The Great Commission
MINISTERING IN CHRIST
Part 2: The Way to True Service
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House of Faith – www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS
6:00PM Evening Service at the church –
“Seminary Students will be preaching”
January 18th – Walker Spriggs
January 25th – Grace Steadman
February 1st – Lori Ulman
February 8th – Lynnette Higgins
February 15th – Deacon Kurt Ulman
WHERE WE ARE AT
† Spending Time with the Lord
† Growing in the Lord
† Maturing in Christ
New Series: Ministering in Christ
Last Week: Committing your life to Christ
TODAY’S SERMON: The Way to True Service
INTRODUCTION
I. CALLED WHEN CALLED
a. One can only minister when God leads
i. I Peter 4:10-11
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ, to Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever, amen.
b. Only God can equip (ordain) you
i. John 3:27
“…a man can receive only what is given him from heaven.”
c. Desire alone, does not a minister make.
d. What doors the Lord opens can not be shut, and what doors the Lord shut, can not be opened.
i. Revelation 3:7 Jesus speaking
“…These are the words of Him who is Holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens, no one can shut. And what He shuts, no one can open. “
We must all, each one of us, bear our cross and follow Jesus.
Luke 14:27-30; 33
Jesus speaking….
“And anyone who does not carry his cross AND follow me can not be my disciple. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’
Think for a moment about what Jesus is saying, and how it looks when a person accepts Jesus Christ, and is telling everyone, yet has not picked up their cross and followed Him?
We have earthly responsibilities which can not be ignored.
Jesus says, anyone who does not pick up his cross (earthly responsibilities) AND follow me, can not be my disciple.
• If I ignored my business, (books I’ve written, signage I’ve made, the robot parts I sell, sub contracting my engineering services, and now working as an IT advisor for a flooring and landscaping company), I would not get paid.
God has provided for me and my families needs through bringing these opportunities to me, and giving me the ability to do them.
• If I did not get paid, I could not pay my bills (earthly responsibilities)
• If I did not pay my bills, my family would not be taken care of by me.
I would find myself in trouble, not just with man, but God.
God provides for His own, but He does it through people, not a mystical Godly wallet He pulls from His back pocket of His robe, and drops a few hundred to fall to earth to take care of my family.
But sometimes, God has to provide for me and my family through people other than this congregation.
And God does.
I do not preach for money, but the scriptures clearly say that a workman is worthy of his wages, and my earthly responsibilities remain, regardless of what I do for the Lord.
But like Paul, who was in the same situation I am currently in, the congregation could not give more than they already were, so he worked, as I do.
My obedience to God’s command to me to teach His word to His people is not based on financial gain…because I do it, regardless of whether I get paid or not.
In fact, at the First Baptist Church, when I started, I wasn’t being paid at all.
Then over time, they began to pay me $100 per week, than after about a year it went up to $200 per week.
But I obey God, regardless of compensation which IS needed for a man with a family.
I still have earthly responsibilities that do not go away simply because I am preaching God’s word to His people like I was commanded.
The Bible calls us to be faithful in all things!
II. BEING FAITHFUL IN ALL THINGS
a. We must provide for our house
i. I Timothy 5:8
“If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
This makes it clear that I am not relieved of my responsibility of my family, simply because I am a believer who wants to follow Christ and minister to others.
If I abandon my family, if I do not provide for my family, regardless of the reason I come up with…the scriptures say I am worse than an unbeliever and I have denied the faith.
THIS…is part of my cross I bear. Not my family, but the responsibility of caring for them WHILE I minister to others and teach God’s word.
And I must be faithful to all things, because as we read, all things we have come from God…and we must be faithful with all he gives.
Not just money, but family, ministering and any talent, or ability He has given, whether He allowed us to be born with the talent, or it is a spiritual gift.
b. We must be faithful with what God gives us
i. Luke 16:10-12
Jesus speaking…
“Whoever can be trusted with very little, can also be trusted with very much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?”
Everything we have is given by God, and we are to be faithful with it as a testament to Him and our submission to Him as our Master.
c. As for wages, they are not a gift…but an earning
i. Romans 4:4
Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.
I know pastors who, right now are months behind in pay because the congregation thinks ministry is some kind of blessing for the Pastor to do in itself.
It’s not that the church has no money…rather, they assign where their tithe goes, first to building fund, then to ministries in other countries, and so on…and at the bottom of the list, is their Pastor…
Right now this Pastor is black topping driveways to feed his family.
ii. Regardless of whether or not preaching is someones life long dream (which it’s not…but being obedient to God’s calling), dreams do not pay bills or feed your family.
I heard a great saying once, wishing is for fairies.
We can not sit around wishing our family was taken care of…but we must do something about it.
I know people who love God, a couple I’m thinking of specifically, who have been called by God and shared that calling with me…yet never do it.
They never put faith to action.
If your faith is not active…it is worthless.
The scriptures say, faith without works is dead…
III. ACTS OF TRUE MINISTRY
So what are acts of true ministering?
The Good Samaritan – Luke 10:25-37
Morning and Evening – Ecclesiastes 11:6
Sew your seed in the morning, and at evening, let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whither this or that, or whether both will do equally well.
I praise and thank God for allowing my seed sewing AND my labors with MY hands to do equally well.
CLOSING
If you are one who feels God has called you to a specific ministry, then you can come forward for prayer and strength that you may obey God’s calling on you in your life, while bearing your cross and following Him.
