Made for more

[00:00:00] Well, good morning everybody. [00:00:05] Did you make the most of that hour extra sleep this morning? [00:00:10] Anybody feeling more refreshed for it or was it not enough? [00:00:19] It's great to see you. [00:00:22] Do you know when I look out into each of your faces, there are some here that I know, I've known well over the years and I know something of your stories. [00:00:35] There are others here that you're fairly new in your journey with us and I don't maybe know much of your story. [00:00:42] But when I look around this room, I see every single one of you has been destined by God for more. [00:00:58] And I want to start today and next week to look together that you were made for more. [00:01:10] And I know that when I say that there will be all sorts of kickback within your own soul. [00:01:15] There will be those among you that will protest and you will look at the people sat around you. You look at the people sat in front of you and you think, no, I get it. It's for them, it's not for me. [00:01:29] Maybe there was a time in your life where you thought it could be for you, but you've been discouraged. [00:01:35] Maybe cynicism has begun to breed in your heart and it has stopped you believing that there is more. [00:01:45] So you've settled. [00:01:47] You believe that the place of indifference and apathy and just okay is your lot. [00:01:58] And today I want us, as we look at this, I want you to know that whatever your story, whatever your background, that you in the heart of God have been designed for more. [00:02:13] Let's pray together. [00:02:15] Because Father, I know that I'm going to be sharing from your Word today. And your Word is powerful. [00:02:23] Your Word is able to divide the things of our soul and our Spirit is able to touch into the very essence of our being and to help us to become more like you. [00:02:37] And I pray that as we declare and analyze and look at and explore your Word for our own lives, that your Holy Spirit will come and cause there to be deep revelation that even shifts years of disappointment and cynicism. [00:03:00] May you come and do miracles in our heart this day. I pray in Jesus name. [00:03:08] Amen. [00:03:11] His Word is powerful. And I want you to understand that his Word can shift hearts, communities and nations. [00:03:22] And I believe his Word. [00:03:26] If you are in a place of wondering what the answer and the solution to your life is, I want to encourage you to get into the Word of God. Because the Word of God is powerful. [00:03:36] It's not just a book, it's a big selling book. Bible sales are increasing across this country. [00:03:44] And the wonderful thing is they've done some analysis of the people who are buying them, and they're people who've never bought a Bible before. [00:03:52] It's an interesting day that we're in where there's a new exploration of faith and spirituality. [00:03:58] But His Word is not just for those exploring to find Jesus. His Word is. Is transformational for us in this room today. [00:04:08] And as we look at Made for More, I want to start off with a question, a very provocative question, and it says, what if the greatest tragedy of your life is not that you failed to achieve your dreams, but that you never discovered what God had created you for? [00:04:29] What if you could live a respectable life, raise a family, build a successful career, make some money, enjoy some holidays, have a few good friends, attend church, sing songs of worship, be a decent person in society, and yet somehow, beneath all of that, miss the very thing you were created for? [00:04:54] Because I believe that your life has a chief purpose. [00:04:59] And I believe that I see too many believers that are paddling in the shallows when God has called them to the deep. [00:05:07] I see too many people in churches across the nation. [00:05:12] I see them accepting that what I've just given is a list of having a good life, a good family, a good career, secure financial environment, that all of those things are the platitude of what they're aiming for. [00:05:28] And I believe that God has more and he invites us into a deep place. [00:05:32] We're in times of challenge in the world. There's a lot of instability around. [00:05:37] And I want you to hear this from the heart of a pastor, that if your goal and your objective is to make life comfortable, then the world and the shifts in the world are going to impact you significantly. [00:05:52] Because God has designed you to have roots that go deep. [00:05:56] He has designed you to be mature. [00:05:59] He has designed you to swim in the depths of a turbulent world and have peace in your heart, irrespective of what's going on around us. [00:06:09] And we have to acknowledge that this week, even in our news channels, we have had national politicians and leaders of the army tell us that we should be stocking up on goods in our home, that there's instability in the world. [00:06:24] Websites have been hid around the world this week. [00:06:27] There are talks and rumors of wars and wars. [00:06:32] There are so many things that are taking place. And if your contract with God is God, I want a comfortable life. Will you bless me? And I'll come to church once a week. Then I tell you when the storms of life hit you, you are going to be proven that your house is built upon sand. [00:06:50] And God has called you and me to build our life on a foundation that's immovable, that's unshakable, that will not be changed by our circumstances. [00:07:02] And I believe your life has achieved purpose and it's beyond your career, and it's beyond the blessing of your life. [00:07:10] 1 Corinthians 10:31 says this, so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. [00:07:22] What a powerful disclaimer that there could be any form of wiggle room on this, that it says, whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. [00:07:35] That's comprehensive, that encompasses every one of your activities in your day, irrespective of what they are. [00:07:44] Every circumstance is covered. Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. [00:07:50] See, you were created for his glory. [00:07:55] Isaiah 43 speaks of those called by God's name, who we created for his glory. And Ephesians 1:12 says that in order that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be for the praise of his glory. [00:08:15] Now, I understand that some of you have come to faith, and you come to faith in Jesus because He promised that he would lift the shame off your life, and he has done that. Has anybody experienced shame lifting off their life because the gospel works and changes hearts and lives? Anybody in this room? [00:08:32] There's like 10% of us in this room. Okay, I'm going to give a gospel talk this morning then. [00:08:38] Come on. How many of you have discovered shame lifting off your life because the gospel works and he transforms our lives? [00:08:45] Hallelujah. Come on. Why don't we lift a shout of praise that God has done an amazing miracle in our hearts. [00:08:54] Some of you, you came to faith in Jesus because He promised that he would be with you through the storms of this life. He promised that he would be a good shepherd that would walk through the valley. And how many of you have that testimony in your life that he has indeed been that throughout your journey? [00:09:10] Come on, let's give a shout of praise to God that He has been our good shepherd. [00:09:18] But you see, there's something that's not fully represented in that transforming gospel that saves us from our sins, secures our eternal destiny, and blesses us and supports and partners with us in this life. There's something missing, and that is that the goal, the objective of why you were created was to partner with the glory of God and to reveal him to be for the praise of his glory. You are meant to be a demonstration of God Himself. [00:09:51] Most of the chapter in Ephesians 1 repeatedly describes God's purposes in salvation in terms of being for the praise of his glory. [00:10:02] God's purpose is bigger than finding your destiny. [00:10:06] Now, let me make an important distinction when I talk about destiny. I'm not suggesting that God has one perfect career for you or that he has one perfect individual you're going to walk through life with, or he has one perfect ministry role or one mysterious life plan that you must somehow discover and follow. And beware of missing it. That that's an exhaust way to live. [00:10:35] There isn't just like this like one thing that God says, you know, don't step away from that. [00:10:43] There's the freedoms of God that come upon our life that he calls us to follow him in obedience. But he has given us options around us and our role is to just walk a pathway of obedience and trust Him. We shouldn't fear missing the will of God. [00:10:59] In fact, you know, most of the time I've discovered in my life that when I understand the ways of God, that fear is not part of my journey. [00:11:09] Because He's a God who loves us and invites us into the best, and he gives options and he's teaching us and training us to follow him wholeheartedly. But our chief purpose is not just to find one way of living, but our chief purpose is to glorify God. [00:11:24] You see, you have been entrusted with grace in your life. [00:11:30] I'm going to read a few verses from Romans 12 says this from verse 3. [00:11:36] For by the grace given me, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the faith God has distributed in each of you. [00:11:58] For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body and each member belongs to all the others. [00:12:20] We have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us. [00:12:25] If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith. [00:12:32] If it is serving, then serve. [00:12:36] If it is teaching, then teach. [00:12:39] If it is encouraging, then give encouragement. If it is given, then give generously. If it is to lead, do it diligently. [00:12:51] If it is to show mercy, do it cheerful. [00:12:58] Now it makes some distinctions that we have various gifts and graces in our life there. [00:13:05] But actually, you know, we have to contrast that with the Scripture that tells us that, for example, that all of us should desire prophecy. [00:13:15] It calls all of us to serve. [00:13:17] It calls all of us to be able to Give an account of our faith. It calls all of us to be people of encouragement. But there are some that that will be their specific gift. [00:13:29] But we're not all given an opt out because it may not be our primary gift. [00:13:36] Then in Ephesians 2:10 it says this. [00:13:43] I'm going to ask you to read it with me. [00:13:45] I think it's on the