The laborers are few.
If you guys know where that comes from,
of the necessity of us to do work,
to build the church that God has given himself for.
And here Jesus is saying that,
although the harvest is plentiful,
the laborers are few.
And so again, it's this call to be laborers,
to be workers.
And are we willing to do the work?
Are we willing to be consistent in doing the work?
And this was a theme that he had to point out.
And with a plentiful harvest,
the last thing you would ever want
with a plentiful harvest would be few workers.
That's a travesty, right?
You're looking out into the fields to say,
oh my goodness, look at this.
We got a great harvest here.
But I don't have anybody to work it, right?
That's not the picture you ever want to see.
And yet this is the picture Jesus is painting.
He's saying this.
He's saying, hey, the harvest,
that's not the issue.
That's not the problem.
And isn't that,
how often do we kind of in our mind frame it that way?
It's just so hard, you know,
just like people aren't getting saved.
You know, it's like we preach the gospel
and just doesn't seem to be a harvest.
But that's not the picture that Jesus paints, right?
He paints a different picture.
He says, actually, the harvest,
that part of it, it's plentiful.
The harvest is plentiful.
The problem is that the workers are few.
And so he says, pray earnestly
into the Lord of the harvest
to send out labors into his harvest field.
And we should be praying,
God, I want to be that labor.
I want to be that worker.
But, you know, we love the concept of harvest.
We don't always love the concept of work, right?
I mean, the harvest being had,
the harvest coming in, that's great.
But the work that it takes to get there,
that's not always something that maybe we're running to.
And that, again, he's saying that that is the case.
You know, it's easy to talk about the harvest,
but who wants to actually do the work?
And it requires work.
It requires sacrifice.
It requires us getting out of our comfort zone.
And this concept of work
is really just one of these kind of rules of life
that you cannot supersede,
no matter how hard you try.
It's the law of reaping and sowing, right?
Galatians 6, 7 to 10 lays this out.
Again, another familiar verse for you guys.
Do not be deceived.
God is not mocked.
For whatever one sows, that he will also reap.
Okay?
And he says, he doesn't just say,
whatever one sows, that he will also reap.
That's that law that I'm talking about.
But before that,
he gives that little important point there.
He says, don't be deceived.
Or don't be tricked.
Don't be fooled.
Don't be fooled into thinking
you can get something
without putting in the work, right?
God cannot be mocked.
It's not like you can trick him
into changing this law of the universe.
Don't be tricked.
Don't be fooled.
Don't be deceived.
God is not mocked.
For whatever one sows, he will also reap.
What you put in,
you're going to get out
when it comes to the work.
For the one who sows to his own flesh
will from the flesh
reap corruption.
But the one who sows to the spirit
will from the spirit reap eternal life.
Okay?
So you can't flip the script.
You can't change this.
This is the way things are.
You, kind of the old adage,
you get what you pay for kind of thing, right?
Like if you sow to your flesh,
you're going to reap corruption, right?
That's the way it goes.
But if you sow to the spirit,
from the spirit you'll reap eternal life.
And then he says,
then he gives a practical
of what this looks like.
He says then in verse 9,
let us not grow weary of doing good.
For in due season,
we will reap.
If,
if,
conditional statement,
if we don't give up.
If we don't give up.
Again,
this is kind of a law of the universe.
This is the way things work.
But it's also a promise as well.
If you don't get weary in doing good,
then you keep going.
In due season,
you will reap if you don't give up.
And then,
so then he gives another practical
right there in verse 10.
It says,
so then,
in light of this fact,
in light of this rule,
in light of this kind of law of the universe,
as we have opportunity,
let us do good to everyone
and especially to those
who are of the household of faith.
Okay?
So in light of this,
we got to keep going.
We got to,
we can't give up.
And as someone
who's been a part of
multiple church plants
and knows that those early years
are the time
when you feel like giving up.
Right?
That those early years
are the times
when you feel like,
man,
it's kind of weary doing good.
It's kind of weary doing the work.
I thought maybe it would be
a little bit more fruitful.
You know,
this whole in due season thing.
What is this in due season?
Can't we just have it now?
Like,
can't I just have the result
of the work now?
But God says no,
in due season.
The timing is His.
But,
you don't know
when that season's going to be.
You don't know
when it's going to come,
but you do know this.
You will reap.
Not maybe you'll reap.
Not hopefully you'll reap.
You will reap
if you don't give up.
That's a promise.
Okay?
That's a promise from God.
You can count on that.
Are you counting on that?
Is that informing
your passion?
Your fervor?
Your zeal?
Your work ethic?
Is this promise informing it?
Or,
are we moved
by our eyes seeing
the weariness
of the work
and maybe tempted
to give up a little bit?
But,
I don't sense
that anyone has this,
anyone in this room
that I've met
has this sense of
giving up altogether.
But,
you can kind of give up.
You can give up
on little things.
You can give up
with some of the effort,
some of the work,
some of the work ethic.
