INTRODUCTION
As we have looked at the question “What is the Purpose of the Church, thus far we have identified three areas of that should be included in the purpose of the church, worship, fellowship, discipleship.
Today I want to look at an area that a lot of churches struggle with. It is an area that if neglected it will make the church and those who are a part of it become self-centered.
Today we are going to look at the next purpose for the church, that purpose is SERVICE.
One of the purposes of the church is to serve, to minister. We sometimes call specific areas of service ministries. The church is called to minister to people. It is called to serve people.
When we neglect this purpose we will end up just sitting and soaking. We will learn a lot about what we are called to do but spending little to no time doing it.
When we forget we are called to service, we then change our focus from “What does God want us to do in order to carry out His mission”, to “I want what I want.”
This is an area that many times we excuse ourselves because we think that someone else will do it.
MATTHEW 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
Today I want to look at the purpose of service. I want to look at what we are to do to fulfill this purpose.
SERMON
I. EVERY CHRISTIAN IS A SERVANT (MINISTER) Verse 1-2
MAT 20:26-28 "It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve (MINISTER), and to give His life a ransom for many."
A. What is a “minister”?
• A minister is a servant.
• The word that is translated “minister” is also the same word that is translated “deacon”.
• Jesus came to serve.
B. We are called to serve God in some way because of what He has done for us.
• 1PE 2:9-10 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
C. We are all called to serve God in some way.
• EPH 4:11-13 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
• The church leaderships, ministers, and teachers are the ones who help prepare people for ministry.
• This work of service can be translated work of ministry.
• EPH 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
D. What ways are you serving Jesus?
• William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, was interviewed near the close of his life. This is what he said: "God had all there was of me. There have been others who had greater plans, greater opportunities than I; but from the day I got a vision of what God could do, I made up my mind God would have all there was of William Booth."
• Ministry is using whatever God has given me to serve Him and the needs of others.
• 2CO 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
II. EVERY MINISTRY IS IMPORTANT
A. READ 1 CORINTHIANS 12:15-22
• God places the members as He wants. If God placed you, then you are important.
• All parts of the body are important
• If one quits working then the others have to work hard to compensate.
• The size of the ministry is not important. What is the most important light in the house? The little night light that keeps you from killing yourself in the middle of the night when you head for the refrigerator.
B. READ ROMANS 12:3-8.
• VERSE 6! This passage shows us that it is important for each of us to use our gifts in service to Jesus.
• Talk about the different gifts.
III. EACH MINISTRY IS DEPENDANT ON THE OTHERS
A. ROM 12:4-5 For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
B. 1 Corinthians 12:22-26
C. What if those who are gifted in evangelism bring in a lot of people, but then we do not have people who are gifted in teaching or hospitality? After a while, we will either lose the new people or they will not grow in Christ.
D. 1PE 4:10-11 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
E. When one part does not function, the rest of the body is affected.
IV. OUR “SHAPE” SHOULD DETERMINE OUR MINISTRY. Verses 6-8
A. Do you wonder why God did not make us all the same? Why didn’t God give us all the same abilities? VERSE 6
B. READ PSALM 139:13-16
C. God knows that each one of us is unique. There are also many different jobs that need to be done in order for the work of the kingdom to get done.
D. One of the greatest frustrations a person can have in trying to serve God is to be pushed into an area of service that we feel that we cannot do. Now I do not want people to use this for an excuse for not reaching out to people or trying to stretch themselves. We are to all witness to people, although we will all do it a little different.
E. As you look around us, you will notice that each of us has a different shape. Did you know that your ministry or area a service should be determined by your SHAPE.
F. Rick Warren uses the word SHAPE as an acronym for.
• Spiritual Gifts (How God has gifted me)
• Heart (passion) What do I love to do?
• Abilities (What natural talents do I have?)
• Personality (Where does my personality best suit me to serve?)
• Experience (What experiences have I had?)
1) Education
2) Vocational
3) Spiritual
4) Ministry. (how you have served in the past)
5) Painful (What problems, hurts and trials have you learned from)
G. ISA 64:8 But now, O Lord, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.
H. We are all different because God made us that way.
I. Your personality will affect how you use your spiritual gifts; your passion will affect what you place as important.
J. Too many times we go about things backwards. We feel that since we do not know what we are gifted in, we do nothing. We think that we can take a test to find out what our SHAPE really is.
K. The best way to find out where your gifts, talents and heart is, is to serve in many different areas and from that you will settle into what you are good at.
CONCLUSION
If the church is not a church that focuses on serving others, then what will happen to us is that we will become friendly to ourselves, we will take care of ourselves, and we will focus our resources on ourselves.
If as a collective body of believers, we are not each focused on serving or some area of ministry, the whole body will be hurt.
If I have areas of ability that I will not use for the body of Christ in Auburn, then I am hurting the body of Christ in Auburn. For this body to function, we need each and every part of it to be functioning.
God did not call us to sit on the bench, but He called us to find a position on the field and play the game.
What happens on a team when part of the team decides not to do its job?
It is my prayer that each and every member of the Auburn Christian Church is an active part of the body, that each one of us is serving the body of Christ in some way.
Too many times we sit back and want to be served and then we complain about the service. Too many times we feel sorry for ourselves. The best way to get out of that is to serve others. Remember that we are to be like Jesus, Jesus came to serve, He came to seek and save those who are lost.
At the end of World War I, Herbert Hoover, later to become President of the United States, led the allied relief efforts in Europe. He kept hundreds of thousands from starving, and a new word entered the Finnish language. In Finland, to “Hoover” means to be kind, to help. If someone coined a word from your name, what would it be? Would it signify character? Helpfulness? Cheerfulness? Or would it be some mean and ugly word?
