Positioning the Future of Ministry for God's glory

Introduction

We are thankful to be celebrating 25 years of ministry in which God has been faithful. He planted His vision for Forgiven Ministry with Scottie and Jack 25 years ago and He has nurtured it, He has protected it, He has grown it, and He has used it for His glory!

Forgiven Ministry has been a tool in the Hands of a Good and Gracious God and through this ministry

Families have been reunited

Relationships have been restored

Volunteers have been blessed and encouraged

Sinners have been Redeemed for His Glory!

We give God thanks and praise for what He has done! We are gathering this weekend to observe a significant milestone and to celebrate His goodness. Some of y’all have already been reminiscing about shared camps in which you witnessed the intervention of God Himself. The history of this ministry is a living testimony to the faithfulness of God. I have only been with FM for 5 years, so I am going to leave the telling of those stories to those who have been with the ministry longer and know them better.

I want to use my time this evening to look to the future. God has indeed blessed this ministry for 25 years, but He still has plans for Forgiven Ministry. We are already praying and planning to add camps to the 2026 calendar, and we may be blessed with another 25 additional years, or it may be 50 or more. If Jesus tarries in His Return, imagine another group of volunteers gathering to observe the 75th anniversary of Forgiven Ministry!

The Strategic planning and vision casting for the future of this ministry will be conducted through the Board, but we can and should pray for them as they position the ministry for advancing the Kingdom through the next ministry phase.

What I want to address are two foundational principles that are vital for any Christian ministry that has a desire to prosper biblically. If you have a Bible with you or on your phone, please turn with me to Ephesians chapter 4 as we look together at God’s Word. One of the themes of the book of Ephesians is Christian community. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul lays out a rich theological foundation of truth for the faith community in the first half of his letter (chapters 1-3), and then in the second half (chapters 4-6) he sets forth spiritual principles for application. We are going to look at the first part of the 2nd section tonight.

READ the text: Ephesians 4:1-6

The Centrality of Jesus

It is worth noticing that Paul identifies himself as a prisoner of the Lord in verse 1. Paul has been placed in captivity due to his bold stance of proclaiming the Gospel. As he shares in the first half of this letter, his bold message was that salvation is available ONLY through a person’s faith in the finished substitionary death of Christ on the behalf of hopeless sinners. Paul unapologetically shared the necessity of a person turning away from sin (repenting) and surrendering to the Lordship of Christ.

If Forgiven Ministry desires to continue to be used of God and for His glory, we must not drift from the theological foundation of the exclusiveness of Christ and the necessity of personal repentance. We must stand on this foundational bedrock of truth, regardless of cultural pressure to water down the message or the associated persecution that comes from speaking a singular truth to a multicultural and diverse audience.

The Importance of Unity

As we focus on sharing the hope of the Gospel to those who are incarcerated and their families, we must share it in a manner that is pleasing to God. Paul emphasizes this truth when he pleads with his listeners to “walk in a manner worthy” of our call to ministry.

NOTE: I think it is worth observing that prison ministry is a calling - it is not just something one takes on to fill up weekend time. We do not minister behind the walls to feel good about ourselves, or to get bragged on by other believers or possibly even to fill some sense of personal guilt. We minister to the “least of these” because God has placed a call on our lives and we serve to please the Father.

Paul then tells the believers that their lifestyle (their walk) is to be characterize with humility, gentleness, patience, and love. There is much that could be said about each and every one of these traits, and each of them are important. This is NOT a Golden Corral buffet where you take what you want and leave the other stuff; this is a total package deal.

Paul then informs these believers that they are to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit. (verse 3)

First, the approach is one of eagerness. This implies an intentional desire on the part of the believer. Volunteers of FM cannot just be Okay with a “whatever happens” attitude. Each of us must have some skin in the game; we must be focused and intentional on being unified in our purpose of sharing the Hope of Jesus with others.

Second, the focus is to be on maintaining unity within the ministry. It is very important that we understand that we do not create the unity - God is the One who creates it. Our role, with His help, is to keep it. This means that each of us has a responsibility of doing our part. When we observe another volunteer or leader who is not displaying the characteristics found in verse 2 (humility, gentleness, patience, and love), we are not to just say “oh well, hate that happened, but it’s not my problem”

I hope we all understand the reality of life in a fallen world. When I do pre-marital counseling I share this truth with every couple: “When you put two imperfect people together in a one-flesh union, there WILL be friction.” The point is not that we never have any issues, rather that each of us is willing to do his or her part to remedy the situation in order to maintain unity.

Third, recognize the Unity is of the Spirit. This is to say our unity is supernatural! As those who are in Christ, we are to pursue God Himself. The Holy Spirit is the One who magnifies Christ to the Glory of the Father in a wonderful and majestic display of the Trinitarian nature of God. Look at verses 4-6: One body, one Spirit, one Hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father. That is spiritual unity! We are not just pursuing unity in and of itself so we can say we are united, rather we are pursuing the Unity of purpose that is found only in the Holy Spirit as He leads us to lift up Christ as the Hope of the world.

Listen to the words of Jesus as He prays His High Priestly prayer in the garden just prior to the Crucifixion:

22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (John 17:22–23)

Close: Consider the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. Hundreds of members and each has his or her distinctive voice and range of ability. They are not identical, but as they harmonize they produce a unified song of praise. The result of the choir is a more rich, robust, and powerful piece of music that is far beyond what a single voice could accomplish.

The volunteers of Forgiven Ministry are distinct individuals. We are gathered from many different states with different skills and different specific methods for structuring the camps. But as we come together for the purpose of glorifying the Father through sharing the message of hope and reconciliation through Jesus, we are more powerful and effective as a team than we are as any one person. Forgiven Ministry could not exist without faithful and surrendered volunteers and each of you are appreciated for who you are as individual members on the team.