Teamwork in the ministry is essential for achieving the goal of glorifying God, as emphasized by Brother Glenn in this podcast. He discusses how the story of a paralyzed man being brought to Jesus illustrates the power of collaboration and compassion among believers. The episode highlights the importance of a committed church team that operates with confidence, compassion, and cooperation to fulfill their mission. Glenn shares insights on how every member of the church has a role to play, emphasizing that individual efforts can lead to collective success in reaching out to others. Ultimately, the message encourages listeners to engage actively in their church community, striving together for the faith of the gospel.
The podcast opens with a warm introduction of Brother Glenn Farron, the pastor of Five Forks Baptist Church, who shares his journey of preaching and the challenges faced in ministry. As the conversation unfolds, Farron reflects on his experiences over the past three years, emphasizing the importance of continual study and commitment to the Word of God. He discusses his current sermon series through the books of Luke and Hebrews, highlighting how these texts have significantly impacted his faith and ministry. He urges listeners to develop a deep passion for studying the Bible, suggesting that a lack of interest may indicate a spiritual issue. The central message is rooted in teamwork within the church, underlining the biblical notion that the community must work collaboratively for the glory of God. Farron articulates that this teamwork is not just about individual efforts but rather a collective striving for a shared mission, which is to glorify God and reach others with the Gospel. He emphasizes the necessity of compassion, confidence, cooperation, and commitment in achieving this goal.
A significant portion of the discussion revolves around the scriptural account of a paralytic being brought to Jesus by four men. This narrative serves as a powerful illustration of teamwork in ministry. Farron explains that the paralytic could not reach Jesus without the help of his friends, highlighting the critical role that each individual plays in the community of faith. He explores the characteristics of an effective church team, stressing that compassion drives action, confidence in God fuels faith, cooperation fosters growth, and commitment ensures perseverance in ministry. Farron’s insights encourage church members to engage actively in their community, sharing the love of Christ with others while also supporting one another in their spiritual journeys. The episode culminates in an exhortation to remain steadfast in the work of the ministry, reminding listeners that the ultimate purpose is to glorify God in all endeavors.
Brother Farron’s message resonates deeply with the listeners as he tackles the various mentalities that can hinder teamwork within the church. He identifies competitive, carnal, careless, corrosive, and cowardly mentalities that can plague church members, impeding their ability to work together. His passionate plea for unity and collaboration serves as an urgent reminder that individualism has no place in the body of Christ. Each person is called to contribute, not merely to receive. Farron encourages listeners to adopt a mindset of service, where everyone is actively involved in ministry efforts, whether through prayer, teaching, or outreach. By framing the church as a team, he challenges the audience to shift their perspective from a consumer mentality to one of active participation. This insightful discussion not only highlights the essence of teamwork in ministry but also calls for a deeper commitment to the collective mission that binds the church together. The episode closes with a prayer, emphasizing reliance on God’s strength and guidance as the church seeks to fulfill its divine calling.
Takeaways:
- Teamwork in the local church is essential for fulfilling its mission and glorifying God.
- Every member of Heritage Baptist Church is called to actively participate in ministry efforts.
- The pastor emphasized the importance of having compassion for others in ministry work.
- Confidence in God’s ability to work through us is crucial for effective ministry.
- Cooperation among church members leads to greater success in achieving spiritual goals.
- Commitment to the church’s vision is necessary for lasting impact in the community.
Transcript
Amen.
Speaker B:It's good to have brother Glenn Farron with us tonight.
Speaker B:Brother Glenn is pastor of the Five Forks Baptist Church in Five Forks, North Carolina.
Speaker B:Five Forks, Hillsboro.
Speaker B:I was told it was Five Forks.
Speaker B:I won't tell you who told me that.
Speaker B:It was a family member.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:And you know what?
Speaker B:It's even more important that Vianney is here and Clarissa and Oliver, that that's who I really wanted to see and not Glenn.
Speaker B:I'm just kidding.
Speaker B:Glenn was on our staff for several years now.
Speaker B:Been pastor in there how long now?
Speaker B:Three years.
Speaker B:You were on staff here three years?
Speaker B:Three years.
Speaker B:All right, Brother Glenn, come on, preach to us after we've.
Speaker B:Not very dignified, am I?
Speaker B:You know what?
Speaker B:I'm glad Glenn's here.
Speaker B:Come on, make this thing clean up the.
