Well, good evening. I hope this video finds you well. It's been a little while since we did one of these. As you can see, tonight I am all alone. Brother Shad had some domestic duties to take care of tonight, and certainly we understand that. He's being a good husband, a good dad, and so tonight you just have to listen to me for a few minutes. If you're watching this, I want to tell you how much we appreciate you being a part of the Deliberate Orthodoxy podcast. We want to thank you for tuning in to, we hope, hear what is correct doctrine and things from God's Word that will help us and edify us as Christians and believers and help us grow in the knowledge of the faith and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so tonight we are finishing up our series on why we do what we do here at Emanuel Baptist Church. And so if you're a member of Emanuel Baptist Church or you're just watching this for the first time, I want to encourage you, if you hear something you like, hit that like button. If you hear something to disagree with, you can dislike it. That's fine too. Or even, certainly you can leave a comment. If you have a question, we do respond to those. And certainly if you enjoy it, we would appreciate if you would subscribe to it. Here lately, a lot of folks have been going on and listening to us on sermonaudio.com, maybe through one of the webcasting or streaming services we are on Spotify and also on iTunes. And so you can search for the Deliberate Orthodoxy podcast and you can find us there and you can listen to this podcast there as well. And so certainly we appreciate you being on here with us tonight. And so this is our final in our series on why we do what we do here at Emanuel Baptist Church. And we've talked about a lot of different things. We've talked about our worship services and the different components of our worship services and why we include those. We've also talked about... You know, what is membership? We've talked about deacons. We've talked about elders and all those things. And it seems that the less controversial, the less looks we get on these videos. So tonight, we're going to be talking about something that's not really that controversial. We're going to be talking about serving in the church. Why would we and should we serve? One of the things that we encourage our members to do here at Emmanuel Baptist Church is that if you are a member of the church and you are in covenant with us in church membership, we understand that we have come together in order to glorify Christ, in order to encourage one another to grow in the image or the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And part of that is us learning how to better love God, And generally we love God or we act out our love for God by loving His people. And so how can we serve one another and then also how can we grow in our love of neighbor? We know in Mark chapter 12 we read there when Jesus asked what is the greatest commandment? He says, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, that the whole moral law is held in these two commands. And so we want to help each other do that, and service is really the outworking of that. And so, you know, if I had Brother Shad here, he would be asking me these questions, but he's not here, so you just have to listen to my monologue if you're listening to this. I think the question I was going to have him ask is, why do we serve both within the local church body and outside of the local church body? Well, it goes back to the commands of Scripture. I've already talked about that in terms of maybe some of the abstract thoughts related to that, like each of us being members of the body and that sort of thing. But we have to remember why we come together. And I think I may have read this passage of Scripture a few weeks ago when we talked about church membership. It's here in Ephesians chapter 4, and it's really what has become sort of a directing verse, sort of a life verse for me as a pastor, as I do the work of a pastor within this local church body, as I think about what God's called me to be and what I should encourage the church to be, or how I should encourage the church to grow toward the image of Christ. And so it's here in Ephesians chapter 4. In verse 10, it says, "...the one who descended," it's talking about Christ descending from heaven, Him coming here to this earth, "...the one who descended," all right, in humility, "...is also the one who ascended." He went far above the heavens. He ascended far above the heavens to feel all things. And He Himself gave some... He's talking about offices within the church. He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. what I believe He's given me too. He gave Son to be pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry of the body of Christ. Until we all reach unity in the faith and the knowledge of God's Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ's fullness, then we will no longer be little children tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness and the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the Head, who is Christ. And so what we're seeking to do in this local faith community, we believe we are those who have been called out of the world, through the work of the Holy Spirit. We have been convicted of our sin and of the sinfulness of the world. And we've been convicted of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And