Ephesians 4:4-16 // Nick Serban IV

In Ephesians 4:4-16, the message centers on unity, gifts, and maturity in christ. Explore Ephesians 4:4–16 and discover how unity, spiritual gifts, truth, and maturity help the church grow into the fullness of Christ. Rather than treating the passage as abstract theology, the sermon traces what these truths reveal about God, the gospel, and the way followers of Jesus are called to live.

The sermon applies the text to relationships and Christian community, showing that spiritual maturity becomes visible in the way we love, honor, serve, forgive, and take responsibility for one another. Biblical conviction is connected to everyday choices rather than left at the level of ideas. The result is a call to build relationships that reflect the character of Christ and strengthen the people God has placed around us.

Along the way, the message engages themes including Ephesians 4:4-16, unity, gifts, and maturity in christ. These ideas help place the primary passage within the larger story of Scripture and show how its theology speaks to real spiritual formation. At its heart, the sermon helps answer questions such as: What does Ephesians 4:4-16 teach about unity, gifts, and maturity in christ? It also considers how should unity, gifts, and maturity in christ shape the way Christians live?

For someone studying this passage, exploring the Christian faith, or looking for practical biblical teaching, this sermon offers a clear path from the text to everyday discipleship. The invitation is to hear what Scripture says, receive it with humility, and take the next faithful step in following Jesus.

What does Ephesians 4:4-16 teach about unity, gifts, and maturity in christ? | How should unity, gifts, and maturity in christ shape the way Christians live? | How can believers apply Ephesians 4:4-16 in everyday life?

Ephesians 4:4-16, unity, gifts, and maturity in christ, ephesians 4, 416 unity, spiritual gifts, maturity in christ

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  Because as we get into Ephesians 4, we we hit the first three verses this last week and it was really a setup of where our heart needs to be as a church and as we come together in unity, it it really matters where our hearts at again like if if two people come together and their hearts not aligned, you're you're in division, right? And so as we look at Ephesians and as we look at the rest of Ephesians 4, we have to continue to come back to that place in our hearts. And uh it's funny too because when I read scripture, when I read the Bible, I don't see where it says that God wants us to get together once a week, sing a couple songs, hear a talk, and then just continue on. That's not to say what we're doing here is wrong, but it's it's interesting how God puts way more emphasis on who we are to be as a church beyond just this gathering, right? And I think I think it's it's it's the world and it's it's our own desires where we continue to come back to like church needs to be this way and we and we'll we can get very critical and we can get very focused in on how we think church should be, right? It's and and it's okay to have preferences like I have I have preferences. I have I I like, you know, different styles of worship, you know? I like different styles of kids ministry. I like different styles of teaching and and preaching and all these things. Like I get that. How many of you have a preference? Like somewhere in your mind, right? But the church was not supposed to be a place that you just go to. It's who we are. One body under one God with Jesus at the center of the church. that we would be so in love with God, united with each other, sharing the truth, and growing together in our understanding of God. Like that is that is the desire that God has always had for his church. Like I I if you think that it's just coming to to and attending a service for for an hour and a half, two hours once a week, if that's the church to you, I'm sorry, but you're wrong. And and I'm wrong if I think that's the case. It's so much more. And and and I kind of prefaced it before like that there's a level of commitment that we give to God in our in our daily lives, but there's a commitment that God is calling us to in unity together. And that's that's the church. It's really funny. My wife and I, we were talking this last week um about definitions and how so often we can say one thing and it means something completely different to somebody else just based on what it is you're talking about, right? And that's not just like cats and dogs and men and women. That's just like in general, right? We can have different opinions on definitions of things. Um, specifically in church, I can say I can claim that I'm a Christian, but depending on who I'm talking to, they're going to have a whole different idea of what that means, right? Based on what denomination that you you were raised in or or based on your background or maybe the the experiences that you've had with other believers. like the the one of the worst things that that I've come across in my life is when somebody claims to be a Christian and then they go off and do something that is very uncchristian-like and then you and then I go like I don't even want to claim I'm a Christian because then I'm claiming to be just like this guy. Anybody else been in in that position before? It's like I don't want to even talk about Jesus right now because like this guy's claiming Jesus and he is not living for him. And I feel like I have to explain my