Conversations: Being the Corporate Body

[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to the YA podcast. Lean in as we dive into the practicals of life with Jesus as spirit filled young adults. [00:00:27] Speaker B: Welcome, everyone to season two of the young adult podcast. It's good to be back chatting with friends and hopefully blessing some people and getting into some topics that I hope you feel discipled by. I hope that you are blessed by. We also just want to flag us at the beginning. Send us some questions if you're listening today and you're like, what is that about? Send us through some questions. We want to hear from you so that it will make an exciting q and a podcast at the end of the season. But I am here with my lovely wife, Kelsey. [00:00:58] Speaker A: Hi. [00:00:59] Speaker B: We're back. [00:00:59] Speaker A: Did you miss me? [00:01:01] Speaker B: I missed you. [00:01:01] Speaker A: Oh, I missed you too. [00:01:03] Speaker B: That's good. [00:01:03] Speaker A: I hope everyone else missed us. Yeah, I missed them. [00:01:06] Speaker B: What are we talking about today, Kellis? [00:01:08] Speaker A: We. Well, do you want me to say what we're talking about today? Do you want me to say what we're talking about for the whole season? [00:01:12] Speaker B: Well, the whole season is ahead of us, so go for that. [00:01:15] Speaker A: This season we are talking about being the corporate body. [00:01:22] Speaker B: That's good. [00:01:23] Speaker A: And today we're talking about being the corporate body. [00:01:27] Speaker B: Yeah. It's good to start with an intro episode. What are some other things that rest the season we might touch on around that umbrella of the body or the corporate gathering or what are some other terms? The bride of Christ. All these kind of terms. [00:01:41] Speaker A: I mean, I guess in our Bible chats episodes, we're going to be diving into a few different things. Something I'm really excited about in that space is I know there's going to be a few episodes that are speaking to scriptures that we often read with an isolated mindset, but were actually written to be expressed in the corporate setting. [00:01:58] Speaker B: Yeah. Good. [00:01:59] Speaker A: So like Ephesians six, the armor of God, we're going to do an episode on that, which would be really fun. We're doing an episode on essentially the dwelling places of God. So looking through the Old Testament and seeing how God dwelled with his people, but then also how does he dwell with us now, what else? We're going to be talking about fellowship. [00:02:18] Speaker B: We've got some guests. [00:02:19] Speaker A: We've got a few guests. [00:02:20] Speaker B: Cool. [00:02:21] Speaker A: Keep them a secret. A bit of a surprise. Talking about. Yeah. What does it look like to be in community together? What do we do when we don't like someone? How do we love someone we don't like? [00:02:33] Speaker B: That's a good question. [00:02:34] Speaker A: How can the corporate body, I guess, show Christ's love more than the world's love. How do we do that? How do we fulfill the call to love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and love each other like we love ourselves? What else? Serving. [00:02:54] Speaker B: Yeah, serving. [00:02:55] Speaker A: And then we're going to finish off, I guess, talking about the great commission and how we use the seeds that are sown in the corporate place to reach people for the kingdom. [00:03:06] Speaker B: That's good. [00:03:06] Speaker A: And what are we doing with what we're receiving from God in the corporate space? To actually see others blessed, which will have Jess on for that, which I'm really excited about and maybe a few other guests, too. So it's gonna be fun. [00:03:16] Speaker B: It's gonn be an exciting time. [00:03:17] Speaker A: Good season. I'm really excited. Are you excited for it? [00:03:19] Speaker B: It's gonna be fun. I'm excited. [00:03:20] Speaker A: Excited for Bible chats? [00:03:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:22] Speaker A: Tom's told me I'm not allowed to be on Bible Chats episode. I'm like, I read the Bible too. That's fine. [00:03:26] Speaker B: We've got a few people coming in. We'll chat about the Bible. [00:03:28] Speaker A: I'm excited. You got a few good guests. [00:03:30] Speaker B: Yeah. Some good scriptures too, just to delve into and really look at. Yeah. Like you said, that application element of scripture and some things where we maybe in our western culture, a very individual, how do I apply this to me, what does this mean for me when perhaps those scriptures were actually more about how do I apply this for the church? How do I apply this in the body of Christ? And hopefully that'll illuminate some scriptures and make them come to life a bit more than maybe what you're used to, which I love, is when scripture comes to life than what we're used to. [00:04:04] Speaker