S1: We need those who utilize their gifts and are faithful
S1: with it, who can't be run off, who say, God
S1: called me to this, I'm going to do this to
S1: the best of my God given abilities. I may not
S1: always do it right, but I'm going to keep doing
S1: it till I get it right.
S2: Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford,
S2: junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago.
S2: I'm Steve Hiller. Glad you're with us. As today we're
S2: beginning a message entitled Get Involved in pastor. It sounds
S2: like you're really calling the church body to get busy
S2: to use the gifts that God has given us.
S1: Well, yes, it's based on that title of, uh, that
S1: great theologian, James Brown.
S2: Okay.
S1: You know, he used to say, everybody over here get involved.
S1: Everybody right here get involved. Everybody over everywhere get involved,
S1: get involved. And that's what we need in the church
S1: of Jesus Christ. We're called a body and we need
S1: every member.
S2: Absolutely we do. But as you said, sometimes we can
S2: be hesitant to get involved. But this is not just
S2: a suggestion from Scripture. This is a command.
S1: Amen, brother. Preach it.
S2: Okay.
S1: That's right.
S2: Well, I'm going to let you do that in just
S2: a moment. We're just going to chat for a couple
S2: more minutes here, okay? But, uh, if this is such
S2: a command and somebody is kind of hesitant to say,
S2: I'm not sure how to get involved, where to get involved,
S2: I hear you talk about the fact that God has
S2: given me gifts and abilities, but I don't know what
S2: they are. How do I know what to do?
S1: Well, here's what God does. You ever notice he hits
S1: moving targets? Yeah. You know, people need to be actively
S1: involved in something. Here's what I share with people. Start
S1: somewhere and God will either affirm or move you on.
S1: You know, and so you have a spiritual gift. Every
S1: believer has at least one. Uh, so you are to
S1: discover it, develop it and deploy it. That's what we
S1: need in the Church of Jesus Christ. We need people
S1: who will utilize their giftedness. And so here's where I
S1: say start. What do you have a passion for? Yeah.
S1: What do you feel burdened for? And once you have
S1: a burden for something, you know, like I always tease
S1: and say, you know, like my wife saw me, had
S1: to have me beg me to marry her. That's a burden.
S1: That's a burden, brother. That's a burden.
S2: And she's been carrying that burden for about 46 years, right?
S1: Wait a minute. I'm telling the jokes.
S2: Okay. All right, all right, all right.
S1: But you're right. I tell everybody she's filled with the
S1: spirit to be able to put up with me. As
S1: a matter of fact, this week, 46 years.
S2: Congratulations.
S1: Amen.
S2: Yeah, well, as you said, we need to discover, develop
S2: and deploy. And that's what we're going to be talking
S2: about in this message entitled Get Involved. If you can,
S2: open your Bible to Colossians chapter four. As we begin
S2: the message here is Pastor Ford afford one.
S1: The pastor had gone to a conference, and they had
S1: said that the two greatest sins in the church is
S1: ignorance and apathy. And so he went back and he
S1: hooked up with the head of his elder board, not
S1: deacon board, head of the elder board, and said, what
S1: do you think is wrong with the church today? He said,
S1: I don't know and I don't care. You'll get that
S1: on the way home. But ignorance and apathy are the
S1: two dastardly duos that plague the Church of Jesus Christ. Uh, F.B.
S1: Meyer I put his quote down there for you. He
S1: said one thing pierces and breaks the heart of God.
S1: It's not the world's iniquities, but the church's indifference. The
S1: churches indifference. And so when we look at the church, uh,
S1: we understand and know, uh, that what's happening in the
S1: church is more akin to. And we talk about it
S1: all the time. Uh, anybody remember, uh, the Nehemiah principle?
S1: It's called the Pareto principle. Pareto principle? In the business world,
S1: that's what it's called in the church. The Nehemiah principle.
S1: What is that? That is this that 20% of the
S1: congregation is doing, 80% of the giving and the service
S1: that 30% of the congregation is doing, the other 20%
S1: of the giving and the serving, and 50% Do nothing.
S1: I sure hope we don't have any 50 percenters in here.
S1: Which means then, uh, since in the African American community,
S1: we have a 16% unemployment rate, and since in, uh,
S1: national average is 9%, uh, then, depending on how you
S1: look at it, 41% more unemployment in the church than
S1: in the world. And so when we look at this thing, uh,
S1: we understand that when you look at what's happening in
S1: the church, since these people are doing more, uh, than
S1: what they ought to be doing, some things are left
S1: undone and there's some ministry that's not happening because somebody
S1: is just sitting on the premises rather than standing on
S1: the promises. Some of you will remember this because it's
S1: not the first time you heard this. Uh, this is
S1: about Fred. Somebody. Thomas. Everybody. Susan. Anybody. And Joe. Nobody. Fred. Somebody. Thomas. Everybody. Susan. Anybody.
