**Transcript:**
Care about your skin. We just want an all-out win. They tell me it's illogical, but anything is possible. If God be for us, we can overcome all obstacles. They say love covers a multitude of sins.
Hallelujah! This should be our cry every day:
Holy Spirit, make me more like You. Crucify my flesh. Make me more like You every day. That I would be just a little more like You, just a little more like You, just a little more like You.
And one of the ways we get the opportunity to do that is through communion—participating in holy communion. The opportunity to take part in the blood and the body of Jesus.
Jesus is there with His disciples, and as they always have Passover, this one was a little bit different. This one He took the cup, took the bread. As we're taking part in this, this time I'm establishing a new covenant. The old covenant that required sacrifices, that required you go through someone to get to Me, that required a payment for your sins—I'm establishing a new covenant. I'm going to be the sacrifice. My blood will be shed. My body will be broken for you.
And He told them at the end of this, He said, "As you do this, do this in remembrance of Me." This is holy communion—set apart. This word "holy" means set apart.
And so in the scripture, He talks about not taking this haphazardly or being very careful when you take this. And why? Why? Because it's not just another opportunity to just do something in service. It's not just something that we're just doing for the sake of doing it. No, this is precious. It's holy. It's set apart—holy communion.
And at the end, He said, "As often as you eat, as often as you drink, do so in remembrance of Me." Remembering the fact that My blood is shed for you. Remember the fact that My body is broken for you. Remember the fact that nails will be placed in My hands and My feet. A spear will be pierced into My side for you to pay the price for your sins because I love you that much. I'm willing to die for you.
That He will look down the corridors of all of time and see you and I in our mess, in our muck, at our worst moments when we are at the lowest of the low. And He would look at us in our eyes and say, "Yes, I'm willing to die for you."
Because of His death, we have an opportunity to be in relationship with God. Because of His death, we're here today with one another. We have an opportunity to be together. We have access to healing. We have access to hope. We have access to joy. We have access to peace because of the sacrifice that was made.
And He said, "As often as you do this, do it in remembrance of Me." Because every time you do it, you proclaim the death of Jesus until it comes.
1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 23: "For I received from the Lord that which I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which He was betrayed, took the bread. When He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of Me.' In the same manner, He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood.' He said, 'The old covenant is gone away. This is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, do so in remembrance of Me.' You may drink.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, thank You for the opportunity that we have to participate in holy communion. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You for shedding Your blood for us. God, thank You for sending Your Son to die for us so that we could have an opportunity to spend eternity with You and have a relationship with You here on this earth. Thank You for seeing us in the corridors of time and choosing to die.
And today we celebrate because not only did You die, but You rose again. We thank You in Jesus' name. Amen.
Hey, guys, Pastor Kenan here. I want to invite you to the National Day of Praise and Worship celebration here at Limitless Church. We're going to have some Christian hip-hop music, some praise music, some worship music. It is going to be an amazing time, and we want you to celebrate with us.
The last Wednesday of September, September the 25th, we want you to join us. We're going to start at 6:30 p.m., and we're going to go, and we're going to have a wonderful time. I cannot wait for you to join us. Don't just bring yourself. Invite somebody you know. Invite a family member. Invite a neighbor. Invite a friend. We want to pack this place out as we celebrate National Day of Praise and Worship. See you there.
Hey, guys. I am excited to invite you to something new that's happening here at Limitless Church. Wednesday, October the 2nd, we are beginning something called the Limitless Deep Dive. And basically what it is, is it is a time of community for us to dive into what we heard on Sunday.
It'll start at 6 with some community time, and at 6:30, we'll do a small recap of the Sunday service, and then we'll break into groups based on our life season and talk about what we heard. I think this is going to be a wonderful time of community and a wonderful time of growing for our church.
So if you would like to be a part of that, please register and sign up. Or if you say, "Hey, I would like to lead a table here at the church," then, hey, sign up for that. We want you to be a part of it. We are excited to take some time and really dive into the word of God. God bless.
All right, let's make some noise for Tim. Your kids got it first service, so you guys got to get a second service. We're so appreciative of the Baker family. They have been with us since a little after we launched our church. And they have just been vital to our church in serving in all of these different areas.
And the one thing that I said, just in regards to the boys, a lot of times we talk about our schedules and different things. And the boys have been serving this entire time through sports and school. But they make sure that they make it a priority to be here and to serve in our tech ministry.
And I just want to say thank you to the Baker family. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for responding to that Facebook message and being here and serving us. And we appreciate you guys. Thank you so much for that.
All right. All right. I got two things before we start. First of all, I want to welcome any of our first-time visitors. It's not a part of my two things, so I got three things. Sorry about that.
All right. So first things first, I want to welcome all of our first-time visitors. If this is your very first time here at Limitless Church, thank you so much for being here. There's a lot that goes into coming to a church on Sunday morning. We're honored that you would be here with us today.
