Today on Bold steps with Mark job. We're learning how to mature and grow in God's power and provision.
When you begin to realize that God can use me, you start growing. You start maturing. You move from being a needy person to being a person that has the power to give. Oh, there's a change that happens there.
Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark job. Mark is senior pastor at New Life Community Church and the president of Moody Bible Institute, both in Chicago. Well, we all have been given unique gifts and talents to help further the Kingdom of God. But how should we use those abilities to encourage and help bring people to Christ? That's the topic we're going to explore today in our message called Unleashing People Power. It's part of our brand new series
When You believe everything changes. If you're looking for more resources and tools to help you study God's Word on your own, let me invite you to visit our website. You'll find a variety of resources. You can even sign up for Mark's email devotional, The Bold Step or weekly. This devotional is free and automatically delivered to your inbox each Monday morning. To learn more or to sign up, visit Bold Steps. All right, now let's get started with today's bold steps. Here's Mark Jobe.
Your prayers are heard because you are a son or daughter of God as well. If you've been washed by the blood of the lamb. And so you don't need an intermediary of a pastor clergy rabbi to pray for you because God hears your prayers as well. Listen, when we baptize, if you've ever been to a new life baptism, have you noticed that we make sure that it's not the pastors that baptize everybody? Why? We do it on purpose?
Because I want you to understand and know that it's not the holy men, so to speak, that baptize and mentor that you, the people of God, empower with the Spirit of God, disciples of Jesus Christ. You have the power also to baptize in Jesus name as we make disciples. So we have men and women and young and old baptizing in Jesus name. Why? Because we want you to understand that you have the power in yourself and the calling of God upon your life to help make disciples. Now,
are you tracking with me? Because this is huge. When we serve communion, I make sure that it's the ushers that serve communion. Well, I may participate and be a part of it, but but but I, I take no special communion that you can't take. I don't say no. You could take the bread, but I take the wine and the bread. because I'm holier. No, no, no, that's not the way it works here. I take the same
cracker and the same juice you take. Why? Because I want you to understand there is no dichotomy between the holy and unholy here. There is just what the Bible calls the priesthood of all believers. This is important. This is huge, because some of you were brought up into in traditions that caused you not to pray, not to minister, not to reach out, not to use your gifts because you've been taught you're not qualified or holy enough to do that. That's only for certain holy people that do that.
And I want you to know, know, know that spiritual leaders have been called to prepare God's people and release God's people to do the work of the A ministry that my main job is not to see how many people I can pray for, although I pray for people. But my job is how can I get others to pray for others? My main job is not let me see how many people I can lead to Christ. My main job is how can I empower the body to share their faith and lead a lot of people to Christ?
My main job is not how many people can I personally teach, but how can I empower a lot of you to be teachers so that you take the faith and teach others? My main job is not to see how many people I can personally visit at the hospital that are sick, but how can I release and empower the body to care about people that are sick in the hospital and release the body of Christ to do the work of the ministry? I have no desire to minister to 4000 people. Me personally, no desire. I don't
have the capacity. I don't have the time. It's not my desire to personally Pray for everybody and personally visit everybody and personally minister to everybody. Because if that were my heart, then I would somehow believe that I'm the only one that can do it, which is a lie, because the Spirit of God has been spread around this place and there is a body full of the spirit. Do you understand how this is one of the greatest
lies that have kept the people of God? Christians trapped and bound, not using their gifts, not stepping up to the calling in life, not feeling like they could read the Bible, but someone had to read the Bible to them. Not praying, not ministering, not leading anything, but kind of waiting for the holy people to do that. Listen, I want to unleash the power of the body, for the church can become the church full of God, full of the gospel of Jesus Christ, fully empowered by God, fully
accomplishing the mission of God upon this earth. And so he says that apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists. They are there to prepare God's people, to equip, to prepare, to empower God's people so that the body of Christ may be built up, leads to my third point. The third thing to remember is that we use our gifts. Remember that we use our gifts so that we can grow to the full maturity and leave spiritual nursery behind. Notice what
it says in verse 12. It says to prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ, we are the body of Christ, may be built up. Verse 13, until we all reach unity in the faith and knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Verse 14. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there, by every wind of teaching, and by every cunning and
craftiness of men in their deceitful schemings. In essence, what Paul is saying is that spiritual leaders are given to help empower us to release the church to do its work. And when the church is released, the people of God are released to begin to do the work of God. Then something happens when you begin to discover that you have a gift and that God can use you. When you begin to mentor someone, pray over someone. When you begin to share your faith, when you begin to learn that,
you also can be a blessing and encouragement. When you can share a verse, when you can. When you begin to realize that God can use me and you start moving in that way. Then there's something that happens to you. You start growing. You start maturing. You start realizing, I'm not a person that always needs, but I'm a person that has the ability to give. You move from being a needy person to being a person that has the
power to give. Oh, there's a change that happens there. Oh, there's something that happens when you transition from I need, I need to I can give, I can give. Uh, there's something that happens when you transition from, hey, can you pray for me to. Can I pray for you? There's something that happens when you bring someone and you say, hey, pastor Mark, I brought I got one for you. Get em, pastor, tell em. Go ahead. Tell em they need Jesus. Tell em. You tell em. Oh, I'm willing to do that. Never
be afraid to do that. I'm blessed to be able to do that. But I'm even more blessed when you don't have to bring em to pastor Mark to say, tell em, pastor, when you can. Tell em yourself, when you can say, let me lead you to Jesus. Let me pray with you. Let me explain the gospel. Let's kneel on our knees right now. Let's give your life to Jesus and pray over you. When you begin to have that power and confidence inside of you, that you
can lead someone to the feet of Jesus. Hey, I'm blessed to baptize people, but hey, it's a great blessing to me when you finally learn to mentor someone and teach them the the the Bible studies that lead to baptism and that you pray over someone as they go into the water and you dunk them in the water and they come out of the water and you do it in Jesus name. Hey, that's a incredible blessing to me. Why?