S1: And Joe. Nobody. Were neighbors, but they were not like
S1: you and me. They were odd people in most difficult
S1: to understand the way they live. Life was a shame.
S1: All four belonged to the same church. What? You would
S1: not have enjoyed worshiping with them. Everybody went fishing or
S1: shopping or stayed at home to visit with friends. Anybody
S1: wanted to worship but was afraid somebody wouldn't speak to him.
S1: So guess who went to church? Nobody, really. Nobody was
S1: the only decent of the four. Nobody did the visitation.
S1: Nobody worked on the church building once. They needed a
S1: Sunday school teacher. Everybody thought anybody would do it, and
S1: anybody thought somebody would do it. And you know who
S1: did it? Nobody. That's exactly right. So what happened? A
S1: fifth neighbor, an unbeliever, moved into the area. Everybody thought
S1: somebody should try to win him for Christ. Anybody could
S1: have made the effort. You probably know who finally won him. Nobody.
S1: This little parable brings the focus again to the fact
S1: that each of us is personally responsible for God's work.
S1: If we leave it for somebody or everybody or anybody,
S1: nobody will do it. Let's work till Jesus comes. And
S1: so Paul closes his epistle, uh, his colossian epistle. It's
S1: a prison epistle. And so he wrote it in his what?
S1: Imprisonment first Roman imprisonment. Right. And so it was one
S1: of how many books that he wrote in his first
S1: Roman imprisonment. Four books that he wrote in his first
S1: Roman imprisonment. And what are those four books that he
S1: wrote in his first Roman imprisonment? See, y'all always talk
S1: about he do that over, he do that over. And Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon. Alright.
S1: So at the close of this epistle. Now what's this
S1: epistle about. It's about the completeness of Jesus Christ, his deity,
S1: and then the danger to it, and then our duties.
S1: So he says, listen, I want you to know he's
S1: the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete
S1: in him who is the head of all principality. We
S1: talked about it before. What did he do? He said
S1: he is deity. He is sovereignty. And what did he
S1: sandwich in the middle our humanity? So we are who
S1: we are because of the deity and the sovereignty of Christ. Wow.
S1: That ought to make you feel special. Your sandwich in
S1: between the sovereignty and the deity. Go ahead, say it,
S1: say it, say it. I am somebody because I am
S1: in Christ. Amen. And so then, uh, he talks about
S1: it and he says, listen, let me tell you about
S1: his deity. Now, let me tell you about the danger.
S1: These people who are Gnostics, who do not want, uh,
S1: to accept the fact that he's God in the flesh. Now,
S1: let me tell you your duty. So here he's saying, listen,
S1: you have an obligation. So as he closes this chapter,
S1: I want you to see that he talks about these individuals.
S1: And he begins, uh, let me just read the first
S1: and the last. He says in verse seven, all my
S1: states shall declare unto you who is a beloved brother
S1: and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord, whom
S1: I have sent unto you, for the same purpose, that
S1: you might know your estate, and comfort your heart with Onesimus,
S1: a faithful and beloved brother. So he goes through this
S1: Archippus my fellow prisoner Marcus, he begins to name all
S1: these people. Uh epaphras. Verse 12. And so he names
S1: these individual Epaphras Luke, Demas, all of those. Here's what
S1: he does. He gives us the categories. Now, all these
S1: names fit four categories. First of all, he talks about
S1: the men who stayed there criteria or their characteristic was faithfulness.
S1: What were they faithfulness that he's saying? Uh, I'm naming
S1: all these men. Some 20 in all, but let me
S1: give you their category. They were faithful. They were dependable.
S1: They were steadfast. And if we ever need some folk
S1: who are steadfast, we need it in this church. Amen.
S1: We need some individuals who stick by the stuff, who
S1: make a commitment to do something and fulfill it for
S1: the year that they said they were going to fulfill it. Amen. Yeah.
S1: And so here he says there are men who stayed.
S1: And listen, we we need we need those who volunteer,
S1: who utilize their gifts and are faithful with it, who
S1: can't be run off because somebody said something they didn't like,
S1: who can't be put down, uh, because somebody don't like
S1: the way they did something who said, God called me
S1: to this? I'm going to do this to the best
S1: of my God given abilities. I may not always do
S1: it right, but I'm going to keep doing it till
S1: I get it right. That's what we need in this church.
S1: Then the men who prayed. So you had those who
S1: were prayer warriors, and you need them because nothing is
S1: going to be accomplished in this church apart from prayer.
S1: Why is little being done? Because there is little prayer.
S1: That's why, that's why. So then, these are individuals who
S1: were fervent in their supplication, fervent in their supplication.
