Together is Better – Ephesians 4:1-16 – Episode 72

Speaker 1 (00:03):

Is your world a little crazy and off kilter at the moment, feeling a bit frazzled? Well then, you’ve found the perfect place to regain some quiet today. Welcome to the Sweet Selah Moments Podcast, where we study his Word and encourage one another. The Sweet Selah Moment Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries.

Nicole (00:29):

Welcome to the Sweet Selah Moments Podcast. Solomon when he wrote Ecclesiastes said some truths that underline our podcast today, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up, but pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be empowered two can defend themselves. A cord of the three strands is not quickly broken. We are so glad you joined us today for episode 72, Together Is Better. The Bible speaks often about the blessing of working with others. And today we’re going to look at that together.

Sharon (01:14):

Isn’t that fun?

Nicole (01:15):

I love that.

Sharon (01:15):

Yeah. I’m so glad we don’t do podcasts alone. I would never wanna fill half an hour with just me. It’s so much easier having you!

Nicole (01:23):

It is. It’s a lot of fun.

Sharon (01:23):

Together is better.

Nicole (01:24):

It is.

Sharon (01:26):

And I love these verses from Ecclesiastes. Working together does make life easier. It truly does. We’ve talked about that before in this podcast. Our church, for example, helps support a food pantry in our own parking lot at church. I love that. (Nicole: Yeah) And a community youth center currently being built. That is part of an organization called House of Hope that also happens to serve up meals several times a week. Our church supports missionaries from all over the world and missions close to home like Options, a pregnancy care center, His Mansion, this beautiful farm that’s a drug rehab center. And on top of that, it of course meets the needs of many in our own body, in our own fellowship, when they fall on hard times. And we can do more because we’re pooling our resources together.

Nicole (02:12):

Yes.

Sharon (02:12):

It’s wonderful.

Nicole (02:13):

It is. I love that. And I love our youth group’s always going on missions’ trips too, locally and abroad. So you’re helping everyone. Sometimes it’s a community project or it’s far away, but it’s really cool. You know, we may not be able to do much on our own, but our gifts and acts of serving added all together, they really make a huge impact, you know?

Sharon (02:28):

They do.

Nicole (02:30):

And I remember I saw that first, my very first mission trip back when I was 15, we went to Mexico and I don’t build houses.

Sharon (02:37):

Really?

Nicole (02:37):

Especially at 15, I had no idea. We built a house in under a week for a family. (Sharon: That’s amazing) We had a few carpenters. We all worked together. Like you can hammer a nail and you work over here. You can saw this, but again, working with just giving of your time and yourself and pulling it together, we built a house!

Sharon (02:54):

That’s amazing. (Nicole: So cool) That’s amazing. I’m laughing because one of the missions’ trips I went on with Kathryn, her first missions’ trip, we destroyed a house.

Nicole (03:02):

Oh no.

Sharon (03:02):

We did that really well too, because they were, they were gutting it and then redoing it.

Nicole (03:07):

I was like, oh no, there wasn’t a carpenter like overseeing it but.

Sharon (03:11):

No, it was on purpose. And we’re like, (Nicole: Oh, that’s funny) okay, well we can destroy things. (Nicole: Yeah) So, and then the next crew was gonna come in and you know, it was down to the studs and they were gonna redo it. So that’s so funny.

Nicole (03:22):

Nice. Oh, I love it.

Sharon (03:23):

But I couldn’t have destroyed a house alone in a week either.

Nicole (03:25):

Right.

Sharon (03:25):

So either way together

Nicole (03:29):

Is better.

Sharon (03:30):

Right. So, when you’re parenting, it surely does help to be together too. So, Ray and I had this running joke with the girls that I was department of mercy and he was department of justice. So basically if a daughter was treated unfairly, she ran to dad, the department of justice, because he’d be really all upset with her about the injustice, right? (Nicole: Right. Oh my word) Oh yes. I’d be like, oh, we need to forgive. And he’d be like, what did they do? Right. So, but if a daughter was in trouble, she’d run to department of mercy, which is me. I’d be like, oh honey… Right? So disciplining was unique. Cause Ray’s like, I feel we should nuclear bomb them and I’d be like, no, let’s give them grace. So we were rather, you know, neither position was right. Obviously. (Nicole: The very opposite end there) I mean not all the time. Nicole, it was really hysterical. So we were smart enough to never argue out the disciplining in front of the girls. (Nicole: Yeah, yeah. Yeah) They never, they saw a united front, but what they know now, cause I’ve talked to them about it. But what they didn’t know then was, you know, you think your punishment is bad? You ought to see what your dad wanted to give you.

