Be The Church

So in my neighborhood, on special occasions, we like to have a potluck in the park. And in my neighborhood, there's actually lots of different nationalities and ethnicities. My neighborhood's kind of like Sesame Street in that way. And one of the beautiful things about a potluck is you get foods from all around the world in my neighborhood. And so when we do these potlucks in the park, we have this variety of food, like the bacon-wrapped Little Smokies, it's a favorite. Butter chicken, enchiladas. My sister-in-law who lives next door, she's Korean, there's usually some kind of kimchi pancake. It has a different name, but that's what I call it. And they're fantastic. Somebody always throws in a Little Caesars hot and ready. I don't know why that makes it into the mix. Bag of chips and some salsa. There's just this variety, and every now and then somebody throws in ribs, and it's this beautiful, just like hodgepodge of food from all around the world. And when we come to the table and we look at all of this variety, I always think the same thing. There's no way this is gonna work. All these different foods from all these different places, but here's what I gotta tell you.

It shouldn't work, but it does. Every time, it's incredible. All this variety of food, and no matter what you bring to the table, you're gonna walk away with a whole lot more than what you brought to the table. And that's the beauty of a potluck. You get more out of it than what you bring to it. And the geniuses of the potlucks are the ones who say, hey, I'll bring the napkins. That's like the ultimate potluck hack. You wanna be that guy. When I was in college, the first time I ever did anything like a potluck, I said, hey, I'll bring the napkins, and you bring the napkins, because we're civilized people. You can't have a potluck without napkins, or without maybe even the paper plates, but here's the deal. Whatever you bring to it, no matter what, whether you bring an item, a food dish, or just the napkins, you're gonna get more out of it than what you bring to it. Now, in the Bible, there's often meals that are described. In the Old Testament and the New Testament, and throughout the Bible, whenever there's a meal being described, the meal is always more than just the meal. The meal is symbolic of relationship.

Meals in the Bible are symbolic of community, of covenants, of redemption. All over the pages of Scripture, you see meals, and there are always these significant, theologically rich moments. Meals are more than just meals. Today, I wanna talk about the church. In the church, when I think about the church and how God has designed the church, it's a lot like a potluck. There's a diversity of gifts represented in the church. So many different experiences and giftings that we all bring to the table, and there's so much more that we get out of it than what we put into it. This is God's design for the church. In the church, if you're like, oh, you're talking about the buildings? No, no, no. Church is not the buildings. If you've been around Sun Valley for any length of time, you've probably heard us say you can't go to church because the church is you. The church is not a building that you sit in. The church is a movement that you choose to be a part of to help people meet, know, and follow Jesus. And the church is a lot like a potluck meal. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, this is the main passage we're gonna be in today. We'll be in a couple different places.

Paul is writing to the church at Corinth, and he's describing the church, and he talks about, in verse four, the way the church is designed. It'll be here on the screen. If you have your Bible, you can open it up to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, starting in verse four. Says there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit, and the word Spirit is capitalized there. Anytime in your Bible you see Spirit capitalized, that's referring to God, the Holy Spirit. God is three and yet one, one and yet three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All three persons, one God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Robert, can you explain that? Not today. But whenever you see capital S, that's the Holy Spirit. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Holy Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. Who is the Lord? Jesus is Lord. So we have the Holy Spirit, we have the Son. Jesus is Lord, there are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone is the same God at work, God the Father. So here you have in this passage,

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. He's three and yet one. Verse seven, now to each one, the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, Spirit, is given, these next four words are really important, for the common good, for the common good. Which means what we just read, all of us who have said yes to Jesus, you have been gifted by the Spirit of God. And the gifts that he has given you aren't actually for you. And the gifts that he has given me aren't actually for me. The gifts that God has given me, they're actually for you, the gifts that he's given you, they're for me and the people who are around you, they are for the common good. Your gifts are an item that you bring to the potluck. Now, I'm in my 40s and in my adult life, I've realized there are different stages to manhood. When I was younger, there's this stage where you're trying to figure out your identity, who am I? And as you get a little older, then you start to wonder, how am I contributing to society? Like, what is it that I can offer? And then there's this stage of manhood where it becomes about accomplishments. And we start doing competitions and you sign up for a half marathon. You don't know why you did it, but you signed up for it. And you wanna be the best at something, you start getting more competitive.