We don't think that it's an accident that you're here this morning. I know you thought like, "Oh, you know, today's a Sunday. I'm going to go to church," or "My mama dragged me to church today," or "My wife or my husband dragged me to church today." Or you say, "You know what? I'm finally going to go."
And I bet you thought that you'd made that decision on your own, but you didn't. You were set up. Not only the person who invited you set you up, but the Lord has been setting you up. He has been arranging your conversations. He has been adjusting your heart. He has even been making sure that your schedule was available so that you could be here today because it meant that much to Him.
And honestly, here at Limitless, we're just excited to be a part of what God is going to do in your life today. So can we make some noise for our first-time visitors this morning? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Do me a favor. You'll see a QR code on a seat pocket in front of you. Please take your phone out. There's a visitor's card there. We would love for you to fill that out. Also, on the outside, we have our connection table there, and we would love to connect with you, hear your story, find out how you found out about our church, and hear your story after service.
I will be out there along with our connection team, and we would love the opportunity to just greet you and say thank you. Also, I will be sending you a video for those of you who have been here for, I guess, the past month and a half. Y'all know I text you. I send you a video just to say thank you because it's that important to me. So I wanted to say thank you for being here.
So that's the first thing. Now on to my two things. That says I got a hundred and twenty minutes. You probably don't want to put that up.
All right. All right. So two things. All right. The first thing is we have a worship night coming up September 25th. Yeah. September the 25th. We have our worship night. It is going to be at 6:30. I would love it if you would take some time out of your schedule to be there. Outside, we have invite cards right here. You'll see it here. And on the back is all of the information.
A friend of mine, his name is Pastor Brandon. He is the worship director at a real-life church in Thomas. He will be leading us in worship on that night. And also, we're going to have Christian hip-hop by yours truly here on that night as well.
Yeah. It's been a little minute, but I am very grateful for our team and the people here at our church who have been able to take some responsibilities off of my shoulders so that I can have the opportunity to get back in the studio and do what God has called me to do.
And so I like that the first time I get to do that in a long time will be here at Limitless Church. So please make sure that you are here that Wednesday night at 6:30. It is going to be amazing.
The second thing of my two things is we have a vision here of the month this month. If we could put our vision here of the month up. Mike Morris is our vision here of the month.
Yeah. Yeah. So Mike is there in the back. Everybody look back there. See, Mike didn't want me to recognize somebody. He forgot I was singing before I had a mic. So y'all can hear me without it.
But no, we want to make sure that we honor him, him and his family. They have been serving here. I said this story a lot, but Mike and Anita were the very first Limitless team, Limitless members, even before we launched our church.
So we had interest parties that we would have at a coffee shop. And we would invite people in the community to hear the vision of the church before we launch and have an opportunity to join our team. And Mike and Anita were the very first ones.
And so I just want to honor you guys and say thank you so much for being here. Mike, we appreciate you. We have he serves in the tech area and the connection team. Mike's favorite thing is bougie coffee. So do not bring my Starbucks.
Okay, he gonna smile because he loves Jesus, but he's going to smile because he loves Jesus. He ain't going to drink it because he don't like it. I've done it before. He's like, "What is this?"
All right, cool. And also he loves the Dodgers. I mean, they can't all be winners, but he loves the Dodgers. And his family loves the Dodgers. And he loves his family.
Okay, so those are his things. If you see him, please just thank him. Congratulate him. If you want to bless him, bless him. By all means, we are honored that he is here and he is our vision here of the month.
Let's make some noise for him.
All right. All right. I am ready to dive into this word. I've been waiting for this one. I've been waiting for this one for a long time. I've been saving up so I could do this today.
All right. Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your word. Thank You for what You're going to do in this place today. God, we need to hear from You. We acknowledge, God, that Your word is already anointed and has been for so long.
So we ask that You would anoint our ears. We ask that You would anoint our hearts to be able to receive the words that are being spoken. God, we need to hear from You. You are the only one that can speak to all of us at one time and it change our life.
So we ask that You would move. We ask that You would speak. And that we would leave here having an encounter with You, changing our life, making a mark that can never be erased. We honor You. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
All right. So we've been in a series called Limitless Edition. And in this series, we've been going over the core values or what I would call the pillars of what it means to be a believer or a Christian here at Limitless Church.
Okay. Now, just to clarify, I clarified this last week. If you are not a member here or this is your first time, you may say, "Well, what is so unique or what is the difference in being a believer here at Limitless? What is so unique or what is the difference in being a believer here at Limitless Church versus being a believer?"
And that is a great question. And the answer is nothing. Okay. But you might have come from somewhere else and it might mean something different where you come from.
One thing I love about Limitless is we are a melting pot. There are different cultures. There are different ethnicities. There are different ages. And it might mean something different for you.
