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Essential Tools for Spiritual Service (Galatians 1:15-2:1) - Part I
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Essential Tools for Spiritual Service (Galatians 1:15-2:1) - Part I
Galatians: The Truth of the Gospel :: A Study of Galatians
Sunday Message recorded 22 August 2021
by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
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Transcript
Hope in Future Generations
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Speaker
Good morning. You know, I know that some may have questions about
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future generations. But when I hear our young people say, I'm going to build my life on you, when I see young people take steps of obedience to say, I'm going to follow Christ because he's my Lord and Savior, when I see young families raising their kids this way, I think to myself, maybe we need to look again, because I think God is stirring in the younger generations. And I give him praise for it.
Reflecting on Life and God's Purpose
00:00:32
Speaker
I want to invite you, if you would, to turn to Galatians chapter one. We're going to watch how God prepared Paul for what his life's work was to be. But I want you to reflect upon your life and where you are now and how God still wants to use you, no matter your age, no matter where you are in life. You know, Ephesians chapter four, verses 11 and 12 makes it so clear. It says that a pastor should be an equipper.
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But guess who's supposed to be the minister?
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everybody in this room, all of us. God wants to work through each one of us. And so our job, our role as church staff is to prepare you, to equip you, to get you ready for what God wants to do through your life. Paul's statements give us an overview of six essential tools that we will need for effective spiritual service.
Tools for Spiritual Service
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I believe that the Lord
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He's already outfitted us for what he wants to do through us. I know it won't be too long before hunting season will be here. I remember when I served up in Fairview, Alberta, one of my best friends was a man named Darrell. And Darrell was an outfitter. I mean, during the week he worked with his dad as a mechanic.
00:01:54
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But whenever hunting season came, he told his dad, he told his family, look, I'm going to be out for a while. I'm going to be taking Americans on these guided hunts. And so he would take Americans all across Alberta or sometimes British Columbia to look for moose, elk, even bear. He helped me to kill a bear. That was quite a miracle there.
00:02:18
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thing he would do is he would take care of transportation, even local transportation. When they got to the woods, sometimes they have to get on four-wheelers or they would get on horses or whatever and they would pack way back into the bush. He would set up the camp tent, campfire, cook their food, he would guide them, but the one thing he would not do
00:02:40
Speaker
He said, I'm not gonna take the shot for you. It's your job to take the shot. I'll set you up. I'll take you to where they are. I know the area, but you're gonna have to take the shot. You know, I think there's something like that in 2 Timothy 3, verses 10 through 17.
00:02:58
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where God's talking to all of us, but He's saying to us, you're going to have some opportunities that I'll set you up, and how will you be ready? You know what He says there? The Word of God gets us ready.
Paul's Transformation and God's Plan
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So as we go through the Word, I want you to be looking for tools that you're going to need for your ministry tool belt, for your service, so that you'll know how can I be effective.
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as a Christian, as one who wants to volunteer and serve the Lord. Would you stand with me in honor of God's Word? His Word is not like other books. It's powerful. And so as we go through this, the Holy Spirit may speak to your heart. Here's what it says in Galatians 1, verse 15, but when he
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who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son to me, some translations say, in me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles. I did not immediately consult with anyone, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me,
00:04:09
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But I went away into Arabia and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, that's Peter, and remained with him 15 days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. In what I am writing to you before God, I do not lie.
00:04:32
Speaker
Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, he who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy. And they glorified God because of me.
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Then after 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. Let's ask the Lord to speak to our hearts through this passage.
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Lord, I thank you so much. I'm surrounded by people that I love and I know love me. We're so happy for these families today who saw their son step forward to follow you and believers baptism. They were already your disciples, but they hadn't been baptized. And so publicly, they weren't ashamed. They said, I want to do that today. So I thank you for them.
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Lord, it could be that someone in this room needs to take a step to trust Christ. Some may never have been baptized. Others may not be a part of a local church yet.
