at theday of Pentecost and you have to
think Pentecost was right afterthe celebration of Passover, so
Jews from all over the placewere coming into the city.
A group called the Hellenistsare from the area around Judea,
(07:24):
and then you see another groupin this text called the Hebrews.
Well, they're from Jerusalem.
The Hebrews speak Hebrew andthe Hellenists speak Greek.
You've got to think when we arein Passover, all these people
are in the city and thenPentecost happens not too far
after that, peter preaches adynamite message and 3,000
(07:46):
people get saved, and some ofthose people have to be a part
of the Hellenist group so theydo not travel home, they're
staying in the city.
Could you imagine what kind ofproblem that would have?
You have family members comeover for Thanksgiving and you
preach and they get saved andyou're like you know what.
You did a really good job atpreaching.
(08:06):
I love this Jesus guy and we'renot going home.
My family lives in town and Idon't want that.
You're welcome, mom.
This has to cause a problem.
(08:30):
Twelve men are in charge now ofnot just finding a place to
worship, preparing meals or theLord's Supper.
Twelve men have to now makesure that everyone who has needs
is taken care of.
In chapter 4 it says that 5,000men are part of the church.
(08:51):
Well, most scholars will saythat if you include women and
children, this would be up to20,000 people inside the body.
That's a lot of growth in justsix chapters.
So now, not only do I have3,000 people to take care of,
now I have upwards to 20,000people to take care of.
(09:13):
There are five pastors in thischurch and we pastor a church of
100-ish people and I havetrouble remembering everyone's
name.
I'm great with faces, but namesnot so much.
Imagine 20,000.
Not only are they trying tomake sure that needs are met,
(09:34):
people are housed, communion isserved and that the Word of God
is being preached, toreconstruct the Jewish mindset
that Jesus has now fulfilled theOld Testament.
They now have to help peoplewho are needy, especially here,
at the widows, where there wasno health care system, no social
(09:55):
welfare, no insurance policies,social security.
Without the church at this time,widows, without the
distribution of goods, would die.
Do you see why there's aproblem here?
And I'm exhausted just readingthat off?
(10:16):
With growth comes challenges.
So that complaint arose becausesome widows were being
overlooked in the dailydistribution of good.
This just wasn't a logisticalissue, it threatens the unity of
the church.
Read it again Now.
(10:36):
In these days when the discipleswere increasing in number, a
complaint rose.
Not just they walked intoPeter's office and said hey, hey
, peter, there's some widowshere that's not being taken care
of A complaint rose, bickeringamongst the group Now that's a
sermon for another day ofgossiping and bickering and
complaining.
Oh, pastor, chris handled thatone, but without the apostles,
(11:04):
but without the apostles takingcare of these widows,
significant damage would be done.
So I want you to think all thisgrowth and everybody prays for
growth, thanks of growth oncerevival comes, and then growth
will come.
And I'm going to be honest, I'mthe one who's always the
(11:28):
realist and says, well, growthis coming and there's problems.
But this sermon has definitelyconvicted me.
Through my study that's whatit's good for.
I want to say this Growth oftenexposes areas of our church
that need attention.
You heard Pastor Jerry saideverybody scoot up and scoot
(11:49):
towards the wall.
I came to this church 10 yearsago I never thought seating
would be a problem, neverthought we'd have a problem in
the parking lot.
I never thought we'd have toomany kids and not enough workers
.
Growth often exposes areas thatneed attention.
(12:10):
But rather than viewingchallenges as problems, we
should view them asopportunities to strengthen our
community and in service.
Just think what we can do.
If our mindset is not set to,how do we solve a problem?
But how do we come together andcapitalize on the opportunity,
(12:34):
not just the opportunity to grow, but the opportunity to
strengthen our community andservice for the glory of God?
Point two is the wisdom ofdelegation.
Every leader's favorite worddelegation.
(12:54):
The apostles recognized theirprimary calling to prayer and
the ministry of the Word.
Hp Charles says it like this achurch would be just a normal
everyday charity organization.
But what makes the churchdifferent than every other
charity organization?
(13:14):
The gospel is the heart andsoul and the center of the
church.
He also says it like this muchother charity organizations can
put a new suit on a man, butthere's only one organization
that can put a new man in thesuit and that's the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
And that is what the church andthe apostles have to understand
(13:40):
.
And they had to step, put theirfoot down and they said serving
the tables are importantbecause if not, people die.
Distribution of goods is veryimportant, but it is not right
in verse that we should give uppreaching the word of God to
serve tables.
Because they realize that theheart of the church is to do
(14:05):
what it's to preach and teachthe gospel of Jesus Christ.