And,
that's still a form
of giving up.
It's still a form
of letting up
from the work
that's necessary
to reap a harvest.
And so,
when he says,
don't give up,
I don't think it only includes
like,
don't completely give up.
I think it includes
somewhat giving up,
letting up,
kind of drawing back
from the work
that's necessary.
And so,
I want to look at this concept
a little bit more
and really just,
there's a,
you know,
the Bible talks a lot
about good works
in a more generic sense,
but then there's this
way more specific phrase
that Paul often uses
called
the work.
Okay?
Paul uses this phrase
the work.
And I don't think
he's speaking
in generic terms,
I think he's speaking
very specifically
about a specific
apostolic work
that he was called to,
that he had fellow workers
with to do
to see
God's kingdom come
on earth as he is in heaven
in such a way
that churches were established.
Lost people were saved,
churches were established,
and he was traveling
all over the place,
and he called this thing
that he was doing
the work.
The work.
Okay?
And I think it all started
in Acts chapter 13
when God himself
called
Paul and Barnabas.
So in Acts chapter 13,
verse 2,
we see this language
of the work.
It says,
while they were worshiping
the Lord
and fasting,
the Holy Spirit said,
set apart for me
Barnabas and Saul
for the work
to which I have called them.
Okay?
And then you see
all over,
following that,
you see this phrase
coming up,
we're going to look at
some of these verses.
But,
while they were worshiping
the Lord and fasting,
the Holy Spirit said,
set apart for me
Barnabas and Saul
for the work
to which I have called them.
This,
that phrase,
set apart,
I think is important.
Anytime you're going
to do meaningful work
and you actually want
to get something done,
right?
You have to set apart
time to do it.
You have to set apart
tools to do it.
You have to set apart
time,
energy,
talents,
manpower,
whatever it is.
You have to plan that,
right?
You know,
those,
thinking of Michael now
when he's,
you know,
doing electrical work,
if he gets a job,
that's half,
that's half the thing.
Like,
hey,
I got the job.
They hired us.
He's now got to set apart
certain man,
men to do the job.
He's got to make sure
that the time
that is needed
for that job
is set apart.
He's got to make sure
the materials are there.
He's got to make sure
the right materials are there.
He's got to,
all these things
have to be there.
Those things
have to be done
in order for the work
to be done
and in order for the work
to be done well.
And I think sometimes
when we are functioning
in the work
and specifically the work
of planting a church
and establishing a church,
we can sometimes
have more of a
lackadaisical attitude
that just says,
oh yeah,
you know,
doing the work.
Yeah,
of course,
yeah,
I'm doing the work.
For sure,
yeah.
What does that mean?
Well,
you know,
just ministry.
Well,
no,
it's a little more
specific than that.
Like,
you know,
it's,
in order for you
to catch the fish,
you've got to actually
put some bait on the hook
or throw a net
in the water.
Like,
you've got to get the boat
out into the water
where the fish are.
Like,
if you're on land,
you ain't catching no fish.
Like,
you've got to,
we've got to set apart time.
We've got to set apart
resources.
We've got to set apart people
to do the work.
And,
you know as well as I do
that if you don't plan
to do something,
and this could be anything,
just,
and a great example
is just that house project
that's been still there
for all these weeks,
months,
dare I say years,
that you just think,
man,
I want to get to that.
You know,
I know I need to do it.
And,
if you don't set apart time
for that
or resources for that,
does it just happen?
No,
it never does.
Like,
you don't drift into work.
It's not like,
oh,
I had no plan to do this work
and it just got done.
Like,
that doesn't happen.
And it's no different
for the work of the kingdom.
Like,
especially when it comes
to the difficulty
of soul winning.
Especially when it comes
to the difficulty
of building
and establishing
a family
that is called the church.
That's hard work.
And especially when you're building
something out of nothing.
You know,
it's one thing
to do the work
of advancing God's kingdom
and preaching to the lost
in an established church
where everything's
kind of dialed in.
There's a rhythm.
There's an established culture.
There's an established group
of people.
That's one thing.
When we're starting
at that lower ground level,
it requires
a lot more intentionality.
It requires a lot more
being set apart,
so to speak.
So,
basically,
I guess the question
I have for you,
do you have
specific time
set apart for the work
or are you just giving
spare time leftovers
to the church
and to the establishing
of the church
and to the mission
of Christ's church
to seek out lost people
and get on mission
to people?
Is it time set apart
or is it spare time
leftover?
Spare time leftover
is not going to do the trick.
It's not.
And,
if some people
are giving their
spare time leftovers
and some people
are giving their
first fruit
set apart time,
you know what that's
going to do?
That's going to bring
division.
There's not unity in that.
There's not a cohesive
moving forward
and you could subtly,
I hope this doesn't happen,
you could subtly even
stir up a little animosity
in the sense like
kind of the Mary Martha
kind of thing.
Like,
hey Jesus,
you want to tell my sister
to get to work?
Can't you see
I'm doing all this
and they're not
doing anything?