And then eventually you enter into a new stage of manhood, which is your meat smoking phase. And I have entered into my meat smoking stage of manhood. In fact, I'm just curious how many guys at all of our locations, you have entered into this stage of manhood, the meat smoking stage. Yeah, I see a lot of hands out there. Low and slow, let's go, guys. Yeah, I see you. And here's what I've learned about this, this new art, because it's not, okay, is it a science? No, there's an art to it. And I will spend hours preparing a pork shoulder, sometimes over 24 hours, and there's a prep that goes into it. And I will get up and crazy hours in the middle of the night to make sure it's not getting dried out, that the humidity is right, and that I'm caring for it, and that I get past the stall. And then you gotta let the meat rest. Shh. And eventually when it's time, then you pull the pork or you cut the brisket, and there you get to then share it with your family and your friends and your neighborhood. And here's the thing, all of the hours that you pour into caring for this thing, you only get one serving of it.

But I've learned to now enjoy other people enjoying what I've brought to the table. And there is something, if you're in the meat smoking stage, you know that there's something about people going, oh, this is so good. You worked for hours and hours, and that's the most you're gonna get, but it's so rewarding to know that other people are enjoying your hard work, this art of meat smoking. There is joy in seeing others enjoy what you've brought to the table. And that's true in the church. In fact, Jesus, he washes his disciples' feet. This is in John chapter 13. He washes his disciples' feet at the last supper. And he says to them, he says, I've set you an example. And then he invites them to do what he has done for them for others, to choose to use what God has blessed them with to serve other people, maybe people that can do nothing in response, but just in humility to serve others. And then Jesus makes a promise. And he says, if you do these things, you will be blessed if you do them. I've set you an example. If you follow my example, you will be blessed if you do these things.

It's a promise. There is blessing that God has for you if you would be willing to follow his example and to use the gifts he's given you to serve others for their good, for the common good. In fact, there are things that I can't teach you as a pastor. There are things that you cannot learn from a sermon. There are things that you cannot learn from a Bible study. You can study the original Hebrew. You can study the original Greek. You can get together in a group and you can discuss it and ask questions and all of that. There are things that you cannot learn through sermons and through study. You can only learn them through serving. You can only learn them through doing what Jesus did for you, following his. Example, and there are blessings that God has for you that you cannot get from a sermon, and you cannot get them from a study. You can only get them through serving. This week, I got back from a trip to the Dominican Republic with a bunch of our high school students and some leaders, and there was also a team during that same time that was in Panama, and we had 66 high school students and leaders in Panama and in the Dominican Republic serving. One for one week, another group was there for two weeks

serving in these communities, and I love being on these trips because what happens from the beginning of the trip to the end of the trip, these kids' lives are forever changed. They learn things about the kingdom of heaven. They learn things about how God has wired them. They learn things about each other that they can only learn through serving in this way, and here's what happens. Every time they walk away and they go, I was so blessed. I went to serve others, but here's the crazy thing. When you go to serve others, it actually, in a way, it serves you. It blesses you. Jesus promised this, and you cannot experience those blessings from a sermon or through a study. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 12, goes on to talk about the beauty of the church, this potluck, these different items, that there's a diversity of gifts, yet we are unified. There's different gifts that are given to each one of us, yet it's the same Holy Spirit who gives us those gifts. There's different gifts represented all across the room, all across our campuses, yet there's one mission that God has given to his church, and he describes it, that there's different parts, but there's one body.

All of the parts work together. The church is not a building that you come sit in. It is a movement you choose to be a part of to help people meet, know, and follow Jesus. It's what it means to be the church, and so he's inviting us to bring our ingredients to the table, and the best way to get connected in our church, we're a big church, I get that. It's actually really easy to get connected at Sun Valley. The best way to get connected is through serving, joining one of our teams, bringing what you have to the table, and so the question for today is, what is it that I bring to the table? What is it that I bring to the table? A few things, if you're taking notes, you can write these down. One of the things that you can bring to the table that's just really simple, it's like bringing the napkins, is just be willing to bring your time. Give a little bit of your time for what God is doing in this church, for what he's doing in the community through this church, for what he's doing around us, and here's why that's so valuable. Time is our most precious resource that we can bring. If you're like, no, I thought it was money. No, you can make more money, you can't make more time.

