Living Sacrifices: Embracing Our Call to Serve in Unity

Well, we're gonna be in Romans chapter 12 if you have not been with us.

We have been going through the book of Romans for quite some time.

And now we've made it to Romans chapter 12, and we're just gonna set in and we're gonna learn.

The thing is, is that when we get to Romans chapter 12, we see everything that we've learned from Romans chapter one through Romans chapter 11 by way of what we should believe.

And now In Romans chapter 12, Paul is telling us through the inspiration of Scripture that this is how you're supposed to live out what you believe.

And part of living out what we believe is serving within the body of Christ.

It is God's desire.

It is God's plan for us to walk in unity together, to serve one another for the bigger purpose of proclaiming the gospel and glorifying him through lifting up others in his truth.

And so In Romans chapter 12, he started out in verse one with the challenge.

And the challenge was this, to present ourselves a living sacrifice unto the Lord.

He says, it's your reasonable service, it's your logical service to serve the One who gave you everything.

Folks, I think sometimes we just need to be reminded again and again and again about how good God has been to us.

How, how forgiving, how loving, how patient.

The greatest example of love is by giving his only begotten Son for us.

And so Paul says, do that.

He says in verse two, don't be conformed to this world.

Don't be pushed into the mold that the world wants you to be in.

He says, no, be transformed, be changed.

Second Corinthians, chapter five tells us that we're new creatures that were new creations in the Lord.

So he says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you can demonstrate that good and acceptable and perfect will of God in your life.

I hope it is your desire to walk in the will of God in your life.

And to walk in the will of God means to serve at whatever capacity that he has called you to serve.

The Bible tells us here in verse 3 of Romans 12, that it is through his grace that we're able to serve it all.

And he gives different people in different ways.

And so when we got to verse number six, we see that it says having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us.

And he begins to list these motivational ministry gifts.

And so we've gone through two already.

We've gone through the gift of prophecy or perceiving the, the idea of proclaiming the truth of God.

So it's recognizing and proclaiming the truth of God.

And then we looked at last week, the idea of ministry or service.

Using our hands, using our feet, behind the scenes, serving so that other people can do what God has called them to do.

And so now we're gonna look this week at verse number seven, and we see that it says, or he that teacheth on teaching.

So this week we're gonna look at the motivational ministry gift of teaching.

You know, we know that every believer has received at least one spiritual gift by the grace of God.

And what we've learned so far is that these gifts are not earned.

They are not rewards for spiritual maturity, because we are gifted these in the Holy Spirit even as we're immature Christians.

But they're graciously given to us by God for the purpose of building his church and glorifying Christ.

These gifts are not given to us so that we can be praised or that we can have a claim or that people can lift us up.

No, these gifts are given to us through.

So that we can lift up the name of the Lord, so that we can lift up others in the name of the Lord.

And so In Romans, chapter 12, it reminds us that every member of the body has a unique function.

Some are called to proclaim the truth.

Some are called to serve quietly behind the scenes.

Some are called to encourage.

Some are called to give, some lead, Some show mercy.

We know that even though we're not necessarily spiritually gifted in all of these areas, we.

We're called to exercise these areas in our life and ask God to help us grow in these areas.

I said here that some are called to give, but all are called to give, but some are just gifted more naturally to give.

And so there's that mechanism in which God works through us in a more natural sense.

So we're gonna come today to the gift of teaching.

And I believe it's one of the foundational gifts within the church.

And though not all of us are supernaturally gifted by the grace of God to teach, I do believe that all of us, to some degree, are called to teach.

And we're called to recognize good teaching with others.

And so we're coming to this passage of Scripture with a lot on our minds with.

But without teaching, the church becomes spiritually immature.

If there's not truth explained, there's going to be a limitation in spiritual growth.

So we looked at two weeks ago the gift of prophecy.

And part of the gift of prophecy is proclaiming truth.

So it would be someone who can identify the truth.

Of God, clearly see it and clearly proclaim it to other people and let them know whether or not they're in the truth of God.

So that's part of preaching.

We need proclamation of the truth within the church.

If I got up here and said, well, truth is whatever you want it to be, or truth is going to change, there's going to be a lot of hard times that we're going to face in our Christian walk.

If we think that times are changing, therefore truth changes.

We know that truth stays the same.

We know that we're sanctified by God's truth.

We know that even Jesus tells us in the Book of John that the truth will set us free.

But the other aspect of truth is teaching.

Because though someone can proclaim the truth to someone, there might be a hesitancy to explain the truth to someone.

And so teaching and preaching come right alongside of one another.

We have someone who proclaims the truth, and it might be the same person who explains the truth.

But.

But there is a great need for teaching within the body of Christ without sound doctrine and sound doctrine explained, churches can be vulnerable to false teaching.

Folks, if we don't stand on the truth, if we're not vigilant in protecting ourselves from these false teachings, we're going to fall right into the trap that we thought we would never fall into.

And that is believing something that is not biblical.

And so without faithful teachers, believers remain what we would call spiritual infants rather than growing into mature disciples of Jesus Christ.

