Team Work - Ephesians 4:1-16 By Henry Louie
2 Timothy 4  01/10/2011

It's been a good morning, hasn't it?
Good phrases, good singing together.
Well hopefully we'll continue, we will continue, we know that.
We'll continue all over the weekend,
until we take it back home to where we are,
where we live and to our people there and to our families.
May the Lord bless you this afternoon
and it would be a great encouragement,
His Word to each and every one of us here this afternoon.
I want to read from Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1 to 16.
It says,
Hi there, for the prisoner of the Lord
preaches you to walk worthy of the calling
with which you were called.
With all loneliness and gentleness,
with long suffering,
bearing with one another in love,
endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace.
There is one body, one Spirit,
just as you were called in one hope of your calling.
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all,
who is above all and through all and in you all.
Verse 7,
But each one of us,
grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.
Therefore, he says,
when he ascended, when I,
he lay captured and gave gifts to men.
Now this, he ascended,
what does it mean?
But he said,
but he also first descended into the low parts of the earth.
He who ascended is also the one
who ascended far above all the heavens,
that he might fill all things.
And he himself gave some to be apostles,
some prophets, some evangelists,
and some pastors, some teachers,
for the equipping of the saints,
for the works of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ.
Till we all come to the unity of faith
and the knowledge of the Son of God,
to a perfect man,
to the measure of the status of the fullness of Christ,
that we should no longer be children tossed
to and fro and carried about with every wind of document
by the trickery of men in the cunningness,
craftiness of deceitful plotting,
but speaking the truth in love,
may grow up in all things into him
who is the head of Christ.
From whom the old body joined and knitted together
by what every joint supplies
according to the effective working by
which every part does its share,
cause the growth of the body
for the edifying of itself in love.
And the Lord have a blessing upon his word.
When we read this thing, we look into it,
and we look at it as teamwork, eh?
It's all got to do with teamwork.
And our brother, he preached this morning
on the cornerstone, the foundation.
We cannot build on that foundation
if we ain't working as a team.
When we look at teamwork,
every part, it says that he's given us
all different gifts and that we have.
And that team, without us using our gifts together,
we cannot perform, you know, like that.
For example, where we find that teamwork
in the Bible, we look at the beginning.
God said to Adam,
it is not good that men should be alone,
and Noah, and his family, and Nehemiah.
He built a wall in 52 days with a team.
Moses had a team of leaders around him.
And our Lord and Saviour did, eh?
He had his disciples.
So, you know, we all need to be working as a team.
We need a team.
All pastors, teachers, leaders, elders, you know?
We need a team.
We can't do it on our own, you know?
And in Genesis, we look at one of the things
that a great team, in verse 11 to 1 to 6,
and would someone like to read that?
Turn to Genesis, chapter 11, verse 1 to 6.
Would someone like to read?
Someone got it?
Would you?
And now the whole earth had one language and few words.
And as men migrated from the east,
they found a plain in the land of Shinah
and settled there.
And they said to one another,
come let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.
And they had bricks with stone and ditching them from water.
And they said, come, let us build ourselves a city
in a tower with its top in the heavens
and let us make a name for ourselves.
These would be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
And the Lord came down to see the city in the tower
and the sons of men had talked.
And the Lord said, behold, they are one people
and they have one language
and this is only the beginning of what they will do
and nothing that they propose to do
will now be impossible for them.
And they done it with the wrong mode of change.
The Lord, we do it with the Lord
and that how much we could achieve.
We want our people to be saved
and we need to work as a team.
We need to make sure that we function together as one.
But it's nothing impossible for us to do when we end the Lord.
It will stay.
But without the Lord, things cannot stay.
It won't last.
But if we work as a team,
as one body and one mind and one mind,
we will achieve and God can work through all that.
He can build his church.
But without working as a team, he cannot do that.
But God came down and he scattered them,
because they were doing it for themselves.
So if we do it for ourselves, then he will scatter us also.
If we have a look at Isaiah,
if we have a look at Isaiah chapter 65 verse 8,
I'd like someone to read that too, if they don't mind.
I'll read it.