screen. [00:13:48] For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us. [00:14:02] What's the second word in that verse? [00:14:08] Who's part of that? [00:14:13] Person in front of you, person to the left of you, person to the right of you, person behind you, and you. [00:14:27] For you are God's handiwork and you've been created in Christ Jesus to do good works which he has in advance. [00:14:40] Put preparation in place to enable you to do that. [00:14:46] In a few moments time, we're going to look a few chapters later in Ephesians and we're going to see that it begins to give some examples of what those graces are within our life that he has called us to know. [00:14:59] But God has saved us by grace. [00:15:04] You can't understand God unless you understand grace. [00:15:09] Like if you, if you are a lawyer and you spend all your time in the realms of justice and you are constantly seeing claims of injustice and seeing price that needs to be paid, if you are always wanting to punish that which is wrong and justice demands that. But if that's the only reference point you have, you miss completely the heart of God. Because God is a God of righteousness. He's a God of justice, He's a God of holiness. And he is a God who is abounding in grace. [00:15:44] Grace. He gives us what we don't deserve. [00:15:48] What a beautiful reality in all of our lives God has saved us from by his amazing grace, then he hasn't just saved us, he is transforming us by his grace. [00:16:06] There are circumstances and times in our life when we see that his grace is at work, developing something that we can't develop ourselves. [00:16:17] Now, I found in my life there are times when that grace is present, even though I may not feel like it's present. Because sometimes in the grace of God, it feels like he is stepping back a little bit. Have you ever had a time where your prayers have not been answered, where you don't sense the presence of God, where worship feels tough, where coming to God's word feels the hardest thing in the world to do? Have you ever had those times? Well, those times happen regularly in all of our lives. [00:16:56] Some people have an impression that other people find these things continuously easy, that they find worship instinctively simple. [00:17:08] That somehow on a Sunday morning when they wake up, that they jump out of bed and shall praise the Lord. It's Sunday now. I sometimes do that, but my first waking thought is often coffee. [00:17:26] And I don't even drink caffeine sometimes. There are other things that fill our minds and fill our hearts. And the Lord is not always the first thought in our lives. And at those times in our life, the grace of God is still working. [00:17:49] He is drawing out of you an understanding that his truth stands, whether you feel like it or not. [00:17:58] His word is true whether you feel like it or not. You are a loved son or daughter of God, whether you feel like it or not. [00:18:09] It is easy worshiping when you feel like you are overwhelmed with the love of God. [00:18:17] It isn't always easy worshipping when you feel like heaven is silent. [00:18:24] But at those times, our worship is even more powerful and beautiful. [00:18:33] We bring a sacrifice of praise. [00:18:37] We bring a praise that costs us more. [00:18:42] It's easy if you're a football supporter, to shout for your team when they've just scored a goal. [00:18:48] And we see supporters all over the country that teams have not been scoring goals and they get disappointed and they begin to shout, but they don't shout encouraging messages. They. They shout frustration. They boo. [00:19:04] You know, the relationship with God. [00:19:08] Our Sunday worship shouldn't be an occasion where we are reflecting whether we feel like there are winds around us at that moment in time. Our worship is not based on what we feel. Our worship is based on who he is. [00:19:28] So I wonder what your sacrifice of praise looks like in your life. I wonder what that does in you. I wonder whether you make a decision when you come to church on a Sunday, that I am going to bring my best today, irrespective of how I feel. [00:19:48] Or are your feelings like the barometer? [00:19:51] Do you see how you feel when you turn up, as to how much you engage? Now, worship is not just what we do on a Sunday. [00:19:58] But you see, even in those times, God's grace is at work. [00:20:03] And so he saves us by grace. He's transforming us by his grace. And he entrusts in us a deposit, if you like. We become an atm, a cash point of grace. [00:20:16] We become a place where his grace dwells and abides and is meant to be poured out to other people. [00:20:25] We're not just that. You know, when I was a kid, we had a little piggy bank, the piggy bank that, you know, you Put your change in. And I remember that, you know, there are times when I've seen those piggy banks that they don't have any way of getting out what you put in there, unless you break them. Like, some of you got these little plastic things underneath, but some of them you have to smash to get the money out. [00:20:50] And you know, you are not like one of those where God is putting into you and it just stays there. [00:20:57] You're meant to be a conduit. We're meant to be vessels, people that he pours his grace in and his grace pours out of us. And that's all of us. We. [00:21:09] Grace