Richard Ellis Talks

Richard Ellis: It is a battleship. And if we pick you up along the way out of the water because you've been injured somehow, you're a casualty of war and we take you in, we'll let you be in the infirmary for a while, but at some point, you got to get back up on your feet and you're going to war. You're going to be one of the soldiers. This is not a cruise ship, it is a battleship.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. Thanks for allowing us to share this time with you. You may be stuck in traffic or stuck in life. Either way, today's message is going to help you get on the right track as you learn how much God loves you right where you are. Richard's unique style checks all the boxes with a lot of hope, insight, truth, and of course, humor. Today's talk with Richard will get our conversation started, but we want to keep it going with you. So let's stay in touch through our website, richardellis.com. But right now, let's go ahead and get right into today's talk. Here is Richard Ellis.

Richard Ellis: The title of today's message is "Go Ahead." I looked up about three different definitions for this word and it's not any kind of wacky title, it's just a powerful couple of words put together. And go ahead can mean permission or a signal to proceed. It can mean moving forward, advancing. It's an adjective characterized by energy and assertiveness. A signal to proceed, readiness to embark on bold new ventures. Go ahead.

Now I'm not even sure how I'm going to explain this, because one of the strange things about starting a church with 15 people and growing it, it gets to a certain point. I literally had to come to a place in the process where I realized that we needed elders. The advisory team that we had at that time, we selected some elders. We got in who we needed deacons, we got deacons. And the process unfolds, but sometimes the person who starts a business is not the person who can keep it going.

Sometimes the person who starts a business, an entrepreneurial soul can get things up and running, but really doesn't have the skill set to take it to the next level. Now, if you think I'm resigning today, don't get your hopes up. That's not what's happening. I know some of y'all sat up excitedly. But part of what I had to do somewhere along the way was say, "Okay, Lord, this is not my church. This is your church. If it is possible that I cannot be the person or one of the persons to take it where it needs to go because it is not mine, it is yours, then I yield." And for me, that was a very big day.

And if you've got kids, you may understand something about this. You have kids and you think, "These are my kids." And then one day it hits you, "These are not my kids." These are little human beings that have been put in my home either by adoption or through a womb and I am a steward of these little lives. I am a steward of these people.

Now, when I got through that and finally realized, well, maybe he'd let me stay and maybe you'd let me stay and here I am and we've got elders, we've got things in place. The fact remains that I have a certain skill set and I don't have other skill sets. And so for me, the gospel is a huge thing, evangelism is a big deal, reaching people. But churches require structure. Any organism, any family, anything in the world that's going to work and function properly has to have structure.

So as uncomfortable as it is for me and as much as my brain doesn't understand certain things—I mean if you've ever been to the office you know, I don't even have a desk. I have this thing with platforms, just little shelf things, because if I had drawers or anywhere to stuff something, I'd stuff everything I've got. I can put paper down flat, I don't understand how you turn it and put it in files. That doesn't make any sense to me. So if you handed me a stack of papers and said, "Turn it into files," I'd probably just jump off a balcony somewhere because I just don't get that.

And there is a challenge at least for me, and if you are this way and I'll read some verses in a minute so you think it's actually a sermon, but it is a challenge for me when I get to a place to say, "Okay, this is what I know how to do and I am going to let go of this other stuff that I don't know how to do." Now, I don't really have a problem letting go of it if I trust the people I'm letting go of it too, but I feel horrible. I think, "Well, why would I ask you guys to do something that I really should be doing myself or could do myself? Why let it go? You'll feel like, 'Why don't you do it?'"

When really the case is that a lot of people in churches are just waiting for a go ahead. The engine's running, the RPMs are up, there's excitement, there's joy in getting a chance to do what God made you to do. And I start thinking, "Well, if I've got so much joy and satisfaction in doing and being what God made me to do and be, then why would I steal that or would we try to steal that from you?" So I'm going to try to say what I'm going to say and then go back and try to say it.

We are in the process of trying to give this thing away to you. Not to random people that walk in the door and say, "Hey, I've got a great idea. I'm going to take over," but to people that who have been here, who are committed, who are the part of this core group of what we call a church, who say, "I'm passionate about this and I've got gifts and I've got abilities and I have willingness and I have desire and I'll help." And trying to take this thing, these parts, and organize them together, which I am not gifted at doing, but I'm just telling you straight out, that is a necessity, that is a need, and that's where we're headed.