S2: It's a good reminder and challenge for us about the
S2: importance of prayer here on Treasure Truth, where you're listening
S2: to a message from Pastor Ford entitled Get Involved. As
S2: we've been looking at Colossians chapter four, verse 17, and
S2: we're going to get back to this teaching in just
S2: a moment. Want to let you know if you want
S2: to make sure that you don't miss a future broadcast,
S2: you can come to our website, Treasure truth radio.org. Come
S2: there right now and sign up to begin podcasting the program.
S2: That way you'll be able to listen to whenever it
S2: fits your schedule, you know, at your convenience. And if
S2: you happen to use iTunes for your podcasting, would you
S2: go ahead and rate the podcast? By doing that, you'll
S2: help us be found by even more people, and they
S2: in turn, can discover the powerful teaching of Pastor Ford
S2: and his way to present the truth of God's Word.
S2: You'll find those links when you come to our website.
S2: Treasure Truth radio.org. Again, here's Pastor Ford.
S1: Then there are men who strayed. Y'all see that? Yeah.
S1: So then the next line is, these were the ones
S1: who failed. And so individuals who. They're a part of
S1: a body. Uh, but it's like they don't function. And
S1: he's saying, here's the individuals. And he calls them by name.
S1: I ain't calling no names. Uh, but what's wrong with them? Failure.
S1: They failed. They're Yeah. The men who strayed, they failed.
S1: So their stumbling blocks to the people of God, their
S1: stumbling blocks. Okay, so let me start all over. The
S1: men who stayed and the word is faithful. Then the
S1: next line steadfast. The next one is the men who
S1: prayed fervent. They were on fire. Fervent. Then the word
S1: is supplication. Supplication. So I'm talking about the four categories
S1: of individuals. So the men who strayed, they failed. So
S1: they are stumbling blocks. They're stumbling blocks. So we have
S1: to ask ourselves in this congregation, what are you? Because
S1: you're one or the other, you're not in between. You're
S1: either a stepping stone or a stumbling block. That's it.
S1: So you you you know what you are. What are you.
S1: Because every member has been called to the body of
S1: Christ to do something for the cause of Christ. So
S1: our service doesn't substitute for our giving, and our giving
S1: is no substitute for our service. I have persons say
S1: to me, well, I'm gonna give you some money because,
S1: you know, uh, you know, you need money to need
S1: you to. I need you and your money. Yeah. Not
S1: not either or both. And. Yeah. Need you to roll
S1: up your sleeves and get busy. Use your spiritual gift.
S1: I don't have time. You don't have time to serve God. Okay.
S1: I ain't sitting with you in service. The lightning bolt
S1: hits you. Jack, I'm going to be far away from you.
S1: And so then there were men who played. They were frivolous. Yeah. Frivolous?
S1: They were frivolous. Frivolous just means to be playing around
S1: with God. Come see. Come saw. Oh, well, I can
S1: take it or leave it. I can come to church
S1: or not. I can come to Bible study or not.
S1: I can pray at home. These people are shaky. Shaky? Yeah. Uh,
S1: so he says to him and say to Archippus. Now, uh,
S1: Archippus is mentioned two times. In Scripture. He's the son
S1: of Philemon. The son of Philemon. So in Philemon, he's
S1: called a fellow soldier. He's called a fellow soldier. That is,
S1: he stood strong in the faith. Archippus loved the fight.
S1: So he must have been a Baptist. And so here,
S1: Ephesians tell us he uses the word hist. Me. It
S1: means to stand for times. He uses it, and each
S1: one is significant. Let's walk through it. He says, I
S1: want you to stand against the evil devil. That is,
S1: we resist the devil. Resist the devil. Stand evil. De resist.
S1: And so we then, are those who are called to
S1: be sober. Be vigilant, because our adversary, the devil, walketh
S1: about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
S1: And the Bible tells us that we submit ourselves to God.
S1: Resist the devil, and he will flee. So we have
S1: to stand against the devil. We have to resist him.
S1: But then the second stand is not talking about the
S1: evil devil, it's talking about the evil day. Is there
S1: an evil day in which we're living? You better believe it.
S1: So then we must stand. That one tells us we
S1: must be resilient. Yes, we must be resilient. You know
S1: what that means. Be able to bounce back from stuff. Man,
S1: too many of us wear our feelings on our shoulders.
S1: First time somebody doesn't say something, or sometimes somebody says something.
S1: Here we go. I ain't coming to church no more. Why?
S1: Because one ignorant person. So if they sit over here,
S1: sit over there. You ain't gotta sit with them. It's
S1: like what would happen if every leader let one ignorant
S1: person stop them from leading? Wouldn't be no leader. You
S1: would never have a pastor. Because I'm going to tell
S1: you this. Somebody offends me every time I come. Somebody
S1: said something to me that's out the box all the time. Emails, letters.