so we've been called out of the world and we've been called into the church. through faith in Jesus Christ, through the regenerating presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one that we all have in common. We have this same new nature. We have the Spirit of the living God within us. We have the Spirit who is the deposit, the guarantee of the resurrection of these bodies. And so we've been called out of the world. We've been called into the kingdom. We've been called into the church. And so here we are all together, and we read here, that God has given us these gifts. He's given us apostles, prophets, evangelists, and then pastors and teachers like myself. But we read here why He gave the church these different offices or these different officers. Why did He give them to the church? Well, the reason here, it says, is for the equipping of the saints in the work of the ministry. So we read that for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry to build up the body of Christ. And so we think about why we serve. We serve in order to build up the body of Christ. What am I doing as a pastor? I'm trying to equip the saints. I'm preaching God's Word each week from the pulpit. I'm teaching people in small groups. There are others within the church that are doing the same, but they've already been equipped. They've been equipped by some other disciple-maker. They were equipped by another pastor. They were equipped by some teacher who went before them. And so they have been equipped to build up the body through this work of ministry, which is the preaching and teaching of the Word. And so they're doing that in their small groups and other places. And so we're doing it, we're trying to build one another up. What does that mean? Well, it means that we're trying to help each other look more like Jesus, act more like Jesus, and be a better representation or a better witness for Christ in the world. We want other people to see Christ in us. And so we're serving one another to help each other move forward in our relationship with Jesus Christ and to grow in holiness. What does that practically look like? Is it just preaching and teaching? Well, certainly that's one way of ministering within the body or building others up, but it also could be the ministry of intercessory prayer where we're praying for the pastor and we're praying for brothers and sisters in our Sunday school class or whatever it might be. It might be the ministry of intercessory prayer. That's their service within the body. God has burdened them for that, and he's given them this ministry of prayer. He's equipped them and gifted them to pray with great diligence and discipline within the body of Christ. It could be, you know, the person that actually has a real heart for children and is willing to help take care of children in the nursery. Tonight we had a little sign-up sheet that was going around. and we were signing up people because we're short of nursery workers on Sunday morning. And so those that were passing around that, because we want people that feel led to do that and feel burdened for that, to help take care of those children so that their moms and dads might be able to send in a small group Bible study or be here in the sanctuary with us. Now, we don't put children you know, that are above preschool age. We don't put them aside in a nursery somewhere. As soon as they're old enough, we want them to come here and not only learn from the preaching and teaching the word, you say, Oh, those children, they're not paying any attention to that. Well, they're paying attention to what mom and daddy are doing. And they're watching their mom and dad learn from the pulpit ministry here in the local body of Christ and also praise and worship the Lord. So they're learning both through knowledge, but they're also learning through example. And so, but, but for this period of time in their lives, when they're, They're an infant, 1, 2, 3, 4 years old. Those people who work in the children's ministry, in some ways, they're not only helping those children learn stories of faith and those things, but they're also making it possible. They're building up the young mother and the young father, the young couple. They're building them up. They're ministering to them so that they might be able to hear from God's Word and fellowship with others and not have to also be distracted with the moment-to-moment care of that child. You're giving them a little bit of relief, and you're giving them a little bit of help so that they might be built up. And so you're stepping in that gap. You're serving in that way. And we could go down the list. We could talk about every place of service within the body of Christ. And it even comes down to not just things that happen here at the church, but ways that we minister to one another within the body that may be going and visiting with those who are sick and shut in, It might be taking a meal to those who are hurting. Yesterday, we had a funeral here at the church, and there were many people here at the funeral. And so there were those who were here giving their condolences, praying for those who were hurting, but there were also those who were preparing a meal for them so that after the funeral, they might be able to come together and have a time of fellowship and bless the Lord and bless one another during that time, comfort one