Nicole (04:35):

Right. There’s a lot of grace in here now, you are welcome.

Sharon (04:38):

That’s right. And if I had my way, there would’ve been so much, it would’ve been cheapened. (Nicole: Yeah) And there wouldn’t have been consequences that they really needed. So, in conclusion we were better together. (Nicole: Right) We really were. We, we came to agreements that were best for our girls and even the act of talking it out, helped us calm down, think about what is really wise and good for them.

Nicole (05:01):

Oh for sure.

Sharon (05:02):

So it’s good.

Nicole (05:03):

Yeah. (Sharon: Yeah) I know. I always, I’m so thankful I have Josh too, cause I always say that single parents are superheroes.

Sharon (05:09):

They are!

Nicole (05:10):

They have to do it all on their own.

Sharon (05:11):

So true.

Nicole (05:11):

They’re incredible. I admire them. (Sharon: Yeah) I’m so thankful to have him as backup, you know, or as a fresh teammate to tag in. Sometimes you just need like…

Sharon (05:18):

That’s right. Your turn.

Nicole (05:19):

I’m tapping out. You know, we joke about that, like right, your turn tagging you in. Because sometimes one of us is too emotional or upset with the situation you know. Or you’re working with a child that’s too similar to you (Sharon: Uh huh) and you’re not getting anywhere. And having that fresh person come in to kind of diffuse it. It’s so helpful.

Sharon (05:34):

That’s awesome.

Nicole (05:34):

I’m so thankful for him.

Sharon (05:35):

Yeah. Yeah. Really, really a good thing. It is. So now not everyone has the blessing of a cooperative spouse. Right? (Nicole: Yeah) And we are blessed. We know that. And actually even the most cooperative of spouses have their very selfish moments.

Nicole (05:48):

What?

Sharon (05:49):

Sad but true. Yes. So it’s awfully nice to know, this is so sweet to me, that God steps in and helps the widow and the orphan special.

Nicole (05:59):

Yes.

Sharon (05:59):

You see that over and over again that God loves the widows and the orphan, the ones that are the most vulnerable. They get to be together, I think in a kind of special way with him. A unique way, you know? He’s a father to the fatherless and a defender of widows, according to Psalm 68:5.

Nicole (06:14):

That’s pretty cool.

Sharon (06:15):

Such a gift. So with God, there’s always a measure of togetherness. So if you’re listening listener and you’re like, wow, must be nice to be you guys. Right. There’s there’s a uniqueness and a sweetness to being comforted, blessed are those who mourn because you get God in a special way.

Nicole (06:33):

Oh yeah.

Sharon (06:34):

And I’ve seen that in my friend’s lives where he comes in and is the father and he is the husband to the widow, you know, in some really precious ways. I love it.

Nicole (06:43):

What a gift. Yeah.

Sharon (06:44):

Yeah. And he’s also designed us to be part of a larger family, you know, the church family? And that’s what the passage in Ephesians is about today. The fact that no matter how alone we might feel, not only do we have God in special measure, if we feel alone, but we also have a church body. (Nicole: Yeah) So Sweet Selah Moment time. The only time in the podcast where I’m absolutely confident that truth is being spoken.

Nicole (07:07):

Yes. Actually it is true.

Sharon (07:10):

Because God’s word is true. I mean we pray. We trust God and we hope you all give us grace if we say some silly things sometimes but, when we do a Sweet Selah Moment, when we are reading the actual word of God, it’s true. (Nicole: Yeah) And it’s beautiful. So Nicole start us off.

Nicole (07:29):

All right. Ephesians 4:1-16, “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling for you have been called by God.”

Sharon (07:43):

“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.”

Nicole (07:51):

“Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.”

Sharon (07:57):

“For there is one body and one spirit just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.”

Nicole (08:03):

“There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism”

Sharon (08:07):

“One God and Father of all, who is overall, in all and living through all.”

Nicole (08:13):

“However he has given each one of us, a special gift through the generosity of Christ.”