position on what kind of Christian I am, what kind of follower of Jesus I am, and and I'm reluctant to even talk about it. Like someone asks me like, "What kind of church are you part of?" I feel like I'm I'm revving up for a debate. Like I'm about to go we're about to go Pentecostal versus Baptist right now or Methodist versus Lutheran. Like it's about to be a it's about to be a thing, right, man? >> We're Jesus church. Let's go. And so like and again I'm I understand definitions and I understand categories but like we want to be followers of Jesus at the end of the day and it doesn't matter the denomination. It doesn't matter the movement. It are you following Jesus to the best of your ability? Are you giving your all to him or are you more focused on the dividing lines or stylistic preferences of what you think church is supposed to be or what I think it's supposed to be? And and we can very quickly again we go from sharing you know I believe this or I believe this or I like this style or I like that style and we start making the question into what do I want out of church right? What's the perfect church for me? What do I want out of my relationship with God? Again this church I go to this church for their worship. or maybe I go to this church because they've got great small groups or I'm a part of this thing because all my friends are here or I love I love this teaching all all the things that I kind of hit on before and it kind of reminds me of like choosing which grocery store you're going to go to to get your groceries. It Yeah, it's fair. Like it's expensive right now. And so like there's certain stores that that my wife and I go to to get certain things. Like Aldi, that's where we go to get snacks. Anybody else? Can I get a witness in the house? Like Aldi is for the snacks, right? Walmart. That's where we get diapers and they got really cheap eggs, right? Like I might be telling you something that you didn't know already. Eggs are really cheap at Walmart. And then I go to Costco to get meat, you know, and I get bulk items and all these different things. And I feel like we have to shop around, you know, to fit our budget, right? And I think sometimes we shop around to different places and different podcasts and different voices to try to get different things because we're not feeling satisfied in all of the the things that a church can be. We have our own opinions on what the perfect church would be for us. But again, this line of questioning sets us up for division more than unity. It makes us American consumers rather than true Christians. And Jesus quickly turns into whoever we want him to be. Like I feel like Jesus would be like this. Or if Jesus was here, I think he would follow in line with what I'm thinking right now. Like I I sat down with a buddy of mine the other day and he was just like, you know, I don't feel like Jesus would want to send anybody to hell. And I said, "Yeah, he doesn't want to. We choose to reject him." And he's just like, "No, no, like it's not what I mean." It was like, but this is the reality. Like we we we start to put our nature into who God is and it starts twisting everything. Like if God loves everybody, that means he accepts everything. No, now you're twisting it. Now you're changing it to hit your own preference and your own desire. And like we we have to have a standard in which we follow Jesus. We have to have a standard in which we live our lives. And the church is is setting the standard when we come together and and really like this is why I'm sitting because I could be screaming this right now. It does not matter what you think. And it does not matter what I think. It only matters >> what he says. >> At the end of the day, what does the word of God say? >> What what is he what is he calling us? What is the standard in which he's setting? Because it has nothing to do with my opinion. >> Even as your pastor, like it doesn't matter what I think. It matters what he says. So what we should be asking is what does Jesus desire the church to be? Not what do I think the church should be or what do I need the church to be for me. No, what is he saying is his desire for the church. Jesus, what do you what is it that you want us to be as followers of you? What does your church need to look like? because it's not my church. It's not your church, it's his. And I and I feel like before I even get into this word, we have to put ourselves in this position because so much of what we're about to get into this week and next week is going to rub us the wrong way. But here's the thing. It's not what I want. And it's not what you want, it's what he wants. And we have to we have to look at it in this way because it's God's plan for the church. It's his church. So if you have your Bibles, I'm going to stand now. Here we go. Ephesians 4 1-16. We read this the first three verses last week, but it it all comes together. So just follow me here. says, 'I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you are called to the one hope that belongs to your call. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, it says when he ascended, when Jesus ascended on high, he led a host of captives and he gave gifts to men. And saying he ascended, what does it mean? But that he also descended into the lower regions, the earth. He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God to mature manhood or womanhood in the room today to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So that we may lo no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human c human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes. Rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped. When each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Father, bless this word. Open our hearts. Amen. >> Again, we can ask, "What do I want in church?" But what if what we want isn't what God wants? And I and I know I'm I'm beating a dead horse here, but like if I had my own choice, I'm I'm pretty introverted whether you realize it or not. I would love to just come to church, sing, worship, have have deep encounters with God, hear a couple like golden nuggets that I can chew on for the rest of the week, and then I'm going to go home, take a nap, and watch golf. All right, that's that's a perfect Sunday for me, right? If I had if I had it on on my preference, this is what I would do. But again, when I read this passage about unity and maturity and growing to the fullness, like, who cares what I want? There's so much more here for us to grow in. And this looks so different than my preference. And if he's truly the Lord of my life, Jesus knows what I need better than I do. He He He knows what I need in order to continue to grow in maturity. And it's and it's so much more than my preference or what I want. He calls us to become one with him and one with the church. Again, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond. There's one body. There's one spirit. And again, this is not a suggestion. This is a command that we would live a life worthy of the call. We talked about that word axios last week to live an axio life. To live a life worthy of the call that he's placed upon us. It's it's not this suggestion to us. It's a command. But even more so, it's not something that I got to do all these things. No, it's a response from receiving all this love and grace that God has given me. like I can't help but begin to live this way because of what he's done in my life, because of what's taken place inside of my heart. So again, our prayer should be God, would you make us the most humble, gentle, patient group of people, not just on my own, but help me to be this with others? Help me to be this with this church and with this body. Because I I tell you what, it is really hard dealing with people. I've got a great witness right there. It's tough dealing with people. It's tough dealing with family. There's all these intricate complexities that that take place in people's lives. We all have different stories, different backgrounds, you know, we have different traumas, different hurts, all of it. It's it's it's hard. This isn't easy. what he's calling us to do. We have to come to know that being part of the church is being part of God's plan to transform our lives. It's through that humility and coming together that we start to change. We begin to come who he created us to be. Because again, the more that I unite with the body, the more I'm praying for others like I'm praying for myself, the more I grow in the understanding of the fullness of God and his love. The more I let go of myself and my preference, the more I surrender my heart to him and surrender my heart even to others, that's how I grow. I can't see my own blind spots unless I'm open to hearing about my blind spots. And the more that I come to the fullness of God, the more I learn who I am and the more I become like Jesus. And I can't I can't be like Jesus unless I'm humble because his heart is described as humble and gentle. So what better way to humble yourself than uniting with a bunch of messy, broken people? This was a perfect church until you chose to be here this morning. I'm skipping ahead here. He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, the teachers. Why? to equip the saints for the work of the ministry for building up the body of Christ until we attain to the unity of the faith of the knowledge of the son of God to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. The purpose of the church, the purpose of of pastors and leaders within this church is to equip the saints to become who Jesus saved you to be. That's it. That's why we're here. And and it looks like two different things. And and hopefully you hear this today in love. But our job is to call each and every one of us to a standard. This is the standard. We call we call us up to the standard through disciplehip and love. This is how we're supposed to live. And unfortunately, it looks a lot like exposing sin in people's lives. And I think this is like the hardest thing. And this is probably where so many people have have trauma, drama, daddy, mama issues with the church because sin was exposed in their hearts and lives. It was called to the surface and you were called to the carpet. And now you have to decide, am I gonna run from this right now and and cry they hurt me or am I gonna lean in and go, I'm gonna grow. >> I'm going to change. Like, you're calling me on my stuff right now and I got to grow. Like, if if I'm not challenging you to grow, every Sunday I'm up here, I don't think I'm doing my job. Like what are we doing here if not to grow? What are we doing here if not to be challenged? Why why even why even attend? Like because if if we're only here to socialize, this is just a club. >> We're here to grow to become like Christ. So again, there's a standard that we call people to, but then also we're here to be trained up. We're here to be trained in the giftings that God has given us, each unique to us, which I think is so beautiful. It's kind of funny because I I my kids