A: Yeah. I have a question for you, Tom. [00:04:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:06] Speaker A: Why are we talking about this? [00:04:08] Speaker B: We're talking about this because obviously we think it's important. We talk about things that we think are important. I think for what I was just saying, culturally, the culture of the world around us now I will say we live and work in our inner church in Melbourne, Victoria. So it is a very western nation. It is quite an individualistic culture. And because of that, we sometimes come into the church with that mindset and that upbringing and the culture and ways of the world rather than perhaps the kingdom culture that we're meant to uphold. So, you know, if you're at Numa, one of our big Numa church kingdom culture values is church is a covenant family. That's one way to express the body of Christ is how Jesus spoke it to her as a family, and that we're brothers and sisters in Christ and all of that sort of language. And that's how we express it in our culture values, which is a culture of the kingdom of God that is perhaps countercultural to the world that we live in. And so we're talking about it because we come out of a culture that is out of alignment with that. And so we need to have these conversations so that we can come back into alignment with the purposes that God has for his church and so that we can not just be in alignment, but actually have the blessings that come from being in alignment with what he wants us to outwork, and the blessings of unity and the blessings of the body and to receive the fullness of Christ that we have access to, that we can't receive in isolation. And I think sometimes we don't know how to do that. We don't know how to be the body of Christ. It's a bit of a metaphor that we have out there in the distance. So we're talking about it because we see it as important because we come from a culture that doesn't know how to do this and that the Bible is quite clear on some of these things. And so we want to bear fruit in the things the Bible tells us to bear fruit in. [00:06:17] Speaker A: Totally. And I think, I mean, just coming straight off the bat with what the Lord's been speaking to me about in this space and why I feel like it's so important, not just for us as young adults, but for our church in general, is, it's pretty clear through multiple scriptures in the Bible that we actually cannot experience the fullness of who Jesus Christ is if we are not a unified body. It's a scary thought because at the end of the day, Jesus is coming back for a pure and spotless bride. He died for the bride, he died for the church be birthed, and that eventually one day he could come back for it. And we are very blessed to be in a spiritual environment where we get to receive of the manifest glory of God. And I love that. And I love that about our house because it's something that we want. I think it's something that every house, every church should be getting to experience. [00:07:10] Speaker B: To encounter and experience him. [00:07:11] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think that's part of, you know, one of the primary reasons why we gather as a corporate body is to worship God and to receive of an outpouring of his spirit, because that's the relationship that we get to have vertically between, you know, we get to see his kingdom come, his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. But the crazy thought to me is when I read scriptures about unity and the body of Christ, I almost go, how much more is there to tap into as we continue to consecrate ourselves to be a more unified body? And how much more is there to be, I guess, experience and to enter into? And how much more is the Lord waiting to reveal to us? Like, I believe there's stuff that he's waiting to reveal to us until we actually have a deeper revelation of what it means to dwell in unity and even, you know, the things. And, I mean, we'll get into this and talk about this in a second, but, you know, when he dwells among his people and when each of us are carriers of his kingdom in and of ourselves, that means when we come into the corporate setting, there's something that everyone has to offer. [00:08:22] Speaker B: Yeah, totally. [00:08:23] Speaker A: And so when I look around our church and see people who aren't contributing into the body, it almost grieves me because I'm like, there's people in this house that could be keys to my encounter that I'm not getting to experience of because they're hiding away or they feel insecure or they feel like they're not valued here or whatever the reason is. And in the same way, there's ministry that the Lord could use me for to minister into them, that as we all minister to one another and before God, it brings about a greater manifestation of his glory. And so, I mean, I think as a young adult community, this is something we can do