The Bible over and over again in the New Testament likens the spiritual growth process to the physical growth process.

We know that the Bible tells us that as Christians in First Peter chapter two, that we're supposed to desire the sincere milk of the Word so that we can grow, thereby meaning as a believer, we cannot grow unless we have a desire and an intake of the word of God.

And so, just as if we had a baby born here within the church, which I praise God, we have babies being born in the church.

That's a good thing.

That's one way to grow the church, is to have more babies born.

But as a baby is born, we see this child and we know that this child needs nutrients.

We know that this child needs some sort of protection.

This child needs to be able to be taught what it means to walk and to eat and to talk.

And that's the same thing as a spiritual babe in Christ.

Sometimes we see people come to Jesus and we just say, hey, figure it out on your own.

That's not wise.

That's not something that's going to be successful.

Sometimes we see someone that's a babe in Christ and they act like a babe in Christ and we get upset with them.

We say, why don't you act like you were a Christian saved for 50 years?

It's the same reason why I don't hold my 2 year old and my 11 year old to the same standard.

You say, I think you should.

Well, it's kind of hard to expect a 2 year old to be the same way as an 11 year old.

If my 2 year old has a tantrum, I don't justify it, I don't celebrate it.

But I understand that that two year old tantrum is something that needs to be taught.

But if my 11 year old is throwing the same tantrum as my 2 year old, there's gonna be a big issue there because he needs to know better than that, he needs to grow in that.

And so when we teach Christians the truths of God's Word, we're teaching them at the appropriate stage, at the appropriate time, with the appropriate amount.

And so the teacher serves Christ by helping people understand what God has already said.

God has given us truth and we find the truth in the Word.

We can't find our truth elsewhere.

We have to find our truth in Scripture.

As hard as it might be, truth is found in the word of God.

But I think we all can understand that there's going to be times in all of our lives that we get to a passage of Scripture and we say, okay, I see what it says, but what does that mean?

I see what that says, but how do I live that out?

Well, that's the role of the teacher.

The role of the teacher is applying the truth of God to a practical setting so that a person can tangibly understand the truth and then believe the truth and then apply the truth to their life.

And so In Romans chapter 12, verse 7, we see that this is a gift given by God within the church so that people can grow.

This simple command reminds us that teachers are to devote themselves to the careful study and faithful communication to God's Word.

So let's understand this gift of teaching.

The gift of teaching is a spirit given grace, a spirit given desire and motivation to serve God in the body by careful, in depth study of God's Word and related biblical materials and organizing those truths into a systematic format so that it can be clearly communicated to others.

For what?

For the building of Christ's church and the glory of God.

So just as much as a teacher should be explaining the truth A teacher should be studying the truth.

And so some of you that are teachers in the world, whether it be in a school setting or another training setting, within your job, you understand that you can only teach what you know and that you have to prepare yourself.

And so part of the gift of teaching is the gift of preparation to get to a place where, where we can explain the truths of God to other people.

So unlike prophecy that we talked about a few weeks ago, it's often motivated not just by declaring the truth immediately, but by being motivated to understand the truth deeply before communicating it.

Folks, if I just read through a verse one time and try to get up and teach you that verse, I may or may not have all of the tools needed to equip you for the work of the ministry.

By the way, the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 4 that it is the role of church leadership, particularly the pastor and teacher, to equip the saints.

Or as the King James says, perfect the saints for the work of the ministry.

Now, who are the saints?

Well, those are the real special people.

No, biblically speaking, the saints are those that are separated for the cause of the gospel.

So if you're a believer this morning, if you're saved, you are a saint.

Therefore, the role of the church, particularly church leadership and the teaching that comes in the church is to equip you as the believer for the work of the ministry.

So it's not.

I'm not the only person supposed to be ministering within the church.

It's actually supposed to be every men, every member is a minister.

Therefore we are called to explain and equip the truth.

So what are we doing here?

Well, it is a motivation to declare truth, but to declare it in such a way that people can use it for the cause of the gospel.

So the prophet asks, is it true?

The teacher asks why it's true.

The prophet confronts, the teacher explains, the prophet warns, the teacher builds understanding.

Both are gifts of love and truth, but they are just approached differently.

So we know that teaching is both a serving and a speaking gift.

And therefore teaching certainly involves some level of speaking.

We has to be.

But even before it's a speaking gift, it has to be a serving gift.

Because teachers have to spend countless hours looking at things, studying things, comparing scripture, researching history, bringing in context, organizing thoughts, and preparing lessons so that people can come to a place of understanding.

And don't forget about the prayer right.

To be a teacher, we have to pray and prepare ourselves for the application of truth.

So most of the time, people only see 30 minute lessons, or if you're in Pastor Josh's sermons and he's really wordy that morning, an hour long sermon, you say, well that's, that's what we see.

And pastor, I thought you only worked one hour a week.

Folks, a teacher of the gospel should be working more than one hour a week.

There should be hours of prayer, hours of preparation that go into what we do, especially even with our children.

A lot of people think that teaching our children and we just give them a Sunday school lesson and go, folks, pray over those lessons, prepare, give as much interest as we can to the excitement of the word of God so that people can taste of that excitement and apply that.

