Stewards of the Mystery

Good morning. Whoa. Yeah. Okay. And would y'all stand? And we want to welcome you to Calvary Chapel this morning. A little reverb. Yeah, there's a little reverb here. And those of you online, we welcome you too. Would you join me in prayer? Father, we thank you for this opportunity this morning to gather as believers. If there be any that really don't know you this morning, we pray that, Lord, you would just use this time to encourage

them that you love them, Lord. You died for them. We thank you, Lord, for this service and this opportunity to worship in song. I pray that you would encourage us each this morning in our welcome witness for you. Be glorified. It's true. If I did this, Lord, that we would be glorified. We would be glorified. We would be glorified. We would be glorified. We would be glorified.

We would be salt and light. Let our light so shine that we glorify our Father who is in heaven. You maybe see this. What we're facing, we're never alone. In those times when we feel alone in a crowd, Lord, we look to you and search you. And ask that you search us. We may look to you, the author and finisher of our faith. The truth and the life, as we know your word tells us. There's no other way to the Father

but by you. And as we come to you, you lead us, you guide us. You lead us, you guide us and lead us. You sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us, to infill us, to live this Christian walk. And he convinces us or convicts us of sin, righteousness, and judgment. And as we walk day to day, we thank you for the direction that we get by the Holy Spirit. Let's have a time of fellowship, guys. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad you joined us this morning.

Over on the left-hand side, as always, are the things going on throughout the week. So take note. Take note of things to get plugged into. A reminder about some things going on here in the middle section of your bulletin. First of all, tonight is intercessory prayer down at the other end of the building in the agape room. So come join us for that if you're able

to. It's from 6 to 7 tonight. And then women's breakfast is coming up this Saturday at Daisy Mays at 8 o'clock. And then we have a baptism, as has been mentioned several times, August the 13th at Prairie View Christian Church. And then we have a baptism, as has been mentioned several times, August the 13th at Prairie View Christian Church. And then we have a little

Christian camp, 5 p.m. Bring a dish to share. And you might want to bring a chair to sit in as well. And we'll have a little cover dish first and then a baptism. And then just a reminder that our Grief Share group is going to be starting August the 29th. And if so, if you are interested in getting involved in that, the information is right there in your bulletin. So take note of that and get yourself involved if you think that's something

that's going to be helpful for you. Okay, and then there's one more thing that's going to go on before we do our responsive reading. You may remember I had Taylor get up and share here two or three months ago about a mission trip that she was going on. And you all graciously helped support her in that mission trip. And so she's got, you can show the video and then

come up. Yeah, so she's got a little video that she's going to show and then come up and share with us a little bit about that trip. Okay, so I would like to invite Taylor up to share and then I'm going to invite Jana up to share afterwards. So come on up, Taylor.

So the video was quite long. We did a lot of stuff in our seven days that we were there. So first I want to thank you, all of you guys who supported me on going. There were so many people that were very generous with support for me being able to go on this mission trip. I wanted to tell you guys a quick story. The week before I left, a lot of times when we go on these

mission trips, we pack our suitcases. You know, you can take a 50 pound bag that you check in and carry on. And so we pack our 50 pound bags with things to give away to everyone. And our carry-on is our clothes and our toiletries. But this year I didn't, we didn't know what we were doing right away. So I didn't know what to take. And I felt really empty handed up until the week before I

was leaving. Well, the week before I was leaving, I had so many people reach out to me and just give me things. Hey, take this. I think they would like this. And Darla Mann, she's a sewer and she sewed 100 bags, like the little drawstring bags to give out to people. And she sewed 30 aprons. So this was, God must have put this on her heart because in Guatemala, the girls, that's one of their biggest traits that they learn before they leave the home

is to learn how to bake. So that was a very functional, functional, gift that she made for them. And I was able to take it and give it to them personally. And they were, um, you know, it wasn't in the traditional Guatemala pattern. So at first they were like, you know, this is different, but they were, um, the house mom and dad looked at each other and they were like, this is, this is going to be put to good use. They bake, they learn how to bake

and that's what they do. So she was like extraordinary and, um, being my handmaid. She gave to me and I gave to them. And I was so thankful that, um, God had put that on her heart to sew those aprons for these ladies. So she, um, I was able to give, I think eight, eight to 10 aprons to the girls at Roxana's Hope, which is who we originally, um, teamed up with three years

ago to go over there. And, um, you guys saw where we were baking with, um, the girls, they baked the cake. And we have, um, a girl on our team, a woman on our team who bakes cakes also. So she was teaching them how to, um, make flowers and frost the cakes really beautifully. So we, they wore their aprons and, um, we baked with them and we, we frosted cakes and whatnot. So, um, I'll just kind of give you guys a rundown of what we did this year.

