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Last month:Meeting with

Wycliffe leaders in

Kenya

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Rachel Narabe,Wycliffe Director

in Chad

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Last week:Wycliffe leaders

from the Pacific

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Next week:South Africa

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November:Island Hopping

after 11 years

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Finally, today…

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Building Community: Living Temples

Entrusted by Godto be His Stewards

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2. An inter-connected FPBC community

3. A charismatic FPBC community

1. A courageous FPBC community

Learning to steward our responsibility to create

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Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit

who is in you, whom you have from God,

and that you are not your own?1 Cor. 6.19-20

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Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit,

who is in you?

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Penang Island is filled with temples.

Where is God’s Templein Penang?

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How many “temples” or “houses” does God have in Penang?

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As God’s temples, we are not our own.

We have all been bought at the price of Jesus’ death.

1 Cor. 7.23

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We no longer “own” our life.

We don’t own our time, our skills, or our gifts.

God does.

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But He has entrusted our life, our time, our skills,

and our gifts to us – to fulfill His purposes.

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He has made us stewards of all He has given us.

Steward = oiko-nomos (economists)

house + sharing out

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A steward’s primary qualification

Faithfulness – to actually share what

God has entrusted to us.1 Cor. 4.2, Mtt 25.14-30

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Full-time stewards? Part-time stewards?

Spare time stewards? No time to be stewards?

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Full-time ministry? Part-time ministry?

Spare time ministry? No time for ministry?

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Full-time Christians.

Part-time ChristiansSpare time Christians

No time to be Christians

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What would a more biblical view of ministry and stewardship

look like?

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Three communities that matter to God

How – and where –are you stewarding your life and gifts?

FPBC Community

LocalCommunity

(Penang & Malaysia)

Global Community

God’s Heart

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Remembering last week’s windows on the global community

FPBC Community

LocalCommunity

(Penang & Malaysia)

Global Community

God’s Heart

Tibetan ministries: Pig farm 10 goats/village

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How – and where –are you stewarding your life and gifts?

FPBC Community

LocalCommunity

(Penang & Malaysia)

Global Community

God’s Heart

Choo Kim and Tracy & family Personal prayer &

financial supportkim.yeap@meconcern.org

Regional prayer updates www.meconcern.org

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Focus this morning: our FPBC community

FPBC Community

LocalCommunity

(Penang & Malaysia)

Global Community

God’s Heart

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2. An inter-connected FPBC community

3. A charismatic FPBC community

1. A courageous FPBC community

God’s intention:for us to be stewards of

FPBC Community

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FPBC Community

Courageous enough to be uncomfortable.Learning to reach out and love new people who aren’t like us

We urge you, brothers, love one another more and more. Paul to the Thessalonians 4.10

1. A courageous FPBC community

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How do we learn to make room?

By practicing – with each other!

Real life stories: Marshall’s family goes on the move Ananias goes to Paul (Acts 9) “Lord…?” “GO!” Peter goes to Cornelius (Acts 10) “Surely not, Lord!” Todd goes to Asia…

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“God interrupts us with His love,disturbing our false peace in order

to make real peace possible…So often,

when we get interrupted, we get mad.”

John Perkins, African-American

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Real life practice.Right now.

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Making room (reserving a place) for others in our heart – especially those who are different from us

Heart-level hospitality

For people as they are, not as we wish they were!

2. An inter-connected FPBC community

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“Make room for us in your hearts… You have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you.” Paul to the church in Corinth (2 Cor 7.2)

Paul was not a Corinthian. But he made room in his heart for them. And he asked them to make room for him.

“The choice to give ourselves to others and welcome them, to readjust our identities to make space for them, is prior to any judgment we make about them.”

Adapted from Miraslov Volf, Croatian

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“In Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others…” Paul to the church in Rome (Rom 12.5)

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“A community of love can retain its uniqueness while welcoming others.”

Alex Araujo, Brazilian

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“The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.”

(Acts 11.26)

Why at Antioch?

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God brought disciples to Antioch from everywhere – and the church in Antioch received them as gifts.

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Our experience – in an African-American church in Texas.

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A gift has no value until it is received.

How ready are we to receive the “gifts” God brings into this congregation – who are different from us, who come from outside Penang?

The church in Antioch received outsiders as God’s gifts.

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“It is in relations between man and man

that God is at stake.”Abraham Heschel, Polish rabbi

(It matters greatly to God how we treat one another.)

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The alternative?

A refugee camp in heaven?

“One of our biggest problems as Christians

is that we want the miracles without the love.” ”

John Perkins

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In the true (biblical) sense of “charismatic”

3. A charismatic FPBC community

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Does our church operate and minister as a charismatic community through the gifting and service of each individual…Or as an organization, built around structure, positions, policies and programs?

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1 Peter 4: stewarding our spiritual gifts to benefit and build up others.

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms…”

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“…If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God…”

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“…If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 4.10-11)

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There is no place set apart in the Body of Christ for non-participants –or for judges and critics.

Jesus has given each of us a place in His Body from which we can best serve.

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Romans 12: stewarding our spiritual gifts to express our worship, belonging, and devotion

“I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship…

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“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will...

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“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought,but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you…

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“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,

so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others…

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“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us…

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“If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;

if it is serving, then serve;

if it is teaching, then teach…

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“If it is to encourage, then give encouragement;

if it is giving, then give generously…

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“If it is to lead,

do it diligently; if it is to show mercy,

do it cheerfully.…

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“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”

Romans 12

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A gift isn’t a gift until it is given.

How ready are we to use our charismatic gifts (in the biblical sense of “charismatic”) to serve others into this congregation?

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What is our local body missing because we aren’t sharing our life, our time, our skills and our gifts?

What is our local community and the global community missing for the same reasons?

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For more on spiritual gifts, see 1 Cor. 12, 13, and 14.

Notice what Paul says about the gift of languages (tongues),

and how it is to be used, and not used, in public worship.

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1. A courageous community

2. An inter-connected community

3. A charismatic community

a community of faithful stewards

of uncomfortable, practicing learners

who have made room in our hearts for others

who are using our spiritual gifts to help others grow

God’s intention -

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A closing story…

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Kelite Chairman of the Vanuatu Bible

Translation Board

A closing story…

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Kelite & DelphinKarlos, Lisa, and Antoni

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“The baby is a bad omen.”

“Get the doctor to kill the baby.”

“Don’t bring the baby into our village!”

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Ka-rlos, Li-sa, An-to-ni

Kalito

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A courageous family

An inter-connected family

A charismatic family

A faithful family

Being stewards of the responsibility God entrusted to them to care for Kalito

Accepting the difficulties of learning how to take care of this unique family member

Making room in their hearts for Kalito, when others wanted to kill him or exclude him

Using their gifts to love and serve Kalito for as long as he was alive

Courage

Connectedness – “heart-level hospitality”

Charisma

To be uncomfortable learning to reach out and love people by actually doing it – practicing!

To make room in our hearts for others who are different

To discover and use our spiritual gifts to help others grow

God’s intention for us as faithful stewards -

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You’re not alone.

What is the contribution God has designed you to make to our church community, and local and global community?

Home groups!

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“A community of love can retain its uniqueness while welcoming others.”

Alex Araujo, Brazilian

How are we helping our church

learn to love?And become a

community of love?

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What is God saying to you

this morning ?

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