When Everybody Plays Their Position Series

Think of how we’d miss out if believers didn’t use their gifts here. What would happen if we all assumed our abilities couldn’t help the kingdom?

What if Brian & Jayme the others said, “We’re just actors. How can that possibly help the kingdom?

What if the band, the choir, and the orchestra “I just play an instrument or sing – how can that help the kingdom?

What if greeter crew just said, ‘I just like greeting people and being friendly. How can that ever help the church?

What if all the video volunteers said, ‘I work creating video stuff – how could that possibly help the kingdom.?’

What if the children’s church workers said, “I love kids – how can that possibly help the church?

What if media tech volunteers said, ‘I like sound and lights and tech stuff. How could that ever help the kingdom?’

What if all the IT volunteers said, ‘I’m good with computers. How could that ever help?’

Friends, the list goes on and on. This church only has a great vision for the future because we stand on the strong shoulders of volunteers. The church is us!

Here’s what I’ve found over the years: When people become servants and find their spiritual gifts, they’ll b led by God to a ministry in the church that they’re fired up about. And its the most fascinating thing to watch, because God uses a couple different ways to seem to lead them. Here’s how:

II. FINDING MY POSITION

* He’ll make your heart beat fast about some area of ministry

There are Care Pastors here. I don’t have to fire them up to have their groups. They have a spiritual igniter inside them. The Holy Spirit has given them a love for people. I look at people in Mercy Ministry who serve the poor in our area. These servants don’t complain about their day off being spent with people whose faces they don’t know. They say, ‘We get to do this! We get to bring food and clothing and talk with people who’ve fallen on hard times. When we do this, it’s like recess. We get to do this.’ I could just go from ministry to ministry.

* You’re open to serving where there’s a current need. I didn’t get involved in volunteer ministry because I was passionate about it. At that stage of my life I wasn’t passionate about anything too far from the golf course. I jumped in, cautiously, because I was asked. There was a need, and it didn’t sound too awful. So it wasn’t passion at first, it was need. Before long, God used that experience to maneuver me to my area of passion. Incidentally, it was an area I would have never found had I not responded to need first. So many of us are experiencing ultimate fulfillment, and I fear that some of you will never experience that. That thought makes me sad.

Now here’s the deal, friends– we cannot remain spectators. Takers. You can’t be healthy just being a taker.

Here’s the kink in the hose: You have this thing called a life. Volunteers have a life. You’ve got real jobs and spouses and kids and bills to pay and lawns to mow. You have a life. Your time is your most precious commodity.

So, when a volunteer like you steps out of the shadows and decides to discover your gifts and begin to use them, when you work hard all day, then drive straight from work over to the church – sometimes missing dinner and everything, something happens. When you come to serve, when you show up to work with kids or teens or work in the nursery, be an usher or greeter, serve coffee, play in a band, set up a room, lead a Care Group, whatever, you may find yourself looking around from time to time, saying, "Man it’s a good thing I’m here. This place would be in trouble if I weren’t doing this. I’m needed."