Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:00]
A
Hey, what's up, friends? And welcome to another episode of the Jabyn Chavez Leadership Podcast, where I'm just doing everything that I can to hopefully help you. Firstly, as a leader, I believe that where the leader goes, the organization goes, that we reproduce who we are, not what we want to be. We don't reproduce just what we want. We reproduce who we are. So I believe that as we get better, the organization gets better. As we get bigger, the organization gets bigger. As we get stronger, our organization gets stronger. And just praying that today is a blessing to you, whether you're a pastor, preacher, or you're working out in some kind of other industry, if you feel like a leader or want to become a leader, I am praying that this is going to be a blessing to you in Jesus name. So I'm gonna give you a thought today from Matthew 16. And Jesus said this. He said, upon this rock I will build my church. And the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And I will give you the kingdom, the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. I will build my church. And I want to talk today about why I love the church. Why I love the church. Saint Cyprian of Carthage in 257, that's a long time ago, said, no one can have God as their father who does not have the church as their mother. No one can have God as their father who does not have the church as their mother. And I want to remind you that our mother is not perfect. Many of us have mama issues, also known as church hurt. But I'll never give up on the church. I love the church. The church is God's plan A and he does not have a plan B. The church is the hope of the world. I love the church. I got saved in the church. I got called in the church. I got filled with the Holy Spirit in the church. I met my wife in the church. Cheers to the church. I love the church. And I want you to notice this beautiful principle right from the very beginning of the church. Acts, chapter 2, verse 42. They devoted themselves. They were devoted to what? The church, to the apostles, teaching, to fellowship, to breaking of bread and to communion. So they were devoted to the church. They made the choice to be devoted to the church, to the teachings, to fellowship. We could call that small groups, call that being plugged in, call that being planted. They were committed. They were devoted to communion. They were devoted to the prayer meeting. Think about that the early church was devoted to the gathering. Look what God says about it. In Exodus 25, he commands Moses, let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. This is amazing. This is the tabernacle of Moses. This is before the. The Temple of Solomon. And God says, they're going to make it. Not you, Moses, not the leader. The people will make this place where I may dwell among them. And when I see that, I think of place and space. Place is the physical gathering. Space is that supernatural moment where heaven meets earth. Place in space. Let them make me a sanctuary, a place I may dwell among them. And that's what we're doing. And I want you to. I just want to focus in on this, especially to pastors. The people built it. Now, when you read Exodus 25 through chapters 35, you find out that the people went back to their homes, they grabbed the resource that they needed, and they brought it to Moses to build the tabernacle. So much so, by the way, that Moses had to say, stop giving. You've given enough. I just want you to think about that. God spoke to Moses, but the people built it. And the church is built by the people. Ephesians 4. God gives us pastors and teachers and evangelists and prophets and apostles. Why? For the perfecting of the saints, that they may do the work of the ministry. And so God absolutely uses leadership to mobilize and to strengthen and to feed the people of God. But I want you to notice that the people built. In Acts chapter six, we see that the apostles were devoted to the teaching and to praying, doctrine and praying. They said, we can't get distracted on these other needs that are very important, but we can't get distracted by them because we need to be teaching and praying. Acts Chapter six. They said, we've got to raise up leaders, raise up deacons to do the work of the ministry. And I want to remind pastors, don't get so busy. Eugene Peterson said, a busy pastor is a lazy pastor. A busy pastor is a lazy pastor. You need to be devoted to teaching and prayer. You need to build. And I've talked about this in other episodes, but you need to be building your entire ministry around bringing the word, because that's what matters most. And then you allow the people to begin to do the work. And this is a. It's a huge shift. If you want your church to grow, you're going to have to make that shift. But God said, we're going to. You're going to build this church. So I want you to notice this. Jesus is building his church and the people are building the church. So I want to be building what Jesus is building. So why do I love the church? I'm going to give you three points. Here's the number one. I love the church because it is God's preferred way to save the lost. It is God's preferred way to save the lost. Most people come to Christ not by watching a preacher on tv, not by a street evangelist. Most people come to Christ in a church service. Think about Matthew 28. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. Now, if you're a church person like me, we've all read Matthew 28:19 and said, man, we got to go. We gotta go. You gotta go, you gotta go reach people. And we all read Matthew 28:19 and go, man, I need to get out on the street. I need to make a sign. We got to get out there and witness. We got to get out there and be soul winners. Read it. Make disciples. You don't do that on a street corner. You don't do that in a crusade. You don't even do that on TV preaching or online ministry. Think about what Jesus is Describing in Matthew 28:19 20. Make disciples. Baptize them. This is a church service. The name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, teaching them. You don't teach on a street corner. You don't know. People always want to go down to the Strip and do worship services. Man, we're going to open up heaven over the Strip. Man, we're going to go open up heaven. Okay, cool. Teaching them. You don't go teach on the Strip. When a person's holding a freaking strawberry daiquiri. It's a liter long and they're plowed. You don't teach them the Bible. Teaching them all. I've commanded you. And lo, I'll be with you always, even in the end of the age. That's presence. The Great Commission is a church service. It's not hitting the streets. Even though, man, if you want to go do that, go do that. But I'm telling you, the church service is God's number one way to save the lost. John 4. 