Being Ministry Minded
A God glorifying ministry
…shares the Gospel (vv. 14-16)
…Serves the People (vv. 17-29)
…Prays to God (vv.30-33)
…is personal and caring (vv. 16:1-16)
…is for the glory of God (vv. 16:25-27)
Slide
Introduction – Summer over
Good morning. Well, fall is officially here. Summer ended this past week and the temperatures seem to reflect that. We also are ending our series, “Summer in Rome” as we finish up the last 2 chapters of Romans.
This has been a great study for me personally and I hope you have benefited in growing in your knowledge of the Lord and in applying these things to your life as I have.
Throughout Romans we have seen Paul’s heart for people and ministering to them to the glory of God.
Paul has written to inform and remind those in Rome of the importance of right thinking in regards to what they believe about God and how that right thinking should affect us in right living.
When our thinking is right and our living is right, we are going to be focused on the Lord and ministering to others.
Paul is the perfect example of a man of ministry and in these closing paragraphs in these last 2 chapters, we can see some things that are essential if we are going to be ministry minded like Paul in our own lives.
What will a God glorifying ministry look like in our own lives? It may not look exactly like Paul’s, but it will include certain aspects of ministry that are included in how Paul minsters.
Turn with me to Romans 15:14
Slide
As you turn there, I want to share something I ran across this week from Mark Driscoll. After last weeks message talking about the exercising our freedom to the glory of God or not exercising our freedom to the glory of God, I thought this was timely.
It is a parable to help us see that we can enjoy things that the Lord has given us to His glory.
A Poverty Theology Parable by: Pastor Mark Driscoll on Sep 21, 2011
A loving and generous Father once bought his son a shiny new bicycle. With a broad smile, the Father surprised the son and rolled it out and handed it to him.
Strangely, rather than looking happy, the son looked anxious. Rather than riding the bike, he stepped away from it in fear.
The Father asked the child what was wrong. The son replied, “Father, I cannot ride the bike. All around the world there are missionaries who do not have a bike. I would like to give them my bike so that they can ride it to unreached peoples and preach the gospel. The Father replied, “If you simply ask me, I am glad to also give you a second bike to give to a missionary.”
Yet, rather than simply riding the bike, the son continued to argue with his Father, saying, “I would much prefer an older bicycle. This one is shiny and new. It makes me look proud if I ride it.” The Father explained, “If I want you to ride the bike I gave you, and you are more concerned about what others think of you as you ride it than my joy in seeing you enjoy my gift to you, then you may look humble to them, but I know there is pride in your heart because you are living for their approval instead of my joy.”
Unrelenting, the son said, “But some people will talk about my bicycle out of judgment, envy, or jealousy because it is so nice. Some might even stumble and covet my bicycle. I do not want them to sin, and so I would rather not have a new bike so as to be considerate of them.” The Father replied, “If others respond to my grace to you in this way, the problem is not the bicycle but their hearts. I will deal with their hearts should they prove sinful—something you assume will happen but do not know. I will love and serve them by working to change their heart if they respond sinfully. But for you, my request is that you simply ride the bicycle I gave you. You are thinking about it too much and enjoying it too little.”
The Father walked away for a few hours, kindly asking the son to consider his request. Upon returning, the son had yet another line of reasoning. “Father, I will not ride the bike because I am fearful. I fear that it is so nice and I would enjoy it so much that it would become an idol to me. So, to avoid idolatry I will abstain from riding the bicycle.” The Father replied, “You could also ride your bike as an act of worship to me, enjoying the gift I gave you to your joy and my glory. Once again, the problem is not the bicycle.”
The son replied, “But Father, you are better than any bicycle. You are enough. I do not need a bicycle. I have you. You, Father, are enough.”
Grieved in his heart, the Father said, “I know I am enough. But I am a generous Father. I like to give gifts to my children. I like to see them blessed, happy, and free. I just wanted to watch you ride the bike. And I wanted to go for a ride with you. Then, we could have had fun, spend time together, make memories, and laugh.”
Tragically, the son never did ride the bicycle. Instead, he gave it away. He did not cause anyone to stumble, or treat his bike as an idol. And he did not obey his Father and worship him by simply being a kid and enjoying the gift his Father gave him because he was too busy being a theologian with a head full of fears rather than a heart full of fun.
Now while I thought this was helpful for those who struggle to enjoy life to God’s glory we do need to continually keep our eyes focused on Him because we do need to realize that our hearts can deceive us and the things and freedoms God gives us can become an idol if we don’t keep a proper focus.