So as a pastor, I want to be sure that I am letting you know what it means to be a believer when you are here.
All right. So week one, we talked about owning our faith. We talked about the fact that when it comes to our faith, we are responsible for where we are in Jesus. We are responsible for reading our word. We are responsible for coming to church. We are responsible for growing as a believer.
It is not our parents that are responsible for our faith. It is not our pastor that is responsible. It is not our spouse that is responsible. We are responsible to own our faith. That was week one.
Week two, we talked about being in the room. We said that we are committed to being here every time the doors are opened because we understand that there is something significant about being here in the room.
We talked about how when we come in, there's a blessing for us being in the room. There's a blessing that is attached to us being in the room. Not only for us, not only for ourselves, but for others.
That when they see us, they are blessed. There's something, you know, you walk in, you think, you didn't put on that makeup for nothing. You was picking out your outfit all week to make sure you got here and it was right. Why? There's a blessing attached to that.
Someone sees you and they see the grace that you walk in. They see the joy that you walk in. They see the peace that you walk in. That is a blessing to them that they receive simply by you showing up. There's something about you being in the room.
Week three, which was last week, we talked about at Limitless, we give generously. And we give generously because we are grateful for what we have received generously.
We said that we believe and we trust God to use our finances to fulfill His will and to build His kingdom. We walked out saying He gives seed to the sower. This week, we want to dive into what I'm calling pillar number four, and it is we serve passionately.
We serve passionately because we understand that God has given each one of us a gift and we are to use that gift to serve others and to help build the local body and the body of Christ. We are called to serve.
And at Limitless, we are called to serve. At Limitless, we serve passionately. Serving is a big deal here because we understand that in order to be a growing Christian, you need to be a serving Christian.
Okay. Serving gives us an opportunity to find, to discover, and to walk in God's purpose for our life.
Okay. Serving gives us an opportunity to find, to discover, and to walk in God's purpose for our life. God has given each one of us unique, special gifts.
Okay. He's given us unique, special gifts. And He tells us to use those gifts or to put those gifts to work. And the way that we put that gift to work is through serving.
And when we operate in that unique gift that He has given us, God is glorified. When we walk in our purpose, when we walk in the gift, when we walk in the gift that He has given us, and they see the passion in which we walk in that thing, they see the passion in how we walk it out.
They see the excellence in which we walk in. God is glorified. Because people see that and they see you operating in it. And they want to know why you're passionate. They want to know why you're walking in excellence. They want to know why you're doing it the way that you're doing it—only the way that you can do it.
And when they ask you why, they say, "Hey, what is it?" What is it? And then there's the open door for you to say, "I'm glad you asked. I'm glad you asked."
Serving is a big deal. And we've been called to serve and serve passionately.
1 Peter chapter 4, verses 10 through 11. Let's start at verse 10.
"Just as each one of you has received a special gift, a spiritual talent, an ability graciously given by God, employ it." That means put it to work. "Employ it in serving one another as is appropriate for good stewards of God's multifaceted grace, faithfully using the diverse, varied gifts and abilities granted to Christians by God's unmerited favor."
He says, "Put those gifts to work." And he says, "When you put those gifts to work, understand that in doing that, God will be glorified."
Okay. He says, "Whoever speaks, whoever serves to the congregation is to do so as one who speaks the oracles of God. Whoever serves is to do so as one who serves by the strength in which God supplies so that in all things, God may be glorified, honored, and magnified through Jesus Christ. To Him belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever."
So I told you I was waiting for this service. Pretty excited about it. I'm not going to hold you. My uncle Memo is a chef.
All right. So, yeah. Uh, no, no, no, no, no. Don't clap yet. Don't clap yet. This ain't for y'all. It's for me.
Uh, so, so, so, so, uh, my uncle Memo was a chef. He's been a chef for a long time. So I was born and raised in Atlanta. Um, and I really, uh, I had an idea of what the magnitude of food, but I didn't really have an expansive palate.
So when I came here first, I was broke. So that was a lot of it. All right. So when I came here, um, uh, began doing music or whatever, came, became a part of this family, met my wife, met my uncle Memo.
My uncle Memo introduced me to steak. Let me tell you something. Uh, steak is amazing. Vegetarians, this ain't for you. Uh, steak is amazing. I did not know.
So, uh, Applebee's, uh, that's not a steak. Okay. Uh, um, I don't know where you go, but that's probably not a steak. Uh, you need to know what a steak really is in order to be able to appreciate it and enjoy it.
Okay. So I went to this restaurant, um, and, uh, they had this menu, um, and I'm with my wife trying to be bougie and, uh, she, I'm like, "Yeah, get what you want." And they come to me and they're like, "Well, what do you want?"
And so I'm looking at the menu and I saw, um, this thing was, uh, it said 20-ounce tomahawk steak. Okay. I said, "Okay."
