Welcome And Series Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Anybody thankful to be in the presence of the Lord this morning? Anybody thankful? If you are a guest here, we welcome you to Free Church, and we're so thankful that you are here. And um, we like to say this around the church a lot. You know, there is no place like this place, near this place, around this place. So this must be um the place. And so whether you're watching online for uh the first time or whether you're in the building, Free Church, can we just help just give a big welcome to all of our first-time family members in the room? And um so thankful that you guys are here. Uh, my name is Pastor Matthew. We get the honor of just being on staff here and um getting to serve you guys and getting to really just walk out life with you guys and do discipleship, and so it's an honor. And uh before I even get started, I want to show honor to um our senior pastors. Come on, we love our pastors, don't we? We love Pastor Chuck, and we love Pastor Ashana. They're probably watching from wherever they are at in Wisconsin right now, and um uh they're taking the Sabbath, and and you can do that when you've been in ministry for over 15 years. And so uh so just the fact that we have a team uh that we can uh just kind of hold it down. And uh so Pastor Chuck and Ashana, we love you. Ethan, we love you. Come on, let's give them a let's give them a God bless you. But uh yeah, what what a service it has it has been uh or a series has been for our church over the summer. We've been on a on a series called 5G Summer, and we've really just been going through like five G's uh of summer um you know in generations and uh growing in grace and uh growing in community and growing in wisdom because our pastor uh has had a vision for the house this summer that we're we're gonna grow and uh because healthy things do grow. Uh and so last week was absolutely incredible. Um, give it a for or did absolutely incredible and and Luke Canada and and Ethan Colgrove, who's also, again, he's on vacation, and so uh but they just they did so well, and I think it really tied into um how we have a house um that is really in the business of growing the now generation. And uh you've heard me say this before, but uh we don't put an age limit on who the Holy Spirit can use. And so we believe the Holy Spirit can can use a middle schooler, a high schooler, um, even someone who's a young adult. And so I just I love how we got to see just three faithful young adults of this house, uh, seven minutes, just really speak on what the Lord has been um ministering to you and to your heart. And so, hey, before I get started, let's let's bow our heads, let's pray, and let's posture our hearts and um to receive God's word. God, we thank you. Um, Holy Spirit, we don't have to, we don't have to ask you to be here. You're already here. And so, God, uh, since your presence is here, uh Lord, I pray that you would just help us focus. Uh, Lord, for the next 25 minutes, I pray that we would remove all distraction. I pray, God, that we would think about nothing else in this moment than just being fed by the living word of God. And so, God, I pray that our hearts would be open. I pray that um our eyes would be open. God, give us ears to hear, um, to discern, to understand. And Lord, help me to just teach and uh your word as best as I can. So, Father, we love you and we praise you. It's in Jesus' name and everybody said, Amen. Come on, give it up for our team. Thank you, Sean, so much. Appreciate you. He almost he almost took us to church, and uh I was this close from going there, but you know, keep

