For today, the topic that we’re going to talk about is **teaming**. Teaming. Some of you like, “I don’t know, is that really a word?” It is. I looked it up and I made sure because I don’t know that I’ve ever actually used it, but I was thinking, how do I say this in a shorter, quicker way and give clarity? And so I made sure it was a word.

Definition of Teaming

And here’s the definition of the word if you look it up. I looked it up. And it is working together as a team to achieve a common goal. Right? Working together. Teaming means working together as a team to achieve a chosen goal, a common goal, a desired goal. You can say it however you want, but I like the word “common goal.”

You see, nothing of great value is achieved without teaming. Right? Yeah. And some of you might say, “Wait a minute. I just watched the Masters golf tournament. Rory McIlroy just won that tournament all by himself.” And I would say, “No, he didn’t.”

If you look back at his life, there were a lot of people that contributed to him arriving there and him winning that tournament. He in fact told about his parents and how they resourced his ability to be able to golf at a young age and dropping him off at the golf clubs. And you know there’s a lot of coaches along the way, there’s a lot of peers. There’s a lot of people that are leaning in and helping him.

And if you watched him, if you’re a golf fan, you watched him make his walk to the Butler Cabin, then you could see him hugging neck after neck after neck after neck and tears are flowing because he knew he didn’t get there by himself.

You see, nothing of great value, nothing of great value is achieved without teaming.

You might say, “Well, my favorite singer wrote and recorded a song that was a number one hit.” Same thing. Nobody gets there. It’s the person who, you know, their name is on the song or they were the actual soloist, but nobody gets anywhere valuable by themselves.

And let’s just break it down to today. The building that you’re sitting in, there’s lumber from a forest. Somebody cut down the lumber. There’s iron, there’s iron workers, there’s metal, there’s steel, there’s cement. In just the physical part, right? If you track it back in just the physical locations that you’re in today, the chairs that you’re sitting in today, it took thousands of people to get the building where it is right now.

And then you add to that this congregation that you’re a part of today. Nobody has done this church thing and made this church thing happen by themselves. It has taken thousands of people over years of time to come together in what the Bible calls the church, God’s great church, to be able to have over a hundred people baptized today.

John Maxwell said this. He said, “As much as we admire solo achievement, the truth is that no lone individual has done anything of value.” Somebody say, “Wow.” Wow.

Scripture

Now, I want to read to you a scripture, Philippians 1:27 in the ERV, because I love how it’s worded. It really fits in the ERV. And it’s going on your screen. And let’s—I just look at it as I read it to you. It says:

“Just be sure”—this is Paul to the Philippian church—”just be sure that you live as God’s people.” All right? “In a way that honors the good news of Christ, then if I come and visit you or I am away from you, whether I’m there or not, I will hear good things about you. I will know that you stand together with the same purpose and that you work together like a team.”

That you stand together for the same purpose and that you work together like a what? Like a team. That you work together like a what? Now why? What is our common goal? What is—there it is. He wraps it up with “to help others believe the good news.”

That’s the purpose. That’s the common goal. I want you to know or I want to know—the Apostle Paul says that you stand together, not apart.

Let’s Work Together

That you stand together in unity, not division. That you stand together with the same purpose and that you work together. Everybody say, “Work together.” Work together. Say, “Let’s work together.” Let’s work together. Say it to the person next to you. “Let’s work together. Let’s work together. Let’s work together.” How? Like a what? Like a team. Like a team to help others believe the good news.

Now, next week, I’m going to talk about the difference in a group and a team. And it’s going to get fun as we talk about that because some people think, “Well, you know, I’m on the team because I show up.” No, no, no, no. Groups are not teams. But that’s for another week.

Okay. Teaming is in the nature of God himself. Okay. Some people think that this is secular or just totally about sports. Let’s go back and let’s just get right into the biblical scriptural dynamic of teaming.

Teaming is in the nature of God himself. Genesis chapter 1, God said, “Let us”—everybody say, “Us”—”Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, our image.” Those are all plural words. “And they will rule.”

They, not just he or she. I’ve always told—I’ve always said, you know, when we build our church, when we grow our church, I don’t want a “he” church and I don’t want a “she” church. I want a “they” church. I want a “they” church. I don’t want a church where the women put the men down and the men put the women—or the men put the women down. I want a church where men and women come together in the beauty of how God created us to function as a “they.”

He goes on and says, “And he created them male and female.”

