Transcript for:
Building a Unified Faith Community

you I'm reading those words that we're singing and they're pretty Grand like we're saying God Build Your Kingdom Here use the church and God take this nation back and sometimes we can sing songs like that but in our hearts there's a lot of Doubt like okay is that really going to happen though versus the hope of wait this could seriously happen happen um we could seriously I mean this is what we were created for and he placed us here in this time like it's not coincidence that you're alive right now in 2024 that we're here together in the Silicon Valley I mean just the timing of everything it's not coincidence it it seems like the world is just gone crazy right now and we're alive right now and I don't know about you but as I read the word of God I'm not cynical I'm not doubtful I'm actually very hopeful going this could happen and I'm pretty fired up about it and actually believing this because we just studied Ephesians 1:3 and he says we can actually do things through the power in us that are beyond what we could ask or imagine like he can do that that through the power that's at work within us I mean this this morning I was at a thing at my my kids school and and a lady came up to me that I didn't know she was crying and just said hey I I don't mean to intrude but can you just pray for me my my husband has stage four cancer doesn't look like he's going to make it but God can do anything and as I prayed for her I just felt this excitement to come into the presence of God the reality that I'm coming before God who raised the dead like he took the crucified body of Jesus and raised him to life and then had him Ascend into the highest places and I'm I'm coming before his throne of grace on behalf of this woman and her husband and I don't know there was just an excitement it's not like a a burden in oh gosh this lady's interrupting my day she wants prayer there was just like wow God could this be it could this be a time where you do a miracle like I've never seen before and it brings glory to your name and so when I sing these songs about the church and as we study Ephesians 4 I'm going God this could happen like I said a couple weeks ago I feel like I've been chasing Ephesians 4 for years like God I still I still haven't tasted this but I know it's possible everything I read in those first three chapters makes me go this could happen and this could be the time and it excites me and so I'm going to have Lisa read Ephesians 4 but not yet um because I think everything can become like uh ordinary or we can uh get distracted or what's the word I'm looking for like it just it just loses its uh its power it gets deluded common you remember when I we first came here and I said okay when we read from the Bible this space is for reading the Bible and taking of communion this is sacred we're coming this is so sacred the body and blood of Jesus the fact that we are going to commune with the body and blood of Jesus in some real way in a little while and it's such a big deal that we're going to read from this holy book it's like words coming down from heaven so when I'm standing here it's just it's just me doing my best and interpreting his scriptures but when we come here this is the word of God it's sacred these words are from God and I don't want that to ever become common before we read it I want to remind you of who who is speaking when this book is read because sometimes I think we can go to churches hear a sermon and we listen to it the same way that we would listen to a therapist where the therapist gives you some suggestions and you decide whether you want to apply it or not rather than listen to it as commands from your master that's a big difference suggestions from a therapist or commands from your master the whole idea of that that the concept of a command is very foreign to this generation just the thought of a command we're just not used to commands where we're just told something we don't have a choice we just have to obey I mean some of you have never felt the weight of a command depending on the home you were raised in everything's up for grabs your mom and dad can tell you do something but that doesn't mean a whole lot cuz there may not be consequences you may not take it seriously it's just like I've always got options and so the concept of God in heaven and and thus saith the Lord has been lost in this generation and so it's hard when we read the scriptures because we're just not used to the concept of a command from a master you said well I have a boss yeah but what if your boss asks you to do something you don't want to do you've got options I'll just quit I'll quit I'll get another job it's not like there's only one job on the earth you can do you've got options this is we always we we put ourselves in a situation where we always have a choice you can get married and then if you don't like your wife you don't like your husband you got a choice just end it you can get pregnant if you don't want that baby you got a choice just kill it we we put ourselves in a situation where I'm always in control no one can tell me what I have to do in any situation that's the way we want to live our life as Americans I I even remember it blew me away when uh when Trump was elected and I was watching the news and there were a bunch of middle school students parading with these signs that said not my president like 12 year olds and that was just so weird I'm like oh yeah you can just say it's not my president like I have a choice I'm going to make it so I have a choice that I can live in this country I'm not making any political statements at all I mean it's just that whole I'm just saying this is weird I didn't grow up with this mentality oh yeah Reagan's just not my president and we just want it so that we're in control and we always have a choice and no one is over us so I can get a bumper sticker that says not my speed limit you know it's just there's no rules for me and we love that that's the American way and um this idea of a king a master is so foreign to us and I'm praying I go God I want to understand