You can sell stuff, you can work jobs or whatever, and you can make more money, you can't make more time. When you run out of it, it's gone, but there's so much value when you bring your time to the table. For years, I've worked with kids and students, and it's amazing to me, all of our volunteers who work with kids, how much impact they can have in such a short amount of time. It doesn't take a long time to make an impact in the life of a child. I had a childhood friend actually reach out to me this week. He texted me and he said, hey, I just wanted to say thanks. My kid went to camp and he came back and he said, I wanna be a kingdom worker, and he had such a great experience, and here's what he shared is before camp, he didn't wanna go to camp. He was terrified, I don't think I'm gonna go. Parents weren't gonna make him go. He's like, that's fine, and then one of our preteen directors at the campus, and then my daughter actually also was interacting. We were in the lobby at one of our campuses having a conversation. She said, oh, you gotta go to camp. It's so much fun. You're gonna love it. And he went, okay, I'll go to camp. Conversation was less than a minute,

and he went to camp, and it was so much fun, and he loved it, and God did a work in his life. And this interaction, it was less than 60 seconds. Takes one minute to make an impact in the life of a child. So much power when we're willing to give our time. When I was in college, I mentioned when I was younger, I served with kids and students. I started that when I was a junior higher. God got a hold of my life. I started working with the younger kids and just continued doing that. And then when I was in college, I had this season where I got kicked out of Bible college. Another story for another time. My girlfriend broke up with me. My job was like downsizing and I got let go from this part-time role that I had. It was like a country music song, it was real sad for me. And I'm like, what am I gonna do with my life? And my mom was living up in Oregon, so I'm like, I'm gonna pack up my Nissan Altima, I'm gonna drive to Oregon. And so I did that and I ran this little experiment I call the All About Me Experiment. And the way the experiment worked is I was gonna make life all about me. And so for several months, I worked just enough hours that I could pay to go hunting, fishing, and hiking and do whatever I wanted. I wasn't gonna serve anybody,

I wasn't gonna be involved in the church. I would attend church, but I wasn't gonna serve anywhere. And I ran this All About Me Experiment and I gotta tell you, I was miserable. In fact, it's the most miserable I've been in my life. And here's what I learned. That experiment, you're welcome to try it, it's gonna end the same way for all of us. If you want to implode your life, it's really simple. Just make life all about you, that's it. If you want your world to come kind of crashing down in your relationships and all of that to kind of dissolve, just make life all about you and it'll happen. I was miserable. I came back to Arizona and I got plugged in and I started serving in the church again and I began to come to life again. This is what God has created us for. He has gifted us for the common good. Your soul is starving for that. And God is saying, you're invited to the table, there's plenty here, just bring what you have, even if it's just the napkins. Time. Another thing that you bring to the table is talent. I don't know why I picked the plates, but talent. Some of you, you have what Liam Neeson would call a particular set of skills. We have a team at our church, I love this team, it's our safety team.

We have those that are in the medical field and we have those, many who are in law enforcement or they've done some kind of training in just protecting people. And for years, I used to struggle, I was actually diagnosed, one of my counselors, with hypervigilance and I know that there's a lot of guys who can relate to this, where I was always playing the worst case scenarios out in my head. Like at restaurants, I would always watch the door and I would imagine somebody coming in trying to do harm and I would imagine what I would do in all these different scenarios and every time, in my imagination, I was awesome. I was so good at stopping the threat and all of that, that it would just constantly be happening and then I would get up to preach on some weekends and I would be watching the room and I'd be kind of reading like everybody's facial expressions and what's going on and why did that person get up and start moving over there and what's happening, is this person a threat and I was preaching but I was also focusing on what was going on around me, which means I wasn't very good at the thing I was supposed to be doing. And then we developed this safety team. Volunteers who give their time here at the church to protect you, to look after you. People that would be willing to put their life

