(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] only from these white booklets today okay only from these ones so if you haven't got one please grab I'm not sure if my girls have you given them all out I think everyone should have one by now I do want to give sister Celine appreciation she's the one that put that together for us and so let's open up and let's begin with number seven we'll begin with holy holy holy these are songs that are not in our hymnals but at least I think you should be familiar with holy holy holy number seven when you have found it can you please stand let's sing to the Lord holy holy holy oh right The plains are gawking, casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea. Cherubim and Seraphim falling down before me. Her words and hearts, ever, evermore shall be. Holy, holy, holy, though the darkness might be, though the eye of sin will bend, thy glory may not see. Only thou art holy, there is none beside thee, perfect in power, with love and purity. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, all thy works shall praise thy name in her anxiety. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, Lord in three persons, blessed Trinity. All right, great singing, let's go to the word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we want to thank you, Lord, to be able to be here in your house at New Life Baptist Church. Thank you, Lord, that you've created the institution of the church and, Lord, that Jesus Christ gave his life for it. I pray, Lord, that we would be a blessing to you this morning, that we would praise you, glorify you, Lord. I pray that you'd fill our hearts, stir our hearts to love you, to seek your face, to be blessed by your Holy Spirit. Keep us attentive, Lord, not to be distracted with the things outside of church this morning. And, Lord, we just want to put a smile on your face. We want to love you, Lord, because you first loved us. Thank you so much for church this morning. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You may be seated. Okay, let's see, Johnny, can you give me a couple more? All right, let's turn to number three. Number three, this is kind of like a modern hymn, In Christ Alone. I'm not sure who selected it, but, hey, it's a good one. It's got good words, In Christ Alone. Hopefully, it's a pretty popular hymn, modern hymn, so hopefully most of you are aware of it, but if not, it's not too hard to follow. It's number three in your booklet, In Christ Alone. In Christ Alone, my hope is found, He is my love, my strength, my song, His cornerstone, His sovereign crown, Burnt through the fiercest drought and storm, What hides above the depths of peace, When fears are still, when strife is ceased, I comfort Him, my holy one, Here in the love of Christ I stand. In Christ alone, who took the flesh, Fullness of God in helpless name, His gift of love in righteousness, Scorned by the ones He came to save, Till God left Ross and Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfied, For every sin on Him was laid, Here in the death of Christ I live. Here in the ground His body lay, Life of the world my darkness lay, In mercy for in glorious day, Up from the grave He rose again, And as He stands in victory, Sin's curse has lost its grip on me, For I am His, and He is mine, Both with the precious blood of Christ. A guilty life, a fearing man, This is the power of Christ in me, From last first cry to final breath, Jesus demands my destiny, No cloud of hell, no seam of man, Can ever walk me from His hand, Till He returns, who calls me home, Here in the power of Christ I stand, No cloud of hell, no seam of man, Can ever walk me from His hand, Till He returns, who calls me home, Here in the power of Christ I stand. Be thou my peace, O Lord of my heart, God be all else to me, Save that thou art, Thou my best one, My King of my life, Make me your sweet me, Thy presence my light. Be thou my peace, Let thou my true birth, I ever prove, Let thou with me, Lord, Thou my great Mother, My true Son, Thou with me, Father, Can I be one of the Lord, Rich as I be, Lord, let me be praised, Thou my King here at church, Thou at your place, Thou and Thou only, First in my heart, Thy King of Heaven, Thy treasure Thou art, Thy King of Heaven, Thy victory come, May I reach heaven first, May I reach heaven first, All right heaven's star, God of my own heart, God have you before, To be my patient, The ruler of all. All right, you guys are sounding great, but I'm sweating like a pig here. It's a humid day today. I might put this on max just for my sake. All right, one more song before the Bible reading. Brother Michael, this is your surprise. Brother Michael's been asking this as a favorite for the last six years or whatever it is. It's number 13, Bow the Knee. Bow the Knee. So Brother Michael, I need you up here to do a solo to show us how it goes. Is that okay? All right, if you've done your homework, if you saw the message on the chat, I sent you a song last night. Did anyone get to hear it last night or this morning? A few people. All right, so I expect you guys to be loud for everyone else. It's a bit tricky, this one, okay? So I will show you just very quickly. When it says Bow the Knee, you can see there are three choruses, Bow the Knee, Bow the Knee, Bow the Knee. The third one we're not going to sing. The piano that I've got will not include the third. But if Brother Matthew Conner, if you have time to edit the same song. I think on 11 has two. Like there's two versions. Oh, there's two versions. I mean, whatever's easier for you. Page 11 or page 13? Page 11 has two verses, so I thought maybe that's more accurate. It has two verses. I don't know. Is that the same one? Oh, it is the same one. I didn't even see that one. It's the same one. Whatever's easier for you to look at if you need music to help you go along. Number 11 or just the words, number 13. But there are periods where there are like little pauses. So, if you see my hand do this, pause, and then I'll help you with the music, all right? But Bow the Knee, Brother Michael, I need you super loud for me, brother. Okay, number 13, Bow the Knee. All right, ready? What a privilege to come to God's presence. Just to lay down with the one who set me free. As I lift my eyes and see He shows the glory, I'll remember who He is and how I feel. Bow the Knee, Brother Michael, He is King of all the angels. Bow the Knee, God alone, on His throne. Sing Him high and hear the Lord and bow the Knee. Pause. Ready? Feel before Him, all adore Him, as You lift the people proudly. Have a sing. Are you ready? It's about to start. In His hand He holds the power of creation. If His voice is spoken, all things came to be. Yet He hears the simple prayer of beauty for them, where the heart will seek His grace and glory. Bow the Knee, Brother Michael, He is King of all the angels. Bow the Knee, God alone, on His throne. Sing Him high and lift the Lord and bow the Knee. Sing Him high and lift the Lord and bow the Knee. Sleep before Him, all adore Him, as You lift the people proudly. All right, good try guys. Well done. It's time for the Bible reading. Please take your Bibles and turn to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12 please, and Brother Jordan's coming up for the reading. Romans 12. Okay, Romans 12. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of him more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another, having the gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy let us prophesy according to the portion of faith, or ministry let us wait on our ministry, or he that teacheth on teaching, or he that exalteth on exaltation, he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity, he that ruleth with diligence, he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness, let love be without dissimulation, abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectionate one to another, with brotherly love, in honour, preferring one another, not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the law. Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the necessities of saints, given to hospitality, bless them which persecute you, bless and curse not, rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another, mind not high things, but condescend to men of lower state. Be not wise in your own conceits, recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirsts, give him drink. For in so doing, thou shalt heat coals on fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Let's pray. God, thank you for this church, Lord. Thank you for this nice hot day, Lord. I just pray that you'll use it to bless us, Lord, and I just pray the preaching will be edifying to your ears, to our ears actually, Lord. Thank you for this day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you. Okay, the title of the sermon comes from verse number 5, Romans 12, verse number 5. So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. The title of the sermon this morning is Members, One of Another. Members, One of Another. This is part of the series that I've been, that started the submission series, right? And now we're flipping it on its head, we're looking at the leaders. So normally when you're submissive, you're submissive under someone who is a leader, someone that has authority over you. And what was it last night? It wasn't last week because I wasn't here last week. It was two weeks ago we looked at God's divine leadership. And so, you know, the first sermon in the series of submission was how we need to submit to the Lord. All right, so now we want to look at how the Lord led us, and that's why we looked at his leadership qualities. And so in every area of the sermon that I've preached on submission, I want to flip it on its head and look at those that have authority over us. And the next one in the series of submission was submitting one to another. All right, so this one's really interesting because this is in the context of church, okay? Not in the context of family, not in the context of your workplace or the government. In the context of our church, when we gather together, the Bible tells us that we should submit one to another. That means you submit to me, but I've got to submit to you, okay? There's equal footing amongst the members in God's house, okay? Obviously, I have the authority as a pastor, but as far as submission, and you know, preaching a sermon, we will look at this later on, is all submission. We are to submit one to another. And of course, you know, when we talk about someone with an authority, let's say your employer at work, you've got no choice because he's your boss to submit to him. You've got no other choice. You ought to submit just because of his authority. But we also understand that if our leader is a good leader and has great leadership qualities and cares for those under him, it's easier to submit to that leader, right? Well, you know what? In the same environment, even though we don't have leadership, we're not like over one another, we're submitting to each other here in the church, doesn't it make it a lot easier to submit someone in church if they're like a really good brother in the Lord? Like a really good church member, right? You can choose like, there could be a really difficult church member or a really good church member. It's obviously, you're commanded to submit to both, one to another, but isn't it so much easier to submit to the one that is a good church member? Much easier than submitting to the one that might be a little difficult. And so that's what I want to focus on this morning, is how we can be great church members, told for someone was members one of another. Members one of another. Want you to think about what does that mean, members one of another? Well, let's get a bit of our context. Let's start there in verse number one. It says, I beseech you brethren, sorry, I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your body as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. So, you know, God, now that you're saved, God wants you to serve. He says, this is a reasonable service. Your body is to be a living sacrifice. In the Old Testament, when they would bring the sacrifices, they kill the sacrifice. You don't have to be dead to serve, we need you to be living, living sacrifices. This is acceptable to God. And then verse number two, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So this morning, I want you to renew your mind. I want you to remove your mind away from what you think the world sees, in terms of submission or leadership or qualities of a man. I want you to renew your mind. I want you to prove what is good and acceptable. We're going to have a look at what the perfect will of God is in these verses. So you can be that good church member that people are wanting to submit to you and to serve you and provide their bodies like a living sacrifice to be a help and a blessing unto you. And this is the first step that we need to understand this morning. Verse number three, for I say, through the grace given unto me, this is important. So Paul is saying, this is what I'm saying, through the grace, through grace that is given unto me to every man that is among you. So not just grace that is given to him, but grace that's been given to all of us, not to think himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. The first point that I have for you this morning is don't think yourself more highly than others. Don't think of yourself more highly than others. And I hope when you come to church this morning, you look at the members here, the family here, you see man, woman, child, people saved from a long time to maybe recently saved, I hope you can say when you look at each other that I don't think myself more highly than someone else. Now the key to understanding this is what, you know, there's something in man, I don't know, it's pride, it's ego, whatever it is, right, that likes to lift themselves up and look at me go, look at me achieve and let me prove to you that I'm such a great man or what have you. But the solution, if you're like that, if that's in your heart, the solution that Paul provides in that verse number three, for I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you. You see, you need to think of God's grace toward you. This is the solution when you start to think yourself highly or you look down on others in the church, the solution is to remember God's grace. Because without God's grace, you are damned on your way to hell this morning. You know, like you cannot do anything to save yourself. You cannot do anything to forgive your sins. Okay, what did you have to do? You submit under God, you humble yourself under God. You say God, I need your grace. I'm placing my faith on Jesus Christ and Christ alone and his sacrifice and payments for my sin. Because that's what salvation does. It lowers you, it exalts Christ, you look to him, you know there's nothing in your flesh that you can bring to God that is pleased into him, that will satisfy his wrath. Grace is the solution because you were saved by grace and that required you to lower yourself and see yourself compared to the Lord God. So this grace has been given to us. Grace allows us to be saved, grace allows us to be here in the house of the Lord, be in a new life at this church, you learn God's word to serve one another, to serve the Lord, to praise the Lord, it's all of God's grace. And if you've had success in your spiritual life, if you've had, you know, blessings of the Lord, you ought to be able to say, well that's because of God's