We have today and one more time to spend together in the book of Ephesians, chapter four, we've been studying together this summer, a growing body. And today we're going to look at one verse and a few parts of it. Where Paul uses an analogy within an analogy, he's talking about the church as the body of Christ and within that analogy of the church being like a body, like a human body. He uses an analogy within that to give us even greater understanding. You can kind of tell how old a person is by how long it takes them to answer the question, how are you? And you better be ready to listen because if you ask someone, they'll tell you. And if they've been around for a while, the list is, well, it's kind of long. They'll tell you about their blessings and joys and the good things and maybe the grandkids or whatever. But they'll also tell you about their aches, their pains, their maladies, their treatments and their surgeries, right? That's how it is. So it's okay if you do that. That's all right. And that's kind of how it is. But we all have those experiences as we go through life. And the longer we live, the more experiences we have with receiving medical treatment. And there's a specific area of medical treatment that has to do with the musculoskeletal system. In other words, your skeleton, your framework, and the muscles that attach to it and that carry out the impulses, the directions of the brain traveling through the nerves to the muscles which move the skeleton, which carry out what the brain intends, which carries out what your will intends you to do. But if you've experienced an injury or some type of a lack of development or disability in your musculoskeletal system, then you receive treatment many times from an orthopedic doctor. Orthopedia is the treatment of, the study of the development of and the treatment of your musculoskeletal system. Some of you have been treated by an orthopedic doctor. How many of you have had hip surgery? Go ahead, raise your hand if you've had hip surgery. Okay, a couple or three maybe. How many of you have had knee surgery? Probably a bunch more of you. All right. How many of you have had shoulder surgery? Watch this. How about that? It works, it works. I mean, if you had shoulder surgery. All right, so you've experienced some of this. And maybe you've had a broken arm and you had to have pins put in or something like that. Normally, an orthopedic surgeon would be the one to treat you. And when you're treated by an orthopedic doctor or surgeon, that doctor is repairing, restoring, or strengthening you so that your musculoskeletal system works the way it was designed to do. It needs to develop properly so that you can function and carry out what your will and your mind direct it to do. You need to develop and grow properly. Then you need the strength and the ability to function properly and fulfill those purposes, the purposes for which you were designed and intended. So Paul is now taking that analogy of not only the body of Christ, but actually of the musculoskeletal system and using that as an analogy within the analogy to help us understand how the body of Christ is supposed to function. So I'm going to call this today a visit with the church doctor. Now. Paul was not a medical doctor. He did no one. He was friends with the physician, Luke, and so he might have received some of this understanding about about the physical body from his friend. The physician, Luke. Certainly, the Holy Spirit was directing Paul and giving him clear and specific direction as to the wording that he used and the pictures that he used to give us an understanding of the church. And here, as we reach the end of the passage, we're studying this summer in Ephesians chapter four, we come to a place where he uses this this analogy of of our skeletal and muscular system and how it is supposed to develop and function. to help us understand how we as the body of Christ are supposed to develop and function as well. Let me lead into it, starting back with verse 11. I'll read Ephesians chapter four, starting with verse 11. And we have been studying this passage from verse one all the way down through verse 16 this summer as we talk about a growing body. So a lot of this we've already talked about and it won't go back and do that, but just to lead into verse 16, which we'll be looking at today. Ephesians four, verse 11 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 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 and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. But speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into 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. Now, let me just say right away that every every book that I have looked at, practically every book I've read and looked at in studying this passage says that verse 16 is one of Paul's most complicated sentences. And it is. And he has some really complex sentences in his in his letters, his epistles. And this is one of the most complicated. But we're going to pull it apart a little bit and get to the heart of it. And really where it's all moving is toward the end where he says causes growth of the body. That's what we've been studying. So now he's getting to it. He's been working his way toward it. Now he's getting to it. What causes growth of the body? Well, in this analogy he is using, it is a healthy muscular and skeletal system that is functioning, that has developed as it should and is functioning as it should. And if it's not, it needs to be treated. It needs to be repaired. It needs to be restored. It needs to grow as it should and function as it should. So. As we talk about this, we have introduced four questions. Please keep these in mind. First of all, what is growth? Secondly, what causes growth? Thirdly, am I helping or hindering the growth of my church? And then fourthly, what do I need to do to help my church grow? Please keep those questions in mind as we talk about this this morning. And I guess I'll put it to you this way, first of all, when is it that we will grow? How is it that we will be a growing body? And this is the question Paul is raising and the problem he's addressing and the