So you got there some verbiage—you got “us,” “our,” “they,” “them.” But from the very beginning, God reveals himself not as a lone operator but as a team. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit working in perfect unity as a team.

The Godhead

Make sure when you think about Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you don’t get them like at odds with each other or so individualized that you forget how they are one. Like they don’t have arguments. They don’t debate over what they should actually do. They are clearly distinct in the Godhead and yet they are so united. And they are so one that the Lord himself is one Lord, one God.

It may be mysterious to us, but you could think of the Godhead like, you know, like your body, your soul, your spirit. You could think of the Godhead like, you know, water—you can freeze water, it’s an ice cube. You can heat it, it becomes steam. It’s all H2O. However you want to, just remember what I’m saying—there is a bonding, there is a power. God himself, the nature of God himself is teaming. Teaming.

The Nature of God

As soon as God made Adam, he took one look and said, “It is not good for him to be alone.” He will get himself in trouble. He doesn’t know how to wash. He doesn’t know how to clean. He doesn’t—I don’t know. Just having fun. But amen.

My wife is back in this building today!

A World Without Women

And he made them Adam and Eve. Yeah. And all the men, like we thank God for that, don’t we? I know. I don’t want to be in a world without women. No way. No way. And my wife doesn’t want to be in a world without men. Yeah. You better say amen right there.

Like, you know, Oxygen Conference is coming and, you know, there’ll be men all around and men will be supporting—or I don’t think it could actually happen. Like that’s just my opinion. I don’t think—no laugh on that one. I thought that was funny. But okay.

But the point I was really going to make is everybody will be anxious for Sunday when we’re all together again. Like it’s great that we are distinct and yet we have the ability to have a common bond.

Something Sacred About Teaming

And let me say it like this for somebody who might be a little slow in this thing. Maybe it’s a little deep, but hear me when I say there’s something sacred about teaming.

I’m going to pause right there because I want you to not just think of, “Oh, a sports team, a military team.” There’s something sacred about teaming. Right? If you go to a wedding, there’s a verse of scripture that’s always used: “What God joins together, let no man separate.” Because it’s what? Sacred.

So good. And although that verse refers to marriage, it goes far beyond that. Teaming is sacred. Like people who have no honor for a team end up being against God. I promise you.

People who don’t honor teaming end up in their life being against God. Because there’s something sacred—yes—about teaming.

Proverbs chapter 6 tells us six things that God hates. And it says the seventh thing is an abomination to him. Like this is way off the page. God not just hates it. It’s an abomination to God. You know what the seventh thing is? Anyone who causes division or strife among brothers.

Where do you get there? How do you get there if teaming doesn’t have a sacred dynamic and element to it ordained by God?

Yes, there’s a lot of examples in scripture of God’s people teaming. Lots of examples.

Moses and Joshua Teaming Up

When Moses, for example, was called to lead, Moses was like, “Really? Me? I can’t talk good. I don’t know what to say.” Yeah, I think you got the wrong guy. So God says, “Okay, I’m going to put people around you because you do have a point there. But I’m calling you.” And so God put a guy named Aaron, a guy named Hur, another guy named Joshua. He called them to surround Moses. Right.

And there was a day where the Amalekites were coming to attack the Israelites. And Moses said to Joshua, “Hey, let’s team up. I’m older than you are. You’re younger. You’re a warrior. You’re a leader. You go down in the battlefield, take some warriors with you and stand against the enemy that is coming in to take our land. I will go in obedience to God to the top of the hill. And this rod is a symbol of God being with us. And he’s been with us up until now. And he won’t fail us now. I will hold the rod up before heaven. And as I hold it up before heaven, it will bring God’s blessing on you and the warriors who are defending our land and our city.”

So they started teaming up. Well, the battle started raging and as it continues, Moses got tired and his arms just started to drop. Aaron and Hur said, “Can’t let that happen.” All right. And they brought a stone and rolled it over to where Moses was standing. And they got him a place where he could sit down on a stone. And then one got on both sides and they held up his arms all through the battle.

And as long as the rod was up, the Bible says that you could see the battle was going for Joshua and for God’s people. But when he had started getting tired, his arms were sagging, the battle would go the other way.

Point again, there’s something sacred about teaming. There’s something—God, it brings God’s favor into our life. When we unite together in the agreement, in the power of teaming before God, that solicits and brings the favor of God upon our lives. Can you shout amen?