Speaker B:Yeah, help us out.
Speaker A:I appreciate that, Pastor, and I always appreciate the opportunity to come back here and preach.
Speaker A:And preaching is a passion of mine, and I enjoy it.
Speaker A:And I'll be honest with you, the more that I preach, the more work I end up having to put into preaching.
Speaker A:If when you first start out preaching, this is just kind of my experience, I kind of would go to all the passages I was familiar with, and then I would exhaust those passages.
Speaker A:And now I'm like, I don't know what to preach, but I've had to really put in a lot of work into it.
Speaker A:And right now, on Sunday mornings, we're going through the book of Luke.
Speaker A:We're in Luke, chapter 17.
Speaker A:We've been going through that for two years at this point.
Speaker A:And on Sunday nights, we're in the book of Hebrews.
Speaker A:And right now, we're in the midst of Hebrews, chapter 11.
Speaker A:And we've been in there for about a year and a half or so, and both of those books have been a huge help, and I really enjoy it.
Speaker A:I really enjoy studying the word of God and all of that.
Speaker A:And by the way, every Christian should enjoy studying the word of God.
Speaker A:I really believe that.
Speaker A:And if you don't, I think something's wrong.
Speaker A:And that's maybe my personal opinion, but I think pastor would agree with that.
Speaker A:And so anyway, I won't say too much fluff here before the message tonight.
Speaker A:Turn, if you would, with me to Mark, chapter number two.
Speaker A:Mark chapter number two this evening.
Speaker A:And I just want to be a help to you tonight if I could, for just a few moments.
Speaker A:I'm thankful to be back.
Speaker A:And again, I'm thankful that you have graciously allowed me to preach tonight.
Speaker A:And I want to Be a help and a blessing to you as a church this evening.
Speaker A:This is not a time to serve myself.
Speaker A:I want to serve the Lord and to serve you by means of preaching the word of God.
Speaker A:And so I hope that what's said here tonight that you'll take it to heart.
Speaker A:And I want to pull out just a small portion of this passage here tonight.
Speaker A:And if you would stand with me for the reading of the word of God.
Speaker A:Mark chapter number two.
Speaker A:Verse number one is where we're going to begin.
Speaker A:We'll read down through verse number 12.
Speaker C:The Bible says, and again he entered.
Speaker A:Into Capernaum after some days.
Speaker A:And it was noised that he was in the house.
Speaker A:And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door.
Speaker A:And he preached the word unto them.
Speaker A:And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was born of four.
Speaker A:And when they could not come nigh unto him, for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was.
Speaker A:And when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
Speaker A:And when Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
Speaker A:But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, why doth this man speak?
Speaker A:Blasphemies.
Speaker A:Who can forgive sins but God only?
Speaker A:And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, why reason ye these things in your heart?
Speaker A:Whether it is easier to say, the sick of the palsy, thy sins be forgiven thee?
Speaker A:Or to say, arise and take up thy bed and walk.
Speaker A:But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins.
Speaker A:He saith to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, arise and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
Speaker A:And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all, insomuch that they were all amazed and glorified.
Speaker A:God saying, we never saw it on this fashion.
Speaker C:Tonight I want to preach to you this message entitled simply teamwork in the ministry.
Speaker A:And we see this man who comes to Christ, and his life is forever changed.
Speaker C:And God gets all the glory because.
Speaker A:Of the work of four men working together to bring this man to Christ.
Speaker A:Let's pray this evening.
Speaker A:Lord, thank you for allowing us to join together around the word of God.
Speaker A:And I pray that you would change our minds tonight.
Speaker A:Lord, I know that there is something in this passage for me tonight.
Speaker A:And for all of us that are present, Lord, something that needs to be awakened in our mind, whether it be.
Speaker C:Something that we currently believe we ought.
Speaker A:Not to or something that we haven't even considered yet in the Christian life.
Speaker A:Somewhere where we fall short, Lord, I pray that you'd show us those things.
Speaker A:And, Lord, may we be conformed to the image of your son.
Speaker C:I pray, Lord, that any decision that.
Speaker A:Is made here tonight to be more like Christ would not be because Pastor Farrind said so or because Pastor Crawford said so, but would it be rooted in the word of God, that our faith may not stand in the wisdom of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God.
Speaker A:And so, Lord, I pray tonight that you would help me to be a blessing.