Now keep in mind, I don't really know what's happening. Um, but I got to hold it down like I do. So I said, "I want to get, uh, tell me about this tomahawk steak."
And he was like, "Oh, oh, oh, you're going to love this. Oh, you're going to love this." He said, "It's 20 ounces." I'm not walking around with a weight machine. I don't, anyway, uh, it's 20 ounces.
He said, "And this one is a special one because this one is a tomahawk steak, but it's a Wagyu cut. So that means it has been, it is one of the pristine cuts. He says, when you cut it, it's just going to fall right off there."
And he said, "I suggest you get it at this temperature. It's seasoned to perfection. I'm telling you, you're going to love this."
Now, uh, on the menu, it didn't have the prices on it. So don't judge me. Don't judge me. They had the prices on it.
So I said, "Yes, let me get the 20-ounce tomahawk Wagyu steak." All right. So, uh, I got it. Uh, it was amazing. Uh, so amazing to the point where I remember it to this day.
I didn't go back. Uh, don't worry about why I didn't go back, but I was like, "My uncle Memo is a chef. I could probably, you know, go to a butcher, get the steak. I can have uncle Memo cook it. He liked cooking. I like eating. I feel like that works together."
Right. All right. So I said, "Uncle Memo, I'm doing this message on serving. Help me out. Help me out. Just bring the stuff, make it do what it do."
Um, and, and, and we're going to use it as an analogy for service. Okay. Uh, so he took the plate. He took the plate.
Okay. He took the plate. All right. So, all right. So, uh, I'm a preach and, uh, we're going to get back to the message, but I want y'all to kind of know what's going on here.
Uh, same for y'all. This for me, but praise God. I've been waiting for this. I took, I've been fasting and praying all mostly fasting, but whatever.
All right, let's keep going. All right. Here's the thing. Um, each one of us has been given a unique gift.
Okay. Each one of us has been given a gift, a one of one. God has placed this thing on the inside of us. And I know here's your thought. Somebody else can do it.
Somebody else can open the door. Somebody else can run the camera. Somebody else could wave. Somebody else could greet. Somebody else could serve the kids.
Somebody else. But here's the thing. Nobody has the gift the way that you have it. When you were created, God uniquely put you together in such a way that the thing that you have, you are the only one that has it the way that you have it.
And you need to understand that you can't substitute that. You cannot substitute that. And so if God has given us a unique gift and we have that unique gift, um, the question remains is what are we going to do with it?
What are you going to do with it? You have it. There is no doubt that you have it. What are you going to do with it?
Oh, I love my wife. My wife, she's a servant in kids ministry. So I get to say what I want.
Um, hush Sarah. I like giving, I'm a gift giver. I like giving my wife gifts. Um, I've gotten better over the years.
Um, but I, I start, I started out pretty strong though. I'm not going to hold you. Uh, I like giving gifts. And so I give her gifts.
And so sometimes my wife would be like, "Baby, you know what would be nice?" Which is called for, "Hey, here's what I want." You ain't married. Pre-married. That was free right there.
Okay. Just so you know that. Okay. She says, "You know what would be nice?" And at that moment, I start paying attention and she'll say, "Hey, I want to go here. I want to go to this store. I want to buy this thing. You know, I just, I just been spending some, and I don't really want to splurge on myself, but you know, this would be nice."
Okay, cool. So when she says that, um, I automatically, you know, make a note. Um, and then I will usually get her a gift card for whatever it is that she wants with a little bit of extra so I can make sure she got it.
Um, I'm not doing that no more. I'm not, uh, I'm not going to do it. It's not going to happen. And let me tell you why.
Uh, it's not because I don't love my wife anymore. It's because, uh, what usually happens and what has a habit of happening is I will get her that thing. I will get her that gift card.
Um, and then months will go by, perhaps a year will go by. And one day she will open the drawer and find the gift card that I gave her and be like, "Oh, I forgot I had this."
I cannot do this. I cannot tell you what frustrates me more than I bought it a year and you haven't used it yet. That's $200. What did you, what did you, it just makes, you know what? I digress.
Okay. All right. But at the same token, I feel like that that's probably what God feels like when He has given us a gift and we still don't use it.
I feel like that's probably what He feels like when He's given us a gift and we put it in the table. We put it under the counter. We make a decision that as uniquely as He's given and as valuable it is that He's given us, we choose not to use it.
We just let it sit on the shelf. We have gifts. We have to put them to work. Unique, special gifts that He's placed on the inside of us that could change our lives, that could change our families, that could change this church, that could change this city.
And we do nothing with it. We do nothing with it. Out of fear. Out of ignorance. For some of us, it's out of pride. We do nothing with the gift.
Romans chapter 12, verses 4 through 8. All right. Verse 4: "For just as in one physical body we have many parts, and these parts do not have all the same function or special use. Okay. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is given is to use them accordingly. Each of us is to use them accordingly."