Why Gifts Must Be Used

SPEAKER_00 4:03

it cool. So uh we're we're in our last part um of our series, uh 5G Summer. And uh uh today I I just briefly want to walk you through just uh a few verses um that will really help us figure out um and learn practically um how we grow in in our gifting. Again, we've we've gone through talking about generations, we've talked about growing in generosity, uh, we've talked about growing in grace, we've talked about growing in uh in wisdom. But today I just want to help us and just really just kind of have a conversation uh like you and I are in a living room, and uh I want you guys to practically walk away with just some tools on how do I grow um in the gifts that God has has given me. Um and we we believe here at this church that if you have a gift, um that God didn't just give you a gift so that you could waste it. Uh we we believe that if you have a gift, it's because you are called to use it for the edification of the church. And so when God gives you a gift, uh one of the biggest things that um that I've seen is that people they get selfish with their gift or they get insecure with their gift. And um and God has given you a gift because he knows what he's put on the inside of you. And so God didn't just save you to fill a seed, but he he saved you so that you could take your place in the kingdom of God. And God didn't just save you to attend church, God didn't just save you to uh to be a consumer, uh, but he saved you to contribute to the move of God that is the body of Christ. And so I just want to read this verse, uh, 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 10, and it's gonna be on the screen, uh, but this is Peter. Uh he's writing to honestly a group of uh persecuted Christians. And um, you know, I think context when you read any book of the Bible is is extremely important, uh, because if not, you know, what we'll end up doing, if I'm being honest, is we'll end up cherry-picking verses that really don't mean what they say. And so, and we and and sometimes we do that, um, and sometimes we'll tattoo verses on us that have nothing to do with the context that we think that it means. And uh so I just want to preface that Peter is writing to persecuted Christians. Uh, when I say persecuted Christians, I mean like their lives are actually at stake here, like not persecution like a flat tire, you know, like not persecution like I'm late to work, like you you just woke up late. I don't think that's necessarily persecution. So Peter's writing to um persecuted Christians who are really struggling um and really battling for their lives. But I love how Peter writes this in verse 10 of chapter four. He says, as each has received a gift, look what he says. He says, use it to do what? To serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. And so I do want to encourage and even maybe even challenge us just a little bit this morning, uh, that when we meet the Lord Jesus Christ face to face, that you will be accountable for how you steward your giftings. And you will have to answer for that. So I just want to preface this whole message by if there is a gift that you have, and you will hear me say this throughout the message, if there is a gift that you have that you are not using, you will have to answer for that when you face Christ face to face. You will have to answer for why you did not use the gift that he gave you to use. And I've got news for you excuses will not work. There will be no ands or ifs or buts. And so I want to encourage you. I hope this sermon allows you to feel encouraged that if God gave you a gift, that you would feel empowered to not waste it this morning. So I just want to walk you through some practical

Grow In Your Design

SPEAKER_00 8:10

ways. Number one, I want you to know this morning that God has called you to grow in your design. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10, it says this, and Paul writes this to the church in Ephesus. He says that we are his workmanship. And when he says we, who is he talking to? He's he's talking to a church, right? Most epistles in the New Testament, by the way, and this will make sense as we close the message. Uh, most letters that are written in the epistles or in the New Testament, they're not written to individuals, they're written to communities. So they're written to gatherings like this. And I think sometimes that can affect uh the way we read the Word of God because when we read the scriptures, we approach it with a mentality of God, what's in it for me? But the New Testament is trying to teach us how we function in biblical community. And I know that's kind of hard because, again, in American culture, we are very much a me, myself, and I type of person. Or if it has nothing to do with me, then then God, that verse is not for me. But in Ephesus, Paul is writing to a church. He's not writing to one pastor, he's not writing to one deacon, he's not writing to one you know first-time guest who hasn't filled out a connection card. This is to everybody. This is to the saint, and this is to the person, as Pastor Chuck likes to say, that couldn't spell God if you gave him two letters. He says, We are his workmanship. So I just want you to know workmanship means that you were carefully designed in your mother's womb. That there is nothing about you that is an accident. I know sometimes you go home and you know you look at yourself, or maybe you even look at your gifts and you get insecure and you start comparing, but God knew what he has put inside of you. And so you are, we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for for good works, which God prepared beforehand. And that word beforehand means before the beginning of time. So even before God created the world, he had you and your gifting in mind. He was already thinking about you and he already had your name thought out, he already had what kind of giftings he wanted to give you, and so that's why when you don't use the gift that God has been planning for you to use before the beginning of time, it is an offense to the one who loved you and created you. You are his workmanship that we should walk in them. I want you to write this down. God has designed you to make a difference in the world through the gift that he has given you. You were called to use your gift so that you can make a difference. And that's part of our vision, right? To know God, to find freedom, to discover purpose, and to do what? To make a difference. So those gifts aren't supposed to remain dormant on the inside of you. The Lord will not anoint who you pretend to be. And so my tension, if I'm being honest, especially even in the charismatic churches, we talk about anointing, and God, I want your oil, and God, anoint me, anoint me. The problem is that God will not anoint someone who refuses to walk in obedience. And so I just want to encourage every single one of you to grow in your design by growing in the confidence to know that I am his workmanship. That God made me. And so I'm not gonna walk around this life pretending to be someone that he did not call me to be. Life is too short to be anybody else. Life is too short to pretend. These 75 to 80 years of life go by really, really quick. And the last thing I would want for you as your pastor is for you to be on your deathbed wondering why did I not use every gift and talent that God gave me to use? Number two, God has called us to grow our gifting.

