Battleship - No Passengers, Only Crew

Tanno, would you stand with us today? Today's the day the Lord has made. So let us rejoice and be glad in it. We're gonna have some baptisms as well. It's gonna be good. ♪ This is the day you made ♪ ♪ So I'll rejoice and be glad, rejoice and be glad in it ♪ ♪ This is where I believe ♪ ♪ That you are more than enough, more than enough for me ♪ ♪ You are faithful to your promise ♪ ♪ You are strong when I am weak ♪ ♪ When I'm standing in your presence ♪ ♪ I have everything I need ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ People of human Jesus, come what may ♪ ♪ Come what may, you are worthy of all, worthy of all my praise ♪ ♪ You are faithful to your promise ♪ ♪ You are strong when I am weak ♪ ♪ When I'm standing in your presence ♪ ♪ I have everything I need ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ Oh my soul, bless His name, all that is within me sing ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ He's more than a feeling, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, He's more than a feeling ♪ ♪ Let it rise up like a river ♪

♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ So let it pour out with no limit, no limit ♪ ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ So let it rise up like a river ♪ ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Let it pour out with no limit, no limit ♪ ♪ Let it rise up like a river, let it pour out with no limit ♪ ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ Oh my soul, oh my soul, bless His name, all that is within me stay ♪ ♪ Oh my soul, bless His name, all that is within me stay ♪ ♪ Oh my soul, bless His name, all that is within me stay ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength, He is more than I am ♪ ♪ ♪ Who thought I'd find you at the lowest place ♪ ♪ Who thought you'd feel me in the crowd ♪ ♪ Who knew you'd make good on my mistakes ♪ ♪ You're nothing like I thought you were, you're better ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God, yeah, what a God, what a God ♪ ♪ Oh, what a God, what a God, oh, it's who He is, what a God, what a God ♪ ♪ I thought you showed for perfection ♪ ♪ Cause what kind of God looks for a loss? ♪ ♪ They say it's over for a sinner, oh, but you say, no, it's not, no, it's not, you say, no, it's not, no, it's not, what a God, what a God, what a God, what a God, what a God ♪

♪ What a God, what a God, oh, it's who He is, what a God, what a God, what a God, what a God, yes, Jesus, you're a good, good God ♪ ♪ How you love us Lord, you've paid it all, Lord ♪ ♪ If the highest place I've reached is at your feet, then I've done it all, if the best thing that I've seen is your glory, then I've seen it all, no job has changed my life, forever satisfied, you are my everything ♪ ♪ If the highest place I've reached is at your feet, then I've done it all, if the best thing that I've seen is your glory, then I've seen it all, no love has changed my life, forever satisfied, God, you are my everything, oh ♪ ♪ If the One word is the only thing you speak, then I've heard it all, if I fell in your heart and you never see your head, I still have it all, no treasure I've designed could ever satisfy, God, you are my everything, God, you are my everything ♪ Oh God, you are my everything. What a God, what a God. What a God, what a God. What a God, what a God. In the highest. In the highest place I'll reach is at your feet. Then I've done it all. The first thing that I'll see is your glory. Then I'll see it all. Your love has changed my life. Forever satisfied. You are my everything. In one word. In one word is the only thing you speak. Then I heard it all. If I feel your heart and never see your hand. I say, I know. No touch. ♪ I'm satisfied, God, You are my everything ♪ ♪ God, You are my everything, You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything, Jesus, thank You, Jesus, thank You ♪ Yes, Lord, we press into You today, God. Better is one day in Your house than a thousand elsewhere. Jesus, we thank You that You're with us, God. ♪ You give light, You are love ♪ ♪ You bring light to the darkness ♪ ♪ You give hope, You restore every heart that is broken ♪ ♪ Great are You, Lord, it's Your breath and our lungs ♪