better at. And I'm excited to be talking about it in this season because my heart for our young adult community would be that we would be one of the most unified generations in this whole church. Like, we want to see it in our youth, we want to see it in our kids, we want to see it in our mature adults. But I feel like, especially in relation to what is happening in the world and the culture we see in the world, I would say it's probably one of the most cultures within 18 to 30 year olds. It's, you're coming out of high school and everyone's like, what do you want to do with your life? What are you going to pursue? How are you going to make money? How are you going to buy a house? How are you going to find your spouse? And it's like, you, you, you, you, you. Everything's about you, perhaps. [00:09:32] Speaker B: How can you serve? [00:09:34] Speaker A: What can you give? And so it's like, well, then that, you know, unintentionally I would say, because I don't think people come, you know, maliciously trying to be isolated in church. I think sometimes people just come unintentionally with that mindset of what am I receiving? What am I getting out of this? How is this benefiting my relationship with God? Just because that's the culture that we're in all the time. You know, when you're coming from maybe a corporate setting where it's like dog eat dog world and you're trying to climb the corporate ladder, and you're not in an environment where you're used to people, you know, washing your feet hypothetically, and actually serving one another. It's not a surprise when you come into church and you expect it to be a similar sort of environment unless we set a culture that shows us. [00:10:16] Speaker B: Otherwise, that is counter to that. [00:10:17] Speaker A: Yeah. And so that's why we need to talk about this, so that we can be aware of what the word says. And once it's been revealed to us, I pray that it convinced us to go deeper, to go, okay, God will, if this is what your word says, I want to see it on a Sunday, I want to see it on a Wednesday. I want to see it in our life groups. I want to see it in all of these different contexts we find ourselves in. Because I know there's a greater revelation of who Jesus is and his manifest glory when we dwell in greater unity. [00:10:45] Speaker B: And that's it, isn't it? We all gather, and we are a church for only one reason, and that's because we love Jesus and we want to know him better. We want to get to know more of him. And so we're saying things like, that's actually impossible without the unity of the body. It's impossible in isolation. It's impossible on your own. So we need this revelation, and we need to work on this. And we're not saying that we have these answers. We're kind of actually probably picking this up, where we're learning this and the Lord's revealing this to us, and we're going, oh, man, we need to work on this. You said a few different things in what you were saying, and I just want to grab on to a couple of them. You were talking about the corporate gathering, and that being obviously one expression of the body. There's obviously others which we can touch on. But in that corporate setting, you were saying that you could be the key to someone else's breakthrough or someone else's encounter or someone else that isn't engaging. Could be the key for your breakthrough in your encounter. Can you expand on that a bit? [00:11:56] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I think a good scripture to draw on is in one corinthians twelve, which is essentially talking about the body. And you guys probably know that scripture pretty well, but there's kind of. You can read from verse twelve through to 27. It talks a whole bunch about. Paul was addressing cultures that he was noticing in the corinthian church and probably a bit of, I mean, wack theology, but also a bit of, you know, not unity. [00:12:26] Speaker B: Very individualistic. [00:12:27] Speaker A: Yeah, very individual. Yeah, very individual. Self serving, you know, looking down on one another, creating hierarchies, all these sorts of things. But a few things that I look at that scripture and see is, first of all, it emphasizes that God orders the body as he pleases. And I think that's a really important place to start, because that means if you're listening to this and you're a part of our house, you've been ordered in the body as God has pleased. So you're not here by accident, you're not here by mistake, and you're also not here out of any unintentionality. [00:13:05] Speaker B: Yeah, that's good. [00:13:06] Speaker A: There's actually an intentionality as to why you're here. And he goes on to say that he almost presents the two sides of the coin, which is he'll say, you can't look at that body part and say, because I'm an eye and you're afoot, you're not valuable because you can't see like I do. I can't remember exactly what the