Spiritual Gifts For Common Good

SPEAKER_00 12:34

Uh, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 1 through 4 that now there are a variety of gifts, but the same spirit. There are a variety of service, but the same Lord. And there are a variety of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good. And so I just want to pause there very quickly and just walk you through. Notice how it says varieties of gifts, the same spirit, varieties of service, but the same Lord. That's Jesus Christ. Varieties of activities, but what? The same God. And so I think this is really important for us to understand because you will not use your gifts properly if you do not have a proper view of the Lord. So what we see in the text is that we are seeing the activity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And they are all a part of giving you these gifts for the common good. Well, Pastor Matthew, what is the common good? The common good is to serve and make a difference and edify the Church of Jesus Christ. And so it might be a little bit, you know, disappointing because, and I struggle with this if I'm being honest. You know, sometimes we think that our giftings are to make our name bigger and to make our brand bigger and to get monetized on Instagram, and how much money can I make off this? And I get it, it's a struggle. And I I'm not against, again, I'm not against influencing on social media. I'm I'm not against you popping off. I'm not against you getting verified. I'm not I'm not against that. I I just think that if that is the main motive, the tension is that you can achieve that and the Lord still not be pleased with you. And so when Paul says variety of gifts, and you can read 1 Corinthians chapter 12, and you can see that there's a gift of wisdom, um, there's the gift of knowledge, there's the gift of faith, by the way. I don't know if you knew that, but when Paul is listing out all the gifts, there is a gift of faith. And this goes beyond saving faith, salvation faith. Paul is talking about that you can ask for a gift of faith, right? Like the kind of faith that you can walk into a room and demons tremble. There is the faith, watch, to be able to distinguish spirits. Because not every spirit is sent on the behalf of God. That there are demonic spirits that are operating in the world. And if we do not have the gift to distinguish or to discern, you will end up doing business with someone who has a demon. You will end up dating someone that has a demon. So you can read through all the gifts for yourself, but I want to encourage every single one of you that you cannot operate fully in your gifting if you do not love the Father, if you do not love the Son, and if you do not love the Holy Spirit. All three of them, one God, three persons are active in creating you as good works to make a difference in the kingdom of God. So we may have different assignments and gifts, but we serve the same kingdom. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 18, in that same chapter, Paul writes, But as it is, God has arranged members in the body, each one of them as he chose. I like that word because you are chosen. You're not an accident. God didn't stumble upon you. When God made you in your mother's womb, those nine months he knew exactly what he was getting when he called you. He chose you. If all were a single member, Paul's asking a rhetorical question, where would the body be? And I think this is really important because one of the things that I've seen uh tear apart the body of Christ is comparison. So if you think of the body, we've got too many arms comparing themselves to ears. We've got too many mouths comparing themselves to eyes. We've got too many hands comparing themselves to feet. And I see this a lot, especially in young people, where all the enemy has to do is whisper one thought of insecurity, one lie into their mind. And because we don't have enough word in us to combat the lies of the enemy, we crumble to comparison. If you are an eye in the body of Christ, I don't need you to be a mouth. If you are a mouth in the body of Christ, I don't need you to be a leg. If every single part of the body was the same, guess what? There is no body. I'm glad that Fallon does not sing like Kaya. And I'm glad that Mia doesn't sing like Sammy. And I'm glad that Pastor Ursh doesn't sing like Sean. Why? Because same body, different parts. I'm glad that I don't preach like Pastor Chuck, and I'm glad he doesn't preach like me. Why? Because different giftings, different assignments, same kingdom. And so I just want to lovingly challenge anyone who's not using their gifts because you've been wasting time comparing yourself. Enough is enough. Your comparison has had you on the sideline for far too long. Your comparison, it's not a demon, it's not the enemy, it's nobody holding you back. It's that you keep looking and comparing yourself to every other person. When God has called you to be an eye, he's called you to be an ear, he's called you to be a leg, he's called you to be a hand. Whatever part of the body God has called you to be, the times that we are living in are far too urgent for you to be on the sideline.