They're not saying we wouldnever serve tables because they
have been to 3,000, 5,000,20,000 people, but they're
saying that there's thingsfalling through the cracks, not
just widows not being served,but other things are falling
(14:27):
through the cracks and they aregoing to stand against and say
that it is not going to be theWord of God that falls through
the cracks.
So sometimes it feels like thatthings just fall out of our
hands and that we can't grabthem all, but it's because the
pastors of churches want toensure that the gospel is being
(14:49):
proclaimed.
There was a wise man once saidno one can do everything, but
everyone can do something.
Leadership isn't about doingall the work, it's about
equipping others to serveeffectively.
That wise guy was John Calperryover there.
I do take notes.
Pastors have to be able todelegate and let the body serve
(15:14):
the body.
It is not the job of the pastorto be the modern day CEO,
manager, marketing, professionalcounselor, go on and on,
janitor, it's not their job, andI know that this you're saying.
Well, he might only work twodays a week.
I've been in that man's office.
He works more than two days aweek Because he normally pawns
(15:35):
some of it off on me.
He can't do his job if he doeseverything else, because
everyone in this church iscalled to serve.
Churches around the world arecalled to serve, but there are
few who are called to preach theWord of God and that us as a
(15:56):
body.
If an outsider would hear this,they're saying well, this
sounds like they're trying toget out of a job.
I can guarantee you not,because I worked on this for
five weeks and he has to do hisin a week.
And I cried over this.
I can't think of the words I'mtelling you.
(16:20):
The church body has to standtogether, serve one another,
because it is the organizationthat sees not just the gospel by
declaration, but bydemonstration.
The gospel is not just wordsthat come out of a mouth, but
it's by the actions that weserve one another with.
Jesus did not only serve themwith words and a sermon on the
(16:46):
mount, but he also healed theirphysical needs, fed them when
they were hungry and took careof them.
Now that's a message to thepastors as well.
You have to be able to delegate.
You can't be holding thingstight and say that I'm going to
do this.
Nobody else is going to touchit.
There's pastors like that aswell, but I'm going to ensure
(17:07):
you that that's not how we arehere.
If you want a job, we'll giveit to you.
Everyone has a gift to serve.
Not everyone is called topreach.
You may not even be able toserve tables, but you do have a
gift.
We had a dear lady in thischurch named Darlene, who served
(17:30):
through her sickness andthrough her ailments.
I used to co-op here in highschool, so I'd come here after
they would let us go from schooland she'd be sitting in her
office and she always greeted mewith a smile.
She had carpal tunnel, herhands had like the witch's
fingers, you know from all thearthritis, and she was in pain.
But what I can guarantee youabout Darlene is she was always
(17:54):
smiling, she always asked me howI was doing and she knew every
person in this church Name, lastname, address, social security
number no, I'm just kiddingabout that one, but she knew
everything about you.
She'd be like do you know?
So-and-so, we need to pray forthem.
I'm like you got a picture.
(18:17):
Darlene would stand when shehad her back problems at our
door and she would lean on hercane and she would greet you
with a smile and then, when shegot too sick to do that, she
would stand at our welcome tableand sit on the stool.
Once she'd welcome our newguests.
You may not be able to servetables, but you can do something
.
When someone doesn't do theirpart, other people of the church
(18:41):
have to do their part.
Meaning I was a football coach,jerry, you're a football coach.
You know this.
When a lineman doesn't show up,I have to put in the backup
quarterback to play line.
And what happens when I do that?
My quarterback dies and I'mover there screaming on the
sideline do your job.
(19:01):
And the kids look scaredbecause I'm a giant screaming at
them.
Y'all think I'm joking.
Where's Randy Rosenbaum?
He knows I got kicked out ofone time when Randy was there.
I did.
But when I have to say we needhelp in this area and you're not
(19:25):
feeling it but you do itbecause you're awesome people
this causes burnout Because 20%of the people do 80% of the work
and that's a worldly statistic.
That happens in every otherorganization, but sadly that has
crept inside the church.
Our pastors at this churchcan't let it stand.
We want 100% of people doing100% of the work.
(19:47):
That's the native of thechurch's job.
Being a Christian is not titleonly, but it's by action as well
.
It's the life that we live andthe service that we walk unto.
I will promise you this if eachof you will use your gifts to
(20:08):
serve the local body on aregular basis, I promise you
that you would never go hungryon a Sunday or Wednesday, ever
again.
Or when your family's in needand pastors have to be called to
the help.
I promise you that they wouldnot.
You would not go hungry,because the pastors are supposed
to devote themselves to prayand the preaching of the Word,
(20:30):
and they can't do that all thetime.
Pastors sometimes have to writetheir sermons on the way to
work.
That's not only dangerous butit's ineffective.
It's true, that's a publicservice announcement.