So what's a teacher's motivation?

A teacher's motivation is to research, to understand, to organize, to communicate biblical doctrine.

There's a desire for accuracy, there's a desire for clarity, there's a desire for understanding.

And the greatest joy that a teacher has is hearing someone say, I've never understood this passage before, but now I see it, now I can apply it.

Some of you that have taught in your life, you've, you've realized that light bulb moment and that that's kind of like an addictive thing.

You want that happening more because you see someone explaining truth and then obtaining truth and then applying truth.

That is really the goal for all teachers within the church.

That is to communicate and apply those truths that God has given us in our life.

So as we've been studying, we know that each person who's exercising these gifts can exercise them within the spirit or within the flesh.

So if we're walking in obedience to God, it'll look a certain way.

If someone's teaching in the flesh, it's going to look a certain way.

And I want to quickly just kind of go through that here now.

So someone who's walking in the Spirit as a teacher, they validate truth.

They're like the Bereans in Acts, chapter 17, verse 11.

They check what's being stated.

There's something about knowing that this is true truth, not tradition is the authority.

So there's a validation of truth.

But also we see that a teacher walking in the Spirit collects truth, finding every resource that they can to explain the word of God, to understand historical background, to cross reference scripture, to come to a place of understanding, context.

A person who's gifted in the spirit that's walking as a teacher is going to enjoy research.

They're going to love asking questions like why was this written?

Who was the audience?

What does this word Mean, what does this fit into the whole counsel of God?

And so research is not just academic, it's actually worship for the person who is a teacher.

They desire to be thorough.

They verify their sources because truth matters.

They come to a place like Second Timothy, chapter two, verse 15 says, Study to show thyself approved unto God.

A workman needeth not to be ashamed.

Rightly dividing the word of truth.

A teacher walking in the Spirit does everything he or she can do to rightly divide, to rightly understand the word of truth.

They respect faithful teachers.

They learn from other people.

Paul mentored Timothy, and we know Timothy was a teacher.

Moses mentor Joshua, Joshua was a teacher.

Elijah mentored Elisha.

And we see that process going on and on.

So they seek to clear up confusion.

They're uncomfortable with subjective teaching.

Speaking as someone who has, I believe, some indication to be a teacher, I struggle with someone who gets up and says, well, things can be this way or things can be this way.

It's however you want it to be.

No, there is a clear way to teach certain passages of Scripture.

And so there is a desire to make things objectively true, which we know God's word is objectively true.

They reserve judgment until they know the full facts of the whole situation.

They become troubled when Scripture is taken out of context.

They believe Bible study is foundational to spiritual growth.

They naturally turn to Scripture for answers.

And they believe exposure to biblical truth truly changes lives.

As we saw in John 17:17.

Sanctify them by thy truth.

Thy word is truth.

A teacher that's walking in the Spirit will celebrate all of those things.

But a teacher who is walking in the flesh, a teacher who is walking in their own wisdom, will operate in different ways.

Maybe they'll emphasize credentials over character.

Someone comes up and is going to teach and they go, yeah, but what, what school did they go to?

What, what degrees do they have?

How long have they been preaching?

Well, what.

What title is after their name?

So there's an emphasis on credentials over their character, which is a problem.

Sometimes they become overly critical of others.

There is a place for constructive criticism within the church, but there is a level of overly criticizing someone just because you don't appreciate their credentials.

Sometimes there's a demand before of perfection before accepting someone else's ministry.

Sometimes they neglect practical application.

Sometimes a teacher will get up and talk about all these truths, but then not be able to apply it even to their own life.

Sometimes a teacher walking in the flesh will become prideful in their knowledge.

Sometimes they'll become discouraged when others don't appreciate the details like them.

Now, folks, I'm going to tell you, as a preacher is preaching, I am feeling this cut in my heart, okay?

Sometimes I get frustrated when people don't get excited about the etymology of a word.

I'm like, guys, don't you understand that this Greek word has three parts and it means this word and this word and this word.

Books.

Not everyone's going to get excited about that.

And if we're walking in the flesh, sometimes we can become bitter and judgmental if someone doesn't see it the same way that we do.

And so at the, at this point, we have to understand that there is a level of sinfulness when our gifts are being acted out in the flesh.

Sometimes they become discouraged when other people don't follow their lesson.

Sometimes they refuse to move forward unless every question is answered.

Sometimes they overlook evangelism.

And instead of going out and sharing their faith, they're more about coming into their own and studying for themselves.

Sometimes they depend upon study more than the Holy Spirit.

One commentator said it this way.

They're about their studies more than the Savior.

They hold people's past mistakes against them, and sometimes in the flesh, fall in love with theology more than Jesus himself.

The warning against this is in First Corinthians, chapter 8.

It says, Knowledge puffeth up, but charity Edifieth.

And so even the greatest theologian in the world is not someone who knows the most about God, but the greatest theologian is the one who knows the most about walking with the Lord.

It's the one who loves Christ the most.