grace that I've done well in life. And when you have that attitude, instead of looking down on others, all you're doing is exalting Christ. You exalt Christ, that's fine. We don't come to church to exalt Christ, we don't come to church to exalt man. But the first point, brethren, don't think yourself more highly than, it's like, this guy doesn't, this guy's got enough ego, I don't want, I don't really want to need to serve this guy, you know. But, you know, we're commanded to serve one another. I want you to remember that because, you know, and I'm not trying to have you go to anybody because anyway, if it has, if it touches your heart, so be it. But you know, church is more than just coming and sitting down in the pew, singing a few songs, hearing a sermon and leaving. We're here to serve. Okay, we're here to submit. And I want you to be great church members. So it's easy, so it's easy for me to submit to you. Like, I don't want to be holding grudges against everybody at church. It's like, I'm going to get up and preach a sermon to them. Like, I want to be like them. These are the best people in the sunny coast. These are my brothers in the Lord. They're such a blessing to me. And because they're such great church members, I want to come and give them the best sermon, you know, put the best preparation to come and feed people God's Word. It makes it so much easier when we can be great church members to submit one to another. But point number one is don't think yourself more highly than others. Can you come with me to, keep your finger there, because that is our main text, Romans 12. Come with me to Matthew 23, Matthew 23, please. Matthew 23. Matthew 23. When Jesus walked this earth, he had quite a few enemies. And his main enemies were religious leaders, the scribes and the Pharisees, right? Many hated our Lord Jesus Christ. And when Christ speaks about these scribes and Pharisees, I'll just take it from verse number six. Matthew 23, verse number six. He says about them, and love that they love uppermost rooms at feast and the chief seats in the synagogues. These are the people that think highly of themselves. They want the best seats. They want to be seen of man. Verse number seven, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. They want to be able to walk into a public place and for everyone to just, oh, there's the priest. Run to him, Rabbi, Rabbi. Verse number eight, Christ says, but be ye not called Rabbi, but be ye, sorry, but be ye not ye called Rabbi, for one is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. What is Christ saying? There's only one master, him, Christ, and the rest of us, we're just brothers. We're on the same level, Reverend. The one that's high and lifted up, the master is Jesus Christ. Then he says these words, verse number 11, but he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. So who's the greatest in the church? The one that serves greatest. Okay, this is why we need to renew our mind because how, you know, the unsaved world looks at great. They think about how I can be served by others, but the greatest is the servant, okay? Verse number 12, and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. Man, this is so good. If you want to be exalted by the Lord God, you have to humble yourself. I mean, that's how you got saved. You know, to be exalted, to be a child of God, a child of the King. You're not being able to walk on streets of God, a promise of the future, new heavens and new earth to come. First you had to, before you could be exalted like that, first you had to humble yourself. Say, God, I can't save myself because of your grace that I'm saved. I accept my Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour. Whatever it was, whatever process it was that got you there, you had to humble yourself, and then God goes, all right, not only will I save you, but I'll make you my child, a child of the King. He exalts you in your position as God's child, and that same process is how we ought to serve one another. The more we serve, the more we'll be exalted by our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, God's comparing the scribes and the Pharisees with how they behave, how they see greatness, versus how we ought to see greatness, all right? When we think of the world, what does the world put as being a great person or a great man? You know, often we look at wealth. You know, how much does this person make or their possessions? Maybe their social class or social standing. Maybe their education, right? I'm a doctor in whatever issue I've done, you know. That's how a lot of the world looks at people. You know, if you've got these standards, you're seen as greater or higher than others. Now, that doesn't really play out in church. You know, in my years of being a church member, I don't really see men glorying in those things. But still, within church sometimes, you can have church members that think of themselves higher than others. And instead of being those earthly qualities, you know, sometimes it's Bible knowledge. You know, because the Bible says knowledge puff up. And so when you're someone that is full of Bible knowledge, you know, you're a hearer but not a doer of God's word, that is something that puffs people up. Maybe someone's been born into a Christian home. They've grown up with a Christian's mum, mum and dad, and they've been saved early in age, and they come to church and, you know, they know how to speak, they know how to act, they know how to dress, but then someone rough comes in, someone who's only been recently saved, or maybe someone that's not even saved. And they come in, they're a little bit rough on the outside, maybe they'll even be a bit rough in their language, and you look down, knows, oh, who's this scum that's just walked into our church? Now praise, I've never seen that in here, in your life out of this church, but I've seen it in other churches. Honestly, I've seen people come in, you know, seeking the Lord, seeking for a church to love them, to accept them, to teach them, to guide them, but they're a bit rough, okay, and people look down and they don't feel comfortable, and they leave, okay, but hey, you know, this is thinking more highly of yourself than others. Some people might have joined the church choir, or they've been a Sunday school teacher. Well, I've been in the church choir for the last 10 years, I used to do Sunday school, I've done it for 20 years, and believe it or not, that's how people in church sometimes lift themselves up. I'm better than everybody else, because look what I've done in the church. Maybe mission, I've been on the mission strip, I've went to the Philippines and I went to Fiji. What about you, brother? Why aren't you out there doing the work that I'm doing? All people sometimes give more money to church, you know, I mean, there are obviously some that are better off than others and they're able to give more financially to the church, and those that sometimes give more financially will think, well, look, it's because of me. Look at me, if it's not for me, this church would fall apart. I'm the one that gave the most, and so everybody should do what I want done in the church. So it's not so much how much money or possessions or qualifications or education or social standing that people get lifted up in church so much, but it's all these other things, and yet all these things that I mentioned ought to be service, lowering yourself. The reason I've got more Bible knowledge maybe is that I'll be used to preach God and teach God's Word, to feed other people. The reason I've been used to be a song leader or a choir, whatever it is, is so I can encourage my brethren in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and that's a wrong attitude. Nothing wrong with anything that I