Uh, I'm wearing a shirt that says Prove, and that is where we stayed at. Um, they, they, um, house us. So that's where we've stayed at for the past three years. It's a very nice building. They, um, there's three owners. There's two, um, Guatemalan owners and they partnered with an American owner. He's from Nebraska. Um, he went on a mission trip there and, and he was in Bible college and, um, he was on track to become the executive pastor.

And, um, after he went on a mission trip, he was on a mission trip to the Bible college. Uh, he fell in love with the organization called Prince of Peace. It's another girl's home. And, um, him and Eddie, who is the Guatemalan owner of Prove, uh, they met and the man from Nebraska was, I'm not interested in missions. I don't want to live in Guatemala. I'm a,

I want to be a business. I want to be the business aspect of, um, the mission. So he handles all the finances. He's a business owner. He's a business owner. He's a business owner. And, um, they were able to purchase that nice building for their scholarship students. So, um, what happens was before Guatemala or before COVID in Guatemala, um, the three owners

of Prove, they would go into the schools and they would tutor, give extra help and feed families. They would take in food and distribute it to families. But after COVID happened, um, the schools didn't invite people back in to help, um, their students. So, um, normally in Guatemala, kids will stop, um, going to school about fifth grade. So about 10 years old, uh, 10 to 12 years

old, they'll stop working and they'll, or they'll stop going to school. Their education is not number one priority and they will start looking for trades, um, selling in the market. Uh, a lot of times people will have farms. If they have land, they will, they'll help their families farm. And this is kind of what keeps them in their traditional or their generational poverty. So

very, very poor country. Um, if they have land to farm on, they can feed themselves and then they're self-sustainable, but they don't, um, they don't work for a living or they don't make a lot of money. Um, so 15 cents here or 15, a dollar here is 15 cents there. So $15 here is there. So their money is different in that way. Um, Saturday we arrived, we stayed Sunday. We went

to church and that was the nice building that you saw overlooked the volcano. And we were all dressed up taking picture, you know, taking pictures and whatnot. Uh, the past two years, I was, I took a lot of pictures and, um, we went to a lot of places that, you know, personally, I wouldn't be proud of people taking pictures. Of me if I went. So this year I kind of, I laid off on taking pictures, but I'm very thankful to

the people who did take pictures so that we can share with you all here. Um, if you have a chance to look up Antigua, that is more of the touristy place in Guatemala. So the contrast between poor and rich is very huge. Um, Antigua is one of the richer places it's for tourists. Um, and then once you go out, you can see the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,

the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the.

the front. Uh, So this building had just been built, and China helped them build it. We didn't get into the details of that. We might not know why, but they built them a new hospital, and it was 100 times better than what they were using. Now, last year, I visited the maternity floor. Last year, there was about 10 women in each room for maternity. This year, there was five.

So you're still sharing a room with five people. So we visited about 40 women who were expecting babies, and we noticed that each of them were Caesareans or Caesareans. And also, the mortality rate, a lot of these women, they don't name their baby until after a month because they want to make sure the baby will live first. So we prayed with each of these women.

We handed out Bibles, and we got to know them. We spent some time with them. And on Monday afternoon, we went to an orphanage called Prince of Peace where we were painting nails. The men got suckered into letting the women, the little ones, paint their fingernails. And they were like, this is not going to be spoken of. And then we ended up putting the pictures on the video.

So don't hold it against them. As soon as we left, they were like, take this off. They just wanted to be kind because a lot of these little girls, they don't have kind. They don't have kind men in their lives. So on Tuesday, we finished. Okay, I had mentioned that ProVe has scholarship students. They have 22 students, and they have hundreds of kids wanting to be in their scholarship program.

Their families get involved, but right now they have 22. We can, I sponsor a student where I'm paying per month to fund their food and their... Uniforms. And a lot of... So ProVe will build one student and family a house per year. And so we were... They had already put... They started in May putting the foundation up. They had finished by the time we had got there.

So we were just doing the finishing touches where we were painting. And we set them up bunk beds, which we were able to provide for them, and new mattresses and bedding. So... This student, their family had owned land where they were able to build onto at a nicer house with, you know, tile floor instead of dirt. And they were able to put in a miniature stove

instead of a fire, you know, a firetop cooking area. And so we were able to prevent or provide that family. His name was... Fabricio. And we presented the house to them. So it was like... It was so emotional. The prayer for the house was for it to be in their family for over hundreds of years. It's normal for them to live with generation of, you know, grandparents, parents, children, grandchildren.

It's normal. So we're hoping and praying that this is a house that will stay in his family and change the course of their life for hundreds of generations. On Thursday, we did a medical mission with a mission team called God Said Go. Jeff and Esther, they're wonderful people. I introduced Jeff and Esther to Ryan. And so now they have a relationship being built.