Sharon (08:19):

“That is why the scriptures say ‘when he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.”

Nicole (08:26):

“Notice that it says he ascended. This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world.”

Sharon (08:33):

“And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.”

Nicole (08:44):

“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.”

Sharon (08:51):

“Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.”

Nicole (08:58):

“This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s son, that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”

Sharon (09:09):

“Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever, they sound like the truth.”

Nicole (09:24):

“Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.”

Sharon (09:32):

“He makes the whole body fit together perfectly as each part does its own special work it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” (Nicole: Hmm) Oh, I love this passage. Do I say that every week?

Nicole (09:48):

I think it’s okay though. Cause we can love the whole Bible, but this is really good too.

Sharon (09:53):

Well you told me we should study Ephesians cause it was really good.

Nicole (09:56):

I know. I love it.

Sharon (09:56):

So you’re right. You’re just, can I just say that? You’re right.

Nicole (09:58):

Oh, thank you. It’s a good book.

Sharon (10:01):

Well, we’re gonna divide this section into three sections. The first part of it, I’m gonna call general instructions on how to live wisely in Christ, (Nicole: I get it) which definitely hammers down on being united together. You know, there’s the general instructions. And then the second section is all about using our gifts for the common good, that we’re better together basically. And then the third section tells us why it’s so important to do this together thing. Let’s look one section at a time. If you could read the first section again and then could you tell me your favorite part? I know it’s all our favorite, but our favorite parts.

Nicole (10:36):

All right. So the first section, I like your informal title of this one, general instructions of how to live wisely in Christ, Ephesians 4:1-6: “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace, for there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all and living through all.

Sharon (11:20):

Hmm.

Nicole (11:20):

It’s pretty good.

Sharon (11:21):

It is.

Nicole (11:21):

So maybe not my favorite part first, but there’s some parts in here that are very convicting to me. The ‘always be humble and gentle’. Ugh! That sadly does not always describe my approach to my husband or kiddos. So I think I’m gonna make that section a prayer for a while. But I do like the end about us all being one. That’s so beautiful to think of Sharon. You know, all of us believers, all over the world being united under Jesus, as one people. Like, that’s just amazing. You know, we’re not alone, no matter where we go on earth or what language we all speak, our brothers and sisters are all over the world.

Sharon (11:57):

It’s so true. And I’ve discovered that moving constantly (Nicole: That’s right. Yeah) every church was different, but every church was filled with people who love Jesus. That’s so cool. You know, just so beautiful, it really, really is. And the reminder that hello, we have one God, we ought to be getting along. We talked about that a few weeks ago, is really, really good. So ironically, I like the same verse, but I, I went for the second part. You did the always be humble and gentle, which yes, should be engraved on our foreheads, especially because it says always.

Nicole (12:28):

Yeah.

Sharon (12:28):

Rats.

Nicole (12:30):

Umm, I know.

Sharon (12:30):

Oh my goodness.

Nicole (12:30):

It just really kind of punched me in the gut,

Sharon (12:31):

That’s like all the time.

Nicole (12:33):

Like you don’t do that. I know. I know.

Sharon (12:35):

It’s kinda like I used to recite, when I had teenagers, that a gentle answer turneth away wrath. I had to recite it. (Nicole: Oh yes) This is another good parent verse to just recite, always be humble and gentle. Always be humble and gentle. Am I saying, am I coming alongside them when I criticize them?

Nicole (12:52):

Yes, yes.

Sharon (12:52):

With humility and gentleness? (Nicole: Right) Oh, it’s so good.

Nicole (12:55):

It is.

Sharon (12:55):

Yeah. But I like the second part, it says ‘be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love’. And I’m like, do I do that well enough? Do I make allowance for others faults because of my love for them? (Nicole: Yeah) Sometimes we put pastors on pedestals or we put, you know, people in leadership on pedestals, do I make allowance for them that they’re human and they’re gonna have bad days and be crabby or am I like, hey, you’re a pastor. You’re supposed to always be nice at me. You’re supposed to always have time for me. You’re supposed to always return my phone calls.

Nicole (13:29):

You shouldn’t be struggling, you know?