And so we look at some godly spirit filled examples of a teacher, but then we look at those flesh filled examples, and we do that so that we can all identify, so that we can all evaluate where we are.

But one of the other things that we've been doing in this study is that we've been looking at other biblical examples of people who have these gifts.

So let's look at one of those examples even now.

It's found in Acts, chapter 18.

We could go to a lot of people when it comes to the example of a good teacher.

But one example that I think is a great example, but also one that isn't talked about as much, is a man named Apollos.

Acts 18:24.

Acts 18:24 tells us about this man named Apollos who had a desire to teach and who saw many things happen in the name of the Lord because he was faithful to the gift that God had given him.

Acts, chapter 18, verse 24 says a certain Jew named Apollos, born in Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.

So what do we know so far?

We know that Apollos knew the Bible, he researched scripture.

He was a man who desired to know more truth about God.

And the Bible says not only did he know a lot, but he was also eloquent.

So he was well spoken.

Verse 25.

This man was instructed in the way of the Lord.

And so we know that he was a man not just of teaching but also of learning.

He had been instructed.

So let me say it this way.

For someone to be a good teacher, they must be a good learner.

For someone to be able to tell others what to do in the Lord, they must understand themselves what to do in the Lord and what to believe.

So we see that he was instructed in the way of the Lord and he was passionate and being fervent in the Spirit.

So we see that he's acting in the Spirit.

He spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.

So we see that there were some limitations to Apollos understanding.

He didn't know everything he knew up to a certain point, and he taught faithfully in what he knew.

He was mighty in the scriptures, he was eloquent, he was accurate up to a point, and he was bold in his public ministry.

But we see here something very amazing that isn't often seen with those that are gifted in the area of teaching.

It says in verse 26.

And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly or more accurately.

So one aspect we see here of Apollos is that he was willing to be corrected, he was willing to learn, he was willing to adapt his teaching style and his teaching content.

I. I know that there's times in my life where I'm tempted to think that hey, you know what?

There's nobody that can tell me what to do in this because I know what I'm about to teach, I know how to do this.

And so there's going to be people that sometimes can get stuck in a certain way and not be teachable.

But for us as Christians, particularly those that are called to teach, we must understand that there is a call for us to be teachable.

So when Aquila and Priscilla recognized that his understanding was lacking, they privately and properly explained to him the way of God in a clearer sense.

And so I would say it this way, a gifted teacher like Apollos never stops learning.

Never stops learning.

A good Christian never stops learning.

After receiving further instruction, Apollos becomes even more effective in ministry.

Look at verse 27, says, and when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him who when he was come help them much which had believed through grace.

For he mightily convince the Jews, and that publicly showing by the Scriptures that Jesus was Christ.

So what happened was this.

Apollos had a gift from God to study the Word.

He studied the Word.

He faithfully preached what he knew, then when was confronted with more information, was willing and ready to learn more.

And when he was taught more, he went and presented that in a clearer way.

And what we would say is a compelling way in verse 28, that there were people that were convinced not that he was a good teacher, but that the Scriptures taught that Jesus was Christ.

You see, the centerpiece for his teaching was Jesus.

The centerpiece was that people would come to know the Lord.

And so his teaching strengthened believers and helped convince unbelievers that Jesus was the Christ.

So there was a pattern to his life.

He studied, he learned, he grew, and then he helped others grow.

And that's the heart of a teacher.

Study, learn, grow, help others grow.

It's very simple.

Second Timothy, chapter two, verse two tells us the pattern that we're supposed to have within the church.

Paul tells Timothy, the things that you have learned of me among many witnesses.

So Paul says, timothy, you've heard me preach and teach many different things of the truth of God.

He says the same, commit thou to faithful men so that they may teach others also.

The idea would be that within the church, all of us are supposed to learn from mature people.

That's a call from God.

Second Timothy, the Book of Titus.

We're all supposed to be mentored by somebody else.

But then it's not just so that we can hold on to that knowledge, but that we can teach other people that.

So that they can teach other people that.

I'm so thankful for Sunday school teachers, thankful for children's church workers.

I'm thankful for my youth group leaders who were willing to invest in my life, even probably when I wasn't open to the investment.

Some of you maybe understand what I mean by that.

There was most of the time when I was sitting in Sunday school class, I was thinking about who my favorite football team was playing that day or what I was going to play after class or my baseball game that was coming up next week, my mind was in a other place.

But I was thankful that there were people who wanted to fight through that, to teach me what they had been taught.

And praise God, I'm able now to be able to tell others like my children what it means to trust in Jesus so that, Lord willing, if God tarries, that there will be a time when my children can pass that on to the next generation.

That's what it's all about.

We don't just to make sure that the kids have fun.

Even though we want them to have fun.

Please understand that we want them to have a good time at church.

But we don't just do vbs and Kids Church and Kids Club so that they can just have a fun place to go because one day that fun might run out or they might want more fun or a different type of fun.

The idea would be this.

We want to teach grounded truths that will change their life so that they can pass that on to others.

And that's what Apollos did.

Apollos learned and he grew.

And then he wanted other people to grow, so he taught them in that way.

