[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Alright, take your Bibles if you would and open them to Romans chapter 12 and verse 3.
[0:10] Romans chapter 12 and verse 3. I'm excited today that you get to see and hear what's going on. We are working our way through Romans and we have found out in chapter 12 and verse 1 that we are to present our bodies a living sacrifice and give the Lord my body to serve Him and to do whatever He wants me to do.
[0:27] In verse 2, I learned that I was going to give my mind and I was going to find out just how good God's will is. It is good. And now in verse 3 and following, we're going to find out how to make that really practical, to bring it right down to home, right here at church, right where we serve God, and we're going to learn how to put that in practice.
[0:47] So read with me if you would, Romans chapter 12, verses 3 down through verse 8. Read that with me if you would. The Bible said, For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that's among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God had dealt to every man the measure of faith.
[1:07] For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we being many are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
[1:18] Having then gifts differing according to the grace that's given to us, whether prophecy let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith, or ministry let us wait on our ministering, or he that teacheth on teaching, or he that exhorteth on exhortation, he that giveth let him do it with simplicity, he that ruleth with diligence, he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness.
[1:40] Father, I pray that you would excite your people today as they learn that they have a place to play on the field of the church.
[1:51] They have a job, they have a role, they're important, they're integral parts of your ministry, and I just pray God that today you would do a work in each of our lives, that you would show your power.
[2:03] I pray God that you would get everyone involved. I pray that no one would be a spectator, and I will give you praise and honor and glory for all that you do. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Well, I heard there was a big ball game yesterday between two colleges, and even some of our church members were kind of divided about that in their own homes.
[2:23] This passage of Scripture kind of goes to that same idea. You ever noticed how we fill up a stadium, 80, 90, 100,000 fans, and then we put two teams down on the ground, maybe 100 guys total, and they get lots of exercise.
[2:36] They get lots of exercise, but all of us that need exercise are sitting on the sidelines. That's kind of how it works at church. The way it works at church is there's a handful of people doing all the work. Man, they run about, they scurry, they prepare lessons, they teach discipleship, they preach messages, and they pray, and they just do all the ministry.
[2:56] And then there's a lot of people sitting on the sidelines that aren't involved. But God never meant it to work that way. He wants every one of us to present our bodies a living sacrifice.
[3:06] He wants every one of us to have our minds transformed so we'll know how good serving Him is and how good His will is. And so in verse 3, He's going to tell us, in verse 3, He's going to tell us what we're to do and how to go about that.
[3:20] He's going to start. It goes from verse 3 down to verse 8, this passage, and there's four things I hope that you'll write down. But the first thing you might write down is this. Don't think more highly of yourself than you should.
[3:31] Don't think more highly of yourself than you should. That's what He said in verse 3. I say through the grace given unto me to every man that's among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly.
[3:45] Now, we have a problem. We do think more highly of ourselves than we should. We have this great concept. Some of us would say, no, buddy, I don't have, I don't think more highly of myself.
[3:57] I really beat myself up and I feel bad. But the truth is that most of us, we're pretty self-absorbed. We like mirrors. We like our cameras. We may even say we don't like the mirror.
[4:08] I read a quote the other day by Abraham Lincoln on Facebook. I think he wrote this up the other day just on Facebook. And he said, no, ma'am, that is how you look. You just, you say, you thought you took a bad picture, but no, that's just really how you look sometimes.
[4:23] And the truth is, we're so concerned. I don't want my picture on Facebook. I don't want my picture there unless it's one I think. I just read a survey this week about how many people take selfies and how long they take to fix them before they post them.
[4:36] And it's like 40% of the people will take a selfie and then they run it through every kind of software they can to make sure selfie looks better than selfie. Amen. Because we think highly of ourselves.
[4:48] And we have a problem. And he said, hey, we're going to talk about church work. We're going to talk about body life. We're going to talk about ministry work. And I'll just tell you, number one problem is you think too highly of yourself.
[5:00] Now, the Bible says in Galatians chapter 6, baby, you better go get my watch out of my desk or we'll be here till 1 and somebody will shoot me for that. Trent's going to get it. That's all right, baby. How do y'all like that commercial break?
[5:12] Well, she obeyed me. That's the first time in 40 years. Galatians, she only did that for show. Galatians chapter 6. That's not true. I'll be dead after this. You won't see me here tonight, I promise.