Because now I know you've you've gone from I need, I need to I can give, I can give, and you are going from one place of maturity to the next place of maturity.
You're listening to the Bible teaching of Mark Jobe here on Bold Steps, and we've paused our program to let you know that we would love to hear from you. You'll find us online at npr.org. Just click on Bold Testimonies. We'd love to hear your story of God at work in your life. And these are so encouraging to us, Mark. Here's a listener recently who took time to write us a note. Leon in Chicago, and he says, I feel like pastor Mark spoke directly to me on the radio today.
His message has truly blessed me in my struggle. Thank you.
Yeah, well, Leon, that was the Holy Spirit taking his word and speaking to you. Right? Exactly what you needed to hear. And I love that about preaching the Word of God. And so I want to encourage you, please give us feedback. We love to hear from our listeners like Leon. So many people that just tell us what God is doing in their life and the bold steps that they're taking.
It's amazing how radio can be such a personal ministry, isn't it, Mark?
It really is.
Thank you. Leon. Anyone who wants to tell us their story, your bold story go online. Bold steps.org. Click on Bold Testimonies. Let's return to the second half of today's study. Mark has one last point to make about truth and love.
Oh, you say, well, pastor, I need to. I need to know more. Oh, I know we all need to know more. The pastor I'd love to be used, but I need. I need to take more notes. Oh, I'm sure you do. I need to learn more about God. I need to, like, get it all down first. Well, I'm sure you do. But here's the thing. I have two teenagers, one that's gotten their driver's license and won. Help me. Lord, that's getting his driver's license. No, he's
actually a pretty good driver. So my 16 year old son right now, that's in the midst of getting his driver's license. He's got his permit right now. He can go to class after class and read book after book and watch video after video on how to drive. Put your turn signal on, how to merge, how to park and do all that. But I can guarantee you that after months and months of studying a book, he's still not ready to drive. I can't put him in a
car and then say, okay, you're ready, son. Take a trip to California, because the best way you need to learn, he needs knowledge. But the best way to really learn to drive is you have to start driving. And everybody's a little rough in the beginning, and everybody's a little jerky. And everybody has a little bit of a trouble merging onto the expressway. away. When you first learn it right. When Josiah first started learning, he says, dad, I'm pretty
good at everything but merging on the expressway. I said, okay, son, let's do it. We got up there first time emerged on the expressway. There's a big semi. Merging on. We're going like side by side by the semi. He said, dad, what do I do? I said, you either speed up or slow down, but let's not compete with this semi. One or the other. But you know what? You don't learn that from a book. You have to get out
there and you have to do it. Listen, you can gain a lot of wisdom by sitting in a service like this or going to a Bible, a Bible study. But I'm going to tell you, you will never grow to the place you need to grow until you actually start doing the work of ministry, until you actually start talking to someone, praying for someone, sharing your faith, ministering to someone, encouraging someone doing the work because that's the way you grow. You grow when you discover your gift.
You roll up your sleeves and you start serving somewhere, doing something, utilizing your gifts because that's the way you grow the most. And what the Apostle Paul is telling us is that when we begin to use our gifts, everybody, then we grow in faith and we grow in the knowledge of the Son of God to become mature to the full measure of the fullness of Christ. And then we're no longer babies, infants. Babies are tossed this way and tossed that way. They're inconsistent. They're up and down.