I want to say this they choseseven men to serve, full of the
(20:52):
spirit, wisdom and of wisdom andof good repute.
I have a hard time having agood reputation amongst five
people, let alone 20,000, so thechurch had to come among
themselves, amongst 20,000people, and find seven men full
of good reputation, full of theSpirit and of wisdom to oversee
(21:15):
this ministry.
I want leaders who arepassionate about the job that
they're doing.
No job is too little.
No job is too little.
No job is too big.
Everybody thinks that a churchfunctions off of two main people
(21:36):
the person standing behind thispulpit and the person standing
behind the guitar.
I'm going to promise you thatthat's not the case.
I want my children's leaders tobe passionate about children
preaching the gospel to children.
I want my ushers to takecontrol of the service, to make
sure people are comfortable toworship God in a comfortable
(21:56):
setting.
I want my security guards to bepassionate about security so I
can stand here and not worryabout getting shot.
I don't want people to do jobsthey're not passionate about,
because you know why that meansyou're not doing the job, you're
doing it just to fill the spot.
But there's something thatyou're passionate about and if
(22:17):
we don't have the ministry, Ipromise you you can lead it.
Third thing we see in this textis the result of full
participation Acts 6, 5 through7.
And what they said pleased thewhole gathering and they chose
Stephen and a bunch of peoplewho I can't pronounce their
(22:38):
names of, and they sat beforethe apostles and they prayed and
they laid their hands on themand the word of God continued to
increase and the number ofdisciples multiplied greatly in
Jerusalem and a great many ofthe priests became obedient to
the faith.
(22:58):
The church's response to theneed and the response of the
apostles was beautiful.
They agreed and they selectedgodly men and they laid their
hands on them for commission ofservice.
So what was the result of this?
Well, widows' needs werefulfilled.
(23:19):
We don't see in the textanymore that widows went hungry.
The action of the apostlessolved the physical need.
But we also see that aspiritual need here, or a
spiritual result, occurred aswell Verse 7,.
And the word of God continuedto increase and the number of
(23:40):
disciples multiplied greatly.
God was adding to the churchday by day, because God will
never let His word come backvoid.
But when people do their jobsand their acts and service and
we become the hands and feet ofJesus, the word of God continued
to increase and the number ofdisciples multiplied greatly.
(24:04):
When pastors are able to dotheir jobs, people's lives are
transformed.
But it's not just because thepastor doing their job, it's
because other people are serving, allowing the pastor to do
their job.
And you may say that's dumb.
Okay, but imagine if the 12were still serving tables and
(24:24):
Paul walks along and now he'shaving to jump in and serve
tables.
And Paul walks along and nowhe's having to jump in and serve
tables.
We wouldn't have most of ourNew Testament.
He couldn't have gone onmissionary journeys to the point
where he was hand in hand andhandcuffed with guards in the
(24:45):
Roman emperor's home or palaceBecause he was able to do his
jobs.
The well-known world at thetime got to hear the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
When the church functions infull participation, with every
member serving in their role.
(25:05):
The impact is profound.
The word of God multipliesgreatly.
I've been on a football kick,so we're just going to keep
going.
When a team comes togetherunified, you see the opposite of
(25:28):
what happened in the beginning.
A team does their job, and theyknow their roles and they play
their parts and they give effort.
The plays don't go backward,but they go forward.
Yards equals first downs, firstdowns equals touchdowns,
touchdowns equals victories, andvictories equals Super Bowl
wins.
You know, the cool thing abouta Super Bowl win, though, is
(25:49):
that everybody on the team getsa ring.
You're like duh, but did youknow that?
The equipment manager gets aring, and the water boy gets a
ring, and the one who managesthe team store gets a ring, and
the people who work the frontgate gets a ring, the janitor
who swept up after the game getsa ring, and sometimes even the
(26:12):
player's wives get rings.
There's not a job that is toosmall, because I'm going to tell
you right now I worked for UKand I did their front gate, and
without us, people wouldn't havebeen let into the stadium, and
without people selling teammerchandise or food, people
wouldn't have stayed long andwithout a clean facility, people
wouldn't have showed up.
If people weren't there on thesidelines to give equipment,
(26:37):
then people would get hurt andthen your team would have never
made the Super Bowl.
It takes all the members of theteam, serving in their roles,
that they are called to, withtheir giftings, to be victorious
.
The church is not a spectatorsport.
It's not about a few doing thework while others watch.
(26:58):
Like the early church, we arecalled to serve together with
our gifts, and when we do thegospel, advances and needs are
met and God is glorified.
Call to action.
The pastors here at Real LifeCommunity Church are not meant
to minister alone as a church,to walk side by side with people
(27:24):
.
