S1: Today on Bold steps with Mark job. We're learning how
S1: to mature and grow in God's power and provision.
S2: When you begin to realize that God can use me,
S2: you start growing. You start maturing. You move from being
S2: a needy person to being a person that has the
S2: power to give. Oh, there's a change that happens there.
S1: Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark job. Mark is senior
S1: pastor at New Life Community Church and the president of
S1: Moody Bible Institute, both in Chicago. Well, we all have
S1: been given unique gifts and talents to help further the
S1: Kingdom of God. But how should we use those abilities
S1: to encourage and help bring people to Christ? That's the
S1: topic we're going to explore today in our message called
S1: Unleashing People Power. It's part of our brand new series
S1: When You believe everything changes. If you're looking for more
S1: resources and tools to help you study God's Word on
S1: your own, let me invite you to visit our website.
S1: You'll find a variety of resources. You can even sign
S1: up for Mark's email devotional, The Bold Step or weekly.
S1: This devotional is free and automatically delivered to your inbox
S1: each Monday morning. To learn more or to sign up,
S1: visit Bold Steps. All right, now let's get started with
S1: today's bold steps. Here's Mark Jobe.
S2: Your prayers are heard because you are a son or
S2: daughter of God as well. If you've been washed by
S2: the blood of the lamb. And so you don't need
S2: an intermediary of a pastor clergy rabbi to pray for
S2: you because God hears your prayers as well. Listen, when
S2: we baptize, if you've ever been to a new life baptism,
S2: have you noticed that we make sure that it's not
S2: the pastors that baptize everybody? Why? We do it on purpose?
S2: Because I want you to understand and know that it's
S2: not the holy men, so to speak, that baptize and
S2: mentor that you, the people of God, empower with the
S2: Spirit of God, disciples of Jesus Christ. You have the
S2: power also to baptize in Jesus name as we make disciples.
S2: So we have men and women and young and old
S2: baptizing in Jesus name. Why? Because we want you to
S2: understand that you have the power in yourself and the
S2: calling of God upon your life to help make disciples. Now,
S2: are you tracking with me? Because this is huge. When
S2: we serve communion, I make sure that it's the ushers
S2: that serve communion. Well, I may participate and be a
S2: part of it, but but but I, I take no
S2: special communion that you can't take. I don't say no.
S2: You could take the bread, but I take the wine
S2: and the bread. because I'm holier. No, no, no, that's
S2: not the way it works here. I take the same
S2: cracker and the same juice you take. Why? Because I
S2: want you to understand there is no dichotomy between the
S2: holy and unholy here. There is just what the Bible
S2: calls the priesthood of all believers. This is important. This
S2: is huge, because some of you were brought up into
S2: in traditions that caused you not to pray, not to minister,
S2: not to reach out, not to use your gifts because
S2: you've been taught you're not qualified or holy enough to
S2: do that. That's only for certain holy people that do that.
S2: And I want you to know, know, know that spiritual
S2: leaders have been called to prepare God's people and release
S2: God's people to do the work of the A ministry
S2: that my main job is not to see how many
S2: people I can pray for, although I pray for people.
S2: But my job is how can I get others to
S2: pray for others? My main job is not let me
S2: see how many people I can lead to Christ. My
S2: main job is how can I empower the body to
S2: share their faith and lead a lot of people to Christ?
S2: My main job is not how many people can I
S2: personally teach, but how can I empower a lot of
S2: you to be teachers so that you take the faith
S2: and teach others? My main job is not to see
S2: how many people I can personally visit at the hospital
S2: that are sick, but how can I release and empower
S2: the body to care about people that are sick in
S2: the hospital and release the body of Christ to do
S2: the work of the ministry? I have no desire to
S2: minister to 4000 people. Me personally, no desire. I don't
S2: have the capacity. I don't have the time. It's not
S2: my desire to personally Pray for everybody and personally visit
S2: everybody and personally minister to everybody. Because if that were
S2: my heart, then I would somehow believe that I'm the
S2: only one that can do it, which is a lie,
S2: because the Spirit of God has been spread around this
S2: place and there is a body full of the spirit.
S2: Do you understand how this is one of the greatest
S2: lies that have kept the people of God? Christians trapped
S2: and bound, not using their gifts, not stepping up to
S2: the calling in life, not feeling like they could read
S2: the Bible, but someone had to read the Bible to them.
