Good morning. Good to see you. Welcome to Crosslight Bible Church. And what a joy it is to worship with a good family and friends, and got so much going on, good stuff. But I'm already tired this morning, are you? You ever just wake up tired? I got this sweet note this week. I'm gonna read it to you. It says, Dear Church Family, Thank you for the amazing time at Vacation Bible School. It was my last year for all the years I have been coming, and next year I get to help from Jasmine. Jasmine will be a helper next year rather than a student. Isn't that sweet? And to pastor. But she addressed it to the church family. I love that. And she had to go back home. She's up in York. And you know, Jasmine, before she left, they stopped by here the other day, and she wants to help share the gospel at the fair tomorrow, at the York County Fair. Isn't that awesome? Where's Earl and Mary? How old is Jasmine? Yeah, that sounds like a young person. She'll be 12. Instead of telling me her age, it's always, I'll be, right? I'll be 12, right? When you get older, it goes the other way, right? Well, good morning and welcome to Cross-Life Bible Church. I've been having technical difficulties this morning, so if the screen behind you goes black, it's just, did it just happen? Okay, that one did. That's just what happens. We'll just keep moving, but good morning. And if you're visiting here or haven't been here in a while, there is a card and a pew in front of you that says, welcome to Cross-Life Bible Church. If you can fill that out and make sure I get that, I'd appreciate it. Next week, I'm sorry, not next week, here in a couple weeks. I am putting together, actually Jackie Bensing has helped me, she put together a card with a bunch of lines for you to fill out. And it's for me, I'm making a prayer, it's a prayer list so that we can pass it out so you can pray for every family at Crosslight Bible Church. I'm gonna get that to you. Okay, so I want you to fill that out and it's gonna be a for a prayer calendar that I'm putting together and I'm excited about So that both of us have information, but this time we're gonna jump right into it and we are gonna start off by singing the song 393 Breathe on me breath of God Michael's gonna come up. Can you remember a passage in Scripture where Jesus breathed on his disciples? Do you remember? Do what that you want what day that was? I It was the day of the resurrection. They were in the upper room, and Jesus appeared to them because they were afraid. And He breathed on them, right? As a symbol of what? As a sign of the Holy Spirit coming. We're in Ephesians. We're studying the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And so here's a song for cross life this morning. It says, you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. Michael, come up and lead us and breathe on me breath of God. And let's all stand this morning for our first chant. Breathe on me breath of God. fill me with life anew. That I may love what Thou dost love, and do what Thou wouldst do. Breathe on me breath of God, Until my heart is pure. Until with thee I will, will, will do. Amen. Breathe on me, breath of God. till I am wholly thine, until this earthly part of me glows with thy fire divine. Breathe on me breath of God, So shall I never die, but live with thee the perfect life of thine eternity. We thank you so much for this day, where we think of this morning, of how precious the gift of salvation is and how we are privileged to be here and united together because of the uniting of the blood of Christ and the Holy Spirit and your plan that was put into place even before the foundations of the world, Lord. So we come before you a thankful people, a humble people, and or we even ask now that we would be filled with your Holy Spirit. as we look once more into your word as we lift up our voices in song may you receive all the praise the honor and the glory lord i praise you already because i see my dear brothers and sisters who have come into this building this morning they've been away because they have been sick or for other reasons and i thank you so much that they could return today there's some folks away today we lift them up And we continue to look forward to that day when we'll all be together. It is a joy, Lord. Thank you so much for this Sunday morning. And Lord, as we think about not just this place, but those around us who are like minded, who are preaching from the word, we pray as your word goes forth today, literally around the world. And even this morning, as I received a text from England, from a pastor friend, expressing his care and concern and just his love. And likewise, Lord, we think of how privileged we are, once again, of who we are because of You. And we give You all the praise, the honor, and the glory. In Jesus' precious name I pray, Amen. You can be seated. And the call to worship this morning is, of course, every Sunday, A call to worship is always tied to the message, and every song is tied to the message, the theme of the message. But this is taken from Romans 10. And if you know the context of Romans 10, Romans 9, 10, and 11, Paul just pours his heart out because he's going, you know, he shares so much theology. But then he gives us a glimpse of his heart in relation to his people. Because he was called to be the missionary to the Gentiles. but he never ever forgot about his people. So when you get to Romans 9, 10, and 11, you see him bringing up his heritage. And here in Romans 10, he's reminding us that gospel is for everybody, right? Jew and Gentile. But in relation to today's message, Notice what Paul says, he says, for whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's in the context of Jew and Gentile, for whoever, wherever you're from. But then he asks some questions, notice all the question marks. He goes, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not, what? You see that? How? How are they gonna call on him? And then he says, and how shall they believe in him in whom they have what? You see what's happening? How are they gonna call? How are they gonna believe? And how shall they hear without what? Now he's taking it to a person. You see what he's saying? How are they gonna hear without a person that we call a preacher to share with? And how's the preacher gonna preach unless he's what? Unless he's sent, listen, today's message, I'm gonna tell you right up front. Last time I preached through Ephesians chapter four, reflecting on my preaching of that text, I felt guilty. And I'm gonna tell you why I felt guilty. I