solution that he is offering. First of all, you, and I'm speaking to you as a church, I would say we, but I want each of us to take this seriously and our responsibility in it. You will grow when your connections are close and strong. Let me tell you the word that relates to what he's talking about here. It is our relationships. When your connections are close and strong, just like exactly like in a physical human body, when the joints and the muscles are connected together as they should be and functioning as they should be, the body will grow and it will function in the same way. When your relationships in the church are close and strong, then you will grow. Now, notice at the beginning of verse 16, he's he's continuing in this thought from whom. So it all now is flowing from Christ and he's referring to Jesus Christ. You see, you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Each of us individually does. You know what we've been singing about and praising God for this morning as we've been praising him for forgiving himself and dying in our place and shedding his blood. We're talking about the sacrifice that Jesus Christ himself made for our sins on the cross. And many of you have believed in Jesus. You've trusted him to save you and you've experienced that new birth and you know that you have a right relationship with God. And we all have that opportunity to have a relationship with God. But you know something else? We as a church have a corporate relationship with Jesus Christ. And just as you individually walk with God and and pray to him and receive instruction and direction, encouragement from his word. So we as a body together walk with him and receive direction from him. and grow in him and carry out his will. And for that to happen, we must be closely connected. In two directions. Turn over a few pages to the right to Colossians, we go from Ephesians, then to Paul's letter or epistle to the Philippians and then over to Colossians, Colossi was another city. Which Paul wrote a letter and in Colossians. Chapter two. Look at what he says in verse 16. There were people getting caught up in minor issues, caught up in extra biblical issues, making a big deal about them. And he says in Colossians 2, verse 16, let no one judge you in food or drink regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbath, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substances of Christ. But no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind. Look at this now, verse 19, and not holding fast to the head. He's saying the people around you in this church in Colossi, there are people around you who have become caught up in and obsessed with these peripheral issues and making a bigger deal about them than God does, equating them with Christianity or with spirituality, with having a right relationship with God. He says those are not the main thing. The main thing for you as a church is that you cling to Christ. That your affection, your loyalty, your submission is to Jesus and that you receive your direction as a church from the head, from Jesus Christ holding fast to the head. Look at it. From whom all the body nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments grows with the increase that is from God. So what he's telling us is that, oh, yes, our relationships with one another are very important. But the number one relationship we have as a church, not just you as individuals, but we the church have is with our head, with the Lord Jesus Christ. And just like the human head contains the brain with all of its processes and functionality somewhere within us, there is this thing called a will. And we choose what we want and that creates thoughts and ideas and impulses and our brain sends commands through our nervous system across those synapses, which when they're working properly and connected properly, the signals flow as they should and those signals go out from the brain through the nerves to the muscles and the bones and our body carries out what our head tells it to do. When everything is connected, as it should be, that's the analogy he's using here. He's saying in Colossians, we need to be closely connected to the head. We have to have everything right between us and our head, Jesus Christ. We have to be listening intently to what the head has to say to us. We must be be passionate and intense about learning and knowing what Jesus Christ is telling us. And we need to be calling out, crying out, submitting ourselves and hearing what he has to say to us. And so these are not just rituals and motions that we're going through as a church as we come together around the word. Yes, it's for us individually, but it's also for us corporately as a church. We're listening to what our head Jesus Christ has to say. And we come together for times of prayer. We are submitting ourselves to him and saying, Lord, we are here to hear from you, direct our lives, but direct our church as well. Now, one of the things we've been doing on Sunday nights here through the summer is having some special times of prayer. I've made a few of you a little bit uneasy with that. I kind of hear back from you some of these things and I've heard I'm making a few of a little uncomfortable. It's OK to all sit like this face forward and listen to one person talk. But but when I say, OK, now turn in. And actually have a little bit of a conversation with people next to you, people behind you, maybe that you don't know that well, and pray together. Oh, that's getting a little too what? Close. Yeah. Not quite comfortable with that. And I've pushed you a little bit of that. Some of you, it's no big deal. But with others, it's like not quite comfortable with that. But you know what? That is how we become more closely connected with each other, and that is how we bring ourselves before the Lord Jesus Christ and submit ourselves to him and call out to him and cry out to him for direction for us as a church. That's what we're doing. We're just praying together. We do this as part of our discussion groups as well. We'll be doing this tonight as we have a discussion group time. It includes conversation about what we're learning, but also