Jesus Chose 12

Jesus chose twelve. Everybody say “teaming.” Teaming. He could have been like, “That’s easier. I can do it all by myself. Who wants to put up with Peter? He’s got issues. And I know one of these guys, they’re going to probably betray me anyway.” Like, that’s just—I don’t know. God, can we—Father, can we—like no, choose twelve. It’s called—everybody say it again, what is it? It’s teaming.

Paul the Apostle Paul traveled with Barnabas, Silas, and Timothy. Everybody say “teaming.” Teaming.

There’s another great story in the Bible in the New Testament where word got out that Jesus was in Capernaum and people came and crowded into the house where Jesus was at. Pretty soon the living room got filled and the windows were being sat in and it spilled out into the streets and the crowd kept coming and it kept getting bigger. They wanted to hear Jesus talk and hear him teach.

And so he was sitting in the house and just sharing and talking to them about God and their life and the goodness of God and those kinds of things that Jesus talked about. And all of a sudden there was a pounding above him and the roof started, you know, a saw came through and a hole started being cut. And I’m just imagining a little bit of this, but it’s pretty—like this is the way basically, I don’t know if they had hammers or saws or whatever they used, but pretty soon there was a hole cut in the roof of a house. Yeah.

And some men—let me just read to you. I got it in scripture in Mark chapter 2. It says, “Some men came bringing to him a paralyzed man carried by four of them.” And since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat that the man was lying on.

Now, the next line is what I wanted to show you. It says, “When Jesus saw their faith”—doesn’t say “his faith” or just the paralytic’s faith. It says, “When Jesus saw”—say it with me—”their faith.” Their faith.

Somebody say “teaming.” Teaming. His heart was moved like there’s something sacred is what I’m telling you today.

And I want you to understand the sacred part because I think many people undervalue how holy and sacred it is to be teaming with God’s people. Yeah, I think the enemy has deceived a lot of people today. And they have allowed themselves through offenses. They’ve allowed themselves through lies of the enemy, through the lie that, you know, “I don’t need anybody. I just serve Jesus on my own in my own quiet way.” The enemy has pulled a lot of people away.

And I always envision when I talk—I envision if you—I watch the animal predator kind of scenes from South Africa. A lion that is hunting will always try to separate that one from the pack. And I see this over and over in my ministry. I’ve seen people form an attitude about teaming and they don’t understand the spiritual nature. And they don’t understand the dynamics involved and the sacredness of teaming.

“Where two or three are gathered in my name,” he says, “there am I in the midst of them.” Why didn’t he say, you know, just one? Why are the words of scripture so clear?

And I’m talking to people around the rooms today who have your reasons and you have your logic. And I’m appealing to you on day one of this series. I’m appealing to you to understand it’s not what you think. Yeah. It’s not just pragmatic, fill out a card. It’s not just like, you know, the practical part. Yes, to be teaming, we have to be on the same page. You have to know what your church is about. You have to find your way around it and be familiar with the process. You got to know who’s who, where do I go to talk about this, where do I—how do I join a team? And we do all of the practical, but please don’t—and again, some of you who have been hurt, you have turned your back on teaming and you don’t think it matters and you’re missing out on God’s plan, right? And God’s potential for your life.

You see, things happen in an environment of team that have to do with building character.

When You Quit the Team

I’ve always loved sports and been on a lot of teams in my life and there are times where you just want to quit the team. Yeah. You don’t want to be a part—like you got this guy and that guy and this coach and I don’t like them and what am I doing? I don’t want to do this anymore. And it happens all the time. Like in sports it happens and in business it happens. And I understand. I’m not saying—you know, anything about it. Not. But I am saying that when you work through it—that’s right—something grows in you.

And it’s amazing how much when you read your Bible about the character that God wants to develop in you and you put it alongside a team, it’s amazing how many times teaming actually works on those same things that God is working on in you through his spirit and wanting you so much to grow up and mature and get past that issue that you have. Wow.

Teaming takes away your big “I.” Everybody who becomes a great part of a great team, they have to get humble somewhere. There has to be a selflessness. There has to be a time where they’re like, “It’s not about me. It’s about the team.” And then when they do that often enough, like that character starts growing, right? And they become really good at teaming.

They also got to know when it’s their time to contribute. That’s true. The contributor part of them starts to come out. Like, “I can’t leave this to everybody else. I got to do my part. I got to weigh in on the encouragement. I got to lean in on the contribution. I gotta—I got to do my part in the field. I don’t just—I don’t just leave it to everybody else and I take a nap when we’re out in the outfield.”