Don’t let that happen. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus so you can know when to enjoy your freedom and when to refrain from exercising your freedom to God’s glory.
Transition
But now, we turn to Paul’s closing remarks to the Romans in which we can see his heart for ministry to people.
Let’s read and see what we can learn so we can be ministry minded as well.
Romans 15:14-16
14 I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15 I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Pray.
We see here that what Paul views as one of His chief ways of glorifying the Lord is in proclaiming the gospel.
A God glorifying ministry …
…Proclaims the Gospel
Slide
Now, I realize that Paul had a special gift and calling, but that doesn’t mean we all don’t have responsibility to proclaim the gospel.
Just because we are not Paul does not mean we do not have priestly duties as believers in Jesus. We do.
Peter says that those who believe in Christ are “a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9)
The priestly duties of proclaiming God’s word belongs to all of us. Not in the sense of holding the office of pastor or elder, but in the sense that God has placed us in the lives of others that we have an influence over that no one else will have.
Eternities depend on us using our ministry to proclaim the gospel.
Peter tells us to “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (1 Peter 3:15)
If you were in a conversation with someone at work or in the neighborhood and they asked you, like the Philippian jailer asked Paul, “What must I do to be saved?” what would you say?
Paul responded with “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved”
But does believing mean just believing that Jesus was a real person?
What does it really mean to believe in Jesus?
I think this is where Christians start to get anxious about talking about the gospel to someone. They thing they might mess it up.
I want to give you a helpful way to remember what to share with someone so they know who Jesus is and can really receive Him by believing in Him.
To believe in Jesus means to
Believe in Who Jesus is – He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, God in the flesh. A person who believes in Jesus must believe this about Jesus. This is what being the Christ, the Messiah means.
Believing in Jesus also means to
Believe in What Jesus did – He died for your sins, in your place and rose from the dead. This is the substitutionary atonement, Jesus dying in your place for you and the bodily resurrection, Jesus defeating death so now we too can have eternal life.
So to proclaim the gospel keep in mind those 2 things to share with someone about believing in Jesus.
Believe in WHO Jesus is.
Believe in WHAT Jesus did.
If we can do that, we will be proclaiming the gospel clearly.
We see an example of this from Paul in
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Who is Jesus? – He is the Christ
What did Jesus do? – He died for our sins and was raised from the dead.
Transition
So, a God glorifying Ministry will seize opportunities to proclaim the gospel.
We also see that A God glorifying ministry
Serves the People
Slide
Look beginning in
Romans 15:17
17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done—
People have come to Christ because they have been witnesses of how Paul has served people both in word and action.
The things we do and how we do them is essential to a God glorifying ministry.
Paul sacrificed greatly to serve people.
He was beaten, He was jailed, He suffered, He sacrificed resources, He sacrificed time.
Serving people will always require sacrifice at some level.
We see in these next verses that Paul is on his way to Jerusalem in service to the saints there in taking monetary resources from himself and from other churches. This, he tells the Roman church that he is going to do before he heads to Rome to visit them.
Paul would be going to Rome from Jerusalem, but it would be as a prisoner.
Application
Are you serving people?
Now our service may not look exactly like Paul’s or anyone else’s for that matter.
But our service will require sacrifice.
Are you sacrificing in your service toward others?
Are you sacrificing time to be there for others in their times of need?
Sometimes that will mean being there to listen during difficult times in their life.
Sometimes that will mean helping them in a financial way as the Lord lays that on your heart.
Sometimes serving others will mean sacrificing what you want to do for what they want to do.
If you want to glorify God through your life and experience the joy of being used by Him, then keep your eyes opened to how you might serve others.
We as a church seek to be a help to you in this as well. We have areas of ministry you can serve in that really are a service to people.
Whether it is serving in our nursery so that parents of preschoolers can come and hear the message of God’s word undistracted by their kids, or serving our families by helping out in AWANA or by greeting people coming in, or by giving financially to this church so we can continue to as a whole to reach more people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. You serve people as you sacrifice time and treasure to help the ministry of Hickory Creek.
Glorify God by serving people and sacrificing for the benefit of others.
The third thing we see about a God glorifying ministry is that it includes
Prays to God
Slide
It has to be a ministry that seeks God always.
Romans 15:30-33
30 I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31 Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there, 32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed. 33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Paul recognizes that without God’s work nothing is going to happen so he prays and asks others to pray for him.
Jesus said that apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5).
If we are going to see our lives used then we have got to be praying and seeking the Lord.
I am continually asking people to pray for me and praying for myself, especially asking for prayer in my preaching.