went through it so quick. that I said, you know what? The goal that I had in mind, I want my brothers and sisters to have the same passion for serving our Lord together, but I want you to understand how privileged we are, but also understand this, the calling of our Savior. And so this morning's gonna be a little bit different. I sent Carolyn my notes earlier in the week so she could help me select the songs, but I always share this with Carolyn, but I don't have any idea how far I'll get, right, Carolyn? This is what I've got now, but I don't know how, but so I just want you to know that, look, we are so privileged where God says, look, how are people gonna hear unless there's a person to share the gospel with them? But notice that that person is even called. That person is sent. So keep that in mind. Now Michael's gonna lead us to this next song because everything I'm talking about all begins with what? His grace. So Michael, lead us in He Giveth More Grace. He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater, sendeth more strength when the labors increase. To added affliction he addeth his mercy, to multiply trials is multiplied peace. His love has no limit, His grace has no measure, His power has no boundary known unto men. For out of His infinite riches in Jesus He giveth and giveth and giveth again. We have exhausted our store of endurance. When our strength has failed, the day is half done. When we reach the end of our hoarded resources, our Father's forgiving is only begun. His love has no limit, His grace has no measure, His power has no boundary known unto man. For out of His infinite riches in Jesus He giveth and giveth and giveth again. Amen. So bow our heads. Lord, you do out of your infinite riches in Jesus, giveth and giveth and giveth again. And as you do so, most, at least I can admit that most of the times I don't give you the credit for doing it all. And you just have that mercy that you just keep giving it anyway. And Lord, as long as we follow in your footsteps, Lord, you'll continue to do so, as you chastise us when we leave the path and then get us back in riches and glories of you and the things that you give us in this earth as we look forward to our eternity in heaven as we get back on the path. And Lord, let's consider now at this time What could we give back to you? Certainly we can give back to you our prayers and our honor and our worship. but we can certainly also give back a little bit of what we earn, what we make here, so that we can provide it to the church for its use, so that we can send forth the missionaries and send forth the pastors. And Lord, we just ask now that you contemplate and think about what is it that you would give back, the small portion that you have, that he's given unto you. In these things we pray in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen. Number 389, Spirit of the Living God. ♪ Spirit of the living God ♪ Fall fresh on me Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me. Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me. Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me. Soul of heaven, heart of God, wash over me. Soul of heaven, heart of God, wash over me. Cleanse me, teach me, hold me, me. Seal of heaven, heart of God, wash over me. Holy Presence, love divine, cast out my fear. Holy Presence, love divine, cast out my fear. Shield me, free me, call me, lead me, holy presence, love divine, do so Well, take your Bibles and turn with me to Ephesians 4, and we're going to continue our journey through Ephesians. Ephesians 4. And today I want to start at verse 11. So if we can stand up just for a minute so I can read the Scripture. Ephesians 4, starting at verse 11. And we're going to jump right in. It's going to start off with the personal pronoun he, which is capitalized in the New King James, because it's talking about Jesus, who had ascended and descended in the previous verses. But at verse 11, it says, And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men and the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love. may grow up in all things, and to him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself, In love. Dear Gracious Holy Father, I thank You so much for Your Word. I thank You that we can hold it in our hands. That we can memorize it and put it into our minds. That it be part of our hearts so that we might not sin against You. And at the same time, we know what Your will is. We know what Your work is. And Lord, it's no mystery this morning. of why we're here. And so as we look into your word, may we be reminded and may we act upon it. And may we take serious your lordship in our lives as we live for you so that this lost and dying world will see the light and sense the salt. and they too can come to know you as their Savior and their Lord. We ask all this in Jesus' precious name, amen. You can be seated. I love this passage of scripture, and I'm reminded when I turn here that, of course, me being in ministry, I remember years ago on many occasions just reflecting on my, what do you call it when you start a job, they give you a job description? And I remember the, you know, went from a small church down in West Virginia up to a very large ministry in Pennsylvania. And we had 24 elders on the elder board. That's how big, you know, 24 elders. And they were interviewing me. And they asked me the question, what do you think is going to be the toughest challenge? I said, well, to me, I can already tell my toughest challenge is going to be living up to so many different people's expectations. But here's what surprised me. because I kind of turned it around and started asking them questions. And since that's my biggest challenge, what do you expect of me? And some of them couldn't answer. And then I asked this question, what do you think, because no one ever gave me a job description. They just hired me to be the minister of children and youth. And sometimes the church will hire a minister of children and youth to keep the young people busy over here so the older folks can do the study, right? That's not me. Because I believe with all my heart that I am called, even if you're a children's pastor, a youth pastor, you have the same exact job description. And I turned to Ephesians chapter four. I've read just so that there's no surprises. Let me read you where I will be taking the young people in this church. And I read Ephesians chapter four. This is my job. and then mix with Colossians chapter one, and here's my prayer to get the job done. Colossians