Marks of an Effective Personal Ministry Part 2

Last week started looking at the marks of an effective Personal Ministry.

What we are looking at is the life of Peter and the other Apostles and seeing the major components of their life after the Holy Spirit fell on them at Pentecost and how we can apply those things of our lives.

Last week we saw, how Peter was:

Involved

Christ Exalting

Available

Peter was Prayerful (vv 40-41)

Our prayer life has a direct result on our relationship with others, and with Christ.

Imagine being in a relationship with someone and never talking to them.

The only way to know and to understand Gods will for our lives is to have a relationship of communication with God through prayer.

Prayer is essential to any successful ministry, it acknowledges our dependence on God. Eph 3:20

Ephesians 3:20 ESV

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

Peter had learned the importance of prayer from His Lord, having seen Him many times go off to pray.

Matthew 14:23 ESV

23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,

Luke 6:12 ESV

12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.

(Spurgeon story)

Peter was Fruitful (v 42)

Often people ask why don’t church leaders today do any healings or miracles?

It’s because it was given to the 12 for a very specific reason.

It was to confirm that the Gospel was true.

It was also to authenticate the Apostles as His messengers.

God used the raising of Dorcas as the spark for salvation throughout the city.

Peter was fruitful because He was in communion with Christ through Prayer.

Prayer is the only way to know and understand the direction for our lives and ministry.

Peter was Free from Prejudice (v43)

As we serve Christ and do His will and carryout His mission for the church we must not have any Prejudice to the people that He puts in our path.

In this seemingly insignificant footnote, yet another wall comes down, as Peter stays with a tanner.

Tanners were despised in first-century Jewish society, since they dealt with the skins of dead animals.

Tanning was thus considered an unclean occupation, and Simon would have been shunned by the local synagogue.

Peter staying here leads into Chapter 10 in which the final wall is broken down and the message of Christ goes to all people.