Without the help of our greatvolunteers, people would fall
through the cracks.
And if you're having troublefilling out that piece of paper
I asked you to in the beginning,I'm sure we have a place for
you and you can be a part ofthis great work that God's doing
.
I'm going to say this Two weeksago we had a couple weeks ago
(27:47):
we had a kid in our children'sministry, come to Christ.
I don't know who the leader was, who taught the sermon or
taught the lesson or prayed witha child I don't know who it was
but you know what they did dothey sacrificed being inside
Sunday morning service and nowthere's eternal stakes on the
(28:08):
line.
I came to church Friday to workon my sermon, preached to an
empty room so I wouldn't benervous and it didn't work.
But as I walked out the door mykids cried and they was like,
where are you going?
And I said I'm going to church.
And then they got excited thatthey're going to church and I
(28:28):
said I'm going to church, you'renot going to church.
And then they got excited thatthey're going to church and I
said I'm going to church, you'renot going to church.
And then they cried again.
But the reason is is that mykids love this place and it's in
spite of me.
I try to get them to lovethings that I love and then they
hate them, because that's thenature of being children.
But they love this place, andwhy?
It's because people servedownstairs and they make them
(28:50):
love this place.
You are doing something with mychildren that is at eternal
value and please don't if you'renot feeling it, because my
children's stake are on the linewith eternal value.
But if you're sitting in hereand you have a love for children
(29:11):
.
They're missing out becauseeternal value is on the line.
That's my kids, that's some ofyour kids.
Someone who is grinning at thefront door has a long desire to
(29:32):
show people that life is not allfrowns.
And there are some people inhere who may not do anything,
who know that and they smile ateverybody.
But you, just like Darlene, canturn those persons' lives
upside down, showing them thegoodness of Christ as much as
what you think is just a simpletask of handing them a bulletin
(29:52):
and a communion cup.
It's not just that.
There's eternal value.
People who are doing securityin this room, who play to the
worship on stage, to the peoplewho are upstairs in the crow's
nest and you never see theirface there's eternal value.
So where can you serve and whatgifts have God given you to
(30:17):
bless the body of Christ?
Let's commit to workingtogether, each doing our part,
so that the church grows strongin faith and in love.
And so this morning Hunter's going to bring the word
.
But I will say you know, youtry to train up, you know these
younger pastors and stuff, and Ijust want you to notice, today
I've got my UK tie on andHunter's shirt looks shockingly
close to Arkansas color.
So, brother Bill, what are wegoing to do with you?
(00:20):
Acts, chapter 6, we're makingour way, verse by or section by
section, I should say, throughthe book of Acts, and the word
of the Lord says this.
Now, in these days when thedisciples were increasing in
number, a complaint by theHellenists arose against the
(00:40):
Hebrews because their widowswere being neglected in the
daily distribution.
And the 12 summoned the fullnumber of the disciples and said
it is not right that we shouldgive up preaching the word of
God to serve tables.
And therefore, brothers, pickout from among you seven men of
(01:01):
good repute, full of the spiritand wisdom, whom we will appoint
to this duty.
But we will devote ourselves toprayer and to the ministry of
the word.
And what they said pleased thewhole gathering.
And they chose Stephen, a manfull of faith and of the Holy
Spirit, and Philip and Procorusand Nicanor and Timon and
(01:24):
Parmenas and Nicholas, aproselyte from Antioch, and
these they set before theapostles and they prayed and
laid their hands on them and theword of God continued to
increase and the number of thedisciples multitude greatly in
Jerusalem and a great many ofthe priests became obedient to
(01:45):
the faith.
It's the word of God for thepeople of God.
You may be seated.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
First words that come out of Pastor Chris's mouth and
he's trying to cause trouble Iwill say this that I may have
Arkansas colors on, but he isdressed up just like John
Calipari today.
Alright, enough of that, let'spray.
(02:21):
Heavenly Father, god, I come toyou today as a man who is not
worthy to preach your word.
But, god, I ask for your graceand your mercy, and I pray that
the Holy Spirit resonates withour heart today.
In Jesus' name, we pray amen.
(02:42):
So, out of texting back andforth with Josh last night, I
titled this sermon Growing Pains, and if you're apparently from
the 80s, there's a show calledthe Growing Pains.
Well, I am not from the 80s, soI did not know that, so sorry.
And Pastor Chris said thatobviously I know a lot about
growing pains as being 6'8".
So here we are.
(03:04):
A lot about growing pains asbeing six foot eight.
So here we are.
But you have a notepad or a notesheet or something like that.
I want you to do me a favor.
I want you to write down howyou serve in your local church
If you're not from this church,hopefully you have a local
church that you do go to andwhat ministry do you serve in?