when I'm driving around, my Levi, my youngest, he's he's three years old. He's always like, "Dad, can you play a crazy song?" like we're driving around and so I'll I'll turn on some like Andy Mo, you know, Larae, some like crazy rap song, Christian rap song and he's just like, you know, he's just dancing in the back, you know, in his in his car seat and he just loves it. But we discovered recently that Spotify has this uh AI DJ. Have any of you guys heard it? It's like DJX. Okay, cool. I love it. I turn it on and he's like, "Hey, what's up? It's your boy DJX." And it's like this whole this whole thing and it's it's very it's very funny. But my kids love it. They think there's a real person there picking out songs for them. And and and what's funny is they don't the kids don't realize it, but they're like, "Man, DJ X just always picks out the best songs." And I was just like, "Yeah." Um because he's going off of all of the songs that we've listened to. Like he's pulling the the the songs that we've already been playing. Like and he's finding new songs, too, that that coincide with the playlist that we've already made, right? It's picking out stuff that I already prefer. And I think so many times we will place ourselves into areas where we just have a playlist of all the things that we want to hear. >> And it's that Spotify playlist and it's like going on Netflix. You go on Netflix and and like it's kind of funny like you can tell where somebody at is at in their faith walk when you go look at their Netflix suggestions. Same thing with Spotify. Like what's being suggested to you is what you're already listening to and watching. Hey, like I go on Brit my my wife's Netflix and it's just all kid stuff, right? You go on mine, it's a different story. It's mostly war movies, but you know, that's just that's just me. But again, so many times if we're not rubbing shoulders with people with different walks in life or if we're choosing to only be in this bubble and echo chamber of hearing all the things where I'm just like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, amen. Amen. Amen." Like I've been learning more and more the best times on Sunday is when I say something and nobody says anything because it's like, "Oh snap, that's me." It's like, "Oh no, I'm being challenged." Whereas if everyone's saying, "Amen. Amen, preacher." It's like, "I'm already in agreement with this." Right? Sorry, that's just a pastor thing. But here's the thing. If we're only feeding ourselves with what we prefer, we miss out on all that God has for us. He has so many areas and even areas that we're blind to that he wants to speak to. And he uses the church. He uses these these pastors, preachers, prophets, teachers to help us do that. Again, we need to stop looking at at church or our our social media and and all the Christians and stuff that we're following. We need to stop looking at these these influencers as our Spotify playlist. And we need to start looking at the church as a special forces training unit. Like we're here to get trained up to go out into the world and make some changes and start transforming our families, start transforming our workplace, start transforming the lives of those around us. But most importantly, I'm growing and I'm being transformed as well >> to do the good works that God has called me to do. And it starts with us pushing back the preferences and saying, "God, whatever your word says I need, I want it. >> I want it." >> So going back, God has gifted everyone in this church >> with gifts. You may not be you may not see yourself as a pastor or as a as a prophet or an evangelist or any of these things, but there are other gifts. And those gifts are given to us to grow us into a place where we can equip others as well. Going back really quick to verse 7, but grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, it says, I'm just going to paraphrase, he ascended. Jesus died. He well, he descended. He came to earth. He died. He rose again. He ascended into heaven and said, "Hey, I'm sending my Holy Spirit and I've got all these gifts and all these things for you." That's basically what Paul is saying here in his very confusing way. But God gives us gifts in order to accomplish the task of doing good works and to build each other up in faith because his his plan is to bring heaven to earth. And so the gifts that he's given you in your life, it's to bring heaven into every area of your life and in in the lives of those that you have influence over. And I love this when we look at like 1 Corinthians 12 and we see all these other gifts. There's gifts of of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, speaking in tongues, and interpreting tongues. And and many times when we look at these giftings or when we look at even the the giftings of the positional gifts of the church again, evangelists, prophets, all these things, we can actually get into a place if our heart's not in the right place where we start to judge and we start to get jealous and we start to look at your gifting versus my gifting and we and we put ourselves in a place where we're in division even though we're all saying that we're trying to work this out and do this in unity. Like evangelists can easily go, "How come we're not all out in the streets evangelizing?" Scholars and teachers can say, "How come you're not studying as much as I do?" Prayer warriors, "How come everyone doesn't pray like I do?" Right? Prophets, how come you don't hear from God like I do? Givers in the church, why