in harm's way to protect this church and I love them for that. Because what's happened is, for me as a pastor now, when I'm up here preaching, guess what I'm thinking about? I'm thinking about preaching. And people getting up and moving around, go for it. I don't really care. Because I know that there's a safety team that they're watching and they're looking after our church. I'm so grateful for those who have that specific talent and that training. At all of our locations, before this sermon, we worship together. And there's a group of people up on stage who are singing, who are playing instruments. I love that in our church, we make it real dark and we make it real loud during worship because I am not gifted musically. It would not bless you to hear me singing. But because it's dark and loud, I can just pour out my heart to God. But there are people who know what they're doing who have very specific talents that have brought that to the table who are leading us in worship. We bring our time, we bring our talent, we bring our treasure. Again, I don't know why I'm picking the different items that I'm picking. Treasure, this is the resources that God has blessed us with. See, when God gives us income,

what we do is we honor God by giving first. We give first, we save second, we live on the rest. These are biblical principles. Then we honor God by acknowledging where our income comes from. We give our treasure. Now, everybody in the church is invited to give cheerfully, the Bible teaches, that we wanna give joyfully because we're recognizing where everything ultimately comes from. That we are just stewards. of what God has given us. And so we wanna honor God, but there are some people you have been gifted with the ability to produce, to produce far more than you need to consume. God has given you a mind. He's given you work ethic, opportunity to be able to produce, to be able to create wealth and income so that you can fuel the kingdom of heaven here on earth. The Bible teaches that there are those who are gifted in this way to gift others. They have the gift of giving. And there are lots of people in our church that you would never recognize them. And there are these silent heroes that are behind the scenes and they are fueling what God is doing in this community. And they are fueling what God is doing in this church. Every time we celebrate baptisms, people are being baptized because people gave

and because people served. Because people gave to scholarship kids to go to camp. Or they heard the gospel and they responded. They gave generously. We give our time, we bring our talent, we bring our treasure. We also bring spiritual gifts to the table. That God gives us gifts. We just read it in 1 Corinthians. He gives us gifts that aren't for us, it's for the common good. And so we want to discern what gifts has he given us. Now, there are several different places in the Bible that talk about spiritual gifts. Romans, Paul in his letter to Romans mentions it. In 1 Corinthians, in a couple places, in Ephesians and in 1 Peter, there are lists of different spiritual gifts that are given. And no two lists are the same. And there's not one gift that's in all of these lists because it's not meant to be a comprehensive list. But there's lots of different gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us. Some are in the category of services or like offices within the church and how the church functions and operates. And some are workings, we just read that, or manifestations of the Holy Spirit to bless other people. Gifts like teaching, hospitality, mercy, praying, healing over people.

Generosity. These gifts of the Holy Spirit are not for us. They're for the common good for the people around us. Tim Keller, who's a pastor who's with Jesus now, he gives kind of this filter for discerning our spiritual gifts. And there's three different filters. There's first your affinity, what stirs your heart? What are passions that you have? What are things that motivate you in the morning or they keep you up at night? Things that you wish everybody would be excited about just like you are that they would be involved in. I'm very passionate about what God is doing in the next generation. That is an affinity, that is something that God has placed on my heart. What affinities do you have? What abilities do you have? What kind of talent, what are you good at? God has given me an ability to stand up and to preach the word. This is an ability that God has given me that a lot of people, they would much rather be sitting in the room than standing up on stage. It's the number one fear that most people have is public speaking. That's different with me. That's an ability.