another. And, of course, I was there as the pastor. Our music minister was there kind of coordinating the music. We're all doing our part. Our instrumentalists were here playing processional and recessional during the funeral. And in those ways, we're ministering to them. during that time. And we do those things for one another, not to get a check or in some ways to get some sort of remuneration. We do those things because we want to help them and come alongside them in their need and walk alongside them and encourage them to persevere in the faith and to comprehend what's going on. This great tragedy that they were going through, to look at it not through the eyes of sinful man or as the world might see it, but to look at it through the lenses of Scripture. And so that's why we serve within the body. And so I think the second question Brother Shadd was going to ask me was, Okay, what's the difference? I mean, is there service within the body and outside the body? Is there any distinction? Well, certainly, as we're to be about, as we go about our work, as we walk through the world, we are to show love to our neighbors. We're to love them and show love to them. In fact, God's word tells us that we're to seek to do good to all people. But then it goes on to say, the Apostle Paul goes on to say, but especially those who are of the household of faith. Okay, the world is gonna know us, not according to God's word, by the way we love people who are outside the church. The world's gonna know us by how we love one another within the church. That's what Jesus said there in John chapter 13. The world's gonna know us by our love. The world's gonna know us by our unity, according to John 17. Okay, the way we serve each other in order to build one another up. But certainly when we leave outside of these walls, God is gonna put people in our path to whom we're gonna witness to Christ by the way we treat them. and the kindness we show to them. It might be the person that's going and working at the Help Center of Churches. It might be the person that's going and volunteering at Rolling Heels or working in disaster relief or those things. Or it might just be you being kind and speaking a kind word to your coworker on the job. That is part of your witness to Christ. Now, we are called to actually share the gospel, to actually share the good news, to be ready at all times to give a reason for the hope that we have. But we're also to be looking for ways to honor the Lord and bear witness to the Lord in our behavior and the way we interact with others and all those things. And certainly we do service to the Lord out there in the world. But if we're not serving within the body, then we're not fulfilling Ephesians chapter 4. So it shouldn't be one or the other, but it should be a both and. And it should be something that we see. Now, I think the third question that Brother Shad was going to ask me... Now, I may forget here, and Shad can correct me later, but I think the other question he was going to ask me was, how do I go about finding a place to serve? How do I do that? You know, we talk about spiritual gifts sometimes, and we do want to serve in accordance with the gifts, the gifting that we've been given in Christ. And so how do I find out what my gift is? You know, one of the things we do in our new members class is we take a spiritual gifts inventory. And really that spiritual gifts inventory, like other tests for spiritual gifts, It's not really that spiritual. Really what it comes down to is, what things do you like to do? It's more like an aptitude test, really. And that's what it is, because spiritual things are spiritually discerned. As a believer, I ought to be willing to serve in any way that God puts in front of me. Any way that I can serve, I ought to be willing to serve. And so what happens in the body of Christ is you look for those opportunities, those places of need, and you When you see that and you're able to help, well then you just take a step of faith and say, well, if God needs that spot or if He's calling on people to serve and I've got the time and I've got the ability, the health to do so, well, I'm going to serve. I'm going to serve in that way. So let's say they're passing around the nursery sheet tonight. And it comes by me, well, I can't serve in the nursery. Why? Because I'm already serving within the worship assembly here, and during the Sunday school hour, I'm already teaching Sunday school classes, so I'm already exercising my gifts, so I'm not able to serve in that way, even on a rotational basis. But if it comes through, and you see that, and you say, well, you know, I would be willing I've got a willingness to give up personal edification in the worship setting, in the corporate worship gathering. I'm willing to give up one Sunday out of 12 to serve in the nursery. Now, I may not feel particularly gifted to that, but I am a dad and I have kids. and I have changed diapers, and I can supervise children. I supervise my own, and I supervised them when they were small, and so I'm able to do it. I mean, I feel gifted to do it, but I'm able to do it. Now, for me, it may not be nursery that I might do, but let's say there's gonna be a work day at the church on Saturday, and they're gonna be cleaning out some closets, and there's gonna be some yard work to be done, and we're gonna be cutting some limbs of some trees, and you know what? I'm