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Lord's, some may be saved, they may be growing, but they're not serving. They're not plugged in. There's nowhere that they're rolling up their sleeves and saying, let me see what I can do to serve the Lord. And so as we follow Paul's footsteps, would you speak to us? Help us to know that there's a place for
God's Prenatal Plan
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us. There are tools that you have entrusted to us
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that we can use for you and your kingdom. Others will be counting on us, and so help us to do that. And so, Lord, we're here to listen as you speak to us through your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated.
00:06:24
Speaker
I want to prepare you. I'm not sure I'll get all this in today. So if I did, we might be here a little past our time and then I'd be strung up by the Sunday school teachers later. But no, they wouldn't do that. But I want to share with you some of the tools that I saw in this passage. I feel like I could, they resonated with me. It's like I could relate.
00:06:45
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I thought to myself, wow, I can see how you use that in my life. And I want you, I really do. I sincerely want you this fall to say, God, how can you use me here with the body of Christ to serve you and your kingdom? Let's look at the first tool. I believe right off the bat in verse 15, if you'll go back there, I believe we see a tool that is used by an architect. It's sort of like a scale ruler.
00:07:12
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It's the realization, get this now, you, I'm not talking about someone else in this room, I'm talking about you, that you were lovingly
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and skillfully designed by your creator. Do you know that there's a God in heaven who loved you so much, he made you exactly who you are. He gave you the body that you have. He gave you the mind that you have. He gave you the personality, the gifts and talents and abilities. He gave you all the opportunities. As a matter of fact, in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 10,
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Listen to what it says about everyone in this room that's a born-again believer at this moment. Ephesians 2.10, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, now don't miss the last part, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Do you know that before you were born,
00:08:13
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God made you. He thought about you. He thought about all you would need to make the impact that he wants to make through your life. And so he made you who you are. Now, I know we just kind of buzz through this first verse, but when he who had set me apart before I was born, but I'd like to just push the pause button three times at this verse. The first thing I want you to realize about your creator
00:08:40
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is realize that the Creator has a personal plan, a personal plan. Did you catch the personal pronouns? Listen to it one more time. But when He, it's not an it, it's not a force, it's not chance or luck, it's not evolution. It's when He who had set me apart, did you catch the me in there?
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From, before I was born, before I was born, another personal pronoun, I, so he, me, and I.
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Do you know that's how personal it is when God made you? As a matter of fact, hold your place there or we'll be right back if sometimes you get lost. You can either have fun trying to find us again or you can hold your place or just stay right there. I'll be right back. But I wanna read something. I don't want you to think about David in Psalms. I don't want you to think about Paul in Galatians. I want you to think about you.
00:09:41
Speaker
You, before you were in your mother's womb, and then while you were in your mother's womb, I want you to think about this. Here's what Psalm 139, Psalm 139 verse 13 through 18 says. Listen to the personal pronouns. For you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb.
00:10:09
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I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you. When I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed substance.
00:10:36
Speaker
Get this next part, in your book were written every one of them the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
00:10:47
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You understand what he's saying. He already knows how many days you have. You don't have to fear death. God's already said, I know exactly how many days you're gonna have. But then what about how we should relate to this creator who made us, each one of us? He says, oh, how precious to me are your thoughts, oh God, how vast is the sum of them. If I would count them,
00:11:14
Speaker
They're more than the sand. I awake and I'm still with you." Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that beautiful that God says, I'm thinking about you all day long and I made you and I'm still thinking about you. Think about how personal, personal that the creator's plan is for you. But also realize, let's go back to Galatians 1.15 when he says, but when he who had set me apart,
00:11:42
Speaker
He would set me apart. See, the Creator's plan is not just personal. It's purposeful. It's purposeful. There's a plan, you see. And so the Apostle Paul is trying to leave us footprints to how he ever got into God's service. And what he's trying to tell us is, God has a plan for you. God had a plan for me. He said he set me apart. That word means to mark off for something else.
00:12:10
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So Paul was trying to defend the people who were saying, you're not really an apostle. Jesus didn't really call you like he called the other 12. And so the apostle Paul is trying to say, are you kidding? God knew me before I was even born while I was in the womb. But also realize that it's not just a personal plan and a purposeful plan. Get this. This will blow your mind. It's a prenatal plan.
Grace and Unconditional Call to Serve
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It's a prenatal plan.