Speaker A:Empty me of myself, fill me with your spirit, and use me in the way that you see fit.
Speaker A:In Jesus name I pray.
Speaker C:Amen.
Speaker C:Thank you so much for standing.
Speaker A:You may be seated tonight.
Speaker C:Now, tonight, I want us to quickly, by way of introduction, consider the matter of teamwork in the local church.
Speaker C:Now, the goal of the team in the local church is what we see here in this passage closer to the end.
Speaker C:It's found in two different verses.
Speaker A:If you would, tonight, I want you.
Speaker C:To notice in verse number:Speaker C:And then I want you to notice the response of this miracle.
Speaker C:In verse number 12 at the end, it says, insomuch that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, we never saw it on this fashion.
Speaker C:Understand tonight that at the root of all of this ministry here at Heritage Baptist Church is the sole purpose of glorifying God.
Speaker C:It is the sole purpose of bringing those within the church and those in the community surrounding the church into a greater understanding of who God is.
Speaker C:This ministry exists not for the sake of building the name of Heritage Baptist Church, or so that Pastor Crawford could become more well known in the community, but for the purpose of helping God become more well known within this community.
Speaker C:That is the purpose of the existence of this church.
Speaker C:That is tonight.
Speaker C:The goal of Heritage Baptist Church is to bring glory to God.
Speaker C:Now, we do that in many different ways.
Speaker C:We do that through the preaching of the Word of God, and we do that through the giving that you do in the offering plate so that the Word of God can go forward into all the world.
Speaker C:We do that through the Sunday school classrooms and through all of the ministry efforts.
Speaker C:All of that is fine and well.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:And the Bible commands us to do many of the things that Heritage Baptist Church is engaged in on a weekly basis, but all of that so that the glory of God could be known.
Speaker C:And so that is the goal of the team tonight.
Speaker C:And the reality is that Heritage Baptist Church must operate as a team in order for that goal to be met.
Speaker C:Now you can glorify God as an individual.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:But in order for Heritage Baptist Church to properly and to most effectively fulfill its purpose, every single member of this church must work together with one another.
Speaker A:In order to accomplish that goal.
Speaker C:I know some Christians that have the mentality, well, God didn't call me into the ministry and so I really don't have to do anything.
Speaker C:You're there, Pastor Crawford, to serve me.
Speaker C:And Ms.
Speaker C:Tanya, you're there to serve me.
Speaker C:And Brother Stone, he's being paid by my tithe dollars so that he can serve me.
Speaker C:Some Christians have that mentality.
Speaker C:Some Christians have the mentality, well, you know what?
Speaker C:Soul winning is really for those in full time Christian ministry.
Speaker C:Some people that will take a familiar passage like Matthew chapter 28 and say, well, Jesus gave that to his disciples, to the apostles, and those guys were full time Christian ministry.
Speaker C:And so that calling is just for those in full time Christian ministry.
Speaker A:And they kind of twist the word.
Speaker C:Of God that way.
Speaker A:I preached a message a few months.
Speaker C:Ago and something that I had prayed about for a while on the matter of soul winning, that when somebody's life has been touched by the gospel of Jesus Christ, they don't need a commission.
Speaker C:They have a passion burning within their hearts to go and share that news with somebody else.
Speaker C:The disciples in Acts chapter number four said, hey, look, we can't but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
Speaker C:We don't need a commission, we don't need a command.
Speaker C:We have something burning within our hearts.
Speaker C:We've got to go share it with someone else.
Speaker C:I would imagine that somebody that has the mentality, well, soul winning is for the staff member probably doesn't have much of a passion for souls or much.
Speaker A:Of a heart for God.
Speaker C:Soul winning is not just for the staff members.
Speaker C:It's for every born again believer who knows what God has done for them and that if God could do it for them, he could do it for someone else too.
Speaker C:Think about the Christmas story, the shepherds.
Speaker C:Long before Jesus ever gave the great commission, the shepherds were soul winners.
Speaker C:After they had visited the manger scene, what about the woman at the well?
Speaker C:She said, hey, come and see a man.
Speaker C:Which told me all the things that I've ever Done.
Speaker C:She didn't have a commission.
Speaker C:Even people that Jesus said, don't tell anyone.
Speaker C:They said, I've got to go tell somebody.
Speaker A:I wonder if God's going to judge them for disobedience on that one.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker C:That's a good.
