(Rom 12:6-8) "We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying let him use it in proportion to his faith. {7} If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; {8} if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully."
This passage talks about gifts God’s gives to us for ministry. Other lists are found in 1 Corinthians and Ephesians. These are examples of multiple kinds of service. Each of us is unique in our abilities. It was never intended by God for us to be equal. He gives us our gifts and abilities as He pleases.
The point is that God holds me responsible for what I do with my abilities, and not what you do with yours. And He holds you responsible for what you do with yours, and not what I do with mine. With these gifts and abilities, all of us are ministers.
I believe that sometimes we are confused by the term “minister” or “ministry.” When most people hear “ministry” they think of pastors or deacons or professional clergy.
But God says that every Christian is a minister. In fact, in the Bible the words servant and minister are synonyms. If you are a Christian, you are a minister, and when you are serving you are ministering.
The Bible says in Ephesians 2:10, For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. It is not an accident that you are here in the 21st century in Albuquerque, New Mexico. You are here to fulfill a special assignment.
As your pastor one of my responsibilities is to ask hard questions. Are there barriers that keep us from growing as we should? Could it be that we are holding ourselves back?
A significant barrier to growth in any church is a lack of servant ministry. There are some true servants who understand that God’s purpose for their life is far greater than their own fulfillment and happiness.
There are many others who seemingly are willing to let others do the ministries of the church. In fact they are willing to accept all the benefits of the church without accepting any of the responsibilities.
God has uniquely designed each of us with talents, gifts, skills and abilities. What we must understand is that He didn’t give us these abilities for selfish purposes. They were given to benefit others, just as you benefit from the abilities of others.
We have been saved by God to serve. Our salvation is not simply an insurance policy. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 1:9, 9(God) 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.
If we are saved because of God’s purpose and grace, that means that our lives also have purpose and worth.
You have a place, a purpose, a role, and a function to fulfill. It is this service that gives your life great significance and value. I’ll say it again, every Christian is called to service. In fact, a “non-serving Christian” is a contradiction in terms. Jesus is our supreme example.
Jesus said that He came to this earth to serve and not to be served. We are Christians. We have taken on His name. We are unique and distinctive because we love and serve like Jesus.
John the Apostle taught that our love and service to others shows that we are truly saved. 1 John 3:14, We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers.
If I have no love for and desire to serve others—if I’m only concerned about my own needs and what’s in it for me, then I should question whether Christ is really in my life. A saved heart wants to serve.
Everything we do should be in the name and for the name of Jesus. The sermons that I preach are not to gain your approval, but to please Jesus and to encourage you to become what you should be in Jesus.
When the musicians play I hope it is in order to please Jesus and for His glory, rather than to receive the applause of men. Always my prayer is that we never desire others to serve us more than we serve others.
Leith Anderson, pastor of Wooddale Church in Minneapolis told about a Christian who came to him to volunteer to serve in the ministries of the church. Leith asked, “What would you like to do?” She answered, “Put me where no one else wants to be. I’ll do whatever no one else wants to do.” This is the spirit of Christ that should characterize each of us.
Romans 12:6-7, 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve . . .” It’s this part of v. 7 we’re thinking about—serving.
Paul is talking about Christians. The Bible says that each of us has different gifts, talents, passions, and abilities. It is all of these differences that make the whole of the church. It’s what gives us our strength and unity.
Serving should be an attribute of all Christians. It may not come naturally—but it can and should be learned. The Bible says we are to love and serve one another.
A church will only be as blessed as the people in it are willing to serve and use their gifts and abilities. John MacArthur tells about a retired farmer in Saskatchewan, Canada, who owns a large collection of rare and valuable violins.
Those violins are stored away behind glass to be looked at and admired. As long as they are stored away, they will never be played as they were created to be. In the hands of accomplished musicians, those violins could be making beautiful music to inspire and bless countless thousands of hearers.
As sad as that is, it is infinitely more tragic that many Christians keep their spiritual gifts and talents stored away, rather than using them to serve the Lord who gave them the gifts.
When I was a boy we lived in the Ozarks of Missouri. Our church was in the hill country. I was fascinated by some member’s method of getting water. They had an old water pump outside the back door. They would go out and pour a little water from a Mason jar into the pump—“priming” the pump. Then they would pump and pump and pump until the water started flowing.
As long as they pumped it would flow. As soon as they stopped so would the water. And they always had to remember to fill the jar because it would have to be primed again.
There’s some church members like that. If you want them to serve the Lord Jesus, you have to prime them. You ask, you beg, you explain the need, and maybe, finally they will agree to serve. Then, you have to keep pumping them up so they will continue to serve.