They go to a lot harder places than what ProVe does. ProVe stays pretty local. Their vans are meant to hold a lot of people and go locally. Whereas local means like an hour and a half. Instead of three hours every day. Because you know you're traveling each day and coming back to stay. So we did a medical mission. And you guys saw where we entered into their church.

And it was literally just drop cloths. We like hung up wire and put drop cloths to make rooms. And they were able to come in. And we just did over-the-counter meds. Like Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Pepto-Bismol, things like that. And a lot of them will come in and they have diabetes. And their sugars are high or really low. And they're just walking around like they're okay.

So they come in and we take their vials. And this is a way that we get to pray with them and offer them the gospel. And so in these missions, we're providing them with physical assistance. But this is our way to pray with them. And offer them. And offer them Bibles and the gospel of Christ. And we were able to give them clothes. And a lot of times when we go at least probate for this mission,

we meet people over and over again because they go to the same places. And then on Friday, we presented. So on Tuesday, we finished the house. We set up the bunk beds. And then on Friday, we presented the house. And then we did a food ministry. Where we took food. Food to elderly. And then all of the 22 students for probate, we took food to their families. So we got to go see their house.

On Wednesday morning, we actually met with the students. That's the kids that you saw in their uniforms. Wednesday morning was emotional. And then we sat in a big circle and we shared testimonies. One from Guatemala. One from Kansas. One from Guatemala. And it was so emotional. They're very affectionate people physically. But when it comes to showing. Kindness and compassion to like your family.

They don't know how to do that, especially with their fathers. So that's like a team bonding thing that we did. Now, when we were eating, the women, the staff had to hold up their flashlights. Because on the first day we were there, there was a huge storm. And it knocked out power for three days, which is not something that normally happens. Because like I mentioned, I've mentioned before.

Guatemala has two seasons. It's there's a rainy season and a not rainy season. And then the rainy season. Rain is powerful. So I think a lot of us have seen in just the past couple of days where trees were uprooted. Um, and I haven't seen that in Kansas. Other than this past couple of days and in Guatemala, that's normal where like multiple trees are uprooted completely, or there's like land sites because it's very, um, elevated.

So sometimes land sites will take out a whole road. For, for a week or two. And, um, it's just scary, but there was a, there was terrible storm and we were out of power for a couple of days. So our, our team did not make a stink of it because we're staying in such a nice place anyways. We're like, okay, it's fine. And, but they seem to be more, you know, concerned with hosting a mission team without power.

So they worked pretty diligently to get the power back on, but we made candlelight dinners instead of having lights. It was, it was, you know, just those little things. But. Uh, it was nice to see how God, um, God's hand was over every detail. He worked all of the, he, he really provided unity within our group. And then, you know, when you go over to, to bless people, you end up being blessed back.

And so it's just, it's beautiful whenever that happens. So I just want to say thank you guys again for, um, supporting me and going and praise God for all that he's doing here in Kansas and in Guatemala. Um, so thanks for listening to me. Okay. And then, uh, okay. So I was able to sit down with Jeff and Esther at the end of last December and kind of talk about, um, the potential of us getting involved in something like this.

And so, um, I have now put Jana in charge of getting a trip together for us for next year. And so she's going to come up and share a little bit about that plan.

Yes, we are excited for many years, uh, here at Calvary. We've wanted to put together some type of a mission trip. And so it was a blessing. And Ryan asked, uh, Ross and I had the opportunity to go to Guatemala a few years ago with our former police chief here in Arc City. And so, um, we've, we've kind of seen what Taylor's seen to, to some degree. There is a huge variation from the touristy areas to the non-touristy areas.

And, and so, as she said, Jeff and Esther run, uh, God Said Go. And, um, it's a, it is a ministry that's a, seems to be a, I don't know. A whole lot about it yet. I'm learning every day as I look at their website and different things, but it seems to be that they're part of a, uh, well, they're, they partner with a lot of other ministries. And so, uh, when I called Jeff the other day, he was telling me that, you know, we have

a choice of, as she did a medical or a mission trip or a VBS type mission trip or a work mission trip and, uh, came back, talked to a few people here and, and, uh, they seem to want to go for a work mission trip. So I'm, I'm all about that. Uh, in talking to Jeff about that, he has a particular, um, town called LDK. Um, I think we might've spoke about it once before.

LDK is a very, very poor town, uh, a remote village that will take four wheel drive vehicles to get to. Um, the, I think it was last summer that, uh, God Said Go was informed about this community. The, the children were actually eating. They were eating paper because they were so hungry. And, um, so of course they rushed right up there. Uh, as God provided, they are now feeding over 70 kids and some of their parents every

day, uh, now. And, uh, and so they, what they did was they built a kitchen on the back of their church and two of the church women cook every day and for their pay, they get, they get food to take home to their family. And, uh, so, um, their kitchen. Uh, and so, uh, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, uh, you know, we think of building a kitchen on the back of our sanctuary or something.