crying out to the Lord together. It's not just doing it at a scheduled prayer meeting or or the beginning of a class. That's when we say, let's let's go before our savior together and hear from him. Now, if you go back over to Ephesians chapter four, let's continue looking at this verse because it tells us that we. Are joined and knit together, you see that in verse 16, joined and knit together, let me talk about these terms for just a minute to be joined. means to be connected closely, to be integrated like the ball and socket of your hip joint, like the the muscles and the tendons that connect the muscles to each other or to your bones, like the nerve and muscles, like like the systems of your body that are integrated with each other and they connect and they're attached. That's the idea of being joined together. It means to have that close relationship and that close communication and that close contact. Yes, with Jesus Christ, but also with each other. To be knit means to be made solid or stable. To be held together firmly, to be strong is the idea not to just be connected, but to be strong. In fact, turn back a page or so, Ephesians 2 chapter 2, because Paul uses this exact same word, but with a little different analogy. In fact, when you think about the Church of Jesus Christ, there are several analogies. One is the body, one is a building, one is a bride. And all of these illustrate various aspects of what the Church of Jesus Christ is. But Paul here is using the analogy of a building in Ephesians chapter 2, starting in verse 19. Ephesians 219, he says, Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. We talked about that earlier. That's the fact that these were Jews and Gentiles, vastly different groups of people brought together by the blood of Christ in the body of Christ brought together. Having been built On the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. So now he's using the analogy of a building. In whom the whole building being fitted together, there's the same word he used in chapter four, joined and knit together here, it's fitted together, grows. There's our word grows into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the spirit. All right. You pour the concrete, you put the block in place, you lay the foundation for the house, and then the carpenters come in and they start throwing up walls, right? If they just start taking two by fours and standing them up and kind of propping them against each other, that's not going to last very long, right? No, they drive nails or use a nail gun and put nails into that structure to hold and to clinch Those pieces together and the whole building is put together with nails and with with adhesive and all kinds of things that that hold it together. And that's the idea of this word. You're not only there together, but you are tightly formed and fitted together. There are close connections, there are tight connections so that you are not only together, but you are strong. And so I think what we're talking about here is a couple of things. And here here is how the church grows. It grows when we when our connections are close and strong. And that includes close communication and contact with each other, with each other. It's with Christ and it's with each other. And for some of you, that's natural. You make friends. Or you are in groups where that happens and you've developed relationships with other people. Maybe they're just very casual relationships. Maybe they are friendly relationships. But here's the question. Are they relationships through which you stimulate each other to grow? Is there that level and that element of closeness? And again, we try to provide settings for that, growth groups, Sunday classes, Bible studies and so on. Again, I've been pushing you a little bit this summer. I'm going to do it one more time tonight. Tonight, when you come in the doors here this evening, you'll receive a little yellow handout like this. And if you've been here for any of the previous ones, you've received something like this as well. And what this tells you is that after we gather here for a little while and sing and have our offering and enjoy Sarah's testimony, that we're going to break out. We're going to go into separate rooms. And you're going to be together with people that are in if you're already in a Sunday class or a group, you'll be with those people, but also you'll be put together with some other groups. If you don't have a group that you already belong to, you can just pick one or you can go to the information desk and they'll direct you where to go. And we're going to sit down together and we're going to just talk a little bit about what God is showing us from his word in our study of Ephesians chapter four this summer and say, you know what? Here's what God's teaching me. Here's what he's showing me. Here's how I've been challenged. Now, if you just cannot get your mouth open and your tongue to move when you've got more than two people around you, that is OK. We'll shake you until you do. No, we won't do that. We won't. It's OK. You can observe. You can listen. So don't don't feel like you're intimidated by that. You just can't can't come because of that. Just come and listen. But there are people, there are people that that. Are comfortable sharing that or willing to take that little step? And, you know, it's such a huge blessing when it's not just someone up here preaching at you or to you about these things. But when we hear each other relate what God is showing us and how we're growing because of that, you know what that is, man, that is glue. It pulls us together. Because we're sharing what God is doing is saying, yeah, amen. Praise the Lord. Oh, yeah, me too. And it just pulls us together and makes us stronger. So I invite you. I appeal to you. I urge you to be part of this kind of thing. And I know it might be something different or new for some of you, but just just try it. And let the Holy Spirit used to strengthen our church and pull us together. It includes this close communication and contact with each other. I think it also includes reaching out and drawing new people in. Because this is a continually