♪ It's Your breath and our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise, we pour out our praise ♪ ♪ It's Your breath and our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise to You only ♪ Yes, Lord, You're worthy, God. We thank You, Jesus. ♪ You give light, You are love ♪ ♪ You bring light to the darkness ♪ ♪ You give hope, You restore every heart that is broken ♪ ♪ Great are You, Lord, it's Your breath and our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise, we pour out our praise ♪ ♪ It's Your breath and our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise to You only ♪ ♪ It's Your breath, Lord, and our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise, we pour out our praise ♪ ♪ It's Your breath and our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise to You only ♪ ♪♪ ♪ All the earth will shout Your praise ♪ ♪ Hearts will cry, these bones will sing ♪ ♪ Great are You, Lord ♪ ♪ All the earth will shout Your praise ♪ ♪ Our hearts will cry, these bones will sing ♪ ♪ Great are You, Lord ♪ Come on church, all the earth, sing it out. ♪ All the earth will shout Your praise ♪ ♪ Our hearts will cry, these bones will sing ♪ ♪ Great are You, Lord ♪ ♪ It's Your breath and our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise, pour out our praise ♪

♪ It's Your breath and our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise to You only ♪ ♪ It's Your breath and our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise, pour out our praise ♪ ♪ It's Your breath and our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise to You only ♪ Jesus, You're so worthy, God, I'm impressed into You today because You're worthy. Jesus, You have everything that we need. Your love covers all. God, no matter where we come from today, Lord, I pray that we would remember, we'd be aware, God, of just how great You are, Lord. You created all things, God, in Your image. You created us in Your likeness, Lord. You have so many blessings in store for us, God. I pray that today we would press into You, Lord. Let's sing this out. All the earth will shout Your praise. Hearts will cry, these bones will sing, great are You, Lord. Let's declare it today. All the earth, all the earth will shout Your praise. Hearts will cry, these bones will sing, great are You, Lord. Oh, come on, my soul. Don't you get shy on me and lift up your soul. Cause You've got a lion inside us, Lord. Give Him praise, Lord. Oh, come on, my soul. Come on, my soul. Oh, don't you get shy on me and lift up your soul. Cause You've got a lion inside us, Lord. Get up and praise the Lord. Oh, come on, my soul. Don't you get shy on me and lift up your soul. Cause You've got a lion inside us, Lord. Get up and praise the Lord. Come on, we worship You, Lord. We give You everything today, Lord. We put You on the throne today, God. There's no one like You, Lord. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Lord, I throw my hands and praise You again and again. Cause all that I have is hallelujah, hallelujah. And I know it's not much, nothing less fit for me. Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah.

Man, God, You're so good, Jesus. When we have nothing else to sing, God, when we don't know the words to pray, all we have to do is call on Your name. Just say, Jesus. That's enough. It's enough because You came and You paid the price for us, for our freedom, for our salvation. God, You went before us so that we could have new life, redemption. Jesus, I pray right now, Lord, that there might be situations in this room, things that we're contending for, things that we're struggling with, that we're uncertain about, we're looking for answers. Maybe we're hurt, we're angry. Jesus, You made all of those emotions. You made us to feel all those emotions. God, I thank You that through it all, You walk with us. When we call on the name of the Lord, You are there. You are there. So say, Jesus, we celebrate You. You, we turn our attention towards you today, God. We make today a day that we are aware of who you are. We thank you that you're working in our lives. You're working right now. We give you all the glory, all the praise. In Jesus' mighty, mighty name, we pray, amen. Amen, let's applaud the Lord today. Man, Jesus is so good. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it, amen. All right, hey, we're gonna turn our time towards communion now. And so if you have the cup and the juice, you can, and the bread,

you can go ahead and take part in that. Remember that as we do that, we're just inviting ourselves, God is inviting us into relationship and to communion with him, for him to dwell with us. And so let's go ahead and take that today, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen, let's give us the air. Let's go ahead and enjoy this today. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm.

Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Welcome to you. I'm Aaron. I'm glad you're joining us today. At Pantano, we're all about connection. When people come together in community, it brings hope, support, and real impact to our lives. If you're here on campus, we'd love to meet you. Stop by Next Steps after the service, and our team will help you find a great way to get connected. Joining us online? You belong here too. Take a moment to visit Next Steps online and fill out a Connect Card so we can stay in touch. And don't miss out on what's happening all throughout the week. Hit that Follow button and join the Pantano community on social media for updates, encouragement, and more ways to stay connected. Last week, over 1,100 people stepped into the communities of Tucson and Benson to serve our city. Because of your service, 2,500 goodie bags were filled for school staff and first responders.