S2: Not praying, not ministering, not leading anything, but kind of
S2: waiting for the holy people to do that. Listen, I
S2: want to unleash the power of the body, for the
S2: church can become the church full of God, full of
S2: the gospel of Jesus Christ, fully empowered by God, fully
S2: accomplishing the mission of God upon this earth. And so
S2: he says that apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists. They are there
S2: to prepare God's people, to equip, to prepare, to empower
S2: God's people so that the body of Christ may be
S2: built up, leads to my third point. The third thing
S2: to remember is that we use our gifts. Remember that
S2: we use our gifts so that we can grow to
S2: the full maturity and leave spiritual nursery behind. Notice what
S2: it says in verse 12. It says to prepare God's
S2: people for works of service so that the body of Christ,
S2: we are the body of Christ, may be built up.
S2: Verse 13, until we all reach unity in the faith
S2: and knowledge of the Son of God and become mature,
S2: attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
S2: Verse 14. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed
S2: back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there,
S2: by every wind of teaching, and by every cunning and
S2: craftiness of men in their deceitful schemings. In essence, what
S2: Paul is saying is that spiritual leaders are given to
S2: help empower us to release the church to do its work.
S2: And when the church is released, the people of God
S2: are released to begin to do the work of God.
S2: Then something happens when you begin to discover that you
S2: have a gift and that God can use you. When
S2: you begin to mentor someone, pray over someone. When you
S2: begin to share your faith, when you begin to learn that,
S2: you also can be a blessing and encouragement. When you
S2: can share a verse, when you can. When you begin
S2: to realize that God can use me and you start
S2: moving in that way. Then there's something that happens to you.
S2: You start growing. You start maturing. You start realizing, I'm
S2: not a person that always needs, but I'm a person
S2: that has the ability to give. You move from being
S2: a needy person to being a person that has the
S2: power to give. Oh, there's a change that happens there. Oh,
S2: there's something that happens when you transition from I need,
S2: I need to I can give, I can give. Uh,
S2: there's something that happens when you transition from, hey, can
S2: you pray for me to. Can I pray for you?
S2: There's something that happens when you bring someone and you say, hey,
S2: pastor Mark, I brought I got one for you. Get em, pastor,
S2: tell em. Go ahead. Tell em they need Jesus. Tell em.
S2: You tell em. Oh, I'm willing to do that. Never
S2: be afraid to do that. I'm blessed to be able
S2: to do that. But I'm even more blessed when you
S2: don't have to bring em to pastor Mark to say,
S2: tell em, pastor, when you can. Tell em yourself, when
S2: you can say, let me lead you to Jesus. Let
S2: me pray with you. Let me explain the gospel. Let's
S2: kneel on our knees right now. Let's give your life
S2: to Jesus and pray over you. When you begin to
S2: have that power and confidence inside of you, that you
S2: can lead someone to the feet of Jesus. Hey, I'm
S2: blessed to baptize people, but hey, it's a great blessing
S2: to me when you finally learn to mentor someone and
S2: teach them the the the Bible studies that lead to
S2: baptism and that you pray over someone as they go
S2: into the water and you dunk them in the water
S2: and they come out of the water and you do
S2: it in Jesus name. Hey, that's a incredible blessing to me. Why?
S2: Because now I know you've you've gone from I need,
S2: I need to I can give, I can give, and
S2: you are going from one place of maturity to the
S2: next place of maturity.
S1: You're listening to the Bible teaching of Mark Jobe here
S1: on Bold Steps, and we've paused our program to let
S1: you know that we would love to hear from you.
S1: You'll find us online at npr.org. Just click on Bold Testimonies.
S1: We'd love to hear your story of God at work
S1: in your life. And these are so encouraging to us, Mark.
S1: Here's a listener recently who took time to write us
S1: a note. Leon in Chicago, and he says, I feel
S1: like pastor Mark spoke directly to me on the radio today.
S1: His message has truly blessed me in my struggle. Thank you.
S2: Yeah, well, Leon, that was the Holy Spirit taking his
S2: word and speaking to you. Right? Exactly what you needed
S2: to hear. And I love that about preaching the Word
S2: of God. And so I want to encourage you, please
S2: give us feedback. We love to hear from our listeners
S2: like Leon. So many people that just tell us what
S2: God is doing in their life and the bold steps
S2: that they're taking.
S1: It's amazing how radio can be such a personal ministry,
S1: isn't it, Mark?
S3: It really is.
S1: Thank you. Leon. Anyone who wants to tell us their story,
S1: your bold story go online. Bold steps.org. Click on Bold Testimonies.
S1: Let's return to the second half of today's study. Mark
S1: has one last point to make about truth and love.
S2: Oh, you say, well, pastor, I need to. I need
S2: to know more. Oh, I know we all need to
S2: know more. The pastor I'd love to be used, but
S2: I need. I need to take more notes. Oh, I'm
S2: sure you do. I need to learn more about God.
S2: I need to, like, get it all down first. Well,
S2: I'm sure you do. But here's the thing. I have
S2: two teenagers, one that's gotten their driver's license and won.