[5:26] Galatians chapter 6 and verse 3. The Bible says, if a man think himself to be something when he's nothing, he deceives himself. You know, I need to know who I am. I read a quote yesterday in one of the commentaries.
[5:38] I thought it was really funny. And this guy who was kind of an arrogant Christian was talking to these. He was talking to another Christian. And he said to him, he said, I really want you to help me pray that God will remind me and show me that I'm nothing.
[5:51] And he said, no need to pray about it, buddy. You already are. No need to pray about it. Just accept the facts. We are nothing. Can you say amen? We're nothing. We've sinned. We've failed God. Thank you very much, brother. We have failed God.
[6:03] We've sinned against God. And we're not who we ought to be. If you have any problem, remember that. Just remember who you were before you got saved. In 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 12, Paul says, man, God, I appreciate you putting me in the ministry.
[6:17] I remember who I was. I was a blasphemer. I persecuted the church. I was a bad guy. And yet you were kind enough and merciful enough to put me in the ministry.
[6:28] And if you'd stop just a second and think back about where you were, we forget so quickly. We forget where we were before God saved us. We forget the mistakes. You know, we forget all of our failures because we begin to think, man, I'm doing pretty good now.
[6:41] And we forget who we were. So we think too highly of ourselves. Everything you have, every gift that you have was given to you. Now, I want you to look this verse up.
[6:51] I run through a lot of verses, but you need this verse. 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 6. We did this when we went through the book of 1 Corinthians. But you need to look at 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 6 and notice what it says.
[7:03] The Bible says, and these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes, that you might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written.
[7:15] Don't think about men bigger than you ought to think. Think the truth. Think the truth. He said that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. Verse 7.
[7:26] For he who maketh thee to differ from another, and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now thou didst receive it. Why dost thou glory as if thou didst not receive it?
[7:39] In blunt truth, what he's saying is this. Every good thing you got about you was given to you. You didn't buy it. You didn't make it. You didn't find it. You were born with it.
[7:50] Ed can sing. Ed has a real ability to sing and to lead us and to make us feel his love for Jesus. And there's something special about it. And Mary Angela was singing last week down in Mableton.
[8:03] One of the ladies told me after church, she said, I love that girl. I love that girl. I love the way she sings. But here's what he said. He said, hey, if you got something, it wasn't yours. You didn't make it. You didn't earn it.
[8:14] You didn't get it. I gave it to you. I gave it to you. So what makes you think you're better than others? Don't think too highly of yourself. I mean, you didn't make yourself so good looking.
[8:24] You were born that way. Amen. Or you didn't make yourself so ugly either. Amen. And so the whole point is we didn't make ourselves this way. And if you have abilities to explain the Bible or if you have abilities to teach or if you have abilities to make money, if you have abilities to lead people, whatever it is, Paul said, hey, don't be bragging about it.
[8:43] You think you've earned that somehow? You think you fought for it and scratched for it? So here's some pitfalls of thinking too highly of ourselves. We're going to talk in just a minute about ministry.
[8:54] But some of us are too good. We're too good. Honestly, in church, we're too good. We're too good to do janitorial work. We don't have a servant-like attitude. We're too good to give out gospel tracts.
[9:05] We get upset when we make contributions to the church that aren't noticed. You ever been in one of those churches? I was just in one this week. I was taking some classes and I was in one. And when you walk in the building, this building was bought by this guy and his name is there.
[9:18] And his picture is there. And then you go upstairs and you walk in the auditorium. You know how it is. Every window was donated by such and such family. They've been dead 100 years, but that window was donated by them. My granddaddy's name was even in the offering plates at the church he was a member of.
[9:32] He's been dead 25 years, I guess. But I remember my granddaddy bought everything. He sat in the pulpit and said, donated by A.B. Brown, A.B. Pennington. You look down at the Lord's table. Donated by A.B. Pennington. Everything in there, A.B. Pennington.
[9:45] And so sometimes it's like, hey, put my name in a bulletin. Hey, hey, put my name in a bulletin. Make sure you get my name. We've learned, if you know anything about money raising, you know what the key to money raising is, don't you?
[9:56] Give them a prize, put their picture in the paper because they want to be recognized. Say amen. And that's what he said. Don't think too highly of yourself. I need to be recognized.
[10:06] I get angry when I see other people on the same level as me. I will not let Christ or the church or serving him embarrass me. Some of us come to church, man, we're just a little bit too refined.