don't people give like I do or or work as hard as I do to give? And it's funny, like when we bring missionaries around, they're like, "How come everyone's not on the mission field overseas somewhere?" And I'm like, "Bro, we're in the mission field every day." So again, rather than appreciating the differences and realizing the spirit gives different gifts, we we start to compare and we create division rather than recognizing we all have a part to play. Because if we're one church, we're one body, we're one team, and what you have is not what I have, the influence that God has placed upon your life. I don't have I can't reach who you can reach. And and you can't reach who I'm reaching. God has called each and everyone and he's gifted each and every one of us to do this. Like I one of the things growing up playing soccer, I rode the bench pretty much junior and senior year playing soccer and it was really like it was really disheartening for for that first year. But it was funny because my coach because I wasn't really fast and I and I wasn't really great at scoring. My coach actually pulled me aside one day going into my senior year and uh he's a British guy. Okay, I'm not going to do his accent, but he he said, "Nikki, I need you to know the only reason that you're on this team is because you're the biggest guy out here." I had hit my growth spurt before everybody else. Like, I was I was skinny, but I had these really wide birthing hips that I still have today. And here's the thing, I was not afraid to throw a hip into somebody. And these little these little juniors and seniors who hadn't grown yet and hadn't eaten their waties like me, I could just boop and they would go flying. And so my coach and and my dad can can attest to this. My coach put me in really to be an enforcer in a foul people. And he said, "Hey, this guy's causing problems on our team, this guy in midfield." And so I was this utility player. I got put in on midfield. I played defense. I played offense. If there was a defender on the other team that was messing with us, he's like, "Go sit on that guy, you know, go go I got I got like three or four yellow cards and I got thrown out of the game one time like and I headbutted the dude and he started bleeding." Like there was it was intense. But here's the thing, I had a purpose. >> I was on the team for a reason. I wasn't going to score all the goals or or make all the plays, but when coach put me in, I had a job to do. >> When coach puts you in, you have a job to do. And it may not look like everybody else's job, but we are all a part of one body and one team. >> We all work together. We We If we win together, we win together. >> If you score, I score. >> If you make a play, we all make a play because we're one body. You may not have the gifting that I do, but that's why you're on the team. Like, we all need each other. And sometimes, you know, this world, especially in America, we're so independent-minded in our thinking. It's just like, I don't need anybody. It's just me against the world. Here's the thing. Like, I need prayer warriors to intercede for healing and faith in my life. Like, I we need evangelists to encourage and reach the lost. We need givers to fund the work of the ministry. We need teachers and shepherds to to guide the saints in scripture. We need apostles, missionaries, entrepreneurs to help start ministries and see strategies and vision. And we need prophets and spiritual fathers and mothers to speak heaven into our hearts. We need these things. We need these people. And and maybe it's hard to believe, but your life is a gift to somebody else. Your life is a gift to your family, to your children, to your friends. And sometimes it looks like exposing sin and growing in repentance, but then that leads to bearing fruit and growing in knowledge of him. Sometimes it's training up and gifting and empowering others to stand firm in the faith. And and I really want to focus on this because there's so many people that I can look back on my life and go because of your guidance and because of your leadership, I was able to stand firm in this moment. Because I look at verse 14, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes. There was a moment, I think I've told this story before, but bear with me. There was a moment in middle school. I was 13 years old, and I got invited to a friend's youth group Bible study thing at their church, and I get to the church, and I'm walking down the hallways, and I'm seeing all these pictures on the wall of like these angels with like these golden tablets, and then I see like Jesus talking to this guy in a suit, and it's like all these weird like pictures on the wall. And I'm like, what is what is going on here? Like things happening that I have no I I didn't know Jesus did this. Like is that Peter wearing a suit on the wall or like what's what's going on? All these things. And I sit down in Bible study and it was really nice. And everyone's just like smiling at me like, "Oh, we have a new person here." You know? You know when you go to church for the first time and everyone just smiles at you really creepily? Like we do that, too. Okay, we're sorry. We're trying to get better at it. But like everyone's looking at me like, "Here's a new person. Oh, so exciting." and and the the teacher comes to me and hands me a Bible and uh says, "Hey, can you read out of the book of of Second Nephew?" And I in my in my JBQ junior Bible quiz moment and then like looking back and like I had Randall and Penny