Speaker A:Interesting question.
Speaker C:Teamwork is.
Speaker C:It's a team.
Speaker C:I've learned, pastoring a small church, a church much smaller than this one, that I play a role in the church, but I play a much lesser role than I thought a pastor actually played in the church.
Speaker C:I'm one person.
Speaker C:I get up and preach the word of God.
Speaker C:I guess you could say I'm perhaps maybe the most prominent member of the church as far as what people see and who they interact with on a weekly basis.
Speaker C:But there are so many people in our church that they do so many things behind the scenes that I could never do, that I'm not skilled at, that I don't have a passion for.
Speaker C:But they keep that church functioning on a weekly basis.
Speaker C:And I imagine here at Heritage Baptist Church, that's exacerbated times 10.
Speaker C:Here, Pastor Crawford, he stands up behind the pulpit and preaches, and Brother Stone's on staff.
Speaker C:And many people that stand up and you see them on a weekly basis, they're more proud, prominent in your sight.
Speaker C:But there are way many more people that keep this church operating on a weekly basis.
Speaker A:Hey, listen, by the way, this is in my notes tonight.
Speaker A:This is absolutely free.
Speaker C:If you say, you know, I can't.
Speaker A:Do much, but I can at least.
Speaker C:Pray at home, you're doing perhaps the.
Speaker A:Most important thing you can do in the local church.
Speaker C:You're praying for your pastor.
Speaker C:You're praying for your staff members.
Speaker C:You're praying for your church members.
Speaker C:You're praying for a community, for souls to be saved.
Speaker C:Hey, don't diminish the significance of that.
Speaker A:That is a very important thing to do.
Speaker C:What I'm saying here tonight is that it requires all of us working together, striving together for the faith of the gospel.
Speaker C:But in some churches, and the reason I believe that some churches do not work as a team, or some people within the church are not engaged with the team, I believe, is because they fit a few descriptions tonight.
Speaker C:First of all, I think some Christians have a competitive mentality.
Speaker C:What do I mean by that?
Speaker C:They're trying to up one another.
Speaker C:They're trying to be better than the other person.
Speaker C:They're comparing themselves with themselves, which the Bible says is not wise.
Speaker C:And they say, well, I would do it differently than that.
Speaker C:And I, I wouldn't do it that way.
Speaker C:And I think the way they did it was wrong.
Speaker C:And they're constantly comparing and competing with one another.
Speaker C:And listen, a team that's competing against one another cannot ever win the game.
Speaker C:The competitive mentality.
Speaker C:Paul even experienced this in Philippians 1:15.
Speaker C:He said, Some indeed preach Christ, even of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill.
Speaker C:The one preached Christ of contention, not sin, sincerely supposing to add afflictions to my bonds.
Speaker C:I pray there's not someone here tonight that is trying to compete against your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, but is trying to strive together to accomplish the goal of bringing glory to God.
Speaker C:Often with the competitive mentality, we're trying to bring glory to ourselves.
Speaker C:And sometimes when we try to bring glory to ourselves, we end up on purpose or sometimes haphazardly stepping on others and hurting them.
Speaker C:We'll tear them down in the process in order to build ourselves up if we have that competitive mentality.
Speaker C:Some Christians have a carnal mentality.
Speaker C:I think of the Corinthian Church.
Speaker C:They were known for their carnal mentality.
Speaker C:And what was the evidence of that carnal, that immature mentality where.
Speaker C:Well, they also had this comparative type of spirit.
Speaker C:But it was a divisiveness within the church based on different camps and groups they fit in.
Speaker C:But one said, well, I'm of Paul and I'm of Apollos, and you have the ultra spiritual, well, I'm of Christ.
Speaker C:They were all comparing with each other and they were all divided based on who had baptized them or who had led them to Christ or whatever it may be.
Speaker C:And Paul says, listen, I'm nothing.
Speaker C:Apollos is nothing.
Speaker C:But we're just men who watered, we're men who planted.
Speaker C:God is the one who gave the increase.
Speaker C:God is the one that saved your soul.
Speaker C:God is the one that drew you by his Holy Spirit.
Speaker C:God is the one that sanctifies you.
Speaker C:We're just simply laborers together in the harvest with God.
Speaker C:But a carnal mentality, one who's always concerning himself with the frivolous, with the vain, is not going to work together with the team.
