Amen. Amen. Thank you so much, Brother Ken. That was a good special number. Tonight and you know that might happen every time I say it won't it probably does but the first Corinthians chapter 12. I want to cover some ground I'm speaking tonight on the topic of propagating and prospering the church and I want to talk about this particularly in relation to Different things that have taken place in our church good things that the Lord has allowed to come our way But things that because there there are increases in certain areas and changes in certain things We need to be well aware that we stay very carefully close to the scripture particularly in regard to the church and our faithfulness and service to within the local body, within the church. Now let me make a few observations, then we'll read part of the portion of Scripture we'll deal with tonight. Observation number one that I would make to you this evening is this. The Lord has been very good to our church in that our church is growing. The Lord's been very good. The last several weeks have exceeded 400 in attendance, and that's exciting. That's very exciting to me. And as a pastor, I love to see that. Not just because numbers are important, but because every number represents the soul of an individual who's coming in contact with the message of the gospel. And so as a pastor, I'm very pleased to see that happening. So that's observation number one. We're growing as a church. Observation number two, and this is what we'll deal with tonight. In a church that is growing, it is very easy for some to slide to the background or to slip into the shadows or to withdraw their activity or hold back from ever becoming active in the church, because after all, the church is a large church and if all I do is attend, that will be okay. That's kind of the mentality or kind of the thinking. We need to be careful about that as the Lord blesses our church and as it grows. The truth of the matter is, the larger the church becomes, the more definite is the need for everyone to be involved in their church in some capacity or another. And we'll talk about that. It's a definite need because the Lord says in His Word in 1 Corinthians 12 that there is a place for everyone. and that no one is excluded from the Lord's work. Beginning 1 Corinthians 12, beginning at verse number 1. The Bible says, Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore, I gave you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed, and that no man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." When we affirm the deity of Jesus Christ, that is an important point. Anyone who would deny Christ's deity is certainly not a Christian, that Jesus is God. It's plainly taught in that verse, verse number 4. Now there are diversities of gifts, and he's talking about spiritual gifts, those abilities or talents if you will, but they're more than talents, they're on a spiritual nature. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. Alright, there are different gifts that are given to individual members, but the same Holy Spirit of God who gives the gift. Verse number 5. There are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. The idea of administrations has the idea of where the Holy Spirit gives the gift, where the concentration of the gift may be found. V. 6, there are diversities of operations or methods of operation, different method, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. Now pause there for a moment. Notice it is God who does the work. Hear and understand something that is very key tonight. Anything that is good about Faith Baptist Church of Avon is good because our good and gracious God has made it so. There is no human being who ever deserves one modicum of glory for anything good about Faith Baptist Church. You say, well, but Pastor so-and-so did a great job in junior church. I'm sure that they did. But if anything eternal happened, it is because the Lord used that person not because of who they are, but in spite of who they are. And the moment we begin to think that we're good in the eyes of God or that our service is something that is great and valuable in the eyes of God, the moment we think that it is we who are accomplishing the work is the moment that God's blessing hand will be removed. Does everyone understand that? So important. It has nothing to do, nothing in the world to do with human beings as far as our talent, but all with the Lord. And so the Bible says in v. 6, it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit with all. So everyone has a gift. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another diverse kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But all these work at the one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he wills." So it is the Holy Spirit that gives these gifts. Now I want to consider this in relationship to our church, and I'm going to speak very practically tonight, but let me give you the first point of the outline. You can jot this down. Point number one, everyone has a gift. Everyone has a gift. There is no individual in our church that does not have a gift specifically given by God for ministry. Now that gift may not yet be developed in your life. And it may be a matter of a lack of yieldedness and exercise of that gift. that has kept that gift stunted. But the teaching of the Scripture tonight is this, that every individual in this church is gifted in some way. Now right away someone says, oh, pastor, then you need to help me find my gift. You can look into the Bible and read about the different gifts that God gives. You can exercise certain gifts in the church. But eventually, as you're active in serving God, I think you'll discover your gift. I've had people come up to me and say, Pastor Monty, if you'll take this test, and it's a printed test, it's written out on, I think, maybe five pieces of paper. If you'll take this test, you can discover your spiritual gift. Well, I don't know about that