We, we don't even, our, our vision is totally different than theirs. Right now that kitchen has a dirt floor. And so what they would like us to do is possibly, um, uh, and, and this could possibly change, but, but for now the job that he would like us to do is pour a concrete floor and possibly put a solar panel on that kitchen. So that would be a lot of work to do.

And, um. Um, so pray about that. Our, our, our team, he would like us to keep our team small the first year so that we can get to know them. They can get to know us. So I, I right now have a contract with United Airlines for 12 people to go. Um, if you are at all interested, please come talk to me. Uh, what I, if you absolutely know you want to go, I would like a $50 deposit.

And, um, so, uh, please pray that that's kind of, uh, really, uh, what I wanted to, to mention today, this, the price of this will, will be slightly under $2,000. Um, we will leave on May, let me get my dates back here, May 27th and return on June 3rd. And, uh, so it is, I'm excited. I'm excited to see what God's going to do. Uh, if you, if you can't go and you want to just pray, please pray about this whole thing.

It's a learning process for me. And, uh, so pray that the Lord would help me to, you know, dot all the I's and cross all the T's. If you want to go, please, again, come see me. And I'd love to have those 12 spots already signed up. I think I actually have three, three of them signed up for now, maybe five. Um, and if you want to give and you know, you can't go, but you want to give to be a part of it.

Uh, they do ask us, I think I mentioned to, to fund whatever project we do. So we will need some help with that. Um, and I don't, he hasn't given me any idea what that's going to cost at this point. Um, they have. Much bigger needs to, if you, if you're super blessed and you really want to help, they need four wheel drive vehicles to, so they don't have to rent them to get us to and from these kinds of places.

And so, um, anyway, I think that's about all I have. Any other, did I miss anything?

All right. Thanks ladies. Again, uh, Jan will be out in the hallway afterwards. If you want to talk with her, uh, about any potential of getting involved. So, all right, gang, for our responsive reading this morning, we're going to be in Psalm 96. And for the responsive reading, we'll be looking at the new American standards. So we sound the same. If you need one should be one around you.

And as you are turning to Psalm 96, if you are able, please stand with us.

I will read the odd verses. If you will follow on pastor Allen and the even versus Psalm 96, sing to the Lord, a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth, sing to the Lord, bless his name, proclaim good tidings of his salvation from day to day. Tell of his glory among the nations. His wonderful deeds among all the peoples for great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.

He is to be feared above all gods for all the gods of the people are idols, but the Lord made the heavens splendor and majesty are before him strength and beauty or sanctuary ascribe to the Lord. Oh, families of the people ascribe to the Lord, glory and strength ascribe to the Lord, the glory of his name, bring an offering and come into his. Worship the Lord in holy attire, tremble before him, all the earth, say illumination, the Lord reigns. Indeed, the world is firmly established.

It will not be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity. Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar in all it contains. Let the field exalt in all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy. And read verse 13 with me before the Lord. For he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world and righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.

And father, we do want to just praise you for your faithfulness, Lord, for your goodness, for everything that you are. And so, father, as we spend time in your word this morning, I ask that you administer to our hearts by the power of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. If you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians. Chapter three, Ephesians chapter three.

Well, it was a great time at the conference up in Kansas City. I will do my best to get the link sent out. They've got all of them recorded on video so that you can watch all of the sessions. If I don't get the link sent out, write this address down. You can go to Calvary Chapel, Joco, J-O-C-O dot com. Or you can go to their Facebook page, Calvary Chapel, Johnson.

County. And all those videos are up and you can you can watch all of them. I would highly recommend it was such a great time. And if you don't watch any other one, you need to watch Patty Height, because what she shares about what's going on in our culture and what she went through and what God brought her out of and how we as a church can minister to the LGBTQ community is phenomenal.

It's her testimony is a lot to take in, but it's powerful how God how God changed. So, all right. So the title of this morning's message is stewards of the ministry, steward of the ministry. And so Paul has just gotten done telling us about who we are in Christ. He told us about our riches in Christ. He prayed that we would understand those riches in Christ.

He told us that we were dead apart from Christ. But in Christ, we've been made alive. He told us that we were once far off. We were separated, especially those of us that are Gentiles, separated from the Commonwealth of Israel. Strangers to the promises without Christ, without hope and without God. But now, because of what Christ has done, he has drawn us near.

And so in chapter three, there's a little bit of a parenthetical statement that happens. He starts a thought in verse one that he'll actually pick up again in verse 14 because he sort of gets distracted. I appreciate that about Paul. He does this oftentimes in his writing, and I appreciate it because, well, I'm distractible, too. I get where he's coming from.

So we pick. I pick up in verse one where he says, for this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles, if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace, which was given to me for you, that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery. As I wrote before, by referring to this, when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ.

Which in other generations was not made known to the sons of man, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the spirit to be specific that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel to which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace, which was given to me, according to the working of his power to me.