What gifts from God do you useto help build up the body of
(03:25):
Christ?
Now, if you can't think of any,I want to encourage you today
that hopefully, this messagewill move you to be able to
serve.
And if you're like, well, Ijust don't know what my gifts
are, pastor Ron has a greatlittle worksheet that helps you
(03:46):
figure out what your gifts are,and it's very practical and easy
to go through.
But I will say this that ourchurch will never reach its
maximum potential unless thebody serves.
God has gifted every person inthis church with a gift For the
church to maximize theirpotential.
(04:07):
Every member must play theirpart and use that gift.
I want you to imagine this I'ma football guy, it's basketball
season, so I just get through.
But I want you to imagine thisthat a church is a football team
and every player has a specificposition and a role to play
(04:27):
during the game.
However, if one player fails tofulfill their duties or is in
the wrong position or doesn'tshow up altogether, I want you
to think how it disrupts theentire play.
I want you to think how itdisrupts the entire play.
(04:47):
For instance, a wide receiverrunning the wrong route or a
running back not taking thehandoff or the quarterback just
miscommunicates the playaltogether.
All of these things will leadto loss of yards.
As a former football coach anda player, I can assure you this
that if a single player fails toperform, then the entire play
(05:11):
is affected.
The loss can be negative if theteam lacks unity.
Unity and collaboration areessential for a football team's
success, and the same principleapplies to the church.
Imagine what we could do if wewould unite and work together
(05:33):
towards a common goal.
To be clear, the main point ofthe sermon today is that the
local church works best wheneach member uses their gift for
the glory of God and the good ofothers.
Inside this text we see thesame principle, namely, when
(05:55):
people are not playing theirpart in the church, it's out of
limp.
Someone or something is goingto fall through the cracks One
day.
We do all want to hear welldone, good and faithful servant,
and if you are serving now,then I do want to say thank you,
and our church cannot operatewithout you, and if you are not
(06:16):
using your gifts, then you aretruly missing out, and I want to
encourage you today to be apart of the success that God is
doing here.
Starting with Acts 6.1, it saysNow, in these days, when the
disciples were increasing innumber, a complaint by the
Hellenist arose against theHebrews because their widows
were being neglected in thedaily distribution.
(06:39):
Point one for today is going tobe the challenge of growth.
The early church was expandingat a rapid pace.
I would go back through and I'dread all the occasions, but I
do feel like Pastor Chris hasdone a satisfactory job going
through the book of Acts so far.
You're welcome.
The early church was growing ata rapid pace.
(07:04):
3,000 people were saved at theday of Pentecost and you have to
think Pentecost was right afterthe celebration of Passover, so
Jews from all over the placewere coming into the city.
A group called the Hellenistsare from the area around Judea,
(07:24):
and then you see another groupin this text called the Hebrews.
Well, they're from Jerusalem.
The Hebrews speak Hebrew andthe Hellenists speak Greek.
You've got to think when we arein Passover, all these people
are in the city and thenPentecost happens not too far
after that, peter preaches adynamite message and 3,000
(07:46):
people get saved, and some ofthose people have to be a part
of the Hellenist group so theydo not travel home, they're
staying in the city.
Could you imagine what kind ofproblem that would have?
You have family members comeover for Thanksgiving and you
preach and they get saved andyou're like you know what.
You did a really good job atpreaching.
(08:06):
I love this Jesus guy and we'renot going home.
My family lives in town and Idon't want that.
You're welcome, mom.
This has to cause a problem.
(08:30):
Twelve men are in charge now ofnot just finding a place to
worship, preparing meals or theLord's Supper.
Twelve men have to now makesure that everyone who has needs
is taken care of.
In chapter 4 it says that 5,000men are part of the church.
(08:51):
Well, most scholars will saythat if you include women and
children, this would be up to20,000 people inside the body.
That's a lot of growth in justsix chapters.
So now, not only do I have3,000 people to take care of,
now I have upwards to 20,000people to take care of.
(09:13):
There are five pastors in thischurch and we pastor a church of
100-ish people and I havetrouble remembering everyone's
name.
I'm great with faces, but namesnot so much.
Imagine 20,000.
Not only are they trying tomake sure that needs are met,
(09:34):
people are housed, communion isserved and that the Word of God
is being preached, toreconstruct the Jewish mindset
that Jesus has now fulfilled theOld Testament.
They now have to help peoplewho are needy, especially here,
at the widows, where there wasno health care system, no social
(09:55):
welfare, no insurance policies,social security.
Without the church at this time,widows, without the
distribution of goods, would die.
Do you see why there's aproblem here?
And I'm exhausted just readingthat off?
(10:16):
With growth comes challenges.
So that complaint arose becausesome widows were being
overlooked in the dailydistribution of good.