chapter one, where every person, what is what? Where Christ becomes first place, Colossians chapter one. And that Christ is perfected in every single person, every man, every person. So this is a, this is a very, very, that's why I don't want to go too quickly. And I want to remind you of some things because I am convinced that there are actually everyone in this room that knows Christ as their savior. The enemy is fighting hard to keep you from realizing your potential in Christ. I'm convinced of it. And so this morning, I'm gonna remind you of how important you are to Christ and how you're needed at Crosslight Bible Church, because we work together, because God brings us together to form one body so that we can get the job done, because we need each other. And we've already seen in Ephesians chapter one, where we are the body of Christ. Chapter two, we are reminded that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Chapter three, there was this mystery called the church, right? Paul said, this is a mystery. And in chapter 4, we're not yet to the verses that talk about the new creation, but before we get there, Paul reminds us of our walking worthy. How we need to be united together and walk worthy of our calling. And then in the section that we're in now, this is where we are reminded of our unifier, which is Christ and the Holy Spirit. He's the one who unites us together, and we are to be useful. Right? We're here for a purpose. And so we focused on being unified and useful. Today we're gonna go to part two, but we saw the gifts. Each one of us, grace was given, every single one of us, right? And then, as a matter of fact, just stop right here for a second. Let me just show you, if I was gonna say, because even last time I preached on the gifts, just a couple weeks ago, some of you came to me and you said, pastor, I can't wait for you to help me discover my gift. and help me develop that gift so that I can exercise that gift. I'm so excited about this study. Well, let me just share another passage with you so you know where to start turning to at home and going through some lists of these gifts in Scripture. Go to 1 Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 12. This is the longest list in Scripture. You have 1 Corinthians 12 and you have Romans 12. That's your two main passages for spiritual gifts. But 1 Corinthians 12, I want you to notice something with me. 1 Corinthians 12, because remember, do you know the problem in the Church of Corinth when Paul wrote this? They're divided, remember? So here we are in the context of being unified in our diversity, because we're all different, but yet unified. And that is the difference between the church and other organizations. We realize that there is a diversity, we're created differently, but at the same time we work together in unison, right? Because this is a difference of cults and even some religions. They want you to be unified and get rid of the diversity. Right? Because here's our definition, here's what we're about, and you better get on board. But we realize that yes, we are different by the grace of God. Now look at this, 1 Corinthians 12, he says, Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant. Now you know you were Gentiles carried away with these dumb idols. however you were led. Therefore, I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God caused Jesus a curse, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except the Holy Spirit." Now, do you realize, he just used the word dumb. What does dumb mean? You can be deaf and dumb. He said idols are dumb. They can't speak, right? Therefore, that's why he, did you see what he did in the next part? He talks about the Holy Spirit speaking. Did you see that? And no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by what? The Holy Spirit is alive. He has a voice. He's not dumb. He's active. And then look what it says in verse four. These are diversities of gifts. But what's the saying? It's the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but what? We have the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of what? All. So you better be on guard because that keeps you from being prideful. It's not so that certain people in the church can say, well, I have this gift and look what I can do. No, we are all gifted as we work together and we give God all the glory. And it's for what? It's for the benefit and the profit of each and every one of us. And then he goes into, for one's given the word of wisdom, and he goes through some gifts, the gift of wisdom through the Spirit. And you can read the rest of the chapter, but when you get to chapter, he gives this list in chapter 12, and Ephesians 4 is going to allude to this, so I'm just going to point it out to you right now. Look how chapter 13 begins. 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14 are all in relation to spiritual gifts. All three of those chapters. But notice what's dead center in chapter 13. If you do not have this, you're in trouble. Though I speak with tongues of men and of angels and have not what? If you do not have the love of Christ in your life, When you exercise your gifts, look what he says. I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains. Wow, that's huge, isn't it? And if I don't have love, what is it? It's nothing. It's nothing. So turn back with me to Ephesians chapter 4. But to each one of us here at Cross-Life Bible Church, starts with grace, and it's according to the measure of Christ's gift. Now in Ephesians 4, what's different, it's all part, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are three in one. But do you notice that here in this passage, these gifts are connected with Christ? You see this? To the measure of Christ's gift. We see the generosity of it. We see the grace behind it. We see the gift giver, who is Christ, who descended, and then He ascended on high, right? And then here's what He does next. He's going to give gifts to the church. But before I get there, I want to remind you of something. Are you familiar with Isaiah? Isaiah says in chapter 49, and now the Lord says, who formed me, when? From the womb to be what? Now listen, I'm gonna dwell on this just a little bit this morning, because this is where I made a mistake last time. I didn't dwell on this long enough. I want you to understand, because the enemy is fighting hard to divide us, number one, Number two, to get into your mind and your heart and think that you can accomplish nothing, and I'll tell you this, on your own, you really