growing, building a continually developing body, correct? And as you can see, there is room for growth here. And so this includes this close contact, includes getting beyond your little zone And seeing and taking a step towards someone here that you see that is totally new, drawing them into your little group or circle or row or whatever, and also reaching out out there and drawing people not just toward you or toward church, but toward the head, toward Christ. And there's that constant awareness and and desire to draw more people in. It's a growing body. It's a growing body. So it includes close communication and contact with Christ corporately. It includes close communication and contact with each other within the body of Christ as well as reaching out. And it includes a commitment to the church as a whole and to one another. Just like the nails that go in. And the adhesive that holds the structure together, just like the the muscles and the the bones and the joints are are tightly fitted together in the same way. We have a commitment to each other as a whole and to one other here within the church. We are many parts fitted closely together. We are committed. We are driven in. We are nailed in to each other. There's a tight, Relationship that's there. So how's your commitment level to the Church of Jesus Christ, to the people of God within the church? Are you are you fastened in? Are you a little bit loose and wobbly? And if so, is is the structure a little bit shaky because of you switching analogies here back to the building? Is the structure a little bit shaky because of you? How is that commitment? Are you on the outside still kind of looking in? And certainly there is time for that, because especially if you've come from the community or someplace else, you moved here recently, you've got to check things out. Absolutely. That's why we have our connection class. You can get to know us. But the time comes when you need to make a commitment and commit yourself to the body of Christ and say, I'm in and we're all in. This is where God directed us. This is where our hearts are. We want to be part of what God is doing here. And you take those steps of commitment. When I was a youth pastor, we took a group of teenagers to Mexico on a mission trip and went to a village up in the mountains and away from power and running water and, you know, all those things that we're so used to and comfortable with. And the church building, I'm not sure what those people would have done if they would have seen something like this. This would have been a palace to them. Just a box, square building with wooden benches, no backs, just wooden benches. What would you do? You couldn't sleep, could you? Just wooden benches. And so we were going to be having a service for them on on Sunday while we were there. And I remember as we came to the church building on that Sunday morning, there was a man there and he had some things with him and somebody there started telling us about him and said, oh, yeah, he came in last night and slept on one of those wooden benches. He walked about 15 miles through the mountains to get to church today. And he's going to be here for the services and be here for the fellowship. And then he's going to walk back through the mountains and probably get home sometime late, late tonight. And ever since then, I've thought, OK, that's that's commitment to the church. That's commitment. You know, it's so easy for us just to just to decide whether we're going to show up or not, just to decide whether something else is is more desirable in that particular day. And we can we can jump in our car and we can just Go wherever we want so easily. It's so easy for us to decide, well, I'm having a difficulty with a person or an issue or something that's different or new in the setting where I am so comfortable. And so I'm just going to go somewhere else. It's so easy for us to do that because there's so many options and so easy for us just to get in our car and go, isn't it? Isn't it? So so then the question is, how committed are we? Does God direct us in different ways at different times? Yes, yes, yes, absolutely he does. But the question then is, where is our commitment? Are we committed to the church of Jesus Christ? Are we committed to a local expression of the body of Christ in the local church setting? What does it take to shake us loose from that? What does it take to draw us away from that? What are we willing to overcome and endure to be part of that? And stay committed, I think these are all aspects of being closely connected within the body of Christ. Well, something else is happening here as well that causes growth, you'll notice, he says in Chapter four. Of Ephesians, verse 16, from whom the whole body joined and knit together. By what every joint supplies, so now we're talking about something coming to and through these joints, there's a supply. There's some some elements, some substance. That is necessary for the body to function and to grow, and it comes to and through these joints. Keep reading according to the effective working by which every part does its share causes growth of the body. So Paul's continuing in this analogy. Of the muscles and the skeleton. and the impulses that come to it and the strength that comes to it so that it will develop properly and function as it should. The impulses come from the brain. And along with that comes a call to the body's systems. through what we eat and digest and flows through our blood system and carries those nutrients to the muscles, there comes a call to supply the strength our muscles need to carry out what the head intends. So what comes from the head is nervous energy. So if you have that right now, right, you're just a little fidgety. We think of that as nervous energy, but nervous energy is just what comes from the head. The impulse is flowing through those nerves to the muscles that move them to do what the head intended. Nervous energy. Then there is also strength. There is strength that comes to those muscles so that they can carry out what the head intends. And that is the analogy that Paul is using here. He's talking about a supply and he's talking