S1: You know what I do? I file them in that
S1: receptacle beside my desk. That's what I do. Because some
S1: people have the gift of criticism. Now, now, if it's
S1: if it's if it's a valid comment, I always listen
S1: to every valid comment. But. But there are people who.
S1: They just say things just to hurt you. Yeah. And
S1: so I know those folk. And so I don't worry
S1: about it. I don't worry about it at all. They, they,
S1: you know, they come with the territory. You know, if
S1: you ain't ready for that, you ain't ready to do ministry.
S1: So then he says, stand not just against the evil devil,
S1: the evil day, but the every device. And he's talking
S1: about resources that the devil has strategy. That's what the
S1: Bible calls it, from which we get the word strategy.
S1: And so what we have to do is we have
S1: been given the keys to the kingdom. Now, what do
S1: keys do? Open gates. And what gates? Already open the
S1: gates of hell. So every time hell has a resource,
S1: we have a key. Every time hell puts up a gate,
S1: we have a key. And then at the end it
S1: says stand at the end. And that is to be resolute.
S1: Resolute that is always ready to fight. So then next line.
S1: He was a fellow soldier, but not a fellow worker.
S1: And so he was the one that would charge hell
S1: with a water pistol and tell God I'll put it out.
S1: He was a fellow soldier, but not a fellow worker.
S1: Now let me show you. They go hand in hand
S1: that that that God wants the soldier and the servant
S1: to come together. So in Nehemiah chapter 14, here's what
S1: Nehemiah says. Let me just read it to you. It
S1: says in verse 17, be everyone with one of his
S1: hands wrought in the work. With the other hand he
S1: held a weapon. So they had a shovel in one
S1: hand and a weapon in the other hand. Nehemiah said,
S1: stand on the wall. Be ready to work. Be ready
S1: to war. Every Christian is a warrior and every Christian
S1: is a worker at the same time. So then basically
S1: then how do you encourage saints to serve? God led
S1: you here not just to come and get the word.
S1: God led you here to work. For we are his workmanship,
S1: created in Christ Jesus unto good works. It's time to
S1: work people. So how do you encourage them? This one
S1: verse and like I said, we studied on a Sunday before,
S1: but this one verse, listen to it. He says the
S1: first thing you do and say to our shepherds, stop.
S1: He says, the first thing you do is confront them
S1: to instigate them, confront them, to instigate them. Him. What
S1: do you mean? Confront them to instigate them? Where do
S1: you get that? And say to Archippus? Confront them. To
S1: instigate them. Say, what are you talking about? Here's here's
S1: what he's. Here's what he's doing. There is what's called
S1: an ox goad. Anybody know what an ox goad is?
S1: Let me tell you what an ox goad is. It's
S1: a long stick that a farmer would use. And at
S1: the end, it had a sharp point. And if the
S1: ox didn't work, the farmer would stick the ox with
S1: the ox. Goad. Stick a stick. Uh, so Paul says
S1: there are people who are oxen. That's that's what he
S1: likens us to. Why? Because oxen will work. So we're
S1: all oxen because we've been given that nature by Christ.
S2: That is Pastor James Ford Junior, reminding us that it's
S2: not enough just to be in a tender or an observer.
S2: We need to get involved. While you're listening to Treasure Truth,
S2: and you can find us online at Treasure Truth radio.org.
S2: You know, if you're a longtime listener, it's no surprise
S2: to you that this is a listener supported ministry. We're
S2: glad to be able to provide Pastor Ford's teaching free
S2: of charge, so that lives can be transformed through an
S2: encounter with God's Word. But even though it's free to listen,
S2: it does cost money to produce this program and purchase airtime.
S2: And that's where your support comes into play. Regardless of
S2: the size, your financial gifts are an essential part of
S2: what God is doing through treasure truth. So give a
S2: donation when you call 888644 7660 or go online to
S2: Treasure Truth radio.org and a thank you for your gift
S2: of any amount. We're going to send you Pastor Ford's book,
S2: seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage. You know, statistically, most
S2: people will get married at some point in their life. Unfortunately,
S2: many will also get divorced. But what if many of
S2: these divorces could be prevented by a biblical understanding of marriage?
S2: What if your marriage could grow while your faith and
S2: understanding of God's Word also grows? Well, as you read
S2: seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage, you'll begin to grasp
S2: God's incredible plan for marriage as a source of strength
S2: and faith for your life. So give a donation and
S2: request your copy today. Call us at 888 644 7660
S2: or go online to Treasure Truth Radio.com. Hi, I'm Steve Hiller.
S2: Our producer is Amy Rios. Join us again Tuesday as
S2: Pastor Ford continues this message about getting involved right here
S2: on Treasure Truth. A production of Moody Radio, a ministry
S2: of Moody Bible Institute.