More than 150 letters of encouragement were sent to inmates at the Santa Rita unit, and teams across multiple locations helped pick up trash and to clear brush and debris, creating a cleaner and safer environment for our communities. We are so grateful for everyone who chose to be the church outside the building and make a meaningful impact. Speaking of serving our city, this month we're gonna take a moment each week to recognize and celebrate those who make serving others their full-time job. And since International Firefighters Day is coming up, we wanna say a big thank you to all of our firefighters. We are truly grateful for your service and the sacrifices you make every day. At Pantano, one of our core values is radical generosity reshapes our world. As a kingdom-first church, we share our resources and our lives selflessly so people can experience the love of Jesus in real and tangible ways. If you feel led to give, you can drop your gift in a giving box, give online through our website, or text GIVE to 46356. And another way we get to live out this is through our partnership with We Love Our Schools. This is where difference-makers like you can adopt a local school and bless every staff member there. Those who sign up receive a $200 gift card

that you can use as seed money for a meal, treat, or gift. Last year together, we blessed over 160 schools. Generosity is something we all get to be a part of, and we are so grateful for you. You can sign up for We Love Our Schools on the Next Steps page. Hey, thanks again for joining us. We can't wait to see how God will move together in our time today. Have a great day. God bless you. God bless you. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Well, hey there, Pantano, so good to have you back in all of our spaces this week, as last week was Serve Our City. I wanna welcome everybody in all over all of our campuses. I wanna welcome in our Benson campus. I wanna welcome in the Santa Rita unit at the Wilmot Prison. All of you at Gospel Rescue

and all of you online with us all over the globe, we're so glad you're with us. Do me a favor, no matter what campus you're at, everybody welcome all of them in today. We're so glad you are here with us. Well, I do wanna start today a little different. Before we dive into the message, I need to share something that's just heavy on my heart, on my soul. I've got a really good friend in ministry. You've heard me talk about my covenant group of guys we meet a couple times a year. One of the guys in that group, his name is Scott. Scott leads an incredible church in Omaha, Nebraska called Calvary Christian Church. And Scott had a major health complication going back into January, he started not feeling well. And then we were all at a cabin together a couple of weeks ago, except for Scott, because he lost the use of his legs. He lost the use of parts of his body. They didn't know why they went in. They found some stuff in his brain. They did a major brain surgery this last week. And so Scott, I just want you to hear for you and Michaelene and all of the kids in your church, in your executive team, in your staff, we love you and we're praying with you. And so church, I'm gonna ask you, no matter what campus you're at,

if we could just take a moment and stop and pray for the Beckenhauer family. Scott Beckenhauer is his name. Michaelene is his wife. They've got three incredible kids that are all over the place doing incredible work for the kingdom and their church. Calvary, as they're navigating this, she's hopefully gonna start rehab in a week, and that's gonna be months of rehab to regain strength and those kind of things. But we love you guys. We're gonna pray for you guys. So let's pray for them right now as we start, and then we're gonna dive into our message today. Let's pray. Father, today, God, my heart is with my brother, Scott. God, I thank you for his friendship. I thank you for our brotherhood. I thank you for the laughter we share together. God, and for the tears we've shed together. God, I pray for he and Michaelene right now. I pray for her as she's navigating all of these waters with him and for the family and just the incredible wife that she is to him. And God, I pray for their church, for Calvary, as they've surrounded him, as they've loved him and they're caring for him. God, I pray for the margin in front of him and that you would heal him quickly.

And God, that there would be no side effects. We pray in the name of Jesus, God, that there would be complete healing of his body and restore him so he can do the work of the kingdom. God, thanks for the service he's provided for not just his church, but for the entire state of Nebraska and what he's doing with church planners and helping people, help more people find Jesus. And so, God, we pray for them now. We lift him up. We pray healing. And it's in the powerful name of Jesus we pray, the one that heals, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen. Thank you guys for taking the time to do that. If you'd put them on your prayer list, I would appreciate it. I know they would too. But as we dive in today, there's a story that I wanna start with from World War II. And it's about this boat called the USS Enterprise. It's one of the most decorated aircraft carriers in American history. In fact, during one intense battle in the Pacific, the ship came under heavy attack. And as I was reading about this, it said bombs were falling, fires were breaking out, systems were failing, and here's what was fascinating to me. Nobody in that moment asked, whose job is this? No one stood back and said, I'm not trained to do that job.