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He says, but when he who had set me apart before I was born, ah, so maybe you were assuming that I deserved to be in this pulpit, that I deserve to be here. Oh no, you know what? God chose that when I was still in the womb is what he's telling me.
00:13:02
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Do you know that God, no matter what you've done, maybe you're feeling like, man, I've made so many mistakes in my life. But I want you to know God's plan, it's still there. If you want to come back to Him in repentance, God can connect you with that original purpose that He has for your life.
00:13:19
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You know, there's a little bit more. I mean, I don't want to blow your mind here too far, because you might get where you can't think anymore. But Jeremiah chapter 1, verse 5, it's not just in the womb, OK? Listen to what Jeremiah, what God, this is God talking, says to Jeremiah. Jeremiah 1 and verse 5, before,
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I formed you in the womb. I knew you." Let me just run that back one more time. Think about what he's saying. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you. I appointed you, Jeremiah, a prophet to the nations. Isn't that fantastic?
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that God says, not only did I see you when you were just inside your mother's womb, oh no, I knew you. I knew you before you were even conceived, before you were in your mother's womb. Now that is amazing. That's astounding.
00:14:30
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That is something God wants you to realize. Do you realize that? Do you realize that your life has meaning? Your life has purpose? There's some reason that you're here. Your family, of course. But there are other people around us all the time. And that's why we need you to stay connected with what God wants to do in this area.
00:14:52
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But I want to move to a second thing that's also written in this same verse in Galatians 1.15, but when he was set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace. Now we need to move to a second tool.
00:15:09
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I was struggling to think of what kind of tool could I share that would be all about grace. And you know what I thought of? I thought of VBS. And I thought of, you know, we did one on digging these foundations. And in that time, I had to learn what an excavator was, because there's a picture of one. And I said, I see those everywhere. I just don't know what they're called. So I had to look up, what is that thing called? You know, with that bucket and digs and all this kind of thing. And I learned it's an excavator.
00:15:39
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Do you know that an excavator is where you start? An excavator comes before you lay a foundation. You gotta dig it out. You gotta make it all smooth and so forth. So I got to thinking about Paul is telling us, not sometimes, not just in his case, every single time, God's excavator, where does he start when he says, I got something I want you to do? I'll tell you where he starts.
00:16:08
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Grace, grace, unconditional. It's unmerited, but God comes to you and he comes to me in grace. You know the Apostle Paul at this time, when he was talking before this, he wasn't an apostle. He wasn't a disciple. He wasn't following Christ. He was on the opposite side. He was the opposition. He was angry and he was trying to shut it down. And God comes to him and says, Paul,
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I got a plan I want to do through your life. Do you know that no matter how you've blown it in your life, expect an unconditional call that will come to you and you will say to him, but I'm so unworthy, but I'm so small for such a big task.
00:16:55
Speaker
And God says, that's okay, I'm still calling you. You see, Moses learned this in Exodus 3, 10 through 16. Moses heard God say, I'm gonna lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. They've been in bondage long enough and I'm gonna use you to do it. And Moses, he said, what?
00:17:15
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Who am I? Who am I to do that you could do something like that through me? I'm not worthy. Can you hear him saying it? Have you ever heard that from your own lips, from your own mind, from your own heart? Have you ever felt like, Lord, I'm too unworthy. I know you can't use somebody like me. I'm just damaged goods. Oh no, God specializes. God specializes in coming to us in grace and saying, you're precious to me. Watch what I will do through your life.
00:17:44
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He comes to Moses, and you know what he says his name is? Moses is over there saying, who am I?
00:17:51
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God says, it's not who you are. It's who I am, Moses. You tell the people that I am has sent you to them. And I'm thinking, wow, that's what we need to remember. It's not about us. It's all about Him. 1 Timothy 1, 12 through 17 is a wonderful moving record of the Apostle Paul as he shares his testimony
00:18:16
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I think it's a sixth time. Six times. You know, there's three in the book of Acts, and we got one here. This one in 1 Timothy 1, 12 through 17 is like the last one. But you know what he says? Paul had been in the Lord's work for 30 years. He can see that sometime soon his life is going to end.
