Untitled Sermon

A proper philosophy of ministry must begin with God’s ultimate purpose for the church. The church, like the rest of creation exists for God’s glory (Rom 11:33–36; Eph 3:15–18). Christ purchased the church through his death (Col 1:15–18), and he is the Lord of the church (Eph 5:23–24). As a result, the church’s first priority is to honor Christ, and it only does this as it embraces his priorities, obeys his will, and continually points attention to him. The church is never justified to pursue a secondary goal in a manner that rejects God’s character and will no matter the human success it may achieve.

The church glorifies Christ primarily by fulfilling its twofold mission of reaching the lost and maturing disciples. Christ commanded the church to take the gospel to its local community and to assist in taking the gospel to all people (Matt 28:19–20; Acts 1:8). As a result, the church must always be hard at work to make the gospel known in its local community with the goal of seeing people saved and added to the church. It must also support world evangelism by sending those who are qualified and by supporting those who go with prayer, encouragement, and finances.

The Scriptures also command the church to pursue spiritual maturity. This maturity is both individual and corporate. The church should pursue four targets in developing mature believers. First, the church is called to train believers to love God (Matt 22:37–38). Loving God requires that believers know who God is (Eph 3:18–19) and that they respond to his character with reverence and radical commitment. Ultimately the other targets must grow out of the first target; otherwise, they fall short of God’s ideal. The second target is believers who are submitted to God’s will and able to wisely apply it to life. A genuine disciple must be committed to obeying God’s will (James 1:22–25), and he must develop the skill to apply it wisely in a fallen world (Phil 1:9–10). The third discipleship target is believers who love and serve others and are especially committed to serving each other through the church (Gal 5:13–15; Rom 12:6–8). The fourth discipleship target is believers who are committed to evangelism and are actively engaged in reaching the lost (Acts 1:8). As individual believers pursue these targets, the church is to mature corporately into a body that is unified by the knowledge of God and a commitment to the truth of Scripture and the practice of godliness (Eph 4:11–16).

In order for the church to glorify God by reaching the lost and growing into maturity, it must be committed to three biblical principles which should drive every aspect of the church. First, the ministry of the church must be Word-centered. The Holy Spirit works through the Word to save the lost and to produce spiritual growth (Rom 10:14–17; John 17:17). As a result, the ministry of the Word must provide the foundation for everything the church does. Preaching and teaching of the Word must be the dominant feature of the church’s regular meetings. It must drive the church’s efforts to reach the lost and to disciple believers. Finally, the Word must be at the center of relationships within the church.

Second, the ministry of the church must be grace-centered. As fallen individuals we are incapable of changing ourselves or other people apart from God’s grace (1 Cor 15:10; 2 Cor 4:7– 15). Therefore, the church must continually point people to God’s grace as the means of transformation, and it must depend on God’s grace, not guilt or manipulation to produce change. God has called the church to use human means, but strategies and human appeals must always be pursued in dependence on grace. The church should also be grace-centered in that the people of the church extend the same grace to others which they have received. The church must stand against sin and error, however, it must be marked by a spirit of forgiveness (Matt 18:21–35). As well, the people of the church must grant each other room for disagreement in areas which are not essential to the unity of the church (Rom 15:1–7).

Third, the ministry of the church must be people-centered rather than being driven by programs, events, or elite ministers. God has gifted every member of the church to serve the common good of the body (1 Cor 12:7). Therefore, the pastor’s duty is not to do all of the work of the ministry but to equip the members of the church to minister to each other and to fulfill whatever ministry is necessary to the health and advancement of the church (Eph 4:11–13). In addition to using their spiritual gifts, the members of the church are responsible to guard each other’s spiritual health and to help each other press forward (Heb 3:12–13; 10:24–25). Finally, the church’s evangelistic efforts must be driven by the members of the church building relationships with the lost and faithfully sharing the gospel with them. A proper emphasis on people-centered ministry does not mean that the church shouldn’t have programs, events, or especially talented ministers. These all have their place; however, they must support the ministry of people, not to replace it.

There are four primary practices by which the church accomplishes its mission. The first practice is the regular worship of the church. Congregational worship has a vertical and a horizontal purpose. The vertical purpose is to praise God for his greatness and to thank him for his gifts (Heb 13:15). The horizontal purpose is to equip and encourage believers to press on in their faith (Eph 5:18–20). Acts 2:42 provides a good synopsis of the elements involved in congregational worship: doctrine (reading the Scriptures, teaching, and preaching), fellowship, breaking of bread (Lord’s Supper), and prayer. The OT and NT also speak about congregational singing as being a significant feature of worship and describe it as an effective tool for praising God (Ps 150) and for fellowship and mutual edification (Eph 5:17–21). The songs used should be theologically rich. The music must complement the text of the song and reflect the character of God. The text and the music should be accessible to the congregation meaning that they can understand the meaning and sing the music with confidence. Since the Bible is the central means for knowing God and his will for our lives, the sermon should be the central feature of a church service. The worship of the church should reflect the cultural context of the church, while also standing against worldliness. It should be a time of both sobriety and joy. The focus must be to glorify God and to build the saints, not to entertain.

The second practice is instruction. The church’s primary means of instruction is expositional preaching in the regular meetings of the church. The purpose of this ministry is to provide the congregation with a well-rounded understanding of the Scriptures and to demonstrate the

significance of the Word to life. In addition to this preaching ministry, the church should take advantage of other opportunities to instruct the church. It should have an intentional plan to address the special challenges that come with each life stage. It should teach people how to serve in the church and how to evangelize the lost. It is responsible to equip people to overcome significant sin struggles and to to help others do the same. Finally, it is responsible to teach the congregation how to discern God’s will and to live holy lives.

The third practice is fellowship. The church is responsible to cultivate meaningful relationships among the members of the church. These relationships must be close enough for the members of the church to support each other and to recognize and address needs in each other’s lives. They relationships also provide a context whereby mature believers can model godliness for less mature believers.

The fourth practice is evangelism. The heart of the church’s evangelistic efforts ought to be relational evangelism where members are cultivating relationships with lost people and using those relationships to share the gospel. The church should support relational evangelism by pushing its members toward these relationships, by training its members how to share the gospel, and by providing programs and events to assist in these relationships.