You can start to be
tempted to that
kind of thinking,
right?
It takes work.
And,
this language
that's used
by the Holy Spirit
is set apart.
Well,
God,
you believe
you became part
of this church plant
from the beginning
or maybe some of you
knew come here
and you're thinking,
what did I get
my stuff into?
What have I signed up for?
Well,
I hope you're thinking,
what?
God set us apart
for the work
of establishing a church
and seeing some people
get saved.
That means we have
to set apart time.
That means we have
to set apart resources.
That means we have
to be flexible
and not just give God
our leftovers.
And certainly,
Paul didn't do that.
Certainly,
Barnabas didn't do that.
It's not like they were like,
well,
that's kind of cool,
God.
That's a cool thing.
You know?
He just said we're set apart.
I wonder what that could mean.
Hey,
you guys want to come over
and watch a show?
You know?
I don't think that was
like his response.
He got out there.
He got after it
and showed a kind of
work ethic that
is fairly exemplary,
right?
As we see in the
following scriptures
and such in the book of Acts.
Okay?
So,
are you set apart?
Not just set apart
in the sense you believe
that God's called you,
but in the practical sense.
Are you set apart
for the work
in the sense
that you're setting apart time?
You're setting apart
resources.
You're setting apart
intentional,
strategic time
to reach lost people,
to build family
with one another,
and to create a context
for God's kingdom
to come on earth
as it is in heaven.
Okay?
Later in the book of Acts,
in Acts chapter 15,
we see this phrase again,
the work,
but here it's in a,
we have more of a negative
context here.
Acts chapter 15,
verse 37,
Paul and Barnabas
are kind of at this
intersection of decision,
like how they're going
to continue the work,
and Barnabas wants
to take his cousin,
John Mark,
with,
and the fact that
he's his cousin,
you see that in some
other part,
maybe gives you a little
insight as to why
Barnabas was after him,
or maybe it's just
because Barnabas
is the son of encouragement
and he just really
has a lot of hope
for people,
and he's just one
of those guys,
you know,
the kind of guy
that is always
cheerleading you
and has hope for guys,
but Paul's not,
not really having it,
right?
It says,
verse 37,
Barnabas wanted
to take with them
John called Mark,
and then verse 38,
Paul thought best
not to take with them
one who had withdrawn
from them in Pamphylia
and had not gone
with them to the work.
Uh-oh.
So,
Paul's like,
hey,
wait a second,
we already took
John Mark with us
and he didn't,
he didn't follow through.
He didn't,
he didn't,
he didn't keep going.
In fact,
the language here
is that he withdrew.
He withdrew from us.
When we're in the thick
of the work,
we're doing the work.
John Mark,
when the going got tough,
John Mark got going.
You know,
he was gone.
And,
um,
I think that phrase
just even withdrawn
and thinking of being,
this concept of being
withdrawn from the work,
I want to ask us too,
especially to those
who've been with us
since the beginning
of Christ Church,
uh,
when you start a church,
there's this sense
of excitement,
sense of,
um,
expectation,
right?
Enthusiasm.
And then,
over time,
one thing that can
subtly happen is
we can subtly
withdraw from the work.
And I want to ask
any of you,
have any of you
withdrawn from the work?
I'm not,
this isn't,
you don't need to raise
your hand or anything.
I mean,
uh,
have any of you,
um,
withdrawn from the work?
And I'm not talking
about completely.
I mean,
John Mark didn't
withdraw from completely
because he was willing
to go back with them
out in this particular
place.
But,
in this,
in this one season,
he did withdraw.
And,
again,
no condemnation.
Some of this is hard.
Gene and I remember
many lonely times
doing church planning
with little kids.
I want to even speak
specifically to some
of you moms
of little kids
who are just tired
because you're a mom
and you're doing the work
and you're trying to
help do church planning,
you know,
maybe with your husband
and a bunch of littles
and you're just thinking,
yeah,
you know,
I,
I don't know.
I'm a little tired.
Maybe,
maybe I've withdrawn
a little bit.
Maybe I've hid behind
the kids
or hid behind the sickness
or hid behind this
or that.
That happens sometimes,
right?
But I'm asking you
to consider John Mark
here and to consider
this here.
And Paul was,
Paul was pretty emphatic
about this and said,
hey,
Barnabas,
I,
I don't think,
I think it's best
not to take him with us
because he had withdrawn
from us in Pamphylia
and had not gone
with us to the work.
And,
um,
Paul knows how
to build churches,
right?
Paul has apostolic wisdom
to do this
in the sense
that he's concerned
about the danger
of a withdrawing
that can happen
and the effect
that it has
on the work.
And,
uh,
I think it's
an important point.
I think it's important
for us to ask
and do a,
a good just kind of
looking at ourselves
and said,
hey,
if I,
if I withdrawn
a little bit,
if I withdrawn
literally from the work,
if I withdrawn
just in my heart,
if I withdrawn
with my enthusiasm,
if I,
you know,
uh,
maybe had the sniffles
and,
you know,
said I was really sick
and maybe I wasn't
really sick,
I just kind of was,
you know,
checked out a little bit.