The very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles, the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery, which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities and the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose, which he carried out in Christ. Jesus, our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in him. Therefore, I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulation on your behalf, for they are for your glory.

Now, he starts off by saying, I, Paul, the prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. And he was going to move into a prayer that we see at the second half of chapter three. But as he was thinking about why he was in prison, who he was in prison for. And the purpose. Of his imprisonment, he got distracted by what God had called him to do. And so as we look at this section, these first 13 verses, there's three things we're going to see.

He's going to tell us about the stewardship. He's going to tell us about the mystery. And then he's going to tell us about the ministry. And so the first thing that we see is the stewardship. Notice what he says for I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles. This is an important thing for us to take note of, because Paul at this point in time is a prisoner of the Romans.

He had been imprisoned under false accusations. You see, the Jewish people, even though the Gentiles had been brought near by the blood of Christ, like we talked about last week, the Jewish people steeped in their religion did not like that the Gentiles could now come to Christ. They could now have the exact same salvation as them without first becoming a Jew. And they didn't like Paul for the message that he taught.

And so when Paul was in in Jerusalem for one of the first times, he was imprisoned. One of the feast days, they took that as an opportunity to falsely accuse him of breaking Jewish law. Well, because they kept trying to kill him, he ultimately appealed to Caesar. And so he became a prisoner of Rome and he was under house arrest in Rome at the writing of this letter.

And so it's kind of interesting that as Paul is writing this, he doesn't say, I, Paul, a prisoner of Rome. He doesn't say, I, Paul, a prisoner of the Jews. He says, I, Paul, a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, why does he see himself as a prisoner of Christ Jesus, even though it was Rome who had imprisoned him, even though it was the Jews who had arrested him?

Because he was very well aware of the fact that whatever happened in his life as a bondservant of Jesus Christ was as a result of the will of Jesus Christ. Now, I want you to think about that. Because wherever you go, you're going to find a lot of things. You sit right now in your life. You are where you are by the will of Christ Jesus. You're not an employee of whoever pays your paycheck.

You're an employee of Christ Jesus. You're not in the situation you're in because of decisions you've made. You're in the situation you're in because that's where Christ has allowed you to be. And the quicker that we can view our place in life as being where I am through the will of Jesus Christ, the quicker we can change. The quicker we can change our perspective.

Because, you know, Paul just wrote to them about the freedom that they have in Christ. And he wrote those words while he was chained to a Roman guard. You see, it's not about your position. It's about your perspective. And too many of us are too focused on our position. And we have lost our perspective. And we forget that Jesus is still ultimately in charge.

I have to be. I have to be honest with you. I had the chance to pray with a lot of people this last weekend at the conference. They opened up an opportunity for people to come forward for prayer. And I was struck by the pain that so many people are going through, by the brokenness that so many people are going through, that it can almost become overwhelming when you hear what everybody's going through in their lives.

But you know what? The Lord ministered to me as I'm praying for these people. It may feel like the enemy's winning, but Jesus is still in control. And sometimes, in our perspective, because of our position, it feels like the enemy is the one that's winning. Because it feels like evil is the one that's on the throne right now. But we have to remember that Jesus is still in control.

And so Paul says, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles. And that makes him think about the ministry that God had blessed him with. Because God had blessed him with a ministry to the Gentiles. Now, if you don't think God has a sense of humor, I want you to think about the fact that Paul became a, an apostle, to the Gentiles. Because remember who I said had a very hard time with the Gentiles coming to faith in Christ without becoming a Jew first?

Well, the Jewish people felt that way. Do you know what Paul referred to himself as before he came to Jesus Christ? He referred to himself as a Jew of the Jews. An expert in the law. What do I mean by that? If anybody hated the Gentiles, it was Paul. And who did he hate? Who did God choose to send him to? The Gentiles. Isn't God funny? He has the greatest sense of humor ever.

Let me tell you a little story from my own life that involves that. You know what my saying was when I was a senior in high school? Friends don't let friends stay in Ark City.

And I left Ark City with plans of never coming back again. I shook the dust off of my feet and I ran. And God said, you should go back. And I was like, and here I am and loving it because that's who God is, right? He says, so Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if indeed verse two, you have heard of the stewardship. Now that word stewardship simply means management.

If you have heard of the management that I have been given, the word stewardship carries with it the idea of a household manager, someone who is in charge of the affairs of the household. And so Paul says, I've been given a stewardship just like a household manager. Has been in the stewardship that I has been, that I have been given is for you. But I want you to notice what it's been given by.

It's been given by God's grace, the stewardship of God's grace. What does he mean by the stewardship of God's grace? Well, first of all, he was given the stewardship of God's grace because he was given the message of God's grace. He was given the message of God's grace to share with all of the Gentile people, the people that he at one time would have hated, but now understands can find access, access to Jesus Christ in the same way that he can.