is not merely God's kindness towards us. Grace becomes something that he works through us. [00:21:16] And I love that. You and I, we're not starting from nothing here. One of the lies people believe about themselves is they have nothing particularly useful to offer God. But you do, because God has put his grace in you. And his grace is what you minister out of. It isn't just ministering out of your own knowledge, your own strength, your own heart, your own achievements, your own accomplishments. There's a grace that he pours into our life that we're meant to pour out him, not us. [00:21:47] And grace has to be stewarded. You know, stewardship, one of our values is we own nothing. We steward everything. Everything that we have within our life is to be looked after. [00:21:58] It's to be represented, it's to be spent as he would have us to spend it. [00:22:04] And we understand the stewardship principle around finance, but the stewardship around the grace of God in our life, that he has been patient with us, therefore we are patient with others. [00:22:15] He has poured it into our life. Therefore, anytime someone needs our patience, they come to the cash point of our life. And it's not our impatience that comes out, it's his grace that comes out. [00:22:28] He deposits his grace in us to touch the lives of others. It's to be stewarded. [00:22:34] 1 Peter 4, 10 says these words. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. [00:22:49] Thirdly, with him and for Him. I'm going to take you to a very familiar story in the New Testament, a story that has been preached on thousands and thousands of times. I've probably heard thousands of sermons on this myself. And it's the story of Mary and Martha From Luke, chapter 10, verse 38 says, as Jesus and His disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened a home to him. [00:23:16] She had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. [00:23:24] But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me now. The hundreds, thousands of sermons probably here on this account, many are encouraging us to be more like Mary and less like Martha. I think Martha gets a rough deal here in this story because, you know, like, who else was going to make food? Who else was going to be hospitable? [00:23:58] And so, you know, there are times when you might say, well, you know, we do need to work. We do need to not be slovenly. We do need to engage. We do need to be hospitable. We do need to care. We do need to work hard. So there are times maybe the sermon is like, okay, let's be a little bit more like Martha, but let's make sure we're like Mary as well. And we sit at the feet of Jesus. [00:24:20] But I wonder how many of us are neither like Mary or Martha. We're not even in a house. [00:24:30] We're neither working or sitting at the feet of Jesus. [00:24:35] We're not serving in response to his presence. [00:24:38] We're not listening to his voice. [00:24:40] We're not responding to his initiation, because we're not even in the house. [00:24:47] Maybe at best, we're peering through the window and watching other people. [00:24:50] We're watching other people be close to Jesus. We're watching other people work hard for Jesus. [00:24:55] But many people in the church are not even like Martha or Mary. [00:25:05] See, Martha's problem wasn't that she served. [00:25:08] They needed to eat. [00:25:10] Her hospitality was appropriate. [00:25:14] Jesus didn't call Martha and tell her to forget about providing food. [00:25:19] The problem wasn't the meal preparation. [00:25:22] It was that she had become distracted and worried and upset from the most important things. [00:25:30] So the issue is not our work. [00:25:33] The issue is whether our work stops us from seeing Jesus and recognizing his presence and power in our life. [00:25:42] And I meet people all the time. I have to battle this in my own heart. [00:25:47] Many people in this room, we're busy. [00:25:51] We're engaged in lots of things. I mean, leaders all over the country that are involved in lots of things, and all of us have the same problem. [00:26:00] We can become busy and too distracted from being with Jesus. [00:26:06] And it's not. The answer isn't, let's give up doing things. [00:26:10] Because if that happened, who'd run the world? [00:26:14] Who'd run the Church. [00:26:16] I've met people over the years. I'm just going to take some time out. [00:26:21] Well, okay. Timeout is sometimes appropriate, but you've taken a lot of time out over the last 10 years. [00:26:28] It's not my time yet. Well, I'm sorry. Someone needs to eat today. [00:26:32] It should be your time. [00:26:34] I don't know how to cook. Well, learn. [00:26:38] I'm not naturally hospitable. [00:26:40] Well, get over yourself. [00:26:43] Ask someone how to be hospitable. [00:26:46] Stop being lazy and excusing it as a spiritual thing. [00:26:51] The issue is not working. The issue is being distracted that your life is a conduit of the glory and the grace of God. [00:27:01] You know, how does this relate to us? Well, I want you to understand that we don't see ministry in the church as something that is exclusively in the construct of our operations as a church. [00:27:16] So people will understand if they're invited onto the stage, that might be ministry. They're in the worship team. That's ministry. They're on the sound desk. That's