Now, I don't know how much time that's going to take. I don't think it'll take more than 10 years, but it is a process of identifying the people who have the skill sets and then letting those people—we got three elders at this point. We cannot do this. And I'll read you in a minute part of what our responsibility is as elders. The elders' job is to oversee without overlooking stuff, not to make everything that happens happen. So we are trying to figure out the best way, the wisest way to delegate these things. And I'll give you some examples of that in a minute. In fact, let me read you some verses. Matthew chapter 16. If you'll turn there first. This isn't going to go all left to right like I usually try to do, jump around, so just track with me.

Matthew chapter 16 verse 13. "When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, 'Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?' So they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' And He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter,'" changed his name to Peter, Petros, which means rock. He says, "'on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.'"

And by the way, this is before Peter ever denied him. Jesus knew Peter would deny him, he gave him a job anyway. And gave him an assignment and gave him authority. And then Peter had to learn something through hitting the bottom later before Jesus was crucified. So Jesus said what? "I will build My church." This is not your church, this is not my church, this is Jesus' church. And He will build it.

And when He comes in and says, "Okay, I'm going to build it," He is a master craftsman, He is a master builder. He knows what he's doing. He knows where the slab is, He is the cornerstone. And I'll read you some verses in a second. Well, you know what, go to Ephesians chapter 2. Let's just read them. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19. And Paul here writing to this church describes them and what they're a part of.

Ephesians 2:19. "Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the spirit." So He is putting us together. He knows what parts go where and how this thing is supposed to function.

And if you believe that you are supposed to be in this specific church, this body of believers, I've said before and I think this is understood, it is a battleship. And if we pick you up along the way out of the water because you've been injured somehow, you're a casualty of war and we take you in, we'll let you be in the infirmary for a while, but at some point you got to get back up on your feet and you're going to war. You're going to be one of the soldiers. This is not a cruise ship, it is a battleship.

And so many churches are just big cruise ships. "We'll build a nice building for you, you give a little money, we'll hire the cruise directors and everybody to make it happen and you just come enjoy." You know what, you're never going to enjoy the Christian life until you are letting God work in you and through you and serve. It will never make any sense.

Go to Mark chapter 16. This is after Jesus had been raised from the dead. Mark 16 verse 9. "Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After that He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either. Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at table, and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.'" We have the go ahead. We have been authorized. There's no one that can stop us but us.

Now I don't want to make too much of this, but I don't want to be unclear about this either. There are things in the world and in Christian circles called parachurch ministries, and that means outside of, it's not the church. And what I'm afraid happens for too long is this: that some godly men, women, people say, "You know what, there is a ministry, there's something that has to get done and the church is not getting it done. We're going to go around the church, outside of the church and figure this out and get it done because there's too much at stake."

Now, it is okay for there to be ministries. A church can have ministries, but ministries are not churches. Now some of you say, "What are you talking about?" If you know what I'm talking about, track with me. Down the road, you may understand this. Jesus has got one bride, period. And He is going to get it done through her, and we are she. It's probably not good English, but it sounded better than "we are her." We are she. It just rhymes or something like that. We are her. Oh wow. And if you say I'm right, I am right. So we are she.

Now you say, "Well, what's the big deal with that? Why do you emphasize that?" Because the same thing happens with the church that happens with affairs. If some guy says, "You know what, I'm not getting what I need at home. I'll rent me a wife. I'll pay somebody take care of me. We're going to get this done one way or another." And my encouragement to you is be the bride. Be the body, be the church, stick with it.

And you say, "Well, but you guys are not figuring this out fast enough. I'm going somewhere." You know what, who gave you the right to decide where you're going all of a sudden? You say, "Well, are you telling me you can tell me where to go?" I didn't even mention me. You better be talking to God about where you up and go. Because if you just think you can up and leave here and go off someplace because you don't like it here, you're going to be a pain in their butt as long as you're there because you got a horrible attitude. You say, "Holy Spirit, where am I supposed to be?" And if he tells you to be here, then shut up and serve. I love saying shut up because I can't say it in my house. See I just...

And you say, "But I'm still, I'm frustrated." You know what, I'm frustrated too. Because the world's going to hell and people's lives suck and there are people on drugs and families falling apart and we can't get to them fast enough. Well, we're going to do what we can, but we've got to at least believe in the organism, the thing.

And just because I get frustrated, if my wife gets frustrated with me that I'm not the best husband or she's not the best wife, which I am not saying that, I want to be clear, you can't just run out and fix it. You go back and say, "Lord, I got challenges here. How do we do this?" And He says, "Keep talking to Me. Keep talking, keep serving. It'll come together because I'm going to build it."

Now I get real jazzed up about this because I believe in this thing with everything I've got. Because it is so insanely impossible to get this, you are the church, you are this church. Whoever you are right now here, and if you're praying about coming and being a part of this church, you need to know straight up, we are not here to entertain you. We are here to point you to the throne, to the King of kings and the Lord of lords and find out what God made you to do and help you do that and be that. And do it together as a unit, as a body, as a family.