[10:18] It's like, no, wait a minute. You know who I am in business? You know who I am in the community? You know who I am in the church? Pastors got it really bad, man. We got it worse than anybody, so don't feel like I'm talking about you.
[10:29] But we got this attitude of, you know who I am. Brother Tony preached here the other night on Thursday night, and he said, sometimes I want to carry a sign around that says, do you know who I am? My name is Pastor. Make sure you say Pastor when you're talking to me.
[10:41] He was trying to show us this exact same point. And here's what happened in the Bible. You might remember a story. David, in 2 Samuel 6 and verse 20, they were bringing the ark back.
[10:53] And this is where everybody says David danced naked before the Lord. He really wasn't naked. What happened was he embarrassed himself. He took off his outer clothes, his kingly robes, and he was just wearing regular people's clothes.
[11:06] And he was praising God and having a blast and saying how much he loved God. And when he got into the house, his wife, who was Saul's daughter, said, I can't believe it. You act like any regular guy.
[11:18] You act like anybody else. You don't keep your dignity. But that's kind of how we are. We want to serve God, but only if it's something that's dignified and only if it's something that makes me look good.
[11:29] And only if it's something that gets my name in the paper. We think too highly of ourselves. We don't want to be embarrassed. If you take a bad picture of me, you better not use it. Hey, if you don't say nice things about me, I'll be mad.
[11:42] And so Paul said, hey, you were a living sacrifice. You gave your body. You gave your mind. You're finding out what God's will is. So don't think too highly of yourselves. We, this idea is that we actually refer, it refers to David letting himself go in public, not hiding his emotions and feelings.
[12:02] I have a real problem with that. I am a very emotional guy. Most people would never know that. If you know me very well, you wouldn't know that. But I'm a very emotional guy. I just keep it hidden. When I was about 10 or 12 years old, I can't remember when it was.
[12:13] I cried all the time. Everybody always said I was a big crybaby. And when I got laughed at and mocked one night, and I just said, that's it. I ain't never crying again. And basically, I've lived almost since I was 15 without hardly ever crying, except when I was on dope.
[12:27] When I was, after my surgery, they said I cried about everything, and I acted all weird. I was at Jim Roberts' ordination service, and I said some real nice stuff, and I kind of choked up. And Jim's mother said, oh, it was the drugs talking.
[12:40] He don't really love you that much. So, you know, some of us, I mean, I've got a bad case of that. I'm like, I've got to keep my emotions hidden. I wouldn't want, you know, Tony Howarth can cry at the drop of a hat, and he drops a hat to do it.
[12:52] And I'm the kind of guy, I ain't going to cry. I don't want them to see that. And that's what's going on. I think too highly of myself. What are they going to think about me? I wouldn't want my makeup to run. Amen? Amen. Secret Agent 007 Christians.
[13:05] The common sinful pride attitudes are thinking you have the best and most useful gift. The idea is you don't need other brothers and sisters. You look down at others and think that their gift is not as important as yours.
[13:17] You seek indirect praise. You show fake humility. Like, you know, there are people, you know, you need somebody in the church to play the piano or sing a special or do something. You go to them and they go, oh, I can't do that.
[13:29] And what they really want you to do is ask them 25 times. And every time you ask, no, you're good at it. Really? Ask me again. I'm not going to do it. No, you're really good at it. Keep asking. If you ask enough times to tell me how good I am enough, I might just do it.
[13:42] It's really, I'm a prideful person, and I'm trying to take care of myself. Other thing we do is we claim gifts we don't have. We use our gift out of jealousy. Or we don't use our gift out of jealousy.
[13:53] We're like, well, that other guy, they bragged on him and they forgot to brag on me. They mentioned his name and they didn't mention my name. I don't like that. I don't appreciate that one bit. I don't appreciate that. So the first thing in this passage is, hey, we are living sacrifice.
[14:08] We found out in our mind that God's will is great, and now we're going to get involved in it. But our big problem, number one, is we think too highly of ourselves. We won't do stuff because it's beneath me.
[14:21] It's below my pay grade, and I am guilty of that in many ways in my own life. I'm not talking about you, but that's what the passage is about. But then he says, let's talk about it another way. Look at the second thing he says.
[14:32] Look at the same verse, Romans chapter 12, verse 3. He says, in chapter 12, verse 3, he says, I say through the grace given to me to every man that's among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly.