00:18:40
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Most Bible scholars said probably when he wrote first Timothy, he only had like one year, two years left. By the time he writes second Timothy, he's right at the end. He's gonna be executed for being a Christian, for living for the Lord and so forth. But do you know what he says to a young guy named Timothy? He says, you know what, I'm the chief of sinners. And when God came to me and called me, you know what it was? It was mercy, it was grace. His grace, his mercy came to me.
00:19:11
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I'm gonna tell you something that I believe with all my heart. If I ever forget that it was grace, if I ever forget that it was mercy, you know what I'll become?
00:19:22
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I'll become critical of other people. I'll become callous toward other people. Or I'll become cold. I'll begin to coast. But whenever I keep it in my forefront of my mind, you know what? I'm saved by grace. Somehow it makes me think, I don't care all the problems. Man, I am going to focus on Jesus. He's been so good to me. He's been so gracious to me.
00:19:48
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And I'm not watching what other people do. I'm just thinking, look what God has already done in my life. So I'm telling you, before you'll step up and say, put the harness on me, because I want to pull some of the load, before you'll ever do that, you're going to have to realize, you know what? It all started with that unconditional call. So I want to move to a third thing, and we may finish with this one.
Christ as the Standard of Growth
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The third tool is similar to a retractable measuring tape. I thought I would bring one and, you know, put it way out there and then bring it back. But I thought, no, I'm going to pinch my finger and I might cry or no, I'm kidding. But anyway, I thought, no, I'm going to mess it up. Let's get up there with a bunch of tools. But I want to tell you a third tool. I think it's like the cultivation, the cultivation of personal Christ likeness.
00:20:43
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I don't know if you've ever done a study on how we ever got the inches and the feet and all those kind of things, but it all started back in 1821 when John Quincy Adams, who at that time was the Secretary of State, led the United States to embrace this uniform measuring system.
00:21:03
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I mean, think for a moment, if you've ever built anything, what would it be like if from one state to another state, if what was nine foot for one state wasn't the same for the other state? Or what would it be like if you say, hey, I need a quarter inch socket, and they hand you a quarter inch socket, but it's from another city, and in that city, a quarter inch is not a quarter inch. Aren't you glad there's a standard unit of measurement?
00:21:31
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Who is the standard unit of measurement for us, for disciples? It's not the pastor. It's not your Sunday school teacher. It's not your mom or your dad. I'll tell you who the measuring tape is. It's Christ. It's Christ.
00:21:46
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You know, in Ephesians 4.13, it says that each one of us in this room should be growing to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Some of you are way beyond me spiritually in your growth. That's a good thing. Because you're not measuring yourself by me. You're saying, I want to grow to be like Jesus. He's the one that I'm going to be measured by.
00:22:15
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You know, I got to looking at verse 16 and I thought, you know, conforming to the image of Christ, that's where God's going in your life. See, I don't know what he specifically will do in a career or, you know, if you're praying about, you know, some big decision in your life. I don't know about that decision, but here's one thing I know based on the authority of the word of God. God is interested in conforming you and me, I'm including myself,
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in the image of Christ. That's where he's moving. And he will use circumstances like in Romans 8, 28, God causes all things to work together for good to those who love him or called according to his purpose. But don't stop with verse 28. Make sure you get verse 29 because in verse 29, it says his definition of good conformity to the image of his son. In 2 Corinthians chapter three,
00:23:13
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It talks about verse 18, how the Holy Spirit has been given to us. And you know what he's gonna do? He's gonna transform each of us into the image that we're beholding in this mirror. It's Christ.
00:23:27
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So conforming to the image of Christ is what he's talking about in verse 16, that God was pleased to reveal his son in me. Do you know first God pours in us and then God pours through us. So if you want God to use you, you have to really say, Lord, I want you to work in me so that I have something to share with other people, which gets brings us to this Arabia. Did you catch it? He says, I didn't go up to the apostles. I went away into Arabia.