Speaker C:Hey, listen, if you walk into Heritage.
Speaker A:Baptist Church and your first thought is, I can't believe they took the projectors down and put up the screens.
Speaker A:That's a carnal mentality.
Speaker C:Whether we have projectors, whether we have screens, whether we have carpet, tile or whether we have hardwood flooring, whether the pulpit is a light color wood or a dark color wood, whether the parking lot was designed the way we wanted, whether the new building that's going up is exactly what we thought it was going to be.
Speaker C:Hey, listen, all of that doesn't matter very much in light of eternity.
Speaker C:It's all a vessel that God uses to bring glory to him.
Speaker C:But a carnal Christian can't get past those things and can't work together with.
Speaker A:His team to accomplish the task.
Speaker A:Some Christians have a careless mentality.
Speaker C:They just simply don't care.
Speaker C:They're content to come to church whenever they feel like it.
Speaker C:They're content to kind of feed off of the pastor and feed off of what the church can do for them, but really what they can pour into the church and how they can serve in the church and how they can lead souls to Christ.
Speaker C:They really don't care.
Speaker A:Kind of sad, really.
Speaker C:Somebody cared for them.
Speaker C:Somebody came to their door and invited them to church.
Speaker C:Somebody led them to Christ.
Speaker C:Somebody gave their tithe dollars so that the gospel could reach.
Speaker C:But when it comes to them getting active and participating to see others come to Christ, they don't really have any interest in that.
Speaker C:Maybe they're too busy caring about other things.
Speaker C:By the way, I've never met a person who's totally careless about everything.
Speaker C:You care about something.
Speaker C:You care about yourself.
Speaker C:You care about your job.
Speaker C:You care about making money.
Speaker C:You care about your friends.
Speaker C:You care about your.
Speaker C:Your favorite sports team.
Speaker C:You care about this and that.
Speaker A:God give us some Christians who care about souls.
Speaker A:God give us some Christians who care.
Speaker C:About God himself, who love God, who aren't careless about the local church, but are passionate about seeing it move forward for the glory of God.
Speaker C:Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Speaker A:You ought to care about one another here tonight.
Speaker C:By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another.
Speaker A:But a careless mentality will never accomplish the work of the team.
Speaker A:Some Christians have a corrosive mentality.
Speaker C:They want to see things fall apart.
Speaker C:It brings them pleasure.
Speaker C:It brings them joy.
Speaker C:To cause division and to cause strife.
Speaker A:We learn of those in second Timothy.
Speaker C:Chapter two, where Paul says, shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
Speaker C:Let me ask you this.
Speaker C:Are you the type of person who is promoting godliness or ungodliness at Heritage Baptist Church?
Speaker C:You're doing one or the other.
Speaker C:Some people have the idea I can.
Speaker A:Just kind of come and kind of.
Speaker C:Sneak in the back and nobody's going to know my Name.
Speaker C:Nobody's going to know that I'm here and I'm just going to kind of do my thing and then move on.
Speaker C:You will promote godliness at Heritage Baptist Church or you will promote ungodliness.
Speaker C:And here were those in the church that were promoting ungodliness.
Speaker C:They will increase unto more ungodliness.
Speaker C:Their word will eat as doth a canker, of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus, who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already and overthrow the faith of some.
Speaker C:Be very careful in this church that God has built over the last 25 years, 24 years.
Speaker C:Be very careful that you don't come into this church and start tearing down everything that God has built.
Speaker C:Start tearing down everything that Pastor Crawford has built the through the grace of God.
Speaker C:Start tearing down that staff members and church members and those that were here especially in the early days have instilled in other people's lives.
Speaker C:Hey, listen, be very careful you don't come into church and start to overthrow the faith of some.
Speaker C:It can be very easy if we come in with a careless mentality.
Speaker C:Let's just say that somebody has been faithful that week to go out soul winning.
Speaker C:And they finally, they.
Speaker C:They've got their first guest that's coming to church ever.
Speaker C:They finally got a guest.
Speaker C:By the way, in my experience, it takes hundreds and thousands of invitations for me to bring one person to church.
Speaker C:It takes a lot of work.
Speaker C:And you finally bring your first soul to Christ.
Speaker C:And they come in the back door of the church and you're so excited and they see brother Gentry and Brother Gentry is like, oh, they stink.