printed test, because the test isn't in the Bible. I don't know anything about that test. But I do know this. that if you are willing and yielded and desirous of serving God, He will manifest areas that you are gifted. For example, early on in my life, not early, when I was a young person, I would be mortified to stand up in front of a crowd like this. Mortified. I was so shy as a kid, I hated to answer the telephone. I despised it. My mother made me answer the phone because I was so shy and backward. I didn't like to do it. But I would have been mortified to get up in front of a crowd. But as I yielded myself to the Lord, He gifted me, at least to a small extent, in the area of public speaking. At least He made it so that I'm okay with getting up and making an idiot out of myself in front of people sometimes. He gave me that little thing. And I know one of my areas is preaching. I know that's one of my gifts. Another pastor friend of mine said this. He said, Pastor Monty, you're patient. You have the gift of mercy. In other words, I don't just fly off the handle and judge everybody. Where's Pastor Falls? Did he disappear on me again? Where is he? He's out of here. He's gone. Pastor Falls, I call him my hatchet man. He takes care of all that for me. I could be the good guy. I could be the guy of mercy. Now, a pastor friend of mine said, he said, Pastor Monty, you have the gift of mercy. And so there's maybe some different gifts that are at work. Now, it is possible. But Sherry, where is your husband? He's out? She doesn't even know. So you know what, folks? It just occurred to me, we've missed the rapture. Boom! I knew this would happen, Brother Phillips. I told you this was going to happen. Alright, we'll quit making fun of Pastor Paul. But everyone has at least one spiritual gift. Maybe several spiritual gifts. And the gifts, the Bible says in verse number 4, they differ. It means that the gift I have may not be the gift that you have, and the gift you have may not be the gift that I have, and no particular gift is to be lorded over another because God's given differing gifts. Now, in verse number 5, he says this, and I only can look at this from my standpoint of summary tonight. In verse number 5, he says, there are differences of administrations. Everyone has a gift. Everyone has different gifts. And then there are different administrations. That literally means concentrations of the gift from place to place. In other words, there are different churches that God puts a different concentration of people together to work in a particular way. As I studied for the message, I was thinking about our church. What has God concentrated us with? There's an area that I have never failed to be amazed at Faith Baptist Church. A concentration of people who are talented musically. It's unbelievable, the music talent. And for whatever reason, God has put that together. There's another concentration in this church that amazes me. The concentration of people that are merciful, and sympathetic, and loving, and kind, and all those things to the needs of somebody else. That is a concentration that God has placed in this church. And as I look over the horizon of our church, or over the landscape of our church, so to speak, I see that God has in His own wisdom given administration or concentration of groupings of gifts within this church. This preacher, is it different from any church you've ever been in? Yes, it's different. And it's different because God has made it so. So everyone has a gift. The gifts are different. There are concentrations of different gifts. And then verse 6, and I want you to see this, there are different methods of exercising the gift. Look at verse 6. There are diversities of operations. That means different methods, but the same God. And it's amazing. God uses different methods. He uses different personalities. He uses different approaches to get His work done. And we see that among people with differing gifts. Now you say, preacher, what is the goal of the gifts? The goal of all of the spiritual gifts is to profit the body at large. Look at verse number 7. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." The word withal means to profit everybody. Now look back this way. Everyone has a gift. The gift that you have was given to you by God not just to showcase your life, Not just to put you in the spotlight, but the gift you have was given to you by God so that you could profit the rest of the body. So that the gift you have as an exercise gift, something that you do in the body, the local church, something that you exercise, that gift brings benefit to the entire body as you exercise your gift. Now pause with me for a moment. I think if every person in this church, would concentrate on exercising his or her spiritual gift. I mean, on one given Sunday, the atmosphere of the church would be electric. I think sometimes we come to the church with the wrong idea. Church is not to be a spectator sport. Did you know that? It's not to be a spectator thing. The modern church today is increasingly that way. The modern church, for example, features a worship team. Rather than having a choir, they have two or three people or three or four people get together and they're part of a worship team and they lead all the worship for the audience. But there's not a whole lot of participation, except some of the feedback that comes from the audience. Oh, someone said to me, you can't have a full choir anymore. People aren't too busy. They don't want that. Just hire a couple people to be the worship leaders. They'll take care of all the worship. And all of a sudden, the whole church becomes a spectator sport. So they say, well, pastor, the main reason we come to church is to hear the preaching. Well, it's a good reason to come. But have you ever thought that that should just be a byproduct of being here? And that part of your purpose as a serious-minded Christian in attending this church is on a given Sunday to exercise your