about a working that is that is Energeo is the Greek word we think of energy, it is the strength to do what we're supposed to do, the energy to accomplish the will of the head. How does this happen? He says, by every part doing its share. So if we're going to grow, develop as we should and function as we should, Then there's a need for this flow of energy and that energy flows to and through every part. And every single person, individual who's a believer, a member of the body of Christ has a part and that supply of impulse and energy comes to us and through us, it flows from the head and it spreads through all the parts and it happens. We are functioning optimally. When every part does its share and every single person in the body of Christ is using your. Gifts. In close contact with others. Now, I found this fascinating, we tend to compartmentalize sometimes these books of the Bible, but there's definitely a flow of thought here. Notice this. We already talked about speaking the truth and love in verse verse 15, but drop down in chapter four to verse twenty five. How does this how does this flow of energy take place? How does energy flow to us and through us to those around us? I think he tells us. Look at chapter four, verse twenty five, therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor for here it is. We are members of one another. So we talked about this last time, right? Speaking truth. Yes, that's being honest, not telling lies. Yes, that's somewhat being transparent. Not living a lie, being who you really are, acknowledging problems and difficulties and struggles and needs to each other in the right setting with the right people to the appropriate degree. But it also involves saying things to each other that contain truth from God's word that encourage us and direct us in times when we need it. And we've seen a lot of that lately. I'll tell you what, as we've been as a church studying a growing body and as we have been praying for God to develop us and strengthen us as a body, I did not anticipate or in any way expect, certainly not desire some of the trauma that we have experienced as a church body this summer. And it's almost like, wait a minute, We were praying for good things to happen. We've been praying for growth. And now our legs are being swept out from under us and we're falling to the ground, pleading for mercy. What is going on? Why are we being hit as hard as we are by tragedy within our church family? And then my next thought is. There are many, many reasons for that, I'm sure, in God's plan. But one is that he does use trials to grow us, does he not? We know that. We always forget that, right, what's going on? Oh, yeah, and we need that reminder, and it's true for us individually, it's true for us as a church. And this these tragedies and things that wound us as people and as a church, we we shrink from them, we we don't understand them, we question them. But then at some point we need to come to the place where we say, all right, what's the truth that we need to know and remember? And then some of that happens where we remind ourselves of it. As I had a sweet conversation out in the atrium before nine o'clock hour with some people talking about some of this and just just expressing the truth about it, not meaningless platitudes, not greeting card poems, truth. What do we know about our God? What do we know that the scriptures tell us and encouraging each other to cling to that? That's speaking truth to each other. And that's a way of providing those nutrients and those impulses and commands and strength from our head, speaking truth to each other. Keep reading. Look in verse twenty eight. Let him who stole steal no longer rather let him labor working with his hands. What is good that he may have something to give him who has need. Sometimes what we need is actual material help. And those who have it see opportunities to share it with others, you know where that happens, it happens in your small groups, it happens in your growth groups and your Sunday classes and in those little settings where you're talking with each other and you hear of a need. It's so sweet to hear about how God's people hear of a need and do something about it and share with and help each other materially. What he's talking about is that is how we connect with each other. That is how we supply that strength. That's how that energy flows as we overcome our selfishness, our greed, our materialism and give to meet the needs of others. Look at verse twenty nine. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth. But what is good for necessary edification? That's one of the words he's been using, building up. That it may impart grace to the hearers. Not using, not saying things to each other, not having the little chatty chats that tear down other people and tear down the church. Not functioning in anger or resentment or bitterness. But speaking words that impart grace, there it is. It's an amazing thing. That God has infinite grace, which is his special help, God doing for us what we can't do for ourselves, and many times that grace flows to and through the people of God, sometimes just by the words that you speak, the encouragement, the truth. The kindness. You become a channel of the grace of God and that energy flows to you and through you to others around you. That's why it's so important for us to come together and be together as we share this with each other. Look at verse thirty one, that all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking, he put away from you with all malice and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. I have experienced the energy that comes from being forgiven by someone else. You know, if you've done something wrong and you've blown it, you've messed up, you've said you failed in some relatively small way or in some major way and you humble yourself and you're honest, you go back and you say, you know, that was wrong. What I said or what I did, I'm just asking you to forgive me. You come with a weight. You've been so burdened by that problem and maybe guilt about it and discouragement. And it keeps you from functioning and growing and serving. But