Sailors who weren't assigned to firefighting, it's interesting, you know what they did? They grabbed hoses. Mechanics started carrying wounded people. Communications officers picked up tools to repair damaged systems. Why would they do this? Because when you're in the battle, there are no spectators. When you're in the battle, there's no spectators. There's no such thing as that's not my job when you're in battle. If one part of the ship goes down, guess what? The entire ship is at risk. And the only way the ship survives is as everyone steps into whatever role is needed in that moment. See, that ship didn't survive because a few people did their jobs. That's not why it survived. It's not why it's one of the most decorated. It survived because everyone did whatever it took to keep it afloat. And I read that story and I thought about, that's the church, or at least that's what the church is supposed to be. That's how we're supposed to be. supposed to function, but if we're honest, sometimes the church looks less like a battleship and more like a cruise ship, where a few people do all the work

and a lot of people just watch. A lot of people just sit back. But that's not what Jesus had in mind. That's not what Jesus calls us to, because on his battleship, there are no spectators in faith. This is where it really gets real for all of us, because we live in a world that has trained us to consume. We consume content. In fact, some of you probably wish you didn't consume as much content, like when your phone, at the end of the week, tells you how much you've been on your screen. That little number will blow your mind, won't it? We consume. We consume experiences. We consume church. We show up and ask, what did I get out of this? Or what did they do for me? But the kingdom of God flips that question. And it asks this, what did you give to that? That's what the kingdom of God asked. And if we're honest, a lot of us have gotten comfortable sitting. We love Jesus. We believe in the mission. We wanna see lives changed. We would all say that. But we've settled into watching instead of working. We've settled into sitting and taking instead of going and making.

It's just comfortable that way. And the problem is not that we don't care. I mean, I'm guessing you care. I care. All of you at our campuses, I bet you care. The problem is that we've forgotten that this doesn't work without us. This doesn't work without us. Like, you don't actually wanna just attend church. I would venture to say, if I were just to ask everybody individually, you don't wanna just attend church. You want your life to matter. That's why you're here. You're trying to figure out how does my life matter? You wanna make a difference. And God has wired you for that. But meaning is never found in sitting. It's found in serving. Let me say it again. Meaning is never found in sitting. It's found in serving. So I wanna take you over to the book of Romans to start today, Romans 12, verse four. And it says this, just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. And we are many parts of one body. We all belong to each other.

So Paul gives this picture we all understand. The church is a body. And every part has a function. Now, let's get real practical about that. Like, if your hand decided one day, I don't think I wanna be a hand anymore. I don't wanna work as a hand anymore. I'm just gonna stop working as a hand. You know what's crazy? Everything becomes harder. Because your hand just decided it doesn't wanna be a hand anymore. If your legs stop working, your whole body is affected. Talking with my friend Scott last week. His leg's not working. He couldn't even walk up his own stairs in his house. His 18-year-old son had to help him up. I mean, he's like 51, 52 years old. He said, you know how humbling that is? If your heart stops working, you know what happens? Everything stops. See, when one part doesn't work, the whole body suffers. That means when you don't step into your role, something is missing. I remember it was about a year and a half ago. It was a Thursday night before I had to preach. I went to the gym to work out and I blew my knee out.

Can I tell you how hard it was to get from back there to out here? Because that stupid knee decided, I don't want to be a knee today. I'm gonna blow up the whole right side of your body. You know how much overcompensation had to happen in the rest of my body just to make it across the stage? Just to get in my car? Just to get upstairs, which I didn't do for like three days? See, when one part stops working, everything else has to compensate. And Paul continues. He says, as in his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So let me help you understand this. Your gifts are not random. You don't have a random set of gifts that they're not accidental, that they're grace gifts. That means God intentionally wired you the way that he wired you. Some of you have the ability to lead. Some of you have the ability to encourage or to organize or to care for people. Or you have the ability to teach or the ability to serve behind the scenes. That's not coincidence. That's calling.