ministry. They're running the kids program. That's ministry. They're taking the offering. That's ministry. They're stewarding. That's ministry. They're running the alpha courses. That's ministry. They're leading life groups. That's ministry. We might have an understanding that all of those things easily are understood as ministry. We don't understand ministry to be exclusively those things. [00:27:42] We understand that whatever you do as that first scripture was that whatever you do, you do for the glory of God, and that's ministry. [00:27:53] So while you're keeping accounts in your work as an accountant, if you do it for the glory of God, that's ministry. [00:28:01] While you are loving on your neighbor or your family or caring for your loved one, if you are doing that for the glory of God, that's ministry. [00:28:11] Now, let me put a caveat in there. If you're doing it for your glory, it's not. [00:28:19] And it could look exactly the same. [00:28:22] You know those people that if they were Martha, they would be banging the pots louder than they need to be banged just to let people know how busy they are. [00:28:35] You see, she stopped. She wasn't doing it for the glory of God. [00:28:40] And all of us, we have to watch our tiredness levels and our busyness because if we start banging the pots louder than they should be banged, then we're starting to make the attention come on us. [00:28:51] Over the years, I've worked with people that they've been a great blessing, what they've done, but there's just something in them, that this is for them. [00:28:59] They want everyone to know that they're the hero. [00:29:02] They want everybody to know that they're the champion. They want everybody to know that they fixed it, they resolved it and they go around and they tell everybody what they did. [00:29:10] First of all, I advise against that because if you do it for the glory of God, there is bonuses in heaven for those who do it for him. [00:29:18] Be careful what you share around. [00:29:21] I was at a conference this weekend. They were teasing this sort of Gen Z group and saying there was a time when past generations used to have a time with the Lord. And they never mentioned it on social media, they just did it for the Lord. [00:29:43] And we have to be careful that our motive is right. [00:29:52] But taking time out, perpetually doing nothing doesn't mean, say you're sitting at the feet of Jesus. [00:30:01] See, because it's about your motive, it's about your heart. [00:30:05] And there's a, you know a fairly well used terminology in church that says that 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. [00:30:17] The Martha's in the kitchen. [00:30:20] I hope that our beautiful Marthas here in the church are not banging the pots and thinking, oh, I'm on again this week, like surely there should be someone else to help with this. [00:30:32] I can't believe I'm doing this over and over. Where are the others? [00:30:38] But can I be honest with you? [00:30:41] While I believe that the ministry in your life is not exclusive to this church, if you are called here, God calls you to get involved and cooking in the kitchen may not be your primary ministry, but you can help. [00:31:01] You know when somebody is recruiting and let's just use an example, a wonderful coffee and tea makers. At the end of the service when we put an invitation out to ask can anybody get involved? Over the years I've had people say to me I need to pray about it. [00:31:21] Why don't do you need Jesus? Did he try to make a coffee? [00:31:24] What are you praying about? [00:31:27] Now the issue might be that, listen, I go straight to work after the service and I can't do it. [00:31:33] But praying about it, there's a need and as a church I want to encourage you. If your ministry doesn't just exist within this church, your ministry sits in all of those places or whatever you do, you do it for the Lord. But it should also include some participation in building up the body to help us to become better conduits of his grace to others. [00:32:08] And that has a cost to rarely comes on the back of convenience. [00:32:14] It involves something that is sacrificing something else. [00:32:22] You see, Mary's problem wasn't that she was sad. [00:32:25] We all need to sit and we all need to listen. [00:32:29] So our lives can increasingly become aligned with his purposes. [00:32:33] It's not appropriate that some of us are called to sit and others are called to work. We're all called to sit and we're called to do both while making sure that we are not distracted or worried or easily upset. [00:32:47] I often find that the mark of spirituality in our life is how unoffendable we are. [00:32:54] If you're easily offended, you need to get the feet of Jesus and you need to draw from him because you're devoid of his grace at work in your life. [00:33:06] Because his grace, like, think of what he took. [00:33:12] Just think of him, you know, crying out on the cross, father, forgive them for they don't know what they're doing. [00:33:18] And yet if somebody looks at us wrong today, we get offended. [00:33:24] Maybe you were driving in this morning and someone from the church overtook you and then took the last parking space in the car park and you're like, I've got your number. [00:33:37] There are all sorts of challenges that we get stretched on, but we're meant to be