analogy is. [00:13:26] Speaker B: Yeah, it's like, I don't need you because I've got. [00:13:29] Speaker A: So he kind of shows that side of like, well, we can't look at others and say we're more valuable than them. But on the flip side, he also says, you can't look at someone else and say, I am not valuable because they are more valuable than me. And I think both sides of that coin are important because when we fall into the trap of either thinking that we're more important than someone else, that's pride, and that's stepping out of alignment of the body that he has ordered as he pleases. But then also on the flip side, if we're sitting there going, I don't have a voice, I'm not valuable. I'm not needed in this family, you know, I'm not as valuable as that person, or I'm not as valuable as that pastor because I'm not on platform and they are, or I'm not as valuable as that life group leader because they have influence and I don't. We're also, to an extent, that's also pride, because we're also removing ourselves out of the position that he's placed us in as he please. [00:14:22] Speaker B: Kingdom order. [00:14:23] Speaker A: Yeah. And so I can't remember what your initial question is. [00:14:27] Speaker B: So what does that mean for the corporate gathering, like a Sunday service or when we come to meet together? [00:14:33] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, simply put, it means that everyone is important and everyone is. [00:14:38] Speaker B: Valuable, so we come to contribute what we have. Right. [00:14:41] Speaker A: Yeah. And even, I mean, it's a bit of a coin term. I know our church uses it and other churches do too, like that, come as you are. And I think that's equally as important in the context of come as you are. If you're broken, if you're weary, if you're heavy burdened, blah, blah, blah, come because Jesus can heal you and come as you are, even if you don't know Jesus yet, because Jesus is here for you. But I think in the same way, I want to come as I am because the part that God wants me to play is in who I am and who he's created me. [00:15:13] Speaker B: That's really good. Yeah. [00:15:15] Speaker A: And you need to come as you are because what God is doing in you and where you are at in your life is valuable in the setting that we have together. And I think something that Numa does really well is first and foremost ministry to God. And I think that's really important because first and foremost, our worship should be about worshiping God, edifying him, entering his courts with praise. Yeah. [00:15:40] Speaker B: We gather to minister to his heart first. [00:15:41] Speaker A: And so it's like we have the opportunity to come together and minister to his heart. But I would argue that equally as important to that is actually our ministry to one another. And I think part of gathering together in a Sunday context is that, you know, in the same way you might imagine, like life group or like a family meal, in our life group, we say to everyone, all right, you got to bring a dish. Everyone contributes because we're family. And if you value family, you'll contribute. And so, you know, one person might bring a main, one person might bring a dessert, someone will bring drinks, and then we get to have a meal together. And in the same way, when we come in on a Sunday, the value of the corporate setting is that, you know, I come in and I bring my contribution, someone else comes in and brings their contribution, and then we all get to benefit of that together and that, you know, that could be as simple as, you know, a thought that I often have is, you know, when we open the altars on a Sunday and people are receiving prayer, there's obviously that very obvious ministry to one another of, I'm standing on the prayer line praying for someone who has a need, and that's beautiful, and that's ministry to one another. But, you know, someone could be up the back worshiping, and they're actually the key in the room that's unlocking the spiritual atmosphere for God to move, because God goes. That's a person I see faith in right now. And you might not even know what your intercession is. You might not even. You could be speaking in tongues for all of worship, unlocking things in the spirit. We don't always know that. That's part of the mystery of God is that we don't always know what our intercession's doing in a moment. We don't always know what our worship's doing in a moment. You know, rich Gordon at prophetic summit a few weeks or months ago, like, articulates this so well that you're looking for the little keys in the room. Who are the people that Jesus is on, that could actually unlock encounter for a whole bunch of people. [00:17:31] Speaker B: Yeah, I remember we had a conversation after a Sunday one time, and we were saying that we would love to be able to see the room from God's perspective and actually be able to have that viewpoint, where