can't, but with Christ, you can do amazing things. I promise you that, because he says, without me, you can do nothing, right? But look at this, but Isaiah points out something to us, saying, even, now, do you remember Isaiah back in chapter six? When he was in the presence of God, how did he feel? He was even emotionally moved where he says, who in the world am I, right? I have unclean lips. How can you use a man like me? Remember the angel took the coal and touched his lips and purified him. And then what was his reaction? Here I am, send me. Well, Isaiah later, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he realizes something. That his calling did not begin the day when his lips were touched. His calling started way back when. And that's why, especially young people, a lot of us, like my age, I'm already planning, well, 20, 25 years from now, I'm thinking, what am I gonna do for retirement, right? I'm not gonna ever retire, but you gotta think, what's gonna happen at that stage in my life? I wish I could go back and I was 19 years old again, right? But know what I know now, right? And you know what I'm talking about if you're older. But think about this. Even when I was younger, my God had a plan. I didn't know what it was, but look what he says. Even he says to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel is gathered to him. So even Isaiah realized his calling really didn't have to, it wasn't all about Isaiah, was it? It was all about God. And I'm gonna tell you, that's the secret of having peace and purpose. You know what I'm saying? Because you can actually set a vision and have your plans to accomplish that vision, right? And still be miserable. I'll never forget when a young man came to me after graduating from Bob Jones University. His family was in agriculture, and he ended up studying agriculture for four years. And here he is, well, it's a Thursday night. I had a Bible study at my house. He says, can I talk to you? Well, I'm all graduated. I already had this graduation party and everything. He goes, I'm miserable. Well, what got you going down this road in the first place? Well, I did it for mom and dad, and here I am. Well, it was up to you. What would you want to do? And then we did a study on the will of God, how we delight ourselves, right, in the Lord, and what He'll give us the desires of our heart. Seek ye first His kingdom and then. So let's just study the word together. and see where that takes us. But even Isaiah, this is after, this is what happens in life. After we have all that experience, then we realize what the purpose was, right? For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. Isn't that a beautiful verse in regards to the will of God and understanding where it all began? But Jeremiah was another one. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, before I formed you where? I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I ordained you a prophet to the..." To what? It doesn't say. That's plural. Now he was a prophet to Israel, but he says to the nations. And we learned in Sunday school this morning, what's a prophet? A prophet takes the word of God and looks at his culture and he becomes the judge for God. He becomes God's mouthpiece to judge and say, hey, this is wrong or this is right. That was Jeremiah. What was his nickname? Jeremiah was the weeping prophet. Because even when God called him, he said, hey, by the way, Jeremiah, I'm going to call you to this ministry. And hey, Jeremiah, guess what? No one's going to listen to you. They're not gonna listen to you, but I want you to preach for me anyway. Because what God was doing was holding them accountable, giving them his word, right? Say, hey, listen, and I love David. Don't you love David? By you, I have been upheld from when? From birth. You are he who took me out of my mother's womb. My praise shall be continually of you. John the Baptizer, Luke 1, there his father is in the temple. Remember, it was his turn to offer the sacrifices. And here's what the angel said, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. Now, where was John the Baptizer the moment that Luke 1.15, that this account was taking place? When the angel came to Zacharias, where was John the Baptizer? Was he in the crib yet? Was he even in the womb yet? He was a prayer that was prayed years before, because the angel said, I remembered your prayer. And Zacharias is like, what prayer, right? Wait a minute. But he's going to be great in the sight of the Lord. Now, John the baptizer was not great in the sight of Herod, because Herod had his head cut off. But he was great in the sight of the Lord. He shall neither drink wine nor strong drink. He's going to take the Nazarite vow. On Wednesday night, we focused on Manoah. Remember, Manoah was the father of Samson. When the angel came to Manoah's wife and said, you're gonna have a baby, and you need to take the Nazarite vow, and then she told Manoah, and Manoah said, wait a minute, Lord, let your servant come back, but I have a question for you. How are we to raise this child? What should we know about this child that's yet to be born? Same thing with John the baptizer. And this is what the angel said, he will also be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb. And then he's born, and then Luke 1.76, and here's a proud papa, and here's what he says, and you, child, shall be called the prophet of what? He didn't even say, hey John, you're going to make your papa proud one day. No, you're going to be called the prophet of the highest. For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways. It's about God and His will. And then the Apostle Paul says in Galatians 1, but when it pleased God, who separated me from where? There it is again. You see the pattern? You had a plan for me. Even before I was conceived, even while I'm in my mother's womb, you called me by what? By grace. And you called me to reveal his son in me that I may preach him among the Gentiles. Powerful, isn't it? How about the believers across life? This is what Paul, if you know anything about 2 Timothy, here's his last writings that we have a record of. And he's challenging his young protege, this young pastor Timothy. And here it is, this is like his last will and testament. And he says, Timothy, nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands having this seal. The Lord knows those who are what? Does that include Quint Merson? Does that include you? The Lord knows who are His. And let, how many people? Everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. In