The Master's Tools | Kenney Linhart | HighPoint Church

Jesus Christ and the church belong together because Jesus is the builder and His people are the tools He chooses to use. The restored axe head is a picture of a person who was lost, found, cleaned up, sharpened, and made beautiful by the Holy Spirit. But the axe head by itself is still not doing what it was made to do. The axe head needs attached to the handle, and the church is that handle where people are connected, held in place, sharpened by friction, and made usable in the Master’s hand.

Ephesians says God created His people in Christ Jesus to do good works prepared in advance. Grace gets people into the kingdom, but grace never gives permission to stay in sin or sit on display. Grace gives power to live godly and become fruitful. The church ministers love, correction, discipline, training, and encouragement, but being cared for in the Master’s workshop is not the same thing as being used for the Master’s work.

Ephesians 4 says Christ gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip God’s people for works of service. The body grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work. Maturity does not come merely from attending, writing checks, or collecting more information. Maturity comes when a person puts a hand to something Jesus can use in the bigger picture.

The toolbox shows why no tool should compare itself with another. A tape measure, chisel, drill, hammer, and level have different assignments, but each matters when the builder is hanging a door. Different does not mean defective. Jesus needs access to the entire toolbox, not merely the flashy tools or the powerful ones. Availability matters because it costs time, energy, comfort, convenience, and rearranged priorities.

Mark 4 warns that thorns can choke the Word through worries, wealth, and desires for other things. Busyness, recreation, scrolling, entertainment, and packed schedules can leave a person connected to God but doing nothing with God. Jesus does not merely want access to ability. Jesus wants access to availability.

David shows that God develops tools while they are being used. David learned faithfulness with sheep, worship through a harp, service through errands, and courage through bears and lions before he faced Goliath. David did not have everything the assignment would eventually require, but he had everything God required him to bring. Small beginnings, little tool bags, and seemingly unimportant assignments become powerful when faith rests in the God holding the tool.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. The axe head needs a handle. The restored axe head may be clean, sharp, and valuable, but it remains useless for its design if it stays disconnected. The church is not a wall where Christians hang for display. The church is the place where Jesus joins people together and puts them to work. [39:43]
• 2. Jesus wants availability, not ability alone. Ability can remain locked away in a toolbox while the work sits unfinished. Availability requires a person to give Jesus access to time, energy, convenience, and priorities. The real question is not whether God can use a person, but whether that person is available to be used. [60:41]
• 3. Different tools carry different assignments. The tape measure does not need to become a power drill to matter, and the hammer cannot do every job alone. God gives different gifts because His church needs the whole toolbox. Comparison deforms people when it makes them despise the assignment God actually gave them. [57:41]
• 4. God equips people through faithful work. David’s sling was not impressive beside Goliath’s armor, sword, and spear, but David had learned to use it while tending sheep. God used unseen faithfulness to prepare David for a public battle. Small assignments become training ground when people worship God instead of grumbling through them. [79:58]
• 5. Do not despise small beginnings. A little tool bag is not a reason to stay home from the job. God develops His tools as they show up, learn, serve, and take the next step. The need in front of a person may be the very place where God begins expanding that person’s usefulness.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [32:17] - Taking Your Place in the Church
• [33:07] - The Restored Axe Head
• [35:36] - Connected to the Handle
• [38:40] - Created for Good Works
• [42:47] - Grace Gives Power to Live Godly
• [43:33] - Different Tools, Different Purposes
• [46:25] - Tools Are Made for Work
• [48:14] - Jesus Will Build His Church
• [50:10] - Equipped for Works of Service
• [55:12] - Jesus Needs the Whole Toolbox
• [59:42] - The Cost of Availability
• [61:04] - Thorns That Choke Fruitfulness
• [73:05] - God Expands the Tool Bag
• [75:50] - David’s Sling and Goliath’s Sword
• [88:18] - Do Not Despise Small Beginnings

Bible Reading

Ephesians 2:10
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” [38:55]

Ephesians 4:11-12
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,” [50:10]

Ephesians 4:16
“from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” [50:59] [01:31:03]

Mark 4:18-19
“And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” [01:01:15]

1 Samuel 17:45-47
“Then David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.’” [01:18:41]

Observation questions

1. According to Ephesians 2:10, what has God created believers in Christ Jesus to do, and when did God prepare those works?
2. In Ephesians 4:11-12, what are apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers meant to do for God’s people?
3. What two results does Ephesians 4:16 connect to each part of the body doing its work? [50:59]
4. In Mark 4:18-19, what three kinds of thorns enter in and choke the Word, making it unfruitful? [01:02:19]

Interpretation questions

1. If believers are God’s workmanship, created for good works, how does that shape the difference between being saved by grace and using grace as a reason to remain inactive? [43:04]
2. Ephesians 4 says church leaders equip the saints for works of service. What does this suggest about the role of every believer, not only those in visible leadership?
3. The picture of an axe head connected to a handle shows that a restored person still needs to be joined to the body. What kinds of connection help a believer become steady, sharpened, and useful rather than isolated? [35:47]
4. David came to Goliath with a sling and stones, but his confidence was in the Lord. How does David’s example help a believer serve faithfully even when his or her experience, resources, or confidence feels small? [01:18:01]

Application questions

1. Where would you place yourself right now: disconnected, connected but mostly on display, or connected and actively serving? What is one honest next step you could take? [48:46]
2. Jesus does not merely want access to ability; He wants access to availability. What part of your time, energy, comfort, or routine is hardest to place in His hands? [01:00:34]
3. What “thorns” most often compete for your attention—worry, the pursuit of money, recreation, scrolling, entertainment, a packed schedule, or something else? What practical boundary could help keep that thorn from choking fruitfulness? [01:03:19]
4. Is there a gift, experience, burden, or simple strength that you have been tempted to dismiss because it does not seem as visible or impressive as someone else’s? How might that very thing meet a real need in the body of Christ? [57:27]
5. Think about a small or ordinary responsibility in front of you right now. How could you approach it with the faithfulness David showed while tending sheep, playing music, and running errands? [43:49]
6. What is currently in your “tool bag”—for example, willingness, an hour of time, listening well, hospitality, practical skills, prayer, a testimony, or a willingness to learn? Where could you offer that to serve someone this week? [01:27:48]
7. Is there an area of service that you have avoided because you feel unprepared? What would it look like to start small, learn as you serve, and trust God to expand your usefulness over time? [01:28:18]