for the praise of his glory. His grace is present in us. [00:33:48] His grace is meant to be at work, one to another. [00:33:54] And if you're outside of the home, if you're outside of the presence of God, if you're outside of the family of God, come in. [00:34:05] Come and be a part of what God's doing. [00:34:08] Come and be a part of his purposes. [00:34:10] None of us are called to stand outside admiring the people inside. [00:34:15] Come home. Be close to Jesus. [00:34:17] Be close to his bride. [00:34:19] Be close to what he is doing. [00:34:23] I'm going to just really touch on my next point really briefly in conclusion, and I'll be picking this up in more detail next week. [00:34:31] But Jesus has given gifts or graces to his church so that we can become everything he intends us to be. [00:34:41] Paul writes in Ephesians 4 that Christ gave gifts to his people. They were his going away present. [00:34:50] They were his resurrection and ascension gifts. [00:34:56] And we see these things present in Him. And it was just like the cash point was on free Ven from his life. And he poured these things out to his people, to his church, these graces. And there's five of them. [00:35:08] And we read in Ephesians 4, verse 7, it says, but to each one, turn to the person next to you and say, each one that includes you, it says, but to each one grace has been given. [00:35:27] It has been given. [00:35:31] And also Christ was the one who apportioned it, distributed it, placed it into lives. [00:35:40] And then we go on a few verses further. In verse 11 to 13 it says, so Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and the teachers to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ, becoming mature adults, grownups in the things of God, conversant in the things of God, where we've learned some stuff. [00:36:35] Not that we've just got time behind us, not just that we've been to a few courses, but we know that our lives are full of the dispensation of the grace of God. That's maturity. It's when God is formed in us. And when people look at us, they see Christ. [00:36:54] And there are five of these graces referenced. [00:36:58] And each of these five graces reveal a different dimension of the mission and the purposes of God. [00:37:07] Apostolic A prophetic P Evangelistic E Shepherd S Teacher T apest. [00:37:17] Now, those of you who have been around the church a while, you will have been in our various teachings on this over the years around these five graces. And I believe that Scripture teaches that these graces are given to each one one of us. [00:37:33] And that means that you're a steward of something the Lord has given you. [00:37:39] And the question is, when he gives us something to steward, what are we doing with it? [00:37:45] Because a bad steward buries it out of fear. What if I get it wrong? What if I make a mistake? [00:37:53] The one who was given the one talent wasn't told off because they should have gone more, but it was because of the fear. It was because they were lazy. It says the wicked, lazy servant, that there is a call on those, that God entrusts things for us to do something with them. [00:38:19] What are you doing with the grace of God in your life? [00:38:23] I want to encourage you that those of you who have discerned previously what your apest grace is, and we'll look more at this next week and give a wider explanation of how this is relevant to us today. [00:38:37] But the apostolic people in this room, your pioneers and innovators, your breakthrough people, your people who have ideation, your people who are able to push through prophetic people, your people who are able to hear God, discern the days that we're in, able to hear and understand the heart of God for the Injustice in our society. The prophetic people, we need them, the evangelistic people, they're not just those who go on street corners with a microphone and a sketchboard, but they're people who tell the story of God and they mobilize the church to look outwards, not inwards. And we need them, the shepherds. The shepherds are those who make sure that we're not just reaching the lost and we're not just hearing from God, but we're caring for each other, because the heart of God is that we care. [00:39:17] And the shepherds, they're concerned that we are a healing environment, that we're a loving environment, we're a caring environment. [00:39:24] And in this room there are many shepherds and then teachers. Teachers are not just those who stand with a microphone at the front and open the word of God. Teachers are those who get alongside others and help them instill wisdom in their life, help them understand, help them to get to grips with the realities of circumstances and situations they can find Christ in. [00:39:44] In this room, you'll all have a measure of some of these things. You'll all be called to be compassionate and kind, to share your faith, to hear the heart of God, to be a person of breakthrough, to help teach others. You'll be called to do all of those things, but there'll be something that's your primary grace or graces, and those were called to steward really well. [00:40:10] And next week we're going to explore further how we can do that. [00:40:16] But your destiny is not a spectator sport. [00:40:20] Oh, by the way, let me just go back. I think there's a slide with a URL that says, have we got a URL on