All of us have a calling. All of us have been given a gift. That's where God needs us to get real practical in our own lives. All right, let's dig into the practicality of that. Because I think Paul gives three truths about our gifts. Here's the first one. Is your gift reveals your assignment. Your gift reveals your assignment. So Paul lists different gifts, like teaching or serving or encouraging or giving or leading. Why would he give all of those? Well, because your gifting points to where you're supposed to step in. So if you're wired to encourage, and you should be lifting people up, you should be finding people to encourage. If you're wired to lead, then you should be leading something. If you're wired to serve, you should be in the middle of the action. If your gift is helping others, then help others. Your gift is not something to admire, it's something to activate. It's not something to admire, it's something to activate. Like, think about it like this. If you walk into the gym and you see someone who is naturally strong, you don't say, wow, that's cool. You should just sit there and admire your strength.

There was this guy at the gym when I lived in Texas. And I watched him every morning, pretty fit looking guy. Looked like he'd lifted weights at some point in his life. But what he would do is he would go to the gym and he would go to the locker room, he would change into his gym clothes, and then he would go walk around the gym and he would talk to all of the ladies, which I felt was a little weird. And he would walk to all the machines and he'd get in conversations. And one day I just watched. And then I watched the next day, and then I watched the next day, and here's what I observed, is even though he was pretty fit, he was pretty strong, that strength was gonna go away because for a week straight, he changed, he got in the right clothes, he never lifted a weight. He'd make a loop, talk to all the ladies, go back downstairs, take a shower, get changed, and leave the gym. He never activated the muscles of strength that were in his body. And you would expect somebody to lift something if they're strong. See, strength reveals purpose. The same is true spiritually. If God's given you the ability to connect with people, that's not just for your friend group.

That's for the mission. If you have leadership instincts at work where you naturally have people follow you, that's not just for your career. That's a kingdom assignment. You're called to that. I think about someone who walks into church and immediately notices people who are alone. You know what's crazy? And they're drawn to them. They wanna make them feel seen. That's not just being nice, that's shepherding a gift. That's doing what God has called you to. That's saying, this is where I want to step in. Your wiring is pointing you to your assignment. And the question is, is not do I have a gift? The question is, am I using what God has already showed me? I had a children's pastor at a church I worked at, and they were struggling to recruit people, and I said, have you talked to any teachers in our church about serving in kids' ministry? And this was their response. I don't wanna ask them because that's what they do all week. They don't wanna do that at church too. You know what I said to that? I was like, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. You've got people that love kids, that work with kids every week, and you don't wanna ask them

because you don't want them to feel like they have to use their gift in church. They just do that for their job. That's so crazy to me. You see, their gift is revealing their assignment. During the week, they may work with kids, but man, on the weekends, they could impact kids with the kingdom. Here's the second thing that I think Paul reveals to us. Your gift is developed through use, not discovery. A lot of people have said this to me. I'm waiting to figure out my gift. I'm just gonna wait. You don't find your gift sitting in a chair. You find your gift by stepping into opportunities. You try something. You serve somewhere, you step in, and over time, you realize God is using you. Like, there's a gift that you're gonna discover in the motion of serving. It's like learning to play an instrument. I'm sure somebody will send me some story later that there's somebody that actually did this, but nobody picks up a guitar and instantly is gifted. Like, they may have a leaning towards it, but it takes practice. I'm pretty sure Jimi Hendrix didn't come out of the womb and like, like, he didn't do that. He had to learn. He was like a prodigy, I'm sure,

but it takes practice. It takes trying. It takes messing up, but over time, you realize something. I think I might actually be wired for this. See, the same is true spiritually. Some of the most impactful leaders in our church didn't start by saying, I know exactly what my gift is. They started by saying these words, I'll help wherever there's a need. Like, man, you need a door held? I'll hold a door. You need chair stack? Man, I can stack some chairs. There's kids that need to be served. I'll go serve in kids ministry, and somewhere along the way, God reveals something deeper in them. is you're actually called to lead, you're actually called to teach, you're actually called to shepherd people. Here's why, because movement creates clarity. Movement creates clarity. It's like trying to steer a parked car. You ever tried to do that? You can turn the wheel all you want, nothing is going to happen until the car starts moving. And some of you are steering a parked car with your gifts. Some of you are waiting for God to show you clearly, like, God, what's my purpose?