S2: Help me. Lord, that's getting his driver's license. No, he's
S2: actually a pretty good driver. So my 16 year old
S2: son right now, that's in the midst of getting his
S2: driver's license. He's got his permit right now. He can
S2: go to class after class and read book after book
S2: and watch video after video on how to drive. Put
S2: your turn signal on, how to merge, how to park
S2: and do all that. But I can guarantee you that
S2: after months and months of studying a book, he's still
S2: not ready to drive. I can't put him in a
S2: car and then say, okay, you're ready, son. Take a
S2: trip to California, because the best way you need to learn,
S2: he needs knowledge. But the best way to really learn
S2: to drive is you have to start driving. And everybody's
S2: a little rough in the beginning, and everybody's a little jerky.
S2: And everybody has a little bit of a trouble merging
S2: onto the expressway. away. When you first learn it right.
S2: When Josiah first started learning, he says, dad, I'm pretty
S2: good at everything but merging on the expressway. I said, okay, son,
S2: let's do it. We got up there first time emerged
S2: on the expressway. There's a big semi. Merging on. We're
S2: going like side by side by the semi. He said, dad,
S2: what do I do? I said, you either speed up
S2: or slow down, but let's not compete with this semi.
S2: One or the other. But you know what? You don't
S2: learn that from a book. You have to get out
S2: there and you have to do it. Listen, you can
S2: gain a lot of wisdom by sitting in a service
S2: like this or going to a Bible, a Bible study.
S2: But I'm going to tell you, you will never grow
S2: to the place you need to grow until you actually
S2: start doing the work of ministry, until you actually start
S2: talking to someone, praying for someone, sharing your faith, ministering
S2: to someone, encouraging someone doing the work because that's the
S2: way you grow. You grow when you discover your gift.
S2: You roll up your sleeves and you start serving somewhere,
S2: doing something, utilizing your gifts because that's the way you
S2: grow the most. And what the Apostle Paul is telling
S2: us is that when we begin to use our gifts, everybody,
S2: then we grow in faith and we grow in the
S2: knowledge of the Son of God to become mature to
S2: the full measure of the fullness of Christ. And then
S2: we're no longer babies, infants. Babies are tossed this way
S2: and tossed that way. They're inconsistent. They're up and down.
S2: Someone comes in. They can easily be deceived because they
S2: don't have a lot of discernment. He says, when you
S2: start using your gifts, when you start operating in your gifts,
S2: you will leave babyhood behind and you will start to mature.
S2: So now you're less up and down and now you're
S2: not so easily deceived. And now it's not every little
S2: teaching that sends you over here and sends you over there. Why?
S2: Because you're developing maturity. Spiritual maturity. And then finally, number four,
S2: I'm talking about unleashing the body. In verse 15, he
S2: tells us the atmosphere in which this needs to happen.
S2: He says instead, instead of being babies tossed back and forth,
S2: instead speaking the truth in love. Oh. Number four, remember
S2: that truth and love are the atmosphere that releases full
S2: participation and growth. Speaking the truth in love. We will
S2: grow up into him who is the head that is Christ,
S2: from whom the whole body, joined and held together by
S2: every supporting ligament grows and builds itself up in love
S2: as each part does its work. Now hear me. We
S2: want to be a church that is full of truth
S2: and love. What happens if we're just a church that's
S2: full of truth? Well, when all you have is truth
S2: but you don't have love, you tend to come across
S2: as judgmental, critical. Have you ever talked to someone? That's right.
S2: But they say it wrong. Well, you know they're right,
S2: but they just say it wrong. Well, this person, they're
S2: going to hell. Well, maybe they are going to hell. But,
S2: you know, there's a way of saying it differently. Like, man,
S2: I really want to help them not go there. There's
S2: truth in love. And if all you know is truth,
S2: then you'll you'll be critical, Dogmatic. Even though your truth
S2: is right, your truth will typically push people away, offend
S2: people because all you're concerned about is truth. Is it right? Now,
S2: on the other hand, if all you have is sort
S2: of this gushy, mushy love, we just need to love them. Well, hey,
S2: they're really messing up. I know, I don't want to
S2: say anything. I just want to love them. Hey, they're
S2: lying and cheating. I know I'm going to love them.
S2: Help them feel the love of God, the people of God.
S2: I don't want to judge them either. One is is
S2: out of balance. Well, God says is you need truth
S2: and love, truth and love. You need the truth to
S2: be spoken and listen. The truth sometimes hurts. The truth
S2: sometimes offends. The truth sometimes cuts to your heart. The
S2: truth sometimes offends you. The truth sometimes will make you
S2: feel like, man, I'm mad at that pastor. He's. Oh,
S2: he told me this. Was it truth? Yeah, it's the truth, but.