there? [00:40:29] Click onto the next page. There you are. If you haven't yet completed a simple online APEST assessment tool, if you go to that URL, rediscoverchurch.com APest there is a form on that you can complete. We buy these assessments from another organization. It cost us about 10 pound each, so we ask if you're able to cover that, that will be good. If you can't, then do let us know. We don't want you to be excluded from this and we will gladly pay for you to do that. But this will give you an opportunity to understand and assess what the grace is that God has put in your life, what the graces are. And that will help if you want to do that this coming week, that will really help you really engage fully with next week's talk. [00:41:13] But in conclusion, your destiny is not a spectator sport. [00:41:18] You're Part of the body. You're joined up, each of you. 1 Peter 4:10 says each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. With a cash point. We're called to be a blessing. We're called to pour out, not just to hold in. Some of us are waiting for our calling when God is waiting for our obedience. Your ordinary life is part of God's mission. It's okay. It doesn't all have to be called to China. It doesn't always have to get on an airplane. It doesn't always have to have something sensational. Sometimes it's just doing every day day obedience before the Lord and doing it well and being a dispenser of the grace of God that's within you. And when all of us do that, when we're all playing our part, when we're all giving ourselves to join together, the glory of God is seen in the people of God. [00:42:06] It's not seen when there's a small number doing that, not in the same way. [00:42:12] So come into the house and allow his grace to work in and through you. [00:42:19] My opening question was about the greatest tragedy in your life is knowing that you've fulfilled your dreams, but you never discovered what God had created you for. [00:42:31] What if you spent the entire years ahead asking God to bless what you were doing without ever seriously asking him what he wanted you to do with the life he has given you? [00:42:41] I pray that in these next few weeks that we discover afresh that the Lord has things he wants to do in and through your life. Let's pray together. [00:43:00] Lord, as a shepherd, leader, carer of others. [00:43:09] I don't want any of my sisters and brothers to be waiting in the shallows. [00:43:16] I don't want any of them to be immature. [00:43:20] I don't want any of them to be tossed around by the changing world and circumstances around us. I want every single one of my sisters and brothers to know they stand upon a firm rock and they have deep roots and they're stewarding grace and they're able to pour that grace out to others. [00:43:43] And I pray, Heavenly Father, that you will help all of us to avoid ruling that out. [00:43:52] And you hear from our own hearts a big yes to you. [00:43:57] Maybe you could say that just privately to God. God, I want to say yes, the steward in everything that you've put in me. I want to say yes to your grace saving me. Yes to your grace transforming me. Yes to your grace working through me. [00:44:13] Lord, I pray that all of us, the young and the old, the newly saved and those who've been following you for decades, that all of us will be stewards, good stewards of that which you've invested in each of our hearts and lives. [00:44:40] You are alpha and omega. [00:44:48] We worship you, our Lord. [00:44:53] You are worthy to be praised. [00:45:00] You are alpha and omega. [00:45:10] We worship you, our Lord. [00:45:16] You are worthy to be praised. [00:45:25] We'll give you all the glory we worship you, our Lord. [00:45:43] You. You are worthy to be praised. We'll give you all the glory. [00:45:52] We'll give you all the glory. [00:46:05] We worship you. Our you are worthy to be praised. Come on, let's stand and just lift your hands to heaven with you. We'll give you all the glory we worship you are Lord. [00:46:39] You are worthy to be praised. Come on, whatever you're going through, whatever's happening in your life, sing this. We'll give you all the glory we worship you are Lord, you are worthy to be praised. Come on, bring your sacrifice of praise. We'll give you all. We'll give you all the glory we worship you are Lord, you are worthy to be praised. [00:47:42] Now just put your hand on your heart. [00:47:46] I'm going to pray that the spirit of the Lord will fill you. [00:47:50] Holy Spirit, come and breathe into every heart where the enemy has brought just that sense of coolness, that sense of discouragement. [00:48:09] Where we've been banging our pots and pans, disgruntled. [00:48:16] Where we've been doing things for our own glory. [00:48:19] We ask, oh God, that you will come and let your fire fill our hearts. [00:48:24] That we will be ablaze with the glory of God. [00:48:28] May your grace fill my life this week. [00:48:31] May I be a dispenser of your grace. [00:48:34] May I be like a cash point that's generous that just pours out that which you've placed in me. [00:48:41] May our hearts be on fire for you. In Jesus name and all God's people said amen. Why don't we. In conclusion, why don't we give him a round of applause and thank him for his grace and his goodness in our life? [00:48:55] Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.