[14:44] To think soberly, according as God had dealt to every man the measure of faith. Be honest. Be honest. God did gift you some ways. God did give you abilities to do things.
[14:54] So you should have a right attitude about your gifts and about your abilities and about yourself. God gave us a gift, and he wants us to use it. He wants to use us.
[15:06] He didn't make us alike. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 7, the Bible says, The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit, to be useful, to be useful with it.
[15:17] In verse 11, it says, All these worketh that one and self-same Spirit who divides to every man the way he wants to. I was thinking as I was preparing this message and as I read over this passage of Scripture, you know, God made us all different.
[15:32] He gave us all different abilities. He wants to use us. But every one of us are unique, and every one of us ought to be involved, and every one of us ought to be playing, and every one of us ought to be taking part. If I were putting together a football team, and I thought about doing that this morning, to show you.
[15:46] If I were putting together a football team this morning, God has gifted some of you to play certain positions that he didn't give to other people. Suppose I brought Ed up to be our center on the team.
[15:58] Ed, he can barely see over the pulpit. Right on Facebook the other day, somebody said, Boy, Ed, you can't even see over the pulpit. So I wrote and said, Yeah, but that's a real tall pulpit.
[16:09] And then they wrote back and said, Yeah, well, it's a real short song later. So if I pick Ed, and I say, Ed, we're going to make you the center, you ought to all be like, That's the wrong guy. You should pick one of these other guys. You've got guys in this room that weigh 250 pounds.
[16:21] Hey, Pastor, you could be one of the centers or a lineman, because you're a lot bigger fella. Maybe we'll let Ed run the ball, because you could never run down the field, but he probably could.
[16:32] In other words, you are given a gift. Think honestly. Think honestly about who you are. Think soberly. God gave you a gift. And using your gift is not about bragging or showing off.
[16:45] It's simply serving and obeying God where He puts you and how He made you. We are a living sacrifice. We're to recognize that God gave us our gift to use it to the best of our ability to serve Him and His people, to bring Him honor and glory.
[17:01] In 1 Peter 4.10, the Bible says that Every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same to one another as good stewards, of the manifold, the much different, multi-splendored grace of God that He gave us all different abilities.
[17:16] He's gifted all of us. Everybody in this room is gifted. Everybody in this room has an ability they can use. Everybody in this room is important. We won't all be doing the same thing. We won't all be playing the same positions.
[17:26] We won't all be able to do this. We're not going to sit down at that piano and play like Kristen can play. That's just probably not. If I tried to do that, if I tried to do that, y'all would boo me out or shoot me. That's just not going to happen.
[17:38] But that's not how God gifted me, but He did gift her. And so here's what He's saying. He said, Hey, don't think too highly of yourself, but be honest. Be honest. God did make you with some things that you can do for the honor and the glory of God.
[17:50] So honestly evaluate yourself. Stop putting yourself up or down. Stop saying, I just can't. I just can't. He didn't give me any gifts.
[18:01] That's a lie. He did give you gifts. Quit acting like you can't be involved. Just do what He made you to do. Get in the game. Be used. Serve. Don't be in competition with other believers.
[18:12] Don't complain because you're not asked. Offer yourself. Don't get upset if you're not used. You're a servant. Don't seek the limelight. Just seek to be used of God. You are gifted.
[18:23] So use your gift. You should trust that God knew what He was doing when He made you. That's a hard one for me. I mean, all of my life, I have dealt with these insecurities.
[18:34] I'm sure nobody in this room has ever dealt with them. But you know, sometimes I wonder, what was God doing when He put me together? I mean, I look in the mirror, and I've got this massive head. You say, why don't you lose weight, Austin?
[18:45] Because if I do, my head will even be bigger. I'll look like a bobble head for sure. Amen. And then He gave me these little bitty short legs and this really big long trunk. And I'm like, God, why'd you do that? He gave Sam my legs.
[18:56] Sam's legs are this long, and his body's this big. My body's this big, and my legs are this long. I'm like, God, you kind of messed up on that. And you can easily think that.
[19:06] And so you back up, and you say, I can't be used to God. I just don't have it. I'm not put together right. I don't have the gifts. I don't have the abilities. But look at what it says in Romans chapter 12 and verse 3. Look at it with me.
[19:17] Look what it says one more time. Romans 12, 3 says, For I say through the grace given unto me, to every man that's among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man, the measure of faith.