This just wasn't a logisticalissue, it threatens the unity of
the church.
Read it again Now.
(10:36):
In these days when the discipleswere increasing in number, a
complaint rose.
Not just they walked intoPeter's office and said hey, hey
, peter, there's some widowshere that's not being taken care
of A complaint rose, bickeringamongst the group Now that's a
sermon for another day ofgossiping and bickering and
complaining.
Oh, pastor, chris handled thatone, but without the apostles,
(11:04):
but without the apostles takingcare of these widows,
significant damage would be done.
So I want you to think all thisgrowth and everybody prays for
growth, thanks of growth oncerevival comes, and then growth
will come.
And I'm going to be honest, I'mthe one who's always the
(11:28):
realist and says, well, growthis coming and there's problems.
But this sermon has definitelyconvicted me.
Through my study that's whatit's good for.
I want to say this Growth oftenexposes areas of our church
that need attention.
You heard Pastor Jerry saideverybody scoot up and scoot
(11:49):
towards the wall.
I came to this church 10 yearsago I never thought seating
would be a problem, neverthought we'd have a problem in
the parking lot.
I never thought we'd have toomany kids and not enough workers
.
Growth often exposes areas thatneed attention.
(12:10):
But rather than viewingchallenges as problems, we
should view them asopportunities to strengthen our
community and in service.
Just think what we can do.
If our mindset is not set to,how do we solve a problem?
But how do we come together andcapitalize on the opportunity,
(12:34):
not just the opportunity to grow, but the opportunity to
strengthen our community andservice for the glory of God?
Point two is the wisdom ofdelegation.
Every leader's favorite worddelegation.
(12:54):
The apostles recognized theirprimary calling to prayer and
the ministry of the Word.
Hp Charles says it like this achurch would be just a normal
everyday charity organization.
But what makes the churchdifferent than every other
charity organization?
(13:14):
The gospel is the heart andsoul and the center of the
church.
He also says it like this muchother charity organizations can
put a new suit on a man, butthere's only one organization
that can put a new man in thesuit and that's the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
And that is what the church andthe apostles have to understand
(13:40):
.
And they had to step, put theirfoot down and they said serving
the tables are importantbecause if not, people die.
Distribution of goods is veryimportant, but it is not right
in verse that we should give uppreaching the word of God to
serve tables.
Because they realize that theheart of the church is to do
(14:05):
what it's to preach and teachthe gospel of Jesus Christ.
They're not saying we wouldnever serve tables because they
have been to 3,000, 5,000,20,000 people, but they're
saying that there's thingsfalling through the cracks, not
just widows not being served,but other things are falling
(14:27):
through the cracks and they aregoing to stand against and say
that it is not going to be theWord of God that falls through
the cracks.
So sometimes it feels like thatthings just fall out of our
hands and that we can't grabthem all, but it's because the
pastors of churches want toensure that the gospel is being
(14:49):
proclaimed.
There was a wise man once saidno one can do everything, but
everyone can do something.
Leadership isn't about doingall the work, it's about
equipping others to serveeffectively.
That wise guy was John Calperryover there.
I do take notes.
Pastors have to be able todelegate and let the body serve
(15:14):
the body.
It is not the job of the pastorto be the modern day CEO,
manager, marketing, professionalcounselor, go on and on,
janitor, it's not their job, andI know that this you're saying.
Well, he might only work twodays a week.
I've been in that man's office.
He works more than two days aweek Because he normally pawns
(15:35):
some of it off on me.
He can't do his job if he doeseverything else, because
everyone in this church iscalled to serve.
Churches around the world arecalled to serve, but there are
few who are called to preach theWord of God and that us as a
(15:56):
body.
If an outsider would hear this,they're saying well, this
sounds like they're trying toget out of a job.
I can guarantee you not,because I worked on this for
five weeks and he has to do hisin a week.
And I cried over this.
I can't think of the words I'mtelling you.
(16:20):
The church body has to standtogether, serve one another,
because it is the organizationthat sees not just the gospel by
declaration, but bydemonstration.
The gospel is not just wordsthat come out of a mouth, but
it's by the actions that weserve one another with.
Jesus did not only serve themwith words and a sermon on the
(16:46):
mount, but he also healed theirphysical needs, fed them when
they were hungry and took careof them.
Now that's a message to thepastors as well.
You have to be able to delegate.
You can't be holding thingstight and say that I'm going to
do this.
Nobody else is going to touchit.
There's pastors like that aswell, but I'm going to ensure
(17:07):
you that that's not how we arehere.
If you want a job, we'll giveit to you.
Everyone has a gift to serve.
Not everyone is called topreach.
You may not even be able toserve tables, but you do have a
gift.