If I,
if I like just
withdrawn from the effort,
if I showed up to meetings
but not really showed up
to meetings,
you understand what I'm saying?
Like,
I'm there,
I'm physically there,
but I'm not there,
engaged at the heart
and really going at it
with the work.
Maybe I was more enthusiastic
on the front end
of this thing
and now,
you know,
uh,
almost two years into it,
maybe the enthusiasm
has waned a little bit.
Maybe I'd hope
the things were going
to be a little different.
Maybe I'd hope
that we'd see
more souls come to Christ
and,
you know,
maybe,
maybe I'm a little bit
more withdrawn,
okay?
And he,
he,
he criticizes this
and it's a,
it's a thing for us
to ask the question of,
okay?
First Corinthians 1558
says,
and he says,
therefore,
so the part,
the part before this
is describing the return
of the Lord,
it's describing the time
when death will be
swallowed up in victory
and he says,
basically,
therefore,
so in light of this
return of the Lord
and death being swallowed
up in victory,
he says,
my dear brothers
and sisters,
stand firm,
let nothing move you,
always give yourselves
fully to the work
of the Lord
because you know
that your labor
in the Lord
is not in vain.
So again,
speaking of the work,
he says,
always give yourselves
fully to the work
of the Lord,
okay?
So it's a sense of like,
I'm going to give myself
fully.
I'm going to give myself
always.
That's the kind of commitment
that is necessary
to do the work
of the Lord.
Always and fully
in the work of the Lord.
Now,
you can't do that
on your own.
There's no way
you're going to always
give yourself fully
to the work of the Lord
unless you're always
thinking about
the consistent,
steadfast love
of the Father
in Christ Jesus.
1 John 4,
19 says,
we love because
he first loved us,
right?
We love because
God first loved us.
You have to be fueled
by the things
we were saying
this morning
that no one's ever
loved us
the way he's loved us.
No one has pursued us
the way he's pursued us.
When you live
in that awareness,
it puts a fire
in your belly.
It puts a persistence
and a steadfastness
in you to say,
I know that my labor
in the Lord
is not in vain
because the Lamb
who was slain
is worthy.
The Lamb who was slain
is worthy
and to receive
the reward
of his suffering.
And,
you know,
by God's grace,
I am to be that man
who gives myself
to this work.
By God's grace,
I am to be that woman
who gives myself fully.
And yeah,
I'm going to be tired.
I'm going to be worn out.
Most certainly,
these people
in the scriptures
were as well.
But I'm going to
fulfill God's command
to always give myself
fully to the work of the Lord.
Why?
He says,
because you know
that your labor
in the Lord
is not in vain.
Brothers and sisters,
do you know this?
Do you know this today?
Like,
do you know it in your gut?
Do you know it
in the sense that
I'm not going to give up?
I know that my labor
in the Lord
is not in vain.
Do you know this?
When you know it,
then you persist.
You persevere.
You strategize.
You set apart.
You get equipped
for the work.
Ephesians 4,
11 to 12
says he gave
the apostles,
the prophets,
the evangelists,
the shepherds,
and teachers
to equip the saints
for the work of ministry,
for building up
of the body of Christ.
Okay?
And it's not just
generic ministry.
It's specifically
the building up
of the body of Christ.
are we utilizing
and experiencing
the benefit
of the different gifts
that we've been given
in the church?
Are we utilizing them
in the sense
that we're equipped?
Or are we maybe
taking for granted
certain gifts
that are among us?
Are we taking granted
some of what's given to us?
Do we have a sense of
maybe a little bit
of arrogant independence
that says,
you know what?
I don't need these other gifts.
I don't need
these other people.
Like,
I got it figured out.
I don't need
to be equipped
in these things.
God specifically
gave these gifts
to the church.
Apostles,
prophets,
pastors,
teachers,
and evangelists.
He gave them to us
so that we can be equipped.
Are we leaning into them?
Are we taking advantage of them?
Are we taking advantage
of those that we know
in our life
that we see
that these people,
these people
who are gifts
to the church,
are we taking advantage
of what has been given to us?
Or are we saying,
no,
I got this.
I'm fine.
I don't need that.
And then we're trying
to do the work
of ministry unequipped.
We're equipped
to do that work
with these gifts.
Okay?
And essentially
what he was saying,
again,
in that verse
we started with
at the beginning,
he says,
send out laborers
into the harvest field.
You know,
Paul told to Timothy
in 2 Timothy 4, 5,
he says,
it's for you,
always be sober-minded,
endure suffering,
and do the work
of an evangelist.
Fulfill your ministry.
Okay?
Do the work
of an evangelist.
Paul also said
in Philippians 4, 3,
yes,
I ask you also,
true companion,
help these women
who have labored
side by side
with me
in the gospel
together
with comment
and the rest
of my fellow workers
whose names
are in the book
of life.