other words, Timothy, there's a lot of things out there. Don't miss the mark. Right? Don't miss the mark with your life. Depart from the stuff that's going to distract. God knows and He has a plan. Depart from iniquity. I love John 10 where Jesus, in his teaching, he says, I'm the good shepherd. And I know my sheep, right? I know you. And guess what? And I'm known by them. See, my sheep hear my voice and I know them. And they what? Not only do we know him, but he wants us to follow him and they'll follow me. They know my voice. And where do we hear the voice of our Savior? Through His Holy Spirit and the Word of God coming together. That's where the shepherd's leading us. Romans 8 28 says this to us and we know that all things work together for good for those who what? Number one love God going back to Old Testament was the first Where's the law begin love the Lord with all your heart your mind your soul your strength, right? for those who love God and to those who are what and Now listen, I'm gonna move into Ephesians 4 in just a second, but I want you to catch something. I want you to start at the end of that verse and notice that's according to his purpose. Where do we find the purpose of God and the word of God? That's why we are a Bible church. According to his purpose. It's found in the Bible. We are the called. We are the called. Do you know the word church? The Greek word is ecclesia. No, it's the word called. We are the called-out ones, and that's why the early church, they consider themselves the called. We're the called-out ones, right? We are the church, Cross Life Bible Church. But don't forget about this either. Don't forget about Cross Life. It's according to His purpose, because in Galatians 2.20, this is our theme verse for our church, because I have been crucified with who? Do you know what Paul said in verse 19 and verse 21? That verse is sandwiched between two things that mentions the law. He says it was the law that God used to point out my sin that allowed me to die to the law so that I could know Christ. The law had a purpose. He goes, I have been crucified with Christ. and therefore it is no longer Matthew, Quentin, Merson who lives, because this is my life verse also, one of them, but Christ lives in Matthew, Quentin, Merson. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who what? Who for he loved me, by his grace, but he loved me and he gave himself for me. So what do I owe him? I owe Him everything. Therefore, if He died for me and He's called me, and He's given me a purpose, if you're like me, you're like, well, what is that, Pastor? What's our purpose? I'm convinced, and you know what I like to alliterate, when it comes to our purpose, our number one purpose is to exalt, and it's not this, it's Him, right? And we are to go into all the world and preach what? The gospel, we share the good news to evangelize. We come together at Crosslight Bible Church and we edify, we build up, right, through the word. And then through that, we equip, right? But I also believe our purpose is to enjoy. And to enjoy, right? Enjoy God and his creation. I think sometimes we take the first and last off that list. It is to evangelize, it is to edify, it is to equip, but we're to exalt and enjoy Him at the same time, right? That's our purpose. Here's our values on cross-like value on our letterhead. It says, a place to know, love, serve, and grow. Our goal is to give Him the glory, to win people to Jesus, to build them up in the faith, to equip them so that what? God does the growing, then we multiply. We have nothing to do with the multiplication He does. So let's get to the gifts given, Ephesians 4.11. And he himself gave what? It's very important to notice that next word, he gave some. He gave some. To be what? Apostles, prophets, some prophets, some evangelists, Now do you notice the last two, there's no comma, and there's one word, some, and it says some pastors and teachers. Now I want us to focus this morning on just this verse here of these gifts given to the church. You see, we saw the spiritual gifts given to men, but now we see men given to the church. Do you see what's happening in this verse? This is not talking about the spiritual gifts now. This is talking about men who have been gifted, and these men are given to the church. And the he himself is Jesus. And he gave some to be apostles and prophets. He's already mentioned in Ephesians 2 v. 19-22, he says, "...therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles." and the prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the church, being the chief cornerstone. And here we have the offices of apostles and prophets. And here's what I want you to know. And I don't want you to lose your way and I don't want you to, you know, depending on who you listen to, what books you read and who you follow. You will see this terminology used in different ways, but I'm talking about from the sense that Paul's using it in Ephesians 4. What is an apostle and what's a prophet? You heard people will use those terms today, an apostolic church or, you know, but here at Cross-Site Bible Church, I want you to know in the sense that in Ephesians chapter 4, the apostles and the prophets had three different roles. First of all, to lay a foundation. Do you see that? I just read that. to build on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. So they were used by God to lay a foundation. They were used by God to reveal the Word of God, the works of God, and the will of God. And they were used to confirm the Word and works through signs and wonders. Did you get that? Those three things are very important. As a matter of fact, turn with me to Acts 11, verse 28. I want you to see something when it comes to the apostles and the prophets. Acts 11, verse 28. This is the church of Antioch. And it says, in those days, prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. Then one of them named Agabus stood up and showed by the spear that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. This they also did and sent it by the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul." So we have different offices even mentioned in those few verses, but here's what I want you to recognize, that even in the New Testament church, there was a prophet. And the apostle Paul is also, he's recruited here by Barnabas to join him in the church of Antioch. as they laid a foundation. But in the sense that this is used in Ephesians chapter four, and here's a question for you to study and mull