[19:33] Trust God. He made me like I am. He gave me the abilities I have. I'm not a singer. That's okay. That's okay. God didn't make me a singer. That's fine.
[19:44] I'm not a piano player. That's okay. He made me. He didn't expect me to be a piano player. He made me to do a certain job that I can do well because he made me that way. And he made you that way.
[19:56] So don't think too highly of yourself, but be honest about it. And think correctly. You were made just right. He gave you what you needed to be used and to bring glory to his name. He didn't shortchange you.
[20:08] He didn't mistreat you. He has a plan for your life and you should seek it out and use it. Stop whining and complaining and get to work. Think soberly.
[20:19] And when you think soberly, that can be painful because we all have a pride problem. We just don't want to admit it. Some of you are like, I don't have a pride problem. But don't embarrass me.
[20:32] That's a pride problem. I don't have a pride problem, but I don't like to get up in front of anybody. I'm a real timid guy. Well, timidity is really a pride problem because you're worried about what people think of you.
[20:42] We have a pride problem. We say we're shy and timid, but that's really a cover-up for pride. We don't want to get embarrassed. We don't want to look bad, so it's better to hide than to fail.
[20:53] We think more highly of ourselves than is true. We're all prideful. Humility isn't thinking badly of yourself. Humility isn't thinking badly of yourself. It's thinking highly of God and others.
[21:06] Humility isn't thinking badly of yourself. It's thinking highly of God and highly of others and measuring them bigger than you are. Humility is me trying to get God out in front and get glory to God.
[21:18] Thinking soberly, I'll find out where I best fit in and work. Thinking soberly means I will not complain about where He puts me to serve and how He uses me. I'm a servant, and I know that.
[21:30] Let me just stop and say this. Look this way just a second. Almost all of us have a tad of complaining in this. God hasn't been fair with me. God hasn't treated me very well.
[21:43] I thought God would let me pastor much larger churches. I thought I would be better looking than this. I thought the other day we were talking about how young Bo looks, and I said, well, I look young, you know.
[21:56] I mean, I'm 59, and I don't really look that. I don't look 59. I bet He came in and said, quit fooling yourself. Yes, you do. That's why I don't like her. 40 years, and she has the liberty to tell me I look like I'm 59.
[22:08] I look like I'm 18. Say amen. Don't lie in church. And Derek, quit laughing like that. Let's look at the third thing you see in this passage of Scripture. Number one, I ought not think highly.
[22:20] Number three, I ought to think soberly. Number three, we're all gifted to do something. We're all gifted to do something. Look at what He says in verses 4 and 5. He says, For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we being many are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
[22:41] This is the lesson about a local church. The first lesson that we have, we are members of a body. That's the church. That's the local church. God put you in a body like this body so you could fit in, and so you could serve, and so you could work, and so you could be useful, and so you could help others.
[22:59] Paul uses the body to make me understand that we're together, but we don't all have the same function. If all the body were an eye, we wouldn't be able to hear. In 1 Corinthians, he says, You guys got to quit this.
[23:10] Everybody in the church won't have the same gift. Everybody in the church is acting like, Well, I really think I should be an eyeball. And he's like, Well, that's really dumb, isn't it? If the whole body was an eye, how would we smell?
[23:21] If the whole body was an eye, how would we hear? If the whole body was an eye, how would we walk? We need every part of our body. Can you say amen about that? By the way, if you don't think you need your toe, hit it with a hammer and find out how much you need it.
[23:34] Say amen. Walk it up in the middle of the night and go to the bathroom. You ever done that? You're on your way to the bathroom, and somehow you stub your toe in the dark. And it's just your little bitty toe.
[23:45] On the right side, it's that little bitty toe that's unimportant. Your whole body screams, I am important. Don't forget me. Say amen. You are important. You are important.
[23:55] But we're a body. And in the body, there's all these different places. But we need everybody, and everybody needs to be involved. That's what he's saying in Romans chapter 12, verse 3, 4, 5, and 6 now.
[24:07] Look at Ephesians 4, 15. The Bible says in Ephesians 4, 15, Speaking the truth of love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, Christ.
[24:19] Jesus Christ is the head of the church, the head of the body, from whom the whole body correctly joined together, fitly joined together, and compacted, put together exactly right, where every joint supplies, according to the effectual working and the measure of every part.
[24:36] You know what he said? He said, I put you together like a body, and every part of you is important, and you need every part of you. If you ever had, maybe you're too young to have this happen, you ever had one of them things where your back gets a catch right about there?