Affinity, ability, and then opportunity. Where is there need? Where is the community going, man, it would be great, we need help in this area. And to step in where there's need. There's gifts of evangelism. I mentioned hospitality. We have a team that's our guest services team. And at all of our locations, when you drive onto a campus, there's a team helping you park your car. There's a team greeting you. In fact, when you walked into any one of our locations, you interacted, whether you realize it or not, with our guest services team. Volunteers, making coffee. My uncle recently attended our church, and afterwards he goes, Sun Valley's an incredible church. He goes, they had Arnold Palmers at the campus, and they were free. And he's like, I must have had like five of them. And I was like, cool, I'm really glad that God moved in your life at Sun Valley. That's our guest services team. And here's what I find when I talk to people, and I say, hey, what was your experience like at Sun Valley? If it was their first time or second time, they go, man, there's just something about this church. When you walk onto the campus,

there's just something about this church. And what they're describing, they're describing the experience of the Holy Spirit through the people. That's that something that they can't quite articulate. And then they talk about just how much they felt seeing and they felt loved when they walked onto the campus. That's our guest services team. Most people make up their mind about the church five minutes in to showing up on a campus, which means before they ever engage in worship, before they ever hear a message, they've already decided if this church is for them, if this community cares for them. For those of you who serve in that way, thank you. The last thing that we bring to the table is our experience. We bring our experiences, good and bad. For a lot of us, we've been through some really difficult things. We've gone through pain, we've gone through heartache. And God actually invites us to bring that to the table. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians, and we wanna praise the God of all comfort, who comforts us when we're afflicted, so that we can comfort others with the same comfort we receive from God. We have a ministry here at Sun Valley called Celebrate Recovery. And in Celebrate Recovery, there are people who have gone through

whatever it is that you're going through. And if you're like, I don't know, Robert, you don't understand what I'm going through, there are people in Celebrate Recovery who have gone through what you're going through. Whether it's a hurt, whether it's a habit, whether it's a hangup. And through their experiences, they bring that to the table, and now they can walk alongside you. The way that God comforts us through our trials, by the way, is often through others who have walked through that same trial. So if you're here and you're like, I don't know a whole lot about the Bible, but man, I've been through some stuff, and I've seen how God has transformed my life, you have a lot to offer this church. You have a lot to offer this community. Don't keep those gifts to yourself. They're for the common good. So what do you bring to the table? It's the way the kingdom of heaven works. Whatever you bring to the table, you don't get out of it what you bring to it, what you put into it. You actually get out of it more than you bring to the table. And when we collectively as the church, we bring whatever ingredients God has gifted us with

to the table, transformation happens. Life change happens. And we hear story after story, just like Havens. Hi, my name's Haven, and I've been coming to Sun Valley for two years. When I came to Sun Valley, I felt welcome. So when we first began coming to Sun Valley, it was just Haven and myself. Her dad and I were separated for many years. I really was in a place where I was seeing the world through a lens of wounds, and just coming and sitting and listening, I felt different. It was something that we both started to look forward to. My favorite thing right now about coming to church is that we get to worship. We get to glorify God, and I get to dance a lot. I started talking to Haven about it a lot, and she was just so excited, and I just really enjoyed seeing her light up and the joy that she had anytime she was discussing what was going on at church or anything to do with Jesus. She just absolutely loved, and that just really started to touch my heart. I wanted to get baptized because I wanted to be more like Jesus. When she made that decision to make that public declaration for herself, that was really heartwarming.

It felt amazing just to get pulled up out of the water and feel filled with the Holy Spirit. The first time I ever went to Sun Valley was also the first time I've probably been to church, in any church, in probably over 25 years, and that was for Haven's baptism. Haven started to invite her dad to come and join us at church. I kept just talking to him like, oh, yeah, I learned this at church. It would be nice for you to come sometimes. Ashley and I were separated at the time, and there were a lot of difficult things in my life, and I was still trying to find my footing, I guess. I just was really focusing on the message and what Chad was saying and he was talking about. People like feeling like they're missing something inside and always chasing something else and I really felt like that was me you know I was always you know trying to cover up feelings of buying something going on a vacation or just trying to fill whatever void you know and I started to really kind of feel like maybe that you know that boy that was missing in me was you know was God not you know the next thing to buy I felt like that I was just missing Jesus when I said yes to Jesus it was an overwhelming feeling it did feel like an absolute void was filled what made me want to get baptized was it was the obvious next step after saying yes to Jesus I wanted to express that publicly I got to be in the water with him and baptized my dad and that feeling like weight taken off you know off my shoulders and the overall joy that I felt you know having them with me and you know declaring you know Jesus is my Savior was just an absolute amazing indescribable feeling so most recently we went to the pre-marriage course which was phenomenal and we're so excited to