over, are there prophets and apostles today in the same sense that Paul is mentioning in Ephesians chapter four? There are churches not far from here and they believe in what's called the apostolic succession. And they will tell you that they are the only true church because of their apostolic succession. We have come down, our elders have been, our pastor has been, what, ordained, and we can trace it all the way back to the apostles. Now listen very closely. In this sense, there are no apostles today. And I'm gonna tell you why. What were, what did Jesus, in the New Testament, what was, the standard to be an apostle. Do you know? What was that, Paul? Yes, that was the main thing. First of all, you were called by Him. Second of all, you had to see the resurrected Jesus. You had to be an eyewitness of the resurrected Jesus to be one sent by Christ. Now, here's why that's important. Because you cannot find an apostle in the New Testament that's not called by Jesus. Even in Acts, when Matthias was chose because when Judas committed suicide, In Acts 1, we have them even, they went to the Lord and prayed. Now, they drew straw, but they relied on God being the one to choose the next man. And then later, the apostle Paul is on the road to Damascus. Who's the one who knocked him off his animal and caught him? Jesus did, and he saw the resurrected Lord. And later he says, I'm the last. I'm the last of the apostles. And his apostleship was challenged all throughout the New Testament. That's why he would start off his letters saying, I've been called. I am an apostle. The reason why that's important is this. Because I believe with all my heart, and I've been very careful as a pastor and as a father, never to encourage my children to go into the ministry because of my position. My kids will tell you, I've never encouraged them to go into the ministry to be a pastor. Matter of fact, I told them the opposite. Don't you ever go down that road unless you are sure God has called you, because you will not make it. You will not make it far, right? There's only one person that's going to call you into ministry to be a pastor. We're going to get to pastor in a little bit, but that calling is so important. And Christ is the one who called and sent out his apostles. Now the disciples, there were many disciples, right? But there were a few apostles. And they lay the foundation with the prophets. And the prophets had the same role. And today we could use that terminology, and churches will still use those terms, but in the sense of Ephesians 4, these roles, they're not talking about the same thing. That's why I'm very careful, because I have been in good churches with good pastors, and they will use terminology, but I don't think they believe the same thing. It's not apples to apples. They're just using the title, because they like the title, because it's one cent. But as far as being an apostle that Jesus called, that's different. And so these apostles and prophets that are mentioned in Ephesians 4, those offices are not the same. As a matter of fact, the word apostle means to be sent with a commission. In Matthew 10, we see the selection of the twelve apostles. Even Luke is told he prayed all night long before he chose those twelve. A disciple is a learner, a follower. An apostle is divinely appointed. He's a representative. They had to witness the resurrection. Acts 1.15-22 is where that was the requirement that the early church put on when they selected Matthias. Prophets are commonly associated with predictions of future events. They would foretell and they would foretell. A foretell that they would actually prophesy what's gonna happen, right? But they would also be preachers like me. They would foretell, foretell, tell forth the word of God. So in a sense, I am a prophet today. But as far as what Paul's, I'm not this kind of prophet. I'm not the prophet he's talking about. I'm a preacher, but I do, Now, stay with me, because not only do we have the apostles and the prophets, they have the purpose. What's the purpose of prophecy? It's to edify, to encourage, to exhort. 1 Corinthians 14.3 says, But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. That's the purpose of prophecy. But this next role is some evangelists. And then there's pastors and teachers. Are there evangelists in the church today? Yes, there are. Are there pastors and teachers? Yes, there are. So you have the apostles and the prophets as a foundation, and therefore the evangelists and the pastors and teachers are building upon that foundation. But what's an evangelist? Who held the title evangelist for many years? And I would say, yeah, you already said it, didn't you? Billy Graham. Billy Graham was the evangelist that God used in such a miraculous way. He led how many people to the Lord through that ministry? Thousands and thousands of, God, there's no doubt, God's hand was on Billy Graham, right? And evangelist Billy Graham. But what made him so special? What made him so powerful? I'm gonna challenge you, because if you ever listen to Billy Graham, being a pastor, I'm always in a word study, and do you realize the messages of Billy Graham, theologically, are not that deep? You ever listen to him? Because that wasn't his goal. His goal was for folks to listen to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He just wanted to share the good news. And he had a way of sharing that good news that the average Joe would listen to, right? And when he gave the invitation, hundreds and hundreds of folks would come and kneel down at the altar. In my ministry, every church I've been in, there have been people led to Christ through the Billy Graham Association, through his ministry. As a matter of fact, I haven't done this in a while. Who here may have been led to the Lord through Billy Graham's ministry? Anybody here this morning? Donna? Okay. I say that because the evangelist is a messenger of good news, and these men traveled from place to place to preach the gospel and win the lost. All ministers should do the work of an evangelist, but this does not mean that all ministers are evangelists. The apostles and the prophets laid the foundations of the church, but the evangelist built upon it, winning the lost to Christ. Do you know who I think the evangelists were in the church, who they are in the church? They're the church planners. They're the ones that can go into an area. They're the missionaries that come in, and you'll hear them say, we're going to this area. We're going to first lead people. Remember Mr. DePauw, who