Sunday, January 30, 2011

Ministry Mythbusters

I had the great privilege this morning of sharing the message at Calvary, as Pastor Chuck is away for two weeks. I chose to talk about how God views us volunteers as ministers. Some of the main teaching points were blowing away four myths about ministry.

Ministry Myths
MythTruthVerse(s)
1. Clergy / staff do the ministry. Volunteers help.We are the ministers. Equippers support us.Eph 4:11-13
2. I don’t have any gifts. I’m not involved in ministry.Every believer in Christ has a spiritual gift and a ministry.I Cor 12:4-11
3. Ministry is what happens inside the church.Ministry happens everywhere, whenever we serve others.I Pet 4:10-11
4. Full-time ministry is a special calling reserved for a select few.We are all called to full-time ministry.Col 3:17-24;  I Pet 2:9

Why does this matter?
When you see yourself as a full-time minister, as someone who seeks to serve God and love others all at times, in all places, relying on the Holy Spirit… it transforms your life. This is not a call to do more – but to let God do more.
This is being who God wants you to be, and doing what He wants you to do. The cool part? In doing so, you become more you. We no longer merely 'pitch in' out of a sense of duty, nor do we do something natural within our own strength, but we begin to let the Spirit work through us and transform our heart until our ministry becomes a passion.

If you are a follower of Christ, you have been
… uniquely created by God for works of service,
… gifted by the Holy Spirit to serve others,
… given authority by Jesus to minister in His name,
… strategically placed in your current home/job/church.

Will you step up to the call of being a full-time minister, with the ministry of living out Christ in you?


Download the Audio of the sermon as MP3
View or Download a PDF of the sermon slides

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