Sharon (13:30):

That’s right. What are you struggling for? You’re supposed to be further along in this journey. And we forget that everybody needs to have allowance made because of our love for them. And making allowance for Ray, when, you know, he leaves stuff around or whatever, because of my love for him. I think accepting that people are going to be people. (Nicole: Yeah) That they’re not God. (Nicole: Yep) Goes a long way in better together.

Nicole (13:59):

Yeah. I think you’re right. Josh and I were discussing it this week with the kids. Like we were so frustrated with several things. He’s like, why don’t they just do it? I said, we have to remember they’re children. We forget and we expect so much more. We have to remember and make allowance for their mistakes. They’re going to make mistakes.

Sharon (14:16):

They’re going to, this is the training time.

Nicole (14:17):

They’re not going to listen. And it’s so hard to remember. But if we go in the next day, we had a much better day with the kids because we were making allowances. We knew that, okay, this is probably not gonna go well the first time. And it didn’t, but we were expecting it so we weren’t so like blindsided by their sin. Like you didn’t listen. You know, we just get, I think it’s that humble part too. I don’t know. It’s just like that you expect so much. And you’re so like appalled when they don’t do.

Sharon (14:39):

Did I not parent you well enough?

Nicole (14:41):

Right! I didn’t raise you … Actually I did raise you to do that cause I’m a sinner too. And you probably watched me do it.

Sharon (14:46):

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. I think the humble thing does come into parenting a lot because we really do wanna feel like, you know, we communicated it well enough that they should understand it and get it.

Nicole (14:56):

I did a very good job. I followed the three steps to good parenting. (Sharon: Yes, yes) Why did you not listen and do this well?

Sharon (15:01):

Exactly. And yet, I mean, have we not read the Bible several times and we still forget the humble and gentle part?

Nicole (15:06):

Oh my word, yes.

Sharon (15:08):

Yeah. So, okay. So that was great. Okay, moving on to section two. And there’s so much more we could have said. So section two is all about gifts and we talk about gifts a lot on the podcast cause actually they’re mentioned a lot. They’re mentioned in Romans, they’re mentioned in Corinthians and here they are in Ephesians again, they’re a big deal. They’re a real big deal. We need to know we have them and we need to use them. So, I’ll read again, Ephesians 4:7-13, “However he has given each one of us, a special gift through the generosity of Christ.” (Sharon: We all have them) “That is why the scriptures say when he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.” Notice that it says he ascended. This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. The same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens so that he might fill the entire universe with himself. Now these are the gifts. I just gotta pause here cause Paul just did a little aside there again, like he did last week in our podcast. He’s like, oh, let’s go off on this, ‘he’s ascended higher than all the heavens. He can fill the universe with himself’. So Paul does these things. We’re talking about gifts, Paul, what happened here? Right?

Nicole (16:17):

Wait, where’s it going here Paul?

Sharon (16:20):

But he just can’t— I love it. I love it. So, okay. Now we’re back to gifts. “Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. And this will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son, that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.” It’s just gonna keep going until we get it right. It’s really hard to choose the favorite verse. But I think because I have the gift of teaching, one of the gifts mentioned there because of the generosity of Christ, not because I did anything to earn it, I’m gonna choose verse twelve. Their responsibility, there’s a responsibility that comes with gifts, is to equip God’s people, to do his work and to build up the church, the body of Christ. So he’s given us each a gift through God’s generosity alone. We don’t even get to choose our gift so there’s no boasting.

Nicole (17:21):

It’s true.

Sharon (17:22):

It’s not like, well I got this one. No, God just chose.

Nicole (17:24):

I think God just gave it …

Sharon (17:26):

Yeah. It’s only there because God in his generosity gave it to us and is there to be used.

Nicole (17:31):

True.

Sharon (17:32):

So what’s the point of the gift? To equip others to do God’s work in the world, which is reconciling people to himself. And then to build up the church. We’re to work at building up and not tearing down. It’s a really good test and a question to ask myself, Nicole, if I’m feeling crabby about something that happened at church, am I going to respond in a way that builds up or tears down?

Nicole (17:58):

Ooh, that’s a good question.

Sharon (17:59):

Right? Cause sometimes in our anger and our frustration, we tear down and that’s not what this should be about. We come alongside in humility and gentleness and we speak to build up. (Nicole: Yes) We speak to heal. We speak to make, we speak to build the house like you did on the missions trip, not to trash it like we did on ours.