Go to Acts chapter 6. Let me give you an example. There's a situation here and I've had some frustration with the situation and the words that have been used here and I'll explain that in a minute. Acts chapter 6 verse 1. "Now in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplying," there were thousands of people being saved, becoming Christians, followers of Christ. "There arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists."

And what I love about this is there's diversity in the problem. It wasn't a Hebrew church, it wasn't a Hellenist church, it was a church and it was made up of a little bit of everybody and there's a problem. There's a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, the Greek Christians, because their widows, the Greek widows, were neglected in the daily distribution. Here these widows had become Christians and they were trying to do the deal. And every day this church was doing such amazing stuff that they literally distributed food every day to the Christians who needed that.

Then the twelve, the disciples, summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables." Do you think it's that they weren't willing to serve tables? That's not the point. It's not wise. "Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation," now look at the criteria. "Seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business."

We have to delegate this and we're not just going to give it to somebody who just walked up. Who do you know? Who do we have that you know if we handed this over to them, they don't just have business skills and logistical abilities. Look at what he starts with: good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. This is not just some business. This is God's business. "But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word."

And the saying pleased the whole multitude. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. Then the word of God spread, the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.

Here's what makes me crazy about this passage: he didn't call them deacons. So when you look in 1 Timothy, these passages that talk about elders and deacons, there is no job description. And we got deacons around here and one of their frustrations when we picked them was, "Well, what is our job?" And we said, "We don't know." And so for a few years, literal, they were frustrated, we're frustrated. You know, well, what is the job description? We don't know.

And the elders, we'd look at each other and go, "Well, where is it?" Because you can't just make this stuff up, you have to back it up with scripture. And this is what we finally arrived at: they're servants. You say, "Well duh, isn't that what the word means?" Exactly, and that's what it is. It's servants.

Now one of the coolest things, and I've been in lots of churches in my life, and one of the nightmares for pastors, elders, church leaders are people who come in and cannot submit to authority. You want a disaster at work, at home, at church, is to have people who don't understand authority. You got authority in the military. The military would not work unless there's authority. In a church, our job, the elders' job is to serve you. The pyramid doesn't go from the top down, it goes from a point at the bottom up. We're not here trying to lord it over anybody, the scripture literally says, "Don't do that."

My job, the elders' jobs here is to serve you. It's to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry. It's to find out what God made you to do it and allow you to go do that. But because we have such an amazing body of believers and people who are terrified to cross the lines of authority, I think there's almost a fear to ask for a go ahead to do something. So I'm going to say this as carefully and as clearly as I can. Go ahead.

If you know leadership in this church, it doesn't have to be me, and that leadership knows you and you're in a situation and something needs to be done, do it. You say, "Well, what if I get in trouble?" I would rather everybody be trying something and screwing up than doing nothing. We'll get nowhere. This has to be pushed out. It's got to be given away or we will just huddle up waiting for the bureaucracy to make a decision.

And the bureaucracy, potentially in a church, elders, people that lead things, get so bottled down and bogged down with stuff going on, we can't even get to that stuff sometimes. You've got to do it. I wish I had a big sword and just knight all of you or something. You are authorized to do the work of the ministry.

And you say, "What is the work of the ministry?" It's if someone's in trouble, don't call the office and say, "Oh, I met someone, they're in trouble, you need to talk to them." You need to talk to them, leave me alone. I love talking to people, but I can't talk to but so many people. And if you give them to me, I get the joy and you miss out. Now if you get in over your head, say, "You know what, I need somebody to tag with and put them in the ring because I'm done. I don't know what to do after this." But you do know what to do way past what you realize.

What else? There's got to be some more verses I had in here. Go to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. This is Paul writing to the church at Ephesus again. This is what he says. "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called." Now look at who you're supposed to be, who we are supposed to be. "With all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

And then he goes on talking about there's "one body, one spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all." Then he goes on talking about spiritual gifts. In verse 11, he says, "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." And goes on to describe that.

So why am I going to get in your business? Why am I going to talk to you? Why am I going to challenge you? Why am I going to love you? Why am I going to chase you down? Why are we going to keep doing this? Because someone died for us and someone has bothered to breathe life into us. And all He asks is that we breathe some life into some other people and stick together and do whatever it takes, no matter what it costs. You have the go ahead.