Greatness Through Serving

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Number three, God has called us to grow through serving. Got news for you this morning. Greatness is not measured by platforms, but it's measured through service. We are in very dangerous times, church, where everybody yearns for a platform, but nobody wants to get low and serve. I can't tell you how many times people have come to me, or Pastor Chuck or Pastor Ashana, yearning to serve, but they won't show up early. Yearning to lead worship, but they won't stay later. Yearning for this, but no secret place. Yearning to prophesy, but you won't seek the Father's face. So I urge you this morning. I am not against platforms. I am not against you being used on stage. But if you want a platform more than you want to serve, your desires are backwards. So I want to encourage you this morning to serve. The church does not lack gifted people, it lacks activated people. And when we serve, we get activated. The greatest man to ever live, spoiler alert, it's Jesus. He said these very powerful words. He said, the Son of Man didn't come to be served, but to serve. And I think that we should live out the same principle. One of the things that fascinates me about Jesus is that not only did he serve Peter, but he also served Judas. Jesus served Judas so well that nobody at the table could tell that he was going to be the one to betray him. So I think the measure of our serving is not in how well you can serve Peter, but in how well you can serve Judas. When Jesus got down to wash feet, you must remember, church, it wasn't just Peter, James, and John, it was also Judas as well. I know the temptation is very hard because we like to compartmentalize who we serve. I understand it's hard. I understand it's difficult. But when we serve, the greatness of Jesus Christ is displayed through his church. Even when it's hard. Even when it's uncomfortable. Jesus served Judas, knowing full well what was to come. He knew what was going to happen just a few hours later. But that didn't stop our Lord and Savior from putting a towel to his dirty feet and washing his feet. Because I think the Lord was trying to give us an example that when we serve people who might be difficult to serve, we are displaying what the Bible calls an agape love, an unconditional love. And I really believe that if we took that to not just our church, but even our spouses, our wives, our husbands, our children. On the days when it's difficult, on the days when it's uncomfortable, the greatness of Jesus Christ is displayed. Number four, God has called us to grow his kingdom.

The Talents Parable And Accountability

SPEAKER_00 24:29

There's a parable in Matthew chapter 25. It's the parable of the talents. It's a story that Jesus tells about a master that gave three servants, one talent, or one servant, one servant, five talents, another two, and another one. And the one who had five talents went out and produced more and came back with ten. The one who had two went out and produced more and came back with four. But there was the servant that received one talent. Because he did not have a proper view of the master, he went and buried the talent that he was supposed to go out and produce. And when the master came back, and so I just want you to hear my heart, what Jesus is displaying is that he has given you gifts, he has given you talents, and right now Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. But one day, hear me, church, the master is coming back. People don't like to talk about it because we want to keep everybody comfortable. And I get it. And there are and there are five talent people in this room. There are two talent people in this room. There are one talent. I think where we get the story confused is we think that the one was lesser than the one who had five or two. And it's not the case. And it's hard to be obedient when you don't have a proper view of the master. The master came back and questioned. He said, Why why didn't you produce? Why did you bury the talents that I that I gave you? And he said, Master, I perceived you to be a hard working man, and so I figured you'd want this back. And so I just I I I played it safe, and I I know the other two went out and produced more, but I I buried it. And so here you go. And and he thought that's what the master wanted. And the master looked at the servant who had one talent and he said, You wicked and slothful, in other words, you lazy servant. I know sometimes we think that laziness just means doom scrolling on our phones, but anyone who is not using their gifts for the kingdom is considered lazy in the eyes of the master. But the good news is today is that there's grace being extended to you. Too many believers have buried what heaven has called us to bless others with. And as long as you have breath in your lungs, I think there's still time for you to dig up what you have kept buried for so long. So I don't know what it is that you have buried. Maybe it's a dream to start a business. Maybe it's a ministry that God has called you to start. Maybe it's a book that God has called you to write. I don't I don't know what the talent is. I don't know the God-given dream that He has placed on the inside of you. But I just want to encourage every single one of you this morning there is grace for you today to dig that talent back up and start producing for the kingdom of God. Everything that God gives us, he expects us to grow it. So you grow in your design, you grow your gifting, and you grow through serving, and by doing that we expand the kingdom of God. And so Pastor Matthew, all of that sounds great, and all of that sounds spiritual and sounds really cool.