Just says the Lord, as the new mind is found in the crosser,
a new one says, do not destroy it.
Sorry, and one says, do not destroy it,
for a blessing is in it.
I will do what my servant said, that I may not destroy them all.
To make wine, great.
You need more than one grape.
You need a bunch.
You need all of us.
That's what he's saying in the Lord.
If we work together,
how much a blessing that he's going to pour out upon us.
We don't need to ask for it.
That's what he's saying.
One grape can't make it, but a bunch of us can.
All of us here can.
Those in Christ Jesus, we can.
You can't make wine out of one grape.
It's just like a team.
When we played, I coached in that.
I played football and that.
My brothers down the back there,
they're playing now, and they're playing as a team,
but they know it.
They'll understand.
If we don't, if we have any disruption in the team,
there's only got to be one player in that team disrupted.
Then we all get dysfunction.
It's the same as in Christ.
Same as when we are in Christ Jesus.
One's out, then we all get dysfunction.
We can't work properly.
The team can't perform what it can and what it should do.
That's what the gospel does.
That's when we put each other down,
or when we put someone our way and then someone else.
We think one's better than the other.
That happens.
It happens in a football team, in a game.
When I was coaching, I'd been coaching,
and I only got to take one or two people
that think that they don't need to listen
and can do everything by themselves, but you can't.
Everyone's got a gift in that team.
Everyone's got to work that gift together.
One can tackle, defend really good.
Others can hit the line.
It's the same in Christ.
There's some that can preach.
There's some that can teach.
There's some that can lead.
We've got to find our place.
There's not only just that.
That's not the only important thing in the church.
We need all the others around us.
We need people to be able to stand at the door,
greet the people coming,
visit people that are sick,
visit those who are in sorrow,
those lost families.
Every one of us know them,
especially in our communities,
where we come from and where we are living.
We should be there.
We should be there with them
and showing Christ as a team.
Psalms 133,
would someone like to read that?
Verse 1 and 3 it is.
Behold how good and how pleasant it is
for brethren to dwell in unity,
for there the Lord commandeth
the blessing of life evermore.
How wonderful it is, aren't you?
When we do that,
we work together.
We dwell together in unity.
He commands us.
We don't need to ask for it.
He just automatically comes to us,
His blessings.
That's how much God loves us.
That's how much He wants us to be
and as a team.
When we look at ducks or birds
and when you see them flying,
when a duck's mind is growing,
when it comes and they move
to another warmer climate,
when they fly off,
they're going in a V shape.
Have you seen the ducks?
When they fly off,
he's got one in front,
he's got a leader,
but he's not in front all the time.
When he gets tired,
another one takes over.
They keep doing that until
they meet their destiny,
but if one falls out,
two will drop out with it
and it'll wait until it's ill
and enough to fly on
and go off together again.
Do we do that when one of our brothers
and sisters fall?
Do we drop out?
Do we go beside them, lift them?
Are we doing that with one another?
God wants us to do that.
He's shown us by nature in nature.
When we look at nature,
everything that God has shown us is beauty.
He's shown us how nature works together,
but us, we destroy it.
We destroy the nature
and we try to do it our own way
and when we do,
then we make a mess of it.
So we need to have a look around our land
and where we are,
but have a look at the nature.
Things work together.
That's what God wants us to do
and He's shown us in the nature.
In Matthew chapter 25 verse 31,
Can someone read that please?
Oh no, no, hang on.
Is that the one?
No, I just want to leave that one to last.
Sorry bro.
Matthew chapter 12 verse 25.
That's why.
Didn't you put that up?
I did not.
It was in here.
Could someone read that please?
Matthew 12.
What verse is that?
Matthew chapter 25.
It's teamwork, see?
That's what I'm doing here.
Getting someone else.
I'm encouraging teamwork.
So I don't have to read everything here.
But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them,
Every kingdom divided against itself
is brought to desolation
and every city or house divided against itself
will not stand.
What's it say?
Every kingdom is divided by itself.
It says, sorry.
Every kingdom divided against itself
is brought to desolation
and every city or house divided against itself
cannot stand.