There’s another kind of well that goes deep into the ground—an artesian well. You don’t have to pump an artesian well, all you have to do is tap into it and it flows and flows. Some church members are like this. You don’t ever hear them say, “The pastor never visits me.” They don’t carp, “No one spoke to me today.” They don’t complain about not being asked to do something.
No, these artesian well persons insist, “Is there anyone I can go visit today?” They make a point of picking out people and speaking to them first. They see a need and jump in to help. You don’t have to prime or keep pumping them.
What’s the difference? Some want to serve, while others want to be served. Some are shallow, while some have tapped into the river of life and are filled with the Holy Spirit, and they just overflow wherever they go.
Everything we do in the name of Christ is important. In the Essentials class last Sunday we learned about over 50 ministries in the church. So you can’t say, “There’s nothing for me to do.”
I’m not getting after you—I’m trying to teach you and show you some realities. And that our mindsets must change to being willing to do whatever it takes to reach people. There are some things we do that have immediate impact.
We need to start thinking like a visitor coming to the church for the first time. Someone who is looking for a church to attend.
Did you know that 70% of first time visitors who are looking for a church home will not come back! Most make a decision about the church before setting foot inside the building. How are they making their decisions? Well…
Is the outside of the building attractive? Is grass growing in the cracks in the parking lot? Is our entrance well marked and easy to find? Is there ample visitor parking? Are there greeters out in the parking lots to direct and assist folks?
First impressions are very important. People decide within the first 5-10 minutes whether or not they will come back to this church. The decision is usually made before they hear the sermon. One of the simplest yet most important things we can do is make sure they feel very welcome when they come.
One of the ways we can do this is by positioning “trained” greeters everywhere around our facilities. Two or three people (both men and women) in every parking lot, wearing “Greeter” badges—greeting people at their cars . . .
. . . directing guests to visitor’s parking, helping our elderly folks in and out and to and from their cars, helping young parents and single parents with their children, providing umbrellas when it rains—greeting everyone with a smile and enthusiastic, “Glad you’re here,” and directing visitors to greeters stationed at the doors who take their hand and smile and say, “Glad you’re here,” and will . . .
. . . show interest in guests, find out something about them, and then take them to the Sunday School class they would fit best, or to the worship center.
Then when visitors come into the worship center where are they going to find to sit? Especially in the 8:30 service a visitor is going to discover that all the back rows and middle rows are filled.
The first available seating is toward the front. They are going to have to make their uncomfortable way toward the unoccupied seats while feeling that everyone is staring at them. In our culture today visitors do not like attention called to them.
Everybody who is part of this church should be aware of the 10-foot rule (I made it up). This rule is simple. If you walk within 10 feet of anyone smile and say “hi!” This develops an atmosphere of acceptance and friendliness.
Your warm touch may be just what someone needs this Sunday morning. Every single one of us can provide a warm look, a touch, a smile, and a kind word of greeting.
During our time of greeting in the worship service is not the time to see your friends and make a lunch date. Find those you don’t know. Shake their hand. Introduce yourself.
If they are sitting by themselves, ask if you may sit with them. [visitors 2-wks ago]. At the end of the service talk with people you don’t know. Invite them to dinner. You pay for it. If that causes a strain bring the paid ticket to me and I’ll reimburse you. Be willing to do whatever it takes.
In the book, Surprising Insights From the Unchurched by Thom Rainer, he gives a list of issues that were important to unchurched people before they became Christians. It’s good for us to hear these. Some we are very good at; others are mediocre.
One last thing I want to touch on today is Sunday School. Sunday School is the key to growing a church and keeping people in the church.
When someone joins the church and gets involved in a small group Bible study and in ministry, in 5 years 9 out of 10 will still be here.
On the other hand, if their only involvement is to attend the preaching services, in 5 years only 4 out of 10 will still be here. It is in those small groups—learning, praying, and fellowshipping together—that lasting friendships are made. These bonds help keep people in church.
Care ministers should welcome everyone and should especially make guests comfortable by introducing them, assigning someone to sit with them, get their name and address and phone number, and find someone to attend the worship service with them.
You may be thinking, “Pastor, I’ve never heard a sermon like this before.” Well, we’re going to have to go back to the basics. We need to learn how to serve. You’ve got to take the ball and run with it.
It is up to each of us to learn again how to create an environment for growth. How we treat our guests and those looking for a church home is just one example of ministry. The growth of our church depends upon many things. One of those things is to create an atmosphere and attitude of growth.
My prayer is that each of us will examine our attitudes about church, and get excited and enthusiastic about what God can accomplish through our faithful service.