mentioned here on this list, but sometimes people get lifted up because look what I'm doing in the church versus what is other people, what are other people doing? So brethren, don't think yourself more highly than others. That prideful attitude will cause people to just want to be away from you. Like, I don't want to serve this person. Now, they should serve you anyway, okay? Lord Jesus Christ served us by laying down his life anyway, even though we were offensive to God, we broke his commandments, continued to sin every day of our lives till he saves us, and you know, I mean, he died for us anyway, didn't he? But it's so much easier to serve when you don't think of yourself more highly than others, okay? When you start applying these things that we see here in Romans 12, come back with me to Romans 12, Romans 12, verse number 4. Romans 12 and verse number 4, it says, For as we have many members in one body, so we understand that we have many, this body that you see in front of you this morning has many members, I've got 10 fingers, 10 toes, two legs, two arms, you know, I've got two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, a mouth, a tongue, teeth, and I've got all these things that make up who I am, okay, it's one body, I've got all these members and so do you, so God used that illustration, it says here, and all members have not the same office. Well, that makes sense because if I'm going to write a letter, I'm not going to use my foot, I'm going to use my hands, you know, if I'm going to go for a jog, I'm going to use my feet, I'm not going to use my head, or something like that, right? We all, different members have different uses and abilities and offices, and then God uses that parallel in verse number five, where we get the title from the sermon from, so we, that's us here in church, being many, are one body in Christ, and everyone members one of another. I love that phrase, members one of another, because you know, generally speaking, nothing wrong with what I'm about to say, but generally speaking, when someone says to you, you know, are you a member of a church or something, you say, yeah, yeah, which church? I'm a member of New Life Baptist Church, which is right, there's nothing wrong with that, but you know, when we sort of use this language, what sometimes it pictures is that we're members of a, maybe a corporate identity or something like that, corporate means body anyway, okay, or we might say, well, I'm a member of Pastor Kevin's church, might say that, but actually we're members one of another, so nothing wrong with saying what I just said, like I'm a member of New Life Baptist Church, praise God, but what that should mean to you, let's say I'm saying that, right, it's kind of what it should mean to me in my heart, you know, I'll be saying, well, I'm a member of Sister Asami, I'm a member of Brother Lockie, I'm a member of Brother Chris, I'm a member of Brother Jason, I'm a member of Sister Anna, we're members one of another, actually, you know, and I want you to really think about that, like just how you view your membership here at New Life Baptist Church, you know, we don't have a roll call, I don't have a book where your names are all listed down as part of the official membership, I don't know if I ever will, don't know, but I want you to think about where your heart lies, you know, in this church, are you members one of another, can you look at this congregation and say, well, I'm a member of everybody here in this church, because that's the attitude that we ought to have, because it kind of removes that corporate identity and it brings it down, it filters it down to real life people, I'm here to serve one another, all the names that I just mentioned, I'm here to serve them, I come to the house of the Lord, I come to serve, you know, Brother Oliver, I'm coming to serve Brother Jordan, and by extension we know we serve the Lord Jesus Christ by doing so, we come, this is his body, this is the body of Christ, you know, when we think about that word member, that word member by just definition is a person belonging to a particular group, okay, some people are like, they've got like football memberships, like they're a member of their favourite football team, we would say, well, for you to be a member of that football team, you'd be a supporter of that team, you don't want to get behind that team, you want them to win, you want them to succeed, you're getting behind them, aren't you? Well, if we're members one of another, shouldn't my heart be, I want you to succeed, I'm behind you, sister, I'm behind you, brother, I've got your back, you need anything, I'm here to cheer you on, I'm behind you, brother, that's what it means to be members one of another, supporting one another, and when you've got supporters, you're saying, look, you can depend on me, I'm not a member of the Western Sydney Wanderers or anything like that, but, you know, when the crowd cheers, sometimes, you know, like sports team, they say, man, when the crowd gets behind us, it's like we've got another player on the field, they get encouraged, motivated, we've got to do it for the fans, we've got to do it for the supporters, right? We're depending on you, brother, sister, we're depending on you here at New Life Baptist Church. Point number two, brethren, is we are depending on you, we are depending, or I am depending on you, you know, to be a great church member, to be a great brother in the Lord, a great sister in the Lord. Man, if you're a great brother in the Lord, great member of this church, it's so much easier for me to be your pastor, so much easier for me to serve you and to serve one another, if we can put ourselves to this standard that God lays out for us here in Romans 12. Let's continue, verse number six, having then gifts different according to the grace that is given to us. This is also important, we all have different gifts, we all have different spiritual gifts according to the grace that is given to us. If you just backtrack to verse number three, at the end of verse number three, it says, but to think soberly, not to think highly of yourself, but think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. God has dealt to every man a measure of faith, or let's put it this way, faithfulness. You're saved, that's one thing, you've placed your faith on Christ, but now that you're saved, God gives you a measure of faith. We'll use that word faithfulness for now, just to make it a bit easier. And with that comes along a gift, a spiritual gift that is given to each one of you. And you know what, God wants you to be faithful with the gift that he's given you. And he gives us some examples of what some of those gifts are. It says, we're the prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. See, let's say, let's say you say, pastor, prophesying is preaching, all right, let's just say you as a preacher, all right, me. And we had brother Callum preach for us last week, for example. So there's another man, okay, who can prophesy, who can preach. But you know, Callum and I are not going to be the same, because we've been given different proportions of faith. Even though we might have the same gift, our ability to express that gift is quite different. I want you to think long and hard, brethren, what your spiritual, maybe you know what it is, what your spiritual gift is here at New Life Baptist Church. God's given you something, or he's given you several. He's given you at least one spiritual gift, all right. God's given that to you. Let's continue there. It says, verse number seven, all ministry. It's a ministry that's just to serve. Let us wait on our ministry, ministry. It's like a waiter, all right. The waiter's ready when the customer says, I'm ready to order. The waiter goes, all right, I'm