Okay?
The laborers are few.
We've got to get
strategically
into the harvest field
together.
He said,
who've labored
side by side
with me
in the gospel
together,
doing the work
of an evangelist.
Our missional communities
can't be communities
with just a side
of mission.
Like,
that's never going
to work.
That's never going
to be what God
wanted us to be
as a people.
A people
who are living
for his glory
by doing what
Jesus did,
seeking and saving
those who were lost.
Seeking out lost people
and saying,
hey,
it's not okay
that we just have
our life together
and then sprinkle
in just a little
bit of mission.
Like,
oh,
that'd be cool.
Hey,
look,
there's an unbeliever.
We should,
you know,
preach the gospel
to them.
Missional communities,
those missional communities,
the groups that we,
those of you who don't
know what I'm talking
about,
our church,
pretty much the only
thing we have
as a church
is we organize
the people
in our church
together in what
we call missional
communities.
And a missional
community is a small
family of believers
on mission
to specific people
and places.
Now,
nobody drifts
towards mission.
Nobody,
no church drifts
towards mission.
And any church
that's not on mission
is a church
that's dying.
That's a fact.
That is a fact.
Mission has to be pushed.
Mission has to be reminded.
Mission has to be organized.
Mission has to be
not just something
we do out of obligation,
but it has to be
a passion of ours
because of our love
for Jesus
and our knowledge
of who Jesus is.
We have to be
a missional people
because God
is a missional God.
Right?
And when we know that,
we don't just
organize ourselves
into communities
of people
and that are just
communities
and then,
oh yeah,
we'll do a little
mission here and there.
Mission must be
at the forefront.
Okay?
And if we don't
build that into
the culture of our church,
the church isn't
going to drift that way
over the years.
Please listen to me
when I say that.
It will not do that.
Right?
If there's any
apostolic wisdom in me,
I'm asking you
to listen to this.
We must have
a pressed into,
intentional,
at the forefront
of these communities
that aren't just
communities,
but missional communities
that we are on
mission together.
And it can't just be
a group of people
who are on mission
to individual people
in their lives
with no cohesive
togetherness.
That's not a missional
community.
That's just Christianity.
Every Christian needs
to be on mission
to people.
But the church
is more than that.
The church gets
on mission together.
If you look at
the New Testament,
you look at
the book of Acts.
Were they just doing
these little communities
and then mission
was a sprinkle
on the side?
No.
You don't see that.
You won't see that.
This was at the forefront.
This was the tip
of the arrow.
Where the church went
was where mission went.
They were constantly
expanding.
Paul's like,
I gotta go
to where Christ
hasn't been preached.
I have to go
to lands
where Christ
hasn't been preached.
We have to seek
and save people
who are lost.
We're gonna send
people and equip
people into
different cities,
into different places,
and they were
constantly pressing
into seeking
lost people
to hear the gospel,
to give people
a hearing.
And we must also.
Okay?
That has to happen.
And so,
those of you
in missional communities,
whether you're
leading them
or you're partners,
members inside
those missional communities,
there has to be
a planning together
of how are we
gonna get on mission
and who are we
gonna get on mission to.
That question
cannot go unanswered
if we're to be
a healthy church.
It just can't.
And I know you've
heard me say this before
and you say,
well, Josh,
you keep saying this.
Yes, I am.
And I will continue.
It would be
apostolic malpractice
not to.
Do you understand that?
It would be
church planting
malpractice
not to.
It would be
unloving
and unglorifying
to God
to have
in any way,
shape,
or form
the thought
of building
a church
that isn't
primarily
orientated
towards mission
for the glory
of God.
You cannot
have a church
be healthy
if it is not
one that is
orientated
towards lost people.
Because if it's not,
it's inward
and ingrown
and selfish.
And that will
rot from the core.
It will
rot from the core.
There's no
healthy church
that ever thinks
or acts
that way.
And so,
that takes all
of us together
to do that.
We all have to say,
this is not optional.
The work that
needs to be done,
one of the main
aspects of the work
that needs to be done
is good old-fashioned
evangelism.
And some of you
might say,
well, I'm not very
comfortable with evangelism.
Well, I have a word
for you
from the Lord.
Get comfortable.
Because you're a Christian.
For Christ's sake,
get comfortable
with preaching
to the lost.
Like, this is what
Christians do.
If you've been,
if you've lived
some form of Christianity
that didn't have
evangelism a part of it,
you were sold
a bill of goods.
You were sold
an experience
that is not
consistent
with the New Testament.
You have been sold
a church experience
that is not
apostolic in nature
in the truest sense
of what the Bible
says about it.
We must be
a missional people
and a missional people
gets to work.
It takes work.
It takes time.
It takes failure
and then persistence
to push through
the failure.
Like the quote
attributed to
Winston Churchill
that true success
is going from failure
to failure
without loss
of enthusiasm.
Okay?