Nicole (18:20):

We approach an issue with goodness and reconciliation in mind? (Sharon: Yes) It’s problem solving. Not just, to hear all, I mean, it’s important to share feelings, but I think if we approach it with the mindset of fixing.

Sharon (18:30):

Yeah, yeah. My gift, every gift, is to be used to help.

Nicole (18:34):

I love that.

Sharon (18:34):

Not hurt. Okay. How about you? What’s your favorite part or verse?

Nicole (18:38):

I love Paul’s little side notes. I always, cause I’m a little bit of a bunny trail person. So I love his little side notes. I liked verse nine, when he said that, notice that it says he ascended, this clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. So I just, you know, the notice that he, he descended to come down to us, just a reminder of how God is so much higher than us and not to think that we’re so great, you know? (Sharon: Yes) I think humans, myself included, are so prone to pride and we need these reminders a lot that he is so much higher above that he, he humbled in himself to come in here and to give us all these gifts and to help us be with others. You know, I just— it’s so cool.

Sharon (19:15):

It’s a great reminder. And because it’s God’s word, the aside was on purpose. So therefore bunny trails, sometimes are godly.

Nicole (19:24):

Yay!

Sharon (19:24):

Look at that. And that bunny trail was, it was all about remembering who Christ was.

Nicole (19:29):

Yeah, and his place.

Sharon (19:31):

Yeah, and that helps us remember what our gifts are for. I mean, he descended, he gave gifts to captives. You know, if we’re gonna follow his example of the humbling, of the servant hood of Christ, then we take the gift we’ve been given and we don’t just stuff it away or bury it in the ground, you know, we use it. (Nicole: Yeah) And we use it for the good and the benefit and the beauty of building up his church until we all get it. Which was that, that last verse was so cool. (Nicole: Yeah) This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son, that we’ll be mature. Oh boy, we got a long way to go.

Nicole (20:13):

We do.

Sharon (20:13):

We’ll been doing our works forever!

Sharon (20:17):

So cool. So cool.

Nicole (20:19):

So, all right, well, I’ll finish up with section three. This section tells us why it’s so important to build up and to use our gifts for the good of the body. So Ephesians 4:14-16 says, “Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever, they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly as each part does its own special work. It helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” (Sharon: Mm) So life can be pretty miserable if we’re not building each other up.

Sharon (21:04):

Oh, it sure can be.

Nicole (21:05):

You know, as a body working against itself, it’s, you know, we’re immature and tossed about like the wind, you know, that doesn’t sound very fun and it’s an exhausting way to live for sure, you know? (Sharon: It is) And we’ll just be so self focused and not in a good way. You know, if we’re just alone with our own thoughts and beliefs we could be led astray and believe something that’s not true. So it’s really important to grow in faith with other believers.

Sharon (21:28):

So true.

Nicole (21:28):

So we can keep each other in check you know? I like verse 16 for that very reason. “He makes the whole body fit together perfectly as each part does its own special work it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” You know, so we see right here that if we are each doing our own part in our own special work, then the body of Christ works as it’s supposed to, as a whole, healthy and growing and full of love, you know? It’s not just me trying to figure things out on my own. It’s living in community with the body of Christ is so very important.

Sharon (22:00):

It is. The fitting together reminds me of the puzzle at our church again, where every puzzle piece had somebody’s name on it. And it’s this huge puzzle. And the puzzle’s only complete with all of us. (Nicole: Yeah) We need every single bit. We really do. And there’s nothing more irritating than putting together a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle and having a piece missing.

Nicole (22:21):

We just did that. It was a thousand piece puzzle, (Sharon: No way) one missing piece. It was like the tiger’s eye. We’re like, no, of course we put it together and then we found it.

Sharon (22:28):

Oh, you’re kidding.

Nicole (22:30):

Like, darn! But yes, we need all the pieces or it just doesn’t work.

Sharon (22:33):

We need all the pieces. And we need to value every piece.

Nicole (22:36):

Absolutely. Absolutely

Sharon (22:38):

Right, we really do. Yeah, not just the visible pieces, (Nicole: Right, the edge pieces and the little pieces) but the one that quietly gives. Or the one that you know, oh my goodness. So many good pieces. So yes. Well, I love that too, but I also really love, this is another sort of little thing that I feel like I should memorize, like we talked about be humble and gentle, it’s verse 15. “Instead we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. The speak the truth in love phrase? It’s so perfect, Nicole, because we are called to speak truth. (Nicole: Right) We’re not allowed to say nice things that aren’t true to make people feel better, right?