Speaker A:Now I'm being silly tonight and I'm picking on Brother Gentry because I don't think he'd get mad at me, but maybe Mrs.
Speaker A:Gentry would.
Speaker A:So I don't.
Speaker C:Now that's a silly illustration.
Speaker C:But that visitor over here is Brother Gentry.
Speaker A:Say that.
Speaker C:And now Brother Gentry has overthrown the work of that one soul winner.
Speaker A:Now, I'm not saying Brother Gentry would do that, I don't think.
Speaker C:But listen, it can be very easy with a bad attitude to begin to tear down something that has been built.
Speaker A:Up in someone's life.
Speaker C:We ought to be very intentional when.
Speaker A:We come into church.
Speaker C:We ought to be very intentional with the words that we say.
Speaker C:We ought to be very intentional in.
Speaker A:All of those things.
Speaker C:And so I've got to hurry tonight.
Speaker C:So some have a corrosive mentality.
Speaker C:Some Christians have a cowardly mentality.
Speaker C:They're just not going to get involved.
Speaker C:It scares them.
Speaker C:The times that we live in, they're just a little bit nervous about it.
Speaker C:Hey, listen.
Speaker C:God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Speaker C:Hey, listen, when we have the authority of Christ behind us and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, there's no reason to be scared.
Speaker C:Scared.
Speaker C:There's every reason to move forward with boldness, preaching the word of God.
Speaker C:One of the prayers we find in Acts, chapter 4.
Speaker C:After the apostles had stood before the council and had been commanded not to preach any more of the gospel, there was a prayer by the church that God would give them boldness in their witness.
Speaker A:We all need boldness.
Speaker C:And so that's, by the way, that's.
Speaker A:My introduction and it's already 6:40.
Speaker C:So if you'll give me just 10 minutes of your time to get through these notes tonight and we'll be on our way.
Speaker C:But let's be reminded, the Bible says we are to strive together for the faith of the gospel.
Speaker C:This is a team effort.
Speaker C:And we see here in Mark, chapter number two, some teamwork to get this man to Christ.
Speaker C:This man who could not, by the way, get himself there.
Speaker C:It required four men bringing him there.
Speaker C:So notice if you would, four descriptions tonight of an effective church team.
Speaker C:An effective church that's going to work together to accomplish the mission of bringing glory to God.
Speaker C:Number one.
Speaker C:It requires a team with compassion.
Speaker C:It requires a team with compassion.
Speaker C:Now, I don't know about you, but I'm not going to carry a man who is sick of the palsy.
Speaker C:I'm not going to carry him as far as these men would have carried him and do all the work that they would have done unless I loved that man, unless I cared for his soul, unless I wanted to see him healed of his infirmity.
Speaker C:Here are four men who looked on a man that had a disease, who.
Speaker C:Who looked on a man that had an ailment, who looked on a man that was crippled from his birth and said, I love you enough to bring you to Christ Jesus.
Speaker C:He looked out on the fields.
Speaker C:He saw that they were white already to harvest.
Speaker C:He's looking out amongst all of the multitude.
Speaker C:And the Bible says he was moved with compassion on them because he saw them as sheep having no shepherd.
Speaker C:They were faded and scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd.
Speaker C:Hey, listen, I know sometimes it's easy to get angry at what goes on in Washington, D.C.
Speaker C:and sometimes it's easy to get angry at that person that cut you off in traffic.
Speaker C:Hey, but listen, we don't know what these people go through behind closed doors.
Speaker C:We don't know what they're crying about at night.
Speaker C:We don't know the burdens of their hearts.
Speaker C:We don't know who's hurt them, who's broken their heart.
Speaker C:We don't know all of the problems that are going on in their life.
Speaker C:And instead of them getting another angry response at what they did, they maybe what we need to do is reach out with some compassion and love those.
Speaker A:People.
Speaker C:That cashier at Walmart who's just unkind.
Speaker C:Hey, maybe instead of leaving a nasty.
Speaker A:Google review, if you still do that.
Speaker A:I don't know if that's still a thing I do.
Speaker A:I leave Google reviews.
Speaker A:I've got 4,000 views on my Google reviews.
Speaker C:Maybe instead of leaving that nasty Google review.
Speaker A:Hey, can I invite you to Heritage Baptist Church?
Speaker A:It seems like you're having a rough day.
Speaker C:And you can come here to this.