Watching Little Leaguers

And no, I got to—you watch little leaguers, they do that. Like it’s funny, Little League baseball. You go by and you watch sometimes and the kids are like in the field, their glove’s off and they’re like—I don’t know. They haven’t learned yet about teaming. And there’s a lot of people that are fully grown that still have a mindset and the enemy uses all of that to rob people from the benefit. Oh man. And the maturity that God wants to bring in all of our lives.

We All Stand

I know when I’ve trained young people, taught our young church, and we still do some of this, but one of the rules we had with just young people in our youth services is, “Hey, when we stand, we all stand.”

And I want to do that sometimes in here. Maybe I have, but it’s just like, you know, when it’s just this nonchalant lack of honor. It really is a lack of honor for teaming. I don’t care. I don’t care. You don’t feel like—I mean obviously if you have problems standing, it’s painful—that’s not my point. But teaching young people about teaming: When we stand, we all stand. Like when we sing, we sing. Like when we clap, we clap. We don’t all sit there like this and go—not if you’re on the team. Not if you understand teaming. Like you come along and you contribute. You join in. You join in.

How about everybody clap right now everywhere? Like just clap your hands. You join in. There’s something sacred about it. Yes, it’s great.

Don’t Plow With an Ox

Teaming can be as detrimental as it is beneficial. In other words, the wrong teaming can hurt you as much as the right teaming can help you.

There’ll be people, if you allow it to happen, who will influence you in the wrong direction. Yeah. And just like God sends people into your life that you’re meant to team up with, the enemy sends people into your life to take you away from the people God has planned for you to do life with.

There’s a verse of scripture in Deuteronomy 22 and it has to do with God’s people. They were free from slavery. They’re now free to be landowners, you know, and developers, and they’re in their new promised land. And so this is basically in Deuteronomy—it’s just practical instructions that God was giving to the farming and the agricultural community. Okay? So they can put seed in the ground, plow the ground, put seed in the ground, see a harvest.

And here’s what the verse said, Deuteronomy 22:10. It says, “Don’t plow with an ox and a donkey together.”

The good old King James says, “Don’t plow with an ox and an ass.” But I’m not in the King James. I’m in the NIV with a donkey and an ox. But I want you to understand the reason God just said that was to remind them that a donkey has a different spirit than an ox. It has a different gait when it walks than an ox. And if you put a donkey with an ox, you’ll actually slow the ox down. And pretty soon you will literally have an ox who is not only plowing a field but dragging a donkey along with him.

Donkeys are stubborn. They’re self-willed. And ox will work.

So there was that common sense dynamic. Like just remember, don’t get so financially savvy that you’re thinking, “Okay, I’m going to put two animals here because I can’t afford two oxen.” You’re better actually to have one ox plow a field than to put a donkey with it.

Be Alone

And I always like to tell people, when you feel alone, you’re better to be alone than with the wrong person. And just because somebody is good to you doesn’t mean they’re good for you.

When I was watching people be baptized today, that literally came to my mind. I think some of the tears and all of that, not only their own sin, but some of them, like right now, they know they’re headed into a new life, and they’re realizing, “I’m going to have to make some changes with who I hang out with.” And I want to just say if that happens to be some of you today, it won’t take long. Like when you start teaming with God’s people, God has new people that will walk right alongside you. He has people planned to be in your life and in your world. You will never lack for friendship and blessing.

When you go God’s way, you might have to stand alone for a short time, but don’t be afraid. It’s better to be on your own than to be with the wrong people. Amen.

Three Things to Remember

And just remember that—like there’s three things I would just tell you today if you’re new to the kingdom of God and you’re making your way in. There’s three things, just quickly you can write them down if you want.

The first one is **show up**. Like just show up. Like what do I do? Just keep showing up. Show up every weekend. Show up.

Next thing is **serve**. Serve.

And the third thing is **stay**. That’s right.

If you just get those three things down. And I’m not saying God never moves people or you don’t ever move to a new job or location or go. That is not the point. But so many people leave before they’re supposed to leave because of the wrong reasons. They got their feelings hurt. Something happened and so they just break away from the team God put them with. And if God put you in our church, make sure you don’t leave until God says it’s time to go. Like, don’t leave because your feelings are hurt. Don’t leave because something happens in the church.