He says we're to use it. "If someone has the gift of prophecy, let him speak a new message of God to his people in the proportion to the faith possessed, so that we who are many, nevertheless, in one body in Christ. Here we go. And individually, we are parts of one another, mutually dependent on each other."
Mutually dependent on each other. If service in the act of serving. He who teaches in the act of teaching. He who encourages in the act of encouragement. He who gives with generosity. He who leads with diligence. He who shows mercy and caring for others with cheerfulness.
Paul says we are all a part of one another. One body, many parts. He says, "We are mutually dependent on one another."
So if you are mutually dependent on me, what happens if I don't show up? If you are mutually dependent on me, what happens if I don't show up? I am mutually dependent on my legs.
If I wake up one morning and my legs just decide, "You know what? I'm good." And my legs decide not to work, it will be life-changing for me. I will never be the same if the thing that I am mutually dependent on decides to not show up.
It will be life-changing. And I think for too long we've looked at the idea of serving like we go into the movies or we go into a game. You know, if I go, fine. If I don't go, fine. If I show up, good. If I don't, it'll be okay. Somebody else will do it.
God forbid. God forbid. We need you. We need the gift that God has given you. The scripture says that we are mutually dependent on that thing. We need that thing in the way that you do it, only in the way that you can.
We're mutually dependent on that thing. People having an opportunity to encounter the love of Jesus. Limitless is in some ways dependent on you showing up. You using the gift that God has given you.
Someone has the opportunity to encounter the love of God, to see Jesus through you. But if you don't show up, if you don't put that gift to work, they don't have that opportunity.
Limitless, we have been called to serve. And it is a big deal. It is not something to be taken lightly. It is a big deal. We've been called to serve.
Why do we serve? Why is it? What is the why behind why we serve? Number one. The number one reason that we serve is so that we can grow in our relationship with God.
It's not about somebody else. It's about us. The number one reason that we should be serving is so that we can grow in our relationship with God.
How many of us want to grow in our relationship with God? Okay. The number one reason we should be serving is so that we can grow in our relationship with God.
In doing that, it allows us the opportunity for God to develop us. It allows us the opportunity for God to mature us. It allows us the opportunity for God to show us ourselves.
So the number one reason we should be serving is so that we can grow in our relationship with God. Number two. The reason we should be serving is so that we can grow in our relationship with God so that we can grow in what God has called us to do.
Unique opportunity that has been given with us. As we grow in our relationship, we grow in what He's called us to do. We can't be Christians that are, we just stay at this level. We stay at this place of comfortability.
And we never go any farther than that. Serving allows you the opportunity to step out of your comfortability. It allows you the opportunity to grow. To grow in what He's called you and who He's called you to be.
Number three. We serve so that people can have an opportunity to see the love of God in action. Can't tell you how many times people have said, "You know, such and such won't come to church. Such and such won't, you know, I don't have an opportunity. I can't get him in the room."
That's okay. Simply by you operating in the gift that God has called you to do, that shows them the love of God that they are drawn to. And then you have an opportunity to minister God to them.
They see the love of God through you. And if you nasty and got an attitude and you rude, guess what? They don't see it. But when you, when you walk in in that thing.
When you know you at where you supposed to be. When you confident in the gift that God has given you. When you walk in fully in that thing. People are drawn to you.
They're drawn to what you're doing. They're drawn to the passion that you walk in. They're drawn. They're drawn to the way that you do it. And why, why, why, why do you do it?
How could you even see it like that? People are drawn to it. And people have an opportunity to see the love of God in action.
Please understand that when it comes to serving, this means everything. This means everything. And we have to get rid of the excuses and stop allowing the enemy to lie to us.
And steal the very thing that He is. To steal what God has given us.
See, the enemy knows that if he can get us to not serve, then we don't walk in our gift. And if we don't walk in our gift, we don't live a life of purpose.
And if we're not walking in purpose, then people don't get an opportunity to see the love of God through us. The enemy is very smart. He knows what he's doing by keeping you in the chair.
Because if he keeps you in the chair, he's only going to keep you in the chair. He's only lost one. But if you get out that chair, he's like, "No, no, no, no. You can go to church. I don't have no problem with you going to church. Guess what? I know the Bible back and forth. The devil knows the Bible better than any of us. He ain't got no problem with you going to church."
It is when you start being the church that you become a problem for him. Using the gift that God has given you allows you to move to that next place.
And we have to stop listening to the lies. We have to stop listening to the lies. People get to see Jesus simply because we decided to show up.
A couple of weeks ago, a gentleman is sitting in service. He sits in service. It's a lot in here sometimes during worship. I know it's dark. The music's loud. People jumping. We love Jesus.
Sometimes it can be a lot, especially if you're an introvert. This is an introvert's worst nightmare, okay? That's why we let y'all sit in the back. Hallelujah.