[24:49] Just one little muscle, but you go to get up, and you stand over like that. Somebody says, what's wrong? It's okay. It's just my back. Give me a minute. You say, you ever done that? Have you ever been like that? That's ridiculous.
[25:00] What in the world is that one little muscle ruining my whole body for? But you see, every part of the body is important. And that's exactly what he's saying. We're all part of the body. But we don't have the same function.
[25:11] We need to accept that. If we were putting together a football team here, in this room right here, and everybody said, I'm playing quarterback, or I'm not playing, well, we'd lose. If everybody said, well, I'm playing in, I'm playing running back, everybody's got to realize, I wasn't made to do what somebody else was made to do.
[25:29] God has a plan for me. And I fit in wherever God wants me to fit in. I need to let God do a work in me. Our problem is that we all want to play the same position. We're worried about looking good. We want our name announced.
[25:41] We fail to realize that the only name that should be announced is the name of Jesus. He's the head. He's the captain. He's the coach. He's the quarterback. We will only frustrate ourselves if we try to be who we were not made to be.
[25:56] But let's get in the game and play where we were made to play. Last thing. Verse 6 through 8, if I can get you to look at that real quickly. Use your gift to the best of your ability.
[26:08] And we're not going to talk about the different gifts today. That's really not the point of the passage. He just mentions them in passing. He just mentions them. But look at verse 6. Having then gifts differing.
[26:18] Would you put a circle around that in your Bible? Gifts differing. We have different gifts. And what gift do I have? According to the grace that's given to us. I have a gift that God gave me.
[26:30] I didn't earn it. I didn't make it. God gave it to me. God gave me this gift. And he said, whichever one it is. Look at what it says. Whether. Whether prophecy.
[26:40] Let us prophesy. Or if it's not prophecy. Ministry. Or if it's not ministry. Teaching. Look at all the oars there. He said, God gave you a gift. God gave you an ability.
[26:51] You are different people in the room. Different people in the church. We got different gifts that came from God. And we are to use our gift to the best of our ability. There is a story told in Luke chapter 19 verse 20 and following.
[27:04] About this king. That gives out some gifts. He gives out some money. He gives out one and two and five. If you remember the pounds. The talents. He gives out one, two and five. And the guy that gives five.
[27:15] Goes out and uses the five to the best of his ability. And comes back and he has got ten. The other guy was given two. And he goes out and does the best he can. And he gives out and uses his two. And he comes back and he has four. Four. But the guy who had one.
[27:25] He was kind of like us. He was like, I don't think I've been treated fairly. That other guy got five. Other guy got two. And God, you're a mean God anyway. I know you're a mean God. Or king.
[27:36] I know you're mean. You're tough. You're rough. You pick on people. You collect money for things that don't belong to you. And so what I did is I went and I dug a hole.
[27:46] And I wrapped up my gift. And I put it in a napkin. And I buried it. And I got it back. Now here it is. You have it back. Because I knew what a mean guy you were. And he says, well, let your own mouth judge you, buddy.
[27:57] I think I'm so big and bad and mean. Take it away from him. Give it to the guy that's got ten. And let him have eleven. But that's the story of us. We're in this room. And some of you are like, if I can't be the pastor.
[28:09] Or the most important teacher. Or if I can't be a missionary. Or if I can't be. Then I quit. I dig a hole. I bury my gift. I wrap it in a napkin. And it's over. He's a mean God anyway.
[28:21] That's just like completely the opposite point. God was excited about the guy with two. As much as he was about the guy with five.
[28:32] And so I'm to use the abilities that God's given me for his honor and his glory. Everyone got a gift. A talent. Ability. A pound. But the one man thought God wasn't fair with him.
[28:43] So in his anger or hurt. He hid his talent. And he buried it. How many of you in this room this morning would say, I really was excited about serving God back in the beginning. But then they didn't put my name in a bulletin.
[28:55] They didn't say thank you enough. I carried out the garbage. And I did. And I did. And I did. Nobody ever said thank you. And so that's it. I'll come here. And I'll listen. And I'll sit. But that's it. I am not getting involved.
[29:06] So you went out in the backyard. And you dug a hole. And you took the abilities God gave you. And you wrapped them in a napkin. And you buried them. The point of the story is that we all have gifts. And they're different gifts.