Don’t Be Unequally Yoked

But what I want to say is that last line about “don’t plow with an ox and a donkey”—if you take it to the New Testament, it literally says in 2 Corinthians 6, “Don’t be unequally yoked together.” So you have it in the Old Testament as a practical teaching for the farmer and then you have it in the New Testament as a practical teaching for the believer: Don’t be unequally yoked together.

And then it goes on and says, “What do light and darkness have in common?” In other words, it’s like oil and water. They just don’t mix.

And again, I know some of you, that’s a battle right now. You’re like, “But you know, my friend, my family, my man.” And Jesus said some hard words. But he said, “If anyone won’t leave their family, their friend, their father, their mother”—like if they do it for me, he said, “There will be blessings a hundredfold.”

Jesus taught this. And I just want you to know that things ahead of you will be so much better if you will focus on teaming with the right people in your life and in your future. Does that help anybody today? Like just teaming is sacred. Amen. Come on. Teaming is holy. Come on. Teaming is fundamental to our faith. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.

We All Stand Together

Well, okay. I’m going to wrap it up right now. How about we all stand together? Let’s just stand and I’m going to wrap it up with just one more time going back to that first verse where it says Apostle Paul says, “I want to know that you stand together in the same purpose, work together like a team to help others believe the good news.”

And I want to bring out the fact that God has a place for you. We would call it his family. Today I’m calling it his team. I like to say that, you know, God’s team brings about God’s dream. Like God has a will for our city. He has a will for our community. And God’s team is the one that God works through. And he has a place for you on the team.

And the Apostle Paul was saying right here, like we come together like a team to help others believe the good news. Yeah. And so people who came to be baptized today, like somebody met them, somebody greeted them. In the parking lot, people were greeting, people were over at Church Kids, some teachers are over there today helping bring about the good news. This is not about Kevin. This is not about a one-man deal. This is about all of us coming together as a part of God’s great church. Amen. That’s what it’s all about.

High Fives

And so, high fives to everybody who is already on the team. You’re serving on the team. High fives to you. God bless you. We thank God for you. There’s lots of teams. But I want to say also, it’s not too late for you today to get baptized. That’s where it all begins. Second service here in Tacoma. After service, other locations, our location pastor will give you more information on that. But it’s not too late. You can get baptized today. You can join the team.

And I want to encourage everybody: Join the team. Everybody say, “Join the team.” Join the team. So if you’re not a part of what we call Team Church, we just want to invite you, join us. You don’t have to be in the bleachers. You don’t belong in the cheap seats. You don’t belong as a spectator. You don’t belong in the observation deck. God called you. Come on in. Join the team. Let’s work together like a team to bring about God’s will, God’s plan. Amen. For the future.

Prayer

Okay. Bow your heads if you would with me. God, I thank you for every person today who’s at church. I thank you for every man, every woman that you are drawing by your spirit today. Thank you, Holy Spirit, that you are doing what only you can do in our lives. And I pray, God, for healing in people who are hurt today spiritually, physically. I pray for you, God, to restore people. I pray that this would be the year of the Lord’s favor. We proclaim it over lives today. People would find their way back who have drifted away from you. I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, the people who have never known you would come to know you and all that you have in mind for them.

So today, God, as you speak to hearts, I’m just going to invite people right now to raise their hands. I’m going to invite them, Lord, to receive you and your salvation for their lives. So if you’re in a room right now, I want to invite you, a man, a woman, a young person who would say, “I want a new beginning in my life, my relationship with God.” We had 160 something last weekend. I know there’s some more here today. There’s people here today who just want a fresh start. You want to draw close to God. You want to know God. You want him in your world, in your life. Just raise your hand up high wherever you are. All of our locations—DuPont, Yakima, Bellevue, here in Tacoma, online—just raise your hand. Good. God bless you. Good. I see hands being raised. God bless you. God bless you. Hold your hand up high.

Say this with me. Say:

“Lord Jesus, welcome to my world. Welcome to my world. Forgive me of all my sin. Forgive me of all my sin. Come into my life. Into my heart. Into my heart. And make me a new person. I receive you now. I receive you now as my Lord. As my Lord and my leader. My leader. And I boldly proclaim. I boldly proclaim by your grace. By your grace and with your help. I will never be the same again. In Jesus’ name. In Jesus’ name.”

Welcome to the great family of God today. We love you. God bless you.