often as a church, we come in and someone's leading a prayer moment from platform, or the worship leader is ministering from platform. And we think that when the glory breaks out or when. When we encounter God in that room, we think it's because of what's happened on platform. When. Imagine if we could see through God's eyes. I think that he would actually point at someone in the back row or maybe even someone in the foyer that is interceding and praying and lifting up a song, and they will never get a platform, but they were the key to open the door that day. And that's what we're talking about, right, is that's the body working together. We're not always gonna have the direct need in a circumstance for a nose, but, oh, boy, when we need a nose, we need a nose. Like, right? Like, and that's in a corporate gathering, but that's very much applicable across every expression of the body. That's. We can directly see it on a Sunday, but very much so. Like, where are you serving? We need you. [00:18:52] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think this is really obvious in Ephesians four. I mean, ephesians four, essentially the whole chapter is about the unity and maturing of the body. But, I mean, this is also where the scripture around fivefold is housed. So Ephesians really gives us a great blueprint of what the church is supposed to look like. [00:19:13] Speaker B: Yeah. The whole letter of Ephesians is really like Paul going, hey, like, this is what the church is. Let's set it up. Let's do this. [00:19:19] Speaker A: Yeah. And so even, you know, you can take the example of the fivefold. I think we're obviously a fivefold church. We love the fivefold. It's a part of the bodyworking unity. And I think it's really helpful for an expression from a leadership perspective. But I think it actually speaks to the greater, I guess, blueprint that God has for the church, that we're not a church that ride or dies on a senior pastor, but actually leadership responsibility is shared between the apostle, prophet, evangelist. [00:19:50] Speaker B: Shepherd, and teacher in unity, as the trinity is also in unity. [00:19:53] Speaker A: Yeah. Because the reason I believe God did this is because God never expected man to be messiah. He never expected one person to carry the entire weight. And so he creates a structure where in unity, decisions get made. Together in unity, the heart of God's sought. Together in unity, we manage almost a five way tension of, you know, yes, the prophetic and going after the spirit is important, but also seeking souls is important, but also pastoring people in their time of need is important, but also teaching sound scripture is important. And it's almost like everyone gets to advocate for the thing that God is doing in them that is powerful and necessary. And actually, by living in that tension, we bring about a greater unity, that the body looks more like Jesus and. [00:20:39] Speaker B: Out of the unity. The fivefold, the fragrance of Christ is. [00:20:42] Speaker A: Yes. [00:20:43] Speaker B: Like, it's only out of the unity of the fivefold. Not the fivefold. It's out of the unity of the fivefold that there's Jesus. [00:20:49] Speaker A: Exactly. And so that is one expression of the unity of the body. But I would also go, if we're leaving the expression of unity in the body purely to our fivefold executive team, that's not going to bring about unity in the body. It might bring about unity in the leadership. Decisions that get made, which is helpful. Which is helpful. We want that, and we love our fivefold team. But it's almost like that gives us something to look to, to go, wow, isn't it amazing when people are actually living in unity together and functioning out of a place of unity? Let's see that happen and almost flow down and there's purpose. [00:21:25] Speaker B: Like ephesians four goes on to give that purpose. [00:21:27] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:21:28] Speaker B: It's not just like, hey, we've given fivefold ascension gifts for the unity, the body. There's also more than that. It's not just for unity. Unity is for the maturing of the. [00:21:40] Speaker A: Body, which tells me that if my goal in life is to become mature more Christ, aka more like Jesus, not mature for the sake of being perfect, but mature for the sake of being complete in my discipleship to Jesus, if this is saying that we need the unity of the body to bring about the full revelation of Christ and to bring about mature manhood, that tells me I can't reach full maturity in isolation. [00:22:06] Speaker B: Yeah, it's good. [00:22:08] Speaker A: I can't. Yeah, I can't reach the fullness that God wants me to be without receiving of and imparting into the corporate setting and being in unity with one another. [00:22:21] Speaker B: It's really good. That's really good. Just pausing there. [00:22:27] Speaker A: Just let that set