here, what do you need? Takes down the order, goes to the kitchen, you know, tells the cook this is what they want, you know. He said to hold back on the chilli and if you can put some extra mozzarella cheese or whatever, I don't know, right. The waiter's ready to be a servant between one and another. Maybe that's your gift, just to be here for each other, you know. Say, how can I serve, you know, what activity's coming up? Pastor, how can I help, how can I serve? Waiting on our ministry. Continues all here that teacheth on teaching. There are some that can teach. This can be preaching, preaching can be teaching, okay. But teaching is also just amongst ourselves. Like I might bring up a concept, an idea, a doctrine and I might expand it as best as I can. But then others might still have, how does that reconcile with these other passages and maybe you're able to come along. Well, this is how it reconciles, this is how it works, this is how it fits. And you can sort of plug in those little holes or those little areas of misunderstanding or confusion. You know, you're able to come alongside and hey, this is how it all works. Because you know, sometimes, we know the Bible never contradicts. But there are times that we might struggle to reconcile certain passages, okay. Or you know, and that could be your gift, that you can just, you've got this logical mind, you're just able to see things how it all fits and make sense of the whole Bible and just that is your gift. And you know, teaching is just a general term, it can be other things. You know, ladies can teach one another sometimes. You know, the Bible says that older women should teach the younger women to, you know, love their husbands. You know, to love their children, to raise their children and all these things to be a homemaker. I mean, sometimes some ladies have that skill, they've got that gift. To be able to pass on some great wisdom and knowledge and teaching to others. Verse number eight, What does it mean to exhort? To encourage, to lift up, that's really what it means. There might be someone here where you might say, my only gift is that I can encourage people. Well, praise God, use it. You know, there are people that you get around and every time you interact with them, you're just like, man, I feel just, I feel motivated now, I feel encouraged. They've got that gift of exhortation. I don't think I'm that guy, but there are others that have that gift of exhortation. He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity. There are some that can give, you know, maybe financially or possessions or whatever it is, they've got excess, God's given them, you know, their proportion is they just have excess and they just, what do I do with my excess? Well, look for the needs of others. Give when a shortfall comes, whatever that is. Hear that ruler with diligence. There are some people that are very well organized and can organize, you know, and lead and, you know, even just other activities. You know, someone that might be like brother Michael who organizes the soul winning. You know, he's very good at organizing and arranging maps and he can do that, you know, with diligence. And here's another gift. Hear that show of mercy with cheerfulness. Some of you just, my gift is I can show mercy. I'm very merciful, you know. I'm very, when someone's in a bad place and someone's messed up and have made mistakes because sometimes Christians like to kick people while they're down. But I'm not that kind of person, you might say. I've got the gift of mercy. I just come along and be loving and supportive of that person who needs mercy, who needs understanding. I'm able to give that person more time, you know, and help them during these difficult periods. You know, we all have, and this is just an example. The third point that I have for you Brevin is that you need to act on your spiritual gift. Act on your spiritual gift. Don't say to me pastor, my spiritual gift is that I can sit quietly for an hour and a half and then leave. How does that support the Brevin? I mean, look, it is an encouragement to me. It's just that you come to church, it's an encouragement to me. Just sitting in the pew is like, okay, you know, awesome. Church is on, you know, let's serve the Lord. Let's praise the Lord. Let's learn of his word. It's an encouragement, but really you need to think about what gift has got, and you have one. Don't tell me you have one, otherwise the Bible is not true. You have one, but to be honest, you probably have many. And you need to act on your spiritual gift. We're members one of another. This isn't pastor Kevin's church. This is brother so-and-so and sister so-and-so and child so-and-so and baby so-and-so's church. This is our church. We're here to support one another, but you need to act on your spiritual gift. Look at verse number nine. Let love be without dissimulation. The fourth point that I have for you brethren is you need to love in truth. This simulation, the simulator is something that is not real. Okay, so let love be without dissimulation. Don't let your love for the brethren be fake. You know, when someone walks up, oh yeah, I love you brother, I really hate his guts. Brother, praying for you at church. Praise God for you. Come home, speak to the wife. Man, that family's really messed up, aren't they? That's not love. Love without dissimulation. It's a love one another in truth where we truly love each other. You know, I truly love you guys. Like honestly, there's not one person here that I can't say that I do not love. I mean that. I actually, you know, I love that you're in the house of the Lord this morning. I love that you allow me to be your pastor. I mean, you're not forced to. You can walk out if you want. You know, I've always said I'm never going to kick anybody out. I mean, besides the, you know, things that they ought to be kicked out for. I'm never going to force anybody out. I'm never going to beg anybody to be here either. You know, it's free will. If you want to be here in the house of the Lord in your life at church, it's free will. And I love you for it. Thank you for allowing me to be your pastor. Thank you for allowing me to be your preacher. Okay, it allows me to act on my spiritual gift that God's given me. And I don't think I'm even that great at it, to be honest. But it's, I'm doing it at the best amount, the proportion of faith that God has given me. I'm trying to do the best that I can. But love in truth. Come with me to 1 John. Keep your finger there, of course, in Romans 12. Come with me to 1 John. 1 John chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4 and verse number 20. Because I think this morning we would all say we love God. I hope so. I mean, you could be doing so many other things this morning, Sunday mornings. I mean, plenty going on, I'm sure. Plenty of markets that you could visit this morning. It's a warm day. I guess you could hit the beach if you really wanted to this morning. But you decided, oh, I love God. I want to be in his house. That's good. But I want you to remember this truth in 1 John 4.20. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. If there's a brother or sister in this church that you hate, fake love. And you say, I love God, you are a liar. I want that to sink in. That's pretty serious. It means you don't love God. For he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen. How can he love God, whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God, love his brother also. This commandment have we from him. Those two commandments, which all the laws of God rest upon. Loving God and loving your brother also. And if you do that perfectly, you cannot break God's commandments. Loving your brother also. Now, I realize that loving is, you know, it's somewhat emotional. But I find it to be more an act. Not pretending acts, not like actors, but like action. I find, I'll tell you my story with soul winning, right? When I first learned in my early 20s the importance of going to all sorts of soul winning. I personally just did not really have a love for people behind the doors. Like strangers, people out there. Who are they? I don't know. You know, it's a bit embarrassing to go knock their door. I've got other things to do, I could use my time for. But then, you know, you go out and do it anyway. And you start knocking doors and you start talking to people. And obviously there are people that are not interested. But you very quickly realize so many people are on their way to hell. Right? And, you know, the more you do it, the more people you talk to. Even though it's uncomfortable sometimes. You realize this is a real soul. Like this is someone that, you know, the Bible's not fables. This is someone, if they were to die today, they're going to burn in eternity in hell fire. Torment a day and night forever and ever. And then this is a soul who Jesus died for. This is a soul that Jesus took his or her sins upon himself. He's dealt with their sins. Salvation is open to this person. It's free. Jesus loved them so much that he died for them. And people talk, well I hope I go to heaven. I hope so, I think so. I'm a good person. And the more people you talk to in these lost souls, you start to really love the lost. You start to feel the love of Christ fill your heart. The love that Christ had to die for your sakes. To die for your life. And you start, man, and it's action. You know, and the action develops that love for others. This is why, you don't need to turn there, but in John 13-34 Christ says, A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. What a standard. You know how much we're meant to love one another? The same love that Christ has for you. So, I'll use one of my kids because they're easier to love I guess. You know, Jonathan. I ought to love Jonathan as a church member, as much as Christ loves me, and as much as Christ loves him. How much did Christ love Jonathan? He died for him. Whoa. That's how much I'm supposed to love my brothers and sisters here at New Life Baptist Church? Now obviously we can't die for each other. I can't die for your sins. I can't die for my own sins. Jesus did that. But that same sacrificial, true love, not fake, not pretend, not just smiles at church and then backstabbing at home. We're to love in truth. Point number four is to love in truth. Can you come back with me to Romans 12 verse number nine again? Romans 12 and verse number nine. I didn't get to finish that sentence, or I did finish the sentence, but the next part of the verse. Let love be without dissimulation, abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good, be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love, in honour, preferring one another. We ought to honour each other, honour one another, preferring one another. Now when it says abhor that which is evil, evil is harmful things. You know, I shouldn't act on issues that will harm you. I don't want to harm you. I don't mind preaching and offending the old man, right? I don't mind preaching and offending, you know, sins that you love to do and, you know, challenging you to overcome those sins. That's fine, it's God's word, but I don't want to destroy your life and your testimony and your passion and your zeal for the Lord. I want to avoid that which can harm you in your growth and service here at New Life Baptist Church. But I shall cleave to that which is good. I want to do good to you as my brothers. That's one way, right? The act of love. Not harming, not doing evil to each other, but doing good to one another. Verse number 10 said, be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love. Kindly affectionate. Kindness. To be kind is to be considerate, to be mild, to be gentle with each other. Because sometimes we're going to offend, we're going to do things that frustrate each other. The more we spend time together, the more we're going to frustrate each other. But when that happens, we ought to be kind, gentle, right? We don't want to just tear each other apart. Instead, in honor, preferring one another. This is kind of like, you know, if we have a church lunch or something. Preferring one another is, hey brother, you go first. Actually that happens sometimes. The food's ready, no one comes. Because everyone's like, you go first, you go first. Someone's got to go first. Okay, normally when no one goes first, I just go first. Just to get the ball rolling. But we ought not to, you know, we have to think about others. Preferring one another. You know, we shouldn't take this attitude. Sometimes in church this happens. It doesn't really happen here, praise God. But you know, when you come week in, week out, you start to bind your seats. These are my seats. You know, we always sit in the same place usually. And then someone, let's say someone sits in your seat. Hey, that's my seat. Look, just prefer one another. Just give them the seat over. Forget about it, right? Just look out for the best for each other. Let others go first rather than having to, you know, get all the glory and the honor yourself. Just, we're here to serve, we're here to bless, we're here to love. We're members one of another in honor. We've got to honor each other. You know, sometimes, you know, especially as a pastor. And I don't have a problem with people calling me Kevin. Honestly, I'm not offended by it. But if you want to honor my office, you can call me Pastor Kevin. All right? That's a sense of honor because, you know, it's not me as an individual. It's the office that God has given me that has been honored. And I praise God that I've been allowed to have that office. You know, how we speak to each other, honoring one another, loving one another. So, point number four is we need to love in truth. I mean, we're going to spend eternity together. Have you thought about that? You're like, I'm sick of Pastor Kevin. Do I have to hear him every week? I've got to hear him in heaven too. Look, there'll be great preachers in heaven. Don't worry, there'll be other great men you can listen to. Christ himself will open his word and teach us, I'm sure. But we're going to spend eternity with each other. Let's just learn to love each other now. We're going to have to love each other in eternity. Okay, so let's just learn to love each other right now without the simulation. Let's continue there in verse number 11. Romans 12-11. Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. All these things are very similar. Not slothful in business, not being lazy. Now we're talking the context of one another church. You know, church is also a place that we're not just slothful, okay? Fervent. To be like passionate, on fire. You know, to be here in the house of the Lord. To serve each other. We're going to say, serving the Lord. The standard by which we are to serve one another and to minister here at this church is the same level as serving the Lord. You know, sometimes we need to move the chairs out of the way, maybe stack them up for different reasons. And we say, hey guys, can you help us stack up the chairs, put them aside. It all ought to be, oh, I don't have to do this, you know, pick up a chair, whatever. I'm just like, yeah, man, I'm going to collect more chairs than anybody else. I'm going to serve the Lord, I'm going to give my best. That's how it ought to be. I mean, get up to preach, whoever the preacher is. You know, give your best. The song leader. Give your best. I'm not having to go at brother Oliver or anything like that because he's our main song leader now. But you know, a song leader is the one that gets us motivated, let's sing praise to