You know what he's waiting for? For you to just start moving. For you to just say yes to something. You don't discover your gift in isolation, you discover your gift in participation. That's where you discover it. Here's the third truth. Your gift is for others, not you. Your gift is actually for others, not you. I think this is huge. Your gift is not for your platform. It's not for your recognition. It's not for your comfort. You know what our gifts are for? For the person on the other side of your obedience. That's who they're for. Like, my gifts are not for me. My gifts are for other people. Your gifts are for other people. I love what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12, seven. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. So we can help each other. Like, that means someone is missing out when you don't step in. See, there's a life that won't be impacted, a person that won't be encouraged, a story that won't be written because your gift stays in storage. Like, when you start to put it in that perspective,

you realize your gift is needed. Paul goes even deeper, 1 Corinthians 12. Says the eye can never say to the hand, I don't need you. Like, body parts can't say, I don't need you. Here's what we really get at. Like, we don't compare gifts. We don't minimize gifts. I've had people say, oh, well, I just do this. I only hold a door. I only wrap a burrito. No, no, no, no, you don't understand the gravity of what you do. You don't only do that. You don't minimize a gift. Let me give it to you like this. I think I've shared this before, but I'm gonna do it again for the sake of this message. Like, you say, I only wrap a burrito. Okay, well, let me give it to you like this. You show up here at only God knows what hour of the morning to start wrapping a burrito on Sunday or on Thursday. Maybe you show up right after work. You come early from work and you start helping prep dinner and people come on Saturdays and get things ready for Sundays. And just right here in our cafe at Houghton. And I think about that person wrapping the burrito and they're like, all I'm doing is wrapping a burrito. All I'm doing is filling some sour cream. All I'm doing is making a quesadilla.

All I'm doing is getting a donut for someone in Benson. All I'm doing is fill in the blank. That's not all you're doing because what's gonna happen is somebody is gonna walk on one of our campuses and they're gonna walk in a cafe or they're gonna walk to the counter at Benson or they're gonna walk in Gospel Rescue where people are loving on people. And they're gonna have somebody just do something that's gonna change the trajectory of their life. That burrito could actually be the very thing that somebody sits around a table and finds community with somebody else that has the gift of encouragement because you have the gift of wrapping a burrito. And now those two gifts are working together in the same body. Then all of a sudden, now the body is functioning in its fullness and they come in here, even though they got a big old burrito on their stomach and they worship Jesus and then they put their hands back down because they're scared because they just ate a burrito. But the gift has been used and they meet Jesus in this place. And then their family, a few months later, they get into rooted and somebody encouraged them to get in rooted. Somebody held a door and waved at them

and said hello to them and handed them a little piece of communion. And they got engaged with some people in their section and the auditorium. And then they had a conversation with somebody and then they get baptized. And then all of a sudden, their entire legacy has changed. But all you did was roll a burrito. All you did was hold a door. You see, when we minimize gifts, we compare gifts, we start to think ours doesn't matter. See, we also don't elevate certain roles either. The body is needed everywhere. Every role matters because every role contributes to the mission. Whether you roll a burrito, you serve a donut, you hold a door, or you preach a message. They're all needed. Then James hits us with a hard truth. He says this, so you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it's dead and useless. So faith that only attends is incomplete. Faith that never serves is very immature. Faith that never moves is stagnant.

Like, don't let those Things bypass you. If you only attend, your faith is incomplete. If you never serve, your faith is immature. If you never move, you're stagnant. Because real faith always leads to action. Real faith in Jesus always leads to action. Like, think about it this way. I think about the delivery driver. Now, for me, you know I have an Amazon issue, so it's probably the Amazon delivery guy. But could you imagine if the Amazon guy loads up their truck, and then he's like, you know what, I'm just gonna drive around all day and enjoy what's inside my truck. Maybe he goes in the back, he opens some boxes of our stuff, plays with some things, looks at some things. Well, that's absurd. That's not the purpose. The purpose of what they carry is to deliver it. The value's not hiding it in the truck. The value's giving it away. Your gift works the same way. If you're an encourager, then that gift is for the person who's about to give up. It's not for you to hold onto, it's for them to have. If you're a leader, your gift is for the team that needs direction, not for yourself. If you're generous, your gift is for someone who's in need. If you're a servant, your gift is for the moment

