This Is Us Wk-4

Good morning Living Faith Church! I am so excited to share this last message with you as we wrap up this series — This Is Us. This has been a series on church vision, a series galvanizing the body of Christ around the one thing that God has called us to be about — revealing His glory to the word and destroying the works of the devil.

Living Faith Church does not exist merely to gather. We exist to get The Gospel in Every Home. And that is not a gathering mission. That is a scattering mission. It requires the mobilization of the entire church. At Living Faith Church we do more than just put on weekly services, we are rallying the body of Christ to GO — Mark 16:15.

Mark 16:15 NASB95

15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

Notice what Jesus did not say. He did not say, “Build a building and wait for the world to come to you.” He said go. That means the mission of the church cannot be contained within a Sunday gathering. The church gathers to worship, to be strengthened, and to be equipped — but then the church scatters into the world carrying the gospel into homes, workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, and marketplaces. This is why the mission of Christ has never depended on a few leaders doing ministry for everyone else. The mission moves forward when the entire body of Christ is mobilized.

Pastors alone were never called to reach a county with the Gospel. Programs cannot reach a county with the Gospel. But a mobilized church can. Robert Lewis in his book “The Church of Irresistible Influence says:

“If spiritual maturity is define in terms of living the life and serving the world, then most evangelical churches, are at best investing in only the first half of the battle” — Robert Lewis, The Church of Irresistible Influence: Bridge-Building Stories to Help Reach Your Community (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001), 94.

The church is king at telling people how to live, while nearly silent on equipping it’s members with the tools to reach their sphere of influence with the Gospel. This is called Equipping! Jesus in His call to these disciples, Andrew and Peter says:

Matthew 4:19 NASB95

19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Rise Of Professional Ministry

We know from reading above one vers…

Matthew 4:18 NASB95

18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.

… that these two men were fishermen by trade. Now, let’s address a common misconception among believers. God does not need you to leave your current trade, or abandon your passions or skills to accomplish His purposes for your life. The New Testament church never imagined ministry as something limited to clergy. The church expanded across the Roman world primarily through ordinary believers living their faith publicly. Rodney Stark, historian of early Christianity, writes:

“The primary means of conversion was through social networks — family members, friends, and coworkers.”

— Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity

Even in the early centuries, the church recognized that all believers are to participate in the mission of Christ. John Chrysostom (4th century) taught:

“The home is a little church.”

This meant Christian households were places where discipleship, witness, and formation occurred. Ministry did not begin in the church, the cathedral, the synagogue. It began in the home, the market, and the workplace.

But, during the medieval period, ministry slowly became professionalized. A divide formed between clergy and ordinary Christians. One of the earliest shifts happened in the early second century with Ignatius of Antioch. Ignatius, second-century bishop and church leader, strongly emphasized unity around the bishop and wrote statements like:

“Where the bishop appears, there let the people be; just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the catholic church.”

— Ignatius, Letter to the Smyrnaeans 8

John Calvin would later call the writings of Ignatius an abomination:

Nothing can be more nauseous than that which has been brought forward under the name of Ignatius.

John Calvin, Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, trans. John Pringle (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1948), commentary on Philippians 2:1.

During this period, leaders increasingly began to be viewed not merely as elders or shepherds, but as priests and bishops who mediated grace through sacraments. Communion, baptism and even salvation became increasingly tied to clerical authority. By the medieval period certain acts were restricted to clergy:

Cyprian began to teach transubstantiation - the belief that the the communion bread and wine are literally the body of Christ, and now:

Only a priest could serve communion.

Only Bishops and Priests had the right to exercise spiritual gifts

Baptism was viewed as having the power to save

Only a priest could baptise one in water and this could only follow a three year long catechism.

Gnosticism increased among church leaders-

Ministers who believed they possessed secret knowledge (gnosis) from Jesus.

They had hidden traditions passed down privately from the apostles.

Only spiritually enlightened people could understand the true message of the Gospel.

The Protestant Reformers later reacted strongly against this system. Martin Luther argued that Scripture does not divide Christians into spiritual elites and ordinary believers. He wrote:

“All Christians are truly of the spiritual estate… there is no difference among them except that of office.”

— Martin Luther, To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1520)

The Priesthood of All Believers

This became known as the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. A balanced approach that the Bible has taught all along! There are leaders:

There are to be Elders Acts 14:23

Acts 14:23 NASB95

23 When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

There are to be five office gifts given to the church. Ephesians 4:11

Ephesians 4:11 NASB95

11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

We will talk more of these next month… but, their role is to Equip the saints for the works of service

Ephesians 4:12 NASB95

12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;

The church was never meant to be clergy-powered. It was meant to be body-powered.

Exodus 19:6 NASB95

6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

1 Peter 2:5 NASB95

5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:7 NASB95

7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Romans 12:6 NASB95

6 Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;

Think about the skills sitting in this room right now.