Speaker A:Church this Sunday and I promise you you'll receive a blessing.
Speaker A:Hey, can I tell you what God did for you?
Speaker A:He loved you.
Speaker A:He loved you so much he sent his only son to die for you.
Speaker A:And I just feel like you need to hear that today.
Speaker A:Maybe reach out with some compassion.
Speaker C:Here were some men who had compassion.
Speaker C:Secondly, an effective church team is a team not only with compassion, but a team with confidence.
Speaker C:A team with confidence.
Speaker C:Now this wasn't a self confidence, but this was a God confidence.
Speaker C:Notice if you would with me in verse number five where the Bible says when Jesus saw their faith.
Speaker C:Now the word confidence can be synonymous with the word faith.
Speaker C:It is knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is who he says he is.
Speaker C:And that is God is going to work his will.
Speaker C:He has the power to do so.
Speaker C:The Bible says, for without faith it is impossible to please him.
Speaker C:For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Speaker C:And listen, tonight we have a powerful God and we have a loving God who wants the best for each and every one of us.
Speaker C:And it's about time that some members of Heritage Baptist Church who have not gotten in with the team start getting in with the team, believing that God can use them to do something great for his glory.
Speaker C:Those cowardly we talked about just a little bit ago.
Speaker C:Hey, listen, you need to have some confidence in God tonight knowing that it's not you who's trying, it's not you who has to produce the results, it's God who doesn't I plant?
Speaker C:I've planted plants before and I've watered plants before and I've killed every one of them.
Speaker C:I'm so glad that it is not up to me to make the plant grow.
Speaker A:On a more serious note tonight, I'm.
Speaker C:So glad it's not up to me.
Speaker A:To make the church grow.
Speaker C:God is the one who blesses our efforts of planting and watering if we are faithful just to step out in.
Speaker A:Confidence, knowing that he can.
Speaker A:Thirdly, tonight, a team with confidence, a team with cooperation.
Speaker C:Now, this is kind of the point of the message tonight, but a team that is cooperating together, a team that is working together.
Speaker C:First Corinthians, chapter three, verse number nine.
Speaker C:We are laborers together with God.
Speaker C:Some people labor in the church separately from one another.
Speaker C:But my friend, that is not a biblical concept.
Speaker C:We are to labor together.
Speaker C:When you go out soul winning.
Speaker C:Listen, it's a good thing to share the gospel wherever you go, even if you're by yourself.
Speaker C:But can I encourage you not to go knock doors by yourself, but to bring a partner with you?
Speaker C:There's a lot of wisdom in that.
Speaker A:That we won't get into tonight.
Speaker C:But there's also, there's a cooperation that's going on.
Speaker C:When I go out door knocking with somebody, actually draw closer with them in the process.
Speaker C:I get to talk with them and I get to learn about them and I get to train them or they get to train me.
Speaker C:Those of you who don't know how to win a soul to Christ, why don't you ask somebody who does?
Speaker C:Can I go with you?
Speaker C:Can you teach me?
Speaker C:Can you show me how to do this thing called soul winning?
Speaker C:I don't even know what that means, but can you take me and show me what you do?
Speaker C:Cooperate together?
Speaker C:And by the way, let us not have an arrogant mentality where we are too good to go with someone lesser and help them.
Speaker C:I tend towards that.
Speaker C:I want to always go with someone who's going to make me stronger, not someone who I perceive is going to drag me down.
Speaker C:And that's a sinful mentality.
Speaker C:To have those that are stronger in the faith, we ought to help encourage their faith.
Speaker C:Those that are weaker, we ought to help grow them.
Speaker C:We ought to help nurture them.
Speaker C:We ought to bring them along with us, help disciple them.
Speaker C:Listen, it may be a little awkward to hear them present the gospel for the first time, but there's some great excitement in that they're presenting the gospel for the first time.
Speaker A:Cooperation sometimes.
Speaker A:I remember playing on sports teams in.
Speaker C:High school and maybe I wasn't as good as the older person of the older people on the team.
Speaker C:And I was often the one who would get neglected to have the ball.
Speaker A:Passed to me because, well, I wasn't as good as someone else.
Speaker C:And then when I got old enough to be a starter on the team.
Speaker A:Then I would do the same thing.
Speaker C:I wouldn't pass to that guy.
Speaker A:He's gonna.
Speaker C:I'm going to kick him the ball.