Hallelujah. All right. So somebody came in, and it was a little much, and they went outside. And obviously, we understand that that's something you got, you know, you're working in, working on.
But we don't want it to be a hindrance for you. And so Mike is at the connections table outside. Somebody sees somebody who's struggling. They were leaving.
And Mike says, "Hey, instead of leaving, let me just give you my phone. I'm going to pull the message up, the sermon up on my phone since we live stream. And why don't you just sit here on the steps of the church? And you can just sit there and watch the sermon. It's light. You don't have no distractions. No one interrupting you."
Mike hands the guy's phone. He turns on the message, hands the guy his phone. He goes. He sits, watches the entirety of the service on Mike's phone as he sits outside on the steps.
And when the service is over, gives Mike back his phone, says thank you, goes home. Why does that matter? Because we don't know how that message might have affected him.
We don't know what God was trying to say to him in that moment. And he made a decision. Mike made a decision in that moment that he wasn't going to allow the circumstances to be a distraction.
He was going to be willing to be inconvenienced. He was going to step outside of what he was doing in that moment of time. Do something that was outside of his position.
Do something. Do something that was a little bit risky because I don't really trust the folk with my phone like that. But he was willing to do that. Why? So that someone could have an opportunity to hear Jesus.
It means everything. That's why we, because he chose to show up, because he chose to think about someone other than himself, because he chose to serve, somebody got an opportunity to hear the message beyond what the enemy was trying to distract them with.
And ultimately, not only did they hear a message, but they got an opportunity. They got an opportunity to make a decision for Christ, whatever that decision was.
And I think him showing up, having that opportunity means everything. This is why at Limitless we are called to serve.
And we serve passionately because at any opportunity, we realize that eternity could be on the line. Eternity could very well be on the line.
And the enemy will use any lie and any tactic to get you to stay comfortable and stay where you are. We can no longer fall for these tactics. We can no longer fall for these lies.
We have to recognize them and keep moving. Tactic number one. I got to do this quickly. Here's what the enemy tells us in the lie that we believe.
Tactic number one. I can't serve because I don't know what my gift is. Yeah. I'm in your business today. All that stuff y'all be telling me and I'll be like smiling like praise God, praise God. I'm telling it today.
Tactic number one. I can't serve because I don't know what my gift is. This has got to be the top three things that the enemy uses to get us to remain in our seats.
This is what he tells us so that we will never make a difference. The idea that we will one day just wake up automatically and know what our gift is couldn't be farther from the truth.
The disciples didn't know what their gift was until they went first. Matthew chapter 4, verse 18 through 20.
I can't serve because I don't know what my gift is. I don't know what my gift is. Okay. Matthew chapter 4. And I'm going to start at verse 18 through verse 20.
Okay. Verse 18 says, "As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he noticed two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, 'Follow me as my disciples, accepting me as your master and teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk. And I will make you fishers of men.'
Verse 20. Immediately, they left their nets and followed Him, becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example."
I can't serve because I don't know what my gift is. They were fishermen. Fishing was what they knew to do. They were a family of fishermen.
And by rights, they were fishermen. That's what they knew to do. And as they were doing, Jesus came along and redirected them to purpose.
As they were doing, Jesus came along and redirected them to purpose. The quickest way to find out what your gift is, is to be doing something.
To be doing something. Okay. All right. Here we go. The quickest way to find out what your gift is not, is to be doing something.
But listen. Every step you make, and you realize, you realize what it is not. You are one step closer to what it is.
But it only happens when you begin doing something. That is how you find out what your—I can't serve because I don't know what my gift is. Guess what? Get in there and serve, and then you will find out what He's called you to do.
All right. I got to go. Number two. I can't serve because I feel like I'm not qualified. I feel like I don't know enough.
Okay. Cool. I got a scripture for you. Matthew. Let's start chapter four. Let's go to verse 18 and through verse 20.
As Jesus was walking by the sea of Galilee, he noticed two brothers, two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
And he said to them, "Follow me as my disciples, accepting me as your master and teacher, and walking in the same path of life that I walk. And I will make you fishers of men."
Immediately, they left their nets and followed Him, becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him, and following His examples.
Guess what, guys? Disciples did not have a master's in divinity. Okay. The disciples did not have a degree in seminary. The disciples weren't teachers of the law. They were fishermen.
They were fishermen. The disciples. The disciples. It's the gospel. The disciples that laid hands on the sick and the lame. The disciples were fishermen.
But they chose to go anyway. They chose to go anyway. How? Why did they choose to go anyway? Because they realized that the only qualification that they need is the fact that they were called by God.
That was it. God called them to go. They didn't wait and then go. The scripture says, "Immediately, they left their nets and followed Him."
I can't serve because I feel like I'm not qualified or I didn't know enough. The disciples weren't qualified and they didn't know enough either. But they chose to go anyway.