So how can we if we divide it?
congregation here, not only just here,
but the whole Christian,
all those who believe in Jesus Christ
who came to save and to defeat,
pay for the price of our sins.
We're all one body.
He's not talking about this congregation here.
These people that gather are just here.
He's talking about everyone who believes.
All is one.
So how can we stand if we divide it?
We cannot stand.
This tells us we can't.
If our families, when our families,
when we've got children and that,
if we're disporting our families and our children
and our husband or wife is having a disability,
how can we stand together?
Be strong.
We separate.
It falls away.
Then we come apart.
That's nature there working.
The sinful nature of working in us.
Like without my wife,
without her, I work in a school.
I do the work there.
I'm in on committees and everything and that.
I come home late.
She has tea on the table.
Without her doing her part,
then I wouldn't be able to do my part.
Without my wife supporting me.
I could not do this.
I couldn't stand here today.
We need each other.
We need our wives to work with us.
We need to work with them.
It's like the men get together.
What about the women?
Why not the women?
Us men need it.
We all need it.
Why not the women get up?
Why not?
Get together.
Strengthen one another.
Pray with one another.
Why not do it together?
There's nothing stopping us.
The Lord wants that to happen to us.
He wants us to reunite.
We need it together as one in Christ.
But we can't do it if we have disputes.
Or if we argue over the word of God.
What it means or what we think that it means to us.
The only way we can do it is by allowing God to fully take control of each and one of us.
The old nature will come back.
But we need to stand and allow victory.
Work in our lives.
We have a look at Matthew chapter 25 again.
Would someone like to read that?
When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him
then he will sit on the throne of his glory
for the nations will be gathered before him
and he will separate them one from another
as the shepherd divides his sheep from the goats
and he will set the sheep on his right hand
for the goats on the left.
Then the king will say to those on his right hand
come you blessed of my Father
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world
for I was hungry and you gave me food
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink
I was a stranger and you took me in
I was naked and you clothed me
I was sick and you visited me
I was in prison and you came to me
Then the righteous will answer him saying
Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you
or thirsty and give you a drink
when did we see you a stranger and take you in
or naked and clothe you
or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you
The king will answer and say to them
assuredly I say to you
in as much as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren
you did it to me
Then he will also say to those on the left hand
depart from me you curse into the everlasting fire
prepared for the devil and his angels
for I was hungry and you gave me no food
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink
I was a stranger and you did not take me in
naked and you did not clothe me
sick and in prison and you did not visit me
Then they also will answer him saying
Lord when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison
and did not minister to you
Then he will answer them saying
assuredly I say to you
in as much as you did not do it to one of the least of these
you did not do it to me
and these will go away into everlasting punishment
for the righteous into eternal life
Amen
Scary aye
That's what happens
But you know what
as a team
it's not just to work in the church in this congregation
you're not in the service
it's not all just about that
it's about out there in our community
where we live
you know
If we want
people to be saved then we need to show
that we are his disciples
we need to show the fruit of the spirit
and by showing the fruit
by doing that
just feeding him
visiting him
being there to comfort him
clothe him
that's what he's talking about
So it's not just about being in here
some people might think they might have to
or want to
to be up here preaching the word
or leading
they want to do something in the church in the congregation
but there's more important things
besides that
that is important but
you want to be
you want to do the things of the good Lord
you want to be blessed
it's out there
it's not in the church
yeah
it's out there
the people out there
that's what he's talking about
so what we need to do
is working as a team
it's not just to pass our job to go and visit people who are sick
pray with the people who are sick
it's all our job
it's everyone's
how many hospitals are there?
how many people are sick?
how many people are in prison?
because they haven't lost
they haven't got the gospel
how many are there?
there's so many of them
and it's getting full every day
and we sit back and say
what can we do?