in. [00:22:29] Speaker B: Yeah. Because the phrase of ephesians four is that these gifts have come for the unity of Christ unto mature manhood, unto the maturity in Christ. And I think different translations there. [00:22:42] Speaker A: Yeah, I think, I mean, in my, in my own walk and I think I could probably speak for majority of people that, you know, one of the biggest questions you're asking is how can I grow? How can I mature? How can I mature in my gifts? How can I, you know, do all the things? And yes, it's an important question to ask because it's the balance of, well, we don't forsake the secret place or we don't forsake our own intimacy with Jesus for the corporate body. [00:23:13] Speaker B: It's actually for the corporate body that we don't forsake those things. [00:23:16] Speaker A: It's like you need both, but it's almost, yeah, you need to be. I think sometimes we focus too much on us maturing ourselves instead of us contributing into a mature body. Because at the end of the day, like, yes, Jesus is coming back for us individually and that's the gift of salvation that we have that none should perish but all would have everlasting life. We get to be with Jesus forever. That's awesome. But Jesus is coming back for a bride. Which means if I'm, you know, so focused on my own maturing that I miss my opportunity to bring unity into the body, I could be taking away from the mature full body that Jesus is actually looking for. [00:24:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:08] Speaker A: And if I'm so focused on what's happening in my own life that I feel like I can't contribute there, then that's, I don't know, like, I feel like that would grieve the heart of Jesus because he's almost like, oh, man, like, I love my unified bride, but there's people who aren't contributing into it that you're missing that greater unity that we actually have on offer as the body. I don't know if that makes sense. [00:24:31] Speaker B: No, it does. And I think there's a flow on of that where, you know, if our heart is that people would meet Jesus, the only way, like, obviously holy spirit ministers themselves, reveals himself to them. But also another way that we reveal Christ to the world around us is the church. That was Jesus whole plan to reveal Christ and to see the kingdom advance is the church. So if the church isn't the full, if the church isn't unto the maturity of that and isn't a mature body and isn't unified, we're not giving an accurate picture of who Jesus is. And if we as the church are not giving an accurate picture of who Jesus is, then are people actually getting saved into who Jesus is? Have people actually got a true revelation of who Jesus is? If the church isn't revealing that, and obviously, like, there's so many facets of this and we've been talking mainly around that corporate gathering setting, I think it's a good application point. It's an easy application because we can come on Sunday and think, okay, how am I contributing to the body today? What have I come to give away? And that's a great application. If you leave this podcast today and go, that's a question I can ask this Sunday. Perfect. [00:25:47] Speaker A: And it doesn't even have to be in anything like crazy revolutionary. [00:25:50] Speaker B: No, I'm gonna worship to the fullness of my revelation of God today, and I'm not gonna get distracted. I'm just gonna worship the whole time. Yeah, you're contributing. [00:26:00] Speaker A: Or even things like one that we've spoken with our youth about a few times is, you know when someone's preaching or praying and you're saying yes and amen, or like, come on, that's a good word. You're not just feedbacking to them to make them feel good, you're actually partnering with what they're doing in the spirit. And you know, the scripture that talks about one can put a thousand to flight, two can put 10,000 to flight, you're honoring the word, you're partnering with a one moment and making it a two moment. And it actually does more in the spirit when there's people who are willing to partner with what God's doing in the room. [00:26:36] Speaker B: You saying yes and amen to someone preaching or ministering, is you going, God's on that, and I'm going to be where God is on. [00:26:43] Speaker A: Yeah. So a really easy way to contribute into the corporate body is be engaged during the word yes and amen. If you feel the Lord on something, amen to it. Because that does something in the spirit that we actually value the spiritual movement that's happening during preaching, that we're not just receiving a word for information's sake, but actually someone speaking the word of God into the spirit. And when we catch that and when we partner with that, it shifts the entire room and it shifts people's hearts, and it actually allows God the space to move through that word. And, like, I mean, another really simple way is, you know, you don't have to