It is the message of God's grace, but not only is it the message of God's grace, but his stewardship was the gift of God's grace. One of the things that you learn, anybody that's involved in any kind of ministries, you realize that the only reason you've been given the ministry that you've been given is because it's been given to you by the gift of God's grace. It's not because you deserve it. It's not because you've earned it.

It's not because you're the best at it. It's because, by God's grace, that's what he's given to you. He says that by revelation, verse three, there was made known to me the mystery as I wrote before in brief. He says, by revelation, I was given this mystery. Now this is going to segue into the second part in just a second, but let's talk about how this mystery was given to him.

It was given to him by revelation. It's not something that he came up with himself. It's not even something that a great deal of study caused him to arrive at. It was the revelation of God that was given to him. This mystery that we'll talk about in just a moment was given to him by the direct revelation of God, which is pretty amazing because God is still in the business of giving us that revelation that reveals scripture to us.

That word revelation means the unveiling, the revealing, and that's exactly what he did for Paul. He revealed to him this truth. And may I say, many of us struggle with understanding aspects of scripture. Can I tell you that you need to ask God for the, uh, revelation. You need to ask him for the revealing because that's what his Holy Spirit is in the business of doing.

He says, he revealed to me the mystery. Now that brings us to the second part. We've seen the stewardship. It was his management, his job that was given to him to go and minister to the Gentiles. But what was he to minister to them? He was to minister to them the mystery. Notice what it says in verse four by referring to this. When you read, you can understand,

my insight into the mystery of Christ. Now we have to understand something about the word mystery. You and I think of the word mystery and we think of a true crime podcast, right? Because we're trying to solve the mystery. I love those kinds of things. They say that if you like true crime podcasts, it actually makes you more likely to be one who commits a true crime.

But so far, so good for me, right? So, uh, but that's not the kind of mystery that's being spoken up here. You see in scripture, the word mystery is a proof that is a truth. That was previously concealed that has now been revealed. That's the idea of a mystery in scripture. Matter of fact, Paul really likes this word. There's multiple places where we see him talk about the mystery,

Christ in you, the hope of glory, the mystery of the Gentiles, the mystery of salvation. He likes this word, but this particular mystery, he, I don't even know what to do with that. That's a different, that's the kind of mystery we can't solve right now. Okay. Anyway, back to this, the type, the mystery that he's talking about is the mystery of Christ. Now,

I think this is important for us to pay attention to because since it is of Christ, it means it comes from Christ as a source. This mystery finds its source in Christ. There's a second thing he tells us about the minutes, this mystery, this mystery, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men. In other words, in previous generations, they did not fully grasp what Paul is about.

There's not enough to tell us about. But notice the third thing he tells us about this mystery, that it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the spirit. Now that last part I think is really important because this was not a mystery that was only revealed to Paul. You see, if it was just revealed to Paul, we would have to say, maybe Paul made this up.

Maybe this was just his idea, but you see, it was revealed not only to him, but also to the holy apostles, those whom Jesus called and to the prophets, those who he had gifted in the early church to speak forth the truth of the word of God. It was revealed to them too. That's important because God does not just reveal truth to one person. God reveals truth to multiple people because he wants there to be a multitude of witnesses.

You should always be aware if somebody says, I've learned something new and God only told, me because you know what my question is. If you say God only told you, why didn't he tell anybody else? Because have you noticed that there's a multitude of witnesses throughout scripture? So he says it was previously concealed, but now it's been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the spirit to be specific.

Verse six. This is the mystery that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members, and fellow partakers of Christ through the gospel to be specific, that the Gentiles can be a part of the body of Christ. Now it's interesting because with the revelation that we have of the new Testament apostles and prophets, we can look back into the old Testament and go, of course it was always his plan to do that. And they started realizing it too.

Do you remember the story of when Peter went to go visit the Gentile for, the first time he went to go see Cornelius because God had told him don't call unclean that which I've called clean. And he goes and he visits Cornelius and they received the Holy spirit. And then he gets called to the carpet by the church in Jerusalem. And they're like, what are you doing?

Paul or Peter? And Peter goes, I don't know. God told me to go do it. So I went and did it. And then James of all people, James, the brother of Jesus, one of the most staunch Jewish men of all of them stood up and said, you know, God did say that this would happen. God did say that he would pour out his spirit on, on all people. You know why? Because with the revelation that they had from the Holy spirit,

they started looking back and going, you know, that's always what God had planned. When was Abraham called righteous? When he was a Jewish man or when he was a Gentile man, shockingly, it was when he was a Gentile man. And yet the promise was confirmed when he was Jewish. Therefore, the promises for everyone, the Gentile and the Jew. If you don't believe me,

go back and read the book of Galatians. He says, this was always the plan to be specific that the Gentiles are needed. And he describes them three ways, fellow heirs, fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise. And how are we fellow partakers, fellow members and fellow heirs in Christ Jesus. For more information on that, you could go back and listen to last week's study.