Practical Ways To Deploy Gifts

SPEAKER_00 28:51

Can you give me some practical handles on how I can do that? I got you. I want to end just with this as we close, and I want to give you an opportunity to give your life to Jesus Christ because I don't just want you to discover your giftings, I want you to discover Jesus. So I think it's time for us to deploy our gifting. So how do I do that? Number one, practically, join the dream team. Join the dream team. There are places where you can serve. And let me just name a few. We have the production team back there, they do an amazing job. Uh if if you have a heart for kids, we have our FC kids team led by Carlos and Amanda. Like we have. Um, if you have a heart for young adults, we have Agape led by Tyler and Skyler. If you if you love what God is doing through our middle school and high school, we have an incredible youth ministry led by Julian and Mia and Tanya and Maya and all these leaders that love to equip the now generation uh to make a difference in God's kingdom. If you have a gift to sing and you love to sing songs to the Lord, the worship team is here. If you love to serve coffee, we I think we have an incredible coffee team downstairs as well. If you love saying hi to people, we have the host team downstairs. All I'm saying is that there is somewhere in this house for you to serve. And so that right there eliminates any excuse that you could have. There's a place for you. Now, are we gonna drag you? No, because if we have to drag you to serve, then just being honest, Pastor Matthew. That that sounds really mean. No, but if I have to drag you to serve the God of the universe, the one who died for you, the one who bled for you, and I think that that's what I'm trying to encourage you is when you have a proper revelation of what Jesus has done for you, serving him is it's an honor. When you worship, this is gonna sound really backwards, but this is where my mind goes. When I worship, I picture Jesus bloody and battered on the cross. I know churches don't teach that because again, it's like we we gotta get you to come back, and I understand, I I understand. Keeping it real calm today, all right, and keeping it real mellow, but uh when you picture a bloody savior, and now he laid his life down for you, when the cross becomes a personal revelation, because I'll be honest, the cross is real to me. I'll lay my life down for this gospel because the cross is real to me, it's real to me. But I want it, I want to encourage that it has to be real to you. I I can't make the cross real for you. I can't jump into your mind. I if I could, I would. If you knew me, like if you know me, you know that I would. You know I would. So my prayer is that the cross, what Jesus did for you would become so real that you would no longer be able to sit still with the gifts that He's given you. So, number one, join the dream team. Number two, pray with people, pray for somebody. You don't you don't need to be a pastor to pray for somebody. Do we get a lot of prayer requests like you would not believe? And we love to do that, but I hope you know that you and I have access to the same God. And I feel like sometimes people come to us like we're talking to a different God. You know that you know the God that I pray to, you also pray to as well, right? I just I just wanna I just want to comfort you and let you know that I love to pray. And if I'm being honest, prayer is PM's superpower. This is not my superpower. The same way I pray when I'm here, I do the same thing in my room. Spit coming out, veins popping, the whole thing. I'm serious. But but why? Why? Because because why? Just hear me. Because this is real to me. And so when you recognize that God is the same, it don't matter where we are, I'll pray for you in Target. I'll pray for you when I'm at work, I'll pray for you at home. Like I don't need to be in church, and to be honest, I don't always need to call a pastor. I have authority through Christ Jesus. You have authority, you have access to the same God that I have access to. Number three, mentor someone. All that wisdom needs to be poured out somewhere. If you are not taking anybody along with you in this journey, I want to encourage you to find someone and mentor them. Bring somebody along, pour the wisdom that was poured into you to someone else. Someone else needs the wisdom that God has given you. Number four, welcome guests. I mean, new people come into this church all the time. When you're in the lobby, do you just go to your regular circle? Like the last thing I want for this church to be is to be clicky. And sometimes I see it. Like I know we get in the lobby and you know we see our boys and we see our girls or we see our girlfriends or little boyfriends. Like, mine, I understand, I get it. I understand you in love. I get it. Like I ain't trying to stop you. Like I understand. But what would it look like if we had the eyes of Jesus and we noticed just the one? Very practical. Like, hey, come come sit next to me. Hey, what's your name? How long have you been coming to free church? I think sometimes we overcomplicate it, and it's like, well, PM, I'm an introvert. I think there's a difference between being an introvert and being antisocial. Let's be very honest. Some of the kindest people that I know in this church are not like me. They're not extroverts. But when you get in front of them, they make you feel seen, they make you feel loved, they make you feel noticed. And so when I say welcome someone, I'm not talking about you being an extrovert or an introvert. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the heart posture of just noticing one person. Number five, I mean it's kind of synonymous, love people. Love people. Did you hear me? Love people. When I say love, I'm not talking about passiveness. 1 Corinthians 13, it says that love only rejoices with the truth. So when I say love, I'm not saying we can't correct one another. I'm not saying that. But nevertheless, love covers the multitude of sins. Love looks like going to the person, talking to them one-on-one, working out our offenses so that we can continue to what? Grow the same kingdom that we are serving. I want you all to stand to your feet with me this morning.