understand that I want to feel the weight of God thus saith the Lord he commanded some something of me I remember when um when I was growing up and I I became a believer in the 80s and there was a debate that went on back then it's like okay the Bible says Jesus is Lord you we need to accept him as my Lord and Savior but then people started debating well do you have to accept him as your lord can I accept Jesus as my savior and not as my master can't I just believe that he died on the cross for my sins and then that I say okay I believe that and I go to heaven isn't following him like a second step that I don't have to take I can just be a Christian who is not a follower and this really was the LIE iic of a lot of people and it didn't make a lot of sense because you look in the New Testament and that word Lord or Master is used over 700 times the word savior is only used about 20 and no one was asking well can I receive him as Lord and not as Savior that would make more sense I mean he only said savior a few times can I have him as Lord and not no we don't ask that question cuz in our mind that doesn't benefit us we want to stay in control we want to do what we feel like doing and we don't want someone else controlling that and so it was like a serious debate in my day of I know he calls himself Lord but can I have him as just Savior and it really makes no sense Jesus is Lord like that's who he is he doesn't change that it it be like you saying hey Francis can I be can you be my friend but I don't want you to be my Chinese friend okay how do I do that you know it's it's just that whole mindset of hey Jesus can you be my savior but can you I want to be in your kingdom but I don't want you to be king can you change that part no he's King Jesus that's who he is he's the lord of the earth he's the Lord the head of this church that's who he is but this idea of can I be in his kingdom without having him be my king it's not a new thought you're not the first one to think that way uh there was this angel named Lucifer seems like he was the first one to think that way like I want to be here in heaven but I would like to be in charge I would like control I do not want to come under and so that spirit it's no it's no coincidence that the church started taking on that mindset and people who call themselves Believers started questioning yeah can't I be a part of the Kingdom but just not have him as King which again for many of us now we go that that really doesn't make sense for those of us who believe um our attitude is like the psalmist in Psalm 119 I just want to read some verses from Psalm 119 he says this blessed are those whose way is blameless who walk in the law of the Lord blessed are those who keep his testimonies who seek him with their whole heart who also do no wrong but walk in his ways you have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statues then I shall not be put to shame having my eyes fixed on all your Commandments I will praise you with an upright heart when I learn your righteous rules I will keep your statutes do not utterly forsake me how can a young man keep his way pure by guarding it according to your word with my whole heart I seek you let me not Wander from your Commandments in Psalm 119 I mean there's over a 100 verses of of this psalmist just going God I love your commands I love your commands I love that you're in charge I love your rules I don't want to deviate from any of your rules see it's a far cry from can I have you a savior but not have to follow your rules those of us who believe in Ephesians 1:3 we go wait a second this God chose me before the foundation of the world he adopted me as his child he has forgiven me and redeemed Me by his blood wait I was by Nature an object of Wrath and now he's lavishing his grace upon me and he wants to rule my life in this world I'm like come Lord Jesus are you kidding me that could be my king I want that you're such an amazing God how could you even think of me and care for me and choose me and adopt me before the foundation of the world this is mindblowing and you have this plan for me to be seated in the highest places with Christ far above all rule Authority power and dominion and I reign with you we long we're we're hopefully you're here because you're going we actually agree with the commands of God that they're good and we want them and we love them and so when we come to Ephesians 4 and God starts making commands of us we go bring it because we know you're good we've seen what you've done you died for me everything you do is beyond what I can imagine so just tell me what to do tell me what type of church we ought to be you see when I was growing up if you asked me in high school college maybe even during Seminary Define Church what is a church if if you gave me a test in high school and you know they give you definitions like Define I know some big word um I don't remember any of them but uh and then it says Define church I I literally honestly would have said church is a building that you go to on Sundays to hear a sermon and sing songs to God that would have been my definition and I think some of you may hear that and go oh that's good you nailed it okay but did I get that from the Bible did I read Ephesians 4 and go it seems like what God wants is for us to assemble for an hour and hear a sermon and sing some songs see that's not what I get when I read Ephesians 4 it seems like he's saying okay I've done so many amazing things for you and I want you to walk in a manner that's worthy of the calling that you've been called to and I want you to become this group of people who are so in love with you with with each other so powerful that and you're just standing firm on my promises my commands I mean all the things that he says and that's that's really how why we started we are church I mean we are Church wasn't even supposed to be the name of the church we were just going gosh church was not supposed to be a place you go to it's who you are like what he wants from what I read in Ephesians 4 and maybe you'll hear it and go I don't see that but I think that's that's weird you you