take those tools into getting remarried in the next couple months because our previous marriage did not include God at the center and so now we get to really proclaim it as a family that you know he did all that for us so this is beyond my wildest dreams this whole this whole new life that was given it's not anything I could have ever dreamed of yeah let's thank Haven and her family I love her sweet little voice the blessing of the table it's not about the food it's always been about the people it's the most important thing in this life it's people in the end all that matters it's relationship with God relationship with people to all of our kids volunteers thank you for what you do you have such an important job in our church pouring into kids like Haven I have to tell you in our church over and over I hear stories of parents come to faith because their kids came to faith thank you for those who serve thank you for those who help with our baptism services those who help organize that our production team if you're hearing this or seeing this right now you can thank a bunch of volunteers in our production team who have made that happen for those who lead our pre-marriage course small group leaders host homes those who help with facilities administration thank you for not just going to church but for being the church there are two major themes in the Bible salvation and stewardship if you're here and you've not received the gift of salvation it's a gift from God that's where this journey begins before you bring anything to the table first you must receive receive the gift that God has offered to you in Ephesians chapter 2 that's one of the most famous verses in the Bible talks about this gift of salvation God gives first for it is by grace this is verse 8 it is by grace meaning you don't earn it you don't work for it you have been saved through faith how do I receive it by believing and receiving through trusting in the person and work of Jesus his perfect life his death burial resurrection and this is not from yourselves it is the gift of God not by work so that no one can boast it's a gift and if you've not yet received this gift I want to invite you to do so right now right where you're at and I ask that you would talk to God in your own heart and mind he can hear your thoughts we can close our eyes and we

can pray to him and if you want to receive this gift you can just tell him Jesus I know that I have sinned God I need a Savior I trust in you Jesus in your perfect life that your death paid the penalty that I owed for my sin I believe in the resurrection Jesus, you are Lord. I invite the Holy Spirit to take over my life, the Spirit of God, and to lead me from this day forward. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. If that's you and you said yes to Jesus, we have a gift we wanna give you. You can go, at the end of service, there's a area called First Step near the stage. You can go up there, just let them know you said yes to Jesus, we wanna give you this Bible. And there's also a reading guide in there to get you started in understanding God's word to you. This is his love letter to you. And this is what will guide you in a relationship with him. Two major themes in the Bible, salvation and stewardship. In Ephesians 2, we just read about this gift of salvation. And then it goes on in verse 10 to talk about stewardship. For we are God's handiwork. The Greek word is poiema. This is where we get the word poem, work of art, masterpiece, some translations. We're God's work of art, his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. We don't do good works to earn God's favor. He's already gifted that to us. It's a gift of his grace we receive through faith.

But then we steward that gift of salvation and we steward the gifts of the Holy Spirit for the common good, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do. There's work to be done. And God has invited all of us to bring our ingredients to the table. Some of us, our souls are so hungry and God says, I have a seat for you here. Church is not a building that you sit in, it's a movement you choose to be a part of to help people meet, know, and follow Jesus. And if you're like, I don't know where to start, Robert, I'm nervous, I don't know how to really plug in, bring the napkins. Start small. Do something. On your way out, we have a team of staff and volunteers at all of our locations. You'll see tables and signs set up. They would love to help you start somewhere. Could be somewhere super small to get plugged in. And don't just come to church, be the church and watch how God blesses you. Would you pray with me? Father, our lives are yours. May this be a community that comes together with the unique gifts that you've given each one of us. And we wouldn't keep those gifts to ourselves,

but we would share them for the common good. And God, may we experience the blessing that you promise. May we learn the lessons that you wanna teach us through serving others. Do you help us to live lives that aren't just about our ourselves, that we would live for something far greater, that we would serve on mission with you. To help as many people meet, know, and follow Jesus. Until you call us home or you return, guide us. We ask and we pray in Jesus' name, amen.