We are called to Serve

Ministry Teams Gathering

1. Pr. Paul’s Open Remarks

2. Pr. Rene’s Introduction Message

3. Conclusion

4. Break

5. Q&A

6. Application

7. Pr. Paul Close

INTRODUCTION MESSAGE (20 Mins)

I. Point 1: God’s Great Love For Sea Road Church

II. Point 2: To Remind and Encourage you in God’s Calling for your life

III. Point 3: Our “Being In Christ” is measured by our “being a servant” in the Church. (In other words, If we are in Christ we be working on his behalf, there no parts of the Body of Christ that is dispensable).

IV. Theme of the Message:

a. “You have an indispensible function in the body of Christ!”

V. Goal of the message:

a. To teach and remind the church that each member of the body of Christ has been called and gifted to a particular ministry.

i. What is Ministry?

1. The word comes from the Greek noun “διακονία” which means “to function as an intermediary[1]” – Lit. to wait at table, to serve

a. The Greeks did not see serving as a good thing.

b. It is used in general of all believers because we are called to work not on our behalf but on behalf of Christ. It’s not “our will be done”, but His.

i. There are different kinds of service (διακονία), but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

2. Answer: Ministry is the active doing of God’s will for your life. That can manifest in many different ways but it is all for the common good of the Body of Christ.

ii. You are not volunteers, you are full-time ministers

1. Definition of “Volunteer”:

a. “a person who freely offers (personal will) to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task”

i. He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, (You are called to work not because of your will but because of the will of God).

b. “a person who works for an organization without being paid.”

i. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. (We are not working for free, nor as a favor to no one.)

c. “a person who freely enrolls for military service rather than being conscripted…”

i. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other. (You have been drafted)

III. What is God’s purpose for us who have been called?

b. lays that out for us:

i. Paul addressed the false doctrine of self-service – What is in it for me?

1. If I do more, if I give more, if I pray more, than I will receive.

ii. Paul explains to the church that true doctrine is the self-giving Christianity that seeks nothing in return.

1. What can do for you?

iii. It’s all about the common Goal, not our own!

4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (to the benefit of others)

3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (remove our will from whenever it becomes an obstacle for peace)

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;

5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (There is no “I”, but only “us” doing His will)

7 But to each one of us grace (a free gift to serve, 3:7) has been given as Christ apportioned it.

…

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,

12 to equip his people for works of ministering, (Pastor Paul and I are not the ministers in the biblical sense, you are! Our calling is to equip you –to get you ready for the work you were called to do) — that the body of Christ may be built up (as in a building that is not yet completed – the workers are building it up)

13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God (commonality in doctrine) and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (commonality in goal and purpose - to be like Christ)

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. (False doctrines corrupt the church because behind it all is self-serving idea. But when we shift our identity from “I” and we place it on “they”, our self-giving fellowship become our defense against false doctrine)

15 Instead, speaking the truth in love (the truth can often hurt, but if spoken in love it heals), we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Each of you have an indispensible function in the body of Christ! That’s your identity as a Christ.)

c. So, What is God’s purpose for us who have been called?

d. ANSWER: To utilize the gifts He has given us to help one another to do the will of God (not our own).

i. ILLUSTRATION

1. In the Marine Corps Boot Camp when we were not allowed to say “I” or “me” for the purpose of training us to understand that in order for us to be affective we had to learn that it is not about our personal desires, but about the Mission.

e. INDIVIDUALISM has destroyed churches all around the world, because Christians are not being taught that we NEED one another’s gifts in order for us to grow. Instead, we have been conditioned by the world to come to church with a critical eye, “I don’t like this”, “I don’t like that”, instead of “Lord, where do you want me to serve?”

i. If stayed in this church because of you found in here something that benefits you, you have been influenced by a false doctrine.

(Each of you has an indispensible function in the body of Christ!)

WHY AM I TELLING YOU ALL THIS?

CONCLUSION (15 Mins)

I. Some of you may have felt a sense of burnout at times

a. Some of you work multiple ministries in order to help keep up with the demands of increasing ministry needs.

i. Thank you, but we need to change that.

1. We need to look out for one another, and help one another. You co-laborers, not consumers. God called you here with a particular purpose, to serve – as a intermediary - on his behalf to edify His Body!

ii. We cannot have a handful of people doing most of the work or we will ultimately be ineffective in our mission which in turn will cause plateau, decline, and potentially die as a local church.

1. You are indispensible.

a. If you are a believer you have a free gift, and you will not have full peace until you do what God has called you to do.

2. We need servant-leaders, we need dedicated people who will take on their God-given ministry, to SHARE with us THE WEIGHT OF MINISTRY, not as a volunteer, but as one whose mission in life is to serve on behalf of Christ!

a. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

II. Take a step today:

a. I want you to pray and ask God what it is that you are called to be doing

i. Consider what it is that you feel the Lord is calling you to do and be willing to receive a no from the church.

ii. Ask other believers what it is that they believe your gifts are.

iii. What if you feel that you are not qualified?

1. Until today I don’t feel a bit qualified to be a pastor.

a. God chooses the weak to shame the strong.

i. I much rather a person who will trust the Lord rather then him/herself.

2. ILLUSTRATION: When God called me 15 years ago, I never imagine He really meant that I would be a preacher. I was shy of talking in public, I did not have the most ethical lifestyle, but when I gave my life I really meant it. I told God to use me and I learned to trust him instead of trusting myself, and to rely on him instead of relying on myself.

3. Say Lord, “Here I am”.

a. When we open our ears and we are willing to hear the Lord’s will for our lives, He will speak.

Q&A

APPLICATION (15Mins)

I. Make Margins

a. Make Margins so you can have time to serve the Body of Christ and to

i. DO DESIRE TO OBEY GOD?

1. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. ()

II. Our primary goal for 2018 is to begin a shift from rotating volunteers to committed weekly static ministers for the following ministries.

a. Greeters (4X1) (1= 1 leader)

b. Ushers (4X1)

c. Security Team (4X1)?

d. A/V (Children – check-in, Adult) (3X2)

e. R&D Connect Leaders (2X1)

III. What we are asking you is much greater than Sea Road Church, You are an indispensable part of God’s universal plan, and He brought you here for a reason.

OTHER THINGS TO INCLUDE IN THE OUTLINE:

-Everyone will have the option to move ministries

-Tell people to fill out the form in their package indicating where they want to serve

-Allow for people who can’t commit to serve as substitutes and helpers for these ministries.

-We want to start a Prayer Team and AWANA.

[1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 229.