God, welcome to church this morning. Alright, kind of sets the standard. Is it going to be a high energy service or is it going to be a low energy service? You know, and so I'm not feeling great this morning, doesn't matter. You know, sometimes I don't feel great on Sundays. I don't feel the best. You know, I feel a bit low sometimes, I have problems and concerns. But I've got to just like, I've just got to put it aside and go, man, I've got to feed God's people, God's word. I've got to get excited about God's word. I've got to get passionate. I want to be able to give my best in how I preach my sermons. When you get up to read the Bible, whoever's the Bible reader, brother Jordan today, right? Whoever it is, I want to give my best because I'm serving others, right? I'm not going to be slothful. It's not just me, yes, I can read a chapter. The reason I'm reading a chapter is because I'm helping the church follow that chapter, preparing us for the sermon. So I'm going to lift my voice. I'm going to speak with clarity, okay? I'm going to do the best I can and look, I know, not everyone's got the greatest voice, doesn't matter. You do with the measure of faith that God's given you. You give your best here in the house of the Lord. That's the point number five. Give your best in God's house. Point number five is give your best in God's house. Don't be sloppy in your ministry. You know, if you ask a volunteer to clean up the building, clean up, give your best. Don't be like, oh, I'll just leave that stain over there, whatever it is, right? Give your best. Soul winning. Give your best. Get out there, all right? Don't just shuffle your feet next door. No, yeah, I'm just, you know, I'm here to, hey, my name's Kevin. I'm here with my friend. You know, we're here representing New Life Baptist Church. Do you attend church anywhere? No. Well, you know what? More important, are you sure you're going to heaven if you were to die today? You know, you've got to have that confidence and the ability to speak. And I know you're out of your comfort zone. You're speaking to strangers, but you want to give your best. You're representing this church. And more importantly, you're representing the kingdom of God in heaven. You're an ambassador of Christ. Give our best in whatever we do. Give your best in the way you dress when you come to church. I'm not saying you've got to put on a tie and put on a suit, a jacket, whatever it is. But come neat and tidy, all right? When mom and dad say, hey, it's ready for, you know, get ready for church. They're like, oh, I don't know. There's a shirt on the floor. Let's just, you know, it's all creased. I'll just pick that shirt. That's good enough. Shorts, I don't know. I've had my underwear for the last two weeks. Same underwear, I guess. Yeah. Where are my shorts? Mom, where are my shorts? Just whatever. I'll just grab this one here. Whatever. Sloppy. Sloppy. Look neat and tidy. You don't have to dress like this. By the way, if you're going to preach, I want you to put on a tie. And not to show off. I've said when you get nicely dressed and you look in the mirror and you look nice on the outside, it's to remind you that I want you to look good on the inside. Get right with God on the inside. Be clean on the inside. So when you get up to preach, you look presentable, but God looks on the heart. God looks inwardly. I want you to be presentable to God inwardly. And let the outside be a reminder that you need to be clean and tidy on the inside when you get up to preach. Give your best. You know, when we have our end of month, and it's not an issue. I'm just putting it out there. When we have our end of month lunches, you know, and the ladies come and bring something or it's the morning tea. Give your best. You don't always have time. Especially mothers with children. You don't have time to. You know, bring a buffet of the most exotic foods. But whatever it is, even if it's just a sandwich, give your best. Don't bring just a, I brought a loaf of bread and I bought some ham. Now you just put yourselves together or something like that. You know, give the best of what you've got because you're serving the Lord, you're serving the brethren. We're members one of another. We're here to support and to back and encourage one another. Give your best when you sing. I don't care about how bad your voice is. Because normally when people don't have a good tune, they're not really good at singing, they just tone it down. Just don't worry about it. You're singing to the Lord. If your measure of faith, your gift isn't great in singing, it doesn't matter. Okay, your voice might not be the best, but I want your heart to be the best. And when your heart is right, your voice will project. And I don't care how bad it sounds. It sounds beautiful in the ears of Jesus Christ. He wants you to sing. Okay, the Bible commands us to sing loudly his praises. Give your best in God's house. Verse number 12 please. Rejoice in hope. Rejoice with joy. Rejoice means joyful, you know, in hope. You know, when we come to church we ought to have joy. Now look, there's a time to weep, there's a time to mourn. We know that. But generally speaking, our disposition when we come to church, church ought to be a joyful one. Smiles, handshakes, greetings, right? Acknowledging one another. Being happy to be in God's house. Happy to be amongst brothers and sisters in the Lord. And not only patient in hope, patient in tribulation because we know we'd have troubles. I'm sure right now some of you have major troubles in life. Okay? But you come and you come to church anyway. You don't let the tribulation stop you from being at church. But you be patient about it. You're not like here, oh man, my fly's falling apart and you bring misery and woe and depression to God's house. So yeah, I am going through difficulties but I'm going to wait it out. I'm patient. I'm waiting on the Lord to provide me solutions. Continuing instant in prayer. You know when I think of these phrases there in verse number 12, I think about, this is point number six is, to be a positive influence in God's house. A person of joy. But even if you're having tribulations and problems and struggles, you're patient about it, right? You're not losing control. One reason I despise conspiracy theories. People say, pastor, you don't believe in conspiracies. Of course I do. The Bible's full of conspiracies. But what it does to many people that get obsessed and chase this rabbit hole is they get so worried and concerned. Like things that I know. I know the world's becoming more wicked. I know. I know we're headed to a casual society. I know things are getting more automated where the mark of the beast might come through one day and this and that. We all know that. The Bible tells us. There's no surprise. Then people get so cast down. It's all about to end. All private property is going to be removed and you're going to be, what's that statement? Have nothing but be happy. Something like that. Does anyone know how it goes? You'll owe nothing and be happy. I don't care. I'm going to heaven. I own everything. I don't know about you. I'm going to rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years. Who cares about earthly possessions right now? I'm not going to get cast down about those things. If it happens, it happens. We'll deal with it. God will give us his grace. He will give us the strength of the Holy Spirit. We'll still win souls. We'll be patient in tribulation is what we'll be. That's how to be good church members. It's all happening. Nuclear wars going to happen. I've been told this stuff forever and it's a thing. It just blows me in my past to get ready. Nuclear war is about to happen next month. The world's going to fall apart. Get your stock up on rice and potatoes and cans of