We see the.

There were teachers even to Apollos.

I don't know if you caught that there, but there was a husband and wife, Aquila and Priscilla.

They were a godly couple who invested in Apollos.

They saw Apollos desire and they said, hey, you know what?

We're not going to embarrass you publicly.

We're going to pull you aside and teach you privately so that you can affect others.

And so one aspect of teaching is patient teaching.

It often has a greater impact on public ministry.

Their ministry reminds us that not every teacher stands behind a pulpit.

Many of the greatest teachers have one on one investment in people's lives.

So I think even within that story, we see the diversity of teaching because we see Apollos getting up in front of people.

We see Apollos getting up behind a pulpit and preaching to people publicly and compelling them in.

Probably, in a large sense, there was probably a lot of people around Apollos when he was preaching.

But we see just as much of an impact that Aquila and Priscilla had in a private setting, pulling one and one over and saying, hey, Apollos, here's some things that maybe you need to learn.

And so you see that teaching always doesn't just happen with a big crowd, in a classroom setting, with a curriculum.

Sometimes teaching can happen on the one on one over a coffee or over a meal or in an activity.

And we can teach people not only by what we say, but by.

But also by what we do.

And so I'm gonna tell you here this morning that some of you may or may not be gifted in what we would say, corporate teaching, but you're gifted in such a way to teach someone around you something that God taught you in a personal way.

Some of you might say, well, I'm not someone who's gonna dissect the Greek.

I'm not someone who's gonna get really tied up in the context of the history.

That's fine.

Because what we see is that there are people who learn differently.

You know what?

There's.

There's people who learn better by visuals.

There's people who learn better by being hands on.

There's people that learn by experience.

And so there's people that learn all different ways.

And that is why we need to have so many different things within the church to accommodate for different types of people.

If we just have one class that teach people how to learn about Jesus, that might work for this segment.

But what about this segment over here?

We need to have more ways in which people can find connections of discipleship within the church.

And we see that in the life of.

Just right there in that short passage of Apollos and Aquila and Priscilla.

Later on we see something amazing about Apollos.

If you know anything about First Corinthians.

First Corinthians, chapter 3, Apollos is mentioned again.

And it says, who then is of Paul and who is of Apollos in verse five.

But ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man.

I have a. I have planted.

Verse 6 of 1 Corinthians, chapter 3.

I have planted.

That's Paul talking.

Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.

Apollos was at the very beginning just a young man excited about teaching the Word.

But if he would have just went out on his own and didn't receive the teaching of Aquila and Priscilla and eventually Paul and many others, he wouldn't be able to see this type of impact.

And it says here that he had a part of watering the plants of the power of God.

And then eventually God gave the increase.

Folks, if we want to see increase within our ministries, we need to be ready and willing to have training opportunities for many people within the church.

And not just theoretical training opportunities, but practical training opportunities.

Folks, if you teach a class or you have a ministry, or you just personally have learned things about the Lord, take someone with you and grab an apprentice.

Pass it on to somebody else.

Don't leave it with you.

Pass the torch on to somebody else.

Find a way that that works.

For some, it's through athletics.

For for some, it's through academics.

For some, it's through working with their hands.

For some, it's a situation of maybe a common like or a common interest, whatever it might be.

Find an avenue in which you can teach others the power of Jesus Christ.

Because if you look in that passage in Acts, chapter 18 at the end of it, it wasn't that Apollos taught them, you know, the language or that Apollos taught them every single thing about God.

No, it said that he taught them about Jesus being the Christ.

The centerpiece is always about Jesus.

The centerpiece is always about the Gospel.

I don't care if I get up here and preach about Moses or, or Elijah or Abraham or Paul or Apollos.

It always has to be centered back on Jesus Christ.

It always is revolving around the Gospel.

And if you go anywhere that teaches you about God or about the Word and doesn't circle back to Jesus Christ and the power of the Gospel, then we're preaching an incomplete truth.

And so a teacher really is just teaching other people about Jesus.

That's the greatest thing.

That's the greatest message.

And so we have people like Aquila and Priscilla who did that.

Of course we know Paul.

Paul says, timothy, I'm teaching you what I have been taught.

By the way Paul had been taught by people.

Think about the guy named Ananias.

Another guy, another guy.

He comes and Paul has this moment on the road to Damascus.

And remember he was a persecutor as Saul.

And then now God speaks to this guy and he says, hey, go to Paul or Saul.

And he's now Paul.

Go to him and minister to him.

And he's like, I don't want to do that.

That's scary.

He might kill me.

But he followed in obedience.

And we see people investing into the life of Paul.

Paul invests into the life of Timothy.

Timothy becomes a teacher.

Paul says, hey, this is what it is.

Healthy teaching always multiplies.

Truth is not meant to terminate with us.

It's not meant to end with us.

Truth is meant to be spread.

It is meant to continue through us.

We see other people like Luke.

If you've ever read the book of Luke or the book of Acts, Luke was detail oriented.

He was a physician.

He was all about making sure the truth was clear.

But I think we can conclude here with the greatest teacher that is the great teacher of Jesus Christ.