Williams, they're not here today, but they were like my life kids teachers growing up. Like they they raised me up in kids church and I'm I'm I'm having a moment and I'm just like what do I do? And I look at the teacher and I'm like, um, that's not a book of the Bible. And the teacher's like, no, it's right there after the book of Revelation. And I was like, I need a cell phone to call my mom because there is no book after Revelation. I'm in the wrong church. I'm in the wrong place. Like, what is going on? I was at a Mormon church. My dad's shaking his head. He's like, "I cannot believe we let you do this." But it's true. Like this happened. But but thank God for the the teachers in my life who raised me up in the way that I should go that in a moment when the pressure gets turned on, I can sit there and go like, "This isn't right." >> Like are we raising up our kids in this way? Do we see ourselves as as those that can empower others to withstand these moments and these trials? That's what we're called to do. We're called to empower those around us and to train up in the way that they should go. And here's what's so cool. Like the best part of all of this, that whole story is that evening I got baptized in the Holy Spirit because I was on my face crying out for my friends who I knew were lost. It's powerful. Again, when people try to change the truth of God's word to fit their preferences or lifestyle, I can say, "Nope, I go to a church that preaches the truth. I'm a part of a church that knows the word of God." Verse 15, rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which is is equipped. When each part is working properly, it makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. At the head of the church is not a pastor. >> It's Jesus. We cannot expect to grow in love and unity without Jesus at the center of our lives. I want to invite the worship team up. We each have something to offer this place. And if we don't offer it, we're not going to function properly. And I I've said this already, but this is hard. This is difficult for us to come together and work together, all the different personalities, all the different things. Because too often we we struggle, some of us, we struggle to recognize our gifts or again we compare our gifts or we belittle our gifts or we we allow them to atrophy and never actually use them. But I've also seen people abuse their gifts and use those gifts to control and manipulate people. And it's tough. And I'm and I'm sorry if that's been the case in your life. But so often we read passages like this and we get so fixated on the gifts. We get so fixated on the positions that we forget what it's all about. We forget about the the plan that God has for us to bring heaven to earth. And we can put ourselves in a position where we fear leaders and we and we assume that there's some kind of ulterior motive and agenda and we're afraid of the gifts of the spirit because we feel like maybe their motives are misguided. But something for us today, if our gifts matter more than our heart, that's a sign that there needs to be a shift. If your gifts matter more than your heart, something has to be made right. We talked about this already in 1 Corinthians 12, like all of those different gifts for the body of Christ. And here's what's so cool. We got we got 1 Corinthians 12 and then right after that we have the famous love chapter where Paul [Music] in verse one he says if I speak in the tongues of men or of angels but I do not have love I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but I do not have love, I'm nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but I don't have love, I gain nothing. Here's what I love about this series in Ephesians. The whole first three chapters, we're addressing this very thing. Addressing the heart. If we can't get the heart right, it doesn't matter what giftings you have. It doesn't matter all the things that you can do. It matters. God is way more concerned about our hearts. When we stand before him and say, "God, look at all the things that I did." But we don't know him in our hearts. He says, "Away from me. I never knew you." This needs to be the focus. Like we're going to talk about giftings. We're going to talk about challenges and ways to handle things. But if our hearts are not where they need to be, this is this is all just going to be noise. [Music] As I was driving in this morning, the Lord started sharing this with me. Could it be? Could it be that God has all of the gifts that you need to accomplish the dreams that he's put on your heart, but he's waiting for you to surrender your heart to him? Could it be that everything that you need is just on the other side of this doorway? And in order to walk through, you have to lay your heart at his feet. I got everything you need. Every every dream that I've placed upon your heart, the things that I've written on the scroll of your life before the foundation of the earth, I have everything you need. God has everything that we need right now. But he needs a heart surrendered. What if Jesus and his love and grace, get this, what if he has something better for you? Again, we read it already in Ephesians 3. He has exceeding abundant above all we ask, think, or imagine. Can we get this today? >> Like what if you have a plan in your mind? You have this idea of God, if if you'll gift me in this way, I can do this. Or God, I can I can I can stretch out and and do all these different things, but but he's saying, "Where's your heart? Where's your he