10/19/14 YEAR OF EQUIPPING TO SERVE
Christianity - LIVE IT!! Alive - Not Dull!!
Unity in the Holy SpiritPit Crew Works as a Team
In 1950, Indy car pit crews consisted of four men—including the driver! No one was allowed to get near the car except this small crew of specialists. A routine pit stop to replace two tires and fill the tank back then took more than 60 seconds. Today, a crew consists of 11 members—excluding the driver. Six are permitted direct contact with the car. Five serve as behind-the-wall assistants. A full service pit stop that replaces all four tires, adjusts the wings, and tops off the tank now takes less than eight seconds! Formula 1 pit crews are even bigger—sometimes involving over 20 people who all have their role to play. When everyone understands his role, and when everyone on the pit crew does his job with purpose and passion, the team can complete the same job in under three seconds.
When the work of the church is carried out by a small handful of people progress is slow and sometimes awkward. But when every member knows and fills his or her role, the difference can be amazing to behold. This is what we have been talking about this year, equipping to serve. We are aiming to increase the size of the pit crew.
Gregory Hollifield, Collierville, Tennessee; source: YouTube, “Formula 1 Pit Stops 1950 & Today” (Posted 4-12-14)
Let me share another story. Not sure that this is true, but you will get the point.
Older Rabbi Teaches Young Rabbi about Conflict
A young rabbi found a serious problem in his new congregation. During the Friday service, half the congregation stood for the prayers and half remained seated, and each side shouted at the other, insisting that theirs was the true tradition. Nothing the rabbi said or did helped solve the impasse. Finally, in desperation, the young rabbi sought out the synagogue’s 99-year-old founder.
He met the old rabbi in the nursing home and poured out his troubles. “So tell me,” he pleaded, “was it the tradition for the congregation to stand during the prayers?”
“No,” answered the old rabbi.
“Ah,” responded the younger man, “then it was the tradition to sit during the prayers.”
“No,” answered the old rabbi.
“Well,” the young rabbi responded, “what we have is complete chaos! Half the people stand and shout and the other half sit and scream.”
“Ah,” said the old rabbi, “that was the tradition.”
As retold by P. J. Alindogan, The Potter’s Jar blog, "Communicate and Relate" (9-4-11)
Wow!! Wouldn’t that be exciting to go to worship God each week and have a split where everyone is shouting at the other people about how wrong they are. Sounds like a great place to be. NOT!!! God has called us to work together, to unity in His body. God has called us to build HIS kingdom.
God has given us an amazing life to live as we serve Him. God makes us alive. God gives us a life that is the best. And, part of that life is the unity that we have in Jesus and the power of His Spirit. As we live in unity, we have the best existence possible. God delivers us from complete chaos.
Ephesians 4:1-6 NIV
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
We will be most effective in our Christian service as we work hard to maintain spiritual unity. This passage says there is one Lord, who is Jesus. Since HE is Lord, and not any of us, we must work to keep HIM the Lord and that will help us keep spiritual unity.
The unity in the Holy Spirit will never be created by any human effort. Genuine spiritual unity comes through accepting the truth of the Bile and making Jesus the Lord of our lives. Believers are given direction to maintain spiritual unity: 1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
This unity doesn’t mean that we always have intellectual agreement on every issue. We can have opinions. God calls us to have unity of love and purpose. We love God and our purpose is to build HIS kingdom. We keep unity through loyalty to the truth and living in obedience to the leading of the Spirit. We keep unity in learning how to agree and disagree. We learn to deal with issues and allow others to have an opinion. This does not mean we compromise on doctrine. We cannot accomplish this in our own efforts.
Galatians 3:3 NIV
3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?
Ministry to one another helps keep the necessary unity of the body of Christ. We stay united as we keep our focus on the Lord’s work.
Galatians 6:10 NIV
10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
There is one Lord and Savior. His name is Jesus. This declaration is foundational to being a Christian. We don’t need any other power or savior to be forgiven of sin.
Ephesians 4:11-14 NIV
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 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. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
We started out today with the story of the pit crews in racing. The more they have developed, the faster they have become. We heard: A full service pit stop that replaces all four tires, adjusts the wings, and tops off the tank now takes less than eight seconds! It takes longer than that for you to put your car in park and turn off the key and open the door when you go to get gas. That is a picture of working together. They work together because they have a common goal, get the car back on the track. Our common goal is to do God’s work.
One of the primary purposes why Jesus gives gifted leaders to the church is to prepare the believers for the Lord’s work. For a long time churches have missed the point: ministers were never given to do all the work of ministry, but many believers felt the pastor was there to be involved in everything. But, they were given to the church to equip believers to do ministry themselves, both inside and outside of the church. What we must do is equip and release people to ministry. We all must find some way to be active for the Lord.
As we are active and all on the same team, we will have unity in the body. The more we study the Bible and get active in God’s work, the more we will mature spiritually. The more we mature the more we will avoid doctrinal junk. This means we need to be faithful to participate in Bible study and fellowship. We must do all we can to become closer to each other spiritually. We must examine our priorities.
Involvement makes anything alive and exciting. So, the Christian life is not dull when you are involved. This year as we have been talking about equipping, we have been challenging us to think of how we are to be involved in God’s work.
Some questions, topics we have talked about.
Are you seeking God to hear from Him how you are to be involved in His work?
What kind of interests do you have?
Why do we all need to be involved? Why do we need a larger pit crew? How must we see the world around us? We need involvement because the world is lost in sin. Sin that will lead them to eternal punishment.
John 14:6 NIV
6 Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Listen, and make this your prayer.
LOOKING THROUGH HIS EYES
Let me see this world, dear Lord,
as though I were looking through your eyes.
A world of men who don’t want you,
Lord, but a world for which You died.
Let me kneel with you in the garden.
Blur my eyes with tears of agony.
For if once, I could see this world the way You see,
I just know I’d serve you more faithfully.
Let me see this world, dear Lord,
through Your eyes when men mock your Holy Name.
When they beat You and spat upon You, Lord,
Let me love them as You loved them just the same.
Let me stand high above my petty problems,
And grieve for men, hell-bound eternally:
For if once I could see this world the way You see
I just know I’d serve you more faithfully.
PRAYER