Invitation To Follow Jesus

SPEAKER_00 38:18

Before you know Mark's gonna come close, this I want to give somebody an opportunity to give their life to Jesus Christ. This is serious. I know we do this at the end of every service, and I really hope we don't take it for granted. Because if I'm being honest, the Bible says that we're not promised tomorrow. I didn't say that. So don't get mad at me. The Bible says that tomorrow is not promised to any of us, myself included. I want to give somebody in this room the chance to give their life to Jesus Christ. Or maybe you're in this room and you say, PM, I've drifted away from my Savior. I've drifted away from my Lord. Good news today that you can come back home. If you feel like you can't come back home because you've drifted, go read the parable of the prodigal son. And you will get a picture in your mind of how the Father is waiting for you to come back home. Not disappointed, but waiting for you. So I want everyone to close their eyes and just bow their heads very quickly. And this is not emotionalism. I'm not gonna try again, I'm not gonna beg you to give your life to Christ. That's not my job. My job is to present to you one opportunity and honestly, what could be your last because the Bible says, Behold, now is the day of salvation. No, well, PM, I'll do it tomorrow. We're not promised that. PM, I'll get right next week. Let me let me just live my life real quick. Let me let me wild out real quick. We're not promised next week. We're not. And if I told you that, I'd be lying to you, and I don't lie on the pulpit. We don't do that here at Free Church. So today is your day to come back home to the arms of a loving father. And if that's you in this room, I'm not even gonna count to three, but if you want to give your life to Christ, or you feel like you've drifted and you want to rededicate your life all over this room, can I just see your hands very quickly? Can I just see your hands? I just see your hands. Okay. I want us to repeat this prayer loud and proud together. Say, dear Jesus, I come to you today. I ask you to be my Lord and my Savior. Come into my heart, make me new, transform me. Today is my new beginning, and I will choose to pick up my cross and follow you for the rest of my life. Thank you for saving me, thank you for loving me, and thank you for welcoming me back home. In Jesus' name. And everybody said, Come on, somebody make some noise. Lord Jesus Christ.

Next Steps And Closing

SPEAKER_00 41:41

Hey, real quick, uh, if that was you and you gave your life to Jesus, number one, I just want to say congratulations. You just made the best decision of your entire life. And uh, if that's you, um, I want you to, Mazzi, if you could raise your hand. Mazzi's part of our prayer team on give it up for Mazzi over here. We love Mazzi. If that was you and you gave your life to Jesus Christ, I want you to follow Mazzi right down these stairs. Okay, he's gonna have his hand waved, and we want to walk you to next steps. Come on, let's give him a round of applause as they come. If they're coming, let them come. And I want you to follow Mazzi right over here. And Mazzi is gonna walk you down to our next steps area, and we want to get you plugged into discipleship, we want to get you plugged into Renee, we want to get you plugged into community because we want you to know that you are not walking out this journey of faith by yourself, and so we love you, and well, we bless you, and so thank you guys for just your time. And uh, I'm gonna call Mark up to the stage, and Mark's gonna close us out. Can you receive that word today?