You say, "Well, what does that really mean?" If you get in a situation and you say, "Lord, you've equipped me, right?" Yes. "There's something for me to do right here?" Yes. "Am I authorized to do it?" Yes. You say, "Well, I felt led to buy someone a car and I'll turn the receipt in." Maybe not so much. You might want to call that one in. And there's stuff that we're going to have to learn together.

We are downtown here in Dallas, Texas. We have homeless people and all kind of people come. A guy last Sunday came up to me and said, "Hey, can I have $20? I need to whatever." I said, "No sir, we don't hand out money on Sundays." You say, "Well, are you telling us not to hand out money?" Absolutely not. There's some things the body needs to do, and if you do, you need to let somebody know you're doing it because we do have people that will work four or five people and then we'll have a disaster.

So there needs to be wisdom with this, but let's start talking about it. If you see a need, you find out, you hear. See here's what happens: you hear a need and some woman in the church, single mom, widows, got a toilet that doesn't work, fix her toilet. And stand up on a Sunday, call the office, whatever, talk to one of the deacons. Find out—you say, "Well I don't know who they are." Read your bulletin, the elders and deacons are there. Say, "Look, I got a situation, I got an idea, can we do this?"

And then our job is to serve you and find out how we go serve these people and get her done and mobilize. You say, "But I'm waiting for the church to tell me what to do." Stop waiting. You are the church. You mobilize us. You're out there in the trenches, you're out there on the front line. You see somebody go down, you mobilize an effort and make it happen. And if you need support, call it in. Say, "Here's what we need. Is that okay? We're going to go build a house, we're going to go fix a toilet, we're going to paint a house, we're going to do whatever." There's all kind of ministry opportunities. You've got to take some initiative and do it.

The reason there's air traffic control towers, they didn't build those things when there weren't airplanes. They built them because the airplane numbers increased and they were crashing into each other, or could. The planes are flying. And when we get to the place where we need to put a full-time person just to coordinate that, we'll do that, but for the time being, let's get some planes taking off and landing, keep them going, and then we'll try to coordinate that effort. This bunch of people can take the planet and you've got the go ahead to do it. All right? So be thinking, keep your eyes open, your ears open to needs and situations. Greater love has no man than this, than a man lay his life down for his friends. Jesus must love us or he never would have died for us. And we got a go ahead from him to do the same.

Guest (Male): We'll get back to Richard in a moment to close out today's talk. But first, I want to share something with you about the program. Our mission is actually very simple: to take the planet. So it's our prayer that these daily talks from Richard aren't something you only hear and enjoy, but that they inspire you to share with others. Together, we can do this. The message of the gospel is something everyone needs to hear. And that's why it's a huge priority to us. And you can join us in this important mission. Call us at 855-6-RICHARD to say you're in, or you can get on board with us through our website, richardellis.com. Well, here's Richard with some closing thoughts for us.

Richard Ellis: Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for you, Jesus. Thank you that this stuff works. And I thank you God that it's not dependent on one or two or three people, Lord, that this is a collective corporate family, body, bride, all the words we use, Lord. This is a flock that moves together, that protects one another and is about doing what you left us here to do, to seek and to save that which was lost. I pray that we would not confuse submitting to authority with being challenged and given the go ahead, Lord, to do the work of the ministry that you have clearly called us to and equipped us to do.

Father, there's bound to be somebody out here somewhere listening today who doesn't know you. And I pray that you'd help them understand that you do love them, that no matter what they've gotten themselves into or what's happened to them, that there is hope in this life and way beyond this life and that you gave the life of your precious Son, Jesus. You let him die on a cross, be buried and raised from the dead, shed his blood to cover their sin. And you purchased a place in heaven that you offer as a free gift.

Lord, may somebody today just simply say, "God, I've screwed up my life. I am a sinner. There's no other word to use. I have sinned against you. I'm wrong, you're right. And I've tried to justify my behavior and rationalize everything away. I'm saying uncle so I can say Father. I believe that Jesus died on that cross to pay for my sin, was buried and raised from the dead to give me eternal life. I accept the forgiveness of my sins and this gift of eternal life is just that, a gift. I know I cannot pay for it and I don't deserve it, but I say thank you and accept it.

Get me to the place, Lord, where I can serve in your kingdom, where I can make a difference, where I can be a part of this body, a part of your church that mobilizes, that moves to make things happen and see this world changed for your honor and your glory and for your namesake." We love you, Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we pray it all in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): This has been Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. The message of the gospel is one we take very seriously in our mission to reach the planet. And you have a vital part of doing that along with us. If you've been encouraged by these talks with Richard, be sure to tell someone about the change they've made in your life. You can even share today's talk with them through the website, richardellis.com. And we'd love to hear your story as well as to how these talks have made a difference to you.

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