We had a dear lady in thischurch named Darlene, who served
(17:30):
through her sickness andthrough her ailments.
I used to co-op here in highschool, so I'd come here after
they would let us go from schooland she'd be sitting in her
office and she always greeted mewith a smile.
She had carpal tunnel, herhands had like the witch's
fingers, you know from all thearthritis, and she was in pain.
But what I can guarantee youabout Darlene is she was always
(17:54):
smiling, she always asked me howI was doing and she knew every
person in this church Name, lastname, address, social security
number no, I'm just kiddingabout that one, but she knew
everything about you.
She'd be like do you know?
So-and-so, we need to pray forthem.
I'm like you got a picture.
(18:17):
Darlene would stand when shehad her back problems at our
door and she would lean on hercane and she would greet you
with a smile and then, when shegot too sick to do that, she
would stand at our welcome tableand sit on the stool.
Once she'd welcome our newguests.
You may not be able to servetables, but you can do something
.
When someone doesn't do theirpart, other people of the church
(18:41):
have to do their part.
Meaning I was a football coach,jerry, you're a football coach.
You know this.
When a lineman doesn't show up,I have to put in the backup
quarterback to play line.
And what happens when I do that?
My quarterback dies and I'mover there screaming on the
sideline do your job.
(19:01):
And the kids look scaredbecause I'm a giant screaming at
them.
Y'all think I'm joking.
Where's Randy Rosenbaum?
He knows I got kicked out ofone time when Randy was there.
I did.
But when I have to say we needhelp in this area and you're not
(19:25):
feeling it but you do itbecause you're awesome people
this causes burnout Because 20%of the people do 80% of the work
and that's a worldly statistic.
That happens in every otherorganization, but sadly that has
crept inside the church.
Our pastors at this churchcan't let it stand.
We want 100% of people doing100% of the work.
(19:47):
That's the native of thechurch's job.
Being a Christian is not titleonly, but it's by action as well
.
It's the life that we live andthe service that we walk unto.
I will promise you this if eachof you will use your gifts to
(20:08):
serve the local body on aregular basis, I promise you
that you would never go hungryon a Sunday or Wednesday, ever
again.
Or when your family's in needand pastors have to be called to
the help.
I promise you that they wouldnot.
You would not go hungry,because the pastors are supposed
to devote themselves to prayand the preaching of the Word,
(20:30):
and they can't do that all thetime.
Pastors sometimes have to writetheir sermons on the way to
work.
That's not only dangerous butit's ineffective.
It's true, that's a publicservice announcement.
I want to say this they choseseven men to serve, full of the
(20:52):
spirit, wisdom and of wisdom andof good repute.
I have a hard time having agood reputation amongst five
people, let alone 20,000, so thechurch had to come among
themselves, amongst 20,000people, and find seven men full
of good reputation, full of theSpirit and of wisdom to oversee
(21:15):
this ministry.
I want leaders who arepassionate about the job that
they're doing.
No job is too little.
No job is too little.
No job is too big.
Everybody thinks that a churchfunctions off of two main people
(21:36):
the person standing behind thispulpit and the person standing
behind the guitar.
I'm going to promise you thatthat's not the case.
I want my children's leaders tobe passionate about children
preaching the gospel to children.
I want my ushers to takecontrol of the service, to make
sure people are comfortable toworship God in a comfortable
(21:56):
setting.
I want my security guards to bepassionate about security so I
can stand here and not worryabout getting shot.
I don't want people to do jobsthey're not passionate about,
because you know why that meansyou're not doing the job, you're
doing it just to fill the spot.
But there's something thatyou're passionate about and if
(22:17):
we don't have the ministry, Ipromise you you can lead it.
Third thing we see in this textis the result of full
participation Acts 6, 5 through7.
And what they said pleased thewhole gathering and they chose
Stephen and a bunch of peoplewho I can't pronounce their
(22:38):
names of, and they sat beforethe apostles and they prayed and
they laid their hands on themand the word of God continued to
increase and the number ofdisciples multiplied greatly in
Jerusalem and a great many ofthe priests became obedient to
the faith.
(22:58):
The church's response to theneed and the response of the
apostles was beautiful.
They agreed and they selectedgodly men and they laid their
hands on them for commission ofservice.
So what was the result of this?
Well, widows' needs werefulfilled.
(23:19):
We don't see in the textanymore that widows went hungry.
The action of the apostlessolved the physical need.
But we also see that aspiritual need here, or a
spiritual result, occurred aswell Verse 7,.
And the word of God continuedto increase and the number of
(23:40):
disciples multiplied greatly.
God was adding to the churchday by day, because God will
never let His word come backvoid.
But when people do their jobsand their acts and service and
we become the hands and feet ofJesus, the word of God continued
to increase and the number ofdisciples multiplied greatly.