Nicole (23:16):

Right. As easy as that would be.

Sharon (23:17):

I know sometimes that’s what I wanna do, cause (Nicole: I know) I don’t like getting people upset with me. Right.

Nicole (23:23):

I want people to like me. I don’t want them to dislike me.

Sharon (23:25):

No. No, but truth is always best. In fact, the truth sets us free. (Nicole: Right) When we fudge on that we’re not doing anyone, including ourselves, a favor.

Nicole (23:33):

It’s true. Yeah.

Sharon (23:34):

But we’re to speak the truth in love.

Nicole (23:39):

That makes all the difference.

Sharon (23:39):

It’s got to be done from that coming alongside, this is my new favorite word. If you notice I’ve said it like four times in this podcast, the idea that I am to come alongside someone, to help them see this truth. (Nicole: Yeah) That’s loving.

Nicole (23:54):

Right.

Sharon (23:54):

It’s not standing above giving the lecture and shaming them, which … God is so kind. He, you know, the woman that was caught in adultery? Jesus had like a sentence, ‘Neither do I condemn you, now go and sin no more’.

Nicole (24:08):

Right. But look at that.

Sharon (24:10):

The end.

Nicole (24:10):

There is so much that one. Yeah.

Sharon (24:11):

Oh my goodness. I can go on for miles. (Nicole: Right) And all I do is beat the person down. It’s not helpful. They stop hearing. Coming alongside, speaking the truth in love taking the time to say it lovingly and I feel, shortly.

Nicole (24:30):

Yes. Briefly, please

Sharon (24:31):

That is not scripture. That’s just Sharon, looking at Jesus who seemed to say things really well, very shortly. (Nicole: Yeah) Just makes all the difference. Oh, may I speak things truthfully and in love. Both, both, both. Either one by itself is wrong.

Nicole (24:47):

It’s true. You can’t, you can’t have one without the other.

Sharon (24:48):

So, and that’s the goal, clearly, to work together in love. You know, I think of our team and how well we all fit together and how each one does their part. (Nicole: Yes) No one leads a Selah prayer call like Annetta. (Nicole: Oh yes) Man, I just love her voice. (Nicole: Yeah) And she just pulls us right in and she’s not afraid of quiet. We just praise and we’re still, and it’s a holy hour. I love prayer calls. Listener, if you have never joined a Selah prayer call, you should, you should just do it.

Nicole (25:17):

It’s quite a treat.

Sharon (25:17):

They’re wonderful. They’re wonderful. And no one can edit words and notice mistakes like Jan and do it so nicely. She’s always so, she always praises you before she tells you about mistakes. She speaks the truth in love.

Nicole (25:29):

Yeah.

Sharon (25:30):

Jan is fabulous at that.

Nicole (25:31):

That’s awesome.

Sharon (25:32):

And then Lois has technical knowledge beyond what the average human being will know in a lifetime. (Nicole: Oh, yes). She’s got a brilliant mind and on and on and on. I mean, I could do that for a long time. And then we would be past time on the podcast, but.

Nicole (25:44):

We love our team.

Sharon (25:45):

We do, we do. And everyone fits together.

Nicole (25:48):

Yes, yeah.

Sharon (25:49):

It’s just beautiful. And it’s the way it is supposed to be. (Nicole: Yep) It’s the primary mission of the body of Christ is to invite different people in. And for that, we need people with different skill sets. (Nicole: Yes) Different personalities, different giftings, you know, cause we don’t know what’s gonna move a heart.

Nicole (26:10):

Right. You know, in the analogy of the body, if you think about it and if you’re not in community with each other, if you’re not, you know, talking, if someone’s struggling, you don’t know if you, the foot, have to like take on more to keep the body going. You know what I’m saying?

Sharon (26:22):

Yes!

Nicole (26:22):

You know kind of like, not pick up the weight, but just help keep God’s work going. If you are a team, you know, you kind of, you share the burden with each other and you can come and encourage the person who’s having a hard time, but it’s so important to live in community with other believers.