was here with IPM? Do you remember what he was? He would go into an area, lead three or four people to the church, and take those three or four people, and what would he do? He would plant a church. And if you remember, he had already planted like 30 churches. And I took him out to lunch, like, how are you planting all these churches? Like 30 years, he's planted 30 churches. Like, how are you doing this? Well, I go somewhere and start sharing Jesus, lead people to Jesus. And the first thing we do is let's go rent a place and start a church with three or four people. That's an evangelist. Then you have the pastor and a teacher. The fact that the word some is used is already shared, puts these two ministries together. But the word pastor here means shepherd. It indicates that the local church is a flock of sheep. As a matter of fact, if you've never underlined this verse in your Bible, you need to. Turn to Acts 20, 28. This is a verse that needs to be highlighted in your scripture. What's interesting, this is Paul sharing a message with the elders from Ephesus, this little letter that we're reading, because as Paul's on his way to Rome, And verse 37 says, and then they all spoke freely. I'm sorry, that's after that, but Acts 20, 28, this is what he says. He says, therefore take heed to yourselves and to the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. He's talking to the elders there in Ephesus. To shepherd whose church? Whose church is it? Why is it the church of God, which He purchased with what? That's why it's so important to underline that verse and circle that verse. That'll remind you that we have been bought with a price, with the blood of Jesus. We are not our own, right? And there's the purpose, because you need to shepherd the church of God. But after that, he shares with them, there's going to be wolves coming to your church. I promise you, it's going to happen. It's going to happen. And that's why they later, they were sorrow. You can read the rest of the chapter. That's an awesome passage to read of the role of the pastor, because the pastor is to feed and lead the flock. He does this by means of the Word of God, the food that nourishes the sheep. The Word of God is the shepherd's rod and staff that protects, guides, and disciplines the sheep. The Word of God is the local church's protection and provision, and no amount of entertainment, good fellowship, or other religious substitutes can take its place. Right? That's right. He gave himself some. But here's the goal. Here's the goal of all this. As a matter of fact, I'm just sitting here thinking, because I just heard an illustration this week of another pastor saying he was checking out other churches. He was, I don't know if it was on vacation, but he was going to other churches to see what other churches were doing. And he said he walked into a lobby of one church and there was a car. a beautiful car and you could fill out your name and put, they were going to raffle off this car. And so this church was really doing its best to grow its church. So they say, come and you can win this brand new car. Just break out your name, drop it in a box. You may win this car. And as he stepped in, he looked at it and found out what it was all about. And he just like, it hurt his heart. He says, that's not what we're about. And then he shared the story of where he was reading in a newspaper where there was a church saying, in the local newspaper wrote an article of a church that doubled its size in a little bit of time. And it all went back to one Sunday, they did something. Had so many people come out of the woodwork and start attending this church. You know what they did? They had a Star Wars Sunday. And they asked everybody to come to church dressed like their favorite character of Star Wars. Then he quoted one of the attenders of this service. He goes, I know it's different, but we want to be different. Again, this pastor just said, it hurt his heart. I don't think that's what we're really supposed to be about. It's not about filling up a building with people. It's really not. Can I tell you the purpose of the church this morning? I already shared it with you. To give him the glory, to exalt him, Right? To evangelize people with the gospel. If you really believe people are dying of cancer. What's one of the leading causes of death today? Heart disease. Cancer. Even the common flu. How about starvation? How about malnutrition? What's still on the top of the list with teenagers? It's not COVID. It's suicide. Do you really believe that the answer is having a search service where we get dressed up like our favorite character? I'll just say like Gilgamesh Island. That's going to go back to my day, right? Yeah. No. It's the gospel. So we need to evangelize. We lead someone to Jesus. I'm so excited. I love the folks God had brought into my life at this time where I am now. I love discipling. I love opening up the word and help people discover. And develop. Because I believe life is for service. The equipping of the saints. We're going to get more into this next week. The equipping of the saints for what? For the work of the ministry. I've been in many churches, I'm gonna tell you right now, and I've done some hard things, and even in the secular world, I've done some, I grew up, I'm a son of a bricklayer. My mom left my dad when I was a little boy, and he took us to the job site. I carried brick and mixed mud. I got dirty every day. I took the shower at the end of the day. I grew up with, those calluses started when I, they'd never gone away. But here's the thing. When you're working with the right team for the right purpose, in the worst of conditions, it makes all the difference. It's for the edifying of what? For the body of Christ. Because as we evangelize and as we edify, and as we equip, and he gets to glory, don't ever forget what Jesus said to Peter. Hey Peter, guess what? I'm the one growing the church. Let me take the burden off of you. It's me. I'm growing my church and the gates of hell's not going to prevail against it. I sent out letters this week to all the families, the parents and guardians of those who sent their children here to Vacation Bible School. My heart hurts for those kids. I know it hurts Earl and Mary to send their great-grandchildren, right? This is their Bible, right, when they're here at Cross Life. This is their Bible time. And seeing those two children come here and get their Bibles the other day, they got their children Bibles and had to head back to home. But they come from