S2: But if it's mixed with love. Let me tell you something.
S2: If you try to take a tank across a bridge
S2: that's really flimsy. It's going to fall. If you're going
S2: to take your big truth across the bridge, it needs
S2: to be a strong bridge of love. The more people
S2: know you care, the more people will care what you know.
S2: The more people know you care, the more people will
S2: accept what you have to tell them in truth. If
S2: people don't know you care, then people don't care what
S2: you know or don't care what you tell them. And
S2: so the power of a healthy church is when a
S2: church has truth and love, where you wrap your arm
S2: around someone and say, bro, I need to talk to
S2: you and this is going to hurt, but I love you,
S2: And that's why I'm telling you it needs to be
S2: a place where there's strong truth. But there's strong love
S2: mixed together. And in that kind of atmosphere, people start
S2: growing and utilizing their gifts and releasing what God has
S2: called them to and grow. You know how many people
S2: you know? How many guys? Do you know how many guys?
S2: I've put my arm around at this altar and said, hey, bro,
S2: glad you're going in. Jesus. How come you're not marrying
S2: this woman that you're living with right now? You know
S2: how many guys have done that to. A lot, a lot,
S2: a lot of guys. And you know what? I can't
S2: think of one that said, hey, hey, don't don't tell
S2: me what to do. No, no, no, I don't, because
S2: I'm not saying why you living with that girl. You
S2: shouldn't be living. Are you a Christian? You shouldn't come
S2: to this church if you're living with. living. I never
S2: say that. Never. I'm not judging. I'm not kicking them out.
S2: I'm saying, man, I feel like a father here, bro.
S2: What's up? Who's dragging their feet on commitment here? Let's
S2: make this right with this woman. You going to get
S2: all the goodies, man? You need to make all the
S2: commitment to. You need to do what's right. Why? Listen,
S2: because I believe God's way is the best way, and
S2: I want to. And if there's a brother struggling, if
S2: there's a brother struggling, you know, I want to be
S2: able to put my arm around and say, hey, bro,
S2: I've heard you're struggling. Let's talk about that. What's going on?
S2: Truth and love. I don't avoid it. I don't want
S2: to avoid it. I want to speak direct. I want
S2: to be honest. But I want to do it in
S2: love and listen. When that atmosphere exists throughout the church,
S2: when people are speaking the truth and love, There's something
S2: releasing empowering that happens because people start to grow. When
S2: you start speaking into their lives, listen, you may be
S2: here in the church and you may be in a
S2: small group and someone's struggling and you say, well, I
S2: hope pastor Mark deals with this guy. He's really struggling, man. Listen,
S2: chances are I don't even know they're struggling. I may
S2: not even know their name. I may not even know
S2: who they are. But I tell you what, there's someone
S2: in the group that has the same spirit that pastor
S2: Mark has. The Holy Spirit has the same ability to
S2: love and truth. And so instead of waiting for pastor
S2: Mark to say, oh, pastor Mark knows about this person, listen,
S2: you need to say, hey, I know you. We've been
S2: in the same group. Let's talk, man. Let's have coffee together.
S2: I want to encourage you. I want to bless you.
S2: I want to push you forward. I know you're struggling.
S2: I've struggled to let me minister to you. That is
S2: the body of Christ.
S4: So I want to encourage you, on the heels of
S4: this message, to make a choice to get involved in
S4: your church. I know there's some of you that are
S4: listening right now. Maybe you don't even have a local church.
S4: If you are listening and saying, well, my church is
S4: Moody Radio, we are here to help you out. But
S4: it's not the substitute for a church.
S1: Amen.
S4: You need to find a Bible believing church and get involved.
S4: And maybe you're attending church, but you haven't been involved
S4: at all. I would encourage you to approach a ministry leader,
S4: the pastor, someone on staff, and just say, I want
S4: to serve. Can you direct me and help me know
S4: how to serve?
S1: Mark, you're a pastor. When someone comes up to you
S1: with that question at church, how church. How do you
S1: respond to them?
S4: Yeah, well, I try to start by telling them, hey,
S4: you have gifts that can be used in this place,
S4: and there's a place for you. And so we have
S4: a new to new life desk. I send them to
S4: the desk and say, get some information, but I like
S4: to encourage him. First of all, get involved with people.
S4: If there's a small group, join a small group, join
S4: a Sunday school class. Make sure you know some people
S4: and then say, what are my passions and how can
S4: I serve this body?
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S1: tomorrow when Mark starts his next message. It's titled putting
S1: on the New You. It's from our series when you
S1: believe everything changes and you will hear Thursday on Bold
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