able to do that. and I have the time, I have discretionary time that I can give to that, I don't feel particularly gifted to cut down limbs. But it needs to be done, and so I'm willing, and so I do that, sacrificially, I give all my time to that. And as I'm doing that, as I'm serving in ways that really maybe anybody could do that has the same abilities that I have, as I'm surrendering in those things, God begins, through the interaction of the body of Christ, God begins to show me other areas where I also can serve. And He gives me a desire. If my desires are submitted to the Lord, then those desires are stirred in me. And so as those desires are stirred in me, then I'm praying that God would open doors for me to serve in these particular ways. Maybe I share that with my pastor, or I share that with someone else that maybe is in a place where they can maybe open that door for me to serve in that way. Maybe they're the person that's over the usher committee, or the security team, or they're the person that's over the media, or they're the ones that are leading the music, and I share that with them, and then they allow me then, they open the door for me to begin to serve in a very humble way, in a way that opens doors for me to learn more, to be discipled more, and to grow in my ability to serve. And what you'll find is, if that's the place where God would have you to serve, God will enable you to do those things. God will enable you to do it. Now, I'm going to tell you, if we needed somebody to run the PowerPoint or the media on Sunday morning, I mean, I'm mentally able to do that, okay? I mean, I have the facilities to do it. I think I could work the computer well enough to click that next slide and all those things, but I'm gonna be real honest with you. I don't really, I don't think that I do it well. And what I mean by that, I mean, I've actually done this before, and so I know that I'm easily distracted, and I really enjoy singing the songs, and I will get so distracted that I don't advance the slide. I just keep singing, you know, I'm having a good time. Well, probably because I don't, I'm not naturally bent toward, or I don't naturally have that attention to detail. It'd probably be better for somebody else to do it. And plus, as a pastor now, I'm also involved in other things. And so, that's something I could do, but I'm going to find out pretty quickly, and others are going to find out, that I'm not really suited for that. You see, you take that step of faith to do that which is needed, but as you do it, you'll find out whether that's something God has gifted you to do, And you'll find out if it's something that you're not gifted. And it doesn't mean that when somebody tells you, well, you know, Paul, you really don't need to run the media because you kind of stink at it. You know, I mean, no offense. You know, we just easily distracted. We love you. We're not throwing you out of the church, but that's probably not where you need to serve. And when somebody says, OK, well then, There's plenty of other places. And so God will, if you're willing and you're surrendering to the Lord, I just believe that God is big enough and He's powerful enough and He's wise enough to put you, to connect you with the ministry and the service in that place of service that He has prepared you for and He's gifted you for within the body of Christ. And so I hope this is encouraging to you today. Even if you may not be a member here at Emmanuel, you may be a member somewhere else. You may be a member here at Emmanuel, and you're sitting on the sideline, and you're not helping in any shape, form, or fashion. Well, shame on you, all right? You ought to get involved in things. We're still going to love you if you don't. But you need to do that because God's word calls you to it. You need to be about building up others within the body of Christ. And so begin by just being willing and asking the Lord to show you those places where you can plug in. and He will move you to that place that you're gifted, where you're gifted to serve, honor, and glorify the Lord. And so, anyway, I'm gonna let you go, but I hope this has been encouraging to you. I hope it's a blessing. In the weeks and months to come, we've got a lot of new things coming on the pod. We're gonna try to put out a video a week, as we have in the past. We're gonna have some conversations related to politics. I know that's always a lot of fun. Not about specific candidates, but we are gonna talk about how we should engage or how we can engage What does it look like to engage in the public discourse in a Christian way, in a way that glorifies God? We're going to be talking about that. I've got some plans to have some guests on here from week to week, and so I hope that you can be a part of this. If you don't have a church home, I want to tell you, there's a place for you here at Emanuel. And I won't say that we're the best church in town. I'll just say I just don't believe there's any better. I believe that the people here are seeking the Lord, and they're seeking to glorify Him, and there aren't any perfect people here, but we serve a perfect Savior, and we thank God for the work that Jesus Christ is doing in each of our hearts. And so 1015 on Sunday morning. If you got a church home and you're watching this, just subscribe, like, so we can get it out to more people. God bless you, and you have a great week.