Speaker A:And he's just going to dribble it right out of bounds.
Speaker A:But listen, that's kind of a silly illustration because that's high school sports.
Speaker A:But in the work of the ministry, if we don't pass the ball to.
Speaker C:Them and give them an opportunity, give them a chance, train them, how are.
Speaker A:They ever going to do it?
Speaker C:How are they ever going to be a soul winner?
Speaker C:How are they ever going to be a good Bible teacher?
Speaker C:How are they ever going to know how to study the Bible for themselves if we don't exert the effort and come alongside of them and maybe be willing to risk some embarrassment with them so that they can eventually become the soul winner that God wants them to be?
Speaker C:A team with cooperation.
Speaker A:We are laborers together with God.
Speaker A:And then lastly tonight, a team with commitment.
Speaker A:A team with commitment.
Speaker A:Here we find four men.
Speaker A:They had compassion on this man, so they brought him to Christ.
Speaker C:They were confident, and so they brought him to the only one who could.
Speaker A:Do something about it.
Speaker C:They cooperated together.
Speaker C:Each man on each corner of the bed, bringing him to where the Lord was.
Speaker A:And then we see a team with commitment.
Speaker A:Now notice what the Bible says in our passage tonight as we close in verse number four.
Speaker A:And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was.
Speaker A:And when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
Speaker A:And Jesus saw their faith and said, unto the sick of the palsy, son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
Speaker A:Some teams give up.
Speaker A:I often wonder why you would ever be a Bears fan this year.
Speaker C:And then I look at my college team that I support, the NC State Wolf Pack, and our slogan is this.
Speaker C:Well, next year's our year.
Speaker A:That's our slogan.
Speaker A:Next year.
Speaker A:We got this next year.
Speaker C:And always disappoints me.
Speaker C:But you know what?
Speaker C:I'm committed to my team.
Speaker C:And you're committed to your team.
Speaker C:Rain or shine, you're committed.
Speaker C:It's about time in the local church.
Speaker A:That we get committed to the work of the ministry.
Speaker C:And here's what I mean by that.
Speaker C:Not that we're going to dabble in everything until something works, but that we're going to stick with something.
Speaker C:I know God's called me to do this.
Speaker C:I know God wants me to be involved in this way.
Speaker C:I've asked Pastor, I've gone through the spiritual gifts test.
Speaker C:I know this is where I need to be planted.
Speaker C:And we give it two months, and nobody's been saved and our class hasn't grown, and I don't see any fruit from my ministry.
Speaker C:So you know what?
Speaker C:I'm just going to kind of give up and maybe I'll try something else later on.
Speaker C:These men, when they got to the crowd, they didn't say, well, all right.
Speaker A:Drop them on the ground and just walk away.
Speaker A:That's it.
Speaker A:We can't get to them.
Speaker C:I'm sorry, buddy.
Speaker A:We're going to have to try again next year.
Speaker A:Next time he comes into town, maybe.
Speaker C:No, no, no.
Speaker C:They made a way where there was no way they were committed to getting this man to Christ.
Speaker C:Hey, hey, listen.
Speaker C:You may have not 55, 50,000 doors and not one person has come to Christ.
Speaker C:Can I encourage you to knock 50,001 doors.
Speaker C:50,002 doors.
Speaker C:50,003 doors.
Speaker C:I've taught my Sunday school class for four years, and I've only seen one new person come into my class.
Speaker C:Hey, can I encourage you to teach that next year and that next year and pray and labor over those souls and continue to study and continue to go at the work, working together as a team.
Speaker A:A team that is effective for the glory of God is a team that is committed to the cause of Christ.
Speaker C:No matter whether the results come.
Speaker A:The Bible says, let us not be.
Speaker C:Weary in well doing, for in due.
Speaker A:Season we shall reap if we faint.
Speaker C:Not too many people faint.
Speaker C:I believe, right when God wants to.
Speaker A:Give the increase, let us not faint.
Speaker C:In the work of the ministry.
Speaker A:These four men, they work together as.
Speaker C:A team to bring this man to Christ.
Speaker A:As a church tonight, you have a.
Speaker C:Great calling, and that is to bring glory to God.
Speaker C:And you do so through a variety of means.
Speaker A:And it's incumbent upon Heritage Baptist Church to strive together, together as a team for the faith of the gospel.
Speaker A:Let us pray tonight.
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