00:23:57
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Why did he go there? You know, I think he wanted solitude. I think he wanted to seek the Lord. You know, Jesus modeled that for his disciples. All the mornings, Jesus would be out there praying whenever the day was starting. Are you cultivating that personal relationship to say, Jesus, I want to be more like you? I believe that God is conforming us to the image of Christ, but we are reforming
00:24:24
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we are reforming through intimacy with Christ. To say, God, there's nobody else I want to be with right now. I want to get your word, get a journal and a pen. I want to get on my knees. I want to pray. I want to seek you. I need to hear from you, God. If you'll do that, God will speak to you. I love Luke 4, 42 to 44. Luke 4, verses 42 to 44 because it says that Jesus went out and he prayed, okay? He went into a real desolate place.
00:24:54
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And when he came back, the disciples said, hey, Jesus, everybody's looking for you over here and over there and over there and over there. You know what he said? He said, you know what? We got to go to the other cities because for this purpose, I've been sent to share the gospel over there. How did he know what to do in life? He knew what to do because he spent time with the Father. He cultivated that intimacy. And that's why he was so usable to the Lord.
00:25:19
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but also I noticed here in this verse 20, transforming into integrity like Christ. I love this. Verse 20, here's what Paul says. He says, in what I'm writing to you before God,
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I do not lie. I do not lie. Man, I wish I could get our whole country to say that's gonna be our verse for the rest of this year. I am not gonna lie.
Equipping the Congregation for Ministry
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Boy, there's so much falsehood out there. I believe we all need to say, Lord, help me be a man, a woman, a boy, a girl, a student of integrity. Why? Because I wanna be like Christ. That's the way he was.
00:25:59
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You know, I want to close with a verse. You'll have to go to the end of the PowerPoint to get this one, but Ephesians 4, 11 to 13. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers, why?
00:26:16
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Why did God give you a church staff? Here comes verse 12, to equip the saints, that's all of us, every single member, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
00:26:41
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I'm telling you, there's a lot of ministries going on here at First Baptist. We need you. We need you to plug in. So this Sunday and next Sunday, I'm going to be trying to do the best that I can to remind you God wants to use you. God has gifted you. He's been working your life. We're going to see next time three more tools that the Lord will use to help us.
00:27:05
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Let's go to the Father in prayer and I just want to remind you as you're bowing your head in prayer, expect God to surprise you by grace. I want you to realize that God has a very special, unique, personal purpose for your life.
00:27:26
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And you're going to get there as long as you draw near to Christ. As long as you say, Lord, keep working on me. Don't give up on me, Lord. Sandpaper me. Work in my life. Use the word of God. You know, the Bible says in 2 Timothy 3,
00:27:42
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At the end of that chapter, he says that the Word of God will thoroughly equip us, complete us for every good work. Everything God wants to do through your life, it can be found right here in the Word of God. God will use it. That's your tool belt. Put it on and say, God, please, I want to grow in Christ-likeness. Next time, Lord willing, we'll look at three more tools, like I said. But I want you to say to the Lord this morning, Lord, have I been coasting?
00:28:11
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Am I just riding on the wagon and I'm not helping to pull? We need you. God has equipped you. So I want you to really pray that God would speak to your heart this Sunday and next Sunday about how He's gifted you. Let's all stand together.
00:28:29
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Let's go to the father in prayer and then we'll have a time of invitation.
Reflection and Decision-Making
00:28:32
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Lord, thank you so much for just such a wonderful service already. Lord, just with the baptism alone, that would have been enough. But then when the young girls got up here and sang, oh Lord, how we were so blessed. Thank you and I pray they would build their lives upon you. Not just those two girls, but every girl, every boy, every man, every woman. But help us realize that part of
00:28:57
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Building our lives upon you involves other people. We need people to serve as a mentor, to serve as a Sunday School teacher. We need people to love us like the Deacons or to love us like those in Awana or the youth group.
00:29:15
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And so God, help us to realize there's a place that we can plug in. So I pray that, Lord, you would help us to be contemplating and thinking about that this Sunday and next Sunday. And may we be ready next Sunday to say, I want to serve God. Thank you again for this time. Bless this invitation. If anyone is here without a personal relationship with Christ, I pray this would be the turning point. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.