spiritual gift, whether it be a gift of encouraging someone else, a gift of mercy, a gift of kindness, whatever it may be, that you're going to exercise that gift when you arrive at the local church. It's a whole different way, folks, of viewing church. Do you know what people become who are spectator Christians? Spectator Christians very rapidly become critics. And they'll sit back and they'll say, well, I didn't care much for that choir number. Just didn't like it. Those bases were off again. Boy, the pastor leads them astray every measure of the song. Didn't like that. Oh, and the preaching. It was just poor today. I didn't get a thing out of it. I come, but I didn't get anything from the message. Have you ever thought that your purpose as a Christian in coming to this church... Now, you should get something. I'm not saying you shouldn't, and I think you should. But have you ever thought that you'll get something if you're here to give something? There's a huge difference. Now, let me talk plainly. Every person in this room has a spiritual gift. And especially this morning when there were a number of people, a number of visitors, there were some people in our auditorium with some very serious needs. And hear me, if all you were doing was concentrating on what you were getting, or how you were being blessed, or how much you enjoyed the music, if that's all you were doing, then ladies and gentlemen, we're missing the mark completely. I had an interesting phone call this week. Brother Ken, I think it was last week, you put up on the sign, what was that little slogan? Yes, live, live so the truth can be told at your funeral. How many read that in our sign? Did you read that passing by? Sure you did. Live so the truth can be told at your funeral. Can't have that slogan up there. One day this week, someone called the church and it was a lady and she didn't give her name. She said, she was talking to Pastor Falls. She said, she said, listen, I want to tell you something about your church sign. And right away, Pastor Falls went on the defensive. And he said, he said, well, ma'am, he said, I'm going to put you on hold for just a moment. Bing! He put her on hold. And he went outside to read the sign, because he wanted to read it and see what it said. He wasn't sure what you were doing, kid. And he read it. OK, OK, live so the truth can be told at your funeral. He came back in and pushed the whole button. And he said, yes, ma'am, go ahead. And she started to cry. And she said, I want to know about your church sign. She said, I'm not going to tell you who I am, but she said, your church sign saved my life. And he said, what do you mean? And she said, I was driving past the church on 36th. She said, I was on my way to commit suicide. And I read those words, live so the truth can be told at your funeral. And she said, it was like someone took a dagger and stuck it right in her heart. And she said, God himself spoke to her and said, you'd better not. And she said, I read those words. I turned around. I went home. And this was the next day. She said, I'm calling you to let you know that your sign made all the difference in my life. Let me say this. There are people out there that are really on the edge. And sometimes they come in here. And if all we're worried about is what we're gonna get, then we're really missing the boat. But if rather than being so worried about what we're getting, and instead reach out to somebody that we don't know, or somebody that comes through the doors and they're a visitor, or maybe just somebody you've never introduced yourself to, and you shake hands with that person and say some kind words to them, it may be the Holy Spirit will give you a chance to make a significant difference in their life. Everyone has a gift. Let me say number two. Number two. Everyone is vital. Everyone is vital. Everyone is important. Look at verse number 12. The Bible says, for as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. Now verse number 13 says there's nobody better than anybody else. We're all the same. Jew and Gentile. You're all the same. Black and white. You're all the same. It doesn't matter your background or who you are. Bond or free. Rich or poor. Everyone who walks through the doors of Faith Baptist Church is on the same footing. Everyone who is saved by the grace of God and has followed the Lord in believers' baptism and is a member of this church, they are on the same footing. There's no difference. Verse 14, For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, because I am not the eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now God hath set the members, every one of them, in the body as it pleased Him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet one body. Everyone in this church is vital. Look this way, please. Look this way. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a personality cult. I hope you heard what I said. It's not a personality cult. Well now, Pastor, You've got your strong opinions and you've got a strong personality. You're kind of domineering. Listen to me tonight. I'm not building a personality cult at Faith Baptist Church. This church is to exalt the Lord Jesus and there is not one member of this church that is less significant than any other. Please understand. Aren't the deacons more important than all the other members? No! Aren't the pastors? Aren't the pastoral staffs? They're important! No, listen! There's not one member of this church that is more important than the other. There are some that have a loud public persona. The Bible likens the church to a body, a physical body. Rachel, what part are you? I'm the mouth! Big ol' mouth! Flopping mouth! Listen, listen. If all it is is a mouth, you don't have a church. Every part is vitally important. The hands are important. You say, preacher, what are the hands? The hands are the people that keep up the facilities. Now, by the way, say this. The hands are the members. Listen to what I'm going to