a broken family, right? Spencer, who was here, did you meet Spencer? Well, dad's raising Spencer right now on his own. Grandmom lives down in Florida. It does her best, long distance, helping her son raise Spencer. Ethan. Precious Ethan. Come up to me, I don't have a dad. So when we do VBS, even after VBS, I'm still praying, Lord, You have brought this group together at this time for what? For the work of the ministry. And I don't even know what it's really gonna look like. All I know is I know where we're going and what we need to do. All I know is what the job that we have to get done. Because here's the thing. At the end of our last song, I'm gonna show you this. Why do I have those lists on here? Because that covers the different stages of life. Kathy oversees the nursery. Well, sometimes we have kids in nursery, sometimes we don't. In fact, if Kathy's in here today, that tells me there's no children in nursery today because she's in here. She's always back. And we have a Sunday school. Some of you already told me, hey, I used to teach Sunday school. Well, that letter that I sent out today, ask every parent. During the week, here's some things that you, I would like to know from you if you'd be interested. Oh, I love Awanas. Some of you say, hey, you love Awanas too. So right now I'm picking a time where we can restart our Awana program. Youth ministries, young adult ministries, adult small group leader ministry. You know, I don't want to embarrass Jackie, but I'll do it anyway. Jackie came to me a couple weeks ago, right? And I asked Jackie after VBS, Jackie, are you interested in overseeing VBS next year? Because she was there and she's so excited. You know, she's a people person like I am. And Jackie said, no, that's not my thing. But then she made a mistake and told me what her thing is. She said, I love senior ministry and I love ladies ministry. Well, it only took me a couple hours to call Nancy working and tell Kathy, who's both been working together, like, who can we get to help teach a ladies group, right? And Jackie just said, ladies ministry. I said, Kathy, Nancy, guess what Jackie told me? Jackie comes in last Sunday, Nancy meets her. Hey, Jackie, I need to talk to you about something. Jackie tells me this week, she sends me an email. Hey, pastor, we're picking out a Bible study for ladies right now. We're gonna let you know, we're sorting. Isn't that awesome? That is an answer to prayer. Now, I appreciate you doing it. But other small groups. Chris is praying about the next small group that he would like to teach. Senior care ministry. That's my thing. I love senior care ministry. Love it. I love that Beth Carver's here today. She helps me up at Ridge Overlook. Actually, she's the one that got me to go to Ridge Overlook years ago. And I love that ministry. But anyway, all these things, this is only a short list. This is the short list. I'm sharing this as we talk about gifts. This is where you will use those gifts, right? And I don't care what your age is. How old is Jasmine? 11 years old. Can I go with you to share the gospel on Monday night at the York County Fair? 11 years old. That's where we start, right? Anyway. new member service coming up the last Sunday in August. We're gonna have a lunch fellowship afterwards. Pray about seeing me, about getting an application to become a member of Cross-Life Bible Church. Michael's gonna come up and he's gonna lead us in trust and obey, but before he leads, I changed, Carolyn would probably have thought, I didn't pick that song. No, you didn't pick that song, Carolyn, because I was thinking as I prepared this message of D.L. Moody, You see, D.L. Moody, he's one of my heroes. R.A. Torrey wrote a book on D.L. Moody. After D.L. Moody died, they were good friends. And R.A. Torrey pointed out that D.L. Moody's secret was the same secret of Billy Graham, which was the power of the Holy Spirit in his ministry. Relying on the Holy Spirit. But D.L. Moody preached a message, and this young man put his faith in Christ. And later they asked for testimonies from those new believers. And this young man stood up and he asked him about a salvation. And here's his quote. He says, because Ira Sankey, he wrote the he wrote this down. He goes that the young man said, I am not quite sure about all this. But I'm going to trust and I'm going to obey. This is all I know, I'm just going to trust and I'm going to obey. And so they wrote these words down. Someone heard those words, wrote them down, sent them off to a friend, and they end up writing a song based on what that young man said after he put his faith and trust in Christ. I'm just going to trust and obey. And in the early days, they actually called it, When We Walk With The Lord. That was the name of the song. When We Walk With The Lord. Just trusting and obeying, right? Michael, come up and lead us in the song. So stand, please. When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word, what a glory he sheds on our way. While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus. not to trust and obey. But we never can prove the delight of His love until all on the altar we lay. For the favor He shows, and the love He bestows, are for them who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at his feet, Or we'll walk by his side in the way. What he says we will do, where he sends we will go, Never fear, only trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. I do have enough helpers for tomorrow night, but please see me if you're on before you go. I have some tickets to give some of you who's going up to the fair tomorrow night. And anyway, just see me before you go. So I know exactly what time you're going to be there. And yeah. Chris, come on, pray for us. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, it is good to be in Your house today, Father, and to worship You, Lord, for having You to speak to us, Lord, and love on us, Lord, as we Worship you together, Father. I just pray, Lord, that you would just bless each and every one that's here, Lord, as we go forth from these doors, Lord, as we are heading out into our mission field, Father, that you will help us, Lord, to reflect Christ in everything we do and say as you work through us. Lord, I just pray for those that are not well, that you would continue to heal them, to help them to get stronger, help them to come back to us, Father. Those who are away, I pray that you'd keep them safe, Lord. And I just pray that you'd give us travel mercies as we head to our separate ways. In Jesus' name, amen.