tuna and beans and rice, potato, whatever. It's all about to happen. It's all about to fall apart. Then the news goes by and it's still happening. We're still working. Life is still going. Life is still going as per normal. Look, I get the information. I understand alternate media. I understand different opinions. I know the mass media is lying to us. I know all those things. But learn to be patient in tribulation. Because when you're just like this, it's all going to happen. Six Gs, the next thing is coming around the corner. Chemtrails and fluoride. We're all dying and all the COVID vaccinations. There should be, right now, billions of people dead by now if all these things were true. And you're a negative influence is what you are. Negative. Do you think people want to be around negative people? Because life is hard enough. Life has enough challenges. And then I get around a brother or sister slur. It's all, you're all about to die. It's like, I don't want to be around you. Where's my brother that encourages me? The one who rejoices in hope. I want that brother. I'd rather be in his company. I want to be under his. Let's serve one another brother. Because, man, you helped me get through life. Continuing instant in prayer. So if you have troubles, who do you go to? You go to God in prayer. God's going to fix it. We know that. God's got an answer. God's answers are always best. So point number six, brethren, is be a positive influence. Does that mean we just smile, everything's good, and no problems ever? No. You can come to each other. The Bible tells us in James 5 16, Confess your faults one to another and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. It's okay to express that you're having hardships. That you're going through difficulties. Someone says to you, Hey, brother, how you doing today? And actually, you know, you say instead of going, well, I'm doing well, you actually know actually, brother, I'm really struggling right now. I got these issues. But I'm going to be patient in my tribulation. I'm going to continue in prayer. I know God's got a solution for me. And in the meantime, brother, can you pray for me too? I need your prayers. Please think about me during this week because I've got some challenges. I've got some difficulties. That's not being negative. You're expressing your difficulties, but you're rejoicing in hope. God's going to come through. God's going to have the answer for us. We're going to be patient in our tribulation. And we're going to continually go to God in prayer when we need help. Point number six for everyone is be a positive influence. And lastly, verse number 13. Let's keep going there. Verse number 13. Distributing to the necessity of saints given to hospitality. Last point that I have for you, brethren, to be members one of another is to fulfill the needs of others. Fulfill the needs of others. Sometimes as a brother, a sister, a family, don't do something that they need help with. Are you ready to help them in that situation to give to their needs, to be hospitable toward them? You know, I'll use the example. Let's say someone's moving house. We know it's a lot of work to move house, okay? And someone says, look, I'm moving house. You know, is someone able to help me out this weekend? That's your chance. This is what Pastor Kevin's been preaching about this morning. We're members one of another. Man, I'll be there, brother. I'll help. And obviously sometimes we've got other appointments and the things don't feel bad if you've got other plans and already set in stone. But I'm just saying, if you have time and you're ready and able and the need comes up, man, I'm going to give to your needs. I'm going to be that living sacrifice and help you move house. Or whatever, whatever other need pops up, you know? Are you ready to be that person to fulfill the needs of others? Brevin, title for the sermon this morning was Members One of Another. This is part of the servitude submission, but also leadership. It's not so much leadership this time, but... Now, if we put these things into practice, it's going to be easier to serve one another. We ought to serve each other regardless because I'm serving Christ. But it's easy to serve Christ because He loves me, He wants the best for me, He's blessing me. And it's easy to serve one another when we can really stand out and understand our positions one toward another. Let me summarize those seven points once again. Members one of another. Number one, don't think yourself more highly than others. Number two, we are depending on you. You're a member, you're a supporter of this church and of each other. Number three, act on your spiritual gift. Say, Pastor, I know what my spiritual gift is. All right, act on it, do it! Love in truth, don't let it be fake. Number five, give your best to God's house. Number six, be a positive influence. And number seven, fulfill the needs of others. All right, Brevin, let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you once again to be here in the house of the Lord, to hear your word preached and to learn. Lord, when I think about these points covered this morning, I know where I fall short as well. So, Lord, please be merciful to us when we fail and help us to have true love for the brethren, Lord. Help us to remember to love one another in the same way that Christ has loved us and has loved them. Thank you, Lord, that we can be in a church, we can be in a house, Lord, that is away from the filth of this world, that we can be in our minds, that we can be conformed to the image of Christ. And, Lord, we thank you so much once again for being a great God, for loving us, for picking us up when we're down, for saving our souls, for making a child of yours. And, Lord, we're looking forward to the time that we can rule with Christ and be with you for all eternity. We love you so much, Lord, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, brethren, please take your white booklets. We'll begin with number eight, How Great Thou Art. Number eight, sorry, no Christmas ones this Sunday, but I'm sure Oliver's going to make up for it on Wednesday. Number eight, How Great Thou Art. When my impulsive heart burn, Consider all the words thy hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Five clouds rebound, their union watch is made. Faint sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee, How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Faint sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee, How great Thou art! How great Thou art! When through the woods and forest plains I wander, And hear the birds sing swiftly in the trees, When I look down from lofty mountain wind, And hear the moon, and feel the gentle breeze, Faint sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee, How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Faint sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee, How great Thou art! How great Thou art! And when I hear that God is so not scaring, Take him to God, the stairs can take him. That on the cross my beauty gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin. Faint sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee, How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Faint sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee, How great Thou art! How great Thou art! When Christ shall come, we shall turn not the nation, And take me home, a choice shall fill my heart, Then I shall bow in humble admiration, And then proclaim, My God, how great Thou art! Faint sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee, How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Faint sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee, How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Faint sings my soul, my Saviour God,