(24:04):
When pastors are able to dotheir jobs, people's lives are
transformed.
But it's not just because thepastor doing their job, it's
because other people are serving, allowing the pastor to do
their job.
And you may say that's dumb.
Okay, but imagine if the 12were still serving tables and
(24:24):
Paul walks along and now he'shaving to jump in and serve
tables.
And Paul walks along and nowhe's having to jump in and serve
tables.
We wouldn't have most of ourNew Testament.
He couldn't have gone onmissionary journeys to the point
where he was hand in hand andhandcuffed with guards in the
(24:45):
Roman emperor's home or palaceBecause he was able to do his
jobs.
The well-known world at thetime got to hear the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
When the church functions infull participation, with every
member serving in their role.
(25:05):
The impact is profound.
The word of God multipliesgreatly.
I've been on a football kick,so we're just going to keep
going.
When a team comes togetherunified, you see the opposite of
(25:28):
what happened in the beginning.
A team does their job, and theyknow their roles and they play
their parts and they give effort.
The plays don't go backward,but they go forward.
Yards equals first downs, firstdowns equals touchdowns,
touchdowns equals victories, andvictories equals Super Bowl
wins.
You know, the cool thing abouta Super Bowl win, though, is
(25:49):
that everybody on the team getsa ring.
You're like duh, but did youknow that?
The equipment manager gets aring, and the water boy gets a
ring, and the one who managesthe team store gets a ring, and
the people who work the frontgate gets a ring, the janitor
who swept up after the game getsa ring, and sometimes even the
(26:12):
player's wives get rings.
There's not a job that is toosmall, because I'm going to tell
you right now I worked for UKand I did their front gate, and
without us, people wouldn't havebeen let into the stadium, and
without people selling teammerchandise or food, people
wouldn't have stayed long andwithout a clean facility, people
wouldn't have showed up.
If people weren't there on thesidelines to give equipment,
(26:37):
then people would get hurt andthen your team would have never
made the Super Bowl.
It takes all the members of theteam, serving in their roles,
that they are called to, withtheir giftings, to be victorious
.
The church is not a spectatorsport.
It's not about a few doing thework while others watch.
(26:58):
Like the early church, we arecalled to serve together with
our gifts, and when we do thegospel, advances and needs are
met and God is glorified.
Call to action.
The pastors here at Real LifeCommunity Church are not meant
to minister alone as a church,to walk side by side with people
(27:24):
.
Without the help of our greatvolunteers, people would fall
through the cracks.
And if you're having troublefilling out that piece of paper
I asked you to in the beginning,I'm sure we have a place for
you and you can be a part ofthis great work that God's doing
.
I'm going to say this Two weeksago we had a couple weeks ago
(27:47):
we had a kid in our children'sministry, come to Christ.
I don't know who the leader was, who taught the sermon or
taught the lesson or prayed witha child I don't know who it was
but you know what they did dothey sacrificed being inside
Sunday morning service and nowthere's eternal stakes on the
(28:08):
line.
I came to church Friday to workon my sermon, preached to an
empty room so I wouldn't benervous and it didn't work.
But as I walked out the door mykids cried and they was like,
where are you going?
And I said I'm going to church.
And then they got excited thatthey're going to church and I
(28:28):
said I'm going to church, you'renot going to church.
And then they got excited thatthey're going to church and I
said I'm going to church, you'renot going to church.
And then they cried again.
But the reason is is that mykids love this place and it's in
spite of me.
I try to get them to lovethings that I love and then they
hate them, because that's thenature of being children.
But they love this place, andwhy?
It's because people servedownstairs and they make them
(28:50):
love this place.
You are doing something with mychildren that is at eternal
value and please don't if you'renot feeling it, because my
children's stake are on the linewith eternal value.
But if you're sitting in hereand you have a love for children
(29:11):
.
They're missing out becauseeternal value is on the line.
That's my kids, that's some ofyour kids.
Someone who is grinning at thefront door has a long desire to
(29:32):
show people that life is not allfrowns.
And there are some people inhere who may not do anything,
who know that and they smile ateverybody.
But you, just like Darlene, canturn those persons' lives
upside down, showing them thegoodness of Christ as much as
what you think is just a simpletask of handing them a bulletin
(29:52):
and a communion cup.
It's not just that.
There's eternal value.
People who are doing securityin this room, who play to the
worship on stage, to the peoplewho are upstairs in the crow's
nest and you never see theirface there's eternal value.
So where can you serve and whatgifts have God given you to
(30:17):
bless the body of Christ?
Let's commit to workingtogether, each doing our part,
so that the church grows strongin faith and in love.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Intentionally Disturbing
Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.