when something needs to get done. See, there's always someone on the other side of your obedience, always. I think about the person walking into church for the very first time. They're nervous, they're unsure, they're wondering if they belong. I'm sure I just described some of you at one of our campuses. And someone with a gift of hospitality greets them. Like, I love our hello team here. If you're at any of our campuses, it doesn't matter which one you're at. Even if you're online, there's a hello team online. They greet you online, like all of our campuses. And somebody greets them with a smile and they welcome them in. See, that moment may seem small to some of you, but for them, it could be the reason they come back. It could be the reason and the moment that changes everything. See, your gift might feel ordinary to you because it comes naturally. But what comes naturally to you is supernatural to someone else. And when you don't use your gift, it's not just that something doesn't get done, it's that someone doesn't get reached. Let me just say that again. When you don't use your gift,

it's not just that something doesn't get done, it's someone doesn't get reached. That's why your gift is not for storage, it's for service. It's for service. Like, we think about all the things, well, man, that's just not gonna get done if somebody doesn't serve, but actually, it's not about something getting done, it's about people finding Jesus. This is actually exactly what Jesus modeled. Jesus never built an audience. He built a movement. He built a movement. He didn't say, come and watch me. You know what he said? Come and follow me. And following always meant doing. It always meant doing whatever he was doing. So here's a truth we have to wrestle with. If your faith has not moved you to serve, then could I argue your faith hasn't fully matured yet? Maybe better said for the context of our series, if you're not serving, you're not sailing. You're not actually on the battleship. So what does this mean for you? Well, here's what I really think it means. You have a role right now, not later. Not when life slows down, not when the kids grow up, not when you feel ready, not when the schedule slows up. It's actually right now.

And some of you are waiting for clarity, but God is waiting for your movements. Some of you, I know you're waiting to feel qualified, but God's calling you to step in anyway. By the way, the old adage, God doesn't call the qualified, he'll qualify the called. See, some of you are saying, well, I'm just too busy. But at the end of your life, no one is going to celebrate how comfortable you were. They're gonna celebrate how impactful you were. And your impact is directly tied to your involvement, because if you're not serving, you're not sailing. So let's just imagine for a moment, no matter where you're sitting, if you're in this room at Houghton Road, if you're at our Benson campus, if you're at Gospel Rescue, if you're at the Santa Rita unit, maybe you're in our online campus right now, and you're trying to figure out how you get involved. Like, imagine if we were to all live this out, not just a few people. all of us. Imagine a church where every single person said, you know what, I have a role, I have a responsibility, I have a gift, and you know what, I'm gonna step into it. We wouldn't just have services, we would have movements. We wouldn't just gather, we would change cities. We would change yards. We would change facilities.

Because the church doesn't work when a few people go into battle. The church works when all the people go into battle. Like, just leave that up there for a minute. Let me just say that again, like, the church, it doesn't work when just a few people go into battle. The church works when all the people go into battle. Like, I think about Serve Our City last week. Well, one of my favorite events that we do all year is Serve Our City. Like, we literally shut down all of our campuses for these kind of experiences, and we actually open ourselves to the city around us so that they can experience the service of the church. What if Serve Our City wasn't just one week out of the year for us? You know how it shifts to something else? Is when you activate your gift. When you decide you're gonna serve your neighbors, your families, your schools, your workplaces, the under-resourced, the unreached in our city, because you have a gift that can do it. See, this is who we are. And who we are is we're not a cruise ship. Pantano, we will never be a cruise ship. We're gonna be a battleship. We're not gonna be spectators. We're gonna be soldiers in the greatest army ever assembled in all of eternity. We're not gonna be consumers.

We're gonna be contributors. So what if we take our spaces? What if we step into the places God's called us to? Let's step into our assignments. Let's move from the deck chair to the battle station. Because if you're not serving, you're not sailing. You're just observing. Like what if this week you made a conscious decision? I'm gonna just try something. Try something new. I'm gonna join a team this week. I'm gonna serve in my community this week. What if you said, you know what? I'm not gonna wait. I'm gonna step in. Because there's no spectators on a battleship, only soldiers, only assignments. God's given you one. So church, what if we were to go to work? Here's why the work matters. Lives are on the line. Lives are on the line. Eternities are at stake. Like I don't serve because it makes me feel good. I don't do what I do because it's awesome all the time. You know why I do it? Because there's people that live in my neighborhood that are going to hell. And if I don't serve them, then they're still gonna go to hell.