That's church planting.
That is church planting.
Okay?
I love that quote.
That's part of the reason
I know I'm probably
called to church planting
because I'm a glutton
for that punishment.
But I also get weary
in that
and I know you guys
do too sometimes.
But that,
we have to go
from failure to failure
without loss of enthusiasm.
We're going to fail.
But man,
if we fail
because we're trying
to reach lost people,
praise God,
that's the best
kind of failure.
And Winston Churchill,
if it was him,
some people say it wasn't.
I don't care.
It sounds like him.
Okay?
He said,
success is not final.
And failure is not fatal.
It's the courage
to continue that counts.
Okay?
Success is not final.
And failure is not fatal.
We just got to keep going.
We got to keep going.
And so,
I get fired up
when I see you guys
just getting out there
and trying to do evangelism.
I get fired up
when I see you guys
doing that together.
I get fired up
when it goes bad
and you guys
don't lose heart.
I'm like,
yes,
this is apostolic.
This is how churches
get planted.
This is how healthy
church culture gets built
with this grit
that says,
hey,
I'm not stopping.
I didn't come here
for some little
bless me club
with a bunch of people
who I could be close to
and be friends with
and our kids
could be friends with
for the rest of our life
where we wouldn't have to be
burdened by some big church
where it's too overwhelming.
I didn't have to do
that much work.
That's not what I signed up for.
I signed up for a nimble,
apostolic team of people
that would go into the world
and seek and save
lost people to get saved.
I signed up for earnest prayer
for God to send workers
into his harvest field.
I signed up for my schedule
to be inconvenienced.
I signed up for me
to be losing sleep sometimes
because it's required
to stay up late
to do the work.
I signed up
to do things
where I have to sacrifice hobbies
and things that I want to do
because that's what God's calling me into
to establish the church.
And that's what God's called
everyone into
who's ever established a church.
This isn't some newfangled thing
for Christ's church.
This is just good old fashioned
apostolic work
that God has called us to do.
My question is,
are we up for the work?
Will we put in the work?
And any church
that you've experienced
in the past
or seen
that has been established,
that was built on the backs
of people like,
look around like you and me
who do the work.
It's those kind of people.
And there's never,
there's never been any shortcuts.
Now,
I know that there's all kinds
of marketing shortcuts
that people do.
I'm not talking about
that kind of church.
I'm talking about
real grassroots
doing the work of evangelism,
doing the work of discipleship,
doing the work of earnest prayer
to see lost people saved
and to see workers be sent out.
That's the work
God's called us to.
And you know why it's exciting?
Because
you will
reap a harvest
if you don't give up.
Not you might,
not hope I will,
not,
oh,
I hope this isn't for nothing.
No,
you will
reap a harvest
if you don't give up.
And so you know
that your labor in the Lord
is not in vain.
You know what's disheartening?
Thinking,
oh,
my labor that I'm doing,
it's in vain.
It's not worth it.
It's not accomplishing
what it was set out to do.
You don't have to worry about that.
If you are always
giving yourself
fully to the work of the Lord,
you know
that your labor in the Lord
is not in vain.
That's what it says.
And I want to ask you,
do you know that?
Do you know that
and believe that?
If you don't know that
in the depths of your soul,
if you don't believe that,
you're going to pull back.
You're going to withdraw.
You're going to,
you're not going to,
you're not going to persevere
when the,
when stuff gets tough.
You won't.
That's why you got to believe this.
That's why it requires faith
for us to be able to do
this kind of work.
But the faith that's required
is just believing
that God is who he says he is.
But it costs.
It costs for sure.
Paul describes this kind of cost
in Philippians chapter two,
verse 25,
on to verse 30,
when he talks about
a fellow worker of his name,
Epaphroditus.
He says,
I thought it necessary
to send you Epaphroditus,
my brother
and fellow worker
and fellow soldier
and your messenger
and minister to my need.
Epaphroditus has one of the coolest
resumes in the Bible.
Okay.
I don't know of anybody else
who's got those kind of,
you know,
titles behind his name.
Epaphroditus,
he's my brother.
He's my fellow worker.
He's a fellow soldier.
He's a,
your messenger
and minister to my need.
I mean,
this dude's a legit dude,
right?
This guy's,
but he's got
a title that we could all have
and that's fellow worker.
For us to see a healthy church
established here
at Christ Church,
we've all got to be fellow workers
and we got to put in
a similar level of work
where we're,
there's a shared level
of responsibility,
a shared level
of the weight
to say,
I'm not going to let that,
I'm not going to,
and that's the difference
between just a group
of workers
and a group of workers
that's family.
See,
a group of workers
that is family says,
I'm not going to let
my brother or sister
carry too much,
right?
I'm going to do this
with them.
Not to mention,
if they're my brother
and sister,
I'm not going to let them
hog everything either.
Like,
we're going to share this,
right?
We're going to share
the venues as well.
We're going to do this together.
That's what true brothers
and sisters do.