got to read it and just go gosh what does he want you know when we're singing Jesus be the center of our church that means okay doesn't matter what Francis wants in a church doesn't matter what Peter wants in a church Jesus you're the center what is it that you want us to be and the whole idea of even us getting in the homes getting to know each other calling each other out on sin you know growing in these ways everyone using his gift is because we're going gosh it seems like what he wants that's what he wants we we've got to do this we don't really have a choice see when I first started a church many years ago I thought what do I want in a church seriously that's what I was think that's what that's the way we were taught ask yourself what type of church would you like to attend and so I thought man I would like to go to a church where I can slip in hear a sermon from the bible teach me scripture let me have some great worship time alone with the Lord and then let me slip out and continue in my personal relationship with Jesus that's what I wanted in church so that's what I created thought okay this is what I want to go to so let me do that and so I made it a church where I you know as the pastor even I could slip in and slip out it's funny when like Al was one of the ushers at that church for like I don't know S 8 10 years I didn't even know him I met him in Thailand he goes yeah I was one of your ushers for 10 years I'm like oh yeah I didn't really care to know people you know it was just one of those things where it's like well cuz that's what I wanted but you there came a turning point where you're reading scripture and goes who cares what I want I'm not the Lord if he's truly Lord of my life do I have a choice see there came a point in my life when I go I don't really get to choose even though I like that kind of church for me personally CU I have enough friends I have enough Fellowship here's what I would like but then I read the scriptures and I go well he's Lord he's the king I don't get to choose I go wow if Ephesians 4 is really what you want then I will spend the rest of my life pursuing this and somehow I want us to become this everything this book says and not fall short of it and whether we achieve it or not it it can't be about what's popular like like this week I was reading in Ezekiel and he just says you know just say it to the people whether they listen or not it doesn't matter you're called to say it and that's hard for me cuz I I want to accomplish it and so if you're not into it then I feel like it's failure but it's like no you do it it's kind of like this week I was texting Ashish back there cuz he was at a basketball tournament in India not in India in uh Dallas it was an Indian in basketball tournament and I was like hey how'd it go and he goes oh I had so much fun we didn't win any games but I had so much fun and I'm like that's a contradiction you know like I can't imagine saying that was so much fun when I didn't win like it just doesn't make sense to me and in the same way when I look at what God's calls it to do I just go gosh I'm not excited unless it happens and yet what God was telling the prophets to do was just preach it just tell them this is what I want whether they do it or not it doesn't matter you just got to say it you just have to pursue it yourself and so in the same way with the church that's why I go Ephesians 4 is not something we're just going to preach but we are seriously going to try to become this because this is what God's command what he's done he's worthy of this and so I'm GNA have Lisa come up now and read Ephesians 4 but as she reads it I want us to remember these this is what God has commanded of us so what I want what you want does not matter this is the word of God he is our Lord he is our King his words Reign his desire goes above ours I therefore a prisoner for the Lord urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called with all humility and gentleness with patience bearing with one another in love eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace peace there is one body and one Spirit just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call one Lord One Faith one baptism one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all but Grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift therefore it says when he ascended on high he let a host of captives and he gave gifts to men in saying he ascended what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions the Earth he who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things and he gave the apostles the prophets the evangelists the Shepherds and teachers to equip the Saints 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 so that we may no no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of Doctrine by human cunning by craftiness and deceitful schemes rather speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped when each part is working properly makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love now this I say and testify in the Lord that you must no long longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds they are darkened in their understanding alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to their Hardness of Heart they have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality greedy to practice every kind of impurity but that is not the way you learned Christ assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him as the truth is in Jesus to put off your old self which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds and to put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and Holiness therefore having put away falsehood Let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor for We Are members one of another be angry and do not sin do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil let the thief no longer steal but rather let them labor doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion that it may give Grace to those who hear and do not grieve the holy spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice be kind