And on the way, as they were going, then Jesus began to teach them. And then they were able to do what it is that they needed to do.
All right. Number three. Oh, this is—yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Number three. Oh, good. Thank you. I was waiting. I was waiting. I ain't going to hold you.
All right. Number three. Tactic number three. I can't serve because I'm not where I want to be in my faith yet.
Yeah. I can't serve because I'm not where I want to be in my faith yet. Somewhere along the line, the enemy has told you that, you know, you just need to wait.
Just wait until you get yourself together. Let's just wait until you're perfect. I guess. I don't know. Wait until I can't serve because I'm not where I want to be in my faith yet.
So I can't serve. All right. Got a scripture for you. Matthew chapter four, verse 18 through 20. Let's go.
Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee. He noticed two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
And he said to them, "Follow me, follow me, follow me as my disciples, accepting me as your master and your teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk, and I will make you fishers of men."
Immediately, they left their nets and followed Him, becoming His disciple, believing and trusting in Him and following His example.
Guys, Andrew didn't start off as an evangelist. Peter didn't start off walking on water. That's not how this went. They were fishermen.
And because they chose to say yes, despite their fears, despite their uncertainty, despite all of the what-ifs that they could think of, the scripture says, "Immediately, they left their nets."
Let me tell you what that means. That means they dropped everything that they knew. They dropped their finances. They dropped the way that they used to live life. They dropped everything.
The scripture says, "Immediately, they left their nets and followed Him." Why? Because one of the ways that we get closer to Him is by being used by Him to minister to others.
And when we do so, we ourselves are built. We build up others, thereby building the body of Christ.
I can't serve because I'm not where I want to be in my faith yet. Serve. And as you engage in community, as you are cultivating that gift, what happens is you begin developing your relationship with God.
Why? Because now they are brothers and sisters to hold you accountable. Why? Because now the people who are around you, they're talking about the word. They're bringing up the word.
Now you got to go read so that when you get back together, you know what's going on. Why? What's happening? You're building up who you are. You're building up your faith, and now you're in community.
But it only happens when you begin to serve.
1 Corinthians chapter 12, because I know y'all wasn't going to let me do Matthew 4 anymore.
1 Corinthians 12, verse 4 through 7. "Now, there are a variety of gifts, but the same spirit. There are varieties of service, but the same Lord. And there are a variety of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given a manifestation of the spirit for the common good."
Same spirit, the same God who empowers them all in everyone. If you are here under the sound of my voice or you are watching online, you are everyone.
Which means? Which means that God has a gift, and He has empowered you to use that gift. He has given you a manifestation of His spirit for the common good.
Limitless, we are called to serve. And God has equipped us with a spiritual gift, a God-given and God-empowered ability to serve Him in ways that benefit others.
You may not know what it is. Bring it to the table. You may not feel ready. Bring it to the table. You may think that the gift that you have doesn't fit anywhere in the church. Bring it to the table anyway.
Stop letting things stop you. Stop letting the enemy lie to you. Whatever it is that you have, in whatever condition that it is, bring it to the table.
Why? Because God has given each one of us a 40-ounce tomahawk rib-eye steak. Excuse me, Wagyu rib-eye steak!
But here's the thing. What good is having it, a 40-ounce tomahawk rib-eye steak, if it never makes it to the table? What good is it if you never bring it to the table?
It could be the best in the world. It could be the top of the top. It could be everything. It means nothing if you never bring it to the table.
See? See, we are not only called to have the gift. We are called to bring the gift. At Limitless, we serve passionately.
Why? Because we understand that God has given us a gift, and we are to bring it to the table. We are to use it to serve others and to help build the local body and the body of Christ.
The call to serve isn't just a task. It's an invitation. It's an invitation. It's an experience. It's the profound joy of participating in the call of God.
It's the joy in participating in God's redemptive work. Just like the disciples who were called from their nets, we, too, have a choice to make.
We have a choice to make. Will we let our gifts gather dust, or will we take the leap of faith and step into the amazing adventure that God has for us?
We have a gift. What will we do with it? Serving isn't just about being perfect or having it all figured out. It's about saying yes to the One who is perfect and allowing Him to equip us along the way.
Imagine the transformation that can happen in our lives, that can happen in our families, that can happen in our church, and that can happen in this city if we all decide to bring our gifts to the table.
Each one of us has a vital role to play in the body of Christ and in the life of this church. We serve passionately, and when we do so, we not only grow closer to God, but we become conduits of His grace.
Our mission here at Limitless, and I got the privilege of sharing this with our visioneers last week. The mission of this church is to be a distribution center of the love of God, the gifts of God, and the grace of God.
The mission of this church. The vision is the what. The mission is the how. The vision is to take the limits off of the way that people see Jesus' face in the church.
The mission is the how. How do we do that? By being a distribution center of the love of God, the grace of God, and the gifts of God.