Jesus was repeatedly called teacher or rabbi through the Gospels.

We know that not only did he teach with great authority, great Compassion, and I would even venture to say greater clarity.

His teaching also accomplished more than just informing people's minds with the truth.

His truth transforms hearts.

And so before ascending into heaven, Jesus says, okay, disciples, I've taught you all these things.

Now, if you know what the Great Commission is, In Matthew, chapter 28, he says, now you go and teach all nations.

You go show them what it means to follow me.

So Jesus lays out the groundwork of truth.

And then he says, now don't just keep that with you.

Teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost.

Then he says, teaching them to observe all things which I have commanded you.

So it is the role of the believer to say, yes, Jesus has taught me so much through the Spirit, through His Word, through.

Through all these experiences in our life of having a relationship with Him.

Now it is my goal to teach others to continue in that same truth.

So the person who exercises the gift of teaching continues the ministry of Christ by faithfully explaining His Word.

And so in the Great Commission, it's not just about making converts, even though a lot of times people reduce the Great Commission just to getting more converts.

And we should evangelize and there should be more converts.

But that would be an incomplete viewpoint of the Great Commission.

It's about making disciples by teaching them to observe everything that Christ commanded.

So, for example, if I had someone come forward this morning, and we would all celebrate if this happened.

Someone said, I need to have Jesus as a savior.

I've been trying to do my own thing, but I do believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins.

I believe he rose again on the third day.

I believe that he's the only one who can save me, and I want to have forgiveness in Him.

I want to receive that gift.

That would be an exciting moment, and we would all celebrate.

But, folks, I would encourage you to see it from this perspective that that is just the start.

That's just the starting line.

There's a race now that's beginning to happen.

And if we leave someone out, if we neglect them in that early stage, we can really do a disservice to a believer from leaving them alone.

Someone asked me recently, whose job is it to disciple other people?

Is it the pastor's job?

Well, part of it is, yeah, sure, I should disciple the whole church to be able to be disciples in an individual sense, equipping the saints for the work of the ministry.

But let me just tell you, let's say every single one of you came up to me after the service today and said, I want you to personally disciple me past.

I want you to walk me through the Book of Isaiah together.

I'm going to tell you the time is not available to do that with every single person.

It's not possible.

So what does that look like then?

It looks like this.

Each member who is a believer in Jesus Christ says, I want to know more about how I can become a discipler and a teacher so that I can take that opportunity to teach someone else.

Because I might not be able to teach 200, but 200 people are able to teach one.

And we can take that with us.

And we can say, you know, whose responsibility it is for discipleship to happen within the church.

It is ultimately God's responsibility.

But then we know that it's the leadership's responsibility to encourage a discipleship culture.

But in the most granular sense, it is the responsibility of the individual believer to say, I need to take responsibility to find someone that needs that growth and I want to come alongside them and teach them.

And so where does this gift of teaching operate?

Well, teaching happens in far more places than the pulpit.

We know that.

It happens in Sunday school classes, it happens in small groups.

It happens in Bible studies, it happens in children's ministry, it happens in youth ministries.

It happens in discipleship relationships that happen outside of the church.

It happens within Christian schools, it happens in Bible colleges, it happens on the mission field, it happens in conferences and counseling and family devotions, one on one mentoring books, curriculums, devotionals, conversations over coffee, conversations at the dinner table.

It happens everywhere.

So someone might say, you know what?

I don't think I'm qualified for that.

I don't have a Bible school degree.

I haven't read all the Bible.

You know what the truth is, is that all of us, if we're believers in Jesus Christ to some level, are qualified to tell other people what Jesus Christ has done for us.

And all of us are gonna hit our limit.

All of us are gonna hit that place where we say, you know what?

I don't know what the answer is, but we can find the answer in scripture together.

Folks, I'm gonna tell you, there's been times in my life where I'm teaching and I reach a point where I'm like, I don't know.

I don't know the answer to this, but we can go to the one who does know the answers.

And so I would encourage you to think about the gift of teaching every place that God's word is faithfully Explained becomes a classroom of discipleship.

And so think about teaching and discipleship outside of the box.

Why does this gift matter?

Well, the church is strengthened when believers understand God's word.

And so it's the methodology in which we explain the word of God to people.

Paul tells pastors and teachers that they are called to perfect the saints for the work of the ministry.

Peter encourages believers in two Peter 3:18 to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I think about that phrase grow in grace.

I don't know if you've ever thought about that.

I used to think that grow in grace meant like, if I love God enough, He'll give me more grace tomorrow.

Like, oh Lord, just please give me more grace.

I need more grace.

God, just please smile down on me.

And though we need more grace, God abundantly pours out his grace upon us as children of God at the moment of our salvation.

Growing in grace is tapping in and understanding that grace that he has for us in particular ways in our life and to perceive that grace around us.

And so the teacher helps that understanding and that growth possible by showing people what it means to have a relationship with God.

Knowledge alone does not mature believers.

I could sit here all day and tell you about the Greek, I could tell you about the history, I could tell you about the statistics.

I could tell you about all of those things.