I won't go back and go over all that again. In Christ Jesus through the gospel. And he goes on in verse seven to tell us about the third thing. He said, of which I was made a minister of which I was made a minister. That word minister is the word Diakonos. It's where we get our word deacon from. You know what the word minister literally means? The word minister,

literally means servant. So what Paul says here is he's been given a stewardship, a responsibility to distribute the mystery, which is the truth that Jews and Gentiles now come into the body of Christ, into the kingdom of God, the same way. And we're fellow heirs, fellow members and fellow partakers in Christ through the gospel. And now he has been made a servant.

He's been made a servant. And how has he been made a servant? Notice, what it says of which I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given to me according to the working of his power. Now, as we move into this third part, and he tells us about the ministry, it's important for us to take note of Paul's own view of himself, because I think it's an important thing for us to pay attention to so that we have a proper view of ourselves because as Paul viewed himself as the one who had been given the responsibility to carry the message of this mystery, the message of this gospel to the Gentiles, he keeps using the same word over and over again.

Have you noticed it? He knows the word that keeps popping up. It's the word grace because grace is not only the method by which we are saved. It is the power by which we minister. And it is the gift through which a ministry is given. He says, I have been made. A minister or servant according to the grace of God, according to the grace of God. Why does Paul keep coming back to that?

Because Paul is so painfully aware of who he is apart from Christ. He's so painfully aware of how much he persecuted Christ. He's so painfully aware of who he was before Christ. And he's so painfully aware of his ultimate, his ultimate dependence upon Christ. He says, I have been made a minister of this mystery through the gift of God's grace. And then did you notice the second thing he said in that verse?

And it came about through his power. It came about through his power. Why does Paul say this? Well, because Paul was fully dependent upon Christ because of how good Paul was. No, it's because every day he understood who he is and what he needed. He says, I've been made this minister according to the gift of God's grace and according to his power. And he says,

I was given this ministry to preach, but I want you to notice what he says about his preaching in verse eight. To me, the very least of all the saints, this there's that word again, grace was given to preach, to the Gentiles, the unfathomable riches of Christ. I would like for you to take note of what the man who wrote most of the new Testament just referred to himself as the least of all the saints, the least of all the saints. It's interesting to follow Paul's process in first Corinthians.

One of the earlier books that Paul wrote, he refers to himself as the least, the least among the apostles and Ephesians. One of the later books that he wrote, he refers to himself right here as the least of all the saints. Fascinatingly enough in second Timothy, the last book Paul wrote, he referred to himself as the chief of sinners. Now that should create in your mind an idea of something.

The idea that that should create in your mind is the longer you walk with Jesus, the more you, the more you realize your need for Jesus, because the longer you walk with Jesus, the more you see yourself. I taught on a verse over the weekend and it's one of my favorite verses in scripture. It's Isaiah chapter 57 verse 15 and it says, that says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in a high and holy place with him who is of a contrite spirit to revive the spirit of the contrite and to revive the spirit of the humble.

Do you know what the word contrite means? The word contrite means crushed or broken. I have come to realize something in my own personal walk with Jesus Christ. I should never get past the idea that I am ultimately broken. As a matter of fact, the most beautiful place that I can come to the most peaceful place that I can come to the most free place I can come to is realizing that

I am broken and I am in desperate need of a savior, not just for my salvation, but for my sanctification, for my glorification, for everything that takes place in my life. I am in desperate need of a savior. And that understanding is what prompted Paul to say, to me who am the very least of all the saints. This grace was given because he understood who he was and he understood who God is.

And he knew that the only way he could tell anybody about how great God is was if God's grace was at work in him and brothers and sisters. God wants to use you to do the same thing. You have the same. Ministry. You may not do it in the exact same way. You may not be somebody who's going to write a book or preach a sermon or do any of those kinds of things. But when you know who you are and you know who Jesus is,

God wants to use you through his grace to share that truth with the people that are around you. Sometimes you'll do it by declaring the gospel message. Sometimes you'll, sometimes you'll do it by living out the reality of faith. And people will want to know, what's different about you. Sometimes it will take place because you're willing to admit when you're wrong and ask for forgiveness.

And people will say, how can you be that way? And you will say, because God's grace has taken its hold on my heart to me, who in the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles. Notice what he's supposed to preach to the Gentiles. He's supposed to preach to the Gentiles, the unfathomable riches of Christ, the unfathomable riches of Christ.