Someone comes in. They can easily be deceived because they don't have a lot of discernment. He says, when you start using your gifts, when you start operating in your gifts, you will leave babyhood behind and you will start to mature. So now you're less up and down and now you're not so easily deceived. And now it's not every little teaching that sends you over here and sends you over there. Why? Because you're developing maturity. Spiritual maturity. And then finally, number four,
I'm talking about unleashing the body. In verse 15, he tells us the atmosphere in which this needs to happen. He says instead, instead of being babies tossed back and forth, instead speaking the truth in love. Oh. Number four, remember that truth and love are the atmosphere that releases full
participation and growth. Speaking the truth in love. We will grow up into him who is the head that is Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work. Now hear me. We want to be a church that is full of truth and love. What happens if we're just a church that's full of truth? Well, when all you have is truth but you don't have love, you tend to come across
as judgmental, critical. Have you ever talked to someone? That's right. But they say it wrong. Well, you know they're right, but they just say it wrong. Well, this person, they're going to hell. Well, maybe they are going to hell. But, you know, there's a way of saying it differently. Like, man, I really want to help them not go there. There's truth in love. And if all you know is truth,
then you'll you'll be critical, Dogmatic. Even though your truth is right, your truth will typically push people away, offend people because all you're concerned about is truth. Is it right? Now, on the other hand, if all you have is sort of this gushy, mushy love, we just need to love them. Well, hey, they're really messing up. I know, I don't want to say anything. I just want to love them. Hey, they're lying and cheating. I know I'm going to love them.
Help them feel the love of God, the people of God. I don't want to judge them either. One is is out of balance. Well, God says is you need truth and love, truth and love. You need the truth to be spoken and listen. The truth sometimes hurts. The truth sometimes offends. The truth sometimes cuts to your heart. The truth sometimes offends you. The truth sometimes will make you feel like, man, I'm mad at that pastor. He's. Oh, he told me this. Was it truth? Yeah, it's the truth, but.
But if it's mixed with love. Let me tell you something. If you try to take a tank across a bridge that's really flimsy. It's going to fall. If you're going to take your big truth across the bridge, it needs to be a strong bridge of love. The more people know you care, the more people will care what you know. The more people know you care, the more people will accept what you have to tell them in truth. If people don't know you care, then people don't care what
you know or don't care what you tell them. And so the power of a healthy church is when a church has truth and love, where you wrap your arm around someone and say, bro, I need to talk to you and this is going to hurt, but I love you, And that's why I'm telling you it needs to be a place where there's strong truth. But there's strong love mixed together. And in that kind of atmosphere, people start growing and utilizing their gifts and releasing what God has
called them to and grow. You know how many people you know? How many guys? Do you know how many guys? I've put my arm around at this altar and said, hey, bro, glad you're going in. Jesus. How come you're not marrying this woman that you're living with right now? You know how many guys have done that to. A lot, a lot, a lot of guys. And you know what? I can't think of one that said, hey, hey, don't don't tell me what to do. No, no, no, I don't, because
I'm not saying why you living with that girl. You shouldn't be living. Are you a Christian? You shouldn't come to this church if you're living with. living. I never say that. Never. I'm not judging. I'm not kicking them out. I'm saying, man, I feel like a father here, bro. What's up? Who's dragging their feet on commitment here? Let's make this right with this woman. You going to get all the goodies, man? You need to make all the
commitment to. You need to do what's right. Why? Listen, because I believe God's way is the best way, and I want to. And if there's a brother struggling, if there's a brother struggling, you know, I want to be able to put my arm around and say, hey, bro, I've heard you're struggling. Let's talk about that. What's going on? Truth and love. I don't avoid it. I don't want to avoid it. I want to speak direct. I want to be honest. But I want to do it in
love and listen. When that atmosphere exists throughout the church, when people are speaking the truth and love, There's something releasing empowering that happens because people start to grow. When you start speaking into their lives, listen, you may be here in the church and you may be in a small group and someone's struggling and you say, well, I hope pastor Mark deals with this guy. He's really struggling, man. Listen, chances are I don't even know they're struggling. I may
not even know their name. I may not even know who they are. But I tell you what, there's someone in the group that has the same spirit that pastor Mark has. The Holy Spirit has the same ability to love and truth. And so instead of waiting for pastor Mark to say, oh, pastor Mark knows about this person, listen, you need to say, hey, I know you. We've been in the same group. Let's talk, man. Let's have coffee together. I want to encourage you. I want to bless you.
I want to push you forward. I know you're struggling. I've struggled to let me minister to you. That is the body of Christ.
So I want to encourage you, on the heels of this message, to make a choice to get involved in your church. I know there's some of you that are listening right now. Maybe you don't even have a local church. If you are listening and saying, well, my church is Moody Radio, we are here to help you out. But it's not the substitute for a church.
Amen.
You need to find a Bible believing church and get involved. And maybe you're attending church, but you haven't been involved at all. I would encourage you to approach a ministry leader, the pastor, someone on staff, and just say, I want to serve. Can you direct me and help me know how to serve?
Mark, you're a pastor. When someone comes up to you with that question at church, how church. How do you respond to them?
Yeah, well, I try to start by telling them, hey, you have gifts that can be used in this place, and there's a place for you. And so we have a new to new life desk. I send them to the desk and say, get some information, but I like to encourage him. First of all, get involved with people. If there's a small group, join a small group, join a Sunday school class. Make sure you know some people and then say, what are my passions and how can I serve this body?
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Radio and become part of the conversation. That's all the time we have today. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Join us again tomorrow when Mark starts his next message. It's titled putting on the New You. It's from our series when you believe everything changes and you will hear Thursday on Bold Steps with Mark John. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.