But head knowledge does not equate heart growth.

Knowledge alone does not mature believers.

But knowledge applied through the power of the Holy Spirit transforms life.

So think about it this way.

Knowledge versus wisdom.

Knowledge is the understanding.

Wisdom is the application.

Folks, we need to be wise Christians.

We need to be Christians that produce fruits.

And how do we produce fruit?

Well, we allow the Holy Spirit to transform our lives.

What does 1 Corinthians 3 said Paul planted, Apollos watered, but who gave the increase?

It's God.

Let the process happen God's way.

God's plan.

God's process still works.

Sometimes we try to get in the way of it.

We try.

We try to formulate a different route.

Well, that worked back in Bible times, but it doesn't work today.

That happened back in the Great Awakening, but it doesn't happen today.

That happened back in the 1950s, but that doesn't happen today.

Folks, just trust that God is going to do what he says he's going to do.

He's going to change our lives if we just submit to Him.

People are going to grow and mature if we explain the word of God to them.

So healthy doctrine produces healthy Disciples.

And healthy disciples produce healthy churches.

I don't know about you, but I want to be a healthy church.

I want to be a healthy person in general.

But that's hard sometimes, right?

It's hard when you have a Bible study.

We.

This happened on Friday morning.

We had a Bible study.

And I. I was like, I'm gonna try to be good.

You know what someone did?

They brought in 12 of those donuts from the Amish market right on the road.

And I'm like, oh, man, please.

I wanted to be good.

And just when we make a decision sometimes on the physical side of things to do right, you know what happens?

That temptation comes, and we're like, well, I'll start on Monday.

That's what's going to happen.

In our Christian walk, we say, you know what?

I really want to get back to the word.

I really want to start doing family devotions with my children.

I really want to start serving in the church.

And guess what?

Right when we make that decision, there's going to be every reason not to do it.

Something's going to pop up.

Well, you know what?

I'll.

Next week, next year, when I get everything in order.

Folks, let me tell you, it was the same thing when we told people, you know what?

My wife and I were really, really immature when we got married.

And we said, you know what?

We'll have children when we're ready, when we're financially ready, when we have.

And someone came up to me, I remember this brother.

He says, brother, you're never going to be completely ready.

So just whenever Lord leads you, just go for it.

I said, okay.

Praise God.

And the idea would be this.

At the end of the day, you're going to have every fleshly excuse not to live a life of discipleship with other people around you, to sacrifice for one another, to learn from one another.

But what I would say is, understand the end game, understand the bigger picture.

To say, it is worth it now, because I want to be a part of a healthy church.

Oftentimes we forget how much of a gift that a healthy church is around us.

A family, a community.

And sometimes people think church is just a place that we go or a place that we get entertainment or a place that takes up our weekends.

But, folks, the church is God's avenue to give you edification, encouragement, education, community, family.

Folks, it starts with us saying, you know what?

It's all based around healthy teaching.

It's all based around healthy living.

And so do what it takes to see your church become that healthy church that God has ordained it to be.

And so if God has given you the gift of teaching, love God's word, study it diligently, teach faithfully, remain humble, continue learning, depend on the spirit, and never allow the love for teaching exceed your love for Christ.

You know, the greatest teachers are not remembered because they knew the most.

They're remembered because they help other people know Jesus more deeply.

And so what I would encourage you to do is not say, well, am I smart enough?

Am I accomplished enough?

Do I have enough resources at my fingertips?

Am I a good speaker?

Am I a good reader?

You know, all of those things are outside what the Bible tells us is a good disciple.

John 8, verse 31 tells us, Jesus says, if you are my disciples, if you continue in my word, it's an adherence to abiding in Christ.

So think about that here this morning.

But then you might say, look, Pastor, you might be gifted in that.

She might be gifted in that.

But I'm not spiritually gifted in the area of teaching.

I don't get my desire and my excitement and my motivation off of research and study.

That's fine.

I understand that.

But let me tell you in the same vein, I don't get my joy of life through, you know, compassion, mercy.

Okay?

Someone said, really?

Some of you said.

We knew that, Pastor.

We know.

The idea is this.

I struggle with.

With seeing a perspective of someone and going, oh, I'm going to cry with you because, you know, with my gift, okay, we're going to do at.

At the very end of the study, we're going to do this big skit in front of the church, and you're going to see what I mean by this.

But I'll give you a little taste of it.

Now, let's say there.

There was a person running by me here this morning, and they tripped and fell, okay?

A person with a gift of mercy and compassion will get down on the ground with them and start crying with them and saying, oh, you know, I'm so sorry, you know, hugging them.

Person with the gift of prophecy says, you shouldn't have been running around anyway.

Person with the gift of teaching is going to say, well, if you would have just not ran this way, if you would have picked up your legs this way, it would have been a little bit easier for you not to fall.

You see how everyone sees that same situation but comes at it from a different perspective.

And so the idea for some people is they say, well, I'm not gifted with the gift of teaching, or I'm not gifted with the gift of mercy.

We're all called to exercise mercy.

And I would venture to say that just as much as we're all called to give, we're all called to have mercy.