you know
we pray for them
but we need to visit them
we need to be amongst them
when he came he was amongst them
he never stayed away from them
he came to the sick
he never came to the visitor
the ones who have righteousness or wealth
in other words
he came
to seek the lost
and that's our job
he said if we are followers of Jesus Christ
then that's what we should be doing
we should be out there amongst them
we don't have to be shove and talk
we only have to be
our words are nothing
if there's no action behind it
action first
they'll give us the opportunity
the Lord will give us the opportunity to mention
to come from what he's worth
but we've got to show it to them first
because he says
you'll know them
my people by the fruits
now when we look at team
together, enjoying
together, everyone achieves more
then you have a look at
you know, teamwork
he says, together enjoying
our ministry
our righteous king
that's what it means
like brother said this morning
there's no I in teamwork
we're nothing
we're nothing without Christ
we can build up ourselves and that
but I'll tell you now
it's going to be burnt
like brother said this morning
it'll be burnt away
you'll come to nothing
you'll show up first
we won't have no rewards
if we're building ourselves up
we need to build
one another up
in the Lord
just to finish now
I'll finish with it now
just want to ask a couple of questions
before I finish
what steps will we take
to unite into teamwork
with the people of God
and his place in
God's place in and around our lives
what steps we're going to take
how will we strive to
further support those who are
part of our family and church
and community
and work places
if we want our
we want to see revival
in our church
if we want to have a successful
and happy family
if we dream of seeing our community
transforming
if we dream of being more
project
project active
than ever before in our
our workplace
I want to encourage you
I encourage you
to become a team player
with
with that
that can do
if we become a team player
we can achieve it
anything that God wants us to do
so over the weekend
this weekend
without the ladies
without people here working together
without a team
this wouldn't be able to come together today
without that team
with our brother working together
brother here
with our people doing their part here
this wouldn't be happening today
so praise the Lord
Heavenly Father
we thank you Lord
and we thank you Father for your love, mercy and grace
we ask Lord that you'll
help us Lord, forgive us
Lord when we haven't worked as a team
Lord in the will
Lord help us to strive Father
to keep that unity Father
to work as a team
to build Lord your
your church Father
that you may build your church through us Lord
as we work as a team
as we look unto you
our author and our finisher of our faith
in Jesus name
in Jesus name, Amen
Thank you brother Henry
lovely man
couple of verses got to me in mind
when he was giving a message about
our church has been built up
and
just
unity and all sorts of stuff
and John's Gospel
John 15 or 16
chapter 16 says
this shall all men know
not just our church, all men
in the world, all men
women, whatever
this shall all men know you are my disciples
if you have love
one for another
that's the outreach to the world
love one for another
and we pray that this weekend
we will practice that
another thing got in my head while you were talking brother
about giving
when you are talking about giving, I want money
you are talking about no, not money
giving your time
to go to the hospital to visit, to sit
forget to beg yourself for a while
your enjoyment, your sport, your TV, whatever
give it to Christ
he says
in Matthew 11, I think he says
the laborer is plenteous
so there are plenty of people out there
that want to come to Christ
but the laborer is a few
who is laboring for Christ?
I'm talking about hard work
I'm talking about work, laboring
you can be a lady Christian or you can be a Christian
who is going to give to Christ and work
and be a laborer
so this weekend we will examine our lives, ourselves
and say what am I doing for Christ
what am I giving to Christ
or am I just keeping it all to myself
I'll go to church Sunday
I'll go home Sunday night, turn the telly on
a little routine, a laboring Christian
laid back for the hospital
easy life hey
what I get down
sometimes you've got to lay on the ground
hey brother Kevin
get an outreach, some skeeter's advice
you've got no money
but you are laboring for Christ
that's what it's all about, giving to Christ
the people in the hospital are sick
and they love to have us
praying with them hey
give up your own time please
to serve Jesus hey
another one
God said no
God said no
He left
the splendor of heaven
sorry about that
He left
the splendor
of heaven
knowing
His destiny
was a lonely
hill I
felt that
to lay down
His life
for me
if
that isn't right
then the ocean
is dry
the size
is sky
and the sparrow
can fly
if that isn't
right
then heavens
are near
there's no feeling
like it
if that isn't
right
we will
be there for you
the
feeling
is sky
He spoke
with
love and
compassion
and He
is the paradise
if
that isn't
right
then the ocean
is dry
the size
is sky
and the sparrow
can fly
if
that isn't
right
then heavens
are near
there's no feeling
like it
if
that isn't
right