And that's what we need
to be with one another.
Just say,
listen,
I'm not going to let this weight
fall on other people
because I'm checking out
lazy or being selfish.
I'm not going to let this weight
fall on other people
because I have different priorities
than the rest
of the other people
even though I agreed
to have the same priorities
of seeking first
the kingdom of God.
That's not fair
to everybody else
and it's certainly
not glorifying to God.
God is looking for a people
who are bought in,
sold out,
like Epaphroditus.
And it says,
it goes on to say,
for he has been longing
for you all
and has been distressed
because you heard
that he was ill.
Indeed,
he was ill,
near to death.
But God had mercy on him
and not only on him
but also on me,
lest I should have sorrow
upon sorrow.
I am more eager
to send him therefore
that you may rejoice
at seeing him again
and that I may be less anxious.
So receive him in the Lord
with all joy
and honor such men
for he nearly died
for the work of Christ
risking his life
to complete what was lacking
in your service to me.
The cost of the work
is important.
It requires risk.
It says,
he nearly died
for the work of Christ
risking his life.
Let me ask you,
what are you risking
for this church life?
What are you sacrificing
for this church?
Epaphroditus was sacrificing
even his own life,
willing to risk
even his own life
for the church
in Philippi.
Okay?
And that level
of sacrifice
and risk
and cost
that he offered up
caused them
to have a level
of relationship
where there was longing
for one another.
Do you see the language
that was used there?
That's real church
right there.
That's just not,
you know,
superficial hallelujah
Christianity
or what Mike Knott
calls happy smiles
and half sympathies,
you know,
where everybody's just,
you know,
singing lies
to one another
on a Sunday morning.
This is real deal
love for one another,
longing for one another.
When everyone,
when there's equal buy-in,
when there's equal
sacrifice,
it says,
hey,
the Lamb who was slain
is worthy.
And so,
I'm in.
I'm bought in.
And I have fellowship
with my brothers and sisters
because I know
they're bought into.
They're my fellow workers.
They're my fellow soldiers.
They've risked their life
to complete what was lacking.
There's a cost to the work.
That's why even
when you look at
1 Corinthians 3
when Paul's kind of
laying out this apostolic picture
of church planting
and building the church,
he says in verse 10
that according to the grace
of God given to me
like a skilled master builder,
I laid a foundation
and someone else
is building upon it.
Let each one take care
how he builds upon it.
Let each one take care
how he builds upon it.
Now,
you might have an opinion
of what it looks like
to take care of how you build,
but Paul has a very specific
application of what
that care looks like.
The care involved
with building
has to do with
the materials
that are used.
You ever buy a house
or go look at a house
and maybe on the outside
you saw the pictures online
and you're like,
wow,
this house looks amazing.
Then you get inside
and you're like,
man,
did they use the
bad materials.
It looks like
they're kind of
covering up some stuff here.
It's like,
this is cheap,
man.
That picture
has looked amazing.
But then you get in there
and you're like,
this is a cheaply built house.
The materials matter,
don't they?
Right?
So when he says,
let each one take care
how he builds
in verse 10,
he then goes
in verse 11,
he says,
no one can lay a foundation
other than that
which is laid,
which is Jesus Christ.
And then he talks
about the materials
that are used
to build upon it.
In verse 12,
he says,
if anyone builds
on the foundation
with gold,
silver,
precious stones,
or wood,
hay,
and straw,
okay,
now before I go on,
you notice the difference
between those two?
We've talked about this before,
but I want to remind us again.
What's the difference
between wood,
hay,
and straw
and gold,
silver,
and precious stones?
The cost.
The cost,
right?
Gold,
silver,
and precious stones
are expensive.
They're not only expensive
to have,
they're expensive to get.
You have to mine them
from the ground.
Wood,
hay,
and straw
are all above the ground.
They're easily procured
and they're cheap.
Okay?
They're also easily burnt up.
In verse 13,
he says,
each one's work
will become manifest
for the day
will disclose it
because it will be revealed
by fire
and the fire will test
what sort of work
each one has done.
If the work
that anyone has built
on the foundation
survives,
he will receive reward.
If anyone's work
is burned up,
he will suffer loss,
though he himself
will be saved,
but only as through fire.
So God has laid
a foundation
in this church
for us
to be building upon.
I want to ask you
a question.
What are you building with?
What materials
are you building with?
Are they costly?
Or are you just
giving some cheap
materials to the church?
Your time,
your talents,
your treasure.
Are you offering
cheap stuff?
Is it wood,
hay, and stubble?
Or is it gold,
silver,
and precious stones?
To take care
how you build
means to take care
that you are using
expensive material.
And you might say,
man,
this is too expensive.
Yeah,
to build something
worthy of the king
is expensive.
When David built
the temple
and when David
built his throne
worthy of King David
and then the temple
worthy of the king,
God himself,
was he using
some,
you know,
cheap material?
No way.