say now. The hands are the members that see a piece of trash on the ground and pick it up because they're a member of Faith Baptist Church and trash makes the place look trashy. Do not do this to me. Don't come up to me and say, Pastor, I saw a piece of paper on the floor under the pew. You need to have the cleaning people clean up that piece of paper. Listen, don't ever do that to me. Number one, you're as lame a duck as there ever was. You do that to me. Number two, you're a member of this church. And the image of the church is important. And so if you see trash somewhere, hey, take your hands and pick it up just like you would at home. That's right. I don't do that at home. Start doing it at home. And start doing it in the church. And pick it up. Why? Because it's important the hands have to be actively involved. Everyone is vital. Many members make one church. There is not one that is the focal point, but many working together make the church of the Lord Jesus, and no one is more important than anyone else. There are people in this building right now that have incredible knowledge and talent. You are vital. Your talent area may not be in preaching, but you hear me, you are vital to the health of this church. A while back we had a deacons meeting and we were discussing the potential of building a family center kind of thing, classrooms and gymnasium kind of thing. We know we need to do that sometime. As the Lord would lead, we were discussing this and different things and even possible expansion here. And I said to the deacon, I said, this is wonderful. I said, let's put together a committee of men who know what they're doing to do this. And someone said, oh, yeah, pastor. He'll be the chairman. Ah! Dumb idea. Dumb idea. Why? Because you don't put a dumb bunny in charge. Let me let you in on a little secret. Y'all ready for this? Here's a little secret. When I went to Bob Jones, guess what I majored in? I majored in Bible. I sure did. I didn't major in blueprints. I didn't major in building instruction. I majored in Bible. That means I was taught a whole bunch about the Bible. Ah, but you say, preacher, your minor. Surely your minor was in a more practical area. No, no, no. I minored in New Testament Greek. I sure did. Boy, you hand me that Greek New Testament, and I can read it. She's a preacher. What does it say? It says, just what your King James Bible says. And amazing thing, I spent years studying Greek to learn the King James says the same thing. It's an amazing thing. And I studied that. Now listen, listen. Here's the guy who knows some things about the book. He knows about the Bible, but he wouldn't know a blueprint if it walked up and slapped him in the face. You don't put that guy who doesn't know anything about it in charge of it. You say, why? That would be dumb. You know what? Donald Trump would never do it. But there's a million churches out there that do. Now here's what you do. When you're going to do something in the body, because there are people in this congregation that have incredible talent, when you're going to do something, you appeal to the talent of the people in the congregation who know something. Now watch. And they'll exercise that talent and they'll do so to the benefit of the entire body. I've seen... churches that were designed by preachers. What a nightmare. Don't want that. We want everyone. Everyone is vital. Everyone is important. Number three, everyone is interdependent. Look, if you will, in chapter 12, verse number 21, the Bible says this, and the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee. Nor again the head to the feet. I have no need of you. Nay, much more, those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor, and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness, for our comely parts have no need. But God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to the part which lack." You say, Preacher, what does it mean? Every part, every member, is interdependent. I am not an island. Now hear me, members of Faith Baptist Church. You're not an independent island unto yourself. Whether you know it or not, someone is depending on you. Well, I'm reminded of this all the time. I had a lady in my church back in North Carolina come to me one Sunday. She had gone through some difficult times in her life. She was an older lady and she loved to come to church. I'd met her in a laundromat and she just started coming, her and her mother, and they came faithfully to every service after I'd met them. They joined the church. Her mother, by the way, was in her 80s. She'd been a Presbyterian lady all her life. Saved, born again lady. Followed the Lord and believers baptism. One of the sweetest baptisms I ever did for this lady in her 80s. But I remember one time this lady was going through, the daughter was going through a particular difficult time in her life. And just as usual, in the morning service, I walked out into the service, and the choir at that time, I don't think I sang, well I did sing in the choir, I'd go back up and around, but the choir was out already, I just walked in the service a moment late or something, and it was my habit when walking into the service to smile. I like to smile. You say, why? Because I'm happy in my heart. But I like to smile. One day this lady, she said to me, she said, preacher, she said, I can walk in the church with the weight of the world on my shoulders. And she said, when you walk through the door, you've always... I've never thought about this. She said, you've always got a smile on your face. And she said, I've come to look forward and to depend upon the fact that when you walk through the door, you're going to have a smile on your face. You're going to be here. And she says, though the weight of the world is on my shoulders, it's like all my troubles go away when I see my preacher smile. Now let me say something. That's over the top a little bit. It may be, but hear me tonight. You have an influence on people