We're all called to teach to some capacity when God calls us to do it.

It might not be in a classroom setting, but folks that might have children in the home that might look up at you and go, why should we go to church?

Teaching moment right there.

Why do I need to love my sister?

Teaching moment.

Why should I obey you?

Teenager says that to you, right?

And you're a parent.

Teaching moment right there.

And so teaching doesn't always happen behind a pulpit.

Teaching happens on the battlefield.

And so I would encourage you to look and be ready for teaching moments in your life, whether it be your family, your friends, your co workers, your church member friends, whatever it might be, look for those opportunities.

So what's the takeaway?

The question would be this.

Am I using what I learned to build others up, or am I using it just to increase my own knowledge?

Am I teaching or living with humility, or am I living with a dependence on myself, has a love for Scripture and study of scripture increase my love for the Savior?

These are all things that we should look into in our own life.

The gift of teaching is not merely the ability to communicate information.

It's the spirit empowered calling to faithfully study, explain, and lovingly apply the truths of God to those for edification, for encouragement, and hopefully and prayerfully spiritual maturity.

I think this lesson pairs especially well with prophecy because sometimes prophets and teachers are hand in hand, but sometimes they butt heads.

And that's what's going to happen within the spiritual gifts.

Just like we saw in that situation with that person falling right?

There's going to be the compassion person and there's going to be the person of proclamation.

And they might not understand each other well, we should have come up with a rule to not have them do that.

But the compassionate person goes, yeah, but we need to be there for them.

But we can work together in the gifts so that we can work in tandem as the body of Christ and not to get upset with someone who sees it from a different angle, as long as we're aligned with the truth of God.

And so here this morning, together, I think that we can allow ourselves to strengthen our own life and strengthen our church and strengthen the world if we are willing to learn from God, learn from others, and then hopefully teach others how to learn from God and learn from His Word so that we can apply these truths to our Life.

And so here this morning, you might not be a natural teacher, but all of us to some degree, can present what God has done for us.

Think about where we started.

God changed us.

He loved us.

He forgives us.

He sent his only begotten son for us.

Folks, if that's not enough, I don't know what is.

Are we willing to sacrifice for him?

Are we willing to be displaced for him?

Are we willing to say, you know what?

I'm going to come out of my comfort zone for him?

If you're willing to do that, make sure you make that commitment and stay faithful to it.

Don't say you're going to start Monday.

Don't say you're going to start next week.

Don't say you're going to start next year.

Don't say you're going to start when this happens.

Make a decision today.

Make a conscious, intentional decision to say, lord, I commit to you today because you're worth it, because of what you have done for me.

And you become that living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service next week.

We're going to come back and we're going to continue to study the gifts.

And some have asked, why are we going through one gift each Sunday?

Why can't we just buzz right through this?

Because I believe that understanding, number one, how you are gifted, and number two, how to apply those gifts within the church is vital and sometimes overlooked within the church culture.

Today we all should be able to inspect our lives, to say, this is what God has for me.

And I'm going to tell you to walk in the will of God.

And the way of God is the most rewarding and blessed and joyful experience you can find.

So it's my prayer that you find how God has gifted you and you exercise that within the church, how God has called you to exercise it.

And in so doing, we know that that will glorify God by presenting that living sacrifice.

I'm going to ask if you're able to to stand with me, every head bowed, every eye closed as the music plays.

This morning, we're going to have a time of response.

The message or the gift of teaching might not resonate with you.

You might say, I'm not a teacher, never have been a teacher.

But the truth is, is that all of us to some degree, are called to exemplify the truths of God around us.

And so maybe today you just have felt the challenge or the call or the conviction to say, you know what?

I want to find what my role is as a Teacher within the body of Christ.

Maybe I just teach one person in my life.

You know what?

That one person is going to be impacted and changed for the cause of the kingdom.

One's enough.

And so maybe it's just that one.

Maybe it's a child, maybe it's a spouse, maybe it's a coworker.

But you say, you know what?

I want to teach them what it means to walk in the truth of Jesus Christ.

Maybe you're that one that says I can't be taught anymore.

I can forget more than that person even knows.

Truth is, is that we all need to get to that place where we all have to recognize that we can always learn, continue to learn and to grow in what God has called us to do.

Maybe you just need Jesus as your savior this morning.

The Bible says it's as simple as belief in him, in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is God.

The Bible says he is the way, the truth and the life.

No man comes unto the Father but through him.

And the Bible says, what did Jesus do for us?

He died on the cross for our sins.

And he didn't just stay in that tomb 2,000 years ago.

He conquered death through the resurrection, is ruling and reigning today and offers you that gift of grace to have that same power that rose him from the dead living within you as a believer and child of God.

And so if that's something that you need today, come forward.

We've got folks here that will show you in the word of God, teach you what it means to trust in Jesus and have salvation.

So Lord, I pray that you be in this time of invitation, working hearts and lives.

I pray that you can convict us, comfort us, direct us, teach us where you want us to be.

And we ask all those things in Jesus name, Amen.

As the Lord leads this morning, follow him obediently.