And yet sometimes,
even though Christ
came
and died
for the ungodly
while we were yet sinners,
while we were enemies,
reconciled us to him
and justified us
in Christ Jesus,
would we dare
have the audacity
to offer up to him
cheap materials
and not take care
how we build?
We've got to take care
how we build.
We've been given
a precious gift
and we didn't deserve it
because he did it to us
while we were yet sinners,
he died for the ungodly,
and he reconciled
his enemies.
That means none of us
were qualified,
earned,
or had any merit
to receive this love
of the Father
in Christ Jesus.
But he says,
let each one
take care
how he builds.
Are you taking care?
Are we taking care?
You know,
in Hosea,
is it Hosea?
I think it's Hosea,
when he rebukes them
when he says,
you guys pay all attention
to your house
but my house
is in ruins.
It's easy
to pay attention
to ourselves,
to our leisure,
to our careers,
to our own homes,
and what we do
at our own homes,
and then not give
costly material
to the building
of the house
of the Lord,
to the work
that God
has set us apart for.
And we should be
giving costly materials
in proportion
to what Jesus
has given us
in Christ Jesus.
And it's incalculable
what he's given us
in Christ Jesus.
Last point
before we conclude.
1 Thessalonians 5,
12 to 13
in speaking of the work
and the labor,
he says,
Paul says to the Thessalonians,
we ask you,
brothers,
to respect those
who labor among you
and are over you
in the Lord
and admonish you
and to esteem them
very highly in love
because of their work.
Be at peace
among yourselves.
Esteem them
very highly
because of your work.
Let me ask you a question.
Is there any question
about your apostolic
work ethic?
Is there any question
about your intentionality
and track record
to do the work
to build God's church
for his glory?
People,
you might say,
man,
I wish people
respected me more.
Well,
what do people respect?
It says right here,
people are respected
very highly.
Why?
Because of their work.
You want that respect,
that comes in the church?
Well,
it comes for the people
who are doing the work.
When you're doing the work,
the respect is there
and you respect those
who labor among you.
Are you laboring among
the people?
Are you laboring among
one another to say,
I want to build the bond
that we have in Christ Jesus?
I want to build us
closer together.
I want to build a framework
of people
that are on mission
to specific people
and places
in the context
of our missional communities.
That our missional communities
aren't just places
where we come
and enjoy the scriptures,
which is awesome,
and encourage one another,
which is awesome,
and bear one another's burdens,
which is awesome,
but that we come together
as a family on mission
and get out
where the lost people are
and preach the gospel
and build relationships
with unbelievers.
We expose them
to the family of believers
and we preach the gospel
to them and pray
they get saved
and make them disciples.
And then we rinse
and repeat
over and over
and over again.
And we keep doing that
over and over
and over again.
That's work.
And there needs to be
a labor among us in that.
And there's a respect
that comes from that.
There's a certain level
of esteem
that comes from that.
And especially those of you
who esteem to be elders
in this church,
you've got to do that work.
You've got to labor
amongst people
and win the respect
of people
because of your hard work,
because of your work
in the doing
of the things
that a lot of times,
frankly,
people don't want to do.
The level of service,
washing people's feet,
so to speak,
and getting in there
and getting your hands dirty.
In conclusion,
1 Thessalonians 1, 2-3 says,
We give thanks to God
always for all of you,
constantly mentioning you
in our prayers,
remembering before
our God and Father
your work of faith
and labor of love
and steadfastness of hope
in our Lord Jesus Christ.
What a beautiful trifecta
that is right there, right?
Your work of faith.
All this work
I'm talking about,
I'm not asking you
to pull yourself up
out of your own bootstraps,
get hyped,
get on the hype train
and just start building
God's church.
That's totally lame
and not sustainable.
I'm asking us
to get on the gospel train,
believe that Jesus
is who he says he is,
believe that Jesus
did what he said
he would do,
and be moved
in the depths of our soul
by the power
of the gospel
to do the work of faith,
to do the work of faith
and a labor of love
where we,
out of the love
that God has shed abroad
into our hearts
by the Holy Spirit,
the love that he poured
into our hearts,
we end up loving one another
and loving the lost
in such a way
that it induces
real genuine
heartfelt labor,
a labor of love.
And it's all grounded
on the steadfastness
of hope
in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Again,
knowing that our labor
in the Lord
is not in vain.
Do you believe that?
Do you believe it
to the point to persevere?
Like,
I'm not discouraged.
I hope you hear me.
I'm not saying this
because I'm discouraged.
I'm trying to rally the troops
in a holistic,
gospel-founded way
and just say,
we got work to do.
And I told you this
at the beginning of the year.
I'm telling you again,
it's more work than you think.
I don't think we've anticipated
how much work it is
and I don't think we've bought
into the level we need to.
I'm calling you guys
and I'm telling you as a church,
we got to dive in.
We got to embrace that work.
But here's the encouraging part.
We will reap a harvest
if we don't give up.
And our labor in the Lord
is not in vain.
Amen?
Amen.
Let's stand.