as you come to the other person, you resolve those issues or you're the one that's been offended. You go to that person and you initiate reconciliation. There's a surge of energy that comes when forgiveness takes place. You know what I'm talking about? Have you experienced that? It happens in friendships, it happens in marriages, it happens between kids and parents, it happens between church members, it happens with people in the community. And it's just like that burden is lifted and you you carry on. It's almost like you float away sometimes. And that is one of the ways that this energy flows from one person to another. So how is the energy flow between you and the people around you? Are there hindrances in the nerve synapses? Are the signals not getting across? Are they slowed down? because of a difficult relationship, because of hostility, bitterness, distance, keeping your distance, because of apathy. You only care about yourself. You don't care about the people around you. Are the signals getting across? Are the nutrients flowing? Is the strength being transmitted? How's the body of Christ because of you? Are you helping growth or are you hindering growth? Then he tells us, In verse 16, and if you'll notice back at the beginning of the verse, he says the whole body, then he starts with all these little little ideas out to the side. Then he comes back to it causes growth of the body. So the subject of the verb is the body. The verb is causes growth, the object is the body. So what causes growth? One answer is the body itself causes growth, as he goes on to say, for the edifying of itself in love. So, yes, the head brings growth. Jesus Christ brings growth. The work of the spirit brings growth. The ministry of the word brings growth. But there is there's an element of the body itself taking responsibility and contributing to that growth. And he ends by saying. Causes the growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. It's all in the context of not some nebulous cloud of good feeling. Love is commitment to one another, love is selflessness, love is caring for and doing what is best for the Lord and for the people around you. So, in other words, we're talking about what's important to you. Do you want to bring growth to the body of Christ, you yourself personally, do you yourself personally, are you willing to take responsibility for the edifying of itself? And do you have a care and concern in your heart for the body of Christ? I started this series asking the question, do you care about the church? We all care about ourselves, we want what is comfortable, we want what we're used to. We want what relieves the pain and and alleviates the pressure. We want to come to church and and get a pill that alleviates the pain. We want to hear some little bit of of encouraging snippet that relieves the pressure and gives us a brighter outlook on life. We want to enjoy being with the people that we have easy conversations with. Because we love ourselves. But if we care about the church, we come with a desire and a motivation to to care, to say, to do, to be willing to do what is beyond what we're comfortable with, beyond what helps us individually and personally and really contributes to the growth of the body of Christ. So is that important to you? Is that important to you? Do you care about the church or just yourself? Do you love the church? And that's a good question for us to take with us this morning. For us to just let the Holy Spirit drive deep into our hearts, do I really care about the church, the body of Christ? Do I care about it as a whole? Do I care about what he's doing? Do I care about The people around me, do I care about what my part is? Am I willing to let the Holy Spirit shape my heart, change my attitudes, adjust what I'm used to? Am I willing to immerse myself? And what God is doing, am I willing to make some changes, maybe humble myself and ask forgiveness, maybe maybe strengthen some relationships so that. Those joints can be tightly connected And strongly held together, am I willing to do that? Because I love the Lord and I love his church. If you've had an injury or some kind of disability with. An arm, a hip, a knee, a shoulder. You've probably found that it's not just that one part of you. That's a problem. When you have an injury or disability with one part, it affects the rest of you, doesn't it? If you have if you have a bad knee. It's going to throw everything else off, isn't it? It's going to affect your whole life and affect your ability to function. You'll have pain. It will discourage you emotionally. It'll affect your ability to work. It'll affect your relationships. It affects everything. And the same is true with each of us as members in the body of Christ. If I've got a problem that affects everybody. If you don't care, it affects everybody. If you're out of joint with somebody else, the whole body is hindered by that. On the other hand, if every single one of us will say, Lord, I want my heart to be in close contact with you. I want to be hearing continually from you. I submit myself to you and join together with the people of the body of Christ and say, you know what? Every one of us wants that. And we desire that. Oh, what God can do. When we're when we're developing as he wants us to and functioning as he wants us to, we join me in prayer. Holy Spirit settle upon us. May these be more than mere words. I pray that we would receive what we have heard today as it is in truth, the word of God. We pray that you will touch each of us personally with it. And that you will do your work in this church through it. And that you will impact the community around us by it. Change us that we may impact others. Lord, help us to take it seriously. Would you personally right now just bring your heart and mind before the Lord? And maybe you just need to consciously submit yourself to the head. You might need to make a choice to say, Lord. There's a step of commitment I need to make. There's a relationship. I need to strengthen. or restore. Lord, I'm just selfish. Help me to be loving. Lord, I don't want to hinder this body from growing. I want to help it. In Jesus name, Amen.