no matter who you are. There's an influence. Let me say this, your attendance at things is an influence. Well, preacher, they won't miss me. The church is growing, and I don't know anybody. Stop it right there. Every once in a while, I have to do this. Watch. Stand up. Hi, my name's Pastor Monty. Have I ever met you before? I have. What's your name again? Jared. I am so glad you're here. It's good to know you, Jared. God bless you. We welcome you. Have a seat. You know what his name is? Jared. Jared. Did everybody know his name before? Not everybody did. Now you know him. Jared, come here a second. I want to introduce you to some people. Stand right there. How many would say, I never knew his name was Jared before? Did you not know? Wow. What, have you been hiding under a rock? He's just smalling out of the way, he says. OK, put your hands up again. How many say that? Put your hands up again. Wow, there's a whole bunch. OK, OK, you didn't know Jared. This is Jared. Everybody say with me, hi, Jared. Hi, Jared. Don't you feel welcomed at Faith Baptist? God bless you for coming. Hope you come back. Amen. Now sit down. That was not difficult at all. You now met Jared. Jared is an important member of Faith Baptist Church. You've met him. Nobody will ever miss me. Listen, do you ever miss them? Do you ever miss them? Don't stand there and look at me. Nobody missed me. When's the last time you missed somebody, pal? Now see, that whole spirit of nobody missed me, hear me, is absolutely self-consumed and is diametrically opposed to everything we're talking about in 1 Corinthians 12. I ought to be looking for those that are missing. Not worrying if somebody is missing me. Why? We are interdependent. Whether I know it or not, someone is influenced by me. And lastly, let me say this, everyone needs special care. Look at v. 25. The Bible says the whole reason God's put the church together the way He has. Some with this talent. Some with that. Some with this ability. Some with the other. Verse 25, He did it that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it. Or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it." Now pause with me for a moment. Nobody said this, but I'm going to fend it off if anybody ever should. Just preventative medicine tonight. I'm a preacher. In the Sunday morning worship service, you honored the young people who played basketball well. I don't think that's appropriate. No one said this, but I'm just fending you off. I don't think that's appropriate at a Sunday morning worship service. Why don't you just roll over and die, pal? Verse 26. Look at it. When one member be honored, all members rejoice with it. This preacher is thrilled when our young people succeed. This preacher is blessed from the bottom of his soul. When good things happen, I like to let you know something good happened. Look what it also says, though, when one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. Are we that way? You see, everyone, everyone has a gift. Everyone is vital. Everyone is interdependent. And everyone needs care. There is not a person that walks through the doors of this church today but that needed a handshake, a warm greeting, a caring touch from someone in these pews. And you know, there's a good possibility that the person who needed it the most was the person whose name you don't know. They needed it the most. Spiritual, what are you saying? I'm saying to not just quit coming to church looking to get something for yourself. And when you come to this place, sit down and say, how can I minister to somebody else? And you look across the aisle or behind you or in front of you, hey, there's somebody I don't know. Turn around. Shake their hand and get to know them. Welcome them into this fellowship. Make them feel a part. I think we have a friendly church, but you know what? The more the church grows, the more we have to work on that. Do you agree with me on that? I really think we do. We have a friendly church. I had a lady, though, say to me, she said, Pastor, I've visited for some time and I haven't really met people. Well, my suggestion was join a Sunday school class. Get in one of the small group classes. That would be a good way to get to know people. And on and on. But listen, listen, if you can pass by people in the aisles of this church and you don't know their name, then the fault is yours. pause and get another, oh preacher, what if they've been here for three years? All the better reason to get to know their name. And you know what? Let's make a deal right now, those of us in church right now. You've been here for years and somebody doesn't know your name. Don't be offended if somebody asks. That's an honor because they're interested enough in you. Let's unify and build our church. Everyone coming together, exercising their gifts to the glory of Christ. Let's pray. Father, thank You for these instructions. Lord, we've only been able to cover them with a bird's eye view God, there is so much here. Father, I pray that You'd help us as a church family. Lord, we're excited about good things that happen on a weekly basis here and how we see Your Spirit move. Father, how we need to be careful lest we become spectator-oriented and not people-oriented. Father, help us to understand that each person here has a vital part. God, help us to exercise those gifts that You've given. to the edifying of the whole body, to the building up of people who come our way. God, there are people who are on the edge. That dear lady, we don't know her name, but God, that dear lady who was so discouraged she wanted to take her life this week. God, just a little message from the church sign turned her around. Father, I pray you'd make us vigilant for those folks that come in our midst that need to see the love of the Lord Jesus. Help us not to think of ourselves, but help us, Lord, to convey thy love to a lost and dying world and to grow close to one another as we exercise our gifts in this place. Let's stand, everyone,