29. Come and see a man who told me all the things I ever did. Could this be the Christ? And they went out of the city and came to him, came to Jesus, man. I still believe that the local church, the best way to win people to Christ. Number two, I love the local church because it helps me discover my gifts and my calling. The local church helps us discover our gifts and callings 1st Samuel, 3, 8. So the Lord called a third time. Once more. Samuel got up, went to Eli, here I am. Did you call me? Eli realized it was the Lord calling the boy. So he said to Samuel, go and lie down again. And if someone calls out again, say, speak, Speak, Lord, your servant is listening. And Samuel went back to bed. Let me tell you what's happening here. Eli is teaching Samuel how to hear the voice of God. Samuel is discovering in real time in the house of God that he's a prophet. One more time. Samuel is discovering and being taught in real time in the house of God that he's a prophet. So important we are unleashing people in their gifts and in their callings in the house of God. The next generation being raised up. Think about that. Think about, you know, you see these, these loud people on TikTok and stuff, and it's so ridiculous that we give them a voice. But you know how the church used me and, you know, the church worked me and I got burnt out in the church. Think about all the amazing on the job training. Think about all the musicians that have been raised up. Think about all the musicians that are touring the world right now. That all started in the church. Think about all the young photographers and videographers, graphic designers in the church. The church made my world so much bigger. As a 10 year old going to a Promise Keepers event in Mile High Stadium in Denver with I don't know how many men, 80,000 men. I'd never seen that many people in my life. I'm from Belen, New Mexico, population 1700. And I saw the grandness of the church. Going on mission trips to Mexico and to the Ukraine and to Hungary. And now traveling to all the different continents of the world, bringing the gospel from South America, Central America, North America. I've been to Africa. I'm going to. I've been all over Europe and Eastern Europe. I'm going to Asia in just a couple of days, all over Australia, New Zealand, all of the church. The church made my world so much bigger. Paul said in Philippians 4, your gift has come to us. Think about that. You're in Philippi, but your gift has reached us. When you're part of a church, your money goes where you'll never go. When you're part of a church, you attach your mission to something so much greater than yourself, the church. I can't walk through the DFW airport without somebody walking up to me. Hey, are you Jabin Jeffs? Oh, Pastor Jabin. Oh, man, we love your Ministry the church. Think about it. Think about the 76 year old African American woman who grabbed me last week and hugged me and said, I love this church. She goes, you could be my grandson. A Mexican kid from Balen, New Mexico, a black woman from Houston, Texas, probably not a ton in common. And here we are hanging out at church. The church is amazing. My youth pastor coming home from a youth pastors conference back in the 90s, saying we're going to start a worship band because he had just heard a group called Delirious. And we learned all the songs. We learned, did you feel the mountains tremble? And I could sing of your love forever and the happy song and on and on and on. Life was so transformed as a 15 year old. Think about it, as a 14 year old, as a 15 year old, as a 13 year old being transformed by this big thing called the church. And now, and I've got an eight year old that's serving in our kids ministry. She goes and helps and holds the babies and then she goes in with the toddlers. And she's now starting to lead worship. She's 8 years old, running around the house saying, give me Jesus, give me Jesus. You can have all this world, it's in the church. How big my life has become because of the church and now how big my daughter's life is because of the church. Number three, the church. It develops me. It develops me. Discipleship is not a class we join. It is a journey we commit to. Discipleship is not a schedule, it is a decision. Discipleship is not busyness. It is choosing to follow Jesus within a community. That's what discipleship is. And listen, I love classes and I love courses and I love practical ways that we can help people grow in their walk with God. But discipleship ultimately is a decision that people make. You know, it's amazing how people walk up to us as pastors, right? They've been saved 10 years, 15 years, 20 years. What are you doing for discipleship? How can I be discipled here? I'm like, you're not one yet. You've been a Christian for 23 years. You're not a disciple yet. Wow. Discipleship is the choice we make. Being a disciple is your choice to follow Jesus within a community. I heard my team a couple days ago talk about man. We need more marriage resources. All right, here's a marriage resource. Husband, love your wife like Christ loves the church. Wife, submit to your husband as unto the Lord. There's a marriage resource offering. A person who is not a disciple. A class will not make them a disciple. Go obey that scripture in Ephesians 5 for six months. See if it doesn't help your marriage. I think sometimes pastors, we get pressured to offer more stuff for bored Christians. Cheers. Discipleship is your choice to follow Jesus. But once I do that, then the church develops me. Not because of a class, but because I'm helping park cars in the parking lot, because I'm holding babies, because I'm shaking hands, because I'm joining a team and having an issue with another serve team member. But I'm not quitting. It's going to that group. And. And it was a little awkward, but I'm going to say committed to it. It's getting offended with the pastor and choosing to say that's discipleship. You know, 100 times in the New Testament, we have this command. One another or each other? One another, each other. Said a hundred times in the New Testament. Things like love one another, speak to one another, forgive one another, serve one another, submit to one another, encourage one another. I keep going. You can't be a disciple without one another. Each of you, look at this. This is First Peter 4. Each of you should use whatever gift you've received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. Using your gift to serve others, that's the church. That's discipleship. That's why I love the church, because it unlocks something in people's gifting and calling and anointing and also in their character, all the while winning souls and seeing people come to Christ. I love the church. I love you. I'm grateful you're helping build the church. We're all doing it together. Whether you're the business person who's helping finance the dream and the vision, whether you're a pastor who's grinding it out, whether you're on a team serving a pastor. No matter. No matter your role. Thank you for what you're doing. We're doing something, y'. All. We're building the only thing Jesus is building, and that is the church. I love you. Can't wait to see you again. We'll see you next week. Have a great day.