If anything is going to be accomplished through the preaching ministry here, it will not be because I am a good speaker, but it will be because God used me to communicate His word well.
That is my prayer all the time. Lord help me to communicate your word so people will know you better.
You need to be praying for how the Lord wants to use you.
Lord, use me in my workplace to be an example of your mercy and grace.
Lord, help my words to be encouraging to those around me.
Lord, help my focus to be on you when I am in a work environment that is oppressive and difficult.
Prayer affects things and prayer strengthens us so we can be God glorifying ministers of the Lord.
Pray in the car on the way to work.
Pray in the morning in the shower.
Get up 5 minutes early and spend that time praying.
You will never glorify the Lord without praying to God for help, wisdom, guidance and strength.
Glorify God by praying.
Finally, a God glorifying ministry
Is Personal and Caring
Slide
Listen to chapter 16 and listen to all the people he greets by name.
Romans 16
16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me. 3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. 5 Greet also the church that meets at their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. 8 Greet Ampliatus, whom I love in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, tested and approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. 11 Greet Herodion, my relative. Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. 12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.
It is amazing to me that Paul knows so many people who are in Rome and yet has not been to Rome.
Now, he has obviously met some if not all of these people in other places during one of his missionary tours.
But it appears that he does not just know who they are, but that he knows them.
That is because Paul is a People person and He cares about people and he takes the time to get to know them and be in relationship with them.
Let’s take a look at Priscilla and Aquila as examples since they are named here and Scripture gives us a little information on them.
Paul meets Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth in Acts 18.
They are tent makers like Paul, so Paul works with them. It identified them only as Jews at the beginning, but then we see they are believers, explaining about Jesus Christ to Apollos in greater detail.
How did they get to know about Jesus? Through Paul.
Paul got to know them and through his relationship with them, was able to proclaim the gospel.
Now, Priscilla and Aquilla were not Paul’s project. He cared about people.
He cares about people because God cares about people.
He didn’t just hang out with Christians. He had relationships with those who were not Christians and in those relationships, because he cared about people, he naturally shared about the most important thing in his life, Jesus Christ.
Do you care about people?
Are you working at establishing relationships or maintaining relationships with people, both Christians and non Christians. Notice that Paul just didn’t forget about people after they became a Christian either.
Priscilla and Aquila started out as co-workers.
We have to look at the people around us, who are naturally people spend time with, and seek to establish and maintain relationships with them.
Co-workers, school mates, neighbors, Do you care about people?
It is hard sometimes and will require effort on your part.
I have got to tell you, that since leaving the secular workforce, it is harder for me to have relationships with those who don’t know Christ. I realize this, but there are people that I still care about from my past that don’t know Christ.
My college roommates are a prime example.
There were 6 of us that lived together in an apartment during college. I have gotten together with 3 of them every year or 2 to play golf or play some cards, but a couple of them I haven’t seen in 12 to 15 years. One is a doctor who moved to Texas and one is a Catholic priest now.
Well, one of my roommates has organized an outing getting them all together. I was very excited to hear this and then he told me it was a trip to Las Vegas and my thoughts immediately went to
“I can’t do that because of how that will look. A pastor going to Las Vegas. I don’t want to be a stumbling block to those who struggle with gambling. I don’t want to give the appearance of evil by going to sin city. I care about people and I don’t want to do anything to harm my weaker brother,” like we talked about last week.
But my struggle was that I also love these guys and I don’t get much opportunity to maintain relationship with them and what do I speak to them by my not going.
“I am better than you, my relationship with you is not important?”
It is not like I am going to sin, or that they are even going to sin. It is a place to go and be together and play some golf and play some cards and hang out and build relationship.
I talked about this with our elders and as we talked we came to the point that this is not something that would be wrong and it would be a great opportunity to maintain and build relationship if the only thing that is keeping me from going was the location of the town.
So, your pastor is going to Vegas next month for a couple of days.
Pray for me that it builds relationship and that God is glorified through this as I seek to glorify the Lord through the ministry and opportunities that He has given me.
Conclusion
And for each of you who are believers in Jesus Christ, recognize that your life is a ministry to the Lord and seek to glorify God in through your life, but
Proclaiming the Gospel
Serving the People
Praying to God
And being Personal and caring toward others.
It is those things that will always help us to be ministry minded.
I am going to invite the worship team back up. As they come up, I want to read the benediction that Paul ends his letter to the Romans with.
Romans 16:25-27
25 Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him— 27 to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
Amen. Let’s worship the God who deserves all glory.