In other words, he says, I'm just going to talk to you about Jesus because I can't plumb the depth of Jesus. I'm going to talk to you about Jesus because I'll never get to the bottom of all of the riches of Christ. So I'm just going to keep telling you about Jesus and brothers and sisters. You need to understand something. When you talk to people about the truth of the gospel,

you don't need to worry about whether or not your argument's good enough. You just need to talk to them about Jesus because the depth of the riches of Jesus is plenty to talk about. He says to preach, preach the unfathomable riches of Christ and notice what he says. And to bring to light the administration, I'm going to give you a different word for administration there.

Let me read it to you like this. And to bring to light what is the plan of the mystery, which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in heavenly places. He said, I preach to the Gentiles, not only the unfathomable, the unfathomable riches of Christ, but I declare the plan. I bring to light the plan that God always intended to save all people that will come to him through the message of the cross.

And you know what? That message of the cross that brings together Jew and Gentile, that brings together black and white, that brings together the different socioeconomic classes, that brings together people that would never come together in any other way. That gospel, that brings us together to make us one giant assembly called the church, the called out assembly for God. Well, that declares the wisdom of God.

And who does it declare the wisdom of God to the rulers and the principalities in the heavenlies? You know what that means? It means that the angels look at the church and go, good idea, God, I can't believe how wise you are. We would have never come up with that ourselves, but do you know what else a healthy, thriving body of Christ does to the world? Around us,

it makes the world around us go, wow, that's a lot of wisdom. Sometime you should do a quick study on for the first and second great awakenings and find out how much the social ills in our nation at that time were cured through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Taylor pointed out that in in Guatemala, there's so much poverty in some of these in some of these cities. Do you know what cures the poverty in the, these cities?

It's not capitalism. You know what it is? It's the gospel of Jesus Christ because the gospel of Jesus Christ brings peace and it brings love for the fellow man. And so we look and we go, how did all of that change through the gospel of Jesus Christ? And people go, ah, there's wisdom in that. That's why the body functioning, the way that the body is supposed to function is of such vast,

importance. He says, verse 11, this was in accordance with the eternal purpose, which he carried out in Christ Jesus, our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in him. This was in accordance with God's plan. And he carried out his plan through Christ. And through Christ, we have three things. First of all, through Christ, we have boldness.

You know what the word boldness means? The word boldness means freedom of speech. That's a great word, isn't it? It means freedom of speech. That's what that Greek word means. And so we have that boldness through Christ because we are free to speak to Christ. Not only that, we have confidence. The word confidence means trust and reliance. And then the third thing that we have is we have access to bring one to.

So let me read this to you out of the amplified Bible. It says faith in Christ gives us sufficient courage to freely and openly approach God. That's pretty cool, right? And it was his plan from the beginning of time. And he closes with verse 13. Therefore, I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf for they are your glory. He says, listen,

you need to understand something. Don't don't be stressed out. Don't lose heart that I'm in prison because I was a minister for the Gentiles. Don't be upset that I am a prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles, because all of those tribulations are ultimately for your glory. Brothers and sisters, can I tell you whatever tribulations you're going through? They are through Christ and they are for his glory.

Amen. All right. This morning is communion Sunday. And so I'm going to invite the worship. Team to come up and I'll invite the ushers to come in.

And I want to take just a moment to talk with us about communion.

We're told in scripture that on that last great night of the feast, Jesus took the bread and he broke it. And he said, this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And he took the cup and he said, this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you. Do this in remembrance of me. So every time we partake in communion,

we're told we proclaim the death of Christ. We proclaim that the body that was broken in the blood that was shed for us is enough to cover our sins. And it's a celebration. It's a celebration of what Jesus has done for us. And while these are merely symbolic, and we know that because of the words that he used, this is in remembrance of me. There's so much more than symbolic because they are for us.

What gave us new life, because it was on that cross that he bore all of my sin. It was on that cross that he fulfilled God's eternal plan of making peace with God and ultimately making peace with each other through the cross. It was on that cross that he, he was our peace who broke down all the middle wall of separation. So as we partake, we are told to do so in a worthy manner.

And so as always, I'll remind you that what that means for us is that if you're here this morning and you've never accepted Jesus as your savior, and this won't mean very much to you, as a matter of fact, I'd, I'd encourage you not to take it unless you first put your faith in Jesus Christ. That of course, is as simple as confessing your sin and asking him to be your savior. If you're here this morning and you're a believer in Jesus Christ, and as this last song is played, I would just encourage you to ask God to search your heart. See if there's anything in there that needs to be dealt with.

If there's any unconfessed sin or bitterness or unforgiveness that needs to be given so that you too can partake in that worthy manner. And so I'm going to invite the ushers to come down. I'm going to begin to hand out the elements. And as the worship team plays the song, just ask God to search your heart as you receive your elements. If you would please stand and then we'll all partake together.

The wretch like me was lost but now to fear that grace appears to me. My sin has ransomed me. My sin has ransomed me. My sin has ransomed me. My sin has ransomed me. Would you bow with me? Father, we come to you praising you for who.