to one another tenderhearted forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you do you want to be that group of people I really want to be a part of this the Ephesians 4 Church these next few weeks we're going to be looking at this passage over and over in more and more detail and your house churches you'll be talking about these passages and we'll be figuring out how do we become this Lord help us become this but as I was studying this I realized there was part of me that you know I think years ago I read this and I I was just like yes let's become this and then you realize how hard it is and and it gets discouraging and you try to live in harmony and then then but then people fight and and and we don't get along and we we just want to leave each other and it's like ah and I realize it just gets discouraging even this week I made the mistake of going online going on to YouTube and just trying to see how are the Christians speaking nowadays and it was terrible it was just it was like video after video of of of people just going I'm the only one that's got it right this guy's an idiot this guy's an idiot this guy's an idiot and I'm looking at Ephesians 4 I'm like God this is never going to happen like we're so divided then you know then you get tempted go well I'll make my own video and go look at how dumb they all are for you know and and it's just like God there's no end to this and I I noticed in my own Spirit there was doubt you know it's like I know I need to pursue this but do I have the belief that if God commanded this this can happen and if he says that he can do be beyond all that I ask or think then I have to believe that this happen this can happen and as Elders we've been talking about how sometimes we can almost get cynical and someone makes a decision to follow Jesus and there's almost that part of us that goes well we'll see if that lasts because there's too many times where we got excited for someone right we've all done it even got excited for ourselves even even made New Year's New Year's resolutions and this is a year and then the failure gets you disappointed and then it gets you discouraged and then it's easy just to become cynical and go are any of you even real you're all going to end up leaving you're all going to get mad about you know you just get that way rather than what scripture commands us to do which is to have faith and when Christ returns he says I want to see will I find faith on this Earth will I find a group of people that says no this can happen it can it happen today because Jesus is Alive and the Holy Spirit dwells amongst us and he can change us and so I have this new hope that maybe died out a little bit over the years over dis discouragement over failures and now I'm like okay Lord I just want to make another run at it I I want to go one more time let's be this church because let's look at some of these verses we'll kind of Breeze through it kind of give you an overview of chapter 4 and then we'll we'll go into more detail but with all humility and gentleness with patience bearing with one another in love eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of Peace So the idea idea is he wants a group of people like who we are supposed to be and what he what God wants us to become he wants us to be the most humble people on the planet he says with all humility and gentleness I think that's what was grieving my soul when I was on YouTube and I'm looking I'm like is this humble is the world seeing humility and gentleness with patience bearing with one another in love or are they seeing the same thing the world does which is let me raise my platform and put down everyone else's with all humility what God wants is for us to be the most humble people on Earth this is what the church is supposed to be the most gentle the most patient okay I don't know why for some some of the things in my life it seemed like overnight it just changed like anger went away bitterness went away but then other sins it kind of stayed on and clinged to me like like Pride or lust or you you know this the spirit of competition or it it's just like ah it's been this process we've seen this with uh drug abuse alcohol where some people it's crazy like God just boom it's over then others it's a fight for the rest of their life and it's a growth a gradual sanctification I don't know why I don't get it I always want it overnight but that's the whole idea of being patient with one another maybe God Gave You Grace to change you completely in one area and someone else it's going to be a wrestle and so there's this understanding this patience that's why he says bearing with that's like putting up with one another in love it's because I love this person I'm going to keep so is this the goal God will you make us the most humble gentle patient group of people where all of us are like we are not splitting up we are not splitting up we're going to become so United cuz this is what God wanted he wanted a group of people that would never split apart that's what he died for to create one new man and what God has joined together let no man separate that's what he wanted it's like okay God I'm going to pursue this I'm going to be eager to maintain the unity the unity of the spirit this is not a worldly let's all get along this is like a super natural the spirit put it in US it it's weird I I I don't know if this is in you where okay like when I was in seminary I was taught to dislike a lot of different types of Christians but as I got to know them and see who they were and see their commitment to the Lord there was something inside of me that's like I can't tear myself apart from this person this is my brother this is my sister there there's something in the spirit it wasn't like naturally I'm just a nice guy and want to be friends with everyone there was something deeper it was the spirit saying I I want to stick with you guys and the longer I'm a Believer the more I just go I want to stick with all of you I want to stay United and get more united this is something that the spirit started and I'm just here to maintain it then you look at uh verses 11-13 