If I don't show them Jesus through loving them well, if I don't give them an opportunity, if I don't step into the battle, if I don't soldier up, then they don't find Jesus. I've had people go, yeah, but maybe somebody else will come along. What if somebody else doesn't? What if I'm their plan A and there is no plan B? What if I'm the one that God has assigned with my gift to reach that person? So in my mind, I have to soldier up, even when I don't want to. Because eternities are at stake. The mission's too important to sit out. Actually, at all of our campuses, if you're at Benson, if you're right here at Houghton, let me tell you what you can do there. In just a moment, I'm gonna pray for us and I'm gonna dismiss us, which sounds very battleship, doesn't it? You're dismissed. Doesn't that feel right? Like we should all stand at attention. You're dismissed. But truthfully, and then at the Santa Rita unit, like for you guys down there, I just want you to know one, I want to brag on you. During Serve Our City, they did Serve Our Yard and they just loved on everybody in their yard

at the Santa Rita unit. They took on projects and did things. I mean, what an unbelievable thing. Like our guys sitting in the prison have figured out, you know what, we can get in the battle. Our friends at Gospel Rescue were a part of teams right here at our Houghton Road campus and Benson campus and jumped into our cities and did stuff. Like all of us, if you're online right now, you're like, what do I do? You can go to our next steps page when we're done today. But if you're on one of our campuses, when we're done, when I dismiss you, you can go out of our. auditoriums and go out into the common spaces and there's gonna be people waiting for you from all of our ministries. Like I just think we're gonna call this join a crew today. Join a crew. Like get out and join a crew at Pantano and maybe for you, man, let's get part of the creative team. Like you love all this stuff you see on the screens and the videos and all that. Maybe you wanna be a part of the creative team or maybe for you it's kids, you love kids. Like some of you are like, I don't like other people's kids. Then don't go serve with kids, okay, don't do that. Some of you are like, man, at Pantano, anywhere, I love to host things online. Man, you could help our online campus,

maybe our cafe here at our Houghton Road campus or maybe down at Benson, helping them figure out how do we serve more people there. Our teams will be ready to answer questions and get you on board at any one of our sites. Let me encourage you, take the first step. They're there waiting. Some of them are gonna try to coerce you. Some of them will probably have candy. Some of them will have little games you can play. That's all for fun. But what if you just go, you know what, I'm not sure where I'm supposed to go, but let's go try something. Then go to one of those spaces at one of our campuses a day and there's a whole group of people that would love to talk with you. If you're online, go to our Next Steps page. There'll be things there to direct you on how you can get involved there. But here's what I wanna do with you. I wanna pray with you and then I wanna send you. And I wanna send you to go into battle this week to figure out how to use that gift that God has given you to change the world around you. Let's pray together. Father, we're so grateful that you are our God. A God that has gifted each and every one of us with unique abilities, unique gift sets. God, remind each and every one of us

that our gift is not just a fill-in-the-blank kind of gift. God, that every gift matters. God, whether it's putting communion cups in a basket, rolling burritos, serving donuts, smiling and greeting at a door. God, playing an instrument, singing a song, preaching a message. God, none are greater than the other. That we're all part of one body. God, whether we're sitting in a prison, we're sitting at gospel rescue, we're sitting in a building in a chair. God, online in our living room. God, remind us that we have purpose. That you didn't call us to just observe, you called us into battle. So God, I'm really thankful for our church. Really thankful for the way that Pantano loves you and loves others. God, I pray we would be a church that is fully activated. God, that we will never be a cruise ship. That we'll be a battleship. And that we will soldier into the world to help them find you. God, we love you. We give you all the glory, all the honor, all of our lives, and thank you for our gifts. It's in the powerful name of that Jesus we pray. All God's people said, amen. Hey, love you church.

You can make your way out and go into battle this week. Thank you.