Imagine what would happen if we all brought our gift to the table. Today, I want to offer you an opportunity to respond just like every week.
And I pray that the Lord has spoken to you and will continue speaking to you. This week, we're having something that I'm calling a serve station.
And we'll have this out every so often. When you leave, on the left-hand side, you'll see a table, and every area of our church is represented. If it's our social media team, our kids ministry, it doesn't matter where it is. It's represented out on the table, and I want to give you an opportunity to bring your gift to the table.
I want to challenge you today to join our visioneers. No longer are we volunteers who sign up to join the team to do a thing. No, we are visioneers.
That means we are people who are bringing our gifts to the table to fulfill the vision of this church and the vision that God has for our lives. We're taking ownership of what God is doing and our part and our responsibility.
So today, today, some things are going to happen. Today, you get the intentional chance not just to be a hearer of the Word, but to be a doer of the Word.
Today, some of you are going to step out on faith. Today, some of us are going to step out on faith. Today, some of you are going to move past your fears, your fear of not enough, your fear of "I don't know," this thing that says, "You know, I just want to come and be by myself. I don't really like people like that."
Nah. Today, some of you are going to move past your insecurities. Today, some of you are going to take the next step in your walk with Christ.
Because for too long, you said, "I want to grow." Today, we're going to bring it to the table. Well, I don't know what it is. We already addressed that. Today, we have an opportunity.
So I want to challenge you. What would it look like if we all, if we all brought it together to the table, all of our uniqueness, all of the things we all brought it, what would happen if we are all mutually dependent on one another and we all decide to show up?
Can you imagine that? I can. It would look like our church being a distribution center of the love of God, of the gifts of God, and of the grace of God.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your word today. Thank You for what You've called each one of us to and to do. God, we are reminded today that we're not just called to sit. We're called to do.
And as we make a decision to go, You will equip us with everything that we need: knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. Grow us to be more like You and to put our trust in You in ways that we never have before.
God, some of us are going to walk out today and we're going to sign up for a team and we have no idea what to expect. But God, today, You are going to honor obedience.
Today, You are going to begin revealing the gifts that You've placed in Your people. And it starts with one yes. One immediately. They left.
And I'm grateful that You have called Limitless Church to do this and to be this. And we are excited for what You will do in the lives of Your people.
In Jesus' name. I'm going to have our offering team come forward at this time as we close.
The three ways for you to give. We have our QR code that's on a seat pocket in front of you. We have online. You can text the word "give" to 833-879-0161 or you can give in the buckets.
We read a scripture as we talked about giving last week and we learned that giving was a ministry and that we get the opportunity to be a part of that ministry.
We got to show you guys the roof and how because some one person decided to operate in that ministry, we were able to put a roof on our new church. Hallelujah! Come on!
We showed you the mercy house and how we are now building an area where kids who are given up on and almost put to death in Zambia now have a place where they can go and be restored and be whole simply because we said, "Hey, we're going to operate in this gift of generosity."
It's just the beginning of what God has called us to do. And as we give, this is our heart. We are put here to change this world, to change this city.
And one of the ways we get to do that is through our giving. We get an opportunity to say, "God, I trust You with my seed. I trust You with my tithe. I trust You with my offering. I trust You with my job. I trust You with my finances."
And so I sow this seed. That's why I always say this is our seed and we command it to go, to grow, and to multiply. God has a work to do, and we get an opportunity for Him to do it through us in our giving.
God bless you as you give. As the buckets go by, please stand. They're going to lead us in worship and I'll be right back.
Got one more thing for you.
Who will never fail. He will never fail. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered.
I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. That's why I trust Him. That's why I trust Him, my Savior, the one.
I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. I sought the Lord and He answered. I sought the Lord and He answered. I sought the Lord and He answered.
I sought the Lord and He answered. I sought the Lord and He answered. I sought the Lord and He answered. I sought the Lord and He answered.
I sought the Lord and He answered. I sought the Lord and He answered. I sought the Lord and He answered. I sought the Lord and He answered.
I sought the Lord and He answered. I sought the Lord and He answered. I sought the Lord and He answered. I sought the Lord and He answered.
I sought the Lord and He answered. I sought the Lord and He answered. I sought the Lord and He answered. I sought the Lord and He answered.
Father, thank You for Your word. Thank You for this day. Thank You for what You're going to do in the lives of Your people and in the lives of this church.
Thank You for speaking to us today. We make a decision to not just be hearers of the word, but to be doers of the word. Today, God, I pray that You would honor the faithfulness and the obedience of Your people, God.
Today, there are going to be some "suddenlies" that happen. Today, people are making decisions to leave and to begin serving You. I thank You for honoring that, God. I thank You for what You will do.
In Jesus' name, amen. God bless you. We love you. We'll see you next week. And don't forget, live. All right.
on Sep 15, 2024