go and give someone a 40 minutes prophetic word, but just going, okay, God, like, who can I encourage in the room today? Or if you see someone sitting by themselves, just go and be like, hey, how you going? How's your week been? Because for them, they might have come in and no one's spoken to them all week, or no, they've been in an environment potentially at home or whatever, where words of death are spoken over them. And, like, I can even think of an example. When I used to be a youth pastor in Perth, we used to minister to a quite low socioeconomic area. And there was a lot of kids who were, like, from DCP and, like, really broken homes and, like, you know, just awful home circumstances. And I remember, it's, like, ingrained in my mind this girl who just came from the most broken home. And I remember there was this one week she came and I saw her, like, from a distance, and I was like, oh, my gosh, so and so. I can't remember her name, but I was like, it's so good to see you. Like, I'm so excited. And I gave her, like, the biggest hug and just embrace her. And it was literally, like, she was stiff in my arms, but as I hugged her, she, like, relaxed, and she kind of pulled away from me, and she was like, I haven't been hugged like that in weeks. And just even that simple fact of, like, embracing someone and loving someone and making them feel valued to see them. Yeah. Her heart, like, fully opened, and it's like, just by that simple fact, the whole rest of the night, she was a different girl. She was more willing to talk. She was more willing to be involved with what was going on when she usually. [00:28:57] Speaker B: She probably received more of Christ that night. [00:28:59] Speaker A: Yeah. And so it's like, what could you, going up to someone who's sitting by themselves, actually do for them to open their heart? And often we talk in youth ministry about, like, a funnel. And the funnel, it's big at the top. And in youth ministry is like, we play games and we do loud praise music because it opens people's hearts up, and then they're kind of in the funnel. The catchment at the top is big. Then they get in the funnel, and as it gets narrower, you're bringing them to that moment of salvation or that encounter with Jesus. And I think in the same way, we can contribute into the body by being ready to be at the top of the funnel to love people and encourage people and make people feel valued and contribute in a way that opens people's hearts to actually then receive of the encounter that Jesus wants to have of them. Whether that comes directly through you or not is actually not the point. Point. Whether you have the most profound prophetic word for them or not is not actually the point. And I'm thankful that we're moving. I believe we're moving into a season as the whole body, where there's not as much emphasis on one person on a platform ministering. And that's where ministry's happening. Ministry is happening in the entire body all the time. [00:30:11] Speaker B: God is ministering through man to man. [00:30:14] Speaker A: And you could receive a prophetic word from an anointed man of God or woman of God on platform. That's amazing. Or you could receive a word or an encouragement from someone who's some random in the congregation or who you perceive as some random congregation. But God is just so on them and using them. [00:30:31] Speaker B: And it's been speaking to them all week about you. [00:30:33] Speaker A: Yeah. And it could totally change your life that our ears and our eyes and our hearts and our spirits need to be open to receive of one another value. [00:30:43] Speaker B: What God values. [00:30:44] Speaker A: Yeah, no, that's really good. And I think, yeah. The more we do that, the more we're going to see his glory come. [00:30:51] Speaker B: Totally. [00:30:51] Speaker A: And that's what we all want. [00:30:53] Speaker B: Yeah. And we're going to wrap up there, I think. And that's some good application thoughts? But we're going to go into some different, more specific topics as this season progresses and talk about that within the context of the body. But if you're going away today, I hope that has sparked some thoughts in you, how you can participate in the body and how you can contribute, and hopefully open your eyes to see a greater revelation of Jesus, because your eyes are broader to what the body is doing rather than a platform or a person or even just one thing. And I hope you see a greater revelation of Jesus in that. Yeah. Because that's what we're here for. A greater revelation of Jesus. I need you for that, Kelsey. I need everyone for that. And so please come on this journey with us as we look at the body of Christ and unity. Awesome. Well, we love you. Send some questions through if you've got them. And so excited for you to join us on this journey of looking at the body of Christ this season. [00:31:56] Speaker A: See you later.