and he says this he gave the apostles the prophets the evangelists the Shepherds and teachers to equip the Saints 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 so what God what Jesus says is I gave certain people to the church I've gifted you with certain people Apostles prophets evangelist Shepherds teach they have different gifts and their job is to equip you to build you up so it's not just let me come listen to a sermon but let us train you up to where you start operating in your gifts we equip you for Ministry okay so so we have to understand Church less like Netflix and more like Navy Seals okay do I want to come and get trained up is is there I mean this this idea of to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ so this is not okay I just want to survive this world I just want to be a Christian no I want to measure up to the stature of the fullness of Christ and I believe that there are leaders that God has placed in this church and I want them to work together to help me become that person that's the way God sees the church you see how the enemy just made it a place you go for an hour a week and you feel good about yourself that wasn't God's intention he goes no I've gifted people in the church and we as leaders are going okay we've got to figure this out better we have to get our people to to this point where they meas you know to the measure to maturity the measure of the stature the fullness of Christ in fact in the next verse verse 14 he says so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of Doctrine by human cunning by craftiness in deceitful schemes he says the leaders in the church should help train the people up to where they're no longer kids they're mature and so so when weird Doctrine comes up we don't worry about you we going they know that's a lie they know that's not from the Bible they know that because there's going to be new teaching all the time and there's going to be this human and cunning and craftiness and deception see the idea is you're not tossed to and fro you're like hey I know the world is saying that okay this is okay this okay this is okay but you're not going to move me I've been trained up I know what the word says you're not going to deceive me people have believed the same thing for thousands of years now this generation comes up with new ideas and you're going to fall for it the Bible says okay your leaders need to get together and your people need to come under that training so they become people that you know what it doesn't matter what they teach out there you're not falling for it your theology and your morality stay put you're not blown and tossed by your emotions and what's popular then verse 16 says this from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped when each part is working properly makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love see when you were joining the church you're joining a body and there is no part of the body that is unnecessary maybe the appendix we're not sure but it's uh it's the whole idea that hey I'm a vital part to this somehow and it says the only way that we become the church that God wants us to and we actually build oursel up in love is when every part is working properly like do you believe in that and do you have faith in that where you go I have something to offer to this place I have something to offer to this group of people and if I don't offer it we're not going to function properly do you believe that do you believe that his spirit is in you and we need you see how this is a far cry from going to a place for an hour this is the church verse 24 and to put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and Holiness God wants us to just live so differently from the world a purity amongst us that you don't see anywhere else because the spirit is sanctifying us a holy bride that's what he wants a holy bride now not for you to go okay I just want to get rid of the major sins in my life it's like no I want to be holy I want to be spotless God I don't want even my eyes to wander a little bit I don't want my thoughts to wander a little I want to be so pure and we want to become a bride together that is Holy Sanctified and then verse 29 let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion that it may give Grace to those who hear we're supposed to be a group of people who really we watch what we say and we only say the things that build other people up you know actually I didn't mean to put you down Ashish for losing all the time um I want you understand I actually go man I wish I could be more like him and just lose and be happy you I want be a happy loser okay so that's a good thing happy loser okay but it's the whole idea of I figured I wasn't really offending you I know you well enough but it it's like we're a group of people that goes hey I don't I don't ever want to say anything that tears you down I don't ever want to talk behind your back I want the church to be a place where you don't have to want wonder when you leave the small group is everyone saying negative things about you but the only words that come out of our mouth is to build you up we wanted to be a a group of people where it's like I can go there and they love me even in my failures and everything else they pray for me they build me up they're patient with me they bear with me this is God's intention for the church and again we can look at the church at large and go oh gosh it's such a and get discouraged or whatever let's not worry about that right now you can even look at this group and go gosh I don't think we could ever be don't worry about that right now just just worry about yourself right now am I seeking to be as humble as possible all humility all gentleness God have I been impatient have I not been bearing with others in love have I not been eager to maintain the unity of the spirit this is something I began to pray the Lord this week I go God show me show me who are there people in my life I haven't been patient with and maybe I wrote them off too quickly tell me if I'm supposed to call someone tell me if I'm supposed to fix a relationship