[29:18] Some are going to prophesy. Teach. Preach. Forth tell the truth. Others are going to serve. Minister. Others are going to teach. Others are going to exhort. Come alongside like a big helper and help people.
[29:28] Others have got a special ability to give money. Others have great abilities to administrate and rule over. And others have great mercy. The point of the passage isn't the number of gifts. But the attitude you have in using them.
[29:41] Get to work where you are. Serve in any and every way you can. Be a giver. No excuse not to give. You'll find what makes your heart sing the more you get involved and use what you have.
[29:55] No one is to sit on the sidelines. All are to be involved. Don't let your pride sideline you in what God has for you to do. Don't let hurt feelings make a church hopper out of you.
[30:08] Now listen to what I'm going to tell you. Romans 12.1 Give your body a living sacrifice. Romans 12.2 Change the way you think. Don't think like everybody else. Romans 12.3 Hey.
[30:20] Get involved. God gave you a gift. God wants to use you. And here's a list of things He wants to do. So get involved and get to work. Don't think too highly of yourself. Don't think too negatively of yourself. Just think soberly about yourself.
[30:31] And get involved. And work. Something will make your heart sing. Somebody came the other day and they were talking about the ministry they were in. And I said don't worry about it. Don't worry about the ministry you're in.
[30:43] Just do the best you can where you are. Serve God right in front of you. And just keep doing everything. God opens the door for you. But sooner or later you'll find some ministry that just makes. I said this. Makes your heart sing.
[30:54] I went to college. I was in pre-med. I was going to be a doctor and cut people open and fix them. And right before I went to cut them I was going to say do you know if you died on this operating table. You go to heaven because I'm fixing to operate.
[31:05] I was going to witness someone on the mission field. That was my plan. But man the more I took biology classes and all the other junk it took for being in that. I'd have biology class on this side. And there'd be a Bible study going on over here.
[31:15] I'd be like I don't like biology that much. But there's a Bible study going on and I'm going. Betty and I dated for like eight months. And all those eight months almost every date was to a church service. I was one of them cheap.
[31:26] But two I like the church. Amen. I just like you thought that you heard the cheap part. Cheap church. I like cheap and church. Amen. But anyway I just found what made my heart sing.
[31:37] I'm telling you God has a job for you. You are special. Get involved. Some of you have become church hoppers. Because you let people hurt your feelings.
[31:48] Some of you don't hop churches but your talent is dug. A hole is dug in your backyard and a piece of napkins wrapped around it. And it's laying back there and you're not doing anything for God. And it's frustrating.
[31:59] You're kind of aggravated and you're bitter. But you're only hurting yourself. But you're also hurting the whole body. Because you're important. Because you count. Put your pride aside.
[32:09] Quit thinking too highly of yourself. Quit thinking too lowly of yourself. Be honest. You've been thinking too much about yourself. Not enough about what God wants. And has in mind for you. You get your feelings hurt too easily.
[32:21] Do you avoid serving because you think too much of yourself? Are you serving God with all that's in you as you seek to glorify him? This morning. Living sacrifice. Transformed mind.
[32:34] Don't think too highly of yourself. Think soberly about yourself. Get involved in ministry. Serve God. Church will be the most exciting place in the world. When you're in the middle of the work.
[32:47] The people going down to Mableton and the people in Mableton. I guarantee you church means more to them. Last Sunday night and this Sunday night. Than it means almost any other service for other people. You know why? It's like man I am in the stinking game.
[32:59] Throw me a pass. Pray for me. Watch me invite somebody. Last Sunday somebody raised their hand. I said to one of the people from our church right here. She's sitting in the room. I said need your help. She gets up and goes over.
[33:09] And takes a person out to share the gospel with them. There's something different about being involved. Say amen. It's one thing to watch a Georgia game. It'd be a whole other thing to suit up and play. And really be made for the place.
[33:21] You were made to play. Get off the bench. Father in heaven I love you. And I praise you. And I thank you for the chance to serve you. And I pray you'd work in your people's lives. I pray you'd magnify yourself.
[33:33] God there's some hurt feelings. I'm asking you to have them put on the altar. God there's some pride that needs to be died to. God there's some serving that needs to be done. And there's some people that need to just come and say to you.
[33:44] I will take whatever job. Whatever position. God will open the door for me. I want to get involved. I want to be part of what's going on. I pray you'd do a work in your life. I pray you'd magnify yourself. And I'll praise you. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfredo, Georgia.
[33:58] For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.