• Administration skills

• Teaching skills

• Mechanical skills

• Construction skills

• Sales skills

• House cleaning skills

• Nursing skills

• Political influence

• Business leadership

• Transportation

• Hospitality

The Dangers of the Division

Those are not secular tools. Those are Kingdom tools. God placed those abilities in your life so the Kingdom could reach places that the church staff never will. Schools, Workplaces, Neighborhoods, Coffee shops, Government offices, Hospitals, and Construction sites. But when we divide the secular world from the church world a very negative and harmful shift takes place. The secular world becomes our daily driver and the church world becomes a weekend event. Faith becomes something we attend instead of something we embody.

Work becomes secular.

Church becomes sacred.

But the Bible never makes that division.

Jesus — the carpenter

Mark 6:3 NASB95

3 “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him.

Peter, Andrew, James, and John — fishermen

Matthew 4:18 NASB95

18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.

Paul — a tentmaker

Acts 18:3 NASB95

3 and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers.

Paul did not stop working; he used his trade while planting churches.

Lydia — a merchant of purple cloth

Acts 16:14 NASB95

14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

She used her home and resources to support the church in Philippi.

Priscilla and Aquila — business owners and disciple makers

Acts 18:26 NASB95

26 and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

Dorcas (Tabitha) — a seamstress serving the poor

Acts 9:36 NASB95

36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did.

Cornelius — a Roman military officer

Acts 10:1–2

A centurion whose faith influenced his entire household- the first Gentile to receive the Holy Spirit.

The Ethiopian official — a government leader

Acts 8:27–38

A treasurer in the court of the queen of Ethiopia who carried the gospel back to Africa.

The New Testament church did not grow because a few pastors preached sermons. It grew because fishermen, merchants, soldiers, business owners, government officials, craftsmen, and homemakers carried the gospel into the places they already lived and worked. It moves through the lives of ordinary believers who refuse to divide their life into sacred and secular.

Every workplace becomes a mission field.

Every home becomes a place of discipleship.

Every believer becomes a minister.

Steps To Moving Forward

1. Go Beyond Need-Driven Living — Become Call-Driven

Many believers spend their lives reacting to needs instead of responding to calling. Needs are endless.

Emails, bills, responsibilities, pressures. If you live only reacting to needs, the mission of God will always get pushed to the margins. But discipleship is not driven by urgency—it is driven by calling. Jesus did not say, “If you are not too busy, If you feel compelled…”

Matthew 4:19 NASB95

19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Calling organizes your life.

Needs consume your life.

If you want to live an equipping lifestyle, you must shift from need-driven living to call-driven living.

2. Go Beyond Fear — Pray for Passion

Fear is one of the enemy’s most effective weapons. Fear whispers:

You might fail.

You might say the wrong thing.

You might look foolish.

You might be rejected.

But passion silences fear. When someone is passionate about something, they stop calculating risk and start pursuing purpose. This pastor Timothy had many reasons to be timid - he had to confront speculative myths, endless genealogies, and misuse of the Mosaic Law, among leaders who were older and with higher education than he. But his mentor - Paul, wrote to him saying:

2 Timothy 1:7 NASB95

7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

Fear paralyzes ministry. Passion mobilizes it. If fear is keeping you from stepping out, the prayer is simple: “Lord, replace my fear with passion for people.”

3. Go Beyond Confusion — Equip the Equipper

Another barrier is confusion. Many believers stop with:

“I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

But here is the truth:

Ephesians 4:11–12 NASB95

11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;

That means the church is not here to replace your ministry. It is here to prepare you for it. Sometimes the real issue is what psychologists call cognitive dissonance—the tension between what we believe and what we are doing. When that tension appears, the mind often responds with creative avoidance.

We stay busy.

We delay.

We postpone.

This is why equipping environments matter. This is why we offer things like Essentials—to help believers gain clarity and confidence so they can step into ministry. Confusion shrinks when equipping increases.

At Living Faith Church - there are many ways you can begin making a difference - even today. 1. Be a Purple Book mentor to a new believer

2. Become a Co- Life Group Leader

3. Join All-In and get on a serve team

4. Go Beyond Lack of Direction

Many believers ask the wrong question. They ask: “What can I do?” But a better question is: “What do I want to do?” What excites you? What energizes you? What kind of people do you naturally care about? That excitement is often the fingerprint of God on your life. God rarely calls people to things they are naturally wired to hate.

A fisherman became a fisher of men.

A tax collector, a detail driven man, wrote the most detailed account of Jesus life and ministry

A tentmaker became a church planter.

God uses what He already placed inside you. Equipping is not about inventing a new identity. It is about redeeming the one God already gave you.

5. Go Beyond Pessimism

The final barrier is pessimism. If Satan can’t stop you with the previous doubts, he will use these questions to try and stop you.

“Do I really believe in this - it’s so much work”

“Can I really make a difference?”

“The need is so big.”

“The problem is so great.”

“There are so many lost people.”

But that same question could have been asked in the book of Acts. Twelve men.

One hundred and twenty believers. Against the Roman Empire. And yet Acts 17:6 says,

Acts 17:6 NASB95

6 When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset the world have come here also;

The early church did not believe their impact was small. They believed the gospel was powerful. Pessimism focuses on the size of the problem. Faith focuses on the power of God.