Sharon (26:36):

It is so important. And it’s important for the elbow to tell the knee it’s hurting. (Nicole: Yeah) You know, we were talking about that (Nicole: Maybe slow down a little) off air, that it’s hard to ask for help sometimes.

Nicole (26:43):

Yes.

Sharon (26:44):

And yet being part of a body we need to, hey, I’m not gonna be able to do this thing I had hoped to do because I’m hurting. And then other people in the church can come around you and kinda lift the load for a while.

Nicole (26:59):

Right. Right.

Sharon (27:00):

You know, and I, that’s one thing I like about sort of my job as director of our ministry is I can fill in for a lot of different people when they need it. (Nicole: Yeah) So I try not to have any jobs, I’m like, okay, so you can do that job and you can do that job because I know there’s gonna be times when I’ll be doing all the jobs. (Nicole: Right) When somebody else has, you know, when the, the knee is hurting or whatever.

Nicole (27:23):

Right. Exactly. When I was on nursery schedule, I didn’t put myself in the schedule very often cause I was the fill-in last minute when someone was sick person, you know? You know that making allowances for other people’s rough times too, you know, (Sharon: exactly) or a volunteer has an illness you know? Or whatever you know.

Sharon (27:36):

Exactly so. So we can spell each other and help each other. (Nicole: Yeah) It’s really a good thing. And that brings us back to something we talk about all the time and that is that nice as podcasts are, nice as watching YouTube videos are, it doesn’t replace a physical group of people that are your Christian family.

Nicole (27:56):

Yes.

Sharon (27:56):

It doesn’t. We need church.

Nicole (27:57):

Oh we do. And how many times over the years, our church family has been closer than a family. You know, military families or anytime, if you are a single mom or, you know, having the support of a church can fill in so many gaps that you might be missing in your life.

Sharon (28:11):

Right. Right.

Nicole (28:11):

We just, we’ve had so many times that we have been blessed by a church family that I, I couldn’t imagine doing life without having a family. You know?

Sharon (28:18):

I can’t either.

Nicole (28:19):

A faith family.

Sharon (28:20):

Yeah. I remember when we were church searching at one point and I said to Ray, but if I get sick, who’s gonna bring me a casserole?

Nicole (28:27):

It’s so true though.

Sharon (28:28):

Which is like pretty minor in the scheme of things, we should be going to church to also hear the word of God preached from someone who’s trained in Hebrew and Greek.

Nicole (28:37):

But I’ll tell you what, those casseroles, when you have babies and you’re sick are pretty good though.

Sharon (28:42):

So it’s so important to find that.

Nicole (28:45):

It is.

Sharon (28:46):

And, to make allowance for the people that are there is part of our sanctification process. (Nicole: Yes) It’s not like church is full of magically wonderful people that can’t wait to wait on you. (Nicole: Right) It’s full of selfish human beings that are hoping you’ll wait on them some days. (Nicole: Right) But all together we’re better. (Nicole: Yes, yep) So, okay. Well time to close in prayer, so. Heavenly Father, I just thank you so much for how often in scripture you bring us back to this, that we were given gifts to share in community and Lord as we are ending, thank you, this time of isolation and pandemic, Father call all your people back who are still, still not quite there yet, as they can, to communal worship. To being together in the body with all our idiosyncrasies and annoyances. Lord teach us to grow together, teach us that our puzzle piece is essential to the wellbeing of the whole. Thank you Lord that you give us church family. Thank you Lord, that you are a father to the fatherless, that you look out for the widow. Oh God, you are so good. Thank you for filling the gaps as needed. And thank you for helping us fill gaps. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Nicole (30:09):

Amen. Well podcast friend, we’re so glad you’re in this study together with us. We love getting comments and we are thankful for every review that helps get our podcast seen in more places, you are all such a blessing to us. Reach us @sweetselah.org/podcast or donate @sweetselah.org/donations. Come on back next week. We are taking a one week break from our Ephesian study in order to look at the Easter story, from the perspective of the women who were there at the cross and at the empty tomb. You know, God values us women. We’ll unpack just how much he valued those who loved and followed him next week for episode 73, The Women at the Cross. Have a great week.

Speaker 1 (30:52):

We are so glad you stopped for a while with us. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word, Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries. More information about this podcast can be found at SweetSelah.org. Thank you for joining us.